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N.W.T. First Nation signs landmark deal with [Avalon Rare Minerals] mine – CBC News North (July 31, 2012)

http://www.cbc.ca/north/

 Deninu K’ue First Nation members now able to become part owners of mine

People in Fort Resolution, N.W.T., have entered into a landmark agreement with a Toronto-based mining company. The Deninu K’ue First Nation members now have the option buying three per cent of Avalon Rare Minerals’ proposed mine at Thor Lake, which is about 130 kilometres east of Yellowknife.
 
The band signed an agreement with the company at a ceremony in Fort Resolution Monday. This is the first time a mining company has recognized the community of Fort Resolution as a partner.
 
“Part ownership, even though it’s not much of a percentage, it’s a good start. After fighting for IBAs [Impact Benefit Agreements] for all these years, not getting one, today, a lot of people should be happy,” said Robert Sayine, an elder and band councillor in the community.
 
The agreement is giving people hope for future opportunities. “It means a lot to me, but it’s the future and the younger generation coming up, and the young families, that is where we aim everything at,” added Sayine.

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In Peru, Chinese mining firm moves a town to get to the copper underneath – by Caroline Stauffer (Globe and Mail/Reuters – July 4, 2012)

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.

MOROCOCHA, PERU — Reuters – High in the Andes mountain range, a Chinese mining company is now in the housing construction and demolition business as it works to relocate a Peruvian town that sits in the way of its $2.2-billion (U.S.) Toromocho copper mine.

By late July, state-owned miner Chinalco says it will finish building a new city of paved roads and multistorey homes for 5,000 people currently living on the side of a giant red mountain of copper 4,500 metres above sea level.

Residents from the poor, ramshackle town of Morococha, where children attend school steps away from discarded mine tailings, will get access to amenities they currently lack, like modern water, sewage and electrical systems. They will all also own their homes and no one will need to pay rent.

Chinalco calls the new $50-million town the biggest privately funded social project in Peru’s mining history and it may help the company avoid community opposition that has stalled other major projects.

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Field trips bring Ontario mine reclamation symposium down to earth

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

Two field trips helped to bring the realities of successful mine rehabilitation to life while complementing the scientific papers presented at the fifth annual Ontario Mine Reclamation Symposium.  The event was held in Thunder Bay at Lakehead University in late June and it attracted more than 60 participants.
 
Sessions at the workshop dealt with topics such as the geology and mining history of Thunder Bay, wet peat mining, soil chemical properties in peat bogs, historic tailings disposal in lakes and forest floor species in areas near smelters. 

Fifteen people went on the field trip to the nearby Shebandowan Mine, which operated as a nickel producer from 1973 to 1998.  Reclamation activities have been successfully completed and the facility is now in a state of long-term care and maintenance.

Thirty two people went on the more extensive field trip to Beardmore and Geraldton and the Sturgeon River gold belt, where mining activity began in 1925.  This expedition included a tour of the former MacLeod-Cockshutt gold mine.  This site has been converted into and found new life as an interpretive centre and golf course, adding credence to the reality that mining is a temporary land use. 

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‘A proud day for Vale’ [Sudbury Clean AER Project] – by Heidi Ulrichsen (Sudbury Northern Life – June 22, 2012)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Ontario Premier breaks ground for $2 billion project

Vale’s $2 billion emissions reduction project will not only deliver a major boost to the economy, it will be “good for the lungs of our children and grandchildren,” according to Premier Dalton McGuinty.

He made the remarks while speaking at the June 22 groundbreaking for the emissions reduction project, known as Clean AER, at the Copper Cliff Smelter. McGuinty said he’s impressed that Clean AER actually aims to exceed the province’s air emissions standards — some of the toughest in North America.

“This is a huge project,” McGuinty, who was joined at the ceremony by a number of other politicians, including Environment Minister Jim Bradley, Sudbury MPP and Minister of Northern Development and Mines Rick Bartolucci and Mayor Marianne Matichuk, said. “As you heard, it’s the single largest environmental investment in Sudbury’s history, and it’s certainly one of the biggest ever for Ontario.”

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$2B Sudbury smelter clean-up spells jobs, cleaner air – by Tanya Talaga (Toronto Star – June 23, 2012)

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.

SUDBURY—Since the 1970s, the giant super stack that looms over the Sudbury skyline has spewed foul-smelling pollutants into the air. Now a $2 billion clean-up of the Vale Copper Cliff smelter is underway, a project being billed as one of the larger single environmental investments in Ontario’s history.

Against the backdrop of the official ground-breaking ceremony, Premier Dalton McGuinty addressed local dignitaries Friday and opened the provincial Liberal council weekend meeting — a chance for the party to regroup and recharge after coming perilously close to a summer election few wanted.

“I wish we had a few more Sudbury’s around the province,” McGuinty said, pointing to 8,300 new jobs that have been created in the area since the Liberals formed government in 2003.

The Clean AER Project, which stands for atmospheric emissions reduction, will see sulphur dioxide at the smelter reduced by 70 per cent from current levels, said Dave Stefanuto, the project director.

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McGuinty touts Clean AER project: $2-billion initiative promises to reduce smelter emissions by 70% – by Rita Poliakov (Sudbury Star – June 23, 2012)

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

The significance of Vale’s Clean AER project goes beyond the City of Greater Sudbury. “It’s good for the North, good for the province and good for the lungs of our children and grandchildren,” said Premier Dalton McGuinty, at the $2-billion project’s groundbreaking on Friday.

McGuinty was joined by several cabinet ministers and Vale executives at the ceremony, which marked the beginning of construction. The Clean AER (atmospheric emissions reduction) project, called the largest single environmental investment in Sudbury’s history, will reduce sulphur dioxide emissions at Vale’s Copper Cliff smelter by 70%.

The project’s goal is to bring emissions down to 45 kilotonnes per year, well below the province’s regulatory limit of 66 kilotonnes per year. During construction, which should last until 2015, the smelter complex will be retrofitted and new secondary baghouse and material handling facilities, which prevents dust from entering the community, will be constructed.

The most complicated area of the project will stem from the smelter itself, which will continue to operate during construction. “It’s very complicated,” said Dave Stefanuto, the project director. “We’ll be replacing four converters.”

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Securing Free, Prior and Informed Consent at Inmet’s Panama project – ICMM June 2012 Newsletter

This article is from the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) June 2012 newsletter.

Inmet’s Cobre Panama Project is one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world and represents the largest private sector investment in Panama’s history.

Inmet’s 80 percent-owned subsidiary Minera Panama S.A. (MPSA) identified the need to recognize and respect the land tenure of Ngäbe indigenous people who since 2003, have migrated eastward from their reserve, informally settling in the project area in search of a better life.

When it became clear that the development of Cobre Panama would involve the displacement of some Ngäbe families, MPSA established a resettlement process that emphasizes the highest international standards of fairness and transparency, tailored to account for language, cultural, gender, generational, family and community variables.

As part of the resettlement process, in-depth consultations and negotiations were conducted with those affected under the leadership of indigenous rights experts – including Ngäbe employees – and rePlan, experienced third-party resettlement professionals. The process has successfully resulted in the fully documented free, prior and informed consent of those being
resettled.

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Re-igniting the Challenges of [Mining Sector] Sustainability – Should We Be Afraid? – by Sam Walsh: Rio Tinto Chief Executive, Iron Ore and Australia (Sydney, Australia – May 24, 2012)

Introduction
 
Any discussion of sustainability really needs to grapple at its outset with some questions of definition.
 
What does the word really mean anyway?  It’s a word that has gained phenomenal currency in the past decade or two and, depending on its context, can take on quite different meanings and overtones.

We hear it uttered routinely by environmentalists, economists, biologists, politicians, lobby groups, bicycle salesmen, wind-farm proponents, purveyors of alternative medicines and even mining company executives.
 
In the hands of all these different people the word can be put to work almost as a banner or slogan for their particular cause.
 
The one thing they have in common is they’re all in favour of it. I can’t recall ever hearing someone attack the idea or imply sustainability is not something for which we should all be striving.
 
We hear and read that we need sustainable water supplies, food production, economic growth, employment, education systems, logging, energy sources, industries …

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Where to brush up on your mine rehabilitation expertise – Lakehead University, Thunder Bay

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

The Ontario Mining Association and the Canadian Land Reclamation Association (CLRA) are joining forces to hold the fifth annual Ontario Mine Reclamation Symposium and Field Trip.  This event is scheduled for June 20 and 21, 2012 at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.

The seminar includes sessions on the geology and mining history of the Thunder Bay area along with understanding the chemical properties of peat bogs and blueberry soils on Northwestern Ontario.  An update on the development of restoration protocols at De Beers Canada’s Victor diamond Mine, located 90 kilometres west of Attawapiskat, will be presented.  These studies are expanding knowledge for reclamation activities in the Ring of Fire area, which is under development.

Another case study will centre on the evolution of closure planning and consultation at Barrick Hemlo Mines Williams gold property near Marathon.  Roger Souckey from Barrick Hemlo Mines and Shane Hayes of the Pic Mobert First Nation will be making this presentation.  Also, the decommissioning of Vale’s (Inco’s) Shebandowan nickel mine near Thunder Bay will be reviewed. 

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NEWS RELEASE: The Micronutrient Initiative, Government of Canada and Teck Launch New Initiative with Senegal Ministry of Health to Save Children’s Lives

 
DAKAR, SENEGAL–(Marketwire – May 15, 2012) – Canadian partners the Micronutrient Initiative, the Government of Canada and Teck launched a major project with the Senegal Ministry of Health today that will save young lives from diarrhea, a condition that can be deadly if untreated.

Each year, 1.5 million children under the age of five die from complications associated with diarrhea, including 6,000 in Senegal. Zinc is an essential micronutrient that can prevent and treat diarrhea, yet two billion people around the world do not get enough zinc through their diets.

The Zinc Alliance for Child Health (ZACH) project in Senegal will scale up the use of zinc supplementation and oral rehydration salts (ORS) to treat diarrhea across the country. This simple solution, that costs as little as 50 cents per treatment, reduces the severity of diarrhea and can save lives.

The project will aim to treat more than two million cases of diarrhea in children under the age of five over the next three years. Zinc and ORS treatment will be delivered through health care workers at 4,000 service delivery points in Senegal.

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NEWS RELEASE: VALE SUPPORTS ‘THE LA CLOCHE SPIRIT: THE EQUIVALENT LIGHT’ PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT CELEBRATING WILLISVILLE MOUNTAIN

(L to R) Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Michael Mantha, Ontario Mining Association President Chris Hodgson, Jon Butler and Vale Ontario Corporate Manager Angie Robson, celebrate the launch of “The La Cloche Spirit: The Equivalent Light” at Vale’s Global Base Metals Headquarters in Toronto on May 14, 2012

For Immediate Release

SUDBURY, May 16, 2012 – Vale has found an unlikely partner in Jon Butler, President of the La Cloche Mountains Preservation Society and a local resident of Willisville, Ontario near Vale’s Lawson Quarry operations.

In 2010, Butler discovered that Vale had an aggregate license to mine the historic Willisville Mountain, one of the oldest mountain ranges on earth and the subject of Canadian songs, stories and art painted by the likes of the Group of Seven. In response, Butler launched a social media campaign and online petition to ‘save the mountain.’

(L to R) Jon Butler discusses some of his photography of Willisville Mountain with Rick Bartolucci, Minister of Northern Development & Mines

Working constructively together with Butler and the Ministry of Natural Resources, last April Vale voluntarily surrendered portions of its existing aggregate license to ensure the historic Willisville Mountain and surrounding area will remain untouched and undisturbed.

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Vale’s Sudbury Subterranean aquaculture: How many fish per tonne?

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

Ontario Mining Association member Vale, after a successful pilot project, will soon be producing fish near its underground greenhouse at the Creighton Mine in Sudbury.  When they resurface, the subterranean grown fish will be released for restocking Sudbury area lakes and rivers.
 
Back in November of last year, Vale’s Environment Department placed fingerling rainbow trout in 1,500-litre tanks at its surface greenhouse.  Five months of care and feeding resulting in the rainbow trout growing to about 20 centimetres in length.  Recently, they were given a new home after being transported to the Onaping River.
 
“We are very proud of this project and its successful outcome,” said Glen Watson from Vale’s Environment group.  “The fish will provide a boost to the river’s fish population and biodiversity, providing a highly valued resource for the community to enjoy.”

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NEWS RELEASE: Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp. Signs Socio-Economic Participation Agreement with Five Kaska First Nations

VANCOUVER, April 30, 2012 /CNW/ – Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp. (TSX: YNG) (Frankfurt Xetra Exchange: NG6) is pleased to announce that, along with its wholly owned subsidiary, Ketza River Holdings Ltd., it has signed a Socio-Economic Participation Agreement (“SEPA”) with Kaska First Nations (“Kaska”) located in both Northern British Columbia and the Yukon Territory.
 
The SEPA has been negotiated over the last five years and is designed to foster and promote social and economic opportunities for First Nations members and contractors. There are also numerous beneficial effects that accrue to Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp. (“YNG” or the “Company”).
 
In addition to annual fixed and variable payments, YNG commits to the provision of both training and employment opportunities to the local First Nations. YNG seeks to the further development of the Kaska workforce from which the Company will hire employees and/or contractors and to that end will make annual payments into a scholarship fund for qualified Kaska citizens.
 
Ongoing input by Kaska Citizens to the Ketza River Project (“Project”) will be facilitated by the hiring of an Aboriginal Liaison Officer (“ALO”). The ALO will act as a communication link between YNG and Kaska citizens.

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Sydney tar ponds revitalization gives Nova Scotia community new lease on life – by Kenyon Wallace (Toronto Star – April 30, 2012)

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.

Sid Slavin can barely recognize the spot where he spent 37 years toiling in the hot, smelly furnaces of one of Canada’s largest steel plants.

Where thousands of workers once forged much of Canada’s rails, rivets, bolts, nails and wire at the steel plant and coke ovens that provided the area with an economic lifeline for nearly 100 years, only grassy fields and a monument to those who lost their lives working at the plant remain.

The dramatic transformation is the culmination of a 10-year plan to clean up the former site of the Sydney tar ponds, an industrial wasteland of toxic sludge left behind after the plant closed in 2001.

With the third and final phase of environmental remediation of the site underway, what was once an infamous urban blight will be home to a freshwater river running alongside green parklands.

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Goldcorp’s Hallnor tailings clean-up going better than expected – by Len Gillis (Timmins Times – April 27, 2012)

http://www.timminstimes.com/

Company expertise beginning to show results across the city

Land reclamation work by Goldcorp Porcupine Gold Mines continues in Timmins and the results appear positive. The company, which won an environmental award last year, for its work on the Coniaurum tailings project, is moving forward on the Hallnor tailings in the East End and a company official said the work is progressing better than expected.

Goldcorp PGM’s environmental manager László Götz, said this past week that the company is becoming so adept at reclamation work that the job is actually running more smoothly than expected. Götz was speaking at a meeting of the Porcupine Watchful Eye, a community group that oversees Goldcorp environmental operations in Timmins.

“The Hallnor Reclamation seems to be now going easier because of the experience we gained during the Coniaurum and Hollinger tailings reclamations. So I can say that our work is much better going than previously thought,” said Götz.

He is referring to the fact that Goldcorp has spent huge sums of money in the past five years to restore old tailings properties to a more natural state.

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