Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications – Page 229

Mine committee presses on, mindful of Sudbury deaths – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – May 9, 2014)

May 9, 2014

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

The deaths of two more men in a Sudbury-area mine can’t halt the work of those involved in Ontario’s Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review, says its chair.

What it can and will do is strengthen the resolve of those conducting it to continue and produce what George Gritziotis calls “deliverables” so the review can have an impact on the mining industry as soon as possible.

Gritziotis, who is Ontario’s chief prevention officer, was saddened, as so many Sudburians were this week, by news that two men were killed at First Nickel’s Lockerby Mine.

Marc Methe, 34, and Norm Bisaillon, 49, died early Monday morning after being struck by a fall of material, preceded by a seismic event, believed to have been a factor in the accident.

The men were experienced drillers with Taurus Drilling Services. Tragedies such as this one, and the death exactly one month earlier of millwright Paul Rochette, 36, and critical injury of a 28-year-old millwright at Vale’s Copper Cliff Smelter Complex, hit the community hard, said Gritziotis.

Michael Gravel, meet the Wizard of Dev – by David Robinson (Northern Ontario Business – May 2014)

May 9, 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

Let’s imagine that our beloved minister of Northern development and mines, Michael Gravelle, decides to consult one of the world’s leading experts on development for areas like Northern Ontario. Rick van der Ploeg is the research director at Oxford’s Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies. Between 1998 and 2002 he was state secretary for culture and media in the Netherlands, so he also knows a bit about politics.

Earlier this year van der Ploeg—let’s call him Rick—released a paper called Guidelines for Exploiting Natural Resource Wealth. Here is a quick summary of what Rick would tell Michael.

According to Rick, one of the key challenges for a resource-rich region is to convert the natural resource in the ground into long-lasting assets above ground. Chromium deposits in the Ring of Fire have to be turned into infrastructure, human skills, and financial assets held abroad.

Statues spruced up for Schumacher Homecoming – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – May 8, 2014)

May 9, 2014

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – The timing is perfect, with the Schumacher Homecoming reunion just around the corner. The refurbished statues of community founder Fred Schumacher and legendary prospector Sandy McIntyre were unveiled in the Schumacher parkette Thursday.

The Sandy McIntyre statue had been damaged and required a new hand. The Fred Schumacher statue had some holes and the brim of his hat was broken. Both are made of copper and received some shining up from the green oxidization that had built up.

There was also graffiti removed from the headframe-shaped monument at the entrance of the park and its plaque was cleaned up so the lettering is now more legible.

“Any time you are able to reintroduce pieces that speak to your culture and heritage, it is significant. This is who we are and what we’re all about,” said Guy Lamarche, manager of tourism, events and communications for the City of Timmins.

“There is a reunion underway here (scheduled during the May Run long weekend), so timing being what it is, it could not have been any better. I’m happy we were able to pull this off for those who are coming back home and for those who live here.”

Lamarche said organizers of the Homecoming are anticipating about 200 people.

Mine Rescue district competitions on in Timmins – by Len Gillis (Timmins Times – May 7, 2014)

May 9, 2014

http://www.timminstimes.com/

The 2014 District Mine Rescue competitions are now on at the McIntyre Community Building in Timmins so that mine rescue teams from across Timmins and Kirkland Lake can hone their skills and win bragging rights.

For the Timmins District, the event will see teams from Lake Shore Gold, Goldcorp Porcupine Gold Mine, Glencore Kidd Mine and Dumas Mining contractors competing against each other for the various trophies and awards for things such as best technician, best first aid, best performance on exams and best overall in responding to the mock disaster scenario.

Incidentally, the 2013 team from Kidd Mine is not only the local champion, but also has the provincial bragging rights, having won the All-Ontario mine rescue event held last June in Windsor, Ontario.

Kirkland Lake will also be represented at the event with teams representing SAS St. Andrew’s Goldfields, AuRico Gold (Young Davidson), Kirkland Lake Gold and Primero Mining Group (Brigus Gold).

It is expected that the disaster scenario exercise will be wrapped up early Friday afternoon, to give judges time to make their final assessments.

First Nation construction company takes to the road – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – May 7, 2014)

May 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.

Wally Bannon has an interesting dilemma on his hands. The economic director for Fort William First Nation said there’s no shortage of contracting jobs in the pipeline for the band’s contracting company, Fort William Construction, but he’s facing a critical shortage of skilled manpower.

Two years after the creation of the firm, Bannon said the “opportunities just keep knocking at the door.” The community of 930, situated across the Kam River from Thunder Bay, owns about $2.5 million worth of heavy equipment used in road building, including a rock crushing unit.

The band developed an aggregate pit and crushing operation on reserve land, and with the help of Sean Main, local contracting consultant, a home-grown workforce has been steadily rebuilding the community’s road network. But other jobs have since sprung up.

This past spring, the company was handling a $900,000 rock crushing contract for the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) south of Thunder Bay, and he expects more work coming their way.

Mourn for those dying to live [Sudbury mining deaths] – by Dave Dale (North Bay Nugget – May 7, 2014)

May 8, 2014

http://www.nugget.ca/

Two more miners died in the Sudbury area this week, raising the death toll to six in the past three years. The latest incident happened at First Nickel’s Lockerby mine Tuesday.

Norm Bissaillon, 49, and Marc Methe, 34, contract drillers with Taurus Drilling Services, were killed in a fall of material, preceded by seismic activity, which is believed to have been a factor in the accident.

Nipissing is a close Nickel Belt neighbour and many North Bay and area residents are linked in one way or another to families dependent on their children or parents toiling underground there and north of here.

Whether you knew them or not, it’s important to pause and reflect on how people are dying to make a living. With so many other career opportunities evaporating in this province, it might be your own child, parent or cousin next.

It was less than two weeks ago on April 28 that the National Day of Mourning paid tribute to all those who lost their lives or were injured on the job.

Ministry issues orders related to Lockerby mining deaths [Sudbury] – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – May 8, 2014)

May 8, 2014

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

The Ministry of Labour has issued one order and one requirement to First Nickel Inc., in its investigation into the deaths Tuesday of two drillers at Lockerby Mine.

Marc Methe, 34, and Norm Bisaillon, 49, were killed by a fall of material, that was preceded by seismic activity believed to have been a factor in the accident. The men both worked for Taurus Drilling Services.

The ministry, which is leading the investigation into the men’s deaths, has issued a requirement for documentation including training records, shift lineup, level plans, shifter log books, seismicity records and ground control inspection reports. The compliance date for those materials is Friday.

The ministry has also ordered that the accident scene remain barricaded until released by an inspector. The orders are a normal part of a ministry investigation into a mining fatality. Meanwhile, United Steelworkers has also issued a statement about the deaths of the two contractors, who were not members of a union.

PoV: Words no longer suffice for [Sudbury mining] tragedy – by Brian MacLeod (Sudbury Star – May 7, 2014)

May 7, 2014

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

We are blessed as a community to live in a mining town, with good jobs and a good lifestyle. But it is a hard truth that we must also live with tragedy. We are horrified when it happens in our mines, but it is equally tragic that we are not shocked.

We have lived with the dangers present in underground’s unforgiving environment for as long as our community has existed.

And so now we mourn two more. Marc Methe, 34, and Norm Bissaillon, 49, died at First Nickel’s Lockerby Mine Tuesday morning after a fall of ground. Methe is said to have become an uncle recently, and devoted to his trade. Bissaillon, an underground miner with two decades of experience, was dedicated to his family.

They are the fifth and sixth employees of mining companies in Sudbury to die on the job in the last three years. And so again, we hear words of sympathy and condolence from industry officials and politicians. They are words we must find a way to stop the need for saying.

We said them for millwright Paul Rochette, 36, who died April 6 when a piece of equipment malfunctioned at the casting and crushing plant in Vale’s smelter. Another miner was badly injured in the incident.

Sadness greets Sudbury Lockerby Mine deaths – by Star Staff (Sudbury Star – May 7, 2014)

May 7, 2014

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

It’s the responsibility of all Ontarians to work together to stop senseless tragedies from occurring in the province’s mines, says the chair of the Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review.

George Gritziotis, Chief Prevention Officer for the Province of Ontario, said he was shocked and saddened Tuesday to learn of the deaths of two men early Tuesday at First Nickel’s Lockerby Mine.

Gritziotis released a statement Tuesday saying his thoughts and prayers were with the men’s families and colleagues, and with the people of Sudbury.

“These tragedies are devastating to the community. I know the people of Sudbury, miners everywhere and all Ontarians are shaken by these tragedies,” he said.

Reality series to follow gold exploration exploits – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – May 6, 2014)

April 5, 2015May 7, 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.

When it comes to reality TV series, the fishing show Deadliest Catch has orange gold, forestry’s Ax Men has green gold, and the oil industry is encapsulated in the show Black Gold. Now, hard-rock gold mining has its own version.

Fool’s Gold, which will premiere on May 13 on the Discovery Channel, follows Todd Ryznar and seven friends as they try their hand at grassroots gold exploration at the former Straw Lake Beach Mine, located about a 90-minute drive from Fort Francis in northwestern Ontario.

“This is hard-rock mining; all the other shows on TV are about placer gold, and that’s something totally different from what we’re dealing with,” said Ryznar, founder of Shotgun Exploration. “It’s something you’ve never seen on TV before, so it’ll be very interesting.”

A former lakefront property realtor, Ryznar purchased the Straw Lake Beach Mine property in 2005, and, five years later, with inspiration from reality television shows like Deadliest Catch, started filming work being done on the property.

Miners using microbes – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – May 6, 2014)

May 6, 2014

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

The marriage of life sciences and mining goes back 2,000 years and yet it’s a relatively new relationship. Miners in 20 A.D. used microorganisms in the Red River to dissolve and separate copper from copper sulphate, and mining companies in Sudbury today use similar bacteria in bioremediation projects.

But it’s an inexact science that could be improved upon, and progress toward that end is expected to be made today (Tuesday) at the Life Sciences and Mining Workshop at the Vale Living With Lakes Centre.

Dr. Mark Poznansky, president and chief executive officer of the Ontario Genomics Institute, which is hosting the workshop, said the goal is for his institute to better understand the challenges of the mining industry. Some of the solutions to those problems may be found in life sciences.

Miners around the world are using microbes to clean up tailings to increase the yield of whatever they are mining. Microbes are being used in bioremediation, natural and through human interaction, said Poznansky, pointing to the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, where he said as much as 80% of the cleanup was done without human intervention.

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

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.