Republic of Mining

Excerpt from “Lawyers, Families, and Businesses: The Shaping of a Bay Street Law Firm, Faskens 1863-1963″ – by C. Ian Kyer

June 10, 2013

To order a copy of Lawyers, Families, and Businesses, please click here: http://www.irwinlaw.com/store/product/712/lawyers-families-and-businesses

Excerpt

For a time the Gooderhams considered buying one or more of the companies that had started to mine copper and nickel in the Sudbury basin but ultimately decided against it. Although Wallace Nesbitt personally invested in the Copper Company of Canada, which would eventually merge into Inco, the Gooderhams looked west. Tom had maintained his interest in the region and now focused it on several mines in the BC interior along the border with the United States. In the early 1890s gold, silver, and copper had been found in the Kootenays. Later lead mining would also develop. The Canadian Pacific Railway had linked British Columbia with central Canada and Tom became a frequent traveller on the CPR, visiting the small mining town of Rossland, near Red Mountain, and nearby Trail, along the Columbia River.

In January 1897 Tom Blackstock and George Gooderham’s eldest son, William George Gooderham, put together a syndicate that included Beatty and Senator George Albertus Cox. They paid $850,000 to buy the War Eagle gold mine and its associated mines, known as the Poorman, the Iron Mask, and the Virginia. Tom was given the task of overseeing these investments. He feared that War Eagle would be forced to pay exorbitant rates for shipping ore and for its refining, later explaining that “mining is in the nature of a manufacturing business which requires the utmost economy in every detail to enable it to be carried out successfully upon a large scale.”

PRESS RELEASE: The International Mining Technology Hall of Fame Nominations for 2014

June 10, 2013

http://www.im-mining.com/

In association with Rio Tinto’s Mine of the FutureTM
Grand America Hotel, Salt Lake City, Utah, February 22, 2014

International Mining is organising a very significant event that is certain to become a key meeting in the mining world’s annual calendar. The International Mining Technology Hall of Fame will recognise the technical innovators of our industry – past and present. Rio Tinto’s Mine of the FutureTM program is the industry associate for the event.

The mining equipment and technology sector usually makes advances thanks to the dedication and expertise of individuals or small groups that have pushed the boundaries of innovation and R&D to bring new solutions to the industry. Sometimes initially facing internal and external scepticism or funding shortages, these leaps of progress have gone on to help make major increases in productivity and efficiency in mining, as well as in some cases making operations safer through helping to remove operators and miners from high risk roles.

The International Mining Technology Hall of Fame will recognise these pioneers across a range of categories, and perhaps going back many years. Nominees could be as varied as the developer of a fundamental improvement in crusher or drill rig design, to the introduction of a new process or mining method. Nominations should be individuals or small teams rather than companies.

Association notes Canadian mining challenges and possible solutions – by Gia Costella (MiningWeekly.com – June 7, 2013)

June 7, 2013

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

The Canadian mining industry can face challenges effectively if they are dealt with correctly, says Mining Association of Canada president and CEO Pierre Gratton.

Canada’s mineral production reached a record $50.3-billion in 2011, but declined to $46.9-billion in 2012, owing to falling commodity prices. However, Gratton notes that, historically, these are still high prices.

“The industry’s trade levels also increased significantly, with exports growing by 20% to $101.9-billion in 2011, or 23% of Canada’s overall total. Across Canada, there are new major investments totalling $140-billion over the next five to ten years.

“To keep Canada competitive, we need to maintain low inflation, reduce debts, reduce and eliminate government deficits, as well as preserve and improve competitive tax levels,” he explains. Gratton says the country needs to ensure that government does not erode its ability to attract investment by taking action on three broad public-policy fronts – “regulatory, people and infrastructure”.

With respect to regulatory reform announced by the federal government in 2012 aimed at streamlining the project review and permitting process, Gratton states the association is actively working with government to ensure that the promised reforms result in their intended outcomes, namely efficient and predictable reviews of major projects.

Le Nord Pour Tous: Quebec Pushing the Boundaries of Mining Development – by Jonathan Arnold and Tom Syer (Business Council of British Columbia – June 4, 2013)

June 7, 2013

http://www.bcbc.com/

Those familiar with mining development in Canada are all too conversant with the tricky juggling act of resource extraction. The demand for social and environmental responsibility, government royalties, and maintaining global competitiveness can all pull in different directions. Government leaders across Canada often pride themselves in having fostered a mining sector that is one of “the most efficient, effective and competitive in the world,” backed by a “world-class environmental protection regime” (Natural Resources Canada, 2013).

But despite this optimistic picture, mining development in Canada is often a hotly contested policy arena. Look no further than the Federal government’s push for the rapid development of Ontario’s ‘Ring of Fire’, or the recently rejected coal mine in Comox, to get a flavour for the tug of war between vested interests.

Although Canada is a global leader in mining production, levels of investment are heavily dictated by outside pressures—guided by the ebb and flow of global commodity prices. Moreover, due to the plethora of mining opportunities across the world, including a growing number of emerging economies, capital is highly mobile and gravitates towards countries with high risk adjusted returns – valuing stable government regimes, low tax-rates, and good infrastructure in this comparative construct. Within Canada, the competition to attract new capital is then spread across provinces and territories, all with different tax structures, environmental rules and royalty requirements.

Tight oil helps Alberta solidify energy superpower status – by Yadullah Hussain (National Post – June 7, 2013)

June 7, 2013

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

While the oil sands grab all the headlines, conventional oil from Alberta is also likely to emerge as a strong contributor, cementing the province’s position as an energy — albeit landlocked — superpower, leaving other provinces in the dust.

The concentration of output in Alberta means pipelines and railway issues will only magnify as nature appears to have played a cruel joke by bestowing geological riches on the province, but spiked it with geographic constraints.

The Canadian Association Petroleum Producers’ bullish, almost defiant, forecast, published this week, shows Alberta oil sands and tight oil production growing leaps and bounds, almost unconstrained by market access issues.

Oil sand’s production alone will double from current levels in a decade and reach 5.2 million barrels per day of production by 2030. Total Canadian crude production will hit 6.7 million barrels per day, expected to be the fourth largest in the world by that time.

That’s nearly 500,000 barrels per day more from CAPP’s previous estimate, and 800,000 bpd higher than the International Energy Agency forecast. “Of the 500,000 bpd of additional capacity, 300,000 bpd is from conventional tight oil production, and only 200,000 bpd from the oil sands,” said Greg Stringham, vice-president, markets and oil sands at CAPP.

MININGWATCH CANADA NEWS RELEASE: Is Mine Closure in Ontario Protecting the Public?

June 7, 2013

http://www.miningwatch.ca/

Tuesday, June 04, 2013

Across Canada past mining activities have left a legacy of degraded environments and contaminated sites that were not rehabilitated by the mine operators and became public liabilities. These have included extreme cases of the privatization of profits and the socialization of costs like the Giant Mine in Yellowknife and the Kam Kotia Mine in Ontario along with many thousands of smaller sites that pose varying degrees of environmental and safety liabilities.

Industry and governments like to portray these issues as in the past and point to improved legislation for closure planning and requirements for financial assurances as providing the protections necessary to prevent these situations from arising again. There are, however, reasons to remain sceptical about the extent to which the public is being protected. A recent report by the Canadian Commissioner on the Environment and Sustainable Development relating to federal oversight in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut and a report from the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre point to serious issues about the extent of oversight and amount of financial assurances that are being posted.

Two recent situations are raising concerns about the mine closure regime in Ontario, one is a the operation of a bankrupt mine that is about to be turned over to the province, another is an operating mine that does not seem to be meeting requirements of the Mining Act for “progressive rehabilitation”.

Read more

THE END OF THE COMMODITY SUPER-CYCLE? – by Dieter Helm (Terra Firma – May 30, 2013)

June 7, 2013

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

PROFESSOR DIETER HELM, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

Commodities have had a good run. Despite the biggest economic crisis for half a century or more, commodities have marched ever upwards. The reasons might be many and various – from a flight to safety (gold) to Chinese demand (oil, copper and iron ore) – but the trends have been common. Now there has been a wobble. Does this mean the commodity super-cycle has come to an end?

As with every bull market, there are always those who claim “this time it is different”. To believe that commodity prices will go ever upwards, there needs to be a structural explanation. Something fundamental has to have changed, stopping the history of cycles repeating themselves. There are two such theories: firstly, that resources are finite and hence will inevitably run out – in the process driving up prices; and secondly, China.

The finite resources brigade holds esoteric ideas such as ‘peak oil’ and applies them more widely across commodities. It is all very simple: there is a finite amount of oil; we know how much and where it is – hence there is a maximum supply. If demand then keeps going up and supply is fixed, up goes the price. The same logic is applied to copper, iron ore and gold.

[Eramet] Weda Bay Nickel May Miss Tax Holiday – by Tito Summa Siahaan (Jakarta Times – June 6, 2013)

June 6, 2013

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/

France-based mining firm Eramet has been urged to spin off the processing facility of its planned Indonesian nickel mine if it wishes to take advantage of a foreign investment tax holiday.

The company plans to invest up to $5 billion to build nickel processing facilities associated with its proposed mine at Weda Bay in North Maluku.

Because the company formed to pursue the Weda Bay mine plan pre-dates the government’s tax holiday initiative, the company may otherwise be ineligible for the incentive that it sought. A contract of work for the proposed mine was signed with the national government in 1998.

Thamrin Sihite, the director general for coal and mineral resources at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, said that the regulation providing a tax holiday, issued by the Finance Ministry, may not cover investment plans such as the one by Eramet.

“The thing is, the tax holiday is only for companies [incorporated] after the regulation was issued [in 2010],” Thamrin Sihite said after a meeting with a French trade delegation lead by Trade Minister Nicole Bricq in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Copper Expansion: The Copperbelt: the pride of Zambia – by John Chadwick (Publisher International Mining – June 2013)

June 6, 2013

http://www.im-mining.com/

John Chadwick reports from Zambia’s buoyant copper mining centre, where he worked many years ago.

The first thing I noted when flying into Ndola at the eastern end of Zambia’s prolific Copperbelt was the town’s proud new football stadium. It appears as a symbol of the accomplishments of the Copperbelt this century and its re-establishment as one of the world’s top mining regions. Zambia is Africa’s largest copper producer and the fourth largest in the world – and growing fast. Copper production has rocketed from 257,000 t in 2000, to more than 700,000 t in 2011 and about 650,000 t in 2012. Zambia’s Chamber of Mines predicts output reaching 1.5 Mt by 2016 as a result of the many projects underway.

The road from Ndola to Kitwe (where I started my career in mining as a mining engineer) has been greatly improved and there are plans to improve it further all the way through Chingola and Chililabombwe to the Kasumbalesa border with the DRC as a two-lane highway. Kitwe is the heart of the Copperbelt and a vital centre for mining supplies and services with Zambia and into the DRC’s Katanga Province.

On that road to Kitwe from Ndola, one first passes north of CNMC Luanshya Copper Mines, 85% owned by China Nonferrous Metals Co Ltd (CNMC) and 15% by ZCCM-IH. Luanshya is one of the oldest mines in Southern Africa. It was shutdown in 2008 at the height of the global financial crisis. CNMC reopened the mine in 2009 after extensive modernisation works.

South Africa can’t get away with just ‘digging dirt’ – Paul Jourdan – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – June 5, 2013)

June 6, 2013

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

CAPE TOWN (miningweekly.com) – While Australia could get away with mining minerals and exporting them without paying attention to local value addition, South Africa could not, independent South African mineral policy analyst Paul Jourdan told the International Mining and Metals third African Iron Ore conference here.

With its far larger population and far fewer square kilometres, South Africa had no option but to concern itself with mineral beneficiation, which he defined as the total domestic value addition embodied in the final exports, excluding all imported inputs.

“Australia can dig dirt for the next 200 to 300 years, and they’ll be fine,” he said.

But South Africa, at one-sixth of Australia’s size and with nearly three times its population, was compelled to introduce ore beneficiation strategies for mineral value chains and resource-based industrialisation.

“Just digging dirt is not an option for us,” the former Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) deputy director-general, former Mintek head and coauthor of the African National Congress’s State Intervention in the Minerals Sector document said in response to Mining Weekly Online questions.

Commentary: Canada helps developing countries with responsible resource extraction – by Julian Fantino (Northern Miner – June 5, 2013)

June 6, 2013

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry.

Julian Fantino is Canada’s minister of international cooperation.

Today, Canada’s private-sector investments account for almost half of global mining activities in developing countries, and represent about 12% of Canada’s foreign direct investment. As an extractives industry success story, Canada is well- positioned to help developing countries overcome their challenges and implement their own respective vision in this rapidly expanding sector.

The extractive sector — mining, oil and gas — is a key contributor to Canada’s economic growth. It has created thousands of jobs at home and abroad. Revenues from the sector have allowed Canadians to invest in social services for our communities, build highways, railways, and electrical and communications networks across the country, as well as invest in clean-energy technologies.

In part, this success is because of Canada’s long history in effectively managing renewable and non-renewable natural resources. This experience has enabled Canada to develop world-class expertise in ensuring that mining generates the maximum benefits for broader social and economic development, while respecting the natural environment.

The extractive sector is an increasingly important driver of economic growth for many developing countries. For example, exports of oil and minerals from Africa, Asia, and Central and South America in 2011 were worth more than $1.4 trillion.

Strateco waits for court ruling on funding for [northern Quebec] Matoush project – by Robert Gibbens (Montreal Gazette – June 5, 2013)

June 6, 2013

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

Strateco Resources Inc. will probably know by month’s end whether it must shut down its Matoush uranium mining project 275 kilometres North of Chibougamau because of a Quebec government moratorium that freezes underground exploration indefinitely.

The Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment, Wildlife and Parks has decided not to issue a certificate of authorization for the Matoush project until the province’s Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environment has submitted its report on the uranium mining industry’s activities in the province.

“That means there will be lengthy delays and even more uncertainties about the high-grade Matoush project after $123 million of investment and seven years of solid exploration and development,” CEO Guy Hebert said.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the federal regulator, earlier approved Strateco’s move to drill underground to 300 metres depth, he said (interview). “The Commission supervises every exploration and development step you take and it has ruled Matoush is safe with today’s technology,” he added.

Oil sands output predicted to surge – by Nathan VAnderklippe and Kelly Cryderman (Globe and Mail – June 6, 2013)

June 6, 2013

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 — In the eyes of the energy sector, Fort McMurray, Alta., has never looked so promising.

The oil sands are entering a period of remarkable growth, doubling output in a decade – tripling in 15 years – and blowing past expectations from only 12 months ago, according to a sunny new industry forecast.

Recent months have seen the oil patch hit by waves of bad omens: industry leaders, concerned about unsustainable costs, have abandoned giddy growth targets. Efforts to sell oil sands properties have been abandoned, unfulfilled, amid buyer skepticism. Canadian oil prices have spiralled, then recovered – although worries remain about the value of Alberta crude.

The possibility of an expanded Alberta carbon tax threatens new costs. TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL project remains mired in a lengthy U.S. review; if it isn’t built, analysts say, billions of dollars of spending will vanish or slow and, with that, as much as one-third of near-term growth expectations.

But optimism ranks among Calgary’s most abundant commodities, and on Wednesday the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) offered a far less dour view.

Northern Gateway regulatory submissions reveal polarizing views of Alberta and B.C. – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – June 6, 2013)

June 6, 2013

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

In its last shot at defending the Northern Gateway pipeline, Enbridge Inc. says it has produced evidence to boot during the nearly completed regulatory review that the proposed project would generate enormous economic benefits for the country.

It says it would be built and operated safely, that it has sought and incorporated input from communities and aboriginals over the last decade, that it would be well prepared to deal with any oil spills and improve existing emergency response on Canada’s Pacific Coast.

“The design and construction … do not create new or novel challenges,” the Calgary-based pipeline company maintains in its 388-page final written argument.

“They were successfully faced by pipeline projects decades ago. In fact, some of the challenges were successfully met as long ago as the late 1800s when the Canadian Pacific railway was constructed through the Coast Mountains of British Columbia.”

It’s one of 40-plus final submissions from parties with an interest in the project to the Joint Review Panel of the National Energy Board and Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. The panel is kicking off its last round of input – final oral arguments — on June 17 in Terrace, B.C.