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Ontario Mining

Analysis of Vale’s $10 Billion Canadian Investment – Liezel Hill (Mining Weekly North American Deputy Editor)

Mining Weekly is South Africa’s premier source of weekly news on mining developments in Africa’s most important industry. Mining Weekly provides in-depth coverage of mining projects and the personalities reshaping the mining industry. In order to advance Mining Weekly’s objective of positioning itself as a leading global provider of mining news, a full-time correspondent is based …

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News Release: Rio Tinto Creates A New $10 Million Mining Research Centre at CEMI in Sudbury, Canada

Sudbury, ON – On November 25th, 2010, Rio Tinto announced the establishment of the Rio Tinto Centre for Underground Mine Construction (RTC-UMC) at the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) located in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Rio Tinto will be investing $10 million dollars over five years to undertake research at the centre.

Rio Tinto is focusing on mechanized excavation including a shaft boring system (SBS) and tunnel boring systems (TBS). Rio Tinto has selected CEMI as the agent for collaborative research leadership in support of high speed construction associated with underground mine construction. For Rio Tinto, this investment reflects the company’s long term commitment to science, engineering and innovation, and is central to its approach to research partnerships. This is the fifth global long-term research centre to be established by Rio Tinto.

The Rio Tinto Centre for Underground Mine Construction at CEMI will undertake research with respect to ground and machine performance. For this purpose, prototype test sites will be instrumented to improve ground characterization techniques and to develop innovative support systems to facilitate high speed, mechanized tunnel and shaft development technologies for underground mines in highly stressed ground and at depth.

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Could Sault Ste. Marie be Site of Ring of Fire Processing? – by Ian Ross

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.

For an extensive list of articles on this mineral discovery, please go to: Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

Bruce Strapp Exit interview

Sault Ste. Marie is well-positioned to get a share of the chromite processing from the James Bay lowlands, said its outgoing economic development head.

“The value that Sault Ste. Marie will bring to the Ring of Fire is we’ll have one of North America’s biggest steel plants,” said Bruce Strapp, who was preparing in October to take on his new job as executive director of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC).

While a number of communities across the North have been vocal in getting a piece of the action to process chromite ore, the Sault has been flying below the radar, but Strapp said the city is far from being out of the loop.

Strapp said with mine development in the massive McFauld’s Lake camp more than five years away, there is no reason to blow the Sault’s horn until the site selectors show up.

“Moving forward and talking to Cliffs (Natural Resources) and saying ‘We want your business’ (makes no sense when) there’s really no business to be had yet.”

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McGuinty’s Controversial Far North Act Passes – Ian Ross

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. This article is from the November, 2010 issue.

For an extensive list of articles on this mineral discovery, please go to: Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

Far North Act (Bill -191) Brings Out Many Angry Critics and Universal Condemnation Throughout the North

The passage of the Far North Act into law at Queen’s Park this fall wasn’t greeted with sustained applause from Northerners, but with anger and condemnation from all corners.

Natural Resources Minister Linda Jeffrey said the act represents a “new era of social prosperity, economic certainty and environmental protection” that places Ontario as a world leader in fighting global climate change.

However, it’s raised plenty of questions on how the McGuinty government plans to both protect and develop the Far North in setting aside a still-to-be-determined 225,000 square kilometres of boreal forest, or 21 per cent of Ontario’s land mass.

But the highly controversial Bill 191, which places the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) as the lead agency to conduct the land use planning in the James Bay region, has many critics asking if the ministry is up to this herculean task.

Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner doesn’t know if the MNR has the manpower and resources to manage the upcoming flood of traffic, people and business in this sensitive region. Gord Miller said “clearly” the MNR must be the lead agency in Far North because they have legislated care and control of all Crown land in Ontario under the Public Lands Act.

But he’s uncertain if the ministry has the resources to take on the task.

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Canadian Mining Sector Plays Important Roles in Chilean Mine Resue Miracle

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.

Other than perhaps the time Neil Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the Moon in 1969 and for recent World Cup football finals no event has attracted as large a television audience as the recent rescue of 33 miners in Chile from the San Jose Mine.  More than one billion people around the world watched the first of the miners brought safely to the surface on October 13 after being trapped almost 700 metres underground for 69 days.  More than 2,000 journalists from around the world were on site in the Atacama Desert to record the unfolding drama.

The global mining industry rallied to meet this challenge and several Canadian mining companies played important roles in the rescue by providing human resources, advanced equipment, services and expertise.  OMA members Cementation Canada, Barrick Gold and Redpath along with Breakwater Resources, Kinross, Finning, Foraco, Precision Drilling, Technofast ATCO and Mining Technologies International were all involved in various aspects of the rescue mission.  Thank you for your part in making sure this story had a happy ending.

We can only share our empathy for the 33 miners and their families and gratitude that they are safe.   However, these circumstances have given mining in general a new profile. You know that through the international media coverage of the Chilean mine rescue on a daily basis that mining has found its way onto the global radar screen when you see children sporting Chilean miner costumes for Hallowe’en. 

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The Ring of Fire – Noront McFaulds Lake Project

This Corporate Profile Advertorial about Noront Resources Inc. originally appeared in the Fall/Winter 2010 issue of the Ontario Prospector magazine which is produced by the Ontario Prospectors Association and published by Naylor (Canada) Inc.

For an extensive list of articles on this mineral discovery, please go to: Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

Exploration Activities in the Ring of Fire

Noront Resources Ltd. is focused on its McFaulds Lake Project, which includes a number of significant, multiple, high-grade nickel-copper-platinum-palladium, chromite, vanadium and gold discoveries in an area known as the “Ring of Fire,” an emerging multi-metals district located in the James Bay Lowlands of Ontario, Canada. Noront is the largest landholder in the Ring of Fire and continues to delineate and prove up its discoveries with NI 43-101 technical and economic reports and a well-funded and aggressive drill plan for 2010 and 2011. The company recently completed Canada’s first NI 43 101 technical resource estimate for chromite and updated its Eagle’s Nest Ni, Cu, PGM NI 43 101 technical resource report in March 2010. Noront is a publicly traded company and is listed on the Toronto Venture Exchange under the symbol NOT.

Noront’s plans for the future include a three-pronged approach: exploration and regional targeting for additional resources; development and feasibility of the Eagle’s Nest deposit to de-risk the project; and corporate social responsibility with a focus on the environment and aboriginal initiatives.

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Report from the Ontario Prospectors Association – by Gary Clark

Garry Clark is the Executive Director of the Ontario Prospectors Association. This report is from the Fall/Winter edition of The Ontario Prospector magazine published by Naylor (Canada) Inc.

For an extensive list of articles on this mineral discovery, please go to: Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

Exploration in Ontario continues strong. The projects are varied and seem to be taking a lead role in moving the economy. Commodity and stock prices are staying strong.

Exploration areas that have captured the attention of investors include but are not limited to the Ring of Fire, Timmins, Beardmore-Geraldton, Sudbury, Rainy River, Atikokan and Kirkland Lake. Speaking with explorationists, there are numerous projects with multiple diamond drills working. The constant call to the OPA has been is looking for geologists to work on the various projects.

The Ring of Fire has captured the attention of Queens Park and the early spring budget focused on the economic importance of this exploration play on the entire province. The Ontario Geological Survey is completing various projects to help explorers in the region, and the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry is creating a new position to help move the  project along. Chromite was not really a targeted commodity 10 years ago in Canada, let alone North America.

The work of the geologists in the area identified the potential of the area while drilling for Copper-Nickel. The First Nations leaders in the area have been working on a steep learning curve to identify the effects and potential for their communities. If the Ring of Fire project continues in the same direction it will be one of the largest industrial developments since the development of the Steep Rock iron deposits. Ideas of railway access, developing projects in low swampy lands and the potential location of a chromite processing plant have community leaders and developers across the north of Ontario scrambling to align for the potential economic stimulus.

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OMA President Gives Mining a Voice at Ontario Economic Summit

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 participation of Ontario Mining Association President Chris Hodgson in the 7th annual Ontario Economic Summit provided the mineral sector with a voice on the high-level program.  Mr. Hodgson was a panelist on a session dealing with Ontario’s regulatory regime titled “Smarter Approaches to Regulation.”  The summit was held November 1 to 3, 2010 in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The moderator of the regulations panel was James Milway, Executive Director of the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity.  Other participants with Mr. Hodgson included Jennifer Ahluwalia from Dillon Consulting, Rudy van Zijp who is General Secretary of Actal (advisory board on administrative burden in the Netherlands) and Ontario Environment Minister John Wilkinson.

Mr. Zijp provided an interesting perspective on efforts in Europe to eliminate inefficient regulatory burdens.  Mr. Hodgson used some current examples in Ontario with safety being a success story of continuous improvement.

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Canada’s Remaining Resource Companies Must Stay Canadian – by Michael Atkins

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. Michael Atkins is President of Laurentian Media Group matkins@laurentianmedia.com His column was published in the October, 2010 issue.

“Australia’s position in global resources is not guaranteed. If we fail to remain competitive, Australia will incur a substantial opportunity cost and, in the worst-case scenario, our resources will fall into overseas hands and we will become a branch office — just like Canada…. We have been losing competitiveness, but we are well-placed to increase market share and we have the resources to do it, so Australia in the new world order needs to work out whether we become a competitor or a spectator.” Don Argus, Former Chairman of Australia’s BHP Billiton

If you run a business publication in Northern Ontario, you are never far from the politics of resources. We are always either discovering something new (say, the Ring of Fire) or coming up against something closing (say, the copper and zinc plants in Timmins), either suffering the effect of low prices or getting almost no benefit from higher ones. Lately, of considerable interest is not just what is happening but who owns what is happening.

We are living in an era of worldwide consolidation of the resource sector and this is having a tremendous impact on our prospects and profile. A couple of the consolidators are Canadian companies (say, Barrick Gold) but by and large Canada is disappearing as a serious player. We are pansies. We don’t have the guts and we don’t have the governance and we don’t have the wherewithal to find the capital. We are drifting into irrelevance.

We need look no further than the former chairman of Australia’s BHP Billiton, Don Argus, who said the following a few years ago as he was politicking to buy Rio Tinto, another mammoth mining company that incidentally had bought out another great Canadian company, Alcan:

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The Ring of Fire: Will Fingers Be Burnt? – by Michael Schwartz

This article originally appeared in the Fall/Winter 2010 issue of the Ontario Prospector which is published by the Ontario Prospectors Association.

For an extensive list of articles on this mineral discovery, please go to: Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

“There is no doubt that the Ring of Fire brings both enormous promise as well as enormous challenges for all. The enormity of the discoveries within the Ring of Fire could bring multi-generational community benefits if the regulatory roadmap is clear, if enabling mechanisms for community participation and partnership are created by government, and if industry brings their best practices forward.” – Mike Fox, Co-Chair of the PDAC Aboriginal Affairs Committee and President of Boreal Prospectors Association

On April 8, 2010, about 150 hungry people gathered at the Valhalla Inn in Thunder Bay to share a meal and explore opportunities at The Far North Feast. The venue was Thunder Bay, chosen because of its proximity to the Ring of Fire, a massive mineral deposit offering both benefits and challenges to exploration and mining companies, government at all levels, environmental agencies and, most crucially in the long-term, First Nations citizens in the vicinity.

Chairman of this year’s feast was Mike Fox, coincidentally both president of the Boreal Prospectors Association and co-chair of the Aboriginal Affairs Committee for the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC). He explains the purpose of the feast: “The overall intention is to highlight opportunities for progress and collaboration… Our aim is to show that the players are collaborating with the community, the province and its ministry, creating an enabling environment for others in the future.”

Recognising just how diverse and complex the situation is, the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry has  established a new position of Excutive Lead,  Ring of Fire Secretariat to develop the strategic vision and framework to facilitate the successful development of the Ring of Fire initiative and partner with other ministries to develop creative solutions that meet the interests of northern Ontarians, Aboriginal communities and the mining industry, while achieving government business objectives.

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Ring of Fire Railroad Study Staying on Track – by Ian Ross

Map Courtesy KWG Resources Inc.

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. This article was published in the October, 2010 issue.

For an extensive list of articles on this mineral discovery, please go to: Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

Despite the frenzy of exploration drilling and company acquistions in the Ring of Fire, engineering work continues for a proposed chromite ore haul railroad into the James Bay lowlands.

Krech Ojard & Associates is preparing a rail feasibility study for the construction of a 350-kilometre-long railroad from McFaulds Lake, south to Exton in northwestern Ontario.

The preferred route would largely follow glacial eskers that start south of the Albany River. These gravel rises make for ideal track bed in an otherwise swampy landscape.

Nels Ojard, special projects manager at Krech Ojard, said the majority of work this past summer was focused on the geotechnical program.

Soil samples that were collected along the length of the route last winter and spring were being processed and evaluated to test their ability to support heavy bridge loads and frost susceptability.

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Peat Fuel Power in the Ring of Fire? – by Ian Ross

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. This article was published in the October, 2010 issue.

For an extensive list of articles on this mineral discovery, please go to: Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

Peat fuel producer Peat Resources Limited eyeballs powering Far North mines.

A Toronto-based peat fuel pellet producer thinks he can provide a green source of power to mining companies currently operating off the grid in the Ring of Fire.

Peter Telford, president and CEO of Peat Resources, was making the rounds at last spring’s Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s annual convention, talking to companies like KWG KWG Resources and Cliffs Natural Resources of his ability to supply them with fuel for their future mine operations.

“If the Ring of Fire project proceeds and Cliffs wants to start processing chromite into ferrochrome for use in stainless steel, there will be a real power demand that (Ontario Power Generation stations in) Thunder Bay and Atikokan can’t supply.”

Peat Resources has an indicated and measured resource at its Upsala property in northwestern Ontario of 22.5 million tonnes of fuel-grade peat. The company has a small pilot plant there, where it has been optimizing its wet harvesting method and pelletizing technology.

Peat is a biomass that has been used for power generation in Europe. But it has been an uphill climb for the Toronto company to convince the Ontario government that the swampy material can be used as an environmentally friendly alternative fuel to burning coal.

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Stephen Roman Digging Up His Own Success – by Toronto Star Business Reporter Lisa Wright

Lisa Wright is a business reporter with the Toronto Star, which has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on Canada’s federal and provincial politics as well as shaping public opinion. This article was originally published October 31, 2010.

His father [Stephen Roman] was a well-known [Denison Mines’ uranium operations at Elliot Lake] mining icon, but Stephen Roman is digging up his own success

Stephen Roman has endured various viruses and parasites and all manner of poisonous spiders and snakes – even a few on Bay St.—while prospecting for oil and metals around the world over the last 30 years.

The 57-year-old mining entrepreneur nearly died from cerebral malaria three years ago, when he lapsed into a coma after being bitten by mosquitoes at night in the Sahara Desert in uranium-rich Niger.

And his original exploration firm Exall Resources Ltd. suffered through an industry downturn so deep during the dot-com craze 10 years ago that he was forced to sell off his furniture and artwork to keep it afloat as metals prices tanked.

“That’s the hazard of the business,” the affable financier says in an interview. “People may think it’s all glamorous but there are a lot of risks. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it all adds to the fun.”

On top of all that, Stephen G. Roman – son of the late mining magnate Stephen B. Roman – has carried on the family name, and despite all the weight that carries has managed to stake out his own Roman empire.
Just a week before the market plummeted in 2008, the junior Roman sold Gold Eagle Mines and its coveted asset in Red Lake for $1.5 billion to giant Goldcorp Inc. – one of the highest prices ever paid to a non-operating junior whose discovery was not yet a proven resource.

And with some promising drilling up in northern Ontario, he and his Harte Gold investors bet they may be sitting on the next big gold find in the storied Hemlo gold camp, which was the centre of a Klondike-style gold rush in the early 1980s and is now run by Barrick Gold Corp. about 350 km east of Thunder Bay.

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“Ontario’s Mining Act” and the Importance of Exploration to the Future Prosperity of the Province – by R. S. Middleton (October/2008)

This letter was sent to the Minister of Northern Development and Mines in October/2008. The letter provides interesting background information on Ontario’s mineral exploration sector. R. S. Middleton is a well-known and respected geophysicist who has been involved with many mining projects around the world and in Canada over the past 40 years.

For an extensive list of articles on this mineral discovery, please go to: Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

LACK OF ADEQUATE OR APPROPRIATE CONSULTAION

Meetings on changes to the Mining Act in Ontario were held on August 11, 13, 18, and September 8th, 2008 in Timmins, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Kingston and Toronto. The timing was particularly unfortunate since exploration people are always away in the field during the summer months so they were unable to take part or comment on the  proposed changes to the Act. This suggests either that the government has a poor understanding of the industry or that it has deliberately set in train a process to carry out its plans without proper consultation with the industry. Changing an Act of Parliament with only a three week review period is completely unacceptable in any parliamentary democracy.

Those of us away on field work have been unaware of any of the discussions and proposals that have taken place and consider that they have not been properly consulted.

Moreover holding hearings in a small number of towns over such a short time frame, will not elicit the input that is required from the industry.  Why was Ottawa not included in the hearings?  There are more exploration mining companies based in Ottawa than in Thunder Bay.

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A Brief Summary of the Mining Sector’s Contributions to Ontario – by R. S. Middleton, P.Eng.

R. S. Middleton is a well-known and respected geophysicist who has been involved with many mining projects around the world and in Canada over the past 40 years.

 The wealth extracted from the north has benefited southern Ontario and particularly Toronto since the 1800’s.  The discovery of silver at Cobalt in 1903 was a major historical event.  The enormous wealth produced at Cobalt was a major boost to  the early Toronto Stock Exchange.  The prospectors spread northward and found the Hollinger Gold Mine in 1909 and hence the town (now the  City of Timmins). 

The Town of Timmins needed a Newspaper and Radio station.  This was Roy Thomson’s first business and the beginning of the Thomson newspaper chain and empire.  Where is the monument to this success and financial wealth?  In Toronto on King Street – Roy Thomson Hall!  Where is the original head office where Roy’s son David worked as a cub reporter?  It was in downtown Timmins on the corner of Cedar and Second Street, which is now an empty space since the building was torn down.

The dividends paid by the Hollinger Mine financed the Noranda Smelter for Noranda Mines (based in Toronto.)  Hollinger money started the Iron Ore Company of Canada in Quebec and Labrador, the source for iron ore to make steel in Hamilton, Ontario and the USA.  Who was the lawyer and president for IOCC, Brian Mulroney!

Next to the Hollinger Mine was the McIntyre Mine which produced the funds to start Falconbridge Nickel in 1934 whose office was in Toronto.  The Dome mine, six miles to the east, started Dome Petroleum and the Canadian Oil Industry.  Argus Corporation (from Toronto) took over the Hollinger Gold Mine and remaining treasury and Conrad Black (from Toronto) used these funds to buy up many newspapers.  Hollinger Inc. held the Financial Post (now National Post), Daily Telegraph (London, England) Jerusalem Post, Vancouver Sun, Chicago Papers etc. and the rest of this story is still being played out.

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