Mining and Oil Sector Image – Page 15

Temagami plan not a done deal as old-growth red pines at risk [from mining] – by Moira Welsh and Robert Benzie (Toronto Star – December 13, 2011)

December 15, 2011December 13, 2011

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.

The plan to destroy old growth forest near Temagami is not a done deal, said the Minister of Natural Resources.

In the wake of a Star story about his ministry’s plans to remove protections for stands of 300-year-old red pine around Wolf Lake in northern Ontario, Minister Michael Gravelle said he will decide soon whether the area will be opened up for increased mining.

“I will be speaking with my officials soon about that,” Gravelle said. “There is no question that there is now an elevated interest in this issue,” he added, referring to the Star story.

The ministry wants to change the “forest reserve” designation for 340 hectares around Wolf Lake, located 50 kilometres from Temagami, to “general use,” which puts a greater focus on mining instead of forests and recreation.

Mining wins as Ontario breaks Temagami pledge – by Moira Welsh (Toronto Star – December 12, 2011)

December 12, 2011

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.

Ontario is planning to kill its promise to protect an ecological gem — an old-growth forest near Temagami.

The Ministry of Natural Resources wants to change the “forest reserve” designation for 340 hectares around Wolf Lake to “general use,” which puts a greater focus on mining instead of forests and recreation.

The only company drilling in the region is Alberta’s Flag Resources, which has been delisted or forced to stop trading on stock exchanges across the country. It is currently not trading anywhere.

Located some 50 kilometres northeast of Sudbury, Wolf Lake lies in the area commonly called Temagami. It is beloved by hikers and canoeists for its soaring stands of 300-year-old red pines and deep blue lakes.

Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller said he’s “greatly disappointed” by the ministry’s plan to backtrack on a long-held agreement to protect Wolf Lake, which would have eventually turned it into parkland.

Why the heavens of Peru are a hell of a place to seek a fortune – by Jennifer Wells (Toronto Star – December 10, 2011)

December 10, 2011

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.

LA RINCONADA, PERU—Stepping from a brothel into morning in Rinconada, a suppurating wound of excrement and garbage and fuel exhaust.

Rough night. No heat. No running water. Ergo: no toilet. The wooden floors and cracker-thin walls of the bordello had served as efficient sound vectors for the heavy boots of the importuning miners, orchestral hosts to their loud and meaty door-banging fists. The only detail missing was the jangle of brass spurs.

The floors of the “hotel” rooms — bordellos offer the only lodging in town — had been doused in germ-killing gasoline, the fumes infusing the atmosphere with acrid, lung-invading top-notes. Thus the head: woozy, thick-feeling. Can barely breathe, not that breathing in this fetid atmosphere holds much appeal.

A metre in the distance, a stream of effluent bisects the packed mud path that serves as a primary artery through town. There are no paved roads. Panfuls of slop are heaved into the street.

Marketing the Aboriginal housing crisis – by Simon Houpt (Globe and Mail – December 10, 2011)

November 5, 2015December 10, 2011

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.

The tragic tale of Attawapiskat grabbed the spotlight on the national stage only two weeks ago, but it was in rehearsal for six years.

In 2005, New Democrat MP Charlie Angus was trying to bring attention to the misery in Kashechewan, a Cree community on the shores of James Bay struggling with water-borne illnesses, when he came to a realization: People wouldn’t care unless they saw the evidence. So he orchestrated a press conference at Queen’s Park and released horrific photographs taken by doctors in the community.

“It was when we came to Toronto with the pictures of the children that suddenly it hit home,” Mr. Angus explained on Friday. “Pictures always make the difference.”

When Attawapiskat declared a state of emergency in late October, Mr. Angus knew he could go much further by leveraging a pair of tools that weren’t around in 2005: Facebook and YouTube.

Red centre of attention [Australian mining movie] – by Michael Bodey (The Australian – July 30, 2011)

December 9, 2011December 9, 2011

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/

THE common expression of civic pride captured in bronze, stone or metal and given pride of place in a town’s centre is the likeness of an explorer, a leader or an athlete of distinction.

In Dampier, on Australia’s northwest shoulder, locals erected a statue in honour of a folk hero who helped galvanise the town as the area emerged as a mining hub in the 1970s. It just happened that leader was a dog: a wandering and faithful kelpie dubbed Red Dog.

Tales of Red Dog’s travels as far south as Perth and far north as Broome, his loyal companionship of many locals and his fearsome farts were such legend the dog became a defining figure for the burgeoning mining region, a figure representing the toughness and gypsy nature of the area’s growing band of employees.

So much so, Australian authors Nancy Gillespie and Beverly Duckett wrote books about the Pilbara wanderer before the English author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres, wrote his own semi-fictionalised and ultimately bestselling book about the kelpie’s adventures.

HOLLYWOOD’S PORTRAYAL OF GEOLOGISTS – Earth Scientists on Celluloid (Geotime, May 1990)

December 10, 2011December 9, 2011

In addition to providing entertainment to millions around the world, movies help develop the general public’s perception of the world. Knowledge of how the earth sciences, and earth scientists, are portrayed in films can help the geoscientific community in presenting important messages to the public on such topics as global change, volvanic- and earthquake-hazard mitigation, land use, and the environment.

How effective are movies in forming public opinion? Probably much more than we realize. Current movie releases are often accompanied by major marketing efforts that can set trends and fads. The plethora of Batman paraphernalia and public awareness that accompanied the release of that film in 1989 is an example of how effective such marketing can be.

Similarly, films that have social messages, for example, “Rainman’s” treatment of autism and the current film “Stanley and Iris,” which deals with the issue of adult illiteracy, commonly help raise the general public’s awareness of a variety of subjects. However, such effects are difficult to quantify, particularly among professionals who commonly do not want to admit that they actually spend time on such diversionary pursuits as watching the “boob tube” or watching anything other than “critically acclaimed” art films.

Mining Films Paint an Ugly Picture – by Patrick Whiteway (Canadian Mining Review – June 1, 2010)

December 9, 2011December 8, 2011

http://canadianminingreview.typepad.com/canadian-mining-review/

To turn the industry’s negative image around, the mining industry needs to invest millions in new films

Canada’s latest contribution to popular culture, Justin Bieber, is bathing in positive publicity. His Twitter page tells 2.8 million followers, largely pre-teen girls, seemingly everything about him. And a music video of his song Baby has been viewed 171 million times on You Tube (as of June 1, 2010).

Not so with the mining industry. Mining publicity in today’s popular culture is exclusively negative, documenting the shenanigans that go on in the industry.

Two films about gold mining, for example, were screened recently in Toronto at the Canadian International Documentary Festival, more commonly known as the HotDocs Festival. One was the world premiere of The Devil Operation directed and produced by Stephanie Boyd.

Peru declares emergency after talks fail on ending anti-mining protest – by Franklin Briceno (Toronto star – December 6, 2011)

December 10, 2011December 6, 2011

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.

LIMA, PERU—President Ollanta Humala declared a 60-day state of emergency Sunday to quell increasingly violent protests over the country’s biggest investment, a highlands gold mine, by peasants who fear it will damage their water supply.

The emergency restricts civil liberties such as the right to assembly and allows arrests without warrants in four provinces of Cajamarca state that have been paralyzed for 11 days by protests against the $4.8-billion (U.S.) Conga gold-and-copper mining project. U.S.-based Newmont Mining Corp. is the project’s majority owner.

Dozens have been injured in clashes between police and protesters, some of whom have vandalized Conga property. The general strike also shuttered schools and snarled transportation as protesters mounted roadblocks.

Humala said in a brief televised address Sunday night that protest leaders had shown no interest “in reaching minimal agreements to permit a return of social peace” after a day of talks in Cajamarca with Cabinet chief Salmon Lerner, who had been accompanied by military and police chiefs and was guarded by hundreds of heavily armed police.

NEWS RELEASE: Global Witness leaves Kimberley Process, calls for diamond trade to be held accountable

December 6, 2011

5th December 2011

http://www.globalwitness.org/

Global Witness today announced that it has left the Kimberley Process, the international certification scheme established to stop the trade in blood diamonds.

The Kimberley Process’s refusal to evolve and address the clear links between diamonds, violence and tyranny has rendered it increasingly outdated, said the group. Despite intensive efforts over many years by a coalition of NGOs, the scheme’s main flaws and loopholes have not been fixed and most of the governments that run the scheme continue to show no interest in reform.

“Nearly nine years after the Kimberley Process was launched, the sad truth is that most consumers still cannot be sure where their diamonds come from, nor whether they are financing armed violence or abusive regimes” said Charmian Gooch, a Founding Director of Global Witness.

Mounties spied on native protest groups [KI’s Donny Morris included] – by Tim Groves and Martin Lukacs (Toronto Star – December 5, 2011)

December 5, 2011

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.

Although the Strategic Intelligence Report’s profile
of KI is heavily redacted, as with all the “communities
of concern,” it states that KI First Nation “remains
committed to ensuring their concerns related to the
impacts of mining and forestry are addressed by the
Ontario government” and “possible future disputes
could result in blockades and demonstrations.”

The spectre of heightened aboriginal protest has
become a source of anxiety for government and industry.

The federal government created a vast surveillance network in early 2007 to monitor protests by First Nations, including those that would attract national attention or target “critical infrastructure” like highways, railways and pipelines, according to RCMP documents.

Formed after the Conservatives came to power, the RCMP unit’s mandate was to collect and distribute intelligence about situations involving First Nations that have “escalated to civil disobedience and unrest in the form of protest actions.”

Mining Reputations and Blogger Refutations – by Jack Caldwell (I Think Mining.com – December 1, 2011)

December 5, 2011December 5, 2011

Vancouver-based Jack Caldwell is a mining engineer/consultant with Robertson GeoConsultants. His blog www.ithinkmining.com was the only other Canadian mining blog to be included in the Top Ten Mining Blog list by the Australian company Mining IQ. This posting was in response to my recent blog essay titled “The Horrible Reputation of Canada’s Mining Sector.”

Jack Caldwell

Republic of Mining is another great Canadian blog about mining. Stan Sudol is the fellow behind the blog. I met him once in Toronto. He is younger than me, although most people are, more energetic than me, and he is more passionate than I am.

His latest major piece on the Republic of Mining is called The Horrible Reputation of Canada’s Mining Sector. He is stirring up a hornet’s nest with this posting. I must admire him for his courage. While I am cynical, and not afraid to call a spade a spade, I am not sure I would have the courage to hit as hard as he hits in this piece. Here are selected strikes from his piece:

“How things change and how they stay the same! The mining sector has done a terrible job of clearly and transparently explaining the economic benefits and environmental sustainability of their current projects. This increases their costs of doing business through increased red tape, litigation, project slowdowns and potentially bad and unexpected government policies like the Ontario Diamond royalty on DeBeers Canada and the revisions to the province’s mining act.

Read more

OMA launches the fourth season of its province-wide high school video competition So You Think You Know Mining

April 5, 2015December 1, 2011

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.

Go to the Ontario Mining Association website www.oma.on.ca and check out today’s launch of the popular high school video competition So You Think You Know Mining for the fourth year. The 2012 competition is serving up opportunities to win $33,500 in prize money, an $8,000 increase of what was on the table last year.

The deadline for submitting two to three minute videos on the benefits of mining is midnight March 15, 2012. To be eligible for the Early Bird prize of $500, entries must be received by March 1, 2012.

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. The awards ceremony is scheduled for June 5 in Toronto at the Royal Ontario Museum.

Mines Act changes signal B.C. ready to dig in against environmentalists – by Dirk Meissner (Winnipeg Free Press – November 20, 2011)

December 1, 2011

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

Hitch said Canada’s mining industry is regarded as the
most efficient and environmentally safe in the world,
but the B.C. government needs to do a better job
telling people how mining works and how it contributes
to the province. (Winnipeg Free Press)

The Canadian Press – VICTORIA – Premier Christy Clark is about to find out her plans to chip away at the mountain of bureaucracy facing mining developments in British Columbia won’t be an easy climb if environmental groups have any say in the matter.

Opening eight new mines is a key plank of Clark’s jobs strategy, the most important policy initiative she’s launched since becoming premier early this year, and last week, the Liberals introduced minor changes to the Mines Act.

The move has triggered an avalanche of protest from the Sierra Club of B.C. which accused the government of looking to clear the way for mining companies to bulldoze the province. Sierra Club president George Heyman said Clark’s Liberals are heading in the opposite direction of public opinion if they loosen regulations to open more mines.