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Quebec Mining

$5B rail line to boost Quebec resources – by Nicolas Van Praet (National Post – March 22, 2012)

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

MONTREAL – It rated just a six-paragraph mention among hundreds of pages of Quebec government budget documents. But it will be one of Canada’s largest infrastructure projects when it gets off the ground – a multibillion-dollar effort to build a huge railway across an isolated stretch of rugged land and accelerate the province’s push into natural resources.

Canadian National Railway Co. and pension fund manager Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec are teaming up on an estimated $5-billion project to lay down a new track stretching 800 kilometres from the port of Sept-Îles north past Shefferville into the mines of the Labrador Trough. The aim is to serve major iron ore producers like Cliffs Natural Resources and juniors like Adriana Resources Inc., as well as other current and potential miners, that are searching for a better way to get their Quebec-produced material to international markets.

The project is in its early stages but is expected to be completed by 2017 if talks underway with mining companies yield firm transport agreements. Once those commitments are reached, the railway will do a feasibility study.

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Quebec banking on big windfall from mining royalties: provincial budget – by Andy Blatchford (Canadian Business Magazine – March 20, 2012)

Founded in 1928, Canadian Business is the longest-publishing business magazine in Canada.

The Canadian Press 

QUEBEC – The Quebec government is banking on a royalty bonanza from its natural-resources sector to help Canada’s most indebted province begin its long climb out of the red.

In releasing its 2012-13 budget Tuesday, Quebec revealed that its path to prosperity hinges on whether it can cash in on its abundance of minerals, forests and hydroelectricity.

The document calls for a $1.5-billion deficit in 2012-13, but says the government remains on track to fulfil its long-held pledge to balance the budget by 2013-14.

The budget, possibly the last for an unpopular Premier Jean Charest before the next election, also tries to strike a positive populist tone for voters: no new tax hikes or user fees.

In the next election — which must be called before the end of 2013 — Charest will likely portray himself as a sound economic manager, while at the same time hammering away at the uncertainty of sovereignty.

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Quebec bets on resource boom – by Nicolas Van Praet (National Post – March 21, 2012)

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

QUEBEC — The Quebec government is wielding a heavier hand in the province’s economy, forcing every business with more than five people to institute employee retirement savings programs and grabbing higher equity stakes in mining and hydrocarbon projects.

The language the Liberal government of Jean Charest used in its budget presented Tuesday suggests it is keen to push forward with oil and gas exploration and commercialization despite public opposition, saying it is “risky” to postpone the development of natural resources. It said it would start awarding oil and gas exploration licences by way of auction.

It also emphasized its vision of developing Quebec’s northern territory to generate much-needed revenue. The government announced that Canadian National Railway Co. and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec are partnering on a new 800-kilometre rail line worth several billion dollars between the port of Sept-Îles and the Labrador Trough mining site. And it said Valener Inc.owned utility Gaz Métro will study the feasibility of building an estimated $750-million natural-gas pipeline to the Côte-Nord region.

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Quebec trying to reopen asbestos mine – by Bill Mann (MarketWatch.com – March 13, 2012)

http://www.marketwatch.com/

Commentary: Investors staying away from provincial government plan

MarketWatch

PORT TOWNSEND, Wash. (MarketWatch) — There have been some suspect Canadian mining ventures over the years. But none were probably as sketchy — or as unhealthy — as this one.

The provincial government of Quebec is doggedly trying to lure investors to reopen the Jeffrey Mine in lovely, pitted, Asbestos, Quebec. It was closed last year for financial reasons after a cave-in. Quebec’s leader has been trying to find money to kick-start the mine for over a year, in fact. So far, investors have stayed away. Quelle surprise.

Asbestos, you have to admit, doesn’t have quite the same allure as gold or silver. That’s right, asbestos. The same legally radioactive material that makes litigation-averse governments and businesses here in the U.S. close and clean buildings if even a trace of it is found. The same cancerous mineral that has attorneys trolling for lawsuits on cable-TV on behalf of victims afflicted with mesothelioma, a particularly aggressive form of cancer caused by asbestos exposure.

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It is time for Quebec to stop investing in asbestos – by Suzanne Dubois (Montreal Gazette – March 6, 2012)

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

Suzanne Dubois is executive director of the Quebec division of the Canadian Cancer Society.

There has been much discussion in the media lately regarding the status of asbestos in Quebec. The province is at a historic juncture: for the first time in 130 years, it no longer produces this mineral resource. This break in production is an opportunity to put an end to the use of a recognized carcinogen. There is no safe application of asbestos, which has already claimed too many lives, here and elsewhere.
 
All forms of asbestos cause cancer, including lung cancer, pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma, laryngeal cancer and ovarian cancer. Yet the government of Quebec is set to assist in the reopening of the Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos with loan guarantees of $58 million, quashing public discussion of this critical issue in the process.
 
The Canadian Cancer Society is firmly opposed to all investment of public funds in asbestos mining. The society believes that greater effort must be made to manage asbestos wherever it is present (producing a registry of buildings that contain it, and removing it when possible).

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Seems even Harper and Charest can’t save Canada’s deadly asbestos exports – by Gerald Caplan (Globe and Mail – March 9, 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.

Despite Stephen Harper and Jean Charest, it appears increasingly likely Canada will export no more Quebec-mined asbestos to countries like India and Indonesia, where it could bring misery and death to those who come in contact with it. Almost all those affected would be very poor workers and their families. But to the bitter end, the two leaders have been determined to preserve Canada’s shameful record of knowingly exporting a carcinogen.

In the face of denunciations of asbestos exports by virtually all health authorities, the Prime Minister made it a point during last year’s election campaign to visit the riding held by Christian Paradis, home to one of Canada’s two last remaining asbestos mines. Both mines are now closed, but Mr. Paradis wants them re-opened. He has long been a proponent of asbestos exports, dismissing out of hand all the proven health risks as well as all the Canadians who have died hideous, prolonged deaths from exposure to the substance.

Mr. Harper has since promoted Mr. Paradis to be Industry Minister. And last June, a month after forming his majority government, he chose to celebrate St. Jean Baptiste Day in his young minister’s riding – and in the town of Thetford Mines itself, the actual home of the asbestos mine Mr. Paradis wants to see re-opened.

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Quebec’s Plan Nord provides fodder for Northern leaders – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 9, 2012)

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. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca.

Meat on the bone?

Talk is cheap to Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce President Harold Wilson when it comes to the Ontario government’s commitment to invest in the Far North.
 
Wilson was one of the organizers behind a January presentation in Thunder Bay that gathered some of the architects of Quebec’s Plan Nord who outlined the province’s blueprint for development in that region.
 
The invitation, extended to consultants from National Public Relations, was to discover what the plan was, where the parallels were with the Northern Ontario Growth Plan, and where the two plans diverge.
 
The presentation has gotten tongues wagging, especially in northwestern Ontario, when comparing and contrasting it with the growth plan. While Quebec is forging ahead with an $80-billion provincial investment, Wilson said Ontario is lagging behind.

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MINING WATCH NEWS RELEASE: ROYALTIES, ENVIRONMENT AND CITIZENS’ RIGHTS : SURVEY RESULTS SUPPORT DEMANDS OF QUEBEC MINING REFORM COALITION

http://www.miningwatch.ca/

Monday, February 27, 2012

For Immediate Release

ROYALTIES, ENVIRONMENT AND CITIZENS’ RIGHTS: SURVEY RESULTS SUPPORT DEMANDS OF QUEBEC MINING REFORM COALITION

Montréal, Sunday, February 26, 2012. “The survey by Léger Marketing on the mining industry confirms the relevance and importance of our work over the last four years” stated Ugo Lapointe of the Coalition Québec meilleure mine (Better Mining Coalition). According to the survey, a majority of residents of Québec including the Abitibi region (the most active mining area of Québec) agree that there is a need for further reforms to improve royalties, environmental protection and respect of citizens’ rights. “It’s very encouraging. It shows that our positions are supported by the people of Québec, even in the mining regions where the industry lobby is most active” added Lapointe.

Conducted between February 17 and 19 for the Journal de Montréal the survey questioned 600 people, with a good representation of respondents from Abitibi-Témiscamingue. Results of the survey include:

–     59% of the Québec population judges current royalties to be insufficient, including 73% of Abitibi-Témiscamingue residents

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Quebec risks driving away mining investment with Bill 14 – by Jean-Francois Minardi (Fraser Forum – January/February 2012)

This article came from the Fraser Institute website: http://www.fraserinstitute.org/

Until recently, mining executives around the world saw Quebec as having the best policy environment for mining investment (McMahon and Cervantes, 2010). This is mainly thanks to a predictable regulatory
environment, the absence of territorial claims in Northern Quebec, high quality geo-scientific data easily accessible to miners, good infrastructure, a skilled workforce, and an attractive mining tax system (McMahon and Cervantes, 2011).

But with the introduction of Bill 14, tabled on May 12, 2011 to amend Quebec’s Mining Act, the province is now poised to introduce a high level of uncertainty that may scare investors away and seriously damage the policy attractiveness of Quebec to mining investors.

Bill 14 gives additional power to municipalities to control mining activities in their territories. But giving municipalities control over where and how mining can take place sidelines the provincial government as the sole mining regulator and runs the risk of erecting multiple barriers to mining investment, investment that creates well-paying jobs in many Quebec communities.

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Plan Nord Under the Microscope – by Frédéric Dubois (The Dominion – Janurary 9, 2012)

http://www.dominionpaper.ca/

Public involvement in diamond venture ends once gems are found

MONTREAL—Since the mid 1900s, every man, woman and child living in Quebec has donated the equivalent of $20 towards exploration costs for the province’s first diamond mine project. But when a mine was finally discovered and the promised rewards for years of the province’s investment began to be realized, the Quebec government sold the project to a private company. Not only that, but Quebeckers can expect to shell out even more as the now privately owned mine moves towards production.

According to documents obtained by The Dominion, all that’s left for the public after they invested over $157 million in the Renard Diamond Project is a 37 per cent stake in a private company, and token public representation on the company’s board of directors.

The diamond mine is today being hailed as a model operation by the Quebec government. But a deeper look into what this model would mean for Quebeckers casts a long shadow over the government’s economic policies.

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Quebec still favours relaunch of asbestos industry – by Michelle Lalonde (Montreal Gazette – February 16, 2012)

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

MONTREAL – The Quebec government continues to favour a relaunch of the asbestos industry – despite a storm of recent controversy, including groundbreaking criminal convictions of two European businessmen for causing thousands of asbestos-related deaths, and far-reaching concerns about the research upon which the province bases its pro-asbestos policy.

Members of the anti-asbestos movement say the Canadian and Quebec governments have long relied on questionable studies produced by researchers at McGill University and elsewhere, funded by the asbestos industry, to promote chrysotile asbestos as relatively harmless if used safely.

McGill is conducting a preliminary review of the research of professor emeritus John Corbett McDonald to determine whether a full investigation should be called into whether some of that research was influenced by the fact it was funded by the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association.

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Quebec harvests $6-billion in [mining] investment – by Nicolas Van Praet (National Post – February 14, 2012)

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

MONTREAL – Quebec Premier Jean Charest says his government’s massive effort to develop the resources of its northern territory has generated $6-billion worth of investment to date as companies accelerate growth plans faster than the province predicted.

Global mining giant Xstrata PLC is spending US$530-million to develop projects at its Raglan nickel mine in Nunavik, one of a number of corporate investments confirmed since Mr. Charest’s Liberal government formally announced its North Plan in May 2011.

China’s Jilin Jien Nickel said it will double investment in its project to extract nickel in Nunavik in northern Quebec to $800-million. And Vancouver-based Goldcorp Inc. is committing some $1.4-billion of capital to develop the Éléonore underground gold mine near Ell Lake, though much of that was announced before the North Plan’s launch. Backed by the Cree nations of Wemindji and Eastmain, whose members will work in the facility, the mine is expected to yield 600,000 ounces of gold annually over its 15-year life.

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Asbestos industry under microscope – by Michelle LaLonde (Montreal Gazette – February 11, 2012)

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

Call for government to stop financial aid

If you were a private investor looking to sink some money into a promising venture, the expansion of an asbestos mine in Quebec may not sound like a great bet these days.

Quebec’s asbestos industry has been taking a heavy pounding of late, with two damning documentaries airing on CBC and Radio-Canada, renewed calls from politicians in Quebec City and Ottawa to outlaw the cancer-causing mineral, and a review launched into some industry-funded research at McGill this week.

On Friday, the opposition Québec Solidaire called on the provincial and federal governments to stop financing the asbestos industry and to ban export of the mineral. Parti Québécois mining critic Martine Ouellette told Canadian Press she wants a parliamentary commission to look at the issue.

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Plan Nord: Jean Charest says half of northern Quebec will be protected – by René Bruemmer (Montreal Gazette – February 6, 2012)

This article came from: http://www.montrealgazette.com/index.html

Environmentalists celebrate increased safeguarding of extra 100,000 square kilometres of land

MONTREAL – Calling it perhaps the largest environmental conservation project on the planet, Quebec premier Jean Charest unveiled how the government plans to safeguard 50 per cent of the province’s northern territory – a region the size of France – from industrial development Sunday.

Chief among the measures was the announcement that 20 per cent of the region will be declared protected areas by 2020, nearly twice the amount of land Quebec first pledged would be granted full protection.

Another 30 per cent of the land will be closed to mining and hydroelectric projects, although other development projects deemed to have less impact on the ecology, like ecotourism, for instance, will be permitted. The nature of those development projects have yet to be defined.

The announcement was met with cautious approval by conservation groups, some of who have characterized the government’s Plan Nord vision to invest $80 billion in energy development, forestry, mining and tourism over 25 years as a marketing plan to sell off natural resources to foreign countries.

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[Quebec Plan Nord] Is More Talk the Right Prescription for Northern Ontario? – by Livio Di Matteo (Northern Economist Blog – January 19, 2012)

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/

Media reports on the visit yesterday by Quebec based consultants who worked on Quebec’s Plan Nord appear to have emphasized their prescription for more planning and discussion.  The Plan Nord is the Quebec government’s parallel to our own Northern Growth Plan and their plan to develop their own north with anticipated investments of 80 billion dollars and the creation of as many as 20,000 jobs. 

The Mayor of Greenstone was quoted as saying the time for talk had passed and some direct action was needed by the province in getting things going.  On the other hand, according to a report on TBNewswatch:

A pair of Quebec-based consultants, however, have suggested what’s needed is more talk.  It’s worked in Quebec, said Yvan Loubier, a senior consultant for National Public Relations in Quebec City, who has worked with both governments and communities in Northern Quebec to help facilitate a 25-year plan for economic salvation in an area hard hit by many of the same concerns afflicting Northern Ontario, particularly First Nations communities. It didn’t come easily, at least not at first.

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