Manitoba Mining – Page 15 – Republic of Mining

HudBay case raises litigation risk for Canadian resource companies – by Peter Koven (National Post – October 30, 2013)

October 30, 2013

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

When an Ontario court ruled against HudBay Minerals Inc. in a human rights case in July, it sent shockwaves across the Canadian mining and legal communities. Months later, lawyers remain far from certain what kind of long-term impact the decision will have.

In its decision, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice determined that the suit against Toronto-based HudBay should proceed in Canada, even though the alleged abuses took place in Guatemala. HudBay is not appealing the ruling, which paves the way for a trial some years in the future. The plaintiffs claim that HudBay’s security personnel killed a local activist and gang-raped 11 women.

The implication of the court ruling was obvious: In the future, Canadian resource companies with foreign operations (which is most of them) face a real risk of increased litigation at home based on their conduct abroad. That introduces significant risk for companies like Barrick Gold Corp. and Goldcorp Inc. that have been accused of massive misconduct in far-flung jurisdictions.

Murray Klippenstein, the plaintiff lawyer in the Choc vs. HudBay case who played a key role in bringing it to Canada, said he does expect more lawsuits of this kind.

Mining academy equips students with high-tech know-how – by Nick Martin (Brandon Sun – October 21, 2013)

October 21, 2013

http://www.brandonsun.com/

‘Hands-on applied learning’

FLIN FLON — No, a pickaxe isn’t on the list of school supplies. Not like when Dallas Mihalicz’s forebears went down into the mines.

The 18-year-old from Flin Flon wants to follow them, but she’d be operating with sophisticated technology or working the controls of a 50-ton loader two kilometres below the rugged Canadian Shield.

Though, more likely, Mihalicz wouldn’t get near the underground until she’d put in her time working on the frozen tundra at an exploration camp searching for the next motherlode. “I’ve been growing up around mining, my father, grandpa, uncle. My dad’s a geologist,” said Mihalicz, who graduated from Flin Flon’s Hapnot Collegiate in June.

Most of her current 11 classmates took far more circuitous routes to University College of the North’s Northern Manitoba Mining Academy, which opened only a year ago in downtown Flin Flon, next door to the hospital and practically in the shadow of the HudBay Minerals mine.

Manitoba Reed Mine approval a ‘step back,’ says Wilderness Committee – by Ian Graham (Thompson Citizen – October 4, 2013)

October 4, 2013

The Thompson Citizen, which was established in June 1960, covers the City of Thompson and Nickel Belt Region of Northern Manitoba. The city has a population of about 13,500 residents while the regional population is more than 40,000. IAN@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

The province’s approval of Hudbay’s Reed Mine copper project in Grass River Provincial Park, which was granted on Sept. 24, is not going over well with the Wilderness Committee, which opposed the mine because of its proximity to the habitat of woodland caribou, a provincially and federally protected species.

“It is hard news to take,” said Eric Reder, the Wilderness Committee’s Manitoba campaign director in a Sept 25 press release. “Canada stopped mining national parks in 1930. Eight decades later and Manitoba still can’t join the party?”

The Reed Mine, which is 70 per cent owned by Hudbay, is projected to produce 1,300 tonnes of copper per day and is located about 80 kilometres west-southwest of Snow Lake on the southern side of Highway 39. The mine is expected to be in production for approximately five years, during which time 2.16 million tones of copper ore will be extracted and then trucked to and processed in Flin Flon, according to a project overview prepared by AECOM on behalf of Hudbay. At full production, the mine will provide 88 jobs, the company says.

Vale’s Manitoba Operations has reached 95 per cent of cost savings goal, Lovro Paulic says – by John Barker (Thompson Citizen – September 18, 2013)

September 18, 2013

But smelter and refinery “base case” is still to close sometime in 2015

Vale, which is trying to find $100 million in cost savings at its Manitoba Operations in Thompson, has achieved 95 per cent of that goal over the last year – a cost savings of $95 million with $5 million still to go, vice-president Lovro Paulic told the Thompson Chamber of Commerce Sept. 11.

Paulic said $60 million was saved last year and $35 million has been saved so far this year. Ninety per cent of the money was saved between September 2012 and last April, while anther five per cent has been saved since then. That leaves another five per cent to go to reach the $100 million target.

The result of the collective cost-savings effort across the operation was a reprieve for Birchtree Mine from being mothballed again for a second time. Birchtree Mine, which was discovered for its nickel deposit in 1963 and opened in 1968, was previously on care and maintenance for nearly 12 years from 1977 to 1989, although regardless if it is mothballed or not, the current life of mine plan anticipates closure at some point in the next 10 years in any event.

Commentary: Guatemalans’ lawsuit against Hudbay in Canada – by Christina Hall and Kevin MacNeill(Northern Miner – August 27, 2013)

August 28, 2013

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

On July 22, 2013, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled in Choc v. Hudbay Minerals Inc. that three separate lawsuits brought by indigenous Guatemalans against Canadian mining company Hudbay Minerals and other defendants, can go forward in Canada.

The plaintiffs’ lawsuits allege that between 2007 and 2009, security personnel working for Hudbay’s subsidiaries — who were allegedly under the control and supervision of Hudbay, the parent company — committed various human rights abuses. These include the alleged gang rape of 11 Guatemalan women, the beating and shooting death of a respected Guatemalan indigenous leader who had been an outspoken critic of mining practices, and the shooting of another Guatemalan man in an unprovoked attack which left the man paralyzed.

All of these abuses are alleged to have been committed by security personnel at Hudbay’s Fenix mining project, a proposed open-pit nickel mining operation located on Lake Izabal in northeastern Guatemala. According to the pleadings in the lawsuit, Hudbay and the other the defendants asserted that they had a valid legal right to this land, while indigenous communities claimed that the Mayan Q’eqchi’ were the rightful owners of the lands, which they considered to be their ancestral homeland.

Guatemalan mine claims against HudBay can be tried in Canada, judge says – by Bertrand Marotte (Globe and Mail – July 23, 2013)

July 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.

Canadian mining company HudBay Minerals Inc. can potentially be held liable for alleged violence at a Guatemalan mine owned by a subsidiary, a Ontario Superior Court judge has ruled in what plaintiffs say is a precedent-setting case.

Madame Justice Carole Brown’s ruling, handed down Monday, means that the claims of 13 Guatemalans can proceed to trial in Canadian courts, according to Murray Klippenstein, lawyer for the plaintiffs.

Mr. Klippenstein had argued that HudBay itself can be held liable for alleged negligence in the case, alleging that HudBay executives made decisions for its subsidiary regarding security at the mine, relations with local indigenous people and the “forced evictions” of Mayan protestors claiming the mine is theirs.

Lawsuits were launched against HudBay after clashes that pitted protestors against security details at the Fenix nickel mine in 2007 and 2009. The allegations have not been proven and HuBay has since sold the mine.

Uncertainty concerning disputed land claims compounds challenges for Manitoba’s miners – by Alana Wilson (Mining Facts.org – July 10, 2013)

July 16, 2013

MiningFacts.org is a digital resource for Canadian mining information produced by the Fraser Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank.

Manitoba faces ‘potentially deal-breaking uncertainty’ over treaty land claims in its mineral exploration sector according to an article by Martin Cash in the Winnipeg Free Press. This is compounding problems for the mineral exploration sector at a time when metal prices are low, investors are already avoiding the sector, and equipment is subject to an additional 1% sales tax.

According to the article, Mega Precious Metals –an exploration company working to develop a gold property called Monument Bay—have received an eviction notice from the nearby Red Sucker Lake First Nation. A temporary court injunction has since been issued which “authorizes the arrest of anyone obstructing, trespassing or creating a nuisance or ‘engaging in any act which interferes with the operations of the Monument Bay project’.”

The band has referred to the property in a news release as “a mineral-exploration company operating illegally in Red Sucker Lake First Nation traditional territory”. Yet Mega Precious Metals has been working with the band for years and in 2010 signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with them.

NEWS RELEASE: MEGA PRECIOUS METALS INC. ALLOWED TO CONTINUE WORK AT THE MONUMENT BAY PROJECT

July 15, 2013

Thunder Bay, Ontario (July 12, 2013)

Mega Precious Metals Inc. (MGP-TSX-V) and Rolling Rock Resources Corporation (Mega): Further to the news release of July 4, 2013, the Court of the Queen’s Bench, Manitoba has granted an indefinite extension of the injunction and Mega is able to continue its planned exploration work at its Monument Bay Project.

Mega sought the injunction in response to a “Stop Work Order” and a “Notice of Eviction” Letter delivered to Mega on July 2, 2013 by Chief Leslie Harper of the Red Sucker Lake First Nation (RSLFN).

Glen Kuntz, President and CEO stated “Mega remains interested in exploring further opportunities for collaboration with RSLFN to those already in place.” Mega has been actively engaged with RSLFN since 2010 and believes that it continues to demonstrate respect for RSLFN’ Treaty rights.

Mega Precious Metals has had all of the necessary permits from the Government of Manitoba to operate its camp and to conduct exploration activities on Crown land in the Monument Bay project area since December of 2010. The permits that Mega has received from the Manitoba Government provide for continued engagement with Aboriginal communities to ensure that traditional activities and areas of cultural significance are protected and respected.

Northern Manitoba First Nation tells mining company to stop work and get out – by Ian Graham (Thompson Citizen – July 5, 2013)

July 8, 2013

The chief, councillors and some citizens of Red Sucker Lake First Nation in northeast Manitoba near the Ontario border issued a stop work order and eviction notice at Mega Precious Metals Inc.’s Monument Bay Project mineral exploration camp 60 kilometres north of the community on July 1.

“This STOP WORK ORDER is issued because: Mega Precious Metals Inc. and affiliated companies have breached the Customary Laws of Mithkomaybin Thakaykun Ininiwak as represented by Red Sucker Lake First Nation by constructing, operating and extracting resources from Twin Lakes without the expressed permission of the owners Mithkomaybin Thakaykun Ininiwak as represented by Red Sucker Lake First Nation,” read the stop work order. “WARNING: The failure to stop work, the resumption of work without permission from the Mithkomaybin Thakaykun Ininiwak as represented by Red Sucker Lake First Nation is punishable by the Customary Laws of Red Sucker Lake First Nation.”

“On April 13, 2013, our people voted unanimously to halt all mineral exploration activity in our territory by whatever means possible,” said Red Sucker First Lake Nation Chief Les Harper in a press release. “It doesn’t matter how long it takes, we will abide by our people’s wish to enforce the Stop Work Order and the Eviction Notice.”

Court order allows mining company to continue working at Red Sucker Lake – by Staff (Winnipeg Free Press – July 4, 2013)

July 5, 2013

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

An eviction notice and stop-work order issued by a northern Manitoba First Nation against a mineral exploration company has been countered by a court-ordered temporary injunction on behalf of the company allowing it to continue to operate.
The spat between Red Sucker Lake First Nation and Mega Precious Metals Inc. broke out suddenly this week after more than two years of apparent cooperation between the two.

However frustration from the First Nation at what some say was the lack of jobs or training opportunities and growing environmental concerns prompted the chief and council to terminate a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mega, one of only three such agreements that have ever been negotiated in the province.

In its first public statement since it received the eviction notice on Monday, company CEO, Glen Kuntz said, “Mega believes the company has, and continues to, demonstrate our respect for Red Sucker Lake First Nations’ treaty rights. Mega plans to continue to meet with community members and provide project updates on a regular basis in an effort to maintain our social license to operate.”

Mega Precious Metals is in the process of proving up a gold reserve called Monument Bay in a location about 60 kilometres north of Red Sucker Lake which is within the band’s traditional area.

Manitoba sulphur dioxide emissions will soon be drastically reduced – by Ian Graham (Thompson Citizen – June 14, 2013)

July 5, 2013

There was good news and bad news about Manitoba’s environment in the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment’s 2010-2011 progress report on the Canada-Wide Acid Rain Strategy for Post-200 that was released earlier this spring.

The bad news was that Manitoba was the third-largest emitter of sulphur dioxide (SO2) in Canada in 2010, accounting for 14 per cent of the total, behind only Alberta t 27 per cent and Ontario at 20 per cent.

The good news was that SO2 emissions from Manitoba in 2010 were down 44 per cent from their 2008 level, to 197,000 tonnes from 350,000 tonnes, thanks in part to the closure that year of Hudbay’s copper smelter in Flin Flon, which was expected to reduce total emissions of SO2 by 185,000 tonnes per year. That was the largest relative decrease in S02 emissions in any province over the same two-year period.

And while it will not be good for the local economy, the scheduled closure of Vale’s smelter in Thompson in 2015 is expected to reduce the amount of sulphur dioxide emitted in Manitoba by another 185,000 tonnes.

Birchtree: Vale sheaths the Sword of Damocles – Editorial (Thompson Citizen – May 15, 2013)

July 5, 2013

It was one of the rare good news announcements to come from Vale, still Thompson’s most important employer, in the last 2½ years: Birchtree Mine, which opened in 1968, is “no longer scheduled to be placed on care and maintenance in August,” Lovro Paulic, vice-president for Vale’s Manitoba Operations, told employees in an internal Manitoba Operations update circulated May 6.

Still, it must be seen in perspective for what it is: good news by virtue of not being bad news. The status quo hasn’t changed and there is no net gain here. The good news is that for the time being at least there is no loss either. Still, it must be seen in perspective for what it is: good news by virtue of not being bad news. The status quo hasn’t changed and there is no net gain here. The good news is that for the time being at least there is no loss either. About 185 Vale employees work at Birchtree Mine, along with approximately 25 non-Vale contractors.

Kelly Strong, Vale’s vice-president of Ontario and UK operations since last November, told a packed luncheon last month in Sudbury that nickel prices of a little more than $7 a pound are comparable to $2.50 a pound a decade ago, and are creating huge challenges for Vale. Nickel prices were under $7 last week. Strong said several factors have substantially increased mining costs, including oil prices that have increased by 350 per cent, and the Canadian dollar, which has increased in value by 60 per cent compared to the U.S. dollar.

Chiefs stand together to demand development on their own terms – by Ian Graham (Thompson Citizen – May 3, 2013)

July 5, 2013

ian@thompsoncitizen.net

Representatives of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC), Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) and the Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO) held a press conference outside the provincial governments Mines Branch and Mineral Resources Division office in Winnipeg on April 26 to announce that Manitoba First Nations are declaring moratoriums on resource development in their traditional territories and that stop work orders on mine development are being posted and will be enforced.

“We’re no longer going to be sitting back watching corporations and governments come into our traditional territories and ancestral lands and exploit our resources, leaving us nothing at the end of the day,” said AMC Grand Chief Derek Nepinak. “We’re not going to accept that. The status quo is done. For far too many generations now, provincial governments, federal governments have worked in collusion with the corporate industries to come into our territories and to take the vast wealth of our ancestral lands. Meanwhile they come back to us with contribution agreements that are wholly inadequate to provide for the basic needs of our communities and our citizens. Those days are over, those days are done and what’s happening here I think is an emergence of a new unified position. Once again our people are leading the way.”

Eviction notice adds to gloom in mining sector – by Martin Cash (Winnipeg Free Press – July 4, 2013)

July 4, 2013

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

These are not the best days to be in the mineral-exploration business in Manitoba.

Metal prices are low — gold prices are at their lowest level in 36 months; nickel, lowest in 48 months; copper, lowest in 30 months; and zinc, lowest in 18 months — investors’ appetite for risky (albeit tax-deductible) exploration plays is just about non-existent and starting this week in Manitoba, there is an additional one percentage point of sales tax on expensive equipment.

On top of that there is the potentially deal-breaking uncertainty over treaty land claims. One exploration company — Mega Precious Metals — that has been diligently working on a Manitoba gold property called Monument Bay for many years was surprised this week with an eviction notice from nearby Red Sucker Lake First Nation in northeast Manitoba.

In a news release, the band referred to the operation as “a mineral-exploration company operating illegally in Red Sucker Lake First Nation traditional territory.” But that same mineral-exploration company has been co-operating with the band for years and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Red Sucker Lake in 2010.

Manitoba First Nation evicts mineral-exploration company – by Staff (Winnipeg Free Press – July 2, 2013)

July 4, 2013

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

The Red Sucker Lake First Nation presented a stop-work order and eviction notice over the weekend to a mineral-exploration company that reserve officials say is operating illegally in its traditional territory.

Mega Precious Metals, a mineral-exploration company based in Thunder Bay, has been drilling and developing a potential gold mine for a few years at Monument Bay, about 60 kilometres northeast of Red Sucker Lake First Nation.

Red Sucker Lake is about 700 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. A spokesman for the band said action was taken now because new permits were issued recently without appropriate consultation with the band.

“The permits and licences granted to Mega Precious Metals Inc. are unlawful due to the absence of adequate consultation and accommodation,” says a statement from the band.

A spokesman for the band said there has been no violence or aggressive action related to the eviction notice.