Quebec Mining – Page 47 – Republic of Mining

Black clouds over Plan Nord – by Alain Castonguay (CIM Magazine – November 2012)

November 10, 2012

http://www.cim.org/en.aspx

PQ calls for revision of mining royalty regime

When Quebec’s Legislative Assembly was dissolved on August 1, the Charest government was unable to pass two significant legislative acts regarding resources, namely Bill-14 that would create a foundation for an innovative mining development model, and Bill 27, a bill to establish the corporation La Société du Plan Nord. Even the budget bill, which notably sought to modify the royalty regime for land-based oil extraction, failed to pass.

This year’s election saw Martine Ouellet, current minister of natural resources, re-elected on the Parti Québecois (PQ) ticket in Vachon. Ouellet actively worked to block Bills 14 and 27. PQ candidates Lorraine Richard (René-Lévesque) and Luc Ferland (Ungava) were also re-elected. These two members of the national assembly used the time allotted to them to delay the detailed study of bills in a parliamentary committee. Richard and Ferland, who have been very critical of Plan Nord, beat out the incumbent Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) candidates in Fermont and Lebel-sur-Quévillon.

On August 23, in Montreal, the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec used the election campaign as a chance to hold a debate on natural resources. Participants included Martine Ouellet, Raymond Bachand (PLQ, re-elected in Outremont) and Gérard Deltell (Coalition Avenir Québec, re-elected in Chauveau). On this occasion, Ouellet emphasized her party’s platform, which she had been hawking on the campaign trail:

Quebec Mineral Exploration Association (AEMQ) calls on Quebec to play by the rules – by Marilyn Scales (Canadian Mining Journal – October 30, 2012)

May 4, 2015October 30, 2012

Marilyn Scales is a field editor for the Canadian Mining Journal, Canada’s first mining publication. She is one of Canada’s most senior mining commentators.

Concern is mounting within the industry as the Quebec government mulls a ban on uranium exploration. This news is creating uncertainty in Quebec’s mining industry, particularly with respect to Strateco Resources’ Matoush project in the Otish Mountains roughly 200 km from Chibougamau and Mistissini.

Strateco has been working at Matoush since 2006, and says it is considered one of the highest grade uranium projects in the world. At Dec. 31, 2011, the deposit had an indicated resource of 453,000 tonnes grading 0.78% U3O8, containing 7.78 million lb of yellowcake. There is also an inferred resource of 2.04 million tonnes grading 0.43% U3O8 and containing 19.22 million lb of U3O8 using a cut-off grade of 0.10%.

Between 2008 and 2012, Strateco conducted rigorous studies into the impact of the Matoush project, which have been independently monitored and verified. Following these studies, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) approved an underground exploration program at Matoush earlier this month. The licence is valid until Oct. 31, 2017.

The alarm is being raised by the Quebec Mineral Exploration Association (AEQM).

Opposition on uranium mines won’t change: Cree – by Michelle Lalonde (Montreal Gazette – October 23, 2012)

October 24, 2012

http://www.montrealgazette.com/index.html

MONTREAL — The next step in the proposed uranium mine project near Mistissini in northern Quebec got a green light from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission last week, but even the commission acknowledges that the Cree Nation is waving a big red stop sign.

Chief Robert Shecapio flew down to Montreal from his community of Mistissini, north of Chibaugamau, this month to draw attention to his community’s intense opposition to uranium mining. That position is held widely across the nine Cree nations of northern Quebec, not to mention hundreds of municipalities all over the province that have passed resolutions against it.

“We are not opposed to any other kind of development foreseen in our territory … (but as for uranium), our opposition will not change.” Shecapio told The Gazette last week.

The Matoush Project is the most advanced of about 20 proposed uranium mining projects for northern Quebec, and was part of the defeated Liberal government’s much-vaunted Plan Nord. While the Parti Québécois called for a moratorium on uranium mining in 2009, the party was less clear on the issue during the recent election campaign.

Environment Minister Daniel Breton and his aide Danielle Rioux have refused repeated requests for an interview with The Gazette on the issue over the last two weeks.

PRESS RELEASE: NUCLEAR: DOCTORS SUPPORT THE MORATORIUM ON URANIUM EXPLORATION AND LAUNCH OF A GENERIC BAPE PROCESS FOR URANIUM MINES IN QUEBEC

October 23, 2012

PHYSICIANS FOR GLOBAL SURVIVAL (CANADA)

2012.10.23

Physicians for Global Survival (Canada) says it is in total agreement with Quebec Environment Minister Daniel Breton’s decision to impose a moratorium on uranium exploration and to launch a generic BAPE process regarding uranium mining in Quebec.

Some Canadian provinces and US States have already enacted a moratorium on uranium exploration and use: British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Virginia. We firmly believe that Quebec must follow suit and that it should seriously study the risks associated with this industry.

There are many reasons why PGS opposes the development of uranium exploration and mining. The first one is that this industry spews enormous quantities of toxic and radioactive wastes into the environment (80-85 per cent of the initial ore mass). Some of these substances have half-lives of thousands of years. Others, such as radon gas, can travel far from the mine site and contaminate the environment. The risk of air, land, groundwater and surface water contamination is quite significant.

We wish to underline that the health risks associated with radioactive substances are already well known and that this knowledge is getting better and better. Uranium causes bone and kidney pathologies and is toxic to the neurological system, liver and embryo.

Two approaches to northern [Ontario] mines – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (October 19, 2012)

October 22, 2012

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

IT has become standard procedure for campaigning politicians to change their minds once in office — if they ever had any intention of keeping some promises in the first place. “Read my lips, no new taxes,” was George H.W. Bush’s way of phrasing it, but many seeking office in Canada have done the same. Departing Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said as much in advance of the 2003 election campaign, only to introduce the Ontario Health Premium, the largest tax increase in post-war Ontario.

Pauline Marois sees things another way, at least in so far as northern Quebec is concerned. Running against Liberal Jean Charest, the Parti Quebecois leader had little good to say about his signature regional development policy, Plan Nord, which seeks to stimulate industrial activity north of the 49th parallel. But now that Marois is premier, and with mining potential that may be on a par with that in Northern Ontario, Marois is allowing for the possibility of tax incentives to attract mining projects to Quebec’s Far North.

The difference between Quebec and Ontario’s approach is important because it signals the McGuinty government’s unwillingness to engage in hard bargaining in spite of holding the high cards.

Marois has stipulated that in order to be eligible for the tax credits she once eschewed, mining companies would have to process their ore in Quebec. This, of course, results in far greater economic benefit to the host region and province than if raw ore is shipped elsewhere — usually to low-cost, low-wage places chosen by companies to maximize profits.

ArcelorMittal eyes Canadian iron ore stake sale: sources – by Euan Rocha (Montreal Gazette/Reuters – October 19, 2012)

October 19, 2012

http://www.montrealgazette.com/index.html

Deal could potentially avoid Investment Canada hurdle

TORONTO – ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, is exploring the sale of a minority stake in its Canadian iron ore business, sources familiar with the situation said.

The company has retained RBC Capital Markets and Goldman Sachs to assist in the process, which has been going on for a few months, said one of the sources, adding that a deal is likely to be announced before the end of the year.

ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) is one of Canada’s top exporters of iron ore to steel markets around the world and its operations account for about 40 per cent of Canada’s iron ore output. It operates two large open-pit mines in the province of Quebec, where it also owns the Port-Cartier industrial complex that includes a pellet plant, storage areas and port facilities for shipping.

ArcelorMittal Mines Canada, which traces its origins back to the Quebec Cartier Mining Co., produces 15 million tonnes of iron ore concentrate and more than 9 million tonnes of iron oxide pellets annually.

Quebec Premier floats idea of tax credits to attract Plan Nord mining investment – by Sophie Cousineau (Globe and Mail – October 18, 2012)

October 18, 2012

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.

Paris — During Quebec’s electoral campaign, Pauline Marois criticized the Plan Nord, intimately associated with her Liberal predecessor Jean Charest, for its generosity towards private companies. But now that the Parti Québécois Premier is courting French investors in Paris, helping out mining companies no longer looks like such a bad idea.

The PQ government is thinking of introducing new tax credits to attract mining projects to the Plan Nord territory, which encompasses all of Quebec north of the 49th parallel. “This is an avenue we could choose,” Ms. Marois said during the news conference that ended her three-day mission in France.

But there is a catch. To be eligible for these tax credits, companies would have to transform the metals and minerals extracted locally. “It is an exchange of friendly services,” said Ms. Marois, who wishes to put the PQ’s imprint on the Liberal program.

“But we are pressing on with the North’s development,” she said. The new tax credits would be similar to the ones that Quebec used to create a multimedia and video game hub in Montreal, Ms. Marois explained. They translated into a fixed amount of money per employee hired on an annual basis.

Rio Tinto wants to reopen union deal in Quebec – by Pav Jordan (Globe and Mail – October 13, 2012)

October 14, 2012

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.

Rio Tinto Alcan is in talks with workers about reopening a nine-year collective agreement at its aging Arvida smelter in Quebec, as the company battles stubbornly low aluminum prices hit by a global commodities slowdown.

Montreal-based Rio Tinto Alcan, the aluminum division of parent Rio Tinto PLC, said it met on Thursday with representatives of the 1,500-strong Canadian Auto Workers union at Arvida and related facilities, for preliminary talks about how to cut costs at the smelter.

The meeting, expected to be the first of several over coming weeks, came just days after London-based Rio Tinto, the world’s third-biggest diversified miner, said it would delay new project approvals in the near term because the business outlook has become less certain than it was even a few months ago.

“There are a number of headwinds that we are dealing with, but certainly with the metal where it is, today it is just under $2,000 on the [London Metal Exchange], it’s a pretty challenging environment,” said company spokesman Bryan Tucker.

Investors, mining companies, politicians, environment groups waiting for PQ’s vision for northern Quebec – by Monique Beaudin (Montreal Gazette – October 9, 2012)

October 9, 2012

http://www.montrealgazette.com/index.html

It seems anyone with any bit of interest in northern Quebec would like a few words with the province’s new natural resources minister.

International investors, mining companies, municipal politicians and environmental groups are all wondering what exactly the new Parti Québécois government is going to do about the development of the north. Promoted internationally by former premier Jean Charest, it appears the new government has buried the 25-year, $80-billion Plan Nord.

Last week, Natural Resources Minister Martine Ouellet said the Plan Nord was just “marketing” for northern mining projects that were under way or in the planning stages. The PQ intends to go ahead with northern development, she said, but not any which way. The government is planning to create an agency to co-ordinate activities, similar to the Société de Plan Nord that was planned by the Liberals, she told La Presse’s editorial board.

Environmental groups welcomed the news, but Ouellet’s comments raised questions about what happens next. Mining companies and international investors are taking a “wait-and-see” approach, said Nochane Rousseau, a partner in the Montreal office of PricewaterhouseCoopers and leader of the company’s mining industry services.

Will the Parti Québécois Alter Québec’s Mine-Friendly Policies?: Eric Lemieux – by Brian Sylvester (The Gold Report – October 5, 2012)

October 6, 2012

http://www.theaureport.com/

A plan to build roads into mining projects. Tax breaks for junior mining companies. Does the return to power of the Parti Québécois signal the end to the province’s mining-friendly policies? Unlikely, according to Eric Lemieux, equity analyst with Laurentian Bank Securities. In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, Lemieux says that even if the PQ tweaks current policy, it will take time, and he believes there are plenty of good stories to tell and invest in before that happens.

The Gold Report: Eric, you primarily cover mining companies in Québec, one of Canada’s most mining-friendly provinces. However, last month the Parti Québécois (PQ) won a minority mandate. Are the glory days for Québec’s mining sector over?

Eric Lemieux: Without saying the glory days are over, the election of the Parti Québécois will definitely put things on hold. The PQ has a very pro-environment and anti-mining perspective based on the personal convictions of certain ministers.

I think the PQ will change some of the priorities in Québec. I do not know if it will turn out to be effectively anti-mining. I think its people will just want to do things differently or give the perception that they are doing things differently. Recall the PQ held a very pro-ecological, anti-mining electoral stance that went in-line with the “printemps érable” (Maple Spring Arising) with the student protests.

Iron ore price plummet brings trouble to Labrador Trough – by Peter Koven (National Post – October 1, 2012)

October 1, 2012

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

Short of the oil sands, there is no Canadian resource getting more foreign attention than the Labrador Trough.

The red-tinged ground that permeates the Quebec-Labrador border region hints at the massive iron ore riches that lie below, and the construction activity around Schefferville (along with much larger booms in nearby Wabush and Labrador City) points to the huge investments to come.

A small army of mining companies are moving ahead with iron-ore projects that could pour tens of billions of dollars into the region. Since most of these firms are juniors and could never finance these projects on their own, they have secured Asia’s largest steelmakers as backers. Iron-ore giants Rio Tinto Ltd., Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. and ArcelorMittal are also in the midst of production expansions.

The Trough only churns out about 40 million tonnes of iron ore a year right now — a pittance in a global market bigger than one billion tonnes. Both the Asian steelmakers and Canadian investors are counting on those numbers to rise substantially in the years to come.

Which is why they were so stunned at what just happened. With virtually no warning, the iron ore price fell off a cliff in August, plummeting about 30%. It was below US$85 a tonne by early September, compared with almost US$200 a tonne in 2010.

Don’t scare off mining producers with confusion on future royalties and taxes, Major Drilling tells Quebec – by Robert Gibbens (Montreal Gazette – September 24, 2012)

September 25, 2012

http://www.montrealgazette.com/index.html

Francis McGuire, CEO of Moncton’s Major Drilling Group International Inc., has a message for Quebec Premier Pauline Marois and Mines Minister Martine Ouellet: Don’t repeat the confusion on future mining royalties and taxes that has plagued Australia, Argentina and Mongolia, or producers will cut or go.

“In Australia, a key market for our drilling services, we’ve seen new business drop by 50 per cent since the public debate between federal and state governments on royalty rates became critical, so just don’t follow them,” McGuire said after addressing a Montreal investment group.

“The pre-election talk about raising Quebec royalties on mineral production from 16 per cent to 30 per cent is best forgotten,” he said. “Mining always was a highly cyclical industry and many commodity prices have come under pressure just when costs are rising rapidly.”

Major Drilling, which last year bought Rouyn Noranda’s Bradley Group Ltd. for $95 million to boost business in the gold mining camps of Northern Quebec and Northern Ontario, is the world’s second-biggest drilling services firm with operations on six continents, a 5,400-strong payroll, 739 rigs and a 72-per-cent utilization rate for the most profitable specialized high-tech units.

The belated demise of Canada’s asbestos industry – by Kathleen Ruff (Toronto Star – September 23, 2012)

September 24, 2012

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.

Kathleen Ruff is senior human rights adviser to the Rideau Institute and author of Exporting Harm: How Canada Markets Asbestos to the Developing World.

In the space of three weeks, the political support the Quebec asbestos industry has enjoyed for decades from the Quebec and Canadian governments came crashing down.

It could hardly have been more politically dramatic or more financially devastating for the tottering, bankrupt Quebec asbestos industry. After 130 years in operation, the last two asbestos mines in Quebec — the Jeffrey mine in the town of Asbestos and the mine run by LAB Chrysotile at Thetford Mines — shut down more than a year ago in the face of catastrophic financial and environmental problems.

Both mines, however, clutched to hopes of resurrection, nurtured by a $58-million loan given to the Jeffrey mine by former premier Jean Charest just before he called the recent Quebec election, as well as by the undying political support that Prime Minister Stephen Harper swore to give to the asbestos industry during the 2011 federal election campaign.

What’s the plan for PQ’s Plan Nord? – by Sophie Cousineau (Globe and Mail – September 19, 2012)

September 19, 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.

MONTREAL — Watching Jean Charest resign after 28 years in politics, Quebeckers were struck when his voice choked with emotion. As premier, no one could recall him being so overwhelmed while speaking of his family.

Yet that was not the most poignant moment of his farewell. It was when he pleaded – almost desperately – with premier-designate Pauline Marois to press on with his ambitious plan to harness the province’s resources north of the 49th parallel. “The next government must absolutely pursue the Plan Nord’s development for the future generation of Quebeckers,” he said.

It is remarkable that Mr. Charest, who often appeared aloof as premier, became so passionate about the “construction site of a generation.” What started as a search for a project to win a majority government in the 2008 elections became what he now views as his political legacy. This 25-year plan to access the abundant resources of Quebec’s far north was unveiled in May of 2011. But its figures are still dizzying: $80-billion in investments that will create 20,000 jobs a year and bring in $14-billion in the government’s coffers.

Or so the original plan goes. It now lies in the hands of a skeptical Parti Québécois government, which will unveil its cabinet Wednesday. Everybody expects economist Nicolas Marceau will become the next finance minister.