Canadian Media Resource Articles – Page 501

Centamin brings industrial-scale gold production back to Egypt – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – October 26, 2015)

October 26, 2015

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 Egyptian Museum in the northern Italian city of Turin is considered one of the finest museums of its kind outside of Egypt. Among its marvels is the Turin Papyrus Map, one of the earliest known maps.

It is a must-see for anyone interested in the history of gold. According to scholars, it was made about 1150 BC and was prepared for a quarrying expedition for King Ramses IV in the eastern desert. The map, which is almost three metres long, shows a gold mine, a gold mining settlement and gold-bearing quartz veins.

The Egyptian pharaohs adored gold. It was believed to be the flesh of the sun god Ra and was evidently produced at near-industrial scale. Three millenniums later, industrial-scale gold production is back in Egypt’s eastern desert, thanks to a gold company called Centamin PLC, with listings in both Toronto and London.

Bad water: Innovative solution for remote northern Ontario First Nations – by Tiar Wilson (CBC News Aboriginal – October 26, 2015)

October 26, 2015

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

‘We can make a huge difference’ if we invest in training people, says Safe Water Project’s Barry Strachan

Three northern Ontario First Nations have managed to stop boil water advisories in their communities since May because of access to a new real-time water quality monitoring system. Deer Lake, Fort Severn, and Poplar Hill First Nations have all spent close to 1,000 days on a boil water advisory in the past decade.

“Historically, what’s happened, is there’s a time delay. When you take a [water] sample, analyse it and get the results to those that can do things about it, it can often mean people are at high risks for a [longer] period of time,” said Barry Strachan, the lead on the Safe Water Project.

Strachan says that outdated process often lead to boil water advisories and do not consume orders. The Safe Water project provides the technology and support to respond immediately to potential problems.

“We get alerts of adverse water quality events immediately as they happen and it allows us to [advise] or actually attend the situation and fix it in short order,” said Strachan.

Ivan Glasenberg faces major test amid Glencore’s shaky future – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – October 24, 2015)

October 26, 2015

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.

LONDON — The partners at mining and commodities trading giant Glencore PLC earned a fortune buying into the “stronger for longer” China story. That bet has been looking shaky for a couple of years and downright precarious since January, when copper – Glencore’s most important commodity – went into the tank and stayed there.

In early January, copper futures plunged almost $1,000 (U.S.) a tonne, to $5,400, taking them to their lowest level in more than five years. Glencore’s shares tripped into the sinkhole with them. Since then, copper prices have lost another 5 per cent or so, a bewildering scenario for Glencore’s normally unflappable traders and executives.

“It’s just not making sense,” Glencore chief executive officer Ivan Glasenberg told analysts on the company’s earnings call on Aug. 19. “We’ve never seen copper inventories down at these levels and prices, because, [at] these levels, you normally have a much higher copper price.”

Vale SA investigated for allegedly leaking toxic run-off in Sudbury (Canadian Press/MACLEAN’s Magazine – October 23, 2015 )

October 23, 2015

http://www.macleans.ca/

Allegations of run-off leaks going back to at least 1963 come following seizure of documents, computers from Vale’s Sudbury offices in early October

Environment Canada is investigating Vale SA’s Sudbury, Ont., smelting operations for allegedly leaking toxic run-off into local waterways since at least 1963.

The allegations are contained in a warrant the government agency used to seize documents, computers and related materials from Vale’s Sudbury offices on Oct. 8 as part of its investigation into potential violations of the Fisheries Act.

In the warrant, Environment Canada accuses the company of allowing “acutely lethal” seepage from the smelter waste piles into water frequented by fish, and of knowing about the leakage for years. The warrant contains allegations not proven in court.

The accusations indicate the seepage started well before Vale took control of the smelter when it acquired Inco Ltd. in 2006 for US$17.6 billion.

Teck Resources Ltd posts massive $2.1 billion loss as it writes down resource assets – by Peter Koven (National Post – October 23, 2015)

October 23, 2015

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

Underneath the noise, Teck Resources Ltd. continues to perform pretty well.

The Vancouver-based miner has been under immense scrutiny from investors in recent weeks, as three rating agencies have cut its credit rating to junk status. It is grappling with poor commodity prices and huge spending requirements in the oilsands. And on Thursday, it reported a massive third-quarter loss of $2.1 billion due to non-cash impairment charges.

Despite those overhanging issues, investors are giving the company credit for continuing to deliver solid operating results. The stock rose 43 cents or five per cent to $8.79 on Thursday as Teck reported an adjusted profit of $29 million, or five cents a share, which was well above expectations.

“The commodities cycle continues to provide a very challenging environment, but we are responding,” chief executive Don Lindsay said on a conference call.

Recession hits steel in Sault, mining supply in Sudbury (CBC News Sudbury – October 22, 2015)

October 23, 2015

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

‘Commodity prices better change pretty soon,’ Sudbury mining supply official says

While there is some debate about whether or not Canada is in a recession, people in northeastern Ontario are feeling a downturn, with hundreds of layoffs over the last few months.

Some of the largest layoffs have been in the steel industry at Sault Ste. Marie. Essar Steel Algoma has laid off 100 workers, with notice that 80 more could come soon.

The other large local steelmaker, Tenaris Tubes, already has 270 workers on layoff and at the end of the month, a temporary shutdown will some of the remaining 230 employees on temporary lay-off, but the company expects to start calling them all back to work in late November.

Russell Rancourt was laid off at Tenaris in February and was hoping to get called back. He’s looked for other work in the region and out west, but has found nothing.

Despite barriers to adoption, cost pressure driving renewed mining interest in renewable energy – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – October 22, 2015)

October 23, 2015

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Mine operators are in the current subdued economic reality increasingly looking at renewable electricity sources as a way to reduce current and future costs at operations; however, lower commodity prices hinder the widespread adoption of renewables, as falling profits and lower fuel prices maintain certain barriers.

This had resulted in miners shifting their primary motivation for implementing renewable projects to being a financial solution to drive down costs and improve productivity. Previous “softer” motivations involved the improvement of a project’s environmental footprint or satisfying social responsibility commitments, AngloGold Ashanti global VP of energy management and electrical asset integrity Bill Allemon told an audience during the third annual Energy and Mines summit, in which Mining Weekly Online participated.

Speaking during a panel discussion examining energy priorities, timelines and new technologies, he noted that while the company’s activities were mainly focused on the African tropical belt, where hydropower generation was impacted by ten-year drought cycles, the company had highlighted that each cycle was getting worse and more punctuated.

Documentary film looks at effects of mine on Attawapiskat – by Tanya Talaga (Toronto Star – October 22, 2015)

November 3, 2015October 22, 2015

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

What is it like for a northern First Nations community to live beside a diamond mine?

Documentary filmmaker Victoria Lean zeroes in on what it is like for the Attawapiskat First Nation to be neighbours with the Victor diamond mine in her film After the Last River.

The Victor mine, owned by global mining giant De Beers, is just 90 kilometres west of Attawapiskat, a community in James Bay District that has battled floods, an ongoing housing crisis and a massive diesel spill underneath an old school.

Lean set out to tell a story about the consequences of mining in one of the most ecologically sensitive areas in the North, and in doing so she unearthed the challenges of a community struggling to exist.

Editorial: What to expect from a Liberal government in Canada – by John Cumming (Northern Miner – October 20, 2015)

October 21, 2015

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

The stunning return of the Liberal Party of Canada to majority status in the federal election held Oct. 19 surprised most people in Canada, who had expected at best a surge to minority government from third place behind the ruling Conservative Party of Canada and the New Democratic Party of Canada.

Instead, Canadians woke up to a new political landscape, with voters having taken the middle ground by rebuking the worn-out, pro-big-business Tories but not wanting to roll the dice on the more left-leaning, inexperienced NDP.

Shown the door were the two most recent ministers of natural resources: Conservative Greg Rickford lost his seat in Kenora, Ont., to Liberal Bob Nault, who had a close race with the former provincial NDP leader Howard Hampton; and previous Minister of Natural Resources and current Finance Minister Joe Oliver lost his seat in Toronto. Nault was quick to give some credit for his victory to First Nations communities in the the Kenora region, who mobilized to support him.

[Justin Trudeau] Not his father’s Liberal? Don’t be so sure – by Peter Foster (National Post – October 21, 2015)

October 21, 2015

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

Pierre Trudeau’s infamous 1980 National Energy Program sought to demonize American oil companies, promote local champions, direct corporate activity, and grab oil revenue. It was an economic disaster.

Since the days of Pierre, the urge to regulate, redistribute and centrally plan has not disappeared, despite the intervening collapse of the Berlin Wall. Indeed, the urge has swelled to global proportions on the back of projected catastrophic man-made climate change.

The climate issue – whose existential seriousness Trudeau claims to believe, and which dominates his government’s immediate future – seeks to demonize all oil companies, promote local green champions, direct corporate activity towards “technologies of the future,” and load on carbon taxes. More than that, the climate agenda seeks to put all economic activity under global control.

Pierre never seemed to take that much interest in the NEP or economic nationalism, which bubbled up from the popularity of Petrocan with a naïve electorate, and out of the Liberal backrooms via men such as Maurice Strong, “the most important man of whom most people have never heard.”

The bright side of a majority Liberal government for Alberta’s energy sector – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – October 21, 2015)

October 21, 2015

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

Justin Trudeau’s Liberals’ powerful election victory shows that the environmental left’s message remains on the political fringe — even if it does mean a more cautious federal approach to energy development in Canada.

The anti-energy movement’s failure to translate opposition to oil pipelines, tankers and oilsands development into political support is apparent in British Columbia, where the Liberals dominated Metro Vancouver, the Green party failed to build on Elizabeth May’s single seat in Saanich-Gulf Islands, and the NDP’s early lead collapsed despite efforts by politically active groups like Dogwood Initiative to turn the election into a referendum on oil pipelines and tankers.

The Liberals even scooped the new riding of Burnaby North-Seymour, a closely watched race where political newcomer Terry Beech, a small-business owner, defeated by a wide margin the NDP’s star candidate, Carol Baird Ellan, a former chief judge of the Provincial Court of British Columbia who was endorsed by activists opposed to the expansion of the TransMountain pipeline.

The Greens scraped out just five per cent support for Simon Fraser University professor Lynne Quarmby, who was involved in the Burnaby Mountain protests against the Kinder Morgan project.

Record 10 indigenous MPs elected to the House of Commons – by Tim Fontaine (CBC News Aboriginal – October 20, 2015)

October 20, 2015

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

8 Liberal and 2 NDP MPs of indigenous heritage will take a seat in Parliament

There will be a record number of indigenous people in the House of Commons following Monday’s federal election, which saw 10 indigenous MPs elected.

That’s an increase of three from the 2011 election, when seven indigenous people won seats. But there was a significant shift towards Liberal representation, away from Conservative and NDP.

Of the 18 indigenous candidates the Liberals ran, eight won seats. Only one, Yvonne Jones from Labrador, was an incumbent.

Notable new Liberal MPs include Jody Wilson-Raybould, a regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations who took the newly created riding of Vancouver-Granville with just over 40 per cent of the vote.

In the inner-city riding of Winnipeg Centre, former mayoral candidate Robert-Falcon Ouellette unseated longtime NDP MP Pat Martin, capturing 56 per cent of the vote.

Uranium miner sees China and India as key growth markets – by Ashley Redmond (Globe and Mail – October 20, 2015)

October 20, 2015

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.

Canada is the world’s second largest uranium producer in the world, next only to Kazakhstan, according to the World Nuclear Association. And we export about 85 per cent of what we mine.

But the uranium sector went into a downturn in recent years, especially after Japan’s post-tsunami nuclear reactor meltdown caused that country to shut down reactors, with ripple effects in other countries. However, with new reactors being built, especially in Asia, and the expected restart of more Japanese reactors in the next few years, some analysts are calling for demand, and spot prices, to increase.

Even with decreased global demand, the value of Canadian-origin uranium exports in 2013 amounted to about $1-billion, according to government figures. Exports are mainly to the United States, Europe and Asia.

Tim Gitzel, president and chief executive officer of Saskatoon-based Cameco Corp., oversees the largest high-grade uranium mines in the country: McArthur River and Cigar Lake, both in Saskatchewan.

First Nations hope for better relationship with feds under Trudeau – by Graham Slaughter (CTV News – October 20, 2015)

October 20, 2015

http://www.ctvnews.ca/

With Stephen Harper stepping down from his party’s helm in the wake of a Liberal victory, First Nations leaders seem to have accomplished their goal of helping to defeat the Conservatives.

The Tories also lost Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt’s riding of Madawaska-Restigouche in New Brunswick.

According to Perry Bellegarde, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, that’s a telling loss. “I think that’s a strong message in terms of not getting the job done,” Bellegarde told CTV News as the results came in.

In the days after the Liberal sweep, Bellegarde says that First Nations people have a clear mission: “To build a relationship first with the new prime minster.”

First Nations leaders and advocates locked horns with the Conservatives over a wide array of indigenous issues, from treaty rights and Aboriginal education to the ability to get clean water on reserves.

Canadian Oil Sands Ltd CEO says Suncor Energy Inc used ‘insider information’ for ‘opportunistic and exploitive bid’ – by Yadullah Hussain (National Post – October 20, 2015)

October 20, 2015

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

TORONTO — Canadian Oil Sands Ltd.’s CEO Ryan Kubik said Monday his board will fight the sale of the company at what it calls “firesale prices” and he accused Suncor Energy Inc. of taking advantage of insider information to present an “opportunistic and exploitive” bid.

“They are using all of this opportunism to try to capture value for their own shareholders — that’s good for Suncor shareholders in building Suncor’s empire but not good for Canadian Oil Sands shareholders,” Kubik told the Financial Post on a visit to Toronto that involved mustering shareholder opposition to Suncor’s $4.3-billion hostile takeover plan, announced earlier this month. The COS board unanimously recommended Monday that its shareholders reject Suncor’s $4.3 billion bid.

No other offers have been put on the table for Canadian Oil Sands, whose business relies on a 37 per cent stake in the 350,000 barrel per day Syncrude oilsands project, in which Suncor also has a 12 per cent stake. The COS acquisition would raise Suncor’s stake in Syncrude to nearly 49 per cent.