Norway House in full control of nickel project

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This article was published 04/11/2024 (340 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Norway House Cree Nation has acquired the rights to the proposed Minago nickel mine in northern Manitoba, effectively becoming the only First Nation in Canada to own 100 per cent of a mineral project.

Making the announcement Monday in Winnipeg at the Central Canada Mineral Exploration Convention (the largest mining industry conference in Western Canada), Norway House Chief Larson Anderson said the band has been working on the Minago deal for some time.

It signed a co-operation agreement in 2022 with former owner Flying Nickel Mining Corp., but Larson said development of the mine was moving too slowly.

Norway House will spend about $10 million to acquire the mining rights, including 94 claims on a large swath of land south of Ponton and north of Grand Rapids along Highway 6.

“No other First Nation has had the guts to purchase a mine,” Anderson said. “It may sound a little naïve on my part, but who would have guessed our Nation would buy the former Manitoba Hydro head office and turn it into our future embassy?”

Norway House is in the process of renovating the former Manitoba Hydro building on Taylor Avenue in Winnipeg it purchased in 2023.

Minago has been the subject of exploration interest for close to two decades. The proposed open pit mine will eventually require as much as $1 billion of investment to become a reality and is seen as a long way from production.

However, Anderson said the need for that kind of massive capital investment is the way mining companies have deceived First Nations in the past.

“We could never come up with $500 million plus one dollar to own a controlling stake,” he said. “Flying Nickel was desperate, so we bought them out. We invested $10 million for a mine that is potentially worth more than $20 billion.”

The announcement was made the same day the province officially released its new critical mineral strategy, which places a high priority on First Nations partnerships in mineral exploration and production .

One industry professional said, in the past, that kind of work was just budgeted as a cost. “How would those projects look if First Nation partnership was a core component of the project?” the source said.

CCMEC manager Stacey Kennedy, head of operations at Vale and chairperson of the Mining Association of Manitoba, said Vale recently signed its first exploration benefits agreement with Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation.

Anderson said part of motivation to acquire 100 per cent of the Minago property was it would be a way to deal with dire social challenges on the First Nation of 8,000-plus members, located 450 kilometres north of Winnipeg by air.

“We have high unemployment and not many solutions in sight,” he said.

Meanwhile, over time, Norway House has put a number of pieces in place to allow it to develop Minago.

Among other things, it has acquired work camp assets enough to house 125 workers. (The proposed open pit operation is estimated to require about 500 workers.)

Norway House also owns Playgreen Development Co., a heavy construction firm, and has a joint venture with Sigfusson Northern (called JNR) that specializes in heavy civil construction in the North, including mine development, bridges and roads.

It also has an agreement in place with Dumas Contracting, a company that operates mines, to train up Norway House members for work in the sector. It has agreements with a drilling company to finish off exploratory work to better understand the mineral composition of the property.

Some observers have said Minago has not moved forward in the past because there is no market for the several metres of rock covering the estimated nickel reserve.

On Monday, Anderson said Norway House’s existing quarry operations can be expanded to handle the Minago rock, which could be used to stabilize the banks of Lake Winnipeg.

It’s not clear when development of the mine will commence.

Anderson said the current market for nickel is not great, but Norway House can do a lot of preparatory work so it will be ready when the market is more favourable.

Meanwhile, in his presentation at the CCMEC outlining the new critical minerals strategy, Jamie Moses, minister of economic development, investment, trade and natural resources, said the province has unlocked another $2 million for the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund (administered by the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce).

Chuck Davidson, chambers CEO, said demand has been so high it has a substantial backlog of applications. He said the body will reopen the application portal, but expects the additional $2 million will be spoken for in short order.

Since 2019, the fund has provided $14.5 million in grants, which have leveraged another $128 million in private-sector investment, creating 660 jobs.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca