Ontario Mining – Page 289 – Republic of Mining

NEWS RELEASE: Vale Inco Convicted of Unfair Labour Practice in Landmark Decision of Ontario Labour Board

December 24, 2011

23 December 2011 media release

In Brief

United Steelworkers won a major victory at the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) against Vale mining company in a case stemming from their year-long strike. The OLRB has found that Vale’s conduct is unlawful regarding the banning of USW VP Patrick Veinot. The board has ordered that the company cease and desist.

TORONTO – United Steelworkers won a major victory at the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) against Vale mining company in a case stemming from their year-long strike. Sixteen months after the strike at Vale during which time Vale banned USW Local 6500 Vice-President Patrick Veinot from its property and thereby denied membership access to him on company property, in a stinging rebuke to the company, the OLRB has found that Vale’s conduct is unlawful. The board has ordered that the company cease and desist.

OLRB Chair Bernard Fishbein wrote: “I think the message Vale Inco has sought to communicate is cold and hard (regardless of its precise motivations) and I conclude that there has been a substantial interference both in the administration of the Union and its representation of employees (or in the words of the Canada Labour Relations Board that have “the effect of undercutting or weakening the union”).

The Victor Mine: Description of De Beers Canada’s Success – by Canadian Business Ethics Research Network (CBERN)

November 5, 2015December 23, 2011

Canadian Business Ethics Research Network (CBERN)

The Canadian Business Ethics Research Network (CBERN) aims to promote knowledge-sharing and partnerships within the field of business ethics and across private, governmental, voluntary and academic sectors. CBERN also aims to support work from inception to dissemination, from graduate student research and fellowship opportunities to promoting the projects of established professionals. http://www.cbern.ca/home/

The Victor Mine: Description of De Beers Canada’s Success

• The following sections provide insight into the strategy pursued by De Beers and important facts about the Victor project and nearby communities, while providing additional context to the agreements between the company and communities.

In contrast to the conflict-ridden and failed development of exploration claims by Platinex, the recent development and opening of the Victor diamond mine by De Beers Canada has been heralded as “a shining example of responsible development in northern Ontario” (DBC, 2006). Although it has taken years of hard work, De Beers has successfully engaged with nearby First Nations to garner their acceptance and even support of mining operations at Victor.

This acceptance is best exemplified by the signing of three Impact and Benefit Agreements (IBAs) with the First Nations along Ontario’s James Bay coast. In order to better understand the relationship between the company and communities, the following sections provide insight into the strategy pursued by De Beers and important facts about the Victor project and nearby communities, while providing additional context to the agreements between the company and communities.

Step forward for local [Sudbury] gem industry – by STAR STAFF (Sudbury Star – December 21, 2011)

December 21, 2011

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

Sudbury will continue to shine as one of Canada’s few diamond cutting and processing facilities because of a new agreement with the Government of Ontario.

Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci announced Tuesday that Vancouver- based Crossworks Manufacturing Inc. will receive the 2012-2015 allocation of diamonds from Victor Mine.

Crossworks runs the diamond processing facility in downtown Sudbury, employing 29 people to cut and polish the precious gems. The number of employees will increase to 50 during the next three years, said Bartolucci, who is minister of Northern Development and Mines.

Under an agreement between De Beers, which owns Victor Mine, and the Ontario government, 10% of diamonds mined at Victor must be processed in Ontario.

Ontario Mining sector continues on path of improved safety performance

December 19, 2011December 19, 2011

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.

Since 1976, Ontario mining industry’s lost time injury rate has improved by 96%. The path may have been filled with both pot holes and speed bumps but this steady improvement in safety performance in Ontario’s mining industry is no accident.

In moving forward in time and using the lost time injury rate as a yardstick, numbers indicate the mining sector’s record has been safer by 81% since 1989 and by 73% since 1993. The lost time injury rate was more than 12 per 200,000 hours worked in 1976 and it has been reduced to the 0.5 range today. The industry-wide goal is to reach a frequency of zero by 2015.

Mining safety statistics are moving in the right direction because of personal diligence and concern for one’s self and one’s colleagues. There are a number of initiatives and institutions supporting this progress. OMA programs, the Internal Responsibility System, inspections and programs from the Ministry of Labour, regulatory changes and adjustments to Common Core skills training along with the role of the sectoral safety group Workplace Safety North and unions have played strong parts in these gains.

Drawings of the Porcupine Camp 1909-2009 Graphic Book – by Denis Newman

December 19, 2011December 18, 2011

A Great Christmas Gift

To order a copy of this $33.00 book, click here: http://www.highgradermagazine.com/books.html

Drawings of the Porcupine Camp 1909-2009 is a compendium of the Porcupine drawings of Denis Newman as we celebrate the Porcupine mines’ centennial.

Reminisce as you appreciate Denis Newman’s renderings of places where you worked and lived, or perhaps only visited in years past. These sketches will surely engender memories, both happy and sad, of all tha was near and dear to tose of us who knew and loved the Porcupine.- Syl Belisle

Denis Newman was born in Timmins and spent his early years on the Paymaster and Dome properties. After working at the Dome, Denis graduated from North Bay’s TEachers College and later Queen’s University. He now lives in Bellville with his wife Geneva. Most of his renderings focus on mine head frames and landscapes.

See below for more images:

Rob McEwen still predicting $5,000 gold – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – December 15, 2011)

December 17, 2011

http://www.mineweb.com/

Bullish as ever on gold, Rob McEwen foresees a tough road ahead for mining explorationists and mining developers, who fail to take into account the needs of a non-mining investment community.

RENO – As gold bugs get discouraged in the wake of year-end sell offs, über precious metals mining entrepreneur Rob McEwen still is firmly bullish on gold in the long run and stands pat on his $5,000 per ounce gold price prediction.

In a talk to the Geological Society of Nevada Wednesday in Reno, McEwen urged the audience to “step out of line once in a while” and constantly question fundamental assumptions about geology and discoveries.

During his address, McEwen recalled his own struggles with his senior geologists and the mining analysts who assumed that Goldcorp’s 50-year-old mine in Red Lake, Ontario, was played out. The former mutual fund manager had no mining expertise, but had emerged as Goldcorp’s majority owner.

[Xstrata Copper’s Kidd Creek] Mine expansion complete – by The Daily Press (Timmins Daily Press – December 15, 2011)

December 15, 2011

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

The major expansion of Xstrata Copper’s Kidd Creek mine is complete. Kidd Operations announced Thursday the $120-million extension to the Kidd Mine in Timmins is on time and on budget.

Approved by Xstrata in 2008, the extension to the mining zone at Mine D from 9,100 feet to 9,600 feet will extend operations by at least two years to the first half of 2018.

Further extensions to the mine life have been identified through the 2020 Vision program to elicit suggestions from employees on how to maximise the value of the operation.

The program, launched in February 2011, has already resulted in significant cost savings and an additional 700,000 tonnes of ore reserves being identified with the objective of extending operations further to 2020.

Transport Infrastructure and Ontario’s North: Floating New Ideas – by Livio Di Matteo (December 15, 2011)

December 15, 2011

Livio Di Matteo is Professor of Economics at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Visit his new Economics Blog “Northern Economist” at http://ldimatte.shawwebspace.ca/

One of the persistent themes in Northern Ontario economic history is transportation and access. From the days of the fur trade, to the arrival of the railroad and later on the onset of modern highways and air travel, transportation has been essential to accessing natural resources and getting them out to market. Yet, Northern Ontario’s transport network has borne the marks of being tailored to economic resource exploitation rather than linking together people. The network has been designed to move resources and goods out of the region rather than facilitate travel and communication within the region. This has been a factor in the regional divisions within a vast and sparsely populated region.

A new report by the Conference Board of Canada titled Northern Assets: Transportation Infrastructure in Remote Communities highlights the challenges of northern Canadian transportation in general and particularly the new changes being wrought by climate change such as permafrost degradation. While the report focuses on a case study of Churchill, Manitoba, many of the issues also apply to remote rural resource communities in Northern Ontario particularly with respect to the dawn of resource exploitation in the Ring of Fire.

According the report, transportation infrastructure is more expensive to build and maintain in Canada’s North and climate change is disrupting existing rail and winter-road links.

Temagami Mining Controversy – Letter to Hon. Michael Gravelle Ministry of Natural Resources

December 15, 2011

Hon. Michael Gravelle Ministry of Natural Resources,
Suite 6630, 6th Floor, Whitney Block
99 Wellesley Street West,
Toronto ON M7A 1W3
Fax: 416-325-5316

Re: Wolf Lake EBR Registry Number: 010-7775

Dear Hon. Michael Gravelle,

I am writing on behalf of the Association of Youth Camps on the Temagami Lakes (AYCTL) to express our strong opposition to the proposal to remove the forest reserve status from parts of the Wolf Lake Forest Reserve. Mining in this area will negatively affect our ability to run canoe trips in the region and destruction of the old growth forests permanently eliminates a landscape vital to our economic health.

Forest reserve status is intended to make the area a park-in-waiting, with existing mining claims and leases being automatically designated as parks as soon as they lapse.

NEWS RELEASE: Temagami Area Camps speak out for full protection of Wolf Lake

December 15, 2011

$3.5 million in annual economic activity depends on areas like Wolf Lake

Sudbury – December 15, 2011 – A group of eight Temagami camps wrote to Minister Gravelle today urging him to permanently protect Wolf Lake and its ancient forests from all industry. The camps infuse over $3.5 million in direct spending into the economy each year, while providing leadership development, healing, and educational experiences to approximately 700 youth.

“Mining in this area will negatively affect our ability to run canoe trips in the region and destruction of the old growth forests permanently eliminates a landscape vital to our economic health,” said Eoin Wood, President of the Association of Youth Camps on the Temagami Lakes (AYCTL).

An MNR proposal takes this unique landscape further away from regulation as a permanently protected area – a designation that is long overdue. In doing so it leaves irreplaceable ecosystems and prime canoe routes in peril from industry and badly managed recreation.

Ontario Mining education takes a step forward with new MBA program

December 15, 2011

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 art and science of leading mineral companies has taken a step forward with York University’s Schulich School of Business launching a Masters of Business Administration specializing in Global Mining Management. The program aims to develop and mentor the next generation of business leaders in the mining sector. The program will be fully available starting in September 2012.

“Canada continues to play a critical role in the global mining sector and Canadian mining companies are key players in responding to the unprecedented growth in demand for metals and minerals,” said Dezso Horvath, Dean of the Schulich School of Business. “An MBA specializing in mining is long overdue in preparing future business leaders for a key industry in Canada and around the world.”

Richard Ross, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Inmet Mining, is the Executive-in-Residence for the program. Mr. Ross is a chartered accountant with a long and successful history in the mining sector. He was with the accounting firm Price Waterhouse earlier in his career before working for gold miner Placer Dome. He held a number of positions at Inmet from 1989 to 2009. Mr. Ross also serves on the boards of Ontario Mining Association members Osisko Mining and Cliffs Natural Resources.

Old-growth area draws [mining/environmental] interest – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – December 14, 2011)

December 14, 2011

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

“As soon as they put the word balance on you, balance means
you’re going to get screwed … Balance means southern
Ontario rules, and let’s keep Northern Ontario pristine.
It’s hopeless. We’ve already lost so much of our land.”
(Gordon Salo, President Sudbury Prospectors and Developers
Association)

Environmentalists want to preserve it. Miners and prospectors want to explore it. But members of both groups agree on one thing. The government isn’t doing enough to help them get what they want.

The provincial government wants to remove protections from an environmental jewel — an old-growth forest about 50 kilometres northeast of Sudbury — to open it up for further mining exploration.

Wolf Lake, a hiking and canoeing paradise in the Temagami region, has long been designated a forest reser ve by the government, which now wants to change 340 hectares around the area to be for “general use.” The Wolf Lake forest reserve was put into place in 1999, said Michael Gravelle, minister of natural resources.

“The definition of forest reserve is an area that permits mineral exploration and develo p m e nt, but doesn’t allow other industrial uses,” Gravelle said. “The intention of the forest reserve is that as mineral claims or tenure lapses … those areas can be added to protected areas.”

Province must cut [Ring of Fire refinery] hydro rates, says Clement – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – December 14, 2011)

December 14, 2011

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

The federal government has a role to play to make sure the Ring of Fire is developed and that it creates jobs in the North, says FedNor Minister Tony Clement. But, if those jobs are to remain in Ontario, Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty and his government will have to do something about electricity rates, said Clement.

Clement has struck a committee to stay up to date with developments in the massive chromite deposits, to make sure the economic potential of the area is maximized.

But Clement said Monday that while he favours processing jobs remaining in Northern Ontario, the high cost of electricity could be a problem.

“(That) is firmly in the hands of (Premier) Dalton McGuinty and the Liberal government, so they’ve got to step up,” said Clement.