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Quebec Mining

[Quebec’s Plan Nord] Growth tips shared – Special to The Chronicle-Journal (Thunder Bay Chroncicle-Journal – January 19, 2012)

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

Those who helped develop Plan Nord say the next 25 years are going to be exciting for Northern Quebec. Northwestern Ontario would like to share in some of that excitement.

Members of National Public Relations, who helped develop Plan Nord, gave a presentation in Thunder Bay on Wednesday.

The presentation was hosted by the Northwestern Ontario joint task force on regional economic development pilot project, the Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce and the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association.

Plan Nord is an economic development project aimed at Northern Quebec, which over the next 25 years is estimated to generate more $80 billion in investments and create more than 20,000 jobs a year.

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[Plan Nord] Quebec plan may be blueprint for Northwest – Special to The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal (January 16, 2012)

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

Northwestern Ontario is hoping to gain some perspective and insight from Quebec when it comes to economic development in Northern regions.

Members of National Public Relations are to be in Thunder Bay on Wednesday to provide information on Plan Nord, one of the largest economic, environmental and social projects in Canada.

Plan Nord, designed for Northern Quebec, will be carried out for the next 25 years. It is estimated that it will generate more than $80 billion in investments and create more than 20,000 jobs a year.

Members of the Northwestern Ontario Joint Task Force are eager to learn more about Plan Nord, and see how it might impact Northwestern Ontario and if similar strategies can be applied in the region.

“Given the $80-billion program, is it going to be more attractive for investment than Northwestern Ontario,” task force chairman Iain Angus, said Sunday.

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Éléonore could be the next Val d’Or [Quebec mining] – by Kevin Dougherty (Montreal Gazette – January 11, 2012)

http://www.montrealgazette.com/

The prospecting mission led by Premier Jean Charest and Quebec City Mayor Régis Labeaume to promote Charest’s Plan Nord struck gold Tuesday in the wilderness of northern Quebec, visiting the site of the Goldcorp Inc.’s Éléonore gold mine.
 
Labeaume, who led a delegation of about 25 Quebec City-area business people and who made his personal fortune in the mining business, said Éléonore is “opening up a new mining region in Canada.”
 
“It is major, major, major,” he said. Guy Belleau, director of the $2.2-billion mining project, set to begin production of 600,000 ounces of gold yearly in 2017, went further.
 
“The Plan Nord is Éléonore,” he said in a presentation to the business delegation, political leaders and representatives of the Cree First Nations who count on landing about half the 700 construction jobs and 400 mining jobs Éléonore will generate.

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Canada’s asbestos industry on its last legs – by Bertrand Marotte (Globe and Mail – January 5, 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— The “miracle fibre” that helped drive Quebec’s economy for more than a century now represents an industry near death, despite government efforts to keep it afloat.

In its heyday in the mid-1960s, Canada’s asbestos industry employed thousands and produced about 40 per cent of the world’s supply of the silky-white product known for its resistance to fire, rust and rot. It was used widely in construction throughout North America, including at the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa.

Now, it’s known more for being ripped out of walls as a danger to public health. Many developed nations have banned it outright, and critics warn it’s impossible to ensure its safe use in developing countries. These concerns over a known carcinogen have put the industry on its last legs.

Production at one mine has been halted until it can get refinancing, and another miner – Thetford Mines, Que.-based LAB Chrysotile –filed for bankruptcy Wednesday, leaving no active operations in Canada.

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Will Quebec’s Plan Nord boost its cachet as a jurisdiction of choice? – by Alisha Hiyate (Mining Markets – December 2011)

http://www.miningmarkets.ca/

It’s probably safe to say that no one is happier about Plan Nord — Quebec’s 25-year plan to stimulate investment in the province’s vast northern reaches — than André Gaumond.

The founder, president and CEO of project generator Virginia Mines (VGQ-T) has been preaching the gospel of northern Quebec’s mineral potential for more than a decade, well before the provincial government unveiled its official Plan Nord policy this May.

“We’ve been selling or promoting the ‘Plan Nord’ for 15 years, travelling everywhere, talking with investors and the investment community and telling them that this. . . area has a huge potential,” Gaumond says. “We will find many mines, many deposits there: It is the future of the mining industry in Canada. This is what we’ve been telling people for years and years.”

Under Plan Nord, the Quebec government will spend $2.1 billion over the next five years to make Quebec north of the 49th parallel — an area that accounts for 72% of the province’s landmass — more accessible for exploration and development.

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Mining Boom in Quebec: Alain-Jean Beauregard – by Brian Sylvester (The Gold Report – December 23, 2011)

http://www.theaureport.com/

While many jurisdictions are working hard to prevent mining or mineral exploration, the province of Quebec is encouraging it. In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, Alain-Jean Beauregard, founder of Geologica Inc., a geological consulting firm based in Val-d’Or, talks about the shining future of gold mining in Quebec.

The Gold Report: The province of Quebec where Geologica is based offers some of the best infrastructure and mineral exploration incentives of any state or province in North America. Why has Quebec embraced mining when so many other jurisdictions are working hard to prevent mining or mineral exploration at all?

Alain-Jean Beauregard: Like forestry, mining has traditionally been a region developer in the province of Quebec. Native land issues have already been settled for large parts of the province. Mining is an important job creator—one of the most important in the province. It’s good income for the province because of revenues from taxes. Quebec is happy to have mining companies in the province.

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Bill 14 will change [Quebec] mining sector for worse – by Jean-Francois Minardi, Troy Media (Montreal Gazette – September 20, 2011)

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

Giving power to municipalities will make it harder to invest in new jobs

Jean-François Minardi is associate director of the Global Natural Resource Policy Centre with the Fraser Institute.

Until recently, Quebec was seen by mining executives around the world as having the best policy environment for investment, 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.

But with the introduction May 12 of Bill 14, 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 investment.

Bill 14 gives additional power to municipalities to control mining activities on their territory, something municipalities clamoured for during the heated debates over regulating the shale gas industry.

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NEWS RELEASE: $304 million in mining royalties in 2010-2011: QUÉBEC HAS COLLECTED IN A SINGLE YEAR MORE THAN IT DID IN THE 10 PREVIOUS YEARS

A demanding mining regime that enables Québec to obtain its fair share from its natural resources

Montréal, September 15, 2011 – “The new mining royalty regime enables us to attain the objectives that we set, i.e. to obtain from mining companies fair compensation for our natural resources without discouraging investment,” Minister of Finance and Minister of Revenue Raymond Bachand said today at a technical
information session held jointly with Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife and Minister responsible for the Plan Nord Clément Gignac.

Minister Bachand indicated that the mining royalties the government collected reached $304 million in 2010-2011, more than double the $133 million originally forecast in the 2011-2012 Budget.

The difference stems from the payment by mining companies of additional amounts during the last two months of the 2010-2011 fiscal year. Several factors account for the additional revenues: aside from changes in the royalty regime, i.e. an increase from 12% to 14% for part of the 2010-2011 fiscal year and the application of the mineby-mine principle, they are also attributable to an increase in the volume of resources mined and higher prices for the resources.

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NFB Film: The Hole Story – by Richard Desjardins and Robert Monderie

 

The following is from the National Film Board of Canada Press Kit

THE FILM

“Don’t know much about mines? Not many people do. Mines don’t talk. Especially about their history.” Richard Desjardins and Robert Monderie explore this history in their latest documentary, The Hole Story. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada, the film continues in the same provocative vein as their earlier Forest Alert.

The history of mining in Canada is the story of astronomical profits made with utter disregard for the environment and human health. It’s also a corrupt and sometimes sinister story. For example, during the First World War, nickel from Sudbury was sold to the German army to make the bullets that ended up killing soldiers from Sudbury in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. In Cobalt, a town in Ontario that once had no garbage collection, people were dying of typhoid.

Meanwhile, the first Canadian mining magnates were growing filthy rich selling silver to England from the 40 mines surrounding the town.

Timmins has its own shameful mining story. In the woods,50 kilometres west of the railroad, prospectors quickly staked their claims before heading to the government office to register their hectares and take ownership of the subsoil.

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The renaissance of the Canadian iron ore industry – by Michael R. Skutezky BA LLB, (Canadian Mining Journal – December, 2011)

The Canadian Mining Journal is Canada’s first mining publication providing information on Canadian mining and exploration trends, technologies, operations, and industry events.

Michael R. Skutezky BA LLB, Professional Corporation, practicing in association with Ormston List Frawley LLP Toronto.

‘It’s all about China, demand, scale, logistics, off-take and capital’

The global iron ore phenomenon in the context of the commodity super-cycle currently being experienced is a result of the continuous growth of a very large emerging market – China.

China’s iron ore resources are poor (both in terms of grade and size) and its production cost is high in a global environment where the industry concentration in the upstream iron ore sector is very high (the Big Three oligopoly has about 60-70% of the market) while the downstream steel sector is very low (the top three producers constitute slightly above 10% market share).

Over the last decade, China contributed more than 90% to the growth of the global steel industry, representing 500Mtpa on the 566Mpta total increase of global crude steel production on an annual basis during this period.

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Quebec Bill 14 a blow to mineral industry – by Marilyn Scales (Canadian Mining Journal – December 6, 2011)

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.

The Quebec government has introduced Bill 14 that will give local communities rather than the province the right to control where and when mineral exploration and development takes place. It has the Quebec Mineral Exploration Association (AEMQ) up in arms, and with good cause.

In the words of the AEMQ, the bill is appalling and the government is abandoning its fiduciary responsibility to manage mineral resources. Bill 14 gives that responsibility individually to 1,200 local entities, making the administration of Quebec mineral resources “messy” and “incoherent”.

“By giving municipalities the option to reject exploration activities, the government of Quebec is setting up an environment of unprecedented instability within Quebec’s mineral business sector. In spite of a favourable global environment and high metal prices, once adopted, Bill 14 will instil doubt on the stability and predictability of our mining system”, said AEMQ president Jean-Marc Lulin. 

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Attawapiskat’s hardships could be helped by roads – by John Ivison (National Post – December 2, 2011)

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

Shawn Atleo says he wants to smash the status quo. The National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations has used the phrase in a number of interviews and likely repeated it in his meeting with the Prime Minister on Parliament Hill Thursday.

But while there’s little doubt he is distressed by the pictures coming out of the troubled Attawapiskat reserve in northern Ontario, he doesn’t really want to overturn the present state of affairs.

Rather, he and the country’s other chiefs, a delegation of whom will meet with Stephen Harper on Jan. 24, it was announced Thursday, would like the federal government to pony up some more money — without asking too many questions about what they intend to spend it on. The chiefs tie themselves in intellectual knots, arguing that the government has been asleep at the switch on Attawapiskat, while at the same time saying the feds have gone too far by instituting an “Ottawa knows best” regime.

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The Horrible Reputation of Canada’s Mining Sector – by Stan Sudol

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

Biggest commodity super-cycle in the history of mankind

The future of mining has never been brighter, yet its image among the general population seems to have plunged lower than the famous Kidd Creek mine in Timmins, Ontario – the world’s deepest base metal operation. The largest rural to urban migration in the history of mankind is taking place in China. It has been often said, that China needs to build two cities the size of Toronto, Canada and Sydney, Australia to accommodate that growth, every year! Analysts estimate that China’s middle class is expanding so rapidly that it will soon overtake the current U.S. population of 312 million.

In October, 2011, the world’s population had passed the seven billion mark. India, Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey and many other developing countries are following China and urbanizing and industrializing their economies. Mining experts feel that over the next 25 years, we will need to dig out of the ground as many minerals as consumed since the beginning of mankind.

One of the biggest concerns is a shortage of skilled workers. In the next decade half the mining workforce in Canada is eligible to retire and there are significant difficulties attracting and engaging the digital generation.
According to the Ottawa-based Mining Industry Human Resource Council’s 2011 hiring report, the industry will need to hire betwee 75,280 to 141,540 new workers in Canada depending on the state of the global economy by 2021. Similar labour shortage issues exisit in other western mining jurisdicitions like Australia and the United States.

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NEWS RELEASE: Another record year with total mining investment [in Quebec] close to $3 billion in 2010

Québec, November 22, 2011 – The mining industry is soaring from one all-time high to the next. It had a record investment of $2.92 billion in 2010, up an unheard of 43% from 2009. This was the seventh straight year of increase in total mining investment with each of the last three years crossing the threshold of $2 billion.

The same level of investment by Québec mining companies is forecast for 2011. This was revealed in the newsletter Mines en chiffres 2010 released today by the Institut de la statistique du Québec.

The mining triangle formed by the regions of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Côte-Nord and Nord-du-Québec continues to reap the lion’s share with 95% of total investment. However, Abitibi-Témiscamingue remains the primary mining region, the only region having broken the barrier of $1 billion in 2010 ($1.42 billion), i.e. 48.6% of the overall amount.

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The Honourable Joe Oliver, P.C., M.P. – Minister of Natural Resources Mining Day Speech (Ottawa, Canada – November 22, 2011)

This speech was given by the Honourable Joe Oliver, P.C., M.P. – Minister of Natural Resources to the Mining Day on the Hill Luncheon, Economic Council of Canada and Mining Association of Canada

Check against delivery

“For example, the Ring of Fire in northern Ontario is an
emerging mining region, where 26 exploration companies
have mineral claims covering almost 500,000 hectares.  
Analysts estimate that there are $50 billion in qualified
resources for chromite and $10 billion for base-metal
and platinum group metal deposits.” (Honourable Joe Oliver –
Canadian Minister of Natural Resources)
 

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Let me start by thanking the Mining Association of Canada and the Economic Council of Canada for the invitation to speak with you today.
 
I also want to congratulate the Mining Association and its members for organizing this event. It’s a great occasion to recognize just how much this industry contributes to our prosperity — and why it’s important we all work together to make sure this sector continues to succeed.
 
As you know, I recently returned from a week-long trip to Japan and China. My main objective was to help broaden and deepen Canada’s trade and investment relationship in two of the world’s largest economies.
 
In meetings with senior political and business leaders, I promoted Canada’s potential for investment, exploration and development, and the opportunities for Canadian mining companies to do business in the Asia-Pacific.

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