Republic of Mining

Ontario staggers under burden of fiscal federalism – by Matthew Mendelsohn (Toronto Star – March 7, 2012)

March 7, 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.

Matthew Mendelsohn is director of the Mowat Centre at the School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Toronto.

The Drummond report’s chapter on “Intergovernmental Relations” has received little attention so far. That needs to change. The chapter provides a devastating, evidence-based case that lays a lot of the blame for Ontario’s fiscal woes on the steps of the federal government.

When Premier Dalton McGuinty complained on Monday about federal decisions that are having a disproportionate effect on Ontario, he actually had the evidence on his side.

Chapter 20 of Don Drummond’s report begins by noting that in 2009-10, Ontario, with 39 per cent of the Canadian population, contributed 39 per cent to federal revenues, but benefited from only 34 per cent of federal spending — a gap worth about $12.3 billion or 2.1 per cent of Ontario’s GDP. The report concludes that this — among other factors — demonstrates the “perverse structure of Canadian fiscal federalism.”

ONTARIO GOVERNMENT NEWS RELEASE: Marketing Ontario Mining Expertise To The World

March 7, 2012

March 6, 2012 1:00 PM

McGuinty Government Strengthening Mining Supply And Services Sector

Ontario is helping its mining supply and services sector expand into new international markets which is boosting the economy and creating jobs.

Through its Mining Supply and Services Export Assistance Program (MSSEAP), the Province is helping the sector market its innovative products and services to buyers from all over the world through an international marketing campaign. A key component of this campaign is a new brand slogan – “Mining is at our Core” – that will help companies identify mining supplies and services made in Ontario. Support from MSSEAP has already helped secure more than $30 million in international sales and created new jobs for families.

Supporting a successful mining sector is part of the McGuinty government’s plan to create jobs and strengthen the province’s economy in the face of global economic uncertainty.

ONTARIO GOVERNMENT NEWS RELEASE: Mineral Exploration Investment Hits Record Billion Dollar Level

March 7, 2012

March 5, 2012 1:00 PM

McGuinty Government Supports Mining Sector, Creates Jobs

Investment in mineral exploration in Ontario in 2011 surpassed $1 billion for the first time, driving economic activity and creating jobs.

Ontario leads all Canadian jurisdictions in mineral exploration, with 26 per cent of the country’s exploration investment activity located within the province. In the search for new mines, the mineral development industry invests in a wide array of supplies and services, including heavy equipment rentals, diamond drilling services, laboratory services, and claim staking and geological services.

Supporting a successful mining sector is part of the McGuinty government’s plan to create new jobs for Ontario families and to strengthen the economy.

“Record levels of investment in mineral exploration are a product of our world class geological endowment and our superior investment climate.

NEWS RELEASE: Alliance formed between Aroland and Marten Falls First Nations to ensure their rights and interests are protected in the development of the Ring of Fire

March 7, 2012

Mar 6th, 2012 4:18 PM

Media Release

(Queen’s Park Media Studio, March 06, 2012) Today, Chief Eli Moonias of Marten Falls First Nation and Chief Sonny Gagnon of Aroland First Nation outlined to the Ontario government their position on mining development in their Territory. Chief Moonias and Chief Gagnon are founding members of the North-South Alliance.

The two Chiefs are in Toronto to monitor Ring of Fire related activity at the Prospector & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) International Convention, Trade Show & Investors Exchange.

The Ring of Fire mineral deposit is located within First Nations homelands in Northern Ontario. Currently there are over 35,000 staked mining claims in the area. The majority of claims are staked in the Ring of Fire area which holds immeasurable wealth in the form of chromite and precious minerals with tonnage that can potentially drive Ontario’s economy for decades.

Ontario Mining Association helps teach teachers about mining

March 7, 2012March 7, 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.

The Ontario Mining Association has been busy lately making sure teachers – and students – gain a better understanding of the mineral industry and the employment opportunities it offers. Lesley Hymers, OMA Environment and Education Specialist, carried the educational flag at three different outreach events recently.

On February 17, 2012, 85 teachers from the Toronto District School Board were guests of the University of Toronto’s Geology Department to learn more about the mineral industry and career options. It was a day dedicated to Earth science professional development.

Ms. Hymers ran a session focused on career education that presented the wide-range of job opportunities in mining. In addition to sharing mineral industry career themed hands-on learning activities with the teachers, she delivered a presentation that outlined a variety of career resources available to teachers from the OMA and partner organizations, including Skills Canada Ontario, the Mining Industry Human Resource Council (MiHR) and the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s Mining Matters program.

NEWS RELEASE: Miller – “McGuinty government’s random approach to mining policy sends wrong signal to exploration companies.”

March 7, 2012

For Immediate Release

March 6, 2012

(Queen’s Park) The McGuinty government and Minister of Northern Development and Mines continue claims of support for the industry while simultaneously removing more land from exploration in Ontario’s North.

This highlights the government’s contradictory and confused mining policies. Since the McGuinty government took power, just as DeBeers’ Victor Mine was about to open, they slapped on a diamond royalty; shifted the provincial burden for the “duty to consult” onto mining industry; and removed more than a quarter million square kilometers from exploration.

Quotes

“The decision to remove this land from mining was a surprise, even to the First Nation community. These kind of arbitrary decisions are a big negative for mining exploration companies. It says that Ontario is closed for business.”
PC Northern Development and Mines Critic, Norm Miller.

Montreal company to manage $2-billion Vale project in Sudbury – Star Staff (Sudbury Star – March 6, 2012)

March 7, 2012

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

SNC-Lavalin Group Inc of Montreal won a contract to manage the modernization of Vale’s nickel smelter complex in Sudbury.

SNC did not say Monday how much the Vale contract was worth, but analysts estimated it to be about C$200 million over three years.

A construction and engineering company, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. will oversee the $2-billion environmental upgrade at the smelter, known as the Clean AER (Atmospheric Emissions Reduction) Project.

The firm said it will work with local contractors. The project is expected to reduce emissions of sulphur dioxide by 70% from current levels, and cut dust and metal emissions by up to 40%.

[Ring of Fire] Chiefs oppose chromite plant for Sudbury – by Star Staff (Sudbury Star – March 7, 2012)

March 7, 2012

A $1.8-billion ferrochrome processing facility and the 500 jobs it will create won’t be located in Sudbury if native leaders from northwestern Ontario have their way.

The chiefs of the Marten Falls and Aroland First Nations say the plant – and others like it built to process minerals from the Ring of Fire area – should be located on their territories.

It was one of a list of demands Chief Eli Moonias of Marten Falls First Nation and Chief Sonny Gagnon of Aroland First Nation made public Tuesday during a press conference in Toronto.

The two chiefs are in Toronto to monitor Ring of Fire related activity at the Prospector & Developers Association of Canada International Convention, Trade Show & Investors Exchange.

Bisson fears ONR will derail – by Kyle Gennings (Timmins Daily Press – March 6, 2012)

March 7, 2012

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

Drummond Report calls for privatization

Since 1902, the Ontario Northland Railway has been providing transportation, supplies and a life link to the countless communities that dot the Northern reaches of the province.

Recently, the government commissioned a report to assess the provincial deficit, make suggestions for cost cutting and provide a five-year fiscal plan. The result was the Drummond Report.

The report raises a number of issues for Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson, the most prominent being the future of Ontario Northland.

“The problem is that when the government commissioned Drummond to make his report, they essentially said to him, ‘you can only look at the expenditures side of the budget sheet, you cannot look at the revenue side,’” he said. “How do you balance a budget a if you don’t look at the revenue side?”

Ontario to protect 23,000 square kilometers of native land from mining – by Tanya Talaga (Toronto Star – March 6, 2012)

March 6, 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.

In a surprise move, the province has protected 23,181 square kilometres of traditional First Nation land in northern Ontario away from mining firms.

The land in question is near the territory of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) about 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay. God’s Lake Resources, a junior gold mining firm, has plans for a 3,000-metre drill program in the area.

This is not the first time KI has been in a dispute over land use. Four years ago, KI was embroiled in a long-standing conflict with Platinex, a Canadian exploration firm, who sued Ontario and the Cree First Nation because they said they were prevented from accessing their mining claims.

The province spent $5 million to settle the dispute.

Native law a growing field – by Drew Hasselback (National Post – March 6, 2012)

March 6, 2012

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

One of the newest and most rapidly developing areas of the Canadian legal system is aboriginal law.

If you think about it, it’s downright bizarre that this should be “new.” The documents that underpin the legal relationship between First Nations and the British Crown date back centuries. For whatever reasons, the court rulings that define the current legal relationship are just a few years old.

With so many Canadian mining projects on or near aboriginal territories, this has tremendous legal consequences for mining companies.

The law is simple to state, but hard to implement. First that easy part, stating the law: If you want to develop a mine any place that affects a First Nations community or its land rights, the Crown has a duty to consult with that native community before the project gets a green light.

Copper miner has golden touch – by Peter Koven (National Post – March 6, 2012)

March 6, 2012

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

Ross Beaty is the first to admit it – he is an incredibly lucky guy. Thanks to an epic financial crisis and the hard work of an outside company, Mr. Beaty’s Lumina Copper Corp. has stumbled into the biggest new copper discovery in years. The Taca Taca project in Argentina seems to add more pounds of copper by the week, and Mr. Beaty’s favourite hobby these days is just keeping track of it.

He keeps a giant wall map of Taca Taca in his office. Each day, he receives a report from the property and plots it out on the map. Despite being a veteran of many copper discoveries, the results from this project continue to amaze him.

“Just this morning, today, we had a hole that could add 800 million pounds to the size of this project,” the famed Vancouver mining entrepreneur and founder of Pan American Silver Corp. said in an interview in February. “It’s just ridiculous.”

China’s growth forecast chills commodity markets – by Richard Blackwell and Nicolas Johnson (Globe and Mail – March 6, 2012)

March 6, 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 prospect of slower growth in China threw a scare into commodity markets on Monday, raising worries about the sustainability of Asia’s voracious demand for a host of natural resources.

Commodity prices slumped and stocks in the sector retreated sharply after China lowered its gross domestic product growth target for the year to 7.5 per cent from 8, extending a trend of slowing expansion. Last year the economy grew by 9.2 per cent, down from 10.3 in 2010.

The new GDP target, if hit, would be the first dip below 8 per cent since 2004, a significant change for the world’s second-largest economy. China is a huge buyer of raw materials – its demand takes up more than 40 per cent of the world’s copper, zinc, aluminum and nickel – so any slowdown in consumption can send prices tumbling in those commodities and many others.

The S&P/TSX capped metals and mining index sank 4.4 per cent Monday. Copper prices fell about 1 per cent, while gold was down $5.90 (U.S.) an ounce to $1,703.90.

Honourable Joe Oliver, P.C., M.P. Canadian Minister of Natural Resources PDAC Speech – (March 5, 2012 – Toronto, Canada)

March 6, 2012March 6, 2012

(L to R)Honourable Joe Oliver, P.C., M.P. federal Minister of Natural Resources, Ross Gallinger, Executive Director, Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC)

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Introduction

Thanks very much, Scott (Scott Jobin-Bevans, President of PDAC), and thanks to the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada for the opportunity to be part of this great event.

I also want to thank Alex Jacobs, elder and member of the Ojibway First Nation of Whitefish Lake, for being here.

It is a pleasure to be here, and to welcome all of our visitors to Toronto and to Canada.

I have to congratulate P-DAC for putting together yet another outstanding program. When P-DAC says this is “where the world’s mineral industry meets,” it’s not exaggerating.

P-DAC is the premier event of its kind in the world. The 2011 convention attracted over 1,000 exhibitors and nearly 28,000 attendees, including 1,500 students and 7,000 international delegates from 120 countries.

Honourable Joe Oliver, P.C., M.P. federal Minister of Natural Resources tours PDAC convention

Honourable Rick Bartolucci: Minister of Northern Development, Mines Official Opening Ontario Pavilion (PDAC) Speech – (Toronto – March 5, 2012)

March 6, 2012March 6, 2012

(L to R) Garry Clark, Executive Director of the Ontario Prospectors Association; Honourable Rick Bartolucci, Minister of Northern Development, Mines; Chris Hodgson, President of Ontario Mining Association; Bill Mauro, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Northern Development and Mines

Metro Convention Centre Toronto

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Good afternoon, everyone.

I’d like to begin by thanking Garry Clark, Executive Director of the Ontario Prospectors Association and Chris Hodgson, President of the Ontario Mining Association for joining me here today.

I welcome this opportunity to officially open the Ontario Pavillion and to highlight or, to be blunt, brag to the international mining community, about the many accomplishments and strengths of Ontario as a world leader in mining.

I’ve had the opportunity to discuss mineral and mining development with Garry and Chris on many occasions. Their insights are invaluable and, when it comes to achieving the ultimate goal of sustainable mineral development, I believe we are all “on side.”

I would also like welcome Mayor Marianne Matichuk of Greater Sudbury, Mayor Keith Hobbs of Thunder Bay, Mayor Tom Laughren of Timmins, and Mayor Al MacDonald of North Bay, who are in attendance today.