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Sept. 19, 1992: Labour tensions high as Yellowknife blast kills replacement gold miners – by Chris Zdeb (Edmonton Journal – September 19, 2013)

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

Nine gold miners were killed in an explosion during a strike at the Giant Gold Mine in Yellowknife in one of the worst mass murders in Canadian history. The replacement workers were riding in a man-car more than 200 metres below the surface when the blast happened about 10:30 a.m. Six victims were from Yellowknife, two from Ontario and one from New Brunswick.

The union vehemently denied any responsibility for the explosion, which was investigated by the RCMP. Still, union officials expected violence in Yellowknife to get worse as more people who blamed the union for the explosion vented their anger. The mine was built in the 1930s and owned by Royal Oak Mines Ltd. It had continued to operate through the strike with replacement workers.

About 240 members of the Canadian Association of Smelter and Allied Workers walked off the job on May 23 in response to the company asking workers to take wage and benefit cuts and to tie any new contract to the price of gold, because of declining gold prices.

Workers wanted better pension benefits, improved safety standards and a five- to 10-per-cent wage increase.

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Iran to invest over 8 billion euros in aluminium sector – by Emma Farge (Reuters India – September 20, 2013)

http://in.reuters.com/

GENEVA – (Reuters) – Iran plans to invest around 8.5 billion euros ($11.4 billion) in its aluminium industry as part of plans to nearly quadruple production by 2025, an official at mining group Imidro said on Thursday.

Iran is the 20th largest producer of aluminium in the world, according to the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organisation (Imidro), and needs the extra supplies to meet demand which is growing by 10 percent a year.

Aluminium is a lightweight metal used widely in transport, packaging and construction. It can also be used to make tubes for uranium enrichment gas centrifuges.

Iran’s economy has been hobbled by western sanctions aimed at pressuring Tehran to stop efforts to enrich uranium to levels that could be used in weapons.

Iran produced 338,000 tonnes of aluminium last year and is aiming for 770,000 tonnes in 2016 and 1.5 million tonnes by 2025, Panthea Geramishoar, senior expert in Imidro’s non-ferrous department said at a Metal Bulletin conference in Geneva.

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Afghanistan’s plan to jumpstart economy with Chinese mining investment under threat – by Lynne O’Donnell (South China Morning Post – September 20, 2013)

http://www.scmp.com/news/asia

Plan to base country’s future growth on mining may have struck a dead-end as China moves to renegotiate multi billion-dollar deal

Kabul – Afghanistan’s dream of using profits from its vast mineral resources to fund post-war development is fading after China signalled its intention to undo a multi billion-dollar agreement that had been underpinning Kabul’s plans for creating a mining industry.

Fifteen months before the international presence in Afghanistan is reduced, Kabul may have to scale back plans for attracting mining companies to exploit its mineral reserves, including copper, gold, iron ore and rare earths, worth US$1 trillion.

A combination of related factors are working against Afghanistan. As the commodities cycle turns, prices drop, mining firms scale back on new projects, and China’s economy slows, experts said that Afghanistan appears to have missed out on the resources boom for now.

And the country has yet to pass its new Mining Law, which some say could be delayed further by concerns about such issues as community compensation and environment protection, industry sources said. Ministry officials, however, are confident it will pass within weeks.

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Hollywood vs. oil sands? Not a fair fight – by Gary Mason (Globe and Mail – September 20, 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.

Calgary — Once again, Alberta’s oil sands have become a whipping boy for the rich and famous.

Actor Robert Redford is the latest in a recent procession of actors and celebrities to voice opposition to the province’s petroleum patch. In a short but powerful video released this week, Mr. Redford calls northern Alberta’s “the dirtiest oil on the planet” and casts the development in the most unflattering light imaginable, saying “toxic tar sands fuel” is helping to destroy the planet.

The week before, singer Neil Young gave a speech in Washington that garnered international attention, comparing the sight of the oil sands to Hiroshima after it was annihilated by an atomic bomb. The singer did an air tour of the controversial resource development with one-time Hollywood starlet Daryl Hannah, better known these days for her political crusades than her movies.

Canadian-born director James Cameron is also among those who have visited the area. He has urged Alberta politicians to do more to protect First Nations lands from the titanic levels of pollution and destruction he said are caused by the oil sands.

Not surprisingly, many in Alberta are sensitive to the attacks by the entertainment crowd, whose regular treks to the oil sands have been dubbed “Hollywood eco-tourism.”

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Jim Flaherty: Ottawa, B.C. and Ontario agree to establish co-operative securities regulator – by Gordon Isfeld and Barbara Shecter (National Post – September 20, 2013)

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

OTTAWA/TORONTO – When Jim Flaherty first envisioned a single national securities regulator, he couldn’t have imagined that seven years on, it would still be very much a work in progress.

Even now, there appears to be a lot of work left to do. Regional concerns over federal oversight — and constitutional issues —have so far hamstrung efforts by the finance minister to create a Canadian equivalent of the U.S. Securities Commission.

So instead, Mr. Flaherty, acknowledging he won’t get an iron-clad agreement from all the provinces and territories in the near future, is going with what he’s got: two provinces, albeit significant players in the capital markets, agreeing to sign on to a voluntary, cooperative arrangement.

And he’s hoping most of the 13 separate securities agencies will join up as well. Mr. Flaherty, joined by his Ontario and B.C. counterparts, announced Thursday the creation of the Cooperative Capital Markets Regulators (CCMR), as it will be called. It will be based in Toronto — the financial hub of Canada — and take responsibility for overseeing common national rules.

“It isn’t a federal regulator, it isn’t a provincial regulator, it’s a common regulator, a cooperative regulator, which will share powers [between] borders and government.

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Ontario’s power disaster – by Terence Corcoran (National Post – September 20, 2013)

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

New study highlights desperate need for reform the province’s vast dysfunctional and costly electricity regime

For almost five years FP Comment has inveighed against the Ontario government’s profoundly uneconomic and costly electricity regime, a dictatorial and monopolist system that uses taxes and subsidies to greenify the power system of the largest provincial economy in Canada.

As I wrote in 2009: “In the midst of a major economic meltdown, and with looming budget deficits totaling more than $18-billion, now might not be the best time for the government of Ontario to be embarking on a crushing new green energy policy that could add billions to the province’s electricity costs. But Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is nothing if not immune to the folly of his own righteous policies and the fiscal crisis he faces as a result.”

Since then, via former Canadian banker Parker Gallant’s ongoing series — Ontario’s Power Trip — along with reports from consultant Tom Adams and many others, the growing absurdity of the regime has been detailed and documented on this page: Rising costs, market distorting feed-in-tariffs, subsidies to wind and solar, exports of power to New York at below cost — not to mention the $1-billion scandal over cancelled gas plants.

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Vale mine death plea disappoints union – by CBC News Sudbury (September 19, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/sudbury/

The union that represents workers at Vale says a $1-million fine and guilty plea related to the 2011 deaths of two of its miners aren’t enough.

The nickel miner’s plea agreement was the largest fine ever levied under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act. Vale pleaded guilty to three charges, but six other charges were dropped.

“[The fine] will not have an impact,” said Mike Bond, chair of the health, safety and environment for Steelworkers Local 6500. The union conducted its own eight-month investigation into the tragedy, and Bond maintains the company should have faced criminal charges.

“We need support from the enforcement bodies that are there to protect and hand out penalties and discipline,” he said. The plea agreement means the case will not go to trail, and Bond said Vale won’t have to answer questions about what happened.

“In our views, the facts will never be on the books,” he said. Sudbury Police investigated the deaths of Jason Chenier and Jordan Fram, but announced last year that no criminal charges would be laid.

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Northern [Ontario] Policy Institute needs tangible goals: chair – Staff (Northern Ontario Business – September 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.

Martin Bayer doesn’t mince words when discussing the mandate of the Northern Policy Institute. There’s no point in wasting money on research papers if that work sits unused on a shelf somewhere, he said.

“I think we have to make sure we don’t allow ourselves to be yet another organization that generates more research papers with some recommendations that never get implemented or simply aren’t practical,” said Bayer, a Sudbury-based lawyer who was appointed the institute’s chair in February. “We want to be careful about that and be sure that if we are commissioning research and it’s evidence-based, it’s relevant, it’s going to be meaningful and it’s going to be used.”

As one of the primary recommendations to come out of the province’s 2011 Growth Plan for Northern Ontario, the institute has been charged with the development of policy options that reflect challenges faced by Northern Ontario and that foster sustainable development and long-term economic prosperity.

Bayer outlined the institute’s mandate, priorities and work to date during a luncheon sponsored by the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce on Sept. 17.

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NEWS RELEASE: Anglo American delivers the largest financial commitment ever made by a mining company to protect northern caribou in British Columbia

(L to R) Brent Waldron, Chief Financial Officer of Anglo American’s Metallurgical Coal business; the Honourable Steve Thomson, Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations with the Government of British Columbia, and Mike Bernier, M.L.A. Peace River South for the Province of British Columbia.

VANCOUVER, Sept. 18, 2013 /CNW/ – Today the Chief Financial Officer of Anglo American’s Metallurgical Coal business, Mr Brent Waldron, presented the Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations for the Government of British Columbia, the Honourable Steve Thomson with a $2.566 million cheque for the Government of British Columbia’s Peace Northern Caribou Plan in Vancouver, B.C.

This is the largest funding contribution made by a mining company for caribou mitigation measures under the Peace Northern Caribou Plan and Mr Waldron said he was proud to personally present the donation on behalf of Anglo American.

“This contribution comes as part of Anglo American’s Trend-Roman project, an open cut expansion for the Peace River operation near Tumbler Ridge in north-east British Columbia and represents the company’s commitment to maintaining the highest standards of environmental protection,” Mr Waldron said.

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Tribes critical of PolyMet’s draft on mining impact – by Marshall Helmberger (Timberjay – September 18, 2013)

http://www.timberjay.com/ [Northeast Minnesota]

REGIONAL – Tribal authorities cooperating in the preparation of PolyMet Mining’s supplemental environmental impact statement are expressing fundamental disagreements with key science and conclusions in the 1,800-page preliminary draft document. In addition, they are challenging the longstanding claim by lead agencies and mining supporters that Minnesota has and maintains strict enforcement of environmental rules pertaining to operating mines in the state.

The lengthy tribal comments, provided by the Fond du Lac Band as well as the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, or GLIFWC, appear to have played a role in the latest delay in the expected release of the draft EIS. The report had been scheduled for release in early September, but officials overseeing the project now say the draft version will be released in late November.

The report also faced significant critique by some officials within the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for a large number of errors. Those DNR comments will likely lead to changes before the draft report is issued in November. Some of the tribal comments may lead to changes, but in other cases, those comments will be incorporated into a dissenting view that’s expected to be included in an appendix to the study.

The extensive comment provided by a number of agencies was not unexpected, according to Steve Colvin, the DNR’s Deputy Director for Ecological and Water Resources.

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Aluminium industry at odds over supply deals, warehouse reforms – by Emma Farge (Reuters U.S. – September 18, 2013)

http://www.reuters.com/

GENEVA, Sept 18 (Reuters) – The world’s top aluminium producers and consumers are at loggerheads over the thorny issue of what price, or premium, should be paid to secure metal deliveries, and will conclude fewer fixed term supply deals this year, industry sources said.

Producers Rusal , Alcoa and Rio Tinto are descending on Geneva for an industry gathering that marks the start of annual supply negotiations with aluminium product makers.

But unlike in recent years, top consumers like Novelis and Rexam have a strong hand to play thanks to U.S. regulatory scrutiny into claims big banks and trade houses artificially inflated aluminium premiums by building backlogs at London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses. The scrutiny comes alongside a proposed overhaul of warehouse practices on the LME, which has already helped knock European spot premiums down some 20 percent off a June record high near $300 a tonne.

“I’m sure term premiums will be lower than $230-250 a tonne,” said a source who represents consumers. “Producers are getting nervous about the implementation of LME warehouse rules (and) I think most consumers are going to continue to live hand to mouth because they think the premiums are going to come down further.”

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Inquiry unearths police cover-up in South African Marikana mine massacre – Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – September 19, 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.

JOHANNESBURG — An inquiry has found shocking evidence that South African police have lied and falsified documents to cover up the truth about their killing of 34 protestors at the Marikana platinum mine last year.

The explosive revelation of a police cover-up in the “Marikana massacre” has forced a halt to the official inquiry. The commission announced on Thursday that it is shutting down its public hearings temporarily while it investigates the cover-up.

The inquiry has already heard disturbing evidence that the police hunted down and killed fleeing protestors even after a first clash had ended. It also heard testimony that the police planted guns next to the bodies of dead miners in an attempt to justify the shooting.

The cover-up began to unravel last week in testimony by Duncan Scott, a lieutenant-colonel in the South African Police Services (SAPS). He agreed to give the inquiry a computer hard drive with videos and photos from the scene of the Marikana killings. The inquiry also obtained thousands of pages of police documents that it had not seen before.

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Ottawa accuses Cameco of multi-million dollar tax dodge – by Geoff Leo (CBC News Saskatchewan – September 19, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/saskatchewan/

Saskatchewan may have missed out on $300M in corporate tax

One of the largest companies in Saskatchewan is in the midst of a multi-million dollar tax court battle with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Cameco has publicly estimated that it could end up owing $800-850 million in Canadian corporate taxes for the years 2008 to 2012, if it loses the case.

CRA contends that the uranium giant set up a subsidiary in Zug, Switzerland for the purpose of avoiding taxes in Canada. However Cameco’s CFO, Grant Isaac, disputes that claim.

He says there’s a compelling business case for having a marketing arm in Europe, close to customers there. “We believe that it was established in accordance with sound business principles and in accordance with relevant laws and regulations,” Isaac told investors at the corporation’s first quarter update in May 2013.

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Fasken Martineau Mining Bulletin: Cliffs Denied Easement over Canada Chrome Mining Claims – by Neal Smitheman and Kimberly Potter – September 19, 2013

http://www.fasken.com/en/home/

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (“Cliffs”) lost its application for an easement over a series of mining claims held by Canada Chrome Corporation (“CCC”), a subsidiary of KWG Resources Inc. (“KWG”). The mining claims that were the subject of the application were staked along a series of linear sand ridges from the Big Daddy chromite deposit in the McFaulds Lake region of Northern Ontario, commonly referred to as the “Ring of Fire”, south to Exton, Ontario (the “CCC Claims”).

Background

In 2008, KWG discovered the Big Daddy deposit in a joint venture with Spider Resources Inc. (“Spider”). In 2009, KWG approached Cliffs to become a shareholder of KWG for the purpose of assisting with the development of Big Daddy. With Cliffs’ support, KWG staked the CCC Claims for the purpose of, among other things, building a railway that would connect the Big Daddy deposit with a distribution point in the south.

After CCC staked the CCC Claims and began performing assessment work, Cliffs acquired the Black Thor chromite deposit in the Ring of Fire through its acquisition of Freewest Resources Canada Inc. Cliffs then bought out Spider, which left KWG in a minority position with respect to the Big Daddy deposit.

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It may be time to step back on Keystone XL project – by Jeffrey Jones (Globe and Mail – September 19, 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.

CALGARY — Canada is winning the battle for U.S. market share in oil, and, under President Barack Obama, the United States has been cutting its reliance on imported crude – all at the same time and all without Keystone XL. It has been five years, one global financial crisis, two U.S. elections and countless shuttles to Washington by officials from Ottawa and Alberta since TransCanada Corp. filed its initial application with regulators in the United States to build the pipeline.

Today, with the project as uncertain and divisive as ever, it’s time for Canadians to ask if they want their elected officials to keep spending money, time, effort and diplomatic capital trying to persuade Washington that one pipeline is necessary for both economies.

With several alternative export proposals to the United States and elsewhere being floated, perhaps the federal and provincial governments should take a step back, push Keystone XL down on the public agenda and let TransCanada and its shippers take the lead on touting their proposal.

A year ago, many in the oil patch were confident Keystone XL was just a presidential vote away. If Republican candidate Mitt Romney won, the thinking went, the project was a sure thing: he had already served notice that “that pipeline from Canada” was a go.

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