Twitter
Boston-Bay-Mines-Announcement

Ontario Mining

CLIFFS NATURAL RESOURCES INC. NEWS RELEASE: Marten Falls First Nation Withdraws from Matawa Judicial Review of Cliffs Chromite Environmental Assessment

Thunder Bay, ON – September 10, 2013 – Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) (Paris: CLF) is pleased with the decision made by Marten Falls First Nation to withdraw from the Matawa Tribal Council led Judicial Review (JR) of the Cliffs Chromite Project Federal Comprehensive Study Environmental Assessment (EA) process.

As of August 27, 2013, Marten Falls First Nation officially withdrew from the Judicial Review. “We are pleased that Marten Falls First Nation has taken the lead in their effort to work with Cliffs to develop a collaborative working relationship,” stated Bill Boor, Cliffs Natural Resources Senior Vice President Strategy and Business Development.

Following the withdrawal of Marten Falls from the JR, and Webequie’s earlier withdrawal in May of 2012, the remaining seven Matawa communities, Cliffs, and the Federal government agreed to request dismissal of the JR. On September 5th, the Court ordered a dismissal of the JR.

“Cliffs is committed to engaging in active and productive discussions with potentially affected First Nation communities. We’re determined to be a good partner, and will continue to work with First Nations who may be impacted by the Project to understand their concerns and priorities, and to respond to them,” added Boor.

Read more

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

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.

Read more

EXPLORING for GOLD: Lac Seul holds shares in junior explorer AurCrest Gold; Webequie part owner of Cyr Drilling – by Bryan Phelan (Onotassiniik – Fall 2013)

 Onotassiniik is Wawatay’s new mining quarterly.

Ian Brodie-Brown’s first contact with Lac Seul First Nation stood out. Then CEO of Tribute Minerals, a junior exploration company, Brodie-Brown hadn’t just sent a letter to the band. He had sent it voluntarily. “He was the first guy that I’d ever seen – the first company representative – approach a First Nation without being told to by the Crown,” recalls Chris Angeconeb, Lac Seul’s lands and resources co-ordinator at the time.

The introductory letter arrived almost seven years ago. Exploring for base metals at Confederation Lake, in Lac Seul’s traditional territory, Tribute was “basically trying to drum up support for a micro-mine with small output; a little underground project,” Angeconeb says.

Brodie-Brown says he expected new provincial rules for mineral exploration and consultation with First Nations would come eventually (regulations for exploration plans and permits, under a modernized Mining Act, finally took effect this spring). Instead of waiting, “We just decided to take a proactive role,” he says.

Read more

Ontario’s new mineral exploration landscape [Aboriginal and treaty rights] – by Bryan Phelan (Onotassiniik – Fall 2013)

 Onotassiniik is Wawatay’s new mining quarterly.

Mining Act rules now require consultation on Aboriginal and treaty rights

A bear somehow found itself dangling beneath a bridge, desperately holding on with its paws. At this point, we don’t know how it got there or what will happen next.

Bernie Hughes, a director of Aboriginal relations for the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM), uses the image to introduce his presentation on new Ontario Mining Act rules.

“We needed to play some catch up with respect to all of the law that has changed in the last 20 years … in how resource development works in relation to Aboriginal and treaty rights,” Hughes says. “The industry has done something in a certain way for perhaps over a hundred years. We’re now in a state of transition and a state of change.” Along with change comes difficulty, he adds, looking at the picture of the vulnerable bear.

The new rules, which took full effect April 1, apply to early mineral exploration activities that until then weren’t regulated. Proponents must now file exploration plans with the province, and Aboriginal communities that could be affected by proposed work will be given 30 days to review a copy and provide comment. But MNDM encourages consultation with Aboriginal communities even before a plan is submitted, so the document can reflect those conversations.

Read more

Kathleen Wynne says no point in rushing Ring of Fire – CBC News Thunder Bay (September 3, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/thunderbay/

Bob Rae and Frank Iaccobucci working closely with First Nations communities, making progress

Ontario’s Premier says the province will let businesses make decisions on where to locate smelters and processing plants, while the Ring of Fire will bring jobs to the region on its own.

Kathleen Wynne made the comments Tuesday after a mining analyst’s suggestion the government should do more to make mining attractive. Wynne said there’s no point in rushing agreements among government, First Nations, and mining companies.

“There is a political message that’s out there from the opposition parties that says … we should move faster on the Ring of Fire … and we just have to sweep all of the barriers out of the way,” Wynne said.

“That’s code for not paying attention to environmental protections, and not making sure that our relationships with First Nations are in place.” Wynne added that Bob Rae and Frank Iaccobucci are working very closely with First Nations communities, and are making progress.

With respect to the location of the chromite smelter, “I’m pleased … that that decision was made to have that processor here in Ontario,” she said.

Read more

Thunder Bay could be chromite-stainless steel hub, analyst says – CBC News Thunder Bay (September 3, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/thunderbay/

For a nine minute interview between CBC Thunder Bay Superior Morning host Lisa Laco and Stan Sudol, click here: http://www.cbc.ca/superiormorning/episodes/2013/09/03/chromite-crumbs/

Mining writer says province should look at exporting chromite in the form of stainless steel

A mining consultant and writer says the debate should be re-opened on where to locate a ferrochrome smelter in northern Ontario.

Stan Sudol said he thinks the smelter should not be located in Sudbury, but instead go to a port city like Thunder Bay. He added that chromite from the Ring of Fire region could also be used to produce stainless steel in a new plant located in Thunder Bay.

“This would be an enormous long-term gain for not only northern Ontario, but the entire province, if the provincial government could attract one of the major stainless steel producers around the world to locate in northern Ontario,” he said.

Sudol said a waterfront location, like Thunder Bay’s port, would be key to attracting a stainless steel producer. Clustering the ferrochrome smelter and a stainless steel mill together makes the most sense, Sudol said.

Read more

Ring of Fire: Chromite Crumbs or Stainless Steel for Ontario? [Part Two of Two] – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – August 31, 2013)

Outokumpu Stainless Steel Plant Tornio, Finland. Outokumpu Group is the largest stainless steel producer in the world.

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

This was originally published in the Sudbury Star on August 31, 2013 under the title “From ore to steel“.

Canada is the only G-8 country in the world that does not have a “major” stainless steel sector. There is one speciality steel producer, ASW Steel Inc. in Welland, Ontario, that dedicates 30 per cent of its production capacity to stainless steel. Employing  about 95 people, the company manufactures roughly 30,000 tons of stainless steel ingots and billets. By comparison, Outokumpu, the biggest international producer, produces almost 3.6 million tonnes of stainless steels worldwide, slightly over ten per cent of the 35.4 million tonnes of global production last year, according to International Stainless Steel Forum preliminary figures.

We do have world-class carbon steel plants mainly concentrated in Ontario at Hamilton, Nanticoke and Sault Ste. Marie.

Stainless steels are more valuable than carbon steels due to their corrosion and rust resistance due to the addition of chromite. Nickel is added to some varieties of stainless steels to increase the hardness and strength, further corrosion resistance as well as enabling the material to withstand extreme cold and hot temperatures without becoming brittle or deforming.

Read more

Sudburians didn’t really get chance to meet premier – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – August 30, 2013)

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

Premier Kathleen Wynne visited Sudbury for two days to get to know people — Liberals and non-Liberals , she says — and for them to get to know her. But there were few opportunities for Sudburians to speak to the premier about what’s on their minds or for Wynne to tell them how a Liberal government led by her would improve their lives in any real way.

Wynne visited a diamond manufacturing plant Thursday afternoon, with every move photographed and videographed by the media, and later attended a “celebration party” with Liberal riding association members. No doubt, Grits were required to pony up for the party at the meet-and-greet.

Wynne conducted one on one interviews with reporters — as well as a short call-in on CBC Radio and an online chat with a Sudbury newspaper — but most of her appearances were by-invitation-only.

The premier spoke briefly with a Liberal supporter when she arrived for an interview with The Sudbury Star on Friday morning at Old Rock Coffee Roasting Company on Minto Street. Earlier, a security guard scoped out the small coffee house, consulting with owner Carole Roy about where the back entrance was should the premier have to leave in a hurry.

Read more

Vale, Steelworkers to investigate Clarabelle fire – by Heidi Ulrichsen (Sudbury Northern Life – August 30, 2013)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

A joint investigation into an Aug. 28 fire at Vale’s Clarabelle Mill will be conducted by the company and the union representing mill workers, Steelworkers Local 6500.

“Typically, when we have an instance such as a fire, we do launch an investigation to determine the cause … so we can learn what we can from it and prevent something like that from happening again,” Vale spokesperson Angie Robson said.

“As per our protocol, we’ve launched an investigation jointly with the union to look into this.” Robson said she can’t speculate as to how long the investigation will take. She said the investigation team will write a report about the incident that will be circulated internally.

The fire was reported in one of the mill’s crushing lines at around 9:15 a.m., and the all-clear was given at around 10:50 a.m., at which time employees were allowed to return to the building.

Robson said she doesn’t yet know the cause of the fire, although Greater Sudbury Fire Services Public Safety Officer Leo Frappier said it was a conveyor belt that caught fire, causing thick, black smoke to stream from the buiding.

Read more

Diamonds are a premier’s best friend – by Heidi Ulrichsen (Sudbury Northern Life – August 29, 2013)

 

http://www.northernlife.ca/

A deal benefitting a business which polishes diamonds mined at the DeBeers Victor Diamond Mine on the James Bay coast is an example of how the province works to create jobs in Northern Ontario, Premier Kathleen Wynne said.

She made the remarks during an Aug. 29 tour of Crossworks Manufacturing’s Sudbury office, which opened in 2009, and employs 35 people. Eighteen of these employees are from the Sudbury area, while the rest are originally from Vietnam.

Wynne, who is also visiting Kenora and Thunder Bay in the coming days as part of a tour of Northern Ontario, credits these jobs to a deal the province struck with De Beers to process 10 per cent of its Victor diamonds in Ontario.

“One of the things I’m determined to do as premier is to work to close the skills gap, to make sure that we provide opportunities for people in Ontario develop the skills for the businesses that are looking for those skills,” she said.

Read more

There’s enough for everybody here – by Harvey Yesno – Onotassiniik Magazine (Fall 2013)

 http://www.onotassiniik.com/

Harvey Yesno is the Grand Chief of NAN (Nishnawbe Aski Nation).

The following is excerpted from an opening address by Grand Chief Harvey Yesno at the Nishnawbe Aski Nation Chiefs Assembly in Mattagami First Nation, April 9, and his follow-up comments to chiefs about resource development and infrastructure, April 10.

It’s time to get down to business for Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN). The First Nations across James Bay Treaty 9 and the Ontario portion of Treaty 5 will not be bystanders or a stakeholder or an interest group as Ontario and Canada prepare to take our interest in the lands and resources to market. …

I am committed to ensuring that there be a balanced treaty and economic approach. NAN First Nations and our future generations will benefit from the development in our territory as was intended at the time of the treaty. …  How do we provoke the implementation of our treaties?

We must develop a strategic approach that includes ensuring that our treaty partners, Canada and Ontario, are equally responsible to uphold the promises made at the time of the treaty. Canada and Ontario cannot opt out of addressing the needs and concerns of NAN. Ontario cannot wash its hands of the duty to consult and accommodate First Nations, nor can it download its responsibility to industry. …

Read more

Crossworks inks deal with Chinese firm – by Star Staff (Sudbury Star – August 29, 2013)

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

Craftspeople at Sudbury’s Crossworks Manufacturing Ltd. plant will soon be cutting and polishing diamonds for the world’s largest jewelry company, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd.

Crossworks president Uri Ariel has just signed a long-term supply and licensing agreement with the Chinese firm to provide Crossworks’ patented hearts and arrows ideal cut square diamond to the company.

Under the terms of the agreement, Chow Tai Fook will have exclusive distribution rights to sell the uniquely cut diamonds through its extensive retail network in Greater China.
Crossworks Manufacturing Ltd., a member of the HRA Group of Companies, is a Canadian company with five polishing facilities in Canada, Vietnam and Namibia. One of the Canadian plants is located in downtown Sudbury, where about 35 cutters process 10% of the diamonds mined by De Beers in the James Bay Lowlands.

Crossworks designed the square cut hearts and arrows diamond to enhance the brilliance, fire and scintillation in a square cut diamond, company spokesman Dylan Dix said in a release.

Read more

The Ring of Fire: Ontario’s Mega Mining Project to be the “Next Fort McMurray” – by Derek Leahy ( DeSmog Canada – August 28, 2013)

http://www.desmog.ca/

Ontario’s largest mining find in decades – a 5000 square km region known as the Ring of Fire – won’t be developed by Cleveland-based Cliffs Natural Resources without facing significant obstacles.

“We question whether the Ring of Fire can be mined without being a massive financial burden on Ontario taxpayers, or without trashing the province’s most pristine watershed,” says Ramsey Hart, Canada program coordinator for MiningWatch Canada, an Ottawa-based organization.

“It is also unclear if this development will proceed in the best interests of the First Nations living in the Ring of Fire,” Hart told DeSmog Canada.

A briefing note to the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs from earlier this year warns that the Anishinaabe/Omushkego* (First Nations of the Ring of Fire) “are some of the most socioeconomically disadvantaged communities in all of Canada” and this could prevent the Anishinaabe/Omushkego from benefitting from the Ring of Fire mega mining project.

Read more

Sell-off [Ontario Northland] “not only option” – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – August 28, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – As Minister of Northern Development and Mines, Michael Gravelle is arguably the most important link to Queen’s Park for Northerners.

Gravelle took time out of his schedule to sit down with editorial staff at The Daily Press for an exclusive interview on Tuesday.

The minister discussed at length provincial issues specific to the region. He admitted one of the biggest bones of contention in the Northeast is the divestiture of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission.

“In the 2012 budget the decision was made,” Gravelle said. “There certainly was some very clear fiscal challenges and there was a decision made at that time, obviously in terms of the budget that indeed the divestment of the ONTC was the direction the government needed to go in. It was certainly a very tough decision at the time and one that (drew) a very strong reaction from Northern Ontario.”

Since that time, there has been a change in the premiership, with Kathleen Wynne replacing Dalton McGuinty. The provincial government has somewhat softened its response on the ONTC sell-off, but has not yet made any concrete promises.

Read more

NEWS RELEASE: A Letter from Brigus Gold’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

HALIFAX, Aug. 27, 2013 /CNW/ – (NYSE MKT: BRD; TSX: BRD)

Dear Fellow Shareholders:

Given the recent volatility of the precious metals markets, I would like to share my perspective on what’s occurred in the sector, while reviewing our progress at Brigus and outlining our strategy and outlook for the quarters ahead.

The second quarter saw a precipitous drop in precious metal prices, including gold’s one day dip of ~9% in April. Lower gold prices led to reduced financial results for gold mining companies compared to the previous quarter, and a significant reduction in the valuation and equity prices for virtually all gold mining companies, including Brigus.

Since hitting a 46 month low of $1,179 on June 27th, spot gold prices have now rebounded to the $1,400 level and equity prices are also beginning to recover. Investor sentiment for the sector, having reached extreme negative levels, is in the process of reverting to a more reasonable range.

Regardless of the short term volatility over the past few months, we at Brigus remain steadfast in our belief that gold will continue to play a very important role as a store of value for investors. We believe high quality gold mining companies will prove to be a worthwhile investment for years to come.

Read more