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Stan Sudol Columns/Media References and Appearances

Sudbury Accent: No ‘weakness’ in city’s bid for Noront’s ferrochrome plant – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – February 3, 2018)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Sudol believes Sudbury is the right choice for the ferrochrome
smelter. “The facility in Finland does not have a detrimental
effect on their local environment or workers. It will be the
same in Sudbury,” he said. “Sudbury is serviced by two class
one rail lines, has a number of brownfield sites that can be
used to construct and expand the facility and has no issues
with power availability.

“With strategic clusters of mine supply and services, mining
education – two colleges and a university – and a wide assortment
of underground, metallurgical, environmental, and health and safety
research in the community, Noront can take advantage of more than
135 years of mining expertise that is unmatched anywhere else in
Northern Ontario or the entire country for that matter. (Stan Sudol)

On the heels of his fact-finding mission to Finland, Mayor Brian Bigger is really excited about Sudbury’s bid to host the Noront Resources ferrochrome production facility.

For one thing, there is already a skilled and knowledgeable work force in Sudbury that supports eight mines, two smelters and two mills.

“There is a lot of expertise within our community to support that kind of operation,” Bigger said this week. “We’re familiar with these types of operations in Sudbury. We understand what’s required to support that kind of business.”

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A small town in Quebec could power the next wave of electric cars – by Ashley Renders (Vice News – January 30, 2018)

https://news.vice.com/

But Sudol doubts recycling would satisfy the demand for batteries.
The global population is growing and people want cell phones, cars,
urban transportation and a higher standard of living—all of this
is metal intensive, says Sudol. If we can’t dig for these metals
in a place like Quebec, which has strong restoration policies and
labour laws, “then where on Earth are we going to get these metals?”
he asks.

In other words, as long as car companies and cell phone companies
are clamoring for battery metals, Sudol sees only two options:
child miners in the DRC or rule of law in Quebec.

A small town in Northern Quebec could hold the keys to a future where electric vehicles are the norm.

A Toronto-based mining company called RNC Minerals Corporation wants to build a “battery metals” mine near Amos, Quebec, a town of less than 13,000 people that sits on the largest untouched deposit of nickel sulphide and cobalt in the world, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data cited by a company report.

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Nickel on the upswing – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – January 3, 2018)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

“So, we should remember that the many sustainable mining
practices — lowering carbon emissions, mine safety and an
96 per cent reductions in sulphur emissions since 1970, just
to name a few — done in the Sudbury Basin to supply the
necessary nickel, copper and cobalt puts this community in
a leading role in the transition to a green auto future.

“Both the provincial and federal levels of government should
recognize this important fact and ensure none of their green
energy policies hinder the future growth of this strategic
sector.” (Stan Sudol – RepublicOfMining.com)

It looks like 2018 will be a very good year for nickel. Last month, world metal markets closed for the Christmas break with nickel on an upswing. The metal reached $5.46/pound U.S., more than $1 U.S. higher than the average price of $4.43/pound U.S. in the first half of the year..

The $5.46 U.S. price was also 23 cents higher than the $5.23U.S. recorded back on Nov. 27. The amount of nickel sitting in London Metal Exchange warehouses –another indicator of where prices are headed — is also showing signs of life. On Nov. 27, there were 382,362 tonnes of nickel in the warehouses. But as of Dec. 20, the total had fallen to 373,400.

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Some Highlights of 150 years of Canadian Mining – by Stan Sudol (Canadian Business History Association Conference – September 12, 2017)

British Columbia Gold Rush – Wiki Photo

http://bit.ly/2gyCMjA

This speech was given at the Canadian Business History Association Conference at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto on September 12, 2017.

Good morning everyone.

For over 150 years the strategic mining sector has played a major role in the economic development of Canada as well as opening up many parts of the country’s isolated north for settlement. It also helped solidify our western and northern borders during the first few decades of Canada’s existence at a time of threatening American expansion.

British Columbia Gold Rush

In 1848, placer gold – which refers to the metal found in rivers and streams – was discovered in California. This was the first of a series of gold rushes throughout the world over the next 80 years.

Miners at the Mucho Oro (Much Gold) gold mine near Barkerville – Wiki Photo

Fortunately, when these placer gold deposits started to decline by 1858, a similar discovery was made hundreds of miles to the north at the mouth of the Fraser River, in a territory known as New Caledonia.

At that time, this region was controlled by the Hudson Bay Company and the colony of Vancouver Island was ruled by Governor James Douglas who was based in Victoria. He was fearful that an influx of about 30,000 miners, many from California, would cause the territory to be annexed by the Americans.

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Mines can create Indigenous middle class in Ring of Fire: Opinion – by Stan Sudol (Toronto Star – August 1, 2017)

https://www.thestar.com/

Ontario needs to follow the lead of Nunavut, where Inuit communities have benefitted from successful gold and iron ore mines.

It’s been 10 years since the world-class Ring of Fire mineral district was discovered in the isolated James Bay Lowlands, about 500 kms northeast of Thunder Bay. Not one mine has been built.

During those 10 years, the equally isolated territory of Nunavut has built two gold mines (Agnico Eagle’s Meadowbank and TMAC Resources’ Doris) and one iron ore operation (Baffinland’s Mary River).

A fourth gold mine (Agnico Eagle) should be in production in 2019 — and Sabina Gold and Silver Corp. A junior exploration company with a very rich precious metal deposit has just been given continued development approvals by the Nunavut Impact Review Board.

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Canadian Mines Create Indigenous Middle Class in Nunavut – Not in Ring of Fire – by Stan Sudol (July 26, 2017)

It’s been ten years since the world-class Ring of Fire mineral district was discovered in the isolated James Bay Lowlands, about 500 kms northeast of Thunder Bay. Not one mine has been built. During those ten years the equally isolated territory of Nunavut has built two gold mines (Agnico Eagle’s Meadowbank and TMAC Resources’ Doris) and one iron ore operation (Baffinland’s Mary River).

A fourth gold mine (Agnico Eagle) should be in production in 2019 – and Sabina Gold and Silver Corp., a junior exploration company with a very rich precious metal deposit has just been given continued development approvals by the Nunavut Impact Review Board.

Noront Resources is the only significant company in the Ring of Fire with a potentially bankable mineral asset, their nickel/copper Eagle’s Nest deposit, as well as the owner of 75 per cent of the valuable staked claims in the region. The company also has plans to develop an adjacent chromite deposit using the Eagle’s Nest underground infrastructure and is currently looking for a suitable site in northern Ontario to build a ferrochrome processing plant to supply the American market.

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Exceptional Current Generation of Canadian Mine Builders – by Stan Sudol (RepublicOfMining.com – July 20, 2017)

In the February/March issue in the Canadian Mining Journal, I highlighted the Top Ten Mining Men in Canadian History and lamented that we recently passed the tenth anniversary of the takeover of historic Canadian companies like Inco, Noranda and Falconbridge. These companies helped play a key role in opening up isolated northern regions and trained generations of world-class mine finders and builders.

Notwithstanding an enormous amount of national angst about a “hollowing out” of the Canadian resource sector, the following list of current mine builders – who may end up on some future Top Ten Mining People list – clearly indicates that we still have an enormous talent pool of visionary individuals who will continue to build and find mines in Canada and around the world and create the next generation of home grown corporations.

This list is in no particular order and is a very wide cross-section of industry players that range from junior mine builders to seasoned CEOs who run multi-billion dollar corporations and represents just a very small selection of the enormous amount of mining talent that exists in this country.

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Kirkland Lake and the Amazing World-Class Abitibi Gold Mining Belt – Orefinders CEO Stephen Stewart Interviews RepublicOfMining.com’s Stan Sudol (July 10, 2017)


The Abitibi is the largest Archean greenstone belt in the world. It’s roughly 150 km wide and starts just west of Timmins in Ontario – some say it starts in the Wawa camp – stretches for about 650 kms. in an east/west direction to Chibougamau, Quebec.

Since the first gold discovery in Timmins in 1909, the Abitibi has been the source of about 200 million ounces of gold and at least 35 billion pounds of zinc and 15 billion pounds of copper.

Both Ontario and Quebec have a number of significant mining camps.

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TV Ontario’s The Agenda – Steve Paikin Interviews With Mining Industry and NGO Critics (TV Ontario – May 31, 2017)

Toronto: Mining Capital of the World

Ask yourself: what’s the most important mining city in Ontario? Sudbury? Timmins? You could argue, it’s Toronto, where almost 60 per cent of all publicly-traded mining companies in the world are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX-Venture Exchange. And while all that may be well known to those in the business world, it’s far from widely appreciated beyond that. The Agenda discusses how Toronto rose to be a mining capital.

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Harte Gold Corporation’s Developing Mine: A New Camp in the Making Adjacent to Hemlo? – by Stan Sudol  (March 2017)


Harte Gold Corp. President and CEO Stephen G. Roman

Harte Gold Corporation is one of those “under the radar” junior explorers that is now well on its way to developing a high grade underground gold mine adjacent to northern Ontario’s world-class Hemlo camp where roughly 22 million ounces of gold have been produced to date since 1985.

Back in September 2008, when Stephen G. Roman and his partners sold their Gold Eagle Mine project in Ontario’s Red Lake gold camp, to Goldcorp for $1.5 billion, it took just one month for him to start investigating another project.

By early 2009, Roman took charge of Harte Gold, an underperforming gold exploration company that was on the verge of being de-listed. It took him about a year and half to put the corporation’s finances in order and acquire Corona Gold Corp’s 51% ownership of the property.

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Proud Canadian mining sector for a strong nation – by Marilyn Scales (Canadian Mining Journal – February/March 2017)

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Canada is celebrating the 150th anniversary of Confederation. In 1867 the founding fathers met in Charlottetown built the foundation of a nation truly “strong and free”. They did a very good job, too. We can savour their hard work as we join in various celebrations around the country.

One of the reasons to be proud of Canada is its vast storehouse of natural resources and the men and enterprises that put us among the world’s premier mineral producers – gold, uranium, potash, base metals, diamonds, and the metals of the future. Our mineral legacy has also given rise to some of the world’s best technology for finding, mining and processing those riches.

Let’s take a look at the first person to be caught up in our mineral wealth. While Martin Frobisher searched for the Northwest Passage, he ballasted his ships with shiny yellow rocks. What he thought would be his fortune was pyrite, not gold, and his mistake was not pointed out until he had made another voyage and collected even more rocks. The lesson is: Never send a ship captain to do a geologist’s job.

French king Louis XIV granted what are probably the first mineral concessions on Cape Breton Island to Nicolas Denys who discovered coal there in 1672. For the next 200 years mining was small scale, done to meet local needs.

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Barrick’s Munk Heads Top Ten Most Important Mining Men in Canadian History – by Stan Sudol

Melanie and Peter Munk
Melanie and Peter Munk

An edited version of this list was published in the February/March issue of the Canadian Mining Journal.

Four Americans Made the List!

A few months ago, my dear colleague Joe Martin, who is the Director of the Canadian Business & Financial History Initiative at Rotman and President Emeritus of Canada’s History Society, asked me a very simple question: who would be considered the most important individual in Canadian mining?

Considering Canada’s lengthy and exceptional expertise in the mineral sector, it was not an easy answer and I decided to research and create a top ten list of the most important mining men in Canadian history.

The lack of women on this list simply reflects the fact that for much of our history most women were not given the educational or social opportunities to excel in business, especially in a rough and male-dominated sector like mining. Times have changed, women are playing key roles in mining today and will definitely be included on this list in the future.

However, a few qualifiers need to be established. This is basically a list of mine builders not mine finders.  Building a company through takeovers and discoveries is one way but I am also focusing on individuals who have built corporate empires and/or who have developed isolated regions of the country with the necessary infrastructure for mines to flourish and create multi-generational jobs, shareholder wealth and great economic impact.

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[The Great Provincial Divide – Northern Ontario Separation] – The Agenda’s Steve Paikin interviews Laure Paquette, Erik White and Stan Sudol (March 11, 2016)

http://theagenda.tvo.org/ The Agenda explores the idea of northern Ontario separating from the south. Laure Paquette is an Associate Professor at Lakehead University’s Political Science department in Thunder Bay. Erik White is a journalist at CBC Radio Sudbury. Stan Sudol is publisher/editor of RepublicOfMining.com, a mining aggregator website, freelance mining columnist for the Sudbury Star and …

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Infrastructure in the Ring of Fire: ‘Getting it Right’ rather than just Getting it Soon – by Chief Elizabeth Atlookan (Sudbury Star – April 11, 2016)

Elizabeth Atlookan is Chief of Eabametoong First Nation and a member of the Matawa Tribal Council.

A version of this column ran in the Sudbury Star under the title of “We ‘Will Not Be Bought Off”

On March 11, 2016 the Financial Post and Sudbury Star published an article by Mr. Stan Sudol that called for rapid Federal investment in industrial Ring of Fire and community infrastructure, based on a ‘Mining Marshall Plan’ concept that he published in July 2015. Is a Marshall Plan needed? No. Rather, our First Nations and Ontario need to collaborate on a new, long-­‐term vision of human and environmental life that can incorporate wise industrial development. Let’s work together on that.

As the Chief of Eabametoong First Nation, I write from a remote community of roughly 2500 members, with about 1400 living on-­‐reserve approximately 400kms North of Thunder Bay. Eabametoong First Nation has been referenced in multiple news stories lately. These stories have outlined a number of tragic losses throughout our winter. In particular, we have suffered a suicide in February, the loss of an infant earlier this month, and one of our members falling victim to a homicide just over a week ago.

I write from the context of social crisis. This is something that has been documented, but rarely from the perspective of community leader who is facing so much local pain and difficulty, while navigating tremendous pressure for industrial development nearby.

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Sudbury letter: Ring of Fire progresss – minister – by Michael Gravelle (Sudbury Star – March 14, 2016)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Michael Gravelle is the current Minister of Northern Development and Mines.

Minister Gravelle was in charge this ministry when Cliffs Natural Resources became so frustrated with Ontario government inaction, incompetence and inept mining policy that the company decided cancel its proposed $3.3 billion chromite investment in the Ring of Fire, permanently damaging the province’s international reputation in mining circles. – Stan Sudol

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to Stan Sudol’s recent guest column regarding development in the Ring of Fire (“PM can save project,” The Sudbury Star, Tuesday, March 8).

The Ring of Fire presents a historic opportunity to drive positive economic outcomes for the region, the province and Canada as a whole. Its smart, responsible and sustainable development must include strong commitments to improve the living conditions of people and infrastructure surrounding the Ring of Fire.

Realizing the full potential of the region will require collaboration from several partners, including the provincial and federal governments. However, our government has already driven much progress in laying the groundwork to drive development in the region.

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