Archive | Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications

EDITORIAL: Road to resources a northern priority (Yellowknifer – June 20, 2019)

June 21, 2019 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canada Mining – North of 60, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications

https://nnsl.com/yellowknifer/

Diamond mines are the bloodstream for the NWT and Yellowknife, a source of economic vitality in the wake of the gold rush that birthed this city in the first place.

For most of the community’s history, the main reason people have come here has been to make a living off the rocks. The Earth’s many valuable ores have supported abundant mining jobs for generations.

And one miner’s job generates many others in this thriving town: schoolteachers, shopkeepers, doctors and nurses. But the mines, and the city and the jobs, are in trouble. Continue Reading →

[Falconbridge] ‘I thought the smelter had blown up’ – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – June 21, 2019)

June 21, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Glencore, Mining Accidents, Deaths, Cave-Ins and Industrial Disease, Mining Labour Issues and History – Sudbury and Global, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Sudbury History

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Electrician Gary Hrytsak was taking a brief nap during a coffee break at the Falconbridge smelter complex about 10:05 a.m. June 20, 1984, when he got thrown off the bench he was on.

“It was an eerie feeling,” recalled the now-retired Hrytsak during his speech at the 35th Workers’ Memorial Day ceremonies at the Caruso Club on Thursday. “You could feel things shaking under your feet … I thought the smelter had blown up.”

Hrytsak, who went on to do compensation, health and welfare work for his union (Mine Mill and Smelter Workers Local 598), said he put on his respirator, went to the electrical shop and telephoned his foreman, only to be told to stay where he was. Continue Reading →

[Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd.] Mining company marks Nunavut opening with $1-million donation (Nunatsiaq News – June 20, 2019)

June 21, 2019 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canada Mining – North of 60, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications

https://nunatsiaq.com/

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. celebrated the launch of its new Nunavut gold mine with a community feast and the gift of $1 million to two non-profit organizations.

The company’s Meliadine gold mine, located about 25 kilometres north of Rankin Inlet, started commercial production last month.

To mark the occasion, Agnico Eagle hosted an event at Rankin Inlet’s community hall on Wednesday, June 19, enticing residents with hot air balloon rides and a chance to hold a bar of gold. Continue Reading →

Baffinland’s expanded shipping proposal raises concerns at Iqaluit meeting – by Jane George (Nunatsiaq News – June 19, 2019)

June 21, 2019 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canada Mining – North of 60, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Iron Ore

https://nunatsiaq.com/

To help protect the area’s fish, birds, marine mammals and people, Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. should meet a “gold standard” when shipping from its north Baffin iron mine, delegates said during the second day of the Nunavut Impact Review Board’s three-day technical meeting on the company’s $900-million proposal to expand its Mary River mine.

After sessions looking at the use of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and cumulative effects assessments on Monday, attention on Tuesday turned largely to ice-breaking and shipping.

Baffinland plans to ship out 12 million tonnes of ore annually, increasing that amount later to 30 million tonnes. Several of the Inuit representatives around the table in Iqaluit’s Cadet Hall told how Baffinland’s shipping is already having an impact. Continue Reading →

New play explores Sudbury’s labour strife – by Mia Jensen (Sudbury Star – June 20, 2019)

June 21, 2019 in Books, Art, Music and Photography About Mining and Northern Topics, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Mining Labour Issues and History – Sudbury and Global, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Conversations around a kitchen table are a common experience, but playwright Rick Duthie believes that in Sudbury, something has been missing from the discussion.

Duthie’s new play, One Day Stronger, explores Sudbury’s labour history from the perspective of Laurie, anchored to her kitchen table, who relives her childhood memories from the 1958 Inco strike to her present, at the end of the 1978 Inco strike.

With more than 20,000 people on strike in a city of just 75,000, the post-war Inco strikes were a time of tension, disunity, and emotional exhaustion. Duthie’s play explores these events from the intimate perspective of a family, and a girl at two different points in her life. Continue Reading →

Back in Time: Striking it rich at Flin Flon’s first mine – by Craig Baird (Flin Flon Reminder – June 19, 2019)

June 21, 2019 in Canadian Mining History, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Manitoba Mining

https://www.thereminder.ca/

The origins of Mandy Mine involve two men who were working as railroad builders by Hudson Bay. They decided that they wanted to take their own prospecting trip along Grassy River and see what was there. They had some knowledge of the area thanks to earlier surveyors, but they wanted to see it for themselves.

Fred Jackson and Sidney Reynolds decided to take the trip in the autumn of 1915 and see what they could find. Luck was on their side as they decided to camp on top of a 35-foot wide lens of solid chalcopyrite.

Over the next few months, the were able to pull out 22 to 28 per cent copper, which contained $3.60 worth of gold per ton, along with about nine to 16 ounces of silver. For every $1,000 they spent drilling into the find, $1.25 million in ore was brought out. It was pay dirt for the two men. Continue Reading →

Is there new life for Kidd Mine?: Scheduled for 2022 closure, new ore discovery spurs Glencore to drill deep at legendary Timmins mine – by Len Gillis (Northern Ontario Business – June 17, 2019)

June 17, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Glencore, Ontario Mining, Timmins

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Len Gillis is the editor of Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal, a sister publication of Northern Ontario Business. Contact him at [email protected]

Kidd Operations has confirmed it is investing a lot of time and effort to try to find a way to extend the life of the massive underground Glencore Kidd copper-zinc mining complex in Timmins.

Mark Furlotte, Kidd Operations general manager, responded to Northern Ontario Business and Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal to reveal the company has set up exploration drilling to target mineral zones deeper than three kilometres.

Furlotte’s comments follow the recent Big Event Mining Expo held in Timmins where the chief topic of conversation was what the future might hold for the Kidd Operations deep mine and how the company is planning to extend the life of the mine beyond the expected shutdown in 2022. Continue Reading →

After rubbing shoulders with U.S. presidents, Sudbury’s Leo Gerard coming home for retirement – by Heidi Ulrichsen (Northern Ontario Business – June 12, 2019)

June 17, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Mining Labour Issues and History – Sudbury and Global, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Vale

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Veteran USW boss speaks of growing up in Lively, his long career (including dancing with Michelle Obama) and his lasting impressions of a historic strike in Sudbury

After a career in which he rubbed shoulders with world leaders – including U.S. presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama – Steelworkers International president Leo Gerard said he’s retiring to his hometown of Sudbury. He said he still has a home and a camp here, despite working out of Pittsburgh.

“My kids and my grandkids are getting old,” said Gerard in a recent interview with Sudbury.com following the announcement last month he’s retiring as of mid-July. “I’ve got a camp on Nepewassi. I didn’t put my boat in for three years.”

The 72-year-old Gerard, who’s served the Steelworkers for more than 50 years, has been the Steelworkers International president since 2001. His successor is Tom Conway, who has served alongside Gerard as Steelworkers International vice-president. Continue Reading →

Coal miners daughters story told at Davis Day ceremony in Springhill – by David Mathieson (Amherst News – June 14, 2019)

June 14, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Mining History, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Coal, Mining Accidents, Deaths, Cave-Ins and Industrial Disease

https://www.cumberlandnewsnow.com/

SPRINGHILL, N.S. – Springhill mining history came to life at the 2019 Davis Day service June 11 at the St. Andrews-Wesley United Church in Springhill.

“As was the practice in those days, the eldest son, Donald, my grandfather, went to work at a man’s job at the age of 13 to support his family,” Shawna Canning said to the crowd gathered for the service.

Born in 1913, Canning’s grandfather, Donald Arthur Campbell, was named after his grandfather who was killed in the 1891 explosion that killed 125 miners. Donald began working at the mine at the age of 13 after his father, John Campbell, was injured at the mine and was unable to work again. Continue Reading →

Nutrien pondering potash production increases – by Devan C. Tasa (Humboldt Journal/Yorkton This Week – June 13, 2019)

June 14, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Potash/Phosphate, Saskatchewan Mining

https://www.yorktonthisweek.com/

Nutrien is considering whether it should increase its potash production capacity by five million tonnes by 2023, then by another five million tonnes after that.

At an event for investors in Toronto on May 28, Susan Jones, Nutrien’s executive vice president for potash, said they have five million tonnes of capacity in place at existing operations that can be quickly brought online with minimal investment if there’s a need.

“In other words, all of this available capacity has already been bought and paid for over the last decade, putting us in a unique position as the only producer with available tonnes to move tonnes into the market quickly, nimbly and flexibly as needed,” she said. Continue Reading →

Windsor Salt mine rescue workers take top prize at provincial competition – by Jennifer La Grassa (Windsor Star – June 13, 2019)

June 14, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Ontario Mining

https://windsorstar.com/

Windsor Salt mine workers struck gold by taking top prize at the province’s annual mine rescue competition.

For the first time in 40 years, mine rescue volunteers from K+S Windsor Salt Ojibway Mine walked away wearing gold hard hats after winning the weeklong Ontario Mine Rescue challenge.

The 70th annual competition, at Newmont Goldcorp’s Red Lake Gold Mines in Red Lake, Ont., tested eight teams on firefighting skills, first-aid response, use of emergency equipment, and decision-making ability in a simulated emergency situation. Mine rescue equipment technicians were also tested on their ability to repair specialized equipment. Continue Reading →

Mining identity still runs deep in Cape Breton where coal is no longer king – by David Jala (Cape Breton Post – June 11, 2019)

June 12, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Coal

https://www.capebretonpost.com/

GLACE BAY, N.S. — Is a coal mining town still a coal mining town once its mines are all closed? Yes and no, says a local academic who studies the cultural legacy that the industry has left on former mining communities like Glace Bay and New Waterford.

“We’re in the aftermath of industry and it cast a long shadow in that it helped shape our culture so much,” said Lachlan MacKinnon, an assistant professor of history at Cape Breton University who penned a 2013 article entitled Labour Landmarks: Collective Memory in a Cape Breton Coal Town.

“The work being done in the area is no longer industrial in character, but part of that culture remains, and you see that in events like Davis Day where young people who didn’t grow up with working coal mines still grow up in an atmosphere where those stories are still being told.” Continue Reading →

Romano: Tories committed to spending on Ontario’s ‘vital’ mineral sector – by Len Gillis (Sudbury Northern Life – June 10, 2019)

June 11, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Ontario Mining

https://www.sudbury.com/

Ontario spends more than $500M a year on exploration alone, and the Sault MPP tells Timmins expo that money, and more, isn’t going away

The Ontario government is committed to strengthening the mining industry because it continues to attract jobs and investment to the province. The spending on mining exploration alone is more than half a billion dollars.

Sault Ste Marie MPP Ross Romano spoke about that in Timmins last week, where he said Ontario is still the key mineral producing province in Canada and the search for new minerals and new mines continues across the North.

Romano was a guest speaker at the Big Event Canadian Mining Expo, an annual trade show that attracted more than 400 exhibitors from across Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Continue Reading →

Mine tailings failures are the shame of the mining industry – by Len Gillis (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – June 2019)

June 11, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Iron Ore, Latin America Mining, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines, Vale

http://www.sudburyminingsolutions.com/

Mining engineer Paul Rantala of Sudbury is hoping more people in his industry will take a fresh look at the issue of tailings dams safety. He is not alone.

Rantala was commenting on the disastrous failure of the tailings dam at the Córrego de Feijão mine, near the community of Brumadinho in Brazil on January 25, 2019. It is believed that more than 400 persons died when millions of litres of mud and tailings swept through a low-lying area for several kilometres.

The tailings failure occurred at the mine owned by Vale S.A., an international mining company based in Brazil, which also has several operations in Sudbury. Continue Reading →

Sudbury’s SAMSSA’s Dick DeStefano to retire July 31 – by Norm Tollinsky (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – June 2019)

June 11, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Mining Supply and Services Sector, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

http://www.sudburyminingsolutions.com/

The founder and driving force of SAMSSA is packing it in after 16 years at the helm of the mining supply and service association.

Dick DeStefano, executive director of the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association, was all set to retire 16 years ago when Paul Reid, a business development officer with the Sudbury Regional Development Corporation, pitched him on developing the potential of the city’s mining supply and service companies.

“We’re trying to diversify the city and we’ve got this collection of companies in the city’s industrial parks that have no profile, no mandate and don’t know where they’re going,” DeStefano remembers Reid telling him. Continue Reading →