New Brunswick·NewThe Sisson Mine project in rural New Brunswick might finally get off the ground after Prime Minister Mark Carney named it as one of the country’s major projects on Thursday.Sam Farley · CBC News · Posted: Nov 14, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 4 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Geologist David Lentz said the Sisson Mine project has one of the largest tungsten and molybdenum deposits in the free world. (Submitted by David Lentz)The Sisson Mine project in rural New Brunswick looks poised to become a reality after Prime Minister Mark Carney named it as one of the country’s major projects on Thursday.University of New Brunswick earth sciences professor David Lentz called the project “long overdue” in an interview with CBC Radio’s Shift – NB.He said the mine’s location includes one of the largest tungsten and molybdenum deposits in the free world.The Sisson Mine deposits have been known since the 1970s, but Lentz said the current developer, Northcliff, has invested signficantly to evaluate the overall size and grade of the deposits. As for economic impact, he said the mine’s development would create “extremely high-paying jobs for mostly young people,” and governments would benefit from significant tax revenues.When asked about concerns over tailings — the leftover rock and water from mining operations — Lentz said people forget about the “level of expertise” of mining engineers in the Fredericton area.“The technology is there. The know-how is there to do these things right. And we just have to continue to have good oversight in government to have inspections,” Lentz said. In an interview with Information Morning: Saint John, the province’s natural resources minister said Sisson is an “extraordinary opportunity for the country.”“Canada and G7 nations are very live to the issue that China has a stranglehold on critical minerals that are vital to the functioning of our economies,” said John Herron.About 85 per cent of the world’s supply of tungsten and molybdenum comes from China.Herron said having this mine in New Brunswick would signal that the province can make a meaningful contribution to the global economy.Natural Resources Minister John Herron says he hopes that the province continues developing mining sector. (Chad Ingraham/CBC)Herron said China’s near-monopoly on the minerals means they can dump product into markets and devalue prices on the global stage. The conditions required under the approved environmental impact assessment “will not be circumvented in any way … but at the same time they’re going to be timely and predictable.”Herron signaled that the Sisson Mine might only be the beginning of a mining renewal in the province, mentioning possibilities at Lake George, Mount Pleasant and Bathurst Mining Camp.Herron said when he served as a Member of Parliament 25 years ago, seven per cent of New Brunswick’s GDP was from mining. Now, it’s below half a per cent, he said.“We’re vectoring in a direction where we’re going to surpass where we were 25 years ago.”Holt said the province still needs to work with elected chiefs of First Nations to negotiate a royalty agreement.When asked about the project on Thursday afternoon, Sitansisk First Nation Chief Allan Polchies said he and other chiefs needed time to review the announcement before commenting. While the mine project location does not fall within a municipality, it is near Stanley and Napadogan in the Municipality of Nashwaak.In an email statement to CBC News, Mayor David Sweeney said he and council would not comment until they’ve reviewed the announcement. “Protection of the Nashwaak and Tay River valleys remains our top priority,” Sweeney wrote. ABOUT THE AUTHORSam Farley is a Fredericton-based reporter at CBC New Brunswick. Originally from Boston, he is a journalism graduate of the University of King’s College in Halifax. He can be reached at sam.farley@cbc.caShift, Information Morning Saint John
Sisson Mine project is long overdue, geologist says
