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 the passage of Ontario’s contentious bill to fast-track major projects, Export Development Canada’s interest in supporting Defense Metals’ Wicheeda project, and more wildfire disruptions to multiple mine sites. 

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government passed its controversial Bill 5 on Wednesday without a promised amendment to reaffirm the government’s obligation to consult with First Nations, as reported by The Globe and Mail. The bill, which gives the province powers to speed up mining and other development projects by designating “special economic zones” exempt from provincial and municipal bylaws, has drawn massive backlash from First Nations, who say it tramples on treaty rights. To circumvent the Ontario Liberals’ attempt to stall the legislation by introducing thousands of amendments in committee, the government limited debate and passed the bill in the legislature—which also meant leaving out its own amendments. 

Ivanhoe Mines could restart operations at its Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo later this month, the company said in a Monday press release. The mine was forced to temporarily close in late May due to seismic activity that flooded part of the mine. The company said its engineering team is pursuing a dewatering plan that would allow the western part of the mine to return to operations first, subject to dewatering progress. The eastern side would resume production after dewatering is complete. 

A mechanical issue forced Teck Resources to temporarily shutter the SAG mill at its Carmen de Andacollo operation in Chile for maintenance, as reported on Monday by The Canadian Press. Teck estimated the repairs would take roughly a month, but said it does not anticipate the downtime will have a material impact on production. The company is planning to reschedule other planned maintenance to occur while the mill undergoes repairs. 

U.S. President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to 50 per cent on Tuesday, a move that the Canadian Steel Producers Association said would have “unrecoverable consequences” for Canadian producers, as reported by CBC News. The executive order claimed the previous 25 per cent tariff, imposed on March 12, had not been hefty enough to support U.S. industries. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office said in a statement to CBC News on Tuesday that the government was in the midst of “intensive and live negotiations” with the U.S. to have tariffs removed as part of a broader resetting of the countries’ economic relationship.

Ongoing wildfires in the Prairie provinces continue to disrupt mining operations. SSR Mining suspended operations at its Seabee gold mine near La Ronge, Saskatchewan, on Wednesday due to a forest fire roughly 15 kilometres north of the site. Hudbay Minerals suspended work at its Snow Lake gold-copper-zinc mine in northern Manitoba after the nearby town of Snow Lake was put under an early evacuation notice on Tuesday, but said essential personnel will stay on site for emergency support. Favourable weather conditions, constructed firebreaks and “natural barriers” have slowed the advance of a forest fire near Foran Mining’s McIlvenna Bay site in east-central Saskatchewan and kept the active fire edge one kilometre away from the tailings facility and three kilometres from the main site infrastructure. Foran evacuated more than 500 employees on May 22. 

Export Development Canada may lend Defense Metals US$250 million to help the company build its Wicheeda rare earth element project in British Columbia, as reported on Wednesday by The Northern Miner. Canada’s export credit agency has expressed its interest in participating as a mandated lead arranger for Defense’s financing package in response to the company’s request for potential financing. A February preliminary feasibility study pegged the cost of building Wicheeda at US$1.4 billion, and estimated a 15-year mine life with an average annual output of 31,900 tonnes of total rare earth oxide in concentrate. 

The British Columbia government is partnering with the Tahltan, Taku River Tlingit, Kaska Dena, Gitanyow and Nisga’a Nations on a land-use planning initiative in the northwestern part of the province, an area that covers roughly 16 million hectares, as reported by Mining.com. The plan will set out areas for biodiversity conservation, and more clearly define areas that are open to potential development, with environmental and sustainability protections. It will be developed after consultations with communities, First Nations, regional districts, industry, tenure holders, recreation users and conservation organizations. 

Moves by Glencore and Anglo American suggest that the initial stages of mega-mergers that could create two globally dominant mining companies worth a combined US$315 billion are underway, wrote Australian journalist Tim Treadgold in Forbes. Glencore has restructured its coal assets under a single Australian unit, which Australian investment bank Barrenjoey said could make it easier to work with Rio Tinto on a merger. Anglo American, meanwhile, has made several restructuring moves after merger talks with BHP failed last year. Glencore and Anglo American’s copper projects make them ideal merger targets for Rio Tinto and BHP, respectively, Treadgold wrote. 

The independence of an “independent qualified person” is “probably one of the worst diggers of traps in National Instrument 43-101”, wrote James Whyte and Chris Collins in the March/April issue of CIM Magazine. Whyte and Collins addressed some common misconceptions about independent qualified persons (QPs), including when such independence is actually needed and the factors that determine whether a QP is truly independent. 

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?