Some encouraging mining news for Manitoba. There seems to be some real potential for the province to stake a very profitable place in future renewable energy industries.
From Martin Cash, WPG Free Press, July 19:
Good things happening in Manitoba mining
Two companies announce promising preliminary mineral exploration findings
The rule of thumb in the mining world is that about one in 1,000 mineral exploration projects hits a payload that is economically mineable.
In the past week and a half, two companies working in different parts of the province announced preliminary mineral exploration findings that are among the most promising in many years.
Last week, Callinex Mines Inc. announced a high-grade copper, zinc and gold resource near Flin Flon and on Tuesday, Grid Metal Corp. announced a high-grade lithium find north of Lac du Bonnet.
Both discoveries are officially classified as mineral “resources” at this stage, which means much more exploration and analysis is required before it could become a mineral “reserve”, which is the portion of the resource that could be economically mined.
But still, the Callinex resource is larger than the initial resource disclosures for some of the most successful mines in the province, including HudBay’s 777 and Lalor mines.
Max Porterfield, the CEO of Callinex, said, “In terms the stage we are at, our property at Pine Bay is larger than the initial resource disclosures from HudBay mines that grew into flagship mines in the Flin Flon area.”
Vancouver-based Callinex is planning on another $6 million worth of drilling on the project to be completed by the fall.
“We are steadfast to grow the size and scale of this property through an exploration campaign that has been ongoing since mid-March,” he said.
For some time, Grid Metal’s Donner Lake lithium project has shown signs of promise in the current global scramble to find lithium, a key component needed for the batteries that are to power the millions of electric vehicles that the auto manufacturers have said they plan to build very soon.
Grid Metals, based in Toronto, is already looking at extracting enough ore from the Donner Lake site to test bulk samples. To that end, it is about to apply for an advanced exploration permit to do the bulk test at Tanco Mines’ lithium concentrator, only about 35 kilometres south of Grid’s Donner Lake property.
It has also made an arrangement with 1911 Gold Corp., the company that owns the Bissett gold mine and processing operation (which is currently not operating), to convert the mill — that was built to process gold — to produce lithium concentrate. That mill is 85 kilometres away.
Robin Dunbar, the CEO of Grid Metals said, “The good thing is there is potential two place to process the lithium.”
The Tanco Mine, the only active lithium mine in Canada, is owned by a Chinese mining company. Officials from that company have expressed their interest in investing close to $1 billion to build a lithium hydroxide plant in Manitoba for the North American supply chain. That’s the processing required to convert lithium into the form required for battery manufacturers.
(Because of the Canadian government’s concerns about foreign ownership of critical minerals, Tanco’s Chinese owners have already been forced to sell their stake in another lithium exploration company.)
The developments are further evidence of a successful renewal of mineral exploration activity in the province over the last few years. Manitoba and Saskatchewan are the only jurisdictions in the country that have seen exploration increase each of the past three years with proposed expenditures of $163.8 million this year in Manitoba, up from $99.2 million in 2021.
A spokesperson from the department said it could be a record month for the province. Manitoba has never had two announcements of initial mine resources within a two-week period.
Jeff Wharton, minister of economic development, investment and trade, which includes the mining portfolio, said the developments mean potential economic development in both the north and southeastern portions of the province.
“Things are happening the mining sector for sure,” he said. “We obviously need to ensure we move forward in the new world we are in. This is a signal to folks that we are open for business.”
As busy as it is, Porterfield said the regulatory apparatus in Manitoba has been very responsive to Callinex’s various permitting applications.
Another encouraging element of both developments is that they are fully serviced by power and roadway infrastructure.
Porterfield said, “When there is a lack of infrastructure it’s hard to get people out there and it leads to very high upfront capital costs.”
In the backdrop of the closure of HudBay’s 777 Mine in Flin Flon, Porterfield said, “The policy-makers in Manitoba are aligned with ourselves and the community to get whatever we need to get permitted in a timely manner and done the right way so we can create the jobs we have always been looking to create.”
Speaking of HudBay, it too is aggressively engaged in exploration work in the province, as is Vale in the Thompson area.
HudBay is working with junior exploration companies and other types of joint ventures. It is even exploring outside its own large holdings
MaryAnn Mihychuk, the CEO of the Manitoba Prospectors and Developers Association, said, “This is something new for HudBay. It is very, very positive.”
“Our long-term vision was to have the next anchor mine for the community of Flin Flon with the keen understanding that the 777 mine would not last forever,” Porterfield said. “Now that we’re here we look forward to the future and to begin that process.”
martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
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