Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas – Page 137

Column: Noront the new king of the Ring – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury star – March 25, 2015)

March 25, 2015March 24, 2015

(L to R) Noront Team at PDAC Awards Ceremony: Glenn Nolan, Vice President, Aboriginal Affairs; Alan Coutts, P.Geo, President and CEO; Kaitlyn Ferris, Manager, Corporate Responsibility; Paul Semple, P.Eng, Chief Operating Officer; Gregory Rieveley, CPA, CA, Chief Financial Officer. (Photo by Stan Sudol)

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

Just when I was ready to title my next Ring of Fire column, “Lost and sinking in the political muskeg of the James Bay lowlands,” a corporate bolt of lightning struck Monday, when Noront Resources, with the backing of Franco Nevada Corporation, announced the acquisition of Cliffs’ chromite properties.

This is a game changer in the Ring of Fire! A Canadian company is putting cold hard cash on the table – during one of the most severe mining busts in decades – in the long-term financial belief of the economic potential of the Ring of Fire.

Franco Nevada is lending Noront U.S. $22.5 million for five years at 7% interest in return for a 3% royalty for Cliffs’ Black Thor chomite deposit and a 2% royalty for all of Noront’s other Ring of Fire properties, with the exception of their Eagle’s Nest nickel/copper/PGM mine. The stock markets seemed to be pleased with this announcement, as Noront shares closed at 48.5 cents on Tuesday, the same as Monday, up almost 37% from their closing price the previous week.

Without a doubt, this is the mining deal of the century — and/or an extraordinary fire sale.

Ring of Fire: Ontario has ‘gun to our head’ First Nation chief says – by Jody Porter (CBC News Thunder Bay – March 24, 2015)

March 24, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay

Neskantaga Chief Peter Moonias says Ontario has a ‘hidden agenda’ to support Noront Resources

The Ontario government has put ‘a gun to the head’ of First Nations leaders trying to negotiate a fair deal in the Ring of Fire mining area in the James Bay lowlands, Neskantaga Chief Peter Moonias says. His comments came within hours of Noront Resources announcement on Monday that it had struck a deal to buy Cliffs Natural Resources assets in the area.

Chiefs were informed of the deal at the same time as being told that the province has set an April 1 deadline for a decision on the next step in Noront’s environmental assessment for a proposed nickel mine in the Ring of Fire, Moonias said.

“There’s a hidden agenda,” he said. “We are being targeted with a gun to our head. We have no more opportunity to study the process.” The deadline doesn’t allow enough time for community members in the nine First Nations closest to the Ring of Fire mineral deposits to be informed, Moonias said.

The Matawa First Nations are engaged in a negotiation process about the mining project under a framework agreement with Ontario. Moonias said the sudden announcement of the tight timeline left him disillusioned about the talks.

UPDATED: Ring of Fire deal ‘game-changer’ – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – March 24, 2015)

March 24, 2015

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

Noront Resources Ltd. announced Monday it plans to buy Cleveland-based Cliffs Natural Resources’ chromite assets in the Ring of Fire for $20 million.

International companies have touted the region’s mining potential for years, but have yet to take any projects to construction, largely due to transportation and access issues.

“We’re all in with respect to the Ring of Fire. This is where we want to be committed to,” Alan Coutts, Noront’s president and CEO, told The Star on Monday. “We think the region is very prospective, from a geological and exploration point of view.”

Coutts likened the Ring of Fire “to another Sudbury,” predicting “there’ll be multiple mines discovered over time, like in Timmins or Red Lake. We think it’s another one of these emerging mining camps.”

Coutts said the Toronto-based company has been involved in the Ring of Fire since 2007 with the Eagle’s Nest nickel-copper-platinum group deposit.

The chromite deposits are part of Coutts’ longer-term vision. While not an immediate priority, he said he would like to begin extracting nickel within three years and chromite within five years.

Noront Resources buys Ring of Fire claims for $20 million (U.S.) – by Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew (Toronto Star – March 23, 2015)

March 23, 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.

Shares of Noront surged nearly 37 per cent on the deal, announced Monday. The stock gained 13 cents to close at 48.5 cents on the TSX Venture Exchange.

Toronto-based junior mining firm Noront Resources has agreed to pay $20 million (U.S.) to Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. to purchase the U.S. mining giant’s chromite properties in the Ring of Fire.

Shares of Noront surged nearly 37 per cent on news of the deal, announced Monday. The stock gained 13 cents to close at 48.5 cents on the TSX Venture Exchange.

“We are convinced that the Ring of Fire region is going to be the next major mining camp in Ontario. We’ve been looking at acquiring more land there and getting more deals done,” Noront president and chief executive officer Alan Coutts said in an interview.

“When Cliffs announced they were going to pull out of the area, we thought, ‘This is a natural fit for us.’ ” The miner said it will buy the shares of two Cliffs subsidiaries that own 103 claims, adding to its own holdings in the Ring of Fire area, about 500 km northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont.

Ontario slammed by Northern Prospectors Association – by Andrew Topf (Mining.com – March 20, 2015)

March 23, 2015

http://www.mining.com/

Dotted with lucrative gold mines like Red Lake, Hemlo, Musselwhite and Timmins, along with the nickel belt of Sudbury, Ontario with its storied mining history should be a prospector’s dream. In fact the province’s allure as a mining jurisdiction has never been duller, despite the promise of the Ring of Fire and a number of prospective gold properties.

Participants at a consultation forum earlier this week took the opportunity to blame the Ontario government for concentrating its efforts on the Ring of Fire – a chromite-rich development project in the James Bay lowlands of Northern Ontario – and neglecting other mining projects that would be easier to access than the remote Ring of Fire, which lacks key infrastructure for mining.

“There’s no tacit recognition by this provincial government that it believes in mining,” said Gino Chitaroni, president of the Northern Prospectors Association, in an article posted Friday in Northern Ontario Business. “All we hear about is the Ring of Fire. Let me explain something about the Ring of Fire, it’s not the only thing going on in this province. I’m sick to death of it.”

Chitaroni told industry players at the session, hosted by the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, that “he could think of eight to 10 mining projects in eastern Ontario alone, that would be viable with some investment, and much easier to access than the remote Ring of Fire,” according to Northern Ontario Business.

Ontario’s Ring Of Fire, Formerly ‘The Next Oilsands,’ Sold For Peanuts – by Sunny Freeman (Huffington Post – March 23, 2015)

March 23, 2015

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/business/

A junior miner will soon be the biggest player in Ontario’s fledgling Ring of Fire mining development, after agreeing to pay US$20 million for the properties of Cliffs Natural Resources, a U.S. mining giant who has abandoned hope of developing the area.

Toronto-based Noront Resources is getting quite the deal for about 103 mining claims — including Cliffs’ flagship $3.3 billion Black Thor chromite deposit — in the region estimated to be worth $50 billion during the height of the commodity boom. Cliffs paid $240 million for the assets in 2009.

The market has since shifted and a lack of concrete movement in talks between First Nations, government and developers has turned many miners off of the 5,000 square kilometre area said to be rich with chromite, copper, zinc, platinum and other valuable metals.

The Ring of Fire was once touted as Canada’s next oilsands, but interest in the area has fallen off and the prospects for development in the remote region, located on First Nations land, have dimmed.

Cliffs decided to suspend its projects in the area in late 2013, citing numerous delays and difficulties that prevented the project from moving ahead.

Rickford gives chamber an F for Ring of Fire grade – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – March 21, 2015)

March 23, 2015

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

If FedNor Minister Greg Rickford were rating the Ontario Chamber of Commerce’s performance, he would give it a failing grade.

The Conservative MP for Kenora said he rejects a chamber of commerce report in which the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper was given an F for not making development of the Ring of Fire a national priority.

“I don’t accept it,” Rickford told reporters Friday at a news conference to announce funding for the Advanced Medical Research Institute of Canada.

“The federal government has been working with communities. They (the OCC) didn’t talk about the new runways we put in there, surfaces for communities to land and do exploration activities, investment in small business centres, the support for the environmental assessment process that was hiring first nations people and making important contributions from the first nations communities to that.”

Rickford also cited the high completion rate of students in a training program the federal government funded with Confederation College in Thunder Bay and Matawa first nations as another indication of his government’s support for the area.

Minister rejects Ring of Fire report – by Jonathan Migneault (Northern Ontario Business – March 20, 2015)

March 23, 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.

Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources said he rejects an Ontario Chamber of Commerce report that gave the federal government a failing grade in its involvement in the Ring of Fire development.

“I don’t accept it,” said Minister Greg Rickford during a visit to Sudbury. “The federal government has been working with communities.”

In its report card on progress, or lack thereof, near the remote Ring of Fire mineral deposits, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce said, “The federal government has yet to demonstrate that the Ring of Fire is an economic development priority.”

The report went on to say the federal government should commit to matching the $1 billion the provincial government set aside to build infrastructure to access the Ring of Fire chromite deposits in the remote James Bay lowlands.

“They didn’t talk about the new runways we put in to land and do exploration activities,” Rickford said. “Nor did I see mention of the great relationship we have with the province on a couple of key initiatives, one of which we announced at PDAC (the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Conference), and that was to focus squarely on specific infrastructure projects that could open up regional development.”

Empire Editorial: On the topic of transboundary mines, a response to Mr. Bill Bennett Posted (Juneau Empire – March 22, 2015)

March 22, 2015

http://juneauempire.com/

The Tulsequah Chief Mine, located south of Juneau on the Taku River just across the Canadian border, has leached acid runoff into the Taku River since its closure in the 1950s.

Alaskans — Native tribes, commercial fishermen, local governments and ordinary residents — feel it is not at all respectful to leave a mine in ruin, leaching acid runoff. Nor do we feel this is in any way an example of “environmental protection.”

As B.C. forges ahead with 30 new mines to add to the existing 123 along the transboundary region, we’d like to see a firmer grip on reality and less public relations spin from our Canadian neighbors. We need actual compromise and solutions. (Juneau Empire Editorial-March 22, 2015)

It’s not often the Juneau Empire offers a rebuttal to an submitted column. Waging a back-and-forth war of words isn’t fair for the other party. We buy ink by the barrel and have dedicated staff to get the word out online as well.

However, we must respond to the Feb. 24 My Turn penned by Bill Bennett, the Minister of Mines for British Columbia.

Let us start off by addressing the first portion of Mr. Bennet’s piece when he states it was “unfortunate your editorial has seized upon the Mount Polley mine tailings storage facility failure to undermine the long tradition of respectful relations and co-operation between British Columbia and Alaska on mining development and environmental protection.”

[Aboriginal/Mining partnerships] Combined forces – by Chris Windeyer (CIM Magazine – March/April 2015)

March 20, 2015

http://magazine.cim.org/en/

A new partnership will jump-start mining contracts for First Nations in northern Ontario

The First Nations Mining Corporation (FNMC) is emerging as an example of a new kind of partnership to further aboriginal interests in mining development in Ontario. Centred in northern Ontario and formally launched in early 2014, FNMC is a joint venture between four First Nations and three corporate heavyweights in the Canadian mining industry. Lac Seul, Flying Post, Mattagami and Wahgoshig First Nations own 51 per cent of the registered corporation, with SNC-Lavalin, Cementation Canada and the Morris Group holding minority stakes.

“What we had envisioned for [FNCM] was finding a way that the communities can participate actively in mine construction, operation, and closure,” says Jason Batise, economic development and technical services advisor to the Wabun Tribunal Council, which represents the participating First Nations.

According to the Ontario Mining Association, about one out of every 10 people working in Ontario’s mining industry has an aboriginal background. What is changing is that aboriginal communities are moving beyond participation via impact and benefit agreements (IBAs); they are now organizing businesses and joint partnerships to spearhead mine development.

For the Wabun Tribal Council, mining is nothing new, says Batise. WTC is headquartered in Timmins, where gold mining has been going on for over a century.

Here’s What Coal Mining Is Doing to Communities in the Navajo Nation – by Laura Dattaro (Vice News – March 18, 2015)

March 20, 2015

https://news.vice.com/

For sixty years, the billions of tons of coal found beneath Arizona’s Black Mesa have powered the cities of the Southwest. But getting at all that coal has meant the displacement of more than 12,000 people of the Navajo Nation, one of the largest removals of Native Americans since the 19th century. For those that have remained, the mining process has compromised their health and their environment.

The mesa rises up from the dry Arizona landscape a few miles south of Kayenta Township, where Peabody Energy operates a mine that in 2013 produced nearly eight million tons of coal. The company proposed in May 2012 to expand its excavation, a plan that needs approval from the Interior Department’s Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation, and Enforcement (OSMRE). Locals are concerned because that would add 841 acres of land to the Kayenta Mine complex — which would displace even more Navajo and ensure continued air and water contamination for decades to come.

A VICE News crew traveled to the Black Mesa area to document the effects of coal mining on their health, the environment, and the local economy.

NEWS RELEASE: Development of natural resources: Aboriginal communities as business partners

March 19, 2015

Click here for The Cree and the Development of Natural Resources publication: http://www.iedm.org/files/note0315_en.pdf

MONTREAL, March 19, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ – While the Quebec government was giving the green light this week to the development of the Arnaud Mine project near Sept-Îles, on the North Shore, opponents and supporters alike wasted no time making their voices heard. On what basis can we move forward on these debates surrounding natural resource development projects? Do any agreements exist that can satisfy all the parties?

An Economic Note published today by the MEI shows that certain collaboration models, notably the one involving the Cree, encourage and facilitate resource development in Quebec’s north while respecting Aboriginal communities and forming partnerships with them.

The study describes certain recent cases in which different Aboriginal communities have a financial interest in the economic success of a mining or other development project. This can occur through stock ownership, as with the Cree community of Nemaska that holds shares in a mining project in the James Bay region, or the Mi’kmaq communities that are partners in a windfarm project in the Gaspé Peninsula. Other agreements between businesses and communities are based on mechanisms for the sharing of revenues with the community, for example through royalties that will grow as a function of a mine’s production or of profits earned.

“Debates about natural resource development are too often centred on conflicts between the government, local communities, and businesses. Yet there are models that could serve as an example for future projects, especially that of the Cree since the signing of the “Paix des Braves” agreement.

Russell walks out on media amid questions about Inuit land claims – by James McLeod (St. John Telegram – March 18, 2015)

March 19, 2015

http://www.thetelegram.com/

“We should have increased dialogue. We should be sitting and talking as opposed to discussing litigation,” Russell said in the House of Assembly Tuesday, responding to a question from Liberal House Leader Andrew Parsons.

Russell reportedly told a Nunatsiavut Government minister, “Go ahead and take us to court, we’re going to win anyway.” In the House of Assembly, Parsons wanted to know whether Russell talked to a lawyer before issuing the challenge.

“You asked them to sue us. Was that based on an opinion, and if not, why would you make that comment?” Parsons asked. Russell said he didn’t talk to anybody in the Department of Justice or the Attorney General, but he said some officials in his department looked at it.

“I would assume that our officials went through all the proper channels,” he said. The crux of the issue is an agreement the government signed dealing with the Voisey’s Bay nickel mine, and the Long Harbour processing plant which is behind schedule.

The government amended the agreement to allow Vale, the mine operator, to ship more nickel ore out of the province in the next few years while the Long Harbour plant is getting up and running.

Kiggavik uranium hearing ends with no plebisicite in Baker Lake – by Sarah Rogers (Nunatsiaq News – March 18, 2015)

March 18, 2015

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

“Inuit are like caribou — they stay away from danger and conflict”

A public hearing into Areva Resources Canada’s proposed Kiggavik uranium in Nunavut project has wrapped up, but the Nunavut Impact Review Board might never know how the people of the community closest to the proposed mine — Baker Lake — actually feel about it.

On March 14, the final day of the hearing, Baker Lake’s deputy mayor, Silas Arngna’naaq, made a motion to keep the hearing’s record open until the hamlet holds a plebiscite to gauge local opinion on the project, which proposes to sink $2 billion into an open pit and underground uranium mine 80 kilometres outside the Kivalliq community.

The motion didn’t pass and that record is now closed — the NIRB said that the hamlet had plenty of time to host a plebiscite beforehand.

“I don’t know how much sway it would have,” Arngna’naaq said. “But I know they wanted to get the view of the closest community to the project. And they never got the full community’s perspective on this.”

A number of residents had tried to launch a local referendum which, under territorial legislation, requires a certain number of residents in a community to sign a petition.

What Saskatchewan is doing right to attract mining investment – by Ravina Bains and Taylor Jackson (National Post – March 18, 2015)

March 18, 2015

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

“Furthermore, Saskatchewan has taken ownership of the consultation process; the provincial government
makes it very clear that it, not project proponents, is “responsible and ultimately accountable for
managing and implementing the duty to consult.” Saskatchewan is also home to innovative mining
partnerships between First Nations and resources companies. For example, Muskowekwan First Nation
and Encanto are undertaking a joint venture to develop the first on-reserve potash mine in Canada
that will generate 2.8 million tons of potash annually and create approximately 1,000 jobs.”
(Ravina Bains and Taylor Jackson)

The mining industry contributes mightily to Canada’s economic prosperity, adding $54 billion to Canada’s GDP and employing roughly 383,000 Canadians at an average annual salary of more than $110,000 in 2013.

But Canada has a serious problem with land-use certainty that may threaten future investment in the sector. Across the country, uncertainty surrounding disputed land claims remains a significant barrier to investment in the development of natural resources, particularly investment in the mining sector.

For example, every year the Fraser Institute surveys miners around the world to determine what makes a jurisdiction attractive — or unattractive — to investment. According to the most recent survey, in eight out of 12 Canadian provinces and territories in 2014, uncertainty over disputed land claims was the top barrier to investment.