Republic of Mining

Nunavut deputy minister dishes on what will drive northern economy – by Beth Brown (Nunatsiaq News – May 29, 2017)

June 28, 2017May 30, 2017

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

Record public spending on infrastructure, along with a surge in mining and exploration, could cause as much economic growth as Nunavut saw in the late 1990s. That’s according to Sherri Rowe, deputy minister for the Department of Economic Development and Transportation for the Government of Nunavut.

“I believe we are at a very important time in the territory’s development,” Rowe said, over a breakfast of granola and pancakes at Iqaluit’s Hotel Arctic. Rowe, who has been a bureaucrat and in business for 25 years, was the second speaker featured in a breakfast series hosted by the Iqaluit Chamber of Commerce, May 25.

She talked about ongoing development projects in Nunavut, from mining and tourism to airport and marine infrastructure. “Nunavut has a consumer market that didn’t exist two decades ago,” said Rowe—and Iqaluit is the centre of that opportunity.

Reinstating passenger rail in Nipissing not part of provincial transportation talks – by Laurel J. Campbell (Almaguin News – May 29, 2017)

May 30, 2017

https://www.muskokaregion.com/

ALMAGUIN — The Ministry of Transportation is expected to release the draft of its multimodal transportation strategy for Northern Ontario by the end of this month.

Plane, train, automobile and truck travel has been analyzed extensively over the past few years in order to determine a plan that will keep goods and people moving until 2041, but reinstating passenger rail travel through Nipissing District is not part of the current discussion.

“The province recognizes the importance of transportation in Northern Ontario and every community that was served by the former Northlander train is served by ONTC (Ontario Northland Transportation Commission) motor coach service,” Ministry of Transportation spokesperson Bob Nichols told the News. “While there is currently no plan to resume the Northlander passenger train service, the province remains committed to continuing motor coach service to every community that is served only by the ONTC.”

Miner who triggered McIntyre Powder study dies – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – May 30, 2017)

May 30, 2017

http://www.timminspress.com/

ELLIOT LAKE – A retired miner whose deteriorating health triggered a campaign to investigate the residual effects of McIntyre Powder has died. Jim Hobbs passed away May 24 at the Espanola Nursing Home at the age of 76.

His daughter Janice Martell began an effort to link neurological diseases in former gold and uranium miners to the aluminum dust they were forced inhale by their employers after her father developed Parkinson’s disease.

Hobbs worked at the Quirke II uranium mine in Elliot Lake where the powder was used extensively. Martell’s inability to get workers’ compensation for her father prompted her in 2014 to start up the McIntyre Powder Project, which is a research initiative.

NASA Just Fast-Tracked Its Mission to Explore a $10,000 Quadrillion Metal Asteroid – by BEC CREW (Science Alert – May 25, 2017)

May 30, 2017

https://www.sciencealert.com/

It would collapse the global economy if we brought it home.

It might have just pushed back its manned mission to Mars, but NASA just fast-tracked a planned journey to 16 Psyche – an asteroid made almost entirely of nickel-iron metal.

Estimated to contain $10,000 quadrillion in iron alone, if we could somehow mine Psyche’s minerals and bring them back to Earth, it would collapse our comparatively puny global economy of $78 trillion many times over. Fortunately for the economic stability of our planet, NASA plans on looking but not extracting.

“It’s such a strange object,” Lindy Elkins-Tanton, lead scientist on the NASA mission and the director of Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration, told Global News Canada back in January. “Even if we could grab a big metal piece and drag it back here … what would you do?” she adds.

Mine health, safety icons mourned – Staff (Sudbury Star – May 30, 2017)

May 30, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Two men connected to the fight for better health and safety in Ontario’s mines are being remembered today.

France Gélinas, the NDP MPP for Nickel Belt, stood up in the provincial legislature on Monday to pay tribute to Jean Gagnon, who helped hundreds of fellow Sudbury miners and their survivors battle for compensation benefits, while advocating for the health and safety of workers and victims of industrial disease.

Gagnon died May 1 in Sturgeon Falls. He was 90.

“Jean dedicated over 60 years of his life fighting for health and safety and compensation for his fellow sintering plant workers and their families, all victims of an industrial disease that was only recognized because of his persistence and his determination,” Gelinas told the legislature.

Sault Ste. Marie angling for inside track on Ring of Fire smelter – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – May 29, 2017)

May 29, 2017

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

There is a “Sioux-to-Sault” campaign in the works to move Ring of Fire ore to a processing plant in Sault Ste. Marie.

Tom Dodds, the head of the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation, is flying up to Sioux Lookout this week to tour a potential industrial site where business interests, community and First Nation leaders want to establish a truck-to-rail transfer facility to handle chromite and ship it to a proposed Northern Ontario smelter.

A May 29 release from the Town of Sioux Lookout announced Sault Ste. Marie is coming on board to support its transload facility plan. Later this week on June 2, a site tour is being arranged for some project partners – including Noront Resources and CN Rail – involved in a study to develop a bush lot on the Sioux Lookout’s east side, the preferred spot for a transload facility.

There’s been no official word from Noront on where its ferrochrome smelter will eventually go, but company president-CEO Al Coutts will be making a presentation in Sioux Lookout to the partners on the same day.

Losses mount at Barrick Gold’s Africa subsidiary after export ban – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – May 28, 2017)

May 29, 2017

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Africa subsidiary of Barrick Gold Corp. says it is losing more than $1-million (U.S.) in daily revenue as Tanzania extends an export ban and accuses mining companies of massive tax evasion.

Acacia Mining, majority-owned by Toronto-based Barrick, is the biggest company caught up in the growing furor over Tanzanian allegations that the miners have been misstating their gold production by a huge amount.

The controversy is part of a wave of resource nationalism across Africa, with many governments convinced they are being cheated by foreign investors as a result of misinvoicing schemes and sweetheart deals on taxes and royalties.

Large coal plant closures reveal industry vulnerability – by Heather Richards (Casper Star Tribune – May 27, 2017)

May 29, 2017

http://trib.com/

Encased in thick concrete and metal, four massive fires burn every day and every night at the Dave Johnston Power Plant east of Glenrock. Beneath the coal fires, heavy steel crushers pulverize fist-sized chunks of coal from the Powder River Basin into the fine powder that burns hot and long. It’s a meticulous operation with a simple purpose: Boil water for steam.

Hour by hour, Wyoming coal feeds the fires that ultimately create power for a light switch flicked on many miles away. Dave Johnston has poured millions into complying with environmental regulations to reduce emissions like mercury, and with a nearby source of cheap fuel, it’s not ready to retire.

Some say the writing is on the wall for coal, the black rock that for many years provided power plants like Dave Johnston with reliable fuel. While locals counter by saying that the coal industry will survive at a new normal, and economists have said Wyoming coal mining will be the last to go down, the Cowboy State doesn’t dictate the electricity market; it simply provides the material.

Hostages kidnapped from Canadian-owned mining site in Congo released – by Saleh Mwanamilongo (Toronto Star – May 28, 2017)

May 29, 2017

https://www.thestar.com/

The Associated Press – KINSHASA, CONGO—A French man and three Congolese men have been released after being kidnapped in March from a Canadian mining company in eastern Congo in March, Congo’s government said Sunday.

They were among five workers, including a Tanzanian who had been kidnapped from the Namoya gold mine operated by Canadian company Banro Mining Corp. in Salamabila.

“The four hostages, three Congolese and one French, were freed yesterday at 1800 (6 p.m. local time) in the Tengetenge locality,” about 50 kilometres from Salamabila, according to the Maniema Provincial Interior Minister Bonaventure Saleh Zakuani. “Their release came after several days of negotiations with the abductors.”

BHP and Rio face fresh tax threat in WA – by Tess Ingram and Peter Ker (Australian Financial Review – May 28, 2017)

May 29, 2017

http://www.afr.com/

Iron ore giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are facing a fresh tax grab in Western Australia just months after seeing off the WA Nationals’ concerted push to slap the miners with a tax hike that would have cost them about $3 billion a year.

West Australian Premier Mark McGowan confirmed on Sunday the new Labor state government would ask BHP and Rio to “buy out” the 25¢ lease rental fee they pay on every tonne of iron ore produced to provide a potentially multibillion-dollar injection to government coffers.

At current production rates BHP and Rio would collectively owe WA about $150 million a year in lease rental fees, and while there was no clarity on the number of years’ fees WA wants paid up front, the bill would rise to $4.5 billion if the two miners paid 30 years’ worth of fees in a lump sum.

Will Trump Overturn the Ban on Uranium Mining Around the Grand Canyon? – by Antonia Noori Farzan (Phoenix New Times – May 28, 2017)

May 29, 2017

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/

The news that President Donald Trump is planning to review and possibly scrap some of the national monuments put in place by his predecessor makes it clear — if it wasn’t already — that he’s not a big fan of anything that President Obama did, or of the outdoors. (Aside from golf courses, that is.)

So it’s understandable that environmentalists are worried that the Obama administration’s moratorium on uranium mining in the area surrounding the Grand Canyon could be up next on the chopping block. That moratorium was announced by the Department of the Interior in 2012, and banned new uranium claims until 2032. Existing claims and mines were unaffected.

It was great news to environmental groups like the Grand Canyon Trust, the Sierra Club, and the League of Conservation Voters, who had spent years pointing out the environmental hazards of uranium mining — particularly the threat of polluting the Colorado River, which provides water to 40 million people in Arizona and the Southwest.

COLUMN-Miners will be lured to Kazakhstan, despite the risks – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – May 28, 2017)

May 29, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

With confidence seeping back into the global mining sector it’s inevitable that companies will once again start to look at exploring for new reserves, and most likely come to some uncomfortable realisations.

The choice facing both major and junior mining companies is increasingly bifurcated; either work in relatively risk-free countries and chase expensive and dwindling deposits, or go to frontier markets and take on uncertain regulatory environments, challenging conditions and quite often corrupt officials.

While traditional mining powerhouses like Australia, Canada and Chile still offer opportunities, mining companies are under no illusion about the high cost of operating in these jurisdictions and the relatively low chances of scoring a major new deposit.

NEWS RELEASE: IDM Mining Announces the Passing of Donald A. McLeod

March 9, 2018May 29, 2017

http://www.pendaproductions.com/ This video was produced by PENDA Productions, a full service production company specializing in Corporate Communications with a focus on Corporate Responsibility.

Click here for Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Profile: http://republicofmining.com/2017/01/12/donald-a-mcleod-b-1928-2017-canadian-mining-hall-of-fame-inductee/

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwired – May 29, 2017) – IDM Mining Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:IDM)(OTCQB:IDMMF) (“IDM” or the “Company”) is saddened to announce the passing of Stewart BC.-raised miner, mine-builder and Canadian Mining Hall of Fame inductee: Mr. Donald (“Don”) A. McLeod.

Along with his late brother Ian, Don McLeod’s legacy and impact on the mining community in northwest British Columbia, the Company was inspired to be named IDM Mining in their honor. The Company’s flagship Red Mountain Gold Project, currently in feasibility with ongoing exploration drilling, is located 15km east of Stewart.

“Uncle Don inspired me to study geology and enter the mining business; however his greatest impact on me was his hustle and leadership, pursuing his golden dreams in the Golden Triangle. The opportunities he gave to both young, ambitious mining entrepreneurs and hard-working northerners during his career are an example to all of us at IDM,” said Rob McLeod, President and CEO of IDM Mining.

Ontario’s Ring of Fire development plan has major flaws – by Cheryl Chetkiewicz (Toronto Star – May 29, 2017)

May 29, 2017

https://www.thestar.com/

Just as we can’t plan a neighbourhood one road — or house — at a time, we cannot plan for sustainable economies, healthy ecosystems, and First Nations interests one project at a time.

Recently, Premier Kathleen Wynne threw down the gauntlet with Matawa First Nations, demanding it decide once and for all on the route of a long-discussed road to access the mineral-rich Ring of Fire region in the province’s northeast.

The problem with the premier’s challenge is that it is her government that has failed to come up with a strong direction for this supposed road to riches. The government has left it to various mining companies to propose potential routes while providing some funds to four communities that would be affected by the building of the mining road and subsequent opening up of their traditional territory to development.

Sudbury Laurentian researcher gets key grant for work in biomining – by Ben Leeson (Sudbury Star – May 29, 2017)

April 30, 2018May 29, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Laurentian University researcher Nadia Mykytczuk’s recent Early Researcher Award served as affirmation of the value of her work, as well as assurance that work will continue uninterrupted.

Mykytczuk, who works out of the Vale Living With Lakes Centre as Laurentian’s NOHFC Industrial Research Chair, received $140,000 from the provincial government to fund her project aimed at developing cost-effective, energy-efficient ways to recover metals and reduce environmental impacts from mine wastes using microbes.

“It’s excellent support, to apply for these very competitive grants and then to be a recipient means that I’m not only doing a good job at being a researcher, but that I’m actually standing out there and being able to get a competitive grant like this to support my early research,” Mykytczuk said.