Republic of Mining

China’s rare-earths monopoly under fire – by Nicolas Johnson (Globe and Mail – March 14, 2012)

March 14, 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.

The world’s biggest economies are joining forces to oppose China’s limits of exports of rare-earth metals and other key minerals as the risk of a global shortage increases.

The United States, the 27-country European Union and Japan filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization on Tuesday against China’s export restrictions and duties on metals including 17 rare-earth minerals, which are used in electronics and high-tech products and are valued for their properties of magnetism, luminescence and strength.

China, the world’s fastest-growing major economy, has about one-third of the planet’s deposits of rare earths, yet controls more than 90 per cent of global production. It has been reducing shipments abroad to keep more of the metals and minerals for its own manufacturers, leading to shrinking supplies and soaring prices worldwide.

China began dominating the industry in the 1990s by expanding output and driving prices so low that Western countries shut their own mines.

How about ‘Buy Canadian’ for resource projects? – by Jim Stanford (Globe and Mail – March 14, 2012)

March 14, 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.

Jim Stanford is an economist with the Canadian Auto Workers union, which represents both the workers at the Hitachi factory in Guelph and the closed Caterpillar factory in London.

How refreshing it was to open Monday’s Globe and Mail and actually see good news from the Canadian manufacturing heartland. Greg Keenan reported on the expansion of Hitachi’s factory in Guelph, Ont., that makes enormous trucks for mining operations; the plant is doubling output and employment.

Ironically, while the Ontario-made trucks are sold to mining operations across the Americas, Europe and Africa, it doesn’t supply trucks to the biggest mining project in the world, right here in Canada: Alberta’s oil sands. Those super-sized trucks, unfortunately, are imported – from companies such as U.S. heavy equipment maker Caterpillar. It’s a lucrative business: Caterpillar’s Alberta distributor, Finning International Inc., reported record Canadian revenue of almost $3-billion last year (up 30 per cent).

Decrying federal ‘bully tactics,’ B.C. natives vow to block pipeline – by Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – March 14, 2012)

March 14, 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.

OTTAWA— Ottawa is headed for a legal showdown with British Columbia first nations if it insists on proceeding with the Northern Gateway pipeline, the leader of the Yinka Dene Alliance warns.

Chief Jackie Thomas, of the Saik’uz First Nation, was part of a delegation in Ottawa Tuesday meeting with opposition members of Parliament to build support for their anti-pipeline stand. She said her group will pursue a legal challenge if Ottawa approves the pipeline over their objections.

Along with other first-nation communities, the Dene alliance has taken a firm stand against Enbridge Inc.’s plan to build a crude oil pipeline across their land to transport oil-sands bitumen to the B.C. coast for export to Asia.

“We will defend our rights, no matter what bully tactics the federal government throws at us,” she said. “Our decision has been made: Enbridge will never be allowed in our lands.”

Quebec trying to reopen asbestos mine – by Bill Mann (MarketWatch.com – March 13, 2012)

March 13, 2012

http://www.marketwatch.com/

Commentary: Investors staying away from provincial government plan

MarketWatch

PORT TOWNSEND, Wash. (MarketWatch) — There have been some suspect Canadian mining ventures over the years. But none were probably as sketchy — or as unhealthy — as this one.

The provincial government of Quebec is doggedly trying to lure investors to reopen the Jeffrey Mine in lovely, pitted, Asbestos, Quebec. It was closed last year for financial reasons after a cave-in. Quebec’s leader has been trying to find money to kick-start the mine for over a year, in fact. So far, investors have stayed away. Quelle surprise.

Asbestos, you have to admit, doesn’t have quite the same allure as gold or silver. That’s right, asbestos. The same legally radioactive material that makes litigation-averse governments and businesses here in the U.S. close and clean buildings if even a trace of it is found. The same cancerous mineral that has attorneys trolling for lawsuits on cable-TV on behalf of victims afflicted with mesothelioma, a particularly aggressive form of cancer caused by asbestos exposure.

Wanted: 100,000 mining workers in next decade – by Derek Sankey (Vancouver Sun – March 13, 2012)

March 13, 2012

The Vancouver Sun, a broadsheet daily paper first published in 1912, has the largest circulation in the province of British Columbia.

Canada’s mining sector is entering a period of “significant and sustained growth,” according to a recent report from the Mining Association of Canada (MAC), which will translate into the need to hire more than 100,000 additional workers in the next decade.

“Mining in Canada is playing a leading role in Canada’s economic recovery,” says Pierre Gratton, president and chief executive of MAC. “We are generating significant results, we are creating valuable new jobs and we are optimistic about the opportunities in the future.”

The association estimates that Canada’s mining industry plans to invest a further $139-billion in new projects nationwide in the next 10 years. “Working responsibly and co-operatively, we believe mining will be a good news story for Canada for years to come,” Gratton says.

Demand for commodities in countries such as China and India are driving part of the overall appetite for investment in Canada’s mining industry.

Hockey star raises First Nation awareness as cultural ambassador for mining

March 13, 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.

Former Philadelphia Flyers scoring ace Reggie Leach took on the role of cultural ambassador as a luncheon speaker last week to improve Ontario Mining Association members’ awareness of First Nations realities. An Ojibway and member of the Berens River First Nation in Manitoba, he grew up as the youngest in a family of 13 children in Riverton, Manitoba.

Many people are able to recount his exploits and successes on the ice. After being selected third overall in the 1970 National Hockey League entry draft, Reggie Leach went on to play 934 NHL games, score 381 goals and record 285 assists for 666 points. He is a Stanley Cup winner and a Conn Smyth Trophy winner. In the 1975-1976 season, he scored 61 goals in the regular season before netting 19 goals in 16 playoff games — 80 goals in one season.

Fewer people may know about his growing up through a childhood of relative poverty. He didn’t start to skate until he was 10 and he did not have his own pair of skates until he was 14. “I am always trying to give back and my life is now for First Nations kids and getting them going in the right direction,” said Mr. Leach.

No good deed unpunished [Mining supply and services labour shortages] – by David Robinson (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – March 2012)

April 5, 2015March 13, 2012

Dr. David Robinson is an economist at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Canada. His column is from Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. drobinson@laurentian.ca

Good news can be bad news. For the mining supply sector, labour shortages in the mining industry promise good times. They signal that the market is growing, and they almost guarantee there will be growing demand for labour saving equipment and services. They also promise labour shortages for supply firms.

The signs of a labour shortage for mining are everywhere. In Western Australia, mining companies are advertising that they will take workers with no experience. Ads promise high-paying jobs and training for professionals with experience in other industries. The government recently ran a pilot program offering $5,000 to unemployed people to move to Western Australia to take up unskilled mining jobs. The mining industry expects it will need 50,000 to 70,000 people over the next 10 years.

In Canada, a 2010 study by the mining industry concluded that 100,000 new workers will be needed by 2020. With strong international demand, that number could be 40 per cent higher.

New rules for First Nation consultation [in Ontario] – by Norm Tollinsky (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – March, 2012)

March 13, 2012

Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal is a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury.

The verdict is mixed on the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines’ proposed regulations for First Nation consultation.

Posted in late February on the province’s Environmental Registry and detailed in an information update mailed out to 11,000 stakeholders, the regulations introduce “a graduated system of consultation that reflects the type of activity on the land,” said Rob Merwin, director of the Ministry’s Mining Act Secretariat.

Prospectors and exploration companies will still be able to stake claims without notifying First Nations or surface rights owners. They will also be able to access their claims for hand sampling. However, anything more than that, such as line cutting, will require the prospector or exploration company to submit a plan to the Ministry.

“Plans are a notification process through which a prospector or exploration company fills out a form that tells who, where, when and what they plan to do,” said Merwin. “Plans will be shared with affected First Nations and posted on the Ministry’s web site.”

Metals M&A deals set to increase this year – by Nicolas Johnson (Globe and Mail – March 13, 2012)

March 13, 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.

Corporate takeovers in the metals industry are set to increase this year as companies scramble to fight rising costs and ensure access to key materials from iron ore to rare-earth minerals.

The value of mergers and acquisitions in the sector is on course to rise 23 per cent this year to about $83-billion (U.S.), according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

The number of transactions is running near a record high, averaging more than two deals per business day in 2011.

Tie-ups are also increasingly crossing continents and industries, as highlighted by an agreement last year between Brazil’s Vale SA, the world’s largest iron-ore producer, and Norway’s Norsk Hydro ASA, a major aluminum company.

Nervous about nuclear, post-tsunami Japan looks to Canada for energy – by Campbell Clark (Globe and Mail – March 12, 2012)

March 13, 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.

OTTAWA— Japan has rebuilt the highways, but villages and towns swept away by an earthquake and tsunami a year ago are harder to re-establish. And the wider effects will continue to be felt across the country for years.

Among them is a Canadian link. The nuclear-plant meltdown caused by the disaster has Japan rethinking nuclear energy, and that makes the country more keenly interested in Western Canadian pipelines that might one day bring natural gas to be shipped overseas to Asia.

The disaster killed 19,000, devastated towns in eastern Japan, and caused meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that kept the island nation on tenterhooks – and have made its people wary of relying on nuclear energy in the future.

Japan’s ambassador to Canada, Kaoru Ishikawa, said the highways have been rebuilt, and major companies have been able to repair and restart factories in the affected zones of eastern Japan. The government has offered tax incentives for companies to invest and financial assistance to individuals, but there is still a struggle to rebuild lives in many communities.

Vale supports awareness of mining careers with Aboriginal organization

March 12, 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.

Ontario Mining Association member Vale has donated more than $500,000 to support enhancing Aboriginal awareness of career opportunities in the mining industry. Vale’s support of Indspire (formerly known as the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation) helped this educational organization produce the teaching resource “Careers in Mining,” which is aimed at Aboriginal youth.

“Careers in Mining” highlights five career profiles – miner, millwright, environmental engineer, geologist and mine engineer. It is the newest component of Indspire’s “Career Opportunities for Youth” series. Other parts of this series include “Careers in Television Broadcasting,” “Careers in Radio Broadcasting,” “Health Careers in the Classroom,” “Circle of Justice” and “The Canadian Railway Industry.”

The resources of “Careers in Mining” include career profiles, education requirements, activities, necessary work and life skills and a first rate video on mining jobs focused on Aboriginal high school students. Co-Executive Producer of the lively and entertaining 18-plus minute video is Jennifer Podemski.

Critical Raw Materials Revisited – by Richard (Rick) Mills (Aheadoftheherd.com – March, 2012)

March 12, 2012

http://www.aheadoftheherd.com/

A critical or strategic material is a commodity whose lack of availability during a national emergency would seriously affect the economic, industrial, and defensive capability of a country.

The French Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières rates high tech metals as critical, or not, based on three criteria:

Possibility (or not) of substitution
Irreplaceable functionality
Potential supply risks

Demand is increasing for critical metals due to:

Economic growth of developing countries
Emergence of new technologies and products

Access to raw materials at competitive prices has become essential to the functioning of all industrialized economies. As we move forward developing and developed countries will, with their:

McGuinty has made Ontario the land of mediocrity – by Randy Hillier (Calgary Herald – March 11, 2012)

March 12, 2012

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

Randy Hillier is the Progressive Conservative MPP for Lanark-Frontenac- Lennox and Addington.

As I was reading between the lines of the Drummond report, a penny dropped out from the political spin: Premier Dalton McGuinty’s message is that Ontario can no longer compete with the likes of Alberta or Newfoundland because we don’t have their natural resources.

And he is right in this regard; McGuinty has locked our resources away and they remain untouched. The premier has stated that Alberta’s resource wealth has been a burden on the Ontario economy. McGuinty ignores that Alberta’s resource sector would be the exact same as Ontario’s if they were faced with the same regulatory regime.

McGuinty has been too preoccupied crafting regulations that now exceed over a half million. Rather than accepting the word of their beloved environmental advisers, McGuinty and his Liberal government should spend more time discovering Ontario for themselves. If they did, they might actually realize Ontario’s true and vast natural resource wealth.

Hot topics at Ring of Fire – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – March 12, 2012)

March 12, 2012

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

After getting back from his one-day trade mission to the Ring of Fire, Vic Fedeli remains optimistic about the area’s potential.

“I brought mining companies from North Bay in (on Friday),” the Nipissing MPP said. “(The companies saw) the challenges of exploration, and ultimately production, there, but they also saw the opportunity. That was the sole purpose of the trip, to really give North Bay companies a good upper hand in seeing the facility, seeing the sites and being able to come back and be in a position to offer assistance to a company in the Ring of Fire.”

Senior executives from First North Enterprises, Redpath, J.L. Richards, Stantec, GAP and Foraco accompanied Fedeli on the trade mission. This was Fedeli’s second visit to the Ring of Fire area — his first was last August. This time around, he said, it was easier to get to Esker Camp in the James Bay Lowlands, where they stayed and where Noront Resources Ltd. centres its exploration.

“When we went up in the summer, it was a lot more complicated because you had to fly to the town of Webequie and then take a float plane from there into Esker.