Mining Conflict and Opposition – Page 69

Bolivia’s Morales threatens to “nationalize” Malku Kota silver project – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – July 9, 2012)

July 9, 2012

www.mineweb.com

Fresh off the expropriation of the Quinto smelter, Bolivia’s president has now set his sights on the troubled Malku Khota project, a target of violent protests and kidnappings.

RENO (MINEWEB) – Bolivian President Evo Morales reportedly told a farmers’ group Sunday that Bolivia will consider nationalizing South American Silver’s silver property. Morales stressed he had not made a final decision on whether or not to revoke the concession for the Malku Khota project, Reuters reported.

“Nationalism is our obligation, I already raised the issue of nationalizing [the Malku Khota project] last year, and I told [local residents] to reach an agreement, because when they want, we’re going to nationalize,” he said.

In a statement Sunday, South American Silver said Bolivian authorities “continue in their efforts to restore peace and order to the Malku Khota region in the face of acts of aggression being perpetrated against law-abiding local indigenous communities, police, the company’s employees and its local contractors.

Ontario’s Ring of Fire: Politics and Intrigue (Part One of Two) – Stan Sudol

December 27, 2012July 6, 2012

Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant, speechwriter and columnist who blogs at www.republicofmining.com stan.sudol@republicofmining.com

This column was published in the Sudbury Star on July 14, 2012. http://www.thesudburystar.com/2012/07/14/the-ring-of-fire-politics-and-intrigue and posted on the Canadian Mining Journal website: http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/news/guest-perspective-politics-and-intrigue-in-the-ring-of-fire-part-one/1001537458/

On May 9th Cliffs Natural Resources announced that the company was advancing its massive $3.2 billion chromite project in the isolated and infrastructure-challenge Ring of Fire region to the feasibility stage. Sudbury was selected as the best location for the proposed $1.8 billion smelter for a wide range of reasons including rail, transportation, power supply and skilled workforce.

If you think that such a positive announcement should bring collective cheers across the north and an economically imploding southern Ontario, you would be wrong. The ensuing flurry of anguished and angry news releases from First Nations, environmental organizations, and some politicians was enough to make any reader despair that the Ring of Fire will ever be developed!

First some essential background info before I continue. Discovered in 2007, the Ring of Fire mining camp, located 540 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, in the James Bay lowlands, will probably go down in the history books as one of the most significant Canadian mineral finds of the past century. It is estimated that the chromite deposits are so large that we could be mining up there for the next hundred years and that the total mineral potential of the region – chromite, nickel, copper, PGMs, vanadium, gold – could easily exceed the legendary trillion-dollar Sudbury basin!

NAN Chiefs-in-Assembly support the position of Matawa First Nations Council (Netnewsledger.com – July 5, 2012)

July 6, 2012

http://netnewsledger.com/

THUNDER BAY – Mining Now – Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Deputy Grand Chief Terry Waboose showed support for Neskantaga First Nation’s legal challenge to Ring of Fire development during today’s hearing by the Ontario Mining and Land Commissioner.

“I am pleased to support Chief Moonias and Neskantaga First Nation as they exercise their right to provide free, prior and informed consent before any resource development can occur in their traditional territory, as this is the international standard that NAN First Nations have demanded that the governments of Ontario and Canada must uphold,” said NAN Deputy Grand Chief Terry Waboose, who attended today’s hearings in Toronto.

“NAN Chiefs-in-Assembly support the position of Matawa First Nations Council that the development of the Ring of Fire will not proceed until a trilateral environmental assessment process is established, resource benefits and revenue are negotiated and the fundamental question of First Nation jurisdiction is addressed.”

Neskantaga has intervened in a dispute between Cliffs Natural Resources and junior mining company KWG Resources over the development of a road to access a proposed $3.2-billion chromite mine in the Attawapiskat River watershed, the homeland of Neskantaga First Nation.

Argentine ruling won’t stop project, Barrick says – by Pav Jordan (Globe and Mail – July 6, 2012)

July 6, 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.

A law banning mining around glaciers in Argentina will not derail development of one of the world’s largest new gold projects, Barrick Gold Corp. said. The Pascua-Lama project is on track to go into production in 2013 after years of fighting over its environmental impact.

Argentina’s Congress passed the law – which also bans drilling on oil rigs – about two years ago in an effort to protect water reserves, but opponents held it off with an injunction that was overthrown by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, driving Barrick Gold stock lower amid concerns Pascua-Lama may be halted.

“The impact of the law on Barrick is nil,” said Barrick spokesman Andy Lloyd, pointing out that there are no glaciers near the mine on the Argentine side of the cross-border project with Chile, where 70 per cent of the mine is being built.

Barrick stock stumbled on news of the ruling earlier this week because it raised alarm bells that Pascua-Lama might be thwarted by the same environmental concerns it already faced down nearly a decade ago, when a media storm echoed from Andean capitals in Buenos Aires and Santiago to Barrick headquarters in Toronto.

Neskantaga takes ‘American mining bully’ to court [over Ring of Fire road] – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – July 5, 2012)

July 6, 2012

http://wawataynews.ca/

Neskantaga’s fight to slow down the Ring of Fire and get First Nation consultation over mining hits a Toronto mining court today.

In a case with serious implications for the speed at which Ring of Fire development occurs, Neskantaga will argue to the Ontario Mining Commissioner that First Nation consultation has to happen before industry can buy and sell land on Neskantaga traditional territory.

The specific case revolves around a mining claim dispute between Cliffs Resources and KWG Resources. Cliffs wants to buy land claims from KWG on which to build its proposed Ring of Fire transportation corridor, but Neskantaga argues that First Nations hold rights to the land superseding those of industry.

“This is about a small First Nation in Northern Ontario standing up against an American mining bully hell bent on making a road and a mine no matter what First Nations say,” said Chief Peter Moonias of Neskantaga in a press release. “The McGuinty government continues to ignore First Nations and is desperate to see this northern Ontario mega project go ahead. We have Constitutional and Aboriginal and treaty rights on our side and we hope the Mining Court can help us put this project on hold so a proper consultation process can begin.”

Chief waits for MPPs’ replies [about Sudbury chromite smelter] – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – July 6, 2012)

July 6, 2012

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

The chief of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek (Whitefish Lake) First Nation is waiting for replies from several Ontario cabinet ministers before weighing in on Cliffs Natural Resources’ plan to build a $1.8-billion ferrochrome smelter near Capreol.

Chief Steve Miller said he has asked Premier Dalton McGuinty and at least three of his ministers for meetings to discuss the possible impact of the smelter on his First Nation, located about 20 km west of downtown Sudbury. Miller has concerns about the environmental impact on the Vermillion River Watershed, which he said “flows right in front of our First Nation.”

He has written Sudbury MPP and Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci, Environment Minister Jim Bradley and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Kathleen Wynne for meetings to get more information on the smelter.

What he reads about processing chromite ore is troublesome, said Miller. That cabinet ministers not getting back to him has only increased his anxiety.

“There’s so much on the Internet about chromite and nobody knows exactly the effect of it,” he said.

First Nation fights for control in Ontario’s ‘oil sands’ [Ring of Fire] – CBC Radio Thunder Bay (July 5, 2012)

July 5, 2012

http://www.cbc.ca/thunderbay/

Tiny First Nation takes on an mining giant at obscure provincial tribunal

Ontario’s Mining and Lands Commissioner will hear arguments Thursday about a road to be built in Ontario’s so-called Ring of Fire.

The nickel and chromite deposits in a vast area of the James Bay lowlands have been compared to Alberta’s oil sands in terms of economic potential. Tuesday’s case is a critical battle in the long fight by First Nations to control the pace of development in the most isolated part of the province.

U.S. mining giant Cliffs Natural Resources hopes to build a 340-kilometre road to truck its raw ore south for processing. It would snake across an esker — a long ridge — rising out of the muskeg, cross 85 waterways and three major rivers, and run right through the traditional lands of Neskantaga First Nation.

Chief Peter Moonias, wants a say in how — and even if — the road is built. “We’re not just stakeholders,” Moonias said. “We are people that live on the land that came from the land.”

Tensions rising over Ring of Fire – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – July 4, 2012)

July 4, 2012

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

Matawa First Nations’ efforts to slow down development of the Ring of Fire and advance First Nation input over mining has received support from First Nations across northern Ontario. Both the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) and Mushkegowuk Council last week released statements of support for Matawa’s stance.

Mushkegowuk Grand Chief Stan Louttit said offers of “small” Impact Benefit Agreements made by industry to affected First Nations are not enough, and that First Nation voices need to be heard when it comes to how and when mining happens in northern Ontario.

“We too are very frustrated with how the project is being aggressively advanced with little or no regard for First Nations rights and jurisdictions,” Louttit said. The Grand Chief said that Mushkegowuk First Nations are prepared to engage in direct action against Ring of Fire companies in support of the Matawa First Nations.

“We are ready to stand with our brothers and sisters to be heard,” Louttit said. “We have tried, but no one has listened. It is unfortunate indeed that we have to resort to this type of action.”

Ring of Fire eviction can be avoided, says Neskantaga chief – by Alisha Hiyate (Mining Markets – June 29, 2012)

July 3, 2012

http://www.miningmarkets.ca/

Six Ring of Fire First Nations communities have warned the companies hoping to develop the area’s rich chromite and nickel-PGM deposits, including international iron ore and coal miner Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF-N), that they’re about to be evicted.

In a press release on June 22, several communities warned that they were in the “final stages of issuing a 30-day eviction notice to all mining companies with exploration and development camps in the region” of northern Ontario’s James Bay lowlands.

“We are sending a strong message to Ontario and Canada that we need to negotiate a process for First Nation participation in the mining projects that will be changing our lives forever,” said Neskantaga First Nation Chief Peter Moonias in a statement. “Unless and until we have a table for government to government negotiations we will evict the intruders from our lands.”

Asked if the eviction could be avoided, Moonias said yes, and outlined several issues that first need to be addressed by government.
First, Moonias says that the relationship between governments and First Nations must be treated as a government to government relationship, adding that First Nations are not “stakeholders.”

Noront keeps its cool under First Nations eviction threat – by Alisha Hiyate (Mining Markets – June 28, 2012)

July 3, 2012

http://www.miningmarkets.ca/

Like all the companies working in northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire, Noront Resources (NOT-V) may be about to receive an “eviction notice” from a coalition of six First Nations communities in the remote area of the James Bay lowlands.

On June 22, six northern Ontario First Nations communities issued a press release, warning that they were in the “final stages of issuing a 30-day eviction notice to all mining companies with exploration and development camps in the region.”

But for now, Noront president and CEO Wesley Hanson says it’s “business as usual,” noting that consultations regarding the company’s advanced-stage Eagle’s Nest nickel-copper-PGM project are ongoing. “In fact, the day after they issued the (warning of an) eviction notice, we were in one of the communities doing our consultations,” Hanson said in an interview yesterday, after a Richmond Club luncheon presentation in Toronto.

“Nothing’s official yet, so we’re going to basically conduct business as usual until we get an official notice,” Hanson said. “The government of Ontario is certainly aware of the threat of the eviction notice. My hope would be they would be proactive and try to nip it in the bud and address the concerns as quickly as possible.”

Asbestos mine loan gives Charest ‘good reason to be ashamed’ – by Les Parreaux (Globe and Mail – July 3, 2012)

July 3, 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.

MONTREAL — The announcement was described as a national embarrassment, the crass political manoeuvre of a desperate Quebec government trying to hold on to a Liberal seat at the cost of public health.

Critics lined up with speed and in number on the long weekend to blast Premier Jean Charest for green-lighting a $58-million loan to Canada’s last asbestos mine late on the Friday of the unofficial start of summer vacation season.

The loan stunned environmentalists, the medical community and cancer-fighting groups while promoters of the controversial relaunch of the Jeffrey Mine were more difficult to find. Even the province’s own public-health doctors are outraged.

Mr. Charest “has good reason to be ashamed,” said Yv Bonnier Viger, head of Quebec’s association of public-health specialists. “He is relaunching the exploitation of an extremely dangerous material that will cause the suffering and death of thousands of people in poor countries, at only marginal benefit to a desperate community.”

Find a way to get [Ring of Fire] started – by Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (July 2, 2012)

July 2, 2012

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

THE BIGGEST development in Ontario — and potential salvation of the troubled northern economy — is facing a new set of challenges from First Nations leaders. They are issuing an eviction notice to all mining companies with operations in the Ring of Fire mineral deposit. And they are suing the province for unpaid royalties on former development projects in the North.

There is so much at stake, and so much opportunity to uplift lives on and off reserves, that it would be a shame to let the development bog down if there are ways to make it happen in good time.

First, can we get a definitive statement from Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Dalton McGuinty, who have discussed the development, on why a lesser study for environmental assessment is sufficient for the project rather than a more comprehensive joint review panel? This approach fits with the federal government’s new policy push to lessen environmental oversight on large energy projects, but is it the right decision? Does McGuinty agree with it?

This project will see open pit mining for decades and a long road built through virgin forest from the James Bay lowlands to the CN rail line. Does it require an environmental assessment that results in public hearings in each of the affected First Nations as their leaders contend?

[Wolf Lake] Is this a park or a mine site? – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – June 30, 2012)

June 30, 2012

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

WOLF LAKE — It’s my second day on Wolf Lake, a beryl-blue beauty socketed in quartzite hills north of Markstay, when I trip across the core samples.

Perhaps a dozen in all, these palm-length cylinders of rock — some a marbled pink, most the same greyish-white hue you see on the surface — form a weird pile at my feet, like the petrified scat of dinosaurs.

Paul Tukker, a former reporter with Sudbury CBC and my supposed companion on this trip, is currently AWOL. We’ve paddled over from our campsite on the eastern shore to explore this southwest bay, but he’s slipped away on me again.

To cool off, would be my educated guess. It’s another scorcher, and Tukker has already swum about six times since we set out yesterday from a public launch on Matagamasi Lake, crossing a couple of smaller lakes and two short but taxing portages en route. One time he disappeared mid-portage, when there wasn’t even any water in sight, and reappeared soaking wet. He’s a walking divining rod, this guy.

Matawa First Nations pledge to put brakes on Ring of Fire – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – June 28, 2012)

June 29, 2012

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

Governments and industry are “running roughshod” over First Nations and ignoring Treaty 9 when it comes to the Ring of Fire, say the First Nations behind an upcoming eviction notice being sent to industry in the region.

Six First Nations plan to issue 30-day eviction notices to all mining companies with exploration and development camps on Matawa First Nations’ traditional territory.

“Cliffs, Noront and all the other mining companies active in the Ring of Fire will have 30 days from the time the eviction notice is served to pack up their bags and leave our lands,” said Aroland Chief Sonny Gagnon. Chiefs from Nibinamik, Neskantaga, Constance Lake, Ginoogaming and Longlake #58 joined Gagnon in issuing the notices.

“We are sending a strong message to Ontario and Canada that we need to negotiate a process for First Nation participation in the mining projects that will be changing our lives forever,” said Neskantaga Chief Peter Moonias. “Unless and until we have a table for government to government negotiations we will evict the intruders from our lands.”

NEWS RELEASE: NISHNAWBE ASKI NATION BILLS PROVINCE $127-MILLION FOR BENEFITS DERIVED FROM RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT CALLING IT A HISTORIC SWINDLE

June 26, 2012

Tuesday June 26, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TORONTO, ON: Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Stan Beardy presented the Ontario government today with an invoice for $127-million for benefits derived from natural resources extracted from Nishnawbe Aski Nation territories. The annual billing invoice is calculated over 100 years at current day values and represents only a portion of the $32 billion owed.

A NAN Chiefs Resolution was passed in May 2012 where the Chiefs authorized NAN to set up a negotiation committee with a clear mandate to negotiate a resource-revenue sharing agreement on behalf of all NAN First Nations.

“Due to impending developments within the NAN territory, our Chiefs are responding by doing more than monitoring the situation, they are taking action,” said Grand Chief Stan Beardy. “We commissioned a report that focused on resource revenue for the past 100 years and quantified it for the NAN region.”

The report produced by Dr. Fred Lazar of the Schulich School of Business was commissioned in December 2011. The report relied on data from the Chiefs of Ontario Revenue Sharing Report, the Public Accounts of Ontario and various resources quantified for the NAN Region.