Canada Mining – Page 370 – Republic of Mining

Mining exploration trends – Metals Economics Group Jason Goulden Interview (Mineweb.com – November 30, 2011)

December 21, 2011

http://www.mineweb.com/

On the release of Metals Economics Group’s Corporate Exploration Strategies, Jason Goulden looks at why green fields exploration is falling and where companies are looking for new ounces

Interviewer: Mineweb.com’s Geoff Candy

GEOFF CANDY: Welcome to this Mineweb.com Newsmaker podcast – joining me on the line is Jason Goulden, he’s the vice president for research at the Metals Economics Group – they released last week, their 22nd edition of the Corporate Exploration Strategies and they estimate that the 2011 budget for non-ferrous metals exploration is going to jump to $18.2bn. Perhaps if we look first at where this exploration is taking place, you mention in the report that it’s the high risk regions that have seen some growth to 23%. Does that imply a higher tolerance for risk or the fact that they can’t find anything in less risky areas?

JASON GOULDEN: A little bit of both actually – as exploration tends to increase year-on-year and at times when we have very high exploration like we do now, companies tend to be a little more tolerant to that risk – they will go into those countries, where we see strong dips and exploration spending like we did in 2009 – that’s the first exploration spend that tends to be cut.

MEG NEWS RELEASE: Exploration budgets up 50%—surging to new all-time high

December 21, 2011

Metals Economics Group’s 22nd Corporate Exploration Strategies Study

U.S. dollar currency is used throughout this press release.

Halifax, Nova Scotia, November 23, 2011 – According to Metals Economics Group’s (MEG) 22nd edition of Corporate Exploration Strategies (CES), the estimated total 2011 budget for nonferrous metals exploration surged to $18.2 billion. Despite increased volatility in recent months, metals prices—the primary driver of exploration spending—have remained relatively strong in 2011, giving confidence to the industry; as a result, exploration budgets increased by $6.1 billion, up 50% from 2010 to set a new all-time high. (Note: nonferrous exploration refers to expenditures related to precious and base metals, diamonds, uranium, and some industrial minerals; it specifically excludes iron ore, aluminum, coal, and oil and gas.)

Estimated Global Nonferrous Exploration Budgets and Indexed Metals Price*, 1993-2011**

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The North loses a great leader: John Zigarlick Jr. – by Bill Braden (Canadian Mining Journal – December 20, 2011)

December 21, 2011

The Canadian Mining Journal is Canada’s first mining publication providing information on Canadian mining and exploration trends, technologies, operations, and industry events.

Across Northern Canada, the mining and transport industries mourn the death of John Zigarlick Jr. One of the North’s modern-day mining visionaries and builders, he died suddenly in Edmonton Dec. 17, of natural causes. He was 74.

It was his audacious decision in 1980 to build the Lupin Gold Mine by air that secured his place in mining history. As President of Echo Bay Mines, he bought a Boeing 727 and a Hercules freighter and airlifted 64 million pounds of material from Yellowknife. This and other developments vaulted Echo Bay into the spotlight as a mid-tier world gold miner.

Lupin was also the genesis of the 600 km Tibbitt to Contwoyto ice road, first built in 1982, that supplied the mine for the rest of its 18 year life. By the early 1990s, John had left Echo Bay and, in a joint venture with the Inuit of western Nunavut, started the Nuna Corporation which since 1997 has built and operated the road for the NWT’s diamond mines. John grew Nuna into a multi-layered construction, training and consulting services to mining and exploration companies across the arctic.

How the resource boom is transforming our economy – by David Campbell (Globe and Mail Blog – December 20, 2011)

December 20, 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.

David Campbell is an economic development consultant and columnist based in Moncton, New Brunswick. He also authors a daily blog on economic issues in Atlantic Canada which can be found at www.davidwcampbell.com.

The Canadian economy has undergone a fairly profound shift over the past 10 years and these changes will have considerable public policy implications as we move into the future.

The biggest change has been the shift in our goods producing economy from value-added manufacturing to non-renewable natural resources development. In 2001, transportation equipment manufacturing accounted for nearly $250 out of every $1,000 worth of exports from Canada (more than $100-billion in total). Based on January to September data, this year transportation equipment will account for only $142 out of every $1,000 worth of exports — a decline of 42 per cent.

The same pattern can be found in most other value added manufacturing sectors. As a share of total exports, fabricated metal manufacturing exports are down by 28 per cent.

Ten questions for Jerry Asp [Aboriginal people and mining] – by Gail Jansen (Mining and Exploration – November, 2011)

December 19, 2011

http://www.miningandexploration.ca/

This year’s winner of the Skookum Jim award talks about Aboriginal Peoples and mining.

For more than 40 years, Jerry Asp has been working toward improving the quality of life for Aboriginal Peoples, using the mining industry as the driving force. He is a founder of the Tahltan Nation Development Corporation (TNDC), one of the largest native-owned-and-operated heavy construction companies in Canada. He helped set up both the National Indian Businessman’s Association and the Canadian Aboriginals Minerals Association and he is now president of C3 Alliance Corporation.

All of this makes Asp arguably the pre-eminent expert on aboriginal and mining relations. It’s an expertise he has been called upon to share around the world and one for which he has won numerous awards and accolades, most notably this past year when he was named recipient of the prestigious Skookum Jim Award from the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada.

Mining and Exploration magazine asked Asp to comment on his award and his lifetime of service to the mining industry.

Atomic Wasteland series: Why Canada’s nuclear cleanup will cost billions and take decades – by Ian MacLeod (Ottawa Citizen – December 19, 2011)

December 19, 2011

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

It lights our Christmas trees, drives industry, makes medicine, heats our homes and is carbon-free. Nuclear power has a back end, too. Radwaste.

More than 240,000 tonnes of intensely radioactive civilian waste has piled up around the globe since the dawning of the atomic age.

Sixty years on, no one is sure yet how to safely and permanently dispose of the stuff, much of it harmful to living organisms for thousands of years.

Canada’s share of the high-level heap stands at 44,000 tonnes. Virtually all is spent uranium fuel bundles — 2.3 million of them — that powered the commercial and research reactors that made Canada a leading nuclear nation.

“If you don’t respect it, you can get hit pretty hard,” says Don Howard, director of the wastes and decommissioning division for the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC).

Rob McEwen still predicting $5,000 gold – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – December 15, 2011)

December 17, 2011

http://www.mineweb.com/

Bullish as ever on gold, Rob McEwen foresees a tough road ahead for mining explorationists and mining developers, who fail to take into account the needs of a non-mining investment community.

RENO – As gold bugs get discouraged in the wake of year-end sell offs, über precious metals mining entrepreneur Rob McEwen still is firmly bullish on gold in the long run and stands pat on his $5,000 per ounce gold price prediction.

In a talk to the Geological Society of Nevada Wednesday in Reno, McEwen urged the audience to “step out of line once in a while” and constantly question fundamental assumptions about geology and discoveries.

During his address, McEwen recalled his own struggles with his senior geologists and the mining analysts who assumed that Goldcorp’s 50-year-old mine in Red Lake, Ontario, was played out. The former mutual fund manager had no mining expertise, but had emerged as Goldcorp’s majority owner.

The Rock’s hard place: Labour shortage looms in Newfoundland and Labrador – by Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – December 17, 2011)

December 17, 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.

LONG HARBOUR, NFLD.— Rinaldo Stefan has a tough challenge as he manages construction of Vale SA’s sprawling, $3-billion nickel processor on Placentia Bay: finding enough skilled workers to complete the job on time and on budget.

Mr. Stefan must find 1,500 welders, electricians, plumbers and other workers by next summer, on top of the 2,000 already on the job at the site. But due to a shortage of available skilled tradespeople in Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Stefan is now in a mad scramble to fill the positions, placing advertisements across Atlantic Canada to entice qualified workers.

“We are working hard to find the people we’ll need,” said the native of Romania, who has lived around the world working as a construction project manager for Vale, the global mining giant. “For the moment, we are looking in Canada, but the contingency plan will be to go offshore to find people.”

Newfoundland and Labrador is in the midst of an unprecedented energy and resources boom that is straining the province’s ability to keep up. Finding enough workers to complete some $43-billion worth of major projects under way and planned is proving to be a monumental challenge.

Why Ian Delaney, the Smiling Barracuda of Bay Street, is moving on – by Jacquie Mcnish (Globe and Mail – December 17, 2011)

December 17, 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.

TORONTO— Weeks away from ending a 21-year run at the helm of Sherritt International Corp., Ian Delaney has lost none of the bluster that defined his tumultuous reign at the mining conglomerate.

“I’m not retiring; I’m firing myself,” he says, flashing the toothy grin that years ago earned him the nickname, the Smiling Barracuda of Bay Street.

In January, Mr. Delaney, 68, will hand the reins to successor David Pathe, saying it’s time. “One of the disadvantages about getting old is you get too thoughtful. We need younger people who have higher energy levels,” Mr. Delaney says.

Still, talking to the chief executive officer over a simple lunch of baked chicken and steamed vegetables at Sheritt’s spartan offices in Toronto’s Rosedale neighbourhood, the Bay Street legend sounds more restless than tired. “The intensity is gone,” he says, poking at a steamed vegetable. “I can no longer flip the company on its ear every 18 months with a deal.”

NEWS RELEASE: Leaders in [British Columbia’s] Mineral Exploration and Mine Development to Be Recognized at January 25 Gala

December 16, 2011

Vancouver, B.C. — December 14, 2011 — The Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC) is pleased to announce the 2011 recipients of its annual awards presented to individuals or teams for significant contributions to the mineral exploration industry in British Columbia and Western Canada.

“We are pleased to honour the diverse achievements of this year’s recipients,” said Mona Forster, AME BC’s Chairperson. “It is satisfying to see the traditions of discovery, development and dedication carried forward as we prepare to celebrate 100 years as an industry association.”

AME BC’s awards are named in honour of industry leaders who made transformative contributions to mineral exploration and development and to the progress of AME BC through advocacy and service. These awards are presented annually at Mineral Exploration Roundup, the world’s premier mineral exploration conference.

Transport Infrastructure and Ontario’s North: Floating New Ideas – by Livio Di Matteo (December 15, 2011)

December 15, 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/

One of the persistent themes in Northern Ontario economic history is transportation and access. From the days of the fur trade, to the arrival of the railroad and later on the onset of modern highways and air travel, transportation has been essential to accessing natural resources and getting them out to market. Yet, Northern Ontario’s transport network has borne the marks of being tailored to economic resource exploitation rather than linking together people. The network has been designed to move resources and goods out of the region rather than facilitate travel and communication within the region. This has been a factor in the regional divisions within a vast and sparsely populated region.

A new report by the Conference Board of Canada titled Northern Assets: Transportation Infrastructure in Remote Communities highlights the challenges of northern Canadian transportation in general and particularly the new changes being wrought by climate change such as permafrost degradation. While the report focuses on a case study of Churchill, Manitoba, many of the issues also apply to remote rural resource communities in Northern Ontario particularly with respect to the dawn of resource exploitation in the Ring of Fire.

According the report, transportation infrastructure is more expensive to build and maintain in Canada’s North and climate change is disrupting existing rail and winter-road links.

NEWS RELEASE: Better Northern Transportation Links Will Be Expensive But Are Essential For Economic And Social Development

December 15, 2011

Go to the Conference Board of Canada website for Northern Assets: Transportation Infrastructure in Remote Communities

Ottawa, December 15, 2011 – The high cost of building and maintaining transportation infrastructure in Canada’s North means that governments and private investors must make hard choices and find ways to balance competing interests, according to a new report from the Conference Board of Canada’s Centre for the North.

“The long distances and harsh climate can make investments in transportation infrastructure difficult to justify, but better connections to and within the North are essential for both job growth and access to public services like health care and education,” says David Stewart-Patterson, Vice-President, Public Policy. “What happens in the North matters to Canada as a whole, and better road, rail, air and marine links are key to enabling Northern communities to achieve their full potential.”

The report, Northern Assets: Transportation Infrastructure in Remote Communities, offers six recommendations for policy-makers:
• Assess the full value created by infrastructure as well as its life-cycle costs;
• Recognize and address conflicting public, business, community, and individual interests;

NFB Film: The Hole Story – by Richard Desjardins and Robert Monderie

April 5, 2015December 14, 2011

The following is from the National Film Board of Canada Press Kit

THE FILM

“Don’t know much about mines? Not many people do. Mines don’t talk. Especially about their history.” Richard Desjardins and Robert Monderie explore this history in their latest documentary, The Hole Story. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada, the film continues in the same provocative vein as their earlier Forest Alert.

The history of mining in Canada is the story of astronomical profits made with utter disregard for the environment and human health. It’s also a corrupt and sometimes sinister story. For example, during the First World War, nickel from Sudbury was sold to the German army to make the bullets that ended up killing soldiers from Sudbury in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. In Cobalt, a town in Ontario that once had no garbage collection, people were dying of typhoid.

Meanwhile, the first Canadian mining magnates were growing filthy rich selling silver to England from the 40 mines surrounding the town.

Timmins has its own shameful mining story. In the woods,50 kilometres west of the railroad, prospectors quickly staked their claims before heading to the government office to register their hectares and take ownership of the subsoil.

B.C.’s Historic Silvery Slocan Mining District

May 4, 2015December 14, 2011

This information came from the Hughes Exploration Group website: http://www.hughes-exploration.com/s/Home.asp

SILVER PRIZE FOR GOLD-SEEKERS

The first discovery of placer gold in the Fraser River in 1858 attracted thousands of prospectors and fortune-seekers to the wilderness of Western Canada, triggering the subsequent Cariboo gold rush of the 1860s and the Klondike gold rush of the 1890s. But as the easy pickings of gold nuggets were exhausted from the network of rivers and streams, resilient prospectors turned their attention to outcropping veins where precious metals could be extracted by hand on a limited scale.

In the summer of 1891, Eli Carpenter and Jack Seaton arrived on foot in what is now the Slocan Mining District of British Columbia, lured by tales of silver-rich deposits used by local native guides and hunters. In early September, they discovered an outcropping of sparkling silver-rich galena and collected samples for assaying.

As legend goes, the alliance between Carpenter, a French-Canadian former tight-rope walker, and Seaton, a wily Irishman from Tennessee, fell apart soon afterward amid allegations of double-dealing, with each taking on new partners to stake claims on Payne Mountain, where the initial discovery was made. What is certain is that both men sold their claims early to mining speculators for a pittance and moved on from the region.