2012 – Page 166 – Republic of Mining

Keystone, Northern Gateway pipelines raise questions that need answers before approval – by David Olive (January 14, 2012)

January 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.

In hearings that began this week on the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline to carry tar-sands oil from Athabasca to the B.C. coast, we have a rare opportunity to insist on the world’s most carefully planned energy megaprojects ever.

In an ideal world, we would embrace conservation and greatly accelerated development of alternative sources of energy to make unnecessary the construction of Gateway and the even longer Keystone XL pipeline to take Athabasca crude the entire length of the U.S. to refineries on the Texas coast.

But that won’t happen, not for decades if ever. Canadians and Americans will ultimately consent to these two projects with their combined 4,000 km of three-foot-diameter pipe at a total estimated cost of $13.6 billion. Energy security will trump the many risks.

What the Gateway commission could learn from an oil sands pioneer [Joseph Burr Tyrrell] – by Ian Brown (Globe and Mail – January 14, 2012)

January 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.

I spent a morning this week reading about the Northern Gateway pipeline, which, if it is approved by the National Energy Board, will carry oil-sands bitumen from Alberta to Kitimat on the coast of British Columbia and thence via supertanker to the ever-open crankcase of China.

Afterward, I stopped by the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto, as I do from time to time, though I admit a rare-book library may seem like an old-fashioned place to hang out, obsessed as the world is these days with technology and response rates and “going forward,” as managers like to say.

The funny thing was this: When I told Anne Dondertman, the acting director of the Fisher library, that I had been reading about the new proposed pipeline, she immediately started talking about a set of maps that were made 130 years ago by Joseph Burr Tyrrell, a Canadian geologist/paleontologist/explorer/historian/apple farmer/mining executive who was one of the first scientists to describe what we now call the Alberta tar sands.

Thou must not question Big Environment – by Rex Murphy (National Post – January 14, 2012)

January 14, 2012

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

Rex Murphy offers commentary weekly on CBC TV’s The National and is host of CBC Radio’s Cross Country Checkup.

The environmental movement has enjoyed smooth, mostly untroubled progress since its beginnings in the 1960s, when its activists romped around the northern sea floes off the coast of Labrador. The enviros migrated with almost the same punctuality as the seals:

Every spring, you could treat yourself to the sight of them bobbing up and down on the ice-pans, high-bosomed starlets stroking the pelts of large-eyed newsmen and seals alike, whole platoons of photographers aiming for the perfect cute shot, and a kite tail of various enthusiasts and camp followers to give a sense of noise and drama. Labrador is more or less quiet these days: Those Who Care have decamped to the oil sands and other pastures.

Robert Redford, when he can tear himself away from the general dorkiness of the Sundance Festival, is big on saving the planet these days. James Cameron can generally be found rustling the vines somewhere in the Amazon rain forest. Leonardo DiCaprio is always good for a Vanity Fair cover as long as its backlit and there’s a polar bear somewhere.

[Timmins] Mine shops aid war effort – by Karen Bachmann (Timmins Daily Press – January 14, 2012)

January 14, 2012

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper

Karen Bachmann is the director/curator of the Timmins Museum and a local author.

Second World War impacted everyday life in the Porcupine Camp during 1942

A few local news briefs from 1942, courtesy of the Porcupine Advance newspaper. Jan. 25 was the date that was finally set for the official opening of the brand new United Church in Timmins. Located at the corner of Mountjoy Street and First Avenue, only the basement had been built at the time. Construction of the rest of the church was to move ahead in the spring with the help of both regular and volunteer workers.

Rev. J.C. Cochrane, D.D., superintendent of northern missions was secured as the guest speaker. A newly formed choir under the auspices of Mr. Wallace Young was prepared to sing special anthems and other musical numbers during the dedication service.

At that time, the charter roll of membership was to be presented as the basis of the organization, and the keys were to be turned over to the new church minister.

Friggin’ Freezin’ – by Bill Braden (Canadian Mining Journal – January, 2012)

January 13, 2012

The Canadian Mining Journal is Canada’s first mining publication providing information on Canadian mining and exploration trends, technologies, operations, and industry events.

Bill Braden is the Northern Correspondent for the Canadian Mining Journal

Renowned winter road readies for really big traffic

Just about every winter brings a new “first” of some kind to the NWT’s storied Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road, the frozen lifeline to three major mines now harvesting approximately 18 per cent (by value) of the world’s gem-quality diamonds.

Now in its 32nd year, the world’s longest-ever ice road will see what could be its longest-ever shipments: the 35-m long blades for a quartet of giant wind turbines to be installed at the Diavik Mine, owned by Rio Tinto and Harry Winston Diamonds Inc.

“They’re not heavy, but they’re big and long and awkward and very sensitive,” said Ron Near, Director of Winter Road Operations, in a recent News/North article. “There’s huge logistics involved in ensuring they get to the mine in a safe way.”

Queenston rejuvenating gold-rich Kirkland Lake Mining Camp-Scotia Capital – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – January 05, 2012)

January 13, 2012

http://www.mineweb.com

Citing its assembled land package in the Kirkland Lake Gold Camp, as well as the company’s attraction as an acquisition target, Scotia Capital has initiated coverage on Queenston Mining.

RENO – Scotia Capital Wednesday initiated coverage of Queenston Mining (TSX: QMI) suggesting its Kirkland Lake gold project is an attractive acquisition target to both JV partner, Kirkland Lake Gold (TSX: KGI) and Kirkland’s majority shareholder Agnico-Eagle Mines.

“The company holds the largest assembled land package in the prolific Kirkland Lake Gold Camp in Ontario, which has produced over 40 Moz of gold, and two projects in Quebec, located adjacent to Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited’s…Lapa deposit,” said Scotia Capital analysts Ovais Habib and Mike Hocking.

Located in Ontario along the border with Quebec, the Kirkland Lake Gold Camp is believed to host nine greater than one-million-ounce gold deposits.

[Sudbury] City, mining companies to share costs – by Mike Whitehouse (Sudbury Star – January 13, 2012)

January 13, 2012

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

The city of Grater Sudbury is poised to announce a landmark agreement to share the costs of rebuilding a local road with area mining companies.

The deal, which will be introduced to council at its Jan. 24 meeting, will split the cost of improvements to Regional Road 4 in Whitefish between Vale, Quadra FNX and the city. The city’s share of the $20-million project is expected to be about $5 million, Greg Clausen, the city’s general manager of infrastructure, said.

The road, more commonly known as Worthington Road, serves Vale’s Totten Mine and a handful or residential and camp properties. It will also serve Quadra’s Victoria Mine, for which constr uction is expected to begin this year. When completed by 2017, Victoria Mine will employ more than 200 full-time people throughout its 15-to 20-year lifespan.

Gateway gate may be closing – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – January 13, 2012)

January 13, 2012

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

It’s early days for the long federal regulatory review into the Northern Gateway oil sands pipeline, but already it’s hard to feel optimistic that the project will get off the ground as proposed.

At least three major stumbling blocks surfaced repeatedly in the review’s important first days that are likely to dog the $5.5-billion pipeline, which would carry product from the Alberta oil sands to this community on the northern West Coast, throughout the two-year review process: aboriginal opposition, little community buy-in and lack of trust that it can be built safely.

They are essential building blocks of any major development in Western and Northern Canada, from liquefied natural gas plants coming to this town, to oil sands projects in Alberta, to potash mines in Saskatchewan. Even the much-delayed Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline had them largely nailed down before Imperial Oil Ltd. and its partners moved forward with an application for regulatory approval.

Fair play and pipeline politics – by Nathan Lemphers (National Post – January 13, 2011)

January 13, 2012

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

Nathan Lemphers is a senior policy analyst with the Pembina Institute, a national nonpartisan sustainable energy think-tank. This op-ed originally appeared on The Mark.

Apparently, Canada is open for business, but closed to criticism, no matter how constructive. This is the clearest conclusion that can be drawn from Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver’s open letter to Canadians (“Radicals threaten resource development,” National Post, Jan. 10), in which he attacks advocates of responsible oilsands development as “radicals,” and dismisses the concerns of thousands of Canadians who want to have a say in the decision of whether to build Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.

The $6.6-billion project would run two parallel pipelines carrying diluted bitumen and condensate along a 1,177kilometre route linking the oilsands in Alberta with the remote port of Kitimat on the northern B.C. coast. The pipelines would traverse hundreds of salmon-bearing rivers and streams, mountainous and landslide-prone terrain, the Great Bear Rainforest and the territory of more than 50 First Nations.

[Alberta Premier] Redford questions credibility of Northern Gateway hearings – by Dawn Walton (Globe and Mail – January 13, 2012)

January 13, 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.

CALGARY— Alberta Premier Alison Redford is questioning the credibility of federal hearings that have attracted more than 4,000 people requesting comment on Enbridge Inc.’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, which has sparked a debate about balancing the economy against the environment and aboriginal rights.

The Alberta government will not be making a formal pitch during the National Energy Board’s regulatory review, which started this week in northern British Columbia, but the province has made no secret of its support for the pipeline that would help bring oil-sands crude to markets in Asia and the United States.

Ms. Redford told reporters on Thursday that she supports the independent regulatory process, as she did when a similar review took place in the United States regarding the divisive Keystone XL pipeline project, but she has concerns about the transparency.

Ned Goodman (Born 1937) – 2012 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee

January 12, 2012

Ned Goodman has made transformative and enduring contributions to Canada’s minerals industry and capital markets as a company-builder, merchant banker and investment advisor during a dynamic career spanning almost half a century. He applied his geological training and business acumen to help build several successful mining companies — notably International Corona and Kinross Gold — and nurtured many other mineral producing companies through astute and timely investments. In addition to being anoutstanding member of the philanthropic community, Montreal-born Goodman is considered one of the leading architects of Canada’s investment management industry.

Along with his partners, he founded the first exploration flow-through partnership, CMP Group, which has raised almost $5 billion since the 1980s to help companies explore and develop mining and petroleum companies, leading to the generation of jobs and benefits for rural and northern economies in Canada. He was also the driving force of the Dundee group of financial companies, which grew under his leadership from a $300-millionbase to a $50-billion mutual fund entity.

Phillip G. Hallof (1931-1992) – 2012 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee

January 12, 2012

Phillip Hallof earned his status as one of the “fathers of modern geophysics” for his pioneering and innovative work in the field of frequency domain induced polarization (IP), which grew from an obscure research effort into an essential exploration tool. He contributed in many ways to the research and development of geophysical equipment, techniques and interpretation, and also provided technical expertise to the mineral exploration industry through his leadership of McPhar Geophysics Inc. and later Phoenix Geophysics. Another legacy of his 35-year career was aiding the discovery of mineral wealth for the benefit of Canada and the global economy.

Hallof was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and educated at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he earned a bachelor’s degree in geology (geophysics option) in 1952. While still a graduate student, he undertook research into the then-novel, variable frequency IP method being developed by Newmont Exploration and demonstrated that it gave measurable responses over certain known sulphide deposits. The technology was further refined and successfully field tested, resulting in a valuable new tool to help identify buried mineral deposits that were not conductive and which conventional electromagnetic (EM) surveys could not detect. He also created a new and useful mode ofdisplaying multi-spaced IP and resistivity data in the now standard pseudosection format.

John A. Hansuld (Born 1931) – 2012 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee

January 12, 2012

John Hansuld served Canada’s mining and minerals sector with distinction as a pioneering geochemist, entrepreneurial company-builder and dedicated industry advocate. As a scientist, he advanced the application of geochemical techniques to mineral exploration and enhanced the profile and prestige of its practitioners.

As a corporate leader, he built Amax Exploration (Canada) into a premier exploration and mine development group later taken public as Canamax Resources Inc. He was also instrumental in transforming the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) from a largely Canadian organization to one of global influence.

Hansuld is perhaps best remembered for his leadership role in using the “flow-through share” tax-incentive program to fund Canadian mineral exploration at a time when many juniors were finding it difficult to access traditional capital markets.

Robert Hunter (1927-2007) and Robert Dickinson (Born 1948) – 2012 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductees

January 12, 2012

A partnership formed by Robert Hunter and Robert Dickinson more than 25 years ago has endured as the inspirational foundation for Hunter Dickinson Inc. (HDI), one of North America’s most respected mineral exploration and mine development groups. With Hunter as the financier and promoter and Dickinson as the technical advocate and project potential savant, the efforts of this entrepreneurial duo led to the development of one of the most successful teams in Canadian mining history.

The HDI team has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to advance mineral projects in Canada and around the world. The list includes many important porphyry deposits — notably Mount Milligan, Kemess and Prosperity in BC, Pebble in Alaska, and Xietongmen in China — as well as gold and other deposit types. Hunter and Dickinson both began their careers in their home province of BC. Hunter was a top-performing life insurance agent for 20 years before joining the mining scene in the early 1980s.

Ontario Mining Association co-sponsors high school video workshop

January 12, 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.

The Ontario Mining Association is joining forces with Cambrian College in Sudbury to run a video production workshop for high school students. The one-day course, which can accommodate up to 30 students, will be held on January 21, 2012 at Cambrian. This workshop, with the OMA and Cambrian as partners, is designed to promote the OMA’s “So You Think You Know Mining” video competition.

Participants will be provided with an opportunity to learn the basics of video production, use Cambrian’s modern facilities and film equipment and benefit from the experience of college staff. The workshop is being facilitated by Dan Maslakewycz from CTV.

The OMA’s “So You Think You Know Mining” high school video competition is now in its fourth year. This year $33,500 in prize money is up for grabs. The deadline for submitting two to three minute videos on any aspect of the benefits of mining is March 15, 2012. There is also a new category this year for short commercials. The SYTYKM awards gala will be held June 5, 2012 at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.