Twitter

Timmins

Call out for Northerners to support forestry – by Kyle Gennings (Timmins Daily Press – February 22, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – The Federation Of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) wants citizens to speak up. The organization wants the help of Northerners to help ensure the economic potential of the boreal forest isn’t stifled by increasingly expanding changes driven by special interest groups.

Al Spacek, mayor of Kapuskasing and head of FONOM, feels that current environmental practices have more than proven themselves as not only viable. But forward thinking and any further rigidity will only result in the strangulation of a potential economic boom in the North.

“What we really have been emphasizing is the fact that the current legislation under what is called the Crown Forest Capability Act is more than adequate to protect our forests,” he said. “The industry has developed around that act, which is very detailed in how we need need to take care of the environment and we are concerned that the environmental groups are going to be successful in adding more bureaucracy and more restrictions on what forestry companies have to comply with.”

With area forests currently thriving at the same size and density that they did 100 years ago, before major settlement. Spacek said that further changes will only serve to flush the province’s economy further down the drain.

“The MNR is currently asking for input on the the act itself and this whole question of whether or not we need more protection,” he said. “This is why we are encouraging people to get on the record saying that the current legislation is accurate and viable.”

Read more

Judge calls [DeBeers mine] blockade an act of extortion – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – February 21, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – The ongoing blockade outside the Victor diamond mine is not an Aboriginal protest but an act of extortion, a Timmins Superior Court judge declared Wednesday.

Judge Robert Riopelle said the men who are spearheading the blockade are not fighting for constitutional rights, land claims, treaty issues or anything that would benefit the community of Attawapiskat.

These are “individuals with private financial interests, holding a large multinational corporation to ransom,” Judge Robert Riopelle. “It smells of coercion.” Riopelle felt there was sufficient basis for the Ontario Provincial Police to lay criminal charges against the six demonstrators who have prevented access to the mine site since Feb. 11.

The hearing on Wednesday was hastily called late Tuesday, at the request of De Beers Canada, as a followup the injunction order that was made on Friday. Its purpose was to provide direction on enforcing the order.

Riopelle had issued the order, demanding the barricades be removed from the ice road and prohibiting any further obstruction of access to the mine site by the demonstrators.

Read more

De Beers threatens legal action – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – February 14, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

ATTAWAPISKAT – De Beers officials are getting fed up with the repeated illegal blockades of the winter road leading to the Victor diamond mine.

Since the road opened 13 days ago, blockades have prevented supplies and equipment from being delivered for nine of those days. After resolving a blockade that began early last week, another one started up this week.

On Tuesday night, “representatives from De Beers Canada met with Attwapiskat First Nation Chief Theresa Spence, in person, to deliver a formal letter to chief and council stating that is the community does not take immediate action to remove the current illegal blockade of the winter road leading to the De Beers Victor mine, we will pursue all options at our disposal, including legal action,” said Tom Ormsby, the company’s director of external and corporate affairs.

Ormsby said after meeting with the chief, De Beers officials went to the location of the blockade where they delivered a formal letter to those blocking the road, indicating the company’s intention to explore legal options. At last report, the blockade remains in place.

While the mine continues to operate at full capacity, Ormsby said there are economic implications to these disruptions that pose a serious threat to the future of the mine.

Read more

Goldcorp awaits open pit permit – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – February 13, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – One of the most ambitious mining projects in Timmins history is off to a good start. Though major work and blasting has yet to begin on the Hollinger Mine open pit near the centre of town, Goldcorp is happy with progress and community response after closing the books on the first quarter of the project.

Construction of a noise-, sound- and dust-reducing berm has progressed as Goldcorp awaits environmental air compliance approval from the Ministry of the Environment (MOE). Goldcorp operations superintendent,Paul Miller expects the company will receive news on the permit to come by the end of February.

“Any on-site construction or mining activities, which includes berm construction, related drilling, blasting, hauling and loading activities will commence once the MOE has provided approval and posted the permit to proceed,” Miller said at city council on Monday night.

“Right now in terms of timing, we expect there’s going to be a period after we provide the updated models. We don’t know what that’s going to be, but we don’t think it’ll be before the latter part of March, early April before we see any activity on site based on our current knowledge.”

Read more

Difficult public process for Goldcorp’s pit plans – by Liz Cowan (Northern Ontario Business – February 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. 

The process to operate an open pit mine adjacent to Timmins’ downtown core has been a long and difficult one. Goldcorp’s Hollinger project involves a 250-acre fenced property housing the former Hollinger Mine, which was shuttered in the late 1960s. It is expected to begin operations this winter.

Its underground workings have created sinkholes and subsidences in the area and millions of dollars have been spent filling them. Creating an open pit operation will remove the underground hazards and the land will be useable once a closure plan is complete.

The company received city council’s unanimous approval late last fall, along with the support of the Hollinger Project Community Advisory Committee (HPCAC).

“We can’t kid ourselves, any project like this is hard,” said Marc Lauzier, Porcupine Gold Mines general manager. “The public process was a difficult one, and we learned a lot throughout that process.”

For the past five years, Goldcorp has been advising the community of its plans for the Hollinger Project through open houses and other activities.

Read more

Blockade halts traffic to diamond mine – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – February 6, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – A team of De Beers executives were scrambling late Tuesday afternoon to meet with a small number of protesters in Attawapiskat who had been blockading the winter road into the Victor diamond mine since Monday night.

While the mine was able to continue operating, company officials reported the blockade was preventing supplies from being brought to the mine.

“Currently the operations of the mine are not interrupted but the work on the road is interrupted – so the resupply to the mine is standing down until it is resolved,” Ashley Brown, senior communications specialist with De Beers, told The Daily Press.

Supply trucks stopped on the road by protesters were carrying “non-perishable consumables like fuel and oil and different mechanical parts, and tires and camp items and new equipment and that sort of stuff,” Brown added. “We use the winter road for those sort of things that are too heavy to economically fly into the mine.”

He said the company was sending an “executive team” to hold talks with the protesters in an effort to resolve the conflict. Brown said the protesters had provided no indication of how long they intended to maintain the blockade.

Read more

Taxpayer Twain wreck in Timmins – by Dean Beeby (Canadian Press/Montreal Gazette – February 1, 2013)

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

TIMMINS, Ont. — A tourist attraction celebrating country superstar Shania Twain has officially become a $10-million money pit of taxpayer’s cash worthy of a hurtin’ song itself.

The Shania Twain Centre in this northern Ontario community permanently closed its doors Friday — barely a dozen years after its grand opening — and will be demolished to become part of an open-pit gold mine.

A sinkhole of taxpayer money, the centre consumed some $10 million in government funds for its construction in 2000-2001, and racked up more than $1 million in operating deficits in the years since.

Grant applications to the Ontario and federal governments in the 1990s projected annual attendance of 50,000 tourists by 2005. Twain, now 47, grew up poor in Timmins, and got her start singing in local bars before striking it rich on the world stage in 1995.

But the sleek, modern structure — featuring displays of Twain memorabilia along with gold-mining artifacts — has drawn no more than 15,000 people in any year. In the end, every resident of this hardscrabble, century-old mining town of 47,000 was shelling out $7 a year just to keep the lights on. And by 2010, each visitor to the centre was being subsidized to the tune of $33.72.

Read more

Gogama mine golden opportunity for Timmins – by Kyle Gennings (Timmins Daily Press – January 30, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Plans and preparation are falling into place for IAMGOLD’s Coté Lake project. The company is edging closer to the realization of its open-pit gold mine south of Gogama.

IAMGOLD representatives made a presentation at the Porcupine Dante Club on Tuesday as part of the Timmins Chamber of Commerce’s Inside Their Business luncheon series.

“We are a mid-tier mining company with many operations around the world,” said IAM representative Steve Wolfenden. “We have operations in Surinam, west Africa and two projects in Quebec and now we are bringing a major focus to expanding our presence in Ontario.

“The Coté Lake project is exactly how we are going to do just that.” Wolfenden spoke to a full house, which included representation from mining contracting and auxiliary services from Timmins.

“At this point in time we are trying to characterize what is to come,” he said. “We are deeply invested in our preliminary feasibility studies at the moment, working to assess what we have, what we need and what government requires of us.

Read more

Northerners part of historic vote – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – January 28, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – History was made on the weekend and the North was well represented. Timmins-James Bay Provincial Liberal Association president Gaetan Groleau was among the group of 15 from the riding (13 delegates and two ex officio members) at the party’s leadership convention in Toronto on the weekend. They witnessed the election of Kathleen Wynne as party leader.

“It was quite the experience,” Groleau told The Daily Press moments after arriving home Monday night. “It was a historic moment. We chose a leader and Premier as well.” The Timmins-James Bay delegates did their homework before heading south for the convention.

“All the candidates came to Timmins, so we had a chance to talk with them all,” Groleau said. “I felt all the candidates were really good, but three really stood out for Timmins. And Wynne was among the three favoured by the local delegates.

“She has been here many times and knows the area very well … and she plans on coming back,” he said. “Glen Murray was by her side, and I know they have some good proposals for Northern Ontario. “I know Charles Sousa favoured keeping the ONTC. Maybe she’ll listen.”

Read more

TIMMINS HISTORY: Mine mishap caused a stir – by Karen Bachmann (Timmins Daily Press – January 27, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Every community, from Paris to Timbuktu, from Toronto to Earlton, has its fair share of, for lack of a better word, “colourful characters” and eccentrics.

Kirkland Lake had Roza Brown (a woman way before her time who sure knew how to live). Elk Lake claims John Munroe (war hero, mining man, mayor and surely someone who could have been the first candidate for his own reality programme).

We here in the Porcupine seem to have an unending supply: Tommy Jack, Maggie Leclair, Sandy McIntyre, and, although not purely from the Porcupine, a celebrated priest known as Father Charles Paradis.

Notorious, revolutionary and with a blazing zeal to see the Northland colonized, Paradis has left his mark from Temiskaming up to the Porcupine. Recognized or not, we still live with his influence and his controversial views on land and river management.

Charles Paradis was born in Kamouraska, Que., in 1848. He completed his studies at the seminary in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière and headed to Ottawa where he taught art.

Read more

[Timmins] Xstrata metallurgical site remediation underway – by Liz Cowan (Northern Ontario Business – January 22, 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.

Following 2020, it may be difficult to tell what once stood at the Kidd Metallurgical (Met) site in Timmins. Since copper and zinc smelting and refining operations came to an end in 2010, remedial and reclamation work has been ongoing at the site.

Xstrata Copper moved those operations to its Horne smelter in Rouyn, Que., and more than 650 employees lost their jobs. However, the concentrator remains at the site and about 220 are still employed.

The Kidd concentrator produces copper and zinc concentrates and treats all ore from the Kidd Mine. The remaining Met site operations will close once the Kidd Mine ceases operations, destined for 2020. Then, a remedial project will be undertaken for the remaining facilities at the Met site.

Since 2010, about 75 per cent of the plant remained empty and the company, as part of its permit requirements, had to initiate a reclamation project to deal with that portion.

“We removed all the infrastructure and took down a large amount of (empty) buildings,” said John Stroiazzo, manager of projects and closed sites for Xstrata. “The electrical power line and the water pipes, and everything that serviced the facility were removed. It took about 12 to 14 months to remove all of that.”

Read more

Excerpt from “The History of Mining: The events, technology and people involved in the industry that forged the modern world” – by Michael Coulson

To order a copy of The History of Mining please click here: http://www.harriman-house.com/products/books/23161/business/Michael-Coulson/The-History-of-Mining/

CANADIAN GOLD RUSHES/ NOAH TIMMINS (1867-1936)

The 19th century ended with Canada firmly in the world’s consciousness thanks to the fabulous Klondike gold rush. By the middle of the 20th century Canada would be established as one of the most powerful economies in the world and an important diplomatic player following its key roll on the Allied side in both world wars. The economic underpinning, which enabled Canada to advance to the edge of major power status, was mining. In 1900 the country produced minerals to the value of US$64 million – by the beginning of the Second World War that figure had risen to $567 million and today it is nearer to $45 billion.

Today Canada’s population is only around 35 million, making it very much a mid-range country in those terms, but it is a long-standing member of the Group of 7 (or G7), the meeting of the largest economies in the world. Its standard of living is amongst the highest in the world and its proximity to the world’s largest economy, the USA, is of major benefit as Canada is an exporter of high quality, high value, advanced products to its rich neighbour.

Read more

Lake Shore anticipates ‘big year’ – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – January 23, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Lake Shore Gold’s two superstar mines just keep on growing. The company’s vice-president of operations, Dan Gagnon, didn’t have very many negatives to present to Timmins city council during a review of 2012 and a look ahead to Lake Shore’s upcoming operations in 2013.

Gagnon said that while the Fenn-Gib property, East of Matheson, has “great potential for an open pit, our great focus will be on our two main assets, the Timmins West and Bell Creek complexes.” He called 2012 a “very exciting and good year,” and said the company is poised to reach new heights in 2013.

“We did a lot of mine building, a lot of mill construction over the past year, and a lot of improvement in our systems,” said Gagnon. “Now this year, I think we’re seeing the benefits of all that work. I think we’re poised for a break-out this year.

“We met production guidance and development and expansion objectives and expanded our milling capacity by 25%, and we’re looking to increase production capacity to 3,000 tons per day by second quarter of 2013.”

After processing 85,000 ounces of gold at the two mines last year, Gagnon said the company is expecting to produce up to 130,000 ounces in 2013 and 150,000 ounces by 2014.

Read more

Timmins Gold producer St Andrew Goldfields puts a shine on OMA high school video competition

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 St Andrew Goldfields (SAS) is once again offering tangible encouragement to the children of its employees to enter the high school video competition So You Think You Know Mining. However, this year it is expanding its support with incentives for teachers and schools.

SAS is increasing the stakes in SYTYKM. Any Ontario high school student of any SAS employee who produces a film and enters SYTYKM is eligible for a $250 cash prize from a random draw. The company is making the same offer with a second $250 prize for the children of Quebec-based employees even though they are not eligible for SYTYKM, which is only for Ontario students.

On top of this, which is what SAS offered last year, there is an opportunity for schools which support SYTYKM to earn a $1,000 grant. They are limited to one per school. “Our goal is to make equipment, resources, software or whatever tools you require available to you to assist with your submission. And your school can keep it,” said SAS in its promotional materials. Mentors – one per student film maker – will also be awarded a one-eight ounce gold coin.

“We are going outside our walls this year to offer up to $1,000 to Ontario schools supporting SYTYKM that our employee’s children attend. As well, a one-eighth ounce Canadian minted gold coin will be given to any teacher, staff or administrator who mentor one of our employee’s students through to the end and a video is submitted,” said Geoff Ramey, Vice President Human Resources at St Andrew Goldfields.

Read more

Jobs at stake in caribou conflict – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – January 21, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

COCHRANE – While many believe forestry is on the verge of a major comeback, there is a fear Northeastern Ontario won’t benefit from the upturn if provincial legislation remains unchanged. Northern leaders hope, however, Natural Resources Minister Michael Gravelle will intervene.

The situation was discussed at length by community leaders during last week’s meeting of the Northeastern Ontario Municipal Association (NEOMA).

As part of the Endangered Species Act, the provincial government is looking to protect massive amounts of forest to preserve caribou habitat. One of the key areas of discussion is the Abibiti River Forest region. As the legislation sits, 65% of the region would be off limits to wood harvesting.

But an amended agreement reached between representatives of industry, environmental groups and Northern leaders would reduce that to 20%. The problem is the Ministry of Natural Resources doesn’t currently recognize the compromise solution reached.

The compromise agreement allows harvests to continue where there is usable wood and little chance of caribou coming back, while protecting areas where the species is known to be present and little lumber-worthy forest.

Read more