On Feb. 15, 1965, a retired miner named Rennie Slaney sat down at his kitchen table in St. Lawrence, Nfld., and typed out a five-page, single-spaced document that, as Linden MacIntyre writes in The Wake, would reverberate “across the land.” The 58-year-old Slaney, who could no longer work because of severe health problems, laid out what had happened in recent decades to the people of his small community on the Burin Peninsula.
Addressing his testimonial to a special committee appointed by the government of Premier Joey Smallwood, Slaney mentioned a miner who died in hospital that very day, while another lay nearby, “just awaiting his time.”
Slaney himself, having worked in the mines for 23 years, was suffering from chronic bronchitis, obstructive emphysema, infective asthma and “a usually terminal heart disease caused by lung failure.” The man could step forward because, MacIntyre tells us, he had nothing left to lose: “His lungs were shot.” Continue Reading →
All that glitters is not gold, but people in southwestern Newfoundland are hoping a future gold mine could be right on their doorstep. However, they still have plenty of questions about the plan by Matador Mining and about the impact it would have on the environment and traditional activities, such as hunting and fishing.
Matador has asked government for approval to develop a mine, mill and processing operation for gold ore in the area of Isle aux Morts. As part of the province’s environmental assessment process, the company held two public consultations last week.
Port aux Basques Mayor John Spencer said the impact on wildlife topped the list of questions from the nearly 70 people in attendance. “‘How would this impact the moose and caribou that frequent the area?’ ‘How would this impact the migratory birds?’ ‘What about the salmon?'” said Spencer. Continue Reading →
Workers staying on floating hotel while work on new living quarters underway
The quest to mine nickel from beneath the ground at Voisey’s Bay in Labrador is picking up steam with more than 430 workers on site. Joao Zanon, the project director for Vale, said the team ran into challenges in the early stages of the project during the harsh northern Labrador winter.
Once the snow melted and summer arrived, the project ramped up. A little over 10 per cent of the underground development is now complete, with a goal to be operational in the first half of 2020.
“We’ve picked up the development quite a lot in the past months and the speed will continue to increase as we … are able to mobilize more people to work underground,” Zanon said. Continue Reading →
As a journalist Linden MacIntyre covered adversity around the world, sharing the experiences of those caught in tragic circumstances, but he’s waited decades to bring the story of his hometown to the page.
The investigative reporter and novelist was born in St. Lawrence, N.L., where his new book The Wake is set. The author’s hard-rock miner father moved there in the 1940s to work for the fluorspar mining operation that rolled into the poverty-stricken community, which was recovering from a natural disaster and an unexpected collapse of the area’s crucial fisheries.
In 1929, an earthquake-related tsunami struck southern Newfoundland’s Burin Peninsula, washing homes out to sea and killing 28 people. The story of environmental destruction and industrial exploitation that followed is narrated in The Wake. Continue Reading →
The provincial and federal governments announced new funding Friday for a project to provide hydroelectricity to a mining operation in western Labrador.
The province’s Department of Natural Resources said Nalcor will build a new terminal station and a 27-kilometre transmission line from the Menihek Hydroelectric Generating Station’s existing line to the Tata Steel processing site.
The transmission line will enable Tata Steel to reduce the mine’s diesel consumption by up to 40 per cent. Lisa Dempster, minister of municipal affairs and environment, says her department prioritized the project to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while encouraging resource development in Labrador. Continue Reading →
Marathon Gold (TSX: MOZ) is on track to release a new resource estimate in September for its Leprechaun deposit in the company’s Valentine Gold camp in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The latest drilling has expanded the high-grade area within Leprechaun’s Main Zone corridor to a strike length over 480 meters with a width of 30 to 100 metres and extending to a depth of 350 metres.
Leprechaun is one of four near-surface deposits, mainly pit-shell constrained, at Marathon’s Valentine Gold camp, and remains open at depth and along strike. The four deposits stretch over a 20-km system of gold-bearing veins. Continue Reading →
Labrador West has been injected with confidence, with iron ore extraction set to begin at the former Scully mine in June. Heavy machinery could be seen clearing land at the site Thursday, as Liberal leader Dwight Ball and Graham Letto, who is seeking re-election in the district, toured the mine.
“Things were kind of not stable in all the mining industry in the area, and today we are in the brink of reproduction,” said Letto.
The day after Graham Letto was sworn in as MHA for Labrador West, the pension plan was terminated. In 2014, an estimated 400 people working at the mine and concentrator in Wabush were notified by Cliffs Natural Resources that its operations would be shutting down. Continue Reading →
Central Newfoundland mine proposal registered for environmental assessment
It’s a gold reserve glittering with job potential but the proposed Valentine gold mine in central Newfoundland is several years away. The undertaking was registered this week for environmental assessment under the provincial Environmental Protection Act.
Marathon Gold Corp. is the Toronto-based gold exploration company proposing to develop the gold mine roughly 55 kilometres southwest of Millertown in central Newfoundland. The net present value of the project is about $500 million USD.
“It’s a major gold deposit, certainly the largest in Newfoundland and Atlantic Canada and it really stands out as one of the top projects in North America,” president and CEO Phillip Walford said in a telephone interview from Toronto Wednesday. Continue Reading →
With millions budgeted for everything from equity investments to offshore seismic work to new training programs, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Liberal government is continuing to bet heavily on the natural resources sector.
And making zero apologies for doing so, amid a clarion call about the dangers of climate change and the burning of fossil fuels. Budget 2019-20 was presented Tuesday in the House of Assembly, laying out a road map for growth in oil and gas, and mining.
Both sectors employ thousands of people and contribute billions to the province’s fragile economy. But these investments won’t come cheap. Continue Reading →
The provincial government of Newfoundland and Labrador plans to kick-start the province’s mining sector through envisioning five new mines, revamping decades-old legislation and creating 1,400 jobs by 2030. Julian Turner reports on the drive to put this far-flung corner of Canada on the mining map.
The province of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) is renowned for its fishing industry, the rugged, uncompromising beauty of its coastline and weather, its unique dialect and the warmth of its people, all of it immortalised in E. Annie Proulx’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Shipping News.
Less well publicised is that the most easterly province of Canada is home to a sporadic mining sector. Ground was broken on the first mine in the small town of Tilt Cove in 1864 and more than 150 years later a total of 11 mines produce 14 separate commodities, including iron ore, nickel, copper, cobalt and gold, while the industry in NL directly employs 4,800 people. Continue Reading →
The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame was conceived by the late Maurice R. Brown, former editor and publisher of The Northern Miner, as a way to recognize and honour the legendary mine finders and builders of a great Canadian industry. The Hall was established in 1988. For more information about the extraordinary individuals who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, please go to their home website: http://mininghalloffame.ca/
James Gill secured a place in mining history through the exceptional success and staying power of Aur Resources. In 1981, he made a timely decision to launch his own company and begin the hunt for projects with potential to become producing mines. With a PhD in economic geology and early career experience with senior companies, he brought strong technical skills and a disciplined approach to corporate management to his newly incorporated junior.
Aur began life with $250,000 of seed capital, which Gill parlayed into a large land package in Quebec’s Val d’Or mining camp. Aur became a modest-sized gold producer through discoveries and mine acquisitions, but the big breakthrough came in 1989 with the Louvicourt copper-zinc discovery. Gill’s entrepreneurial energy came to the fore as Louvicourt was developed into one of Canada’s premier copper-zinc mines. He continued to develop and acquire mines in Canada and abroad until 2007, when he negotiated a $4.1 billion buyout of Aur by Teck Resources.
http://www.pendaproductions.com/ This video was produced by PENDA Productions, a full service production company specializing in Corporate Communications with a focus on Corporate Responsibility.
Mining was part of Gill’s DNA, as his grandfather James E. Gill (a 2003 CMHF inductee) was a successful consulting geologist and an influential professor of economic geology at McGill University. Born in Montreal, James W. Gill is a McGill graduate with a BSc degree (1971) and a MSc degree (1976). He also earned a PhD from Carleton University in Ottawa.
(LtoR) James W. Gill receiving the award from Anthony Vaccaro, CMHF Director and Group Publisher, The Northern Miner Group at the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame dinner on January 10th. Keith Houghton Photography.
Hundreds of eager people flooded the Arts and Cultures Centre in Labrador City on Tuesday night to hear what Tacora Resources had to say about job prospects. The seats filled up and people spilled into the aisles as the iron ore company hosted its first information session on the reboot of the Scully mine.
They were told hiring would start small with a few jobs as early as January, with the majority of positions being filled in March. “We’re very excited to see the interest and it says a lot about what we’re about to take on and what it means to the community,” said Tacora general manager Bob Gagne.
In the crowd were people desperate to get back to work after some tough economic times in Labrador West. The mine shut down in 2014, as iron ore prices slumped and costs increased.
More than 400 people were put out of work then, and about 260 people are expected to be hired before the mine reopens in June 2019. Continue Reading →
New life is about to be breathed into an old pit, as Tacora Resources Inc. announced today the Scully Mine will restart operations next summer. The company is expecting to create 260 jobs, and will start looking for those workers right away. A hiring information session is expected to take place Tuesday night, 6:30 p.m. at the Arts and Cultures Centre in Labrador City.
“It’s the life breathed back into our community again,” said Wabush Mayor Ron Barron. “Let’s get the show going and get people working.” Premier Dwight Ball was in Labrador West on Tuesday to make the announcement alongside Tacora CEO Larry Lehtinen.
“The work starts today, the hiring process starts today,” Ball said. “The next step and the way forward for Wabush starts today.” Lehtinen said the Scully mine has a future “decades and decades” long, with an expected annual production between 6 and 6.5 million tonnes of iron ore, which will be 65.9 per cent iron content. Continue Reading →
Innu launched the lawsuit in 2013, seeking $900 million in compensation
The Supreme Court of Canada says it will hear an appeal over jurisdiction in the latest stage of a long-running effort by Innu First Nations to sue mining giant Rio Tinto.
The government of Newfoundland and Labrador launched the appeal after Quebec’s highest court ruled that the Innu of Uashat and of Mani-Utenam and others could sue the company and its Iron Ore Co. of Canada subsidiary through Quebec courts.
The attorney general of Newfoundland and Labrador has argued that Quebec courts are without jurisdiction in the matter because the mining operations are in Labrador. Continue Reading →
The Moss Pit has officially opened at the Iron Ore Company of Canada’s Labrador City mine. IOC says the $79-million investment is not a massive hole in the ground yet, but as it is scooped out it will allow the company to speed up production and extend the life of the mine by about 50 years — and at a reduced operating cost.
“It’s been a long time coming. A little over five years,” said Clayton Walker, president and CEO of Iron Ore Company of Canada. Walker said it’s the right time to invest, feeling that support is in place from stakeholders, government, employees, local unions and there’s confidence in the market.
“I’ve been really pleased with how everyone has come back, we got back to work, everyone’s working hard,” he said, referencing the labour-management dispute which started at the mine last winter and stretched into spring. Continue Reading →
