Ontario Mining Association – Page 6

NEWS RELEASE: Ontario Mining Association – Interest in global mine rescue event expands

September 9, 2013

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 interest from around the world in the sixth International Mine Rescue Body (IMRB) conference being hosted in Ontario this Fall continues to expand. Registration for the event has now surpassed 200 delegates from 22 different nations — both numbers are higher than originally anticipated.

The symposium portion of the event will be held in Niagara Falls from October 5 to 10, 2013 and the field trip component will be held in Sudbury from October 10 to 13. The IMRB conference is being hosted by the Canadian Association of Chief Inspectors of Mines, Canadian mine rescue organizations – including Ontario’s — and the Canadian mining industry in general. Several Ontario Mining Association members are participating in and supporting the conference and field trip.

“We have 37 presentations covering a wide range of mine rescue topics from every corner of the world,” reports Alex Gryska, Director Mine Rescue for Workplace Safety North in Ontario. He advises that people can still participate in the symposium and field trips through the late registration route.

NEWS RELEASE: Teachers benefit from their time in mining classrooms

August 27, 2013

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.

Forty six educators expanded their mineral industry knowledge through active participation in an enhanced Teachers Mining Tour. This was the fourth year for this program and the first year the week-long program had been held twice to help accommodate increased demand for the course.

Elementary and secondary school science and social studies teachers from across Ontario and parts of Quebec were exposed to all facets of mining from exploration and geology through to production and mine site reclamation and environmental activities. Twenty four teachers were in the first workshop from July 29 to August 2 and 22 teachers were in the second program from August 19 to 23, 2013. The base camp for the programs was the Canadian Ecology Centre, near Mattawa.

“The schedule is jam packed with classroom time, site visits and presentations,” said Lesley Hymers, Ontario Mining Association Environment and Education Specialist. “The teachers are a dedicated group of educators who have donated a portion of their summer holidays to gain a first-hand glimpse of one of Ontario’s most important industries and a better understanding of the broad range of career opportunities mining offers.”

NEWS RELEASE: OMA member-First Nation agreement opens employment and business opportunities

August 22, 2013

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 agreement between Ontario Mining Association member Goldcorp and Lac Seul First Nation opens training, employment, business and contracting opportunities in the Red Lake area. The Obishikokaang Collaboration Agreement, which was signed recently in a ceremony by both parties, establishes a framework for continued consultation to support existing and future gold mining operations of Goldcorp in the region.

The Lac Seul First Nation has about 3,200 band members, with about two thirds living off reserve. This First Nation has historic ties to the development of the Red Lake gold camp and many of its members live in the community.

“Goldcorp’s commitment to working with First Nations is once again demonstrated with this agreement, ensuring both the sustainable development of the area in which we operate and long-term economic benefits for communities,” said Chris Cormier, Mine General Manager at Goldcorp’s Red Lake Gold Mines. “We look forward to working in partnership with Lac Seul First Nation to foster continued dialogue and to implement the initiatives set out in the agreement.”

NEWS RELEASE: Ryan trophy winners show safety performance gains over the decades

August 20, 2013

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.

Safety performances in Canada’s and Ontario’s mining industries have made steady progress over the decades. The John T. Ryan Safety Trophies recognition program has been a contributing component to that ongoing improvement since 1941.

Winning a Ryan trophy is not happenstance. It is the result of clear messages being given from senior management, a dedication to safety throughout the entire workforce, training, communications, workers knowing they matter – that they matter a lot — and the evolution of a safety culture. There are numerous mining operations in Canada, which have found a winning formula. They are leading the way in safety and providing best practice models not just for mining but for all industries.

A look back through some past committee minutes of this 72 year old program provides some insight. For the record, the 2012 John T. Ryan national winner in the metal mine category was Xstrata Copper Kidd Operations in Timmins, now Kidd Operations (Glencore). It had a reportable injury rate 0.16 per 200,000 hours worked. This mine, which started operations through predecessor companies in 1965, is the deepest base metal mine in the world. In 2012, the operation experienced no lost time injuries and two modified work injuries during more than 2.5 million hours worked.

NEWS RELEASE: Ontario to host global mine rescue event

August 15, 2013

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 sixth annual International Mine Rescue Body (IMRB) conference will be held at two locations in Ontario this Fall. The symposium portion of the event will be held in Niagara Falls from October 5 to 10, 2013 and the field trip component will be held in Sudbury from October 10 to 13.

More than 160 delegates from 12 nations are expected to attend this international conference. It is being hosted by the Canadian Association of Chief Inspectors of Mines, Canadian mine rescue organizations – including Ontario’s — and the Canadian mining industry in general. Several Ontario Mining Association members are participating in and supporting the conference and field trip.

General topics to be discussed in Niagara Falls include emergency preparedness and response planning, crisis management, effective mine rescue training, emerging rescue technologies and mine rescue research. The chairman of the conference – David Stewart from New Zealand – will present the case for developing an international mine rescue code of practice to set minimum standards and facilitate assistance between and among countries in the case of emergencies.

Northern Promise: Ring of Fire smoulders anew – by Peter Koven (National Post – August 13, 2013)

August 13, 2013

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Northern Promise is a six-part series that explores the pace and progress of development in Canada’s remote communities. In this first instalment, Peter Koven covers the glacial-paced evolution of Ontario’s Ring of Fire.

Six years ago, there was no talk about uncertainty over environmental permits or First Nations disputes. The only mood surrounding the Ring of Fire was sheer euphoria.

When a then-unknown company called Noront Resources Ltd. announced its first discovery hole in the James Bay Lowlands in August 2007, it launched a staking rush and investor frenzy of unprecedented proportions for an Ontario project. Junior mining companies flocked to the region, and the mere mention that they had some land was likely to triple their stock price. It all culminated in Noront’s annual meeting that October, a giant party disguised as a shareholder meeting in which Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire was blared at full volume and then-chief executive Richard Nemis was treated like a rock star.

Sadly, that Noront AGM turned out to be the high point for the Ring of Fire story so far.

That is not due to the quality of the discovery. The Ring turned out to be far bigger than first anticipated, with an estimated $30-billion to $50-billion of minerals in the ground.

NEWS RELEASE: Partnership opens mining sector employment doors for First Nations members

August 13, 2013

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 is the industry partner in a new alliance to provide training for future mining jobs to the people of Matawa First Nations. The Ring of Fire Aboriginal Training Alliance (RoFATA) has received $5.9 million from the federal government’s Skills and Partnership Fund to support that goal.

“Our government’s top priorities are creating jobs, economic growth and long-term prosperity across the country and right here in Northern Ontario,” said Greg Rickford, Minister of State Responsible for the Ring of Fire. “It is important that all Canadians have the necessary skills and training they need to succeed.”

RoFATA was created through a partnership of Noront Resources, Matawa First Nations, Kikenomaga Kikenjigewen Employment and Training Services (KKETS) and Confederation College in Thunder Bay. RoFATA’s key objective is to provide training-to-employment opportunities to support Matawa First Nations people. The Matawa First Nation encompasses nine communities.

NEWS RELEASE: Ontario Mining sector safety statistics indicate improved performance

August 8, 2013

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.

While statistics can’t always tell the whole story, recent numbers indicate Ontario’s mining sector is making further progress on the safety front. For the first three months of 2013, the provincial mining sector had a lost time injury frequency of 0.2 per 200,000 hours worked. This compares with a rate of 0.4 for the first three months of 2012 – a 50% improvement.

This new level of safety performance by the sector was achieved by more than 18,300 men and women working more than 9.3 million hours at mine sites across the province during the quarter. For the same period in 2013, a total medical aid frequency of 4.4 per 200,000 hours worked was achieved compared with a rate of 4.8 for the first three months of 2012 – an 8.3% improvement.

For all of 2012, mining’s lost time injury rate was 0.5, a gain from 0.6 per 200,000 hours worked in 2011. The industry’s previous best lost time injury rate over a quarterly, or yearly, period was 0.4. The industry’s total medical injury rate for all of 2012 was 5.5, which was up slightly from 5.3 in 2011. In 2012, approximately 18,700 employees at mine sites in Ontario worked a total of more than 38.3 million hours.

NEWS RELEASE: OMA member profile: Brigus Gold — expanding quantity and quality of reserves

August 6, 2013

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.

While the price of gold has slid recently, this doesn’t mean that precious metals explorers and developers have been operating in a holding pattern waiting for a price rebound. Companies have been making adjustments, striving to control costs, advancing projects and building reserves. They know vagaries of gold price movements can be volatile both in going up and tumbling down.

The second quarter of 2013 saw a 13% decrease in average gold prices to US$1,414 per ounce. This marks the largest quarterly decline in gold prices since 1980. During that period, Brigus Gold stayed on course for its exploration program, announcing increases in the quantity and quality of its ore reserves, and production targets.

The company recently updated the resource estimated of its Grey Fox discovery, which was first identified in December 2011. It announced a 31% increase in open pit indicated grade and a 14% improvement in its underground indicated grade. This increase in ounces of gold in the ground enhances the prospects of future production.

NEWS RELEASE: OMA member profile: Harte Gold — building a ‘heart of gold’

July 29, 2013

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 second quarter of 2013 saw a 13% decrease in average gold prices to US$1,414 per ounce. This marks the largest quarterly decline in gold prices since 1980. During that period, Harte Gold continued to advance its Sugar Zone property, located near White River 60 kilometres east of the Hemlo gold belt, towards becoming a producing mine.

The company was able to announce recently significant progress made on its Sugar Zone property during the second quarter of 2013. “The goal of Harte Gold’s optimization efforts is to generate project efficiencies, accelerate project timelines and low both up-front and overall project costs,” said Stephen G. Roman, President and Chief Operating Officer of Harte Gold. “The Sugar Zone deposit is a high grade gold deposit with significant potential along strike and at depth.”

NEWS RELEASE: OMA member profile: St Andrew Goldfields — production from its H-cubed operations

July 25, 2013

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.

While the price of gold has slid recently, this doesn’t mean that precious metals producers and explorers have been operating in a holding pattern waiting for a price rebound. Companies have been making adjustments, striving to control costs, while producing to generate cash and build reserves. They know vagaries of gold price movements can be volatile both in going up and tumbling down.

The second quarter of 2013 saw a 13% decrease in average gold prices to US$1,414 per ounce. This marks the largest quarterly decline in gold prices since 1980. During that period, St Andrew Goldfields continued to make progress on its Taylor advanced exploration gold project about 50 kilometres east of Timmins.

An 8,500 tonne bulk sample from the Taylor project yielded 686 ounces of gold, which contributed to the 25,353 ounces of gold St Andrew Goldfields produced in the second quarter from its three operations. The company has advised that gold production from its Holt, Holloway and Hislop mines (“H3” cubed) is expected to be between 95,000 ounces and 105,000 ounces of gold in 2013.

“Our second quarter results remain strong with production at the 25,000 ounce level,” said Jacques Perron, President and Chief Executive Officer of St Andrew Goldfields.

Ring of Fire talks between First Nations, province to start soon – by Alisha Hiyate (Mining Markets Magazine – July 23, 2013)

July 24, 2013

http://www.miningmarkets.ca/

Bob Rae on his new gig as chief negotiator for the Matawa Tribal Council

Talks between First Nations and the Ontario government regarding development in the remote Ring of Fire area are set to start soon, now that both sides have appointed lead negotiators.

In May, the Matawa Tribal Council, which is made up of nine First Nations communities that would be most affected by potential development in the Ring of Fire, announced that lawyer and politician Bob Rae will be their chief negotiator. Rae was the leader of the federal Liberal party until mid-April, and premier of Ontario from 1990-1995. He will step down as MP for Toronto-Centre at the end of July, freeing him to work on the negotiations full time.

Earlier this month, the province named its own chief negotiator — retired Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci.

While commodities prices have seen a big pullback since 2011, it might actually be a good time for such negotiations — the scope of which is yet to be defined, but will likely include investments in education and health, as well as infrastructure, and will clearly take time to conclude.

Marten Falls youth win mining video award – by Christian Quequish (Wawatay News – July 14, 2013)

April 5, 2015July 15, 2013

http://wawataynews.ca/

Youth from Marten Falls First Nation were the recipients of the best overall video award for the Ontario Mining Association’s 2013 So You Think You Know Mining video contest this past June.

The winning youth from Marten Falls were: Christian Peters, Matthew Waboose, Allen Waboose, Jared Peters, Drew Waboose, Craig and Skye Achneepineskum. The filmmakers travelled to Toronto to attend a ceremony at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) that recognized the winning contestants.

“Visiting Toronto was awesome, I got to meet new people and visit the CN tower,” said Drew Waboose, one of the recipients of the mining video award of $5,000 and a trophy. “My mom was so proud when she found out we won first place. Hearing my group’s name get called I felt happy because we never thought we were going to win.”

Allen Waboose, another one of the filmmakers, said some of the challenges during production were getting a boat to use for the film and climbing on top of the community arena to get a good shot of a helicopter flying in supplies. “It started off with Kaitlyn Ferris (of Noront Resources), it wasn’t all my idea,” said Allen Waboose. “She came to my reserve and I just randomly joined the project.”

NEWS RELEASE: OMA member plans to put graphite back into Ontario’s mineral mix

June 14, 2013

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 Ontario Graphite is planning on putting its namesake substance back into the mineral mix of products being turned out by the province’s mining industry. Ellerton Castor, Chief Financial Office and Chief Administrative Officer of Ontario Graphite, expects production from the company’s Kearney Mine to begin before the end of the year. The mine anticipates producing 20,000 tonnes of large-flake, high-carbon graphite concentrate annually from the processing of about one million tonnes of ore.

All governmental permits have been approved and the company has the green light to begin operations. “The Ontario Ministry of the Environment’s decision to grant the remaining permits and approvals for this project marks a critical turning point towards beginning production at the Kearney Mine,” said Jerry Janik, General Manager for Ontario Graphite. “This milestone reflects our company’s strong commitment to the responsible re-commissioning of the mine site, with a particular focus on environmental sustainability.”

The mine will recycle 85% of the water from the mine in the milling stage. Also, non-graphite bearing rock on the property will be re-used as aggregate for construction projects by others in the region.