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.

Chris Hodgson is the President of the Ontario Mining Association

With regards to the article from mining opponents published April 22nd, [Getting a fair share for Ontario’s mineral resources] Ontario’s mining tax is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg with regards to the sector’s economic contribution to the province. The mining tax is in addition to all corporate taxes, payroll taxes, sales taxes, permitting fees and other business taxes. In 2011, revenues to the three levels of government from the mining industry in Ontario exceeded $1 billion.

Benchmarking the cost to mine in Ontario with other jurisdictions requires apples to apples comparisons. Jurisdictions with higher mining tax rates have lower hydro costs and the governments cost share on infrastructure. In Ontario, we pay one of the highest rates in North America for electricity, and mining companies use their own capital for necessary infrastructure. Ontario’s tax rates are working. Ontario is seeing its share of Canadian exploration and mine development budgets grow in comparison to other provinces.

A 2012 University of Toronto study on the economics of mining, showed the sector in Ontario employs about 27,500 people directly, and another 50,000 indirectly in the fabrication and processing of minerals, while the mineral sector cluster employs close to a total of 200,000 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.

With its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario Mining Association member Agnico Eagle has re-crafted its logo to reflect its flight path as a global gold producer. The company has its roots in Agnico Mines, which was created by Canadian Mining Hall of Fame inductee Paul Penna in 1957 through the consolidation of silver interests in the Cobalt area. In 1972, Agnico Mines merged with Eagle Gold Mines, which had prospects in northwestern Quebec, to become Agnico Eagle Mines Limited.

From a modest start with precious metals production and development in Ontario and Quebec, the company has matured into a global mining company. In 2012, it produced about 1,043,000 ounces of gold and 4.7 million ounces of silver from properties in Canada, Mexico and Finland. From 2008 to 2011, Agnico Eagle developed five new mines and increased its gold production by more than 325%.

The Kittila mine in northern Finland is 900 kilometres north of Helsinki and 150 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. It started production in 2009 and became the first mine Agnico Eagle producing property opened outside of Canada. Pinos Altos in Mexico started commercial production in the fall of 2009 and is now a major gold and silver producer.

In Canada, the LaRonde property is Quebec is billed as the company’s flagship with a current mine life stretching to 2026. It has produced more than 4.3 million ounces of gold since opening in 1988. The company’s largest annual gold producer is the open pit Meadowbank gold mine in Nunavut. Production began here in 2010 and in 2013 anticipated production is 360,000 ounces of gold.

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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.

In some quarters, silver is sometimes viewed as – well let’s politely call it – a lesser precious metal. However, in the name of fairness, perhaps it is time to take a look at what this metal means to the economy of Ontario – and to modern society.

In 2011, 147 tonnes of silver were produced from a variety of sources in Ontario. The value of this output was more than $168 million. Ontario is the largest silver producer in Canada turning out about 28% of the national total production level of 532 tonnes.

All silver produced in Ontario is a by-product of other mining operations. There are no primary silver mines in Ontario. In fact, in Canada, Alexco Resources owns and operates the Bellekeno silver mine in the Yukon, which is the only operating primary silver mine in the country. In 2012, the company’s total production of silver totaled more than 2,150,000 ounces.

Ontario-originated silver is generally a by-product from a variety of gold mining operations in the province and the major nickel-copper mines in the Sudbury Basin. Also, in Timmins, Xstrata Copper’s Kidd Operations has long been a major source of silver output in Ontario.

While this metal does have a monetary role and it remains a key component of jewelry creation, the Silver Institute based in Washington D.C. says the industrial demand for silver is soaring and likely to reach record heights in 2014. One of the main industrial uses of silver was in photography but the technological shift to digital cameras has lessened those applications.

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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 Ontario Mining Association and the Canadian Land Reclamation Association (CLRA) are combining forces again. This successful collaboration is working on the sixth annual Ontario Mine Reclamation Symposium and Field Trip, which is scheduled for June 18 to 20, 2013. The organizers are holding the event this year in the community of Cobalt, which in many respects is the genesis of Canada’s hard rock mining industry.

At this time, the organizing group is seeking abstracts for presentations to be made at the symposium on June 18. The workshop will highlight the historic and current status of mining in the Cobalt region, the latest in research and rehabilitation practices and updates on specific mine reclamation projects. Those wishing to make presentations should contact Bryan Tisch at btisch@nrcan.gc.ca or 1-613-943-8746 before May 22.

The event will also include a one-day field tour of mine sites and rehabilitation work in Cobalt. A reception and banquet will include the presentation of the Tom Peters Memorial Mine Reclamation Award and the presentation of the $5,000 student bursary. Nominations for the Tom Peters Memorial Reclamation Award can be made up until May 31, 2013. Information and entry details are available from Mr. Tisch.

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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 Lake Shore Gold Corp. exemplifies findings in the recent economic impact study “Mining: Dependable and Dynamic for Ontario’s Future.” This report, which demonstrates among other things that mining boosts communities, was produced by University of Toronto economists Peter Dungan and Steve Murphy.

Lake Shore Gold produced more than 85,700 ounces of gold in 2012 and it is a newer bullion producer in the Timmins camp – production began two years ago. The company operates its Timmins West complex and Bell Creek complex, where its mill is located, and it is developing the Fenn-Gib project, which is located about 60 kilometres east of Timmins.

The Fenn-Gib project has potential to be developed as an open pit gold mine. Exploration results from the property near Matheson show an indicated resource of 1.3 million ounces of gold and 800,000 inferred ounces of gold.

In 2012, the company spent $138.5 million on supplies and services in Timmins and a further $90 million was spent outside the Timmins area. “We are really trying to keep our dollars as close to Timmins as we possibly can,” said Dan Gagnon, Senior Vice President Operations at Lake Shore Gold. “Sixty-one percent of our spending was in Timmins and of the non-local spending of $90 million, roughly $53 million was spent in Northern Ontario.”

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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.

As we wait to see what the first Throne Speech from Ontario’s new Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne, which is being delivered today, and a pending budget really mean, Ontario Mining Association members were advised, at a recent board meeting, the political landscape has changed irrevocably. “Throw away the old playbook because right now conventional wisdom is worth nothing,” Darrell Bricker, Chief Executive Officer of Ipsos Global Public Affairs told the OMA.

His presentation “The Ontario Political Landscape” showed how the steady growth of Western Canada as an economic force and large scale immigration has changed the political environment. He noted that 90% of Canadians are now governed at the provincial level by women. There are female premiers in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta (Canada’s four most populous provinces) and Newfoundland.

Mr. Bricker, who has a long career in public opinion research including time in the Prime Minister’s Office, said the 30 new seats that will be in House of Commons for the next federal election demonstrate the change. Fifteen of the new seats are in Ontario, six in B.C. and six in Alberta and almost all of these seats are in the suburbs of Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.

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