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Ontario Mining

Ring of Fire bogged down by politics – by Brian MacLeod (Sudbury Star – August 1, 2013)

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

Can dousing the Ring of Fire with politicians rekindle the spark? All sides are betting it can.

The fate of the Ring of Fire, a 5,120-squarekilometre deposit rich in chromite (a metal hardener) and other minerals with a potential value of $100 billion and a lifespan of 30 or more years, has become murky during the last few months as falling chromite prices have dropped, shares prices of the lead developer — Cleveland-based Cliffs Natural Resources — have fallen, environmental and political processes have stalled and disputes among the mining companies developing the deposit remain unresolved.

Politicians have compared the Ring of Fire to Alberta’s oilsands, which highlights its wealth, but raises red flags among First Nations in northern Ontario about environmental issues.

It was always going to be a massively complicated deposit to develop. There was always too much money involved for this to go smoothly. Ontario stands to gain 1,200 jobs and millions in mining royalties, as well as billions of dollars in private investment to develop the area.

But in June, Cliffs announced it had halted its environmental assessment on its Black Thor deposit because nothing was happening on the political level.

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Miners worry about environmental survey (CBC News Thunder Bay – July 31, 2013)

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

Mining industry stakeholders concerned the Lake Superior Binational Forum survey could hinder their plans

A group interested in preventing pollution in Lake Superior is asking the public what it thinks about mining activities — and some supporters of a proposed new mine in the area are worried about the impact the results of that survey might have.

Sponsored by the Lake Superior Binational Forum, the survey asks respondents to think about the environmental impact of mining activity around the lake. CBC News obtained an e-mail exchange among mining industry stakeholders that showed there is concern the survey could hinder their plans.

“Can you blast a new email out to your network, asking anyone with an interest in mining to complete the survey so that a balanced result occurs?” the email said. “We are reasonably certain this is a move by the bi-national forum to enter the results against Stillwater’s project in the panel proceedings this fall, in an overall effort to kill mining around Lake Superior.”

The general manager of a mining company with plans to build a mine north of Marathon, said he filled out the questionnaire because he wants the results to be balanced.

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Women in Mining: Judy Baker – Challenges in junior exploration faced by both genders – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – August 2013)

(L to R) Judy Bake, CEO Superior Copper Resources; Delio Tortosa, Geologist; Morgan Quinn, Geologist.

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.

http://www.superiorcopper.ca/

For Judy Baker, challenges in the junior exploration side of the mining industry aren’t necessarily linked to gender. It’s a formidable field that poses challenges for anyone who takes the work on. “The junior exploration and mining business is a tougher segment of the industry, because basically you’re taking the highest risk capital available to explore for mineral wealth, and the risk factor’s so high, it’s tough for anyone to be in, let alone women,” she said.

Baker, CEO at Superior Copper Resources, which is exploring at the former Coppercorp copper mine near Sault Ste. Marie, first developed an interest in the field while still in high school. Attending night courses in geology at Brock University, the theory of plate tectonics put forward by John Tuzo Wilson—the idea that the earth’s crust is comprised of a series of shifting plates—captured her interest and guided her into mining.

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

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, 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.”

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My excellent plan for the Ring of Fire – by David Robinson (Northern Ontario Business – August 2013)

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.

David Robinson is an economist at Laurentian University. drobinson@laurentian.ca

Ontario’s northwest is one of the last great frontiers. It is a country-sized chunk of land still outside of the transportation network that links productive communities to the global economy. Ice roads, small planes and bureaucrats are all that tie the region to Canada.

But northwestern Ontario’s place in the global economy is changing. The trigger was finding enough ore near McFauld’s
Lake to justify building a road or rail link. With bulk transportation, 100 other potential mines become economic.

This comes when China plans to build urban homes for 250 million people by 2025 and will want Northern metals and wood.
And when economic recovery in the USA will help push resource prices back up. And when warming climate will make ice roads
impossible and another port on Hudson’s Bay inevitable.

A good plan starts by looking at best practices from around the world. The Finns, for example, would probably be planning an independent Aboriginal-dominated regional government for the northwest.

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Ring of Fire budget cut by $10M – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – July 29, 2013)

Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

Six weeks after it hit the pause button on its environmental assessment for its Ring of Fire project, Cliffs Natural Resources announced that its development budget for the proposed chromite mine has been trimmed by US $10 million.

The Cleveland-based company this spring earmarked $60 million for the work to take place this year, including a feasibility study. A financial report on the company’s second quarter performance released on Thursday shows the figure has been reduced to $50 million.

Regional Cliffs spokeswoman Jennifer Mihalcin confirmed Friday that the reduction is a reflection of the earlier decision to temporarily put the brakes on work on its environmental assessment for the Ring of Fire project. An additional $25 million set aside for overall exploration remains the same.

In June, Cliffs said it was frustrated by a lack of consensus among provincial, company and First Nations interests regarding how the environmental assessment should proceed. Cliffs has been trying to nail down the assessment’s terms of reference for two years. The mine’s proposed in-production year is 2017.

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A new game aims to help would-be miners find a way into the field – by Leith Dunick (tbnewswatch.com – July 25, 2013)

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

Cam Meshake knows mining prosperity might be just around the corner. But the Aroland First Nation resident said for many of his twenty-something friends, it’s tough figuring out how to break into the industry.

He’s got a much better idea of how to get there now, thanks to Ohski-Pimache-O-Win Education and Training Institute’s new industry-specific web portal, Learning2Mine.ca.

Designed as a game, along the lines of Facebook favourite Farmville, the site details career possibilities and the path youngsters should take to land not only entry-level jobs, but well-paying mid- to upper-level careers. “It’s a really fun game to play. I just dove right into it,” Meshake said at Thursday’s initial public unveiling of the site.

“The story was interesting and kept me engaged. I learned a lot about the mining industry with this website and all the vast opportunities and the rewards that would come from the mining industry.”

Gordon Kakegamic, the school’s e-learning co-ordinator, said the government-funded project was developed specifically to address Aboriginal youth, many of whom are interested in making mining a career, but without the knowledge to do so.

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Gold may be Dryden’s new economic generator – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – July 2013)

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. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca.

Mining and Dryden have not always been synonymous. But this area of northwestern Ontario is continuing to gain some profile with junior miners to continuing to advance gold projects despite challenges to raising exploration capital.

“There’s a lot of buzz around the mining sector and I’m getting more calls on that side of things from companies looking to jump in ahead of the curve,” said Nicole Gale, office manager at the Dryden Development Corporation (DDC).

For years, the community’s economy has always been impacted by the highs and lows of the forestry industry, namely the fortunes of the Domtar pulp mill. However, ongoing exploration work from area junior miners like Treasury Metals, Manitou Gold and Tamaka Gold has stirred up excitement in the small city of 7,600.

Located on the Trans-Canada Highway between Thunder Bay and Winnipeg, Dryden has always been a retail shopping hub for neighbouring communities. Now it’s aiming to be a local service hub for mining outfits.

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De Beers’ Victor Diamond Mine court U.S. billionaire – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – July 26, 2013)

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

Billionaire businessman Warren Buffett has a standing invitation to visit a diamond mine in Northern Ontario. Buffett, 82, has been asked to join a junket in September, in which Crossworks Manufacturing will fly possible investors and diamond buyers to De Beers’ Victor Diamond Mine.

Victor is the first Canadian diamond mine in Ontario, and De Beers’ second Canadian diamond mine. It is located in the James Bay Lowlands, 90 kilometres west of Attawapiskat, so it’s safe to say Buffett has likely never visited that region.

Buffett purchased Omahabased Borsheims, one of the largest jewelers in the United States, in 1989. It’s part of his famous holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. Unfortunately, Buffett isn’t available for the trip.

But Uri Ariel, president and chief executive officer of Vancouver-based Crossworks, said the offer remains open to show Buffett around the mine that produces high-quality diamonds.

Greater Sudbury Mayor Marianne Matichuk and representatives from Asian diamond companies, such as Chow Fai Took Jewellery Group, and Asian journalists have been invited along.

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[Ring of Fire] Community input – by Jeff Labine (tbnewswatch.com – July 24, 2013)

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

Eli Moonias says he believes the judicial review of the federal environmental assessment of the Ring of Fire won’t address all of his community’s concerns with the project.

The chief of Marten Falls First Nation as well as band councillors and members of his community were in the city to meet with officials with Cliffs. The meeting, which was held at the Prince Arthur Hotel Wednesday, is being hosted by the community and looking for direction on moving forward with the Ring of Fire project.

Moonias said they want to know how to approach the provincial environmental assessment. “What we’re trying to do is come up with a process that will work for both Ontario and the industry as well as our communities,” he said. “There are two processes; one is the (Canadian Environmental Assessment), which is before the courts, not the provincial one. The provincial one is being organized as we speak.

“We’re trying to get the process underway so that it will address our issues, which won’t be addressed in the CEA.” Earlier this year, Cliffs suspended its environmental assessment activities in the Ring of Fire.

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

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.

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First Nations royalty tax regime called for – by Rick Garrick (Wawatay News – July 24, 2013)

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

Deputy Grand Chief Les Louttit is calling for a “First Nations royalty tax regime” for all developments within Treaty 9 and 5 territories.

“We don’t want to be at the local First Nation negotiating or tribal council-level negotiating table,” Louttit said. “(Nishnawbe Aski Nation is looking for) a resource revenue and benefits sharing agreement with Ontario, which would include mining, forestry, hydro or tourism — that’s where NAN’s role is.”

Louttit said NAN is not interested in being involved with the Ring of Fire negotiations that are scheduled to involve Matawa’s chief negotiator Bob Rae and Ontario’s lead negotiator Frank Iacobucci. Iacobucci was appointed on July 2 and Rae was appointed on May 10.

“We were not involved in Musselwhite; we were not involved in the Moose Cree OPG or Detour Lake project or any of the Wabun Tribal Council projects dealing with mining and hydro,” Louttit said. “The only time NAN has recommended professional advice is back in 2000 when the Victor Mine was being negotiated. I think the NAN executive at that time provided some or recommended some legal and professional advice to the First Nations.”

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Iacobucci visits Matawa communities – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – July 24, 2013)

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

Ontario’s Ring of Fire negotiator, Justice Frank Iacobucci, made his first visits to Matawa communities last week in what he said was a chance to see the communities, meet community members and leaders and get a better sense of what the issues facing Matawa communities are.

“I want to show respect to the First Nations, by visiting and explaining what my mandate is, and also so they know who I am,” Iacobucci said. “We want to ensure we have good lines of communication.”

Iacobucci, who most recently completed a report on the underrepresentation of First Nations people on provincial jury rolls, was named Ontario’s Ring of Fire negotiator in June. The Matawa First Nations have contracted former Liberal leader Bob Rae to negotiate with Iacobucci on their behalf.

On July 18 Iacobucci and Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle travelled to Neskantaga. They had previously visited Marten Falls and Eabametoong. Iacobucci said he hopes to be invited to visit all Matawa communities before formal negotiations start.

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William Boor, Cliffs Natural Resouces Senior VP-Global Ferroalloys, Ring of Fire Thunder Bay Speech (June 20, 2013)

http://www.cliffsnaturalresources.com/

William Boor, senior vice president — global ferroalloys, spoke at the 3rd Annual Ontario Mining Forum, held in Thunder Bay in June 20-21, 2013. During his keynote address, Mr. Boor talked about Cliffs Chromite Project and the potential impacts and opportunities mineral resource development projects can have for the communities of the Ring of Fire region of Northern Ontario.

Third Ontario Mining Forum Speech – by William Boor, Senior Vice President Global Ferroalloys

This evening I’m very happy to be here, happy to have the opportunity to speak to such a great room and a wonderfully captive audience as well. I’m excited about the opportunity because I think we have come to a time that will prove to be really critical in the history of the Ring of Fire development.

I wanted to start out by saying that I stand here talking tonight as a face of “industry.” We talk about Government, First Nations and industry and I am the face of industry. I know what comes with that. As “industry” I am expected to be self-interested for my company’s shareholders only, interested in keeping as much as possible, and by inference, giving as little as possible.

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

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