Republic of Mining

With pipelines under attack, railways lead race to move oil – by Nathan Vanderklippe (Globe and Mail – January 12, 2013)

January 12, 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.

CALGARY — Russ Girling is prepared to accept that he is, for now, losing.

Pipelines built by companies such as Mr. Girling’s TransCanada Corp. carry the vast majority of the crude oil shipped around North America. This year, however, nearly 10 per cent of the volume of oil pulled from the ground in the U.S. will not flow through that massive network of buried steel. It will instead be loaded on to trains and race across the continent in a blur of tanker cars that is transforming the way North America’s energy moves.

It is a giddy procession of profit, as trains connect western oil wells to coastal and global markets willing to pay far more for crude than the inland buyers attached to the continent’s pipeline system.

It’s also a procession of risk. Though accidents remain infrequent, trains leak hazardous materials more frequently than pipelines, have a higher accidental death rate and produce greater emissions. But they are succeeding where pipelines are stumbling.

Across North America, planned pipelines are running into an outpouring of public discontent largely around environmental concerns, allowing locomotives to increasingly step in as an alternative. In 2008, fewer than 20,000 barrels a day of crude oil moved on trains in the U.S. By the end of 2012, that number had jumped above 500,000 – a more than 25-fold increase in five years.

Applications flood in to Vale for long-term jobs – by Ashley Fitzpatrick (St. John’s Telegram – January 9, 2013)

January 12, 2013

http://www.thetelegram.com/

Vale is looking to fill long-term jobs for the operation of its new nickel-processing plant in Long Harbour. Coming out of construction over the next nine months, the mining company expects to have first nickel from the plant in the fourth quarter of this year.

There are an estimated 500 long-term jobs for the operation of the plant and about 350 people are expected to be hired by the end of the year.

The jobs include about 300 “technician” positions, advertised throughout the fall of 2012. “We’ve had quite a significant response,” said Bob Carter, a spokesman for Vale in Newfoundland and Labrador, in a recent interview with The Telegram.

Carter said the call for applications for the jobs has led to upwards of a couple thousand submissions, the vast majority being people from this province. The applications are being assessed and a first round of offers, though not the last, will be going out before the end of the month.

Carter said some of the applications submitted mistook the positions as construction jobs, rather than maintenance and the oversight of plant processes.

However, even after sorting out inappropriate submissions, he said, there is real competition for the plant jobs. Interviews and testing are meant to give recruiters a better sense of who is best suited to the positions.

Wynne vows to give voice to Northerners – by Kyle Gennings (Timmins Daily Press – January 12, 2013)

January 12, 2013

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Provincial Liberal leadership frontrunner Kathleen Wynne says Northerners are not alone in thinking Queen’s Park is disconnected from the needs of their region.

Wynne paid a visit to Timmins on Friday. During a breakfast meeting with party supporters at Cedar Meadows Resort, she shared her views. Wynne spoke at length with party members about changes in how Queen’s Park deals with the North, apologizing for the past and promising a brighter future.

“No matter where the premier comes from, they have to understand the people of the regions that make up this province,” said Wynne. “So I made that my business as a minister and I will continue to make that my commitment as premier.

“I had made a commitment as a leadership candidate that I would attempt to get to every region of the province and the Northeast is extremely important to the health of the province.” Although Wynne understands the feelings of isolation in the North, she said the same sentiments are felt by every inch of the province.

“If I go to rural Ontario, there are people who feel that rural Ontario in the south has had a rough ride. If I go to downtown Toronto, I can hear people say that they feel that there have been decisions made that they feel have impacted them negatively,” said Wynne.

Vale cuts don’t concern SAMSSA director – by Heidi Ulrichsen (Sudbury Northern Life – January 11, 2013)

January 12, 2013

http://www.northernlife.ca/

‘Other places besides Vale’ to do business

Local mining supply and service companies won’t be majorly impacted by Vale’s decision to downscale its Clean AER project and move to one furnace at its Copper Cliff Smelter, said Dick DeStefano.

The executive director of the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA) said his members were only winning about 25 per cent of the Clean AER contracts anyway. A website dedicated to Clean AER contracts hadn’t posted any new jobs up for grabs for the last three months, DeStefano said.

But with Clean AER’s scope being cut from $2 billion to $1 billion, he said he’ll never know how many contracts his members could have won. “There will be no tenders put out, and you won’t know,” he said. So far, DeStefano hasn’t received any phone calls from members who are losing contracts because of the cuts.

Companies that specialize in servicing the smelter may be hurt by the company’s decision to shut down one of its furnaces, but again, he said he doesn’t see a large overall impact on his membership.

DeStefano estimates other Vale projects, such as the Victor Capre Mine and the Copper Cliff Deep project, will be worth about $2 billion anyway, and will provide many contract opportunities for local companies.

A new Canada is at hand [Aboriginal issues] – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (January 10, 2013)

January 12, 2013

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

WITH so much riding on Friday’s meeting between the leaders of two of Canada’s “nations,” there is a danger that the drama of Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence could detract from it. Spence is so the wrong person to be seen to be speaking for First Nations in general and the Idle No More movement in particular. Her hunger strike in a teepee — interspersed with a visit to a nearby hotel and some slumber time in a car — has been marked by shifting demands and her disingenuous response to the leaked audit of her impoverished band’s finances.

A chief who drives an Escalade while most about her scramble for basic shelter; who calls the absence of basic accounting for $100 million in public funds, largely intended for housing, a ruse to discredit her; and who questions the skills of a major financial institution for revealing the breathtaking irregularities of her own band management, does not deserve to be given credence at this crucial juncture in the life of Canada.

Who, then, does speak for First Nations in Friday’s meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and several of his ministers? Some First Nations leaders say that Shawn Atleo’s Assembly of First Nations, which convened this important meeting, does not speak for them. There are 617 First Nations in Canada, most of which are part of regional organizations like Nishnawbe Aski Nation here in the Northwest. First Nations and their umbrella groups all have chiefs. Hopefully, the select few chiefs present Friday are representative of most if not all of the more than 700,000 First Nations people.

Germany focusing on Canada’s mineral wealth by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 11, 2013)

January 11, 2013

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca.

Canada is increasingly being looked upon by Germany as a source of supply for strategic raw materials. The 500-member Canadian German Chamber of Industry and Commerce is promoting Canada as a stable and viable place to invest, establish a presence and form strategic partnerships.

With Canada acknowledged as a global mining hub and a friendly producer of metals, the chamber is pushing for more business relationships between the two countries as mineral resources are taking a new priority in the European country.

“The German companies are realizing that Canada has a lot of potential and it’s politically stable,” said Aarti Soerensen, the chamber’s manager of mining and mineral resources. “It’s not a complicated country.”

Germany is one of the world’s largest consumers of raw materials and its companies are increasingly looking for secure sources of resources to feed its high-tech manufacturing and processing sector.

Spurred by global events with China’s increasing grip in accessing strategic resources and the race for Africa’s mineral wealth, Germany’s federal ministry of economics and technology launched a new raw materials strategy in 2010.

Ontario Mine supply and service sector is found in all parts of the province

January 11, 2013

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.

The Ontario Mining Association’s economic impact study Mining: Dynamic and Dependable for Ontario’s Future clearly indicates that having a headframe on the local horizon is beneficial to the regional economy. Almost 75% of the services and supplies (input costs) purchased by a mine are acquired from companies within Ontario and 31% of the total purchases come from companies located within 100 kilometres of mine sites.

Only 11% of purchases by Ontario mines are made outside of Canada and about 14% come from Canadian companies located outside of Ontario. Part of the reason mining has such a positive influence on other sectors of the economy is because approximately 90% of its expenditures are made inside Canada providing company revenues, employees’ salaries and government taxes.

With mines in Ontario making 31% of their expenditures locally, it is not surprising that communities such as Sudbury are home to large numbers of mine suppliers. A Northern Ontario Mining Supply and Services study prepared by Doyletech Corp. in 2010 indicates that the size of this business in Northern Ontario is $5.3 billion annually employing about 23,000, with concentrations in Sudbury, North Bay, Timmins and Thunder Bay.

For the Sudbury region specifically, this study pegs the mine supply and service industry at $3.9 billion annually employing 13,800 people. For the purposes of this examination, the threshold is that more than 50% of these companies’ revenues are derived from mining supply and services.

First Nations leaders want in on natural resources boom – by Les Whittington (Toronto Star – January 11, 2013)

January 11, 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.

OTTAWA—Over the next decade, a huge boom in Canadian natural resource projects — possibly worth $600 billion — is foreseen on or near First Nations lands. And this time, aboriginals are demanding their share of the economic pie.

Behind the complex issues of treaties and historic rights being raised by native leaders is the dollars-and-cents reality of who gets to pocket the benefits from Canada’s mining and petroleum riches.

Natural resources generate $30 billion in provincial and federal tax and royalty revenues annually, along with tens of billions of dollars in economic activity. With worldwide demand for commodities surging upward, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has anchored his government’s economic growth strategy on a massive expansion of the highly profitable natural resource sector.

For First Nations, gaining access to more of this wealth is vital to their hopes of improving their peoples’ living standards. So, new approaches to sharing resource riches will be a key part of any talks between Harper and aboriginal leaders.

At the same time, the ability of native groups to derail the Conservatives’ blueprint for prosperity by blocking natural resource projects has been made apparent by the Idle No More protests.

Ring of Fire brings aboriginal issues to fore in Ontario Liberal leadership – by Teresa Smith (Ottawa Citizen – January 10, 2013)

January 11, 2013

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

OTTAWA — Ontario’s Liberal leadership candidates seem to agree that provincial relations with First Nations — specifically figuring out how to divvy up the resources in the province’s northern “Ring of Fire” — should be a high priority in the coming months.

For the past month, aboriginal leaders supporting Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence’s hunger strike have been demanding that Canada renew its “treaty relationship” with First Nations, and agree to share the wealth that comes from extracting natural resources found in their traditional territory.

In Ontario, however, the province is also a signatory to Treaty 9, which was signed in the early 20th century and covers 250,000 square miles of northern Ontario, including Attawapiskat and the Ring of Fire.

According to a former professor of political science who has been watching Canada’s relations with First Nations for 50 years, there can be no change to the treaty relationship unless the provincial government is at the table during discussions between aboriginal leaders and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

University of Toronto Professor Emeritus Peter Russell said Ontario’s government in the 1880s fought tooth and nail to be included in negotiations so it would have access to the vast land and resources, initially for trapping and logging.

Now, with the discovery of billions of dollars in mineral wealth in the ground around James Bay — Treaty 9 territory, which was supposed to be “shared” by the three treaty partners — the stakes are high.

‘With tourism, you need local buy-in to succeed’: Why Shania Twain’s shrine died, but Anne Murray’s lives on – by Tristin Hopper (National Post – January 10, 2013)

January 11, 2013

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

Last week, Timmins city council announced the Shania Twain Centre, the city’s 11-year, multi-million-dollar bid to lure tourists to the heart of Northern Ontario, was coming to an ignominious end.

Responding to Timmins’s entreaties, Vancouver-based Goldcorp bought the property for an undisclosed sum and, within a few years, the site of the 12,000-square-foot centre will be part of a new mining project. “I think they probably are going to take the buildings down,” said Tom Laughren, Timmins mayor.

Two small Canadian mining towns, both of whom spawned famous singers, yet one attraction lives while the other dies. The reason, it turns out, may be a fable of nostalgia versus modernity, grassroots gumption versus government bungling and the cruel twists of highway geography.

“She’s our hometown girl,” said Maxwell Snow, Springhill’s mayor. Until their favourite daughter became the CanCon selection of choice in the mid-1960s, Springhill was mostly known to Canadians as the site of two devastating mine disasters.

Describing the Anne Murray Centre’s late-1980s origins as “grassroots,” employee Marcie Meekins said it was spawned by some volunteers with the Springhill Industrial Commission who teamed up with her mother Marion.

Vale scales back [in Sudbury] – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – January 11, 2013)

January 11, 2013

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

Vale announced Thursday it will slash spending on a massive pollution-reduction project in Sudbury, as it moves from a two-furnace to one-furnace operation at its Copper Cliff smelter.

“A move to a single furnace is years away, but preparation for this move will mean changes to the Clean AER Project in the immediate future,” Vale said in a statement. “The outcome of this move to a single furnace, combined with adjustments to the Clean AER Project, will be reductions in annual (sulphur dioxide) emissions more than 50% greater than contemplated in the original Clean AER plan, at approximately half the capital investment.”

The changes will see the cost of the Clean AER project reduced from $2 billion to $1 billion. The company’s operating costs will also be reduced, but by how much remains to be seen, said Angie Robson, Vale’s manager of corporate affairs.

“Vale has moved from what was once a growth strategy to really focus on generating value rather than production volume and also ensuring that each of our operations are self-sufficient and able to stand on our own two feet,” Robson said.

“Changes in our asset footprint, such as the commissioning of the Long Harbour project in Newfoundland, and decisions to optimize and redistribute some of the flow of our raw materials, have created conditions for moving from a two-furnace operation to a single-furnace operation for our smelter … We see it as the next logical step in our evolution here in Sudbury.”

Union, company [KGHM] working together – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – January 11, 2013)

January 11, 2013

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

A joint team of three people each from KGHM and United Steelworkers Local 2020 is working to reduce the number of union members who will be laid off when Podolsky Mine ceases production March 29.

Poland-based KGHM posted a notice Wednesday at the mine, as required under the Employment Standards Act, that 70 hourly rated positions would be cut when the mine closes.

That doesn’t mean 70 union jobs will be lost, said Wess Dowsett, area co-ordinator and staff representative for USW.

Six jobs were saved Thursday when the committee met for the first time. It decided to retain at least half a dozen employees for a year and keep the mine located north of Capreol on care and maintenance.

“There is always the possibility the closure will be delayed again or it may reopen in the near future,” said Dowsett, so the company will maintain the mine so it can reopen in short order if need be.

The fact KGHM is putting Podolsky on care and maintenance gives the union hope it may return to production in the future.

First Nations threaten to limit access to traditional lands – by Rick Garrick (Wawatay News – January 10, 2013)

January 11, 2013

Northern Ontario’s First Nations Voice: http://wawataynews.ca/

Shibogama’s Margaret Kenequanash is warning the erosion of treaty rights will result in “very difficult” access to First Nations territory.

“Prime Minister Harper and his government can make all the legislation and impose funding cuts that will have devastating impacts and will erode our treaty rights,” said the executive director of Shibogama First Nations Council during the Nishnawbe Aski Nation Treaty Unity press conference, held on Dec. 21 in Thunder Bay. “This will not be recognized in our territory and will meet strong opposition without our free, prior and informed consent. And it will be very difficult to access our territory. All the prime minister is doing is removing his Majesty and his subjects’ access to our territory.”

Keneqauanash said the federal government’s move to vacate the treaty relationship leaves First Nations with no option but to use the resources within their territory to develop the future for their people without the involvement of government. “We are resilient people — we are survivors,” Kenequanash said. “We’ve been surviving for hundreds and hundreds of years. We will remain a strong nation.”

Kenequanash said the Shibogama chiefs support Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence on her hunger strike and demand a response from the prime minister on treaty issues.

“Bill C-45 (Jobs and Growth Act) is only one of many different pieces of legislation and policies that First Nations and tribal councils are contending with from the federal and provincial governments,” Kenequanash said.

Chief Moonias vows to oppose Cliffs at all costs – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – January 10, 2013)

January 11, 2013

Northern Ontario’s First Nations Voice: http://wawataynews.ca/

Neskantaga Chief Peter Moonias burst into the national media’s attention in the spring when he announced to the world that he would stop a bridge to the Ring of Fire from being built over the Attawapiskat River, by any means possible.

“They’re going to have to cross that river, and I told them if they want to cross that river, they’re going to have to kill me first. That’s how strongly I feel about my people’s rights here,” Moonias said in May.

Since then Neskantaga has become a thorn in the side of Cliffs Natural Resources, the mining giant that Moonias has pegged an “American mining bully.”

Moonias’ efforts have brought international attention to the First Nations fight to be consulted and accommodated on what may be the biggest development ever in northern Ontario. For those efforts he has earned Wawatay’s male newsmaker of the year.

The First Nation is making true its claim to use any means possible to oppose the Ring of Fire until proper consultation gets completed.

In May the chief sent a series of letters to the Ontario government, demanding consultation and expressing his concerns over Cliffs’ announcement that it was going ahead with its Ring of Fire chromite mine, along with a north-south highway and a smelter in Sudbury.

Ontario coal-burning power plants to close this year – by John Spears (Toronto Star – January 10, 2013)

January 11, 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.

Ontario’s last coal-burning power plants will close by the end of this year, Premier Dalton McGuinty is expected to announce Thursday. The closure is either one year earlier than scheduled, or six years late, depending on your perspective.

The current deadline for closing the coal plants is Dec. 31, 2014 — which makes the new deadline a year early. But the McGuinty government had ridden into office in 2003 promising to close the coal plants by the end of 2007.

By that measure, the closure comes six years late. Closing the coal plants had been one of the Ontario Liberals’ signature promises, which they used to differentiate themselves from the Progressive Conservatives in the 2003 election.

“We’ll replace our dirty, outdated coal-fired electricity plants — the biggest source of air pollution in Canada — with cleaner burning natural gas, and renewable energy such as wind and solar,” McGuinty had vowed during the campaign.

Once in office, McGuinty found he couldn’t meet his 2007 deadline, as demand for power grew and Ontario struggled to keep the lights on.