2012 – Page 46 – Republic of Mining

Environmental group starts Ring of Fire campaign – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – October 3, 2012)

October 6, 2012

Northern Ontario’s First Nations Voice: http://wawataynews.ca/

The environmental organization CPAWS Wildlands League is hoping pressure from people across Canada will convince the Ontario government to refocus its involvement in the Ring of Fire.

CPAWS kicked off its latest campaign in Toronto in September with a series of media advertisements geared at the Ring of Fire.

The goal is to convince Ontario to create a regional plan for development in northern Ontario’s mining sector, said CPAWS spokesperson Anna Baggio.

“For many years now we’ve been hoping (the government) would do some sort of regional planning in regards to the Ring of Fire,” Baggio said. “We’re very worried – I don’t think they have a plan for the region. Instead, the development is happening in a piecemeal way, where everyone’s got their own little part of it.”

Baggio said CPAWS is concerned that ecosystems are being put at risk, endangered species like woodland caribou are being ignored and First Nations communities are being left on the sidelines as the government pushes forward with the massive mining development.

Northlander employees bring anger to Sudbury – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Star – October 6, 2012)

October 6, 2012

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

Ontario Northland employees were outside Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci’s downtown office Friday to protest the cancellation of the Northlander passenger rail service Sept. 28.

“People are angry,” said Brian Kelly, spokesperson for the General Chairperson’s Association, the umbrella group that represents all of Northland’s unions. “They’re venting. We’ve had a lot of people quit and people retire because they just don’t think there’s a future.”

The Northlander had carried passengers from Toronto to Cochrane for more than 100 years. Passengers who don’t want to fork over extra money for flights will have to rely on Ontario Northland’s bus service for the same trip.

Bartolucci, who is also Ontario’s Minister of Northern Development and Mines, said the government could not continue to subsidize the passenger train service while use remained “stagnant.” In 2003, 329,000 people used the rail service, he said. That declined to 321,000 last year.

Northerners must unite to overturn camping ban – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – October 6, 2012)

October 6, 2012

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Unless you’ve been out in the bush for the past week, you are probably aware of the provincial government’s cost-saving plan to eliminate overnight camping at a series of provincial parks in Northeastern Ontario.

Regional provincial parks impacted by the decision include Ivanhoe Lake in Foleyet, Greenwater in Cochrane, Rene Brunelle in Kapuskasing, Fushimi Lake in Hearst, The Shoals in Chapleau and Tidewater in Moosonee.

On Wednesday night, the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) is having a special public forum to discuss the issue. The camping ban has struck a raw nerve with many Northerners, particularly those who enjoy seasonal camping at these facilities.

Leaders with FONOM, such as Kapuskasing Mayor Al Spacek (the organization’s president) and Timmins Mayor Tom Laughren (the vice-president), recognize the important role these campgrounds play, not only in facilitating the Northern lifestyle but in support of the region’s economy.

Platinum producer fires 12,000 striking South African miners as unrest deepens – by Agnieszka Flak (Globe and Mail – October 5, 2012)

October 5, 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.

JOHANNESBURG — Reuters – Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) fired 12,000 wildcat strikers on Friday, a high-stakes attempt by the world’s biggest platinum producer to push back at a wave of illegal stoppages sweeping through South Africa’s mining sector and beyond.

The rand fell sharply after the announcement, suggesting investors fear the sackings could worsen what is shaping up to be the most damaging period of labour unrest in Africa’s biggest economy since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Police shot dead one striking miner overnight, bringing the death toll in two months of unrest to 48. Strikes have spread beyond the mining sector, with Shell declaring on Friday that it would not be able to honour contracts to deliver fuel near Johannesburg because of a trucking strike.

The unrest is causing political trouble for President Jacob Zuma and his ruling African National Congress (ANC), the veteran liberation movement with long-standing ties to labour unions. “You fire 12,000 people, and it’s like ‘Oh my god, what happens now?’” one Johannesburg-based currency strategist said.

MPs arrested over Canadian mine protest – by Olga Dzyubenko (Globe and Mail – October 5, 2012)

October 5, 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.

BISHKEK — Reuters – Kyrgyzstani police on Thursday arrested three members of parliament who had led a crowd that tried to storm government headquarters in a protest over a Canadian-owned gold mine, Centerra Gold.

Wednesday’s clashes between police and supporters of the opposition Ata Zhurt party in the former Soviet republic were the most violent in the capital, Bishkek, since the April, 2010, revolt that ousted then-president Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

The protesters want the mine, crucial to Kyrgyzstan’s fragile economy, to be nationalized. The three parliamentarians – Kamchibek Tashiyev, Sadyr Zhaparov and Talant Mamytov – are being held on suspicion of trying to seize power. Prosecutors have 48 hours to decide whether to charge them.

On Thursday, about 1,000 supporters rallied in the main square of the southern city of Jalalabad, their power base, to demand their release. There was no violence. “Parliament, the President, the government should resign because they are not resolving the Kumtor issue,” one demonstrator shouted through a megaphone.

Alaska plan intensifies gas race to Asia – by Nathan Vanderklippe (Globe and Mail – October 5, 2012)

October 5, 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 — A massive new proposal to export natural gas from Alaska brings a major competitor into the race to carry North American gas to Asia, and adds pressure on Canadian export projects to build quickly or risk losing out.

The Alaska Southcentral LNG project would include construction of a 1,300-kilometre pipeline from Alaskan North Slope gas fields to southern waters, near Valdez or Anchorage, where a new terminal would load liquefied natural gas on to tankers.

It is notable for the stature of its backers – BP PLC, Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips Co. and TransCanada Corp., which have now joined forces after duelling for years over separate gas pipeline projects – and for its scale.

With a price tag of $45-billion to $65-billion-plus (U.S.), the Alaska project is a study in superlatives. It would use 1.7 million tons of steel, take 15,000 people to build and load three billion to 3.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day on to ships bound for Asia.
It would elbow itself into a market that has been the focus of a global scramble, with numerous LNG terminals either being proposed or built in Qatar, Australia and elsewhere.

Nexen decision a tipping point for Canada – by Derek H. Burney and Fen Osler Hampson (Globe and Mail – October 5, 2012)

October 5, 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.

Derek H. Burney is Senior Strategic Advisor for Norton Rose Canada LLP and a former Canadian Ambassador to the United States. Fen Osler Hampson is Distinguished Fellow and Director of Global Security at CIGI and Chancellor’s Professor, Carleton University.

The decision on CNOOC ‘s proposed acquisition of Nexen will be a key litmus test on whether the government intends to “walk the talk” on diversification. Approval – along with clear limits on future foreign investments – not only makes sense, but is clearly in the national interest, if the government seriously intends to broaden economic ties with the fastest-growing, second-largest global economy.

Concerns about state-owned enterprises not adhering to market principles have some legitimacy, as do the undeniable facts that the Chinese political system is different and plays by different quasi-market rules. Furthermore, Canadian firms have nothing like open access to invest in China on oil sands development or in virtually any other sector.

But Canada needs foreign investment to develop its huge resource base, and China has unmatched capacity to participate. With less than 5 per cent of the oil sands leases, Nexen is a relatively small player.

[Sudbury] ‘Pro-Cliffs’ group worried – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – October 5, 2012)

October 5, 2012

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

A group of concerned citizens, comprised of people who are all “pro-Cliffs,” will hold a public meeting Oct. 15 in Capreol to strike a formal committee to hold the company’s and government’s feet to the fire on the issue of environmental health and safety.

Retired mining health and safety activist Homer Seguin said half a dozen citizens, including former longtime New Democrat MPP Elie Martel, have been meeting to discuss Cliffs Natural Resources’ plan to build a ferrochrome processing plant north of Capreol.

“We’re pro-Cliffs,” said Seguin, “because the jobs are welcome. But first and foremost comes safety.” Cliffs announced in May it plans to build a $1.8-billion smelter at the former Moose Mountain Mine site to process chromite ore the Clevelandbased company will mine in the Ring of Fire.

The committee’s support will come with the condition that the plant be built and operated so as not to adversely affect the health of its employees, and the air and water in the city, said Seguin. Little is known about chromite processing, said Seguin, and that’s something at which a formalized committee would examine.

NDP’s rejection of Nexen deal pushes Harper into tight corner – by Jameson Berkow (National Post – October 4, 2012)

October 5, 2012

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

CALGARY — Canada’s official opposition has conducted its own “net benefit” test of China’s $15.1-billion attempt to buy a Canadian oil sands producer and issued the deal a failing grade.

The federal New Democratic Party Thursday urged Prime Minister Stephen Harper to prevent Calgary-based Nexen Inc. from being sold to CNOOC Ltd., a state-controlled enterprise backed by China’s Communist government. While unsurprising given the party’s recent statements on the proposed deal, the move, experts say, was designed to provide the NDP with political capital.

“If the deal is denied then the NDP can try to take credit for denying the deal. If the deal goes forward then they can campaign on the fact that Stephen Harper doesn’t listen to Canadians,” said Duane Bratt, professor and chair of the policy studies department at Calgary’s Mount Royal University.

“Almost every foreign investment would fail the NDP test, any trade deal would fail the NDP test. They are a protectionist party so remember the government is not bound by the will of the opposition party here.” Few people cried foul of the deal when it was proposed in late July. But the issue of foreign state-owned players acquiring stakes in Canada’s oil patch has quickly gained momentum as debate has become increasingly contentious.

Platinum, gold, coal, diamonds, iron ore. No end in sight for SA mine strikes – by Lawrence Williams (Mineweb.com – October 4, 2012)

October 4, 2012

www.mineweb.com

The South African mine strikes, and associated intimidation of any who wish to return to work, appear to be continuing to spread – from platinum, to gold and now to other mining sectors as well.

LONDON (MINEWEB) – Writing here on Mineweb in mid-August (Platinum mine violence impact – could it spread to gold mines too?) we commented thus on the prospect of the strikes and associated violence then being experienced on the platinum mines spreading to the country’s gold mining sector: “But, the issues which have led to the platinum mining violence are potentially mirrored in South Africa’s gold mines – an even bigger sector (just) – and the government will be hugely worried about the potential spread of mine unrest given the potentially major impact on the South African economy of a mining meltdown.

South Africa may no longer be the world’s largest gold producer – a position it held for nigh on a century, but it still remains one of the world’s biggest and disruption here could have a very negative impact on global mine supply – and again lead to the permanent closure of some of the more marginal operations, which are struggling to stay afloat even at current gold prices. The platinum and gold mines operate in a very similar manner and employ huge workforces by western standards. If the AMCU starts to move into the gold mines in a similar manner the impact could be equally destabilising.”

Australia cuts interest rate as mining slump prompts worries – by Tim Kiladze (Globe and Mail – October 3, 2012)

October 4, 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

An unexpected interest rate cut from Australia’s central bank, triggered by fears of a slowing mining sector, offers Canadians a glimpse of what to expect in the event of a prolonged economic slowdown in China.

For years, Australia’s economy has been powered by China’s strong growth. Because the two countries are so close together, China has been a heavy buyer of Australian iron ore and coal, propelling the Commonwealth country’s economy. Australia’s annualized GDP growth rate is 3.7 per cent, and its unemployment rate is only 5.1 per cent.

But lately there have been signs of a slowdown in Australia’s resource sector, which was a prime reason for cutting the country’s key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.25 per cent on Tuesday. In a statement, Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens specifically cited fears about softer resource investments, as miners curtail their expansion plans.

“The peak in resource investment is likely to occur next year, and may be at a lower level than earlier expected,” he wrote. “As this peak approaches, it will be important that the forecast strengthening in some other components of demand starts to occur.”

Ontario’s Mining Law changes aim to bring mining regulation into 21st Century – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – October 4, 2012)

October 4, 2012

www.mineweb.com

Key changes under Ontario’s Mining Act come into effect on Nov. 1, 2012, impacting exploration, bulk samples, assessment work credits, aboriginal consultation and mine closure.

RENO (MINEWEB) – The administration of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced Wednesday that key changes in Ontario’s Mining Act will come into effect on November 1 that will eventually mandate the filing of exploration plans and permits, Aboriginal consultation, and encourage voluntary mine rehabilitation of mine hazards.

“We’ve brought a 100-year-old piece of legislation into the 21st Century,” said Rick Bartolucci, Ontario’s Minister of Northern Development and Mines. “Through these regulations, as well as our ongoing work with industry and Aboriginal communities, we can all ensure Ontario continues to be a leading jurisdiction for mineral exploration investment for decades to come.”

Among the changes are voluntary submission of an exploration plan in order to undertake certain early exploration activities. Any surface rights owners must be notified of the planned exploration activities.

New criteria will help determine sites that are of social, cultural, sacred or ceremonial significance to Aboriginal communities in order to protect those sites from claim staking.

Rebounding gold miners ‘have got religion’ – by Pav Jordan (Globe and Mail – October 4, 2012)

October 4, 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

Buoyed by a new mantra of cost discipline, Canadian gold miners are starting to catch the wave of booming bullion prices after a summer of woe.

From major producers like Barrick Gold Corp., Goldcorp Inc. and Kinross Gold Corp. to junior explorers, gold mining stocks are booming, propelled by a shift in the industry to restrain spending and focus on profits and cash flow, rather than pursue reckless strategies that favoured growth at any cost.

The spot price of gold danced around $1,779 (U.S.) an ounce on Wednesday, or about seven times where it was a decade ago, when central banks were bailing out of the metal. Today, banks are piling back into gold to hedge their U.S. dollar reserves as forecasts for gold prices climb above $2,000 an ounce. And gold stock prices are beginning to catch fire.

Drastic shifts in corporate strategies are helping gold companies and their shares, repairing a disconnect between their valuations and the price of the metal. Risk-weary investors had favoured exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for exposure to gold, rather than shares of the miners themselves.