Gold and Silver – Page 307 – Republic of Mining

Barrick Gold’s Tanzanian headache: Blood and Stone – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – Report on Business Magazine – October, 2011)

September 29, 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.

Across the cavernous pits and the mountains of waste rock, the alarm wails eerily, warning that an explosion is imminent. Dozens of villagers gather silently at the edge of a pit, past the holes that have been torn in the fence, waiting for their chance.

Then comes the blast. As a plume of smoke curls into the sky, the scavengers scramble into the pit, eager to prise a living from the freshly smashed rock.

Suddenly the police appear, careering over the rocky road from another corner of the vast mine. The pickup truck full of armed men in green uniforms bounces across the wasteland like a scene from Mad Max. The truck hurtles toward the scavengers, but is halted by a boulder that they have pulled across its path. By the time the police can leap down and move the boulder, the scavengers have scattered into the nearby trees, where they wait for their next opportunity.

This is the daily ritual of conflict at the North Mara gold mine in Tanzania: Intrude and retreat, pursue and withdraw—punctuated by flare-ups that sometimes leave people dead.

For an eyewitness, it’s difficult to reconcile this cycle of violence with the avowed community-friendly policies of the mine’s parent company, Barrick Gold Corp. and the professed goal of its founder, Peter Munk, of making good corporate citizenship the “calling card that precedes us wherever we go.”

Going deeper underground [Guatemala mining conflicts] – by Lyndsie Bourgon (Corporate Knights Magazine – Fall, 2011)

September 27, 2011

Corporate Knights: The Magazine for Clean Capitalism is a quarterly Canadian magazine dedicated to the promotion of responsible business practices within Canada and the advancement of social and environmental sustainability worldwide. (wiki)

In Guatemala, victims of human rights abuses involving Canadian mining companies are left to pick up the pieces. At home in Canada, company lawyers skirt around questions of accountability, and justice ultimately falls through the cracks.

Gory Wanless sits at his desk in downtown Toronto, flipping through photo after photo of burning huts and maimed bodies. He points out where Adolfo Ich was hacked in the arm with a machete before being shot in the head, and where the home belonging to one of 11 women allegedly raped once stood in Lote Ocho, a small village in Guatemala.

Wanless, a lawyer at Klippensteins Barristers and Solicitors, is working on two cases that have implicated Canadian mining company HudBay Minerals Inc. and its subsidiary, HMI Nickel Inc., in serious human rights abuses in Guatemala. Both cases concern Guatemala’s CGN security forces, employed by HMI Nickel. In Choc v. HudBay, it’s alleged that security personnel shot and killed Adolfo Ich, a well-known Mayan Q’eqchi community organizer, in public and in broad daylight on September 27, 2009.

His wife, Angelica Choc, has brought a wrongful death case forward against HudBay. In the other lawsuit, Caal v. HudBay, it’s alleged that CGN employees, the Guatemalan army and police took part in the gang rape of 11 Mayan Q’eqchi women during the forceful eviction of their homes in Lote Ocho. The women are suing HudBay for negligence.

Planning for a gold mine: Plan Nord’s impact on Quebec’s mining industry – by Nochane Rousseau (Canadian Mining Journal – September, 2011)

September 26, 2011

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

Nochane Rousseau, Leader, Mining Industry Services and Plan Nord Project – PwC. For more information, please visit PwC’s mining site at: www.pwc.com/ca/mining.

“The plan addresses these issues [infrastructure] by
outlining actions the Quebec government will take to
build the necessary strategic infrastructure in
territories with the highest economic potential—an
“if you build it, they will come” mentality.”

“Beyond being rich in resources, the province’s mining
industry is well established and affordable
hydro-electricity is a competitive advantage for miners
operating in Quebec.” (Nochane Rousseau, Leader, Mining
Industry Services and Plan Nord Project – PwC)

Twenty-five years may seem like a lifetime away, but the Quebec government’s Plan Nord could result in a huge transformation of Northern Quebec in what’s, in reality, a relatively short amount of time, given its ambitious objectives.

The numbers are nothing short of impressive. The Quebec Government projects Plan Nord to lead to over $80 billion in investments – $47 billion towards renewable energy and $33 billion for investments in the mining sector and public infrastructure such as roads, rail and airports. It will also create or consolidate about 20,000 jobs per year over a 25-year period. In its recently released plan, the government says it hopes the initiative will be to the coming decades what the development of La Manicouagan and James Bay were to the 1960-70s.

The mining industry could play a huge part in this investment. The 1.2 million km area the plan covers is a wealth of untapped opportunities that could surely captivate the interest of domestic and global mining companies. This territory produces all of Quebec’s nickel, zinc and iron ore, to name a few, and also represents a significant portion of gold production.

Lake Shore Gold plans $80-million expansion – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – September 21, 2011)

September 21, 2011

Ron Grech is a reporter for The Daily Press, the city of Timmins newspaper. Contact the writer at rgrech@thedailypress.ca

Lake Shore Gold is spending $80 million over the next 14 months to expand the processing mill at its Bell Creek complex near Timmins. Production for the mine has reached a level where it is exceeding the mill’s capacity.

“We need to expand the mill,” said Dan Gagnon, vice-president and general manager of Timmins operations for Lake Shore Gold.

Gagnon along with Brian Buss, Lake Shore’s director of project development and technical services, made a presentation to Timmins council Monday night, detailing expansion plans and targets for production growth.

Lake Shore has three key mining complexes — Bell Creek, Timmins West and Thunder Creek — west of the city plus some other properties just east of Timmins.

Gold miners seek to close the gap with bullion – by Brenda Bouw (Globe and Mail – September 20, 2011)

May 16, 2012September 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.

VANCOUVER— The world’s top gold miners are forging ahead with expansion plans and higher dividend payments, despite worries that bullion is bound for a correction after a spectacular runup beyond $1,900 (U.S.) an ounce earlier this month.

The companies are vowing to tackle the issue of share values that lag gold prices through aggressive growth plans, rising margins and sweetened dividends, despite the challenges of rising costs and increased competition for investors.

Executives believe that the price of gold will continue to rise and that equities will soon catch up and could even surpass physical gold in returns to investors.

“I do think the equities will respond,” Barrick Gold Corp.chief executive office Aaron Regent told investors at the Denver Gold Show in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Monday. “The equities have not reflected the strong fundamentals of the underlying businesses.”

Northern [Ontario] debate the day’s priority – (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal editorial – September 16, 2011)

September 17, 2011

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

THE LIBERALS had to know this was coming. Yet they went ahead in spite of the downside, apparently preferring it to having party leaders debate Northern Ontario issues in Thunder Bay where the Liberals hold both seats. The political blowback is coming hard and fast, and with seven days to go it can only get worse.

Last month, three key regional organizations formally confirmed an invitation to provincial party leaders to debate northern issues at a conference here Sept. 23, in the midst of the provincial election campaign.

The Northwestern Ontario Regional Conference is hosted by the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA), the Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce (NOACC) and the Northwestern Ontario Development Network (NODN). It brings together municipal, business and economic development leaders from across the Northwest.

Placer Dome Incorporated History: 1910-2002 – by International Directory of Company Histories

September 29, 2011September 17, 2011

For a large selection of corporate histories click: International Directory of Company Histories

Company History: (Please Note that Placer Dome was taken over by Barrick Gold in 2006)

Placer Dome Inc., the fifth largest gold mining company in the world, produces approximately 3.5 million ounces of gold annually. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, the company also mines silver and copper and has interests in 18 mines, many outside of Canada, in countries including South Africa, Australia, the United States, and Papua New Guinea. A leader in mine exploration, Placer Dome spent about $60 million in 2003 on exploration.

The Creation of a New Company

Placer Dome Inc. was formed in 1987 by the amalgamation of three Canadian mining companies, creating the largest gold producer in North America with an annual output of more than 800,000 ounces of gold. Dome Mines Limited, the oldest of the three predecessors and one of Canada’s most venerable gold producers, was incorporated in 1910, following the discovery of the Dome Mine, a hard-rock mine in northern Ontario, which was still producing gold in 1997. The mine and the company got their name from the shape of the gold-studded rock structure a band of prospectors literally stumbled over in 1909.

Placer Development Limited was incorporated in British Columbia in 1926 and made its first earnings during the 1930s, dredging gold from the gravel of a river in Papua New Guinea, then under Australian mandate. “Placer,” which was Spanish for shoal, referred to water-borne deposits of sand or gravel containing particles of gold or silver. Mining that deposit was no easy task.

OMA member Osisko builds First Nation knowledge into environmental approval process

September 16, 2011

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 Osisko Mining Corporation is reaching out to incorporate Traditional Knowledge into the Environmental Assessment of its Hammond Reef gold property in Northwestern Ontario. The company recently held an Elders Forum on site. More than 65 Elders from neighbouring First Nations, company staff and government officials participated. Nine First Nations communities were represented at the Forum.

Chiefs and councils of these First Nations made hearing from the Elders about this project a main concern. Elders, while not always the most senior residents of First Nations communities, are generally respected for their wisdom, patience and understanding. They value traditional teachings and passing them along to younger generations.

“The Elders Forum provided us with a unique opportunity to approach the Environmental Assessment process from a Traditional Knowledge perspective,” said Peter Hinz, Mineral Development Consultant with the Ministry of Northern Development Mines and Forestry. “This was an excellent opportunity to facilitate an open exchange of information and perspectives between First Nations, industry and government.”

NEWS RELEASE: Probe Mines Announces Memorandum of Understanding With Brunswick House, Chapleau Cree and Chapleau Ojibwe First Nations for Its Borden Lake Gold Project, Chapleau, Ontario

September 9, 2011

Sep 07, 2011

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Sept. 7, 2011) – Probe Mines Limited (TSX VENTURE:PRB) (“Probe” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with the Brunswick House, Chapleau Cree and Chapleau Ojibwe First Nations communities near Chapleau, Ontario. The MOU establishes a commitment by Probe to develop an ongoing relationship with the three communities in the area of the Company’s Borden Lake Gold Project and provides the communities with an opportunity to participate in the benefits of the project through training, ongoing communication and business development.

An Elders Committee (the “Committee”) will be created to provide advice to the Company on traditional values and local cultural and environmental matters during the exploration phase. Probe has also agreed to negotiate an Impact Benefit Agreement with the communities should the project proceed to production.

David Palmer, President of Probe, states “The signing of the MOU is an important first step in building a relationship based on mutual respect and cooperation with the First Nations communities. We are looking forward to working with the communities and receiving their input as we explore the Borden Lake area. Their contribution of local knowledge will be invaluable in helping us create a socially responsible exploration program to the benefit of all involved.”

Miner Detour Gold is a major player in the foodservice and hotel business

September 6, 2011

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.

One of the largest hotel and food service operations in Ontario right now is not a resort, or hotel, or casino, it is the Detour Lake mine site located 185 kilometres north and east of Cochrane. Detour Gold is investing $1.3 billion to bring this open-pit gold project into production by early 2013. Once in operation, it will be Canada’s largest gold mine.

Access to the mine site from Cochrane is by a provincial two-lane highway and a private company road. The road trip from Cochrane takes about two and one half hours and crosses several major rivers flowing into the Arctic watershed. The mine is near the Quebec border and about 100 kilometres south of James Bay.

On any given day at the moment, there could be 1,000 people, or more, on site from Detour Gold and at least 15 contracting companies. It is a beehive of activity requiring military precision and logistics to feed and house the workers let alone bring in materials to build the mine infrastructure including the processing plant facilities and tailings areas.

Gold Fever Gripping the Australian Outback – by Matt Siegel (New York Times – August 15, 2011)

September 4, 2011

The New York Times has the third highest weekday circulation in the United States (after USA Today and the Wall Street Journal) and is one of the country’s most influential newspapers.

SYDNEY, Australia — Four years ago, Marco Nero was on top of the world. He was earning more than $1 million working as a film effects designer for some of the world’s most prestigious digital animation houses. His mind, however, was elsewhere.

Mr. Nero, 40, was increasingly spending his office hours poring over Web sites for anything he could find about an unlikely subject: gold. Like Humphrey Bogart’s character in the classic 1948 film “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” he realizes now, he was developing a full-blown case of gold fever, a condition whose genesis he traces to a trip to a prospecting supply shop in the Sydney area.

“I happened to talk to the gentleman that was behind the counter, and he showed me a 2-ounce gold nugget he had and it was a beautiful piece. I held that in my hand,” he said. “I was probably hooked at that point.”

Shortly thereafter, despite protests from friends and family, he quit his job to hunt for gold.

Ontario Gold Mining – by Stan Sudol

March 22, 2016September 4, 2011

Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant and mining columnist. stan.sudol@republicofmining.com

Historically, Ontario’s gold mining industry has played a major role in the settlement of the province’s northern regions and along with the Cobalt silver boom and further gold and base metal discoveries in northwestern Quebec were primarily responsible for the establishment of Toronto as today’s mine financing capital of the world.

The many gold mines that came into production during the Depression of the 1930s made a vital contribution to keeping the province solvent and with over a century of experience building many underground mines helped solidify Ontario’s hard-rock mining expertise that is well respected globally.

However, northern Ontario’s gold rushes have always seemed to play second-fiddle to the legendary Klondike in the Yukon, aided by famous writers like Jack London, Robert W. Service – of the Cremation of Sam McGee fame – and Canadian literary icon, Pierre Berton. At it’s peak, the Klondike gold rush only lasted for a few years – 1896-99 – and produced a miserly 12.5 million ounces of gold. “Chump change” compared to northern Ontario’s four major gold rushes and a number of smaller gold districts, most of which are still producing the precious metal today.

Northern Ontario: A Golden Klondike – 192 million ounces of gold and counting – by Stan Sudol

January 21, 2018August 14, 2011

Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant and mining columnist. Stan.sudol@republicofmining.com

A much shorter version of this article appears in the September, 2011 issue of the Northern Miner’s Mining Markets: A Resource for Investors magazine.

A fever is spreading throughout northern Ontario, from the eastern districts adjacent Quebec to the far reaches of the northwest right up to the Manitoba border. This raging malaise is caused by a metal that has captured mankind’s attention from the dawn of time. I am referring to “gold fever” and many in northern Ontario – a vast northern territory, which is almost equal to Germany, United Kingdon, Greece and Ireland combined – are thoroughly infected or obsessed over this beautiful precious metal.

Considering the record setting price of gold, moving upwards almost daily, the political stability of northern Ontario and its strong world-class mining infrastructure versus lesser developed countries like Tanzania, Guatemala or Papua New Guinea, exploration in all current and former gold mining camps is booming.