Ontario Mining – Page 312 – Republic of Mining

The Far North Act, Economic Development and the Aboriginal Future – by Livio Di Matteo (November 1, 2011)

November 1, 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/

The aboriginal population of Northern Ontario is growing at a much faster rate than the non-aboriginal population and faces a number of economic and social challenges. Along with education and the acquisition of human capital, another source of future economic welfare improvement must be the employment opportunities associated with resource development in Ontario’s north.

The Ring of Fire will likely be one such opportunity. However, the prospect of other future resource discoveries and associated economic development is now much diminished as a result of the Far North Act passed by the McGuinty Liberal government a year ago. This is unfortunate given the forecast increases in future demand for resources from the developing world – in particular, the Asia-Pacific region.

As a result of the Far North Act, some 225,000 square kilometers of Ontario’s far north will be off limits to resource development – an area that is roughly twenty percent of the province’s land mass. While this action has ostensibly been done with the aim of protecting a large chunk of Ontario’s environmental heritage, it has not been welcomed by northern Ontario’s First Nations.

No joint review, no Ring of Fire: Matawa chiefs – by Rick Garrick (Wawatay News – October 27, 2011)

November 1, 2011

Wawatay News is Northern Ontario’s First Nation Voice with offices in Sioux Lookout, Timmins and Thunder Bay.

The chiefs of Matawa First Nations have withdrawn their support for development in the Ring of Fire. The Oct. 21 announcement comes after the federal government announced plans to conduct an environmental study of a potential mine project in the Ring of Fire, an area in the James Bay lowlands near several Matawa communities.

But Matawa chiefs said they want a more thorough study of the chromite mine proposed by Cliffs Natural Resources, a company based out of Cleveland, Ohio. Constance Lake Chief Roger Wesley said that request fell on deaf ears by the federal agency responsible for environmental studies.

“We will be forced to resort to alternative measures if Canada and Ontario continue to ignore the First Nations that are being impacted by Ring of Fire developments,” Wesley said. “We want development, but we also want to make sure that our lands, waters, wildlife, and our way of life are not destroyed in the process.”

Have engineering companies found a secret for successful employee engagement?

November 1, 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.

Mining in Ontario continues to face current and future human resource challenges due to industry growth and pending retirements from the existing workforce. Attracting and retaining employees for the right jobs in the right locations is a key strategy to be successful.

The Mining Industry Human Resource Council (MiHR) indicates Ontario’s mining industry will need between 5,578 and 17,000-plus new employees leading up to 2018. That range is based on different scenarios for global demand of metal and minerals. Ontario Mining Association President Chris Hodgson is a Director on the MiHR Board.

A recently released best employer study rates employee engagement as a key indicator for success in attracting in retaining workers. Aon Hewitt’s Best Employers in Canada study, which looked at 261 employers with a total of 112,000 employees, said the average engagement score for the top 50 companies was 78% while the average engagement score of the other companies was 58%.

Jobs waiting for hard rock mining grads – by Chris Ribau (Timmins Daily Press – November 1, 2011)

November 1, 2011

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

First group to complete program at Northern College

The first graduates have completed the Basic Underground Hard Rock Miner Common Core program at Northern College. The Porcupine Campus, in partnership with Goldcorp Porcupine Gold Mines, held a luncheon Monday to honour the students who graduated from the 12-week program.

“We’re here to celebrate the journey of the first group of graduates in our industry leading Basic Underground Hard Rock Miner Common Core program,” said Norm Bolduc, training consultant for Northern College.

Peter MacLean, vice-president of Northern College, offered some encouraging words for the graduates.

[Aboriginal Mining] Ontario Far North Act: Reducing Aboriginal Poverty through Parks or Mines? – by Stan Sudol

December 5, 2011October 31, 2011

Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant and columnist who blogs at: www.republicofmining.com He can be reached at stan.sudol@republicofmining.com

Honourable Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper at the Agnico-Eagle Meadowbank Mine, Nunavut

There are many reasons that contributed to Premier McGuinty’s minority government in the recent Ontario election. However, one of the most contentious issues contributing to his decline in the vast regions of the North – an area that is seldom on the Toronto media’s agenda – was the much detested Far North Act. Praised by the south’s many well-funded and powerful environmental groups, this legislation cuts off half of the Far North – 225,000 square kilometers – to resource development, roughly 21 per cent of the province’s landmass and turns it into natural parks.

As they often say, “the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” The horrific downside to this green ideology is that mineral exploration and potential mines – the only form of economic development that could reduce the impoverished, third-world living conditions in First Nation communities – is being reduced or stopped in the affected territory.

A generation ago the destruction of the fur industry in northern Aboriginal communities by an aggressive, media-savvy environmental movement caused enormous economic hardships and contributed many social ills. Are McGuinty and his environmental thugs doing the same with their parks agenda? Is the Far North Act inherently “Anti-Aboriginal”?

The West grabbing a growing share of Canada’s investment capital – by Gordon Hamilton (Vancouver Sun – October 29, 2011)

October 30, 2011

The Vancouver Sun, a broadsheet daily paper first published in 1912, has the largest circulation in the province of British Columbia.

Strong commodities markets, especially mining, pulling growing volume of M&A activity to western provinces

The Western provinces are taking a bigger share of Canadian business investment as a result of the global commodities boom, a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report on mergers and acquisitions shows.

Ontario and Quebec continue to be the top investment destination, according to the report Deals Quarterly Special Feature, but the two Central Canada provinces are losing market share to the West. The report looks at merger and acquisition activity province-by-province over the last 10 years.

“There is certainly a shift, a trend,” Kristian Knibutat, PwC Canadian deals leader, said in a teleconference on the report Friday. He said the geographic shift comes as no surprise, given the “super cycle” that commodities have been experiencing over the decade.

Exploration company issues donation challenge – By Chris Ribau (Timmins Daily Press – October 28, 2011)

October 28, 2011

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

Solid Gold Resources Corporation contributes to 2012 Timmins Centennial Legacy Project

The management of Solid Gold Resources Corporation took the opportunity Thursday to demonstrate their commitment to the community and also honour the pioneers who initiated one of the largest ever gold rushes ever.

The company donated $1,000 to the Porcupine Prospectors and Developers Association in support of the 2012 Timmins Centennial Legacy Project. The project aims to erect three bronze statues honouring John S. Wilson, Sandy McIntyre and Benjamin Hollinger.

“It is a privilege to be part of the Timmins 100th anniversary celebration,” said Darryl Stretch, president of Solid Gold. “Names like Wilson, McIntyre and Hollinger are synonymous with the spectacular discoveries that launched one of the biggest gold rushes in history and led to the founding of Timmins in 1912.”

Solid future for gold firm – by Chris Ribau (Timmins Daily Press – October 28, 2011)

October 28, 2011

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

Solid Gold Resources announces major gold find by Abitibi Lake

Drill testing near Lake Abitibi could prove the potential for a new gold camp.

Solid Gold Resources Corporation began staking mineral claims around the south end of Lake Abitibi in 2007 when they saw the possibility of good things happening in the gold industry.

“As we went forward in doing our work we realized that there was more perspective ground around us so we claimed up some more,” said Darryl Stretch, president of Solid Gold. “We have just over 200 square kilometres. It’s a very large land package.”

Northeastern Ontario has been a prolific mining area for over a century and is famous world wide as a place where world class deposits are found, explained Stretch.

Review of mine proposal under fire – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – October 28, 2011)

October 28, 2011

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

The absence of Aboriginal representation on an expert panel reviewing a proposal for a new Marathon-area mine, combined with a perception of bias in favour of the proponent, continues to be a source of frustration and anxiety at Pic River First Nation.

The uncertainty was aired Wednesday night inside a candle-lit spiritual lodge, where federal officials were grilled about the quality and integrity of an ongoing joint provincial-federal review into Stillwater Canada’s plan for a copper and palladium mine north of Marathon’s airport.

Pic River school principal Lisa Michano-Courchene told the gathering she is troubled that the all-male panel’s two scientists and one engineer are unknown to reserve residents. The panellists are from New Brunswick, Toronto and Sudbury. Pic River’s formal request for the panel to have at least one Aboriginal representative wasn’t granted.

Ring of Fire engineering potential burns bright – Content Sponsored by Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (Toronto Star Insert – October 27, 2011)

October 27, 2011

The Toronto Star, has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

“Some people say this is proof that God is a mining engineer
because he put a chromite deposit up there, and then he laid
out a road for us.” (Moe Lavigne, Vice-president at KWG Resources)

Since the discovery of chromite was announced in northern Ontario in 2007 – nickel and copper were found three years earlier – engineers and miners have been looking at how to develop these deposits, which have been declared the most promising mining opportunity in Canada in a century.

But there’s a problem: the site is a vast subarctic muskeg bog in the remote James Bay Lowlands, 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay. For thousands of square kilometres, the terrain is difficult to walk on, let alone haul thousands of tonnes of heavy ore-with one lucky exception.

Railway expansion

A series of sand ridges that once ran along the shore of a postglacial lake follows the most direct route into the region near McFaulds Lake. They could become the foundation of a road and eventually a railway for a multi-generational mining play that’s often touted as rivalling the Sudbury Basin.

NEWS RELEASE: Rencore Resources Announces the Signing of Exploration Agreement with Kasabonika Lake First Nation

October 27, 2011

Toronto, Ontario (October 27, 2011) – Rencore Resources Ltd., CNSX: RNC (“Rencore” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has signed an Exploration Agreement with Kasabonika Lake First Nation (“KLFN”).

Chief Eno H Anderson states that “I am pleased that Rencore saw fit to enter into these successful negotiations in good faith and have recognized the reality of working with our community in a mutually respectful way. We look forward to the successful execution of their exploration program while respecting the land and community of Kasabonika Lake First Nation.”

President and CEO of Rencore Resources Ltd., Richard E. Nemis states, “We are very pleased to have reached this agreement and we look forward to working with Kasabonika Lake First Nation. The leadership of the community is doing a good job of advancing their people’s interests and participating in the natural resource sector.”

The Company is currently planning a program to drill a number of geophysical anomalies located on its claims situated approximately 30 km to 60 km southeast of KLFN.

Huge uncertainties remain with Ontario’s new Mining Act – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – October 27, 2011)

October 27, 2011

Wawatay News is Northern Ontario’s First Nation Voice with offices in Sioux Lookout, Timmins and Thunder Bay.

As the minister tasked with implementing the heart of the Ontario Mining Act takes over his new portfolio, the challenges facing that goal seem to be growing by the week.

The new minority Liberal government named Sudbury’s Rick Bartolucci minister of Northern Development and Mines, Oct. 20. Bartolucci replaces Thunder Bay-Superior North’s Michael Gravelle, the minister who brought in the new Mining Act.

The Sudbury MPP’s task of bringing in phases two and three of the Mining Act looks more daunting than ever after a month that has seen a new flare up over mining exploration on Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) traditional lands, a Supreme Court decision granting Grassy Narrows First Nations the right to reject mining exploration on its territory and Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Stan Beardy’s stance on any outside incursion onto northern Ontario First Nation land.

Extraordinary opportunities for economic development [in Northern Ontario] – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – October 27, 2011)

October 27, 2011

Wawatay News is Northern Ontario’s First Nation Voice with offices in Sioux Lookout, Timmins and Thunder Bay.

Michael Gravelle, Liberal MPP for Thunder Bay-Superior North, was re-elected for the fifth straight time in the fall 2011 election. Formerly the minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry, Gravelle was shifted to his new role as minister of Natural Resources in the new Liberal cabinet.

Gravelle sat down with Wawatay News to discuss politics, the new mining act and opportunities for First Nation involvement in future economic development.

Wawatay News: Thinking back all those years to 1995 when you first ran, what made you think that politics is a venue to affect change?

Michael Gravelle: For some time I’ve felt that the role of a political representative is an important one. Being able to advocate and fight for your constituents, see them get the best possible treatments from governments is always something I believed in. As a very young man I began working in the political field by working as an assistant to a federal member of parliament who subsequently became a cabinet minister during the time of Pierre Trudeau’s prime minister-ship in the late 60s and 70s.

Take advantage of mining boom Hodgson tells Aboriginal leaders – by Len Gillis (Timmins Times – October 27, 2011)

October 27, 2011

http://www.timminstimes.com/

Mining Association president says Aboriginals can solve worker shortage crisis

Ontario Mining Association president Chris Hodgson has appealed to the First Nations of Northeastern Ontario to embrace mining for its economic development for Aboriginal communities, for the job opportunities for Aboriginal young people and to take advantage of an economic boom the likes of which the North has never seen before.

Hodgson was the keynote speaker Tuesday night at the first ever Mining Ready Summit and tradeshow held to build partnerships between the industry and the First Nations in the North.

The summit was held at the Days Inn in Timmins and is expected to become an annual event. Hodgson said the financial investments in the mining sector and the long-term job opportunities are unmatched by any other sector in the province at this time.