A major tungsten deposit near the Yukon-N.W.T. border has been attracting plenty of money and attention in Canada and the United States, but getting the critical mineral to market from its remote Mactung site will be no easy feat.
The Mactung property is considered to be among the world’s largest high-grade deposits of tungsten.
It’s attracted attention — and money — from both the American and Canadian governments. It also lies in a hard to access area on the Yukon-N.W.T. border.
The deposit lies at the end of the North Canol road, an artery completed by the American army in 1943 as part of the Second World War–era Canol Project, which supported development of the Norman Wells oilfield in the Northwest Territories and construction of a military oil pipeline.
Today, it’s a narrow, rough gravel track that’s best tackled with a four-wheel drive. It stretches about 250 kilometres from Ross River, Yukon, to the N.W.T. border.
Fireweed Metals bought the Mactung property from the N.W.T. government in 2022. The company’s latest geotechnical assessment from 2023 (Mineral Resource Estimate or MRE) describes it as “the world’s largest, high-grade tungsten deposit … with sufficient mineral resources to potentially supply North America’s expected tungsten demand for decades.”
A year ago, the U.S. Department of Defense and the Canadian governments announced up to $35 million in combined funding for initial planning.
Fireweed CEO Ian Gibbs says the money is being used for preliminary feasibility studies on upgrading the North Canol road from Ross River to MacMillan Pass and to explore the feasibility of building a power line from Ross River to MacMillan Pass.
Gibbs says it’s quite unusual for governments to simply give money to mining companies.
“I can say it’s the first time in my career, it’s the first time I’ve ever been with a company that’s received government funding, to be honest with you. And I think that speaks to the critical nature of the assets that we have in Mac Pass but in particular the tungsten assets.”
Project in early stages
Gibbs says it’s very early days in the planning.
He concedes that even if the road were upgraded and a power line installed, getting ore across the Pelly River at Ross River would still present a challenge.
“I think it’s safe to say that the cable barge at Ross River is definitely on its last legs … a bridge over the Pelly in the Ross River area would be an advantage to any kind of mineral development. It would be ideal if there were a bridge.”
Gibbs says the company has had “discussions” with the Yukon government about a bridge across the Pelly River, but he says that decision lies firmly with the Ross River Dena Council and the Yukon government.
He says nothing will happen in the area without the consent and participation of the affected First Nations. The North Canol road cuts through the heart of Ross River Dena Council traditional territory, and the project also lies on the traditional territory of the First Nation of Nacho Nyäk Dun.
He says Fireweed Metals is eager to work with the First Nations, in particular the Ross River Dena Council.
“There’s no question. Without the nations seeing an appropriate sharing of benefits and enhancing their capacity, you’re very challenged to get a mining project (going). We would like to take these projects forward but we have to do it with a long term relationship built on trust and make sure that there’s opportunities for benefits to be shared,” he said.
Gibbs admits that environmental issues left behind from other Yukon mines is a challenge for his company, but he says the Mactung deposit is different.
“Given it’s such a high grade, it will likely be a very small footprint. So it’s gonna be two-thousand tonnes per day … not a 20-thousand tonne [operation]. It will likely be underground, not open pit. It won’t have a heap leach, it will likely have dry stacked tailings so we’re very aware of these past issues.”
In a statement to CBC last year after the funding for the mine was announced, the First Nation of Nacho Nyäk Dun said it had moral and environmental concerns about tungsten mining. Tungsten is used in weapons manufacturing.
Gibbs says a common misconception is that tungsten is used only in the manufacture of weapons.
“It’s used in the manufacture of semiconductors, it’s used in aerospace, it’s used in tungsten carbide — so the hardest thing known, next to a diamond — used extensively in manufacturing and construction, oil and gas … approximately 10 per cent of tungsten goes into defense applications.”
U.S. eager to see tungsten production in North America
Gibbs says it’s not surprising that the United States is casting a covetous keen eye on Mactung.
He says right now China, Russia and North Korea dominate tungsten production and control the world’s markets of the critical mineral, something the Americans want to change.
“They clearly are looking to see primary production of tungsten in North America because as it stands right now there is zero … they are looking to make sure the North American supply chain has what is required, including tungsten.”
Gibbs says North American production of tungsten ceased in 2015 when the Cantung mine in southwest N.W.T. closed.
“If you speak with people who know tungsten I think it’s almost universally accepted that Mactung is a globally strategic asset given both the resource size and the resource grade.”
Ted Laking, the Yukon’s newly appointed minister of energy, mines and resources, says the territory’s mining industry is getting a lot of attention.
“Right now what I see from the federal government and lots of people around the world is a lot of interest in the Yukon and I think that’s an exciting thing.”
Laking says it’s early in his tenure and he hasn’t yet spoken with his federal counterparts or, in the case of the Mactung project, the Ross River Dena Council.
As for possibly upgrading the North Canol or building a power line to MacMillan Pass, Laking says decisions of that size would need federal backing.
“The federal government holds the purse strings on large infrastructure projects.” But he says developing “critical minerals and upgrading infrastructure in the territory to support the economy are going to be big priorities” for the new Yukon government.
As for any talk of a bridge across the Pelly River, Laking says the Yukon will wait to see the results of the feasibility studies.
“When it comes to the construction of things like a bridge on a public road, absolutely that would have to be a decision for the government of Yukon and the affected First Nation. But at this point there’s no plans for a bridge.”
For now, Gibbs says Fireweed will continue its initial studies, but he doesn’t expect production at Mactung to happen for years, at least not before 2030.
“You can’t just snap your fingers and make a mine. You need to go through the various steps and make sure you get all the various rights holders and stakeholders lined up. It needs to be done responsibly. And that’s what we’re committed to.”
