Kestrel Economics · Bulletin Beta

This week / Ontario exploration permit

025-0065

A mid-sized mining company proposes mechanized drilling, mechanized stripping, pitting and trenching of bedrock, and line cutting on 586 mining claims covering 12,018 hectares in Thunder Bay District, about 73 kilometres southwest of Skibi Lake and about 83 kilometres east of Armstrong.

On holdheld at the applicant’s request
651 dayswaiting since it was posted on 17 Jan 2025
70% chancestill waiting on 20 Dec 2030

When it is likely to be decided

More likely than not, this application will still be waiting on 20 December 2030, the furthest date the model looks ahead. If it is decided before then, the curve shows when.

70%
30 Oct 2026Dec 2026Oct 2027Oct 202820 Dec 2030
Middle half of the chances (50%) 80% range Still waiting at the furthest date (bar height = its share)
70% chance still undecided on 20 December 2030, the furthest date the model looks ahead

The model looks ahead 4.1 years from the forecast date, to 20 December 2030. It does not try to say when an application still waiting after that will be decided, so every such case is counted together at that date. The bar on the right is that share: the chance this application is still waiting then. It is not a date we expect a decision on. The curve to its left shares out the rest, 30%, over the dates before it.

Forecast made 30 October 2026. Dates are spaced so that the next few weeks and the next few years both fit: the distance from the forecast date grows with the square root of the days.

How it ends

Issued
24%
Refused or withdrawn
6%
Still undecided at the furthest date we look ahead
70%

Key dates

  • A 1 in 10 chance it is decided by8 Sep 2027
  • A 70% chance it is still waiting on20 Dec 2030
  • Chance it is decided within 3 months, by 29 Jan 20274%
  • Chance it is decided within 6 months, by 30 Apr 20276%
  • Already on hold (held at the applicant’s request) since 21 Mar 2025On hold

What pushes it earlier or later

The named factors that move the middle date most for this application, in days, compared with an application that is typical on that factor: + means later, − means earlier. They are the largest pieces, not the whole account.

EarlierLater
Applied in 2023 or later +53 days
The plan includes drilling +46 days
Heavy drilling planned (drills over 150 kilograms) −22 days
How many decisions the ministry office made in the past six months −12 days
Applications waiting at the same ministry office +8 days
Outside the Treaty 9 area −7 days
Holds placed on nearby applications in the past year −6 days
Public comments received (count published with the decision) +3 days
The applicant’s earlier permits +3 days
Size of the application (586 mining claims) −1 day

Not yet counted, because the model does not measure them yet: Indigenous nations affected; an impact and benefit agreement; an Indigenous-led assessment; a contested duty to consult; referral to the Minister.

How the forecast has moved

Forecasts for this application side by side. Across: the Friday each was made. Up: the date of the decision. The wider a shape at a date, the likelier a decision then; the dark mark is that week's middle date, and the newest is shaded darker. A percentage at the top of a column is the chance of still waiting at the furthest date that forecast looked ahead; each shape below it is drawn to its own width, so it shows when a decision is likeliest if one comes.

202720282029203067%70%
14 AugFirst forecast30 OctLatest

Showing 2 of 12 Friday forecasts: the first, the latest, and the weeks it changed, when something happened to the application or the forecast moved more than its usual weekly wobble.

Questions already settled

  • As we said

    On 24 July 2026 we gave a 90% chance that it would not be decided by 23 October 2026. It wasn’t.

    Made before the calibration record began on 14 August 2026, so it is not counted in the record.

  • As we said

    On 31 July 2026 we gave a 89% chance that it would not be decided by 30 October 2026. It wasn’t.

    Made before the calibration record began on 14 August 2026, so it is not counted in the record.

The application so far

17 Jan 202530 Oct 2026
Open for public comment Under review On hold
  1. 17 Jan 2025 Posted to the registry and opened for public comment
  2. 4 weeks later
  3. 16 Feb 2025 Public comment closed
  4. 5 weeks later
  5. 21 Mar 2025 Put on hold at the applicant’s request
  6. Same day
  7. 21 Mar 2025 Put on hold: a temporary hold
  8. 19 months later
  9. 30 Oct 2026 Forecast made; still waiting

Dates are the ministry's own. Hover over or tap the strip for the dates and how long each stage took.

Where it is

10 km
Where in Ontario

The outlined area is the mining claims the application covers, 12,018 hectares in all.

What the application asks for

Activities
  • Line cutting (wider than 1.5 metres)
  • Mechanized stripping (over 100 square metres within a 200 metre radius)
  • Pitting and trenching of bedrock (over 3 cubic metres within a 200 metre radius)
  • Mechanized drilling (drills over 150 kilograms)
Mining claims covered
586
Area of those claims
12,018 hectares

Surroundings

Holds within 50 kilometres in the past year
3 applications held for consultation with an Indigenous nation; none put on a temporary hold
Other exploration plans in circulation within 50 kilometres
4
Workload at the ministry office handling it
121 applications waiting; it decided 48 in the past six months
Applicant
A mid-sized mining company
The applicant’s earlier exploration permits
None before this one
Published Mondays, noon Toronto time Kestrel EconomicsBULLETIN