Republic of Mining

NEWS RELEASE: [Ontario Conservative MPP] NORM MILLER DEMANDS ANSWERS FOR RING OF FIRE DELAYS (April 24, 2012)

April 24, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

QUEEN’S PARK – In advance of a trip to the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association’s Annual General Meeting with Tim Hudak, Northern Development and Mines Critic Norm Miller demanded that the Minister explain his government’s lack of progress in the region during Question Period on Tuesday.

“We have at our fingertips one of the most lucrative resource finds in our province’s history,” Miller explained. “The government is eager to talk about the Ring of Fire and boast about the Ring of Fire, but won’t take any action beyond expanding an already bloated and uncoordinated bureaucracy.”

In his question to the Minister, Miller also asked about the lack of progress on the proposed road to the mining sites.

“This is such a basic requirement,” Miller argued. “If we can’t access it, we can’t mine it. Communities, miners, and First Nations groups are waiting. They’re getting impatient, and rightfully so. The government has been spinning its wheels for far too long.”

Nibinamik First Nation working with Noront on skills training – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – April 24, 2012)

November 3, 2015April 24, 2012

This article came from Wawatay News: http://www.wawataynews.ca/

Nibinamik First Nation is the fourth First Nation to sign a training agreement with Noront Resources that intends to help band members get mining jobs if the Ring of Fire goes ahead as planned.

Nibinamik chief Johnny Yellowhead signed the agreement with Noront during the community’s mining week, held from April 10-13.

“If mining is done with inclusion and respect for people on the land, everyone will win,” Yellowhead said during the signing ceremony. “That’s our main purpose with the 4-nation partnership is to try to work together and try to understand each other.”

Nibinamik, Webequie, Neskantaga and Eabametoong First Nations signed the 4-nations partnership during the Prospectors and Developers Association conference in Toronto in March. The bands’ initial move was to throw their support behind the East-West transportation corridor that would connect each of the communities to the southern road and power line network.

Now each of the four Matawa First Nations have agreed to work with Noront on pushing the federal government for skills and education training to prepare band members for jobs at the mine.

Hollywood, tech investors hoping to mine PGM asteroids in space – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – April 24, 2012)

April 24, 2012

It may take more than a few James Cameron blockbusters to help fund a space exploration program to send robo-geologists to the nearest geologically prospective asteroid to search for PGMs.

www.mineweb.com

RENO (MINEWEB) – A press conference scheduled Tuesday morning at the Seattle Museum of Flight hopes to jump-start what investors–such as Titanic director James Cameron, Google’s Larry Page, Ross Perot Jr. and Intentional Software co-founder Charles Simonyi–hope will be the first “space rush”, opening a new frontier for mining.

Ironically, Cameron’s 2009 blockbuster film Avatar used precious metals mining in the fictional land of Pandora as its setting, and portrayed miners as the villians who would wipe out the pristine habitat of a local tribe of indigenous people in the name of mining the ficticious precious metal “unobtainium”.

Planetary Resources, a venture founded by Eric Anderson of space tourism company, Space Adventures, and a former manager of a NASA mission to Mars, and Peter Diamandis of the X Prize Foundation for advanced technology development–intends to mine near-earth asteroids for PGMs and water, using swarms of robots.

A news release announcing the press conference says, “The company will overlay two critical sectors-space exploraiton and natural resources-to add trillions of dollars to the global GDP.”

Stop-work order issued [on Sudbury First Nickel mine] – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 24, 2012)

April 24, 2012

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

A Ministry of Labour inspector issued a stop-work order for First Nickel’s Lockerby Mine on Monday after a random inspection showed there were problems with the No. 2 shaft.

About 100 production and maintenance workers, represented by Mine Mill Local 598/C AW, work at the mine. The day shift was sent home Monday and night shift was to be cancelled as well. Workers were to learn today if they were to report for work for the day shift.

Richard Paquin, president of Mine Mill Local 598/CAW, said the No. 2 shaft is the access point for all areas underground at the mine formerly owned by Falconbridge (now Xstrata Nickel).

Labour ministry spokesman Matt Blajer said all mines in Ontario must have two access and egress points. With the No. 2 shaft out of operation at Lockerby, the mine had to cease production.

‘Corporate Canada’ should embrace First Nations as full partners in resource development: Chief Shawn Atleo – by Adrian Humphreys (National Post – April 23, 2012)

April 24, 2012

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

“We are not opposed to development, but we must be involved at the outset.
First Nation rights and responsibilities demand that we are full partners
in discussions about exploration, ownership, participation in production,
and long-term sustainability of our environment, our communities and our
futures.” (Shawn Atleo, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations)

TORONTO — The National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations brought a metaphorical carrot and stick to deliver his message of reconciliation to corporate Canada, saying the country faces “an aboriginal tsunami” and mending its relationship with the “newcomers” can only be achieved if they “smashed the status quo.”

But if any of the evocative language by Shawn Atleo caused concern among the audience of what he called “the suits of Toronto,” it seemed to be mollified by the entreaty he offered in return.

Co-operation with First Nations will avoid intractable disputes over hugely valuable resource development projects across the country, he said.

“Currently, First Nations are often the last to know about major resource development. This relegates our communities to few options, usually resulting in confrontation.

James Cameron’s latest far out idea: Asteroid mining? – by Michael Lewis (Toronto Star – April 24, 2012)

April 24, 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.

Former NASA scientists backed by high-profile billionaires including Canadian filmmaker James Cameron, Google co-founder Larry Page and U.S. businessman Ross Perot Jr. appear poised to unveil the world’s first commercial space mining venture.

Speculation is that the company will map out plans to mine metals from asteroids captured in orbit near the Earth.

A California startup company has issued an invitation to a press briefing Tuesday at Seattle’s Museum of Flight to unveil a project that will “create a new industry and new definition of natural resources . . . to expand Earth’s resource base.”

While the invitation from Planetary Resources Inc. keeps details under wraps, it says the project “will overlay space exploration and natural resources . . . to add trillions of dollars to the global GDP.”

Oil industry the big winner in Alberta election – by Gillian Steward (Toronto Star – April 24, 2012)

April 24, 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.

Gillian Steward is a Calgary writer and journalist, and former managing editor of the Calgary Herald. Her column appears every other week.

For once the outcome of an Alberta election was completely unpredictable. Right up until the end the two leading contenders — Alison Redford’s PCs and Danielle Smith’s Wildrose party — were locked in a bitter battle for control of government. But one outcome was entirely predictable.

No matter which party won there would be no sudden changes when it came to oil sands development and all the risks and rewards that go with it, not just for Alberta but for the rest of Canada. The oil sands and energy policy in general were simply not on the election agenda.

Party leaders barely mentioned the oil sands; it wasn’t a big issue in the news media; at the public forums I attended not one person questioned candidates about oil sands policy. Official oil industry voices were noticeably silent for the entire campaign.

Ontario Ring of Fire prospects and players huge – by Saul Chernos (Daily Commercial News and Construction Record – April 23, 2012)

April 23, 2012

http://www.dailycommercialnews.com/

The prospects look huge for the Ring of Fire, an area of nearly 5,000 square kilometres within the James Bay Lowlands.

This area is smaller than Prince Edward Island, yet some 35 companies hold approximately 25,000 claim units, exploring for minerals as diverse as chromite, nickel, copper, zinc, platinum, gold and diamonds.

In January, Cliffs Natural Resources announced its Black Thor chromite deposit, currently undergoing prefeasibility assessment, could begin production by 2015.

The Cleveland-based company publicly estimated mine development costs at approximately $150 million, an ore concentrating plant at $800 million, and a ferrochrome processing facility at $1.8 billion.

Cliffs also pegged an integrated transportation system, including all-weather roads, at $600 million, but said it wants to share costs with other stakeholders.

Ontario Mining Association safety summit re-emphasizes goal of zero harm

April 23, 2012

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.

A recent Ontario Mining Association mine managers’ safety summit held in Sudbury, involving 30 mine managers and safety specialists, has helped the industry re-dedicate itself to the goal of achieving zero harm by 2015. The group was seeking new answers and new ideas at the one day session, which preceded Workplace Safety North’s annual health and safety conference.

By any yardstick, the mining industry in Ontario has an exemplary record of improving its safety performance. Since 1976, the sector’s lost time injury rate has improved by 96%. This same measurement has improved by 81% since 1989 and by 73% since 1993. What was an industry wide lost time injury rate of 12 per 200,000 hours worked has been reduced to the 0.5 range today.

However, the closer you get to zero, the less room there is for improvement and the harder it becomes to make each gain. The idea to hold the mine managers’ safety summit arose when the industry hit a speed bump on the road to continuous safety improvement in 2011. Over the past 10 years, the lost time injury rate of 1.2 per 200,000 hours in 2002, declined steadily to 0.5 in 2010. However, in 2011, for the first time in a decade, there was a bump up to 0.6.

Ottawa’s smart, but risky, plan [environmental assessment reviews] – National Post Editorial (April 23, 2012)

April 23, 2012

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

The federal government is taking a courageous but risky step in its plan to streamline the process for environmental assessment reviews. Courageous because there’s a good case to be made for eliminating the delays, overlap, inefficiency and political guerrilla tactics that can afflict otherwise harmless projects. The danger is that the slightest slip could leave the government looking like the environmental scofflaw its critics claim it to be.

Companies seeking approval for projects that could impact the environment enter a world that can often seem surreal. Both Ottawa and the provinces alike claim the right to review and assess projects. Sometimes they both pick the same project, though for different reasons, and using different criteria. Provincial reviews can be quicker, but may be overruled by a federal review. Federal reviews may be more intense, but provincial ones sometimes take in a wider array of concerns. This can prove beneficial, since a positive impact on a local economy may be deemed to outweigh a potential negative impact on the environment. Or not.

One news report notes that, in British Columbia, there are 562 projects under review by Ottawa, and 69 by the province. Two-thirds of the projects under provincial review will also need a federal review. In addition to the duplication, cost and proliferation of red tape, there is the danger of being caught up in the web of Big Environment, in which activist groups deliberately adopt delaying tactics in an effort to attract public attention and frustrate project backers.

China mineral stocks running low – China English News (April 22, 2012)

April 23, 2012

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/

BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) — China is running short of 25 kinds of mineral resources, including 11 that are crucial to the country’s economy, said a senior official on Sunday.

The country will face a serious shortage of mineral resources by 2020 as it consumes an increasing amount of them to promote its industrialization, urbanization and agricultural modernization, Minister of Land and Resources Xu Shaoshi told Xinhua in an exclusive interview to mark the 43rd “Earth Day.”

The prediction was based on surveys of recoverable reserves of 45 kinds of major minerals, Xu said, adding that China will have to sharply increase imports of minerals in short supply to meet demand over the next 10 to 20 years.

Over the past 15 years, China registered double-digit growth in the consumption of mineral resources. More than half of the country’s petroleum, iron ore, refined aluminum, refined copper and leopoldite were imported, according to the minister.

Company wants to grow quality medical marijuana in old [Michigan Upper Peninsula] mine – by Paul Egan (Detroit Free Press – April 22, 2012)

April 22, 2012

http://www.freep.com/

WHITE PINE — In this hard-luck town in Michigan’s western Upper Peninsula, rumors persist of a company growing pot deep in the bowels of a former copper mine nearby.

In 2010, the rumors got so bad, the State Police contacted the owners and asked to inspect the White Pine Mine sometime in the next couple of days.

“No, right now,” SubTerra official Mark Pierpont said he told them, not wanting lingering suspicions that he had spent a day hiding a stash of marijuana.

Trooper Timothy Rajala later reported how he “entered the mine in a vehicle which we drove approximately 1 mile underground” before reaching a sealed and brightly lit chamber he could only enter after washing down his feet and putting on clean clothes.

Inside, Rajala “noted several plants that were not narcotic,” he wrote. “There was no evidence of marijuana nor any signs of suspicious activity.”

Junior miners lose lustre as financing options, partnerships wane – by John Shmuel (National Post – April 21, 2012)

April 21, 2012

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

Aurelian Resources Inc.’s blockbuster discovery of gold in Ecuador in 2006 pushed the junior miner from a meagre penny stock to a stock market darling that at one point was worth $40 a share. Investors who had speculated on Aurelian cashed in and another junior mining success story was born.

But although Aurelian’s gold find was one of the highest-grade discoveries in recent years, the subsequent development of its gold property, done mostly by Kinross Gold Corp., which bought the company in 2008, might have played out very differently if it had occurred today.

“The perception that’s out there in today’s environment for junior developers and explorers is extremely negative,” said Wendell Zerb, a mining analyst at Canaccord Genuity. “The market is turning around and looking at the junior sector, saying, yes, there have been some successes, but acquisitions have slowed considerably and financing has dried up.”

Junior miners have always brought with them an extremely high risk-reward ratio. For every Aurelian there are easily a dozen failed companies that never see their projects go further than a few drill samples and a handful of over-hyped press releases. But for all the risk, there is no shortage of junior miners for investors to pile their cash into.