Twitter

Ring of Fire a ‘legacy project’: Minister – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – August 17, 2013)

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

Ottawa remains committed to helping develop the so-called Ring of Fire, but it will do so carefully, the government’s Northern Ontario cabinet minister said in Sudbury on Friday.

Greg Rick-ford, Canada’s new science and technology minister, made the promise during his first visit to Sud-bury since taking on the title.

Rickford, who is also responsible for FedNor and the Ring of Fire, spent two days in Greater Sudbury, making a funding announcement at NORC AT and a speech to the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce.  The visit is part of a Northern Ontario tour that included visits to Thunder Bay and North Bay.

During both local stops, he affirmed the federal government’s commitment to pushing forward on the Ring of Fire — but carefully.  “I fully expect that we will begin a process of thorough consultation,” Rickford, the MP for Kenora, said Friday morning, shor tly before announcing funding for jobs for recent graduates. 

Read more

B.C. mining companies digging up rage abroad – by Paul Luke (The Province – August 17, 2013)

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

Vancouver’s Eldorado Gold stayed calm in the face of rage triggered by the mine it’s building in Greece.  The company didn’t expect everyone in Aristotle’s birthplace in northeastern Greece would ­shower it with love. It knew that protests against everything from austerity to a U.S. pizza chain’s hiring policies are common in a region with a 35-per-cent jobless rate.

Eldorado’s gold project has the support of 12 of 16 villages in the area. It has a crucial environmental permit from the central government to start production at Skouries.  Opponents say the Skouries mine will trash the environment. ­Eldorado has offered detailed ­reassurances that it won’t.

Protesters say the mine will ruin the region’s tourism industry. “It’s not a big tourism area at all,” Eldorado spokeswoman Nancy Woo says.  But in the wee hours of Feb. 17, mine opponents went too far. About 50 people stormed the mine site, assaulted two Greek security guards and torched construction offices, trucks and heavy equipment.

“We fully condemn any activities that put the safety of our ­employees, contractors and assets at risk,” Eldorado CEO Paul Wright said in deploring the violence. 

Read more

The decline and fall of Canada’s global corporate superstars – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – August 17, 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.

ROME — Here’s a depressing exercise: Scan the upper reaches of the Top 1000 companies in the July-August issue of Report on Business magazine and try to spot Canada’s global winners. You could call them Canada’s corporate ambassadors, if they existed.

The short list is exceedingly short: Barrick Gold, Bombardier, Magna International, Thomson Reuters, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Suncor and BlackBerry (formerly Research In Motion). Sadly, strong arguments can be made to strike most of them.

Barrick, the gold industry’s top producer, has deftly employed a series of costly, self-inflicted wounds to more than halve its share price.

Bombardier is truly a global player and has fine brand recognition within the aerospace and train industries. However, the thrice-delayed C Series jet, its most ambitious aircraft, could yet prove to be a dud. Potash Corp., the top fertilizer company, has global sales but is largely a Canadian producer. Ditto Suncor. That leaves Magna, Thomson Reuters and BlackBerry.

Read more

Mining projects on Range can be safe, profitable – by Rolf Westgard (St. Cloud Times – August 17, 2013)

http://www.sctimes.com/ 

This is the opinion of Rolf Westgard, a professional member of the Geological Society of America. He teaches classes on energy subjects for the University of Minnesota Lifelong Learning program.

In 2011, we humans extracted and burned some 15 billion tons of coal, oil and natural gas, or 4,000 pounds for everyone on Earth. That put more than 30 billion tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Nature passed over Minnesota on its way to states such as North Dakota and Texas where it placed the sedimentary basins in which fossil fuels such as oil formed. Minnesota was not totally forgotten, and we got minerals such as iron ore and the non-ferrous group of copper, nickel, cobalt, palladium, platinum, etc. We’ve dug up most of the iron. But nestled in a wide band, meandering along the Archean granite of the Iron Range, is a world-class deposit of non-ferrous metals worth billions of dollars and thousands of jobs.

Total world annual production of those metals is just 30 pounds or so per person, and their demand and price is rising. Manufacturing wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles, catalytic converters and smart grid power lines requires copper, nickel, cobalt, palladium and platinum. 

Read more

Don’t allow sulfide mining without answers to concerns – by Paul Austin, Paul Dancic and Scott Strand (Duluth News Tribune – August 18, 2013)

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/ 

Paul Austin of Minneapolis is executive director of Conservation Minnesota, Paul Danicic of Minneapolis is executive director of Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness and Scott Strand of St. Paul is executive director of the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. They wrote this for the News Tribune on behalf of the grass-roots group Mining Truth (miningtruth.org), which is promoting the four questions discussed in the commentary.

Water is written into our state’s identity: We are the Land of 10,000 Lakes. What we do to protect Minnesota’s lakes and rivers today will determine what future we leave for our children and grandchildren.

Later this summer, Gov. Mark Dayton and the Department of Natural Resources will be faced with an important decision about the future of Minnesota’s lakes and rivers. The new draft environmental impact statement for the PolyMet mining project near Hoyt Lakes is expected to be released, and the Dayton administration will have to decide how or whether the project should proceed.

The PolyMet project is the first proposed sulfide mine in Minnesota, located near waters that flow into Lake Superior. Another proposed mine by Twin Metals would operate next to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Sulfide mining is different from our traditional iron mining and holds the potential for long-lasting toxic pollution. 

Read more

Rigorous standards will ensure clean mines – by Frank Ongaro (Duluth News Tribune – August 18, 2013)

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

Frank Ongaro is executive director of Duluth-based MiningMinnesota (miningminnesota.com), which supports the development of metals mining in the state.

From President Obama to Gov. Mark Dayton, elected officials have made jobs a top priority. In Minnesota, one thing is certain: There is no better opportunity for creating thousands of great-paying jobs, providing millions of dollars in tax revenue for local governments and generating more than $2 billion in royalties for our schools than the proposed copper/nickel strategic metals mineral development projects.

Mining already represents 30 percent of our region’s Gross Domestic Product (tourism is 11 percent). And, with the development of these strategic metals projects, we easily can double the size and benefit of the overall mining industry in Minnesota.

Fortunately, we can have these jobs and the spin-off economic benefits they bring — and an environment with clean air and water. There is no debate. We all want the same thing: clean air and clean water. 

Read more

B.C. First Nation renews battle to prevent open pit mining – by Kim Nursall (The Canadian Press/Globe and Mail – August 16, 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.

VANCOUVER — ozens of First Nations protesters are blockading a proposed open-pit coal mine in a remote area of northwest B.C.

The Tahltan Central Council said approximately 30 band members are demonstrating at the campsite of Fortune Minerals’ Arctos Anthracite Project, located 330 kilometres northeast Prince Rupert.  The council said members are concerned the mine will impact more than 4,000 hectares of pristine wilderness.

“It’s in the Sacred Headwaters, (which) is a place of cultural significance to us,” said council president Annita McPhee. “It’s a place that has a lot of archaeological finds of our people, and our people utilize that place right to this day.”

The area, McPhee added, supports three major salmon-bearing rivers — the Skeena, Nass and Stikine.

“The central council is not involved in organizing the protest, but we can recognize how deeply frustrated our people are because they see this company pushing ahead with plans to desecrate a sacred area in our territory,” she said, adding she will be travelling to the area and meeting with Fortune representatives. 

Read more

1919 was a watershed year for Timmins – by Karen Bachmann (Timmins Daily Press – August 16, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Can you believe that summer is almost over – and if you are wondering “what summer?” I concur completely. In just a scant few weeks, everyone will be returning to school, be it for the first time or for the last, or for somewhere in between.

The rest of us will just “get on with it,” and enjoy the fall and the return to busy days. However, today is still mid-August, we have a few weeks of lollygagging left to us, so I will not spoil things just yet.

In keeping with the last lazy days of the season, I give you a totally irreverent article focusing on small town happenings back in 1919.

As always, a little context – the Great War to End All Wars came to an end on Nov. 11, 1918, so slowly but surely the armies were standing down and the young men and women who survived the conflict were finally on their way home.

Your heart has to go out to Pte. Manley Cole, a resident of Timmins. He served in all four years of the war, was wounded in battle not once but twice, each time recuperating quickly. 

Read more

A reckoning on home soil for mining firms – by Peter McKenna (Halifax Chronicle Herald – August 16, 2013)

http://thechronicleherald.ca/

In case you didn’t already know, Canada is a world leader in mineral extraction. Canadian companies have extensive mining operations in Africa and Latin America — and places in between.

You may or may not be also aware that some of these companies have incredibly poor reputations in many of the countries in which they invest heavily. Operations in Mexico (Calgary-based Blackfire Exploration Limited), Peru (Vancouver-headquartered Dorato Resources Inc.), and Guatemala (Vancouver-based Goldcorp), to name but a few, have each had their fair share of Canadian mining company horror stories.

Canadians travelling in Guatemala, for instance, have been told by the locals to maintain a low profile and to keep their flag lapel pins out of sight.

People in these countries have witnessed their land forcibly confiscated by the military and police, seen little in the way of financial compensation, and have watched corrupt local officials ostensibly sell-out their communities. Mining Watch Canada has done a good job of documenting many of these abuses. 

Read more

Shift from ‘blame seeking’ will aid efforts to tackle SA’s AMD challenge – by Leandi Kolver (MiningWeekly.com – August 16, 2013)

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

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Current mining industry players are faced with the challenge of who should be responsible for and deal with the subsequent financial impact of the legacy issue of acid mine drainage (AMD).

The mining industry has been a significant driver of the country’s economy, dating back many years; however, as many of the mining houses that pioneered the industry in South Africa have moved on to other areas, or have evolved into other companies or consortiums, the challenge of assigning responsibility for current issues is a real concern, says minerals industry consultancy Venmyn Deloitte environmental industry adviser Sarah Dyke.

As South Africa’s water systems are interconnected, AMD, if not treated, could potentially decrease the country’s water supply quality, which will impact on industries, such as agriculture and manufacturing, Deloitte strategy and innovation consultant Sabatha Mhlanga says.

Out of the 120 mining companies that once mined in the Witwatersrand, only six remain, and there are about 6 000 ownerless and abandoned mines, as well as about 270 tailings dams in the area containing six-billion tons of pyrite – a catalyst for AMD.

Read more

China and India may not be enough to rescue gold – by Clyde Russell (Reuters India – August 16, 2013)

http://in.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia – (Reuters) – With gold demand slumping to the lowest in four years in the second quarter, bulls are grasping to hold on to anything positive and right now that means India and China.

If there was a bright spot in the World Gold Council’s (WGC)quarterly report, it was that demand in the world’s top two consumers surged.

India regained its lead over China by buying 310 tonnes in the second quarter, up 71 percent from the same period in 2012 and 21 percent above first quarter purchases.

China bought 275.7 tonnes in the second quarter, a jump of 87 percent from the same period last year, but 6 percent below the first quarter’s demand.

But even the strong demand in the Asian giants wasn’t enough to offset the dramatic outflows from exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which saw 402.2 tonnes of sales, more than double the 176.5 tonnes that flowed out in the first quarter.

Read more

Iron ore prices moving higher as China steel production rises – by Lawrence Williams (Mineweb.com – August 15, 2013)

http://www.mineweb.com/

After a bit of a dip, iron ore prices are on the rise as Chinese steel production begins to increase again and the world’s top diversified miners will be the likely principal beneficiaries.

LONDON (MINEWEB)  – It should not have escaped anyone who follows the global mining sector’s attention that the world’s three biggest mining companies by a long way, BHP, Rio Tinto and Vale, are also the three biggest miners of high grade iron ore.

There had been much discussion of how these would fare in a Chinese downturn, given that China is by far the world’s largest importer of iron ore and there was comment that iron ore prices would fall dramatically, thus decimating the big three’s revenues and profits – exacerbated perhaps by the fact that they are all growing production with the inevitable additional costs that involves.

What the observers seemed to have failed to take into account is that China, in a recession, is still the equivalent of anyone else in a mega growth phase! Growth falling perhaps from 10% plus per annum to maybe 6 or 7% – figures western economies would give their eye teeth for!

Read more

NEWS RELEASE: Harper Government invests to support business development and growth in Nishnawbe Aski Nation communities

THUNDER BAY, Ontario, August 14, 2013 – The Honourable Greg Rickford, Minister of State for Science and Technology, and FedNor, and Minister Responsible for the Ring of Fire, today announced a Harper Government investment to help the Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund create jobs, enhance entrepreneurial and business planning skills, and promote business development and growth in Northwestern Ontario.

“Our Government is committed to ensuring entrepreneurs and businesses across Canada have the right tools and expertise they need to take advantage of economic development opportunities that lead to job creation, economic growth and the long-term prosperity of our communities,” said Minister Rickford. “Today’s announcement does just that by enabling the Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund to provide targeted support to First Nation businesses throughout the region, giving them the tools to seize and capitalize on opportunities related to the development of the Ring of Fire, right here in Northern Ontario.”

With a FedNor investment of $4,427,212 over three years, Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund (NADF) will offer a variety of business development services, including marketing and communications, strategic planning, and project management. Resources will be available to First Nation communities serviced by NADF, with a strong focus on the nine Matawa communities, to help them successfully develop business opportunities and derive long-term economic benefit from mining-related developments.

Read more

Indonesia to see declining revenue from mineral – by Amahl S. Azwar (The Jakarta Post – August 16, 2013)

http://www.thejakartapost.com/

The government is preparing to see a decline in revenue from the mineral sector as the ban on the exports of unprocessed mineral ore is expected to take effect next year, a top official has said.

The restrictions on raw ore exports is aimed at giving added value to the mining products as well as moderating mineral exploitation.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s coal and minerals director general, Thamrin Sihite, said on Thursday the country needs to tame the overexploitation of minerals in a bid to protect its resources.

“It is very crucial for us to control the current production to ensure the sector will be sustainable,” he said.

According to the 2009 Mining Law, miners will have to process their mineral ore at their own smelters or at independent smelters as of January 2014, before exporting their mineral production.

Miners that do not have a smelter or are reluctant to process their raw minerals at other smelters will be banned from shipping their unprocessed ore overseas.

Read more

Analysis – On ‘massacre’ anniversary, South Africa mines still volatile – by Peroshni Govender (Reuters U.K. – August 15, 2013)

http://uk.reuters.com/

MARIKANA, South Africa – (Reuters) – A year after South Africa’s bloodiest post-apartheid labour incident awoke the world to the potential for unrest in the country’s mines, the industry still suffers from worker poverty, pay disputes, shrinking profits and a violent union feud.

At Lonmin’s Marikana mine where 34 striking platinum workers were shot dead by police on August 16, 2012 in killings that shocked South Africa and the world, memorial services are planned for Friday by politicians, unions and civic leaders.

President Jacob Zuma, still facing criticism for his African National Congress (ANC) government’s handling of what has come to be known as the “Marikana massacre”, has led a solemn chorus of assurances that such bloodshed must never happen again.

“We must all resolve to do everything possible to prevent a repeat of similar incidents,” Zuma said in a statement listing government steps to keep the peace and improve conditions in the country’s mines, where recurring illegal strikes have badly dented Africa’s biggest economy over the last year.

Read more