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Mining, fertilizer and chemical groups present myths about the rail industry – by Michael Bourque (National Post – March 27, 2014)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Michael Bourque is President of the Railway Association of Canada.

Additional intervention to a sector that is already heavily regulated has the potential to undermine good business practices and successful economic outcomes.

It’s not every day that a group of customers co-author an article in which they claim that their service providers “deliberately” provide poor service. That’s exactly what the heads of three major industry associations–mining, fertilizer and chemical interests–did this week in a commentary on this page. “Railways should serve all customers,” said the headline.

Another modest statement in the commentary was hard to argue with. “Simply, a railway should meet the customer’s needs.” Sure, the customer comes first; the customer is always right and we exist to serve our customers. But let’s unpack what is behind this statement, which has a lot of history in the long historical debate between commercialization and regulation of railways in Canada.

Canada’s railways operate with a view to serving all customer needs. One analogy is that we operate a bus route, where each customer’s needs are met by operating efficiently and in a predictable fashion.

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Oil sands’ clean-tech clash: Jim Balsillie looks to innovate as Tom Steyer sticks with pipeline putdowns – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – March 27, 2014)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Green the oil sands or kill the oil sands?

Those are the clashing views of two clean-tech advocates — Jim Balsillie, the Canadian co-founder of Research In Motion, now BlackBerry Ltd.; and Tom Steyer, the U.S. clean-tech promoter, former hedge fund billionaire and leading man in the campaign against the Keystone XL pipeline.

Both were hard at work this week. In a speech in Vancouver Wednesday, Mr. Balsillie, now chairman of Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), said framing the debate as “for or against the oil sands” is unproductive and will “keep us from moving forward in a meaningful way.”

It’s innovation that will “truly put ourselves on a path towards sustainability,” he said. “Given our current capacities, radically reversing our natural resource policies is tantamount to economic and political suicide.”

Of course it is. The oil sands grew in the past couple of decades to become a Canadian economic stalwart. How? Through innovation that turned oil-soaked sand into a resource that could be sold to an energy-hungry world at an economic cost.

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Cliffs Natural Resources Booted From S&P 500, To Be Replaced By Essex Property Trust – by Maggie McGrath (Forbes Magazine – March 26, 2014)

http://www.forbes.com/

Cliffs Natural Resources CLF +1.25% has had a rough go of it recently: after posting a 32.5% loss in 2013, the struggling iron ore producer has continued to take a beating in 2014 trading. And now, its near-24% year-to-date decline has not only secured its title as one of the worst performing S&P 500 stocks over the past 12 months, but it has also gotten Cliffs booted out of the S&P 500 and into the S&P midcap 400.

The S&P Dow Jones Indices announced Wednesday evening that effective April 1, Cliffs will no longer be a member of the S&P 500. In its place will be Essex Property Trust, a REIT that is currently a member of the S&P midcap 400. In addition to moving up to the S&P 500, Essex will also acquire BRE Properties in a deal that is expected to be completed after the markets close on April 1.

As BRE currently resides on the S&P 400, its departure leaves room on the midcap index for the Fei FEIC +3.63% Company, an Oregon-based supplier of scientific instruments that is currently listed on the S&P Smallcap 600.

“Cliffs Natural Resources and FEI have market capitalizations that are more representative of the mid-cap market space,” the S&P Dow Jones Indices said, explaining the switch.

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New Mexican miners commemorate “Salt of the Earth” – by Roberta Wood (People’s World – March 26, 2014)

http://peoplesworld.org/

GRANT COUNTY, N.M. – “Where is Anita Torrez?” growled the sheriff’s deputy at the young pregnant woman sitting at a table stuffing envelopes inside the union hall’s doorway.

“I really have no idea,” answered Anita Torrez with a good show of calm. The deputy had come on the sheriff’s orders to round up those on a “wanted list” of union wives. The frustrated deputy finally went on his way and the women laughed heartily. But it didn’t take away the fear.

More than 60 years later, Torrez is still iron-willed but soft-spoken, so she is reluctant to talk about herself and didn’t tell that story when she spoke on Mar. 15 at the University of Western New Mexico on a panel titled “From Women’s Auxiliary to Women of Steel.” But she did eagerly share it with family and comrades over a plate of carne asada, beans, rice, and plate-sized flour tortillas. The meal preceded the panel and was prepared by brothers from a steelworker local in nearby Tucson using a portable grill outside the same local hall where Torrez outwitted the sheriff’s deputy.

The confrontation took place in 1951 during a miners strike here. The strike was marked by government and company intimidation and violence and a new role for women. The story of the courage of the women led to the making of a unique movie, “Salt of the Earth” whose 60th anniversary was commemorated last weekend.

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Taseko launches second legal action over federal rejection of B.C. mine – by Peter Koven (National Post – March 27, 2014)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Taseko Mines Ltd. is taking the federal government to court for the second time in four months, claiming its rejection of the New Prosperity project was based on a highly unfair process that included inappropriate meetings with opponents of the mine that it only learned about through Facebook.

The Vancouver-based miner said these meetings were documented in Facebook posts by a First Nations chief. It claims the government declined to talk about them or let Taseko respond to what was discussed.

Taseko filed an application for a judicial review on Wednesday to try to force the government to reconsider New Prosperity, based on its belief that Ottawa did not run a fair process. It launched a separate judicial review in federal court back in December, claiming there was a key technical error in a review of the British Columbia project that influenced Ottawa’s decision.

“The process was flawed,” said Brian Battison, Taseko’s vice president of corporate affairs. “The findings were wrong and the decision to deny the project was certainly wrong. We expect to prove that in court.” The $1.5-billion New Prosperity has been controversial from the start.

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Province, Matawa chiefs sign Ring of Fire agreement – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – March 27, 2014)

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

Calling it a landmark agreement, Bob Rae said Matawa First Nations chiefs have inked a deal with the province that ensures their communities benefit from development of the Ring of Fire.

In a telephone interview, Rae, the negotiator for the nine Matawa leaders, said the agreement is a game-changer for aboriginal people.

Almost a year after he first met with the chiefs in Thunder Bay, Rae announced the Matawa and the Government of Ontario on Wednesday signed a regional framework agreement that gives natives in the area a stake in how the Ring of Fire will be developed.

The Ring of Fire, located in northwestern Ontario, contains billions in mineral deposits. Advocates believe the Ring could create thousands of jobs in Ontario. Sudbury, as a mining supply and centre, would also benefit from developing the area, they say.

One company, Cliffs Natural Resources, had planned to ship chromite from the Ring to a new smelter in Capreol. The company has put those plans on hold because of a lack of agreement on a number of issues, including with first nations and on infrastructure.

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First Nations, Ontario reach Ring of Fire framework deal – Staff (Northern Ontario Business – March 26, 2014)

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 Ontario government and the nine communities of the Matawa First Nations have negotiated a “milestone” framework agreement on how to move forward with mineral and community development in the Ring of Fire.

Webequie Chief Cornelius Wabasse is pleased that an agreement with a process has now been formalized that puts First Nations on an even footing with the Ontario government.

“The framework is all about developing that process on how things are going to roll out and how we want to play a role, how much role we’re going to have, but we want to sit parallel with the government in moving forward.” His remote fly-in community of 600 is situated is 540 kilometres north of Thunder Bay and just to the west of the Ring of Fire chromite and nickel deposits.

Wabasse has been part of the high-profile negotiations that began last July involving former Ontario premier Bob Rae, the chief negotiator for Matawa, and ex-Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci, Ontario’s lead negotiator.

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Fear of deadly reprisal, hunger, in Rustenburg as SA platinum strike marches on – by Ayanda Mdluli (Mineweb.com – March 27, 2014)

http://www.mineweb.com/

Mineweb correspondents investigate conditions and perspectives in Rustenburg – the town at the heart of a strike in South Africa’s platinum sector.

RUSTENBURG (MINEWEB) – When workers sell their hard earned possessions to buy food in the platinum belt of Rustenburg for lack of earnings after nine weeks of a brutal strike one can conclude bread-and-butter politics truly have the region in its grip.

Many stores are shuttered, except pawn shops, which are overflowing with household items that have been sold for next to nothing. In Rustenburg homes, cooking pots once filled with solid chicken cuts now swim with chicken heads and feet instead.

“I would love to talk to you about what is going on but the problem is that I am just too hungry and I need to look for something to eat. The problem is here,” says a middle-aged man, pointing to his abdomen.

His point made, the man, who claims to be a worker in the Karee Mine at Lonmin in Marikana, Rustenburg, South Africa, walks slowly away down the dusty street.

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Ontario, First Nations ink RoF regional framework agreement – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – March 26, 2014)

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The province of Ontario and Matawa-member First Nations on Wednesday took an important step to move development of the province’s vast northernmost mineral wealth forward, by reaching a landmark regional framework agreement that will ensure First Nation communities benefit from the proposed Ring of Fire (RoF) mining camp.

The agreement is a first step in a historic, community-based negotiation process, which began in July last year at the request of nine Matawa-member First Nations.

“This regional framework agreement is a landmark achievement in community and regional discussions. I am proud that our collaborative work with Matawa-member First Nations continues to progress.

“Together, we are moving forward on realising the RoF’s potential and making important advancements on regional, environmental and economic developments,” Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle said.

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News Release: Ontario, First Nations to Work Together on Ring of Fire

March 26, 2014

Historic Agreement to Move Ring of Fire Development Forward

The Province of Ontario and Matawa-member First Nations are taking another step forward by reaching a landmark agreement that will ensure First Nation communities benefit from the proposed Ring of Fire development.

The regional framework agreement is a first step in a historic, community-based negotiation process, which began in July 2013 at the request of Matawa-member First Nations.

The nine Matawa-member First Nations and the Province of Ontario signed a framework agreement today to move forward with a negotiation process on a community-based regional approach to development in the Ring of Fire.

The agreement ensures First Nations and Ontario can work together to advance Ring of Fire opportunities, including regional long-term environmental monitoring and enhanced participation in environmental assessment processes, resource revenue sharing, economic supports, regional and community infrastructure.

Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development and Mines, signed the Regional Framework on behalf of Ontario. The chiefs signed on behalf of their communities, which included:

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Congo’s mining tax increase plan rattles investors – by Peter Jones (Reuters U.S. – March 26, 2014)

http://www.reuters.com/

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, March 26 (Reuters) – D emocratic Republic of Congo aims to double tax revenues from minerals but investors warned that an overhaul of the mining code could remove incentives to invest there.

Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo told a mining conference in the eastern city of Goma that the government intends to increase tax revenues from mining to 25 percent of the national budget by 2016, from 14.5 percent at present.

“Exploitation of natural resources is key to our ambition of becoming an emerging market country by 2030,” he said.

Congo produced a record 943,000 tons of copper last year, making it Africa’s largest producer and driving economic growth of 8.5 percent. Mismanagement, corruption and two decades of violence in eastern Congo have hampered development of other minerals, including diamonds, gold, cassiterite and coltan. Mining executives warned the government’s ongoing revision of the 2002 mining code risked deterring much-needed investment.

“We need a mining code that is sufficiently incentivising,” said Louis Watum, general manager of Randgold’s giant Kibali mine in Congo’s remote northeastern Orientale Province, which poured its first gold in September.

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Jim O’Neill: BRICs, MINTs strong despite emerging market wobbles – by Tim Cocks (Reuters India – March 25, 2014)

http://in.reuters.com/

LAGOS – (Reuters) – The large, fast-growing emerging market countries dubbed the BRICs and MINTs are still likely to be the most promising investment destinations over the next decade, despite emerging market turbulence, Jim O’Neill, who coined the terms, said.

Former Goldman Sachs economist O’Neill came up with the name BRIC in 2001 to group Brazil, Russia, India and China as countries whose growth will shape the world economy in the coming decades.

This year, in a series on BBC radio, he championed the MINT group of countries, similarly blessed with fast economic growth and large, young populations – Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey – as the next economic giants after the BRICs.

“The BRIC and the MINT countries, if I’m right, over the next decade will … shape the world economy’s development,” O’Neill told Reuters on Tuesday on the sidelines of an Africa Finance Corporation conference in Nigeria’s commercial hub of Lagos. “And if that’s the case, they will be the most successful places in terms of investments too.”

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A mining policy for the future – by Hal Quinn (Milwaukee – Wisconsin Journal Sentinel – March 24, 2014)

http://www.jsonline.com/

Hal Quinn is president and CEO of the National Mining Association, the national trade association for America’s mining industry.

Ted Doheny, CEO of Milwaukee-based Joy Global Inc., recently alerted the nation that the minerals of tomorrow will be tougher to obtain than they have been in the past. If anyone would know, it would be the chief executive of a leading manufacturer of mechanized mining equipment used around the world. Doheny’s peers in numerous industries that depend upon those metals and minerals are also listening.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers survey revealed that more than 70% of the chief executives in auto, high-tech and other key industries fear future mineral supply scarcity. Increasing resource nationalism among mineral-rich nations such as China, Indonesia and South Africa — keen to ensure supplies for their own national industries — make these concerns a more imminent reality.

Unstable mineral and metal supply chains could threaten the tremendous economic jolt Wisconsin manufacturers such as Joy Global have provided the state in recent years. Local manufacturing firms are largely responsible for the significant job growth and economic opportunities that have abounded in Wisconsin since the recession and have helped to grow jobs in the state’s private sector at its fastest rate since 1994.

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Child miners pay the price in Burkina Faso’s gold rush – by Joris Fioriti (AFP – March 26, 2014)

http://za.news.yahoo.com/

Perched on the edge of a mine shaft, Joel Sawadogo, 13, readies the fragile plastic lamp strapped to his forehead with an elastic band as he prepares to lower himself into the darkness.

He is one of hundreds of children and young people working at the Nobsin mines, about an hour’s drive from Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou, who every day risk their lives in the search for gold in the impoverished west African nation.

Child mining has become a growing problem in Burkina Faso, where 60 percent of the population is under 25. A mining boom in recent years has made the country Africa’s fourth-largest gold producer, where exports of the yellow metal account for almost a fifth of economic output.

Joel, who started working at the mines two years ago, makes a meagre income from the backbreaking work. Sometimes it’s 5,000 CFA francs (7.6 euros, $10.5), on a good day twice that, but often nothing at all. “Down there, it’s really damp,” he said, scratching a filthy arm. He hopes one day to find “less painful work” but “mostly, I think about what I could earn”.

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Did cutting access to mineral wealth reduce violence in the DRC? – by Laura Seay (Washington Post – March 25, 2014)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/

One of the most underreported stories about conflict in Africa of the past few months involves the demise of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s M23 rebel movement. M23 (started by a group of disgruntled Congolese army soldiers who used to be part of another rebel movement called the CNDP) was led by mostly ethnically Tutsi Congolese and had as its stated aim protecting Tutsi interests and civilians in the DRC’s eastern Kivu provinces.

Though Kigali disputes the claim, the U.N. Group of Experts on DRC, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch gathered large bodies of evidence showing that M23 rebels received substantial financial, logistical, and manpower support from the Rwandan government. But in November 2013, the rebels, who just a year before had been powerful enough to take a major eastern city, Goma, collapsed.

Why? What explains the sudden dissolution of a major rebel movement in a country known for its proliferation of armed groups? Why was the notoriously incompetent Congolese national army, the FARDC, able to decisively defeat a rebel movement for the first time since the current regime came into being?

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