The M&E Dispatch // 089

Hello Everyone,

By now you’ve likely seen the news that Ekati has run into some challenges.

Hundreds laid off. Operations at Point Lake paused. Again. So what do we want the North to look like 10 years from now?

Rough diamond prices are down. The market turned. And just like that, families are left wondering what now?

It’s a hard hit. But for anyone who’s worked in or around resource communities, it’s not a new story.

And that’s exactly the problem.

I grew up in Port Alice, B.C., in the 1980s. It was a pulp town. Tight-knit, proud, beautiful, and entirely built on a single commodity.

After school, my friends and I would sit outside the tiny video rental store asking people what they were returning. If it was an NES game we wanted, we’d follow them in. Store policy said you couldn’t renew if someone else was waiting.

We were waiting.

We’d sip Tahiti Treat and eat $0.01 candies and feel like the kings of the village.

Until the pulp market tanked.
And the town that raised me… evaporated.

The people were still good people. The place was still beautiful. But the economy was gone.

And Port Alice wasn’t the only one.

In the late ’70s, just as molybdenum was taking off, a company built a fully planned community in Northern B.C., Kitsault. Houses, sidewalks, a school, a hospital, a shopping mall. Everything.

And then, 18 months later, the moly market collapsed.
The mine closed.
And the town emptied.

A mall. With no shoppers.
Still there. Still echoing with what could’ve been.

Et tu, Ekati?

Hundreds of people, many of them Indigenous, many of them Northerners, suddenly without work. Not because anyone failed. But because the price moved and the model broke.

We’re still building places for the commodity, not for the people.

And it’s time to ask: What exactly are we trying to build up North?

It’s Time for a Northern Hub-and-Spoke City

What if, instead of repeating this cycle, we actually built a city in the North?

Not a camp.
Not a fly-in-fly-out module.
A real, modern, permanent Northern hub, designed to support multiple surrounding operations across industries.

Imagine this:

• A centralized city with full amenities, healthcare, education, trades training, grocery stores that don’t charge $17 for lettuce, proper internet, recreation, and reliable infrastructure.

• Spokes radiating out to mine sites, processing plants, renewable energy projects, and communities.

• A workforce that lives in the North, not just visits it.

• Local businesses that serve more than one project.

• Housing that isn’t dismantled every time a balance sheet shifts.

• A diversified regional economy that bends with the market, not snaps.

Why It Matters, now, more than ever.

• Sovereignty: A populated North is a defended North. We talk about it often, here’s a chance to act.

• Resilience: Resource towns fall when the price falls. Resource hubs don’t.

• Equity: Northerners deserve more than job postings and shutdown notices.

• Vision: FIFO works for a season. Cities work for generations.

The layoffs at Ekati hurt. They should.

But they also give us the chance to finally ask:

• What kind of Northern presence are we trying to build?

• How do we create something that survives the cycle?

• And what do we owe to the people who’ve built the North before, and are still here trying?

Because we’ve built for booms before.
Now it’s time to build something that stays.

// The Dirt

FPX Nickel Receives $14.4M Strategic Investment from Sumitomo
Sumitomo has taken a 9.9% stake in FPX Nickel, signaling major interest in its Baptiste Nickel Project in BC’s Decar District.
https://fpxnickel.com/news/2024/fpx-nickel-announces-strategic-investment-from-sumitomo-metal-mining/

American Pacific Mining Samples 9.89 g/t Gold at Tuscarora
Channel sampling at the Grand Prize target in Nevada returns high-grade gold, supporting further drill plans.
https://americanpacificmining.com/news/2024/american-pacific-mining-channel-sampling-program-yields-9.89-gt-au-at-tuscarora-gold-project/

Arizona Sonoran Reports 156m of 0.82% Cu at Cactus West
Continued drilling success expands mineralized zones at its flagship Cactus Project in Arizona.
https://arizonasonoran.com/news/2024/arizona-sonoran-drills-156-m-of-0.82-cu-in-west-oxide-at-cactus-west/

Ero Copper Expands Deepening Project at Caraíba
Underground development at the Pilar Mine in Brazil is ahead of schedule and under budget.
https://erocopper.com/news/2024/ero-copper-provides-update-on-caraiba-operations/

Ascendant Resources Confirms High-Grade Zinc at Lagoa Salgada
Recent drilling supports the potential for enhanced zinc recovery and extended mine life in Portugal.
https://ascendantresources.com/news/2024/ascendant-resources-intersects-multiple-high-grade-zinc-lead-zones/

Alpha Copper Launches Drill Program at Hopper Project
The Yukon-based project begins a new exploration phase targeting high-grade copper-gold porphyry mineralization.
https://alphacopper.com/news/2024/alpha-copper-launches-drilling-at-hopper/

G Mining Ventures Increases Interest in Tocantinzinho Gold Project
GMIN ups its ownership to 83% following option agreement exercises and strategic investments.
https://gminingventures.com/news/2024/g-mining-ventures-increases-ownership-in-tocantinzinho/

Strategic Minerals Europe Reports Q2 Tantalum Production
Operational highlights include 2,559 lb of tantalum concentrate, maintaining stable output at the Penouta Project in Spain.
https://strategicminerals.com/news/2024/strategic-minerals-europe-q2-production-results/

Montage Gold Begins Construction Prep at Koné Project
Early-stage activities including roadwork and earthworks are underway in Côte d’Ivoire ahead of full-scale construction.
https://montagegoldcorp.com/news/2024/montage-gold-corp-begins-pre-construction-activities-at-kone/

Eloro Resources Intersects 106.2 g/t Silver Eq Over 78.5m
Assay results at Iska Iska in Bolivia continue to highlight the project’s high-grade polymetallic potential.
https://elororesources.com/news-media/news/eloro-intersects-106.2-g-t-ag-eq-over-78.5m-in-fill-drilling-at-iska-iska/

Have you ever tried to get rid of all your possessions?

Back to my lived experience in Port Alice, I remember when the mill was closing and we move to Nanaimo. Streets filled with loads of u-hauls and pickups packed looking like a bunch of Canadian Clampetts.

As we move this time we’re getting rid of everything, a backpack and duffel bag each as we head across the country.

We have a lot of stuff, much of it with real value but not quite enough to put the effort into selling it - so it’s given away or simply binned.

It’s amazing what you hold on to, out of sentimentality or sunk cost, that in the end simply keeps you from moving forward.

Some things are worth holding onto. Most just take up space. And when it’s time to go, you know the difference.

You can’t move forward if you’re dragging the past behind you.

T-22 days and counting.

Have a great weekend all,

- Lee