Mining and Oil Sector Image – Page 11

Image makeover needed to draw fresh talent to mining – by Brenda Dalglish (Globe and Mail – May 18, 2012)

May 18, 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.

It is almost unheard of for CEOs to grant media interviews about human resource matters because in most companies hiring does not require the scarce resource of CEO attention.

But Steve Letwin, chief executive officer of Iamgold Corp., Canada’s sixth-largest gold producer last year with mines in Suriname, Burkina Faso, Mali and Quebec, not only agreed to be interviewed about the serious global labour shortage confronting the resource sector now, but he also spoke frankly about the striking adjustments his company is making to address the shortage of skilled workers.

“We have this massive gap between the mining people who are ready for retirement and young people who are willing to go to locations that are not downtown Toronto,” Mr. Letwin said. “We’ve raised our children – and I have three of them – to want the good life. That’s fine, but the good life is not defined as somewhere in West Africa or deep in the jungles of South America or northern Quebec. So to get people educated, trained and motivated to go to these spots is not exactly easy.”

The Mining Industry Human Resources Council was set up in 1996 to help mining workers transition out of the industry bec

Ottawa’s industrial policy divides Canada against itself – by Lawrence Martin (Globe and Mail – May 15, 2012)

May 15, 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.

In the decades prior to 2000, Canada made progress in moving away from being an economy of resource extraction. By that year, as labour economist Jim Stanford has pointed out in an analysis for the Centre for Policy Alternatives, well over half of Canada’s exports consisted of an increasingly sophisticated portfolio of value-added products in areas such as automotive assembly, telecommunications, aerospace technology and more.

But in the past decade, the clock has been turned back. Because of a boom in the oil and gas sector and a range of other factors, the economy has reverted toward being a staples-driven enterprise. “In July, 2011, unprocessed and semi-processed resource exports accounted for two-thirds of Canada’s total exports, the highest in decades,” Mr. Stanford wrote. “Compare that to 1999, when finished goods made up almost 60 per cent of our exports.”

That’s quite a change. A tilt, to be sure, that fits the old cliché about Canadians being hewers of wood and drawers of water. Our fur-trading legends, Radisson and Groseilliers, would no doubt heartily approve. But didn’t someone say the way to go in the 21st century is the knowledge economy?

Mining company [Taseko Mines] asks government not to consider aboriginal spirituality in environmental probe – by Peter O’Neil (Postmedia News – April 30, 2012)

May 1, 2012

http://www.canada.com/index.html

OTTAWA — A Vancouver company pushing the Harper government to reconsider a controversial gold-copper mining project in the B.C. Interior has privately urged Ottawa to ignore aboriginal requests to consider native “spirituality” as a factor in their determination, according to a letter the company sent to Environment Minister Peter Kent.

A new federal environmental review panel “does not have any right to attribute significance to the spirituality of a place per se,” wrote Taseko Mines Ltd. president Russell Hallbauer in a letter obtained under the Access to Information Act and provided to the Vancouver Sun by B.C. independent provincial representative Bob Simpson.

Taseko, which failed in its 2010 bid to get federal approval after a “scathing” federal review, also asked Ottawa to not permit aboriginal prayer ceremonies at pending hearings on the revised proposal.

And children’s plays should also be banned, Hallbauer told Kent in his November letter.

[Goldcorp Latin American] Mine closing sparks concerns – by Kyle Gennings (Timmins Daily Press – April 27, 2012)

April 27, 2012

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

Activists travel from Central America to share concerns at Goldcorp AGM

Here in Timmins we are reminded of mining operations everywhere we look. It’s written on the sides of trucks, headframes thrust into the skyline and shafts driven deep into the Earth. Here, mining means life, prosperity and reason.

For some in Central America, however, they claim mining means many other things: Suffering, loss of independence and sickness. Activists blame mining corporations.

“Goldcorp does not operate in Honduras and Guatemala the way it does in Canada,” said Reina Gamora, a Honduran school teacher and activist, who made the 6,000-kilometre trek to appeal to the hearts and minds of those who understand mining. “They operate through utilizing the corrupt government that operates in Honduras. They ignore the human rights and environmental impacts their operations have.”

Gamora and two colleagues made the trip to appeal to the shareholders in Goldcorp at the firm’s annual general meeting in Timmins on Thursday. They want to ensure proper cleanup measures are taken as the San Martin mine undergoes its closure process.

Hungry miners covet Yukon’s pristine Peel watershed wilderness – by Paul Watson (Toronto Star – April 16, 2012)

April 16, 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.

VANCOUVER—A mining boom that has turned Canada’s North into the country’s fastest growing economy is threatening a vast stretch of the Yukon that is one of the continent’s last unspoiled wildernesses.

Central Yukon’s Peel River watershed, a pristine region almost as big as New Brunswick, is just one of the natural treasures coveted by mining and oil and natural gas companies riding surging global commodity prices.

Demand for the mineral resources of the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut is so strong, the Conference Board of Canada expects their economies to grow by an average 7 per cent in 2012 and 2013, “easily outpacing the Canadian average.”

The hunger for resources from rapidly developing countries such as China and India are combining with a warming climate and new technology to draw mining, oil and natural gas companies farther north.

That trend isn’t going to be short-lived, predicts the Conference Board, a privately funded economic and policy research agency.

God’s Lake vs KI conflict ends in $3.5 million payout – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – March 29, 2012)

March 30, 2012

This article came from Wawatay News: http://www.wawataynews.ca/

The Ontario government has paid $3.5 million to buy out God’s Lake Resource’s controversial claims in Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) territory.

The government announced its deal with the junior gold mining company on Mar. 29. Under terms of the settlement God’s Lake agreed to surrender its mining leases and claims.

The land in question was added to the more than 23,000 square kilometers that Ontario previously removed from development in the region. KI Chief Donny Morris said the announcement was good news for his First Nation.

“Now my question to the government is when do we sit down and discuss the real, tangible things,” Morris said. “Everybody thinks we’re anti-development, but we’re not. But we are signatory to the Treaty, and we want to have say over development.”

Junior mining firms in ‘revolt’ over native deals – by Jeff Gray (Globe and Mail – March 28, 2012)

April 25, 2012March 28, 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.

On the sidelines of the mining industry’s massive annual conference in Toronto in early March, a group of disgruntled junior exploration companies held a private meeting.

Calling themselves Miners United, the ad-hoc group of about 60 small-firm executives shared concerns about the concessions and cash they say native bands expect from companies looking for minerals on Crown lands that are considered traditional aboriginal territory, where bands retain hunting and fishing rights. Scores of disputes between native groups and mining companies now end up in court.

A landmark 2004 Supreme Court of Canada decision said the Crown has a “duty to consult” native bands about development on Crown land that is considered part of a band’s traditional territory. Courts have allowed governments to delegate part of this duty to resource companies, many of whom then negotiate agreements with native groups. But there is a growing backlash among junior miners about these agreements.

Most Controversial Mining Companies of 2011 – by RepRisk

March 27, 2012

RepRisk is the leading provider of dynamic business intelligence on Environmental, Social and Governance risks (ESG).

MOST CONTROVERSIAL MINING COMPANIES OF 2011

The extraction industry is traditionally one of the most criticized by various stakeholders for its negative impacts on communities and the environment. This RepRisk special report focuses on mining companies and their projects in 2011. In order of ranking, the 10 Most Controversial Mining Companies of 2011 were:

1. Alpha Natural Resources
2. Newmont Mining Corp
3. Glencore International
4. BHP Billiton
5. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold
6. Rio Tinto
7. Compania de Minas Buenaventura
7. Barrick Gold (equal ranking)
9. Anglo American
9 Vedanta Resources (equal ranking)

These mining giants and their global operations have come under fire for allegedly polluting potable water supplies, scarring landscapes and damaging sensitive ecosystems. There were also numerous allegations detected by RepRisk related to impacts on local communities and effects on the traditional way of life of indigenous peoples. Furthermore, these companies were accused of having poor occupational health and safety standards, which resulted in toxic emissions and accidents that have caused injuries,
fatalities or serious illness.

Alpha Natural Resources ranked as most controversial mining company – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – March 26, 2012)

March 26, 2012

www.mineweb.com

RepRisk, a firm specializing in assessing the possible environmental, social, governance and reputational risks has issued a new report naming the 10 Most Controversial Mining Companies of 2011.

RENO (MINEWEB) – Swiss-based RepRisk-which advises investment banks, assets managers, and multinational companies of the possible environmental, social, governance and reputational risks of the companies in which they have invested or have business relationships with-has issued a new report naming the 10 Most Controversial Mining Companies of 2011.

RepRisk uses the RepRisk Index (RRI), a quantitative risk measure that captures criticism and qualifies a company’s exposure to controversial issues.

In order of ranking, RepRisk named as the 10 Most Controversial Mining Companies: 1. Alpha Natural Resources, 2. Newmont Mining, 3. Glencore International, 4. BHP Billiton, 5. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, 6. Rio Tinto, 7. Compania de Minas Buenaventura, 7. Barrick Gold (equal ranking), 9. Anglo American and 9. Vedanta Resources (equal ranking).

Ecuador Indians march against mining on their lands – by Gonzalo Solano (Globe and Mail – March 23, 2012)

March 23, 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.

QUITO— The Associated Press – The lands of the Shuar Indians in the Ecuadoran Amazon are rich in wildlife such as tapirs, toucans and red howler monkeys. They also hold treasures more coveted by outsiders: rich deposits of copper and other minerals that the government is eager to cash in on.

Projects to build open-pit mines that would rip into their forest-covered hills have spawned a protest movement that sets leaders of the ethnic group against the country’s popular president, Rafael Correa, who says development is essential to the future of this nation’s 14 million people.

More than 1,000 indigenous protesters reached Ecuador’s capital on Thursday after a two-week, 700-kilometre march from the Amazon to oppose plans for large-scale mining projects on their lands.

OMA high school video competition So You Think You Know Mining attracts record number of entries

April 5, 2015March 21, 2012

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.

The Ontario Mining Association’s high school video competition So You Think You Know Mining, which is now in its fourth year, continues to attract more entries. Momentum keeps building with dramatic increases in the level of participation of every edition. This year, more than 135 videos were received, which is approximately 70% more than the 80-plus last year.

Video entries arrived electronically from all parts of the province and students from high schools we had not seen SYTYKM entries from previously have been received for the judges’ consideration. “We try every year to keep the SYTYKM video competition fresh and interesting for students and educators,” said OMA President Chris Hodgson. “It is gratifying to see this response. We know these students invest a great deal of creativity, energy and time into making their productions.”

This year’s competition is making available opportunities to win $33,500 in prize money, an $8,000 increase of what was on the table last year. Several entries eligible for the Early Bird draw for $500 were received by March 1. Other key dates in 2012 are April 1 to 15 for the determination of nominees for the People’s Choice and OMA Academy Award, April 20 to June 3, which is the voting period for the People’s Choice Award, and May 22 when winners will be determined and notified.

Quebec trying to reopen asbestos mine – by Bill Mann (MarketWatch.com – March 13, 2012)

March 13, 2012

http://www.marketwatch.com/

Commentary: Investors staying away from provincial government plan

MarketWatch

PORT TOWNSEND, Wash. (MarketWatch) — There have been some suspect Canadian mining ventures over the years. But none were probably as sketchy — or as unhealthy — as this one.

The provincial government of Quebec is doggedly trying to lure investors to reopen the Jeffrey Mine in lovely, pitted, Asbestos, Quebec. It was closed last year for financial reasons after a cave-in. Quebec’s leader has been trying to find money to kick-start the mine for over a year, in fact. So far, investors have stayed away. Quelle surprise.

Asbestos, you have to admit, doesn’t have quite the same allure as gold or silver. That’s right, asbestos. The same legally radioactive material that makes litigation-averse governments and businesses here in the U.S. close and clean buildings if even a trace of it is found. The same cancerous mineral that has attorneys trolling for lawsuits on cable-TV on behalf of victims afflicted with mesothelioma, a particularly aggressive form of cancer caused by asbestos exposure.

It is time for Quebec to stop investing in asbestos – by Suzanne Dubois (Montreal Gazette – March 6, 2012)

March 10, 2012

http://www.montrealgazette.com/index.html

Suzanne Dubois is executive director of the Quebec division of the Canadian Cancer Society.

There has been much discussion in the media lately regarding the status of asbestos in Quebec. The province is at a historic juncture: for the first time in 130 years, it no longer produces this mineral resource. This break in production is an opportunity to put an end to the use of a recognized carcinogen. There is no safe application of asbestos, which has already claimed too many lives, here and elsewhere.

All forms of asbestos cause cancer, including lung cancer, pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma, laryngeal cancer and ovarian cancer. Yet the government of Quebec is set to assist in the reopening of the Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos with loan guarantees of $58 million, quashing public discussion of this critical issue in the process.

The Canadian Cancer Society is firmly opposed to all investment of public funds in asbestos mining. The society believes that greater effort must be made to manage asbestos wherever it is present (producing a registry of buildings that contain it, and removing it when possible).

Exploiting Canada’s resources can be a fool’s game – by Jeffrey Simpson (Globe and Mail – February 22, 2012)

February 22, 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.

Everywhere in Canada, the news is about natural resources: forestry and mines in British Columbia; oil and coal in Alberta; potash in Saskatchewan; hydro in Manitoba; the “ring of fire” minerals in Ontario; hydro and Old Harry oil and shale gas in Quebec; offshore oil and hydro in Newfoundland.

Canadians are so damn lucky. We just dig and pump and cut and ship, and we never seem to run out. We just hope commodities prices remain high.

All those resources can be a fool’s game. Pumping and digging and cutting can keep the country comfortable, but they do little to address the country’s biggest challenge – a sagging competitive position. All those natural resources soak up capital; they usually don’t require much innovation or processing.

The Harper government, possessed of a majority government, seems to have its mind around elements of the long-term challenge.