http://www.cbc.ca/sudbury/
Sudbury and Manitoulin Workforce Planning looking to paint realistic picture of employment scene
Sudbury’s mining sector will soon be getting a sense of how many skilled workers are needed in the community, thanks to an upcoming study. The problem of attracting skilled workers to northern Ontario is one of the things the Sudbury and Manitoulin Workforce Planning Board is hoping to address with its new study.
“It’s very important for us to take a look at this now because a number of the industries are very concerned that we don’t have enough skilled trades and skilled professionals in the field,” said Reggie Caverson, the board’s executive director.
“This particular study will be taking a look at … in terms of numbers, what kinds of professions and trades [are needed] up here, over the next two, five and 10 years.”
The board will develop the study in collaboration with the Mining Industry Human Resources Council and will look at three different scenarios — whether the industry expands, shrinks or stays the same. It will focus on 66 different occupations.
Sudbury Basin
Wallbridge eyes mine near Capreol – by Star Staff (Sudbury Star – August 1, 2012)
The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
A Sudbury-based mining company says it will decide later this year whether it can bring a new mine north of Capreol into production. Wallbridge Mining Company Limited issued the statement in a mid-year exploration update released Tuesday.
The company said its Broken Hammer exploration project continues to produce promising results for copper and platinum group element minerals.
“Our 2012 exploration activities to date have continued at a high level, in contrast to the lower level of activities by many other junior mining companies,” Marz Kord, Wallbridge president and CEO, said in a release. “This is mainly due to the strong support we have received from our joint venture partners.”
“In addition to our exploration activities, our new resource update at Broken Hammer project is encouraging. The prefeasibility and permitting are on track and pending the results, would enable us to make a production decision this year.”
Arsenic in [Sudbury’s] Long Lake – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – July 31, 2012)
The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
With its sandy shoreline and peaceful location, Long Lake, approximately 20 minutes south of Lively, attracts people to swim, relax and fish. Area residents get their drinking water from it.
But members of the Long Lake Stewardship say arsenic is being leached into the lake, and that the ministries of Environment and Northern Development and Mines are blatantly ignoring the problem.
“There’s a gold mine on the westerly end of Long Lake, the Long Lake Gold Mine, and it has a large tailings area that leaches through a creek into Long Lake,” said Stephen Butcher, chair of the stewardship committee. “I read some reports on that mine a few years back, and it said the tailings were heavily loaded with arsenic. Logic put together that it would be creeping in by Long Lake.”
In 2010, Butcher contacted Max Kasper, a project co-ordinator with the Ministry of the Environment (MOE). “Looking at the data we have collected … despite water chemistry results that are above Provincial Water Quality Objectives for some parameters, the drainage from the former gold mine is having little impact on Long Lake,” Kasper told him in an email dated May 26, 2010.
Big Nickel started as Szilva’s dream – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – July 23, 2012)
The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
Ted Szilva has something to say to people with big dreams: don’t give up. And as the creator of the iconic Big Nickel, Szilva knows what he’s talking about.
“What I want to do is throw out a challenge to each and every one of you, especially the children: if you have a dream … all you have to do is go after that dream. It doesn’t matter what anybody says — ‘oh, that’s a stupid idea, crazy idea, nobody will go see a big nickel, an underground mine’ — that’s what they told me.”
Szilva proved the naysayers wrong, and was happy for it, as he stood outside Dynamic Earth on Sunday for the 48th birthday of the Sudbury tourist attraction. He came up with the idea for the Big Nickel in 1963, as part of a newspaper contest for how best to celebrate Canada’s centennial. While his idea did not win, the idea stuck with him, becoming a reality in 1964.
“It’s a great project, and we’ve had people from all over the world come and go underground, learn about mining, learn about the minerals of the Earth found around here.”
“Cliffians” [Copper Cliff] reconvene – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – July 21, 2012)
The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
It started as a house party last year and has morphed into a reunion more than 250 people are registered to attend.
“Back to the Cliff” will bring together people who have lived in the community all their lives, former Copper “Cliffians” who have moved away and people who just wish they were from the town that grew along with the International Nickel Company. Deborah Gray was shouting out instructions to volunteers Friday about lunchtime as they were putting finishing touches on the three-day homecoming.
Gray moved to Copper Cliff when she was seven years old and has never left the community, which is now part of the City of Greater Sudbury. Municipal amalgamation can’t erase the feeling, though, that if you’re from Copper Cliff, you’re “almost like family,” said Gray. She was looking forward to renewing acquaintances with old friends and spending time with friends she just hasn’t met yet.
Chief waits for MPPs’ replies [about Sudbury chromite smelter] – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – July 6, 2012)
The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
The chief of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek (Whitefish Lake) First Nation is waiting for replies from several Ontario cabinet ministers before weighing in on Cliffs Natural Resources’ plan to build a $1.8-billion ferrochrome smelter near Capreol.
Chief Steve Miller said he has asked Premier Dalton McGuinty and at least three of his ministers for meetings to discuss the possible impact of the smelter on his First Nation, located about 20 km west of downtown Sudbury. Miller has concerns about the environmental impact on the Vermillion River Watershed, which he said “flows right in front of our First Nation.”
He has written Sudbury MPP and Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci, Environment Minister Jim Bradley and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Kathleen Wynne for meetings to get more information on the smelter.
What he reads about processing chromite ore is troublesome, said Miller. That cabinet ministers not getting back to him has only increased his anxiety.
“There’s so much on the Internet about chromite and nobody knows exactly the effect of it,” he said.
Polish PM tours [Sudbury] Morrison deposit during brief visit – by Northern Ontario Business staff (Northern Ontario Business – June 29, 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.
Whirlwind tour
A May sojourn to Sudbury by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was kept so quiet, few knew he had visited the city until he was already gone. The PM made a brief stop in Sudbury to visit the Morrison deposit at Levack Mine, one of three properties owned by KGHM Polska Miedź S.A., the Polish, state-run company that bought out Quadra FNX in early 2012.
Quadra now operates as KGHMInternational Ltd., a subsidiary of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A., which focuses on growth in copper and other metals. KGHM also owns Sudbury’s McCreedy West and Podolsky mines, as well as the Victoria exploration project.
KGHM accesses the Morrison through the shaft and underground infrastructure at Xstrata Nickel’s Craig Mine, an arrangement agreed upon by the two companies last fall.
Under terms of the arrangement, Quadra will have access to the Craig Mine and infrastructure for the life of the Levack Mine/Morrison deposit, and will operate the Craig shaft and underground infrastructure but will not undertake mining from Xstrata Nickel’s Craig property.
[Wolf Lake] Is this a park or a mine site? – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – June 30, 2012)
The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
WOLF LAKE — It’s my second day on Wolf Lake, a beryl-blue beauty socketed in quartzite hills north of Markstay, when I trip across the core samples.
Perhaps a dozen in all, these palm-length cylinders of rock — some a marbled pink, most the same greyish-white hue you see on the surface — form a weird pile at my feet, like the petrified scat of dinosaurs.
Paul Tukker, a former reporter with Sudbury CBC and my supposed companion on this trip, is currently AWOL. We’ve paddled over from our campsite on the eastern shore to explore this southwest bay, but he’s slipped away on me again.
To cool off, would be my educated guess. It’s another scorcher, and Tukker has already swum about six times since we set out yesterday from a public launch on Matagamasi Lake, crossing a couple of smaller lakes and two short but taxing portages en route. One time he disappeared mid-portage, when there wasn’t even any water in sight, and reappeared soaking wet. He’s a walking divining rod, this guy.
Vale delivers a breath of fresh air on the environmental front
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.
Ontario Mining Association member Vale has officially launched its new $2 billion emissions control project in Sudbury. The nickel producer had company officials, employees, civic leaders, local residents, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci, Environment Minister Jim Bradley and Sudbury Mayor Marianne Matichuk on hand amongst others for the sod turning ceremony held last week.
The Clean AER (Atmospheric Emissions Reduction) Project promises to cut sulphur dioxide emissions from Vale’s smelter by 70% and trim dust and metals emissions by 35% to 40%. This is one of the largest environmental projects ever undertaken in this province. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2015 and will cut Vale’s emissions well below government regulated levels.
“This is a historic day for Vale and demonstrates the importance that Greater Sudbury plays in our global operations,” said John Pollesel, Chief Operating Officer for Vale Canada and Director of Vale’s North Atlantic Base Metals Operations. “Starting today, we are building a lasting legacy for our employees, the community and future generations who will live and work in Greater Sudbury and that is truly a reason to celebrate.”
McGuinty to defend his budget in the north – by Maria Babbage (National Post – June 23, 2012)
The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.
“I wish we had a few more Sudburys around the province,” Mr. McGuinty said.
“Frankly, you’re doing so well and experiencing so much growth. So we’ll ask
ourselves what can we learn from the examples that are right in front of our
eyes here in Sudbury.”
SUDBURY – Premier Dalton McGuinty is in for a bumpy ride in northern Ontario this weekend in spite of his attempts to smooth over the budget crisis that pushed the province to the brink of an election, critics say.
Now that the budget has passed and an election is averted, Mr. McGuinty will have to appease northerners who are angry that he’s privatizing Ontario Northland rail service after promising not to do so, the New Democrats say.
He’ll also have to explain why his budget doesn’t do much to create jobs in the north, which has lost 9,000 jobs since the Oct. 6 election and where the unemployment rate is the highest in the province at 10.4%, said the Progressive Conservatives.
“The premier is here in northern Ontario where this budget did absolutely nothing for the 60 mills that are closed, the 10,000 resource-sector jobs that we lost, the skyrocketing hydro rates that caused Xstrata Copper to move from Timmins to Quebec and shed 670 jobs in a community of 45,000,” said Vic Fedeli, the party’s energy critic.
‘A proud day for Vale’ [Sudbury Clean AER Project] – by Heidi Ulrichsen (Sudbury Northern Life – June 22, 2012)
Ontario Premier breaks ground for $2 billion project
Vale’s $2 billion emissions reduction project will not only deliver a major boost to the economy, it will be “good for the lungs of our children and grandchildren,” according to Premier Dalton McGuinty.
He made the remarks while speaking at the June 22 groundbreaking for the emissions reduction project, known as Clean AER, at the Copper Cliff Smelter. McGuinty said he’s impressed that Clean AER actually aims to exceed the province’s air emissions standards — some of the toughest in North America.
“This is a huge project,” McGuinty, who was joined at the ceremony by a number of other politicians, including Environment Minister Jim Bradley, Sudbury MPP and Minister of Northern Development and Mines Rick Bartolucci and Mayor Marianne Matichuk, said. “As you heard, it’s the single largest environmental investment in Sudbury’s history, and it’s certainly one of the biggest ever for Ontario.”
How will the city [Sudbury] capitalize on investment and growth? – by Brian MacLeod (Sudbury Star – June 23, 2012)
The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
Click Here For the Speech: City of Greater Sudbury Mayor Marianne Matichuk “State of the City Address”
Mayor Marianne Matichuk’s State of the City address this week was more of a review than a visionary speech. There’s nothing wrong with that, so long as it captures what’s important on her agenda. But the speech spent a lot of time explaining how mining is important to the city — in case you were wondering — and why Sudbury is important to the mining world.
All speeches make room for reflection, but they also need to generate excitement and show what will come of all that potential.
Some of that potential was there, in the speech, but the buzz just wasn’t galvanized for a city that is expected to move into an expansion phase that it hasn’t seen for years. The mayor’s speech was sprinkled with affirmation phrases: “Sudbury is the epicentre of Canada’s hard-rock mining sector”; “there is an incredible sense of energy and prosperity in the air”; “Sudbury is an island of prosperity”; “no one in this entire country can begrudge our community its moment in the sun.”
McGuinty touts Clean AER project: $2-billion initiative promises to reduce smelter emissions by 70% – by Rita Poliakov (Sudbury Star – June 23, 2012)
The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
The significance of Vale’s Clean AER project goes beyond the City of Greater Sudbury. “It’s good for the North, good for the province and good for the lungs of our children and grandchildren,” said Premier Dalton McGuinty, at the $2-billion project’s groundbreaking on Friday.
McGuinty was joined by several cabinet ministers and Vale executives at the ceremony, which marked the beginning of construction. The Clean AER (atmospheric emissions reduction) project, called the largest single environmental investment in Sudbury’s history, will reduce sulphur dioxide emissions at Vale’s Copper Cliff smelter by 70%.
The project’s goal is to bring emissions down to 45 kilotonnes per year, well below the province’s regulatory limit of 66 kilotonnes per year. During construction, which should last until 2015, the smelter complex will be retrofitted and new secondary baghouse and material handling facilities, which prevents dust from entering the community, will be constructed.
The most complicated area of the project will stem from the smelter itself, which will continue to operate during construction. “It’s very complicated,” said Dave Stefanuto, the project director. “We’ll be replacing four converters.”
NEWS RELEASE: VALE BREAKS GROUND ON HISTORIC $2 BILLION CLEAN AER PROJECT
(L to R) David Pearson, Laurentian University Biology Professor; Kelly Strong, VP of Vale’s Mining and Milling, North Atlantic Operations, and General Manager of Ontario Operations; John Pollesel, Chief Operating Officer of Vale Canada and Director of Vale’s North Atlantic Base Metals; Rick Bartolucci, Sudbury MPP and Ontario Minister of Northern Development and Mines; Marianne Matichuk, City of Greater Sudbury Mayor; Honourable Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario; Jim Bradley, Ontario Minister of the Environment; Dave Stefanuto, Vale Clean AER Project Director
For Immediate Release
SUDBURY, June 22, 2012 – Joined by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, government cabinet ministers, community leaders, local residents and employees, Vale today officially broke ground on its $2-billion “Clean AER Project”, one of the largest single environmental investments in Ontario’s history.
The Clean AER Project, where AER stands for ‘Atmospheric Emissions Reduction’, will see sulphur dioxide emissions at Vale’s smelter in Sudbury reduced by 70% from current levels, as well as dust and metals emissions reduced a further 35 to 40%. The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2015.
“This is an historic day for Vale and demonstrates the importance that Greater Sudbury plays in our global operations,” said John Pollesel, Chief Operating Officer of Vale Canada Limited and Director of Vale’s North Atlantic Base Metals operations. “Starting today, we are building a lasting legacy for our employees, the community and future generations who will live and work in Greater Sudbury, and that is truly a reason to celebrate.”
Perfect opportunity to grow community, says [Sudbury] mayor – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – June 22, 2012)
The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
In her State-of-the-City Address in 2011, Mayor Marianne Matichuk said the issue of deregulating store hours, which was a cornerstone of her campaign, was “not dead.”
“If we are the only municipality in Ontario that’s not open for business, it’s a shame,” she told reporters at the time. “We are promoting ourselves as the retail spot in northeastern Ontario … If you don’t want to do it, get out of the way.”
One year later, in her State-of- the-City Address for 2012, the store hours issue received nary a mention.
“The main priority … is building this community,” Matichuk said after this year’s address, held Thursday at the Caruso Club. “We have a huge opportunity here … with all the money that’s being pumped in — we’ve got to look at that. We’ve got to look at growing people, we’ve got to look at growing our community.”
Her speech maintained that positive outlook, focusing largely on opportunities in the mining sector. “I would like to start off with an amazing number: $6.3 billion,” she said at the beginning of her speech.