Republic of Mining

More than ever, Canada needs a national infrastructure corridor – by Ted Morton (Calgary Herald – June 27, 2020)

June 29, 2020

“But today that prosperity is at risk. Five years of anti-energy,
anti-western and anti-growth policies from the Trudeau Liberals
have decimated Alberta’s economy.”

This month marks the 90th anniversary of the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement, the constitutional reform that created the economic foundation for the dynamic and prosperous Alberta of the past six decades.

Alberta and Saskatchewan achieved provincial status in 1905, but NOT on equal terms. Ownership of Crown (public) lands and natural resources were not granted to the two new provinces.

This was a radical departure from the practice in the rest of Canada, under which all other provinces did control their own natural resources. We were officially second-class provinces.

Aussie miner Saracen strikes $1.1b Super Pit deal on Kalgoorlie’s Golden Mile – by Jarrod Lucas (Australian Broadcasting Corporation – November 18, 2029)

June 29, 2020

https://www.abc.net.au/

Australian gold miner Saracen Mineral Holdings has struck a $1.1 billion deal for a 50 per cent stake in Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s famous Super Pit operation.

The deal with Canada’s Barrick Gold finalised in Toronto over the weekend, two months after Saracen privately entered a “competitive” sale process, and was announced to the Australian Securities Exchange on Monday morning.

Saracen estimates it will take more than three years to recover from devastating rock falls, but insists the acquisition will pay off in the long run.

Government doesn’t know how much gold, silver, copper is being mined on federal lands: watchdog – by Rachel Frazin (The Hill – June 25, 2020)

June 26, 2020

https://thehill.com/

The federal government doesn’t know how much gold, silver and copper is being mined on public lands, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The GAO, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, found that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service do not keep track of how many minerals are extracted under “locatable hardrock mine operations” because companies that operate these mines do not need to pay royalties to the federal government.

“Federal agencies do not generally collect data on the quantity of minerals extracted from locatable hardrock mine operations—which account for 83 percent of the total number of mine operations authorized to produce minerals on federal lands,” the GAO report said.

Top 10 Canadian-headquartered base metal and uranium explorers (Northern Miner – June 24, 2020)

June 26, 2020

https://www.northernminer.com/

The Northern Miner has compiled a list of the top-10, Canadian headquartered base metal and uranium juniors – with no production and which are not a royalty or streaming company. The ranking is based on market capitalization as of mid-June.

1. Ivanhoe Mines – US$3.4 billion market capitalization – For the fourth year in a year, Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN; US-OTC: IVPAF) retains its commanding position atop the top-10 list. However, the global economic slump has hit the company hard, with its market capitalization down some US$2 billion since the 2019 list was compiled.

The company continues to be focused on its three principal projects in southern Africa: developing new mines at the Kamoa-Kakula copper discovery in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Platreef platinum-palladium-nickel-copper-gold discovery in South Africa, and the extensive redevelopment and upgrading of the Kipushi zinc-copper-germanium-silver mine in the DRC.

Investor breathes new life in major Arctic coal project – by Atle Staalesen (The Barents Observer – June 25, 2020)

June 26, 2020

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/

Trotsenko on the 18th June formalized the acquisition of 75 percent of shares in the Arctic Mining Company and intends to forge ahead with big plans for coal production on the tundra.

The businessman, one of Russia’s richest, plans to invest 33 billion rubles in the project, Forbes informs.

Troubled project

The Arctic Mining Company was formerly owned by Dmitry Bosov, the businessman that in early May this year reportedly took his own life. Bosov and his investment company Alltech had great plans for the project and originally intended to extract several hundred million tons of high-quality coal from his many license areas in Taymyr.

New lawsuit targets Minnesota’s copper-nickel mining rules – by Jimmy Lovrien (Minnesota Public Radio News – June 25, 2020)

June 26, 2020

https://www.mprnews.org/

Duluth News Tribune – Opponents of copper-nickel mining are urging Minnesota regulators to change the state’s copper-nickel mining rules to ban that type of mining within the same watershed as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

The Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters announced in a news release Wednesday it was filing a lawsuit under the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act asking a judge to order the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources “to initiate a public process to amend state non-ferrous mining rules that would fully protect the water and air quality, wilderness character and other irreplaceable natural resources of the Boundary Waters” and “to prohibit sulfide-ore copper mining and related surface disturbance in the Rainy River-Headwaters.”

If successful, the rule change would effectively kill Twin Metals’ proposed underground copper-nickel mine, processing plant and tailings storage facility along Birch Lake, which flows into the BWCAW via the Kawishiwi River.

Why Climate Activists Will Go Nuclear—Or Go Extinct – by Michael Shellenberger (Quillette.com – June 25, 2020)

June 25, 2020

https://quillette.com/

“I have been a climate activist for 20 years and an energy expert for 10 of them. I was adamantly against nuclear energy until about a decade ago when it became clear renewables couldn’t replace fossil fuels. After educating myself about the facts, I came to support the technology.”

In October 2019, the British climate activist group Extinction Rebellion carried out two weeks of civil disobedience in London and other cities around the world. Six thousand activists blocked the five main bridges that cross the River Thames, which flows through London, preventing people from getting to work or home.

An Extinction Rebellion spokesperson went on national television and made a series of alarming claims. “Billions of people are going to die.” “Life on Earth is dying.” And, “Governments aren’t addressing it.”

Some journalists pushed back. The BBC’s Andrew Neil interviewed a visibly uncomfortable Extinction Rebellion spokesperson in her mid-30s named Zion Lights. “One of your founders, Roger Hallam, said in April, ‘Our children are going to die in the next 10 to 20 years,’” said Neil. “What’s the scientific basis for these claims?”

Chile’s lithium miners consume 65% of region’s water – by Micheal McCrae (Kitco.com – June 24, 2020)

June 25, 2020

https://www.kitco.com/

The social license for battery material producers is challenged by water depletion, toxic dust and worker exploitation, according to a report released Wednesday by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Miners in the Democractic Republic of Congo face challenges operating in a country with few worker protections.

“[About] 20% of cobalt supplied from the DRC comes from artisanal mines where child labour and human rights abuses have been reported. Up to 40,000 children work in extremely dangerous conditions in the mines for meagre income,” write the report’s authors.

Gold mining puts Dubreuilville on the comeback trail – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – June 25, 2020)

June 25, 2020

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

With sawmill under the axe, legendary forestry town looks to service the mineral resource sector, attract more families

Pat Dubreuil wants to restore the entrepreneurial spirit to Dubreuilville. The Sudbury businessman is knee-deep into gold exploration around the northeastern Ontario community that his grandfather, Joachim (George) Dubreuil, and his uncles made famous in the early 1960s when they carved out the former sawmilling town from the bush.

Dubreuil, a local developer, tourism operator and unabashed community promoter, wants to economically diversify Dubreuilville beyond just being a bedroom community for the mining industry and a seasonal snowmobiling and off-roading destination.

“I want to go back to the roots of Dubreuilville,” said Dubreuil, vice-president of community and First Nation engagement with Manitou Gold, a large holder of exploration property near the community of 613, north of Wawa and a 38-kilometre jaunt off the Trans-Canada Highway.

Amazon gold rush: illegal mining threatens Brazil’s last major isolated tribe – by Simon Scarr and Anthony Boadle (Reuters Canada – June 25, 2020)

June 25, 2020

https://ca.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Illegal gold mining activity has risen sharply over the last five years in Brazil’s indigenous Yanomami reservation in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, a Reuters review of exclusive data from satellite images shows

The Yanomami are the largest of South America’s tribes that remain relatively isolated from the outside world. More than 26,700 people live within a protected reservation the size of Portugal, near the Venezuelan border.

However, the land beneath the pristine forest they have inhabited for centuries contains valuable minerals – including gold.

Saskatchewan sets up nuclear secretariat to plan for reactors – by Michael Bramadat-Willcock (National Observer – June 24, 2020)

June 25, 2020

https://www.nationalobserver.com/

La Ronge, Saskatchewan – The provincial government unveiled its plans Wednesday to establish an office to co-ordinate nuclear policy and program work within the Climate Change and Adaptation Division of the Ministry of Environment.

The new nuclear secretariat is mandated to develop and execute a strategic plan for the deployment of “clean-energy small modular reactors” in the province. No timeframe commitments were made in the announcement, which also did not provide sites in Saskatchewan where new reactors will be installed.

“The deployment of small modular reactors in Saskatchewan will require collaboration with several partners to fully encompass the benefits Saskatchewan could see in way of jobs, enhanced value chains for Saskatchewan’s uranium, and our made-in-Saskatchewan climate policy,” Environment Minister Dustin Duncan said.

NEWS RELEASE: Steelworkers Union Welcomes WSIB Decision Recognizing McIntyre Powder-Related Parkinson’s as Occupational Disease (June 24, 2020)

June 25, 2020

https://www.usw.ca/

TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–United Steelworkers (USW) Ontario Director Marty Warren welcomes the announcement that Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) has finally recognized that Parkinson’s Disease is a direct result of exposure to McIntyre Powder.

McIntyre Powder was an aluminum-based inhalant used between 1943 and 1979 in mines and other industries where workers might be exposed to silica dust. The theory, eventually proved false, was that inhaling the powder would protect workers’ lungs.

“This a victory we have been fighting to win for many years,” Warren said of the WSIB decision.

“This means workers’ claims for compensation may finally be met. We consider this a significant step forward toward justice for elderly and sick retirees and their families, although for some families this news comes too late as many who should have been compensated while they were alive have passed away. In the case of those victims’ families, the Estate can file claims on behalf of their loved one.”

Blood on the Coal tartan honours Springhill’s coal mining heritage – by Darrell Cole (Halifax Chronicle Herald – June 25, 2020)

June 25, 2020

https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/

SPRINGHILL, N.S. – It has been more than 60 years since large scale coal mining ended in Springhill, but its heritage is still a big part of the community’s soul.

Springhill native Roberta Bell was sleeping last June when the inspiration came to her to develop a coal miner’s tartan in honour of all those who went deep into the earth, and paid a heavy price, to dig coal and fuel the economy of Nova Scotia.

Bell has unveiled Blood on the Coal, a commemorative tartan that celebrates the coal mining heritage of Springhill.

Argo Gold: Reviving an old Gold Mining Camp – by Judy Baker and Deio Tortosa (Ontario Prospector – Fall 2019)

June 25, 2020

https://argogold.ca/

Judy Baker is President and CEO of Argo Gold and Delio Tortosa is a geological consultant.

After a 25-year lag in gold exploration in the Uchi Gold Camp, Argo Gold Inc. has been reviving exploration discovery interest in the ‘shadow of the headframe’ south of the historical Uchi Gold Mine with its high-grade Uchi Gold Project in Northwestern Ontario.

During the mid-1930s to the early 1940s, four gold mines were developed by Uchi Mines Ltd. under the direction of Jack Hammel, a well known mine developer in the Red Lake area. The gold mines are in the southeast end of the Birch-Uchi Greenstone Belt, about 100 km east of the prolific Red Lake Greenstone Belt.

Argo Gold’s Uchi Gold Project of 22 square kilometers of 100% owned claims is the highly prospective, yet relatively unexplored ground immediately south and on trend with the historical mines.

Ontario’s next gold mine ‘perfectly timed’ – by Mariaan Webb (MiningWeekly.com – June 25, 2020)

June 25, 2020

https://www.miningweekly.com/

Construction of Canada’s next gold mine is rapidly advancing and is now only months away from its first gold pour.

The PureGold Red Lake mine, which dual listed Pure Gold Mining is building in the Red Lake mining district of north-western Ontario, will pour its first gold towards the tail-end of the fourth quarter.

The company is delivering its mine into a rising gold market, with the potential to benefit from a period of margin expansion “unlike any we have seen in years”, president and CEO Darin Labrenz said on Wednesday.