Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications – Page 251

The alarm is ringing [Ring of Fire] (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial – October 23, 2013)

October 24, 2013

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

THE main player in the big Ring of Fire mineral belt has reiterated a warning it might have to abandon the project while the provincial government continues to say next to nothing. Cliffs Natural Resources upped the severity of its concern this week, saying it is definitely considering an end to its stake in the rich chromite deposit that analysts bet will almost single-handedly rescue the weak economy of Northern Ontario.

Last month, Cliffs expressed dismay at a judicial ruling against its bid for a route out of the Far North, intimating it could impact the company’s future interests. The route would pass over a competitor’s staked land. Before that, it signalled concern by ceasing its environmental review of the project, blaming provincial indecision over responsibilities, among other issues.

Three such warnings are either a signal of genuine misgivings or a case of crying wolf. Apparently, the province believes it is the latter since it continues merely to insist the Ring remains a top priority. Of course it is. Something this big could solve a host of economic issues that have bedeviled successive governments and impoverished many northerners.

Ontario continues to claim that its negotiations with various parties to the Ring of Fire are fruitful, yet all parties remain at odds.

‘They are legal’ [KWG staking corridor into Ring of Fire] – by Jamie Smith (tbnewswatch.com – October 23, 2013)

October 23, 2013

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

A staked corridor into the Ring of Fire was done illegally, accuses a First Nations chief.

In 2009 KWG Resources staked a north-south corridor leading into the area as a proposed rail route. The staked area was vital for the project as a series of sand ridges averaging 100 metres wide covered an otherwise impassable stretch of land.

Cliffs Natural Resources wants to use that same corridor for an all-weather road. Recently officials with the Cleveland-based mining company said their plans for the Ring of Fire might be in jeopardy if the province doesn’t step in and allow for construction of the all-season road.

Marten Falls chief Eli Moonias said Wednesday that the corridor was staked illegally and without consultation with his community while members were protesting near the Ring of Fire in 2009.

“If they had worked with us from the beginning we might not be in the position that we’re in now,” he said during an interview with CKPR Radio Wednesday. Moe Lavigne, KWG’s vice-president of exploration and development, said that under the provincial mining act the only way to make claims is to stake them, which is what the company did.

Road to Ring makes sense: mayor – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – October 23, 2013)

October 23, 2013

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

While the province endured another tongue-lashing in the legislature Tuesday over accusations it’s bungling the Ring of Fire development, some observers wondered why the government still won’t commit to building a main access road to the rich mining region.

“A road must be seen as an investment both in terms of mining development and human capital,” said Red Lake Mayor Phil Vinet, a former miner. “Look at the road (Highway 105) to Red Lake (and surrounding gold mines),” Vinet added. “It was built in 1948 and paved in 1960, an investment that has paid for itself many times over.”

In the legislature, NDP MPP Mike Mantha scolded the Liberals for lacking a plan for the province’s remote North.
“When will we see a real plan for Ring of Fire development that benefits Northern communities, First Nations and all Ontarians?” said Mantha (Algoma-Manitoulin). Natural Resources Minister David Orazietti replied that the province is working on the Ring of Fire project.

Ring of Fire Under Fire – by James Murray (Netnewsledger.com – October 22, 2013)

October 23, 2013

http://www.netnewsledger.com/

THUNDER BAY – In Queen’s Park today, during Question Period, the NDP Northern Development and Mines Critic Michael Mantha called on the Wynne government to address the lack of progress on development of the Ring of Fire.

“Last year, the Premier went up to Sudbury to announce that the government had reached a deal with Cliffs, and that it would create hundreds of mining jobs from the Ring of Fire,” said Mantha. “Only a year later and it has become clear that not only did this government not have a real deal with Cliffs, but the company is about to pull out of Ontario because of the mess this government has made of the Ring of Fire development plans.”

Mantha said the people of Ontario have been misled by the promise of jobs that have failed to materialize.

PC MPP Norm Miller was also on the attack. Just yesterday Premier, more bad news. One of the major players in the Ring of Fire, Cliffs Natural Resources, described [their] project as being in a tenuous state…if the company doesn’t have a transportation route, they don’t have a project., These are jobs waiting to be unlocked, put in jeopardy by your bungling of this file. What are you doing to ensure access to the Ring of Fire?”

Goldcorp shows council pit concept – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – October 21, 2013)

October 23, 2013

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Goldcorp has finally received a draft of its air and noise control permit from the Ministry of the Environment regarding the Hollinger open-pit mining project. The news was among the updates provided by Goldcorp/Porcupine Gold Mines general manager Marc Lauzier and superintendent of surface operations Paul Miller at city council on Monday.

“We’re hopeful this will move on fairly quickly,” said Miller, relating to the company receiving news on its MOE permit. “We’ll be stripping overburdens of old construction and getting into the mining activity.”

Also presented to council was an initial rendering of what the Hollinger open pit could look like while mining activity takes place there over a projected 10-year lifespan. Designs show three individual pits, which will be the focus of mining activity on the site.

Miller said the design might be modified as the project moves on. Lauzier added the shape of the pit could change “depending on the economics” and the price of gold.

History comes back to haunt in New Brunswick – by Devon Black (iPolitics Insight – October 21, 2013)

October 23, 2013

http://www.ipolitics.ca/

Hey, Canada. We need to talk. Specifically, we need to talk history – because too many of us don’t know about important parts of it. Without that history, it’s impossible to understand exactly what happened when the RCMP stormed First Nations protestors in Rexton, New Brunswick, last week.

First of all, let’s review what happened. In March 2010, SWN Resources Canada — a subsidiary of a Texas energy company — was granted a license to search one million hectares in New Brunswick. Since this summer, protesters — including members of the Elsipogtog (ell-see-book-toq) First Nation — have been fighting SWN’s plans to search for shale gas. To do that, they blocked access to SWN equipment.

SWN went to court to obtain an injunction against the protestors earlier this month. On Oct. 12, that injunction was extended to Oct. 21; hearings were due to be held on Oct. 18 on the possibility of extending the injunction further.

COMMENT: Cliffs threatens pull out of Ring of Fire – by Marilyn Scales (Canadian Mining Journal – October 22, 2013)

May 4, 2015October 22, 2013

Marilyn Scales is a field editor for the Canadian Mining Journal, Canada’s first mining publication. She is one of Canada’s most senior mining commentators.

I can hear it now: “I told you so” from nationalists who believe nothing good ever comes from letting a foreign corporation take over a Canadian miner or junior. After all, it seems as soon as Vale bought Inco, a year long strike began bristling with the animosity Inco had tried so hard to defuse in recent years between itself and the unions.

The nationalist chorus is likely to increase in volume as Cliffs Natural Resources of Cleveland, OH, says it is thinking of pulling out of the Big Daddy chromium-PGM-nickel project in Ontario’s Ring of Fire. Cliffs gained a 70% interest in the project in 2010 when it swallowed Freewest. The remaining 30% is owned by KWG Resources of Toronto.

Since the Ring of Fire in the James Bay region has no infrastructure, developing any mine there will be a massively expensive undertaking. Not the least of the costs will be a means of transportation for concentrates headed to deep water ports. Here, opinions differ – should a railroad or an all-weather road be built?

No project [in Ring of Fire]? – by Jamie Smith (tbnewswatch.com – October 22, 2013)

October 22, 2013

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

Ontario needs to intervene if it wants to see a major project in the Ring of Fire go ahead. That’s according to Cliffs Natural Resources, which holds massive chromite deposits in the area. The company has appealed a decision by the provincial mining and lands commissioner that put its plan for an all-weather road, and the project, in jeopardy.

“If there’s no access with the road we potentially don’t have a project,” Cliffs environmental affairs director Jason Aagenes said Tuesday. “There hasn’t been a deadline or an ultimatum but we’ve been very clear with the province this is a problem.”

KWG Resources staked claims for the road for its own plan to run a rail line to the area. But from Cliffs perspective, rail is not a viable option for the project.

Aagenes said having Cliffs buyout KWG is also not an option as there are other companies with claims along the same corridor, which could see similar intervention by the provincial commissioner.

But there are plenty of options for the province to step in as the mining claims are all on Crown land Aagenes said.

All-weather roads under consideration – by Rick Garrick (Wawatay News -October 21, 2013)

October 22, 2013

http://wawataynews.ca/

Discussions about all-weather roads and winter roads are ramping up across Nishnawbe Aski Nation territory.

“We’ve had tons of resolutions regarding winter roads over the years, 20-30 years,” said NAN Deputy Grand Chief Les Louttit during the Sept. 27 Winter Roads and All-Weather Roads First Nations Forum in Thunder Bay.

“But recently, in the past three or four years, First Nations are now starting to talk all-weather roads because of the difficulties they are encountering due to shorter seasons caused by climate change, warmer weather and thinner ice.”

Louttit said the changing conditions are putting winter-road workers’ lives at risk as well as increasing costs for construction. “We had two deaths last year in northwestern Ontario,” Louttit said. “It’s hard to predict the weather, but in order for the winter roads to be viable, we need cold weather and thicker ice.”

Louttit said NAN is looking at developing a NAN-wide strategy on the transportation issue, noting the changing weather conditions and upcoming resource industry transportation requirements need to be considered.

Ring of Fire developer says Ontario must act to save project – by Maria Babbage (iPolitics.com – October 21, 2013)

October 21, 2013

http://www.ipolitics.ca/

TORONTO – A major player in developing the much-touted Ring of Fire project in northern Ontario says it will consider pulling out if the Ontario government doesn’t ensure the company has access to the chromite deposit.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., a U.S.-based company that is prepared to spend billions of dollars on the massive mining project, has been unable to build an all-weather road to the site because it would cross land staked by a rival company.

If it can’t build the road, Cliffs will have to consider shutting down operations, said Bill Boor, vice-president of ferroalloys.

“I guess it would be fair to say that we have to think about it,” he said in an interview with The Canadian Press. “We haven’t made any decision along those lines and we hope we don’t get to that point.”

But the project is in a “tenuous state,” he said. If the company doesn’t have a transportation route, it doesn’t have a project, he said.

Mining academy equips students with high-tech know-how – by Nick Martin (Brandon Sun – October 21, 2013)

October 21, 2013

http://www.brandonsun.com/

‘Hands-on applied learning’

FLIN FLON — No, a pickaxe isn’t on the list of school supplies. Not like when Dallas Mihalicz’s forebears went down into the mines.

The 18-year-old from Flin Flon wants to follow them, but she’d be operating with sophisticated technology or working the controls of a 50-ton loader two kilometres below the rugged Canadian Shield.

Though, more likely, Mihalicz wouldn’t get near the underground until she’d put in her time working on the frozen tundra at an exploration camp searching for the next motherlode. “I’ve been growing up around mining, my father, grandpa, uncle. My dad’s a geologist,” said Mihalicz, who graduated from Flin Flon’s Hapnot Collegiate in June.

Most of her current 11 classmates took far more circuitous routes to University College of the North’s Northern Manitoba Mining Academy, which opened only a year ago in downtown Flin Flon, next door to the hospital and practically in the shadow of the HudBay Minerals mine.

Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) gets facelift – by Leith Dunick (tbnewswatch.com – October 18, 2013)

October 18, 2013

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

Mayor Keith Hobbs says changes to the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation are the start of a new era of economic prosperity in the North.

Nipigon Mayor Richard Harvey said he’s optimistic the revamped focus will make it easier for communities and businesses to weave their way through the application process. On Friday Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle said the enhancements to five NOHFC programs were made with the Growth Plan for Northern Ontario in mind.

Gravelle said the new plan, which tailors itself to strategic economic infrastructure, community capacity building, innovation, northern business opportunity and includes a revamped Northern Ontario internship program, was also built with the guidance of community and business leaders in the region.

“We felt it was very timely for us to look at the priorities in the Northern Ontario Growth plan and to see whether or not the programs that were in place fit the priorities that were identified in the Growth plan,” Gravelle said.

Bob Rae says mining will help First Nations – by Kyle Gennings (Timmins Daily Press – October 18, 2013)

October 18, 2013

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Inclusion, expansion and understanding were the central theme of the Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund’s Mining Ready Summit. The keynote speaker continued to convey the point.

Former Ontario premier Bob Rae spoke about the need to include First Nations in all aspects of development, increasing accessibility to remote Northern communities and spreading the potential wealth found in the Ring of Fire development.

“I think that the current model is ready to be put into action,” said Rae in an interview following his speech. “I think that building sustainability into the approach that companies are taking, I think that we need to look at sustaining communities and sustainability is about the people as well as the environment.”

Rae was referring to the remote First Nations communities like Attawapiskat, Martin River and Moose Factory; communities which have close proximity to current and future economic development.

“We need to recognize that development needs to happen,” said Rae.

Orazietti squares off with [environmental commissioner] watchdog – by Elaine Della-Mattia (Sault Star – October 17, 2013)

October 18, 2013

http://www.saultstar.com/

Ontario’s environmental watchdog issued a warning that the province has changed legislation that will see its natural resources exploited – something Sault MPP and Minister of Natural Resources David Orazietti argues vehemently against. Environmental commissioner Gord Miller states in his annual report that provincial government cutbacks announced during the spring budget will result in the Ministry of Natural Resources having less power to protect Ontario’s resources.  Instead, the powers will be delegated to private companies, which in turn could lead to exploitation of Crown land, wildlife and natural resources, the report states.

He referred to Ontario’s far north as turning into the “wild west,” particularly with the potential development around the Ring of Fire, expected to be the province’s most promising mineral development of chromite and warns that major industrial activities can proceed with few checks.

He also criticized the government for a lack of an action plan to deal with invasive species like the Asian carp and emerald ash borer.

But Orazietti counters that Miller has misinterpreted the rules and that the new power for private companies only deals with minor changes on issues like dredging permits and the removal of vegetation that only has minimal environmental impact.

Rock hard opposition to quarry – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – October 18, 2013)

October 18, 2013

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

David Villard, a consultant with Bruce Tait Construction Ltd., was in the proverbial hot seat on Thursday night. The Wanup Community Hall played host to a packed house of more than 100 concerned citizens at an open house Tait’s firm organized to present plans for a proposed quarry, which will sit adjacent to Rock Lake, a picturesque recreational spot along Highway 69 surrounded by about 70 seasonal and permanent homes.

Thursday’s open house was an acrimonious affair and attendees expressed their opposition to the proposed quarry on a number of points. James Gomm, president of the Rock Lake Property Owners’ Association, and his wife, Catherine, are spearheading the opposition movement.

Of particular concern was the lack of information circulated to area residents, water quality and possible noise disruptions. Gillian Groves, a seasonal cottager, pointed out the industrial noise could disturb the lake’s residents, many of whom are retirees.

“These people worked for their lives to get these places and what you’re proposing is taking away time from what they’ve worked their lives to enjoy,” she said.