Gogama mine golden opportunity for Timmins – by Kyle Gennings (Timmins Daily Press – January 30, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Plans and preparation are falling into place for IAMGOLD’s Coté Lake project. The company is edging closer to the realization of its open-pit gold mine south of Gogama.

IAMGOLD representatives made a presentation at the Porcupine Dante Club on Tuesday as part of the Timmins Chamber of Commerce’s Inside Their Business luncheon series.

“We are a mid-tier mining company with many operations around the world,” said IAM representative Steve Wolfenden. “We have operations in Surinam, west Africa and two projects in Quebec and now we are bringing a major focus to expanding our presence in Ontario.

“The Coté Lake project is exactly how we are going to do just that.” Wolfenden spoke to a full house, which included representation from mining contracting and auxiliary services from Timmins.

“At this point in time we are trying to characterize what is to come,” he said. “We are deeply invested in our preliminary feasibility studies at the moment, working to assess what we have, what we need and what government requires of us.

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Wynne’s election shows promise for the North – by Brian MacLeod (Sudbury Star – January 30, 2013)

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

As far as premiers from Toronto go, Kathleen Wynne was the best choice among the Liberal contenders for the North. We do not know yet what will come of Wynne’s attention to the North during the leadership campaign, but there is promise. Wynne vowed to create a northern cabinet committee — there are four Liberal MPPs in the North — and hold a cabinet meeting in the North in the first 30 days.

She vowed to focus on enhancing roads, bridges and transportation, much of which is aimed at developing the Ring of Fire chromite deposit in the James Bay Lowlands. Cliffs Natural Resources plans to build a smelter north of Capreol to handle material from the Ring of Fire, bringing about 400 permanent jobs to the Sudbury area.

She promised to complete the four-laning of Highway 69, which is vital to Sudburians for economic and safety reasons. And she wants northern mayors to co-operate on the Growth Plan for Northern Ontario.

Her challenges here are significant, though perhaps not as significant as her political challenges. Some expect Wynne to significantly alter her cabinet. What does that mean for the North’s two cabinet ministers, Sudbury MPP and Northern and Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci and Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP and Natural Resources Minister Michael Gravelle? And if development in the Ring of Fire is delayed, as mining industry observer Stan Sudol suspects, the best opportunity for job growth and economic development in First Nations areas is delayed.

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[Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Services Association and Dick DeStefano] Mining with merit – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – February 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.

Sudbury mining cluster changed face of community

During the last decade, Dick DeStefano has led the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Services Association (SAMSSA) to represent mining excellence in Northern Ontario, and its success can be attributed to one thing: boredom.

“I literally was bored,” conceded DeStefano, SAMSSA’s executive director and a founding partner. “I was near retirement, and when I was 65 I decided that I really hadn’t accomplished what I wanted to accomplish and that was to change the face of the community.”

After a career in consulting, he become a passionate advocate of the Northern Ontario mining supply and services sector, bringing together mining companies, innovators, suppliers, researchers, contractors and educators into a cluster recognized around the world for its knowledge, skill, expertise and experience.

The concept was hatched in 2003 during a conversation with Paul Reid, an economic development officer for the City of Greater Sudbury, out of which the pair determined the North’s 100-plus years of mining experience was a hidden asset that needed to be recognized and exploited.

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Ontario’s mining industry supports the province’s balance of trade

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 mining industry in Ontario is a steady, reliable, regular and positive contributor to the province’s balance of international trade, according to a recent sectoral economic impact study. Mining: Dynamic and Dependable for Ontario’s Future was produced by University of Toronto economists Peter Dungan and Steve Murphy.

“As Ontario’s international trade balance has deteriorated over the past 10 years due to a combination of a strengthening currency and the weakness of its major trading partner, trade in mineral products has become increasingly important,” says the study. Since 2002, the overall international trade deficit for the province has more than quadrupled to $70 billion-plus annually.

“The trade surplus for Ontario mineral products has strengthened to more than $12 billion annually, remaining positive over the entire period (2002-2011),” according to the report. “As well, Ontario international mineral trade has accounted for over half of the surplus in the country’s mineral trade over this period.”

“The Ontario international trade balances for both nickel and gold (the province’s two most important mineral products by value) have remained positive over the last years. The opening of the diamond mine in the province in 2008 has also boosted the province’s trade bottom line.”

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Graphene Extraordinary Combination of Physical and Chemical Properties – by James Murray (NetNewsLedger.com – January 28, 2013)


Superconductor Graphene Set for Industrial… by tvnportal

http://www.netnewsledger.com/

THUNDER BAY – Mining – Graphene is an extraordinary combination of physical and chemical properties: it is the thinnest material, it conducts electricity much better than copper, it is 100-300 times stronger than steel and it has unique optical properties. Graphene is a carbon-based material that offers incredible potential.

There are several graphite discoveries in Northwestern Ontario. Zenyatta Resources in the company’s Albany Project. While many in the region are awaiting a mining future in the region awash in chromite, it is entirely possible that graphene will prove to be the mineral that will change our world far more.

The European Commission today announced the winners of a multi-billion euro competition of Future and Emerging Technologies (FET).

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Junior miner sizes up carbon trading market – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 25, 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.

A Toronto mineral exploration outfit is dipping its toe in the carbon credit pool. Noble Mineral Exploration has hooked up with Mikro-Tek, a Timmins-based forest biotech company, to evaluate the carbon credit potential of the trees on its exploration property northeast of the city.

Mikro-Tek and IBK Capital have produced some preliminary numbers on the carbon sequestration values of Noble’s massive 60,700-hectare gold and nickel play, known as Project 81.

A baseline estimate indicates that the forest on Noble’s property has a present-day net credit value of $100 million based on a price of $15 per tonne of carbon dioxide (CO 2).

For Noble president H. Vance White, that’s a better alternative than raising capital by cutting down trees to turn into two-by-fours.“This timber asset will generate far more in revenues, based even on a $10 per tonne basis, than it would ever do by harvesting the timber,” said White.

The Project 81 property was heavily logged by a succession of forestry companies, ending with Abitibi-Bowater. A report shows the spruce, balsam and poplar on the property can absorb about 3.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

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Xstrata Copper in Timmins extends support for sturgeon restoration biodiversity initiative

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 Xstrata Copper’s Kidd Operations in Timmins has committed $21,000 to the Wintergreen Fund in support of the Mattagami River Sturgeon Restoration Project. “We are committed to supporting sustainable environmental projects, such as this one, that address identified needs and bring together community partners with common goals,” said Tom Semadeni, General Manager of Xstrata Copper’s Kidd Operations.

This contribution extends Kidd Operations support of the sturgeon initiative through to 2014. The funding will be used to acquire stationary monitors, nets, transmitters and other fish monitoring equipment. Along with the financial support, Kidd Operations will continue to provide in-kind donations of helicopter and personnel time for sturgeon habitat mapping and monitoring.

The Mattagami River Sturgeon Restoration Project began in 2002 in efforts to re-establish Lake Sturgeon in the local watershed. A once large population of Lake Sturgeon had been reduced significantly due to overfishing, log drives, habitat fragmentation caused by the construction of hydro-electric dams and to a lesser degree pollution. This project’s efforts have provided valuable data on the size and location of the fish population, where they gather to breed and how the river environment can be improved to encourage reproduction.

Lake Sturgeon are descendants of a prehistoric fish going back to the Mesozoic Era (dinosaur age). The fish appear to be much the same today as 100-million-year-old fossils, which have been found.

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Diamond drill CAO [Barb Courte] shares success story – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – January 25, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – It is not easy for a woman to get to the top in a male-dominated industry such as mining. Barb Courte, a big name in the world of diamond drilling, spoke at the Dante Club on Thursday at a Women in Business luncheon hosted by the Timmins Chamber of Commerce.

Courte, president and CAO of Northstar Drilling Ltd. and Cobra Diamond Drilling Ltd., said heads are quick to turn when she tells people about her heavy-duty line of work.

“As women, we’re not supposed to be working in the drilling industry,” said Courte, about past experiences, which have led her to work in places like Thunder Bay, Timmins, Sweden and most recently, the Dominican Republic. “I’ll tell you, after some of the things I’ve learned about mechanical stuff and down-the-hole stuff, it’s pretty bad. I have to check if I’m still female once in awhile.”

Courte’s tale in far from conventional. After getting married to Garry, a diamond driller, she never envisioned she’d be the one to eventually call the shots. In fact, at the time, she barely knew what drilling was.

“When I met my husband, I said, ‘What do you do?’ He said, ‘I’m a diamond driller,’ and I said, ‘Oh really!”, remembered Courte, getting one of many laughs from the crowd on the afternoon.

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Iamgold lifts Ontario project’s indicated resource by 114% – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – January 23, 2013)

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canadian miner Iamgold on Wednesday said it had lifted the National Instrument 43-101-compliant indicated resource at its Côté gold project, in northern Ontario, by 114% from the previous resource estimate reported in October 2012. The company said most of the mineral resources at the project had now been upgraded to the indicated category.

The new Côté gold resource estimate incorporated assay results from 85 additional drill holes, comprising 47 325 m since the October 4, 2012 estimate, and now entails 269-million tons grading 0.88 g/t for 7.61-million ounces and an inferred resource of 44-million tons averaging 0.74 g/t for 1.04-million ounces.

The estimate used a cutoff grade of 0.30 g/t of gold, similar to the cutoff used in the previous resource estimate.

The company said a positive attribute of the Côté gold deposit is its accessibility for openpit mining. The deposit locally outcrops at surface and, based on the drilling to date, the depth of the barren overburden averages 5.8 m.

Meanwhile, Iamgold also reported the fourth quarter of 2012 was its strongest, during which it produced 214 000 attributable ounces, which brought its 2012 attributable gold production to 830 000 oz, below the low end of its revised guidance of 840 000 oz to 910 000 oz.

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Most Podolsky miners to be transferred – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – January 24, 2013)

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

A joint union-company committee has saved the jobs of 65 production and maintenance workers at KGHM’s Podolsky Mine, which is scheduled to cease production on March 29.

The mine will go on care and maintenance for at least a year, and dozens of members of United Steelworkers Local 2020 will be transferred to KGHM’s McCreedy and Levack mine operations.

When the production halt was announced earlier this month, it was expected 70 people would lose their jobs. That number rose to 85 because there were workers at other KGHM operations doing jobs related to Podolsky.

As it stands, a maximum of 20 people will receive notices of layoff or potential layoff before Feb. 1, said Wess Dowsett, USW staff representative and area co-ordinator. “That’s pretty awesome,” said Dowsett, “and they’re still working to reduce that number even more yet.”

None of the 65 people being transferred will have their job classifications or their wages downgraded. While KGHM and the union may experience “a few bumps and burps,” both sides are committed to reducing the impact of the Podolsky closure, said Dowsett.

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[Timmins] Xstrata metallurgical site remediation underway – by Liz Cowan (Northern Ontario Business – January 22, 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.

Following 2020, it may be difficult to tell what once stood at the Kidd Metallurgical (Met) site in Timmins. Since copper and zinc smelting and refining operations came to an end in 2010, remedial and reclamation work has been ongoing at the site.

Xstrata Copper moved those operations to its Horne smelter in Rouyn, Que., and more than 650 employees lost their jobs. However, the concentrator remains at the site and about 220 are still employed.

The Kidd concentrator produces copper and zinc concentrates and treats all ore from the Kidd Mine. The remaining Met site operations will close once the Kidd Mine ceases operations, destined for 2020. Then, a remedial project will be undertaken for the remaining facilities at the Met site.

Since 2010, about 75 per cent of the plant remained empty and the company, as part of its permit requirements, had to initiate a reclamation project to deal with that portion.

“We removed all the infrastructure and took down a large amount of (empty) buildings,” said John Stroiazzo, manager of projects and closed sites for Xstrata. “The electrical power line and the water pipes, and everything that serviced the facility were removed. It took about 12 to 14 months to remove all of that.”

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Excerpt from “The History of Mining: The events, technology and people involved in the industry that forged the modern world” – by Michael Coulson

To order a copy of The History of Mining please click here: http://www.harriman-house.com/products/books/23161/business/Michael-Coulson/The-History-of-Mining/

CANADIAN GOLD RUSHES/ NOAH TIMMINS (1867-1936)

The 19th century ended with Canada firmly in the world’s consciousness thanks to the fabulous Klondike gold rush. By the middle of the 20th century Canada would be established as one of the most powerful economies in the world and an important diplomatic player following its key roll on the Allied side in both world wars. The economic underpinning, which enabled Canada to advance to the edge of major power status, was mining. In 1900 the country produced minerals to the value of US$64 million – by the beginning of the Second World War that figure had risen to $567 million and today it is nearer to $45 billion.

Today Canada’s population is only around 35 million, making it very much a mid-range country in those terms, but it is a long-standing member of the Group of 7 (or G7), the meeting of the largest economies in the world. Its standard of living is amongst the highest in the world and its proximity to the world’s largest economy, the USA, is of major benefit as Canada is an exporter of high quality, high value, advanced products to its rich neighbour.

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Lake Shore anticipates ‘big year’ – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – January 23, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Lake Shore Gold’s two superstar mines just keep on growing. The company’s vice-president of operations, Dan Gagnon, didn’t have very many negatives to present to Timmins city council during a review of 2012 and a look ahead to Lake Shore’s upcoming operations in 2013.

Gagnon said that while the Fenn-Gib property, East of Matheson, has “great potential for an open pit, our great focus will be on our two main assets, the Timmins West and Bell Creek complexes.” He called 2012 a “very exciting and good year,” and said the company is poised to reach new heights in 2013.

“We did a lot of mine building, a lot of mill construction over the past year, and a lot of improvement in our systems,” said Gagnon. “Now this year, I think we’re seeing the benefits of all that work. I think we’re poised for a break-out this year.

“We met production guidance and development and expansion objectives and expanded our milling capacity by 25%, and we’re looking to increase production capacity to 3,000 tons per day by second quarter of 2013.”

After processing 85,000 ounces of gold at the two mines last year, Gagnon said the company is expecting to produce up to 130,000 ounces in 2013 and 150,000 ounces by 2014.

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Charles Sousa hopes to be the compromise candidate in Ontario Liberal leadership – by Keith Leslie (Canadian Press/Globe and Mail – January 22, 2013)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

There’s lots of opportunities in northern Ontario if the province would provide
transportation links to help convince companies to process and refine minerals
found in the huge Ring of Fire deposit, about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder
Bay, which would create badly needed jobs in the area, said Mr. Sousa.

“We need to establish a rail or transportation system, a spine to the north,
providing access to isolated communities,” he said.“The ripple effect that’s
going to happen will be tremendous providing we harness it and we do the smelting
and the processing of the chromite and we produce stainless steel in Ontario.”

Former labour minister Charles Sousa sees himself as the compromise candidate in the race to become Ontario Liberal leader, the one who can come up the middle and grab the brass ring just as then little-known backbencher Dalton McGuinty did in 1996.

“It’s anybody’s game” said Mr. Sousa after he placed fifth in delegate selection for the upcoming leadership convention with about 11 per cent support, compared with 27.4 per cent for front-runner Sandra Pupatello and 25.2 for second-place Kathleen Wynne.

“I want to impress upon all the delegates to look at me as a third alternative.”

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Timmins Gold producer St Andrew Goldfields puts a shine on OMA high school video competition

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 St Andrew Goldfields (SAS) is once again offering tangible encouragement to the children of its employees to enter the high school video competition So You Think You Know Mining. However, this year it is expanding its support with incentives for teachers and schools.

SAS is increasing the stakes in SYTYKM. Any Ontario high school student of any SAS employee who produces a film and enters SYTYKM is eligible for a $250 cash prize from a random draw. The company is making the same offer with a second $250 prize for the children of Quebec-based employees even though they are not eligible for SYTYKM, which is only for Ontario students.

On top of this, which is what SAS offered last year, there is an opportunity for schools which support SYTYKM to earn a $1,000 grant. They are limited to one per school. “Our goal is to make equipment, resources, software or whatever tools you require available to you to assist with your submission. And your school can keep it,” said SAS in its promotional materials. Mentors – one per student film maker – will also be awarded a one-eight ounce gold coin.

“We are going outside our walls this year to offer up to $1,000 to Ontario schools supporting SYTYKM that our employee’s children attend. As well, a one-eighth ounce Canadian minted gold coin will be given to any teacher, staff or administrator who mentor one of our employee’s students through to the end and a video is submitted,” said Geoff Ramey, Vice President Human Resources at St Andrew Goldfields.

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