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British Columbia Mining

B.C. miners dream of single environmental review – by Gordon Hoekstra (Vancouver Sun – April 19, 2013)

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

 Province signs agreement to have its review stand in for federal assessment, but critics say the federal reviews are far more robust and allow more public input

The British Columbia mining industry still doesn’t have what it wants: an environmental assessment process that happens once with one, final decision. But it’s getting closer. A long complaint of the industry has been the duplication of the complex and often lengthy environmental assessments at the provincial and federal level.

For example, the $1.5-billion Mount Milligan gold and copper mine, under construction in north-central B.C., took four years to receive approval from back-to-back provincial and federal environmental assessments and permitting processes.

The duplicate assessments are onerous and expensive costing millions of dollars and can hurt a companies ability to time a project to when mineral prices are high.

When the Conservative federal government brought in changes in 2012 to streamline the environmental assessment process, it included a provision that allowed federal environmental assessments to no longer be conducted where a province provides an “appropriate substitute.”

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B.C. miners, First Nations learn to get along – by Gordon Hamilton (Vancouver Sun – April 19, 2013)

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

Sharing the land and wealth is possible when both sides work to understand each other’s concerns and desires

If Tawny Fortier ever needs a reminder as to why she is here, pulled over at the side of the road waiting out a whiteout snowstorm while on her way from her Kamloops home to her job in the Peace River gas fields, she just has to think of her daughter.

She left eight-year-old Kyra with her aunt several hours ago on the Kamloops First Nation reserve. If the storm lifts, she hopes to be at her room in a Dawson Creek boarding house by nightfall and at 4:20 a.m. next morning, she will be up and on her way to work as an apprentice electrician on a gas plant construction project.

Her determination is fuelled by a deep motivation to succeed. “Kyra is my biggest motivation for sure. It’s important for me to have a well-paying job to support both of us,” Fortier said in an telephone interview, after she had pulled over near Jasper until the storm ended. The Kamloops woman is halfway through her apprenticeship to becoming an electrician and is taking whatever job is required to make that dream a reality. She works two weeks on, one week off at the Peace River project.

Fortier is at the forefront of a fundamental change that has taken place in the relationship between resource development companies and First Nations in B.C.

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Mining man Ross Beaty: Between a rock and a green place – by Gordon Pitts (Globe and Mail – April 13, 2013)

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.

VANCOUVER — Last fall, Vancouver mining financier Ross Beaty took off on one of his great escapes – a camping trip with his wife along a remote trail on Vancouver Island. To take pressure off his six-decade-old knees, he decided to travel lightly and live off the land, collecting berries, catching fish and taking nourishment from nature.

Trisha Beaty watched as her husband came back empty handed from his days of hunting and gathering. “It was a complete disaster. I caught no food, and found almost no berries,” he recalls. “Fortunately, my wife brought enough food for both of us, because she knew what would happen.” This surrender to realism suggests a man comfortable with ambiguity, who accepts that the world rarely delivers perfection, and who can, at times, show a blithe disregard for consistency.

After all, Mr. Beaty is one of the world’s most successful people at digging minerals out of the ground, and yet he is also a full-throated nature conservationist. He is a free marketer who advocates interfering with the freedom to mine the oil sands; and a gold and silver advocate who really doesn’t see the world’s financial system falling apart.

“I am a chameleon,” Mr. Beaty says happily over lunch at Diva restaurant on Vancouver’s Howe Street. “I have ultragreen environmental instincts but I don’t want government meddling with my abilities as an entrepreneur. I don’t want them getting in my face and telling me what to do. It is a contradiction and I just have to live with it.”

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Mining firm, unions at odds over admission of documents in foreign workers case – by Dene Moore (Globe and Mail – April 9, 2013)

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.

Legal wrangling bogged down what was to be the first day of a Federal Court judicial review of temporary foreign worker permits issued to a Northern B.C. coal mine.

On Tuesday, lawyers for one of the companies involved in the project, Canadian Dehua International Mines Group, asked the court to disregard some of the affidavits submitted by the unions among the thousands of pages of documents filed in the case.

“These written submissions are full of extraordinarily inflammatory language, accusing HD Mining of being a liar, of misrepresenting, of blowing hot and cold and all sort of other spurious allegations which we would submit are not found in evidence,” said Laura Best, lawyer for Dehua, referring to the second company involved, HD Mining International.

Among the “behemoth” of information filed by the unions in their pursuit of a judicial review, are affidavits based on hearsay and false allegations, Ms. Best said. The unions fired back with written arguments labelling the application by the companies to dismiss the affidavits as an abuse of process.

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B.C. mine’s temporary foreign workers case in Federal Court – CBC News (April 9, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/bc/

Unions challenge hiring of Chinese workers for B.C. coal mine

The fight by two labour unions against a company that hired more than 200 temporary workers from China for its coal mine in northeastern B.C. heads to Federal Court in Vancouver today.

The judicial review comes as the federal temporary foreign worker program has raised controversy following a CBC report this week that foreign workers were replacing some Royal Bank staff.

HD Mining International says it hired 201 workers from China for its coal mine in Tumbler Ridge because the 300 Canadians who applied for the jobs weren’t qualified. The two labour unions argue that HD Mining hired temporary foreign workers for jobs Canadians could have filled.

HD Mining International is a B.C.-based company. The majority owner is Huiyong Holdings Group, a private company from China, which operates several coal mines in that country. Vancouver-based Canadian Dehua International Mines Group also owns a stake in HD.

Brian Cochrane, of the International Union of Operating Engineers, hopes the case will result in changes to the temporary foreign worker program.

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Report questions ‘genuineness’ of Chinese mining firm in B.C. to hire Canadians – by Dene Moore (Canadian Press/CTV News – April 7, 2013)

http://www.ctvnews.ca/

VANCOUVER — An internal federal review of a decision to grant permits to a Chinese company to bring temporary foreign workers from China for its British Columbia coal mine found the company met or exceeded all requirements.

But the November report notes that the sequence of events in HD Mining’s application to bring 201 miners over from China for its Murray River coal mine leaves some questions as to the “genuineness” of the company in its search for Canadian workers.

The File Review Report obtained by The Canadian Press through Access to Information found that due diligence was performed on the applications.

“The employer, HD Mining International Ltd., has met all the program requirements for the (Temporary Foreign Worker Program),” said the Nov. 27 report prepared by Michele Morandini, acting director of the program, and approved by Heather Backhouse, executive director of the Citizen Services program delivery branch, B.C. and Yukon.

However, the review noted that of the 201 applications submitted by HD Mining, 84 of the workers had previously been applied for by its sister company, Canadian Dehua International. Fourteen of those workers were resubmitted by HD Mining for different positions.

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Eco-activists should show more concern for jobs – by Cary Pinkowski (Vancouver Sun – January 24, 2013)

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

Cary Pinkowski is president and chief executive officer of Vancouver-based Astur Gold Corp.

Even though pipelines, including one that has operated for some 60 years, transect our beautiful province, the proposed Northern Gateway project has turned what should be a rational discussion into a virtual screaming match. It’s time to take a look at the bigger picture.

As a business executive who works in the mining sector, where environmental stewardship and safety are key elements to corporate survival, I am in favour of the pipeline. In part, that’s because I am also in favour of health care, hospitals, education and social programs that take care of our most vulnerable.

According to projections, our province will be more than $66 billion in debt by 2015. With a population of 4.4 million — and only 2.2 million taxpayers — this equates to debt of about $30,000 per taxpayer, not including federal, municipal or personal debt.

How will you pay for your share? I want nurses and doctors to be paid for their important work. I also want teachers and professors to be compensated for their role in ensuring British Columbians and Canadians are equipped with the skills they need for our collective success. What about our elderly? Who will pay their pensions?

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NEWS RELEASE: HR strategy to address underground mining in B.C.

Economy, Education Saturday, March 23, 2013 10:00 AM

VICTORIA – Additional funding for a human resource strategy that supports skills training for people working in underground mining is now underway between the B.C. government and the BC Mining HR Task Force.

Under the Canada-British Columbia Labour Market Development Agreement (LMDA) Labour Market Partnerships program, government is providing an additional $24,750 to expand the scope of the existing British Columbia Mineral and Mining Industry Human Resource Strategy to include underground mining. The funding will be used to include an underground miner occupational analysis and skills development component.

The project will identify the skill requirements of underground miners, evaluate the current capacity for training underground miners in B.C., and make recommendations to expand skills development programs in the province.

The underground mining strategy augments the British Columbia Mineral and Mining Industry Human Resource Strategy funding in excess of $1 million. The funding is being used to further develop strategies designed to meet the increasing demand for skilled labour in B.C.’s mining sector.

The broad-based strategy currently underway identifies industry-specific training and the educational and promotional needs required to keep pace with a growing industry that is facing a shortage of skilled workers.

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‘Elk River is being poisoned’ by coal mining, study finds – by Mark Hume (Globe and Mail – March 21, 2013)

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.

VANCOUVER – As it flows through the Rocky Mountains, near Fernie in southeastern British Columbia, the Elk River seems the picture of environmental health, with its crystal-clear waters supporting a world-famous sports fishery.

But a new study by U.S. researchers warns that all is not well below the surface, where invisible pollutants – including selenium, a metal-like element that can cause spinal deformities in young fish – have reached alarming levels.

“We’ve basically learned that the Elk River is being poisoned,” Sarah Cox, interim director of the Sierra Club of B.C., said Wednesday.

Ms. Cox said a report co-authored by Richard Hauer, of the University of Montana, shows that selenium, nitrate and phosphate levels in the Elk are far higher than expected. “This study … clearly shows selenium has been collecting to toxic levels,” she said. “This is a huge problem.… Definitely alarm bells are ringing.”

Environment Canada had an investigative team in the Elk Valley last summer collecting water and fish egg samples, but on Wednesday the federal government wasn’t able to immediately find a spokesperson to comment.

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Mandarin Need Cited as Feds OK’d 95 Chinese Miners for Gething coal project – by Jeremy J. Nuttall (The Tyee.ca – March 19, 2013)

http://thetyee.ca/

FOI docs show greenlighting of foreign temp staffing of second coal mining project in BC.

Months after controversy gripped a Chinese-backed company’s efforts to bring in temporary foreign workers to mine coal in British Columbia rather than hire Canadians, newly surfaced documents show the federal government granted a key dispensation to a different, similarly Chinese backed B.C. project to hire nearly a hundred workers on the basis that they spoke Mandarin.

The project that drew criticism and court challenges in the fall was HD Mining’s attempt to hire 201 foreign workers for its Murray River coal project near Tumbler Ridge, B.C. Newly revealed Services Canada files show that a partner company in HD Mining was itself given permission to bring in almost 100 foreign workers after listing Mandarin as the sole language requirement.

The documents, released through a Freedom of Information Act request, include Labour Market Opinions related to hundreds of jobs at Canadian Dehua International Mines’ Gething coal project near Hudson Hope, B.C. Currently the project is in the advanced exploration phase, according to the provincial ministry of mines. The LMOs, granted in the first half of 2012, are required to show the company made sufficient efforts to hire Canadians for the positions.

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NEWS RELEASE: BC AMTA achieves 500 Aboriginal hires in Mining Industry

KAMLOOPS, BC, March 21, 2013 /CNW/ – In three fast years, BC Aboriginal Mine Training (BC AMTA) has partnered with government, First Nations and the BC Mining industry to support, train and recruit Aboriginal people. On March 20, 2013 they reached a milestone of placing 500 men and women from First Nations communities across the province into sustainable mining-related careers.

With 25 percent of the mining workforce scheduled to retire within the next five years and 1200 Aboriginal communities within 200 kilometres of an operating mine or exploration project1, BC AMTA has set in motion an achievable process that proves a new way of doing business with First Nations is possible.

Those possibilities include training and placing more Aboriginal people into mining careers as new offices open up across the province to meet industry demand. New BC AMTA regional offices include New Aiyansh (Terrace) and Merritt, to complement existing operations in Kamloops, Cranbrook and Williams Lake.

Communities are generating economic health through increased education and employment. “I wanted to become employable and to get a job so my husband and I could stop struggling, and dream of financial freedom,” says Iona Chelsea2, a recent graduate of the Mining Skills for an Entry Level Workforce. The ripple effect of Iona’s commitment to education has inspired her daughter as well – they now enjoy time studying together.

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B.C. green-lights mine despite Nisga’a Nation’s objections – Canadian Press (Globe and Mail – March 19, 2013)

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 Canadian Press – The British Columbia government has given the environmental green light to a billion-dollar mine in the province’s northwest over the objections of the Nisga’a Nation, whose traditional territory is home to the mine site.

Provincial environment and mines ministers issued on Tuesday the Environmental Assessment Certificate to Avanti Mining Inc. to revive a mothballed molybdenum mine about 140 kilometres north of Prince Rupert. Government officials agreed the Kitsault Mine could proceed after a review concluded the project isn’t expected to result in any significant adverse effects, based on the company following 34 conditions.

“The environmental assessment process involved a rigorous, thorough review that provided for significant opportunities for the Nisga’a Nation, First Nations, government agencies and the public to provide input,” the government said in a news release. Provincial ministers Terry Lake and Rich Coleman received the referral report on March 1 and had 45 days to render a decision.

But the Nisga’a Nation has been concerned for some time the process has been rushed because of the upcoming May election. As a result, its government filed a notice of disagreement under its historic treaty.

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Dreaming up ‘BC Mining Inc.’ to fill mid-tier copper void – by Kip Keen (Mineweb.com – February 27, 2013)

http://www.mineweb.com/

Laurentian Bank analyst Christopher Chang gets thinking about what a new mid-tier copper miner in British Columbia would look like, bringing together Taseko, Copper Mountain and Yellowhead.

HALIFAX, NS (MINEWEB) – It’s a bit like putting together a championship worthy team in a sports video game. Only the players are real copper miners and juniors. And the intent is quite a bit more serious than a lazy bout of flexing the thumbs in front of a screen.

In a note to clients late last week, Laurentian Bank analyst Christopher Chang made the case for the creation of a new mid-tier copper company focused on BC, calling his would-be combination of two current copper miners and one junior copper project developer “BC Mining Inc.”

Call it a think piece. Pure speculation. A what-if scenario. A bit of M&A provocation. Perhaps above all: a creative bit of thinking about the possibilities in the mid-tier copper arena.

Chang argues that following the takeover of Quadra FNX by KGHM last year there’s a mid-tier copper void to fill and he suggests one possible team – whose players already have a history of attempted takeover – that would star Taseko Mines, Copper Mountain Mining and Yellowhead Mining.

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B.C.’s mineral exploration laws are progressive – by Gavin Dirom (Vancouver Sun – February 21, 2013

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

Far from being ‘antiquated,’ regulations have been updated as recently as July 2012

Gavin C. Dirom is the president and chief executive officer of the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC).

The mineral exploration and development industry in British Columbia has continually evolved, changing its practices and updating regulations in both reasonable and practical ways based on sound facts and information.

Industry’s approach is in contrast to the incomplete set of facts and fearmongering it sees from some special-interest groups with a narrow agenda. A recent Vancouver Sun opinion piece by Sarah Cox from Sierra Club B.C. and Jessica Clogg from West Coast Environmental Law is the latest example. The Jan. 30 article contained a disappointing number of errors and omissions about B.C.’s mineral exploration laws and the industry today.

Consider their description of B.C.’s mineral tenure legislation as “antiquated,” and from the 19th century. In fact, B.C.’s Mineral Tenure Act and Regulations were significantly amended in 2005 and again in July 2012. These laws are regularly updated and considered a model for other jurisdictions around the world. Moreover, converting mineral tenure to a mining lease is very far from an automatic process. It is a modern and highly regulated process based on common sense — and it’s already in place.

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AME BC lauds British Columbia provincial budget – by Marilyn Scales (Canadian Mining Journal – February 20, 2013)

Marilyn Scales is a field editor for the Canadian Mining Journal, Canada’s first mining publication. She is one of Canada’s most senior mining commentators.

When BC Finance Minister Michael de Jong brought down the British Columbia budget on Feb. 19, there was a significant amount of good news. A balanced budget is hard to dislike. And some of the initiatives were praised by the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia.

The AME BC is particularly cheered by the government’s efforts to streamline the mineral exploration permitting process. Victoria is promising a 60-day turnaround for notice of work applications. An extra $7 million has been pledged to improve permitting. But there is more to be done.

Said AME BC president and CEO Gavin Dirom, “We encourage the government to further improve the permitting process and realize the benefits of online notice of work applications, improved First Nations consultation and multi-area, multi-year permitting.”

Dirom praised the budget for promising investment in education. Then he asked for “further investment in Aboriginal capacity building as well. The provincial government has shown leadership by … introducing new revenue sharing and reconciliation agreements with First Nations. We anticipate that with continued investment in mineral exploration and the opening of new mines, the stage will be set for renewed investment in Aboriginal capacity building and geoscience in future budgets.”

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