Quebec Mining – Page 54 – Republic of Mining

A giant step in the mining agreement process [Goldcorp and Cree Nation of Wemindji] – by J. Borsato (CIM Magazine – May, 2011)

November 21, 2011

Founded in 1898, the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) is a technical society of professionals in the Canadian minerals, metals, materials and energy industries.

Cree Nation sets the tone for future collaborations with mining industry

Mineral exploration and development in Canada typically occur in close proximity to Aboriginal communities. The positive impact such activities have on these communities are significant on many levels – agreements with First Nations on mining-related projects can result in job creation, skills training and economic growth at both the local and regional level.

If approached in a proactive, respectful and responsible way, companies can tip the balance in favour of a harmonious and profitable partnership. Moreover, when a First Nation is proactive in its negotiations, it is not only a recipe for success, it is a model to be emulated.

Historically, impact benefit agreements (IBAs) existed as bilateral agreements between the government and an Aboriginal community, to ensure local rights are respected and that employment opportunities are created for the people in the community.

Quebec mining film festival will salute Ontario community leaders

April 5, 2015November 15, 2011

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 second annual Mining Film Festival run by IDNR-TV will salute two Ontario mining community leaders and several Quebec officials to emphasize the mineral sector links and shared geology between Northeastern Ontario and Northwestern Quebec. This event is being held on Thursday, November 17, 2011 at the Cinema du Parc in Montreal.

The festival’s aim is to act as a platform on which mining and natural resource industries can be viewed objectively and realistically and to raise awareness of one of Canada’s most important industries. Films will highlight major changes taking place in the sector, technological innovations and sustainable mining practices.

Vic Power, who was Mayor of Timmins from 1980 to 2000 and from 2003 to 2006, will be presented with a tribute trophy for his positive influence on the growth and development of his city and region. Also, Tom Laughren, the current Mayor of Timmins, will receive a certificate of recognition. “IDNR-TV and Arcelor Mittal Canada Mines wish to acknowledge the outstanding contribution made by these regional leaders in building bridges and fostering cooperation between the francophone and anglophone communities that are central to the development of natural resources and the local mining industry.”

NEWS RELEASE: The 2nd Annual Mining Film [November 17, 2011] Festival Kicks Off, Welcoming Outstanding Contributions from Two Major Municipal Leaders at Cinema Du Parc in Montreal

April 5, 2015November 15, 2011

MONTREAL, QUEBEC–(Marketwire – Aug. 23, 2011) – Thursday, November 17, 2011, the Cinema du Parc in Montreal will host the 2nd Annual Mining Film Festival. The festival’s aim is to act as a platform upon which mining and natural resource industries can be observed objectively in a contemporary setting: where the realities of the third millennium appear in stark contrast to those of the 20th century.

This announcement came today from executives at IDNR-TV: the festival’s promoter. They noted the major changes taking place in natural resource industries in Quebec and in the world: technological innovations in the last few decades have led to increased health and safety for workers, and to more sustainable development practices that benefit all of Quebec and Canada.

For IDNR-TV Anchor, Alexandre Dumas, the Quebec government’s Plan Nord presents an opportunity for several communities that are both directly and indirectly involved to appreciate the full spectrum of fast-paced, sustainable mining and environmental development; all the while generating a greater awareness of the enormous potential our natural resources can offer.

Film looks at mining dispute – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – November 8, 2011)

April 5, 2015November 8, 2011

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

Robert Monderie and Richard Desjardins claim they are digging up the truth about the mining industry in their new documentary, Trou Story.

They’re also attracting the wrath of the mining industry and governments, who say Trou Story isn’t quite telling the truth.

“They say that what we are talking about is old stuff, that reality has changed a lot and that industry has been performing a lot better socially and environmentally, and the technology is less dangerous,” Desjardins, who directed the documentary with Monderie, said in a phone inter view Monday.

“We agree with that. But they assume that everything has changed, and we don’t think so. The … basic law is still the same. Regions don’t have more royalties. Mines are bigger, so that means that the waste is bigger, too. That waste will be there for centuries, and the cost to (clean that up) is not included in the price of the royalties.”

Quebec needs to move beyond simply smelting aluminum – by Bertrand Marotte (Globe and Mail – November 8, 2011)

November 8, 2011

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 – For decades, Quebec’s foreign-owned aluminum sector has been a source of pride in a province that can use all the high-powered manufacturing might it can get.

Boosted by financial backing from the government and cheap hydroelectric rates, the sector has played a starring role in the province’s economic development.

But the three major players in North America’s most aluminum-intensive region – the third largest in the world after China and Russia – struggle to make Quebec a centre of aluminum-product innovation.

Despite years of effort by the industry to update, including Alcoa’s confirmation of plans on Monday for a $2.1-billion expansion and modernization program at three Quebec facilities, the province remains for the most part a simple exporter of primary aluminum to the four corners of the world.

Trou Story: Digging up dirt [anti-mining] – by Jeff Heinrich (Montreal Gazette – November 3, 2011)

April 5, 2015November 5, 2011

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

MONTREAL – The title – Trou Story, or in English, The Hole Story – is typical Richard Desjardins: a play on words, vaguely scatological, loaded with droll sarcasm. It’s the title of his latest film, made with longtime colleague Robert Monderie: a trenchant documentary about the devastation wrought by a century of mining in the Canadian Shield of northeastern Ontario and Abitibi-Témiscamingue, the filmmakers’ home turf.

The duo have been making social-commentary docs about their far-flung region since the late 1970s. In 1999, they took a whack at the forestry industry with L’erreur boréale (Forest Alert), which won a Jutra and led to the Coulombe commission inquiry into forestry management. Another Jutra followed in 2009 for Le peuple invisible (The Invisible Nation), about the plight of the Algonquin people.

Now, Desjardins and Monderie are back with Trou Story – and already, their doc is controversial.

Produced by the National Film Board and narrated by Desjardins, the film begins with a 30-minute exposé of the history of mining in the Shield and toll it’s taken on human life: Canadian soldiers killed by bullets made from Sudbury nickel that was sold to the Germans in the First World War; unsanitary conditions that led to a typhoid epidemic in the silver-mining town of Cobalt; arsenic from abandoned Abitibi gold mines that continues to seep into the water supply.

[Quebec] Filmmaker targets mining industry – by Nicolas Van Praet (National Post – November 2, 2011)

April 5, 2015November 2, 2011

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

MONTREAL — When documentary filmmakers target the corporate world, the results can be nasty but fleeting.

Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me forced McDonald’s Corp. to respond to the portrayal of its food as a silent killer. But it did little harm to the fast-food giant’s popularity and share price, which has more than tripled since the day the film was released in 2004.

In Roger & Me, Michael Moore decried General Motors Corp.’s closure of several auto plants in his native Flint, Mich. The movie awakened for many Americans the debate over globalization and protecting local employment.

As for the bespectacled Quebec singer and poet Richard Desjardins, he’s become a bit of a folk hero for shaking up corporate Quebec.

His 1999 shock documentary L’Erreur Boréale (English title: Forest Alert) fuelled a public outcry against deforestation. He forced Toronto-based Norbord Industries Inc. to suspend logging in the woodland west of his hometown of Rouyn-Noranda. No matter that his film was widely denounced by the forestry industry as manipulative and inaccurate. L’Actualité magazine named him Man of the Year that year.

Canada hypocritical on a dangerous mineral [asbestos] – by Keeble McFarlane (Jamiaca Observer – October 22, 2011)

October 23, 2011

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/

We all no doubt remember the rushing cloud of whitish dust which ballooned out over southern Manhattan on the morning of September 11, 2001, as the iconic towers of the World Trade Centre fell in on themselves after the planes commandeered by terrorists crashed into them.

In addition to the almost 3000 people who died in the towers themselves, dozens of rescue workers and others caught in the cloud have since died from exposure to the dust. Many others developed serious lung problems which have severely affected their health and which will invariably shorten their lives.

That cloud was a toxic mixture of all the materials contained in those towering structures – gypsum wallboard, floor and ceiling tiles, disintegrated concrete, shredded paper, furniture, carpets and draperies, office chemicals, metal residue, even food blown to bits in the devastation and, saddest of all, people and their clothing. Perhaps most crucial was the 400 tonnes of asbestos, used as a fire-retardant.

Agnico-Eagle writes off Goldex mine – Euan Rocha, Reuters (Globe and Mail – October 20, 2011)

May 16, 2012October 20, 2011

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.

Toronto— Reuters – Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. is suspending operations at its Goldex mine at Val d’Or, Que., indefinitely because of water inflow and ground instability, the Canadian gold miner said Wednesday, sending its shares sharply lower.

Toronto-based Agnico will write off its investment in Goldex, resulting in a pretax third-quarter charge of about $260-million (U.S.). On an after-tax basis, the charge will be about $170-million, or $1 a share, the company said.

The writeoff prompted analysts at Credit Suisse and Macquarie to downgrade the stock, while analysts at a number of other brokerage firms lowered their price targets on Agnico-Eagle shares. Dahlman Rose analyst Adam Graf, in a note to clients, said Goldex accounts for roughly 13 per cent of Agnico’s net asset value and about 14 per cent of next year’s gold production.

“This would appear to be a major blow to Agnico-Eagle,” Mr. Graf said. “While Goldex is only a minority of annual production and value, it is nonetheless quite significant.”

NEWS RELEASE: Agnico-Eagle’s Goldex mine to suspend production during investigation and remediation of water inflow and ground stability issue; book value of Goldex to be written off (Oct/19/2011)

May 16, 2012October 19, 2011

Stock Symbol: AEM (NYSE and TSX)

(All amounts expressed in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted)

TORONTO, Oct. 19, 2011 /CNW/ – Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (“Agnico-Eagle” or the “Company”) announced today that it is suspending mining operations and gold production at its Goldex mine in Val d’Or, Quebec effective immediately. This decision follows the receipt of an opinion from a second rock mechanics consulting firm which recommended that underground mining operations be halted until the situation is investigated further.

While the Company continues to assess the situation, it appears that a weak volcanic rock unit in the hangingwall of the Goldex deposit has failed. This rock failure is thought to extend between the top of the deposit and surface. As a result, this structure has allowed ground water to flow into the mine. This water flow has likely contributed to further weakening and movement of the rock mass.

“Considering the safety of the Company’s employees, and the integrity of the mine’s infrastructure and that of the surrounding area, the decision was made to stop production indefinitely” said Sean Boyd, Vice-Chairman and CEO.

NEWS RELEASE: OSISKO PRESIDENT SEAN ROOSEN NAMED ERNST & YOUNG 2011 QUEBEC ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR (October 7, 2011)

October 19, 2011

(Montreal, October 07, 2011) During a ceremony held yesterday, Sean Roosen, President and CEO of Osisko Mining Corporation (“Osisko”), was named Ernst & Young’s 2011 Quebec Entrepreneur of the Year. Furthermore, he is among the five individuals to be nominated for the national honor of Canada’s 2011 Entrepreneur of the Year, being announced in Toronto on November 23.

The Quebec Entrepreneur of the Year Award is given annually to an entrepreneur who has distinguished himself by his achievements, not only in terms of business success, but also in terms of socio-economic development within the community.

“I am extremely proud to receive one of Canada’s most prestigious awards”, noted Sean Roosen. “I humbly accept this award on behalf of the entire Osisko team—now counting over 700 employees—who are the ones truly responsible for the success of the Company.”

Quebec lawyers jump on Plan Nord – Drew Hasselback (National Post – October 5, 2011)

October 5, 2011

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

“Plan Nord is not portrayed as a massive government handout.
Montreal lawyers insist they believe the North will be
developed purely through market forces. They see the plan as
the government living up to its traditional role, which is to
install infrastructure such as roads, ports, power lines and
airports.”

“Plan Nord is about making sure Quebec has the roads,
electricity supplies, airports and shipping ports in
place to serve future generations.” (Drew Hasselback)

Step inside the office of any law firm in Montreal, and you won’t have to walk too far before you bump into someone who’s been assigned to that firm’s Plan Nord team. That’s because Plan Nord is the biggest source of business for transaction-oriented law firms in Montreal these days.

The plan is well understood within Montreal business circles, and it’s also caught the attention of resource investors from around the world. For lawyers, it pushes a lot of buttons. Plan Nord anticipates $80-billion worth of development in Quebec’s North over the next 25 years.

This involves the development of mining projects, transportation links, power-generation facilities, supporting businesses and other infrastructure investments. Putting the plan into action means business across a broad spectrum of legal specialities.

Giving asbestos new life – by Graeme Hamilton and Nicolas Van Praet (National Post – September 29, 2011)

September 29, 2011

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper

He has been portrayed as a monster, a businessman with impeccable political connections who sells a product so dangerous it has been banned in Europe and largely shunned on this continent.

But Baljit Singh Chadha says he is simply aiming to make some money while helping the poor improve their lives. And it looks like the Quebec government is about to back him up.

Mr. Chadha is a Montreal entrepreneur and the new face of the asbestos industry in Canada. After acting as the sales agent in India to Quebec’s Jeffrey asbestos mine for years, he has put together a plan to buy the bankrupt business and give it new life.

The Liberal government of Premier Jean Charest has committed $58-million in loan guarantees to relaunch the mine, provided Mr. Chadha can show the project can turn a profit, that the asbestos will be used safely in importing countries and that he can find private investors willing to put $25-million into the plan.

Rio Tinto hiring hundreds of workers in Canada because of modernization projects – by Ross Marowits, Canadian Press (Winnipeg Free Press – September 27, 2011)

September 28, 2011

The Winnipeg Free Press is the oldest newspaper in western Canada and has the largest readership in the province of Manitoba.

MONTREAL – A couple of years after it laid off 14,000 workers around the world, global mining giant Rio Tinto has launched a mini hiring spree in Canada, mainly due to its modernization projects.

The Anglo-Australian company is actively searching to hire more than 210 workers for mining and manufacturing in alumina, aluminum, iron ore, diamonds and titanium dioxide.

“We launched the campaign to help our ongoing recruitment efforts for our modernization and expansion projects,” Rio Tinto spokesman Bryan Tucker said in an email. Rio Tinto employs more than 13,000 people at 35 sites in Canada.

The company has turned to Facebook and YouTube, posting a four-minute promotional video showing operations such as the Diavik Diamond Mine, Iron Ore Company of Canada, Rio Tinto, Fer et Titane, and Rio Tinto Alcan.