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Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications

Why is Ring of Fire not burning issue? – by Tom Mills (Sault Star May 31, 2014)

http://www.saultstar.com/

Ontario political parties should be playing a little Johnny Cash on their campaign bus sound systems. Ring of Fire, to be precise. Because this provincial election seems to be about jobs.

And Northern Ontario’s extremely rich mineral deposits in the Ring of Fire could be a very good place to create them. Direct employment estimates for developing those reserves are in the 4,400 to 6,000 range, with presumably much more construction and spinoff employment.

Politicians have been comparing the Ring of Fire to Alberta’s oil sands in terms of economic importance. Yet talk on the campaign trail about the Ring has been sporadic and muted.

So maybe a subliminal message from the Man in Black is needed convince the three major parties to give the Ring of Fire the prominence it deserves in their platforms.

That’s especially true since jobs is trumping government skulduggery as the focus of this campaign. New Democratic Party leader Andrea Horwath’s attempt to make scandal her campaign centrepiece seems to have been a strategic blunder.

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Accent: Cobalt boom top event in Northern mining [Part 2 of 2] – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – May 31, 2014)

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

Note: This is the second of a two-part feature on Ontario’s mining history. The first half of a top-10 list of significant events was printed in Friday edition of the Star; the countdown continues below.

For Part-one, click here: http://republicofmining.com/2014/05/30/accent-celebrating-northern-ontarios-mining-history-by-stan-sudol-sudbury-star-may-30-2014/

5) Peter Munk: Canada’s King of Gold

Amazingly, Peter Munk knew little about mining as he previously developed resorts in the South Pacific and owned a high-fidelity stereo system company that went bankrupt. In 1983, with a small oil exploration company that was losing money, he decided to buy a half interest in the Renabie gold mine near Wawa and a piece of an Alaskan placer miner which together produced 3,000 ounces that year.

In 1984, he bought Camflo Mines with operations in northwestern Quebec, but more importantly, acquired an experienced mine management team that would help Barrick takeover mines in Ontario, the United States and around the world. A significant success was the Nevada Goldstrike mine in 1988 when company President Robert Smith saw its huge potential.

Munk’s greatest success was the acquisition of Placer Dome in 2006 during the foreign takeovers of some of Canada’s legendary miners that included Inco, Falconbridge and Alcan.

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Accent: Celebrating Northern Ontario’s mining history [Part 1 of 2] – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – May 30, 2014)

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

Note: this is the first of two parts.

For part-two, click here: http://republicofmining.com/2014/05/31/accent-cobalt-boom-top-event-in-northern-mining-by-stan-sudol-sudbury-star-may-31-2014/

For crying out loud, I continue to be astonished with our collective Canadian obsession over the Klondike Gold Rush while Northern Ontario’s rich and vibrant mining history is completely ignored by the Toronto media establishment, especially the CBC.

Discovery Channel’s recent six-hour mini-series on the Klondike – vaguely based on Charlotte Gray’s book, Gold Diggers: Striking It Rich in the Klondike – once again highlighted this glaring snub.

While, the Klondike did have the benefit of terrific public relations due to famous writers like Jack London, Robert W. Service and Pierre Berton, I still don’t understand how this brief mining boom continues to dominate the “historical oxygen” in our national psyche.

At its peak, the Klondike only lasted a few years – 1896-1899 – and produced about 12.5 million ounces of gold. And unlike the California gold rush that created one of the largest and richest states in the union, the entire Yukon Territory’s population today is about 36,000. Contrast that with booming Timmins with 45,000 hardy souls who have dug out of the ground about 68 million ounces and counting of the precious metal, since the Porcupine Gold rush of 1909.

It’s enough to make to make Benny Hollinger, Jack Wilson and Sandy MacIntyre – the founders of this extraordinary deposit – spin in their collective graves.

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Noront’s Environmental Report details innovative underground milling & backfilling plans, wetland road design – by Bryan Phelan (Onotassiniik – Summer 2014)

 http://www.onotassiniik.com/

Noront Resources intends to open the first mine in the Ring of Fire. And in building that mine, it plans to use technological innovation that could guide the development of other mines in the James Bay Lowlands and elsewhere.

When Cliffs Natural Resources late last year suspended activities associated with its proposed Black Thor chromite mine, Noront suddenly found itself the mining company “leading the charge” in the Ring of Fire, as MP Greg Rickford put it shortly before his appointment in March as Canada’s new minister of natural resources.

Alan Coutts, Noront president and CEO, this spring expressed hope construction of his company’s Eagle’s Nest mine for nickel, copper, platinum and palladium could start during next winter road season, and be operating by the end of 2017.

Noront reached an important milestone in that direction, he said, with the completion in December of a draft environmental report. The report is necessary to meet requirements for a provincial environmental assessment (EA) of the Eagle’s Nest project and for a related federal environmental impact statement (EIS). A draft version has been circulated for review and comment by the public and government agencies.

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Vale sounds new cautionary note on possibility smelter and refinery will remain open beyond 2015 – by John Barker (Thompson Citizen – May 29, 2014)

The Thompson Citizen, which was established in June 1960, covers the City of Thompson and Nickel Belt Region of Northern Manitoba. The city has a population of about 13,500 residents while the regional population is more than 40,000.  editor@thompsoncitizen.net

Pending federal sulphur dioxide (SO2) emission standards issues remain, as do questions over availability of nickel sulphide concentrate feed

“On the business side of things, the often talked about last year $100-million challenge, was, we have to say, a roaring success,” Mark Scott, general manager of mining and milling for Vale’s Manitoba Operations, told about 30 members and guests at the Thompson Chamber of Commerce’s weekly luncheon May 28, as he delivered a presentation entitled, “Standing on our own Two Feet.”

At the same time, however, Scott sounded a new cautionary note on the possibility of the smelter and refinery remaining open beyond next year, saying the “base case remains” that they both “will close at some point in 2015.”

Pending federal sulphur dioxide (SO2) emission standards issues remain, as do questions over availability of nickel sulphide concentrate feed, he said. The announcement that the smelter and refinery would close was originally made on Nov. 17, 2010, with Vale saying at the time it was “phasing out of smelting and refining by 2015” in Thompson.

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Fight to oust Cliffs board just got real ugly – by Frik Els (Mining.com – May 29, 2014)

http://www.mining.com/

Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE:CLF), the US’ biggest iron ore producer, announced this week that it is reducing capital spending by an additional $100 million on top of the $460 million in cuts already announced.

This led to speculation that Cleveland-based firm could breach certain debt covenants should the weakness in the price of the steelmaking raw material persist.

Cliffs stock was up on Thursday, but investors in the company are nursing a 37% slide in the market value of the company and an exit from the S&P500 index as it tries to cope with a downturn in the market by idling mines in Canada and the US and laying off workers.

Activist investment firm Casablanca Capital launched a bid in January to oust the current Cliffs board and on Wednesday issued another statement calling for drastic changes at the company.

Casablanca, a top shareholder with more than 5% of equity in the miner, called the value destruction at the company “alarming” adding that despite the losses “a majority of the current Cliffs directors, including its chairman, James Kirsch, remain in their seats.”

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COMMENT: Riots at Goro cause $30M in damage – by Marilyn Scales (Canadian Mining Journal – May 28, 2014)

Marilyn Scales is a field editor for the Canadian Mining Journal, Canada’s first mining publication. She is one of Canada’s most senior mining commentators.

It appears that Vale SA has run into a spot of trouble at the Goro laterite nickel mine in New Caledonia. Turns out it was a rather large spot that will take $30 million to repair.

Following a 10,000-litre acid spill that ran into a nearby creek and killed thousands of fish earlier this month, Vale was ordered to suspend operations. This is reportedly the fifth such spill in as many years. The first spill occurred during plant commissioning in 2009. It was a reported 40,000 litres, 2,500 of which found its way into the local river.

The recent riots were sparked when local youths protested the reopening of the plant, even with the promise of more stringent safety precautions. There are many who would like to see the project permanently shuttered. Over 48 hours, activists torched vehicles, equipment and buildings at the mine site. They blockaded the roads near the mine, reportedly using mining equipment including excavators to keep the police at bay.

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Wynne ties her government’s success to developing Ring of Fire -by Darren MacDonald (Sudbury Northern Life – May 27, 2014)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Premier makes first visit to Sudbury since June 12 election call

In Sudbury on Tuesday, Premier Kathleen Wynne tied the success of her government to the successful development of the Ring of Fire.

Speaking at Northern Centre for Advanced Technology, Wynne was flanked by Sudbury candidate Andrew Olivier, Nickel Belt candidate James Tregonning, Timiskaming-Cochrane candidate Sébastien Goyer, as well as outgoing MPP Rick Bartolucci.

After touring the centre, Wynne fielded questions from a throng of local and provincial media. She compared the Ring of Fire to the Alberta Oilsands, a development which has received significant support from the federal government. Ontario is hoping for similar help, Wynne said, which would repair the province’s relationship with the feds.

“That would be absolutely grounds for a positive relationship with the federal government,” she said. “We’ve put a billion dollars on the table (and) we would love to have a federal partner.” But the province is committed to spending $1 billion for the Ring of Fire infrastructure, regardless of what Ottawa does, she added.

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Vale shutdown period in Sudbury ends this week – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – May 28, 2014)

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

Smoke will be pluming again out of the 381-metre Superstack at Vale’s Copper Cliff Smelter Complex when the 2014 planned maintenance period ends Thursday. After three weeks of being shut down, production will resume with feedback at the smelter’s two furnaces.

Instead of annual shutdowns for maintenance as occurred for decades, the nickel giant now schedules maintenance periods every 18 months.

This year, the planned maintenance period for Vale’s surface plants — its mill, smelter and refinery — began the week of May 5 and is the final stages of completion, company spokeswoman Angie Robson said. Planned maintenance periods for the company’s Sudbury mines will be staggered throughout the spring and summer.

Robson said there is considerable economic benefit to the community during these maintenance periods because several local mining supply and service companies are involved in the work. During planned maintenance periods in surface plants, as many as 1,200 workers are typically employed.

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Developing ‘Ring’ a priority, Wynne says in Sudbury – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – May 28, 2014)

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

Should she be elected, Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne won’t consider her premiership a success unless her government achieves significant progress in developing the Ring of Fire.

That’s how important developing the rich chromite deposits in the area 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay is to her party, Wynne told reporters during a campaign swing through Sudbury on Tuesday afternoon.

Wynne’s government promised $1 billion in its failed May budget for infrastructure for the Ring of Fire and has included that figure in is election platform. And it’s promising to establish the development corporation to decide upon that infrastructure within 60 days of forming a government.

That’s despite the fact her Liberal government announced the creation of the development corporation last November and in February appointed consulting firm Deloitte LLP to help set up the corporation.

When asked why no progress was made during her term in government to get the “devco” operating, Wynne pointed to progress made regarding the Ring of Fire in recent months.

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Wynne, Horwath mum on ONTC development in Ring of Fire (CBC News Sudbury – May 27, 2014)

http://www.cbc.ca/sudbury/

PC platform has no specific plans for ONTC or Ring of Fire

Premier Kathleen Wynne and Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath made similar promises at the northern debate Monday about investing $1 billion into the Ring of Fire, but neither commented as to whether development plans would include Ontario Northland.

Junior miner KWG Resources is calling on all party candidates to support a plan to turn the ONTC into a development corporation responsible for accessing the remote region, saying that would then allow it to build everything from road and rail infrastructure—and even an airport.

However, Jean-Charles Cachon, a business professor at Laurentian University, said ONTC’s existing rail assets are vital and that KWG’s property sits on a key spot for rail tracks.

“They are trying to have it developed into a railway and they do not have the money to do so.” Chachon said. “So they are either looking for a large company to be a partner and,or the government of Ontario through some sort of agency such as ONTC.” Cachon said that using the ONTC to develop the Ring of Fire could work, but it would hinge on funding from the private sector.

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Wild cat rips apart plans for giant Arizona copper mine – by Frik Els (Mining.com – May 24, 2014)

http://www.mining.com/

Vancouver firm’s timeline to build 3rd largest US copper mine in doubt after sighting of endangered ocelot restarts permit consultations amid bitter takeover fight.

Backers of Augusta Resource Corp (TSE:AZC) (NYSE MKT:AZC) in its fight against hostile takeover bidder Hudbay Minerals (TSE:HBM) suffered another setback on Friday.

After the close of trading Vancouver-based Augusta announced further complications in the permitting process for its Rosemont Copper Project in Arizona after the US Forest Service formally requested that the US Fish and Wildlife Service re-initiate consultation required under the Endangered Species Act.

“Additional information includes the documented evidence of the presence of ocelot within or near the project area and conferencing on the potential listing of species which were not considered in the original biological opinion. Additional information related to the effects of groundwater drawdown on aquatic and riparian species near the project area will also be included as part of this process,” the statement reads.

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Capreol chromite smelter ‘very unlikely’ – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – May 27, 2014)

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

Sudbury Star mining columnist Stan Sudol didn’t mince words about what the sale of the Cliffs’ camp
could mean. “I think this is another indication that Cliffs is a ‘dead man walking’ in the Ring of Fire,”
said Sudol. “The possibility of Cliffs building a furnace in Sudbury is also, unfortunately, very unlikely.”

Noront Resources Ltd. has purchased the exploration camp shuttered by Cliffs Chromite Ontario Inc. late last year when it announced it was indefinitely suspending its activities in the Ring of Fire.

Noront has been talking with the subsidiary of Cleveland-based Cliffs Natural Resources since then about purchasing the camp, located 250 metres from Noront’s existing Esker Camp.

The sale of the camp is subject to certain conditions, one of them being the sale price not be revealed, said Noront president and chief executive officer Alan Coutts. If the deal goes through as expected, Noront will take possession of the camp early in the second half of this year.

What the sale means for Cliffs’ holdings in the Ring of Fire isn’t known. An email inquiry to the company about that Monday did not garner a response.

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KWG Resources Moves on Ring of Fire – by James Murray (Netnewsledger.com – May 26, 2014)

 

http://www.netnewsledger.com/

KWG Resources Offers Ring of Fire Action Plan

THUNDER BAY – KWG Resources is taking an pro-active approach to the Ring of Fire. The company is suggesting that the Province of Ontario already has the Development Corporation for the Ring of Fie in place.

Company President and CEO Frank Smeenk discussed the details of the company’s Ring Of Fire – Northern Ontario Job Creation Plan, as outlined in its proposed bill “Northland Development Corporation Act”.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Ontario already has a Northern Development Corporation. It is the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC).
The principal operating asset of the ONTC is the Ontario Northland Railroad (ONR), which has become starved of freight haulage.

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KWG Resources wants to make ‘Ring’ election issue – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – May 26, 2014)

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

With an election looming, KWG Resources is asking MPP candidates to support its plan for the Ring of Fire. The junior mining company, based out of Toronto, has long pushed for building a rail line to take chromite out of the area, 400 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay. It has staked claims in the area for that purpose.

Cliffs Natural Resources applied for an easement there to build a road. Last fall the application was rejected.

Cliffs’ plans for the Ring included building a chromite smelter in Capreol. It stopped work in the area last spring. On Friday, Noront Resources Ltd., another junior miner, announced it is buying Cliffs’ exploration camp in the mineral belt.

On Saturday, KWG purchased a full-page ad in The Globe and Mail suggesting the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC) be made into a non-share capital (not-for-profit) corporation. That means Northern Ontario residents would be involved in how it’s run.

“Arguably it’s a not-for-profit corporation now, because it doesn’t make any money,” said Frank Smeenk, KWG’s president and CEO.

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