Republic of Mining

Province open to mining inquiry: Lougheed – by Darren MacDonald (Sudbury Northern Life – June 13, 2012)

June 14, 2012

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Joins with former mayor to call for review of Ontario’s mining industry

Two heavyweights in Sudbury’s political life are putting politics aside to fight together for a provincial inquiry into Ontario’s mining industry. Jim Gordon, a former Sudbury mayor and Progressive Conservative MPP, and Gerry Lougheed Jr., a prominent Liberal supporter, are asking Sudburians to support a postcard campaign calling on Labour Minister Linda Jeffrey to launch the inquiry.

Lougheed said he believes the province will move forward if the public shows they support it. He has printed up 10,000 postcards and would love to print up 10,000 more.

“I’m very confident the minister is open to hearing all voices on this,” Lougheed said Wednesday morning. “In fact, I think they’re giving us this window to let the public show its support.”

It has been more than 30 years since the last inquiry, and Lougheed said mining has undergone huge changes since then, including radical changes in technology that has revolutionized the way miners work, as well as ownership changes. Both major mining operations – Vale and Xtstrata – are owned by huge, multinational corporations.

Federal minister’s comments cause First Nation backlash – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – June 13, 2012)

June 14, 2012

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

The federal government’s minister of FedNor has ignited a backlash from First Nations leaders around the Ring of Fire by saying that delaying development is ‘inexcusable.’

Conservative MP Tony Clement told reporters in Thunder Bay on June 11 that while the government takes its obligation to consult with First Nations seriously, it will not give First Nations communities a veto over development.

Clement was answering questions about comments made by Neskantaga First Nation Chief Peter Moonias that he would die before allowing a Ring of Fire road to cross the Attawapiskat River.

“There’s going to be headlines here or there when somebody walks away from the table and then marches back to the table,” Clement told TB Newswatch. “But at the end of the day we find ways where the private sector can work with First Nations, can work with governments to ensure these projects can go ahead in a sensible manner.”

Grassy Narrows and the priorities of Joe Oliver – by Peter Andre Globensky (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – June 11, 2012)

June 14, 2012

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

Peter Andre Globensky, a resident of Thunder Bay, is the former CEO of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, the intergovernmental agency responsible for advancing and harmonizing environmental protection in Canada. He was also an ex-officio member of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.

Forty years ago I had the privilege of securing financial resources for First Nation representatives seeking redress from Dryden Pulp and Paper (Reed) for the suffering inflicted on the residents of Grassy Narrows and the destruction of their life-sustaining ecosystem.

Beginning in 1962 and without the benefit of environmental regulation, the company dumped nearly 10 tons of methyl mercury, a lethal neurotoxin, into the Wabigoon River. Bio-accumulating in fish, it poisoned First Nation residents dependent on this vital food source.

Four decades later as recent protests at Queen’s Park will attest, the suffering in Grassy Narrows continues. Back then, it was all justified in the name of job creation and legitimate profit. Or, as Joe Oliver and Greg Rickford would have us believe, the price of progress.

Ring of Fire V-P confident Ontario will buy in – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – June 2012)

June 13, 2012

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.

Cliffs commits

While Cliffs Natural Resources made a declarative statement that Sudbury was its choice to host a $1.8-billion ferrochrome processor, the Ontario government was vague on what the province is prepared to invest in.

Power and processing were the two unanswered questions that came out of simultaneous May 2 press conferences staged by Cliffs and the Ontario government on the announcement of the smelter in the Nickel City.

Cliffs is advancing its Black Thor chromite deposit in the James Bay lowlands toward feasibility and a production target startup of 2015. Once the mine’s permits are obtained and an environmental assessment is finished, groundbreaking for the Sudbury furnace could begin within a year and a half.

Since entering the Ring of Fire chromite play, Cliffs has maintained that power rates in Ontario were too high to site a refinery in the province when compared with neighbouring provincial and U.S. jurisdictions.

Marten Falls questions true cost of Ring of Fire – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – June 13, 2012)

June 13, 2012

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

Marten Falls First Nation knows it holds many cards when it comes to the Ring of Fire. And Chief Eli Moonias is not afraid to say no, if the government and industry do not work with the First Nations on developing the mines.

He just has not seen the need to say no yet. “There’s no development yet. There’s only a proposed development,” Moonias said. “As for the benefits, that is yet to come. That’s what we’re concerned about.”

Moonias outlined a range of challenges and concerns his First Nation has with the proposed Ring of Fire developments during a meeting with reporters in the community on June 7. Paramount among Moonias’ concerns is the potential for environmental pollution of the land, water and animals.

Marten Falls is well aware of the Athabasca River example in Alberta, Moonias said. He does not want to be in the same situation in the future as First Nations downstream of Alberta’s oilsands find themselves today, with pollution in the water and air, and fish and animals contaminated from the mines.

Sudbury mine life could be extended by ‘hundreds more years’ – CBC Radio Sudbury (June 11, 2012)

June 13, 2012

http://www.cbc.ca/sudbury/

International mining conference focuses on mass mining techniques

A different style of mining could extend the life of nickel and copper mines in Sudbury — and companies are talking about it at a conference in the city this week. Mass mining is a method of extraction that accesses low grade ore directly below an open pit mine.

Greg Baiden, one of the conference organizers, said mass mining is cheaper than going underground and requires a much smaller workforce. It also extends the life of an existing open pit mine — something that’s definitely appealing to cost-conscious companies.

“It could make a huge difference,” Baiden said. “You know, you could be mining in Sudbury for hundreds more years with all the ore — all the stuff that’s currently not ore, that’s up there that’s low grade.”

The conference, considered one of the premier mining conferences in the international mining community, only takes place every four years. It is taking place at Laurentian University this week.

Politicians, not MNR staff to blame for bear inaction – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – June 13, 2012)

June 13, 2012

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

City council has been forced from hibernation on the issue of black bear management. The latest budget-cutting effort from Queen’s Park has eliminated the practice of trapping and relocating nuisance bears from the Ministry of Natural Resources’ Bear Wise program.

Instead, the provincial government has passed the bear buck to police. At council Monday night, Police Chief John Gauthier said in the first week of June alone Timmins Police Service received 21 complaints about nuisance bears. In May, they received 62 bear calls calls.

While the track record of trapping and relocating the bruins is spotty at best — many times bears find their way back to where they were caught — it is definitely a better solution than handing off the responsibility to police.

The situation is becoming, well, unbearable. On Sunday night, TPS officers were forced to shoot a large bear that wouldn’t leave the clubhouse area at Hollinger Golf Club.

Mulcair’s latest stand against oil industry shows how little he knows – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – June 12, 2012)

June 13, 2012

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

By taking on the oil sands and fracking, two of the biggest areas of controversy in the oil and gas industry, Thomas Mulcair is positioning himself as a headline-chasing anti-oil crusader.

Mr. Mulcair’s strategy is politically astute. By providing a counterpoint to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s pro-oil policies, the federal NDP leader is getting lots of attention. The problem is that he’s using big words while knowing little.

Not only is he alienating many potential voters who know better, including the vast numbers working in and for the oil and gas industry across the country, but his sinister view of energy development threatens to make him a political lightweight.

After trashing the oil sands for supposedly boosting the value of the Canadian dollar to the detriment of the manufacturing sector — a theory that had a short shelf life with the recent pullback in oil prices — Mr. Mulcair took on the sector’s main lobby group.

Regulate mining industry or expect more conflict, say leaders – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – June 12, 2012)

June 13, 2012

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

First Nation leaders are criticizing the Ontario government’s new mining act, saying it puts too much faith in industry to “do the right thing” without adequate monitoring or regulations ensure meaningful consultation happens.

In a six-page letter to the Minister of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM), Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) pointed out a range of flaws with phase two regulations, including concerns over the lack of compliance monitoring and enforcement.

“First Nations should not be asked to trust that companies will do the right thing,” NAN’s letter states. “There must be ongoing monitoring of all project sites, to ensure companies are properly motivated to comply with permit terms.”

According to NAN’s letter, the government has said it will identify the “bad apples” among exploration companies over time. “The only way this would happen is by letting them spoil the land, perhaps even more than once, and then stop it from happening in the future,” NAN wrote. “This reactionary approach is not acceptable.”

First Nation wants ‘ultimate say’ on mine project, chief says – (CBC Radio Thunder Bay – June 12, 2012)

June 12, 2012

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

Marten Falls First Nation Chief Eli Moonias says province must recognize their voice

When the Chief of Marten Falls First Nation met with the Ontario mining minister Tuesday, he planned to tell him it’s time for the province to follow through on its treaty promises.

Minister Rick Bartolucci was expected to explain the province’s proposed framework for moving ahead with the Ring of Fire mining development and what benefits it might bring the First Nation. Chief Eli Moonias said the people in Marten Falls are looking for a lot more than the small amount of money each band member receives on treaty day.

“Since 1905, all we have had with the province is the four dollars per year that they pay,” Moonias said. “Now, here is an opportunity to do treaty implementation.” Moonias said that means the province must recognize First Nations will have the ultimate say in how — or even if — a mine is built.

Coal is big business in B.C. – (Canadian Mining Journal – May 2012)

June 12, 2012

The Canadian Mining Journal is Canada’s first mining publication providing information on Canadian mining and exploration trends, technologies, operations, and industry events.

Coal is the second most important resource exported from British Columbia next to wood products. But ask someone in the province how well the forestry industry is doing and you’re likely to be faced with an icy stare. Coal is big business as the worldwide demand for coal grows and shows no sign of slowing, particularly in rapidly industrializing and developing economies. Asia in particular is hungry for B.C.’s hard coking coal, used in steelmaking, and almost four years of a soft economy have not slowed the demand.

This demand has led to greater interest in British Columbia’s resources from international corporations, including the diversified mining giant, Xstrata Coal, which is located in Switzerland, and JX Nippon Oil & Gas (JX), based in Japan. Xstrata and JX recently announced a joint venture to acquire metallurgical coal properties in the Peace River region of northern Alberta. Xstrata Coal British Columbia will retain the significant share of the venture at 75% with JX purchasing a 25% for $435 million.

Xstrata and JX will be focusing their exploration and development efforts on three main deposits in the Peace River coalfields. The 3,800-ha Lossan coal deposit has an estimated resource of 240 million tonnes that was acquired from Cline Mining in 2011. The Sukunka coal deposit, acquired from Calgary-based Talisman Energy in March 2012, is contiguous with the Lossan property, and has an estimated resource of 236 million tonnes. Finally, Xstrata also acquired First Coal Corporation’s assets, which represented over 100,000 ha of contiguous coal licenses and applications.

Keystone XL: How Canada’s pipeline splits the U.S.- by Mitch Potter (Toronto Star – June 9, 2012)

June 12, 2012

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.

WHITEWATER, MONTANA—Three years ago, when the Canadian pipeline people first came round Bob Math’s cattle ranch in northernmost Montana, the conversation was brittle.

The TransCanada emissaries were pleasant enough. But it soon became apparent their Keystone XL pipeline was more than a proposal. They were talking fait accompli.

“It wasn’t a request, it was an announcement: ‘This is what we’re going to do on your land,’” Math says of that initial overture to trench through his 600-head Black Angus operation tucked up tight on the Saskatchewan border.

Fast-forward to 2012 and Math is onside, having palmed a TransCanada cheque to seal the deal. And so the Canadians have this most important of neighbours — the first one on the American side — on board. And thousands more besides.

Two factors swayed Math to surrender permission on land homesteaded by his great-grandfather in 1915: The promise of KXL taxes for his local county government, which badly needs the help; and the fact that there is already a natural gas pipeline running beneath his property, one that hasn’t given him a speck of trouble since it was laid in the 1980s.

Sudbury plays host to world’s miners – by Heidi Ulrichsen – (Sudbury Northern Life – June 11, 2012)

June 12, 2012

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Mass mining makes low grade deposits profitable

The fact that Laurentian University is hosting the International Conference and Exhibition on Mass Mining June 10-14 is a pretty big deal, according to the chair of the conference.

“Getting this conference into Canada is a huge deal,” Greg Baiden, a Laurentian University engineering professor and the owner of a local mining technology firm called Penguin Automated Systems, said. “The fact that Sudbury and Laurentian got to host it is an even bigger deal. All the big mining schools were vying to get access to it.”

About 700 delegates and exhibitors from more than 30 countries are attending the conference, which is being held in Canada for the first time. Federal Minister of Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver was on hand to open the conference.

He highlighted the importance of the mining industry to Canada’s economic growth and long-term prosperity, adding that Greater Sudbury is a centre of job creation and innovation in the mining sector.

Deep dive on mining innovation [Sudbury mining research]- by Denise Deveau (National Post – June 12, 2012)

June 12, 2012

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

{ISSUE} Deep mining has been identified as one of few means to meet the unprecedented demand for base metals over the next 25 years, but the practice comes with risks

{SHIFT} Engineers, academics and mining companies are collaborating to develop new means of monitoring underground rock activity to make deep mining safer

The mining industry is looking deep for reasons that have everything to do with supply and demand. Despite a wealth of reserves on the planet, easy-to-access reserves in open-pit and shallow, underground mines are declining.

It’s the shift to deep mining that is drawing a team of the country’s best mining researchers and leading mining operations to the table in an Ontario-based project that members say could dramatically improve global mining activities.

The SUMIT (Smart Underground Mining and Integrated Technologies) for Deep Mining project was launched in 2010 under the auspices of the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI).

EU shouldn’t throw stones at Canada – by Matthew Fisher (National Post – June 12, 2012)

June 12, 2012

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

As for the suggestion that Canada’s ambitious plans for the oil sands would turn
it into a second-tier country, this man , who is not given to hyperbole, laughed
out loud. Canada’s resource sector was, he said, one of the few things creating
any economic excitement these days.

A U.S. energy advisor to the European Union declared last week that Canada had made “a really, really historic mistake” by backing the oil sands. Europeans, who had made green power their priority, now regarded Canada as “a bad guy” that “could potentially become a second-tier country,” the EU consultant said.

Days later Germany’s ambassador to Ottawa said his country was annoyed with Canada for being slow to contribute to an International Monetary Fund bailout package for Europe.

That anyone with an EU connection today would dare to venture a critical opinion about Canada’s economic policies or its energy priorities takes some gall. Here on the sunny, unhappy shores of the Aegean Sea there are fears of serious public disorder if, as seems likely, the continent’s colossal economic woes worsen.