Mining Conflict and Opposition – Page 71

Anti-mining violence escalates in Peru – by Peter Koven (National Post – May 30, 2012)

May 30, 2012

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

TORONTO — Miners in Peru are operating under another black cloud this week after a wave of anti-mining protests turned violent and prompted the government to declare a state of emergency.

At least two people were killed and dozens more injured in protests against Xstrata PLC’s Tintaya mine, which is located in Espinar province in southern Peru. The protesters claim the mine has polluted two rivers, a charge Xstrata denies. Sources said that there are socio-economic factors behind the outbreak of violence as well.

There has been significant anti-mining violence in Peru since President Ollanta Humala – a moderate leftist who supports mining — took office last year (it was also an issue under Alan Garcia, his predecessor).

In recent months, protesters have successfully disrupted development of Newmont Mining Corp.’s US$4.8-billion Conga project, as well as Southern Copper Corp.’s Tia Maria project and Bear Creek Mining Corp.’s Santa Ana project. At least 10 people died in those actions, according to reports.

MiningWatch Canada: Plan Nord: The North challenges Charest government – by Frédéric Dubois (May 28, 2012)

May 30, 2012

http://www.miningwatch.ca/home

Frédéric Dubois is a Montreal-based reporter and producer. His attendance to the Forum Plan Nord 2012 has been made possible with the support of Mining Watch Canada.

The month of May is almost over. In Quebec it’s been a month marked by massive student demonstrations, mass arrests and tens of thousands of kids in pajamas and septuagenarians on their balconies hitting wooden spoons on pots and pans. May 2012 will be remembered in Québec as a month where a strong 3-month student strike turned into a general social movement.

The month of May may also prove to be a game-changer for the mining industry in Québec. Underreported in the mainstream media, one event should be looked at to understand why opposition to Charest’s aggressive resource extraction agenda has shifted in Québec. The Forum Plan Nord 2012 – The North Matters took place in Québec City at the beginning of May. The event brought together about 300 people from distinct sectors – environmental groups, women groups, First Nations communities, universities, unions, and many more.

Even a few civil servants and company representatives attended. But unlike most conferences about mining, this one was organized by a First Nations group. The Sustainable Development Institute of the First Nations of Québec and Labrador timed the conference to underline the first anniversary of Jean Charest’s unilateral announcement of the Plan Nord.

Coalition wants [Wolf Lake mining] lease to lapse – by Star Staff (Sudbury Star – May 29, 2012)

May 29, 2012

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

The Wolf Lake Coalition is once again urging the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines to let a mining lease in the Wolf Lake old-growth forest expire Thursday.

In fact, the coalition argued in a release Monday that regulations in the Mining Act would support such a decision, and that to allow exploration would be “shameful.”

“The Mining Act affirms that if the leaseholder is not in production or on the road to production in that lease, it should expire,” the coalition said. “According to public records, very little activity has occurred on this lease for the past 30 years. Not only is this area not in production — it is not remotely close.

“Under our own legislation, this lease should not be renewed.” Flag Resources, a Calgarybased company, holds mining leases in the reserve. The comp a ny’s president, Murdo McLeod, has said in the past there is potential for gold, copper, cobalt and palladium mines in Wolf Lake, where the company has been since the 1980s.

McGuinty calls on Ottawa to help him open up the North – by Karen Howlett and Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – May 26, 2012)

May 26, 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.

TORONTO AND OTTAWA— Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is pledging to work closely with the federal government on its controversial overhaul of environmental assessments as he calls on Ottawa to play an active role in exploiting the untapped potential of the Ring of Fire.

Mr. McGuinty is counting on mining exploration in the northern wilderness to lead to a new generation of prosperity for Ontario. Emerging economies in India and China have an “insatiable hunger” for the province’s resource riches, he said on Friday in urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to help him open up the North.

“Failure is not an option,” Mr. McGuinty told reporters. “Success is mandatory.”

The mining exploration area in the James Bay Lowlands of Northern Ontario is one of the most significant mineral regions in the province, and includes the largest deposit of chromite ever discovered in North America.

The mining onslaught in native communities – by Saul Chernos (Now Magazine – May 24-31, 2012)

May 25, 2012

http://www.nowtoronto.com/

The Liberal government may be buoyant about the mining boom it hopes will juice up the economy, but recent events have many wondering if mining firms are capable of delivering fair treatment to First Nations living over or near those subterranean resources.

A few weeks back, the Libs wrapped up the feedback process for their long-awaited revamp of the Ontario Mining Act, a target of native groups and mining watchdogs. The act enshrines the right of prospectors to subsurface minerals on land owned by others, and activists want changes allowing communities the right to refuse.

Alas, the province released its draft amendments earlier this year, and the fine print reveals major loopholes. Exploration firms would still be able to stake and sample claims without notifying First Nations; consultations would only be required for high-level prospecting.

Most striking, however, is the absence of any reference to the right of refusal. “We want to have the authority to say no, and I think we have that authority,” says Chief Donny Morris of northwestern Ontario’s Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI), which has had mining run-ins with the Libs.

[Ring of Fire] Industry game-changer – by Julie Gordon and Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay (Sudbury Star – May 25, 2012)

May 25, 2012

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

A $3.3-billion plan to build North America’s first major chromite mine deep in the Canadian wi lderness promises to usher in an era of prosperity for the region’s aboriginals and generate millions of tax dollars over its lifetime.

Tucked deep into Northern Ontario, the Ring of Fire contains rich mineral deposits that could transform the region, much as the oilsands have transformed Alberta. Much like the oilsands, it has raised deep environmental and social concerns.

But the Ring of Fire stands apart from other resource mega-developments around the world in one important respect. Rather than oil, gold or iron ore, its main attraction is a relatively minor ore — chromite — which is refined into ferrochrome to make stainless steel.

The region contains North America’s only known large-scale chromite deposit. If Cleveland-based Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. develops the Black Thor project, it will likely revolutionize the stainless steel industry on the continent, which now relies on imports from South Africa and Kazakhstan. It would make Canada the world’s four thlargest chromite producer.

‘Mining Truth initiative’ wants to ‘educate’ Minnesotans about mining – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – May 24, 2012)

June 19, 2013May 24, 2012

www.mineweb.com

Minnesota environmental special interests say their latest initiative aims to engage all Minnesotans, including miners, “in a respectful, open, fact based dialogue” about sulfide mining.

RENO (MINEWEB) – A coalition of three environmental organizations Wednesday announced it has launched a statewide sulfide mining initiative in Minnesota. Two mining companies, PolyMet and Twin Metals, are developing two mines in Minnesota’s lake country.

“Today, there is little awareness about sulfide mining-it’s very different from the iron ore mining that is more familiar to Minnesotans,” said Paul Danicic, executive director of Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness and founding member of the initiative Mining Truth. “This is a complex issue with long-term economic and environmental implications. We need a broad conversation about this.”

“The evidence shows there is reason to be cautious about effects on our lakes, rivers and groundwater, but we also recognize that the immediate need for jobs in Northern Minnesota is real,” said Paul Austin, executive director of Conservation Minnesota and founding member of Mining Truth.

Neskantaga chief demands real consultation on Ring of Fire – by Rick Garrick (Wawatay News – May 22, 2012)

May 23, 2012

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

Neskantaga Chief Peter Moonias has raised further issues over the Cliffs Natural Resources chromite mine project in the Ring of Fire.

Moonias sent a letter to Michael Gravelle, minister of Natural Resources, on May 17 stating he has learned that Cliffs and/or its wholly owned subsidiary Cliffs Chromite Ontario Inc. has applied for land use and other permits on provincial crown land to begin mobilizing for infrastructure development and commencement of construction, including the north-south access corridor to the Ring of Fire.

Moonias stated in the letter that Ontario cannot lawfully consider these applications without fulfilling its constitutional duty of consultation. The chief said that the granting of an easement, issuance of any kind of land use or other permits to Cliffs in support of its proposed developments would be a further breach of Ontario’s duty to consult.

Moonias had earlier stated in a May 11 letter to Rick Bartolucci, minister of Northern Development and Mines, that Ontario is in breach of its constitutional duty to consult with Neskantaga and other Aboriginal peoples regarding the Cliffs mine and infrastructure development in and to the Ring of Fire.

‘We are listening’[Ontario government to First Nations] – by Jeff Labine (tbnewswatch.com – May 20, 2012)

May 22, 2012

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

The Ministry of Natural Resources won’t approve any land us applications from Cliffs Natural Resources applications until an environmental assessment has been completed.

Neskantaga First Nation Chief Peter Moonias wrote a letter to Minister of Natural Resources Michael Gravelle last week after he learned that Cliffs had requested land use and other permits to allow the company to start developing the area for construction. These construction projects included roads leading into the Ring of Fire site.

This application request followed the announcement that the company planned to build a chromite smelter near Sudbury causing outcry from First Nation communities that Ontario did not pursue proper consultation before making the decision.

Moonias, who earlier this week declared he was willing to die to stop the Ring of Fire development, said the MNR couldn’t go ahead with this application.

Don’t capitulate to ‘New Age Bigotry’, invest in mining-Coxe – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – May 22, 2012)

May 22, 2012

www.mineweb.com

A backroom political ban on investing in companies deemed impure by environmental NGOs is unfairly depressing the prices of some of the leading gold mining stocks, and hurting pension funds, Coxe says.

RENO (MINEWEB) – Why would a pension fund not invest in a highly profitable long-duration mine (such as BHP’s Olympic Dam copper-gold-uranium deposit in Australia with a 40-year lifespan)?

In the May edition of Basic Points, respected global commodities analyst Don Coxe says pension funds are succumbing to political pressure, resulting in “more and more corporate pension funds…being impaled on their own funding swords due to inadequate investment returns.”

Coxe suggests that commodity stocks are “victims of a new form of persecution from two groups-those with contempt for capitalism, along with those who resent what mining, and oil and gas companies do for a living.”

“The original Luddites smashed the machines of the Industrial Revolution,” he observed.

‘We weren’t even listened to'[Ring of Fire First Nations ignored] – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – May 19, 2012)

May 19, 2012

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

Chief Sonny Gagnon of Aroland First Nation visited Sudbury on Thursday to begin what he says will be a process of educating other First Nations about developments related to the Ring of Fire and his community’s involvement in them.

Gagnon met with leaders from Atikameksheng Anishnawbek or Whitefish Lake First Nation, but would not say what was discussed at the two-hour session.

“There are a lot of dark areas where we have to enlighten ourselves,” the chief said Friday in a telephone interview from northwestern Ontario. “I think they know what happened in the past with Sudbury,” he said of the First Nation located 20 kilometres west of the city.

Gagnon says his community is not anti-development, but he doesn’t like the way the decision was made on the location of the ferrochrome smelter that Cliffs Natural Resources plans to build near Capreol.

The chief is “ticked off ” about the fact Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci, who is Sudbury’s Liberal MPP, did not consult with his community before the decision about the smelter was announced last Wednesday.

Most Cliffs jobs will be in the Northwest – by Michael Gravelle (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – May 19, 2012)

May 19, 2012

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

Michael Gravelle, MPP for Thunder Bay-Superior North, is Ontario’s Minister of Natural Resources.

There is very good reason for everyone in Northwestern Ontario to be excited about the growth of the mining sector in our part of the province. Mineral exploration investments are at an all-time high and we can expect the opening of several new mines in the region to employ hundreds, if not thousands of people, which will drive the economy forward to levels we have not seen before. These opportunities are being embraced by First Nations and municipal governments all across the region as they seek to seize the long-term benefits this renaissance in mining will provide.

There is no question that the project that has captured the most attention is the Ring of Fire, where an unprecedented level of investment is poised to bring economic benefits and jobs to thousands of people for many years to come.

While there are a number of companies making significant investments in this resource-rich part of the Northwest, most of the public attention over the past year or so has been focused on Cliffs Natural Resources, a U.S.-based firm that is eager to take the next major step forward in the development of a huge project; one that, if managed properly, will bring extraordinary long-term economic benefits to many First Nations communities and municipalities across our region.

Selective outrage [in Ring of Fire First Nations] – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (May 17, 2012)

May 18, 2012

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

THE CHIEF of a First Nation near the Ring of Fire mineral deposit has said he’ll die before he allows a mining company to cross a river near his community to access its property. Neskantaga Chief Peter Moonias said Cliffs Natural Resources’ chromite development at the headwaters of the Attawapiskat River could destroy his community.

Moonias wrote to Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci to express disappointment with Ontario’s decision to support Cliffs’ multi-billion dollar plan including a north-south all-season road linking the mine with a rail line near Aroland First Nation and the nearby town of Nakina.

“These decisions will have significant adverse effects on our lands, environment and way of life,” Moonias wrote. “Your government has made these decisions without adequate consultation with Neskantaga, in breach of your legal duties . . . .”

Moonias threatened to “use every lawful means at our disposal” to oppose the Cliffs project — the largest single component of the biggest economic development opportunity to hit Northern Ontario in a lifetime.

We take our responsibilities very seriously when it comes to consulting with our First Nations partners – Dalton McGuinty – by James Murray (NetNewsLedger – May 16, 2012)

May 17, 2012

http://netnewsledger.com/

QUEEN’S PARK – The battle over who is listening is being fought in Queen’s Park. During Question Period today, the NDP leader Andrea Horwath was up questioning the Premier on the differences between the Ontario government and the First Nations over the Ring of Fire.

Howath asked Premier Dalton McGuinty, “Last week, the government assured this Legislature and the public that First Nations partners were being properly consulted about development in the Ring of Fire. Today, we’re hearing a very different story from the Neskantaga First Nation, whose legal counsel asserts that the government breached its legal duty to consult. Why has this government shown no serious willingness—and those are the First Nations’ words—to address the concerns of Neskantaga and other Mattawa First Nations?”

The Premier responded, “I just want to say that we take our responsibilities very seriously when it comes to consulting with our First Nations partners. We understand there is legal obligation there, but we also feel a sense of responsibility, on behalf of all Ontarians, to make sure that we are working with our First Nations partners, especially when it comes to exciting new opportunities to be found in the Ring of Fire. I know that specific efforts were made to reach out to those communities in the past. We will continue to find ways to move forward.

North [Ontario] gets chill from McGuinty – by Brian MacLeod (Sudbury Star – May 17, 2012)

May 17, 2012

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper and Brian MacLeod is the managing editor. brian.macleod@sunmedia.ca

Northern Ontario has never been homogeneous. Its vast geography and the rivalries among municipalities make it a hard political animal to tame.

And that makes life difficult for Premier Dalton McGuinty. Developments over the last couple of years show that. The closure of Xstrata’s Kidd Creek Metallurgical plant in Timmins in 2010 saw 600 jobs lost as the work moved to Quebec, in large part because of the high cost of power in Ontario.

In March, the government announced it will privatize the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission — which provides some rail, bus and communications services in the North — putting 1,000 jobs in question. And last week, Cliffs Natural Resources, the U.S. firm that’s first in developing the massive Ring of Fire chromite deposit in northwestern Ontario, announced it would build its ferrochrome smelter in Sudbury, bringing about 450 jobs.