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Mandarin Need Cited as Feds OK’d 95 Chinese Miners for Gething coal project – by Jeremy J. Nuttall (The Tyee.ca – March 19, 2013)

http://thetyee.ca/

FOI docs show greenlighting of foreign temp staffing of second coal mining project in BC.

Months after controversy gripped a Chinese-backed company’s efforts to bring in temporary foreign workers to mine coal in British Columbia rather than hire Canadians, newly surfaced documents show the federal government granted a key dispensation to a different, similarly Chinese backed B.C. project to hire nearly a hundred workers on the basis that they spoke Mandarin.

The project that drew criticism and court challenges in the fall was HD Mining’s attempt to hire 201 foreign workers for its Murray River coal project near Tumbler Ridge, B.C. Newly revealed Services Canada files show that a partner company in HD Mining was itself given permission to bring in almost 100 foreign workers after listing Mandarin as the sole language requirement.

The documents, released through a Freedom of Information Act request, include Labour Market Opinions related to hundreds of jobs at Canadian Dehua International Mines’ Gething coal project near Hudson Hope, B.C. Currently the project is in the advanced exploration phase, according to the provincial ministry of mines. The LMOs, granted in the first half of 2012, are required to show the company made sufficient efforts to hire Canadians for the positions.

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Morien Resources Corp. interested in purchasing Donkin mine – by Sharon Montgomery-Dupe (Cape Breton Post – March 20, 2013)

http://www.capebretonpost.com/

DONKIN — There may be a light at the end of the Donkin mine. Xstrata Coal officials confirmed Wednesday the company is in discussions with Morien Resources Corp. about purchasing Xstrata’s 75 per cent interest in the mine. Morien Resources has a 25 per cent interest in the Donkin coal project.

“We have had some initial discussion, and with all commercial transactions there will be ongoing discussions between ourselves and Morien,” said Val Istomin, Xstrata business development manager.

However, Istomin said the Donkin mine remains up for sale in the meantime. “We haven’t stopped the sale process,” he said.

“At the end of the day all we want to do is exit this asset and hand it on to new people and they can continue on to the process. “If another company comes along and wants to buy the mine, we will be happy to talk to them about that.”

Xstrata Coal had recently issued a statement that it was unable to find a third-party buyer for its 75 per cent stake in the Donkin coal project. When the Cape Breton Post contacted Morien Resources Corp. for comment, president and CEO John Budreski issued a press release announcing the company’s intention to purchase Xstrata’s share.

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India not quite the shining knight for coal miners – by Clyde Russell (Reuters India – March 14, 2013)

http://in.reuters.com/

(Clyde Russell is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own.)

(Reuters) – Rising Indian coal imports are the knight in shining armour for producers from the Americas through Africa to Asia — at least that’s the impression the industry is keen to give.

That India’s coal imports have no option but to rise and the only matter in dispute is by how much, was the consensus of producers and consumers at the Coaltrans India conference this week in this resort state an hour’s flight south of Mumbai.

But is the consensus based more in hope than reality? The thing that is always striking about India’s coal sector, for both domestic production and imports, is that forecasts are rarely correct.

India’s coal demand was around 730 million tonnes in the 2011/12 fiscal year, with about 100 million tonnes of that met through imports. The consensus of forecasts at the Coaltrans event is for demand to rise to about 1.1 billion tonnes by the end of the current five-year plan in 2016/17.

Some of this 370 million tonnes increase in annual demand is expected to be met by state-controlled Coal India, the world’s biggest miner of the fuel.

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Excerpt from “The History of Mining: The events, technology and people involved in the industry that forged the modern world” – by Michael Coulson

To order a copy of The History of Mining please click here: http://www.harriman-house.com/products/books/23161/business/Michael-Coulson/The-History-of-Mining/

WYOMING THE GIANT COAL PRODUCER

For most of its history the most important economic activity of the state of Wyoming has been farming and ranching, although coal was first discovered in the early 1800s and the first coal mined in 1859. Anthracite was the main coal product for many years. The coal seams of Wyoming, including those of the Powder River Basin, were formed from huge peat bogs that over millions of years have been compressed and altered to become coal. The first commercial mines in the state established in 1868 were at Carbon near Medicine Bow and nearby Rock Springs.

These were owned by Wyoming Coal and Mining which was taken over in 1874 by Union Pacific Railroad which already controlled the company as well as transporting the coal. By the turn of the century the mines had closed but not before severe labour disputes had led, as seems always the way in the coal mining industry, to tragedy. This came in the form of the 1885 massacre of low-wage Chinese miners by white miners at Rock Springs following a wages dispute with Union Pacific.

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The oil sands are an amazing story Canada’s not telling – by Todd Babiak (Globe and Mail – March 1, 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.

Todd Babiak is co-founder of Story Engine, a strategy company based in Edmonton and Vancouver. His next novel, Come Barbarians, will be published in September by HarperCollins Canada.

How Green Was My Valley, the novel by Welsh writer Richard Llewellyn, is about a young man born into a village of black air, of strikes, of deadly explosions. At the end, you’re keen to accompany the hero, Huw Morgan, out of the coal mines.

More than 50 years earlier, Émile Zola had come to similar conclusions in Germinal.

The novelists and filmmakers who adapted these two works for cinema focused on people – particularly the miners. They were sad, happy, passionate, defeated, pure, compromised, creative, dull, intelligent, stupid.

That is, alive.

Coal Miner’s Daughter, Matewan and other stories, in novels and on screen, do not elevate coal mining into the higher reaches of human endeavour. Of course it’s dirty. But the activity of putting on a helmet and walking every morning into a pit so the world can turn on its furnaces in winter and its lights at sundown is noble. It’s something that thousands of interesting human beings do to help raise their children.

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Dalton McGuinty: Canada’s greenest premier ever – by Stewart Elgie (Toronto Star – February 25, 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.

Former Ontario premier moved to control urban sprawl and phased out coal-powered generation.

Stewart Elgie is professor of law and economics at the University of Ottawa (he discloses that the Ontario government has been one of many funders of the research institute he directs).

A handful of Canadian political leaders have left impressive environmental legacies. Mike Harcourt ended B.C.’s “war in the woods,” creating a world class parks network and tough new forestry rules. David Peterson pioneered the blue box recycling program, and made great strides in fighting acid rain and water pollution across Ontario (together with environment minister Jim Bradley).

Brian Mulroney, voted Canada’s greenest prime minister, passed three major environmental laws and played key roles in pushing global treaties on species loss, ozone depletion and climate change. But Dalton McGuinty is the greenest of them all, as a review of his environmental record reveals.

Let’s start with controlling urban sprawl — a huge problem in southern Ontario. McGuinty’s government passed the Places To Grow Act, requiring cities and towns to grow within their existing footprints (up, not out).

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Coal lobby stresses jobs, economics as terminal controversy heats up – by Gordon Hamilton (Vancouver Sun – February 16, 2013)

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

The Coal Association of Canada has released a special report on the industry’s economic impact in British Columbia as the battle heats up over coal exports from Port Metro Vancouver.

Arguing that coal is a catalyst for economic development, trade and employment, coal association president Ann Marie Hann said economics has been missed in the discussion over coal exports.

Opponents of Vancouver’s growing role as a coal exporting centre cite coal’s high greenhouse gas emissions and the health risks from increased coal dust along transportation routes as reasons for shelving expansion plans.

Port Metro Vancouver has already approved one expansion at Neptune Bulk Terminals in North Vancouver, and is considering a new coal terminal at Fraser Surrey Docks in Surrey. Metro Vancouver is now North America’s largest coal exporting port.

“Clearly this is a response to the ‘coal export controversy’ now raging in Metro Vancouver,” Kevin Washbrook, of the citizens group Voters Taking Action On Climate Change, said of the industry report. He said the industry is attempting to build an argument in response to concerns about the environmental threat posed by coal.

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NEWS RELEASE: New report shows importance of coal to B.C.

http://www.coal.ca/

February 15, 2013

A new report from PwC shines a light on the important the important role coal plays in B.C.’s economy and how it contributes to a better B.C.

Report: Economic impact analysis of the coal mining industry in B.C.: http://www.coal.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/FINAL_Coal-Association-of-Canada_BC-EIA-Feb-15-2013-1.pdf

In 2011, the coal industry generated an estimated $3.2 billion in provincial GDP and approximately $715.2 million in tax revenue for all levels of government including $399 million in tax revenue generated by economic activity and $316.2 million in mineral tax payments to British Columbia. The revenue collected by government helps to pay for government infrastructure including schools, roads and hospitals as well as provincial services and supports.

The majority of the coal mined in British Columbia is metallurgical coal – which is used to make steel and essential competent of modern life. The majority of coal produced in B.C. is exported to Japan and South Korea. It’s in high demand from consumers because of its low sulfur, low ash, and high carbon content which burn more cleanly than other coals.

Coal also creates jobs. Over 26,000 people are directly employed by the coal industry and they earn higher than average wages. For example, the estimated annual wage for those directly employed by coal companies was $95,174, twice the average provincial wage of $43,500!

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HD Mining seeks talks with unions over temporary foreign workers – (CBC News – February 7, 2013)

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

Company wants to work with unions to expedite training of Canadian workers

A B.C. mining company says it wants to end its legal battle with labour unions and resume preliminary work opening up a coal mine in Tumbler Ridge with temporary workers from China.

In a letter to addressed to two B.C. labour unions involved in the dispute, HD Mining Chair Penggui Yan said the company is prepared to continue its legal defence of its decision to import 201 temporary workers from China under a federal program, rather than hire Canadians for the highly specialized job.

But Yan says the company would rather open negotiations with the union with the aim of getting work restarted at the mine while accelerating the training of Canadian workers.

The company proposes starting the work with the Chinese workers for the first two years to determine if the mine is viable, while it opens the negotiations with the unions to expedite the training of Canadian workers for the second phase of the project, if the mine proves viable.

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Teck Resources changes tune on acquisition opportunities – by Peter Koven (National Post – February 8, 2013)

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

When Teck Resources Ltd. holds its quarterly earnings conference calls, chief executive Don Lindsay is always asked about acquisition opportunities. His usual response is that Teck is looking, but price tags are too high.

That changed on Thursday’s call. He acknowledged that values have come down in recent months and more assets have come available. That includes projects in the iron ore sector, an industry that Teck has been eager to break into for years. Mr. Lindsay also speculated more assets could come available as many large mining companies are writing down projects, firing senior management and cleaning up their portfolios.

Teck has not made a major acquisition since 2008, and this would be a reasonable time to do it. In addition to the iron ore opportunities, the Vancouver-based miner is facing declining copper production over the next couple of years. Its key copper growth projects in Chile are being held up by permitting delays, meaning it is unclear when they will reach production.

“Something that might fill the gap would be of interest to us,” Mr. Lindsay said. However, he tempered speculation that Teck will do a deal. He said it remains “pretty tough” to pull off a successful transaction, and pointed out that Teck’s “stay the course” strategy of organic growth is poised to deliver major production increases for shareholders in the years ahead.

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HD Mining chief makes his case for hiring temporary foreign workers – by Wendy Stueck (Globe and Mail – February 5, 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 — In a downtown office, Penggui Yan is sketching on a white board, using pictures to illustrate mining techniques and back his claim that he needs to hire Chinese workers to determine whether the Murray River project near Tumbler Ridge can be a viable mine.

The proposed project would use a technique known as longwall mining, which extracts coal in long seams rather than the so-called room-and-pillar model used in existing coal mines in Canada. To make the method work, you need employees that understand the equipment, methods and dangers – including potentially explosive gases – of working in such an environment, Mr. Yan insists.

“You have to have that continuity,” Mr. Yan said on Monday. “You have to allow me to prove this mine is mineable. For the time being, I don’t know if it’s mineable. I am taking $150-million out of my own pocket to prove this will be a mine.” Exploration and bulk sampling would amount to $150-million of a projected $300-million cost to build the mine, Mr. Yan said.

For Mr. Yan, the chair of Vancouver-based HD Mining International Ltd., the logic behind hiring foreign workers is unassailable. Others, however, have questioned the company’s rationale. Two unions have launched a court case to challenge the process that cleared the way for HD Mining to hire 200 foreign workers at Murray River.

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Investors look to Teck for clues to China’s path – by Pav Jordan and Brent Jang (Globe and Mail – February 4, 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.

When Don Lindsay talks about China, he can’t help but mention the 200,000 kilometres of power transmission lines the country plans to install over the next five years.

“That’s a lot of copper,” the president and chief executive of Teck Resources Ltd. told mining aficionados packed into a ballroom in Vancouver last week.

Addressing the Association for Mineral Exploration B.C. conference, Mr. Lindsay also predicted that China will enjoy robust economic growth this year, fuelling demand for the metals his company produces, like copper and zinc.

Teck Resources, Canada’s largest diversified miner and a major exporter of coking coal for steel making, reports its fourth quarter and year-end financial results on Thursday.

The results are expected to compare unfavourably against those of the prior year, reflecting one of the most tumultuous periods for the global mining industry since the recession.

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Document reveals experience of Canadian mine applicants – by Michael Smyth (Vancouver Province – February 3, 2013)

http://www.theprovince.com/news/index.html

Chinese-owned Tumbler Ridge operation received about 300 resumés

The Chinese company that wants to set up an underground coal mine near Tumbler Ridge said it tried – and failed – to find qualified Canadians to work in the mine. But after the company was forced in court to produce about 300 resumés submitted by “unqualified” Canadian job applicants, critics are scoffing at the claim.

“There were obviously qualified Canadians who applied for these jobs, and they were simply rejected,” Brian Cochrane of the Union of Operating Engineers told me Saturday. “Qualified Canadians are being denied jobs developing Canada’s own resources,” Cochrane said.

“It’s outrageous.” HD Mining International received approval from the federal government to bring hundreds of Chinese coal miners to B.C., after Ottawa accepted the company’s argument that no Canadians could do the work.

The Operating Engineers and another union, the Construction and Specialized Workers, challenged the company and the government in court. Last month, the company turned over to the unions hundreds of resumés from rejected Canadian job applicants.

Now, in a document filed last week in federal court, the public is getting its first glimpse at the qualifications of Canadians who applied for jobs with the Chinese company. “There were trained and certified underground miners who applied for these jobs,” said Cochrane.

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Chinese miners sent home in B.C. workers dispute – by CBC News (January 28, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/bc/

HD Mining says it has also delayed plans to bring more miners from China

The company that brought miners from China to work on a B.C. coal project says it is sending some of the workers back home and is not bringing any more to Canada for the time being due to court delays.

Two unions are challenging the government’s decision to allow HD Mining to bring about 200 Chinese miners to work in northern B.C., rather than hire Canadians. HD Mining announced in a release Monday that its 16 temporary foreign workers on the Murray River project are returning to China.

The workers were to have taken part in the extraction of a 100,000-tonne coal sample to determine the viability of full mine development, the company said.

“This was a difficult decision for us, but we are very concerned about the cost and disruption this litigation brought by the unions has caused to the planning of the project,” said Jody Shimkus, the mine company’s vice-president of environmental and regulatory affairs.

“We have also decided to delay bringing any additional workers to Tumbler Ridge until we have reliable certainty.”

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Coal mine has benefit for Canada regardless of imported workers – Vancouver Sun Editorial (January 25, 2013)

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

The controversy over HD Mining’s plan to bring in Chinese miners has overshadowed what otherwise would have been an entirely good news story. The mines being developed by HD Mining International Ltd. near Tumbler Ridge are bringing new investment and will create new wealth in this province to the benefit of the town, the province and the country.

By its own account, HD Mining has already spent more than $50 million on Canadian goods and services in the Murray River project and it will spend close to that again before it knows for certain that it has a mine that will return its investment.

The money spent so far includes $20 million on exploration, $15 million for surface work and another $15 million for a 92-unit development to house workers in Tumbler Ridge, which until the resurgence of interest in coal mining in the past decade was in danger of becoming a ghost town.

HD Mining is developing a coal deposit that is more than 500 metres underground. It is on a property that was previously owned by other companies that looked at the difficulties involved and gave it a pass.

HD has expertise its parent company uses in coal mines in China that it believes can be used profitably here. Part of it involves a process called long-wall mining, which is a technique commonly used in coal mines in the United States and elsewhere, but has so far never been used in Canada.

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