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Ontario Mining

Canada aboriginal movement poses new threat to miners – by Julie Gordon and Allison Martell (Reuters Canada – March 17, 2013)

http://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – An aboriginal protest movement that’s often compared with Occupy Wall Street has the potential to disrupt mining projects across Canada, threatening to undermine the country’s coveted reputation for low-risk resource development.

Idle No More, a grass-roots movement with little centralized leadership, swept across Canada late last year with the help social media. Protesters blocked roads and rail lines, and staged big rallies in the country’s largest cities to press a sweeping human rights and economic development agenda.

Mining companies are also in the movement’s sights as aboriginal bands seek to renegotiate old agreements and seize more control over mining developments, whether they are on lands designated as native reserves or not.

“We’ve existed in this territory for millennia. We don’t have a land claim – it’s beyond that, actually. Our rights exist throughout all of our territories,” Arlen Dumas, chief of the Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, said about the northern Manitoba land where HudBay Minerals Inc, a Toronto-based mid-tier miner, is building its Lalor project.

Protesters cut off access to the gold-copper-zinc mine for several hours in early March, demanding talks with the company on an ownership stake in the C$794 million ($773.84 million) project, which has started limited production.

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Stealing from the pot: Book reveals escapades of [Timmins] gold highgrading – by Liz Cowan (Northern Ontario Business – March 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.

It wasn’t just the shareholders reaping the benefits of the gold mines in Tim¬mins several decades ago – highgraders were getting rich too. Kevin Vincent, a Timmins journalist and broadcaster, released the first of three volumes of Bootleg Gold, which recounts the untold stories of gold smuggling in the city and elsewhere around the world.

A chance encounter with a former Tim¬mins police officer in the 1980s sparked his interest in highgrading. After listening to Jack Atkinson’s tale of his involvement in bringing down the biggest gold smuggling operation in North America, Vincent was hooked.

“I asked Jack where all the books and movies and documentaries were on gold smuggling and he said there was nothing. That’s when I started doing research and it was much bigger than I imagined on a global scale. None of it has been held out as this major crime enterprise,” he said.

Vincent’s first volume recounts the stories of some of Timmins’ highgrading capers, including the 1938 Dome Mine robbery, along with some escapades from other places.

“I didn’t ‘out’ anyone in the book and it wasn’t my intention to do that,” Vincent said. “If I outed one prominent businessperson, I would have to out everyone in Timmins.

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Wasaya among companies examining airships for northern transportation – by Rick Garrick (Wawatay News – March 14, 2013)

http://wawataynews.ca/

As winter road seasons continue to become more unpredictable, a number of companies and governments are examining the possibility of transporting goods to remote communities by airships.

One of the companies involved in examining the use of hybrid airships for transport in northern Ontario is First Nations owned and operated Wasaya Airways.

“Our interest has always been to keep abreast of what is happening in the region so we are not left out,” said Wasaya Airways President and CEO Tom Morris.

Wasaya is working with a Toronto-based company, Solar Ship, to test a hybrid solar powered airship for use in supplying northern communities. “They’re not really balloons; it’s more like a solar ship,” Morris said about the hybrid airship being developed in Toronto.

Morris said the solar-powered emission-free airship could deliver materials and goods at a lower cost than other means of transport, but there are still a “lot of unknowns” about the project.

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First Nations can’t do worse than Queen’s Park – by John R. Hunt (North Bay Nugget – March 15, 2013)

http://www.nugget.ca/

What is Bob Rae cooking up in the political kitchen? The experts in Ottawa may know. Ottawa knows everything but very little about Northern Ontario. What Rae is doing or reported to be doing will likely have a profound impact upon the North country.

I have found it very difficult to like him. When he was the NDP premier of Ontario he sent a pet hatchet man to my neck of the woods supposedly to save money. This socialist paragon closed the New Liskeard agricultural college, closed the Temiskaming Testing Laboratory in Cobalt and euthanized plans to locate 200 civil servants at Haileybury.

As first responder to the federal Liberals’ near death, he has applied expert political first aid. Soon he may make the Trudeau coronation almost respectable.

It is reported that at least one First Nations’ chief wants Rae to advise or consult on the best way for First Nations to get a decent piece of the pie when the Ring of Fire mining area is developed.

It is an outrageous thought but the native groups and Bob Rae may plan better than Ontario has in the past. I remember when Temagami had three sawmills and a copper mine nearby. Then came the Sherman mine at Temagami and its sister the Adams mine near Kirkland Lake. Now they have all gone.

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Stepping stone: Aboriginal mining training program provides skill, confidence – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 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.

An Aboriginal training program in northwestern Ontario is making strides to address a looming labour shortfall in the mining industry.

Optimism is peaking in the region that there will be a cluster of major mining camps developing over the next 10 years, but in the Thunder Bay area alone, the mining industry will require between 1,110 and 4,150 workers. Where those workers will come from is anyone’s guess.

One possible source for underground workers is from the Mining Essentials program being run through the Anishinabek Employment and Training Services (AETS) in Thunder Bay.

Mining Essentials is the only work readiness training program for Aboriginal people in Canada.  It was developed in concert with the Assembly of First Nations and the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR), with curriculum input from educators and industry.

“Mining Essentials is a stepping stone to get entry level jobs,” said John DeGiacomo, the proposal and partnership development officer with AETS.

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Ontario Mining Association Teachers mining tour doubles in capacity for 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.

For the past three summers, the Ontario Mining Association has been involved in a week-long educational program called the Teachers’ Mining Tour. This year, the program is being held twice, which doubles the number of teachers to 60 who will gain a first-hand glimpse of modern mining in Ontario.

The programs are being held at the Canadian Ecology Centre, near Mattawa. Thirty teachers from across the province will participate in each of the educational workshops being held July 29 to August 2 and from August 19 to 23, 2013.

“Seeing is believing and this fully sponsored professional development opportunity presents informed choices for educators,” said Bill Steer, General Manager of the Canadian Ecology Centre. “The Teachers’ Mining Tour is an opportunity to bring modern mining into the classroom curricula.”

Lesley Hymers, OMA Environment and Education Specialist, will be supporting the program and making presentations throughout both weeks on OMA education and outreach initiatives. These include the OMA’s high school video competition So You Think You Know Mining and the OMA’s collaborative activities with Skills Canada Ontario, which promotes trades and technologies as career options for students and other organizations.

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In spirit of fairness and respect [First Nations and resourses] – by Xavier Kataquapit (Timmins Daily Press – March 14, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – There are many success stories across Canada when it comes to resource development agreements and partnerships between First Nations, companies and government. Most non-Native people don’t realize this.

Even in my home community of Attawapiskat negotiations in general between my people and De Beers has benefited many. The process is obviously not perfect but at the very least, the company, First Nation leadership and governments have bargained in good faith to make a very large project happen in the middle of pristine wilderness.

This is a big change for my people considering that we were largely forgotten and through a process of assimilation and marginalization, my grandfathers and great grandfathers had little choice but to live off a limited amount of land and survive through hunting and gathering. Even though resource development companies and non-Native people were reaping the benefits of huge projects happening on traditional territories, we saw very little coming to us.

These days, people think that First Nations in southern areas such as Timmins, Kirkland Lake, North Bay and Sudbury were the recipients in one way or another of the many huge mining, forestry and hydro projects that occurred over the past 100 years.

If you check with First Nation leaders and Elders in these areas, you will quickly find out that Native people were very much left out of the loop when it came to all this development.

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Canada sees decades of gains from Ring of Fire deposit – by Euan Rocha and Janet Guttsman (Reuters Canada – March 12, 2013)

http://ca.reuters.com/

TORONTO (Reuters) – Developing the Ring of Fire chromite deposit in northern Ontario could bring decades of economic benefits for the region and the rest of Canada, the federal government’s point man on the challenging and ambitious venture said on Monday.

“We understand the importance of developing this series of projects. We see how important it is not only to the region, but its significance ultimately to the province and the country,” Tony Clement, the minister responsible for leading the push to develop the region, told Reuters.

“We are talking about a 100 years of mining activity that will spin-off jobs and economic activity for generations,” he said in an interview in the government’s Toronto offices with views over Lake Ontario.

The Ring of Fire deposit, in the far north of Ontario some 1,000 miles northwest of Toronto, contains rich mineral resources that could transform the area much as the oil sands have transformed Alberta. But developing the deposit is fraught with challenges, given concerns with access, infrastructure, land rights and environmental issues.

The region will also need huge investments in power and transportation infrastructure to develop the deposit, and Clement insisted that business, rather than the cash-strapped federal government would have to take the lead.

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Don’t take [mining] prosperity for granted, warns Rae – by Karen McKinley (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – March 12, 2013)

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

Northwestern Ontario may be on the brink of an economic boon, but the province can’t take that opportunity for granted, says federal Liberal interim leader Bob Rae.

Rae spoke Monday at a Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce luncheon. The former NDP premier of Ontario confirmed that he could become a negotiator for First Nations with links to the mining zone, and he would working with federal FedNor Minister Tony Clement.

But Rae said nothing about a new job will be finalized until his term at the Liberal helm winds up with the party’s leadership vote on April 14. Rae focused on the potential for prosperity in the region with the Ring of Fire.

“If we can’t take prosperity for granted and we have to work at it, then we must also mean we must not take this project for granted,” he said in his address at the Airlane Hotel and Conference Centre.

He said as premier of Ontario, he learned many hard lessons, like a province should never take prosperity for granted. Rae recalled that the day after he was elected in 1990, he was told that the province was going to go from a surplus in May to an $8-billion deficit in a very short time. By the next year, it was a $10-billion deficit due to falling revenues.

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Ring ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’ – by Star Staff (Sudbury Star – March 12, 2013)

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

The federal minister responsible for Northern Ontario continues to promote the economic potential of the Ring of Fire. Tony Clement, minister for FedNor, told the Ontario Chamber of Commerce in Toronto the Ring of Fire could create as many as 5,000 new jobs in the region if fully developed.

“The Ring of Fire represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create jobs, and generate growth and long-term prosper ity for Northern Ontario and the nation,” Clement said in a release.

“As minister for FedNor and as the federal lead minister on this initiative, I welcome the opportunity to work with all levels of government, as well as First Nations and industry stakeholders to prepare and implement the collaborative economic development approaches for the region.”

The Ring of Fire, located about 500 km northeast of Thunder Bay, is potentially the largest mining development ever seen in Northern Ontario, Clement told chamber officials. The region has significant deposits of nickel and copper and represents North America’s single largest deposit of chromite, the main ingredient in stainless steel.

With mineral content worth an estimated $30 billion to $50 billion, the Ring of Fire could create up to 5,000 direct and indirect jobs in Northern Ontario alone.

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‘Rubik’s cube’ of development outcomes to be solved mutually – Clement – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – March 12, 2013)

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The Minister of the Canadian government’s economic development organisation for Northern Ontario (FedNor) Tony Clement was on Monday promoting the federal government’s commitment to bring together all role-players from the private and public sectors, including the First Nations, to map the way forward for developing the Ring of Fire.

Clement underscored the economic development potential of the Ring of Fire and reaffirmed the Harper government’s commitment to mining development in the region and within the country.

“It’s kind of like a ‘Rubik’s cube’ of public policy development and the sequencing of events. No one said it was simple. No one said that you could easily tie up all aspects in a nice neat bow.

“All aspects will be reiterative and in five or ten years from now there will be similar issues that we would have dealt with already, that will lead to economic development,” Clement said.

Clement was in recent weeks placed in charge of coordinating the federal government’s efforts to develop regulatory and public policies with regard to developing the minerals-rich north of Ontario.

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Great potential [for Ring of Fire] – by Jamie Smith (tbnewswatch.com – March 11, 2013)

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

Bob Rae says he’s been in talks with a regional First Nations council to work together on the Ring of Fire. But the interim Liberal leader couldn’t say exactly what his role would be.

“I don’t think it’s clear yet. I have had meetings with the Matawa tribal council. They’ve asked me to work with them,” Rae said in Thunder Bay Monday.

Matawa needs to discuss and negotiate with the province further before he could determine how he would work with them. But as an MP, Rae said he has already looked into the process of conflict of interest should he take on any sort of role after a new Liberal leader is chosen next month.

“I have begun the discussion but that’s not by any means completed yet,” he said. Rae spoke to the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce Monday at the Travelodge Airlane, saying the Ring of Fire has the potential to be as great or greater than mineral discoveries near Sudbury were 100 years ago.

While there is great prosperity to be had, Rae said development has to be done right. That means sustainability. “The environmental tests can’t be the tests of long ago days. They have to be stronger,” he said.

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The Honourable Tony Clement Minister for FedNor – ONTARIO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE [RING OF FIRE] SPEECH (March 11, 2013)

This speech was given at the TMX Broadcast Centre, Gallery Room, The Exchange Tower, Toronto, Ontario.

CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY

Thank you for that kind introduction. I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the Ontario Chamber of Commerce today.

The important role your organization plays as an advocate for small business and entrepreneurship in this province is second to none.

It is clear that you understand the value of the small business sector to the economic success of our nation. Let me assure you that the Harper Government shares your vision and determination that Ontario be a leading destination in the world to do business.

We appreciate your engagement with the upcoming budget and your targeted recommendations for spurring job creation, growth and investment in the province. We also appreciate your recognition of the significance of the Ring of Fire to Ontario’s long-term prosperity.

Your call that there be a federal lead on this incredibly important development was timely and prescient. You recognized that there needed to be not only federal leadership, but a coordinated, whole of government approach to what is a promising yet very complex opportunity.

And our government agrees. The Prime Minister understood the need to bring renewed impetus to this development. The promise and possibility of the Ring of Fire has been talked about for several years now. But the flames of excitement, quite honestly, had started to dampen and the Prime Minister realized it was time to add a little oxygen to the embers.

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Getting connected [Ring of Fire] – by Jeff Labine (tbnewswatch.com – March 8, 2013)

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

The debate to develop an all-weather road or a railway into the Ring of Fire doesn’t have the chief of Marten Falls First Nation worried.

Chief Eli Moonias and many other Matawa First Nation chiefs met with premier Kathleen Wynne in Toronto to discuss the Ring of Fire project. Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs David Zimmer also attended the meeting.

A recently released study favoured a railroad into the massive chromite deposit in the lower James Bay area instead of an all-weather access road. While rail would be a more significant initial investment, the study concluded it would be the cheaper long-term solution for shipping materials.

Moonias said it didn’t matter which one is built as long as there were access roads for the First Nation communities to use. “If they put in a railway I think we will be approaching it in the manner that we would be involved with it,” he said.

“If they are putting in the railway, we want to be assured that access roads will be built so we can get out of this isolation.”

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Detour Gold Shuns M&A to Avoid Barrick’s Plight – by Liezel Hill (Bloomberg.com – March 8, 2013)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Detour Gold Corp. (DGC), a miner backed by billionaire hedge-fund manager John Paulson, is avoiding acquisitions that have hurt competitors to focus on its C$1.5 billion ($1.46 billion) project in northern Ontario.

The company has set “deliverable” targets at Detour Lake, potentially the biggest gold mine in Canada, Chief Executive Officer Gerald Panneton said. The value of some miners is “dilapidated” because they issued shares to fund acquisitions that diverted management’s attention, he said.

“A mine is a headache, pure and simple, so if you have 10 mines, how many headaches do you have?” Panneton said in a March 5 interview at Bloomberg’s Toronto office. “If you have one mine and you are focusing, you have a better chance of success.”

Shares of gold-mining companies have underperformed the metal for each of the last six years amid surging production costs, project budget blowouts and startup delays. Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX), the world’s largest producer, where Panneton worked for 12 years, said Feb. 14 it took a $3 billion writedown on a Zambian mine it bought in 2011. Another Toronto-based competitor, Kinross Gold Corp. (K), said a day earlier it took a $3.09 billion writedown at the Tasiast gold project, an African mine acquired in 2010.

Index Beater

“There is a great deal of gold at Tasiast — we view it as a cornerstone asset and an important part of our future,” Steve Mitchell, a Kinross spokesman, said yesterday by e-mail.

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