September 2012 – Page 2 – Republic of Mining

Mine hearings to take place next year – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – September 27, 2012)

September 27, 2012

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

Public hearings into a proposed copper and palladium mine on Marathon’s outskirts could take place early next year if an independent panel reviewing the project decides it has enough information to proceed.

The three-member panel of two scientists and an engineer must decide by Nov. 26 if an environmental impact statement submitted this summer by Stillwater Canada is sufficient to set the stage for up to 30 days of public hearings.

Stillwater is proposing an open-pit operation just north of the town’s airport. The mine, with one main pit and four satellite pits, is projected to operate for nearly 12 years and provide about 400 direct jobs. Surrounded by the Pic River and some inland lakes, the mine site would require a new two-kilometre access road and a new four-km hydro transmission corridor.

If the panel decides that it does have enough information to proceed, the hearings could take place in January, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency panel co-manager Marie LeGrow said Wednesday during an update in Marathon about the ongoing review.

Saskatchewan miners emerge with tale for the grandkids – by Nathan Vanderklippe (Globe and Mail – September 27, 2012)

September 27, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

ROCANVILLE, SASK. — Deep inside a mine, a fire is serious. Circulation systems keep air moving in a steady breeze, and smoke spreads fast. Light a cigarette in one part of the mine and it won’t be long before someone a kilometre away knows what you’re doing.

So, when the emergency system in Potash Corp.’s Rocanville mine activated alarm lights and bells just before 2 a.m. Tuesday, Jamie Johnson did not wait around. Mr. Johnson was lead hand on a three-man crew running a miner, the large machine that burrows through the earth. Flames had erupted 300 metres away in a large wooden cable reel, producing noxious smoke from plastic insulation burning on a 30-metre-long, six-centimetre-thick electrical cable.

He didn’t yet know that. He did know he had to act fast. This was only the second time he had experienced an emergency below ground in nine years.

Mr. Johnson grabbed the phone located on the miner and called the control room. He was told to move to a refuge station – number 13 in his case, or lucky 13 as he would later joke, when he and 19 other miners were brought to the surface 24 hours after their shifts started.

Say yes to CNOOC, then sort out ‘net benefit’ – by Tom Flanagan (Globe and Mail – September 27, 2012)

September 27, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Tom Flanagan is professor of political science at the University of Calgary and a campaign manager for conservative political parties.

The attempt by the Chinese National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) to purchase Nexen Inc. has many attractive features. CNOOC already has a Calgary office and a track record of managing almost $3-billion worth of Canadian energy assets. Although the Chinese government is the majority owner, CNOOC stock is listed in Hong Kong and New York, and the company has independent directors as well as those representing the Chinese government.

This friendly bid, incorporating a hefty premium on the stock price, has been approved by both the directors and shareholders of Nexen. CNOOC is promising to retain Nexen’s staff, as well as the Calgary head office, and to start listing its shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

No issue of military technology, of the kind that derailed a U.S. company’s attempted acquisition of MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. in 2008, is involved here.

Publisher David Black ups ante for [Kitimat] refinery to process Northern Gateway oil – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – September 27, 2012)

September 27, 2012

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Rather than falling off the rails because of its challenging economics, a proposal to build an oil sands refinery in Kitimat, B.C. by newspaper baron David Black has gained so much support it seems to be getting British Columbians to warm up to the dreaded Northern Gateway pipeline.

The main reason? Jobs. British Columbians seem to be willing to downplay environmental concerns, aboriginal priorities and even Alberta envy if it means thousands of new B.C. paycheques and tax revenue.

A poll of 1,400 British Columbians conducted for Mr. Black, the Victoria-based newspaper publisher who proposed the $13-billion project last month, found that 72% are in favour or somewhat supportive of refining Alberta’s oil in Kitimat using local labour rather than shipping bitumen to Asia.

“In B.C., that’s a landslide,” Mr. Black said Wednesday, when he made public the poll results. “This was a vote on the pipeline and the refinery — obviously there is no refinery without a pipeline. The average person is in favour of the two.”

Forum seeks to find ‘resolution’ – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – September 27, 2012)

September 27, 2012

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Jodi Blassuti is on a mission. And she’s not going to stop until she’s achieved it. Blassuti, a miner for the past six years, has devoted countless hours and energy to pushing for a mining inquiry in Ontario.

“I was reading a lot in the paper and I was watching Cheryl and Ephraim Dufoe who had lost their son five years ago … that hit home with me really hard, and I know that he’s not the first one to do that. I was watching them and it’s five years later and they’re still fighting for changes and trying to get answers.”

On July 23, 2007, Lyle Dufoe, 25, died after falling 150 feet. He was found at the bottom of a stope next to the scoop and tram he operated in Timmins. Meeting with the Dufoes lit a fire in Blassuti.

“The three of us met after that and we talked for a long time, and they told me everything that they’d been through and how they’re basically getting nowhere, and there’s not a lot of support.

“We’re not going to stop until change is made, and that’s a promise I made to the Dufoes … I feel very passionate about this. It’s something that I’ve lost sleep over.”

Political storm brews in U.S. over Nexen deal – by Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – September 27, 2012)

September 27, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

OTTAWA — CNOOC Ltd. is encountering a political backlash in the United States over its proposed takeover of Nexen Inc. that could force the Chinese state-owned company to divest Nexen assets in the Gulf of Mexico to win approval for the deal.

Prominent members of the U.S. Congress have urged the Obama administration to block the transfer of Nexen’s offshore leases to CNOOC, both for national security reasons and on the grounds that some of the leases were issued under a mid-1990s incentive program that offered royalty-free production in exchange for drilling in deep water.

“I think it is extremely unlikely that the U.S. government would approve the transfer of a zero-royalty lease to another government,” Gordon Giffin, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada, said in an interview Wednesday. Mr. Giffin is a member of the advisory board of the Canada-U.S. Business Council and serves on several Canadian corporate boards, including Canadian Natural Resources.

Mr. Giffin said a political brawl in the U.S. over the Nexen deal could complicate Ottawa’s calculus as it considers whether to give the deal its blessing. CNOOC has won approval from Nexen shareholders for its $15.1-billion offer and is now awaiting a decision from the federal government on whether the deal is of a net benefit to Canada.

Long day ends with rescue [Saskatchewan potash mine fire] – by Kerry Benjoe and Terrence McEachern (Saskatoon Star Phoenix – September 26, 2012)

September 26, 2012

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/index.html

After more than 16 hours trapped underground at the Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan mine in Rocanville, Darwyn Wirth admitted he was tired. And that he wanted a cold beer.

Wirth, a shift electrician with Potash-Corp from Churchbridge, was one of 15 miners brought to the surface at 6: 42 p.m. on Tuesday. His shift started just over a day earlier at 6: 30 p.m. on Monday. At 1: 56 a.m. Tuesday morning his normal work day was interrupted when a fire broke out in the mine.

Twenty-nine miners were midway through their 12-hour shift when the fire alarm sounded. Nine miners were immediately evacuated, however the remaining 20 men sought safety in four refuge shelters throughout the mine. At 8: 15 p.m., the remaining five miners were brought to the surface.

The area where the fire broke out was 15 kilometres from the main Rocanville site and the shaft where workers enter and exit the underground mine. Wirth was the first person to spot the fire. He said at no point was he worried and described the experience as being “delayed” rather than trapped.

Miners successfully rescued from PotashCorp mine in Rocanville – Canadian Press (Saskatoon Star Phoenix – September 25, 2012)

September 26, 2012

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/index.html

ROCANVILLE, Sask. — After spending a day trapped underground by a fire at a Saskatchewan potash mine, electrician Darwyn Wirth knew exactly what he wanted to do.

“I think I’m going to go and have a cold beer,” he told reporters shortly after he and 19 of his colleagues were brought safely back to the surface.

The blaze broke out at about 2 a.m. Tuesday when a large wooden cable spool started burning at PotashCorp.’s Rocanville mine, about 244 kilometres east of Regina.

There was no panic, said the miners, who immediately headed to four separate refuge stations scattered throughout the facility.

“We have an alarm system with loud bells and flashing red lights, and you immediately go to a refuge station and call the control room so they know where you are,” said Wirth.

Ontario unwilling to answer north-south funding questions: economist – CBC Radio Sudbury (September 25, 2012)

September 26, 2012

http://www.cbc.ca/news/

Northern Ontario gives more than it gets, according to some northerners, but the government hasn’t crunched those numbers

A prominent economist is calling on the provincial government to figure out if northern Ontario is being subsidized by the south.

There has long been debate about whether the region contributes more to the province in taxes than it receives back in funding and Laurentian University economics professor David Robinson said the government seems unwilling to crunch those numbers.

“I’ve had two ministers tell me they would get it done and they haven’t,” Robinson said. “So I think the evidence is either somebody’s telling them it’s too costly and impossible — in which case they are incompetent — or they just don’t want to release those numbers.”

A spokesperson for the ministry of Northern Development and Mines said it is impossible to determine if northern Ontario pays more than it gets back from the government — partially because tax revenue can’t be narrowed down to specific regions of Ontario.

The question of whether northern Ontario is getting its fair share was highlighted again recently with the final trek of the Northlander train, which will make its last journey north at the end of the week.

With fire quenched, miners surface in Saskatchewan – by Nathan Vanderklippe, Anna Mehler Paperny and Pav Jordan (Globe and Mail – September 26, 2012)

September 26, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

NEAR, ROCANVILLE, SASK. and TORONTO – Darwyn Wirth was driving down a mine travelway a kilometre beneath the Saskatchewan prairie when he saw fire. It was, he said, “a fairly large ball of flame.” Something had gone wrong deep inside the mine workings at Potash Corp’s Rocanville mine.

Mr. Wirth, a shift electrician, knew it was more than he could handle with a fire extinguisher. He retreated to a phone, notified the control room and sought safety in a refuge station.

Almost exactly 24 hours after his shift began early Monday evening, he emerged from the shaft, after workers put out the underground flames – which had erupted from a trio of cable reels – unscathed, and with a story to tell.

“There was two other gentlemen in the refuge station with me. We basically just spent time talking to each other, and at one we were allowed to call our spouses, which was nice,” he said. Their discussion, he added, included “anything but fire.”

CSIS report raises a question to be asked about the CNOOC-Nexen deal – Globe and Mail Editorial (September 26, 2012)

September 26, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Foreign espionage is surely not a “net benefit to Canada.” That phrase is the essential criterion for the approval of takeovers by foreign companies, under the Investment Canada Act. It is striking that the most recent annual report of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, released last Thursday, implicitly draws a connection between foreign-investment policy and security and intelligence – a point that decision-makers and policy-makers need to bear in mind.

In particular, CSIS’s report says that “certain state-owned enterprises and private firms with close ties to their home governments have pursued opaque agendas or received clandestine intelligence support for their pursuits here.”

To be fair, it must be said that the International Energy Agency published a paper last year, which said that CNOOC Ltd. and two other state-owned Chinese oil companies are not “state-run” but “state-invested.” CNOOC’s application to Investment Canada for its purchase of the Canadian oil company Nexen Inc. is pending. The IEA’s opinion clearly suggests that CNOOC is not among the unnamed SOEs with “unduly close ties” to a state that is also its controlling shareholder. Indeed, CNOOC is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and has numerous Canadian shareholders.

Canadian oil patch seeks protection from foreign investors – by Shawn McCarthy and Jacquie McNish (Globe and Mail – September 26, 2012)

September 26, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

OTTAWA and TORONTO — Top oil industry executives are asking Ottawa for rules to protect Canadian ownership of major oil sands companies from a flood of foreign investment expected in the sector.

Canada’s oil sands contain the third-largest crude oil reserves in the world and are a strategically critical resource for the country, industry executives argue. They support the proposed $15.1-billion acquisition of Nexen Inc. by China’s CNOOC Ltd., but note the deal signals growing foreign interest in the oil sands and insist Ottawa needs to ensure a substantial level of domestic ownership as more deals loom.

“I think it is important to get some ground rules in place before the next one,” said Murray Edwards, CEO of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., one of Canada’s biggest energy companies and a major oil sands player. Mr. Edwards was among a large contingent of top executives gathered in Ottawa for a two-day session on how Canada should position itself to take full advantage of the growing economic power and affluence of Asia.

That power is centred in China, whose hunger for more opportunities in the Canadian oil patch is forcing Canada to shape its foreign-investment policy.

Mining drives new MBA approach – by Denise Deveau (National Post – September 25, 2012)

September 25, 2012

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

When a sector has achieved global leadership status, the demand for skills can stretch beyond the output of mainstream education channels.

This is very much the case in the mining sector, where the appetite for knowledge about how the industry and system works is driving a new approach to MBA studies.

According to Jean Vavrek, executive director for CIM (Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum) in Montreal, skill sets are changing more and more in the line of “softer issues” related to social acceptance and license.

“The industry is dealing with much more complex environmental issues, more regulations, deeper ore bodies, remote exploration … the dynamics and the management challenges are only getting bigger,” he says. “So is the potential for career development.”

Canada needs to accelerate the development of future leadership, Mr. Vavrek adds. “The potential on the management side is big, from project management and capital expenditures to exploration and development. What managers are facing today in this sector dwarfs most other industries.”

Miner claims see major spike in B.C.- by Ed Watson (CTV British Columbia – September 24, 2012)

September 25, 2012

http://bc.ctvnews.ca/

A record number of mineral claims have been filed in B.C. over the last three years and more than 11,000 were filed in the first seven months of 2012, signaling a prospecting boom in the province.

Around $463 million was spent on mineral exploration in B.C. last year and the same amount is expected to be spent this year.

But despite few claims actually becoming a mine, those who work as prospectors cling to the dream of striking it rich.
Geologist Leslie Hunt lives in a cabin on the shores of a small lake in northern B.C.

While moose splash around in the water outside of her cabin, computers are switched on inside as she looks for her fortune.
“This would run about a hundred ounces a ton, which is an awful lot of gold,” Hunt said referring to a rock with gold in it.
One mine nearby her spread produced more than 70,000 ounces of gold before it was shut down several years ago.

Now, driven by the high price of gold, Chinese investors are interested in starting it up again. Such claims are traded back and forth at “roundups” where junior miners try to sell to senior mining companies and people look for investors.

OPINION: Prosperity gold-copper mine will live up to its name – by Russell Hallbauer (Vancouver Sun – September 20, 2012)

September 25, 2012

http://www.vancouversun.com/index.html

Russell Hallbauer is president and CEO of Taseko Mines Ltd.

New gold-copper project near Williams Lake promises to bring new jobs

Taseko operates the Gibraltar mine near Williams Lake, the second-largest copper concentrator in Canada and by Christmas of this year, the third largest in North America.

We’re proud of what we do — supplying copper to a global market for the past 40 years, employing thousands of people and contributing billions in revenues to local, provincial and national economies. We are able to do so safely and efficiently because of the highly capable engineering staff and the more than 500 skilled and committed employees working at Gibraltar.

By the end of this year, Taseko will have invested nearly $700 million in new state-of-the-art mining and milling equipment for Gibraltar in just six years, improving efficiencies and providing greater assurance that the mine can continue to produce uninterrupted for 27 more years.

This week, Taseko filed with the federal government an environmental-impact statement (EIS) detailing its proposal to build a new mine in British Columbia, also near Williams Lake.