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There’s lots more iron ore to mine, says DNR expert – by Anna Kurth (Hibbing Daily Tribune – March 18, 2013)

http://www.virginiamn.com/

HIBBING — Iron Range residents have been mining iron ore on the Mesabi Range since 1892. And before that, iron ore was mined from the Soudan Underground Mine near Tower since 1884.

And Peter Clevenstine believes they could be doing so for another hundred years. Clevenstine, manager of engineering and mineral development for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Division of Land & Minerals, spoke Thursday about iron ore resources to area residents at a Lunch and Learn session put on by the Hibbing Area Chamber of Commerce and the Society of Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration.

The iron mining business is booming in Minnesota. In 2001, the state took in $10 million in mineral revenue for the first time. Last year, the state collected just more than $50 million in mineral income. About 98 percent of it came from iron ore.

“Will resources continue to support this higher level of activity?” he asked. “… I think we could end it right now and say ‘yes, there’s more ore and things are looking very bright for the communities.’”

The Minnesota mining business is benefiting from three factors — an increase in world demand, industry consolidation and the Mesabi Range’s competitive advantage.

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NEWS RELEASE: $900 million lawsuit filed against Rio Tinto’s IOC

Innu communities of Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam and Matimekush-Lac John defend their aboriginal rights

MONTREAL, March 20, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ – On March 18 at the Quebec Superior Court in Montreal, the Innu First Nations of Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam (Uashaunnuat) and Matimekush-Lac John (MLJ), whose traditional territory (Nitassinan) covers much of northeastern Quebec and Labrador, filed a motion to obtain an injunction against Iron Ore Company of Canada’s (IOC) mining operations in Quebec and Labrador as well as damages for the harm caused to them by IOC estimated at $900 million. IOC’s majority shareholder is Rio Tinto.

“While Rio Tinto is anxious to uphold its image as a model corporate citizen, boasting of its commitment to aboriginal peoples around the world, the Uashaunnuat and MLJ can attest that, in their own experience, these are nothing but empty words. IOC has undertaken all of its projects without the consent of the Uashaunnuat and MLJ, in violation of our rights.

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” said Vice-Chief Mike McKenzie of Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam.

Since the 1950s, IOC has built and operated a mining mega-project within the Nitassinan in and around what are now Schefferville, Labrador City and Sept-Îles without the prior consent of the Uashaunnuat and MLJ. IOC’s mines and other facilities have ruined the environment of the Uashaunnuat and MLJ, have displaced them from their territory and have prevented them from practicing their traditional activities as well as their traditional way of life.

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Detained Barrick Gold shipment [Dominican Republic] seen as shot across the bow- by Pav Jordan (Globe and Mail – March 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.

Barrick Gold Corp. managed to get its shipment of gold out of the Dominican Republic this week, but that may not spell the end of travails in the Caribbean country that is demanding a greater share of profits from its newest gold mine.

In the latest incarnation of resource nationalism in the hemisphere, Barrick is being asked by the government to renegotiate how it shares profits from the $3.7-billion Pueblo Viejo gold mine with the impoverished state.

Barrick argues that its current contract is legally binding, and will see 50 per cent of net cash flow – or some $11-billion – go to the government over the 25-year life of the mine, jointly owned by fellow-Canadian miner Goldcorp Inc.

“They are going to have to come up with some sort of compromise that will allow Barrick to continue to operate the mine profitably and allow the government to really save face on this, because the government has put a lot of political capital into what they’ve said they are going to do,” said John Gravelle, Canadian mining leader for consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Dominican President Danilo Medina said in speech to the nation in February that the current deal with Barrick was “unacceptable” and threatened to impose a windfall tax on profits if no deal is reached.

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Canada supports development of first ever on-reserve potash mine [in Saskatchewan] – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – March 20, 2013)

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The Canadian federal government and the Muskowekwan First Nation on Tuesday announced the Muskowekwan First Nation potash project had been accepted by the federal government under the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act (FNCIDA), which enables the federal government to enact a provincial regulatory regime to govern commercial and industrial activities within a First Nation reserve.

First Potash Ventures, a partnership between Encanto Potash and Muskowekwan Resources, was working toward developing the mine on the First Nation’s reserve, located 100 km north-east of Regina. The mine was expected to produce up to 2.8-million tons of potash a year over a 50-year-plus lifetime.

The project is expected to provide economic opportunities for the Muskowekwan First Nation, as well as the surrounding area, by providing training and employment opportunities during the construction and operation of the mine.

While the project would become the first on-reserve potash mine in Canada, the proposed Muskowekwan project is the first in Saskatchewan to use FNCIDA to regulate a project on reserve lands.

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[Ring of Fire] Chiefs welcome judicial ruling – Star Staff (Sudbury star – March 20, 2013)

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

Matawa First Nations chiefs say they welcome the decision last week to deny motions filed by the federal government and Cliffs Natural Resources in the judicial review of the environmental assessment process in the Ring of Fire.

Nine First Nations launched a legal challenge in November 2011 to the federal environmental assessment process.

The Ring of Fire, located about 500 km northeast of Thunder Bay, is potentially the largest mining development in Northern Ontario, FedNor Minister Tony Clement told chamber officials.

The region has significant deposits of nickel and copper and represents North America’s single largest deposit of chromite, the main ingredient in stainless steel. With mineral content worth an estimated $30 to $50 billion, the Ring of Fire could create up to 5,000 direct and indirect jobs in Northern Ontario alone.

Cliffs Natural Resources of Cleveland — one of a number of companies looking to develop the Ring of Fire — wants to open a chromite mine in northwestern Ontario and ship the ore to a refinery near Capreol. That would create as many as 500 jobs in Sudbury.

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30 jobs axed at [Sudbury] Vale – Star Staff (Sudbury Star – March 20, 2013)

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

Vale is cutting 30 non-union support jobs in Sudbury as part of its ongoing effort to reduce costs. The news was contained in a letter Kelly Strong, Vale’s vice-president of Ontario and U.K. operations, sent to employees on Tuesday.

A copy of Strong’s letter was obtained by The Star. In an email statement, Vale said the cuts are necessary, given the weak metals market. “In the face of volatile market conditions and operating cost challenges affecting the broader mining sector, work began last year to reinvent the business model for Vale’s base metals organization,” the company said.

“This review has clearly demonstrated the need to reduce fixed costs. Unfortunately, this includes a reduction in workforce levels, particularly in support and service functions both here in Ontario and around the world.”

In his letter, Strong said the company has been working to reorganize its Ontario operations in an effort to cut costs, but it has not been enough.

“In the spirit of transparency, however, I want to inform you that (Tuesday), we reduced our employee complement in Sudbury by 30 employees in various support and service areas,” Strong said in the letter.

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Mining firm [HudBay Mining] seeks to end roadblocks – by Bruce Owen and Geoff Kirbyson (Winnipeg Free Press – March 19, 2013)

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

Heading to court to obtain injunction

One of the biggest employers in northern Manitoba wants a judge to do what the RCMP won’t — stop a Manitoba First Nation from putting up Idle No More roadblocks at its mining sites.

Lawyers for Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting will be in court Wednesday to get an injunction to stop the Mathias Colomb Cree Nation and Chief Arlen Dumas from engaging in any acts that interfere with the mining company and its employees, court documents filed last week in Court of Queen’s Bench say.

HBM&S also wants an order for RCMP to arrest anyone who contravenes that injunction. “I am concerned that if further blockages occur, the RCMP will require a court order to take steps to enforce compliance with HBM&S’s right to access to and from its projects and mining operations in Manitoba,” HBM&S vice-president Brad Lantz said in an affidavit.

Members of the Mathias Colomb Cree Nation have blocked access to the HBM&S Lalor project near Snow Lake twice this year and have threatened to blockade access to the company’s Reed Lake copper mine, 120 kilometres east of Flin Flon.

Lantz said at the two Lalor project blockades RCMP attended, but took no action to restrain protesters from interfering with access to company property.

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Ontario Liberals didn’t even care how much money they wasted on power plant shutdown – by Matt Gurney (National Post – March 20, 2013)

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

Liberal Bob Chiarelli, Ontario’s new energy minister, has at least levelled with the public: The government really has no idea how much cancelling the Oakville gas power plant will cost. That’s not much of a statement, but given the evasions and outright denials we’ve heard previously, this actually marks some progress.

Oakville is a lovely city on the western edge of the Greater Toronto Area. It was also slated to be home to a new gas-fired powerplant under a plan developed, and repeatedly and strenuously championed, by former premier Dalton McGuinty. The plant would have provided relatively clean electricity to the Toronto area, which has surged in population in recent decades, with no let up in sight. But it was deeply unpopular with the local population, and threatened the Liberals’ hold on the riding.

Ahead of the 2011 election, when polls showed the Progressive Conservatives had a got shot at winning, the Liberals suddenly announced that they were cancelling plans to build the plant (as well as another in nearby Mississauga, another Toronto suburb where local opposition to the plant was strong, for an estimated $190-million).

It worked. The Liberals held both seats, and secured a minority government. But the whole affair stunk something awful, and since the election, senior Liberals — up to and including Premier Kathleen Wynne — have acknowledged that the decision to scrap the plants was not policy decision, but a political one.

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Tories aim to divide, conquer with envoy who will canvas First Nations on energy projects – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – March 20, 2013)

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

There is no deadlier combination for resources developers than opposition from a joint front of environmentalists and First Nations.

In what appears to be a divide-and-conquer strategy, Prime Minister Stephen Harper named a special representative Tuesday to investigate first hand why First Nations in British Columbia are so opposed to energy infrastructure projects, including the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline.

In an announcement from Terrace in northwest B.C., near the Kitimat port that has been earmarked to house major oil and gas export developments, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said Vancouver lawyer Douglas Eyford has been given the task to engage with Aboriginal communities in British Columbia and Alberta and report his findings directly to the Prime Minister. He will present a preliminary report by June 28, and will issue a final report by Nov. 29.

“The goal is clear,” Mr. Oliver said. “Douglas Eyford will help identify opportunities to facilitate greater participation by Aboriginal peoples in resource development while at the same time identifying ways in which Aboriginal peoples can play a greater role in strengthening environmental protection.

“Our government believes that, by working together with Aboriginal peoples, provinces and industry, all Canadians can share in the jobs and prosperity that await us if we act now for the good of Canada.”

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B.C. green-lights mine despite Nisga’a Nation’s objections – Canadian Press (Globe and Mail – March 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.

VICTORIA — The Canadian Press – The British Columbia government has given the environmental green light to a billion-dollar mine in the province’s northwest over the objections of the Nisga’a Nation, whose traditional territory is home to the mine site.

Provincial environment and mines ministers issued on Tuesday the Environmental Assessment Certificate to Avanti Mining Inc. to revive a mothballed molybdenum mine about 140 kilometres north of Prince Rupert. Government officials agreed the Kitsault Mine could proceed after a review concluded the project isn’t expected to result in any significant adverse effects, based on the company following 34 conditions.

“The environmental assessment process involved a rigorous, thorough review that provided for significant opportunities for the Nisga’a Nation, First Nations, government agencies and the public to provide input,” the government said in a news release. Provincial ministers Terry Lake and Rich Coleman received the referral report on March 1 and had 45 days to render a decision.

But the Nisga’a Nation has been concerned for some time the process has been rushed because of the upcoming May election. As a result, its government filed a notice of disagreement under its historic treaty.

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Dawson City preserves its golden memories – by Lynn Martel (Vancouver Sun – March 18, 2013)

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

Yukon outpost was once largest city west of Winnipeg, as thousands came seeking their fortune in creek beds

At first glance, the wooden stake erected in the nondescript patch of dirt does not appear to be particularly remarkable in any way. But, if a wooden stake could tell its story, the original claim post at Bonanza Creek, where the first pieces of gold that ignited the Yukon Territory’s Klondike Gold Rush were discovered, would surely tell a whopper.

Planted in the ground on Aug. 17, 1896, today the Discovery Claim National Historic Site preserves the spot on Bonanza Creek, 15 kilometres from its confluence with the Klondike River, where George Carmack and his fishing buddies, Skookum Jim and Tagish Charlie established the first of their four claims.

According to the oral history traditions of the Tagish First Nations peoples, Jim, Charlie and Patsy Henderson were fishing with Jim’s sister, Shaaw Tla, and her husband, George Carmack when they were approached by a seasoned gold hunter, Robert Henderson. Following the unwritten code of the miner that any knowledge of potential finds must be shared, Henderson told Carmack of some promising prospects he’d discovered in the Klondike River Valley.

Not long afterward, Carmack, Jim and Charlie made their way up Rabbit Creek, a short ways from Henderson’s camp on Gold Bottom Creek. After panning yielded a few encouraging traces of gold, they inspected a place where the bedrock was exposed, and quickly unearthed a dime-sized nugget.

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Why China is Tunneling a Mind-Boggling 800 Miles in 2 Years – by Frank Holmes (U.S. Global Investors – March 18, 2013)

http://www.usfunds.com/

Would it surprise you to discover that China is planning to add 800 miles to its subway system over the next two years? That’s the distance equivalent to building a network from Dallas to Chicago in less time than the U.S. Congress can resolve a budget!

In 2015, when the infrastructure build-out is complete, China’s subway track alone will be a mind-boggling 1,900 miles, according to JP Morgan.

The Asian giant has been in the midst of constructing the world’s largest transportation system, laying mile after mile of high-speed rail and subway track. According to the World Metro Database, Beijing and Shanghai currently have the longest metro and subway systems, with about 275 miles each. The city of Guangzhou in China also falls in the top 10, with 144 miles of rail, beating Paris’ network length of 135 miles.

This ambitious program is part of the pragmatic solution to help 1.3 billion residents move around the country efficiently and reduce the increasing problem of air pollution due to car emissions in big cities including Beijing.

The circulating reports and photos of Beijing’s smog have recently become a dark cloud hanging over the country’s remarkable achievements, but it’s not a new issue. In the winter, smog conditions can seem much worse.

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Suspension of Vale’s Argentinean Project is an Opportunity for emerging Potash Players – by Alessandro Bruno (ProEdgeWire.com – March 13, 2013)

http://www.proedgewire.com/

The Brazilian mining giant Vale SA has decided to suspend its USD$ 6 billion potash project in Argentina – the Rio Horizonte project. The announcement was not surprising as work at the project stopped last December and as the Argentinean government has adopted policies generating an increasingly unfavorable investment climate.

As a final consideration leading to the suspension, Vale said that it had not received the requested tax relief from the Government of Argentina, which would raise development costs, which would have included a mine and an associated railway, to over USD$ 11 billion. The markets have welcomed the decision as Vale has been dealing with a number of cost cutting measures; however, the move is a big blow for Argentina, which would have become one of the leading potash producers in the world through this project.

Apart from the evident benefits to the community surrounding the mine, Argentina was counting on its own indigenous potash supply to help boost agriculture. More significantly, as far as the potash market is concerned, the decision carries important consequences for Brazil’s potash supplies. Brazil, which has the largest agricultural industry in the world relative to its population, imports some 90% of the potash it requires from outside sources and mostly from Canada and Russia. Brazil is the world’s third-largest potash consumer and uses much of it for the production of sugar cane.

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Industry decries PQ’s mining royalties plan – by Robert Gibbens (Montreal Gazette – March 15, 2013)

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

MONTREAL – Miners often say there only two kinds of mines — the ones that you can finance and the ones you dream about.

Natural Resources Minister Martine Ouellet had a difficult task in trying to convince about 500 people at the Quebec government’s forum on mining royalties Friday that the planned changes to mining taxes won’t hit the industry’s competitive power.

Ouellet said the Parti Québécois government wants to increase royalties “particularly where returns are truly exceptional” to ensure there is “always compensation to be paid to extract a resource that belongs to all Quebecers.”

The forum, held at the Hautes Études Commerciales, was the last step in the Marois government’s resource industry consultation process before tabling a new mining law in the National Assembly, possibly next week. Legislation to set a 5 per cent tax on minerals extracted from the ground plus a 30-per-cent royalty on profits will follow. These moves come after the Liberal government already raised the tax on profits to 16 per cent from 12 per cent in 2010.

Industry speaker after speaker told the forum the immediate effect of the tax increases would be to hamper project financing and hit new exploration even further, reduce the lifespan of existing mines and jobs, and spell lower income for the province.

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HudBay sues First Nation over Idle No More blockade – by CBC News (March 18, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/

A Manitoba First Nation is being sued by Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting for a series of Idle No More protests and blockades.

The company claims protestors from Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (MCCN) caused a safety risk to employees when they blocked the entrance to where the company’s gold, zinc and copper mine is being developed near Snow Lake in January and March.

Protestors claim it was the company that closed the gate. They also disagree it was a blockade. “Actually we didn’t organize blockades. We organized demonstrations where you go and exercise some of our treaty rights on our ancestral lands,” said MCCN Chief Arlen Dumas.

Dumas said HudBay and the Manitoba government should have obtained consent from area aboriginals before going ahead with development. The band never surrendered its rights to the land and resources, he said. Work is well underway on development of the 916-hectare property.

A court hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for Wednesday. Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting also wants an injuction against any further protests.

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