Award is icing on the cake for Aboriginal mine service company Windigo Catering

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

Windigo Catering, an Aboriginal business serving Ontario Mining Association member Goldcorp’s Musselwhite Mine, has found its own recipe for business success. This has been recognized through becoming the sixth recipient of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s (PDAC) Skookum Jim Award. This honour is presented to recognize excellence in service and contributions to the mining industry by Aboriginal enterprises.

The company is owned by five members of the Windigo First Nations Council in northwestern Ontario. Profits are shared among the five Windigo member First Nations – Bearskin Lake, Cat Lake, North Caribou Lake, Sachigo Lake and New Slate Falls. As well as catering, the company provides camp management, commissary, housekeeping, laundry and janitorial services.

Windigo First Nations is a partner in the business-to-business agreement with Goldcorp that has helped nurture a range of employment, skills training, economic development opportunities and environmental protection initiatives. Windigo Catering, which is located in Sioux Lookout, employs 66 people of which 83% are Aboriginal.

Training along with competitive salaries and benefits are provided by the company to employees. The catering company grosses more than $6 million annually and the Windigo First Nation Council also receives monthly revenue sharing cheques from the mine.

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The Hemlo Gold Story – CBC Documentary

 

Just off the trans-Canada highway, half way between Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie, near the highway to Marathon, Don Mckinnon, John Larche and David Bell discovered Ontario’s fourth largest mining camp, Hemlo, in 1981.

A fierce legal battle errupted over the ownership of one of three mines – the Williams – between Teck-backed junior miner Corona and Lac Minerals. In August 1989, the Supreme Court of Ontario awarded the property to Teck and Corona. Over the past 25 years the Hemlo camp has produced 21 million ounces of gold.

For a good historical overview of Ontario gold mining by Sudbury Star mining columnist Stan Sudol, please click here: Northern Ontario: A Golden Klondike – 192 million ounces of gold and counting

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Cliffs Natural Resources: A bargain stock that’s only for the brave – David Milstead (Globe and Mail – March 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.

When the shareholders of Montreal-based Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines Ltd. sold their company to Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. in the spring of 2011, they weren’t offered the high-flying shares of the U.S. acquirer as payment. They had to settle for cash, instead.

That proved to be fortuitous, as Cliffs’ shares have since, well, fallen off a cliff. At recent trades around $25 (U.S.), they are down by more than 70 per cent.

Cliffs’ plunge may suggest that it’s a buying opportunity – but if so, it’s an opportunity only for the brave. While the shares could conceivably double from current levels, there’s also a good chance they could approach zero.

Investors seeking upside in the sector have safer options in the three international giants BHP Billiton Ltd., Vale SA and Rio Tinto Group. But they should be aware that the clouds hanging over the iron-ore sector show no signs of clearing any time soon.

Cliffs’ fall from favour provides a dramatic demonstration of how quickly circumstances have deteriorated for miners. Only a couple of years ago, raw-materials producers were riding high, largely on the strength of China’s building boom. To investors and mining CEOs, it seemed clear the Asian country’s white-hot growth would require an endless supply of materials, from iron ore to copper to previously little-known rare earths.

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When the world’s miners descend on Toronto, prospects for a party are solid – by Tim Kiladze (Globe and Mail – March 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.

Barely two hours after sundown on Tuesday, security at Toronto’s swanky new Shangri-La Hotel rushed to the lobby to control the size of a fast-growing crowd. Upstairs, the party was bustling under the chandeliers in the third-floor ballroom, and masses of people were flocking from across the downtown core, creating a capacity problem.

The attraction: PricewaterhouseCoopers’ “crystal cocktail party,” put on for the annual mining conference run by the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada. While Dee Dee and the Dirty Martinis performed live cover songs, swarms of men and a sprinkling of women – a 5-to-1 ratio, at least – treated themselves to oysters, sushi and free drinks. By 8 p.m., they were on the dance floor, doing their very best to find the beat.

The crowd was full of people from different countries, especially the mining hotbeds of Australia, Britain, China and Peru. Despite the chill felt across the global mining sector, they drank and danced like they didn’t care – at least not for the four days they were in town.

It was a spectacle led by the people who lead a troubled industry. Plagued by billions in recent writeoffs from ill-conceived acquisitions and an uncertain outlook for metals prices, mining stocks are in the dumps. Yet it’s hard to subdue PDAC, as the conference is universally called.

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Articulating a Vision for a Prosperous North and a Strong Provincial Mineral Development Sector – by the Honourable Ontario Mines Minister Micheal Gravelle (March 8, 2013)

Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce

Thunder Bay, Ontario

March 8, 2013

Michael Gravelle is the Ontario Minister of Northern Development and Mines

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Thank you, Ed. Good afternoon, everyone. It’s wonderful to be here to speak with so many members and guests of the Chamber of Commerce. Thank you for being here.

As I said just after the new Ontario government was formed, I’m honoured that Premier Wynne has entrusted me with the portfolio of Northern Development and Mines.

I’m excited to be back in a role where I can combine my strong commitment to northern communities with my understanding of the issues and opportunities, gained from direct connection with many, many northerners during my years as an MPP and, most recently, as Minister of Natural Resources.

For that reason it’s important to me, as I begin my second term as Northern Development and Mines Minister, for my first formal speaking engagement to be here with you. Let me start by thanking the Chamber for accommodating my request, and for organizing this opportunity for us to get together.

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Minister of Natural Resources – The Honourable Joe Oliver 2013 PDAC Speech (March 4, 2013)

Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) International Convention 2013

March 4, 2013
Toronto, Ontario

Joe Oliver is the Canadian Minister of Natural Resources

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Introduction

Thank you very much Mr. Nolan. [Glenn Nolan, President of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada] I want to congratulate the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada for putting together yet another outstanding conference and trade show.

It’s a pleasure to be here to welcome all of you, especially those coming from other countries from around the world, to the largest event of its kind in the world.

Strength and Stability

From the change in your pocket to the airplane that brought you here today, the evidence of the necessity for minerals and metals is all around. Mining, in fact, has been driving Canada’s economic development for years. In 2011, the sector contributed $63 billion in nominal GDP or 3.9 percent to the total Canadian economy — that’s almost $2,000 for every man, woman and child in the country.

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NEWS RELEASE: BMO FINANCIAL GROUP INVESTS IN GOODMAN SCHOOL OF MINES


(L to R) Tracy Macleod, Director of Development, Laurentian University; Ilan Bahar, Vice-President, Global Metals & Mining, Toronto, BMO Financial Group; Bruce Jago, Executive Director, Goodman School of Mines; Ned Goodman; Jonathan Goodman; Dominic Giroux, President & Vice-Chancellor, Laurentian University; Terry MacGibbon, Chair, The Next 50 Campaign, Laurentian University (PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Owen Halper)

Bank supports ‘life-long learning’ through Laurentian University

TORONTO, ON (March 5, 2013) – BMO Financial Group announced a donation of $250,000 in Laurentian University’s Goodman School of Mines. The gift was presented at BMO’s offices at First Canadian Place, at a gathering held during the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada International Convention and Trade Show.

“We are delighted to count BMO Financial Group among the significant private sector supporters of our Goodman School of Mines,” said Laurentian University President and Vice-Chancellor, Dominic Giroux. “I believe that we share a sincere conviction that both graduate education and life-long learning for mid-career professionals will enrich and strengthen the mining industry in Canada and abroad.”

“At BMO Financial Group we believe in personal growth and achievement through continuous learning and access to education. We’re impressed with the vision of the Goodman School of Mines at Laurentian University, and with its focus on training the next generation of mining professionals in Canada,” said Jason Neal, Managing Director & Global Co-Head, Global Metals & Mining, BMO Capital Markets.

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HudBay bets big with Constancia project as rivals pull back – by Pav Jordan (Globe and Mail – March 8, 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-based HudBay Minerals Inc. is a rare breed these days. In an industry reluctant to spend on anything beyond operating costs, the base metals miner is plowing ahead with a copper project in Peru called Constancia that will cost it nearly as much to build as the company’s entire market capitalization.

Even as global miners report billion-dollar cost overruns and asset writedowns and the industry is buffeted by demand headwinds in commodity markets – HudBay is spending $75-million a month on Constancia, where thousands of workers are already on site.

“It’s a relatively small company with a big project in development in Constancia and that’s got the market a little bit concerned,” said John Hughes, an analyst with Desjardins Securities in Toronto, who nevertheless has a “buy” on the stock and a target price that is 30 per cent higher than where it’s currently trading.

Others share not only his concerns, but also his enthusiasm about potential growth at the company, and 80 per cent of analysts polled by Bloomberg News have a “buy” rating on HudBay, which closed at $10.12 a share on Thursday.

“They’re basically betting their market cap on one mine,” said George Topping, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus in Toronto, who also has a “buy” on the stock, with a target price of $13.75 a share.

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Tech titans crucial to next wave of space exploration – by Ivan Semeniuk (Globe and Mail – March 8, 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.

The O’Neilleans are coming. In the 1970s, fed up with government bureaucracy, the Princeton University physicist and space advocate Gerard K. O’Neill became convinced that free enterprise was the key to extending humanity’s presence beyond Earth.

Now, as a flurry of newly formed companies unveil plans to mine the moon and asteroids, and a non-profit foundation seeks to launch humans to Mars, Dr. O’Neill’s entrepreneurial vision as well as a big dose of Silicon Valley wealth looms large behind it all.

“It’s the expansion of the economic sphere outward to where the resources are,” said Bob Richards, co-founder and CEO of Moon Express, a Bay Area company that seeks to place the first privately financed lander on the moon.

Mr. Richards left Canada in 2009, discouraged by a lack of momentum in a space industry reliant on government contracts, but still dreaming about the Apollo moon landings that inspired his interest in space. After spending time among California’s venture capitalists, he realized he had arrived at the right place at the right time.

“I found the tribe that can do this and I never left,” said Mr. Richards, who spoke in Toronto on Thursday at a conference on commercial space development.

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No, Minister Oliver, the oil sands have not become ‘green’ – by Tzeporah Berman (Globe and Mail – March 8, 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.

Many Canadians must have wondered if George Orwell was alive and well this week as they read that the Alberta oil sands were being pitched to U.S. officials as “green” by Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver.

“Canada is the environmentally responsible choice for the U.S. to meet its energy needs in oil for years to come,” the minister told an audience in Chicago – a message he repeated over and over in his U.S. tour, part of a calculated mission to associate Alberta bitumen with ecological benefits.

At a time when climate scientists are urgently telling us to significantly scale back the burning of fossil fuels, having a minister promote exactly the opposite really does feel like being told that two plus two equals five.

Yet this is what we’ve come to expect from our federal government, which, as documents released this week through an Access to Information request revealed, has “aligned” its interests with the pipeline industry instead of with the voters who elected it. And Joe Oliver has emerged as the most prominent spokesman for this alignment.

It was Mr. Oliver who, a year ago, opened an offensive by trying to label those opposed to the Enbridge Gateway pipeline proposal as “radicals,” ignoring the deep public opposition to the project.

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Mining for gold in deep space? – by Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew (Toronto Star – March 8, 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.

It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but in fact, it’s already here says a growing list of mining and aerospace companies.

Mining in space? It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but in fact, it’s already here. A growing roster of Canadian aerospace and mining companies is setting its sights on asteroids as the next frontier for precious metals and reserves of water on the moon that could make it an ideal pit stop on the way to the deeper reaches of space.

That’s what brought several dozen representatives from aerospace and mining companies, as well as geologists, academics and legal experts to the 6th annual conference put on by the Canadian Space Commerce Association (CSCA) at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Thursday.

“It sounds like it’s a new area, but in actual fact, it’s been around for more than a decade, Dale Boucher, director of product design, prototyping and testing at the Northern Centre of Advanced Technologies, a Sudbury-based training and technology development centre for the mining industry.

NORCAT, as the facility is known, has developed rover chassis specifically designed for lunar mining activities. In the last decade, it has developed drills for the Canadian Space Agency and NASA.

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Anglo American SA silicosis liability could be largest yet – lawyers – by Natalie Greve (MiningWeekly.com – March 7, 2013)

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

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A silicosis class action application launched on Thursday against mining giant Anglo American South Africa (AASA) could result in the largest-ever silicosis liability of any gold mining company.

So asserted the legal collaboration that filed the application in the Johannesburg High Court and which comprised the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), Garratt Mbuyisa Neale attorneys (GMN), London-based lawyers Leigh Day and Legal Aid South Africa.

The application would be served on Thursday on AASA, a company believed to hold assets worth some $15-billion.

The legal team said in a statement that the application was opt-out and, therefore, provided a mechanism through which the interests of the wider class of silicosis sufferers ¬– including those who were unaware that they had the disease – were protected.

The class action application against AASA was a ‘natural progression’ from the President Steyn litigation against AASA, it claimed.

In 2004, 18 claims relating to miners employed at AASA’s President Steyn mine, in the Free State, were filed by the same legal team, alleging that AASA negligently controlled and advised its mines with regard to the prevention of dust exposure and silicosis.

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Excerpt from “Haywire My Life in the Mines” – by Doug Hall

This autobiographical book describes the Doug Hall’s family through war and depression, and goes on to relate his experiences underground in the late 1960′s and early 1970′s. It is written from the point of view of the average Joe who went underground when he was eighteen and didn’t know what he was getting into. The author considers himself lucky to have survived those years.

Click here to order an e-book of “Haywire My Life in the Mines”:http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/269905

This autobiographical book describes the Doug Hall’s family through war and depression, and goes on to relate his experiences underground in the late 1960′s and early 1970′s. It is written from the point of view of the average Joe who went underground when he was eighteen and didn’t know what he was getting into. The author considers himself lucky to have survived those years.

Click here to order an e-book of “Haywire My Life in the Mines”: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/269905

One time I worked overtime taking a scooptram underground. Now this was an ST12 scooptram and very much too large to be taken down in one piece; so they took it apart and took it down in three pieces which were the bucket, the front section and the motor section. Now in order to facilitate this they made a rack with wheels on it to go down the shaft and the section of the scooptram that was being transported was slung underneath this rack by what I recollect were two three-eighths inch cables.

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Uncertainty dogs Ring of Fire stocks – by Peter Kennedy (Stockhouse.com – March 7, 2013)

 http://www.stockhouse.com/

Chromite mines developed by Cliffs and others may feed Ontario’s mining services infrastructure, but transportation remains a big question mark. Who knew that chromite mining in the Ring of Fire region could one day be a major economic driver for Ontario?

“Ring of Fire is one of the most promising mineral development opportunities in Ontario in almost a century,’’ said George Ross, a deputy minister in Ontario’s Northern Development and Mines Ministry, during a speech to a mining conference in Toronto this week.

“Current estimates suggest multi-generational potential for chromite production as well as significant production for nickel, copper and platinum,” Ross said.

Chromite mined from the Ring of Fire, a remote part of northern Ontario, is expected to feed the province’s massive mining services and supply chain for many decades to come.

Extracted and then concentrated at source, it must be shipped by road or rail to processing facilities, likely in Sudbury, where it will be turned into Ferrochrome, a critical ingredient used to manufacture stainless steel.

If it all goes ahead, U.S. giant Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF, Stock Forum) could easily invest up to $3.3 billion in mining, transportation and processing facilities, producing 2.3 million tonnes of chromium in concentrates from its Black Thor project.

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Mining bull run to return in the second half of the decade – Mohr – Interviewer: Geoff Candy (Mineweb.com – March 8, 2013)

http://www.mineweb.com/

While Scotia Capital commodity expert Patricia Mohr believes that base metal prices are likely to go lower over the course of the next two years, the following five should prove interesting.

GEOFF CANDY: Hello and welcome to this Mineweb.com Newsmaker podcast. Joining me live at the PADC 2013 is Patricia Mohr – she’s the vice president of economics and commodity market specialist at Scotia Capital. Patricia there’s been a lot of talk over the last few months, well indeed over the last few years about the rise of China, the impact of China on the supercycle. More recently there’s been a lot of talk about whether or not the supercycle is coming to an end. There does seem to be a divide – some people saying it is at an end, others saying that this is just a pause or almost a palate cleanser between courses. What is your view, where are we placed in the current cycle?

PATRICIA MOHR: Well I think in the next few years probably we’re going to see a little bit of a slowdown in global exploration activity and of course the junior mining sector is having difficulty getting equity finance at the moment. I think we’re at a point where some new mine capability either has come on stream in the case of commodities such as nickel or is about to come on stream which I think is the case for copper and so probably we’re going to have a number of years – I’m really talking about two years when market prices are a little bit lower than they have been in the past five years.

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