Archive | Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications

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 →

Vale, Glencore both earn medals at annual mine rescue challenge – by Staff (Sudbury Northern Life – June 10, 2019)

June 10, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Glencore, Sudbury Basin, Vale

https://www.sudbury.com/

Jean-Yves Doiron, a mine rescue technician with Vale Canada in Sudbury, won the award for top technician

Mine rescue volunteers from K+S Windsor Salt Ojibway Mine donned the champions’ gold hard hats at the 70th annual Ontario Mine Rescue Provincial Competition last week. The event was held this year at the Red Lake Gold Mines in Red Lake, Ont.

K+S Windsor Salt Ojibway Mine was also awarded the John Guthrie (Special Equipment) Award during the closing banque June 7. The team won the Southern District mine rescue competition in Goderich in May.

The Windsor Salt mine rescue team consisted of: Captain Adam Schraeder, No. 2 Al Gernon, No. 3 Dillon Perry, No. 4 Joe Schraeder, Vice-captain Phillip Schraeder, No. 6 Ethan Kirby, Briefing Officer Matt Stefanic. Continue Reading →

COLUMN: ‘Moonscape’ Sudbury deserves global recognition for its environmental success – by Dr. John Gunn (Northern Ontario Business – June 7, 2019)

June 7, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Sudbury History, Sudbury Laurentian University – Mining Faculties and Research, Vale

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Dr. John Gunn is the Canada Research Chair in Stressed Aquatic Systems and the director of the Vale Living with Lakes Centre in Sudbury.

Michael Moore’s recent documentary film about lead in drinking water in Flint Michigan has catapulted that city onto a growing list of places known for environmental disasters, including Chernobyl, Love Canal, Minamata, Bhopal, London with its great deadly smog of 1952, and the little town of Walkerton, Ontario, where seven died and more than 2,000 became sick because of E. coli contamination.

Positive environmental stories from specific places also exist, but like the evening news, the positive stories never get quite as much attention.

There are, however, some wonderful examples, such the Montréal Protocol and the Paris Accord, where a city’s name is forever linked to an event where world leaders came together to address global threats to the environment, such as the ozone depleting compounds in the atmosphere, or the severe threats of climate change. Continue Reading →

Timmins Pirie offers to be a strong voice for mining industry – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – June 7, 2019)

June 7, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Ontario Mining, Timmins

https://www.timminspress.com/

Mayor calls on government to provide incentives, saying there is “unlimited” potential for new mining development in Timmins.

The passion for mining that fuelled George Pirie’s rise through the ranks over 35 years in the industry was evident Thursday as the Timmins mayor addressed an audience of local prospectors and junior mining representatives.

Pirie was the final speaker at the investment conference held on the last day of the Big Event Canadian Mine Expo at the McIntyre Community Building. Many of those in the audience were individuals Pirie knew on a first-name basis from his experience in mining.

Pirie, currently in his first term as mayor, said one of the reasons he ran for office was that he felt he could “elevate the conversation” and be a strong advocate for the mining industry in this region. Continue Reading →

New mining manager outlines his vision for Vale at Thompson chamber meeting – by Kyle Darbyson (Thompson Citizen – June 5, 2019)

June 5, 2019 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Manitoba Mining, Nickel, Thompson, Vale

https://www.thompsoncitizen.net/

Gary Eyres tells business owners about nickel concentrate, electric cars and new exploration initiatives

After three months on the job, Vale’s latest mining manager Gary Eyres spoke at the Thompson Chamber of Commerce meeting May 29. Throughout his 44-minute presentation, Eyres outlined what Vale’s Manitoba Operations look like right now and where they are headed in the future.

The Australian went over Vale’s current status as a strictly mining and milling operation in Thompson since its smelter and refinery shut down for good back in late 2018.

However, Eyres said the concentrate load-out facility completed about a year ago allows the company to ship out 14 to 16 trucks’ worth of concentrate to Sudbury, Ontario for processing every day. Continue Reading →

Conscription, colonization, a gold-backed buck: Some Conrad Black remedies for Canada – by Greg Klein (Rescource Clips – June 3, 2019)

June 5, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver

http://resourceclips.com/

Here’s a guy who wants to make this country a “world-important nationality”—in other words, to put Canada on the map. Yes, a country that makes “unassuming” a euphemism for “sub-mediocre” just might have hope after all. But Canadians would have to follow Conrad Black’s plan, Conrad Black says.

Not at all modest in his proposals, the former Canadian who renounced his citizenship outlines them in his most recent book, The Canadian Manifesto. Despite zero likelihood of finding acceptance, the ideas do offer a peculiar interest.

Forced military service is one of them, as is a Canadian colonial empire in the Caribbean. Of interest to goldbugs, however, is Black’s “sensible, radical and imaginative” alternative to the northern peso: “Canada should tie the value of its currency to a combination of the prices of gold, oil, and a consumer shopping basket in equal thirds.” Continue Reading →

Sagamok Anishnawbek secures haulage contract for Sudbury Vale Totten Mine (Northern Ontario Business – May 31, 2019)

May 31, 2019 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Vale

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Agreement stemming from long-term IBA with Vale takes effect June

Z’Gamok Construction LP, a corporation owned by the Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation, has secured the ore haulage contract for Vale’s Totten Mine, located about 40 minutes southwest of Sudbury.

In a May 30 news release, Sagamok Chief Nelson Toulouse heralded the news as a historic development for the First Nation, noting the new agreement would enable “greater control over the contract, create more job opportunities and revenue for Sagamok Anishnawbek.”

“This will mean more employment for our community members; therefore, require more equipment and trucks to complete the terms and conditions of the contract,” Toulouse said. Continue Reading →

Ontario’s first and only diamond mine reaches end of production (Timmins Daily Press – May 31, 2019)

May 31, 2019 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Diamond Mining, Ontario Mining

https://www.timminspress.com/

Mining activities in the pit ended on March 5, when the mine switched to processing the remaining surface stockpiles of ore.

ATTAWAPISKAT — Ten years and 10 months after the official opening in July 2008, production at De Beers Group Victor Mine in Northern Ontario has come to an end.

On May 26, the last of the economic ore was processed through the plant, followed by several days of low-grade ore and limestone to help purge the plant of any remaining diamonds. Mining activities in the pit ended on March 5, when the mine switched to processing the remaining surface stockpiles of ore. The plant will now undergo a comprehensive shutdown process through the end of June.

De Beers Group Exploration discovered Victor in 1987, becoming Canada’s first economically viable diamond deposit discovery, nearly five years ahead of the diamond discoveries in the Northwest Territories. Continue Reading →

Rare earths: China closes Tengchong Yunnan/Myanmar port and bans imports of rare earth from Myanmar (Roskill.com – May 24, 2019)

May 30, 2019 in Asia Mining, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals

https://roskill.com/news/

Imports of rare earth ores and concentrates from Myanmar were banned earlier this month by Chinese authorities. Imports from Myanmar have been a significant source of rare earth raw materials to the Chinese industry since 2017.

In addition, China closed the Tengchong Yunnan/Myanmar port, which has been the main boarder crossing point for rare earth ores and concentrates, with no sign of the port reopening over the coming months.

In 2018, imports of rare earth materials from Myanmar into China were reported to contain 23kt REO, including 860t Dy oxide and 130t Tb oxide, equivalent to 40% of China’s annual production. Continue Reading →

Northwest First Nations protest provincial caribou strategy – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – May 29, 2019)

May 29, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Caribou and Mining

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Red Rock Chief won’t be “force-fed” conservation plan that jeopardizes development, threatens communities

The province’s rollout of a woodland caribou recovery strategy in northwestern Ontario threatens the gains made by First Nations in natural resource development, said the chief of the Red Rock Indian Band.

Matthew Dupuis and a group of protesters were taking to the road to delay traffic on the Trans-Canada Highway at the Nipigon Bridge on May 29.

They take issue with Ontario’s Woodland Caribou Conservation Plan to create corridors for woodland caribou that they say is potentially devastating to communities and industry along the north shore of Lake Superior. Continue Reading →