Republic of Mining

Ontario’s economy is struggling and politicians dance – by James Murray (Netnewsledger.com – April 30, 2012)

May 1, 2012

THUNDER BAY – EDITORIAL – Ontario’s economy is struggling, and the real impacts of those struggles are not yet being felt. Our Ontario has seen years of government living beyond its means, along with years of outright denial that this is a problem. It is, and it is one that is going to take a generation to get over at the least. Ontario is likely to lag behind more prosperous provinces, and likely will continue to do so for some time.

Ontario’s deficit is the real elephant in the room. Should interest rates climb from their current levels, our government will have to spend massive amounts of money just to pay for what we already, as a province, have spent. Standard and Poor’s has fired a salvo across our province’s economic bow saying how potentially vulnerable Ontario really is.

Solving the problems is going to take some real effort and some really hard work. It won’t be easy. Right now, sadly, at the provincial level, there really isn’t anyone stepping up with real plans to make a real difference.

Premier Dalton McGuinty has a ham-fisted death grip on maintaining the status quo. Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak is opposing rather than leading.

Labrador’s iron ore goes global (Canadian Mining Journal – April 2012)

May 1, 2012

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

*Information for this article provided by the Department of Natural Resources, Geological Survey, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The world-class Labrador Trough iron mining district has long been a bastion of stability in the often uncertain world of mining.

Having produced more than 2 billion tonnes of ore over 50 years of continuous production, “The Trough” can claim a prominent place in the Canadian mining sector.

Currently, with new mine openings, major expansions at existing operations, and key port and rail upgrades, the district is being reinvigorated with investment capital from around the globe. In the current planning cycle, at least $15 billion of new investment in Labrador may be realized if projects advance to development.

At present, there are three iron ore operations located in the Labrador section of “The Trough:” Rio Tinto IOC (Carol Lake), Cliffs Natural Resources (Wabush Mines), and Labrador Iron Mines (Schefferville/Menihek DSO project).

NEWS RELEASE: First Nickel Reports that the Lockerby Mine has resumed normal operations

May 1, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 2012-06

TORONTO: April 30, 2012. First Nickel Inc. (“First Nickel”, “FNI” or the “Company”) (TSX: FNI) reports that it has completed the work required to satisfy the stop work order issued by the Ministry of Labor last week. The Ministry lifted the order at 6:00pm on Sunday, April 29, 2012 and the mine has resumed normal operations starting with the shift on Sunday night. The Company does not anticipate any negative impact on second quarter production.

Thomas M Boehlert, President & Chief Executive Officer commented “I am very pleased with the Lockerby team’s ability to quickly respond, assess and resolve the issues causing the interruption. The dedication and cooperation of our employees and contractors bodes well as we continue to safely ramp-up the Lockerby mine to full production over the course of this year.

“Over the past week management and the union have worked very closely to address the issues identified by the Ministry. I’m very pleased that the safety of our members remains a top priority at the Lockerby Mine”, added Richard Paquin, President of CAW Local Mine Mill 598.

North America to lead global energy investments in 2012 – by Yadullah Hussain (National Post – April 30, 2012)

May 1, 2012

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

Move over, Middle East: North America looks set to lead the global energy investment drive this year, with companies expected to spend $392-billion on upstream capital and operating expenditures in the region, according to forecasts of IHS CERA, an energy consultancy.

“Capex (alone) is expected to reach US$274-billion in 2012, driven by the region’s boom in unconventional production including oil sands, tight oil, shale gas, tight gas and coal bed methane, which are forecast to account for US$128-billion of the 2012 total,” noted IHS CERA in a report published Monday. “Driven by continued investment in unconventional resources, total North America spending is expected to reach US$528-billion in 2016.”

Capital spending in the oil sands sector is forecast to reach 28% to US$18.5-billion in 2012, rising US$28-billion by 2016 as high oil prices spurs expansion plans, the Cambride-based consultancy estimates.

“The U.S. and North America currently make up 50% of all drilling activity in the world,” Candida Scott, senior director at IHS CERA told the Financial Post in an interview.

Pro-asbestos advocacy group shuts its doors – by Robert Hiltz (Postmedia News – April 30, 2012)

April 30, 2012

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

A decades-old pro-asbestos lobby group, currently funded by the Quebec government, will be shutting its doors after notifying the federal government of its plan to dissolve.

The Montreal-based Chrysotile Institute issued the notice in the Canada Gazette — the government’s official publication for announcing new laws and other public information. The institute, first formed in 1984, promotes the safe use of chrysotile asbestos on behalf of Canada’s asbestos mining industry.

NDP MP Pat Martin — a longtime critic of the asbestos industry and former miner himself — said the closing of the institute signals the “death knell” of asbestos mining in Canada.

“I see it as a real tipping point in the movement to get Canada out of the asbestos industry,” Martin said. “It’s just another demonstration of the death rattle of the asbestos industry in this country.”

India Struggles to Deliver Enough Power [coal shortages]- by Vikas Bajaj (New York Times – April 19, 2012)

April 30, 2012

http://www.nytimes.com/

NELLORE, India — India has long struggled to provide enough electricity to light its homes and power its industry around the clock. In recent years, the government and private sector sought to change that by building scores of new power plants.

But that campaign is now running into difficulties because the country cannot get enough fuel — principally coal — to run the plants. Clumsy policies, poor management and environmental concerns have hampered the country’s efforts to dig up fuel fast enough to keep up with its growing need for power.

A complex system of subsidies and price controls has limited investment, particularly in resources like coal and natural gas. It has also created anomalies, like retail electricity prices that are lower than the cost of producing power, which lead to big losses at state-owned utilities. An unsettled debate about how much of its forests India should turn over to mining has also limited coal production.

The power sector’s problems have substantially contributed to a second year of slowing economic growth in India, to an estimated 7 percent this year, from nearly 10 percent in 2010. Businesses report that more frequent blackouts have forced them to lower production and spend significantly more on diesel fuel to run backup generators.

Give Sudbury [Ring of Fire] smelter, redefine Crown land – by Reino L. Viitala (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – April 30, 2012)

April 30, 2012

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario. This commentary came from the Chronicle-Journal’s Letters to the Editor section.

Mining guidelines for Northwestern Ontario should include important conditions for development of environmentally sensitive areas — not simply the ambitions of companies, politicians and native leaders.

For example, why do we want a smelter and slag dump in the Ring of Fire project area? Worst possible choice. It would pollute the entire Northwestern region. Our rainfall is associated with the Hudson Bay moisture system, therefore any air-borne pollutants will affect our rainfall and further acidify it. We are the cleanest climactic region in Ontario and a jewel for the entire world to enjoy. Why risk this with a smelter and a slag dump?

Secondly, open-pit mining will drain wetlands in that area. Only underground mining should be permitted. Otherwise, the sensitive hydrological balance between the Hudson Bay Lowlands and the Lake Nipigon Basin will be affected. The Ring of Fire mining companies are on the right track to ship the ores to Falconbridge for smelting.

Our world’s not coasting on empty after all [mineral shortages] – by Neil Reynolds (Globe and Mail – April 30, 2012)

April 30, 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.

Published 40 years ago, the Club of Rome’s cataclysmic environmental bestseller The Limits to Growth heralded the imminent end of human progress. Written by five Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists, the book asserted – with relentlessly Malthusian logic – that the world was heading toward global economic collapse. For many people, the assertion made sense. For many people, it still does. An ever-rising world population must inexorably deplete the world’s finite resources. Doesn’t it?

In a retrospective analysis, U.S. economist Charles Kenny, senior fellow with the Washington-based Center for Global Development, says the world isn’t coasting on empty. Quite the contrary, he says. “The biggest concern isn’t that the planet is running out of resources – it’s having too many for the planet’s own good.”

According to The Limits of Growth, the world was already – in 1972 – approaching Peak Gold, “the date when global [gold] production was to reach its supposed maximum, afterward and evermore to decline as dwindling reserves were tapped out.”

Teck cashes in on Chile’s copper – by Gordon Pitts (Globe and Mail – April 30, 2012)

April 30, 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.

ANDACOLLO, CHILE – For centuries, pilgrims have thronged to the Chilean mountain town of Andacollo – to worship at the historic church and to mine the dusty hills for copper.

The Incas built parts of their civilization on the rich copper and gold deposits unearthed here before Spanish conquerors swept in. Since then, church and mines have become intertwined in the culture: The epic rescue of 33 Chilean miners in 2010 is attributed by many here to prayers uttered at Our Lady of Andacollo.

Now a new wave of pilgrims is worshipping at the altar of Andacollo – Canadians, in the form of Teck Resources Ltd., (TCK.B-T36.860.110.30%) the Vancouver-based mining giant that has spent more than $440-million (U.S.) expanding an open-pit copper project on the edge of town.

Demand ‘unreal’ for mining jobs – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 30, 2012)

April 30, 2012

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

Jeff Lafortune teaches in the civil and mining engineering technologist program at College Boreal he graduated from 15 years ago. In that decade and a half, he has seen a tremendous demand build for skilled mining employees.

“When I graduated, there was one company in town … and there were 15 of us wanting that job,” Lafortune said Saturday. “Now, there are 15 companies wanting that one person. So it’s opportunity for the kids. It’s unreal,” said Lafortune, who was taking part in a career fair at the New Sudbury Centre as part of Sudbury Mining Week.

Lafortune was advising people who stopped at his booth about job possibilities after they graduate from the three-year program in which students learn skills such as surveying, ventilation, planning and designing, “and a whole realm of different work.”

He worked 15 years in the industry with several mining companies before heading to the classroom. “In mines, when I left, you could see it was hard to keep and retain” employees, said Lafortune. The mining industry is booming and skilled tradespeople have their pick of the best jobs.

‘Workers’ voices need to be heard’ – by Jacob Touchette (Sudbury Star – April 30, 2012)

April 30, 2012

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

Wake up, go to work, come home. Not everyone makes it to the third step. Each year, many workers never get to come home, and on April 28, Day of Mourning, those who have died or been injured on the job were remembered.

City council chambers were packed with people as they gathered to remember those who gave their lives or were injured on the job.

In Sudbury, thoughts were focused on the three families affected by the deaths of Sudbury miners Jason Chenier, Jordan Fram and Stephen Perry.

There have been an average of 240,000 injuries each year for the past 10 years, said Leo Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers Union. “It isn’t just a mining industry issue,” he said. “It’s an issue where workers voices need to be heard.”

Gerard said that despite the efforts of unions and health and safety activists, the numbers of injuries and fatalities is “unacceptable.”

[Kenora] Bear Pit’ session addresses Ring of Fire, Tourist Information Centres, education and infrastructure – by Reg Clayton (Lake of the Woods Enterprise – April 28, 2012)

April 29, 2012

http://www.lotwenterprise.com/

Provincial cabinet ministers field hard ball questions pitched by NOMA delegates

Delegates grilled three Ontario cabinet ministers and a parliamentary assistant on progress with the Ring of Fire, the closure of regional Tourist Information Centres, education and training initiaitvies and infrastructure funding at the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA) annual meeting in Kenora, Friday, April 27.

NOMA president Ron Nelson served as moderator for the minister’s forum comprised of Natural Resources Minister Michael Gravelle, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs Kathleen Wynne, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Glen Murray and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Northern Development and Mines Bill Mauro.

The ministers responded to ‘Bear Pit’ questions posed by municipal delegates regarding the apparent lack of progress on the Ring of Fire in Northern Ontario with assurances that discussions are ongoing on a multi-ministerial level in consultation with mining companies and area First Nations. However, details of these discussions remain confidential, according to the ministers.

Iamgold acquires Trelawney Mining in $608-million deal – by Pav Jordan (Globe and Mail – April 28, 2012)

April 28, 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.

For Iamgold Corp., the $608-million acquisition of a little-known Ontario gold explorer is a step toward two key company goals – offsetting an Africa-heavy portfolio and propelling it toward a goal of doubling production in five years.

Toronto-based Iamgold is offering $3.30 a share for Trelawney Mining and Exploration Inc., which gives it control of a large gold deposit practically in its backyard, thousands of kilometres from Iamgold’s key producing assets in South America and Africa.

“The acquisition of Trelawney creates a larger and more geographically balanced portfolio of long-life gold assets for Iamgold,” Steve Letwin, the company’s chief executive officer, said Friday.

The all-cash acquisition comes as gold companies’ equity valuations flounder, sliced in half in some cases from year-ago levels by investors abandoning the sector in favour of less risky, higher-yielding assets. Ballooning costs for everything from raw materials to skilled labour are also fuelling investor concerns.