Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications – Page 257

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.

New Tory platform fighting caribou ESA plan – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – September 12, 2013)

September 13, 2013

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Two key criticisms of the caribou conservation plan will be addressed by the Ontario Tories’ revamping of Endangered Species Act, says the party’s natural resources critic.

MPP Laurie Scott (PC – Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock) told The Daily Press Thursday the Progressive Conservatives will unveil a natural resources/northern development platform in Thunder Bay on Monday which outlines promised changes to the ESA.

Scott said the Tories would make it mandatory to consider the socio-economic impacts of any recommendations made under the ESA before its implementation. “Right now the legislation has it that the minister may consider socio-economic factors. We’re saying it must consider the socio-economic factors,” said Scott.

The Tories would also require that any scientific analysis used to determine recommendations would have to be posted publicly to the Environmental Registry to allow stakeholders to provide input.

While these changes would apply to the ESA as a whole, they also respond to key concerns raised by organizations like the Ontario Forest Industries Association about lack of peer-reviewed science and absence of any consideration of socio-economic impact in the caribou conservation plan.

Confederation College prepares future mining workforce – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – September 12, 2013)

September 13, 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.

Ottawa is supporting Aboriginal training in preparation for coming development in the Far North. The federal government’s Skills and Partnership Fund is allocating more than $5.9 million for employment training in the mining sector for people in the nine communities of the Matawa First Nations.

It’s part of a new Ring of Fire Aboriginal Alliance announced by Ottawa, Matawa, the Kiikenomaga Kikenjigewen Employment and Training Services (KKETS), Confederation College and Noront Resources, a junior miner working in the James Bay lowlands.

This fall, nine specialized training and six pre-trade courses will be made available for Matawa members with many delivered in their home communities and Thunder Bay.

The training programs include: mining essentials, environmental monitoring, basic line cutting, security guard, remote camp cook, remote camp support, underground common core, underground diamond drill helper and heavy equipment operator. The pre-trades programs are in carpentry, electrical, plumbing, welding, heavy duty equipment mechanic and construction craft worker.

Rail over road [Ring of Fire] – by Jamie Smith (tbnewswatch.com – September 12, 2013)

September 13, 2013

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

A decision on a lifeline into the Ring of Fire has left one company feeling vindicated and another disappointed.

Surrounded by muskeg, claims in the proposed mining area are nearly inaccessible by land. But nature left a narrow strip of sand ridges, averaging 100 metres wide, from Exton all the way to the South end of the mineral deposits heralded as a massive economic boom for the region.

Those ridges were staked in 2009 by KWG Resources for a proposed railway. In 2012 Cliffs Natural Resources applied for 122 easements to build its proposed road around the same strip of land.

On Tuesday Ontario’s Mining and Lands Commissioner dismissed those applications after a week of hearings in February. Cliffs’ environmental director Jason Aagenes said the company is disappointed.

“We view the North-South road as a key component to our project and the Ring of Fire in general,” he said. But KWG’s vice-president of exploration and development, Moe Lavinge, said it proves what his company has said all along.

Prophecy Platinum looks to cut costs on Sudbury-area mine – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – September 11, 2013)

September 12, 2013

A Vancouver-based junior miner will make a production decision next year on whether to restart a mothballed open pit base metals mine near Sudbury.

Management at Prophecy Platinum are in the midst of re-examining an old feasibility study and the operating and milling costs for the Shakespeare Mine to determine if the economics make it worthwhile to proceed with the project. The nickel-copper-platinum group metals project is located 70 km west of Sudbury near the town of Webbwood.

“It’s a good asset for us; it’s just sitting in the ground parked in neutral,” said John Sagman, Phophecy’s senior vice-president and chief operating officer. The company intends to wrap up feasibility later this year and and make a decision by the second quarter of 2014.

“From our perspective it’s not a metal price issue, it’s an operating cost issue,” said Sagman. Phophecy, which acquired the mine following a merger with Ursa Major Minerals last year, is looking to carve between 20 and 25 per cent in mining, transportation and milling costs.

Cliffs Natural Resources rebuffed – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – September 12, 2013)

September 12, 2013

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

Developing the mineral-rich Ring of Fire area of Northwestern Ontario could be pushed back years if Cliffs Natural Resources appeals a ruling by the Ontario Mining and Lands Commissioner, a mining rival suggested Wednesday.

The commissioner has dismissed an application by a subsidiary of Cliffs for an easement over mining claims staked in the Ring of Fire by Canada Chrome Corp., a subsidiary of rival KWG Resources Ltd.

Through 2274659 Ontario Inc., Cliffs applied for the easement to build an all-weather road to transport ore from its Black Thor deposit in the Ring of Fire, about 540 kilometres Northeast of Thunder Bay, to Nakina.

From there, it would be shipped by rail to a ferrochrome processing plant to be built in Capreol. Cliffs has 30 days to decide if it will appeal the ruling, which KWG’s Moe Lavigne heralded as “vindication” of his company’s interpretation of the Ontario Mining Act.

If Cliffs doesn’t appeal the decision, it must pay KWG’s costs to fight the application at the tribunal, which sat for seve ra l days in February, expenses estimated by Lavigne at $1 million.

Cliffs denied road access to Ring of Fire – Staff (Northern Ontario Business – September 11, 2013)

September 11, 2013

Cliffs Natural Resources has been dealt a blow in gaining transportation access to its Ring of Fire chromite projects.

Ontario’s Mining and Lands Commissioner ruled against the Ohio miner, which had been seeking a road easement to cross the mining claims of its bitter rival, KWG Resources, in order to build an ore haul road out of its deposits in the James Bay region.

In a ruling released Sept. 10, the tribunal ruled that granting an easement to Cliffs would interfere with KWG-Canada Chrome’s ability to work its claims since “numerous heavy trucks (passing) every day” would cover up future drilling and sampling sites.

In an act of foresight back in 2009, KWG began staking a long ribbon of mining claims for a future railroad from its isolated Big Daddy chromite deposit heading south for 328 kilometres to a point on the Canadian National Railway’s (CN) main cross-Canada line, just west of the village of Nakina in northwestern Ontario.

A good portion of that route was atop a sandy ridge or glacial esker, easily the best spot in the muskeg country of the James Bay lowlands. KWG formed a subsidiary, Canada Chrome, to oversee this railroad venture.