Ontario Mining Association Program shows educators the realities of modern mining

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 Ontario Mining Association will be involved in the week-long program for the third annual Teachers’ Mining Tour, which is being held at the Canadian Ecology Centre, near Mattawa, Ontario.  Thirty five teachers from across the province will participate in the educational workshop being held August 6 to 10, 2012.

OMA President Chris Hodgson is scheduled as the kick-off speaker for the opening night.  He will present information on the importance of mining in Ontario, industry support for the teachers’ tour and provide a glimpse of the potential and opportunity offered by the Ring of Fire area in the province.  The goal of the workshop is to help educators learn more about the realities of modern, high-tech, solution-providing, environmentally responsible mining in Ontario.

“Seeing is believing. This professional development opportunity presents informed choices for educators,” said George Flumerfelt, President of North Bay based mine contractor and OMA member Redpath.  “The Teachers’ Mining Tour brings modern mining into the classroom curricula.” 

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SOLID GOLD RESOURCES CORP. PRESS RELEASE: Ontario Shuts Down Mining

TORONTO, ONTARIO, Jul 18, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Solid Gold Resources Corp. (“Solid Gold”)

Mission: Regional Gold Exploration at Lake Abitibi, Ontario, Canada

“Certainty of title and access to Crown land is paramount to our industry, but only the Crown can provide the certainty required to secure major investment to develop projects like the potential new gold camp at Lake Abitibi, Ontario”, states Darryl Stretch, President of Solid Gold. “No obstacle should stand in the way because, like the Ring of Fire, the Solid Gold project may be a once-in-a-century economic opportunity to the benefit of all Canadians.”

The Government of Ontario (the “Crown”) distributed a draft set of guidelines for its Ministries to properly consult and accommodate aboriginals where required.

A rising gold price, an unequivocal ruling from the Supreme Court of Canada (Haida) confirming that third parties have no duty to consult First Nations, and encouragement from the Crown formed the basis for Solid Gold’s decision to conduct a regional exploration program at Lake Abitibi, Ontario, Canada.

Over several staking campaigns, beginning in the fall of 2007 through the summer of 2010, Solid Gold acquired mineral rights to a 200-square-kilometer property on Crown land at Lake Abitibi (the “Property”).

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Timmins plans for the future – by Liz Cowan (Northern Ontario Business – July 2012)

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.

Timmins 100th anniversary special

While Timmins marks its 100th anniversary this year and celebrates its past, its future is being guided by current needs and challenges. In 2011, a strategic plan – Timmins 2020 – was conceived to provide long-term direction for the city’s economic and community development.
 
“From a timing perspective, it originally started because it related to the loss of Xstrata (Copper’s Kidd Creek Metallurgical Site),” said Mayor Tom Laughren. “We really need to diversify and this plan will give us a bit of a template as we move forward planning for the next 100 years.”
 
The Met site’s closure in 2010 resulted in the loss of more than 600 jobs. “One time in Timmins we had both mining and forestry and that was good since when one was down, the other was up. But forestry has been down for a long time,” he said.

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The Ring of Fire: Politics and intrigue – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – July 14, 2012)

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

Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant, speechwriter and columnist who blogs at www.republicofmining.com. stan.sudol@republicofmining.com

On May 9, Cliffs Natural Resources announced the company was advancing its massive $3.2-billion chromite project in the isolated and infrastructure-challenged Ring of Fire region to the feasibility stage. Sudbury was selected as the best location for the proposed $1.8-billion smelter for a wide range of reasons, including rail, transportation, power supply and skilled workforce.

If you think that such a positive announcement should bring collective cheers across the North and an economically imploding southern Ontario, you would be wrong. The ensuing flurry of anguished and angry news releases from First Nations, environmental organizations, and some politicians was enough to make any reader despair that the Ring of Fire will ever be developed.

First, some essential background info before I continue: Discovered in 2007, the Ring of Fire mining camp, located 540 km northeast of Thunder Bay, in the James Bay Lowlands, will probably go down in history books as one of the most significant Canadian mineral finds of the past century. It is estimated that the chromite deposits are so large that we could be mining up there for the next hundred years and that the total mineral potential of the region — chromite, nickel, copper, PGMs, vanadium, gold — could easily exceed the legendary trillion-dollar Sudbury basin.

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The fight for the soul of the AFN [First Nations resource issues] – by John Ivison (National Post – July 14, 2012)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Only in native politics could securing the Prime Minister’s undivided attention for a day, and hooking hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding at a time of austerity, be considered a sellout. Shawn Atleo, the AFN’s National Chief, persuaded Stephen Harper to attend a Crown-First Nations gathering earlier this year, aimed at making progress toward a goal both men covet — self-sufficient, self-governing native communities.
 
For his troubles, Mr. Atleo, who is facing a tough re-election fight next week, has been accused of “selling our souls to the devil” by one of his rivals, Pam Palmater.

“There is a sense that if you’re not intransigent and fighting the federal government, then you’re not doing it right,” said Joseph Quesnel, an analyst with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. “After the gathering, the whole ‘Atleo sell-out’ narrative started to take shape, which in my view was bizarre and unfortunate.”
 
Ms. Palmater, an aboriginal lawyer and academic, is one seven candidates running against Mr. Atleo to become National Chief – a line-up that includes an unprecedented four women.

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Natural resources to define first nations leader’s next term – by Gloria Galloway and Nathan Vanderklippe (Globe and Mail – July 14, 2012)

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.

OTTAWA and VANCOUVER – Two months ago, 23-year-old Brendon Grant left his northern British Columbia hometown for San Diego, where he now lives a 10-minute jog from La Jolla beach. He moved south to start work as a junior analyst with RA Capital Advisors LLC, a private investment bank that has worked on more than $60-billion in financial transactions. Next month, he intends to start training toward becoming an investment banker.

Mr. Grant is Haisla, and his is not a traditional career path for a young person whose grandfather taught him to fish salmon and halibut.

But there is a seismic change shaking the economic foundations of the Haisla – and indeed, first nations across Canada. It’s a change that will have ripple effects all over the country and profound implications on whether the large-scale resource projects that provinces are looking at as an economic panacea move ahead.

For the Haisla, it is natural gas, and a rush to build tens of billions of dollars in new export terminals near Kitimat, B.C., to connect western gas fields with Asian consumers.

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Miner strikes Chinese off-take agreement – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – July 2012)

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.

Ironclad deal

When news about slowing growth in China shook down global commodity markets in May, Basil Botha wasn’t the least bit spooked. The president and CEO of Northern Iron Corp. announced this past spring that his company’s inroads into Asia had turned into good fortune.
 
His Vancouver-based exploration outfit received a sizeable order for 900,000 tonnes of hot briquetted iron (HBI) from China Railways Material Import and Export Company.
 
The product is scheduled for delivery in 2016 when Northern Iron’s mining and processing plant should be in operation near Ear Falls in the Red Lake district of northwestern Ontario. The company is advancing a series of iron ore deposits that involves dewatering the former Griffith open pit, once operated by Stelco.
 
This initial off-take agreement will take up two-thirds of Northern Iron’s anticipated annual production of HBI. Payment will be secured by a letter of credit from the prime bank of the People’s Republic of China.

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Landsdowne House blocks route to Ring of Fire – by Jon Thompson (Kenora Daily Miner and News – July 7, 2012)

http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com/

Neskantaga First Nation (Lansdowne House) is throwing up a legal stop sign on the proposed road into the Ring of Fire.

The First Nation filed a legal intervention with the Mining and Lands Commissioner on Thursday, claiming the province has delayed consultation while it makes announcements on the 400-kilometre route into the chromite deposit on Neskantaga’s traditional lands. If the legal challenge is accepted, it could halt construction on the only road into the Ring of Fire, delaying the entire project.

The band’s legal counsel, Matthew Kirchner, said his clients are entitled to consultation before the government approves projects in their traditional territory.

“They have constitutional rights to respect the land. That’s confirmed under Treaty 9. The Neskantaga also assert that they didn’t extinguish their rights under the Treaty,” he said. “Because of the constitutional protection of those rights under Section 35 of the constitution, they’re entitled to be consulted before there’s a crown decision made that might affect those rights. It’s a constitutional duty on behalf of the crown to consult and if appropriate, accommodate them.”

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NEWS RELEASE: Northern Superior Resources, Neskantaga First Nation Re-Affirm Commitment to Continued Development on Ontario Properties

press release

July 6, 2012, 8:31 a.m. EDT

SUDBURY, ONTARIO, Jul 06, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Northern Superior Resources Inc. /quotes/zigman/507849 CA:SUP -5.26% (“Northern Superior” or the “Company”) and Neskantaga First Nation (“Neskantaga”) wish to assure the Northern Superior shareholders that both the Company and Neskantaga remain committed to advancing the Ti-pa-haa-kaa-ning (TPK), New Growth and New Growth Annex gold properties within Neskantaga’s traditional territory in northwestern Ontario. This, after Northern Superior’s name inadvertently appeared on a list of Company’s slated to receive eviction notices from the “Ring of Fire” of Northwestern Ontario, by a group of First Nations (including Neskantaga) opposed to the development of a chromite deposit in that area.

Chief Peter Moonias of Neskantaga First Nation comments: “Northern Superior and Neskantaga have a long-standing tradition of working closely towards the exploration and potential development of resources in Neskantaga’s traditional territory. We regret Northern Superior’s name appearing on this eviction list. Under the current agreement we have with Northern Superior, Neskantaga looks forward to their continued progress of exploration within our Traditional Lands.”

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Ontario’s Ring of Fire: Politics and Intrigue (Part One of Two) – Stan Sudol

Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant, speechwriter and columnist who blogs at www.republicofmining.com  stan.sudol@republicofmining.com

This column was published in the Sudbury Star on July 14, 2012. http://www.thesudburystar.com/2012/07/14/the-ring-of-fire-politics-and-intrigue and posted on the Canadian Mining Journal website: http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/news/guest-perspective-politics-and-intrigue-in-the-ring-of-fire-part-one/1001537458/

On May 9th Cliffs Natural Resources announced that the company was advancing its massive $3.2 billion chromite project in the isolated and infrastructure-challenge Ring of Fire region to the feasibility stage. Sudbury was selected as the best location for the proposed $1.8 billion smelter for a wide range of reasons including rail, transportation, power supply and skilled workforce.

If you think that such a positive announcement should bring collective cheers across the north and an economically imploding southern Ontario, you would be wrong. The ensuing flurry of anguished and angry news releases from First Nations, environmental organizations, and some politicians was enough to make any reader despair that the Ring of Fire will ever be developed!

First some essential background info before I continue. Discovered in 2007, the Ring of Fire mining camp, located 540 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, in the James Bay lowlands, will probably go down in the history books as one of the most significant Canadian mineral finds of the past century. It is estimated that the chromite deposits are so large that we could be mining up there for the next hundred years and that the total mineral potential of the region – chromite, nickel, copper, PGMs, vanadium, gold – could easily exceed the legendary trillion-dollar Sudbury basin!

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NAN Chiefs-in-Assembly support the position of Matawa First Nations Council (Netnewsledger.com – July 5, 2012)

http://netnewsledger.com/

THUNDER BAY – Mining Now – Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Deputy Grand Chief Terry Waboose showed support for Neskantaga First Nation’s legal challenge to Ring of Fire development during today’s hearing by the Ontario Mining and Land Commissioner.

“I am pleased to support Chief Moonias and Neskantaga First Nation as they exercise their right to provide free, prior and informed consent before any resource development can occur in their traditional territory, as this is the international standard that NAN First Nations have demanded that the governments of Ontario and Canada must uphold,” said NAN Deputy Grand Chief Terry Waboose, who attended today’s hearings in Toronto.

“NAN Chiefs-in-Assembly support the position of Matawa First Nations Council that the development of the Ring of Fire will not proceed until a trilateral environmental assessment process is established, resource benefits and revenue are negotiated and the fundamental question of First Nation jurisdiction is addressed.”

Neskantaga has intervened in a dispute between Cliffs Natural Resources and junior mining company KWG Resources over the development of a road to access a proposed $3.2-billion chromite mine in the Attawapiskat River watershed, the homeland of Neskantaga First Nation.

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Neskantaga takes ‘American mining bully’ to court [over Ring of Fire road] – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – July 5, 2012)

http://wawataynews.ca/

Neskantaga’s fight to slow down the Ring of Fire and get First Nation consultation over mining hits a Toronto mining court today.
 
In a case with serious implications for the speed at which Ring of Fire development occurs, Neskantaga will argue to the Ontario Mining Commissioner that First Nation consultation has to happen before industry can buy and sell land on Neskantaga traditional territory.
 
The specific case revolves around a mining claim dispute between Cliffs Resources and KWG Resources. Cliffs wants to buy land claims from KWG on which to build its proposed Ring of Fire transportation corridor, but Neskantaga argues that First Nations hold rights to the land superseding those of industry.
 
“This is about a small First Nation in Northern Ontario standing up against an American mining bully hell bent on making a road and a mine no matter what First Nations say,” said Chief Peter Moonias of Neskantaga in a press release. “The McGuinty government continues to ignore First Nations and is desperate to see this northern Ontario mega project go ahead. We have Constitutional and Aboriginal and treaty rights on our side and we hope the Mining Court can help us put this project on hold so a proper consultation process can begin.”

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First Nation fights for control in Ontario’s ‘oil sands’ [Ring of Fire] – CBC Radio Thunder Bay (July 5, 2012)

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

Tiny First Nation takes on an mining giant at obscure provincial tribunal

Ontario’s Mining and Lands Commissioner will hear arguments Thursday about a road to be built in Ontario’s so-called Ring of Fire.
 
The nickel and chromite deposits in a vast area of the James Bay lowlands have been compared to Alberta’s oil sands in terms of economic potential. Tuesday’s case is a critical battle in the long fight by First Nations to control the pace of development in the most isolated part of the province.
 
U.S. mining giant Cliffs Natural Resources hopes to build a 340-kilometre road to truck its raw ore south for processing. It would snake across an esker — a long ridge — rising out of the muskeg, cross 85 waterways and three major rivers, and run right through the traditional lands of Neskantaga First Nation.

Chief Peter Moonias, wants a say in how — and even if — the road is built. “We’re not just stakeholders,” Moonias said. “We are people that live on the land that came from the land.”

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[Marathon copper palladium] Mine won’t hurt environment – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – July 5, 2012)

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

A long-waited environmental report into a proposed copper and palladium mine near Marathon says the project won’t cause any “significant” impacts. The massive report, authored by mine proponent Stillwater Canada, is part of a lengthy review into the project overseen by an independent panel of experts appointed by the provincial and federal governments.

According to Stillwater’s report, the mine on the outskirts of Marathon “will not result in significant adverse effects on renewable resources and is not predicted to result in any significant adverse cumulative effects on the environment.”

If the project passes the environmental review and the company acquires numerous permits, the open-pit mine is forecast to employ 365 people for about a dozen years. The company said earlier that production could begin in about three years.
 
The report is subject to public input. Deadlines for comments won’t be set until hard copies of the report have been distributed at municipal offices and libraries, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency said.

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Polish PM tours [Sudbury] Morrison deposit during brief visit – by Northern Ontario Business staff (Northern Ontario Business – June 29, 2012)

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.

Whirlwind tour

A May sojourn to Sudbury by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was kept so quiet, few knew he had visited the city until he was already gone. The PM made a brief stop in Sudbury to visit the Morrison deposit at Levack Mine, one of three properties owned by KGHM Polska Miedź S.A., the Polish, state-run company that bought out Quadra FNX in early 2012.
 
Quadra now operates as KGHMInternational Ltd., a subsidiary of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A., which focuses on growth in copper and other metals. KGHM also owns Sudbury’s McCreedy West and Podolsky mines, as well as the Victoria exploration project.
 
KGHM accesses the Morrison through the shaft and underground infrastructure at Xstrata Nickel’s Craig Mine, an arrangement agreed upon by the two companies last fall.

Under terms of the arrangement, Quadra will have access to the Craig Mine and infrastructure for the life of the Levack Mine/Morrison deposit, and will operate the Craig shaft and underground infrastructure but will not undertake mining from Xstrata Nickel’s Craig property.

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