Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications – Page 218

Nickel price rise: too much too soon says new report – by Frik Els (Mining.com – May 5, 2014)

May 6, 2014

http://www.mining.com/

Indonesia surprised the mining world in January putting into effect an outright ban on nickel ore exports.

After a relatively subdued initial reaction on nickel markets – no-one thought the Asian nation would go through with the ban and when it did, the expectation was that the rules would be water down substantially – the price of the steelmaking raw material is now up 32% in 2014.

Indonesia accounted for around a fifth of global supply at an estimated 400,000 tonnes of contained metal so the potential was there for a big impact on the price.

But record inventories around the globe (hitting 285,000 tonnes in March), massive stockpiling by China’s nickel pig iron producers ahead of the ban, and years of growing mine supply (11% per year since 2009 to 2 million tonnes), kept the price near financial crisis levels by the end of January.

Traders only really entered panic mode when supply from the world’s largest producer Norilsk was also put in danger due to the possibility of sanctions against the Russian company over the crisis in Ukraine.

Fear of reprisals stifles mine safety progress: Steelworkers – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – May 5, 2014)

May 5, 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.

To improve health and safety standards in Ontario’s mines, workers must not face reprisals if they bring issues forward to management, said a member of the United Steelworkers.

Nick Larochelle, mines co-chair with Local 6500, said April 2 at the first public consultation in Sudbury as part of the Ministry of Labour’s year-long review of health and safety in the industry.

Under section 50 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act employers cannot discipline their employees for refusing to do unsafe work or bringing their health and safety concerns forward. But Larochelle said some members have been fired for complaining to their supervisors about health and safety issues.

He said employers use the guise of insubordination when they discipline workers for pointing out holes in their occupational health and safety practices. The fear of reprisals, he said, has created an environment where mining companies’ internal responsibility systems are not as effective as they should be.

PoV: Liberal promises like disappearing ink – by Brian MacLeod (Sudbury Star – May 3, 2014)

May 5, 2014

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

Want proof that the money the Liberals have offered in the budget, especially in the North, is just fleeting words?

It’s buried in the budget document released Thursday. It’s not in the speech, but it is mentioned in the budget document itself.

It’s the reference to the $1 billion the province “committed” to infrastructure to develop the giant Ring of Fire chromite and metals deposit in the James Bay lowlands.

“Committing up to $1 billion towards infrastructure development for the ring of fire contingent on matching investment by the federal government,” the budget document reads.

That word — contingent — was nowhere to be found in Monday’s original announcement. Three cabinet ministers got together in Thunder Bay and, led by Northern and Development Minister Michael Gravelle, announced $1 billion to develop the Ring of Fire. Granted, Gravelle spent much of the press conference beseeching the federal government for money, but the impression from the presentation was that the $1 billion was there, hard cash, ready to go when the actual nature of the infrastructure – east-west route, rail or road — was ready to go.

Matawa celebrates framework agreement with Premier Wynne – by Rick Garrick (Wawatay News – May 2, 2014)

May 2, 2014

http://wawataynews.ca/

Neskantaga Chief Peter Moonias called for more “meat” on the Ring of Fire regional framework agreement during the April 24 celebration with Premier Kathleen Wynne in Thunder Bay.

“The framework is only a first step,” Moonias said. “We have to put some meat on it. We are the people in Matawa that need to tell (the federal and provincial governments): ‘this is what we need, this is what we want, this is where we want to go.’ That is what we have to do in the next few months, in the next few years, whatever time it takes.” Moonias said the Matawa chiefs did not sell their traditional lands by signing onto the regional framework agreement on March 26.

“Our people think we are selling the land here — we are not selling the land,” Moonias said, noting that the traditional lands are still important to First Nations people. “The land was taken away from us; we are only taking it back.”

The Matawa chiefs celebrated the regional framework agreement with Wynne, Michael Gravelle, minister of Northern Development and Mines, David Zimmer, minister of Aboriginal Affairs, and Bill Mauro, minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and a crowd of community members at the Valhalla Inn. A pipe ceremony and drumming and dancing were held during the celebration.

Budget concern over Ring of Fire funding – by Leith Dunick (tbnewswatch.com – May 1, 2014)

May 2, 2014

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

Mayor Keith Hobbs has deep concerns that $1 billion earmarked for Ring of Fire infrastructure now appears to be contingent on matching federal funds.

Hobbs, who watched the budget being delivered on television at his city hall office Thursday, said his government sources have told him that means the money will have to be drawn from the $14-billion Building Canada fund.

When announcing the $1 billion investment last week, a trio of provincial ministers made no mention of the money being contingent on federal participation, and vehemently said they wanted Ottawa to fund its share of the estimated $2.2 billion project as a standalone entity as they’ve done elsewhere in Canada.

“It is a bit of a concern after speaking to some people in the federal government yesterday,” Hobbs said. “Apparently their stance is they’ve already contributed $14 billion, or earmarked $14 billion … with the Build Canada fund and the provincial government has to take out of that fund for matching dollars.”

Sudbury-area MP’s comments perplex mining leader – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – May 2, 2014)

May 2, 2014

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

The president of the Canadian Mining Association says he’s perplexed by comments made by Claude Gravelle earlier this week, likening them to something you’d hear in the 1970s.

Gravelle, the NDP’s Nickel Belt Member of Parliament, is a former Inco employee and former long-time member of United Steelworkers 6500. During Monday’s National Day of Mourning ceremonies at Laurentian University, Gravelle told the crowd – which included a number of local mining executives – he believes mining companies put profit ahead of safety.

“As we know, the bottom line in a corporate culture is their own bottom line, not first nor last the safety or lives of workers. In a culture and economy that exalts capitalism, the worker is exploited,” Gravelle, who is also the NDP’s mining critic, said.  In an interview after with The Star,

Gravelle went further, saying he believes the profit-over-safety approach is not isolated to mining.  “People are getting killed on the job regularly, and it’s not getting any better … they are cutting corners to save money. I worked in the mining industry for 34 years. I’ve seen it. It’s not only mining companies, it’s all companies that are driven by the profit margins. They will cut corners to make more money.”

Vale: Iron ore price to improve second half of the year – by Frik Els (Mining.com – May 1, 2014)

May 2, 2014

http://www.mining.com/

Murilo Ferreira, CEO of Brazilian mining giant VALE (NYSE: VALE), knows how to talk his book – he’s regularly been the most optimistic about the direction of the iron ore price of the large producers.

The Rio de Janeiro-based miner’s first quarter results disappointed with earnings falling 19% and sales of $9.5 billion coming in more than $1.5 billion below expectations in large part due to lower iron ore realized prices.

During the earnings call Ferreira was undeterred:

“We expect that the price in the second half will be better than the first half. One thing is for sure the price will not go below $110 on a sustainable basis. I think we have many time seen the price going below this level, but recovering very fast […] because those are the level that many producers mainly in China will leave the market

Ferreira, at the helm of the $70 billion firm since May 2011, does caution that since supply is going to be steady, his prediction would depend on improvement on the demand side “not only in China, but outside China.”

Nickel bolsters Vale’s bottom line – by Jeb Blount (Reuters/Sudbury Star – May 1, 2014)

May 1, 2014

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

Brazilian miner Vale SA said on Wednesday that first-quarter profit fell by nearly a fifth, a result in line with expectations, after the price of iron ore, its main product, fell sharply.

Net income fell 19% to $2.52 billion, compared with $3.11 billion in the same quarter of 2013, according to a securities filing. The result was near the $2.59 billion average estimate in a Reuters survey of 13 analysts and comes after a $6.54 billion fourth-quarter loss.

Vale Chief Executive Officer Murilo Ferreira has been working to slash costs and unload unprofitable businesses for more than a year as a slowdown in Chinese growth limits demand for iron ore and other metals. China, the world’s largest steel producer, is the biggest market for iron ore, the main ingredient in steel.

Vale is the world’s largest iron ore producer and a major miner of nickel, copper and fertilizers. In Sudbury, Vale is the city’s largest employer and runs mines, mills and a smelter. Nickel and copper are the main minerals produced in Sudbury.

North a battleground in pending election – by Brian MacLeod (Sudbury Star – May 1, 2014)

May 1, 2014

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

Premier Kathleen Wynne is trying to put Northern Ontario back in play for the Liberals. It will be a bumpy road – there are a lot of potholes on northern roads, both literally and figuratively.

The Liberals hold only four of the 11 seats in the North, dropping three in the 2011 election and barely holding on to Sudbury and Thunder Bay Atikokan. Three of their four MPPs in the North are cabinet ministers. The NDP, which holds five seats in the region, is putting on a heavy push. Leader Andrea Horwath is a regular presence, touring the region often and showing up at candidate nomination meetings.

The Progressive Conservatives’ have two northern MPPs, finance critic Vic Fedeli in Nipissing and Norm Miller in Parry Sound-Muskoka. Neither appears to be in any danger.

The rest of the North is becoming a battleground between the NDP and the Liberals, and unlike Dalton McGuinty – who refused to show up to a debate on Northern issues in Thunder Bay in 2011 – Wynne has realized the party must have a significant presence in the region if she is to have any shot at a majority government.

Elliot Lake marks National Day of Mourning – by Kevin McSheffrey (Elliot Lake Standard – April 30, 2014)

May 1, 2014

http://www.elliotlakestandard.ca/

The National Day of Mourning is aimed at remembering those workers who died on the job or as a result of a workplace accidents or illnesses. Sue Girard, a representative from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, was the master of ceremonies at the event.

She reminded the crowd gathered at the Miners’ Memorial that the Day of Mourning was created 30 years ago by the labour movement to increase awareness of on-the-job injuries and fatal workplace accidents.

The following year, 1985, it was recognized by the Canadian Labour Congress. Eight years later, the federal government also recognized the day. Girard added that the Day of Mourning is recognized on more than 80 countries.

She continued by saying that Canada has some of the best occupational health and safety laws in the world. However, workplace deaths continue to rise in Canada. “In 2012, (a total of) 977 workplace deaths were reported in Canada, a six per cent increase over 2011,” Girard said.

“Statistics published by the Association of Workers Compensation Boards of Canada for 1993 to 2013 show that during this 20-year period, more than 18,039 people died as a result of workplace accidents.”

Miners weigh in on billion-dollar Ring of Fire pledge – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – April 30, 2014)

April 30, 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.

The province’s billion-dollar promise to jump-start development in the Ring of Fire was not lost on the exploration companies operating in the James Bay region.

Earlier this week, the Wynne government announced it was earmarking $1 billion in its May 1 spring budget to develop transportation infrastructure to reach the Far North mineral exploration camp.

They challenged the federal government and Natural Resources Minster Greg Rickford to provide matching dollars on this “next great mining development” for Canada. “There’s an element of politics involved for sure, but ultimately no infrastructure gets built without funding,” said Alan Coutts, president and CEO of Noront Resources.

He called the funding a “logical next step” that dovetails with the province’s creation of a Ring of Fire development corporation and the signing of a framework agreement with the Matawa chiefs to begin negotiating how development will unfold.

Strategist criticizes Ontario’s management of Ring of Fire – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – April 30, 2014)

April 30, 2014

The Ontario’s government’s handling of the Ring of Fire has been a “mismanaged file,” according to a Toronto lawyer, author and strategist specializing in mining and First Nations negotiations.

Bill Gallagher didn’t come away impressed with this week’s announcement by the Wynne government to pledge $1 billion toward its fledgling Ring of Fire development corporation, calling the province largely “missing in action” for the last five years.

With the provincial budget reveal only days away, he said political optics were obviously at play in the April 28 funding announcement. “It comes very late in the day where the track record would point to a fairly inept political handling of the Ring of Fire,” said Gallagher, a former federal negotiator at the director-general level in the resources sector.

With last fall’s stop-work decision by Cliffs Natural Resources in the Ring of Fire, various mining-related legal actions underway, and uncertainty over how the entire mining camp will come together, Gallagher isn’t convinced that a billion-dollar promise will expedite any real development progress in the Far North, which he sees as being 10 years away.

War of Titans: Rio Tinto suing Vale over iron ore rights in Guinea – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – April 30, 2014)

April 30, 2014

http://www.mining.com/

In a new and unexpected twist in the battle to control Guinea’s rich Simandou iron ore deposits, the companies once operating in the area have began a series of billion-worth lawsuits, with iron ore miner No.2 Rio Tinto (LON, ASX:RIO), suing the world’s largest producer Brazil’s Vale (NYSE:VALE).

The first one to shoot was Vale, which filed Monday an action against his former partner in Guinea BSG Resources, the mining arm of Israeli tycoon Beny Steinmetz’s empire, before the London Court of International Arbitration, Swiss newspaper Le Temps reports (in French).

One of the paper’s sources said Vale is seeking a minimum compensation of US$1.1 billion, due to losses suffered because BSGR’s actions in Guinea. Last week, The West African nation concluded that BSG Resources obtained the Simandou and Zogota concessions through corrupt practices and decided to revoke all mining rights for both companies.

Vale had a 51% stake in the project, which acquire from BSGR in 2010 in a $2.5bn deal.The company however only paid $500 to Steinmetz’s firm, suspending all instalments left as soon as it learned of the accusations against its partner.

Guinea’s President Alpha Conde said Wednesday it was clear the Rio de Janeiro-based firm did nothing wrong, adding the mining giant is free to reapply to acquire rights to one of the largest untapped iron ore deposits in the world.

Ring of Fire – Good timing, good politics (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial – April 29, 2014)

April 30, 2014

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

THE timing of Monday’s provincial offer of $1 billion to access the Ring of Fire just three days before the budget is entirely political, of course.

It could have come months ago. Instead it is designed for maximum leverage against opposition parties who will be accused by the Liberals of blocking Northern economic development if they vote against Thursday’s budget.

The Liberals will say they’ve been trying to get Ottawa to agree to partner in building an essential transportation corridor into the mineral-rich region around James Bay.

It took regional cabinet ministers Michael Gravelle for Ontario and Ottawa’s Greg Rickford months to agree to a meeting and not much came out of it except to agree to the obvious — that this is a remarkable economic opportunity that must not be passed up.

Here, too, Ontario’s political initiative Monday is timely, coinciding with the resumption of Parliament where the governing Conservatives remain intent on jobs and prosperity that are in relatively short supply in Northern Ontario. The message is clear: if you’re serious, match our offer.

Challenge is on [Northern Ontario issues] (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – April 28, 2014)

April 29, 2014

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

THERE was no way Kathleen Wynne was going to let herself get put into a situation of having to respond to a challenge to debate other party leaders in Northern Ontario. Dalton McGuinty did that and came off looking bad when he refused an invitation that Tory Tim Hudak and New Democrat Andrea Horwath accepted. They spent much of their time in a 2011 face-off in Thunder Bay hammering the then-premier for being a no-show. Northerners do not take kindly to snubs — real or perceived — from politicians from southern Ontario.

With more and more people sensing an election when Wynne’s government presents a budget May 1, the premier has been in full campaign mode. At least once a week for some time now her government has issued policy proposals across the political spectrum.

Hudak and Horwath insist these are not good ideas though neither of them has yet come up with a firm policy framework of any kind. Wynne spoke to an audience of over 200 Northern mayors, councillors, and business leaders at the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association’s annual conference in Fort Frances late last week and ended with a bang.

If the other parties force an election by voting down the budget, Wynne proposes they come north and debate Northern issues in the campaign that follows.