Welcome back to your weekly mining news recap, where we catch you up on some of the news you may have missed. This week’s headlines include more investments in B2Gold’s Goose project, the release of a feasibility study for Denison Mine’s Phoenix uranium deposit and an Indigenous economic development group investing in a battery recycling operation in northeastern Ontario.  

Newcrest Mining’s exploration activities at its Red Chris gold-copper project in British Columbia have been proving fruitful, which could lead the company to extend mining in the area for decades, as reported by BNN Bloomberg. The Australian miner is considering adding underground block cave mining to the Red Chris open-pit operations. The neighbouring East Ridge area could also increase the block cave’s capacity, which for now was expected to produce until 2030 based on its feasibility study. Newcrest is set to be acquired by Newmont Corporation in a deal valued at about US$19 billion.

Suncor is the victim of what is said to be the most significant cyberattack on an oil and gas company in Canadian history, as reported by CTV. The company commented in a press release that it had “experienced a cybersecurity incident” but did not elaborate. The news came after social media users posted about not being able to pay with credit or debit cards at the company’s chain of Petro-Canada gas stations across the country or use car wash services over the weekend.

Newmont has declared force majeure on deliveries of some metal products due to an ongoing union strike at its Peñasquito gold mine in Zacatecas, Mexico, as reported by Reuters. Interruptions in production have prevented Newmont from meeting contract obligations with customers for some of the mine’s products. The company stated it is engaging in “constructive dialogue” with the union. The mine, which also produces zinc and lead, was expected to produce between 190,510 and 208,654420 tonnes of zinc this year and 77,111 and 86,183 tonnes of lead, according to a February estimate. 

B2Gold has allocated an additional $90 million to the construction of its Goose project in Nunavut, bringing the project’s total capital expenditure to $890 million. The updated budget aims to accelerate underground mining development, which is expected to increase average gold production in the first five years to more than 300,000 ounces per year. The company stated that the Goose project is on schedule for mill completion in the first quarter of 2025.

Indigenous economic development group Three Fires is committed to investing $10 million in a Temiskaming battery recycling operation being developed by Toronto-based Electra Battery Materials, as reported by Northern Ontario Business. The project is a joint venture between Three Fires and Electra and it aims to recycle black mass material from the multiple electric vehicles and battery cell plants being built in southwestern Ontario. The investment is part of a larger financing arrangement for the venture, totalling $20 million.

Denison Mines released the feasibility study for the Phoenix deposit at its Wheeler River uranium project in northern Saskatchewan. The operation would use an in-situ recovery method to produce an estimated 8.4 million pounds of uranium concentrate over the first five years of its 10-year life. The estimated capital cost for the project is $420 million. The study projects a net present value of $1.56 billion at an eight per cent discount rate. In the announcement, the company also updated details of the pre-feasibility study for its Gryphon underground mine project, which is expected to cost $737 million to build.  

In recent metallurgical tests, FPX Nickel has successfully increased the recovery of nickel from samples taken at the Baptiste nickel project by four per cent. The results, based on Davis tube recoverable (DTR) testing, show a new recovery rate of 88.7 per cent, compared to the initial 84.7 percent figure from a 2020 preliminary economic assessment. The results were released ahead of its prefeasibility study expected in September.

A preliminary economic assessment of Wallbridge Mining’s Fenelon gold project expects the construction of a mine in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in Quebec will cost around $645 million. It anticipates the project could produce 212,000 ounces of gold per year and all-in sustaining costs are estimated to be US$924 per ounce. Results showed the project could generate an after-tax net present value of $721 million at a five per cent discount rate and an after-tax internal rate of return of 18 per cent. The study assumed a gold price of US$1,750.

NASA is taking steps towards lunar mining and developing resources on the moon that would first include oxygen and water, and could later expand to iron and rare earths, as reported by Reuters. The plans are part of NASA’s Artemis mission and look towards advancing commercial opportunities in space. At the end of the month, NASA will send a test drill rig to the moon and is planning a larger-scale excavation of moon soil and a pilot processing plant in 2032.

Teck Resources has been awarded the Zinc Mark for its Trail mining operations in southern British Columbia, as reported by the Canadian Mining Journal. The award is part of the industry-funded Copper Mark framework, which evaluates copper, nickel, zinc or molybdenum processing sites on 32 criteria around responsible mine production. Teck’s Trail operation is one of the world’s largest fully integrated zinc and lead smelting and refining complexes and the first stand-alone processing site to be recognized with the Zinc Mark. 

That’s all for this week. If you’ve got feedback, you can always reach us at editor@cim.org. If you’ve got something to add, why not join the conversation on our Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram pages?