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Glencore approves further drilling in hopes of extending Kidd mine life – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – June 4, 2021)

https://www.timminspress.com/

$50M feasibility study to be completed by end of 2022

Glencore Canada is investing more than $50 million on a drilling and feasibility program aimed at extending mine life at Kidd Operations. The mine is currently projected to wind down by end of 2023. However, hopes remain alive that operations may extend beyond that.

Last week, the company advised staff that the next phase of drilling and feasibility was approved for what has been dubbed the Mine 5 project, Alexis Segal, Glencore’s head of corporate communications told The Daily Press Thursday night.

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Timmins mine aims to cash in on global demand for nickel – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – June 4, 2021)

https://www.timminspress.com/

Timmins is and will probably always be known for its gold mining. But on the closing day of the virtual Canadian Mining Expo Thursday, several speakers were revving about the large deposits of nickel and other raw minerals will be in demand as the development of electric-powered cars grows.

“Historically, the Abitibi belt has been known for its gold exploration potential, but as recent years have shown, there is the potential for much more to be found” including cobalt, lithium, graphite, and nickel, said Zeinab Azadbakht, regional resident geologist with the Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines in Timmins.

Timmins Mayor George Pirie, who was the introductory speaker on the last day of the two-day conference, credited Azadbakht for expanding the focus of local mineral extractions and placing more emphasis on rare-earth elements.

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Canada Nickel’s Crawford project to produce 93% less CO2 emissions than industry average – Staff (Mining.com – June 2, 2021)

https://www.mining.com/

A study commissioned by Canada Nickel Company (TSXV: CNC) revealed that its Crawford project in Ontario, Canada, is set to produce 2.05 tonnes of carbon dioxide per tonne of nickel-equivalent production over its 25-year mine life —93% lower than the industry average of 29 tonnes of CO2.

The study was conducted by Skarn Associates, a metals and mining ESG research company, applying data from Canada Nickel’s preliminary economic assessment.

According to the report, the CO2 footprint estimate does not include the carbon offset expected to be provided from the process of spontaneous mineral carbonation from the operation’s tailings and waste rock, largely composed of serpentine rock which naturally absorbs CO2 when exposed to air.

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Mark Selby lays out the big picture for a stainless steel industry in Timmins – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – May 28, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Canada Nickel CEO says base metal project capable of generating downstream processing possibilities

Since touching down in Timmins a year and half ago, Mark Selby has been trying to put the world-renowned gold district on the map as an emerging global nickel camp.

Twenty months after Canada Nickel Company punched its first drill hole at its Crawford nickel sulphide project, the CEO and chair of the Toronto-based junior mining company is sitting on a resource capable of delivering 1.9 billion pounds of nickel over a 25-year mine life.

Canada Nickel posted a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) this week on its flagship Crawford nickel sulphide project, 40 kilometres north of Timmins.

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Firm sets hopes on discovering second major nickel deposit – by Andrew Autio (Timmins Daily Press – March 23, 2021)

https://www.timminspress.com/

Grid Metals drilling 100 km south of Timmins

The head of a junior mining company believes a second significant nickel deposit in the area is a distinct possibility. Grid Metals Corp will soon begin a drilling program at its property in Bannockburn Township, approximately 27 kilometres west of Matachewan.

The Toronto-based company’s focus is on the exploration and development of high-demand battery metals for the automotive industry and growing electric vehicle market. They currently have three projects in the works.

The Bannockburn Nickel Project, located approximately 100 kilometres south of Timmins, has actually been owned by Grid since 2003, when it was acquired from Outokumpu Mining.

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Construction progressing on Côté mine site – by Andrew Autio (Timmins Daily Press – March 18, 2021)

https://www.timminspress.com/

The City of Timmins is expected to play a major role in the future of IAMGOLD’s Côté Gold Project once the recruitment process begins late this year. The project is located 20 kilometres southwest of the village of Gogama, and approximately 130 kilometres southwest of Timmins.

Last September, an official groundbreaking ceremony was held, which was attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as well as Ontario Premier Doug Ford, among other officials.

Côté Gold President and CEO Gord Stothart told The Daily Press this week that plenty of progress is being made and construction is going well.

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2020 was a ‘brutal year’ for Rob McEwen: McEwen Mining sees hope ahead in boosting mine production at Matheson – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – March 12, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Gold mining mogul Rob McEwen is glad to see 2020 in the rearview mirror. “2020 was a brutal year but we more than survived and have come out stronger from it,” said the executive chairman and chief owner of McEwen Mining.

His Toronto-based company released its fourth quarter and end-of-year results for 2020 on March 11. Total gold production from its mines in Ontario, Nevada, and Mexico in 2020 amounted to 114,800 gold equivalent ounces, compared to 174,400 ounces in 2019.

Production from its Black Fox Mine, east of Timmins, in 2020 stood at 24,400 ounces. Total cash costs and all-in-sustaining-costs were $1,397 and $1,650 per gold equivalent ounces, respectively.

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Timmins mine developer finetuning its processing plans – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – February 26, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Gowest Gold reports that it has successfully completed processing of its first development ore from its Bradshaw gold deposit, north of Timmins.

The Toronto-based mine builder sent 23,000 tonnes of gold-bearing material from a bulk sample and trucked it to Northern Sun’s Redstone Mill during December and January. More than 1,000 tonnes of concentrate went to the Humon Smelter in China.

The company said gold recovery from the mill showed steady improvement as the processed advanced. This testing program remains ongoing.

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A rival for Sudbury? Company hopes to turn Timmins into the new nickel capital – by Colleen Romaniuk (Sudbury Star – February 10, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Canada Nickel Company describes its Crawford site as the largest nickel sulphide discovery since the 1970s

The CEO and Chairman of Canada Nickel Company told a Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce audience on Tuesday that it is coming for Sudbury’s Big Nickel.

The company is in the process of “aggressively advancing” its Crawford nickel-cobalt sulphide project about 40 kilometres north of Timmins, which it describes as the largest nickel sulphide discovery since the early 1970s.

As part of the ongoing project, Canada Nickel recently launched a subsidiary called NetZero Metals to begin research and development on a processing facility that could produce zero-carbon nickel, cobalt, and iron products.

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Could Timmins become Northern Ontario’s new nickel capital? – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – February 9, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

A nickel supercycle is set to begin, thanks to Elon Musk, and Canada Nickel wants to be first to production

An upstart mine developer wouldn’t mind having Timmins knock off Sudbury among the world’s leading nickel mining camps.

Canada Nickel Company chair and CEO Mark Selby thinks his Crawford nickel sulphide deposit is a “global-scale” discovery with multi-million-tonne potential that could be a robust producer for generations.

Selby explained in a Feb. 9 web presentation to a Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce audience of the sudden emergence of the Crawford Project in the historic Timmins gold and base metal mining camp.

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Timmins Mayor George Pirie highly optimistic about mining’s future – by Kevin Vincent (Mining Life – January 15, 2021)

https://mininglifeonline.net/

Ask the mayor of Timmins about the state and future of mining in Timmins and you are in for a lesson on global economics. Timmins is undergoing a huge boost to its mining sector and George Pirie couldn’t be happier for the entire region.

Pirie, the former President and CEO of Placer Dome Canada, played a pivotal role in early talks with Kirkland Lake Gold on their decision to move its Canadian Operations Centre and more than 120 jobs to Timmins, a project Pirie quietly initiated when he was first elected in 2018.

Add to that, the announcement of IAMGOLD’s billion-dollar Cote Lake Mine south of Timmins, and a massive uptick in exploration in the Timmins camp, and you have an extremely robust picture that any mayor would welcome.

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Mining town keeps digging its way out of dire predictions – by Diane Armstrong (Timmins Daily Press – January 13, 2021)

https://www.timminspress.com/

In spite of the warnings that Northern Ontario would die “as soon as the ore runs out,” in my heart I always rejected that feeling of impermanence. The Pollyanna in me thinks there is still a bright future on the horizon.

In 1903, silver deposits were discovered in Cobalt. It was likely the most significant event in the history of Northern Ontario. At that time, the area was uninhabited wilderness.

By 1910, more than 3,000 men were employed in underground mining; the population of the town was 6,000 and nearby Haileybury had a population of 5,000. Depending on various sources, there were between 38 mines and/or 100 mines or mining companies in the Cobalt area.

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Canada Nickel signs deal to process at Kidd Met site – by Andrew Autio (Toronto Star – January 11, 2021)

https://www.thestar.com/

Upstart mining firm Canada Nickel Company said it is very excited about a new MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) they have entered into with Glencore Canada Operation to potentially use the Kidd concentrator and metallurgical site for its exciting new nickel project north of Timmins.

The non-binding agreement was officially announced on Monday. “We’ve been in discussions over the last couple of months,” Canada Nickel Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mark Selby told The Daily Press.

Canada Nickel Company has a 100 per cent ownership in the Crawford Project located approximately 40 kilometres north of the city.

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Life on Mars? Billion-year-old water found near Timmins could offer glimpse into the past – by Manuela Vega (Toronto Star – January 2, 2021)

https://www.thestar.com/

Scientists are hoping water found near Timmins, Ont., that is more than a billion years old can provide insight into the possibility that life once existed on Mars.

Dr. Barbara Sherwood Lollar, a University of Toronto geochemist, first found the ancient salt water 2.4 kilometres underground in Kidd Creek Mine in 2009.

It took Sherwood Lollar’s team four years to verify the age of the water. They then began sampling it for microscopic life. Four to five years later, they confirmed that microbes lived in the water.

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Mayor sees economic prospects for Timmins in 2021 – by Andrew Autio (Timmins Daily Press – January 1, 2021)

https://www.timminspress.com/

While every calendar year has its own trials and tribulations, the year 2020 was a particularly challenging one, and is unlikely to be remembered fondly by most people.

Timmins Mayor George Pirie has seen many ups and downs this year, but he feels there is some positive momentum heading into 2021. As he reflects back to this time one year ago, the COVID-19 pandemic, which would soon become all-encompassing, was in its early stages of development.

“I don’t think anybody really understood what this virus is all about,” said Pirie. He said city officials saw what was happening in Asia, Italy and other early hotspots and had their fingers crossed the spread wouldn’t reach North America, Canada and Northern Ontario.

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