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Minister points finger at McGuinty [Ontario power rates to high] – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – January 17, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper

Tony Clement says high energy costs in Ontario forces industry to take processing elsewhere

As the federal minister for Northern Economic Development, Tony Clement says he would like to see processing of minerals from the Ring of Fire done in Northern Ontario.

However, Clement says it is up to the provincial government to make that happen. Officials with Cliffs Natural Resources, a Cleveland-based company looking to develop a chromite mine within the James Bay lowlands, have publicly expressed interest in doing some of the processing in Asia.

“We’d like to see more of the processing here but one of the major impediments are energy costs,” Clement said during a stopover in Timmins on Monday. “That’s Mr. (Dalton) McGuinty’s bailiwick. He’s got to do his job as premier of this province to get energy costs more in line.”

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Nickel on a rollercoaster – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – January 3, 2012)

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

The European economic malaise and competition from upstart nickel pig iron producers will likely combine to keep the price of nickel fluctuating in 2012, says a metals analyst.

Price volatility is bound to continue next year, says Montreal-based Terry Ortslan of TSO & Associates. From a high of $16.91 a pound in 2007 on the London Metals Exchange to a low of $6.65 a pound in 2009, nickel averaged about $12.25 a pound in 2011, said Ortslan.

“Recently, the prices are struggling at $8 a pound,” Orstlan said last week, after returning from a business trip to China, where nickel continues to be in high demand.

Ortslan says $7 a pound would be a “low target” for 2012, although he would not rule out that possibility because of Europe’s economic woes and China’s ongoing production from non-traditional sources.

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[Xstrata Copper’s Kidd Creek] Mine expansion complete – by The Daily Press (Timmins Daily Press – December 15, 2011)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

The major expansion of Xstrata Copper’s Kidd Creek mine is complete. Kidd Operations announced Thursday the $120-million extension to the Kidd Mine in Timmins is on time and on budget.

Approved by Xstrata in 2008, the extension to the mining zone at Mine D from 9,100 feet to 9,600 feet will extend operations by at least two years to the first half of 2018.

Further extensions to the mine life have been identified through the 2020 Vision program to elicit suggestions from employees on how to maximise the value of the operation.

The program, launched in February 2011, has already resulted in significant cost savings and an additional 700,000 tonnes of ore reserves being identified with the objective of extending operations further to 2020.

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Xstrata gives [Sudbury] workers a time out – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – November 23, 2011)

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

Hundreds of employees at Xstrata Nickel’s Fraser and Nickel Rim South mines were sent home from the job Monday for what the company is calling a “short safety pause” after an increase in safety-related incidents at the two operations. Mine Mill Local 598/CAW president Richard Paquin said about 300 workers at Fraser Mine have been told to think about safety for an “indefinite” period of time while the company devises a plan to make the mine safer.

About 250 employees at Nickel Rim South were sent home Monday after sitting through a four-hour safety talk, he said. While Paquin said he has no problem with Xstrata wanting to draft a plan to make its workplaces safer, the question is whether members will be paid for the unexpected time off. Union and Xstrata officials began talking Monday night and spent all day Tuesday discussing the issue, said Paquin.

He was waiting to hear from Xstrata today about whether it intends to pay members or not. The union has sought legal advice on the matter. Xstrata spokeswoman Yonaniko (Iyo) Grenon issued a brief statement Tuesday afternoon in response to questions from The Sudbury Star prompted by calls to the paper from union members about being sent home.

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2020 Vision for the [Timmins] Kidd Mine – by David Hicks (The Global Commodities Report – October, 2011)

Published by New Vanguard Media, The Global Commodities Report is a digital magazine about the benefits of resource business.

For a mining town like Timmins Ontario, Xstrata Copper Canada’s announcement that it is extending the mine life of the world-class Kidd Mine is welcome news.

For the second time in the past three years, Xstrata Copper Canada has announced that it is extending the projected mine life of the Kidd Mine. This time to 2020. The previous such announcement in 2008 bumped the closure back to 2017.

Quoted in Timmins’  The Daily Press, the mine’s General Manager, Tom Semadeni said, “We’re seeking to lengthen the life of the mine and the concentrator to 2020. Last year, our (expected) life was 2017, we now think 2018, and we’re working towards 2020.”

The Kidd Creek Mine, as it was first known, was discovered in 1964 and opened in 1966. It was one of the largest and richest volcanic massive sulfide discoveries in the world, bearing copper, zinc, indium, cadmium, silver and sulfuric acid. The mine produces 3.4 million tonnes of ore per year, and rendered 52,000 tonnes of copper and 45,000 tonnes of zinc in 2010.

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Quadra FNX Mining and Xstrata team up – by Star Staff (Sudbury Star – October 15, 2011)

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

Quadra FNX Mining Ltd. announced Friday it has an agreement to use a mine shaft owned by Xstrata Nickel, saving Quadra millions and helping to increase production at its Levack Mine.

The company said the 1,500- metre shaft at the nearby Craig Mine, owned by Xstrata Nickel, will significantly improve flexibility and provide more access to the ore.

“The access arrangement with Xstrata Nickel provides mutual benefits to both parties going forward,” Quadra FNX president and CEO Paul Blythe said in a release. “We will be advancing the implementation plan in order to shift operations from the Levack number two shaft to the Craig shaft immediately. This will be a significant step forward in the optimization of our (nearby) high-grade Morrison deposit.”

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Sudbury ready to cash in [on mining investments] – by Carol Mulligan

The Sudbury Star, the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper. cmulligan@thesudburystar.com

“If we do the right things, mining can literally help
dig Ontario out of its debt.” (Chris Hodgson, President
and CEO Ontario Mining Association)

Sudbury is well-positioned to benefit from that mining
boom because it has the largest integrated mining complex
in the world and one of the largest nickel-copper
sulphide bodies. (Pierre Gratton, President and CEO,
Mining Association of Canada)

Sudbury stands to benefit from investments in mining operations to the tune of about $5.2 billion in the next five years. That’s a healthy percentage of the $136.4 billion in capital expected to be invested in mining projects throughout Canada from 2012 to 2017.

All of those billions will go into mining projects already in existence, says the president and chief executive officer of the Mining Association of Canada.

That doesn’t include private and public money that may be invested in projects to develop, mine, smelt and transport chromite from the Ring of Fire in northwestern Ontario.

Pierre Gratton was one of two guests who spoke to the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce on Thursday about how the city can benefit from the current up cycle in the metals industry.

China will continue to be a mineral price driver as its econo my continues to grow at double-digit rates. That demand is long-term, with expectations its growth will still be in the 6% to 9% range from 2020-2025.

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Weak demand saps nickel prices – by Pratima Desai – Reuters (Sudbury Star – August 17, 2011)

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

LONDON — Deteriorating demand from stainless steel mills and rising mine production are likely to push the nickel market into surplus in the second half of the year and put modest downward pressure on prices.

The uncertain outlook for global economic growth and demand because of the debt crisis in the euro zone and the United States mean gloomier prospects for nickel demand.

Stainless steel producers use about two-thirds of global nickel output, which is estimated at above 1.5 million tonnes this year.

First-quarter production of stainless steel rose to a record high of 8.390 million tonnes, according to the International Stainless Steel Forum, and expectations for the second quarter are, at best, flat.

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Xstrata to expand Canadian operations, sweeten payouts – by Brenda Bouw (Globe and Mail – August 3, 2011)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous impact and influence on Canada’s political and business elite as well as the rest of the country’s print, radio and television media. Brenda Bouw is the Globe’s mining reporter.

Global mining giant Xstrata PLC will use bulging profits to expand its Canadian operations and sweeten shareholder payouts, a sign of the industry’s rosy demand outlook despite global economic uncertainty alongside rising costs and government intervention.

Xstrata, based in Zug, Switzerland, said profits rose by about 30 per cent in the first half of the year, and the diversified miner more than doubled its dividend on the back of record-setting commodity prices.

“Our recovery has been swift and robust and we are now operating with good momentum to deliver a substantially stronger second half,” Xstrata chief executive officer Mick Davis told investors on Tuesday. He cited in particular strong demand from China, the world’s largest consumer of commodities, as the country continues its frenzied infrastructure build.

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NEWS RELEASE: XSTRATA NICKEL TO DEVELOP CANADIAN GROWTH PROJECTS AT RAGLAN AND SUDBURY

Toronto, Canada – August 2, 2011

Xstrata plc (“Xstrata”) has approved two Xstrata Nickel projects totalling US$649 million as it continues its investment in growth options within its Canadian portfolio.

Xstrata Nickel’s development of the US$530 million Raglan extension project in Northern Quebec and the US$119 million Fraser Morgan project in Sudbury, Ontario, will now move ahead.

At Raglan Mine, Xstrata Nickel will develop the high grade Qakimajurq and Mine 2 Lower Zone deposits and upgrade associated infrastructure to increase annual nickel in concentrate production from 26,000 to 32,000 tonnes per annum by 2014. In addition, Raglan’s concentrator will be upgraded to reach 40,000 tonnes capacity per annum of nickel in concentrate by 2016, a 54% increase over current metal output, to facilitate further mining expansions.

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[Timmins] Miners dig deal – by Kristine MacDougall (Timmins Daily Press – July 20, 2011)

The Daily Press is the newspaper of record for the city of Timmins

Goldcorp, Xstrata Copper finalize partnership agreement

A new partnership agreement between Xstrata Copper and Goldcorp is providing a sustainable future for both operations in Timmins. “We’ve been working on this agreement for over a year, and to finally see it be signed is a great accomplishment,” said David Yaschyshyn, Xstrata Copper’s superintendent of environment and industrial Hygiene.

“It truly is a win-win for both operations.” The announcement came Tuesday morning at Goldcorp’s Hoyle Pond Mine Site, just east of the met site property in Hoyle Township.

“We’ve secured a long-term supply of tailings for the paste filling operations at the Kidd Mine for its life. As well as being able to secure a supply of rock for our construction activities at the Kidd Concentrator site,” said Yaschyshyn.

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Xstrata backs [Sudbury Laurentian] native centre – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – June 22, 2011)

Laurentian University’s $3 million Indigenous Sharing and Learning Centre is now almost halfway to becoming a reality.

“This is something that is very near and dear to Xstrata Nickel and our sustainable nickel developments,” Marc Boissoneault, vice-president of Xstrata Nickel’s Sudbury opera-t ions, said Tuesday as he announced a $1-million donation toward the centre.

The donation, part of the university’s Next 50 Campaign (a $50-million fundraising campaign to mark Laurentian’s 50th anniversary), was made during National Aboriginal Day celebrations at the university.

“We are always interested in building community sustain-ability, especially in the area of learning … It’s certainly understood in the many small mining operations in the North (to get First Nation people involved). It’s a win-win on all sides. “When you look at it from an industry position, an Xstrata Nickel position, a personal position, this just makes sense.”

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NEWS RELEASE: Xstrata Nickel shares $15.2 million of Raglan’s operating profit with Inuit communities

www.xstratanickel.com

Québec City (Québec) – June 1, 2011

Xstrata Nickel Raglan Mine today presented a cheque in the amount of Cdn$15.2 million to the Makivik Corporation and the Inuit communities of Kangiqsujuaq and Salluit. This sum represents the Inuit communities’ share of the profits generated in 2010 by the Raglan nickel mine operation, located in Nunavik, Northern Québec.

To date, more than Cdn$100 million in profit-sharing payments have been directed to an Inuit trust fund for economic and community development through the Raglan Agreement.

The comprehensive agreement signed in 1995 by the Raglan operation, the Makivik Corporation and local Inuit communities supports harmonious relations and fosters opportunities between Xstrata Nickel and local populations in areas such as training, hiring of local businesses and environmental management. 

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Noranda Incorporated History (1922 – 2004) – by International Directory of Company Histories

For a large selection of corporate histories click: International Directory of Company Histories

Company History:

Noranda Inc. is one of the largest mining and metals companies in the world with operations in 18 countries. Production of copper and nickel accounts for the majority of Noranda’s revenues–the company also mines aluminum, zinc, and precious metals. Noranda restructured in the late 1990s by selling off its forest products and oil and gas businesses in order to focus on its core metals and mining assets.

Origins and Development: 1920s-50s

The history of Noranda begins with the story of a prospector named Edmund Horne, and a hunch. During the early 1920s, at a time when northern Canada was unchartered–the area was mostly wilderness, and prospectors preferred to stay on the familiar grounds of Ontario–Horne was drawn to the Rouyn district in northeastern Quebec. He visited Rouyn repeatedly, because he believed it “didn’t seem sensible that all the good geology should quit at the Ontario border!” Horne could reach Rouyn only by way of a chain of lakes and rivers.

His enthusiasm was contagious, and soon a group of 12 men had raised C$225 to finance further explorations. The effort paid off when word of Horne’s first strike made it to S.C. Thomson and H.W. Chadbourne, two United States mining engineers with a syndicate of investors interested in exploring Canadian mines. In February 1922, the syndicate bought an option on Horne’s mining claims in Ontario and Quebec and exercised it. Noranda Mines Ltd. was incorporated in 1922 to acquire the U.S. syndicate’s mining claims.

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Mining matters to North Bay, but perhaps not to McGuinty – by John R. Hunt (North Bay Nugget – 2010)

The North Bay Nugget, established in 1907, is the daily newspaper for the northeastern Ontario community of North Bay. This column was originally published in 2010.

On the Rocks Column

Timmins is facing an economic disaster. Sudbury is still in a strike-bound mess. There is a tiny spark of good mining news not too far from North Bay but I am saving it until the end. The Timmins mess and Sudbury strike must be costing money in North Bay.

About 30 years ago I had an argument with some North Bay business types who challenged my contention that mining was important to the North Bay economy. I checked around and discovered about 800 people in the city were employed selling goods and services to the mining industry. A couple of years ago I read that it was then about 1,800.

Mining matters to North Bay. This explains why I blew my top last Thursday when I read and heard reports from Queen’s Park. A bunch of hopeful — and probably desperate — Timmins folk had gone to the big city to meet with Ontario’s beloved leader and assorted officials. McGuinty was their last hope. The Xstrata metallurgical plant is slated to close on or about May 1 and 670 jobs will go down the tube.

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