N.B. premier unveils mining strategy, meeting with potential investors in Toronto

N.B. Premier Susan Holt unveiled the province’s mining strategy.

After a trade mission with Prime Minister Mark Carney in India, New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt is spending the next few days in Toronto promoting the province’s interest in mining.

The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada is hosting a mining convention in the city, where Holt said in her weekly social media video message she’ll be meeting with New Brunswick companies, and “checking in” with Andrew Ing, CEO of Northcliff Resources – the company behind the Sisson Mine in central New Brunswick.

That mine was designated by Carney in the fall as a possible nation-building project that’s been referred to the PM’s major projects office in Ottawa.

Holt has touted the mine as having one of the largest tungsten deposits in the world.

Earlier this month, Ing provided an update in a news release, stating that a site investigation program was going to be completed by end of February, and an update to the mine’s feasibility study is on track to be completed mid-2026.

On Monday, Holt unveiled the province’s new minerals strategy, identifying 77 sites where a variety of mineral deposits are known, from base metals, gold, tungsten, lithium and salt, among several others.

The strategy states that mining activity in the province has declined in recent years, but the province has the resources – both the minerals and the expertise to mine them – to boost the industry in New Brunswick.

The report outlines several focus areas to support the industry, which include:

• making the permitting process more efficient
• ensuring there’s strong Indigenous participation
• building a better financial environment for possible investments
• prioritizing local communities so they’re the ones benefiting from a mine site

Holt said Monday it’s about accelerating the economic impact that mining can have on the province.

McKenna says economic activity key to financial future

Not unlike other provinces across the country, New Brunswick is facing a historic deficit - $1.3 billion at the last fiscal update.

Holt has alluded to a number of challenges the province is facing because of that financial pressure, warning that the upcoming 2026-27 budget will be a difficult one.

While announcing a new cyber-training program at the University of New Brunswick’s McKenna Institute, former Premier Frank McKenna told CTV News Atlantic the province cannot only depend on reductions to get out of the situation.

“God knows that governments are all running deficits and that’s going to have to be restrained,” he said. “But we also have to grow the pie. And that means we invest in areas that have our potential to grow and almost explode.”

He pointed to cybertechnology, saying New Brunswick could play a larger part in a sector that has worldwide demand.

When asked if he would share that advice with Premier Holt, McKenna repeated that growth is key.

“I don’t think the premier needs advice from me, but I would say very simply, as the Obama people did when he won his first election: ‘It’s the economy, stupid,’” he said.

“Focus on the economy. All of us feel anxiety right now in this difficult world we live in. We need to focus on the economy. Grow, grow, grow. That’ll give us the revenue to pay the taxes to pay for the services that we need.”

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