Ring of Fire logjam broken – by Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (September 12, 2013)

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

A CO-ORDINATED effort by Northwest First Nations to delay the Ring of Fire mining development appears to have fallen apart. And that’s a good thing. Now First Nations in the zone of the Ring’s major player, Cliffs Natural Resources, can each get on with arrangements to share in the opportunities that can flow from such a large project.

Matawa Tribal Council’s initial concerns were understandable. Told the federal government and Cliffs were jointly pursuing an environmental review, the nine Matawa First Nations in the area worried it would not be sufficient to allay their concerns about potential pollution or include them in the process.

Matawa launched a judicial review of the environmental assessment process and in June Cliffs put a hold on its own environmental impact statement (EIS) citing issues with First Nations, the province and other matters. The sheer enormity of the Ring of Fire meant all parties had to be sure it was done properly. None more than First Nations who have watched resource developments around them come and go with little to show for it.

The Matawa challenge and Cliffs’ shift to neutral seemed to signal an uncomfortable lull in the most exciting economic news the Northwest had heard in many years.

Read more

Confederation College prepares future mining workforce – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – September 12, 2013)

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.

Ottawa is supporting Aboriginal training in preparation for coming development in the Far North. The federal government’s Skills and Partnership Fund is allocating more than $5.9 million for employment training in the mining sector for people in the nine communities of the Matawa First Nations.

It’s part of a new Ring of Fire Aboriginal Alliance announced by Ottawa, Matawa, the Kiikenomaga Kikenjigewen Employment and Training Services (KKETS), Confederation College and Noront Resources, a junior miner working in the James Bay lowlands.

This fall, nine specialized training and six pre-trade courses will be made available for Matawa members with many delivered in their home communities and Thunder Bay.

The training programs include: mining essentials, environmental monitoring, basic line cutting, security guard, remote camp cook, remote camp support, underground common core, underground diamond drill helper and heavy equipment operator. The pre-trades programs are in carpentry, electrical, plumbing, welding, heavy duty equipment mechanic and construction craft worker.

Read more

A red-letter day for Lakehead – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – September 5, 2013)

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

It was so refreshing to stand in a room filled with hope, pride and a sense of achievement. It was the opening of Lakehead University’s faculty of law, the first new law school in Ontario in more than 40 years.

You could almost hear buttons popping and chests filled with pride. The little gymnasium at the former Port Arthur Collegiate Institute was filled with a collection of local legal community members, university VIPs, community leaders and provincial visitors, not the least of which, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Minister Michael Gravelle and MPP Bill Mauro and Mayor Keith Hobbs. Provincial, regional and local representatives who are ever-present at university functions were at the opening in full force.

“What a great day,” seemed to be the first words out of the mouths of every speaker, and there were many — but the refrain never grew old. Everyone in the room was there to cheer a great day for Thunder Bay, Ontario and the country.
The new faculty will be somewhat unique as it offers a focus on aboriginal and environmental law.

The faculty of law, which received a slim $1.5 million from the province, is a huge investment for Lakehead University. Along with the medical school, Lakehead University has risen in the ranks of the Canadian university community by becoming truly comprehensive.

Read more

[Thunder Bay generating station] Up in the air – by Leith Dunick (tbnewswatch.com – September 3, 2013)

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

Premier Kathleen Wynne says the future of the Thunder Bay Generating Station is still up in the air.

The Ontario leader, in the city for a series of events this week, including Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle’s nomination Tuesday night, said the conversation about the plant is ongoing, but no decisions have been made.

Last year the province decided to halt the conversion from coal to natural gas, stating it would save $400 million.

The Ontario Power Authority also said the power it creates won’t be needed down the road, though the region’s energy task forced begged to differ, presenting a much different – and more prosperous – outlook for Northwestern Ontario’s mining sector.

“It’s one of those fundamentals of infrastructure and conditions that has to be in place for job creation to happen and economic development to happen and economic growth to happen,” Wynne said in a brief media availability on Tuesday morning.

“So we’re committed to making sure that power supply is there and the specifics on that conversion are ongoing,” she said.

Read more

Taking the province to task – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – August 2013)

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.

For northwestern Ontario community leaders, if there’s a physical symbol of the glacial pace of provincial power planning, it’s the dormant Thunder Bay Generating Station.

Last November, Ontario Power Generation stopped work on converting the coal-burning plant to natural gas. The final decision whether to resume or not is expected at the end of summer. “Why are they dragging out this decision on Thunder Bay?” asked Hebert, the former general manager of Thunder Bay Hydro.

Frustrated by the province’s inertia, Larry Hebert, now the chairman of Common Voice Energy Task Force, reminded Ontario’s two leading energy planners last month that the mining boom is coming and they need to hurry up on building power infrastructure.

There’s major concern whether new mines will come into production before an East-West transmission corridor is finished and whether the mothballed Thunder Bay Generating Station will be kept in service.

Read more

Matawa First Nations have chance to cash in on Ring of Fire jobs – by Bryan Meadows (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – August 9, 2013)

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

The federal government is providing almost $6 million for training Aboriginal people near the Ring of Fire mining camp.
The Skills and Partnership funding will help 260 residents from nine Matawa First Nations get the skills and experience they need to find good quality, high-paying jobs through a mining industry training project run by Kiikenomaga Kikenjigewen Employment and Training Services (KKETS) in partnership with Noront Resources Ltd. and Confederation College.

Training will be provided for jobs such as heavy equipment operator, underground diamond driller helper, security guard, camp cook and environmental monitor.

The funding announcement was made Thursday at Confederation College by FedNor Minister Greg Rickford. “Our government’s top priorities are creating jobs, economic growth and long-term prosperity, across the country and right here in Northern Ontario,” said Rickford (C-Kenora).

“By working with organizations such as Kiikenomaga Kikenjigewen Employment and Training Services, we are ensuring that the members of local Aboriginal communities can take full advantage of the opportunities being generated by the rapidly growing mining industry, in particular in the Ring of Fire,” he said.

Read more

Province still mum on OPG plant’s long-term future – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – July 30, 2013)

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

Those arguing in favour of keeping Thunder Bay’s power station open say the coal-burning plant got a shot in the arm thanks to an Ontario Energy Board ruling which says it must run at least for the duration of 2013.

But the province is remaining coy about the Ontario Power Generation station’s long-term fate, saying a proposed conversion to natural gas is still undecided.

“We have a responsibility to wait for the full assessment by the Ontario Power Authority before making any final decision on (an) conversion,” Energy Ministry spokeswoman Beckie Codd-Downey said Monday in an email.

The decision by the OEB was applauded by the Common Voice Northwest Energy Task Force, which until recently felt like “a voice in the wilderness.” Northwest co-chairman Iain Angus said the OEB decision reflects what the task force has said all along — that the region’s demand for electricity could be seriously compromised if the Thunder Bay station is taken off line.

“Back in January, during the cold snap, it was running at 150 megawatts,” Angus noted. About 125 people work at the Mission Island station, which has a maximum capacity of just over 30 mw.

Read more

A new game aims to help would-be miners find a way into the field – by Leith Dunick (tbnewswatch.com – July 25, 2013)

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

Cam Meshake knows mining prosperity might be just around the corner. But the Aroland First Nation resident said for many of his twenty-something friends, it’s tough figuring out how to break into the industry.

He’s got a much better idea of how to get there now, thanks to Ohski-Pimache-O-Win Education and Training Institute’s new industry-specific web portal, Learning2Mine.ca.

Designed as a game, along the lines of Facebook favourite Farmville, the site details career possibilities and the path youngsters should take to land not only entry-level jobs, but well-paying mid- to upper-level careers. “It’s a really fun game to play. I just dove right into it,” Meshake said at Thursday’s initial public unveiling of the site.

“The story was interesting and kept me engaged. I learned a lot about the mining industry with this website and all the vast opportunities and the rewards that would come from the mining industry.”

Gordon Kakegamic, the school’s e-learning co-ordinator, said the government-funded project was developed specifically to address Aboriginal youth, many of whom are interested in making mining a career, but without the knowledge to do so.

Read more

Natural resources driving Thunder Bay development – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – July 8, 2013)

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.

Vince Mirabelli didn’t know much about the mining scene when he first became a realtor. Like many in Thunder Bay, he was unaware of the behind-the-scenes activity in northwestern Ontario’s fastest growing sector until mining executives started showing up as clients.

“When I got into this business five years ago I was oblivious to the Ring of Fire, and then I just started meeting guys one by one.”

So far, he’s sold high-end homes to folks employed with North American Palladium, Goldcorp, Premier Gold, Mega Precious Metals, almost all of them.” In late March, he closed the sale on a home to one executive who was relocating his family from Nevada and he’s sold houses to groups of miners who fly in to work at the remote Musselwhite site.

“I know the executives are spending good money up here on new (homes) and resales,” with prices ranging between $400,000 and $600,000. “A couple of years ago there would only be a handful in that range; now that number is starting to grow. Half of my clientele are out-of-town buyers,” said Mirabelli.

Read more

How will Northern [Ontario] Policy Institute make a difference? – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (July 8, 2013)

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

Two former White House policy wonks who specialize in budgets wrote recently that they were “flabbergasted by how blindly” governments spend money. Their analysis showed that often in government very little time is devoted to finding out if programs actually work or accomplish anything.

Surprised? Well, here’s what Peter Orszag and John Bridgeland have to say in this month’s Atlantic magazine: “Less than $1 out of every $100 is backed by even the most basic evidence that the money is being spent wisely.”

Which us brings to Ontario’s newly-created Northern Policy Institute, which announced last week the appointment of a Halifax-based policy wonk as its first president. The hiring of Charles Cirtwill, an experienced analyst with degrees in public administration and law, promises to bring a fresh perspective to the well-known structural problems that hinder the North’s economy.

NPI, which is getting off the ground with a $5-million provincial stipend, is to have offices at Thunder Bay’s Lakehead University and Sudbury’s Laurentian. Cirtwill starts his new position in September.

Read more

Thunder Bay is the place to be for Quebec contractor – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – July 8, 2013)

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.

Thunder Bay’s roster of mining supply companies continues to grow with the latest arrival of Abitibi Geophysics from Quebec. The Val d’Or-based contractor has set up a satellite shop at the city’s waterfront on an industrial brownfield that was once the site of the former Northern Sawmill.

Northwestern Ontario is not new territory for Abitibi Geophysics, said company president Pierre Berube, who estimates his company has worked on more than 300 exploration projects in this province for miners such as Cliffs Natural Resources, Noront Resources, Rainy River Resources, Osisko and Goldcorp.

“We did a lot of work in Ontario in the past, something like 50 per cent of our business came from Ontario, so it’s about time we established an office.” Considered one of Canada’s leading geophysics contractors in performing ground and borehole surveys, the company prides itself on being an innovator in patented surveying technologies.

Read more

Equals go toe-to-toe over Ring of Fire – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (July 5, 2013)

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

Let’s all say a prayer for former federal Liberal leader Bob Rae and former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci. These two individuals, so highly regarded in their respective fields, are stepping into the ring of negotiations to help clear a path for the development of the Ring of Fire.

It’s a colourful name applied to a huge swath of land some 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, which is home to massive deposits of minerals, and with it, wealth. Although prospectors and mining companies have been pecking away at this virgin region for many years, it has been the arrival of Cliffs Natural Resources and the discovery of a massive deposit of chromite that has really drawn attention to the bounty of the James Bay lowlands.

As the estimates of development and wealth started to soar, so did the interest of neighbouring aboriginal communities. The result has been a frustrating and sometimes dangerous confrontation between First Nations interests and those of the companies wishing to set up a base there.

It’s a simple set of questions when you unravel the rhetoric. Do exploration and mining companies and their investors and the Canadian public at large deserve a compensating share of the wealth the ground will yield?

Read more

Province names Ring of Fire go-to guy – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – July 3, 2013)

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

One of the country’s best legal minds will sit down with a former premier and Rhodes scholar when the Ontario government and Matawa Tribal Council discuss the impacts of mining development in the Ring of Fire.

The province announced Tuesday it has appointed retired Supreme Court of Canada justice Frank Iacobucci as its Ring of Fire negotiator for talks with the Matawa group, which represents half a dozen fly-in reserves in the immediate ROF orbit.

The position follows news last month that main ROF proponent Cliffs Natural Resources has temporarily halted its work on the environmental assessment for its chromite project.

Specifically, Iacobucci is to focus on environmental protection and monitoring, planning and development, revenue sharing, and social and economic supports for First Nations as they relate to future mining in the ROF belt located 540 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.

The 76-year-old Iacobucci, who recently authored an unflattering report about how aboriginals are being disadvantaged by the province’s justice system, called his appointment an “honour.”

Read more

Mining supply chain links up – by Maureen Arges Nadin (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – June 24, 2013)

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

Maureen Arges Nadin is a Thunder Bay-based freelance writer.

The recent buzz of interest in the flourishing Ontario mining sector has left many people asking, “Where are the jobs?”
We tend to derive our information from what we see directly in front of us, and most mines are far away or, in many cases, remote. Job-seekers wanting to remain closer to home are left wondering if there are options for those who don’t want to work in a traditional mine setting.

There is a larger picture that might not be immediately evident to observers outside of the industry. It is the mining service and supply chain.

Jobs in mining have a multiplying effect, and although the numbers vary slightly according to the area, it is a generally accepted equation that for every direct job in mining extraction, there are two to four jobs in mining supply. The recently released Mining Readiness Strategy defines the supply chain as “spinoff activities that cycle through the entire economy through the provision of goods and services to the mining sector.”

In Thunder Bay and region, there is a lot more going on in the mining industry than meets the eye.

Read more

Pullout ‘disappointment’ for mining firm – by Staff (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – June 23, 2013)

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

A Vancouver-based mining company looking to reopen the Griffith Iron Ore Mine near Ear Falls is temporarily scaling back operations after losing a potential partner in the project.

Ontario Iron Mining Inc. has notified Northern Iron Corp. that it will not conclude the purchase of Northern’s El Sol and Whitemud iron ore properties at this time.

Ontario Iron spokesman Jonas Struthers cited “difficult market and trading conditions in China’s steel industry” as the primary reason for pulling out of the proposed deal, despite satisfactory due diligence on the property.

“We believe in the location and established infrastructure of this project as being ideal for export to Asia in general and China in particular,” he said, adding that “there is still significant interest in the properties and in Northern Iron’s business plan, but the timing is not right for us to conclude the purchase.”

Northern Iron president Basil Botha noted that “this announcement is a disappointment for Northern and it’s shareholders.
“Fortunately, we have established good relationships with several other parties with whom we are discussing options ranging from direct investment to joint ventures and we continue to be well positioned to bring in an interested party in the not too distant future.

Read more