Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications – Page 232

Jail mine CEOs: Sudbury forum – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 16, 2014)

April 16, 2014

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

Jailing one or two chief executive officers of companies where workers were killed on the job is all it would take to bring about the societal change necessary to finish what United Steelworkers started 40 years ago in Elliot Lake, says a union leader.

Enforcing the provisions of the Westray amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada, that hold CEOs and company directors criminally responsible for negligence causing a worker’s death, will demonstrate Canadians won’t accept workplace deaths as the cost of doing business.

Stephen Hunt, District 3 director for United Steelworkers and one of the officials spearheading USW’s “Stop the Killing: Enforce the Law” campaign, spoke to an audience of about 60 people Tuesday at the first day of a forum commemorating the 1974 Elliot Lake Miners’ Strike.

The three-week wildcat strike by more than 1,000 Steelworkers at Denison Mine prompted the provincial government to appoint a royal commission that resulted in the enactment of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Inquest recommendations could have saved men: Fram – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 16, 2014)

April 16, 2014April 16, 2014

http://enforcethelaw.ca/?language=en

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

If recommendations from the inquest into the 1995 death of Clifford Bastien at Stobie Mine had been mandatory, Jordan Fram and Jason Chenier would be here today, says Fram’s mother.

Wendy Fram spoke at a conference Tuesday at the Steelworkers’ Hall about a USW campaign called “Stop the Killing: Enforce the Law.” The campaign calls on Canadians to sign a petition urging provincial, territorial and federal governments to enforce the Westray amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada. The Westray law holds company executives and directors criminally accountable for negligence that is responsible for a worker being killed on the job.

First Nations’ Remarkable Legal Winning Streak – by Shiri Pasternak (The Tyee.ca – April 10, 2014)

April 14, 2014

http://thetyee.ca/

‘Resource Rulers’ says industry ignores at its peril wave of ‘native empowerment.’

When news media pay attention to books about Indigenous people in Canada, they tend to select those that stick to a particular script. Flanagan, Alacantra and Le Dressay’s Beyond the Indian Act, Widdowson and Howard’s Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry, and Calvin Helin’s Dances with Dependencyall received extensive coverage by the national press upon release.

These books, while different in content, share in common the characterization of Indigenous economies as dependent systems. The solution to achieving self-determination is always conflated with free market access. And while these authors are careful to situate the poverty in First Nations communities within a historical context of land dispossession and legislative discrimination, they are equally careful to avoid analyzing inequalities in systems of free market capitalism.

Now it is Bill Gallagher’s self-published book Resource Rulers that is getting all the attention. It is an engaging read that argues the legal winning streak of First Nations in resource conflicts (he counts over 150) should put industry on notice to comply with their expanding obligations to Indigenous peoples. Each chapter in the book surveys a different region or province, highlighting what Gallagher perceives to be the key legal victories of “native empowerment.”

Striking a tone of caution to industry regarding native rights, is Resource Rulers thematically apiece with the usual populism described above?

Local mining manufacturer sold to U.S.-based company – by Staff (Sudbury Northern Life – April 13, 2014)

April 14, 2014

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Joy Global buys Lively-based Mining Technologies Int. for $51M

A major mining manufacturer in Greater Sudbury has been sold to a international mining company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis. Joy Global Inc. announced Friday it was buying Mining Technologies International for $51 million Cdn. MTI, which is based in Lively but has offices across Canada and the U.S., manufactures underground mining equipment for North American markets. It employs about 250 people.

MTI is “a world leading supplier of raise bore drilling consumables,” Joy Global said in its news release. “The company is acquiring substantially all of the assets associated with MTI’s hard rock drilling, loaders, dump trucks, shaft sinking, and raise bore product lines.”

MTI’s revenues associated with those product lines was about $90 million U.S. in 2013. The deal should be complete with 90 days, Joy Global said.

“This acquisition represents an exciting opportunity as we execute on our growth strategy to expand our underground mining product lines into the hard rock markets including nickel, potash, palladium, platinum, gold and copper,” said Ted Doheny, Joy Global’s president and CEO, in the release.

Ontera – The Liberal Anchor – by Phil Koning (Northern Ontario – Political Issues Blog – April 13, 2014)

April 14, 2014

http://northernontariopoliticalissues.blogspot.ca/

After two more years of turmoil at the hands of the Liberal government, ONTC has suffered another debilitating attack, by a party eager to appease the corporate world. The Liberal party is trying to convince the corporate world they have the ability and discipline to govern after their unbelievable indifference to the cost of gas plant relocation’s and subsequent coverup. The fact that Ontera is being gifted to Bell as the result of a process defined by the problems the passenger and freight rail divisions have endured over the past two decades defies any logic or grasp of good government policy.

Although we do not know the details of the proposed firesale, and likely never will, it is hard to believe that Bell will even maintain service levels in the marginal areas that Ontera has provided service, let along protect price levels with a clear monopoly in the North.

So, with the absence of any reason that makes sense in providing good government we are left to speculate why the Liberals have headed down another road to self destruction.

The creation of the new Development corporation could be a clue. Why the Ring of Fire needs a completely new corporation with all the cost that goes along with that, to develop the infrastructure for the mining industry is a secret known only to the Liberal strategists.

Conflict Minerals in the DRC: Why Western Legislation Isn’t the Only Answer – by Marie Lamensch (Open Canada.org – April 10, 2014)

April 11, 2014

http://opencanada.org/

At a recent conference titled, “A Conflict of Interests: Canadian Mining in the Congo” organized by STAND McGill, the most debated topic of the day was the role and impact of U.S. and Canadian legislation in curbing violence caused by so-called conflict minerals in the Great Lakes Region of sub-Saharan Africa. These sentiments beg the questions of whether national legislation is actually having an effect on Congolese people or whether it is simply making companies and consumers feel better about their behaviour.

One common misconception about the cycle of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is that it is caused, in part at least, by conflict minerals. However, it is important to understand that the illegal exploitation minerals is an effect of the war. This misunderstanding about the roots of long-standing conflict threatens to lead to flawed responses as to whether action in the United States or Canada can affect the situation on the ground.
So let’s start with the basics.

What has been coined by French historian Gerard Prunier as “Africa’s World War” finds its roots in two successive wars—not to mention its colonial past as a particularly brutal example of heavy-handed Belgian colonialism. In 1996, Rwanda invaded the eastern DRC to oppose extremist Hutu militias responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide who had fled there. Aided by Rwanda, Congolese rebels led by Laurent Kabila took the opportunity to end the reign of Joseph Mobutu—who had been in power since 1965.

The future of mining in Nunavut? It’s all about China – by Jim Bell (Nunatsiaq News – April 10, 2014)

April 10, 2014

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

Scotiabank commodity guru says Chinese demand the biggest factor for what sells, what doesn’t

A influential Canadian bank economist says that if you want to predict which Nunavut mining projects are likely to make it and which ones aren’t, you have to study China.

“I pay far more attention to the Chinese economy than to that of the United States,” Patricia Mohr, Scotiabank’s commodity price specialist, said at the April 8 opening of the Nunavut Mining Symposium.

That’s because China now represents more than 40 per cent of global demand for commodities. That includes metals that lie embedded in the earth’s crust across northern Canada, such as zinc, copper, nickel and iron ore.

Many factors influence their prices — including economic growth, or the lack of it, in the United States, the European Union, Russia, Brazil and India, as well as the growth or decline of existing ore stockpiles. But the biggest factor of them all is the China’s relentless movement towards an industrialized and urbanized future for the 1.3 billion people who live within its borders, Mohr said.

Nunavut org set to benefit from lease, royalties agreements with Agnico Eagle (Nunatsiaq News – April 10, 2014)

April 10, 2014

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

NTI signs first-ever production lease deal for its sub-surface Inuit-owned lands

Nunavut Tunngavik has signed its first-ever mineral production lease, allowing Agnico Eagle Mines to extract gold from Inuit-owned land near the Meadowbank mine in exchange for annual fees and royalties paid to NTI.

The production lease will cover AEM’s 144-hectare Vault deposit, an open-pit operation about nine kilometres northeast of Meadowbank’s processing plant which is roughly 110 kms north of Baker Lake. “The production lease, which allows for commercial production, is the first that NTI has entered into with any company,” an NTI release said April 9

NTI president Cathy Towtongie said in the release that the agreement reflects a “clear commitment” set out in the organization’s December 1997 mining policy: “to support the development of mineral resources in Nunavut if there are significant long-term social and economic benefits for Inuit, and if it is consistent with protecting the eco-systemic integrity of Nunavut.”

According to an NTI mining policy brochure, a company must pay $100 per hectare for a production lease, at a minimum of $10,000. The lease has an initial term of 10 years that may be renewed for two additional five-year terms.

Agnico Eagle cautiously optimistic about second Nunavut gold mine – by David Murphy (Nunatsiaq News – April 10, 2014)

April 10, 2014

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

“Feasibility and permitting are really the critical part for us now”

Depending on gold prices, the approval of certain permits and the results of a feasibility study due later this year, the prospects for Agnico Eagle’s Meliadine gold mine project are looking good, a company manager said April 8.

“I believe very strongly that the project will move forward,” Nancy Guay, Meliadine’s general program manager, said during a project update session at the Nunavut Mining Symposium in Iqaluit April 8.

Last year, Agnico Eagle slashed $80 million from the project’s capital budget, leaving just $45 million to spend in 2014. Gold prices slumped in 2013 to about $1,300 an ounce and the company coped with one-time problems at its Kittila mine in Finland and at other projects.

The price of gold has improved a little this year. As of April 8, gold was listed at $1,428 per ounce on goldpriceoz.com. But at another April 8 presentation at the mining symposium, Scotiabank’s commodity specialist, Patricia Mohr, said she expects gold prices to settle in at around $1,350 per ounce by 2015.

Ontera vital to growth in Northeastern Ontario – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – April 8, 2014)

April 10, 2014

http://www.timminspress.com/

TIMMINS – The ONTC saga came to a head late last week in the form of an announcement by Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle.

Gravelle said the provincial government would be selling off Ontera and keeping four other divisions of the Crown agency.

Thus ends the two-year debate on divesting the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, which was introduced in the provincial spring budget of 2012 — and supported by both the Liberals and NDP.

At the time, the plan was to shut down the Northlander passenger rail service and sell off the remaining pieces of the ONTC.

In reaction to the following outcry by Northerners, Gravelle — to his credit — formed an advisory committee with stakeholders to look at completing the rest of the plan. Gravelle later said that privatization wasn’t the only possible solution for dealing with all of the ONTC’s assets.

[Ontario NDP] Andrea Horwath unhappy with mine safety review – by Rick Owen (Kirkland Lake Northern News – April 9, 2014)

April 9, 2014

http://www.northernnews.ca/

KIRKLAND LAKE – With the death of a miner in Sudbury last week Provincial NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says the provincial commission investigating mine safety needs the necessary resources to do the job.

It has been 30 years since a provincial commission investigated mine safety. Since then miners in Ontario have been killed and thousands of others have been injured. Last year the premier rejected a public inquiry into mine safety and instead chose a review,” said Horwath.

She continued saying: “But at the first public hearings in Timmins and Kirkland Lake, the government didn’t advertise or even put out so much as a press release or media advisory inviting participation. Does the premier think this is acceptable?”

Concerning media notification the Northern News was sent an email from the Ministry of Labour, informing of the meetings being held in Kirkland Lake. As well the Ministry also made its Chief Prevention Officer available for an interview prior to the meetings with enough time to publish prior to the meetings, and he was very accessible to the media at the meetings. A story did run in the Northern News prior to the meetings in Kirkland Lake and after the meetings.

Canada’s North: Infrastructure on mining wishlist – by Saul Chernos (Daily Commercial News – April 9, 2014)

April 9, 2014

http://dcnonl.com/

Speaking at the annual convention of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada in Toronto in March, business representatives from the Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories (N.W.T.) had a different take as they discussed infrastructure and other challenges they face — and some of their recent achievements.

“The north is often seen as this cold, isolated place but I can tell you it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to,” said Rio Tinto Canada president Virginia Flood. “It is cold, but if we can deal with the infrastructure and the energy side of it I think that will actually spur other people to come up north.”

Flood and fellow colleagues spun tales of the north that harkened back to Yukon’s Gold Rush of the late 1890s. While those frontier days are long gone, prospecting and mine development continue apace for riches as varied as gold, diamonds and iron.

As Flood and other speakers explained, the landscape has changed considerably. “The cost of energy and infrastructure is huge,” Flood said, explaining that Rio Tinto recently spent $33 million building wind turbines to help fuel operations at its Diavik diamond mine 200 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle in the N.W.T.

Funeral Thursday for millwright killed on job – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 9, 2014)

April 9, 2014

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

A mass of Christian burial will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. at St. Joseph Church in Chelmsford for the millwright killed on the job at Vale’s Copper Cliff Smelter Complex on Sunday. Paul Rochette, 36, died of severe head trauma at the scene after a large piston on a belt that was crushing ingots of smelted copper-nickel broke off between the smelting and matte processing stages.

Another millwright, a 28-year-old man, suffered a concussion and facial lacerations, but was in stable condition Monday at Health Sciences North’s Ramsey Lake Health Centre. There was no word on his condition Tuesday.

Rochette is survived by his two young children, Isabella and Skyler, parents Eddy and Sue Rochette of Val Caron, sister Angele Kirwan (Ryan) of Val Caron and brother Dan (Nadine Gosselin) of Napanee. In his obituary, it said Rochette will be missed by his best friend, Jessica Daoust, as well as by several nieces and nephews, and many friends, relatives and coworkers.

Visitation will be held Wednesday at Co-operative Funeral Home in Sudbury from 2-5 p.m. and from 7-9:30 p.m. Rochette was described Monday by Vale’s Kelly Strong as experienced, skilled and well trained for his job as an industrial mechanic at the smelter’s casting and crushing plant, as was the younger millwright who was injured.

Minerals ‘aren’t going anywhere’ (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – April 8, 2014)

April 8, 2014

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

Given the depressed state of metal prices, they could be forgiven for feeling a little morose. But the Ontario Prospectors Association says it expects to attract more than 300 participants today and Wednesday to its annual Thunder Bay mines and minerals symposium.

And the mood should be upbeat, despite price drops in key metals like copper and gold. “You get a bunch of prospectors, geologists and junior miners in one room and you can’t help feeling optimistic,” OPA executive director Garry Clark remarked Monday from his Thunder Bay office.

“I think people are cautiously optimistic about the market’s ability to raise money for exploration,” Clark added.
“The minerals (in the ground) aren’t going anywhere.”

Last year’s event attracted about 500 participants, but that was before metal prices crashed and many companies — including major Northwestern Ontario industry players like Barrick Gold and Cliffs Natural Resources — downsized or halted operations.

Vale worker killed, 1 injured – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 8, 2014)

April 8, 2014

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

Investigations into the Sunday death of 36-year-old millwright Paul Rochette at Vale’s Copper Cliff Smelter Complex have only begun, but it’s believed he died of head trauma after a piece of equipment malfunctioned in the casting and crushing plant about 6 p.m.

The president of United Steelworkers Local 6500 said a large piston called a moil, that was crushing ingots of nickel copper treated in the smelter and on the way to matte processing, released from an area that would have been under pressure.

While reports are preliminary, Rick Bertrand said it appears the industrial mechanic died instantly at the scene.
Greater Sudbury Police Service had not released Rochette’s name, but friends and family were posting on Facebook that he had been killed on the job.

A second millwright, 28, was injured and found unconscious at the scene, and was taken to hospital where he was in stable condition Monday. The smelter was shut down Sunday, and the Ministry of Labour and Greater Sudbury Police Service were called in. The ministry has control of the scene and is conducting an investigation, as are police, USW and Vale.

Bertrand said he couldn’t believe it when he received word Sunday that a member had been killed and another seriously injured on the job.