Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications – Page 185

Nickel: The Outperformer And Top Pick For 2015 – by Stephan Bogner (Seeking Alpha – April 21, 2015)

April 21, 2015

Summary

Nickel was the best performing metal in 2014.
Nickel is the top commodity pick of several investment banks, including Morgan Stanley.
The Voisey’s Bay area may host the next big nickel discovery since it is abnormally under-explored.
From today’s perspective, Voisey’s Bay wasn’t really a great nickel discovery, but still one of the world’s biggest.

• 22 years ago, Robert Friedland’s Diamond Fields Resources Inc. stumbled onto nickel while looking for diamonds in Canada’s remote north.

• Only three years later, in 1996, Friedland sold his lucky strike, the Voisey’s Bay Nickel Deposit, for $4.3 billion USD to Inco.

• Prior to being purchased by CVRD (now Vale (NYSE:VALE)) in 2006, Inco was the world’s second largest producer of nickel.

• In 2005, the Voisey’s Bay open-pit and concentrator started production. Vale is currently completing an engineering study for an underground mine to be constructed between 2016-2019, extending mine life to 2035.

Safety record at mines makes trust scarce – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 21, 2015)

April 21, 2015

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

A mining health and safety conference last week seemed far removed from the June 8, 2011 deaths of two men at Vale’s Frood-Stobie Complex in Sudbury.

In a conference room at a Sudbury hotel, Labour Minister Kevin Flynn presented the final report of the mining health, safety and prevention review with 18 recommendations to improve mine safety. One was that mining companies be required to have detailed water management programs.

The review was prompted by the deaths of Jason Chenier and Jordan Fram, who were overcome by a run of 350 tonnes of muck at the 900-metre level of the century-old mine. A mandatory inquest into their deaths began Monday.

A run of muck is an uncontrolled — and in this case violent — release of water, blasted rock, ore and sand. It engulfed Chenier, 35, and Fram, 26, as they were trying to determine what had caused the material to clog an ore pass above where they were working. According to three investigations and the counsel to the inquest coroner, the incident never should have occurred.

Sudbury mine deaths ‘should not have happened’ – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 21, 2015)

April 21, 2015

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

Before an inquest jury heard about how two Sudbury men died on the job, an assistant Crown attorney talked about how the men lived.

Susan Bruce, who along with assistant Crown Roberta Bald is serving as counsel to presiding coroner Dr. David Eden, told the two-man, three-woman jury Monday what kind of men Jason Chenier, 35, and Jordan Fram, 26, were.

The two were killed June 8, 2011, at Vale’s Stobie Mine when they were overcome by a run of 350 tons of muck — rock, water and sand — while working at the mine’s 3,000-foot level near the No. 7 ore shaft. A mandatory inquest is being held into their deaths. It is scheduled for two weeks, but could end sooner because some witnesses who would have given similar testimony have been written off the list.

Chenier, a supervisor at Stobie, was the husband of Tracy and father of two children, aged 6 and 7. He loved family activities such as fishing, hiking and skiing, and built his children “an elaborate play centre from scratch,” not from a kit at a department store, Bruce told the jury.

Will solar be the bullet that kills coal? – by Andrew Topf (Mining.com – April 19, 2015)

April 20, 2015

http://www.mining.com/

For the past few years, it has been assumed that natural gas is the enemy of coal, at least in the United States, where low natural gas prices have eroded marketshare from thermal coal producers. Now, a new adversary is emerging for coal. It comes from silicon wafers, the material used to make solar panels.

According to a post in Saturday’s Quartz, a digital news outlet, a small research facility in Bedford, Massachusetts is helping to perfect a new technique for making silicon wafers, and if successful, it could reduce the cost of solar by 20 percent in the next few years.

“This humble wafer will allow solar to be as cheap as coal and will drastically change the way we consume energy,” Quartz quoted Frank van Mierlo, CEO of 1366 Technologies, the company behind the new method of wafer fabrication.

Quartz continues: The dramatic reduction in cost came from a wide number of incremental gains, says Mark Barineau, a solar analyst with Lux Research. Factors include a new, low-cost process for making polycrystalline silicon; thinner silicon wafers; thinner wires on the front of the module that block less sunlight and use less silver; less-expensive plastics instead of glass; and greater automation in manufacturing.

Highly anticipated Sudbury inquest opens Monday – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 20, 2015)

April 20, 2015

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

Vale Ltd. officials say they can’t turn back the clock to before June 8, 2011, when two workers were killed at the company’s Stobie Mine.

But they said they hope the families of Jason Chenier, 35, and Jordan Fram, 26, find some comfort “in the significant work done since that night to ensure this kind of tragedy never occurs again.”

Vale issued the statement three days before the start Monday of a coroner’s investigation into the men’s death. Regional supervising coroner Dr. David Eden will preside at the inquest, at which a five-member jury will hear evidence from several witnesses at what is expected to be a 10-day hearing.

Vale said in its statement that the purpose of the inquest is to review the circumstances around the fatality so that future deaths can be prevented.

Chenier and Fram died after being overcome by a run of 350 tons of muck while they were working at the 3,000-foot level of the mine.

Noront COO dies suddenly – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 20, 2015)

April 20, 2015

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

The man who was the face of Noront Resources Ltd. in Northern Ontario died suddenly last week.

Paul Semple, Noront’s chief operating officer, was known and respected in the towns of Northern Ontario, First Nation communities and in the halls of government, the company said in a news release.

Semple helped shape the culture and philosophy of Noront, and his guidance and leadership will be sorely missed,” Noront said in a news release.

“As a company, we will honour his legacy by continuing to forge strong relationships and dealing honestly and inclusively with all our stakeholders,” the company said.

Noront is focused on developing the high-grade Eagle’s Nest nickel, copper, platinum and palladium deposit, and the high-grade Blackbird chromite deposit, both located in the James Bay Lowlands of Ontario in the Ring of Fire.

Floating nuclear power plants promise major savings for Arctic mines – by Peter Varga (Nunatsiaq News – April 17, 2015)

April 17, 2015

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

Diesel-fuelled power “not sustainable for the scale of development we want to see”

Mining projects in Nunavut are saddled with high expenses that could discourage development. With that in mind, why not go for a tried and proven cheaper source of energy that can come and go on the high seas, and reach the territory’s coastal communities?

That’s just what Dunedin Energy Systems Ltd., an Ontario-based energy consulting firm, suggested when it pointed to “floating nuclear power plants” as an alternative energy source, April 16 at the Nunavut Mining Symposium in Iqaluit.

Nuclear power generators have been cruising the high seas in the ships of the world’s biggest navies since the 1950s, Peter Lang, president of Dunedin, told an audience at the symposium.

“Since then, civilian applications have come along,” Lang said during his presentation, adding that icebreakers and carriers powered by nuclear energy also sail the high seas.

A generator on a ship can produce more than enough for the largest mines now operating in northern Canada, at a fraction of the cost that diesel-fuelled power generators require, he said.

Marten Falls First Nation and Webequie First Nation Sign Ring of Fire Protocol Agreement – by James Murray (Netnewsledger.com – April 17, 2015)

April 17, 2015

http://www.netnewsledger.com/

THUNDER BAY – The First Nations whose lands and resources will be most affected by the proposed Ring of Fire development met today to sign a protocol agreement. “This will not only be good for us, but will also be good for the exploration companies to know the protocols for exploration on our mutual traditional lands”, stated Chief Cornelius Wabasse of Webequie First Nation.

Marten Falls First Nation and Webequie First Nation today entered into a “Negotiation Protocol Respecting Early Exploration in the Ring of Fire”. The protocol strengthens the commitment of both First Nations to work together to advance their common interests in a coordinated manner while respecting their mutual and unique interests over their respective lands and approvals to use the lands.

The need for such a protocol is evidenced by over 100 mineral exploration companies that have staked claims and proposed other related developments in the Ring of Fire. Both Marten Falls and Webequie agreed that they had to be come together to set out their mutual expectations respecting early exploration activities in the Ring of Fire.

Within the Ring of Fire only Webequie and Marten Falls share a unique relationship with Ontario. The Government of Ontario entered into a Memorandum of Cooperation with Webequie and a Memorandum of Understanding with Marten Falls related to mineral exploration and development activities.

Between boom and bust – by Phil Hopwood (Lawyers Weekly – April 17 2015)

April 17, 2015

http://www.lawyersweekly.ca/

Cutting red tape just one of the ways to help junior miners raise money in hard times

I always say you can tell you’re at the peak of the market when your cab driver starts offering you stock tips. Likewise, I now say you can probably tell you’re at the bottom of the market when mining companies start transforming themselves into medical marijuana producers.

That may sound strange, but it’s true: Canadian mining companies have grown weary of lacklustre returns and are looking to other sectors that hold out greater promise. It just goes to show how very challenging the mining market has become, especially for the juniors.

Heavily responsible for exploration and discovery of new deposits, junior miners are the foundation of the industry’s food chain, often selling their new discoveries to larger developers before starting the cycle all over again. But after years of being battered in a bear market, juniors are struggling to keep the lights on, cutting back on exploratory costs in the past year by 29 per cent — on top of a 39 per cent cut the year before.

Given the time it takes from exploration to development to production, we are headed for serious supply shortages in key minerals and metals in the next decade if this trend continues. To compound the problem, investors have already been taking note of the poor returns from mining stocks and are leery of the sector. Gone are the days of Chinese investors financing large capital projects, while banks rarely offer favourable terms anymore.

Mining Uranium: Saskatchewan Cameco Sets the Standard – by Rick Littlechild (First Nations Drum – April 12, 2015)

April 16, 2015

http://www.firstnationsdrum.com/

The Athabasca Basin hosts the world’s richest high grade uranium deposits. Saskatchewan produces 30% of the world’s uranium, and one main player in this Canadian mining success story is Cameco. The company was formed in 1988, and for over a quarter century, the company has been safely and reliably producing uranium and nuclear fuel products. Cameco currently has three active mines in northern Saskatchewan: Rabbit Lake, McArthur River and Cigar Lake.

Last year, Cameco successfully commenced production at their new Cigar Lake mine in northern Saskatchewan. This year, their main focus is to safely ramp up production at the mine. They expect to produce 6 to 8 million pounds in 2015, which would make Cigar Lake the third largest mine in the world by production. By 2018, Cameco expect’s to produce 18 million pounds(100% basis) of uranium concentrate annually.

The ore mined at Cigar Lake is transported by truck to the Mclean Lake Mill operated by Areva Resource Canada Inc, where it is processed to Unranium concentrate. Mclean Lake Mill is located approximately 70 kilometres northeast of the mine site. Mining at Cigar Lake began in March 2014 and the first Uranium concentrate was packaged at Mclean Lake in October 2014.

The company has developed strong ties with aboriginal people, with an emphasis on partnerships, Metis Sean Wiilly has spent a career in mining and is very sensitive to Aboriginal relations stated that “ Our goal is to develop and maintain long-term relationships between First Nations and Metis communities near where we operate.

Quebec plans $100-millon loan to troubled Nunavik mine – by Sarah Rogers (Nunatsiaq News – April 16, 2015)

April 16, 2015

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

The Quebec government is prepared to loan $100 million through a government-linked investment agency to Canadian Royalties and its parent company Jien Canada Mining Ltd., which owns and operates the Nunavik Nickel mine.

The news comes just days after Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard re-launched the government’s Plan Nord, which promised to invest billions into building the province’s economy north of the 49th parallel.

But opposition parties in the National Assembly had questions April 14 about the government’s decision to invest in the Nunavik mine, given the premier’s background. Couillard was named to Canadian Royalties’ board of directors in 2009, a year after he resigned as health minister under the Charest government.

Couillard also sat on the board alongside Dr. Arthur Porter, the disgraced former CEO of the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, who faces fraud charges alleging his involvement with a multi-million dollar, kick-back scheme linked to the construction of a new hospital centre.

Opposition MNAs suggested Couillard’s connection to the mining company raises a conflict in the face of such a large government investment.

Prospector president calls for reform of Mining Act – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – April 15, 2015)

April 15, 2015

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.

Gino Chitaroni wonders if prospectors are becoming a vanishing breed in Northern Ontario. He blames over-reaching government policy, onerous regulations and unsolved issues with First Nations for gutting the grassroots heart of the mining sector.

The president of the Northern Prospectors Association said their monthly meetings have devolved into “bitch sessions” with grievances over changes to the Ontario Mining Act and something must be done to turn the tide in industry’s favour.

The introduction two years ago of so-called Plans and Permits haven’t been well-received by the exploration community and he finds there is an exodus of prospectors who are pulling up stakes and leaving Ontario for other jurisdictions.

“It’s gotten to the point where our whole way of life of exploration is completely threatened.” Changes to the Mining Act and the introduction of new legislation like the Far North Act, he said, were done with little consultation with Northerners and industry, and is proof of the disconnect between this region and the south.

“It’s a continual assault against trying to do business in Northern Ontario.”

Canadian-Japanese partners eye promising copper project in western Nunavut – by Jane George (Nunatsiaq News – April 15, 2015)

April 15, 2015

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

“We think we have a great start at building something terrific”

There’s something a little different about a new copper-silver project near Kugluktuk. This doesn’t come as a surprise because Matthew Hornor, president and CEO of a company called Kaizen Discovery, confided “our dream was to do things different” during an April 14 presentation to the Nunavut Mining Symposium in Iqaluit.

“Kaizen,” by the way, means continuous improvement in Japanese, a language that Hornor, who has a long-time relationship with Japan, speaks fluently.

Kaizen Discovery’s Coppermine project is one of two Nunavut mining projects with Japanese partners — the other being Areva Resources Canada’s Kiggavik uranium project whose minority partners include Japan-Canada Uranium Co. Ltd. and Daewoo International Corp.

Kaizen’s Coppermine copper-silver project, acquired last November, is also a newcomer to the western Nunavut mining scene. Hornor said he’s reluctant to make promises until the company is sure the resources are there to support a large copper-silver mine project.

But this fledgling project has a few things that make it stand out among the slow-starting, stalled or failed mining projects in Nunavut’s Kitikmeot region.

City backs deep mining project in Sudbury – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – April 15, 2015)

April 15, 2015

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

Sudbury’s Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation is getting a big boost. City council voted unanimously on Tuesday to invest $200,000 per year for the next five years in CEMI, for its commercialization attainment project (CAP).

By 2019, a total of $1 million will have been invested through the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation, the city’s economic development wing.

“The $1 million is part of the contribution of a number of projects that are contributing to the commercialization of various projects that’ll help the mining industry in Sudbury,” Mayor Brian Bigger said after Tuesday’s meeting.

The commercialization initiative, part of a $47-million ultra-deep mining program — projects breaking ground at least 2.5 km below the surface — aims to research and innovate solutions, and to open markets for Sudbury-based small- and medium-sized businesses.

According to a city press release, ultra-deep mining innovation “will lead the way in helping ultra-deep mines operate more effectively and safely, generate more value, improve the human environment and enhance mine productivity.”

Fram pleased with mining review recommendations – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 15, 2015)

April 15, 2015

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

The mother of one of two men whose deaths four years ago in a Vale mine sparked a review to improve mine safety is pleased with 18 recommendations and says they will make working underground less hazardous.

Wendy Fram’s son, Jordan, 26, and coworker Jason Chenier, 35, were killed June 8, 2011, by a run of muck at the 3,000-foot level of Vale’s Stobie Mine. One of the issues identified in investigations as leading to the men’s deaths was excess water in the century-old mine.

That issue was squarely addressed in the final report of the Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review, presented in Sudbury this morning by Labour Minister Kevin Flynn and Ontario chief prevention officer George Gritziotis.

Gritziotis chaired the review, whose advisory committee was comprised of individuals from industry and labour. Fram served as a special advisor to the committee on the review that was established in December 2013.

Key recommendations in the report are to enhance ground control protection by identifying key elements to managing those hazards and require employers to maintain a record of significant seismic events.