On the final day of the The 51st Annual Exploration, Mining and Petroleum Conference in Fredericton, over a dozen protestors lined the street, with signs reading, “No Sisson Mine!” and “Sisson Mine? Sounds fishy.” “We wanted to be present for their arrival, to make clear that there is opposition to the proposed Sisson Mine,” protestor Amanda Wildeman said. She lives along the Nashwaak watershed and is concerned about the environmental impact in her community if the proposed Sisson Mine project goes ahead, with plans to mine tungsten and molybdenum. “If this dam ever breaks, we will never recover from it. There is no amount of money that could protect us or bring our environment back,” she said. The project, headed by Northcliff Resources, has been promoted by Premier Susan Holt’s government. In November 2025, it was also referred to the federal Major Projects Office. In August, the company released the results of a feasibility study that reported the mine would employ about 300 people. But the executive director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick wants an independent review of the economic and environmental impacts of the mine. “This proposed mine would mean a huge tailings facility that could be at high risk of breaching and causing long-term and potentially devastating impacts not just to the Nashwaak river, but to all communities downstream of the river, including Fredericton,” Beverly Gingras said. According to the province’s environment department, Northcliff Resources has also only met two of 40 conditions laid out in a 2015 environmental impact assessment. It’s scheduled to begin construction by 2030. In an interview on Tuesday, Northcliff Resources Inc.’s president and CEO told CTV News he welcomes residents’ questions and concerns about the mine. “There are no shortcuts and we are complying with our conditions,” Andrew Ing said. “We do have 40 conditions, but a lot of them are interdependent, so the fulfillment or the satisfaction of them will come together,” he added. In May 2025, Northcliff announced the U.S. Department of Defense also awarded $15 million USD, or approximately $20.7 million CAD for the project. For some, that’s raised concerns. “If we’re talking about the sovereignty of our resources, this wouldn’t be the way to do it in my estimation,” Gingras said. Ing would not weigh in on those concerns with CTV News. “I think that’s a question better posed to the ministers. I don’t have insight into that,” he said. Provincial natural resources minister John Herron said skeptics of the mine are asking good questions. “As a government we want to make sure that we have a regime where people believe and see that we’re being environmentally responsible,” he said. As to concerns about U.S. involvement, he said even in the current strained trade relationship with the U.S., there is a place for collaboration. “That trading relationship is a complete rupture. It will not be the same again,” he said. “When it’s right or appropriate that there could be US. investment in different sectors in our society.” For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
