Development, protection; [Ontario] Far North Act clarifies land use planning – by Michael Gravelle (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 21, 2011)

Michael Gravelle is Ontario’s Minister of Natural Resources and MPP for Thunder Bay-Superior North.

AS the minister responsible for implementing the Far North Act, I can tell you that I truly believe it is the foundation of a remarkable and, frankly, unprecedented land use planning process that will benefit the North.

While our government moves forward in its work with scores of First Nation communities, I do acknowledge that there is still a lot of misunderstanding and opposition, and I believe that it is my responsibility to address this.

Most people would agree that good planning leads to good development which creates good jobs and a strong economy. The fact is that jobs and investment are coming to the Far North, and the benefits of that will be felt by both First Nations communities and the Northern Ontario communities that will become important transportation hubs and supply and service providers.

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WEBEQUIE FIRST NATION (WFN) POSITION PAPER [Ring of Fire] – November 23, 2011

COMMUNITY POSITION STATEMENT

Webequie First Nation (WFN) re-affirms that it has a right to determine its own community-based processes, community-driven initiatives, and community-led negotiations with commercial entities as well as with the different levels of government as its relates to the traditional, historic, ancestral, and customary areas of Webequie First Nation. This right is supported by the Canadian legal framework, the WFN Consultation Protocol, the WFN Lands & Resource Policy, and WFN Members.

It is well known that any project activities within a First Nation’s traditional area will require direct engagement and consultation with that First Nation
community. The following quotes from Chiefs of Ontario, Nishnawbe Aski Nation, and Matawa reinforce this point:

“It is the prerogative of the First Nation government to determine their consultation processes and the Crown should be responsive to the process requirements of the First Nation”(1)

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NEWS RELEASE: Webequie First Nation Reaffirms Community Rights in Ring of Fire

Thunder Bay, ON, November 23, 2011 – The Chief and Council of Webequie First Nation is reaffirming its community rights and local autonomy with respect to decision-making processes in the Ring of Fire.

Today, Webequie First Nation released two independent documents; a Community Position Paper and a Consultation and Accommodation Protocol, which both clarify and outline for industry, government and the public that the membership of Webequie First Nation will determine their own community-led negotiated process as it relates to the traditional, historic, ancestral, and customary areas of Webequie First Nation.

Chief Cornelius Wabasse of Webequie First Nation says; “Following recent reports in the media and consequent enquiries, Webequie First Nation would like to remind all those who wish to work with our First Nation and, particularly commercial entities, that they must have direct engagement and consultation with our First Nation before and above any other agency.

We, the Webequie First Nation people, are the primary contact and exclusive decision-makers for our community, not any third party or external organization.” 

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Cliffs wants to ship [chromite] to China – by Rita Poliakov (Sudbury Star – November 23, 2011)

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

A plan to sell chromite concentrate from the Ring of Fire area to Asian refineries has raised concerns in Northern Ontario.

Cliffs Natural Resources, the company behind one of the Ring of Fire discoveries in northwestern Ontario, said it wants to meet a growing international demand by selling some of the partially processed chromite material, called concentrate, to refineries in China. This will not change its plans to build a smelter in Northern Ontario — possibly in Sudbury — which is a component of the company’s chromite project base case.

While the Ontario Mining Act states that ore mined in Ontario must be processed in Canada, Cliffs said the company will build a plant to process crude ore into concentrate, which officials believe will satisfy the mining law.

“We believe that concentrate is an established product in world markets and the material mined will have undergone significant value-added processing,” Pat Persico, the senior manager of global communications for Cliffs, said in an email.

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[Cliffs Natural Resources] Miner plans on shipping chromite to Asia – CBC News Canada (November 21, 2011)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/

Cliffs Natural Resources says sending concentrate to Asia will help make its Ring of Fire project more viable

Cliffs Natural Resources said it plans to send some of the chromite it mines in the Ring of Fire to refineries in Asia, despite the Ontario Mining Act stipulation that ore mined in the province must be processed in Canada.

Bill Boor, senior vice president with Cliffs, said the company will seek an exemption to the Act, if necessary.

He said the economic viability of the project depends on being able to sell chromite to world markets in different forms — both ferrochrome and concentrate. “Selling concentrate is … an acknowledged value-added product within the world market that’s already existing,” Boor said.

He added the company will process material at the mine site — upgrading the chromite ore to concentrate, and that most of what Cliffs mines will end up being refined at the ferrochrome smelter it plans to build in northern Ontario.

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Chromite competition [Thunder Bay/Greenstone] Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (November 18, 2011)

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

THUNDER BAY and Greenstone have both made their pitches to host the facility that will process chromite ore from the Ring of Fire, Ontario’s most promising mineral deposit in years. Both sent delegations Wednesday to the Cleveland offices of Cliffs Natural Resources, the key player, and both came away confident they’d made the case for this important development.

Both have benefits and drawbacks, and without knowing what went on in Cliffs’ boardroom it is impossible to ascertain who may now enjoy an edge. But Greenstone appears to have put more effort into selling itself. It hired former Ontario energy minister now consultant George Smitherman to bring his influence to bear. It is also working with a public relations company.

Greenstone issued an opinion piece to this newspaper timed to coincide with Cliffs’ open house in Thunder Bay Monday and the trip to Cleveland two days later. It made a compelling case involving proximity to the proposed ore transfer point and a regional energy grid which is the key to such a power-hungry development.

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Fighting for the [Ring of Fire] smelter – by Special to the Sudbury Star (Sudbury Star – November 18, 2011)

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

THUNDER BAY — Fort William First Nation Chief Peter Collins and Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs agree the ferrochrome processor that is to be part of the Ring of Fire development needs to be in northwestern Ontario, whether it is Thunder Bay or the Township of Greenstone.

Hobbs and Collins, along with other local leaders, returned to Thunder Bay on Wednesday following a trip to Cliffs Natural Resources headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, where they pitched Thunder Bay’s case as a potential site for the processor.

“The pitch was just that Thunder Bay may not be the base case, but it is the best case,” Hobbs said shortly after returning to the city. Sudbury is currently Cliff’s base case, but Hobbs said northwestern Ontario will only benefit if chosen as the site.

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The pitch is made [for Ring of Fire refinery] – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal (November 17, 2011)

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

Fort William First Nation Chief Peter Collins and Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs agree that the ferrochrome processor that is to be part of the Ring of Fire development needs to be in Northwestern Ontario, whether it is Thunder Bay or the Township of Greenstone.

Hobbs and Collins, along with other local leaders, returned to Thunder Bay on Wednesday following a trip to Cliffs Natural Resources headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, where they pitched Thunder Bay’s case as a potential site for the processor.

“The pitch was just that Thunder Bay may not be the base case, but it is the best case,” Hobbs said shortly after returning to the city. Sudbury is currently Cliff’s base case, but Hobbs said Northwestern Ontario will only benefit if chosen as the site. “There will be no benefit in this region if it goes to Sudbury,” he said.

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Development and delay [Ring of Fire/XL Oil Pipeline] Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (November 16, 2011)

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

TWO LARGE resource development proposals in this country highlight the difficulties in balancing economic opportunity with environmental protection. The addition of economic uncertainty and cultural considerations makes this balancing act even tougher.

Here in the Northwest, the proposal to develop the huge Ring of Fire chromite project is the subject of dispute over what form of environmental assessment is suitable. A comprehensive study of Cliffs Natural Resources’ proposal, by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, is already under way. First Nations in the James Bay Lowlands withdrew their support of the project when the federal government opted not to conduct a higher-level joint review panel EA.

Matawa First Nations claims the comprehensive study EA provides “no realistic opportunity for First Nations to participate.” It says the current process will fast track the EA process for government and Cliffs, but put First Nation communities and their lands at serious risk.

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Noront’s [Ring of Fire] mine proposal under microscope – by Northwest Bureau (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 16, 2011)

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

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency is accepting public comments on the proposed Eagle’s Nest project in the Ring of Fire. Noront Resources Ltd. has proposed a base-metal mining project in the area, in the James Bay Lowlands.

The agency has prepared draft environmental impact statement guidelines that identify potential environmental effects to be addressed and information that needs to be included in the proponent’s statement.

The federal and provincial governments are co-ordinating their respective processes for the comprehensive environmental assessment of the project.

Noront is proposing an 11-year, 2,960-tonne-per-day, underground nickel-copper-platinum mine, to be located 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.

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Cliffs outlines plans for [Sudbury Chromite] processing plant – by Rita Poliakov (Sudbury Star – November 16, 2011)

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

Sudbury wants a ferrochrome facility. This was made clear to Mayor Marianne Matichuk at the Cliffs Natural Resources open house in Capreol on Tuesday.

“Most of the people I’ve talked to are very positive. They’re just like, ‘When are they coming?’ People are open to having this in their community,” Matichuk said about a proposed ferrochrome production facility that may be built at the Mountain Moose Mine site outside of Capreol.

While the Greater Sudbury location is one of many possibilities, Cliffs has marked it as a base case for the project. Although community support is there, Matichuk is worried about how Ontario’s hydro rates may affect Sudbury’s chances of getting the plant.

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Unlocking the wealth of Northern Ontario [Ring of Fire]- by Renald (Ron) Beaulieu and George Smitherman

Renald (Ron) Beaulieu is the Mayor of Greenstone
George Smitherman is a former Ontario Deputy Premier and Energy Minister

Discovery of the massive “Ring of Fire,” a chromite-rich mineral deposit in a remote area of Northern Ontario, is the first and perhaps easiest step in realizing the site’s potential. 

Mining the ore, then transporting it across the terrain of the Hudson Bay Lowlands will be challenging from an environmental and engineering standpoint.

Greater still is the challenge and responsibility of utilizing this resource in a way that advances the economic and social needs of our First Nation peoples whose traditional and reserve territories stand to be significantly impacted. The First Nation peoples living in the area have made it clear that they expect minerals extracted from their traditional territories to be refined nearby.

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The Far North Act: A counterfactual – by Livio Di Matteo (Thunder Bay Chroncile-Journal – November 12, 2011)

Visit his Northern Economist Blog at http://ldimatte.shawwebspace.ca/.

One of the analytical tools used in economic history to assess the impact of an economic event is the counterfactual. How different might the world be if an event had not occurred, and instead, an alternate economic reality occurred? The comparison is between the world today and the world as it might be.

I ask this question in the context of the Far North Act because of its potential impact on the future economic development of Ontario’s North and particularly the economic opportunities for the First Nations in the Far North.

While put forward as a process for community-based land use planning and development, the Far North Act is also setting aside from development an interconnected area of conservation lands of at least 225,000 square kilometres — an area that is about 20 per cent of the landmass of Ontario. To put it into context, it is an area about twice the size of southern Ontario — which represents only about 10 per cent of Ontario’s land mass.

The Far North is vast and potentially rich in economic resources. Its exploitation could serve as a source of economic development for a region that has been chronically depressed over the last few decades. While one might argue that the North is so vast that 20 per cent of its land is not really a significant amount, the fact is we do not know if the most valuable or least valuable parts of the region in terms of resource potential will be sequestered.

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Lucky Sudbury, Far North Act and Mining Industry Terrible Image Speech – by Stan Sudol (November 8, 2011)

Stan Sudol gave the keynote address at the Ontario Prospectors Association’s 2011 Ontario Exploration & Geoscience Symposium – Sudbury, Ontario – November 8, 2011

Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant and mining columnist. www.republicofmining.com stan.sudol@republicofmining.com

Check Against Delivery

Sudbury: The luckiest city in Canada

It’s always great to get back to my hometown.

Way back in 1977, I worked for Inco at their Clarabell Mill complex for a year before going to college. And in 1980, I was a summer student replacement worker at their Frood-Stobie mine.

So I will always be a “Sudbury boy” regardless of where I live.

Without a doubt, Sudbury is this country’s epicenter of mining.

In fact, the Sudbury Basin is the richest mineral district in North America and among the top three hardrock mining regions in the world.

Only South Africa’s Witwatersrand gold region, and their legendary Bushveld platinum complex, can match the concentration and expertise of underground mining here.

We are the luckiest city Canada.

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The Ring of Fire is coming under fire in Ottawa today – by James Murray (Netnewsledger.com – November 7, 2011)

http://netnewsledger.com/

OTTAWA – The Ring of Fire is coming under fire today in Ottawa, as the federal and provincial governments are being told that greater environmental assessments must be done before the project can move forward. Ecojustice and CPAWS Wildlands League are calling on Federal Environment Minister Peter Kent and Ontario’s Minister of the Environment Jim Bradley to appoint an independent joint review panel to assess a proposed mega-mine for chromite in northern Ontario by the American-based Cliffs Resources Company.

As well, the Matawa Chiefs withdrew their support from Ring of Fire development on October 20, 2011 until the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency implements a negotiated Joint Review Panel Environmental Assessment instead of a Comprehensive Study EA Process. The Chiefs are launching a Judicial Review.

The move by the Matawa Chiefs has gained support as Regional and national leaders will stand in support of Matawa Chiefs:

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