Ontario Mining Association

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

Ontario Mining Association member Noront Resources was singled out as a bright spot on the future economic development horizon by the Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity. The organization’s recently released twelfth annual report “Course Correction: Charting a new road map for Ontario” offers several suggestions to accelerate stagnant growth.

The report notes that “Ontario’s GDP ranked a dismal 14th out 16 North American peers (similar jurisdictions in Canada and the United States). This ranking is unchanged from when the Task Force first began measuring Ontario’s economic progress more than a decade ago.”

“The Task Force urges the province to follow our road map to close the prosperity gap,” said Roger Martin, Chairman of the Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic Progress. “Without improvements to productivity and investments in future prosperity, the province will continue to fall behind its peers.”

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This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

Ontario Mining Association member Blue Heron Environmental has been named one of the Top 5 Best Places to Work in Northern Ontario by Northern Ontario Business magazine. Blue Heron, which is Timmins-based, rose to this status for high achievement in management culture, internship programming, community involvement, staff training and fostering a healthy work-life balance.

“I am honoured to receive this award,” said Linda Byron-Fortin, owner and director of Blue Heron. “It helps to reinforce that I have created a healthy work environment for my staff as we work to achieve our company goals.”

Blue Heron Environmental was launched in Timmins in 2004 to provide resource companies with practical environmental consultation and advice. Ms Byron-Fortin had many years of experience with mining companies working on the environmental side of the business before launching her own company.

Today, her company has 15 employees offering services ranging from field monitoring assistance, spill product supplies, mapping and signage design to training and auditing. There are now satellite Blue Heron offices in Thunder Bay, Ottawa and Calgary.

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This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

At its most recent board of directors meeting, two environmental engineering consultants joined the Ontario Mining Association as members. The addition of both SLR Global Environmental Solutions and Environmental Resources Management (ERM) enhances ecological expertise within the association.

The OMA was founded in 1920 and it is one of the longest serving trade organizations in the country. The OMA represents the mining industry in the province. Its members are involved in various aspects of environmentally responsible exploration, production and processing of mineral resources in Ontario and providing services and supplies to the sector.

SLR Global Environmental is an environmental consultancy specializing in mining and minerals, waste management, energy, infrastructure, planning and development and industrial sectors. It was established in 1994 as a United Kingdom-based operation and it is employee owned.

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This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

An economic presentation at the most recent Ontario Mining Association board of directors meeting has helped to shed some light on forces impacting the international markets for the products and services of Ontario mineral producers next year. Gareth Watson, Vice President Investment Management and Research at Richardson GMP, met with Ontario miners on October 30 and shared his perspective through his paper “Looking Forward to 2014: Global Macroeconomic Views.”

“Canada can expect moderate growth in 2014,” said Mr. Watson. “Canada is reducing its deficit and getting it closer to zero, which bodes well relative to other countries.” However, he sees high personal debt levels as the biggest risk to the Canadian economy going forward. “A generation growing up on low-cost credit doesn’t help the situation.”

Mr. Watson believes Canada needs foreign investment for resource development but feels the government may be sending out mixed messaging on how sincere the welcome mat for foreign investment really is. Also, new pipelines are seen as important to future prosperity in Canada but he cautions “pipeline delays will subdue economic recovery.”

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Minister Michael Gravelle is the MPP for Thunder Bay Superior North and the Ontario Minister of Northern Development and Mines

QUEEN’S PARK – Today, I’m honoured to be joining the Ontario Mining Association as we host Meet the Miners Day at Queen’s Park. Meet the Miners Day, as I think many of you will know, is an annual tradition dating back more than 25 years that gives members of the Legislature and senior mining executives the opportunity to exchange ideas to help continue to build a healthy mining sector.

This year’s theme is “Mining Builds Communities,” something our province has excelled at by working with the mining industry to strengthen the economies of diverse communities across the province. Our government has worked very hard to advance our province’s standing as a preferred jurisdiction for mineral development. We’re working very hard to ensure that mining remains an important contributor to the provincial economy.

Here are some of the facts: Ontario is among the top-10 mineral investment jurisdictions in the world. As a result, 24 new mines have opened here over the last 10 years. That’s more than anywhere else in Canada. There are some notable examples. I could go on, but certainly we think of the De Beers Canada’s Victor diamond mine, Ontario’s diamond mine near Attawapiskat; the extraordinary Detour Gold project near Cochrane, one of the greatest gold deposits in North America; and the AuRico Gold Young-Davidson mine near Matachewan as well comes to mind—great examples of projects that are creating extraordinary employment.

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This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

To people inside the mining industry, this headline will perhaps be viewed as a rhetorical question. Those involved in the mineral sector know about the large capital investments, the thousands of direct jobs, the proliferation of indirect jobs providing supplies and services to mines, the provincial infrastructure built by and supported by mining, the communities it builds and the taxes companies and well paid employees pay to support all Ontarians – and Canadians.

Yesterday, we looked closely at five of the 24 mines that the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines confirms opened in Ontario within the past 10 years. Now let’s see what new operations may be opening their doors in the not too distant future and providing their own additional contributions to Ontario’s society and economy.

Vale is on schedule to bring the Totten Mine in the west side of the Sudbury Basin into the ranks of nickel and copper producers by the start of 2014. The company has invested $760 million during the past seven years to advance this base metal project. During construction, there are about 500 people working on the site and when production begins, the mine will employ about 200 people.

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This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

To people inside the mining industry, this headline will perhaps be viewed as a rhetorical question. Those involved in the mineral sector know about the large capital investments, the thousands of direct jobs, the proliferation of indirect jobs providing supplies and services to mines, the provincial infrastructure constructed by and supported by mining, the communities it builds and the taxes companies and well paid employees pay to support all Ontarians – and Canadians.

However, to those less familiar with mining, this will seem like a fair question that deserves an answer. Let’s try this approach. The Ministry of Northern Development and Mines confirms that within the past 10 years, there have been 24 mines open in Ontario. There is a broad geographic dispersion of the location of these mines but many are in the Sudbury, Timmins, Wawa and Kirkland Lake areas – all traditional mining communities in this province.

While a small number of these two dozen mines can’t show continuous production, the vast majority are busy with development plans and projects to ensure their futures. Space does not allow a detailed look at all of these operations but let’s single out a few as examples.

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This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

The active and exuberant participation of Ontario Mining Association members Hatch and Glencore Canada in the Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer event helped the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation up its fundraising score. Consulting engineering firm Hatch had eight teams in the competition – a potential league of its own — and won the corporate challenge award by raising about $215,000, in total. The team from Glencore raised more than $24,000 and finished a very respectable 17th on the company contribution list.

Approximately 1,300 people participated in the Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer event, which was held recently at Ontario Place in Toronto, and it netted $2.3 million for personalized cancer medicine. This was the third annual Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer fundraiser. One hundred and thirty teams played five games each throughout the dawn to dusk tournament.

More than 60 celebrities – hockey stars, media personalities, Olympians and stars from other sports – were drafted by top fundraising teams to aid their cause. Three-time Olympic gold medal winner and five-time world women’s hockey champion Jennifer Botterill enhanced the roster of Team Glencore along with Philip Bousquet, OMA Manager of Industrial and Government Relations.

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