Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications – Page 239

Northern College Aboriginal grads working in mining – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – February 6, 2014)

February 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.

Northern College is experiencing another successful milestone in its legacy of miner training: nearly all recent graduates of its hard rock miner common core program are working, two-thirds of which have found employment in the Kirkland Lake area.

The success is thanks to a partnership between the college and AuRico Gold, which operates the Young-Davidson Mine 60 kilometres west of Kirkland Lake. Though the college has offered similar programs through partnerships with other mining companies in the past, this program is unique in that it was funded by the Mushkegowuk and Wabun Tribal councils and geared specifically towards Aboriginal students.

“With all the opportunities in mining and all the IBAs (impact benefit agreements), there are new opportunities there for the Aboriginal communities that weren’t there in the past,” said Bob Mack, Northern College’s vice-president of community, business development and employment services.

Ontario-NAN agreement needed for [Ring of Fire] project ‘reboot’ – by Bill Gallagher (Onotassiniik Magazine – February 2014)

February 7, 2014

Onotassiniik Magazine is Wawatay’s Mining Quarterly: http://www.onotassiniik.com/

Lakehead University appears to have filled a gap in bringing together key perspectives in its attempt to ‘reboot’ the Ring of Fire. The university’s Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Mining and Exploration in December hosted a conference about the role of government policy in sustainable mining development.

My presentation at the conference was a strategic, follow-the-evidence approach of Cliffs Natural Resources’ Black Thor project in the Ring of Fire and major projects elsewhere that had likewise tumbled into the project ‘death zone,’ and what these parallels now meant for the Ring of Fire. In my view, that Ring of Fire project is now gone for 10 years and before it comes back, shaping the window of opportunity for its return has to be the priority of all pro-development policy makers, business leaders, politicians and strategists.

Contrary to popular opinion, I drew attention to the fact that the ‘elephant in the room’ was none other than Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), which represents 49 First Nations in northern Ontario. I said it was delusional for Ring of Fire planners to think that if only Cliffs could get Matawa tribal council on board, we would be off to the races.

Indeed, it will take the support of way more than Matawa’s nine First Nations (which are also members of NAN) to reboot the Ring of Fire, as supply lines, hydro sites and transmission, rail and road, concentrate processing, and environmental cumulative impacts are broader, deal-making factors. Simply, all these factors make developing the Ring of Fire a pan-northern resource extraction process.

Saskatchewan Dene group wants more consultation on Areva’s Kiggavik project – by Sarah Rogers (Nunatsiaq Online.com – February 6, 2014)

February 7, 2014

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

Project proposes flying uranium to northern Saskatchewan

Athabasca Dene in northern Saskatchewan say they have not been properly consulted on Areva’s Kiggavik uranium project near Baker Lake. Although the Kiggavik site is hundreds of kilometres away from their traditional lands, the Athabasca Dene oppose the proposed transportation of milled uranium — known as yellowcake — by plane from the mine to northern Saskatchewan.

Areva proposes to fly some 5,000 tonnes of yellowcake each year to Points North, Saskatchewan, where it would then be transported by truck or train.

In December 2013, the Athabasca Denesuline Né Né Land Corp., which represents First Nations in Black Lake, Fond du Lac and Hatchet Lake, passed a resolution opposing the transport of uranium over their territory.

In a letter addressed to the Nunavut Impact Review Board that same month, the corporation said Dene are worried about accidents and the potential damage to their local environment.

Quebec v. Labrador: natives and the hydropower sweepstakes – by Bill Gallagher (First Perspective – February 6, 2014)

February 6, 2014

http://www.firstperspective.ca/

In my book, “Resource Rulers: Fortune and Folly on Canada’s Road to Resources”, I posit that Quebec had already won a 10-year head start over Newfoundland & Labrador in the hydropower race to North American energy markets. Quebec’s strategic power-surge was cemented by the ‘Paix des Braves’ in 2002; universally regarded as a pivotal resource management legal arrangement that fully recognized the Crees as ‘Resource Rulers’ within their vast homeland containing the watersheds.

Conversely, Newfoundland, at the same time, was finally rebounding on its troubled Voisey’s Bay mining project; yet it was soon to find itself back in court fighting the Labrador Metis Nation and losing to them at the appellate level. In fact, the province had earlier lost at the appellate level to the Innu Nation on the Voisey’s Bay project; which loss had instigated a project shut down and stock drop (similar to what is playing out today in the Ring of Fire with Cliffs Natural Resources – in what is fast becoming an almost unbelievable case of history repeats!)

To no-one’s surprise, the announcement of the Muskrat Falls hydropower project in 2011 landed in an unsettled and charged Labrador native empowerment landscape. Both the Labrador Metis Nation (now called NunatuKavut) and the Nunatsiavut Government, launched repeated and sustained press releases and legal maneuvers to persuade the province and its crown utility (Nalcor) to address the pending impacts on their traditional lands.

Wynne discusses ONTC – by Jennifer Hamilton-McCharles (North Bay Nugget – February 6, 2014)

February 6, 2014

http://www.nugget.ca/

It was the meeting the union at Ontario Northland had been waiting for. Brian Kelly, spokesman for the General Chairperson’s Association, had a 30-minute meeting with Premier Kathleen Wynne Wednesday to discuss the future of the ONTC.

He was joined by Mayor Al McDonald, ONTC President Paul Goulet and Ted Hargreaves – ONTC Chair – who serves in an Ex Officio capacity as a resource for the committee.

“The premier reiterated that no final decision has been made. She wants to see a plan before that happens,” Kelly said. He said for the first time the premier has asked the union and ONTC senior management to meet and devise a plan for the future of the ONTC.

“We will keep ONTC in one piece and we want our employees to know there is a future for them at the Ontario Northland.” McDonald said it was the best news in the last two years. He said the plan created by the union and Ontario Northland senior management will be presented to the Minister’s Advisory Committee.

[Timmins] Hollinger open pit project goes forward – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – February 4, 2014)

February 6, 2014

Porcupine Gold Mines (PGM) has received its final environmental approval from the province, paving the way for work to start on its Hollinger open pit mine. The environmental compliance approval (ECA) focused on noise, vibration and dust associated with the project, and was awarded by the Ministry of the Environment in early December.

Located adjacent to Timmins’ downtown core, the Hollinger site involves the repurposing of an historic underground mine, which operated for close to 60 years before closing in 1968. PGM, a subsidiary of Goldcorp, has spent $8 million to fill subsidences and other hazards that remain on the property.

The new project proposes eliminating the remaining hazards by removing the land around them and creating one large opening. The openpit operation will recover the gold remaining underground over an eight-year mine life. Ore will be processed at the company’s mill located at its nearby Dome Mine.

Caribou protection hampers [northern Ontario] forestry upswing – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – February 5, 2014)

February 6, 2014

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – At a time when the forest industry in this province is predicting a major upswing, Cochrane could end up losing jobs in this sector because of the impacts from government policies to protect caribou habitat.

Jamie Lim, president and chief executive of the Ontario Forest Industries Association, said the industry is looking at a “recovery hat-trick” which includes a rise in U.S. housing starts, changes to the Canadian building code next year which will allow the use of timber frames in higher-rise construction, and the global trend towards “green” or renewable building materials which favours wood.

However, she expressed concerns about limited gains being be made in forest-dependent communities like Cochrane where the new Abitibi River Forest Management Plan predicts “less economic benefits” due to a reduction in available harvest volumes.

The existing long-term management plan calls for a 65% volume reduction over the next 25 years. “The lower volumes translate into reduced manufacture of primary products, less taxes and less employment opportunities,” according to the analysis on Page 204 of that plan.

Blasting set to begin at Hollinger open pit – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – February 4, 2014)

February 5, 2014

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – The familiar sound of blasting will soon officially mark the Hollinger Mine’s return to life. With its Ministry of Environment air and noise permits safely secured and drilling having begun, Goldcorp is expecting the first blast at the historic mine to take place on Feb. 11.

“We began drilling around Jan. 28, and the first blast is now expected for this coming week,” said Paul Miller, superintendent of surface operations for the Hollinger project. “The date we’re now targeting is Feb. 11, and public notifications are being sent out and there will be some immediate analysis on the first blast.

“The initial blast will be very small, in the 3,000 to 4,000 tonne range to begin with, and located on the south-east location of the property in an area where we’re distant from residents and businesses.”

Miller, along with Goldcorp/Porcupine Gold Mines (PGM) general manager Marc Lauzier, were at council to provide an update about the open-pit mine project.

Peru’s copper sector the one with highest growth potential in the world—Chilean expert – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – February 5, 2014)

February 5, 2014

http://www.mining.com/

It is not usual to hear Chileans praising their Peruvian neighbours, especially when the matter in question is the copper industry, Chile’s most precious resource, which accounts for 60% of the nation’s exports and 20% of its GDP.

But Juan Carlos Guajardo, the Chile’s Centre for Copper and Mining (CESCO) director, told Peruvian newspaper Gestión (in Spanish) that the production gap between the two mining countries is “set to narrow,” as Peruvian copper projects are solid, competitive and less costly in terms of energy needs.

He added that rather than seeing Peru’s copper sector as a threat, Chileans miners should evaluate the many opportunities for cooperation between both industries.

Actually Peru is already looking to boost cooperation agreements on copper processing technology with Chile as the country, the world’s top copper producer, has decades of experience extracting the red metal.

Hard feelings over Westray vote in Sudbury – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – February 5, 2014)

February 5, 2014

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

A United Steelworkers campaign to hold employers criminally responsible for workplace deaths unfairly portrays them as bad guys, a local businessman has charged.

On Jan. 28, Sudbury city council heard from USW members on their movement to ‘Stop the Killing, Enforce the Law.’ It calls for police and Crown attorneys to charge executives and corporations criminally when workers are killed on the job.

At the same time, council passed a motion, presented by Joe Cimino, to support a campaign pushing the province to ensure police and the Crown are educated in and directed to apply the Westray amendments, named after the site of the 1992 mine explosion that killed 26 men.

“I fully support Westray. Absolutely, people should be held accountable for negligence and problems of that nature. I have no issue at all with the Westray Act,” Andre Dumais, who works in the mining supply sector, said Tuesday.

“My issue is with the name of the campaign, the Stop the Killing. To me it implies the employers in the mining companies, or any industrial companies for that matter, are actively trying to kill their employees.”

[Northern Ontario] Aviation pioneer – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (February 4, 2014)

February 5, 2014

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

NORTHERN Ontario’s aviation pioneers are a special breed. From lone bush pilots to small fleet owners they hop-scotched into a growing number of remote communities as airstrips were hewn out of the boreal forest. Gradually, scheduled air services were established. Names like Wieben, DeLuce and Kelner are among a long list of adventurous fliers who took on the challenge of opening up such a vast region as this.

The list is short a key member this week with the sudden death of Harvey Friesen. Together with his brother, Cliff, they grew Bearskin Airlines from a two-floatplane operation to a large, scheduled airline with 50 years of service — a remarkable achievement in an industry where longevity is rare.

The company was created in 1963 by a bush pilot named John Hegland from a base in Big Trout Lake, flying charter service to Sioux Lookout. (Hegland named the operation after Bearskin Lake where he owned a store.) A second hop to Thunder Bay was a logical step.

New owners turned Bearskin into an air taxi service with Harvey Friesen one of its pilots. In 1972, at age 24, he bought half the company and purchased most of the rest of it five years later. Brother Cliff bought in shortly after and a family business was born and grew with the addition of a base in Thunder Bay to augment the one in Sioux Lookout.

Noront Leading Ring of Fire Charge – Rickford – by James Murray (Netnewsledger.com – February 3, 2014)

February 3, 2014

http://www.netnewsledger.com/

Getting it Right in Northern Ontario

THUNDER BAY – Mining – Federal Minister Greg Rickford says “Noront is now leading the charge. They were perhaps a little underestimated. In the wake of Cliff’s very clear announcement, Noront is moving ahead with the environmental assessment process. We’re all very hopeful that that will go live sooner rather than later.”

Rickford is the federal minister responsible for the Ring of Fire. The Kenora MP has been working the file getting the pieces in place to get the Ring of Fire project on a solid footing.

NetNewsLedger has reported that Cliffs Natural Resources is pulling out of the Ring of Fire with camps being emptied in January. Cliffs Natural Resources has denied those reports in an email to Northern Ontario Business. The company has been moving goods out of their camps, and online has completely pulled Northern Ontario off their map of activities in North America.

The Ring of Fire is a massive project, and “Getting it right,” as Ontario Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle has repeatedly put it is key for success.

Timmins History: Dance night a treat for early prospectors – by Karen Bachmann (Timmins Daily Press – February 1, 2014)

February 3, 2014

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – A few years ago, the Auer family donated, to the museum, a selection of the journals of Charles and Mae Auer. The Auers were local pioneers, responsible for the Nighthawk Mine and the development that would become known as Mattagami Heights (today, home to our local Ford Dealership).

The diaries are an exceptional view of what life would have been like for the very early prospectors coming to the area. Today, I offer to you an excerpt that caught my attention because it sounds like something right out of a movie!

To set the stage, Charles Auer and his partner Black Jack Cole (what a name!) started to head for the Nighthawk River system in January 1908. Along with their dog team lead by Nell and Jack, they mushed their way on existing trails, breaking new ones when needed.

The temperatures plunged to -40 F and the snow was about three feet thick. The going was pretty rough. Eventually, they hit smoother ground and stopped for the night at Campbell’s Halfway House, outside of McDougall Chutes. They took care of the dogs and enjoyed a good hot meal.

Stobie Mine inquest in planning stage – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – February 1, 2014)

February 3, 2014

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

The date hasn’t been set for the coroner’s inquest into the June 8, 2011, deaths of two men at Vale’s Stobie Mine, but months of planning for the complicated procedure are under way.

The examination into the deaths of Jason Chenier, 35, and Jordan Fram, 26, who were killed when they were overcome by 350 tons of muck while working at the 3,000-foot level of the century-old mine, is expected to be lengthy and complicated.

Cheryl Mahyr, issues manager with the Office of the Chief Coroner and Ontario Forensic Pathology Service, said Friday she couldn’t make any announcement about the timing of the inquest.

Coroners’ inquests are mandatory in workplace deaths in Ontario, and are not held until after outstanding investigations and charges under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act are dealt with, including appeals.

Both United Steelworkers Local 6500 and Vale conducted exhaustive investigations into the double fatality.

A zero-Carbon Ring of Fire is needed – by Steve May (Sudbury Star – February 1, 2014)

February 3, 2014

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

Steve May is an officer of the federal and provincial Nickel Belt Greens.

Picture this: You’re riding a silent, electrically-powered railway northward into the heart of Ontario’s largest industrial project, the Ring of Fire. Occasionally, the landscape of trees and rocks is interrupted by one or two wind turbines or ground-mounted solar arrays.

As you near the end of the line, you can see that the ore processing facility looks as if it were on fire, thanks to the thousands of solar panels affixed to just about every building surface. Here, chromite and other minerals are being extracted and processed in the world’s first zero-carbon mining project, deep in the heart of the James Bay lowlands.

Impossible? Hardly. Impractical? Not at all. A zero-carbon mining project would be good for the environment and for job creation. Sustainable, net-zero development may be the only option for “getting things right” in the Ring of Fire as we go deeper into the 21st Century, thanks to Canada having taken a back-seat on climate change reduction initiatives.