Republic of Mining

Mining firms growing frustrated with delays in Ring of Fire – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – November 11, 2013)

November 12, 2013

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – MPP Gilles Bisson (NDP – Timmins-James Bay) says mining companies are getting impatient with the province when it comes to getting approvals to proceed with mineral developments in the Ring of Fire.

Ontario Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle (Liberal – Thunder Bay-Superior North), announced on Friday the creation of a development corporation formed of all three provincial parties, the federal government, and other stakeholders, to better identify the various things needed to develop the region.

Notably, Gravelle stated there’s a need “to lay the necessary groundwork” in the sectors of training, capacity and infrastructure building, and strengthening bonds with the chiefs of the Matawa Tribal Council, led by Bob Rae and Justice Frank Iacobucci.

Gravelle’s statement read that “recent developments, and divergent private sector interests, have impacted our ability to move forward on vital infrastructure required to develop the region located within the James Bay lowlands.

Province looks to end Ring of Fire stalemate – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – November 11, 2013)

November 12, 2013

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

The province is looking to end the stalemate over how to build a transportation corridor to the Ring of Fire chromite deposits by establishing a development corporation. Details are vague about the corporation announced Friday by Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle.

But the province is taking the lead — something critics argue it should have done years ago — to bring together mining, community, first nations and other partners, including the federal government, Gravelle said Saturday.

The corporation’s first job is to make a “clear decision” on the transportation corridor and use that as a vehicle to finance the project, said Gravelle. The corporation would manage the design, engineering, construction and maintenance of the infrastructure needed to bring mines in the Ring of Fire into operation.

Premier Kathleen Wynne has written Prime Minister Stephen Harper asking the federal government to make a substantial investment in $2 billion or more needed to build a transportation system and mine infrastructure.

Market conditions the main cause of economic difficulties – by Paul Bourque (Vancouver Sun – November 8, 2013)

November 12, 2013

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

Paul Bourque is executive director of the B.C. Securities Commission.

Mining: An argument can be made for less regulatory red tape, but there are greater challenges right now

In his letter (Red tape bleeding life from B.C.’s resource opportunities, Oct. 28), Mark Redcliffe argues that regulatory costs and “red tape” are exacerbating the present economic challenges faced by the junior mining industry. While he is correct in stating that the current difficulties in raising capital has left many firms “on the precipice,” it is not correct to attribute the cost of compliance as the primary cause.

For many years, British Columbia has enjoyed an international reputation as a mining centre of excellence. The province is home to more than half of Canada’s mining exploration firms, and has the largest concentration of such firms in the world. With

more than 2,400 companies involved in supplying services to this industry and over 29,000 people employed in mining and its related sectors, it is without doubt a significant contributor to the B.C. economy.

Wabun shares formula for mining participation, wealth – by Bryan Phelan (Wawatay News – November 8, 2013)

November 12, 2013

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

People in First Nations around Timmins are happier, healthier and wealthier because of recent agreements with mining companies, says the head of Wabun Tribal Council.

Wabun is a council of six First Nations, all within about 200 kilometres of Timmins: Beaverhouse, Brunswick House, Chapleau Ojibwe, Flying Post, Matechewan, and Mattagami.

Collectively, these First Nations have signed three impact and benefit agreements (IBAs) with mining companies in the past six years, Shawn Batise, Wabun’s executive director, said at a Mining Ready Summit hosted in Timmins Oct. 16-17 by the Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund (NADF). Three more IBAs involving Wabun First Nations are currently being negotiated. The agreements cover gold mining properties, plus one nickel property.

Wabun communities have also negotiated 30 mining exploration agreements over the same period, and Batise thinks that number could reach 50 within a year.

Osisko realizing Canadian Malartic’s potential – by Northern Miner (November 8, 2013)

November 12, 2013

Since 1915, the Northern Miner weekly newspaper has chronicled Canada’s globally significant mining sector.

Osisko Mining (TSX: OSK) released some impressive third quarter results, which it believes should put any doubts about its Canadian Malartic mine in Quebec to bed for good.

“With the millionth ounce of gold production we have proven beyond a doubt that Canadian Malartic is a solid producer,” president and CEO Sean Roosen said in a conference call.

But it isn’t just the volume of gold that the mine has turned out that is impressive. The mine’s economics continue to improve with each passing quarter and that is protecting from severe effects of lower gold prices. Net earnings remained positive at $9.8 million, or 2¢ per share, and while that was less than the 7¢ per share it reported for the same period last year, it shows the mine is able to perform in tough price environments.

Even more reflective of the mine reaching its potential are cash flows from operating activities, which are often considered a better gauge of a company’s economic health. Those cash flows rung in at an impressive $70.7 million, beating last year’s tally of $55.8 million.

Barrick’s Peter Munk: Stubborn, proud and leaving on his own terms – by Peter Koven (National Post – November 8, 2013)

November 12, 2013

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

Five years ago, the Financial Post asked Peter Munk when he planned to retire from Barrick Gold Corp. His response: “When they kick me out.” But that wasn’t really true.

Mr. Munk is as stubborn and proud a businessman as there is. And despite the numerous calls for him to step aside in recent years, he was always going to leave on his own terms.

On Friday, Mr. Munk’s 86th birthday, Barrick disclosed that he plans to retire. No timeline was provided, though sources said the departure will most likely come at next year’s annual meeting, when the company plans to introduce new directors in a long-awaited overhaul of its board.

Investors have gotten increasingly fed up with the board in recent years, as it has made some awful strategic errors and approved some outlandish pay packages for company insiders. Mr. Munk, the founder and chief authority at Barrick for 30 years, was the key figure behind every move and the natural lightning rod for investor dissent.

NEWS RELEASE: INDUSTRY BULLETIN: Formation of the Canadian Rare Earth Elements Network (CREEN) announced at COM 2013

November 12, 2013

November 7, 2013

The Assistant Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Canada, Marian Campbell Jarvis, announced the formation of the Canadian Rare Earth Elements Network (CREEN) during her keynote remarks to launch the REE Symposium at the 52nd Annual Conference of Metallurgists (COM 2013), held in Montreal, October 27-31, 2013 and chaired by Avalon Rare Metals Inc.’s (“Avalon”) Energy and Market Advisor, Ian London.

CREEN is an industry-led, multi-stakeholder network focused on supporting research and development leading to collaborative solutions that will advance Canada’s REE sector to produce and secure 20 percent of the global demand for separated critical rare earth products by 2018. This industry-driven network is supported by universities, engineering firms, national and commercial laboratories. Its three complementary goals are to:

Accelerate the development and delivery of timely R&D solutions to industry’s technical and economic issues in support of Canada’s emerging rare earth sector.

Facilitate partnerships with other national and international organizations, to leverage existing research initiatives and identify funding opportunities.

China Tries to Clean Up Toxic Legacy of Its Rare Earth Riches – by Kieth Bradsher (New York Times – October 22, 2013)

November 12, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/

TIANJIN, China — In northern China, near the Mongolian border, radioactively contaminated leaks from two decades of rare earth refining have been slowly trickling underground toward the Yellow River, a crucial water source for 150 million people.

In Jiangxi province in south-central China, the national government has seized control of rare earth mining districts from provincial officials after finding widespread illegal strip-mining of rare earth metals.

And in Guangdong province in southeastern China, regulators are struggling to repair rice fields and streams destroyed by powerful acids and other runoff from open-pit rare earth mines that are often run by violent organized crime syndicates.

Communities scattered across China face heavy environmental damage that accumulated through two decades of nearly unregulated rare earth mining and refining. While the Chinese government has begun spending billions of dollars to clean up the damage, the environmental impact is becoming an international trade issue, with a World Trade Organization panel in Geneva expected to issue a crucial draft report on Wednesday.

Provincial body pushes Ring of Fire – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – November 9, 2013)

November 9, 2013

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

The provincial government announced Friday the formation of a corporation to push forward the development of the Ring of Fire, which will be launched immediately.

It will bring together First Nations communities, mining companies and government representatives, and will “develop, construct, finance, operate and maintain infrastructure supporting access to strategic resources in the Ring of Fire,” according to a Ministry of Northern Development and Mines statement.

Michael Gravelle, minister of Northern Development and Mines, and MPP for Thunder Bay and Superior North, argued the development of sustainable infrastructure is essential to the success of the project.

“People need to get in to work and products need to get out to the global market,” he indicated in a media release. Sudbury Mayor Marianne Matichuk welcomed Friday’s announcement.

“I am pleased Minister Gravelle took my lead and stepped up by getting everyone to the table to resolve the outstanding issues,” she said in a media release. “It is imperative that we work together on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create jobs and growth.”

Peter Munk’s extraordinary career of booms and busts – by Rachelle Younglai and Brent Jang (Globe and Mail – November 9, 2013)

November 9, 2013

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

TORONTO and VANCOUVER — Peter Munk, a refugee from Hungary who built Canadian businesses in real estate, oil and electronics, is getting ready to bid farewell to the company he transformed into the world’s largest gold producer.

The fedora-sporting tycoon, who turned 86 on Friday, is about to leave Barrick Gold Corp. The industry behemoth he started with a small stake in a Northern Ontario mine is now struggling to regain investor confidence following two years of declines in prices for the precious metal.

Booms and busts have defined Mr. Munk’s life. He was born into a wealthy banking family in Budapest, but the Nazi occupation of his homeland during the Second World War forced them to flee. The Munks used most of the family fortune, held in cash and gold, to board a train in 1944 to Switzerland. About four years later, Mr. Munk left England for Toronto, where he lived with his aunt and uncle.

In Toronto, he helped found sound electronics maker Clairtone Sound Corp., whose high-fidelity products were promoted by the likes of Hugh Hefner and Frank Sinatra.

Peter Munk to step down as Barrick chairman – by Boyd Erman, Tim Kiladze and Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – November 9, 2013)

November 9, 2013

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Barrick Gold Corp. publicly announced the pending retirement of chairman Peter Munk on Friday, after a week in which bankers faced a tepid response to the company’s $3-billion (U.S.) share sale.

Barrick said Friday that it expected to update investors before year-end on various initiatives to renew its board, following discussions this year between directors and institutional shareholders regarding compensation practices and governance. The initiatives include “succession in the chairman role at the company, consistent with Mr. Munk’s desire to retire as chairman,” Barrick said.

The message that Mr. Munk would announce his retirement by year-end had been quietly conveyed by some bankers working on Barrick’s big share sale over the past week, according to sources familiar with the situation. Some investors had indicated they wanted more clarity on the board revamp before agreeing to buy any stock.

One asset manager, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he was told by a banker advising Barrick on Monday that an announcement on Mr. Munk’s future would come by year-end.

Ontario asks Ottawa for help developing Ring of Fire – by Adrian Morrow (Globe and Mail – November 8, 2013)

November 9, 2013

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Ontario is asking the federal government to help pay for infrastructure to kick-start development of the Ring of Fire, a vast region of mineral deposits in the province’s north.

In a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper Friday, Premier Kathleen Wynne estimates constructing the necessary infrastructure for the area will cost as much as $2.25-billion. She asks Mr. Harper to split the cost evenly with her.

Under Ms. Wynne’s plan, the infrastructure would be built by a new development corporation that would co-ordinate between governments, private companies and First Nations.

“The Ring of Fire presents an historic, multi-generational opportunity to transform the region, create thousands of jobs, and enhance the future economic prosperity of Canada,” Ms. Wynne writes in the missive. “On behalf of the people of Ontario, it is my sincere hope that the federal government will come forward as a partner with a critical strategic investment in the development corporation.”

Ring of Fire: Kathleen Wynne asks Stephen Harper to team up – by Rob Ferguson (Toronto Star – November 9, 2013)

November 9, 2013

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Ontario tries to revive stalled Ring of Fire, seeks “substantial” cash injection from Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Hoping to revive the Ring of Fire, Ontario is seeking private and public partners — especially the federal government — in a development corporation to build about $2 billion of roads and mining infrastructure.

The money is needed to open up the vast northwestern Ontario zone rich in mineral deposits such as chromite, a key ingredient in stainless steel, Premier Kathleen Wynne said Friday in a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Ontario is prepared to invest a “substantial” but undisclosed sum in the project and wants Ottawa to match it to prepare the zone for mining, which is expected to be worth about $60 billion, said the premier.

Estimated costs are up to $1 billion for “industrial infrastructure” and $1.25 billion for roads.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s “Ring of Fire” Letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (November 8, 2013)

November 9, 2013

(L to R) Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development and Mines at the PDAC Convention, March, 2013. (Photo by Stan Sudol)

Dear Prime Minister Harper,

The economic development opportunity in the Ring of Fire region is vitally important to Northern Ontario and First Nations communities. I am writing to update you on Ontario’s progress in advancing smart, sustainable, collaborative development in the region, and to solicit greater involvement by your government.

Today, Ontario announced it is leading the creation of a new development corporation that would bring together private and public partners, including First Nations, mining companies, and both of our governments. The corporation would develop, construct, finance, operate and maintain the infrastructure that supports access to strategic resources in the Ring of Fire region.

The national significance of the Ring of Fire has been recognized by your government on several occasions. In September, the Honourable Greg Rickford, your government’s lead Minister for the Ring of Fire, said in reference to development of the region: “Our Government recognizes the important role the mining sector plays in creating jobs, attracting investment and strengthening not only the economy of Northern Ontario, but also of the country, which is why we are committed to creating the conditions that will enable the industry to continue to flourish.”

Sudbury High school program dispels mining myths – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – November 8, 2013)

November 8, 2013

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Specialist High Skills Major in mining offered at three local schools

Most people have a skewed idea of what the mining industry involves, but one goal of the Specialist High Skills Major in mining is to dispel those myths, said Leo Leclair, the Rainbow District School Board’s lead for the program.

“It’s technology now,” Leclair said about the current reality for the mining sector. “It’s not pick and shovel, it’s not dark and dirty.”

Three Rainbow District high schools – Lockerby Composite School, Lively District Secondary School and Espanola High School – offer the Specialist High Skills Major program for mining.

The Ontario Ministry of Education started the Specialist High Skill Major program in 2006. At that time, 600 students across the province took courses in the program.

Today, more than 42,000 Grade 11 and 12 students in Ontario are enrolled in Specialist High Skill Majors that cover areas ranging from mining, to business, to mining, sports, manufacturing and hospitality.