Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas – Page 201

Miners, First Nations have ‘forged productive partnerships’ – CBC Radio Sudbury (November 9, 2012)

November 10, 2012

http://www.cbc.ca/sudbury/

Ongoing disputes between First Nations and mining companies continue to plague industry, however

Ontario’s Minister of Northern Development and Mines says the updated version of its mining act offers clear, progressive guidance about Aboriginal consultation as it relates to mineral exploration activities.

However, in a recent statement about Aboriginal consultation and mineral exploration, Rick Bartolucci did not comment on a recent accusation by the Nishnawbe Aski Nation that a junior mining company made borderline racist comments.

Bartolucci’s statement didn’t mention the First Nation or mining company involved, but pointed out that, since 2006, the province has worked diligently to promote collaboration between industry and Aboriginal communities. He also said there are numerous examples where First Nations people and industry have formed successful partnerships.

The executive director of the Ontario Prospectors Association agreed. Garry Clark said the industry has a good relationship with First Nations in general. But NAN Grand Chief Harvey Yesno said there have been ongoing disputes between First Nations and mining companies.

Bartolucci calls for co-operation [between juniors and First Nations] – by Sebastein Perth (Sudbury Star – November 10, 2012)

November 10, 2012

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

In light of allegations of racism and lack of co-operation levelled this week between the Wahgoshig First Nation and a mining company, Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci on Friday urged “the mineral exploration industry to encourage its membership” to comply with regulations.

In a statement, the minister of Northern Development and Mines, said more than 100 “mineral development benefit agreements have been signed between aboriginal communities and industry” since 1999.

Bartolucci said the provincial government has to walk a fine line between economic prosperity and respecting aboriginal rights.

“Our government is responsible for managing Crown lands and the natural resources of this province. In so doing, we must balance the need to promote economic development and our thriving mineral exploration and development sector with our commitment to meeting our constitutional obligations to aboriginal peoples,” Bartolucci said.

He said the province introduced the second phase of its “modernized Mining Act regulations” that provides aim to make rules and regulations clearer.

It will also provide “progressive guidance about aboriginal consultation as it relates to mineral exploration activities” for industry and aboriginal communities.

Natives have ‘hand out,’ says mine CEO – by Sebastien Perth (Sudbury Star – November 9,2012)

November 9, 2012

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

The president of a mining company in the middle of a dispute with an aboriginal group in Northern Ontario said he feels he is being “extorted” by the Wahgoshig First Nation.

Darryl Stretch said his company, Solid Gold Resources Corporation, has made a high grade gold discovery near Lake Abitibi in 2011, but can’t explore any further due to a court order.

The Wahgoshig First Nation filed an injunction against Solid Gold to stop its exploration on land they claim treaty rights over, at least until the two groups can come to an agreement.

Solid Gold won a court ruling allowing it to appeal the original injunction decision. That case will be heard in January.

The root of the dispute can perhaps be traced back to a 2004 Supreme Court of Canada decision that said the crown had a “duty to consult” with native groups when an activity had the potential to affect treaty rights. The federal government updated its guidelines for federal officials to “fulfill the duty to consult.”

OPA wants to clear the air [NAN and Solid Gold] – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 9, 2012)

November 9, 2012

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

The Ontario Prospectors Association says it wants to meet with high-ranking aboriginal leaders to clear the air after it was accused this week of supporting “radical and racist” tactics at a Sudbury exploration conference.

“We believe there has been a total misunderstanding about this, and we want to sit down and talk with NAN (Nishnawbe Aski Nation),” OPA executive-direct Garry Clark said Thursday from Sudbury.

Clark, who is based in Thunder Bay, emphasized that his organization is anything but racist, and said he was taken aback by the allegation.

“We’re an organization that promotes the province as a place for (mineral) exploration,” he said, noting the Sudbury conference included presentations by aboriginal representatives. About $1 billion worth of mining exploration occurred in Ontario last year, “mostly conflict-free,” among companies and First Nations, Clark added.

An uproar occurred Wednesday afternoon when NAN held a news conference at the conference to denounce what it sees “as a racist media campaign against the Wahgoshig First Nation.”

Slow burn [Ring of Fire] – by Eavan Moore (CIM Magazine – November 2012)

November 10, 2012November 9, 2012

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

Tight markets, limited infrastructure and challenging relationships test the resolve of those exploring the Ring of Fire

From a geological perspective, the Ring of Fire region contains a little something for everyone. Since De Beers’ 2002 discovery of a copper and zinc-rich volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit at Eagle One, explorers have uncovered chromite, nickel, gold, vanadium, iron and platinum group elements in and around the iconic crescent-shaped cluster of claims. But the extensive cash and patience required to operate in Ontario’s far north have turned junior exploration into a waiting game, as a few high-profile projects promise to open up inaccessible land to further development.

The region’s two heavyweights, Cliffs Natural Resources and Noront Resources, are each advancing a major project to the development stage. That does not lend itself to funder-friendly hype for explorers. “Where we are now in the cycle, there’s not as much flaming news coming out,” says Garry Clark, executive director of the Ontario Prospectors Association. And in a generally dry investment climate, he adds, even strong drill results do not seem to move markets.

Operating costs

Exploring in the Ring of Fire – 300 kilometres from the nearest road or rail – takes serious money. Michael Murphy, spokesperson for exploration junior White Pine Resources, sketches out the figures: “Diamond drilling costs are approximately $750 per metre for a small drilling program.

The quest for fire [Ring of Fire] – by D’arcy Jenish (CIM Magazine – November 2012)

November 9, 2012

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

The rewards will be great for those intent on developing Ontario’s new mining district, but they will not come without plenty of hard work and more than a little patience

When Noront Resources made the first major discovery in the nascent mining region, dozens of junior exploration companies rushed into the formidable terrain of swamps, bogs, muskeg and mosquito-infested boreal forest to stake claims. Located near the shores of McFauld’s Lake, some 550 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, the region has yielded three major finds: the Black Thor and Big Daddy chromite deposits, and the nearby Eagle’s Nest nickel-copper-platinum-palladium resource.

Cliffs Natural Resources bought all of Black Thor and owns 70 per cent of Big Daddy. Together, those represent the first major chromite discoveries in North America, and current resource estimates indicate they may be large enough to support multi-generational mines. At the moment, Cliffs intends to develop Black Thor first, and is committed to investing $3.3 billion in that mine and a smelter located at Capreol, just outside Sudbury. Meanwhile, Noront is steadily developing its smaller Eagle’s Nest property close by. However, before either company ships a pound of metal to market, they have some difficult hurdles to clear.

Environmental assessments

Noront has been operating in the shadow of Cliffs, largely because its polymetallic deposits are not judged to be world-class scale, but Noront president and CEO Wes Hanson says the company aims to have an underground mine in production by late 2016 and hopes to be first to produce from the Ring of Fire.

First Nations level racist charges against mining association – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – November 8, 2012)

November 9, 2012

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.

A contentious presentation at a mining symposium has raised the ire of a First Nation group and community. Darryl Stretch, president and CEO of Solid Gold Resources, presented at the Ontario Exploration and Geoscience Symposium put on by the Ontario Prospectors Association (OPA) in Sudbury Nov. 6 and 7.

He has been fighting to resume exploration on his Lake Abitibi area property after an Ontario Superior Court upheld an injunction by nearby Wahgoshig First Nation to cease exploration early this year. The court also ruled that the company did not make an effort to consult with the community despite provincial requests to do so since 2009. Stretch is appealing the earlier court decision and the Divisional Court of Ontario will hear the appeal in January, 2013.

His presentation contained references to First Nations as “hostile third-party governments” and included a cartoon image of First Nation people. His main contention is that the duty to consult First Nations, in relation to exploration, lies with the Crown and not industry.

In response, Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Harvey Yesno, along with Wahgoshig First Nation Chief David Babin, is calling on the province to withdraw its support and public endorsement of “racist and radical” mining industry representatives, and named the OPA and another group called Mining United.

NEWS RELEASE: Batchewana First Nation wants apology from Ontario Prospector’s Association

November 9, 2012

November 08, 2012

Batchewana First Nation disappointed with Ontario Prospector’s Association

On November 1, 2012, Ontario introduced new rules and tools to the Mining Act to try and balance the interests of the mineral industry, Indigenous Peoples, and private land owners.

Changes in the act attempt to make Indigenous consultation a cornerstone of mineral exploration and mine closure activities.

The Batchewana First Nation is governed by their own law and policies, which include a consultation policy and detailed permitting process that has cultivated positive working relations with several proponents such as Superior Copper Corporation and BluEarth Renewables.

Batchewana First Nation’s Natural Resource department attended the Ontario Prospectors Association’s (OPA) Exploration and Geoscience Symposium on November 7, 2012 where these changes to the Mining Act came under fire.

Solid Gold Resources Corporation President and CEO, Darryl Stretch presented a slide show titled, Deathwatch of the Resource Industry, making claims that the Ontario Government has set mining back to the Stone Age.

Cliffs still fuzzy on chromite timeline – by Ian Ross (Sudbury Northern Life – November 7, 2012)

November 8, 2012

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Black Thor faces cost pressures, volatile markets, First Nations opposition

The timelines for Cliffs Natural Resources to develop a chromite mining project in the James Bay lowlands still remain somewhat murky.

Bill Boor, Cliffs’ senior vice-president of global ferroalloys, spoke to a Sudbury Chamber of Commerce lunchtime crowd Nov. 6 to outline progress on the massive $3.3-billion Black Thor mine and Capreol furnace project, and also to tamp down reports that the Ohio miner’s development timelines are slipping by one year.

Boor maintains that the company is still shooting for a late-2016 start-up for mining operations, despite earlier comments by his CEO, Joseph Carrabba, that cost pressures and volatile markets could push back the start-up of production to 2017.

Wahgoshig First Nation – Ontario sending misguided message to First Nations – NNL Staff (NetNewsLedger.com – November 7, 2012)

November 8, 2012

http://www.netnewsledger.com/

SUDBURY – Mining News – Wahgoshig First Nation Chief David Babin with support from Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Harvey Yesno is calling on Ontario to withdraw its support and public endorsement of racist and radical industry representatives, particularly members of the Mining United group and the Ontario Prospectors Association.

“Representatives of this radical association of junior mining groups has waged a racist media campaign against the Wahgoshig First Nation, who are taking a legal and principled position to defend their Treaty and aboriginal rights, as well as ensuring that Ontario meets its obligations on ‘the duty to consult’ in good faith,” said Grand Chief Yesno. “The Province of Ontario and the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines continue to send a misguided message to First Nations by supporting this group.”

Mr. Darryl Stretch who represents Mining United, and Solid Gold Resources Corporation is presenting at the 2012 Ontario Exploration and Geoscience Symposium (OEGS) to be held in Sudbury, ON November 6 and 7 2012. The Ontario Exploration & Geoscience Symposium is coordinated by the Ontario Prospectors Association with workshops, a variety of technical presentations and exhibits.

Of concern to NAN is the continued support of Minister Rick Bartolucci for the Ontario Prospectors Association (OPA), who will have a full line up of MNDM staff alongside Mr. Darryl Stretch who is scheduled to present directly to the symposium delegates. Mr. Garry Clark, Executive Director of the OPA, member of the Minister of Mines Mining Act Advisory Committee and the Ontario Geological Survey Advisory Board has also stated publicly that Mining United may become a subcommittee of the OPA organization.

Ring of Fire rail plan adds new twist to old debate – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – November 7, 2012)

November 8, 2012

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

Figuring out how to link the proposed Ring of Fire mines to market has been a long standing debate. Whether ore should travel east-west or north-south has been the primary discussion, with stakeholders across the spectrum weighing in on which way is best.

Through it all, the idea of using a railway instead of a road has been kept quietly on the backburner. Now a new coalition of unlikely partners is trying to bring the rail option to the forefront.

In what it calls a New Deal for northern Ontario, a group led by the James Bay Lowlands Ports and Trustee Corporation (JBLPTC) has proposed an ambitious, publically-owned transportation corridor that would tie the Ring of Fire to existing northern Ontario railway lines while taking over control of the Ontario Northern Transportation Company (ONTC) and continuing passenger rail services from James Bay to the south.

The plan is in its early stages. The JBLPTC still needs approval by the federal government under the Canada Marine Act to officially operate as a port. And even if it gets that federal approval, the organization needs Ontario to grant it control over the existing ONTC, while finding financial backing to build a new rail line from Nakina to the Ring of Fire.

But Roy Haines, CEO of the JBLPTC, is optimistic that the plan can not only get off the ground, but that it can succeed in spreading the benefits of the Ring of Fire across a wider group of stakeholders and keep the infrastructure publically-owned.

Miners racist, natives charge – by Sebastien Perth (Sudbury Star – November 8, 2012)

November 8, 2012

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

Mining companies looking to work on First Nations territory should be better educated about native rights to prevent some of the racist treatment First Nations leaders charge their members have had to endure.

Dave Babin, chief of the Wahgoshig First Nation north of Kirkland Lake, singled out one company, and its president in particular, for criticism during a press conference in Sudbury on Wednesday.

Solid Gold Corporation president Darryl Stretch faced an injunction in January to stop his company from drilling near Lake Abitibi, while he consulted with the Wahgoshig First Nation.

In a Globe and Mail interview published in March, Stretch said the First Nation wanted him to pay $100,000 for a study to see if his company’s drilling went over any burial grounds.

“It’s not my obligation to go find arrowheads for those people, period,” he told the Globe. “If they don’t like you, you don’t work. What kind of deal is that? Because I didn’t do it right, the way the Indians wanted me to? Because I didn’t give them money? Because I didn’t beg them for permission to go? It’s just ridiculous, the whole concept.”

First Nations level racist charges against mining association – by Northern Ontario Business staff (November 7, 2012)

November 8, 2012

Wahgoshig First Nation Chief David Babin and Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Harvey Yesno are calling on the province to withdraw its support of the Ontario Prospectors Association (OPA) and an industry fringe group for what they term a campaign of “racism” against First Nations.

Babin and NAN were outraged by a presentation made by Darryl Stretch, president of Solid Gold Resources, at the Ontario Exploration and Geoscience Symposium in Sudbury on Nov.7. The annual event is hosted by the OPA and contains a significant provincial government presence.

Stretch is the midst of an ongoing, heated legal dispute with the Wahgoshig First Nation over an exploration drilling program at his Lake Abitibi gold play in northeastern Ontario.

Chiefs want Ontario to cut support for ‘racist, radical’ industry groups – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – November 7, 2012)

November 8, 2012

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

A junior mining company that called First Nations “hostile third-party governments” has raised the ire of indigenous leaders across Ontario.

Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), the Chiefs of Ontario (COO) and Wahgoshig First Nation called on the Ontario government to withdraw its support of “racist and radical” industry representatives during a press conference in Sudbury Nov. 7.

The chiefs targeted Mining United, a group of junior exploration companies, and the Ontario Prospectors Association (OPA).

“Representatives of this radical association of junior mining groups has waged a racist media campaign against the Wahgoshig First Nation, who are taking a legal and principled position to defend their Treaty and Aboriginal rights, as well as ensuring that Ontario meets its obligations on ‘the duty to consult’ in good faith,” said NAN Grand Chief Harvey Yesno in a press release. “The Province of Ontario and the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines continue to send a misguided message to First Nations by supporting this group.”

NEWS RELEASE: NAN GRAND CHIEF CALLS ON PROVINCE TO WITHDRAW ITS SUPPORT OF RADICAL MINING INDUSTRY GROUPS

November 8, 2012

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SUDBURY, ON: Wahgoshig First Nation Chief David Babin with support from Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Harvey Yesno is calling on Ontario to withdraw its support and public endorsement of racist and radical industry representatives, particularly members of the Mining United group and the Ontario Prospectors Association.

The Ontario Exploration & Geoscience Symposium is coordinated by the Ontario Prospectors Association with workshops, a variety of technical presentations and exhibits.