Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas – Page 126

[Ring of Fire] Access road priority: MP – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 7, 2015)

November 10, 2015

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

No “trained seal” this guy. Though he didn’t make it into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first cabinet, veteran Liberal MP Bob Nault said he’s confident a promised open style of government will allow him to make the case for pressing Northern issues, including a main access road into the Ring of Fire mining belt.

“You don’t have to be in cabinet to be effective in this job,” Nault (Kenora) said Friday. “We’re moving to a system where the roles of (backbench) MPs and Parliamentary committees are going to be strengthened.”
Chuckling, Nault added: “We don’t have to sit there like trained seals,” a reference to how Justin’s father, Pierre Trudeau, once viewed backbenchers.

Nault, who was Indian Affairs minister when he retired from politics in 2004 after 16 straight years in the House of Commons, said he decided to get back into federal politics because of what he saw as a top-down approach by the former Harper government.

Webequie chief calls for true partnerships at mining summit – by Rick (Wawatay News – November 2015)

November 10, 2015

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

Webequie Chief Cornelius Wabasse called for “true partnerships” at the 4th Annual Mining Ready Summit, held Oct. 28-29 in Thunder Bay.

“That’s the way going forward for us to have a step in the processes and also be part of the processes that are potentially going to happen in our area,” Wabasse said. “We have to have these agreements and they have to be real and they have to be honoured.”

Wabasse said his community does not want to sign agreements where “nothing is happening on our side.”
“We know that we have to work our part as well too to make that agreement become reality,” Wabasse said. “We need to understand as First Nations about that agreement, what we need to do to make that happen as well too.”

Wabasse said his community is not opposed to development. “We want to be able to benefit from our lands and resources,” Wabasse said. “We want to be able to benefit from any development that is happening in our area.

Mining analyst Stan Sudol weighs in on Ring of Fire development – Interviewed by Up North’s Jason Turnbull (CBC News Sudbury – November 6, 2015)

November 10, 2015

This week at Queen’s Park, the PCs said the Liberals were planning a tax on chromite. Analyst Stan Sudol weighed in. Click here for interview: http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2678464492/

Noront CEO Al Coutts on Ring of Fire Road Infrastructure and Eagle’s Nest Mine – Interviewed by Superior Morning’s Lisa Laco (CBC News Thunder Bay – November 6, 2015)

November 10, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/superiormorning/ Over the past few years the Ring of Fire has certainly cooled off. Al Coutts of Noront Resources talks about their plans… and keeping anxious investors happy. Click here for interview: http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2678444727

Fiery Exchanges in Question Period over Ring of Fire (NetNewsLedger.com – November 5, 2015)

November 6, 2015

http://www.netnewsledger.com/

QUEEN’S PARK – POLITICS – There was a fiery exchange in Question Period in Queen’s Park between Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown and Thunder Bay Superior North MPP and Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle today. The PC Leader is demanding action on the Ring of Fire mining project that Brown states is stalled after eight long years.

There have been reports, in the Financial Post that Noront Resources is frustrated over progress on the mining project.

Minister Gravelle stated “As a government, we remain absolutely committed to the project. We have got our commitment of $1 billion locked in, thanks to the Minister of Finance for the transportation infrastructure corridor. We are looking forward to having an opportunity to have a discussion with the new federal government to engage in the process that was not very successful in the past with the previous government.

“We are engaged in a regional framework discussion with Matawa First Nations, and we have set up a development corporation to move that forward. So we are indeed making very positive progress.”

[Noront] Junior miner wants faster government action on providing Far North infrastructure – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 6, 2015)

November 6, 2015

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca.

Noront Resources president-CEO Alan Coutts isn’t enamoured with the provincial government’s glacial pace of infrastructure planning in the Ring of Fire, but his junior mining company has no immediate intention to mothball its nickel project in the region.

“We don’t have any plans to stop activities at this time,” said Coutts, a day after Noront announced the start of a modest $650,000 step-out exploration program, three kilometres from its flagship Eagle’s Nest nickel deposit.

A rather upbeat Coutts was beating back a Toronto newspaper report that the main mineral developer in the Ring of Fire was threatening to suspend exploration in an effort to speed up a government commitment to build mining-related infrastructure in the Far North.

The article, citing unnamed sources close to the company, said Resource Capital Funds, Noront’s main financier, is supportive and that such a work stoppage could be made within weeks.

Ring of Fire player feels pressure – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 5, 2015)

November 5, 2015

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

Even as it starts a new exploration program in the Ring of Fire this week, the mineral belt’s lone main player admits it’s never been tougher to secure the funds for such projects.

“I don’t want to sound gloom-and-doom, but it is a tough market out there and investors want to see progress,” Noront Resources CEO Alan Coutts said Wednesday.

Noront has earmarked $600,000 to resume exploration in the area of its existing proposed Eagle Nest nickel mine about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.

Though metal prices, including nickel, are down, Coutts said the Toronto-based company remains committed to getting its mine up and running about four years from now.

Despite reports, Noront says it’s not threatening to walk away from Ring of Fire – by Jamie Smith (tbnewswatch.com – November 4, 2015)

November 4, 2015

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

Noront is not threatening to walk away from the Ring of Fire its CEO says.

The Financial Post ran a story with anonymous sources Tuesday saying the company has threatened to walk away from its Eagle’s Nest project if it doesn’t see progress from the province and First Nations soon. Alan Coutts said that same day the company announced a new exploration program in the area with nearby First Nations as participants.

“We don’t have any plans to shut down operations,” he said. “I don’t want to get into speculative stuff but we’re active.”

It’s a weak market out there, especially for a junior company like Nortont but Coutts said they’ve been finding the money they need and that’s happened because they’ve shown progress. “There’s activity, there’s alignment and there’s progress in the Ring of Fire,” he said.

Obviously the company would like to see firmer plans from the province on infrastructure for the project but Coutts said there are current discussions on those issues.

Top ‘Ring of Fire’ miner threatens to halt project unless Ontario, First Nations make progress – by Peter Koven (National Post – November 4, 2015)

November 4, 2015

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

TORONTO — The dominant company in Ontario’s “Ring of Fire” mineral belt is threatening to suspend its work, sources say, putting a big question mark over future development plans in the region.

Noront Resources Ltd. has warned both the Ontario government and First Nations communities in recent days that it will stop working unless it can demonstrate some tangible progress to investors, according to sources.

The company and its key lender, Resource Capital Funds, are increasingly frustrated with a lack of movement on government infrastructure commitments, First Nations agreements and other matters. The longer these issues drag on, the harder it will be for Noront to raise new capital.

The company is expected to halt spending on its Eagle’s Nest project in the Ring of Fire by the end of the year if it does not see any progress. In that scenario, Toronto-based Noront would lay off most of its workers and go down to a skeleton staff.

The Canadian resource sector’s messy duty to consult – by Dwight Newman (National Post – October 30, 2015)

October 30, 2015

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

Dwight Newman is professor of law and Canada research chair in indigenous rights, University of Saskatchewan and visiting fellow, James Madison Program, Princeton University.

This week, closing arguments were heard in a lawsuit that highlights the Ontario provincial government’s slowness in developing clear approaches to the duty to consult Aboriginal communities and in offering any clarity to those attempting to operate in the Canadian resource sector.

The decision to be rendered has widespread implications. The case has parallels to the situation of other resource companies, and it highlights the significant dangers in governments trying to muddle through the interaction between Indigenous rights and resource development without making clear decisions and enacting clear legal frameworks. Future prosperity for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities alike will be affected by what happens with these sorts of lawsuits.

AUDIO: Ring of Fire conference in Thunder Bay aims to examine environmental concerns (CBC News Thunder Bay – October 28, 2015)

October 29, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay?cmp=rss

Extraction project must be ‘ecologically sustainable,’ law professor says of Ring of Fire development

A one-day conference about the Ring of Fire, taking place Friday in Thunder Bay, is looking at how issues would be addressed before resources are extracted from the mineral-rich region.

Lakehead University’s Faculty of Law and Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Mining and Exploration is hosting the discussion, which seeks to build on last year’s conference.

Challenges including sustainable development, the duty to consult and impacts on First Nations communities must be considered and addressed before the extraction project begins, said Jason MacLean, an assistant law professor at Lakehead.

“It would be putting the cart before the horse to speed ahead with the development of the project without ensuring that the project is going to be ecologically sustainable and respectful of indigenous rights,” MacLean said.

[Thunder Bay NAN] Mining summit fosters partnerships – by Brent Linton (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – October 28, 2015)

October 28, 2015

http://www.chroniclejournal.com/

Nishnawbe Aski Development hosted their annual mining summit with the hopes of further creating opportunities for networking.

The two-day event, which continues Wednesday, featured a full agenda of speakers and exhibitors related to the mining industry.

“We’re not alone,” said Mark Podlasly, the senior advisor to the British Columbia First Nations Energy and Mining Council, after his presentation on Tuesday.

“People are going through this around the world. There is no need to reinvent the wheel for every negotiation in-terms of what is possible. Go out and find what is being done and see if you can adapt that back to your own community and dream big.”

Podlasly spoke on the importance of working together in-terms of the size of First Nations and the negotiating leverage that brings.

NEWS RELEASE: Modern Treaties Boost First Nations Income, Benefit Resource Companies

October 28, 2015

https://www.cdhowe.org/

…beyond bettering First Nations economically, there are material benefits for resource companies and neighbouring communities.

Click here for the full report: https://www.cdhowe.org/sites/default/files/attachments/research_papers/mixed/e-brief_218_0.pdf

October 28, 2015 – Modern treaties have boosted incomes in First Nation communities and have led to more resource development, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute Report. In “The Effect of First Nations Modern Treaties on Local Income,” author Fernando M. Aragón shows that, beyond bettering First Nations economically, there are material benefits for resource companies and neighbouring communities.

“Despite the 1982 Constitution and several supportive decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada, the scope and extent of Aboriginal rights over their ancestral land are, in many cases, not well defined,” remarked Aragón. “As a result, many so-called ‘modern’ treaties, or Comprehensive Land Claim Agreements, which began in the 1970s, have sought to clarify who owns the land and its resources.”

Trudeau’s promises to aboriginal people feared to be unachievable – by Gloria Galloway (Globe and Mail – October 23, 2015)

October 23, 2015

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 — Justin Trudeau has made some big promises to Canada’s indigenous peoples, and the head of the Assembly of First Nations says he is anxious to get working with the incoming Liberal government to see those commitments realized.

But critics say some of the goals that Mr. Trudeau has set for himself as he tries to improve the lot of the country’s aboriginal people are impractical, wrong-headed or simply beyond his ability to deliver.

Mr. Trudeau – during a virtual town hall last week aired by APTN, Canada’s indigenous television network – said he would repeal or reform many pieces of legislation that do not respect the rights of indigenous peoples, including their right to be adequately consulted about issues that affect them. He also said he would give the First Nations a veto over development in their territories.

Mr. Trudeau promised last spring to implement all 94 recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on indigenous residential schools, many of which are far-reaching.

Documentary film looks at effects of mine on Attawapiskat – by Tanya Talaga (Toronto Star – October 22, 2015)

November 3, 2015October 22, 2015

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.

What is it like for a northern First Nations community to live beside a diamond mine?

Documentary filmmaker Victoria Lean zeroes in on what it is like for the Attawapiskat First Nation to be neighbours with the Victor diamond mine in her film After the Last River.

The Victor mine, owned by global mining giant De Beers, is just 90 kilometres west of Attawapiskat, a community in James Bay District that has battled floods, an ongoing housing crisis and a massive diesel spill underneath an old school.

Lean set out to tell a story about the consequences of mining in one of the most ecologically sensitive areas in the North, and in doing so she unearthed the challenges of a community struggling to exist.