Current status

Terms of reference—amendment: approved, June 18, 2015

Project summary

Wyloo (formerly Noront Resources Ltd.) is proposing the development of a multi-metal underground mine to produce and supply nickel, copper, platinum and palladium.

Proponent

Wyloo

Location

McFaulds Lake Project in the Ring of Fire, James Bay Lowlands, Northern Ontario

Type

Mining

Reference number

11102

Contact

Sasha McLeod, Special Project Officer
Environmental Assessment Branch

Dorothy Moszynski, Special Project Officer
Environmental Assessment Branch

Project history

Terms of reference—amendment: approved
Date submitted: October 5, 2012
Decision date: June 18, 2015

Terms of reference: submitted
Date submitted: April 5, 2012
Expiry of public comment period: May 7, 2012

Voluntary agreement: signed
Date submitted: August 3, 2011
Signature date: September 9, 2011

Terms of reference

Wyloo (proponent) is proposing the development of a multi-metal underground mine and related infrastructure to produce and supply a concentrate containing nickel, copper, platinum and palladium minerals. The Eagle’s Nest deposit is located the Ring of Fire near McFaulds Lake in northern Ontario.

The project involves the construction, operation, closure and decommissioning of the mine and associated facilities, including:

  • an underground mine, mill and ancillary facilities
  • concentrate handling and transfer and transload facilities
  • tailings and waste rock management
  • overburden and aggregate stockpiling
  • surface infrastructure such as accommodations and service facilities, power generation or transmission, waste management, explosives handling and storage, and fuel storage
  • water collection, management and treatment
  • a transportation corridor to link the mine to existing provincial infrastructure

The Eagle’s Nest deposit contains approximately 11 million tonnes of resources, which the proponent plans to extract at a rate of 2,960 tonnes per day with an approximate 11-year mine life. Closure activities will occur at the end of mine life.

The study area will be centred on the Eagle’s Nest Project site and property, which is located approximately 300 km north of Nakina and 530 km northeast of Thunder Bay.

The proponent submitted an initial terms of reference (ToR) for the Eagle’s Nest Project on April 5, 2012 to the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (ministry). An amended ToR was submitted to the ministry on October 5, 2012 for review and decision under the Environmental Assessment Act (EAA).

In 2015, the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change approved the ToR with amendments that the Minister considered necessary in order to address outstanding issues and concerns raised during the review by government agencies, Aboriginal communities and others. The approved ToR, which includes the amendments, sets out in detail the requirements for the preparation of the EA. The proponent may now proceed with preparing its EA in accordance with the approved ToR.

For an electronic copy of the approved ToR, please email the contacts listed in the project summary section of this page.

Voluntary agreement

Mining development projects are carried out by private sector proponents and are not subject to the EAA, although certain components of the project (such as the construction of ancillary facilities, modifications to provincial highways or the construction of a transmission line or power generation) may trigger EAA requirements.

On September 9, 2011, Noront Resources Ltd. entered into a voluntary agreement with the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change to make the proposed project subject to the requirements of the EAA.