Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas – Page 215

Road versus rail in the Ring of Fire – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – September 27, 2012)

September 28, 2012

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

With the Ontario government now acknowledging that the north-south access road into the Ring of Fire is solely going to be for industrial users – “for developers to go in and get ore and minerals back out”, as a government spokesperson said – it is time to look at whether a road is actually in the best interests of the north.

The debate over which way a Ring of Fire road should go, either north-south or east-west, framed much of the transportation conversation around the development over the past few years. Certain First Nations chiefs expressed their skepticism that any road would ever be accessible for local people anyways, but their voices were generally ignored amid all the optimism around connecting communities to the highway system.

Then, earlier this year, the east-west road corridor that was proposed to connect Webequie, Wunnumin, Nibinamik and Neskantaga to Pickle Lake via a highway was blown out of the water. Ontario came out in support of Cliffs’ north-south road proposal, seemingly without any debate over the merits of choosing north-south rather than east-west, but in reality with a decision based solely on cost. The east-west road’s main proponent, Noront Resources, changed its tune and decided that the north-south road is fine for its purposes too. Lost in the hubbub were the voices of the chiefs who had called for the east-west road to connect their communities. Ontario had showed clearly that it was much more interested in doing what was best for its big American mining ally than it was in helping First Nations meet their needs.

Duty to consult questioned in Wahgoshig mining case – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – September 26, 2012)

September 27, 2012

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

As a legal decision, the Sept. 4 finding that Solid Gold Resources will be allowed to appeal its case against Wahgoshig First Nation over mineral exploration on Wahgoshig’s traditional land was hardly remarkable. It was simply a matter of a company asking for and receiving approval to take its appeal to a higher, precedent-setting court.

The finding of the judge, however, has the potential to have far-reaching consequences on whether mining companies have the duty to consult First Nations before conducting exploration on traditional lands.

Justice H.P. Wilton-Siegel’s ruling to give Solid Gold Resources leave to appeal took aim at the duty to consult – specifically, whether Ontario can pass its duty to consult with First Nations to a mining company.

“I see no basis in the facts of this case for an imposition of a duty to consult on Solid Gold,” Wilton-Siegel wrote. “If the Crown wishes to delegate operational aspects of its duty (to consult First Nations) it … must establish a legislative or regulatory scheme (to do so). The mining act does not presently contain such a scheme.”

The case stems from Wahgoshig’s efforts to block Solid Gold from exploring on its traditional lands in an area thought to contain sacred burial sites.

OPINION: Prosperity gold-copper mine will live up to its name – by Russell Hallbauer (Vancouver Sun – September 20, 2012)

September 25, 2012

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

Russell Hallbauer is president and CEO of Taseko Mines Ltd.

New gold-copper project near Williams Lake promises to bring new jobs

Taseko operates the Gibraltar mine near Williams Lake, the second-largest copper concentrator in Canada and by Christmas of this year, the third largest in North America.

We’re proud of what we do — supplying copper to a global market for the past 40 years, employing thousands of people and contributing billions in revenues to local, provincial and national economies. We are able to do so safely and efficiently because of the highly capable engineering staff and the more than 500 skilled and committed employees working at Gibraltar.

By the end of this year, Taseko will have invested nearly $700 million in new state-of-the-art mining and milling equipment for Gibraltar in just six years, improving efficiencies and providing greater assurance that the mine can continue to produce uninterrupted for 27 more years.

This week, Taseko filed with the federal government an environmental-impact statement (EIS) detailing its proposal to build a new mine in British Columbia, also near Williams Lake.

Canada’s last mining frontier about to be opened – by Bill Mann, (MarketWatch.com – September 19, 2012)

September 19, 2012

http://www.marketwatch.com/

Baffin Island iron mine poses daunting logistical challenges

PORT TOWNSEND, Wash. (MarketWatch) — It’s been called “Ice Train Station Zebra” by some Canadian quipsters. No one has ever built a railway on huge Baffin Island, part of which is north of the bottom half of Greenland. That is, until now. A huge iron mine that will use the railroad was formally greenlit by the government last week after months of hearings, four years of planning, and big proxy fights.

You can almost hear the strains of “I’ve been working on the railroad…and freezing my butt off.” Some of the native people who live up in the Canadian territory of Nunavut and attended the government hearings hunt caribou for a living and said they didn’t know what a railroad might look like.

When the arctic railroad (possible name: Burlington Far Northern?) is completed, it will truly be an iron horse — hauling some of the purest iron ore in the world from the Mary River open-pit mine to a port that also needs to be built, at Steensby Inlet. About 25 million tons a year of ore, to be exact. Waiting for that ore will be ice-breaking freighters — also not yet built — which couldn’t have reached the area until climate change made it accessible.

KI pulls out of Far North planning process – by Rick Garrick (Wawatay News – September 19, 2012)

September 19, 2012

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

Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) has pulled out of the Ontario land use planning process under the Far North Act. “At the end of the day, when everything is completed and done it is the minister who has the last say,” said KI Chief Donny Morris. “We want control and to have the minister have the last say, that is not what we want. So that is why we pulled out.”

Morris sent the Aug. 31 letter to Dianne Corbett, director of Far North Branch, Ministry of Natural Resources, announcing the decision. Posted on the kitchenuhmaykoosib.com website, the letter stated that KI entered the land use planning process in a good faith attempt to work with Ontario to reduce land use conflicts in the KI homeland.

“When we do the land use planning, it is for our own community membership to determine the future of our resources, our lands and water, not the minister,” Morris said. Morris said it has become clear to the community over time that land use planning under the Far North Act would change the jurisdiction and authority of KI on its homeland.

“It is our view that the Far North Act acts to deny or limit the Aboriginal rights, Aboriginal title or treaty rights of KI and limits or defines the consultation and accommodation obligations between KI and Ontario,” Morris said in the letter. “In short, we cannot work within the limitations of the current legislation.”

Baffin Island mega-mine gets green light from Nunavut agency – by Randy Boswell (Montreal Gazette – September 17, 2012)

September 18, 2012

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

A Nunavut review agency’s approval on Friday of a massive, $4-billion iron mine on Baffin Island not only green-lights one of the biggest industrial projects ever in the Canadian Arctic, it also offers some belated vindication for Sir Martin Frobisher, the 16th-century English explorer who dreamed that Baffin’s rocks might someday yield unimaginable riches.

Though Frobisher’s own quest for gold in the future Nunavut was proven futile by the end of the 1570s, his perilous voyages to what was then the outer limit of the known world set the stage for British — and ultimately Canadian — sovereignty over the vast Arctic archipelago, including Baffin Island and the colossal Mary River ore deposit now set to be mined by Toronto-based Baffinland Iron Mines Corp.

The planned mine and town site, located near the island’s northern tip, would see almost 20 million tonnes of high-grade iron ore excavated annually from a huge open-pit operation, transported 150 kilometres south along the world’s northernmost railroad to a new deep-water Arctic port, then shipped to European smelters on a fleet of mammoth, custom-made ice-breaking barges.

Air Creebec flies high as Plan Nord ramps up – by Fancois Shalom (Montreal Gazette – September 18 2012)

September 18, 2012

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

Airline Inaugurates its new $10-million hangar and terminal at Trudeau airport

Jean Charest may be gone, but he is far from forgotten – by Air Creebec at least. “We view (the former premier’s) Plan Nord as really a personal friend,” said Sylvain Dicaire, chief financial officer of the Val d’Or-based airline owned by the Cree nation. “We couldn’t agree with it more.”

Since its founding in 1982, the airline has banked heavily on northern development – mostly mining, forestry and Hydro-Québec.

But Charest formalizing the economic development of Quebec’s far north as a premier strategic objective for the government means that “the sky is the limit for us now,” Dicaire said. The occasion Monday was itself a testament to the benefits of that interest.

On its 30th anniversary, Air Creebec inaugurated its new $10-million hangar and terminal on the edges of the runway at Dorval’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport – built with a $1.3-million subsidy from the province, Dicaire noted. Plan Nord may be a formal stamp, but in truth, Dicaire said, “we sensed it before (it was launched).”

Conflicting [Ontario junior miner] decisions call duty to consult [First Nations] into question – by Jennifer Brown (Canadian Lawyer Magazine.com – September 17, 2012)

September 17, 2012

http://www.canadianlawyermag.com/

Junior mining company granted leave to appeal over injunction motion

A decision by the Ontario Superior court to grant leave to appeal an interim injunction obtained by a First Nation against a junior mining company could have significant implications for the resource industry, First Nation communities, and government.

On Sept. 4, the Ontario Superior Court granted leave to appeal [see attached pdf] an injunction obtained by the Wahgoshig First Nation against prospecting company Solid Gold Resources Corp., based in Thornhill, Ont.

Justice Wilton-Siegel granted Solid Gold leave to appeal a Jan. 3, 2012 injunction order from Superior Court Justice Carole J. Brown, who ordered all activity by Solid Gold stop for 120 days and they enter into consultation with the province and the First Nation regarding any further activity.

However, Wilton-Siegel ruled there is reason to doubt the correctness of the January order. He pointed to the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Haida Nation v. British Columbia, which determined third parties do not hold the Crown’s duty to consult.

Aboriginal consultant is key Ring of Fire point man – by Donna Faye (Northern Ontario Business – September 2012)

September 17, 2012September 17, 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.

After nearly a year in his role as Ring of Fire senior director for Webequie First Nation, Michael Fox says he is encouraged by the progress of the emerging mineral development project.

It has been more than two years since the Ontario government announced it would be opening up the large chromite deposit in the James Bay lowlands to development. “The lesson that I’ve learned is that there is always going to be politics,” he said.

“You have to deal with the politics, then the process, and then the project.” Fox’s job is not an easy task. He is responsible for consulting with the community closest to the discovery areas in the Ring of Fire with respect to the potential opportunities its members stand to gain.

Webequie First Nation is a remote, fly-in community of 600, situated 540 km north of Thunder Bay. It is west of where Cliffs Natural Resources wants to build a mine at its Black Thor chromite deposit, the largest of its kind in the world. With a 2015 production startup date, hundreds of construction, mining and transportation jobs will be created.

Ring of Fire sparks Chinese interest in mining – by CBC News Thunder Bay (September 17, 2012)

September 17, 2012

http://www.cbc.ca/news/

Chinese company Sinocan expected to start drilling near Webequie next month

Chinese diplomats are intent on building trust with northern Ontario First Nations to further their mining interests, according to a Chinese-Canadian business man.

Peng You, a Thunder Bay resident with ties to China, helped facilitate a recent visit by China’s Consulate-General to Webequie First Nation. He said the arrival of one of China’s top diplomats in Canada is significant.

“I think that part is very important. It’s not just for one company. In future, more companies [will] invest in northwest Ontario, especially in [the] mining industry.” Webequie is one of the First Nations closest to a promising chromite deposit in the James Bay lowlands.

For months, US-company Cliffs Natural Resources has been the focus of discussions about development in the Ring of Fire. But the Chinese company Sinocan is expected to start drilling near Webequie next month. Peng You said soon chiefs and elders from northwestern Ontario could be on their way to China to talk about the Ring of Fire as part of a diplomatic exchange.

Greenstone excited to be Ring of Fire ‘gateway’ – by Bryan Meadows (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – September 16, 2012)

September 16, 2012

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

The Municipality of Greenstone is going to be busy place over the next couple of decades, its Mayor Renald Beaulieu predicts. “More and more it is becoming clear that the municipality is emerging as the gateway to the Ring of Fire,” Beaulieu said Friday.

He cited Noront Resources Ltd.’s release last week of its updated feasibility study, and talk of a new power transmission route east of Lake Nipigon as reasons for his optimism. Beaulieu noted that Noront’s “base case” for its Eagle’s Nest mining project is predicated on transporting Ring of Fire ore using the proposed north-south corridor, with a southern terminus in Greenstone’s Nakina ward.

“For decades, Nakina was viewed as the end of the road, but,” he said, “increasingly it seems that Nakina, a proud part of Greenstone, will soon be seen as the start of the road.” A second development that has the mayor excited is that the Ontario Power Authority is now considering an east of Lake Nipigon transmission corridor.

OPA has informed the Northwest Ontario First Nations Transmission Planning Committee that it is now studying the transmission line route, Beaulieu said. The proposed transmission line would supply the Ring of Fire and bring grid-connected electricity to First Nations such as Marten Falls.

Opening Up The Ring Of Fire: Wes Hanson Discusses Noront’s Nickel-Copper-PGM Feasibility Study – by Kevin Michael Grace (Resourceswire.com – September 11, 2012)

November 3, 2015September 15, 2012

http://resourceswire.com/

Noront Resources Ltd V.NOT announced September 5 the results of a 43-101 feasibility study of its Eagle’s Nest nickel-copper-PGM mine at McFaulds Lake in the Ring of Fire, northern Ontario. Based on metals prices of $9.43 per pound copper, $3.60 per pound copper, $1,600 per ounce platinum, $599 per ounce palladium and $1,415 per ounce gold, the study forecasts an aftertax net present value (NPV) of $543 million (at an 8% discount rate), a 28% aftertax internal rate of return (IRR), a $609-million initial CAPEX, plus a $160-million life-of-mine sustaining CAPEX and a three-year payback period.

Eagle’s Nest contains proven and probable resources of 11.1 million tonnes grading 1.68% nickel, 0.87% copper, 0.89 grams per tonne platinum and 3.09 g/t palladium. The mine is forecast to produce one million tonnes per year, producing 150,000 tonnes of nickel-copper concentrate annually over 11 years, at $97 per tonne or $2.34 per pound of nickel equivalent.

Noront President/CEO Wes Hanson spoke to Kevin Michael Grace September 5, 2012.

RW: What’s your path to production?

WH: In addition to the technical and social risks associated with building any mining project, on top of it for the juniors you always have a challenge of how you’re going to finance construction. We are fortunate enough that the capital costs aren’t overly onerous. We’re only looking at a range of $600 million.

Building a mining ‘hub:’ Is Thunder Bay ready for the big rush? – by Stephen Lindley and John Mason (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – September 15, 2012)

September 15, 2012

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

With the establishment of a chromite processing facility, currently planned for location
in Sudbury, Ontario’s production capacity could rival that of the top three global
producers, namely South Africa, Kazakhstan and India, making it one of the most
important sources of chromium in the world. (John Mason and Stephen Lindley)

John Mason leads the mining readiness strategy and is project manager of mining services at the Thunder Bay Community Economic Commission (CEDC). Stephen Lindley is project manager and vice-president of aboriginal and northern affairs with SNC-Lavalin in Toronto.

The City of Thunder Bay, the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC) and the Fort William First Nation (FWFN) have recently initiated a Mining Readiness Strategy — An Integrated Regional Economic Development Plan. Scheduled for completion in January 2013, with implementation throughout 2013-15 and beyond, the region of Thunder Bay is taking the necessary steps to develop a nationally and internationally acclaimed “hub” for mineral exploration, production and related economic activity in Northwestern Ontario.

Mining and its associated industries is an important sector of the global economy and Canada is recognized as a world leader. Ontario leads all provinces in mineral production, at over $10 billion annually. Growth rates in gold exploration alone, in Ontario, are quickly outpacing those of the historic global leaders such as South Africa, Peru and Russia.

Ring of Fire judicial review hits more delays – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – September 13, 2012)

September 14, 2012

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

It has been 10 months since Matawa First Nations filed a judicial review of the Ring of Fire Environmental Assessment process, but the review continues to be delayed by legal procedures.

Judith Rae, Matawa’s legal representative on the case, told Wawatay News that recent legal motions by both Cliffs Resources and the government of Canada have delayed the pre-hearing process in the case.

The latest delays come after Canada took longer than usual to provide information at the beginning of the legal action, said the lawyer with Olthius Kleer Townshed law firm. In November 2011 Rae had estimated that the case would come before the courts in eight to 18 months, a timeline that seems overly optimistic at this point.

“Our initial timeline has been derailed by the motions by Cliffs and Canada, but the judicial review is still ongoing,” Rae said. Matawa filed the judicial review on Nov. 7, 2011, calling on the federal government to implement a Joint Review Panel – the most comprehensive form of environmental assessment (EA) – for the Ring of Fire.