Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas – Page 158

First Nations hold the key to the Northern Gateway pipeline – by Ken Coates (Globe and Mail – June 18, 2014)

June 18, 2014

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.

Ken Coates is Canada Research Chair in regional innovation at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy in Saskatchewan, and a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

The government of Canada has made an obvious and much-anticipated decision on the Northern Gateway pipeline, but the debate is far from over. Based on the report of the Joint Review Panel, which recommended approval subject to important modifications and conditions, and the government’s strong commitment to resource development, few expected the plan to be rejected.

Now the real work begins. The criticism of the Northern Gateway project is broad and comprehensive, but there are three main opponent groups who have to be addressed:

First are the environmentalists, who oppose the expanded development of the oil sands and see the northern Alberta resource as a climate-change danger. This group is substantially unreconcilable. Their critique is well-known, and the federal government has rejected their intervention on many occasions. There is no federal effort to mollify this group.

Second are the environmentalists concerned about the potential effects of an oil spill on northern British Columbia and the coastal waterways outwards from Kitimat.

Northwest iron ore junior promotes “green steel” works – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – June 16, 2014)

June 16, 2014

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.

An iron ore company president’s plans to develop a northwestern Ontario deposit have gotten a whole lot bigger and much, much greener. Producing “green steel” is what’s on the mind of Henry Wetelainen of Bending Lake Iron Group, who’s promoting the concept of creating a future industrial zone, southwest of Ignace.

His First Nation family-owned company, based in Thunder Bay, has a hugely ambitious project proposal to build an open-pit mine and adjacent steel works complex while generating its own power. “If we don’t have adequate power supply, the project just can’t go,” said Wetelainen. “That’s just reality.”

In northwestern Ontario, power supply is a huge thorn in the side of mining companies. The transmission capacity doesn’t yet exist to feed potentially 10 new mines over this decade, never mind the Ring of Fire.

A regional energy task force estimates there’s a shortfall of between 800 and 1,000 megawatts, which stands to stifle industrial growth. So Wetelainen and his team decided to take matters into their own hands by creating their own power corporation.

Ottawa to blame for First Nations’ pipeline stand, PM appointee says – by Justine Hunter (Globe and Mail – June 16, 2014)

June 16, 2014

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.

VICTORIA — The federal government must shoulder much of the blame for the entrenched opposition to the Northern Gateway oil pipeline, says the Prime Minister’s special envoy on aboriginal and energy issues.

Doug Eyford says the Enbridge project – which Ottawa declared to be in the national interest – has foundered in large measure because industry was left alone to navigate complex First Nations issues, when there should have been more political oversight. His remarks were made last week at a conference for treaty negotiators, industry and government, and a copy of his address was obtained by The Globe and Mail.

“I’ve been surprised at the extent to which the federal government has been content to allow project proponents like Enbridge to engage aboriginal communities with little or no Crown oversight, direction, or assistance,” Mr. Eyford said.

Ottawa’s decision on Enbridge’s pipeline proposal to get Alberta oil to the B.C. coast, opening up international markets, could be announced as early as today. The federal cabinet is expected to give Northern Gateway a green light, but the project still faces significant hurdles that have increased with each passing month. Northern Gateway, 10 years after it was first proposed, now faces a battery of legal challenges and threats of civil disobedience, led by First Nations.

RoF development likely to get C$1bn boost as Wynne takes majority – Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – June 13, 2014)

June 13, 2014

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Infrastructure development in the prospective Ring of Fire (RoF) mining camp in Ontario’s far north is likely to get a C$1-billion boost after the Ontario Liberal Party took a majority win in provincial polls held on Thursday.

At the end of April, the then minority Liberal-lead provincial government announced a massive $1-billion set aside in its failed budget to develop strategic all-season industrial and community transportation infrastructure in the RoF.

Former Minister of Northern Development and Mines, Michael Gravelle, beseeched the federal government to match its contribution and throw its weight behind the development of what had been billed as a “project of national significance”.

However, with no formal plan in place, how the money was to be spent remained unclear, and the private sector was backing opposing modes of transport to reach the undeveloped mine camp, and transport the minerals to market.

In their campaign platform, the Liberals have promised to establish a development corporation within 60 days of being re-elected.

Ontario re-elects Liberals [Ring of Fire issues] – by Greg Klein (Resource Clips – June 13, 2014)

June 13, 2014

http://resourceclips.com/

Mining was an issue but can a $1-billion promise inspire action on the Ring of Fire?

Repeated accusations of corruption didn’t stop Ontario voters from re-electing the provincial Liberals of Kathleen Wynne on June 12, this time with a majority government. Among the victors’ first priorities is a budget that was rejected by both the Progressive Conservative and New Democratic parties. Therein lies some possible good news for mining and exploration. The Liberals promised $1 billion to help open up the resource-rich challenge known as the Ring of Fire.

The bad news? As the Liberals are now firmly entrenched, so are the controversial mineral exploration regulations enacted last spring.

The Ring of Fire pledge was factored into the Liberals’ proposed May budget that brought down the minority government. But the money resurfaced as a campaign promise. Previously the government had talked about a billion-dollar commitment on the condition that the federal government put up an equal amount. Now, with that string unattached, the money would go into the province’s northern development corporation, an entity that hasn’t even been created yet.

How far a billion could go, or even twice that if the feds pony up, remains a nagging question for a region 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay that lacks a year-round transportation corridor, let alone other amenities.

Northern Gateway vs. Crowd science – by Peter Foster (National Post – June 13, 2014)

June 13, 2014

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

Novice Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford, while expressing the Federal Cabinet’s infinite concern for a balanced appraisal of the Northern Gateway pipeline, which is due by next Tuesday, managed to leave the impression in New York this week that the decision might be delayed, even as he was also quoted as saying that it was “relatively straightforward.” Officials were left to unfuzzify his remarks.

This is hardly the time for communications cock-ups, particularly given that the Harper government is coming under predictable pressure as it prepares — presumably — to approve the proposed $6.5-billion pipeline from the oil sands to the coast of B.C. Why would the Cabinet want any delay? Is Stephen Harper aspiring to look like President Odithers on Keystone XL?

Northern Gateway is at least as politically fraught for Mr. Harper as Keystone XL is for Mr. Obama, but in economic terms the Enbridge proposal is of far greater economic significance for Canada than Keystone XL is to the U.S.

Liberal Opposition leader Justin Trudeau called upon the Prime Minister this week to “do the right thing and just say no” to the pipeline, which in turn gave Mr. Harper the opportunity to conjure up the ghost of Mr. Trudeau’s father, Pierre, perpetrator of the 1980 National Energy Program, and suggest that opposition to the oil industry might be in the Liberals’ DNA.

Comment: How to break the resource deadlock – by Bill Gallagher (Financial Post – June 13, 2014)

June 13, 2014

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

Aboriginal communities right across the country will have likely won 200 legal rulings in the resources sector by the end of this year. This unprecedented winning streak has become the central plank in the native empowerment ‘toolbox’ and it outclasses the toolboxes of governments and industry, both of whom now seem to accept resource project delays as an economic fact of life.

Indeed the cumulative negative impact on our resources future is the biggest under-reported business story of the decade. Over the past year, I have been promoting a series of recommendations at resource symposiums to reverse this unhappy trend.

Before delving into my suggestions however, it is important to note that the Federal Government is pretty well out of the resources business. The provinces rule that roost, the northern Territories have been sufficiently devolved in order to run their affairs, and even offshore energy plays are managed under joint boards. The Feds are left with mandates in (some) environmental approvals, climate change protocols, species-at-risk, marine transportation and national infrastructure. None of these drive resource projects.

It’s precisely because Ottawa is out of the resources business that it needs to get into it. And the mechanism for returning to the fore requires the creation of an entirely new federal ministry that will act as a clearing-house. Nothing on this scale exists.

Aroland First Nation rejects proposed open pit mine near Geraldton, Ontario – by Rick Garrick (Wawatay News – June 12, 2014)

June 12, 2014

http://wawataynews.ca/

Aroland has rejected the open pit mine proposed by Premier Gold Mines Limited near Geraldton over environmental concerns, including destruction of a 16-acre lake.

“My First Nation is generally supportive of sustainable mining development,” said Aroland Chief Sonny Gagnon. “Premier Gold wants to destroy Begooch Zaagaigan, a lake that supports our Aboriginal fishery. They just put a number on this lake – A-322 – and tell us they’re going to fill it in with mine waste. This is one of the worst project proposals I’ve ever seen. They’re going to seriously impact our lands and resources. Such a large and destructive project should receive the maximum examination possible – but instead, very little is being done under provincial or federal environment assessment laws. And virtually nothing has been done to consult with and accommodate the many serious concerns of Aroland First Nation.”

Aroland called on the federal government to hold a Panel Study Environmental Assessment on the project and the provincial government to hold a full Individual Environmental Assessment.

“It is shocking to me how much damage Premier Gold intends to cause and what it seems to want to get away with by avoiding scrutiny from environmental laws and Aboriginal consultation,” Gagnon said. “It is unclear whether Ontario will require more. We urge the Ontario government to use its laws to protect the environment, the water and our rights.”

Opinion: First Nations, mining for change – by Russell Hallbauer (Vancouver Sun – June 9, 2014)

June 10, 2014

http://www.vancouversun.com/index.html

Agreement would give new meaning to New Prosperity mine’s name

Russell Hallbauer is president and CEO of Taseko Mines

Many readers likely will have read that the British Columbia government has now signed 14 economic development agreements with First Nations across the province. These agreements commit the provincial government to share up to 37 per cent of the B.C. mineral tax from B.C. mining operations collected within First Nations’ traditional territories.

Over the past four years, $12 million has been shared with various First Nations. The most recent agreement was the one signed May 21 on the Huckleberry Mine, a few hundred km from Williams Lake.

A similar agreement is being developed between the government and those bands in proximity to our Gibraltar Mine.

These agreements, over the next 25 years of Gibraltar’s life, will allow First Nations communities to benefit directly over and above employment and other opportunities, in the financial success of the Gibraltar Mine.

Taseko personnel were some of the earliest advocates of revenue sharing when the process began with government and the Mining Association of British Columbia a number of years ago.

Our home and golden land [Ring of Fire] – by Andrew Reeves (This Magazine – June 9, 2014)

July 23, 2014June 9, 2014

http://this.org/

Inside the First Nations’ fight for a piece of north Ontario’s $60 billion mega mines

Deep in Ontario’s north sits the Ring of Fire, an as-yet undeveloped cluster of mineral claims worth an estimated $60 billion—but only if you’re being conservative. Some industry experts, including James Franklin, former chief geologist with the Geological Survey of Canada, believe an additional $140–$190 billion in economic value exists there from gold deposits alone. For a region with little economy to speak of, the potential for multi-generational mineral riches has been deemed a godsend. Many in the province have called it Ontario’s oilsands, and meant it as a compliment.

Others have dubbed it the new Klondike, a reference to its hoped-for ability to shape the region. In truth, the Ring of Fire has the potential to be the single largest mineral deposit in Canadian history, and could far outstrip the economic and social impact of both iconic Canadian developments.

Yet, the region is also home to many other things besides precious metal buried miles underground. Tucked into the northern boreal forest, the Ring of Fire is primarily First Nations land, full of bogs and fens, roaming caribou herds, stunted tamarack and black spruce trees, all of it growing among thousands of shallow rivers and lakes dotting the landscape. This is the North, and the North is not a quiet place. As Ontario’s headlong rush to develop the Ring of Fire begins now in earnest, it’s about to get louder—just not in the way many might assume. This time, the region’s First Nations leaders don’t want to halt development: They want to make sure they get their share.

Igniting the Ring of Fire: no one has a plan – by Robert B. Gibson (Toronto Star – June 9, 2014)

June 9, 2014

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.

Robert B. Gibson is a professor of Environment and Resource Studies at the University of Waterloo.

None of the major party leaders in Ontario has assessed the overall opportunities and risks of developing the province’s Ring of Fire.

Last week in the Ontario election campaign, the three major party leaders fell over each other competing for the mining booster award — the ribbon for being the most enthusiastic expediter and/or public funder of Ring of Fire development.

There was plenty of loose talk of superfast approvals and heaps of taxpayer funding for mine-enticing infrastructure, and plenty of starry-eyed anticipation of huge provincial revenue.

But no one has a plan. No one has assessed the overall opportunities and risks of Ring of Fire development. No one has prepared a considered vision of the desirable future for the region or how to get us there. And so far, none of the booster ribbon contestants has promised to try.

Ore bodies are inevitably depleted. They bring lasting benefits only if the mines, associated projects and revenues are used to build foundations for sustainable livelihoods after the mining ends. That does not happen automatically. Lasting benefits depend on far-sighted effort from the outset.

Quebec backs federal ‘publish-what-you-pay’ plan for resource companies – by Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – June 7, 2014)

June 9, 2014

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 — The newly elected Liberal government in Quebec has endorsed a plan to require resource companies to publish payments they make to governments as part of a national effort to increase transparency and combat corruption.

The Quebec move comes as mining associations warn the Harper government that its insistence on including First Nations bands in a national “publish-what-you-pay” plan will likely mean Ottawa will fail to meet its pledge to have such a system in place by next year.

In his budget this week, Quebec Finance Minister Carlos Leitao said the government would work with the Quebec securities commission to require so-called extractive companies that are based in the province – mainly miners – to reveal payments made on a project by project basis, both domestically and in foreign countries.

Mr. Leitao’s announcement should provide some momentum to get other provinces and the federal government to move on a promise made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper last year to adopt such rules across Canada.

“We hope this will provide some momentum,” Pierre Gratton, president of the Mining Association of Canada, said in an interview Friday. “We hope that there will be a domino effect” on other provinces and the federal government.

Bob Rae calls treaties the “trillion dollar exchange” that created two worlds we must now bridge – by Linda Solomon Wood (Vancouver Observer – June 1, 2014)

June 9, 2014

http://www.vancouverobserver.com/

“It’s ridiculous to think people would say: I have all this land, millions and millions and millions of acres of land, I’m giving it to you for a piece of land that is 5 miles by 5 miles and a few dollars a year. To put it in terms of a real estate transaction, it’s preposterous, it doesn’t make any sense.”

In Fort McMurray today, Bob Rae called treaties a “trillion dollar exchange” that took place in one of the world’s biggest real estate negotiations between the crown and First Nations as Canada was born.

The former head of the Liberal Party stood at the podium of the “As Long as the Rivers Flow: Coming Back to the Treaty Relationship in our Time” conference and gave a powerful speech on the need for governments to develop a new way of negotiating.

Rae spoke of “two separate narratives” that have evolved between “two separate worlds” and of the need to bridge these worlds.

“Whatever arrangements were worked out a hundred years ago clearly don’t work out today,” the former Ontario premier with piercing blue eyes told the group. “We aren’t getting good governance for First Nations people, getting support, getting revenues…A lot of people say the reserves don’t function. Whose fault is that? Who built that system? It was built as a way of setting First Nations aside. Let’s have the courage to move beyond how history has defined some of these relationships and say this just isn’t working.”

KWG Resources’ RoF social media campaign garners support – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – June 4, 2014)

June 4, 2014

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Ring of Fire- (RoF-) focused explorer KWG Resources this week launched a social media campaign to promote its proposed RoF bill to Ontario election candidates and voters, drawing more than 240 signatures to a petition it intends to submit to the next Ontario government.

Ontarians will head to the polls on June 12 in the province’s 41st general election, after the Liberal provincial government was dissolved on May 2.

KWG president and CEO Frank Smeenk said that the company had taken a leadership-role in a bid to end the “political gridlock” surrounding development of the region, which is located in the remote northern reaches of the province.

He stressed that KWG’s proposals are “real and achievable solutions”. “The RoF is an economically and socially transformative project that will benefit every citizen and community of Ontario, especially in the North, as well as all Canadians, for many generations.

“I encourage all RoF supporters to participate in this process by having your voices heard and helping spread the message to every corner of this country. Together, we will get the RoF going,” Smeenk said on Monday.

On the land: Mining and First Nations have not always gotten along, but what if they were one and the same? – by Eavan Moore (CIM Magazine – May 2014)

June 3, 2014

http://www.cim.org/en.aspx

For a long time, Hans Matthews did not connect his mining career to his background as a member of the Wahnapitae First Nation. A childhood mineral enthusiast who dug “gold” out of the road at age seven, he had risen to vice-president of a mining company without thinking much about aboriginal land issues.

But when a violent land-use standoff between the Mohawk and the army in Oka, Quebec in 1990 led mining executives to fear they would lose the ability to mine in Canada, the nightmare visions shared by his colleagues left Matthews skeptical. He quit his job, got up to speed on treaty and land claim issues, and founded an organization to inform and aid aboriginal groups asking the same question he had always had: “Why aren’t more communities involved in mining when mines are in their backyards?”

Since founding the Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association (CAMA) and serving as its president for the last 22 years, Matthews says the conversation has changed. Most obviously, the fears of 1990 have turned into awareness among mining companies that genuinely successful mining projects depend on community cooperation. But a handful of aboriginal groups have turned that notion on its head. Why should First Nations, Inuit, or Métis groups not build their own mines?

Self-sufficiency

The Dene Nations of the Northwest Territories (N.W.T.) have become the latest to act on that vision and are the most ambitious so far. In 2013, Denen- deh Investments Limited Partnership formed an exploration and mining company and bought up brownfield mineral properties in the N.W.T. with the intent of developing and operating a metal mine.