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Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas

New NAN grand chief [Harvey Yesno] pledges protection of lands – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – August 28, 2012)

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

Nishnawbe Aski Nation’s new grand chief wasted little time in wading into the controversy over resource development on First Nations lands.
 
During a media meet and greet in Thunder Bay on Aug. 22, Harvey Yesno used his opening speech to declare that First Nations in NAN territory are willing to protect their lands by “whatever means possible.”
 
“One thing for sure, on the lands, its going to be all about protection,” Yesno said. “We’re not going to protest over our own lands. Nobody protests over their own property. But people will protect their property. And we’ll protect it by whatever means possible.”

Yesno’s comments come as conflict over the Ring of Fire mining development continues to brew. Neskantaga First Nation chief Peter Moonias has said he is willing to die stopping a bridge from being built over the Attawapiskat River. Mushkegowuk Grand Chief Stan Louttit has also made threats of direct action in the Ring of Fire.

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KI paddlers embark on trip to Fort Severn – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – August 24, 2012)

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

Promoting the traditional use of northern waterways and the need for protection of its watershed, a group of paddlers from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation has embarked on a canoe trip to Fort Severn.
 
Fourteen paddlers in seven canoes left KI on August 24. They expect to arrive in Fort Severn after nine or ten days on the rivers. Richard Anderson, KI’s watershed community worker, said the trip is about more than just following a trading route that his ancestors travelled every year.
 
“The trip is for awareness that we are protecting our watersheds for future generations,” Anderson said. “The Elders have taught us that our water is very important for us up here, and we should keep it that way.” Anderson has done the journey from KI to Fort Severn 11 times, and he still marvels at the efforts of his ancestors who used to do the trip there and back laden with supplies.
 
He said there are quite a few portages along the way, some retaining signs of their use through the ages. There are also a number of significant historic sites along the rivers, including grave sites that the community group will honour during the trip, Anderson said.

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OMA Noront member helps strengthen foundation for high school video competition

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

Ontario Mining Association member Noront Resources is busy this summer broadening the foundation for future So You Think You Know Mining video entries.  The company is spearheading The Mining Movie Making Summer Camp in several Aboriginal communities in partnership with DAREarts, Engage Learn and the OMA.

The hands-on community based program provides three days of sharing stories about rocks, minerals, the environment and traditional territories.  Then students work to collaborate and create their own Aboriginal community video, which hopefully becomes a future entry to the OMA’s SYTYKM high school video competition.

The first camp, which was held earlier this month, involved more than 40 students from the Simon Jacob Memorial Education Centre in the Webequie First Nation.  The second camp was held in the Marten Falls First Nation and later in August a camp is scheduled to be held in the Long Lake #58 First Nation.  In the Fall, the team aims to take the program to other communities in the Ring of Fire area.

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Aboriginals readied for workforce – by Liz Cowan (Northern Ontario Business – August 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.

As the fastest growing segment of Canada’s population, Aboriginals represent a great resource for filling any shortages in the workforce now and in the future.
 
“I sit in meetings and sometimes hear talk about how we need to access immigrants and I cringe,” said Nancy Beaulieu, Wabun Tribal Council’s employment and training co-ordinator. “We have such a great resource available here when it comes to the Aboriginal population, especially with the mining industry.”
 
With several memorandums of understanding and impact benefit agreements being signed between First Nations and mining companies, more opportunities are now available.

Some barriers do exist but they are being addressed. Employment and training programs offered by Wabun Tribal Council and others such as Mushkegowuk Council, which both have offices in Timmins, are trying to meet the employment needs of their people and of the employers.

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NEWS RELEASE: Debut Concludes Agreement With Aroland First Nation and Appoints Martin Doyle to the Board of Directors

TORONTO, ONTARIO – (Aug. 23, 2012) – Debut Diamonds Inc. (the “Company” or “Debut”), (CNSX: DDI), is very pleased to announce that it has concluded an Exploration Agreement with the Aroland First Nation (“Aroland”) in connection with the Company’s Nakina diamond exploration project located north of Nakina, Ontario.

The agreement includes benefits for the community of Aroland provided by way of Debut financial contributions in support of certain social and cultural programs, and also includes employment and service related business opportunities. In return, Aroland has approved and will continue to support the Company’s exploration activities for the duration of the project. The agreement provides for the proper handling and protection of any sacred or other culturally significant sites, and contains comprehensive plans for the prevention, mitigation and remediation of any environmental impacts which may result from the Company’s exploration activities in the field.

Chris Meraw, President of Debut Diamonds states, “Our agreement with Aroland emphasizes the need for mutual respect and a positive relationship between the parties during all phases of the project and while this approach not only brings economic opportunities to the community, it also provides an element of certainty for the company’s exploration work in the area.”

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NAN council seeks new approach [resource development] – by Doug Diaczuk (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – August 23, 2012)

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

The newly-elected grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation will continue to work at creating more engagement with government when it comes to resource development. During a press conference on Wednesday, Harvey Yesno said that chiefs in the NAN territory want a different approach to communicating with the government.

“Today things have changed,” Yesno said told the media. “The issue on the table is resource development that is happening in the communities but there is no meaningful engagement that is happening. We would like to see the governments walk and talk, and we want to participate in that.”

Yesno also spoke about creating a balance for all First Nations when it comes to revenue sharing. On issues relating to land, Yesno emphasized that there needs to be consent and First Nations shouldn’t have to protest to protect their lands.

“We aren’t going to protest and just let things happen,” he said. “We have to protect it. Protest sometimes raises a voice, but most times things just go on. I think that’s the difference.”

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Harper pitches resource future with Yukon revenue deal – by Meagan Fitzpatrick (CBC News – August 21, 2012)

www.cbc.ca

Yukon is going to be able to cash in more on resource development in its own backyard thanks to an updating of revenue sharing agreements today that was overseen by Prime Minister Stephen Harper during his northern tour.
 
Harper visited a copper and gold mine in Minto, about 240 kilometres north of Whitehorse, along with John Duncan, minister of aboriginal affairs and northern development.
 
Duncan signed an agreement with Yukon Premier Darrell Pasloski that amends two existing resource revenue sharing agreements – the Canada-Yukon Oil and Gas Accord and the Yukon Northern Affairs Program Devolution Transfer Agreement.
 
The agreements cover revenues from oil, gas, forestry, land, water and minerals. The federal government says the reformed agreements will ensure a greater portion of the revenues generated from the mining and resource economy in Yukon will stay in Yukon.

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Stephen Harper: Resource development will relieve social woes across the north – by Bruce Campion-Smith (Toronto Star – August 22, 2012)

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.

MINTO MINE, YUKON—The billions of dollars of benefits generated from resource projects across Canada’s north offer a solution to the serious social challenges confronting this isolated region, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says.
 
And Harper is promising to streamline environmental reviews to help get those development projects across the north up and running faster.
 
The prime minister made the comments Tuesday during a visit to a sprawling copper mine hailed as an example of the ability of resource projects to pump investments into the local community. He said the “great opportunity” of resource projects is that they are unfolding in areas where First Nations have lacked other economic opportunities.
 
“I’m particularly pleased to see projects like these employing not just locals but aboriginal locals,” Harper said. “We want to make sure that those things are turned into opportunities for them. Obviously, for their communities to gain revenue to provide some of the services . . . but also that they gain employment and skills and expertise in these industries,” he said.

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First Nations must be partners, not an afterthought – by Shawn Atleo (Globe and Mail – August 22, 2012)

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.

Shawn A-in-chut Atleo is the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

The debate over the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline has vaulted First Nations people and their rights to the forefront of the national discussion on energy, the environment and resource development.

This is fitting. Our lands are the backbone of the Canadian economy. Yet we have often been seen only as an obstacle or afterthought to development (when we were seen at all). Now we have an opportunity and impetus to reconcile our rights and interests and reap benefits for all Canadians.

The Northern Gateway project is capturing headlines, but it is only one of many major projects planned or under way, projects worth hundreds of billions in economic activity. All these projects are located in or near First Nations’ traditional territories. Any project that could affect their lands or lives requires their consent. This is what we agreed to in treaties and it is a reality in Canadian law.

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In oil sands, a native millionaire sees ‘economic force’ for first nations – by Nathan Vanderklippe (Globe and Mail – August 14, 2012)

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.

COLD LAKE, ALTA. — Dave Tuccaro is driving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, where he will plan the book tour he will mount after Christmas when his biography is released. That biography, written by Peter C. Newman, will tell the story of the aboriginal businessman – quite possibly Canada’s wealthiest.

Mr. Tuccaro will contemplate what to do with the $102-million he will take in when he finalizes a deal to sell his business, knowing that he still holds an additional $25-million in real estate.

And he will think of how he can use those funds, built up over three decades in which he profited handsomely from the oil sands, to lift up others. Mr. Tuccaro, 54, is a member of the Mikisew Cree First Nation, out of Fort Chipewyan, Alta., a place that garnered attention after reports – discredited by medical authorities – that its location downriver from the oil sands created an elevated level of rare cancers.

But for Mr. Tuccaro, Fort Chipewyan was a launching pad for a career that has helped to reshape the expectations for Canada’s aboriginal communities, which face a deluge of resource development plans.

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NEWS RELEASE: JAMES BAY CREE NATION ENACTS PERMANENT URANIUM MORATORIUM IN JAMES BAY TERRITORY

Crees “determined to protect our way of life against the unique and grave threat posed by uranium mining and waste, today and for thousands of years to come”.

Posted: 2012-08-09

Waskaganish, Eeyou Istchee, (August 9, 2012) —The James Bay Cree Nation has declared a Permanent Moratorium on uranium exploration, uranium mining and uranium waste emplacement in Eeyou Istchee, the James Bay Cree territory. The permanent moratorium was enacted unanimously by the Annual Cree Nation General Assembly in Waskaganish.
 
“The risks inherent in uranium exploration, mining, milling, refining and transport, and in radioactive and toxic uranium mining waste, are incompatible with our stewardship responsibilities in Eeyou Istchee,” the Resolution declares.

“The Cree Nation is determined to protect our economies and way of life against the unique and grave threat posed by uranium mining and uranium waste, today and for thousands of years to come,” said Grand Chief Dr. Matthew Coon Come. “We are not opposed to sustainable and equitable mining and other industrial and resource development activities in Eeyou Istchee – but the toxic and radiation risks created by uranium mining and uranium waste are unique in scale and duration.”

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Power needs dictate plant location [Ring of Fire ferrochrome smelter] – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – August 13, 2012)

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

 Despite an impassioned resolution put forth by the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association, which supported the construction and operation of a ferrochrome smelter at Exton, the government of Ontario announced May 9 that Capreol would be home to the new facility.
 
It was a matter of logistics, say Bill Boor, senior vice-president of global ferroalloys at Cleveland-based Cliffs Natural Resources, and David Cartella, general manager of environmental affairs and environmental counsel at Cliffs.
 
“We went through a pretty extensive analysis of all the sites where the furnace could be located,” they explain. “There were only a handful of sites that could handle this, and Sudbury was one of them … The power solution is why Sudbury was the winner.”
 
Electric arc furnaces, which are used to melt chromite ore, reach temperatures of 2,800 C. The amount of electricity needed to run the furnaces at the Capreol smelter could power a city of 300,000, Ramsey Hart, Canada program co-ordinator at Mining Watch Canada, says. “The operation of the mine and the transportation of the minerals also have significant carbon footprints,” he says.

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NEWS RELEASE: B.C. seizing on global demand for mining (May 16, 2012)

For the B.C. Mineral Exploration and Mining Strategy, click here: http://www.empr.gov.bc.ca/Mining/Documents/MiningStrategy2012.pdf

VANCOUVER – A long-term plan designed to develop the mining industry and create jobs to support B.C. families was announced today by Minister of Energy and Mines Rich Coleman.

“British Columbia is poised for a new phase of growth, investment and job creation, which will enable us to reach across the Pacific and tap into growing demand in Asian markets,” said Premier Christy Clark, who is presently on her second Asia Jobs and Trade Mission promoting resource development to overseas customers. “Long-term growth in our mining industry will translate into strong economic growth for our communities, First Nations and the province, and thousands of well-paying jobs that will benefit families in British Columbia.”

The new B.C. Mineral Exploration and Mining Strategy outlines a plan to create eight new mines and expand nine existing ones by 2015. The mining strategy’s six overarching goals are:

• Enhancing B.C.’s competitive edge.
• Streamlining regulatory processes.

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[Ontario’s Ring of Fire] North’s Holy Grail: tapping a $1 trillion resource – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – August 11, 2012)

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

On a humid summery day — the kind of day that makes you feel like you must be living inside a sauna — you open the door to your refrigerator and reach for something to cool you from the inside out. If you count yourself among a growing number of stylish, quality-craving homeowners, yours is a stainless steel fridge. House-hunters and remodellers alike covet stainless steel appliances for their durability, timelessness and aesthetic quality. Industry experts estimate 40% of new appliance sales include “a stainless steel-type finish,” according to Dr. Steel on www.stainless-online.com.
 
Stainless steel appliances have been on the market for the ACCENT past two decades and show no signs of waning popularity. Fingerprints aside, designers recommend them as a solid investment with high resale value. The Atlantic ran a piece in February questioning the popularity of stainless steel. While the author, Megan McArdle, has some reservations, its appeal to domestic types is undeniable.
 
“As a status symbol, (such appliances) signify that: a) you (are) a serious cook, and b) you didn’t just go to Circuit City to get your appliances,” she writes. “In other words, stainless steel has become a status god. That’s why all those young couples on house-hunting shows adamantly shake their heads when they walk into an otherwise charming fixer-upper and say ‘No way. I want stainless.’ “

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Aboriginal mine training program dodges closure – by Darah Hansen (Vancouver Sun – August 8, 2012)

The Vancouver Sun, a broadsheet daily paper first published in 1912, has the largest circulation in the province of British Columbia.

Ottawa allocates $10 million to train first nations workers in sector
 
Funding will continue for a popular training program that aims to employ British Columbian aboriginals in the province’s booming mining and mineral exploration sectors, an executive with the B.C. Aboriginal Mine Training Association confirmed Wednesday.
 
“Everything is going very well,” said Laurie Sterritt on news the federal government has agreed to put another $10 million into the B.C. AMTA program over the next three years. The program, which was launched in 2010 with a $4.4-million budget, was in jeopardy of closing its doors after a request to federal agencies for more money to continue the work went unanswered.
 
In June, staff members at the program’s Kamloops office were laid off while negotiations for a funding extension continued behind the scenes. Sterritt said office workers have since returned to their posts, with more people expected to be hired as the program expands across the province.

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