Mining Conflict and Opposition – Page 77

Ontario facing First Nations-Ring of Fire showdown – by Northern Ontario Business staff (Northern Ontario Business – May 9, 2012)

May 9, 2012

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North.

The Ontario government could be playing with fire against First Nations leading to a potential confrontation over one of the province’s richest mineral finds in a decade.

The eve of Cliffs Natural Resources announcement of the location of a likely ferrochrome smelter in Ontario, Aboriginal leaders said Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci was attempting to make a last-minute deal with First Nations to head off growing opposition to the multi-billion-dollar chromite mine and refinery project.

In a May 8 release, Aroland First Nation Chief Sonny Gagnon said Bartolucci arranged a “secret meeting” to get his community and Marten Falls First Nation onside the Far North development which is advancing toward the feasibility stage of evaluation.

Gagnon said he won’t cut any side deal with the government without the other Matawa tribal council chiefs on board.

NEWS RELEASE: Aroland First Nation claims the Province is failing in duty to consult on Cliffs Chromite Project

May 9, 2012

Written by Press Release on 08 May 2012

http://www.karinahunter.com/

First Nation seeks Freedom of Information for Confidential Agreements between Mining Firm and Province

AROLAND FIRST NATION, ON – Aroland First Nation has filed a request for disclosure to the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) on information relating to Cliffs Chromite mining project in the area, known as the Ring of Fire under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA).

Aroland is one of the First Nations that will be directly impacted from the Cliffs initiative which includes the construction of an open pit mine, ore processing facility, ferrochrome production facility and an integrated transport system that will include a 340 kilometer North-South all-season road corridor from the mine site to just west of the community of Aroland. A number of major environmental impacts have already been identified and has raised concerns with First Nations closeby.

Let claims in Wolf Lake lapse, group asks – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – May 9, 2012)

May 9, 2012

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

An environmental group wants to know why the government is giving contradictory information about protecting the Wolf Lake Forest Reserve.

In a release issued last week by Viki Mather, a member of the Wolf Lake Coalition who lives in the area, she questions why mining claims where no exploration work has ever been done continue to be renewed. In order for a mining claim to be renewed, a certain amount of exploration work has to take place each year.

“(Natural Resources) Minister (Michael) Gravelle assured the public that … once the current claims lapsed, the area would become part of the Chiniguchi Waterway Park,” Mather wrote in the release.

The Chiniguchi Waterway Park is north of Lake Wahnapitae. Environmental groups have been maintaining pressure to protect the Wolf Lake area because it is home to the world’s largest remaining stand of old-growth red pine forest. In March, the province cancelled a plan to give 340 hectares of the area a general-use designation.

Locate smelter in Greenstone … or else, Aroland chief says – by Darren MacDonald (Sudbury Northern Life – May 8, 2012)

May 8, 2012

This article came from Northern Life, Sudbury’s biweekly newspaper.

First Nation poised to fight Ring of Fire development

The Chief of Aroland First Nation in northwestern Ontario is adamant that the only way he’ll support the Ring of Fire development is if Cliffs Natural Resources agrees to build the ferrochrome smelter in Greenstone, Ont., near his community.

“That’s our bottom line,” said Sonny Gagnon, chief of the 325 residents of Aroland, on May 7. “That smelter is pretty much the key to the concept we have of how this thing should be developed.”

Gagnon said the project is a huge opportunity for First Nations in the area, one that could have a lasting impact for the next 100 years. There is no way he and his community could support the Ring of Fire if smelter jobs are located in Sudbury, which, for weeks, has been rumoured as the site for the smelter.

For example, Gagnon said some local communities have to rely on diesel power for electricity. If the smelter is built in the area, it would have to be attached to the provincial power grid, potentially offering those communities access to the same power grid most Ontarians take for granted.

Greenstone miffed at Cliffs’ smelter snub – by Northern Ontario Business staff (Northern Ontario Business – May 8, 2012)

May 8, 2012

Greenstone Mayor Ron Beaulieu wants answers from Cliffs Natural Resources on why his municipality was overlooked in the project planning for its Ring of Fire chromite project.

Beaulieu said Cliffs left many unanswered questions on the table following a presentation by CEO Joseph Carrabarra at an Aboriginal Business Council luncheon May 1 in Thunder Bay. Carrabba came and went from the city without taking questions from the audience or media.

“We left disappointed by the sheer lack of information,” wrote Beaulieu in a May 4 letter to Carrabarra, especially on how power will generated and delivered to the mine site in the James Bay lowlands.

“We want to know the hard facts,” Beaulieu said in an interview with Northern Ontario Business. “We’re not getting any answers. It’s so vague.”

Proposed mining act changes flawed, critics say – by CBC Thunder Bay (May 7, 2012)

May 8, 2012

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

The deadline to comment on proposed changes to the province’s mining act has passed. But some people say the changes will not address outstanding issues, including obtaining permits and First Nations consultation.

Isadore Day, the Lake Huron Regional Grand Chief, said there needs to be a balance that includes dialogue with First Nations people while improving the province’s economy.

“I think the government has to take a step back and ask itself the question, ‘does it make sense now to use this as an example to ensure that First Nations are participating in the resource based economy’ to answer the outstanding issue of resource revenue sharing,” he said. Day said improvements also need to be made regarding early consultation between mining companies and First Nations.

The proposed mining regulations also have potential to negatively impact business for junior mining companies, said Dave Hunt, a geologist who heads up the Northwestern Ontario Prospectors Association.

Be transparent: [Ring of Fire] First Nation – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – May 8, 2012)

May 8, 2012

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

Aroland First Nation in northwestern Ontario wants the government of Ontario to open up about “confidential meetings” its says it has been holding with Cliffs Natural Resources about development of the Ring of Fire chromite deposits.

The 325-member First Nation, about 20 kilometres west of Nakina in Greenstone, has filed a request under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act for the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines to disclose information about the meetings.

At the same time, the mayor of Greenstone, Renald Beaulieu, is calling upon Cliffs’ chairman, president and chief executive officer, Joseph Carrabba, to answer several questions left unresolved last week after Carrabba spoke to the Aboriginal Business Council in Thunder Bay.

Beaulieu said he attended that meeting expecting to learn “something about the company’s approach to matters that remain unaddressed” — specifically the location of a smelter that Cliffs will build to process chromite ore from the Ring of Fire.

Ontario Government and Cliffs have been holding confidential meetings without First Nations – Aroland Chief – by NNL-News (NetNewsLedger.com – May 4, 2012)

May 6, 2012

www.NetNewsLedger.com

AROLAND FIRST NATION – Aroland First Nation has filed a request for disclosure to the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) on information relating to Cliffs Chromite mining project in the area known as the Ring of Fire under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA).

Aroland is one of the First Nations that will be directly impacted from the Cliffs initiative which includes the construction of an open pit mine, ore processing facility, ferrochrome production facility and an integrated transport system that will include a 340 kilometer North-South all-season road corridor from the mine site to just west of the community of Aroland. A number of major environmental impacts have already been identified and has raised concerns with First Nations closeby.

The First Nation states, in a media release, “The decision to file a freedom of information request was made when it came to light that the Ontario Government and Cliffs have been holding confidential meetings, concealing information and are preparing to make an announcement”.

“We need to find out what has been going on behind closed doors. Our community is going to be impacted by the Cliffs project along with many others, but we were not part of these meetings, nor were local municipalities.

News Release: Cliffs Refuses to Provide First Point with Key Data on Decar Project

May 6, 2012

May 5, 2012, 9:35 a.m. EDT

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, May 05, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — First Point Minerals Corp. /quotes/zigman/157178 CA:FPX 0.00% (“First Point” or the “Company”) announces that it has served notice of arbitration on Cliffs Natural Resources Exploration Canada Inc. and Cliffs Natural Resources Exploration Inc. (collectively “Cliffs”) over Cliffs’ refusal to provide First Point with information prepared by their consultants with respect to the Decar Nickel-Iron Alloy Project in British Columbia.

Cliffs has refused to provide First Point with certain key reports prepared by consultants and contractors with respect to the Decar Project. The reporting obligations under the Option Agreement currently in effect require that Cliffs provide First Point, on a timely basis, with: “…copies of all reports…and consultants’ and contractors’ reports.”

First Point regrets having no alternative to taking this step against a major company such as Cliffs, but repeated requests by First Point for delivery of the information have been either refused or ignored, and Cliffs’ refusal thus far to provide these reports is damaging the interests of First Point and its shareholders. Management of First Point cannot speculate on the possible nature of the content of the reports that would cause Cliffs to refuse to share the information with First Point as required in the Option Agreement.

[Ring of Fire] Open Letter to Cliffs Natural Resouces CEO from Mayor of Greenstone – by Renald Beaulieu (May 4, 2012)

May 5, 2012

May 4, 2012

OPEN LETTER

Mr. Joseph Carrabba Chairman, President and CEO Cliffs Natural Resources

Dear Mr. Carrabba

I am writing to you today to ask some questions that are unresolved following your presentation to the Aboriginal Business Council’s luncheon event in Thunder Bay, Ontario earlier this week.

As the Mayor of Greenstone, I and several members of my Council attended the event with the expectation that we would earn something about the company’s approach to matters that remain unaddressed. We left disappointed by the sheer lack of information.

Accordingly, since the matters are of such great urgency I am writing today to request your answers to the following questions.

1. You mentioned that Cliffs doesn’t come in and roll over local interests. With that in mind, could you please tell me if you are aware that area First Nations have unanimously endorsed the principle that the ore body should be refined in the same territory from which it is extracted?

[Aroland First Nation] First Nation chief frustrated by Cliffs encounter – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – May 4, 2012)

May 5, 2012

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca.

A northwestern Ontario First Nation leader said his concerns about mining development in the Ring of Fire are falling on deaf ears with Cliffs Natural Resources.

Chief Sonny Gagnon of Aroland First Nation said his hour-long meeting this week with CEO Joseph Carrabba produced little in the way of results from the Ohio mining giant.

“He viewed what we gave him as threats and said he might not come back. Well, have a good life.” Gagnon met with Carrabba just prior to his May 1 speech in Thunder Bay at the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business.

Carrabba told a lunchtime crowd that the company’s decision on the location of a much-coveted ferrochrome smelter was only days away.

The company’s technical work at its Black Thor chromite deposit in the James Bay lowlands is expected to advance into the feasibility evaluation stage in the next couple of months.

NEWS RELEASE: New mining regulations require Anishinabek consultation: Chief Day

May 4, 2012

UOI Offices, Nipissing First Nation (May 2, 2012) – Changes to the Ontario Mining Act require direct consultation with the Anishinabek Nation, says Lake Huron Regional Grand Chief Isadore Day, Wiindawtegowinini.

The Ministry of Northern Development and Mines recently posted a number of regulatory proposals for the second phase of new regulations under the Mining Act on Ontario’s Regulatory and Environmental Registries. Ministry officials provided Anishinabek leadership with a written request to comment on the proposed regulations via the Environmental Registry by May 1, 2012.

The Anishinabek Nation asserts that First Nations have the right to be consulted and their interests accommodated on a direct, government-to-government basis on mining legislation that affects their treaty territories. Because of their unique historic and legal relationship with both levels of government in Canada, First Nations maintain that such public consultation processes as the submission of comments to the Environmental Registry do not meet the standards set by Supreme Court decisions on the duty to consult and accommodate.

“More than ever, the level of dialogue with First Nations is critical,” says Chief Day, who is Lands Portfolio holder for the Anishinabek Nation.

Cliffs Natural Resources misleading investors, chief says – CBC News (May 3, 2012)

May 4, 2012

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

The Chief of Aroland First Nation says Cliffs Natural Resources is misleading its investors about the discussions surrounding its chromite property in the Ring of Fire, located in the James Bay lowlands.

Sonny Gagnon said Cliffs is telling people it is having good discussions with First Nations — and that the environmental assessment (EA) process is moving along.

“Very good discussions with the external stakeholders, and with the First Nations and with the governments and the environmental impact study is moving along,” Cliffs CEO Joseph Carrabba said on a first quarter earnings conference call, April 26. Gagnon says that’s inaccurate.

“I told [the CEO] ‘where did you get your information from? The EA process, we’re not happy with it’,” Gagnon said after he and other chiefs met with Carrabba earlier this week. “‘You’re not discussing nothing with the First Nations, so what are you talking about?’”

Confusion on the ground [Ontario mineral exploration and Miners United] – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – May 2012)

May 3, 2012

Exploration industry mobilizes on new regs, First Nation issues Develop the North, park the south. That was on a popular button making the rounds at the Northwestern Ontario Mines and Minerals Symposium in Thunder Bay last month. The blue sky weather mirrored the optimism at the annual spring fraternity gathering of prospectors and junior
explorers.

But there was also an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with Queen’s Park over new mining regulations coming into force this summer, and the provincial government’s hands-off approach to smoothing tensions between industry and First Nations.

A March story published in the Globe and Mail covering a Toronto meeting of a group of 60 frustrated prospectors and junior exploration executives – dubbed Miners United – only brought to light what has been talked about in industry circles for years. That secret six-figure deals have been made between some companies and First Nations in order to gain access to claims on Crown land that Aboriginals consider traditional territory. For many small junior miners and prospectors, it’s setting an ever-increasing dangerous pattern of cash payouts that will hurt the early grass roots stages of exploration.

Barrick defends itself against Occupiers – by Dana Flavelle (Toronto Star – May 3, 2012)

May 3, 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.

Under siege by the Occupy Toronto movement, Canada’s largest gold miner spent a large part of its annual general meeting Wednesday defending its track record as a responsible corporate citizen.

A heavy police presence ensured most Occupy protestors remained in Simcoe Park across the street from the Metro Convention Centre where Barrick Gold Corp. held its annual gathering of shareholders.

But even before a proxy holder representing indigenous groups in Chile raised some difficult questions inside the corporate meeting, Barrick founder and chairman Peter Munk acknowledged the protestors’ presence.

“Last night, I went home and to avoid the demonstrators who try to Occupy Wall Street, who try to Occupy Bay Street — I’m sure they’re all well-meaning and determined people and I was going to ask my driver, don’t avoid them, take me there. I want to talk to them. I don’t have all the facts — but wiser heads than me prevailed and I was taken home through a difficult route.”