Twitter
Boston-Bay-Mines-Announcement

Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications

Mine closures contribute to 60-70% jobless rate in Tumbler Ridge, says deputy mayor – by Jonny Wakefield (Alaska Highway News/Business Vancouver – October 30, 2014)

http://www.biv.com/

Hundreds of people in the district of Tumbler Ridge lost their jobs in a rash of mine closures this year.

But the town’s exact rate of unemployment – which district staff say would help a push for government assistance – remains a mystery.

Tumbler Ridge councillor Rob Mackay, who also serves as deputy mayor, said a local unemployment rate of between 60 and 70% “would be in the right ball park” since Anglo American Coal and Walter Energy idled their mines in Northeast British Columbia.

The town of 2,700 has been largely dependent on mining since it was incorporated in 1981. Around 700 people directly lost their jobs over a period of around six months, and by the end of the year, there will be no working coal mines in Tumbler Ridge.

“[60 to 70% unemployment] has got to be fairly close, though I don’t know the exact number,” said Mackay. “Those mines were the major employers in Tumbler Ridge.” Both companies cited falling metallurgical coal prices as the reason for the shutdowns.

Jordan Wall, Tumbler Ridge’s economic development officer, said being able to put a hard number on the town’s unemployment rate would underline how bad things are to senior levels of government.

Read more

[Ontario] Province must build RoF road – Editorial (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – October 27, 2014)

Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

National media coverage on the Ring of Fire has been of the doom-and-gloom variety of late, but that doesn’t mean the province should throw in the towel on the idea for a main access road into the remote mineral rich zone.

Not surprisingly, in the wake of falling metal prices right across the globe, pundits and mining industry analysts have been questioning the RoF’s value. Maybe it’s not that rock-solid after all, the thinking goes.

But surely that thinking is flawed. It’s hardly a shock to discover that when mineral prices fall and stock values plummet, companies are no longer in a position to fork out the enormous upfront costs of building new mines.

Not until a mine is up and running is its proponent in a position to make operational changes, including temporary shutdowns, to ride out the industry’s inevitable ups and downs.

A few years ago, North American Palladium wisely shut down its Lac des Iles mine north of Thunder Bay when the price of palladium plunged. It restarted the operation when the price came back up, casting the views of cynics aside.

Fortunes can also lead the other way. Some may remember when Inmet Mining caved on a major expansion at its former Schreiber zinc mine after prices for that mineral crashed. But none of that means the province should abandon a sensible plan to build a main access road into the James Bay lowlands.

Read more

An Ebola Armageddon Could Trigger a Rebirth in Gold and Silver Prices: Eric Sprott Interview (The Gold Report – October 20, 2014)

http://www.theaureport.com/

Could an infectious disease kill the monster that has been choking gold and silver prices for more than a year? On the heels of a lively Sprott Precious Metals Roundtable discussion, The Gold Report caught up with investor Eric Sprott to ask how a tragedy in Africa could impact the price of precious metals and mining stocks. We also spoke to his Executive Vice President of Corporate Development John Ciampaglia about a new way to gain exposure to gold.

The Gold Report: Deutsche Bank warned in a recent note that the Ebola virus could impact commodity markets, including gold and cocoa, as it spreads to producing countries in West Africa, particularly Ghana and Mali. In a recent article titled “Ebola, The Tipping Point,” you mourned the unnecessary loss of life and predicted 5% less global production next year than this year. Could a lack of supply due to Ebola-related closures really cause the price of gold to rise?

Eric Sprott: There is already a shortage of gold and silver in the markets without a corresponding increase in the price. I wrote an open letter to the World Gold Council questioning its data on China. If you believe the Shanghai Gold Exchange data, China consumes more than 2,000 tons (2 Kt). In 2011, it consumed only about 1 Kt. In the last two years, China has bought an extra 1 Kt gold—25% of a 4 Kt market. If any country came in and bought 25% of the oil market, the wheat market or the orange juice market, the commodity price would not go down. Obviously, the physical gold market is not manifesting itself in the price changes.

Read more

Glencore digging deeper for new Sudbury mines – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – Oct 23, 2014)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

If approved, Onaping Mine will go as deep as 2,700 metres (8,858 feet)

The future of Glencore’s nickel operations in Sudbury will require deeper mines to access previously untapped deposits, said Marc Boissonneault, the company’s vice-president of Sudbury nickel operations.

Boisonneault, who addressed the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce Tuesday, said the mining giant is eyeing two potential Sudbury developments that would require mine shafts as deep as 2,700 metres.

The first project is Onaping Mine, a site that was discovered years ago, but contains ultra-deep deposits that could not be safely accessed until recently.

Glencore estimates the mine contains 15.7 million tonnes of nickel deposits at higher grades than average for the Sudbury Basin, and would require a capital expenditure of $547 million to develop.

The company is expected to complete a pre-feasibility study for the project later in the year, and will decide by the first or second quarter next year whether it would be worthwhile to mine the deep deposits. “Given our life of mine situation, we would like to get started on it soon,” Boissonneault said.

Read more

News Release: Goldeye Explorations Limited’s Weebigee Project: A High-Grade Gold Discovery in Ontario’s Sandy Lake Greenstone Belt – by Robin Luke Webster (The Ontario Prospector – Winter 2015)

http://www.ontarioprospectors.com/home/

Robin Luke Webster is the Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Community Relations, Goldeye Explorations Limited

In 1986, a former Inco Geophysicist, Blaine Webster, founded a private company to stake mineral exploration claims near Sandy Lake, 225km north of Red Lake, Ontario. At the time, he could hardly have imagined that it would take nearly 30 years to launch a comprehensive exploration and drilling program on the property. In the ensuing years, the company, Goldeye Explorations Limited, obtained a public listing, explored a number of other mineral properties, and made an exciting discovery at its Tyrrell project near Shining Tree, Ontario.

While Goldeye carried out limited exploration after initially staking its claims at Sandy Lake, the project was put on indefinite hold soon after due to opposition from nearby Sandy Lake First Nation (SLFN). Knowing the significant mineral potential of the Sandy Lake area, however, and the benefits that a discovery could bring for both Goldeye shareholders and the local community, Blaine maintained Goldeye’s interest in the claims and focused on building a positive and mutually beneficial relationship with the members of SLFN. When Goldeye sold the Tyrrell project to Temex Resources Corp. in 2012, its focus returned to Sandy Lake.

Guided by Ontario’s new mining act, Goldeye ramped up its ongoing efforts to advance the project and in 2013, after a process of extensive consultations and discussions, SLFN agreed to the terms of a comprehensive Exploration Agreement that made it possible for the long envisioned work program to commence.

Read more

In Wake of Mount Polley, Union Wants New BC Safety Regime – by David P. Ball (The Tyee.ca – October 14, 2014)

http://thetyee.ca/

Ministry defends miners’ exclusion from WorkSafeBC.

It took a spate of deaths in Nanaimo’s coal mines to create a ministry devoted to regulating the industry in 1877. Since that era, the provincial department’s authority over mine health and safety has endured — and subsequent worker protection laws explicitly excluded mines to this day.

But after the near slaughter of workers by the Mount Polley mine tailings dam disaster this summer, the union representing many miners in B.C. is warning about worker safety in the industry.

Thirteen B.C. mine workers have been killed on the job since 2000, according to annual Chief Inspector of Mines reports. The worst year was 2006, when four died from oxygen deprivation at the Sullivan mine near Kimberley, B.C.

Over the same period, a total of 423 people were injured at mine sites, averaging 33 a year. WorkSafeBC’s prevention jurisdiction does not extend to mines to which the Mines Act applies.

All activities conducted in relation to mining within the boundaries of a Mines Act permit area fall within the [occupational health and safety] jurisdiction of [Ministry of Energy and Mines].

Read more

Tin’s price slump seen cutting Indonesian shipments by 30% – by Yoga Rusmana and Eko Listiyorini (Chicago Tribune – October 14, 2014)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/

Bloomberg News – JAKARTA, Indonesia — Tin exports from Indonesia, the world’s biggest supplier, will probably plunge this quarter to the lowest in more than a year after prices declined and as the government moves to impose stricter rules on exports.

Overseas sales may drop 30 percent to 16,000 metric tons from 22,825 tons a year earlier, the median of estimates from one analyst and six smelters compiled by Bloomberg showed. That’s the largest decline since the three months to March and the smallest amount since the quarter ended Sept. 30 last year, Trade Ministry data show.

Tin futures have slumped 16 percent from a six-month high in April on concern that slowing economic growth may curb demand in China, the biggest consumer of industrial metals. Prices dropped even as exports from Indonesia declined 16 percent through September from a year earlier. The government tightened rules on trade in August last year to boost exports of higher- value products and smelters have restrained sales in an attempt to counter declining prices.

“Shipments may slow this quarter as prices have dropped to near the cost of production,” said Jabin Sufianto, chairman of the Association of Indonesian Tin Exporters in Jakarta. “Prices of about $21,000 are unattractive to some smelters,” he said in a text message on Oct. 9.

Futures fell 9.8 percent this year to $20,150 a ton on the London Metal Exchange Monday. They reached $23,849 on April 24 after the country required all refined tin to be traded through the Indonesia Commodity and Derivatives Exchange starting August last year, seeking to create a benchmark price and challenge the role of the LME.

Read more

Matawa First Nations building an Aboriginal workforce – by Rick Garrick (Wawatay News – October 15, 2014)

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

Matawa First Nations is building an Aboriginal workforce through the Kiikenomaga Kikenjigewen Employment and Training Services (KKETS) Ring of Fire Aboriginal Training Alliance (RoFATA) training programs.

“(The trainees are aiming for) full-time employment within the mining sector,” said Mary Meshake, RoFATA career development officer. “There’s a lot of future potential developments that are taking place outside our communities and most of the trainees that are in (the KKETS) programs are really excited to be a part of what is going to be happening.”

Eight RoFATA trainees recently completed the 15-week Welding Level 1 program at Grand River Employment and Training in Six Nations while another 10 trainees completed the 10-week Heavy Equipment Operators program at the Operating Engineers Training Institute in Morrisburg in early July.

“We’re currently running our Security program, which started on Aug. 25,” Meshake said, noting there are 13 trainees in the Security program. “We utilized the new (regional) training facility in Neskantaga.”

The four-week theory portion of the Security program was completed on Sept. 19, with the practical portion scheduled for Sept. 22-Oct. 10 in Ginoogaming.

Read more

Obituary: Inco exec [Jim Ashcroft] started in coal mines – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – October 15, 2014)

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

A man who began working at age 15 in the coal mines of England and rose to become one of the top executives at Inco died Sunday at Trillium Health Centre in Mississauga after a short illness.

James William “Big Jim” Ashcroft is being remembered this week, by friends and by people who didn’t always share his views, as both a company man and a miner’s miner.

A fifth-generation coal miner, Ashcroft worked in Lancashire in northwest England before apprenticing as a surveyor and studying to be a mining engineer.

He left the United Kingdom in 1968 and began working for Inco at Levack Mine, working in many roles for the International Nickel Company before being transferred to Thompson as vice-president of mining and milling for the Manitoba division.

He returned to Sudbury in 1991 as president of Inco’s Ontario division, a position he held until retiring in 1997. He then sat on boards for FNX Mining, Hudson Bay Mining, Guyana Gold and Thompson Creek Metals. He also ran a mining consulting company for several years.

Along the way, he married Margaret, to whom he was wed for 44 years. Margaret Ashcroft is well known in Sudbury as an educator and former member of the board of the North East Local Health Integration Network.

Read more

Curlook helped modernize Inco in Sudbury – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – October 10, 2014)

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

A mining innovator and community leader who helped Sudburians breathe easier died earlier this month in Toronto.

The Coniston-born Walter Curlook, who rose to positions of prominence with Inco and oversaw the sulphur reduction program of the 1980s and early 1990s, was 85. His funeral was held Monday.

Through his long and impressive career with the nickel giant (now part of Vale), Curlook spurred advancements in metallurgical processing and environmental protection, securing a dozen patents relating to ore refining and smelting.

“I was proud of him because he was a bit of a genius and did so many nice things,” said his sister Eugenia (“Jenny”) Maizuk. “For one thing, he cleared the air around here.”

Jenny and Walter, along with two other siblings, were raised by Ukrainian immigrant parents in Coniston. Their father worked in the mines and, while still in his teens, Walter also secured part-time and seasonal work with Inco. The air hung thickly with sulphur in those days.

“I remember when we had to rush and cover the gardens with sheets to prevent them from getting burnt by the gas,” recalled Jenny. “Walter used to argue with my dad at dinnertime, saying ‘what’s wrong with Inco?'”

Read more

North Bay mine builder lands salt mine rehab work – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – October 8, 2014)

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.

Cementation Canada will be on familiar turf later this year as the North Bay mine builder has landed a major contract to rehabilitate the shafts at a Goderich salt mine.

Kansas-based Compass Minerals, the owners of the Sifto salt mine, selected Cementation as part of a “multi-million-dollar” upgrade to reline the walls of two 55-year-old shafts at the mine, located on the shores of Lake Huron.

Details of the contract were to be ironed out in September, but project engineering work has already started. Cementation has some lineage to Goderich dating back decades when a predecessor company sunk the original No. 1 shaft in 1959, followed by a second one in 1968.

The job involves both underground and surface work that will see as many as 100 Cementation workers and sub-contractors on the site at peak periods of the three-year project.

Cementation president Roy Slack explained the company’s history dates back to the early 1900s and its Belgian founder, Albert Francois, who patented the grouting process for the mining industry.

Read more

Make no little plans, my son [Economic planning northern Ontario] – by David Robinson (Northern Ontario Business – October 2014)

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.  

Dave Robinson is an economist with the Institute for Northern Ontario Research and Development at Laurentian University.drobinson@laurentian.ca 

As an economist, I often get calls from the media about national and provincial issues. As an economist who studies economic development in Northern Ontario, I don’t get many calls. Most of those are asking for a speaker and almost none want my advice on economic development. I have only had a few calls from First Nation communities. I’d like to think I know something about development, so why am I left sitting in a corner sad and lonely?

It could be because everyone knows that academics, including me, are pretty useless. I’d hate to think so, but it could be. It could be the economic development people in Northern Ontario are so good they don’t need academic advice. It could be that the province is doing such a good job that that no one needs independent research and advice from the ivory tower.

My guess is that that because Northern universities have never focused on economic development issues for the North, media people and economic development officers simply don’t think about heading to the campus for help. The exception is the Community Economic and Social Development program at Algoma University. More recently, Laurentian University has established a new School of Northern Development that will do research and provide courses on Northern Ontario development. Things are getting better, however slowly.

Read more

Vale and Glencore not innovative enough: Penguin CEO – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – October 08, 2014)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Local mining tech company representative critical of local miners

Sudbury’s largest mining companies, Vale and Glencore, lack innovation, says the chairman of a local mining robotics and technology company.

“I do absolutely no work in this city. I wouldn’t want to, and I don’t need to,” said Greg Baiden, chairman and CEO of Penguin Automated Systems, a Naughton-based mining supply and services company that specializes in advanced robotics, data communications technologies and positioning systems. “I don’t do it because I don’t find the people in the mining companies here very innovative.”

Penguin Automated Systems has instead relied on work with mining companies in South Africa and South America to solve specific and complex problems with advanced technologies.

The company also has contracts with the United States’ State Department, and with NASA, to explore ways to mine in space. Baiden made the comments at the launch of the 2014 Greater Sudbury Vital Signs report Tuesday.

The report is an annual checkup on how the city is performing in a number of areas, including the economy, the environment, education, health and wellness, and housing.

This year, the report had a special section on mining innovation, and Baiden, along with other industry experts, was invited to speak on the topic in a panel discussion.

Read more

Ring of Fire junior: “When will this horse drink?” – by Jonathan Migneault (Northern Ontario Busisness – October 8, 2014)

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. 

Critics of the province’s announcement in late August to establish an interim board for a Ring of Fire development corporation said it’s too little, too late.

Political adversaries of the Wynne government said the announcement will not result in any momentum at all in developing the $60-billion mining camp.

“We’re no further ahead today than we were four or five years ago,” said Sudbury MPP Joe Cimino of the NDP. “There’s been work in the last few years to communicate with the First Nations, but not from day one.”

Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli, the Progressive Conservatives’ finance critic, said the announcement marked “the sixth time in nine months the government has announced the Ring of Fire development corporation. Yet despite that considerable length of time, key industry, First Nations and Ontario Northland still haven’t been invited to the table.”

Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle said the government met its commitment to establish a development corporation for the dormant Far North mining camp 60 days after the premier’s July 3 throne speech.

Read more

Vital Signs touts mining innovation in Sudbury – by Ben Leeson (Sudbury Star – October 8, 2014)

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

Coinciding with the launch of a Vital Signs report that identified challenges for children and youth in Greater Sudbury, participants in a panel discussion suggested promoting the city as a centre for mining innovation as a means of employing and retaining young people.

Launched Tuesday, this year’s Vital Signs report found while overall local employment levels increased slightly between 2012 and 2013, the unemployment rate for those aged 15 to 24 was 13.5% — up 21.6% from 2008.

The poverty rate for children 17 years and younger increased between 2011 and 2012, according to the report, from 15.4% to 16%.

The overall poverty rate was also up slightly in 2012.

To mark the launch of this year’s report, the Sudbury Community Foundation hosted a panel discussion at the Willet Green Miller Centre focusing on the potential impacts of making Sudbury a centre for “mining intelligence,” or a “mining cluster,” as it was often called on Tuesday.

The panel was moderated by Dick DeStefano, executive director of the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA), and composed of Brian Jones, vice-president of business innovation at the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI); Kirk Petroski, president of Symbioticware Inc.; Don Duval, CEO of the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT); and Greg Baiden, chair of Penguin Automated Systems Inc.

Read more