Twitter

Ontario First Nations want a year-long pause on mining claims. Will the Ford government listen? – by Emma McIntosh (The Narwhal – January 24, 2024)

The Narwhal

Thousands of online mining claims are being made on the territories of First Nations without their consent — and often they aren’t even told about it

The notices usually pour in on Sunday. One by one, they pile up in the email inbox of Cat Lake First Nation Chief Russell Wesley, each one about a mining claim someone has staked on his community’s territory. Sometimes, he receives up to 20 in a single day.

As the nation’s main point of contact for mining companies, ideally he’d be able to review them — make sure that if prospectors were to come in and start searching for minerals on the sites, the claims wouldn’t overlap with sites that are culturally important to Cat Lake or used by members of the remote, fly-in community in northwestern Ontario for hunting or gathering medicines.

Read more

BMO [mining] bankers terminated after allegations of homophobic harassment – by Niall McGee, Stefanie Marotta and Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – January 25, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Bank of Montreal late last week terminated four mining bankers in Toronto and another two resigned after allegations of bullying and harassment of a colleague, four sources told The Globe and Mail, behaviour the bank is calling “completely unacceptable.”

The targeted individual was a young male investment banker in the Toronto office of BMO’s mining group. The individual was subject to homophobic slurs, and targeted both in person and virtually on Teams chats, the sources said. The Globe is not identifying the sources because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Read more

Is uranium poised for a renaissance? – by Jonathan Thompson (High Country News – January 25, 2024)

https://www.hcn.org/

As prices climb, mining proposals proliferate. But it might just be hype.

In December, Canada-based Energy Fuels announced plans to begin production at three of its uranium mines, including the controversial Pinyon Plain (née Canyon) Mine, near the Grand Canyon, as well as two operations near Moab, Utah.

It seems like everywhere you look these days, some firm — maybe one with an unusual name (Okapi or Kraken, say) — is announcing that it’s acquiring or staking of thousands of acres of public-land mining claims, embarking on exploratory drilling or has “exciting,” if enigmatic, survey results to report. Does this mean that the long-moribund domestic uranium-mining industry is sauntering down the comeback trail?

Read more

Glencore licenses Horne 5 operations to Falco Resources – by Staff (Mining.com – January 24, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Falco Resources (TSXV: FPC) has entered into an operating license and indemnity agreement (OLIA) with Glencore Canada allowing Falco to use part of Glencore’s lands. Falco intends to develop and operate its wholly owned Horne 5 copper-zinc mine at Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec.

The agreement includes the creation of a technical committee consisting of two nominees from Glencore and two from Falco to ensure that operations of Glencore’s Horne copper smelter are not adversely affected. A similar strategic committee will also be created. Glencore will appoint one nominee to Falco’s board of directors.

Read more

OPINION: End the runaround on the Ring of Fire – by Editorial Board (Globe and Mail – January 25, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

More than 16 years have passed since a small mining company discovered a rich nickel deposit in a remote part of northern Ontario and christened the region with a name that has stuck: the Ring of Fire.

Successive governments and companies have touted the potential of the region, entranced by optimistic estimates of tens of billions of dollars of minerals – including those critical to electric vehicle battery production – buried in the wetlands.

Read more

Ring of Fire Metals CEO provides update – by Austin Campbell (SNnewswatch.com – January 24, 2024)

https://www.snnewswatch.com/

Businesses and organizations from Thunder Bay and throughout the North heard a presentation from Ring of Fire Metals CEO Kristan Straub at the Italian Cultural Centre on Jan. 23.

THUNDER BAY — Kristan Straub provided an update on the proposed Eagle’s Nest mining project on Tuesday at the Italian Cultural Centre. The chief executive officer of Ring of Fire Metals delivered a presentation describing how far the project has come.

Ring of Fire Metals is the Canadian subsidiary of Australian company, Wyloo Metals. One concern about the Eagle’s Nest project is the fact that it is being built on treaty-protected lands, meaning any development in the region needs to happen in consultation with and approval from surrounding First Nations communities.

Read more

Ford says Northern Ontario mines will help create economic boom – by Staff (Sudbury.com – January 24, 2024)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Premier addresses municipal leaders at the annual meeting of the Rural Ontario Municipal Association

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he is counting on the Northern Ontario mining industry to help build Ontario into an economic powerhouse for the battery electric vehicle (BEV) industry.

Ford was speaking Jan. 23 at the annual conference of the 2024 Rural Ontario Municipal Association(ROMA) when he spoke about the importance of the Ontario critical minerals strategy for the future of EVs in Ontario.

Read more

Done deal: $10-billion Robinson Huron Treaty settlement finalized – by James Hopkin (Soo Today – January 23, 2024)

https://www.sootoday.com/

Historic agreement officially signed by all parties; it is anticipated that funds from settlement with Canada, Ontario will begin to flow into First Nations as early as this spring

The $10-billion settlement agreement for Robinson Huron Treaty annuitants has now been signed by all parties — officially making the historic compensation package for 21 First Nations in northeastern Ontario a done deal. Chiefs and trustees signed off on the agreement during a Jan. 3 meeting, according to an update from the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund made Tuesday.

First announced in June 2023, the multi-billion dollar settlement provides past compensation to treaty beneficiaries after not seeing an increase to annuity payments for a period of nearly 150 years, as wealth generated in the territory through resource revenues from the mining, forestry and fishing sectors continued to grow.

Read more

Wyloo Metals CEO gives update on Ring of Fire mining projects, though First Nations resistance continues – by Michelle Allan (CBC News Thunder Bay – January 23, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/

Some First Nations still opposed to development as need for critical minerals grows

As the demand for critical minerals grows, the CEO of the main company involved in northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire says it’s developing a nickel deposit that could be producing minerals for two decades.

Wyloo Metals CEO Kristan Straub gave the update Tuesday in a speech to business leaders in Thunder Bay, where he outlined the company’s plans for the Ring of Fire and discussed how his company is engaging with First Nations in the region now and into the future. “[Eagle’s Nest] is Canada’s best opportunity for a new nickel sulphide deposit,” Straub said.

Read more

Multiple fatalities reported in crash of plane carrying Rio Tinto mine workers – by Mike Hager and Xiao Xu (Globe and Mail – January 24, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A plane carrying workers to a Rio Tinto diamond mine in the Northwest Territories has crashed just above the border with Alberta, killing multiple passengers.

A spokesman for the multinational company did not say how many miners have died in the Tuesday morning crash but confirmed late that evening “a number of our people” were on a flight to the Diavik mine when it came down near the town of Fort Smith, where local authorities prepared the hospital to receive multiple wounded patients.

Read more

Bolivia Uyuni plant to yield first lithium by 2025-end – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – January 22, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Bolivian state-owned lithium company YLB has inked a new deal with a Chinese consortium to install a pilot plant at the vast Uyuni salt flat, which would use Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology.

The project will see the construction of a 2,500 tonnes-per-year lithium carbonate facility that will be operated by the CBC consortium, formed by CATL, BRUNP and CMOC.

Read more

Gold Riches Fuel Sudan Militia’s War to Rule Nation, UN Says – by Simon Marks (Bloomberg News – January 21, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces group is using large-scale proceeds from gold mining to fund its devastating war against the nation’s army, according to United Nations investigators.

The UN report also described as “credible” allegations that the United Arab Emirates has helped supply the RSF via neighboring Chad, citing local witnesses — something the Gulf nation denies. And it said violence by the RSF and allied militias may have killed as many as 15,000 people in one city in the Darfur region in 2023 — a figure that would outstrip the UN’s previous toll for the entire nine-month conflict.

Read more

Western Quebec township backs ‘resistance’ to mineral exploration on its land (CBC News Ottawa – January 21, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/

Low, Que., calling for designation exempting land from exploration

A township in western Quebec is taking steps to prevent mineral exploration on its lands amid a big increase in recent claims in the Outaouais. At a meeting earlier this month, councillors for the Township of Low voted 5-1 in favour of supporting its population “in its resistance to mining development,” according to the resolution.

Low is located about 60 kilometres northwest of Ottawa. There’s currently “a proliferation of mining claims on private land as well as on public land,” according to the council.

Read more

Nunavut premier full of hope as deal with Ottawa is signed – by Stepanie Taylor (Globe and Mail – January 19, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

As a child growing up in Canada’s northernmost community, P.J. Akeeagok wanted to be a water truck driver. In Grise Fiord, a community on Nunavut’s Ellesmere Island where just 145 people live as of the 2021 census, the water truck driver served as a role model who delivered an essential public service.

Mr. Akeeagok’s public-service instincts led him in a different direction: The 39-year-old is now the country’s youngest Premier, leading the federation’s youngest territory. And on Thursday, he inked his name to an agreement with the federal government that he hopes will open up more opportunities for coming generations.

Read more

Long-Lost Ship Found in the Desert Laden With Gold – by Tasos Kokkinidis (Greek Reporter – January 21, 2024)

https://greekreporter.com/

The discovery of a ship that disappeared five hundred years ago and was found in a desert in southwest Africa with gold coins aboard has been one of the most exciting archaeological finds of recent years.

The Bom Jesus (The Good Jesus) was a Portuguese vessel that set sail from Lisbon, Portugal on Friday, March 7, 1533. Its fate was unknown until 2008 when its remains were discovered in the desert of Namibia during diamond mining operations near the coast of the African nation.

Read more