Twitter

British Columbia Mining

Coal lobby stresses jobs, economics as terminal controversy heats up – by Gordon Hamilton (Vancouver Sun – February 16, 2013)

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

The Coal Association of Canada has released a special report on the industry’s economic impact in British Columbia as the battle heats up over coal exports from Port Metro Vancouver.

Arguing that coal is a catalyst for economic development, trade and employment, coal association president Ann Marie Hann said economics has been missed in the discussion over coal exports.

Opponents of Vancouver’s growing role as a coal exporting centre cite coal’s high greenhouse gas emissions and the health risks from increased coal dust along transportation routes as reasons for shelving expansion plans.

Port Metro Vancouver has already approved one expansion at Neptune Bulk Terminals in North Vancouver, and is considering a new coal terminal at Fraser Surrey Docks in Surrey. Metro Vancouver is now North America’s largest coal exporting port.

“Clearly this is a response to the ‘coal export controversy’ now raging in Metro Vancouver,” Kevin Washbrook, of the citizens group Voters Taking Action On Climate Change, said of the industry report. He said the industry is attempting to build an argument in response to concerns about the environmental threat posed by coal.

Read more

NEWS RELEASE: New report shows importance of coal to B.C.

http://www.coal.ca/

February 15, 2013

A new report from PwC shines a light on the important the important role coal plays in B.C.’s economy and how it contributes to a better B.C.

Report: Economic impact analysis of the coal mining industry in B.C.: http://www.coal.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/FINAL_Coal-Association-of-Canada_BC-EIA-Feb-15-2013-1.pdf

In 2011, the coal industry generated an estimated $3.2 billion in provincial GDP and approximately $715.2 million in tax revenue for all levels of government including $399 million in tax revenue generated by economic activity and $316.2 million in mineral tax payments to British Columbia. The revenue collected by government helps to pay for government infrastructure including schools, roads and hospitals as well as provincial services and supports.

The majority of the coal mined in British Columbia is metallurgical coal – which is used to make steel and essential competent of modern life. The majority of coal produced in B.C. is exported to Japan and South Korea. It’s in high demand from consumers because of its low sulfur, low ash, and high carbon content which burn more cleanly than other coals.

Coal also creates jobs. Over 26,000 people are directly employed by the coal industry and they earn higher than average wages. For example, the estimated annual wage for those directly employed by coal companies was $95,174, twice the average provincial wage of $43,500!

Read more

HD Mining seeks talks with unions over temporary foreign workers – (CBC News – February 7, 2013)

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

Company wants to work with unions to expedite training of Canadian workers

A B.C. mining company says it wants to end its legal battle with labour unions and resume preliminary work opening up a coal mine in Tumbler Ridge with temporary workers from China.

In a letter to addressed to two B.C. labour unions involved in the dispute, HD Mining Chair Penggui Yan said the company is prepared to continue its legal defence of its decision to import 201 temporary workers from China under a federal program, rather than hire Canadians for the highly specialized job.

But Yan says the company would rather open negotiations with the union with the aim of getting work restarted at the mine while accelerating the training of Canadian workers.

The company proposes starting the work with the Chinese workers for the first two years to determine if the mine is viable, while it opens the negotiations with the unions to expedite the training of Canadian workers for the second phase of the project, if the mine proves viable.

Read more

Teck Resources changes tune on acquisition opportunities – by Peter Koven (National Post – February 8, 2013)

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

When Teck Resources Ltd. holds its quarterly earnings conference calls, chief executive Don Lindsay is always asked about acquisition opportunities. His usual response is that Teck is looking, but price tags are too high.

That changed on Thursday’s call. He acknowledged that values have come down in recent months and more assets have come available. That includes projects in the iron ore sector, an industry that Teck has been eager to break into for years. Mr. Lindsay also speculated more assets could come available as many large mining companies are writing down projects, firing senior management and cleaning up their portfolios.

Teck has not made a major acquisition since 2008, and this would be a reasonable time to do it. In addition to the iron ore opportunities, the Vancouver-based miner is facing declining copper production over the next couple of years. Its key copper growth projects in Chile are being held up by permitting delays, meaning it is unclear when they will reach production.

“Something that might fill the gap would be of interest to us,” Mr. Lindsay said. However, he tempered speculation that Teck will do a deal. He said it remains “pretty tough” to pull off a successful transaction, and pointed out that Teck’s “stay the course” strategy of organic growth is poised to deliver major production increases for shareholders in the years ahead.

Read more

Yukon’s court ruling on free-entry mining could help Idle No More – by Bertrand Schepper (Rabble.ca – January 22, 2013)

http://rabble.ca/

On December 27 this past year, the appeals court of the Yukon Territory gave an important ruling regarding the rights of First Nations in relation to Yukon’s free-entry mining policy. The plaintiff in the case, the Ross River Dena Council tribe, considers that Yukon’s government cannot allow quartz production on its territory without first consulting the Council. The Kaska nation, to which the Ross River Council belongs, owns more than 63,000 square km, which represents nearly 13 per cent of the entire Yukon Territory.

Just as does Quebec’s Mining Act, based on free mining principles, Yukon’s Quartz Mining Act allows any person (physical or moral) the right to claim a given territory of up to 1,500 square feet, but to record it only afterwards. This after-the-fact procedure is a mere administrative formality. To keep one’s rights over the land, one just needs to demonstrate that more than $100 has been invested on the claimed territory.

A person, in most cases a mining company, which has claimed land may start exploration activities without giving any additional information to governments. However, since these activities entail transforming the land both environmentally and economically, the Ross River Dena Council considers that its ancestral rights take precedence over the Quartz Mining Act, voted in 2003, and that Yukon’s government must consult First Nations before it can allow anyone to claim parcels of their land.

Justice Tysoe, Justice Groberman, and Justice Hinkson have ruled that “While Class 1 exploration programs are limited, they may still seriously impede or prevent the enjoyment of some Aboriginal rights in more than a transient or trivial manner.” The appeals court goes on to conclude that “the [mining] regime must allow for an appropriate level of consultation before Aboriginal claims are adversely affected.”

Read more

Getting a stake in the mining patch – by Justine Hunter (Globe and Mail – January 11, 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 — British Columbia had a banner year for mining investment in 2012. But the $463-million poured into the ground represents just a handful of successful projects. Most junior mining companies were running up against skeptical investors who have watched one too many projects fall apart because of the endless battle over ownership of the land and the resources below ground.

The mining industry does not need to follow the Idle No More movement to know it has a problem. For decades, conflict with first nations over mining resources has been blamed for curtailing the industry’s growth. When mining executives meet later this month for their annual conference in Vancouver, they’ll do so in an aboriginal-themed pavilion, part of a growing recognition that successful ventures will hinge on the co-operation of affected first nations.

A Dec. 27 court ruling offers a new reason to try to build a better relationship. The decision directs the Yukon government to consult with first nations before allowing prospectors to stake a mining claim. In B.C.,where most of the Crown land is still subject to aboriginal land claims, the ruling can’t be ignored.

The 16-page unanimous decision of the Yukon Court of Appeal – penned by three B.C. Appeal Court judges – gives the government there one year to introduce a consultation mechanism.

Read more

NEWS RELEASE: Landmark Yukon Free-Entry Mining Court Ruling a Serious Wake-up Call for BC (January 14, 2013)

VANCOUVER, Jan. 14, 2013 /CNW/ – The BC government and mining industry have been given a blaring wake-up call in the form of a precedent-setting court ruling against the existing free-entry claims process, says the BC First Nations Energy and Mining Council.

The government and industry now has the choice of spending huge sums and possibly several years trying to fight this decision before the Supreme Court of Canada, where First Nations have a winning record, or sit down now with First Nations to finally come up with a better way of doing business, says the FNEMC.

The ruling has huge national ramifications and is most immediately and directly applicable to the BC system – on which the Yukon system is based. Delivered Dec. 27 by three justices from the BC Court of Appeal sitting in Whitehorse, the court decision granted an appeal by the Ross River Dena Council (RRDC) and found that allowing claims staking without first consulting First Nations is a break of the Crown’s duty to consult.

“This decision will eventually result in significant reforms to the mining industry across British Columbia,” said FNEMC Board Director Chief Roland Willson. “For the first time in a mining case the Courts have said the duty to consult and accommodate must take place prior to the granting of an exploration interest, including the commencement of activities.”

Read more

HD Mining chief makes his case for hiring temporary foreign workers – by Wendy Stueck (Globe and Mail – February 5, 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 — In a downtown office, Penggui Yan is sketching on a white board, using pictures to illustrate mining techniques and back his claim that he needs to hire Chinese workers to determine whether the Murray River project near Tumbler Ridge can be a viable mine.

The proposed project would use a technique known as longwall mining, which extracts coal in long seams rather than the so-called room-and-pillar model used in existing coal mines in Canada. To make the method work, you need employees that understand the equipment, methods and dangers – including potentially explosive gases – of working in such an environment, Mr. Yan insists.

“You have to have that continuity,” Mr. Yan said on Monday. “You have to allow me to prove this mine is mineable. For the time being, I don’t know if it’s mineable. I am taking $150-million out of my own pocket to prove this will be a mine.” Exploration and bulk sampling would amount to $150-million of a projected $300-million cost to build the mine, Mr. Yan said.

For Mr. Yan, the chair of Vancouver-based HD Mining International Ltd., the logic behind hiring foreign workers is unassailable. Others, however, have questioned the company’s rationale. Two unions have launched a court case to challenge the process that cleared the way for HD Mining to hire 200 foreign workers at Murray River.

Read more

Investors look to Teck for clues to China’s path – by Pav Jordan and Brent Jang (Globe and Mail – February 4, 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.

When Don Lindsay talks about China, he can’t help but mention the 200,000 kilometres of power transmission lines the country plans to install over the next five years.

“That’s a lot of copper,” the president and chief executive of Teck Resources Ltd. told mining aficionados packed into a ballroom in Vancouver last week.

Addressing the Association for Mineral Exploration B.C. conference, Mr. Lindsay also predicted that China will enjoy robust economic growth this year, fuelling demand for the metals his company produces, like copper and zinc.

Teck Resources, Canada’s largest diversified miner and a major exporter of coking coal for steel making, reports its fourth quarter and year-end financial results on Thursday.

The results are expected to compare unfavourably against those of the prior year, reflecting one of the most tumultuous periods for the global mining industry since the recession.

Read more

Document reveals experience of Canadian mine applicants – by Michael Smyth (Vancouver Province – February 3, 2013)

http://www.theprovince.com/news/index.html

Chinese-owned Tumbler Ridge operation received about 300 resumés

The Chinese company that wants to set up an underground coal mine near Tumbler Ridge said it tried – and failed – to find qualified Canadians to work in the mine. But after the company was forced in court to produce about 300 resumés submitted by “unqualified” Canadian job applicants, critics are scoffing at the claim.

“There were obviously qualified Canadians who applied for these jobs, and they were simply rejected,” Brian Cochrane of the Union of Operating Engineers told me Saturday. “Qualified Canadians are being denied jobs developing Canada’s own resources,” Cochrane said.

“It’s outrageous.” HD Mining International received approval from the federal government to bring hundreds of Chinese coal miners to B.C., after Ottawa accepted the company’s argument that no Canadians could do the work.

The Operating Engineers and another union, the Construction and Specialized Workers, challenged the company and the government in court. Last month, the company turned over to the unions hundreds of resumés from rejected Canadian job applicants.

Now, in a document filed last week in federal court, the public is getting its first glimpse at the qualifications of Canadians who applied for jobs with the Chinese company. “There were trained and certified underground miners who applied for these jobs,” said Cochrane.

Read more

Chinese miners sent home in B.C. workers dispute – by CBC News (January 28, 2013)

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

HD Mining says it has also delayed plans to bring more miners from China

The company that brought miners from China to work on a B.C. coal project says it is sending some of the workers back home and is not bringing any more to Canada for the time being due to court delays.

Two unions are challenging the government’s decision to allow HD Mining to bring about 200 Chinese miners to work in northern B.C., rather than hire Canadians. HD Mining announced in a release Monday that its 16 temporary foreign workers on the Murray River project are returning to China.

The workers were to have taken part in the extraction of a 100,000-tonne coal sample to determine the viability of full mine development, the company said.

“This was a difficult decision for us, but we are very concerned about the cost and disruption this litigation brought by the unions has caused to the planning of the project,” said Jody Shimkus, the mine company’s vice-president of environmental and regulatory affairs.

“We have also decided to delay bringing any additional workers to Tumbler Ridge until we have reliable certainty.”

Read more

Coal mine has benefit for Canada regardless of imported workers – Vancouver Sun Editorial (January 25, 2013)

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

The controversy over HD Mining’s plan to bring in Chinese miners has overshadowed what otherwise would have been an entirely good news story. The mines being developed by HD Mining International Ltd. near Tumbler Ridge are bringing new investment and will create new wealth in this province to the benefit of the town, the province and the country.

By its own account, HD Mining has already spent more than $50 million on Canadian goods and services in the Murray River project and it will spend close to that again before it knows for certain that it has a mine that will return its investment.

The money spent so far includes $20 million on exploration, $15 million for surface work and another $15 million for a 92-unit development to house workers in Tumbler Ridge, which until the resurgence of interest in coal mining in the past decade was in danger of becoming a ghost town.

HD Mining is developing a coal deposit that is more than 500 metres underground. It is on a property that was previously owned by other companies that looked at the difficulties involved and gave it a pass.

HD has expertise its parent company uses in coal mines in China that it believes can be used profitably here. Part of it involves a process called long-wall mining, which is a technique commonly used in coal mines in the United States and elsewhere, but has so far never been used in Canada.

Read more

NEWS RELEASE: Teck Named to Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations List

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwire – Jan. 23, 2013) – Today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Teck Resources Limited (TSX: TCK.A and TCK.B, NYSE: TCK) (“Teck”) was recognized as one of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations for 2013 by media and investment research company Corporate Knights. Teck was the top ranked Canadian company on the Global 100 list.

“Our people live and work in the communities where we operate and they care deeply about doing the right thing for future generations,” said Don Lindsay, President and CEO. “This ranking recognizes the progress we’ve made, but we know there is more work to be done. Teck remains committed to responsible resource development and to considering people, communities and the environment, now and in the future, in every decision we make.”

Launched in 2005, the ranking of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations was recently recognized as the world’s most credible corporate sustainability ranking in a GlobeScan/SustainAbility survey. The top 100 companies are selected from all publicly traded companies with a market capitalization over USD$2 billion. Companies were evaluated based on a range of sector-specific sustainability metrics, such as water, energy and carbon productivity, and safety performance.

For more information about the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations and the full rankings, visit: www.corporateknights.com/global100.

Teck has also been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI) for the last three years, which ranks Teck’s sustainability practices in the top 10 per cent of companies in the resource sector worldwide. For more information on Teck’s approach to sustainability, visit: www.tecksustainability.com.

Read more

Copper Fox announces positive feasibility study for sizeable BC deposit – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – January 7, 2013)

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – TSX-V-listed copper junior Copper Fox Metals in December announced the positive results of a feasibility study on the Schaft Creek project, in north-western British Columbia (BC), providing for a substantial, economically feasible project with significant expansion potential.

The study, which built on four years of metallurgical and geotechnical work, provides for an openpit mining operation that would process 130 000 t/d over a 21-year mine life, producing and estimated 4.88-billion pounds of copper, 4.21-million ounces of gold, 25.1-million ounces of silver and 214.92-million pounds of molybdenum.

The current project, with its nominal 130 000 t/d milling capacity, represents a 30% increase from that previously proposed in the preliminary feasibility study prepared in September 2008, with a 20% increase in the estimated capital expenditure.

The study placed a price tag of $3.25-billion on the project, including contingencies totalling $374-million and sustaining capital expenditure is expected to total $1.24-billion over the proposed mine life, including $200-million for the BC Hydro tariff.

The project’s base case pretax net present value was calculated using long-term metal prices and exchange rates and an 8% discount rate, as required by Teck Resources, which has an earn-back option on Schaft Creek, at C$513-million and the internal rate of return is 10.13%, with a payback period of 6.5 years.

Read more

Steelworkers suggest B.C. coal mines controlled by Chinese government – by Dirk Meissner (iPolitics – December 19, 2012)

 http://www.ipolitics.ca/

The Canadian Press – VICTORIA – The United Steelworkers says it has dug up what it calls close ties between the Chinese government and the reportedly privately-run coal mine in northeastern British Columbia embroiled in a foreign-worker controversy.

The union released a report Wednesday that suggests HD Mining International Ltd. — the firm developing the proposed Murray River mine near Tumbler Ridge — has ownership links to the government in China, where workers receive low wages in unsafe conditions.

A union report titled “Who Owns Huiyong Holdings and other Questions on Planned Chinese-Owned Coal Mines in B.C. ” examines the ownership of Huiyong Holdings Group, which owns Huiyong Holdings (BC) Ltd., and holds 55 per cent of HD Mining.

Steve Hunt, Western Canada director for the Steelworkers’ union, said Wednesday the union found little evidence of the company’s mining operations in China.

“We employed an investigator in China who has some knowledge of what goes on in China and we just searched the best we could possibly search and we couldn’t find very much detail on the company at all, other than some of the players,” he said. “We’re trying to find out something about the mines that they have. . .What are they experts in? It’s hard to do because we can’t find anything about them.”

Read more