Republic of Mining

Energy revival fuelling another Alberta boom – by Tamara Gignac (National Post – December 28, 2011)

December 29, 2011

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

CALGARY — Albertans know all about the B-word: boom. For much of the past decade the economic pace was blistering, led by massive projects in the oil sands. The result was scores of high-paying jobs, a red hot real estate market and an influx of thousands of new migrants.

The party was good while it lasted. But in 2008, Albertans were blindsided by another B-word: bust. A collapse in energy prices, the result of the U.S. financial crisis, took the steam out of Alberta’s once-buoyant economy.

The oil patch shelved or cancelled billions of dollars worth of projects, jobs evaporated virtually overnight and ordinary Albertans struggled to pay their mortgages.

But after sputtering for much of the last three years, Alberta appears poised to regain its position as Canada’s economic juggernaut.

Canadian companies flock to N. Dakota’s Bakken oil play – by Nathan Vanderklippe (Globe and Mail – December 29, 2011)

December 29, 2011

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.

WILLISTON, N.D.— Kim Lindsay looks up at the gleaming steel of Precision Drilling Corp.’s Rig 560, dusted in snow and towering above the North Dakota prairie, and smiles.

“This is hot off the press – been out a month,” said Mr. Lindsay, a U.S. manager with the company. The yellow paint on the rig’s Caterpillar engines is unsullied. The technology is state of the art, with a driller operating a joystick in front of rows of flat-panel monitors that look like something out of NASA mission control. Built in Canada, the rig was trucked across the border to drill for oil.

By March, Precision intends to have 33 of these rigs running – their drill bits aimed at a lucrative payload nearly three kilometres beneath the earth. It is the Middle Bakken formation, known to most as simply the Bakken, a reservoir jammed with so much oil that companies have flocked from all over the world to profit from it.

NEWS RELEASE: Sudden Passing of John Zigarlick, Chairman of Nuna Logistics Limited

December 28, 2011

EDMONTON, Dec. 20, 2011 /CNW/ – Mervyn Hempenstall, CEO of Nuna Logistics Limited, announced the sudden passing of John Zigarlick, Nuna Logistics’ Chairman, on December 17, 2011. “As founder and Chairman, John Zigarlick was the pillar of the Company. John’s passion about the North and its development was an inspiration to us all.

He will be missed by many of us who saw him as a mentor and friend,” said Mervyn early today. Amongst his numerous achievements, John will be best remembered for the pioneering spirit he demonstrated in 1980 in the concept, planning and execution of placing Echo Bay’s Lupin gold mine into production. Echo Bay developed from a small silver producer with a net worth of $7 million in 1979, to a corporation with a 1995 market capitalization of approximately $2 billion. Mr. Zigarlick spent 21 years in the employment of Echo Bay Mines Ltd., including 16 years as President and CEO.

Building Canada’s Epic Ice Road (Popular Mechanics – December 18, 2009)

December 28, 2011

http://www.popularmechanics.com/

“If you want to learn about Canadian ice roads, sooner
or later you have to talk to John Zigarlick.”

The truckers who haul 70-ton rigs hundreds of miles across Canada’s frozen lakes aren’t afraid of much — except warm weather.

The temperature: 10 below zero. The location: the middle of frozen Waite Lake in the Northwest Territories, 1000 miles north of the U.S. border. I’m with six Canadian ice-road experts on the shoulder of a highway that curves from the powder-frosted shoreline forest, across the lake and into the distance. In the pale light of winter, even the sun seems frozen.

Fifty yards away, a tanker truck hauling 40 tons of fuel oil inches forward, its huge diesel rumbling. I’m startled to hear the ice beneath our feet make a sound like shattering window glass, but no one else seems to notice. Apparently, ice that’s 3 ft. thick behaves this way when you drive a massive truck over it.

But something else I notice is definitely not normal. A few yards from the road, Waite Lake’s smooth surface rears up in jagged shards; beyond is a pool of black water.

‘Landmark decision’ — Veinot allowed back on property – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – December 24, 2011)

December 28, 2011

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

United Steelworkers was claiming a major victory and enjoying an early Christmas after Vale Ltd. was convicted of unfair labour practice in what the union calls a landmark decision by the Ontario Labour Relations Board.

Board chair Bernard Fishbein ruled Thursday that Vale unlawfully denied USW Local 6500 vice-president Patrick Veinot access to Vale workplaces after the company fired him during the union’s year-long strike against the company.

Vale said it had the authority to fire Veinot, and eight other Steelworkers, for bad conduct on picket lines and in the community, but USW challenged that at the labour board.

One Steelworker retired immediately after the strike ended July 8, 2010. An OLRB tribunal is currently reviewing evidence presented by the union and the company in a separate matter.

John Zigarlick Jr. – The Northern Miner 1984 “Mining Man of the Year” – by Patrick Whiteway

December 28, 2011

Since 1915, the Northern Miner weekly newspaper has chronicled Canada’s globally significant mining sector.

Working at the leading edge of gold mine development in North America is Echo Bay Mines of Edmonton under the quiet, confident leadership of President John Zigarlick Jr. – our choice for Mining Man-of-the-Year.

While some goldmines struggle under the pressures of falling gold prices, Echo Bay is one of the companies always looking ahead, using new ideas to explore for and mine low-grade oxidized deposits of the southwestern U.S. and the high-grade sulphide deposits in the Canadian far north.

Born in Winnipeg and raised in the northern mining town of Uranium City, Saskatchewan, Mr. Zigarlick is no stranger to the north where the majority of Echo Bay’s interests lie. His knowledge of the north and the ability of people to work there was, no doubt, the source of his confidence in opening up the far north to mining activities previously thought to be either impossible or virtually uneconomic to even attempt.

Just how resourceful are we? [Material shortages or not?] – by Eoin Redahan (Materials World – December 4, 2011)

December 28, 2011

Materials World magazine and website is specifically devoted to the engineering materials cycle, from mining and extraction, through processing and application, to recycling and recovery.

The house asked if we should be concerned about the future global supply of strategic materials. After listening to the tactful use of statistics, semantics and the C word, delegates at the Royal Academy of Engineering debate in London, UK, had to decide. Eoin Redahan regurgitates both sides of the argument.

‘There is no need for concern’

Horses lowered the tone in 19th Century London. With equine waste littering the roads, it was predicted that the city would be buried beneath manure by the year 2000.

The motion’s proponents argued that there is similar scaremongering today when it comes to strategic minerals. In the early 1970s, we were supposedly running out of tin, zinc and lead, yet they are still being mined 40 years later.

The evening’s first speaker, Andrew Bloodworth, Head of Science for Minerals and Waste at the British Geological Survey, said there hasn’t been an increase in new discoveries, but technological advances, improved methods of working old technology and better accessibility have helped increase yields in brownfield sites. ‘We can now move lowgrade deposits in more difficult environments,’ he said. ‘We are doing more with less.’

Brazil: South America’s tiger – by Jorge Heine (Toronto star – December 28, 2011)

December 28, 2011

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.

Jorge Heine holds the CIGI Chair in Global Governance at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University. His book (with Andrew Cooper) Which Way Latin America? Hemispheric Politics Meets Globalization, is published by United Nations University Press.

For those who arrive by ship to what some describe as the most beautiful city in the world, landfall can be disappointing. The first thing one is confronted with after setting foot in Rio de Janeiro and going through customs, is an elevated highway running along the coast, blocking views both ways. But there is good news.

That highway, an urban monstrosity if there ever was one, will be one of the first things to go as Rio gets a facelift for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. The underground burial of this monument to the “cult of the car” in 20th century cities, is part and parcel of Brazil’s massive infrastructure spending program as it gears up for hosting the world’s two leading sports events.

Drilling for discovery [Northwestern Ontario’s mining sector] – by Maureen Arges Nadin (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – December 28, 2011)

January 11, 2012December 28, 2011

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

Maureen Arges Nadin is a contributor to The Chronicle-Journal.

Every grade school student in Ontario learns that mining is one of the major industries of Northwestern Ontario. But beyond getting a good grade in social studies, most of us never give it more than a passing thought or fully appreciate its importance to the economy and culture of this region.

The mining industry is a strong and rock-solid presence in this area and regularly hums with activity. But most of that activity flies under the radar of every-day folks, who may not have a direct involvement with the industry.

But developments in the provocatively named Ring of Fire have awakened a new-found interest in the mining sector. People are paying attention, and inspired by the promise of renewed activity and jobs, they are looking to enhance their knowledge of mining in Northwestern Ontario.

Thunder Bay has a strong connection to the mining sector, and since the Hemlo gold discoveries in the 1980s, it has served as the regional service hub for the exploration and mining sectors.

Millions From Diamonds Go to Mugabe, Observers Say – by John Eligon (New York Time – December 16, 2011)

September 5, 2016December 27, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/

JOHANNESBURG — Tens of millions of dollars in diamond profits — perhaps more — are being secretly extracted from state-owned mines in eastern Zimbabwe, bypassing the nation’s treasury and raising fears that President Robert Mugabe is amassing wealth to help extend his 31-year reign, according to monitoring groups, diplomats, lawmakers and analysts.

Even if Mr. Mugabe’s allies in the mining ministry are telling the truth about the number of diamonds produced, the treasury was still shortchanged by at least $60 million last year, according to a budget report by the finance minister, one of the president’s chief opponents.

But the amount of money being withheld from the nation’s coffers may be much larger than that. Experts, and even some members of Mr. Mugabe’s own party, say the president’s allies are lowballing the nation’s diamond figures by millions of dollars, hoping to hide the fact that profits are being diverted for personal and political ends.

Minerals mining in Arizona can help spur U.S. economic growth – by Senator Al Melvin, R-Tucson, and Joe Hart, Arizona State Mine Inspector (The Arizona Republic – September 26, 2011)

December 27, 2011

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/azrepdex.html

The explosion in worldwide demand for minerals is good for Arizona’s mineral producers, including the state’s copper mines, which produce more copper than all the other 49 states combined and account for more than 60 percent of the nation’s total copper production. Arizona’s mineral mines have also made a positive contribution to our state and national economy.

According to a recent study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, mineral mining in Arizona supported more than 62,000 jobs, contributed roughly $7.5 billion to the state’s GDP and generated $1.8 billion in taxes to local, state and federal governments in 2008.

And that’s just Arizona. More than 1.1 million jobs are supported nationwide by mineral mining, and last year U.S. manufacturing used minerals to make products or provide services that added more than $2 trillion to the economy – approximately 14 percent of the nation’s GDP.

Mining firms in Arizona seek riches – by Ryan Randazzo (The Arizona Republic – December 24, 2011)

December 27, 2011

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/azrepdex.html

Investors face long odds in quest for mineral profits

Arizona is the top copper producer in the U.S., but several small-time geologists and entrepreneurs combing the rocky desert in hopes of finding the next bonanza don’t produce any minerals at all.

Many exploration companies prospecting in Arizona hope to raise money through the stock markets to take investors along on their risky hunt for mineral profits.

They might have historical maps of their mines, ore samples, assay reports and other data, but almost none have a shovel in the ground.

Exploration companies face extremely long odds of finding minerals that big firms have overlooked and raising the money to dig for them, but they persist on the small chance they could strike it rich.

“It is definitely a risky form of investment,” said Daniel Bleak of Mesa, who has been involved in several exploration ventures, most recently Silver Horn Mining Ltd., which has stock traded on the over-the-counter market. “It is a long shot. It is just like the old oil fields.”

Oil jobs the new gold as thousands join N.D. rush – by Nathan Vanderklippe and Paul Waldie (Globe and Mail – December 27, 2011)

December 27, 2011

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.

WILLISTON, N.D. AND WINNIPEG – In the icy parking lot of the Wal-Mart in Williston, N.D., the next wave of economic refugees is washing in, counting down the hours until they can turn their back on a past they’d like to forget.

On one chilly day in December, there’s the family from North Carolina, which has crammed mom, dad, teenage son and two dogs into an old Winnebago, driving some 3,000 kilometres in hopes of finding work. And there is Eric Larsson, who has come more than 1,000 kilometres from eastern Idaho in a truck loaded with tools, looking for a job after his position vanished – along with his house – three years ago. He’s pulling a trailer he just bought so he can have a place to sleep.

“I pretty much spent $10,000 on a wing and a prayer to get here,” he says.

These people, and thousands of others whose stories bear a striking similarity, have come to join the frenzy – by plane, by ratty truck, by train. Williston, with a population of around 20,000, was a quiet North Dakota town, surrounded by oil fields that had been in decline for decades.

‘Tight oil’ holds promise of ending U.S. oil imports – by Nathan Vanderklippe (Globe and Mail – December 26, 2011)

December 27, 2011

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.

WILLISTON, N.D.— The drilling rigs puncture the horizons and tuck into the valleys of the bald North Dakota landscape. Their steel towers have taken root on a tableau of badlands and treeless plains that extends for more than 100 kilometres.

They are like steeples in the French countryside, erected in ever greater numbers, more every month, by an industry whose only deity is oil. Near many are the flares, the votive candles of the hydrocarbon age, where natural gas not worth enough to save is burned in enormous fireballs, some the size of small cars, so brilliant they blind drivers at night.

Cutting through it all are the roads – paved, gravel, red rock – that carry the rumbling parade of trucks, some burdened with supplies for the rigs, others with the oil they have prodded from the earth.

This is the place the energy companies call the Bakken, an oil play that has erupted across a forgotten corner of the U.S. It is a frenzy of drilling and pumping and moneymaking.