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Canadian Media Resource Articles

Fracking misinformation on tap – by Peter Foster (National Post – August 27, 2013)

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

There are no examples of chasms, or even cracks, opening as a result of fracking

From Binghamton, New York to the village of Balcombe in England’s rural West Sussex, holding up fracking has joined halting the oil sands as the great cause for anti-development radicals and their celebrity supporters.

Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, involves pumping water with a tiny proportion of chemicals under high pressure into deep subterranean shale formations to release natural gas.

Last Friday, when President Obama gave a speech in Binghamton, protestors and supporters of fracking jousted outside. In recent weeks, there has been an even mightier ruckus at Balcombe over drilling by a company called Quadrilla, whose activities were brought to a halt by up to 1,200 protestors. The stand-off ended last week after hundreds of police were brought in.

In fact, President Obama has embraced the shale gas boom, but New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been hemming and hawing on state approval, concerned both about the power of environmental NGOs and the good opinion of anti-frackistas such as Yoko Ono and Lady Gaga. Nevertheless, the shale gas train has left the station in the U.S., which is the reason why radicals are keen to pull the wheels off before the industry can establish itself in Europe.

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Uralkali CEO’s ‘bizarre’ arrest in Belarus will heighten potash tensions, analysts say – by Peter Koven (August 27, 2013)

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

TORONTO – The potash industry has become engulfed in political intrigue, as a Russian executive at the centre of a cartel-busting plan has been detained by the autocratic government he used to do business with.

OAO Uralkali confirmed on Monday that CEO Vladislav Baumgertner was detained by authorities in Belarus. He is accused of abuse of power, according to reports. The timing is not coincidental.

Just three weeks ago, Uralkali threw the potash market into chaos by dismantling Belarusian Potash Co. (BPC), a cartel-like marketing company controlled by Uralkali and Belaruskali, its state-owned Belarusian counterpart. Uralkali vowed to end its practice of withholding production to prop up prices, prompting speculation that potash prices will fall dramatically. They are already under pressure.

Belarus is very unhappy with this development, but industry experts suggested that this arrest will only push the two sides further apart. It is the most dramatic political intervention in the potash business since Canada rejected the takeover bid for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. in 2010. “It is certainly a bizarre development. You’ve got to think Russia and [President] Vladimir Putin will respond,” said Joel Jackson, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets.

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I’ll be back – juniors, exploration trends, and a major change – by Kip Keen (Mineweb.com – August 27, 2013)

http://www.mineweb.com/

MinEx’s Richard Schodde discusses the changes to global exploration trends seen over the last few years and why he is not quite as pessimistic as some about the future.

HALIFAX, NS (MINEWEB) – In this two part series Kip Keen unpacks the trends developing within the exploration sector, with the people that know it intimately.

This is not a tonic for those sick to the stomach as they contemplate the state of exploration spending and discovery trends. But then neither is it poison, exploration hemlock, taking you on the path to oblivion. It’s an interview with Richard Schodde, an academic and the owner of MinEx Consulting. He thinks and presents on exploration trends and recently produced a wide ranging synthesis on the exploration sector in a presentation entitled, “Long Term Outlook for the Global Exploration Industry ‘Gloom or Boom.’” (Outside link to presentation here; and full acknowledgement to the blog incakolanews.com for inspiration.)

Lots will strike you in the presentation. Some of it we show you here: Like China’s expenditures booming from almost next-to-nothing to 14% in the past decade. Or global exploration expenditures reaching near $30 billion in 2012, far up from under $5 billion back during hell days in the early 2000s. And – spoiler alert – Schodde doesn’t see them going back there either.

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Attawapiskat election under shadow of controversy – by Teresa Smith (Ottawa Citizen – August 26, 2013)

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

Off-reserve members unable to cast ballots unless they make long, expensive trip north

OTTAWA — With band council elections for the Attawapiskat First Nation set for Tuesday, some off-reserve members are still hoping the chief and council will postpone the vote to deal with widespread concerns the band’s electoral process is unfair.

The current band council and Chief Theresa Spence, who gained national attention for fasting on Victoria Island during the height of the Idle No More protests, are requiring ballots to be cast in person on the reserve Tuesday, making it difficult for band members who live outside the remote northern Cree community to have a say in Attawapiskat’s leadership. Of the First Nation’s 3,351 members, just 1,862 live on the reserve, according to July 2013 numbers from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

“I can’t afford to go all the way there,” said Jocelyn Iahtail, who lives in Ottawa with her daughter. She left the reserve so her son could get the constant medical care he needs for a traumatic brain injury suffered during surgery. “They, of all people, should understand poverty and make it possible for off-reserve members to have a voice.”

On Monday, a return flight from Timmins to Attawapiskat was selling for $1,200. A return from Ottawa was more than $2,000.

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Canada must capitalize on its resource bounty while it still can, says Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver – by Jason Fekete (Vancouver Sun – August 26, 2013)

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

OTTAWA — Calling the development and export of Canada’s resources “nation building,” federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver says Canada must seize a once-in-a-lifetime energy opportunity or watch the associated economic benefits disappear.

But cultivating Canada’s natural resources demands that governments do more to earn the social licence to develop the oil, gas, diamond, uranium and other lucrative deposits found across the country, he said Monday at the annual meeting of Canada’s energy and mines ministers in Yellowknife, N.W.T.

Yet, groups observing the talks, such as Environmental Defence, say the feeling around the conference is “very disconnected with the reality” of Canadians’ concerns about the impacts of natural resource development on land, water and air.

In a keynote speech to fellow ministers, Oliver compared the development and export of the country’s natural resources to the building of the railroad across Canada or construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway. The country’s economic prosperity is not a birthright, he said, meaning Canada must capitalize on its resource bounty while it still can.

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Centerra reports ‘progress’ in talks over Kumtor mine in Kyrgyzstan – by Peter Koven (National Post – August 24, 2013)

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

TORONTO – After months of political turmoil, Centerra Gold Inc. may finally be closing in on a resolution to one of the mining industry’s most volatile disputes. Reports out of Kyrgyzstan suggest the government and Centerra are nearing agreement on a joint venture to operate the Kumtor mine. The Kyrgyz prime minister said they are discussing a 50-50 split of the project, according to one report.

Centerra cautioned that no deal has been reached, and warned investors not to speculate on the potential terms of a settlement. However, it indicated that talks with the government over its flagship mine are going well. The two sides have been discussing a transaction that would convert the government’s 32.7% stake in Centerra into a direct stake in the project.

“Centerra believes that progress has been made in those discussions,” the company said in a statement Friday. A settlement would be a relief for investors, who have feared the prospect of outright nationalization of Kumtor for more than a year.

The trouble started in June of last year, when a Kyrgyz parliamentary commission released an 800-page report on Kumtor that accused Toronto-based Centerra of massive environmental destruction.

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Tuberculosis at Sask. mine sparks cross-Canada check of workers – by Kelly Malone (CJME.com – August 26, 2013)

 http://cjme.com/

Seven provinces working with TB Control Sask.

A case of tuberculosis (TB) at a Saskatchewan mine has led to contact tracing across Canada. The active tuberculosis was discovered at the Cigar Lake Cameco mine at the end of July and caused the mining company and TB Control Saskatchewan to work together to track individuals possibly exposed to the disease. The latest count showed 130 individuals spread across eight provinces from British Colombia to New Brunswick.

“It’s not uncommon. It depends on the situation and depends on what the communicable disease is,” said Deputy medical health officer in the Saskatoon Health Region Dr. Julie Kryzanowski.

“When that happens then there is notification sent out through interprovincial reporting structures to notify them of the potential exposure so they can be alert and do what needs to be done for people who live in their province or their health regions.”

Under the Public Health Act and disease control regulations there are a number of communicable diseases that are reportable by law, including TB. Public health does a follow up to figure out what individuals may have been exposed. Those people are offered a skin test to see if they have the TB bacteria and are then offered antibiotic treatment.

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Mine firm ousts Hells Angels – by Jason Warick (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – August 24, 2013)

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

Death threats, attacks lead to purge

A Saskatoon man’s life is in danger after he did what no other Canadian business owner has dared to attempt – he got rid of the Hells Angels. And from now on, anyone working for Xtreme Mining and Demolition will be required to deny in writing any connection to a “criminal organization” such as the Hells Angels.

“If you are associated with these type of groups, we’ve got a problem. You are out of here,” said Xtreme owner Leonard Banga. The Hells Angels were purged from Xtreme’s ranks following multiple death threats and other intimidation, as well as attacks on Banga and an employee.

Banga said he’s got nothing against the Hells Angels, pointing to his longtime friendships with several “full patch” members. But when Banga learned of the threats and violence, he knew he had to act decisively to protect his employees and his business.

The Hells Angels, through their lawyer, say the new policy is unfair. Others disagree. “I hope everyone supports (Banga). He has balls. This is how a community starts to stand up to organized crime,” said author and international Hells Angels expert Yves Lavigne.

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Stephen Harper Arctic tour: Big hopes, bigger challenges – by Tonda MacCharles (Toronto Star – August 24, 2013)

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.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has a strong vision for Canada’s North, but what stands out in his latest trip to the region is the immense challenge of making it a reality.

RAGLAN MINE, QUE. — It was a long way to come for what seems like comparatively little. Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrived in Inuit territory Friday in northern Quebec, 400 kilometres above the tree line, to visit a nickel mine and talk about clean energy.

Or at least the exciting possibility of it. Last year, the Conservative government injected $720,000 into a feasibility test that one day may help resolve the problem of shipping diesel to the North to power many Arctic communities and lower costs of massive mining developments trying to operate far from hydro dams and other sources of energy.

Yet like so much of what the Conservative government leader has tried to do on his eighth trip to the Arctic, what stands out is the immense challenge of it all. Harper has defended his record and called his investments in the North “groundbreaking,” though he has not quite lived up to his early boastful promises of armed icebreakers and brand-new deepwater sea ports for the region.

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Group pushes for railway expansion in Canada – by Simon Kent (Toronto Sun – August 24, 2013)

http://www.torontosun.com/home

TORONTO – Around the world there is a quiet revolution brewing. Everywhere except Canada, that is. It’s based on shared principles and cuts across all political divides by uniting disparate communities through a single, common goal.

No, it’s not a religion, faith or creed. It wants a return to railways as an efficient way to move people and produce as modern roads and skies become more crowded by the day.

You can find new railways being built in Africa and Asia, Europe and the United States. Some are for fast passenger movement and more and more involve dedicated freight lines.

If this transport revolution is ever to reach critical mass here in Canada, a country that has lost more than 10,000 kilometres of track since 1990 in places as far apart as Vancouver Island and Quebec, it will need to start in the heavily populated province of Ontario.

The Northern & Eastern Ontario Rail Network (NEORN) is a lobby group dedicated to that goal. It launched a major push Monday to reawaken Canadians to the benefit of rail transport.

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Environmental review wraps up for New Prosperity mine (Canadian Press/CBC News Business (August 23, 2013)

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

Open pit gold and and copper mine to be located 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake

It’s the tenth largest undeveloped gold-copper deposit in the world — at least nine-million wedding rings’ worth — and for half a century since its discovery, the deposit has remained buried among the pristine lakes and mountains of British Columbia’s wild Chilcotin region.

Opponents of a billion-dollar plan to develop the site want it to stay that way. The company behind the proposal that has already been rejected once says it has a new plan that will save a lake of cultural significance to First Nations — contrary to the original plan — and put millions of dollars into provincial coffers.

Public hearings on the New Prosperity mine proposal wrap up today following five weeks of hearings in nearby communities, and the proponent and opponents remain deeply divided.

“What it is we propose to do is not unusual. It’s an engineering exercise, not a science experiment,” John McManus, senior vice-president of operations for Taseko told the panel on the opening day of the latest set of hearings.

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In aftermath of cartel break-up, potash prices slide – by Brent Jang (Globe and Mail – August 23, 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 – Spot prices for Canada’s potash exports may have eased, an indication of a softer market following the breakup of a Russian-Belarusian industry oligopoly last month.

Prices for spot shipments of the crop nutrient from Port Metro Vancouver recently slipped $20 (U.S.) to less than $400 a tonne, while there are preliminary signs of market softness elsewhere, including slightly discounted potash prices on rail shipments to China, Patricia Mohr, vice-president and commodity market specialist at Bank of Nova Scotia, said in an interview Thursday.

Russia’s OAO Uralkali announced on July 30 it was abandoning Belarusian Potash Co., a joint venture with rival Belaruskali of Belarus and one of the two largest marketing groups for potash, a mineral used on farms to boost crop yields. Analysts have warned that increased competition following the breakup would lower potash prices by late 2013.

“We can’t be too precise about forecasts because there are a variety of different kinds of prices to different buyers, and some of them are spot and some of them are contract,” Ms. Mohr said. However, she added that the stage has been set for lower potash prices over the next six months, perhaps trading around $350 a tonne in early 2014.

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Mining slowdown begins to hurt as Bay Street sheds jobs, firms – by Boyd Erman and Jacqueline Nelson (Globe and Mail – August 23, 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.

A sustained downturn in Canadian capital markets claims its first big foreign victim Friday, as Stifel Financial Corp. shuts down its Toronto and Calgary operations and lets go of 60 people.

Businesses such as stock underwriting and trading have plunged, eating away at profits for investment dealers in Canada – particularly smaller ones – and forcing some firms to close or merge.

The problem is that deep weakness in the commodity and resource sectors and volatile markets have sharply curtailed deal volumes and new public offerings for investment dealers. The S&P/TSX materials index has fallen 22 per cent in the past year and the energy index was flat, even as U.S. markets have soared to record highs. That poor showing has curtailed investors’ interest in junior mining and oil and gas stocks, meaning that fewer resource companies are able to raise money.

Eleven investment dealers merged, closed their doors, or announced plans to do so in the first half of 2013, the Investment Industry Association of Canada said. Ten firms closed in 2012.

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Barrick Gold Corp. to sell three mines in Australia for $300 million (Canadian Press/Toronto Star – August 23, 2013)

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.

Barrick Gold Corp. has agreed to sell off three high-cost mines in Western Australia to South Africa-based miner Gold Fields Ltd. — a move analysts say will free Barrick up to focus on more profitable operations.

Barrick said it will receive about $300 million from the sale, which is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board.

The company said the three mines that comprise the Yilgarn South assets produced a total of 452,000 ounces of gold in 2012 and a further 196,000 ounces in the first half of this year.

Kerry Smith, an analyst at Haywood Securities, said selling the higher-cost mines will reduce Barrick’s operating expenses and have only a minimal impact on the company’s production volumes. “By eliminating those three mines out of their portfolio, it frees their management up to spend more time on other assets that actually make more cash,” Smith said.

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Arctic tour: Stephen Harper acknowledges social issues in Canada’s North – by Tonda MacCharles (Toronto Star – August 23, 2013)

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.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper shifted his political message in the North Thursday after he met Nunavut Premier Eve Aariak and faced media questions about the immense social challenges here.

RANKIN INLET, NUNAVUT—On a day he intended to highlight more money for mining development, Prime Minister Stephen Harper shifted his political message in the North after he met Nunavut Premier Eve Aariak and faced media questions about the immense social challenges here.

Those had largely gone unmentioned by the prime minister during his eighth annual Arctic tour. Instead it has focused on resource development and Arctic sovereignty. Thursday was also supposed to boost the prime minister’s credentials as a supporter of basic science.

In Rankin Inlet, on the northwest coast of Hudson’s Bay, Harper, who is frequently criticized for failing to back scientific research and accused of muzzling scientists, threw his weight behind a major geological research project and brought geologists along to tell everyone about it.

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