Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications – Page 256

Scrap your career plans for Wall Street, study agriculture and mining instead: Jim Rogers – by Anthony Halley (Mining.com – September 17, 2013)

September 17, 2013

http://www.mining.com/

The US economy is no longer producing anything and the finance industry is completely saturated, presenting a unique opportunity for young people to study agriculture and mining, Jim Rogers told a crowd at a recent public appearance:

The event’s moderator began by quoting Rogers to himself:

“Scrap career plans for Wall Street or the City, London’s financial district, and study agriculture and mining instead. Power is shifting again from financial centres to the producers of real goods. The place to be is in commodities: raw materials and natural resources.”

After hearing the quotes, Rogers asked who had done the “homework” for the event, suggesting that they deserve a raise.

Cutting Risks to Move Forward: Agnico Eagle leads Nunavut into modern mining era – by Bill Braden (Canadian Mining Journal – September 2013)

September 17, 2013

The Canadian Mining Journal is Canada’s first mining publication providing information on Canadian mining and exploration trends, technologies, operations, and industry events.

February 24, 2010, was a big day for Agnico Eagle Mines Limited’s Meadowbank project, as Board chairman Jim Nasso, flanked by Inuit business and community leaders, watched the first pour of molten gold and silver doré from the roaring refractory furnace at the $700 million project.

Nasso passed that still-warm ingot among his guests, and later among the hundreds of excited workers who posed to have a photo with it. President and CEO Sean Boyd toasted their work at a gala mine site dinner with glasses of gold-flecked champagne and news that gold bullion that very day had touched a new record of $1,260 an ounce on world markets.

Before the Meadowbank mine was launched in 2010, the vast Kivalliq region of Nunavut hadn’t seen an operating mine for 25 years. But it has been the engine of a new economy, creating hundreds of jobs and fostered millions of dollars in business ventures for a cluster of small Inuit communities with very few other career opportunities.

For its veteran parent company, the mine’s $1 million-a-day output is the biggest in its portfolio of five mines in Canada, Mexico and Finland, making Agnico Eagle Canada’s fifth largest gold producer at $US1.8 billion in revenue last year.

Gold is plentiful, getting it is painful – by Russell Noble (Canadian Mining Journal – September 2013)

September 17, 2013

Russell Noble is the editor for the Canadian Mining Journal, Canada’s first mining publication.

Gold is always an interesting topic to feature in the magazine because regardless of what it’s doing on the Commodity Index, it seems that everyone wants to read about who’s still producing, or who’s going broke trying to find it?

A few years ago when it was deemed to become a $2,000.00 mineral, gold companies were boasting about their vast reserves and how rich their investors were about to become over the next few months and years ahead. Now, however, with production costs reaching or, in some cases, surpassing the value of the product, many of those same companies have gone dark and silent.

And that’s understandable. After all, it’s a hard thing to accept that what was once a sure thing isn’t worth the effort anymore; even with all of those grams still in the ground.

In fact, anyone involved with gold mining will tell you that it’s one of the toughest minerals to find, and the costs associated with recovering and processing it are among the highest in the entire mining world. And what’s more, the hit-and-miss odds of finding gold, as compared with iron ore, coal and certainly potash, are stacked in Mother Nature’s favour. Quite simply, she hides and protects the stuff really well.

A pitch for higher level of Ring review – by by Karen Peterson (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – September 16, 2013)

September 17, 2013

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

Karen A. Peterson is a consultant in planning, development and impact assessment and a member of Environment North.

Northern Ontario is poised for development, anticipating a multi-billion dollar mining industry and the creation of thousands of jobs. To plan for a sustainable future and to avoid irreversible consequences, an Environmental Assessment (EA) at the highest level of scrutiny is in order.

Review panels are established when the potential for significant impacts is high and/or when serious public concerns are being raised. Although serious concerns are continually being raised regarding the adequacy of the current Comprehensive EA Study to address the magnitude of issues in the Ring of Fire, government has yet to bump up the process to the scrutiny of a Joint Review.

Joint Review Panels are set up when decisions are required by both the federal government and another jurisdiction to avoid duplication. Joint Reviews offer the most comprehensive analysis and public participation. The federal minister of environment, in collaboration with their jurisdictional counterpart, appoints a group of independent experts to conduct the Joint Review in relation to a set of guidelines.

Vale’s Clean AER project forges ahead – by Laura Gregorini (Northern Ontario Business – September 2013)

September 17, 2013

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.

Installation of a converter at Vale’s Copper Cliff smelter in Sudbury, a major component of the company’s Clean AER Project, is nearly complete. The converter is the first of four converters to be replaced as part of the $1-billion project that will see sulphur dioxide, dust and metals emissions reduced by 85 per cent from current levels.

Citing volatile market conditions and cost challenges, Vale announced in January that it was scaling back the cost of its Clean AER (Atmospheric Emissions Reduction) project from $2-billion to $1- million. At the same time, Vale indicated it would move to a single-furnace operation from a two- furnace operation. Although a significantly less investment, Vale said that the environmental impact would be greater, by reducing emissions substantially more than previously anticipated.

“The original Clean AER project’s scope was designed for a two-furnace operation so it meant that when we made the decision, we had to go back and rescope the project to accommodate the one furnace,” said Vale spokesperson Angie Robson.

Vale doesn’t anticipate moving to a single furnace before 2016. A team was formed to study various aspects of the change and revise plans to accommodate the change to a single furnace.

Little Engine that Could pushes rail solution in Ring of Fire – by Wendy Parker (In Support of Mining.com – September 16, 2013)

September 16, 2013

http://insupportofmining.wordpress.com/

Ontario Mining and Lands Commissioner Report

Boy! Divert your attention for a few days to deal with some pressing business matters, and all heck breaks loose in Ontario’s Ring of Fire mineral zone.

Thanks to a news release from KWG Resources, we learned last week that Ontario’s Mining and Lands Commissioner has rejected a bid from Cliffs Natural Resources for leave to seek an easement that would allow it to build an all-weather access road across a string of mining claims owned by Canada Chrome Corporation, a KWG subsidiary.

Cliffs wanted to dispense with the need to obtain the claimholder’s consent before applying for the easement under the Public Lands Act. The Commissioner’s tribunal, after hearing evidence and arguments in February, found no clear public interest that would outweigh the potential damage such an easement might do to the claimholder’s rights under the Mining Act.

As a result, the Cliffs request failed.

That’s a nutshell version of the decision, of course. The actual September 10 Order is much more nuanced and intricate. It is well worth reading in its 43-page entirety, both for the logic it applies to its deliberations and for the light it casts on a fascinating story behind Ring of Fire development.

Billionaire miner Robert Friedland sounds off – by Tommy Humphreys (Mining.com – September 15, 2013)

September 16, 2013

http://www.mining.com/

I was able to catch up with billionaire Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN) Executive Chairman Robert Friedland in Toronto yesterday. The Singapore-based mining legend was in Toronto this week to announce the launch of Ivanhoe Pictures, a new film and TV finance and production company, and to host the first investor presentations for his Ivanhoe Mines after a summer spent relaxing and reflecting on the Italian coast, where Mr. Friedland acquired a hotel property earlier this year.

Friedland says that the Chinese are determined to fight air pollution. “I have a home in Beijing but I’ve been avoiding it in recent years because the air pollution has become absolutely diabolical,” Friedland commented. This alone would be enough to drive the conventional Platinum market crazy, he added, noting that catalytic converters which reduce toxic emissions in automobiles use substantial amounts of platinum and palladium.

There is a revolution coming to the automobile industry via the Japanese, according to Friedland. Senior officials in Japan tell him that the Toyota Motor Company will announce hydrogen fuel cell automobiles later this year with a commercial roll out coming in 2015. “These cars will use ounces, not tenths of ounces of platinum,” Friedland said. This is why the Japanese government bought 10% of Ivanhoe’s Platreef project for $300 million, Friedland believes.

Northeast eyed for future hydro electric projects – by By Ron Grech – (Timmins Daily Press – September 16, 2013)

September 16, 2013

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – The groundwork is being laid for future waterpower generation projects in Northeastern Ontario. This would include providing power to serve mining operations within the Ring of Fire region as well improving infrastructure for First Nation communities currently dependent on diesel-powered generators.

Ontario Waterpower Association announced last week it has teamed up with the provincial government and the Ontario Power Authority to develop a study that will provide the basis for the province’s energy plan over the next 15 to 20 years.

“Northeastern Ontario has been a pretty critical part of serving the provincial energy needs for decades,” said OWA president Paul Norris. “It is a pretty strategic resource you have in Northeastern Ontario in terms of the overall reliability of our provincial system.

“The question going forward is what other hydro can be built?”

Norris said the announced study, which also involves the ministries of energy and natural resources, will identify opportunities and outline the cost and feasibility for expanding hydroelectric power generation throughout the North.

Good news of gold in NOW (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – September 16, 2013)

September 16, 2013

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

This is the ninth instalment of a multi-part series looking at the mining sector in Northwestern Ontario and the Ring of Fire development.

“For more than 2,000 years, the natural properties of gold have made it man’s universal medium of exchange. In contrast to political money, gold is honest money that survived the ages . . .’’

Although not everyone might agree with this rather dramatic statement, it is difficult to deny the timeless allure of the yellow metal and its association with wealth, strength and excellence.

References to gold permeate our culture, hence terms like “gold seal of approval,’’ “good as gold” and the awarding of first-place gold medals to the best of the best.

Despite its vulnerability to interest rates and market fluctuation, German-born economist, Hans F. Sennnhotz (1922-2007) demonstrated his complete faith in gold as a universally enduring commodity when he made this statement. Gold remains a powerful economic driver and is still a monetary reference in many of the world’s economies, where the value of a bill still guarantees or is “backed up” by a certain amount of gold.

Ring of Fire in jeopardy, says Cliffs – by Jamie Monastyrski (Wawatay News – September 13, 2013)

September 13, 2013

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

It’s one step ahead and two steps behind lately for the future development of the Ring of Fire. The controversial proposal by Cliffs Natural Resources for an easement to build an all-weather road that would connect to the Ring of Fire was rejected Sept. 10 by the Ontario’s Mining and Lands Commissioner in a 43-page ruling.

“The decision by the commission was very disappointing,” said Jason Aagenes, director of environmental affairs for Cliffs Natural Resources in an interview.

“We view the north-south corridor as critical to the Ring of Fire development as well as a key component of our project. This does jeopardize the viability of the project going forward unless it is resolved.”

The ruling found the easement breaches rival company KWG Resources Inc.’s rights under Ontario’s Mining Act and that Cliffs did not demonstrate the 350-km road is in the public interest. The proposed road would cross over mining claims owned by KWG, an exploration stage company, which staked the ground in 2009 for a future railroad.

Mines minister hasn’t seen business plan for Ring of Fire railway – by Jamie Smith (tbnewswatch.com – September 13, 2013)

September 13, 2013

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

Ontario’s mines minister says the province has never seen a business plan for a proposed railway to the Ring of Fire.

Earlier this week the Mining and Lands Commissioner dismissed applications from Cliffs Natural Resources for easements to build a road to mineral deposits in the North. The narrow corridor needed for the road is already staked by KWG Resources for a proposed railway instead.

On Friday Northern Development and Mines minister Michael Gravelle said while Cliffs has shown its $3.3 billion plan for the area, he’s never seen one from KWG.

But the province wants to see any plan put forward for the Ring of Fire, he added. As for the decision, Gravelle said his ministry and the Ministry of Natural Resources didn’t want to be a part of the commissioner hearings out of respect for the independent process.

Rail best option for Ring of Fire, union says – by Staff (North Bay Nugget – September 13,2013)

September 13, 2013

http://www.nugget.ca/

The best, most cost-efficient and environmentally responsible manner to provide transportation into and out of the Ring of Fire development is a railway, according to Ontario Northland’s General Chairperson’s Association.

Brian Kelly issued the statement Thursday in response to this week’s decision by the Ontario Mining and Lands Commissioner to dismiss the application by Cliffs Natural Resources for an easement to allow that company to build an all-weather road over mining claims staked by KWG Resources.

“A private, provincially funded $700 million-plus road is in no one’s best interest, least of all taxpayers,” the GCA spokesperson said.

“This Mining and Land Commissioner decision finally quashes this ill-conceived scheme to sink millions upon millions of taxpayers’ dollars into a private road built through muskeg that would require millions upon millions of more tax dollars to maintain the road on a yearly basis. This single purpose road would do nothing to improve the social and economic development for First Nation’s communities in the region.”

Space mining the new frontier – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – September 13, 2013)

September 13, 2013

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

Known worldwide as a mining town, Sudbury is poised to launch into the vast universe of space mining and intergalactic resource extraction.

Deltion Innovations Ltd., a local firm, started working under its new banner earlier this month. Previously a department within NORC AT (the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology Inc.), Sherry Schmidt, Deltion’s chief administrative officer, says she and seven of her colleagues decided to go independent and for-profit when NORCAT opted out of aerospace work.

“If we’re going to have any long-term existence on the moon, whether for manufacturing or habitat, we need to be able to create items and use the resources that are actually there,” Schmidt says. “It’s very, very expensive to take anything from the Earth to the moon.”

Because fuel is so expensive, Schmidt explains it will eventually be cheaper to develop moon-based sources. Deltion’s current work focuses on the extraction of hydrogen and water from the moon for the manufacture of fuel.

“For us, the end goal is to produce hardware that can be taken to the moon and Mars,” Schmidt says.

Ring of Fire is little known, understood – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – September 13, 2013)

September 13, 2013

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

Much of Ontario’s future prosperity depends upon the success of developing the Ring of Fire, but many people in the province don’t know it. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce is conducting a study to measure the economic benefit of mining the ring’s rich chromite deposits and to raise awareness outside the North about their tremendous potential.

In fact, some observers believe the Ring of Fire could be worth as much as $50 billion to Ontario and be mined for as long as a century.

In Sudbury, Cliffs Natural Resources has plans to open a chromite mine in the Ring of Fire area and ship the ore to a plant in Capreol for processing, creating up to 500 jobs. However, those plans are on hold as the company sorts through a number of political, infrastructure and environmental issues.

To get people talking about the Ring of Fire, the Ontario chamber, in conjunction with the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce, will hold a by-invitation-only round table in the city Oct. 9.

There it will seek business and community leaders “prescriptions” for how to move the project forward, says the senior policy adviser for the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

Ring of Fire logjam broken – by Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (September 12, 2013)

September 13, 2013

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

A CO-ORDINATED effort by Northwest First Nations to delay the Ring of Fire mining development appears to have fallen apart. And that’s a good thing. Now First Nations in the zone of the Ring’s major player, Cliffs Natural Resources, can each get on with arrangements to share in the opportunities that can flow from such a large project.

Matawa Tribal Council’s initial concerns were understandable. Told the federal government and Cliffs were jointly pursuing an environmental review, the nine Matawa First Nations in the area worried it would not be sufficient to allay their concerns about potential pollution or include them in the process.

Matawa launched a judicial review of the environmental assessment process and in June Cliffs put a hold on its own environmental impact statement (EIS) citing issues with First Nations, the province and other matters. The sheer enormity of the Ring of Fire meant all parties had to be sure it was done properly. None more than First Nations who have watched resource developments around them come and go with little to show for it.

The Matawa challenge and Cliffs’ shift to neutral seemed to signal an uncomfortable lull in the most exciting economic news the Northwest had heard in many years.