Latest news with #MMCM
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Canadian Critical Minerals Updates Its Permit Application to Restart the Bull River Mine and Mill
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - May 23, 2025) - Canadian Critical Minerals Inc. (TSXV: CCMI) (OTCQB: RIINF) ("CCMI" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on its application to restart the Bull River Mine ("BRM") project near Cranbrook, BC. Further to discussion with the Major Mines Permitting Office of the Ministry of Mining and Critical Minerals of British Columbia ("MMCM"), the Company has decided to modify its current application to restart the BRM project by combining project phases into one application. If approved, this will allow the Company to restart underground mining and milling operations at the same time. To-date the Company has advanced its application to restart the BRM project in a phased approach in order to reduce the costs associated with completion of all detailed engineering studies in support of the application. The Company is currently working with consultants to complete its application to restart the BRM mine and mill. Moose Mountain Technical Services has been engaged to provide a detailed underground mine plan with estimated completion by early August 2025. ALS Metallurgical Services has been engaged to conduct humidity cell testing on tailings that are planned to be produced from milling operations. This is follow-up work from a previous humidity cell testing program already completed. Humidity cell testing in a laboratory environment simulates the expected metal leaching from a tailings storage facility over time. Previously, the Company completed a detailed design of its proposed filtered tailings facility using Stantec Engineering. Once all engineering reports are complete, the Company plans to incorporate them into a Final Permit Application and make its submission to MMCM in Q1 2026. Originally, under phase one of the restart, the Company sought permission to restart the past-producing BRM project by processing a large 180,000 tonne surface stockpile of mineralized material through its existing 700 tonne per day conventional mill and deposit tailings on surface in a dry stack or filtered tailings facility. Under phase two, the Company plans to seek permission to restart underground mining, continue to use the 700 tonne per day mill and begin sending filtered tailings back to the underground as cemented backfill. In April 2024, the Company began selling preconcentrated copper, gold and silver mineralized material that has been upgraded through an ore sorter to New Afton under an Ore Purchase Agreement ("OPA"). To-date the Company has crushed and screened the entire surface stockpile and trucked approximately 7,900 tonnes of pre-concentrated mineralized material to New Afton. The Company expects to send an additional 2,100 tonnes of mineralized material to New Afton by the end of August 2025. The remaining 170,000 tonnes of mineralized fines and rejects from the crushing, screening and sorting of the surface stockpile will remain at the BRM and will provide an initial feed to the BRM mill for approximately eight months following restart of operations. Revenues from the OPA have allowed the Company to significantly reduce payables, offset the costs of care and maintenance and pay for the additional costs associated with the permit applications without incurring additional dilution to shareholders. With the Company's improved financial position, all remaining engineering studies can be completed in a more sequential and expedited manner. The BRM project has over $100 million of usable infrastructure and is already connected to grid power and all-weather roads. The BRM is being maintained in a dewatered condition with over 22,000 metres of underground workings readily accessible from surface to a depth of 350 metres. Ian Berzins, President and CEO of CCMI commented, "Revenues generated from the sale of a portion of our stockpiled mineralized material have improved the Company's ability to advance the permitting process in a more expedited manner. The provincial government has stated the importance of bringing on new projects in the critical minerals space. The past-producing BRM project is one of the most advanced mining projects in British Columbia currently not in production. Combining both phases under one application should result in better use of resources by First Nations and regulators in the consultation, engagement and review process." About Canadian Critical Minerals Inc. CCMI is a mining company primarily focused on copper production assets in Canada. CCMI's main asset is the 100% owned Bull River Mine project (150 million lbs of copper) near Cranbrook, British Columbia which has a Mineral Resource containing copper, gold and silver. CCMI also owns a 10% interest in XXIX Metal Corp. which holds a 100% interest in the Thierry copper project near Pickle Lake, Ontario and a 100% interest in the Opemiska copper project near Chapais-Chibougamau, Quebec. Contact InformationCanadian Critical Minerals BerzinsPresident & Chief Executive OfficerM: +1-403-512-8202E: iberzins@ Website: Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release includes certain information that may constitute "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements about strategic plans, future work programs and objectives and expected results from such work programs. Forward-looking information necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without limitation, risks associated with general economic conditions; inability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favourable terms; and other risks. Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information and the risks identified in the Company's continuous disclosure record. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. All forward-looking information contained in this news release is given as of the date hereof and is based upon the opinions and estimates of management and information available to management as at the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this new release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The UK and France's new AI drone could revolutionize the dangerous work of clearing naval mines
The UK and France have taken delivery of an AI-driven naval mine-hunting system. The MMCM uses autonomous systems for mine detection, removing the need for crewed ships. Naval mines create complex threats, making autonomous systems advantageous. The UK and France have taken delivery of an AI-powered system that uses drone boats to target naval mines, which represent one of the most complex security problems facing shipping and maritime trade. French defense company Thales announced the delivery of the first of four Maritime Mine Counter Measures systems to France in February, and another to the UK — also the first of four — on Friday. Thales said MMCM's modular system allows for the detection and neutralization of naval mines without the need to send sailors into danger on crewed ships. The two countries paid a combined $468 million for the system. Laying naval mines is a relatively inexpensive act that can have hugely expensive consequences on world trade. Mines laid as part of the Russia-Ukraine war have become a worrying problem for shipping lanes in the Black Sea. While landmines tend to stay in one place, naval mines can sit at any depth and can become unmoored and begin to drift, making them particularly dangerous. The problem is so intractable that the term "demining" doesn't even apply — the term at sea is "mine countermeasures." Matthew Morrison, Mine Countermeasures Delivery Director for Thales in the UK, told BI that "the transportation of the food and the energy sources for our homes — is under threat more than any time since WWII." Remote vehicles and drones are already used in naval mine countermeasures operations, but generally in combination with conventional crewed ships. Thales says its AI-powered, autonomous system can streamline the process. To map the area and locate mines, an advanced sonar is towed along the water by a 39-ft surface drone that can be controlled via the system's portable operations center, either on land or at sea up to 14 miles away. Once a mine has been detected, a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV, can be sent to neutralize it, under the control of personnel at the operations center. "These vessels are fitted with AI automatic target detection and recognition," which significantly speeds up the process, Morrison said. "The quantity of data operators have to process would swamp a human," he added. The UK's Royal Navy reported a successful trial of the system's drone prototype in Scotland's Firth of Clyde late last year. According to Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow in sea power at the Royal United Services Institute, the new tech is "pretty significant," as it's among one of the first truly autonomous systems to be fully operational. This offers several advantages, he said, noting the efficiency gains of AI. "But a more important factor is it provides stand-off," he added. Naval mines are often clustered in or near active conflict zones, such as the port of Odesa in Ukraine, or the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow strip of water through which a third of the world's oil flows and which has long been threatened by Houthi forces. In places like this, "the threat posed by naval mines overlaps with the threat posed by things like anti-ship cruise missiles," Kaushal said, adding that this is "obviously a pretty significant challenge for traditional mine countermeasures vessels." He said that despite its price tag, the new system is likely cheaper than traditional mine countermeasures vessels, "and there's also the additional advantage of not having to worry as much about losing crews." Read the original article on Business Insider
