NEWS RELEASE: BC AMTA achieves 500 Aboriginal hires in Mining Industry

KAMLOOPS, BC, March 21, 2013 /CNW/ – In three fast years, BC Aboriginal Mine Training (BC AMTA) has partnered with government, First Nations and the BC Mining industry to support, train and recruit Aboriginal people. On March 20, 2013 they reached a milestone of placing 500 men and women from First Nations communities across the province into sustainable mining-related careers.

With 25 percent of the mining workforce scheduled to retire within the next five years and 1200 Aboriginal communities within 200 kilometres of an operating mine or exploration project1, BC AMTA has set in motion an achievable process that proves a new way of doing business with First Nations is possible.

Those possibilities include training and placing more Aboriginal people into mining careers as new offices open up across the province to meet industry demand. New BC AMTA regional offices include New Aiyansh (Terrace) and Merritt, to complement existing operations in Kamloops, Cranbrook and Williams Lake.

Communities are generating economic health through increased education and employment. “I wanted to become employable and to get a job so my husband and I could stop struggling, and dream of financial freedom,” says Iona Chelsea2, a recent graduate of the Mining Skills for an Entry Level Workforce. The ripple effect of Iona’s commitment to education has inspired her daughter as well – they now enjoy time studying together.

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NEWS RELEASE: Harper Government supports development of first ever on-reserve potash mine

TRADING SYMBOL: TSXV: EPO

VANCOUVER, March 19, 2013 /CNW/ – Encanto Potash Corp. (“Encanto” or the “Company”) (TSXV: EPO and OTCQX: ENCTF) along with The Honourable Bernard Valcourt, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development and Muskowekwan First Nation Chief Reginald Bellerose today announced an important milestone in the development of the first on-reserve potash mine in Canada.

The Muskowekwan First Nation potash mine project has been accepted by the federal government under the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act (FNCIDA). The Act will enable the federal government to enact regulations that incorporate a provincial regulatory regime to govern commercial and industrial activities within a province.

The federal government and the Muskowekwan First Nation will begin discussions with the Province of Saskatchewan to explore a potential regulation under FNCIDA relating to the proposed mine.

“I am pleased to announce that the Muskowekwan First Nation potash project is a step closer to becoming a reality,” said Minister Valcourt. “The development of the first on-reserve potash mine in Canada will create employment and economic growth as well as other long-term benefits for the First Nation and surrounding communities. I applaud the community and its leaders for their vision and commitment to the long-term prosperity of the Muskowekwan First Nation.”

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Chiefs call for joint review panel [in Ring of Fire] – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – March 22, 2013)

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

Chiefs of First Nations whose territories fall within the Ring of Fire say they aren’t the people slowing an environmental assessment of the area.

It is Cliffs Natural Resources and the government of Canada, they say. Cliffs, because it asked for a review that isn’t as thorough as the one the chiefs called for, and the federal government for agreeing with that.

Nine chiefs are hailing as a victory this week a federal court order that will allow submission of the affadavits of three expert witnesses the chiefs intend to call in a judicial review.

Cliffs and the federal government had wanted to strike the affadavits of Justina Ray, Robert Gibson and Neil Hutchinson, arguing they were “acting improperly as advocates.” Cliffs is in the early stages of developing its Black Thor deposit in the Ring of Fire, 540 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.

That project is undergoing a co-ordinated environmental assessment under the Canadian Environment Assessment Act and the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act, and the chiefs have no quarrel with a joint assessment.

What they object to is the federal government has approved a comprehensive study — a title they say is a misnomer because it is essentially a “paper” review of the impact of Cliffs’ mining project on their territories.

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Xstrata outlines future in Timmins – by Thomas Perry (Timmins Daily Press – March 21, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – When Xstrata Copper talks the Timmins Chamber of Commerce listens … especially when the words of wisdom contain good news for the community.

Tom Semadeni, general manager of Xstrata Copper, provided chamber members with an update on the efforts to extend the life of the company’s Kidd Mine during Thursday’s instalment of the President’s Series Luncheons at the Porcupine Dante Club.

“Xstrata is the fourth largest mining company in the world and we are split into seven commodity groups,” Semadeni said. “There is a coal group, there is a copper group, there is a zinc group, there is an alloys group, their is a nickel group, those are the main ones.”

And with more than 1,000 full-time workers – including 823 at the Kidd Mine and 220 at the Met Site – Xstrata Copper remains one of the largest non-government employers in the Timmins area. The company also employs an additional 165 contract workers.

Xstrata Copper has hired 250 employees at its Timmins operations in the past two years and 546 in the past five years, partially due to retirements. In addition, it is facing up to 400 more potential retirements during the next seven years.

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Morien Resources Corp. interested in purchasing Donkin mine – by Sharon Montgomery-Dupe (Cape Breton Post – March 20, 2013)

http://www.capebretonpost.com/

DONKIN — There may be a light at the end of the Donkin mine. Xstrata Coal officials confirmed Wednesday the company is in discussions with Morien Resources Corp. about purchasing Xstrata’s 75 per cent interest in the mine. Morien Resources has a 25 per cent interest in the Donkin coal project.

“We have had some initial discussion, and with all commercial transactions there will be ongoing discussions between ourselves and Morien,” said Val Istomin, Xstrata business development manager.

However, Istomin said the Donkin mine remains up for sale in the meantime. “We haven’t stopped the sale process,” he said.

“At the end of the day all we want to do is exit this asset and hand it on to new people and they can continue on to the process. “If another company comes along and wants to buy the mine, we will be happy to talk to them about that.”

Xstrata Coal had recently issued a statement that it was unable to find a third-party buyer for its 75 per cent stake in the Donkin coal project. When the Cape Breton Post contacted Morien Resources Corp. for comment, president and CEO John Budreski issued a press release announcing the company’s intention to purchase Xstrata’s share.

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HudBay granted injunction, judge tells RCMP to enforce it – by Bruce Owen (Winnipeg Free Press – March 21, 2013)

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

One of the top mining companies in Manitoba won a court injunction Wednesday to stop aboriginal protesters from blocking access to two of its remote mines.

But Justice Glenn Joyal’s court order could end up having no more clout than similar injunctions issued by courts in Manitoba and other provinces to restrict Idle No More protestors, who’ve called for a national day of action today to mark International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

In approving the temporary injunction on behalf of Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting, Joyal said he expects protesters from Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (MCCN) to follow it and perhaps more importantly, RCMP to enforce it.

“The intention has to be to enforce the order,” Joyal said to lawyers representing the Mounties. “I’m confident the injunction will be respected and that the parties will in good faith carry on about their business.” An RCMP spokesman said late in the day the Mounties were reviewing the injunction.

A judge criticized the RCMP in January for not enforcing an injunction on behalf of Canadian National to remove protesters from a rail line west of Portage la Prairie.

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Goldman Sachs’ Jim O’Neill: BRICS ‘Have Exceeded all Expectations’ – by Erich Follath (Spiegel Online – March 21, 2013)

http://www.spiegel.de/international/

Jim O’Neill, who coined the acronymn BRIC for emerging nations, plans to leave his post at Goldman Sachs this year. In an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, he discusses the banking industry and why he still sees a bright future for China and Russia.

As chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Jim O’Neill is responsible for some $800 billion in assets. At the beginning of February, he made the surprise announcement that he would leave the bank by the end of this year.

O’Neill, 55, became well-known in 2001 for a paper in which he was the first to coin the acronomyn BRIC, for the developing nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China, which he predicted would be the great economic powers of the future. More recently, South Africa has also been frequently named as belonging to this circle.

The quintet, now called BRICS, accounts for about 40 percent of the world’s population and has long seen itself as a counterweight to established powers, such as the United States or the European Union. At the end of March, BRICS leaders are scheduled to meet in Durban, South Africa, as part of their search for a new world order and their role in it.

SPIEGEL: Mr. O’Neill, managing more than $800 billion in assets seems to be a challenging job. Why don’t you like it anymore?

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U.S. to supply half its oil needs, report says – by Jeff Lewis (National Post – March 21, 2013)

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

CALGARY • Domestic crude oil production in the United States is on track to surpass imports, Washington’s energy fact-finding arm says, in another sign of shifting market conditions that have punished Canadian energy stocks and cast doubt on multibillion-dollar oil sands expansions.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday monthly crude oil production in the Lower 48 could surpass net imports this year for the first time since 1995. By the end of next year, the gap between how much oil the U.S. imports and what it produces could grow to roughly two million barrels per day, as domestic oil output climbs past eight million barrels per day, the highest level since 1988, the EIA said.

Led by production from North Dakota’s Bakken and the Eagle Ford shale in Texas, U.S. oil output is expected to climb to 7.3 million barrels per day this year from an average of 6.5 million barrels last year, rising to 7.9 million in 2014, according to a short-term energy outlook. At the same time, the share of total U.S. consumption of liquid fuels met by net imports, including crude oil, is expected to decline to 32%, the lowest level since 1985, from 40% last year, the EIA said.

The numbers belie an uptick in Canadian crude exports to the United States, as U.S. refiners capitalize on a flood of cheap Alberta oil. “There’s still a six-million barrel-a-day import market available to the Canadian producers,” Robert Mark, a director and research analyst at MacDougall, MacDougall & MacTier Inc. in Toronto, said in a telephone interview.

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Klondike in Lapland: Mining Companies Swarm to Finland’s Far North – by Renate Nimtz-Köster (Spiegel Online – November 2, 2012)

http://www.spiegel.de/international/

Mining companies are flocking to northern Finland as new deposits of gold, nickel and other minerals promise vast profits. But the area’s fragile wetland ecosystem is paying the price. Conservationists are so far fighting a losing battle.

Riikka Karppinen used to catch pike as long as her arm here. She and her brother would spend days exploring the marshy wilderness. It was eight years ago, when Riikka was just 10 years old, that she saw the first red sticks stuck into the ground. To begin with, there were only a few but before long there were hundreds. “No one cared much back then,” Riikka Karppinen recalls.

In the mean time, though, the red markers have given way to the machines. “You can hear the noise of the drills day and night,” says Karppinen. Anglo American (AA), one of the world’s biggest mining companies, went treasure hunting in Finnish Lapland, 120 kilometers north of the Polar Circle. And deep below the marshlands of Viiankiaapa are nickel deposits that AA has hailed as the find of the century.

Karppinen’s childhood paradise has now become a symbol of the rush for precious metals and minerals that has overcome the entire country. Foreign mining companies are flocking to Finland to mine its treasures. Here, in some of the oldest rock formations in Europe, lie reserves of valuable raw materials, with geologists describing the ore deposits as among the richest in the world.

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Chiefs discuss Ring of Fire privately, choose not to make public statement – by Jeff Labine (tbnewswatch.com – March 20, 2013)

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

First Nation chiefs meeting in the city to discuss the Ring of Fire development are not speaking to the media.

Delegates at the annual Matawa First Nations gathering at the Valhalla Inn met with Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle Wednesday. After attempting to speak to officials about the meeting, local media were told that none of the chiefs wished to talk publicly about what was discussed.

Following the meeting, Gravelle said he was glad to sit down and meet the chiefs but wouldn’t go into any specifics of what was discussed.

He did reveal that the meeting focused heavily on the Ring of Fire development. “I do not believe the project with all the economic opportunities that are there and all the potential job creation will move forward unless there’s an opportunity for First Nations to truly benefit from this,” he said.

“We are excited about the Ring of Fire project. It’s a question about doing it right.” Marten Falls First Nation chief Eli Moonias said on Tuesday that he had no confidence in the federal government’s environmental assessment process. He said he was worried that they would face the same environmental problems that Alberta has with the oil sands.

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Matawa chiefs ready to work with Ontario government on Ring of Fire – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – March 21, 2013)

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

Matawa First Nations chiefs met with Ontario’s premier on March 6, in an effort to begin negotiations on working together to develop the Ring of Fire.

Following the meeting, Matawa Chiefs Council announced that it is “ready and willing” to enter into bilateral negotiations with Ontario, so long as the negotiations have a regional focus and are community-driven.

“We are not opposed to development, but we must be involved,” said Neskantaga Chief Peter Moonias. “First Nation rights and inherent responsibilities to the land demand that we are full partners in discussions about exploration, ownership, participation in production and long-term sustainability of our environment, our communities and our futures.”

The meeting at Queen’s Park in Toronto took place less than one month since Kathleen Wynne was sworn in as Ontario’s new premier.

Wynne, the former minister of Aboriginal Affairs, has pledged to give the relationship with First Nations in Ontario improved prominence under her government. In a press release, Ontario said it recognizes the importance of collaborating with First Nations to get the Ring of Fire “right from the beginning.”

“I was honoured to meet with the Matawa chiefs and hear about their priorities and hopes. I look forward to ongoing work between my government and the chiefs and their communities to build a brighter future,” Wynne said.

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‘There will be more nickel needed’ – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – March 21, 2013)

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

There’s good news and bad news emerging from China when it comes to nickel production, says a mining analyst with a keen interest in Sudbury.

The bad news is Chinese nickel production is at a record high as the country imports cheap sources of laterite and converts it into low-percentage nickel, said Terry Ortslan. “Nickel pig iron (NPI) production we speak,” said the Montrealbased analyst. “And it’s not any mom and pop operation. It’s been very sophisticated, high-technology operations with big furnaces, and serious investments have gone into it.” The good news is the nickel being made in China is costing $6 or $7 a pound because of the cost of power to convert the ore and the cost of raw materials.

Because of the amount of stainless steel needed for expansion and development in China, nickel pig iron can only “contribute so much nickel to the whole equation. There will be more nickel needed in China and elsewhere,” and that could benefit Canadian producers such as Vale, said Ortslan. He has long been outspoken about the high cost of capital and operating costs at nickel operations in Sudbury, “but what we’re seeing now with the Chinese costs is they aren’t very low, as well,” he said.

That causes Ortslan to speculate on the need for “major expansion plans in the traditional areas” such as Sudbury where nickel is produced. Vale Ltd. has been focused on cutting costs at its operations around the world, including Canada, laying off 30 non-union employees this week in the latest round of belt-tightening.

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Australian Nickel: a short history – by Simon Cowling* (Australian Government Bureau of Resources and Energy Econmics – March Quarter 2013)

Click here for the original with graphs and charts (pages 114-123): http://www.bree.gov.au/documents/publications/req/REQ_MAR2013.pdf

Nickel, through its various uses, plays a large part in the development of capital infrastructure in economies worldwide. Due to its resistance to corrosion, nickel is primarily used in the production of stainless steel and alloys which are an integral ingredient for many infrastructure projects. To a lesser extent, nickel is also used in the production of nickel-metal hydride rechargeable batteries and electroplating other metals, such as steel for uses in construction and automotive purposes.

Australia is one of the largest nickel suppliers to the world market. The establishment of Australia’s nickel industry, however, has not been straight-forward and the industry has faced numerous challenges. The nickel market is characterised by extreme volatility evidenced by large and rapid swings in demand, production and, ultimately, prices. This review provides an overview of how key events in nickel markets since the 1960s have affected the development of Australia’s nickel industry.

The early days—pre-1965

The Australian nickel industry first emerged at the start of the 20th century with mining starting at the Zeehan field in western Tasmania in 1910. This followed the development of technologies that employed nickel as an alloying agent in steel towards the end of the 19th century (Mudd 2010) Between 1910 and 1938, approximately 568 tonnes of Nickel was intermittently produced from nickel copper sulphide ore extracted from the Five Mile group of mines in Tasmania (Mudd 2007).

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Quebec Innu file $900-million lawsuit against Iron Ore Co. of Canada – The Canadian Press (Globe and Mail – March 21, 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.

MONTREAL – Two Quebec Innu communities have filed a $900-million lawsuit against the Iron Ore Co. of Canada, claiming the miner has violated its rights for nearly 60 years.

The Innu First Nations of Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam (Uashaunnuat) and Matimekush-Lac John (MLJ) said the IOC, which is majority-owned by Rio Tinto, caused harm by operating a large mining complex and railway on traditional territory (Nitassinan) in northeastern Quebec and Labrador since the 1950s without their prior consent.

The mining complex and activities are located in the communities of Schefferville, Labrador City and Sept-Îles.

“IOC and now Rio Tinto are the companies that have inflicted the most harm on the Uashaunnuat and MLJ and caused the most damage to our Nitassinan,” vice-chief Mike McKenzie of Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam said in a statement on Wednesday.

The lawsuit and a motion seeking an injunction to stop all mining activity were filed Monday in Quebec Superior Court. They claim that IOC’s mines and other facilities have ruined the environment, displaced members from their territory and prevented them from practising their traditional way of life.

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Lawyer argues Grassy Narrows ruling can help First Nations – CBC News Thunder Bay (March 20, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/thunderbay/

Bill Gallagher says First Nations can cite “honourable management” in Ring of Fire negotiations

A strategist and lawyer argues the recent court ruling against Grassy Narrows should actually be considered a victory for First Nations.

On Monday, Ontario’s Court of Appeal said the provincial government has the authority to issue logging permits on Grassy Narrows traditional territory, overturning a previous Superior Court decision that had sided with the First Nation.

But lawyer Bill Gallagher said the ruling also defines Ontario’s duty to consult with First Nations on the use of traditional land, and sets out “major obligations” for the Crown — a clarification he said has been missing until now.

“I think it’s a significant win,” Gallagher said, pointing to the court decision’s wording about how the province must use “honourable management” when dealing with traditional First Nations territories.

The ruling states that Ontario “cannot take up lands so as to deprive the First Nation signatories of a meaningful right to harvest in their traditional territories.” It also says the government must consult with First Nations. “That is a pretty pro-native set of rules that the crown now has to follow,” Gallagher said.

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