Tausi Insider

Ring of Fire Metals is in talks with the United States government about possibly getting funding for its critical minerals project in northern Ontario. “We’ve had initial discussions with the U.S. Department of Defence (DOD) regarding the important role that Northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire region will play in producing the critical minerals needed by Canada and the U.S.” the company said in a statement to Tausi Insider. The Australian-owned junior mining company is trying to move forward on the Eagle’s Nest nickel project, which it hopes one day will produce metals for electric cars. Ring of Fire Metals. is also studying the viability of constructing a battery processing plant in Ontario that would refine nickel for the automotive industry. The DOD last week confirmed it is willing to help fund feasibility studies for early-stage mining companies in North America with promising projects that could help alleviate shortages in some critical minerals, like battery metals. Feasibility st...

The remote Ring of Fire region, located 550 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, has been touted by the Ontario government as a key part of its plan to produce battery metals domestically. A top Canadian federal government official has raised doubts about whether Ontario’s Ring of Fire region will ever be developed, pouring cold water on a critical minerals project that the provincial government has championed and the United States administration has expressed interest in funding. Jeff Labonté, assistant deputy minister for lands and minerals at Natural Resources Canada, told senior leadership at the Neskantaga First Nation in a meeting on Nov. 17 that it’s possible no mines will be built in the region, and that there is no guarantee Ottawa will ever come forward with the roughly $1-billion in funding needed for development to proceed. Mr. Labonté joined Natural Resources Canada in 1993 and is the government’s foremost expert on critical minerals. His skepticism comes as a key environmen...

The Royal Canadian Mint has issued a toonie featuring a black outer ring to honour Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September after 70 years on the throne. The Canadian Press The Royal Canadian Mint is issuing a new black-ringed toonie to honour Queen Elizabeth. The mint says the coin’s black outer ring is intended to evoke a “mourning armband” to honour the Queen, who died in September after 70 years on the throne. The mint says it will start to circulate nearly five million of the coins this month, and they will gradually appear as banks restock inventories. Aside from the black ring, the mint says the coin retains the same design elements of the standard toonie. Four different images of the Queen have graced Canadian coins since 1953, when she was crowned. The core of the commemorative toonie will feature the same portrait of the Queen that has been in circulation since 2003, with a polar bear design on the other side. “Queen Elizabeth II served as Canada’s head of state for seven ...

Maurice Moreau, Glencore Canada Environmental Management Systems Lead for Ontario and Quebec, holds nickel samples at the Glencore facility at Quebec Port in Limoilou on Aug. 17. Stephanie Foden/Tausi Insider Ottawa is vowing to cut red tape in the mining sector in an attempt to move large resource projects along faster, after facing intense criticism that Canada risks being left behind in the global scramble to secure critical minerals. In the federal government’s long-awaited critical minerals strategy, unveiled on Friday, Ottawa acknowledged that getting a Canadian mine for the minerals into production can take up to 25 years. That is far slower than other international mining jurisdictions that Canada competes against, such as Australia, in which projects are developed in a fraction of that time. “We recognize that, although responsible regulations are vital, complex regulatory and permitting processes can hinder the economic competitiveness of the sector and increase investment ...

Ottawa is vowing to cut red tape in the mining industry, to move large resource projects along faster, after facing heavy criticism that Canada risks being left behind in the global scramble to secure critical minerals. In the federal government’s long-awaited critical minerals strategy unveiled on Friday, Ottawa acknowledged that getting a Canadian critical mineral mine into production can take up to 25 years. That is far slower than other international mining jurisdictions that Canada is competing against, such as Australia, which can move projects along in a fraction of that time. “We recognize that, although responsible regulations are vital, complex regulatory and permitting processes can hinder the economic competitiveness of the sector and increase investment risk for proponents,” the federal government said in its release. Top federal government official casts doubt on Ontario’s Ring of Fire mining development Ottawa says it will attempt to harmonize, co-ordinate, and streaml...