OTTAWA, May 23, 2012 /CNW/ – The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) expressed grave concern regarding the significant economic impact that the CP rail strike will have on mining communities and urged the Government of Canada to take immediate action to resolve the labour dispute.
The impact is felt strongly by mining companies dependent on rail to either transport fuel in, or transport products and by-products from operations. “A strike by CP workers will have a serious effect on the industry,” said Pierre Gratton, MAC’s President and CEO. “The shipment of fuel and other supplies to mine sites will be compromised as is the transport of mineral products.”
The CP rail strike will cause a shortfall of essential fuel and supply shipments to mines across Canada. It will also prevent mines from delivering their products to their end-point destinations, thus seriously and adversely affecting their ability to operate at any functional capacity. In this time of post-recession economic recovery, a threat to the stability of the natural resource sector is a threat to the stability of a stalwart of the Canadian economy.
Neskantaga chief demands real consultation on Ring of Fire – by Rick Garrick (Wawatay News – May 22, 2012)
Neskantaga Chief Peter Moonias has raised further issues over the Cliffs Natural Resources chromite mine project in the Ring of Fire.
Moonias sent a letter to Michael Gravelle, minister of Natural Resources, on May 17 stating he has learned that Cliffs and/or its wholly owned subsidiary Cliffs Chromite Ontario Inc. has applied for land use and other permits on provincial crown land to begin mobilizing for infrastructure development and commencement of construction, including the north-south access corridor to the Ring of Fire.
Moonias stated in the letter that Ontario cannot lawfully consider these applications without fulfilling its constitutional duty of consultation. The chief said that the granting of an easement, issuance of any kind of land use or other permits to Cliffs in support of its proposed developments would be a further breach of Ontario’s duty to consult.
Moonias had earlier stated in a May 11 letter to Rick Bartolucci, minister of Northern Development and Mines, that Ontario is in breach of its constitutional duty to consult with Neskantaga and other Aboriginal peoples regarding the Cliffs mine and infrastructure development in and to the Ring of Fire.
[Ring of Fire] Ontario needs better energy infrastructure – by George Smitherman (Sudbury Star – May 23, 2012)
The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
George Smitherman former deputy premier and Energy minister of Ontario
By the sounds of the name it’s been given, the Ring of Fire is the last place on Earth where you’d think you have to worry about how to supply power. However, when you are proposing mining activity 300 km north of any paved road, things get complicated quickly.
Maybe that’s why Ontario is actually allowing a giant American mining company, and at least one smaller Canadian one, to propose that diesel generation be used to provide electricity. Problem is, their needs are projected to start at 30 mw and grow to 70 mw. That would take about 10 million litres of diesel fuel each month. Diesel fuel that would presumably be trucked 300 km along a road that will be carved out of environmentally sensitive lands.
This Ring of Fire mining activity will be taking place in the James Bay Lowlands on the traditional territories of several First Nation communities. It’s ironic that a pressing need of these same communities is a more reliable, healthy and cost effective means of generating electricity than the small diesel generators they currently use.
First Nations communities have experienced the limitations of electricity from diesel for far too long.
Where to brush up on your mine rehabilitation expertise – Lakehead University, Thunder Bay
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 and the Canadian Land Reclamation Association (CLRA) are joining forces to hold the fifth annual Ontario Mine Reclamation Symposium and Field Trip. This event is scheduled for June 20 and 21, 2012 at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.
The seminar includes sessions on the geology and mining history of the Thunder Bay area along with understanding the chemical properties of peat bogs and blueberry soils on Northwestern Ontario. An update on the development of restoration protocols at De Beers Canada’s Victor diamond Mine, located 90 kilometres west of Attawapiskat, will be presented. These studies are expanding knowledge for reclamation activities in the Ring of Fire area, which is under development.
Another case study will centre on the evolution of closure planning and consultation at Barrick Hemlo Mines Williams gold property near Marathon. Roger Souckey from Barrick Hemlo Mines and Shane Hayes of the Pic Mobert First Nation will be making this presentation. Also, the decommissioning of Vale’s (Inco’s) Shebandowan nickel mine near Thunder Bay will be reviewed.
‘We are listening’[Ontario government to First Nations] – by Jeff Labine (tbnewswatch.com – May 20, 2012)
The Ministry of Natural Resources won’t approve any land us applications from Cliffs Natural Resources applications until an environmental assessment has been completed.
Neskantaga First Nation Chief Peter Moonias wrote a letter to Minister of Natural Resources Michael Gravelle last week after he learned that Cliffs had requested land use and other permits to allow the company to start developing the area for construction. These construction projects included roads leading into the Ring of Fire site.
This application request followed the announcement that the company planned to build a chromite smelter near Sudbury causing outcry from First Nation communities that Ontario did not pursue proper consultation before making the decision.
Moonias, who earlier this week declared he was willing to die to stop the Ring of Fire development, said the MNR couldn’t go ahead with this application.
Don’t capitulate to ‘New Age Bigotry’, invest in mining-Coxe – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – May 22, 2012)
A backroom political ban on investing in companies deemed impure by environmental NGOs is unfairly depressing the prices of some of the leading gold mining stocks, and hurting pension funds, Coxe says.
RENO (MINEWEB) – Why would a pension fund not invest in a highly profitable long-duration mine (such as BHP’s Olympic Dam copper-gold-uranium deposit in Australia with a 40-year lifespan)?
In the May edition of Basic Points, respected global commodities analyst Don Coxe says pension funds are succumbing to political pressure, resulting in “more and more corporate pension funds…being impaled on their own funding swords due to inadequate investment returns.”
Coxe suggests that commodity stocks are “victims of a new form of persecution from two groups-those with contempt for capitalism, along with those who resent what mining, and oil and gas companies do for a living.”
“The original Luddites smashed the machines of the Industrial Revolution,” he observed.
Thomas Mulcair’s ill-conceived war on the West – by Gillian Steward (Toronto Star – May 22, 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.
CALGARY—NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair might as well have declared war on the West. That’s the way it sounded from this end of the country when a couple of weeks ago he told a CBC radio program that something needs to be done about rapid oilsands development.
According to Mulcair, it has artificially inflated the Canadian dollar and thereby delivered a bruising blow to central Canada’s export-dependent manufacturing sector.
Mulcair might as well have said that the western resource-based economy is the enemy of the eastern-based manufacturing sector and must be stamped out at all costs.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s team and the western premiers were quick to defend the West’s right to profit from its resource wealth. But the ensuing war of words created such a fog it obscured much more fundamental issues.
Noront Resources Corporate Presentation 2012 (May 21, 2012) – Wes Hanson, President & CEO
Noront Resource’s (NOT-V:TSX) full-length corporate presentation at the 2012 CPM Group Precious Metals Mining Investment Seminar, as presented by Wes Hanson, President & CEO. Kitco News, May 21, 2012.
Q & A with Saskatchewan’s Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd – (Regina Leader-Post – May 19, 2012)
http://www.leaderpost.com/index.html
According to the Saskatchewan Mining Association, the province currently has more than 25 operating mines producing minerals such as potash, uranium, coal and gold. During the next two decades, mining companies in Saskatchewan will invest more than $50 billion in new projects. To ensure the continued success of the mining sector and its contribution to the economic growth of the province, the Ministry of Energy and Resources has taken several steps to encourage further investment. Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd was recently questioned about the Ministry’s endeavours.
Q: In last 4½ years, how has your ministry encouraged investment in Saskatchewan’s mining sector?
A: The ministry has been very active in promoting our rich and diverse mineral resources and encouraging investment in our mineral sector.
Key aspects include: the provision of high quality geoscience information; meeting regularly with companies that are active or interested in becoming active in Saskatchewan’s mineral sector; and participation in national and international conferences and mineral investment attraction missions in partnership with other government agencies such as Enterprise Saskatchewan.
Exploration leads the way for mining’s future – by Tobie Hainstock (Regina Leader-Post – May 19, 2012)
http://www.leaderpost.com/index.html
As Saskatchewan moves forward into more of a leadership role in the mining industry, exploration is rapidly becoming an important expenditure.
Why is exploration such a crucial step in mining? The purpose of exploration is to locate large reserves of high-grade minerals while disturbing the environment as little as possible.
This is being made possible through the implementation of new technologies such as GPS surveying, down-hole seismic imaging and airborne technologies. These tools allow exploration companies to find new deposits that would probably not be found by using traditional methods. As with research and development, exploration is a field that requires strong investment levels in order to achieve long-term success.
According to a 2011 report by the Mining Association of Canada, without sustainable and effective exploration, Canadian mineral production will outstrip reserve additions. This would mean that smelters and refiners across the country would be forced to rely on imported raw materials, placing the domestic mining industry at risk, both competitively and strategically.
Mining drives million-dollar [mine supply and service] manufacturing industry in Saskatoon – by Jeannie Armstrong (Regina Leader-Post – May 19, 2012)
http://www.leaderpost.com/index.html
Saskatoon has evolved into a major manufacturing centre, with 364 companies employing a workforce of 9,900 people, or 6.7 per cent of the region’s total employment.
The largest three sub-groups within the manufacturing centre are machinery manufacturing, fabricated metal product manufacturing and food manufacturing.
“It’s a big driver in the economy, contributing approximately $1 billion to Saskatoon’s GDP, and $2.8 billion to the provincial GDP,” said Tim LeClair, executive director of the Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority (SREDA).
Saskatoon has been identified as one of the world’s most competitive manufacturing centres, in a recent competitive analysis by KPMG. These advantages include access to a highly-trained workforce, a highly competitive provincial and federal taxation regime with special consideration for manufacturers, a City of Saskatoon incentive policy, proximity to resource sectors in Western Canada and a strong transportation network including rail access to two ocean ports.
Mulcair should drop the ‘Dutch disease’ rhetoric – by Jeffrey Simpson (Globe and Mail – May 19, 2012)
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.
NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair is right with one part of his critique of Western Canada’s oil-driven economy, and wrong about all the rest. On balance, it’s a poor batting average for someone who, some day, hopes to become prime minister.
Mr. Mulcair has been chastising the oil industry, and the governments that regulate it, for not making the industry pay the full cost of emissions that create greenhouse gas emissions.
Even Exxon-Mobil in Houston (and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers) thinks there should be a price on carbon – through a tax or, less preferably, a market-trading system for emissions. Alberta has such a tax, but it is set way too low to be very effective. So Mr. Mulcair is correct that pollution costs should be factored into the product’s final cost. Otherwise, all of society loses from the pollution.
To say, however, that Alberta and Canada are acting like Nigeria in regulating the industry is political nonsense.
The age of extreme oil: ‘This used to be a forest?’ – by Arno Kopecky (Globe and Mail – May 19, 2012)
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.
One grey Thursday at the end of April, a plane touched down in Fort McMurray, Alta., carrying four Achuar Indians from the Peruvian Amazon. They had flown 8,000 kilometres from the rain forest to beseech Talisman Energy Inc., the Calgary-based oil and gas conglomerate, to stop drilling in their territory. Talisman’s annual general meeting was coming up, and the Achuar were invited to state their case to chief executive officer John Manzoni in front of the company’s shareholders.
But first, they wanted to see a Canadian oil patch for themselves, and meet the aboriginal people who lived there.
Their host in Fort McMurray was Gitzikomin Deranger, Gitz to his friends – a 6-foot-4 Dene-Blackfoot activist who lives in a comfortably cluttered duplex with his parents and a revolving assortment of relatives. Many of them crowded in to meet the Achuar, who relaxed on Mr. Deranger’s leather couch with surprising ease for people who live in palm huts. He had welcomed them to Alberta with a smudge – having set a small pile of sage to smoulder in a miniature cast-iron pan, he fanned smoke over his guests with an eagle feather.
“Did you kill the bird to get it?” asked Peas Peas Ayui (PAY-us PAY-us AY-wee), the group’s leader, a taciturn man in his mid-40s with gold-capped upper teeth.
[Paul Reid] The man who saved Cliffs – by Darren MacDonald – (Sudbury Northern Life – May 16, 2012)
This article came from Northern Life, Sudbury’s biweekly newspaper.
City staffer played key role in Cliffs decision
Just call him the man who saved Cliffs. Paul Reid, a business development officer with the City of Greater Sudbury, was credited May 15 with playing a key role in convincing Cliffs Natural Resources to build its ferrochrome smelter in Sudbury.
Ward 7 Coun. Dave Kilgour, whose ward includes Capreol, said Cliffs came to Sudbury in January or February 2010 to look at another site in the region. “They were on a search across the province for a suitable site, and one of the areas they wanted to look at was in Sudbury,” Kilgour said, following the May 15 city council meeting.
So, Reid and other city staff went with them to tour the site, but Cliffs was disappointed. There wasn’t enough land for the project, and it was too close to residential areas.
“They came in and took a look at it, and for a few reasons, found it wasn’t suitable,” Kilgour, who declined to name the original location, said. “And they asked Paul Reid, since they were here already, whether or not there were any other areas they could take a look at, and he suggested an old mine site north of Capreol.
Mining the future of Saskatchewan – by Nadine Olson (Regina Leader-Post – May 19, 2012)
http://www.leaderpost.com/index.html
The Saskatchewan mining industry is recognized as one of the most prolific in the world. According to Natural Resources Canada, Saskatchewan was Canada’s second leading mineral producer in 2011, with sales reaching $9.2 billion. Ontario was ranked as number one with sales of $10.7 billion and B.C. was third with $8.2 billion.
“In 2011, potash was the most valuable commodity with over $8 billion in sales. Uranium was also one of the top Canadian commodities,” said Pam Schwann, executive director, Saskatchewan Mining Association. “The mineral industry will invest over $50 billion in expansion and new mines between 2008 and 2028.”
Potash prices and values have followed a turbulent path in recent years due to the global recession. However, in 2011, potash was once again Canada’s top rated commodity with shipments totalling $8 billion. Production volumes reached a new historical level, up 13.5 per cent compared to 2010 as a result of a growing global demand for potash.
“Saskatchewan is the only jurisdiction in Canada to be the world-leading producer of potash and second leading producer of uranium.