Canada Mining – Page 364 – Republic of Mining

The Honourable Joe Oliver, P.C., M.P. – Minister of Natural Resources Mining Day Speech (Ottawa, Canada – November 22, 2011)

November 23, 2011

This speech was given by the Honourable Joe Oliver, P.C., M.P. – Minister of Natural Resources to the Mining Day on the Hill Luncheon, Economic Council of Canada and Mining Association of Canada

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“For example, the Ring of Fire in northern Ontario is an
emerging mining region, where 26 exploration companies
have mineral claims covering almost 500,000 hectares.
Analysts estimate that there are $50 billion in qualified
resources for chromite and $10 billion for base-metal
and platinum group metal deposits.” (Honourable Joe Oliver –
Canadian Minister of Natural Resources)

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Let me start by thanking the Mining Association of Canada and the Economic Council of Canada for the invitation to speak with you today.

I also want to congratulate the Mining Association and its members for organizing this event. It’s a great occasion to recognize just how much this industry contributes to our prosperity — and why it’s important we all work together to make sure this sector continues to succeed.

As you know, I recently returned from a week-long trip to Japan and China. My main objective was to help broaden and deepen Canada’s trade and investment relationship in two of the world’s largest economies.

In meetings with senior political and business leaders, I promoted Canada’s potential for investment, exploration and development, and the opportunities for Canadian mining companies to do business in the Asia-Pacific.

NEWS RELEASE: The Mining Association of Canada Recognizes Industry Leadership in Corporate Social Responsibility

November 22, 2011

OTTAWA, Nov. 22, 2011 /CNW/ – During its annual Mining Day on the Hill, The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) is presenting its 2010 Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) Awards, recognizing Canadian mining facilities that have demonstrated excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

2010 TSM Award recipients include Barrick Gold Corporation, De Beers Canada Inc., Diavik Diamond Mines Inc., Iron Ore Company of Canada, Syncrude Canada Ltd., Teck Resources Limited, and Xstrata. Facilities owned by these companies demonstrated performance excellence in a number of categories:

•Tailings Management.
•Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.
•External Outreach.
•Crisis Management Planning.

TSM performance categories for 2011 onwards will also include:

Innovation and the Canadian mining sector – by Paul Stothart (CIM Magazine – May, 2011)

November 22, 2011

Founded in 1898, the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) is a technical society of professionals in the Canadian minerals, metals, materials and energy industries.

Paul Stothart is vice-president, economic affairs, at the Mining Association of Canada. He is responsible for advancing the industry’s interests regarding federal tax, trade, investment, transport and energy issues.

In late 2010, the federal government launched a review of its core research and development (R&D) funding and tax programs. In so doing, it established an “expert review panel on R&D” tasked with providing recommendations to the government by October 2011.

Based on the premise that Canada does poorly converting knowledge to innovation, the overall intent of the exercise is to improve Canada’s ability to stimulate innovation, capitalize on knowledge and create economic value. In some circles, the launching of this review has drawn cynicism, given that the federal government has conducted similar exercises in recent years without leading to appreciable improvements.

The Mining Association of Canada prepared a submission to the expert panel in late February 2011 that highlighted the following three key messages:

[Manitoba] Province mining bright future – by Martin Cash (Winnipeg Free Press – November 19, 2011)

November 19, 2011

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

Many projects could start up in next few years

In the next five years the mining industry in Manitoba could find itself in a challenging position — trying to find people to fill 2,000 additional jobs that might be created. That’s because a number of development projects that have been percolating for years may be coming to fruition.

With employment up almost 25 per cent over the past five years to 6,100 and capital spending up 25 per cent in the past year, the industry is booming. Base metal prices continue to hold their own and gold prices continue to rise as global economic uncertainty persists.

It means that a number of projects — some that could be among the largest ever developed in the province — continue to progress, creating the potential for several new mine openings over the next few years. It will take billions of dollars to make that a reality, which means it’s far from a foregone conclusion.

But the current optimism — manifested by registration numbers at this week’s annual Manitoba Mining and Minerals Convention hitting 1,000 for the first time ever — does not come out of the blue. Typically, new mines take up to 10 years to develop. Leading off the development bonanza in Manitoba is one of the fastest discovery-to-development projects in the country — HudBay Minerals’ Lalor project.

Canada could create ‘thousands’ of diamond manufacturing jobs – by Matthew Hill (Miningweekly.com – November 18, 2011)

November 19, 2011

Mining Weekly is South Africa’s premier source of weekly news on mining developments in Africa’s most important industry. Mining Weekly provides in-depth coverage of mining projects and the personalities reshaping the mining industry.

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canada has the potential to create “thousands” of diamond cutting and polishing jobs as new mines come into production in the country over the next decade, Diamond Bourse of Canada GM Adam Shubinsky said in a recent interview.

To do so, the country, which produces 23% of the world’s diamonds by value, needs to implement policies that encourage cutters and polishers to set up shop in Canada, and also push miners to sell to local factories, he said.

“Canada is standing at a transformative point in its diamond history,” Shubinsky commented in an interview. A confluence of factors were aligning, creating potential for the country to benefit from its significant diamond resources, he said.

NEWS RELEASE: Mining industry projected to invest $67.7 billion in Alberta over the next five years

November 16, 2011

Canada NewsWire

EDMONTON, AB, Nov. 15, 2011 /CNW/ – Canada’s mining industry has the potential to make almost $140 billion of capital investment in Canada over the next five years and almost 50 per cent of this investment is anticipated in Alberta. The province is set to lead the way in growth, driven by a strong mix of commodities and a potential $67.7 billion investment in 12 mining projects proposed for development by 2016.

That’s one of the messages Pierre Gratton, President and CEO of The Mining Association of Canada, is sharing in an address to the Edmonton business community at the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation’s 2012 Economic Outlook Luncheon today. “There is tremendous opportunity facing the Canadian mining industry – an opportunity not seen in several generations,” Gratton says. “Multi-billion dollar investments are planned in both new and existing projects in virtually every province and territory of Canada, bringing significant economic benefits, and Alberta is set to be a major player.”

Benefits include the generation of provincial taxes and royalties, employment and economic spin-off service and supplier benefits. The statistics speak for themselves: Alberta royalties and mining tax revenues from oil sands and coal alone (not including corporate and personal income taxes) grew by roughly 16 percent between 2009 and 2010.

The revenge of Jansen [Saskatchewan potash] – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – November 12, 2011)

November 13, 2011

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

Far in Saskatchewan’s southern plains, between immaculate century-old villages and snow-dusted grain fields, Australian mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd. is toiling hard to grow a Canada-based potash business from the underground up.

Its foundation, the planned Jansen project, is beginning to take shape near the rural municipality of LeRoy, 140 kilometres east of Saskatoon. Two shafts — one to hoist ore, the other men and equipment — are being prepped to sink a kilometre below the surface, where the province’s immense ore deposits lie.

A giant refrigeration plant, the site’s central facility, has started producing brine that is pumped below, freezing the ground so the shafts can be cemented and sealed through a big aquifer that stands in the way.

Coming up next is the carving of an underground city that will be teeming with workers in assembly and maintenance shops, lunchrooms and refuge stations, a maze of tunnels and production areas.

Quebec Le Plan Nord Compared to Ontario – by Livio Di Matteo (November 10, 2011)

November 10, 2011

Livio Di Matteo is Professor of Economics at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Visit his new Economics Blog “Northern Economist” at http://ldimatte.shawwebspace.ca/

On my recent trip to Montreal, I picked up the November 2nd issue of La Presse and was amazed to find a twelve page insert dealing with stories and advertising on Quebec’s Plan Nord. To put it in perspective, it would be like the Toronto Star deciding to devote a block of pages to the Northern Ontario Growth Plan. Needless to say, the difference between the level of engagement in Quebec with its northern development compared with Ontario is astounding.

When push comes to shove, Le Plan Nord is being sold as an investment frontier with implications for Quebec’s economic future. The Northern Growth Plan in Ontario is really something that has only caught the attention of those of us in northern Ontario and even we don’t really know what it means because nothing has been fleshed out.

Le Plan Nord is looking at 33 billion dollars in investment in Quebec’s North – the area north of the 49th parallel – over the next 25 years to develop hydroelectric and mining resources.

Lucky Sudbury, Far North Act and Mining Industry Terrible Image Speech – by Stan Sudol (November 8, 2011)

November 9, 2011

Stan Sudol gave the keynote address at the Ontario Prospectors Association’s 2011 Ontario Exploration & Geoscience Symposium – Sudbury, Ontario – November 8, 2011

Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant and mining columnist. www.republicofmining.com stan.sudol@republicofmining.com

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Sudbury: The luckiest city in Canada

It’s always great to get back to my hometown.

Way back in 1977, I worked for Inco at their Clarabell Mill complex for a year before going to college. And in 1980, I was a summer student replacement worker at their Frood-Stobie mine.

So I will always be a “Sudbury boy” regardless of where I live.

Without a doubt, Sudbury is this country’s epicenter of mining.

In fact, the Sudbury Basin is the richest mineral district in North America and among the top three hardrock mining regions in the world.

Only South Africa’s Witwatersrand gold region, and their legendary Bushveld platinum complex, can match the concentration and expertise of underground mining here.

We are the luckiest city Canada.

Film looks at mining dispute – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – November 8, 2011)

April 5, 2015November 8, 2011

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

Robert Monderie and Richard Desjardins claim they are digging up the truth about the mining industry in their new documentary, Trou Story.

They’re also attracting the wrath of the mining industry and governments, who say Trou Story isn’t quite telling the truth.

“They say that what we are talking about is old stuff, that reality has changed a lot and that industry has been performing a lot better socially and environmentally, and the technology is less dangerous,” Desjardins, who directed the documentary with Monderie, said in a phone inter view Monday.

“We agree with that. But they assume that everything has changed, and we don’t think so. The … basic law is still the same. Regions don’t have more royalties. Mines are bigger, so that means that the waste is bigger, too. That waste will be there for centuries, and the cost to (clean that up) is not included in the price of the royalties.”

Controversial Prosperity mine proposal gets second chance – by Canadian Press (Globe and Mail – November 7, 2011)

November 8, 2011November 8, 2011

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— The Canadian Press – A controversial proposal for a massive copper and gold mine in British Columbia will get another chance to become reality after Canada’s Environmental Assessment Agency agreed to a second review of the mine.

Taseko Mine’s original proposal failed the federal government’s first environment review, but the company has launched what it’s calling its New Prosperity proposal.

Federal Environment Minister Peter Kent instructed the agency to set up a process that will review the environmental concerns raised in the past assessment and consider the mining company’s changes.

With higher, longer-term prices for copper and gold, Taseko said it would spend an extra $300-million on the project to address the main concerns of the last environmental rejection, including the preservation of Fish Lake.

NEWS RELEASE: Diavik [diamond mine] begins wind farm construction

November 7, 2011

03 November 2011

After several years of studying renewable energy resources, Diavik Diamond Mines Inc., operator of the Diavik Diamond Mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories, is pleased to announce the start of construction of a wind farm at our mine site.

With investment from our joint venture partners, Rio Tinto and Harry Winston Diamond Corporation, approved earlier this year, and much planning completed, we have now advanced the Diavik wind farm to initial construction. Four 2.3 megawatt turbines will be constructed providing a capacity of 9.2 megawatts.

Diavik currently, relies on diesel fuel for all our energy needs. The wind farm will reduce our diesel use by approximately four million litres, about ten per cent of our total diesel consumption. Greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by approximately 12,000 tonnes, or six per cent of total emissions. By diversifying our energy mix at our mine we will offset some of the risks associated with reliance on diesel.

“The benefits of the initiative are numerous and will be realized for many years to come.

New Prosperity plan is environmentally sound – by Russell Hallbauer, President and CEO, Taseko Mines (Northern Miner – November 04, 2011)

November 6, 2011

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry.

I read the editorial submission of Chief Marilyn Baptiste, of the Xeni Gwet’in band of the Tsilhqot’in National Government (TNG), on The Northern Miner’s website on Nov. 2. It purported to list eight reasons why Taseko Mines’s resubmitted application to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) for the New Prosperity gold-copper project in B.C. will fail.

Ms. Baptiste’s latest comments are consistent with her wholesale rejection of any constructive dialogue around New Prosperity, which nevertheless holds tremendous value regionally, provincially and nationally.

The sentiments expressed in Ms. Baptiste’s editorial do not represent the views of the vast majority of people in Williams Lake and Cariboo communities.

Eight reasons why Taseko’s New Prosperity will fail – by Chief Marilyn Baptiste (Northern Miner – November 2, 2011)

November 6, 2011

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry.

Marilyn Baptiste is the elected chief of the Xeni Gwet’in band of the Tsilhqot’in First Nation, whose territory largely lies to the west of the Fraser River and Williams Lake, B.C., where Taseko Mines’ New Prosperity copper-gold project is located. See www.xeni.ca for more.

Investors hoping to cash in on Taseko Mines’ second bid to develop the Prosperity copper-gold mine (“New Prosperity”) should think back a year. At that time, despite assurances from the company and its president that the original Prosperity mine proposal would be accepted, it was soundly rejected by the federal government and the company’s share price plunged.

With New Prosperity, once again there is a proposal before the federal government’s Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) and the company’s president is saying he is confident it will be approved. And once again the federal government will have no choice but to reject it.

Here are eight reasons why the New Prosperity bid will fail: