The Musselwhite gold mine located roughly 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont. A federal government publication incorrectly said that the Shibogama First Nations Council was weighing the purchase of the mine.Garth Lenz/The Globe and Mail
A federal government publication in December incorrectly said an Ontario regional tribal council was weighing the purchase of the Musselwhite gold mine in Northern Ontario, causing confusion for investors and consternation for Orla Mining Ltd. OLA-T, the owner of the asset.
After The Globe and Mail pointed out the error last month, the government quietly updated the publication, but has not issued a clarifying public news release.
In an online “backgrounder” information package published alongside the December news release, the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario (FedNor) said that it was providing $400,000 to Shibogama First Nations Council. The backgrounder said Shibogama was receiving the funds for the completion of a two-phase business analysis process, “part of the due diligence being done regarding the potential purchase of Musselwhite Mine.”
The announcement garnered media attention with the federal minister responsible for FedNor, Patty Hajdu, holding a media event and the CBC publishing a story that mentioned Shibogama potentially buying Musselwhite.
The announcement of Ottawa’s funding to Shibogama was part of a broader $4.7-million funding package for 10 Indigenous economic development projects.
Shibogama, located in Sioux Lookout, Ont., comprises Kasabonika Lake First Nation, Kingfisher Lake First Nation, Wapekeka First Nation, Wawakapewin First Nation and Wunnumin Lake First Nation.
The news that Shibogama was considering buying Musselwhite was unexpected because the mine had changed hands earlier in 2025, and its new owner, publicly listed Orla Mining Ltd., had no intention of flipping it. Vancouver-based Orla announced the purchase of the mine from Newmont Corp. for about $850-million in November, 2024. The deal closed last March.
Musselwhite, which is located roughly 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, started production in 1997 and has produced around six million ounces of gold. When Orla bought Musselwhite, it mapped out a plan to invest more than US$400-million to keep the operation humming.
“Orla acquired the Musselwhite mine in March, 2025, because we believed in and wanted to invest in the future growth and potential of the mine,” Jason Simpson, chief executive officer of Orla Mining said in an e-mail.
“We are not looking to sell the mine.”
He added that Orla was “not aware of, nor given an opportunity to review in advance, the FedNor news release nor its wording.”
The Globe and Mail asked FedNor why it published information leading investors to believe that Shibogama was looking at buying the mine. Justin Lemieux, director of communications for FedNor, said in an e-mail to The Globe that “the information reflected in the news release was provided by Shibogama First Nations Council in their initial funding application.”
Mr. Lemieux would not say when Shibogama made the application.
When asked to provide clarity, Shibogama also declined to disclose when it made the funding application, but the tribal council said that it had once been interested in buying Musselwhite.
In an e-mail to The Globe, Shibogama technical services director Robert Popovic said that it considered purchasing the mine in 2024. That was during the period when Newmont was shopping it to potential buyers.
“Based on the review of the documents provided, and the very short timeline to provide a proposal, we opted not to proceed any further with the business analysis and review,” Mr. Popovic said.
After further enquiry from The Globe, FedNor’s Mr. Lemieux said the government would be updating the information on its website “to provide additional clarity,” around the funding granted to Shibogama.
The new information scrubbed any mention of Musselwhite, and the verb tenses were changed from present to past, making it clear that funds were awarded for work already completed.
“The funding awarded provided Shibogama First Nation Council with the capacity to conduct a two-phase business analysis,” the publication now reads.
“This work supported the Council’s due diligence process, assessed feasibility, and explored economic opportunities related to the potential acquisition of a mining project.”
Mr. Lemieux did not disclose why the government removed the reference to Musselwhite, or say when the site’s information was changed.
He also challenged the notion of the need for the government to issue a clarifying public news release about the matter, saying that updating the backgrounder is sufficient.
“The backgrounder was modified to better reflect the current status of the project,” he said in an e-mail on Thursday.
Ms. Hajdu‘s office did not respond to a request for an interview.