A federal assessment has kicked off of Canada Nickel Company’s proposed open-pit mine development, north of Timmins.
The Toronto mine developer announced Aug. 8 that the process for its Crawford nickel project has been initiated by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. The company filed the necessary documents to the regulator back in May. The files contain an initial project description.
The federal Impact Assessment permitting process is part of a new wave of government reviews of major industrial projects introduced by Ottawa in 2019. It goes beyond environmental assessments by incorporating public feedback, particularly from Indigenous people, on the wider impacts of an operation in a given region and how a company plans to address any issues raised.