Wyloo lays out mining vision

THUNDER BAY, ONT. — The sale of Toronto-based Ring of Fire explorer Noront Resources to the Australian mining company Wyloo Metals is quickly approaching the finalization date of April 7.

A bidding war was won by Wyloo with a $617-million proposal and approved by Noront shareholders.

The merger serves as the first attempt by the Australian mining company coming to Canada to revive a dormant, prime mineral belt.

Local business owners, politicians and First Nation leaders met with Wyloo Metals chief executive officer Luca Giacovazzi last month in Thunder Bay. The informal visit, organized by the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce, involved several meetings throughout the city to introduce Giacovazzi to the stakeholders, make connections and to discuss his vision for the Eagle’s Nest project.

Giacovazzi spoke about the Perth-based company’s past projects and their current involvements in other areas.

Charla Robinson, chamber president, said the Eagle’s Nest project is the first project they will be working with because of a huge growth in demand for copper, nickel, platinum and palladium for battery production.

“It’s a really, really important time for them to be moving forward with that and they want to be part of the Ontario battery metal supply chain and work towards that battery chemicals facility developed in Ontario, hopefully,” she said.

“I think the really interesting part was the work that they’ve done with mines in Australia, with Indigenous communities and how they have really built their procurement and their hiring policies around inclusion and benefits-sharing with Indigenous communities in Australia. They’ve had really good success with that.”

Robinson called this “helpful” information, particularly for Northern Ontario and for Northern First Nation communities that are integrally involved in ensuring that this project goes forward.

With deep pockets, Wyloo has the money to invest to try to move the project forward.

“I think that’s something that has been a challenge for the last number of years. Noront just didn’t have the financial resources to be able to do what needed to be done,” she said.

“While they bring that financial peace, as well as the significant experience that they have with working with Indigenous partners in other jurisdictions, I think those are two really key, assets . . . and it’s really exciting because it does give it a bit of a shot in the arm to get things moving forward again.”

However, there is still a long list of things that needs to be done, which includes various First Nation approvals, consultation with communities, environmental assessments, and the road construction that the local First Nations are taking the lead on.

Robinson says from a chamber perspective, it’s exciting to see a company with the finances behind them to invest in this project with the enthusiasm to move it forward and recognize the great opportunity for Northern Ontario. She said the key experience that Wyloo Metals has in working with Indigenous communities and how to make sure that the Indigenous communities are fully involved and benefit from these types of projects is encouraging and a critical element for the North.