Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications – Page 225

Residents anxious for redeveloped mine property – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – February 28, 2014)

February 28, 2014

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – As a neighbouring property owner, Luc Murray has a vested interest in the long-term plans for the Hollinger mine pit site.

“This is a piece of land that nobody can use right now,” said Murray, whose business, OK Tire and Auto Service, sits directly adjacent to the mine pit property. “It’s land that is right in the middle of the city. It’s a big blank spot there.”

For Goldcorp Porcupine Gold Mines, the open-pit project represents an opportunity to profit from some of the residual lower grade ore that is still buried there. Murray sees a longer-term benefit with some old hazards being removed and the land being converted into a greenspace the whole community could enjoy.

“The way they are doing it right now, it’s going to be beneficial for everybody,” said Murray, who was among the members of the public who attended an open house hosted by Goldcorp at the McIntyre Ballroom Thursday.

Trish Buttineau, co-ordinator of communications and corporate social responsibility, explained, “Even though we’ve just started mining, we’re already starting the planning for closure and the hope is the community will get together and give us their ideas and tell us what they’d like to see.

Time to make some big decisions [Ring of Fire] – by Rob Learn (North Bay Nipissing News – February 26, 2014)

February 26, 2014

http://www.northbaynipissing.com/northbaynipissing/

NIPISSING – Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle knows he has work to do.

“We need to make some decisions on infrastructure,” said Gravelle in an interview with the News about the Ring of Fire mining find in the remote James Bay region of Northern Ontario.

Once touted as the biggest mining find of the century in the province, the development has stalled over the past year with drilling activity almost stopping completely and global mining giant Cliffs Natural Resources saying it’s pulling out of the region.

But Gravelle says work is still being done around the Ring of Fire and the most important ingredient is getting it right. “We’re all eager to see the project move forward, but we’re also eager to see that we do it in the right way,” said Gravelle.

At the moment the Ring of Fire project is in the bureaucratic wash cycle simultaneously going through consultations/negotiations with First Nations, and environmental assessment and the number crunching analysis of how to get the ore from a remote challenging terrain to market.

Sudbury mine layoffs reduced – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – February 26, 2014)

February 26, 2014

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

Even one job layoff is one too many, says the area co-ordinator for United Steelworkers. But representatives with KGHM International and USW Local 2020 have worked together to pare down what could have been the loss of 70 unionized jobs at KGHM’s McCreedy West Mine to 25 layoffs.

The company gave employees notice in January as many as 70 production and maintenance workers could lose their jobs at Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations (Glencore Xstrata) exercised a 30-day cancellation clause in its commercial contract with KGHM to process McCreedy West nickel ore.

KGHM spokeswoman Kristina Howe said Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations indicated its processing facilities were at capacity and that it had a surface capacity, so it didn’t require additional custom feed ore.  Myles Sullivan, USW area co-ordinator, said the company and the union had until Feb. 16 to figure out how to minimize job losses caused by that contract cancellation.

Some employees were given buyouts, “contractors are gone” and “a few hiccups” are still being worked out, said Sullivan, but no more job losses are expected at this time.

Province mum on Capreol refinery – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – February 25, 2014)

February 25, 2014

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Uncertain future for the project tied to Cliffs involvement in the Ring of Fire

The province has been silent on the future of a proposed $1.8-billion refinery in Capreol, that would have been tied to Cliffs Natural Resources’ involvement in the Ring of Fire.

Cliffs stopped work on its $3.3-billion Ring of Fire development in 2013 due to a number of major hurdles. Those included a lack of agreements with First Nations in the area, and a lost appeal to the Ontario Mining Commission late last year that would have allowed the company an easement on the property to begin planning the necessary infrastructure.

When asked about the future for the planned refinery in Capreol, Michael Gravelle, Ontario’s Minister of Northern Development and Mines, said the province needs to make decisions on transportation and infrastructure in the Ring of Fire before it can move on to proposed projects like the refinery.

“They are one company,” Gravelle said about Cliffs. “There are other companies with very specific proposals and interests in the Ring of Fire.” Junior miner KWG Resources Inc. owns land in the Ring of Fire area that could be used for a transportation corridor.

Vale’s Totten Mine opens after three-year delay – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – Feb 21, 2014)

February 24, 2014

http://www.northernlife.ca/

It started as a hole in the ground, but after a $760-million investment, Vale’s Totten Mine had its official opening Friday.

Dignitaries from around the province, including Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Sudbury Mayor Marianne Matichuk, and Michael Gravelle, the province’s minister of Northern Develoment and Mines, gathered around the ceremonial ribbon to welcome Vale’s sixth mine in the Sudbury region, and its first to open in nearly 40 years.

Subury MPP Rick Bartolucci, Ontario’s former minister of Northern Development and Mines, had was not present at the ceremony due to a prior commitment. “The 200 jobs that are being created as a result of the Totten Mine will support families and will fuel the economy of this region,” Wynne said at the grand opening.

The premier said the provincial government has an important role to play in developments like the Totten Mine by creating a regulatory environment that encourages businesses to invest and prosper.

The mine was supposed to open in 2011, but a number of factors, including the global economic crisis in 2008 and 2009, slowed Vale’s progress.

Ontario Exploration lull – by Jamie Smith (tbnewswatch.com – February 22, 2014)

February 24, 2014

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

Mining exploration in the province is down more than half from what it was a few years ago, says the head of the Ontario Prospectors Association.

While Ontario announced $1 billion in exploration in 2011, OPA executive director Garry Clark that number included development. True exploration was really closer to $450 million. But today, the province would be lucky if exploration in Ontario is $250 million, the worst Clark has ever seen.

“It’s probably the slowest exploration year we’ve had,” he said. “A lot of people are scared to invest in high risk things right now.”

Typically prospectors would head to other provinces or countries to find work but Clark said lately it’s been slow all over the world. Closer to home, that means a lot of prospectors, drillers and other industry professionals are looking for work.

That also means there’s no one out there making discoveries in the region that could one day turn into mines. “If you don’t have people kicking rocks and drilling diamond drill holes you’ll end up with a glut of time where you don’t have new projects coming on stream,” Clark said.

First Nations opposing mining and exploration in Northern Manitoba – by Ian Graham (Thompson Citizen – February 21, 2014)

February 21, 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.

Northern Manitoba’s Manto Sipi Cree Nation and Mathias Colomb Cree Nation announced their opposition to mineral exploration in their traditional and ancestral territories this week.

Manto Sipi Cree Nation at Gods River issued a press release Feb. 18 stating that it would block mineral exploration and work permits on its ancestral lands in northeastern Manitoba and will not consult with the provincial government until all land disputes are addressed and settled. The press release said the province had recently sent three work permit applications for Mineral exploration to Manto Sipi Cree Nation.

“I have been given a strong mandate to initiate legal, political and defensive action against outside encroachment,” said Manto Sipi Cree Nation Chief Michael Yellowback in the press release. “Manto Sipi Cree Nation will stop all three work permit applications immediately. One of the main issues is that Manto Sipi Cree Nation has exhausted all avenues in dealing with [Mineral Resources] Minister [Dave] Chomiak on Manto Sipi Cree Nation’s land claim which is on an expired mineral claim purportedly held by Jim Campbell. The minister’s legal position and opinion on this Godslith Claim has been refuted by our lawyers, so we will challenge it in court.”

Environment takes precedence at Sudbury Vale’s Totten mine – by Lindsay Kelly (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – November 25, 2013)

February 21, 2014

Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal is a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. This article is from the December, 2013 issue.

Water, emissions priorities for mine design

More stringent environmental oversight of new mine development means more work. But instead of a challenge, it’s actually made the process easier at Totten Mine because it allows Vale to meet industry expectations and be creative in its approach, said senior environmental specialist Allison Merla.

“There’s the opportunity here to do it right, right away,” said Merla, who acted as the environmental co-ordinator for the mine, ensuring Vale’s permits and requirements met current industry standards.

“If you’re looking at a legacy site that has always done something a certain way for years, and they’re working on some of the older permits or legislative requirements, it takes a while to instill that change. Here, we’ve built it right and we’re going to do it right.”

Every aspect of Totten was designed with the environment in mind, starting with its overall footprint. The headframe and main operations have been laid out on top of previous mine workings, while the Victoria Creek pumphouse, from which Vale gets its domestic water, has been retrofitted and upgraded to meet today’s standards.

Ontario Chamber: Ring of Fire must be “national priority” – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – February 21, 2014)

February 21, 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.

Interested in buying a Ring of Fire bond? The Ontario Chamber of Commerce suggests that could be one way to expedite the lagging development of the series of high-grade chromite and base metals in the James Bay lowlands.

The chamber has released a comprehensive 36-page report – Beneath the Surface – that said the economic benefits to Ontario across all sectors could generate up to $9.4 billion in economic activity over 10 years and sustain 5,500 jobs annually.

“Ontario’s economy is at a historic crossroads,” wrote Alan O’Dette, president and CEO of the Ontario Chamber, who called the Ring of Fire one of this province’s “greatest economic development opportunities in a generation.”

But the “glacial pace” at which progress is being made, he said, makes it seem that its development is “no closer than it was several years ago.”

Sudbury Vale’s Totten mine boasts copper, nickel and PGMs – by Lindsay Kelly (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – November 25, 2013)

February 21, 2014

Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal is a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. This article is from the December, 2013 issue.

The mineralization at Vale’s Totten Mine is so rich, ribbons of copper, nickel and precious metal can be viewed at surface just by walking through the parking lot.

“It’s pretty interesting for anybody who likes geology,” said Lance Howland, Totten’s chief mine geologist. “They can go out for their lunch break to look at exactly what’s here, and that’s pretty much what you’d see underground.”

Totten Mine is situated along the Worthington Offset, one of the fractures resulting from the creation of the Sudbury Basin 1.8 billion years ago. Offset deposits like Worthington were formed when pressure caused by molten material cooling around the basin pushed its way into a fracture.

“(The molten material) carried with it the copper, nickel and precious metals, and formed multiple deposits along that string. One of them was Totten Mine,” Howland said. “It’s a pretty unique story and we’ve got some very interesting deposits that a lot of people around the world have come here to see given how unique it is.”

Vale’s Team Totten rises to challenge – by Norm Tollinsky (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – November 25, 2013)

February 21, 2014

Norm Tollinsky is editor of Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal, a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. This article is from the December, 2013 issue.

Ground conditions, water ingress and a 60-year-old timbered shaft among the challenges overcome

When Bob Booth and Gary Annett of the Totten project team hand over the reins to mine manager Dave Pisaric on December 31st, life won’t be near as exciting.

Few mine development projects go exactly as planned. Mother Nature can frustrate the intentions of the most experienced and skilled engineers and geoscientists, as happened at Totten when unfavourable ground conditions and water ingress began bogging things down.

The team stepped it up a notch, hunkered down…and saw it through. Vale decided against the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) approach and kept the project management in house.

Annett, with the ominous title of Totten execution manager, was assigned to Totten in February 2008. A 15-year Vale and Inco mining engineer and alumnus of Laurentian University, Annett worked his way up through operations and spent eight years at the company’s Coleman Mine.

Study shows Ring could generate $25 billion benefit – by Caro Muligan (Sudbury Star – February 21, 2014)

February 21, 2014

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

A new study released by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, Beneath the Surface: Uncovering the Economic Potential of Ontario’s Ring of Fire, shows the mining development could generate more than $25 billion across numerous sectors in Ontario by 2047.

That would include $2.7 billion in revenues for the financial services sector and $1.2 billion for the wholesale and retail trade sectors.

“Our study makes it clear that the short-and long-term economic impacts of the Ring of Fire extend far beyond mining,” says Allan O’Dette, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. “It’s time to broaden the Ring of Fire conversation to include all of Ontario, not just the Far North.”

“The Ring of Fire will generate an estimated $6.2 billion for Ontario’s mining sector in the first 10 years of its development, with much of this mining activity being concentrated in Northern Ontario,” says David Boyce, Chair of the Board, Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce. “Development of the Ring of Fire is important to all Ontarians, regardless of geography. The positive impacts will be felt across the province in the form of increased GDP, job creation, and government revenue.”

Ontario chamber releasing Ring of Fire report – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – February 19, 2014)

February 19, 2014

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce will be weighing in on the untapped mineral and economic opportunities in the Far North Ring of Fire when it releases a report tomorrow.

The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto will be the venue for the report’s official launch on Thursday followed by a Northern Ontario rollout of cities next week with panel discussions in Thunder Bay (Feb. 26), Sudbury (Feb. 27) and Timmins (March 7).

The Sudbury panel will be held at Dynamic Earth from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The comprehensive report will outline the economic benefits to Ontario estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars.

The report is also intended to showcase this massive mineral opportunity and its spinoffs to southern Ontarians who know little of its potential to generate wealth and jobs in the province, a fact illustrated in an Ontario chamber survey of its own member businesses.

Ontario Grass roots exploration takes a hit – by Norm Tollinsky (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – February 2014)

February 19, 2014

Norm Tollinsky is editor of Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal, a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. This article is from the February 2014 issue.

Not for lack of quality projects

The good times couldn’t continue forever, and they haven’t. After three years in a row of feverish exploration activity in Ontario, 2013 turned in a dismal performance. Estimated exploration and deposit appraisal expenditures for Ontario fell approximately 30 per cent – from $961 million in 2012 to $688.5 million – but the reality is much worse, according to Garry Clark, executive director of the Ontario Prospectors Association.

The $688.5 million and the $961 million posted the year before include expenditures on mine development – not just exploration, he complained. Looking at exploration alone, “2013 was the worst year since I’ve been in the business,” said Clark. “I started as a consultant in 1987, and I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs, but this is probably the lowest I’ve seen.”

Risk capital dried up, many junior mining companies went dormant, drill rigs sat idle and geologists and prospectors were lucky to find a day or two of work here and there. Clark and others could see it coming despite three straight years of numbers just shy of or exceeding $1 billion.

[Noront] Keeping their eye on the ball – by Rob Learn (North Bay Nipissing News – February 19, 2014)

February 19, 2014

http://www.northbaynipissing.com/northbaynipissing/

KOPER LAKE – Sticking to the basics, keep their eye on the ball and concentrate on making contact is the strategy Noront Resources is continuing as it continues to outpace all others in the most touted mining discovery in a generation – the Ring of Fire in Northern Ontario.

CEO and president of Noront Alan Coutts brakes down the complexity of his specific proposal to create a viable mine in one of the remotest parts of the province. “You don’t need to go for the grand slam homerun right away. You just need to get a base hit,” said Coutts.

After years standing in the on deck circle Noront is preparing to take its best swing for that base hit this year applying for permit approvals for a permanent road to the mine site about 500 km north of Timmins. The road would run east-west from Pickle Lake above Thunder Bay running mostly along a route that serves four First Nations communities via winter road.

With a 282 km route to cover across James Bay Lowlands the company is saying it is the best way to push their proposed Eagle’s Nest deposit from very expensive find to an active mine.