2012 – Page 135 – Republic of Mining

Ontario Mining Association forum expands First Nation-mining industry dialogue

March 14, 2012

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

An Ontario Mining Association forum on mining sector and First Nation issues held last week has expanded the dialogue on the expectations and realities of both groups. The panel had three representatives from industry and three senior First Nations representatives.

The moderator was Sandra Gogal, an expert in Aboriginal and resource industry law with Miller Thomson, an OMA member. “We want to facilitate open dialogue and a sharing of information amongst panelists and the audience,” she said. “There are many successes but we want the forum to be challenging and address issues where there may be differences on both sides of the debate.”

On the topic of overlapping land claims by more than one Aboriginal group, Michael Fox, President of Fox High Impact Consulting, said “This is a relatively new phenomenon dealing with overlapping traditional protocols changed by a third party. You can only move as fast as the communities can move and an educational platform has to take place first.”

Murder at Royal York Hotel mining convention [PDAC – March 9, 1987] shocked Timmins 25 years ago – by Len Gillis (Timmins Times – March 8, 2012)

March 14, 2012

www.timminstimes.com lgillis@timminstimes.com

What happened that two close friends became deadly enemies?

“You bastard,” the dying man shouted.

Those were the last words that Timmins “Timmy” Bissonnette was ever to hear from his lifelong friend Guy Maurice Lamarche just moments after Bissonnette shot Lamarche with a .38 calibre pistol.

It was 25 years ago this week that the people of Timmins and the Canadian mining exploration community were stunned when the news of the shooting flashed out from The Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto where the annual Prospectors and Developers Convention was underway.

It was the tragic end of a friendship that had begun years earlier when two Timmins boys became close friends, drinking buddies and lifelong pals.

It was the supper hour on Monday March 9th, 1987. It was the first full day of the convention. Lamarche was standing near the top of the up-escalator leading to the main exhibit hall at the Royal York. Lamarche was well known to the mining crowd and was smiling and greeting many friends and associates.

Ontario scraps plans to expand mining in an old-growth area near Temagami – by Moira Welsh (Toronto Star – March 14, 2012)

March 14, 2012

The Toronto Star, has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

For the rest of this article, please go to the Toronto Star website: Ontario has scrapped plans to expand mining in an ecological gem that is home to North America’s largest stand of old-growth red pine trees near Temagami.

A Star story in December detailed the Ministry of Natural Resources’ proposal to change the “forest reserve” designation for 340 hectares around Wolf Lake — 50 kilometres from Temagami — to “general use,” which would have put a greater focus on mining instead of forests and recreation.

The ministry now says it won’t tamper with the government protections around Wolf Lake. “It was really about finding the appropriate balance,” Natural Resources Minister Michael Gravelle said in an interview Tuesday.

“We are always trying to find that balance between making sure we maintain the opportunity for economic development in northern Ontario while at the same time . . . we are very committed to the protection of our forests, particularly old-growth forests,” Gravelle said.

Threatened ferrochrome eyeing Canada’s potash turnaround model – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – March 13, 2012)

March 14, 2012

Mining Weekly is South Africa’s premier source of weekly news on mining developments in Africa’s most important industry. Mining Weekly provides in-depth coverage of mining projects and the personalities reshaping the mining industry.

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Stability can be brought to South Africa’s ferrochrome industry by creating a marketing organisation for ferrochrome similar to the Canpotex marketing arm that boosted potash in Canada, the South African ferrochrome industry says in a brochure handed to the media.

The stricken ferrochrome industry says that Canada in 1972 faced a similar situation in potash to what South Africa is facing in chrome – a long-term potash price depression.

It was then that Canada formed Canpotex, a marketing and logistics company that sells and delivers Saskatchewan potash to international markets as a wholly owned entity of potash producers.

“The Canadian potash industry provides an excellent case study,” says the South African ferrochrome industry in the nine-page handout to analysts, investors and journalists at the presentation of the results of the black-controlled Merafe Resources, which is part of a chrome-to-ferrochrome venture with the London-listed and South African-led Xstrata, the world’s biggest ferrochrome producer.

NEWS RELEASE: ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE TERRITORIES FAR SURPASSES THAT OF SOUTHERN CANADA

March 14, 2012

Ottawa, March 14, 2012 – A global commodities boom is helping to make Canada’s three northern territories economic growth leaders in the next two years. Real GDP in the three territories will collectively grow by more than seven per cent in both 2012 and 2013 – easily outpacing the Canadian average of 2.1 per cent this year, according to The Conference Board of Canada’s Territorial Outlook-Winter 2012.

“While the global economy is facing challenges that dampen the outlook for many Canadian industries and provinces, demand for metals and non-metals is expected to hold up,” said Marie-Christine Bernard, Associate Director, Forecasting and Analysis. “The immediate concern for mining industry development in Canada’s North is not so much finding a market, but rather finding the skilled workers to lead these projects forward.”

The Yukon and Nunavut economies performed well in 2011, and both territories are entering a period of sustained mining growth with several large projects proposed over the next decade. Not all projects have the green light for development, but several have made sufficient progress that they are included in the Conference Board’s forecast.

Oh, the irony – rare-earth minerals aren’t that rare – by Simon Avery (Globe and Mail – March 14, 2012)

March 14, 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.

Don’t be misled by the name. Rare-earth producers saw their stocks jump Tuesday as a result of the international spat over China’s decision to withhold some of the key industrial minerals from global markets. But investors hoping to profit from the trend have to confront an unpleasant reality.

Rare-earth minerals aren’t all that rare. While China provides almost all the world’s supply, that is more a factor of economics than geology.

Rare-earth elements are found around the globe. But China has managed to produce them more cheaply than other countries, and it has kept prices low for so long that it became uneconomical for mines outside the country to stay in production.

Today, however, two Western-based companies are close to bringing mines outside China to full production, a move that could weaken prices for several rare-earth minerals.

China’s rare-earths monopoly under fire – by Nicolas Johnson (Globe and Mail – March 14, 2012)

March 14, 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.

The world’s biggest economies are joining forces to oppose China’s limits of exports of rare-earth metals and other key minerals as the risk of a global shortage increases.

The United States, the 27-country European Union and Japan filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization on Tuesday against China’s export restrictions and duties on metals including 17 rare-earth minerals, which are used in electronics and high-tech products and are valued for their properties of magnetism, luminescence and strength.

China, the world’s fastest-growing major economy, has about one-third of the planet’s deposits of rare earths, yet controls more than 90 per cent of global production. It has been reducing shipments abroad to keep more of the metals and minerals for its own manufacturers, leading to shrinking supplies and soaring prices worldwide.

China began dominating the industry in the 1990s by expanding output and driving prices so low that Western countries shut their own mines.

How about ‘Buy Canadian’ for resource projects? – by Jim Stanford (Globe and Mail – March 14, 2012)

March 14, 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.

Jim Stanford is an economist with the Canadian Auto Workers union, which represents both the workers at the Hitachi factory in Guelph and the closed Caterpillar factory in London.

How refreshing it was to open Monday’s Globe and Mail and actually see good news from the Canadian manufacturing heartland. Greg Keenan reported on the expansion of Hitachi’s factory in Guelph, Ont., that makes enormous trucks for mining operations; the plant is doubling output and employment.

Ironically, while the Ontario-made trucks are sold to mining operations across the Americas, Europe and Africa, it doesn’t supply trucks to the biggest mining project in the world, right here in Canada: Alberta’s oil sands. Those super-sized trucks, unfortunately, are imported – from companies such as U.S. heavy equipment maker Caterpillar. It’s a lucrative business: Caterpillar’s Alberta distributor, Finning International Inc., reported record Canadian revenue of almost $3-billion last year (up 30 per cent).

Decrying federal ‘bully tactics,’ B.C. natives vow to block pipeline – by Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – March 14, 2012)

March 14, 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— Ottawa is headed for a legal showdown with British Columbia first nations if it insists on proceeding with the Northern Gateway pipeline, the leader of the Yinka Dene Alliance warns.

Chief Jackie Thomas, of the Saik’uz First Nation, was part of a delegation in Ottawa Tuesday meeting with opposition members of Parliament to build support for their anti-pipeline stand. She said her group will pursue a legal challenge if Ottawa approves the pipeline over their objections.

Along with other first-nation communities, the Dene alliance has taken a firm stand against Enbridge Inc.’s plan to build a crude oil pipeline across their land to transport oil-sands bitumen to the B.C. coast for export to Asia.

“We will defend our rights, no matter what bully tactics the federal government throws at us,” she said. “Our decision has been made: Enbridge will never be allowed in our lands.”

Quebec trying to reopen asbestos mine – by Bill Mann (MarketWatch.com – March 13, 2012)

March 13, 2012

http://www.marketwatch.com/

Commentary: Investors staying away from provincial government plan

MarketWatch

PORT TOWNSEND, Wash. (MarketWatch) — There have been some suspect Canadian mining ventures over the years. But none were probably as sketchy — or as unhealthy — as this one.

The provincial government of Quebec is doggedly trying to lure investors to reopen the Jeffrey Mine in lovely, pitted, Asbestos, Quebec. It was closed last year for financial reasons after a cave-in. Quebec’s leader has been trying to find money to kick-start the mine for over a year, in fact. So far, investors have stayed away. Quelle surprise.

Asbestos, you have to admit, doesn’t have quite the same allure as gold or silver. That’s right, asbestos. The same legally radioactive material that makes litigation-averse governments and businesses here in the U.S. close and clean buildings if even a trace of it is found. The same cancerous mineral that has attorneys trolling for lawsuits on cable-TV on behalf of victims afflicted with mesothelioma, a particularly aggressive form of cancer caused by asbestos exposure.

Wanted: 100,000 mining workers in next decade – by Derek Sankey (Vancouver Sun – March 13, 2012)

March 13, 2012

The Vancouver Sun, a broadsheet daily paper first published in 1912, has the largest circulation in the province of British Columbia.

Canada’s mining sector is entering a period of “significant and sustained growth,” according to a recent report from the Mining Association of Canada (MAC), which will translate into the need to hire more than 100,000 additional workers in the next decade.

“Mining in Canada is playing a leading role in Canada’s economic recovery,” says Pierre Gratton, president and chief executive of MAC. “We are generating significant results, we are creating valuable new jobs and we are optimistic about the opportunities in the future.”

The association estimates that Canada’s mining industry plans to invest a further $139-billion in new projects nationwide in the next 10 years. “Working responsibly and co-operatively, we believe mining will be a good news story for Canada for years to come,” Gratton says.

Demand for commodities in countries such as China and India are driving part of the overall appetite for investment in Canada’s mining industry.

Hockey star raises First Nation awareness as cultural ambassador for mining

March 13, 2012

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

Former Philadelphia Flyers scoring ace Reggie Leach took on the role of cultural ambassador as a luncheon speaker last week to improve Ontario Mining Association members’ awareness of First Nations realities. An Ojibway and member of the Berens River First Nation in Manitoba, he grew up as the youngest in a family of 13 children in Riverton, Manitoba.

Many people are able to recount his exploits and successes on the ice. After being selected third overall in the 1970 National Hockey League entry draft, Reggie Leach went on to play 934 NHL games, score 381 goals and record 285 assists for 666 points. He is a Stanley Cup winner and a Conn Smyth Trophy winner. In the 1975-1976 season, he scored 61 goals in the regular season before netting 19 goals in 16 playoff games — 80 goals in one season.

Fewer people may know about his growing up through a childhood of relative poverty. He didn’t start to skate until he was 10 and he did not have his own pair of skates until he was 14. “I am always trying to give back and my life is now for First Nations kids and getting them going in the right direction,” said Mr. Leach.

No good deed unpunished [Mining supply and services labour shortages] – by David Robinson (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – March 2012)

April 5, 2015March 13, 2012

Dr. David Robinson is an economist at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Canada. His column is from Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. drobinson@laurentian.ca

Good news can be bad news. For the mining supply sector, labour shortages in the mining industry promise good times. They signal that the market is growing, and they almost guarantee there will be growing demand for labour saving equipment and services. They also promise labour shortages for supply firms.

The signs of a labour shortage for mining are everywhere. In Western Australia, mining companies are advertising that they will take workers with no experience. Ads promise high-paying jobs and training for professionals with experience in other industries. The government recently ran a pilot program offering $5,000 to unemployed people to move to Western Australia to take up unskilled mining jobs. The mining industry expects it will need 50,000 to 70,000 people over the next 10 years.

In Canada, a 2010 study by the mining industry concluded that 100,000 new workers will be needed by 2020. With strong international demand, that number could be 40 per cent higher.

New rules for First Nation consultation [in Ontario] – by Norm Tollinsky (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – March, 2012)

March 13, 2012

Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal is a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury.

The verdict is mixed on the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines’ proposed regulations for First Nation consultation.

Posted in late February on the province’s Environmental Registry and detailed in an information update mailed out to 11,000 stakeholders, the regulations introduce “a graduated system of consultation that reflects the type of activity on the land,” said Rob Merwin, director of the Ministry’s Mining Act Secretariat.

Prospectors and exploration companies will still be able to stake claims without notifying First Nations or surface rights owners. They will also be able to access their claims for hand sampling. However, anything more than that, such as line cutting, will require the prospector or exploration company to submit a plan to the Ministry.

“Plans are a notification process through which a prospector or exploration company fills out a form that tells who, where, when and what they plan to do,” said Merwin. “Plans will be shared with affected First Nations and posted on the Ministry’s web site.”