Canada Mining – Page 354 – Republic of Mining

Honourable Joe Oliver, P.C., M.P. Canadian Minister of Natural Resources PDAC Speech – (March 5, 2012 – Toronto, Canada)

March 6, 2012March 6, 2012

(L to R)Honourable Joe Oliver, P.C., M.P. federal Minister of Natural Resources, Ross Gallinger, Executive Director, Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC)

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Introduction

Thanks very much, Scott (Scott Jobin-Bevans, President of PDAC), and thanks to the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada for the opportunity to be part of this great event.

I also want to thank Alex Jacobs, elder and member of the Ojibway First Nation of Whitefish Lake, for being here.

It is a pleasure to be here, and to welcome all of our visitors to Toronto and to Canada.

I have to congratulate P-DAC for putting together yet another outstanding program. When P-DAC says this is “where the world’s mineral industry meets,” it’s not exaggerating.

P-DAC is the premier event of its kind in the world. The 2011 convention attracted over 1,000 exhibitors and nearly 28,000 attendees, including 1,500 students and 7,000 international delegates from 120 countries.

Honourable Joe Oliver, P.C., M.P. federal Minister of Natural Resources tours PDAC convention

Former First Nation chief becomes face of Canadian mining [at the PDAC] – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March, 2012)

March 1, 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. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca.

Taking the lead

When Glenn Nolan first attended the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s (PDAC) annual spring convention in 2004, there were a couple dozen Aboriginal faces in the crowd among the world’s mining heavyweights.

The agenda set aside for First Nations discussion was small, and was reflective of the state of the mining industry’s relations with Canada’s indigenous people.

“When we started doing Aboriginal sessions, it was all about conflict,” said Nolan, who serves as Noront Resources’ vice-president of Aboriginal relations. Things are decidedly different heading into this month’s show in Toronto.

PDAC corporate membership rolls list about 400 who are self-identified Inuit, Metis and First Nation delegates.

Don Coxe on why Buffett has gold all wrong – by Martin Mittelstaedt (Globe and Mail – February 28, 2012)

February 28, 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.

Commodities are once again on a tear.

Gold has been surging, and is closing in on $1,800 (U.S.) an ounce. Crude oil is trading comfortably above $100 a barrel, and even better for commodity bulls, there is pain at the pumps for drivers, with gasoline prices in many parts of Canada around $1.30 a litre. Copper, the metal with a degree in economics, is within striking distance of $4 a pound. Corn, soybeans, wheat – practically everything in commodity land is enjoying buoyant prices.

Can these good times continue?

For answers, we turned to one of Canada’s best known commodity gurus, Donald Coxe, strategy adviser to Bank of Montreal. He is the guiding light behind two commodity-focused closed end funds that trade on the Toronto market, one specializing in agriculture, the other in a wider range of materials that also include precious metals, base metals and energy.

Fraser survey says New Brunswick is mining heaven, Honduras is the pits – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – February 24, 2012)

February 27, 2012

www.mineweb.com

“The best mineral deposit has no value if government regulations and taxation prevent production.” The latest ratings from the Fraser Institute see some significant changes from a year ago.

RENO (MINEWEB) – New Brunswick in Canada has vaulted to the top of rankings as the world’s most attractive jurisdiction for mineral exploration and development according to the Fraser Institute’s latest survey of mining companies.

The survey of 802 mining exploration and development companies on the investment climate of 93 nations, provinces and states ranked Honduras as the worst jurisdiction for mining exploration and development.

The companies participating in the Fraser Institute’s Survey of Mining Companies: 2011/2012 reported exploration spending of US$6.3 billion in 2011 and US$4.5 billion in 2010.

“New Brunswick shot to the top of the rankings as miners lauded the province for its fair, transparent, and efficient legal system and consistency in the enforcement and interpretation of existing environmental regulations,” said Fred McMahon, Fraser Institute vice-president for international policy research and survey coordinator.

Mining on the moon: gold, fuel, and Canada’s possible role in a new space race – by Peter Rakobowchuk (Winnipeg Free Press – February 26, 2012)

February 26, 2012

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

The Canadian Press

MONTREAL – Canada could play a key role in a new international space race, with the next sprint to the moon gearing up as an extra-terrestrial gold rush.

Industry insiders will be watching closely this week as the heads of the world’s five biggest space agencies get together in Quebec City, where the partners on the International Space Station will discuss more than just the future of the orbiting lab.

They will also address an idea gaining currency in business and scientific circles: that within human reach lies an unfathomable wealth of resources, some of them common on Earth and others so exotic that they could change the way we live.

Canada could figure prominently in any discussion about lunar exploration, with nearly one-quarter of the world’s top mining companies headquartered here and this country also known for robotics like the famous Canadarm.

Canada Mining Corruption: Survey Finds Canadian Provinces Seen As Riskier Than Parts Of Africa – by Daniel Tencer (The Huffington Post Canada – February 24, 2012)

February 25, 2012

This article is from: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/

Corruption in Canada’s mining industry is worse than in some African and Latin American countries, says a new survey from the Fraser Institute.

Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories all ranked in the survey as more corrupt than Chile and Botswana. The remaining provinces and territories ranked better than any developing country, but were still seen as more corrupt than many U.S. and Australian jurisdictions.

The study notes that Chile and Botswana have the fastest-growing resource sectors on their respective continents, suggesting a link between economic growth and lack of corruption.

The Northwest Territories ranked as the most corrupt in Canada, with fully 16 per cent of respondents saying corruption would keep them from investing in the area.

Sweden, Norway and Finland, as well as the U.S. states of Minnesota and Missouri, were ranked as the least corrupt in the survey that looked at 93 countries and sub-national areas and surveyed 802 mining companies worldwide.

How a novice miner survived a summer in the Klondike – by Jason Unrau (Globe and Mail/Report on Business Magazine – February 24, 2012)

February 24, 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.

Twin turboprops roaring, our 40-seat plane begins its descent to Dawson City Airport. The clouds give way to reveal a pockmarked heritage landscape: the Klondike gold fields.

This is where, a hundred-odd years ago, a stampede of desperate men moiled—and sometimes died—for gold. Today the soaring price of gold has made Dawson a boom town again, a place that attracts, as in 1897, all sorts of slightly at-loose-ends types. Like me. I’m out of shape and out of dough—my paltry small-town newspaper salary having failed in a Sisyphean struggle to erase $10,000 of debt—and a season of mining sounds like the perfect corrective, or at least the most perfect corrective I’ll find in the Yukon.

For the next four months, Schmidt Mining Corp.’s Quartz Creek camp, tucked in the Indian River valley about 50 kilometres southeast of Dawson City, is where I’ll live and work.

Thankfully, I only have to fly in from Whitehorse. My antecedents risked it all, traversing mountain passes on foot and sailing down the Yukon River in makeshift boats to reach the Klondike.

Raise tax rate for miners, Steelworkers say – by Liz Cowan (Northern Ontario Business – February 23, 2012)

February 24, 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.

Mining is booming in Ontario but some say the province isn’t getting its fair share of the resources.

“Minerals are not a renewable resource and every province charges a royalty to take ore out of its ground,” said Marie Kelly, a staff member of United Steelworkers District 6 (Ontario and Atlantic provinces). “Ontario is clearly the most mineral-rich province in Canada. We take out the most ore out of the ground on any given time of the year and yet we have the lowest royalty percentage.”

Kelly spoke to the Commission on Quality Public Services and Tax Fairness in Sudbury in early February to point out the province’s return on minerals.

Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador collect more mining revenue than Ontario even though their mine production is less.

In mining, most of Canada more corrupt than Botswana, Chile: study – by Nicolas Johnson (Globe and Mail – February 23, 2012)

February 24, 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.

The Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Quebec, Manitoba, British Columbia and Alberta – which represent almost three-fourths of Canada’s land area – were judged to have greater corruption than the African and South American countries, the survey by the Fraser Institute showed. Saskatchewan was seen as Canada’s least corrupt region.

“It’s something that plagues mining companies around the world,” Fred McMahon, co-ordinator of the survey with Miguel Cervantes, said in a telephone interview from Toronto on Thursday. “It’s particularly problematic for Western mining companies, which have internal codes of conduct that prevent payoffs.”

The annual survey by the Vancouver-based institute was sent to about 5,000 mining companies around the world, and the results were based on 802 responses. The survey took place between October and December last year.

FRASER INSTITUTE NEWS RELEASE: New Brunswick trumps Alberta as world’s No. 1 spot for mining investment;

February 23, 2012

February 23, 2012

TORONTO–New Brunswick is the world’s most attractive jurisdiction for
mineral exploration and development in the view of the international mining industry, according to the Survey of Mining Companies: 2011/2012, released today by the Fraser Institute, Canada’s leading public policy think-tank.

“New Brunswick shot to the top of the rankings as miners lauded the province for its fair, transparent, and efficient legal system and consistency in the enforcement and interpretation of existing environmental regulations,” said Fred McMahon, Fraser Institute vice-president of international policy research and coordinator of the survey.

“Combine that with a competitive taxation regime and minimal uncertainty
around disputed land claims and New Brunswick has emerged as a superstar in the view of the global mining community.”

New Brunswick vaulted to first place from 23rd last year, unseating Alberta
at the top of the global rankings as that province fell to third overall.
Quebec, which enjoyed a three-year reign at No. 1 from 2007 to 2010,
continued to lose support among mining executives as it fell to fifth place
from fourth in 2011.

NEWS RELEASE: New President for [Sudbury’s] CEMI [Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation]

May 7, 2013February 22, 2012

For Immediate Release

Sudbury, ON – On February 8, 2012, the Board of Directors of the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) announced the appointment of Mr. Douglas Morrison, Chair of Holistic Mining Practices, as President and CEO of the Corporation effective March 1, 2012. Douglas Morrison brings expertise from a long career in mining, starting at Falconbridge Ltd., then at Inco Ltd. and most recently as Global Mining Leader at Golder Associates.

Since joining CEMI in 2011, he has served as Vice President and now succeeds Dr. Peter K. Kaiser who, after leading CEMI for five years, will focus on his role as Director of the Rio Tinto Centre for Underground Mine Construction, a Division of CEMI. He will also assume an advisory role as Vice President Research at CEMI and resume his research at Laurentian University as Chair for Rock Mechanics and Ground Control.

Sam Marcuson, Vice President of Vale Canada for Base Metals Technology Development and Chairman of the CEMI Board of Directors, welcomes mining veteran, Douglas Morrison, to the role of President and CEO. “With his extensive experience in the Canadian mining industry and more than 15 years in international consulting, he brings a broad understanding of the issues that confront the global mining industry now and into the future.

Plan Nord Under the Microscope – by Frédéric Dubois (The Dominion – Janurary 9, 2012)

February 22, 2012

http://www.dominionpaper.ca/

Public involvement in diamond venture ends once gems are found

MONTREAL—Since the mid 1900s, every man, woman and child living in Quebec has donated the equivalent of $20 towards exploration costs for the province’s first diamond mine project. But when a mine was finally discovered and the promised rewards for years of the province’s investment began to be realized, the Quebec government sold the project to a private company. Not only that, but Quebeckers can expect to shell out even more as the now privately owned mine moves towards production.

According to documents obtained by The Dominion, all that’s left for the public after they invested over $157 million in the Renard Diamond Project is a 37 per cent stake in a private company, and token public representation on the company’s board of directors.

The diamond mine is today being hailed as a model operation by the Quebec government. But a deeper look into what this model would mean for Quebeckers casts a long shadow over the government’s economic policies.

A Battle for Mongolia’s Copper Lode – by Alistair MacDonald (Wall Street Journal – February 22, 2012)

February 22, 2012

http://europe.wsj.com/home-page

Billionaire Friedland on Defensive as Rio Tinto Grabs Controlling Stake in His Ivanhoe Mines.

TORONTO—Billionaire entrepreneur Robert Friedland built his fortune learning how to gain advantage over some of the world’s largest and most powerful mining companies. Today Mr. Friedland is finding that dealing with giants can be tricky sport.

At issue is ownership of resources buried deep in the Mongolian desert that are among the world’s largest unexploited gold and copper deposits—a development with estimated reserves of 81 billion pounds of copper and 46 million ounces of gold.

Mr. Friedland, the chief executive of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. and one of the sector’s most colorful moguls, is on the back foot in a squabble with industry giant Rio Tinto PLC over Oyu Tolgoi, Ivanhoe’s massive copper-and-gold project in Mongolia.

Last month, Rio Tinto increased its ownership in Ivanhoe to 51%, a stake that gives it effective control of the Canadian miner without having paid a premium to other shareholders—a move that Ivanhoe CEO and founder Mr. Friedland had fought to prevent.

Exploiting Canada’s resources can be a fool’s game – by Jeffrey Simpson (Globe and Mail – February 22, 2012)

February 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.

Everywhere in Canada, the news is about natural resources: forestry and mines in British Columbia; oil and coal in Alberta; potash in Saskatchewan; hydro in Manitoba; the “ring of fire” minerals in Ontario; hydro and Old Harry oil and shale gas in Quebec; offshore oil and hydro in Newfoundland.

Canadians are so damn lucky. We just dig and pump and cut and ship, and we never seem to run out. We just hope commodities prices remain high.

All those resources can be a fool’s game. Pumping and digging and cutting can keep the country comfortable, but they do little to address the country’s biggest challenge – a sagging competitive position. All those natural resources soak up capital; they usually don’t require much innovation or processing.

The Harper government, possessed of a majority government, seems to have its mind around elements of the long-term challenge.

Polish miner wins B.C.’s Quadra FNX – by Maciej Martewicz and Pawel Kozlowski (National Post – February 21, 2012)

February 21, 2012

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

Bloomberg News

WARSAW – Quadra FNX Mining Ltd. shareholders have approved a $2.87-billion takeover by KGHM Polska Miedz SA, in Poland’s biggest bid abroad, designed to deepen the Polish copper producer’s global reach.

Quadra shareholders cast 78.58% of shares in favour of the deal, the Canadian company said Monday at an extraordinary meeting in Vancouver.

The takeover by the Lubin, Poland-based company, with Europe’s largest mine output, is “attractive,” Quadra chief executive Paul Blythe told Polish daily Rzeczpospolita on Feb. 16. Institutional Shareholder Services, which advises pension and mutual funds on proposals in shareholder meetings, backed the bid, Quadra said on Feb. 6.

“This is the first spectacular takeover deal by a Polish company and it’s being noticed,” said Leszek Iwaszko, a Warsaw-based analyst at Société Générale SA. “KGHM still has a long way to go to join the world’s premier league, but this purchase will help it become a global player.”