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Ontario Mining

Diamond royalties a closely guarded secret in Ontario – by Rita Celli (CBC News Business – May 12, 2015)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business

For Rita Celli’s Ontario Today program on diamond mining, click here:http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/podcasts/ontariotoday_20150512_18140.mp3

CBC News investigation reveals government royalties from diamonds totalled $226 last year

Ontario’s only diamond mine is known for its exceptional quality stones, but according to official documents, the provincial government made more money on salt royalties in 2013-14 than diamonds.

De Beers Canada, which owns the only diamond mine in the province, paid $226 in royalties while salt netted the province $3.89 million in royalties.

The diamond royalty stirred a huge debate when the Ontario government suddenly introduced it in 2007. Then-premier Dalton McGuinty promised it would enrich all Ontarians. He promised the money would be used to hire more nurses and keep class sizes small in schools.

The real value has been a closely guarded secret, by government and the company, until the CBC-Michener-Deacon investigation. That secrecy has baffled many experts consulted by the CBC, including accountants, and auditors.

“It’s hard to believe that in a jurisdiction like Ontario there would be this lack of transparency,” says Paul Zimnisky, an independent diamond analyst, based in New York.

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Mining companies to face more transparency – by Rita Celli (CBC News Business – May 11, 2015)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business

For Rita Celli’s Ontario Today program on mining, click here: http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/podcasts/ontariotoday_20150511_48892.mp3

When federal law requires reporting of all payments to government, it will shine light on royalties

Canadian-owned oil, gas and mining companies must begin reporting next year all payments of more than $100,000 for government services, including port fees and royalties, beginning a new era of transparency in the mining sector.

The federal government’s new Extractive Measures Transparency Act will give Canada similar legislation to what exists in the U.K. and the U.S. “There is opacity,” says Pierre Gratton, president and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada.

Details are still being finalized, but the legislation is designed largely as a way to cut down on corruption in Third World countries. The industry likes the new disclosure rules because it puts all companies on the same playing field, Gratton says.

“Our view was that more disclosure is better. We’re going in with eyes wide open,” says Gratton, acknowledging that the revelation of new financial details will likely spark a different kind of debate in Canada, about whether mining companies pay enough taxes.

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Mining for more: How much is mining really worth to Ontario? – by Rita Celli (CBC News Business – May 11, 2015)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business

For Rita Celli’s Ontario Today program on mining, click here: http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/podcasts/ontariotoday_20150511_48892.mp3

Are low royalty rates making the province a tax haven for mining or building a viable industry

Ontario has collected about 1.5 per cent in royalties on the billions of dollars worth of ore extracted in the province over the past decade, but critics say that’s not enough for the loss of non-renewable resources, a CBC News investigation supported by Michener-Deacon shows.

“One and a half per cent! That’s like 10 times less than a tip at a restaurant. Can’t we require that they tip us 15 per cent for using and extracting our resources?” says Ugo Lapointe of Mining Watch Canada.

In Ontario, companies pay a mining profits tax on precious and base metals. When the company makes money, it’s supposed to pay this so-called royalty.

Critics say precious and base metals are Crown assets and that the province should get the best deal possible as compensation for the loss of non-renewable natural resources. But the mining industry and government officials argue that mining is a uniquely expensive enterprise and that focusing on royalties distorts the big picture.

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Sudbury family ‘overwhelmed’ by recommendations – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – May 8, 2015)

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

A coroner’s jury went beyond the eight recommendations jointly submitted at an inquest into the deaths of two men at Vale’s Stobie Mine and added 16 of its own to improve mine safety in Sudbury, in Ontario and throughout Canada.

The three-woman, one-man jury accepted eight recommendations suggested and agreed upon by Vale, United Steelworkers Local 6500, the Ministry of Labour and the families of Jason Chenier and Jordan Fram.

The first recommendation was that the Ministry of Labour implement the recommendations of the Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review regarding water management in mines and the internal responsibility system.

The review was struck in December 2013 in response to pressure by families and mine workers for an inquiry into mine safety after the Sudbury men’s deaths. Chenier, 35, and Fram, 26, were killed when a run of muck overcame them while they were working at the 3,000-foot level near the No. 7 ore pass.

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Ontario Northland president: “We want to move away from entitlement” (CBC News Sudbury – May 8, 2015)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury

“We want to move away from the fact that, you know, we deserve things because we’re Ontario Northland.” Corina Moore says the company is bleeding.

The interim president of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission gave a stark warning to municipal leaders gathered in Sudbury this week for the Northern Ontario Federation of Municipalities conference.

“That highlights crisis situation for the agency,” said Moore. She said it has reached a pivotal point where Ontario Northland can’t continue to lose money if it expects to exist in the future.

Moore admitted the future will be challenging because the company hasn’t seen much change in 113 years.

“We want to move away from entitlement. We want to move away from the fact that we deserve things because we’re Ontario Northland. We are here to say that, starting now, we are focused on performance-based thinking and the way we do things. It’s a culture shift and it’s a tough one.”

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Important to get Ring of Fire ‘right’: Gravelle – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – May 08, 2015)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Mines minister addresses Chamber of Commerce

Despite some frustration the Ring of Fire development has been at a standstill for years, Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle said it’s important to “get it right” before moving ahead with any infrastructure investments.

Gravelle was in Sudbury Thursday, where he addressed the city’s Chamber of Commerce with an update on Ontario’s mining sector.

While the province has committed to invest $1 billion to build infrastructure to connect the remote Ring of Fire mineral deposit by road, it has not yet provided any details as to when that work will begin.

“Timelines can and may be altered depending on moving forward with the work we’re doing with the Ring of Fire Development Corporation,” Gravelle said after his speech.

Gravelle said the companies involved in the Ring of Fire understand moving their deposits into production will take time. “(Noront Resources president and CEO Alan Coutts) wants to see the project move as quickly as possible, but he’s cautious, as we are, that we make sure the First Nations that are directly impacted by any mine development, that we make sure they can see real benefits from the project,” Gravelle said.

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Mine rescue teams from district converge on Timmins – by Len Gillis (Timmins Daily Press – May 6, 2015)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – It’s Ontario Mine Rescue competition week in Timmins. Beginning today and carrying through to Friday, mine rescue teams from Timmins and Kirkland Lake will be taking part in a double district competition.

Two of the North’s best-known mining communities will be holding their annual district events at the McIntyre Arena with four teams competing for the Timmins district title and four teams vying for the Kirkland Lake district title.

Competing for the bragging rights in Timmins are Glencore Kidd Operations who are last year’s local winners, Goldcorp Porcupine Gold Mines, Lake Shore Gold and Dumas Mining. Competing for the Kirkland Lake title are Kirkland Lake Gold Inc., AuRico Gold, SAS St. Andrew Goldfields Ltd., and Primero Gold Black Fox Mine.

By Friday night, two teams will emerge as district winners and with that they also win the right to represent their district at the All-Ontario Mine Rescue competition which is to be held in Thunder Bay on June 11 and 12. Timmins Mine Rescue officer Manny Cabral said the annual competitions are important to the overall mine rescue program because the competition teams learn from the annual exercise and bring that knowledge back to their mine rescue colleagues at their particular mine.

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Kidd Mine, Minister Gravelle announce legacy fund – by Alan S. Hale (Timmins Daily Press – May 5, 2015)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Kidd Operations is looking to maintain its practice of supporting local non-profit organizations beyond the year 2021, when their mining operations in Timmins are set to come to an end.

On Monday, the mining company announced that it and the Ontario Trillium Foundation will spend $500,000 each over the next six years to create a $1-million “legacy” endowment fund. After the mine is closed, the fund will be managed by the foundation and will be distributed as grants by a volunteer board.

According to Kidd Operations’ general manager, Tom Semadeni, the deal to create the new fund with the government-run foundation was two years in the making.

“We realized that Kidd has had a very significant involvement in the community, and we’re aware that when we leave there will be a potential void. So we want to provide a lasting legacy, where we could still provide support to the community,” said Semadeni. “We worked together with the Trillium Foundation on what would be a reasonable sized endowment that could be managed going forward.

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Inquest: Policies must be acted upon: miner – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – May 4, 2015)

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

The last time Ryan St. George saw Jordan Fram was about a week before the young miner’s death. Both were stopped at an intersection, St. George on his motorcycle and Fram in his new truck.

Fram yelled over to St. George: “Hey, you’re driving a motorcycle with shorts and sandals,” chiding him for not riding safely.

“That was Jordan. He cared about people,” said St. George at the last day of the inquest into the deaths of Fram, 26, and his supervisor Jason Chenier, 35, at Vale’s Stobie Mine.

St. George is a member of United Steelworkers Local 6500, a former miner who represented his union at the coroner’s inquest.

He gave what was one of several powerful closing statements Friday to a three-woman, one-man jury. A fifth juror dropped out a week into the proceedings because of medical reasons. St. George said he believes, like Fram, “that people care about each other.

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Rail idea in Ring of Fire gathering steam – by Len Gillis (Timmins Daily Press – April 30, 2015)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – The City of Timmins this week gave its formal approval to the Mushkegowuk Council plan to create a new railway link from the James Bay coast to the Ring Of Fire mining development.

The issue was put forward in a resolution of support to be sent to the office of Premier Kathleen Wynne, to Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle and to the Northeastern Ontario Municipal Association (NEOMA).

The support from Timmins is for an initiative first described in a Daily Press news story back in January when Mushkegowuk Grand Chief Lawrence Martin said there were plans in the works for Mushkegowuk to buy the Ontario Northland railway.

Martin revealed that a Toronto-based rail investment group, TGR Rail, had the funding in place if the province was ready to give the go-ahead for the purchase. Martin explained that a new rail line could be extended beyond the existing ONR line that runs from Cochrane to Moosonee.

The Timmins resolution said the creation of a new rail link would not only see new economic development and growth for First Nations, it would also put Timmins in a prime situation to serve Ring Of Fire mining companies. This would also create the possibility that ore from the huge mining region could be processed or refined in Timmins.

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Industry welcomes extended industrial electricity rate – by Jonathan Migneault (Northern Ontario Business – April 29, 2015)

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.

The Ontario government has announced it plans on making the Northern Industrial Electricity Rate (NIER) Program permanent.

Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault made the announcement in Sudbury while Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle held a press conference on the issue in Thunder Bay on April 17.

“Many of the major industries have been talking to me about the importance of this program,” Thibeault said.

Ontario is committing to an ongoing program, beyond March 2016, with continued investment of up to $120 million per year. The government will also undertake a review on the efficiency and effectiveness of the program and options for a sustainable approach.

The Northern Industrial Electricity Rate Program was introduced as a three-year program in 2010, and was extended in 2012, for qualifying Northern industrial customers. It aims to offset higher energy costs in the North due to climate and distance to markets.

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Inquest: Jury urged to look at all mines with rec’s – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 30, 2015)

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

The project manager of the Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review urged a coroner’s jury to consider making recommendations that will improve safety throughout all Ontario mines, not just at Vale’s Stobie Mine or at Sudbury mining operations.

Wayne DeL’Orme was the last witness to testify at the inquest into the deaths of Jordan Fram and Jason Chenier on June 8, 2011. Chenier, 35, was a supervisor for Vale and Fram, 26, was a miner. They were killed by a run of tons of muck that had been hung up in the No. 7 ore pass, let go and swamped the 3,000 level near the pass where they were working.

DeL’Orme told the three-woman, one-man jury Thursday that the role of the mining review was to look at all aspects of health and safety in underground mines and recommend ways to improve conditions.

It was prompted by a call for a full-blown mining inquiry after the deaths of the men at Stobie. A group called MINES (Mining Inquiry Needs Everyone’s Support) lobbied for a review, led by Wendy Fram, the mother of Jordan Fram. Thousands of postcards were sent to Labour minister demanding an inquiry.

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The search for gold: Lake Shore sees sparkle in the Gap – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – April 29, 2015)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

CEO Tony Makuch kicks off Modern Mining and Technology Week in Sudbury

Timmins-based Lake Shore Gold has come a long way since a rough patch in 2012 and 2013 when a lot of investors thought the gold producer could go bankrupt.

The company’s first quarter of 2015 was its best ever, with a record production of 53,000 ounces of gold, which represented a 19-per-cent increase over the same period in 2014.

Tony Makuch, the president and CEO of Lake Shore Gold, kicked off Modern Mining and Technology Week in Sudbury on April 24 with a keynote about the company’s trials, tribulations and more recent successes.

“No one thought there was any value in these deposits,” Makuch said, referring to the company’s two Timmins mines, Bell Creek and Timmins West.

“You have to believe in the mining industry, and that gold will be discovered,” he added. “I didn’t know what we would find there in Timmins.”

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Charges laid in deaths of two Sudbury drillers – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 29, 2015)

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

Two companies are facing 13 charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act in the deaths of two Sudbury drillers in almost a year ago, the Ministry of Labour announced Tuesday.

Norm Bisaillon, 49, and Marc Methe, 34, died May 6, 2014, at First Nickel Inc.’s Lockerby Mine.

Eight charges were laid against First Nickel, including:

– prevention of water accumulation or flow of water that might endanger a worker;

– ensuring an effective ground support system is installed;

– requirement that a report be made in writing of all dangerous conditions;

– the examination of and remediation of misfiring explosives;

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Editorial: Not all pleased with Ring of Fire sale (Northern Miner – April 29, 2015)

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry.

April 28 saw the closing of Noront Resources’ acquisition of Cliffs Natural Resources’ chromite assets in northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire region. The deal saw a last-minute bump-up in the price to US$27.5 million from the US$20 million agreed upon in late March.

The assets are comprised of three chromite deposits and associated claims that were held by Cliffs. The U.S. iron ore major says the sale is “another step in divesting interests in non-core assets” and that the proceeds will be used to cover costs associated with its bankruptcy filing in Canada.

Noront had a little more to say on the final price, however, commenting that in between the first offer and closing, Cliffs “had received an unsolicited, competing bid which it determined, after consultation … could reasonably be expected to lead to a superior proposal.” Thus, the reason for the higher price upon closing on April 28.

Noront’s flagship project has been its 100%-owned, high-grade, nickel-copper-platinum group metals Eagle’s Nest deposit — the only deposit in the Ring of Fire with a positive feasibility study.

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