Republic of Mining

NEWS RELEASE: MassMin 2012 – Advancing the State-of-the-Art in Mass Mining

October 26, 2011

The 6th International Conference & Exhibition on Mass Mining
Held for the first time in [Sudbury] Canada June 11 to 14, 2012

MONTREAL, Oct. 26, 2011 /CNW Telbec/ – The 6th International Conference & Exhibition on Mass Mining, Advancing the State-of-the-Art in Mass Mining: MassMin 2012, will be held for the first time in Canada, from June 11 to 14, 2012. This premier technical mining conference will take place in Sudbury, Ontario.

After the US, South Africa, Australia, Chile and Sweden; it’s time for Canada to host this important conference for the first time. “Sudbury is one of the three key mining supply areas in the world and we are very proud to host this conference,” says Dr. Greg Baiden, International Committee Conference Chair, CEO – Penguin Automated Systems and Professor – School of Engineering Laurentian University.

MassMin 2012 local and international committees are composed of highly influential individuals directly involved in the transition from open-pit to underground mining. Sessions will be presented by companies such as Vale, Codelco, Rio Tinto, Subsea Massive Sulphides, Lunar Mining and Robotic Mine of the future.

‘All-out war’ feared as Congo goes to the polls – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – October 26, 2011)

October 26, 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.

JOHANNESBURG – One of Africa’s biggest and most unstable countries is sliding toward a resurgence of armed conflict as a crucial election campaign is increasingly tainted by fraud allegations and violent clashes.

Few people are expecting a fair vote on Nov. 28 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and analysts predict that the mounting distrust is likely to trigger more violence after the election. Up to five million people have died since 1998 in Congo in one of the world’s bloodiest civil wars.

Despite the danger signs, the international community has cut back its support for Congo’s democratic process after providing massive funding for Congo’s first-ever democratic election in 2006. The Canadian government is facing criticism for sending only six observers to monitor the election in a vast country of about 72 million people and 62,000 voting stations.

Congo, formerly known as Zaire, is one of the most mineral-rich and strategically important nations in Africa, attracting billions of dollars of investment by Canadian mining companies alone.

Canadian strength leads to push in mining – by Drew Hasselback – (National Post – October 26, 2011)

October 26, 2011

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

How Chambers went to South America and found Canada

Even the most geographically confused individual has to know that Canada is nowhere near South America. So you wouldn’t expect to see any Canadian firms mentioned in a legal directory that lists the best law firms and lawyers in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Yet the 2012 Chambers Latin America and Caribbean directory contains a unique section called Projects, Mining: Leading Canadian Firms. I think it speaks to the growing international recognition that Canadian firms enjoy in the mining world. Here you have a guide that’s supposed to list the leading law firms in Latin America, and yet it goes out of the way to point out that if you’re looking for expertise on mining projects, you should consider approaching the eight Canadian firms profiled on the list — even though only one of them has its own offices in South America.

In fact, if you leaf through the guide or check it out online, you’ll see Chambers even had to invent a special category to reflect this reality.

‘Family focus’ in oil patch – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – October 26, 2011)

October 26, 2011

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

In meetings with oil and gas executives and the media in Calgary last week, British Columbia Premier Christy Clark spoke about how energy development in her province fits well with her family-focused agenda.

Family agenda? The typical oil pitch – whether from a politician or an industry executive – tends to boast about the benefits to Canada of being an energy superpower, expands on the efforts to shrink the environmental footprint, warns about the need to diversify markets. It is loaded with jargon such as “environmental stewardship,” “supply mix” and “portfolio of opportunities.”

“Families are the most important structure in any healthy society” is the way the B.C. Premier chose to explain why she wants more energy projects in her province. “I recognize that for families to be able to do a good job, they need to have a job. All the wealth-creators I met here in Alberta are interested in creating wealth, but are also interested in creating jobs. When jobs are created, when economic activity is enabled, it’s good for families.”

Longtime [Sudbury labour] activist dies at 89 – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – October 26, 2011)

October 26, 2011

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper. cmulligan@thesudburystar.com

Members of United Steelworkers Local 6500– and working people in Sudbury — owe a debt of gratitude to a man whom many of them have never met.

Gilbert “Gib” Gilchrist, a former senior staff representative for USW Local 6500 and a former president of the Sudbury & District Labour Council, died Monday in Gore Bay at age 89. Longtime friend and fellow labour activist Homer Seguin, 77, was deeply saddened to learn Tuesday about his friend’s death.

Seguin, a former USW staff representative and Local 6500 president, said he first met Gilchrist in 1964 when Seguin was a trustee with the union and Gilchrist arrived in Sudbury from Elliot Lake. Gilchrist was born near Spr ing Bay on Manitoulin Island, the youngest of nine children, on a farm his family homesteaded in 1883.

Native communities playing catch-up [in mining sector] – by Ryan Lux (Timmins Daily Press – October 26, 2011)

October 26, 2011

The Daily Press, the city of Timmins newspaper.

Chiefs say they could have benefited from information offered at summit

When Detour Mine initiated talks to re-start operations in Mattagami First Nation territory, Chief Walter Naveau says the band lacked the expertise to properly engage in those early negotiations. Naveau said the community leader would have benefited from the type of information being offered at this week’s Mining Ready Summit.

First Nation leaders from across the Northeast along with mining company representatives have gathered in Timmins for two days to share expertise and collaborate on the future of resource development in traditional territories.

Looking back, Naveau said, “Initially, we were in a place where we weren’t too sure what was happening in terms of duty to consult. Then we started looking to our treaty rights and spoke with lawyers and consultants.”

He said it has been hard to keep up with the pace of development when his community started off with a deficit of mining knowledge.

Act now or miss out on [mining] opportunities, Hodgson warns [First Nations] – by Ryan Lux (Timmins Daily Press – October 26, 2011)

October 26, 2011

The Daily Press, the city of Timmins newspaper.

Two-day mining summit kicks off in Timmins

First Nations in Ontario’s Far North need to lobby government to cut down the time it takes for a mine to be approved by half or risk missing out on what could be the last chance to profit from the ore under their traditional territories. That was the message Ontario Mining Association president Chris Hodgson delivered to an audience at the Mining Ready Summit in Timmins Tuesday night.

“There’s this sense that the minerals are in the ground and will be valuable whenever we get around to developing them, but the fact is they might not be worth anything by then,” Hodgson said.

He pointed to research which shows commodity prices have been declining since the late 19th century, except for in times of great demographic change, like mass industrialization of the U.S., and the reconstruction efforts following both world wars.

Independent audit vindicates Silvercorp – by Brenda Bouw (Globe and Mail – October 25, 2011)

October 25, 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.

Silvercorp Metals Inc., the China-focused miner battling allegations of wrongdoing, says an independent audit has cleared its name, but the company won’t claim victory until the anonymous short sellers behind the accusations are punished.

A KPMG Forensics Inc. audit released on Monday vindicates Vancouver-based Silvercorp’s claims that it has not overstated revenues, as alleged in two sets of reports that surfaced last month.

“It confirms our business is real … There is no fraud,” Silvercorp chairman and chief executive officer Rui Feng said in an interview from Hong Kong on Monday.

KPMG was hired by a special committee of the Silvercorp board to investigate the accusations and found its recent cash and short-term investment balances were “substantially correct” and that revenues were not exaggerated.

Fort McMurray: The heart of the oil patch seeks its soul – by Nathan Vanderklippe (Globe and Mail – October 25, 2011)

October 25, 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.

CALGARY— When Jennifer Keesmaat began thinking about how to transform the boomtown heart of the oil sands into a thriving centre, she grew slightly despondent.

“When we started in Fort McMurray, the very first thing we said is, ‘This is the twilight zone. No rules that apply anywhere else apply here,’ ” said Ms. Keesmaat, an urban planner with Toronto-based Dialog, which has been hired to help fix the city. But she returned from an initial visit to the area this spring questioning how to do it.

“I came back and held my head in my hands and thought, ‘Oh my, finally I’ve met my match. This nut is too big to crack.’ ”

But as Fort McMurray faces a future of explosive growth, it is nonetheless trying to do exactly that. It has employed a network of consultants, and petitioned its own people, in an attempt to figure out how to remake a modern-day hinterland gold rush town into an entertaining, vibrant city.

Keystone pipeline could face new hurdle in Nebraska – Nathan Vanderklippe (Globe and Mail – October 25, 2011)

October 25, 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.

Nebraska’s governor has ordered a special session of the state legislature to examine potential new oil pipeline rules, a reversal of course that opens the possibility of substantial delays to the controversial Keystone XL project.

Republican Governor Dave Heineman made a surprise announcement on Monday, calling the Nov. 1 sitting, which he said in a statement will “determine if siting legislation can be crafted and passed for pipeline routing in Nebraska.”

Such a rule would give the state the power to approve or deny the pipeline’s intended path. Draft siting legislation has been underway for many months, but needed a special legislative session to be enacted before construction begins on the pipeline.

There are questions about whether such a rule can withstand legal scrutiny. If passed, it will present the most formidable obstacle to the Keystone XL project to date. It could take several years for Keystone backer TransCanada Corp. (TRP-T43.65-0.30-0.68%) to gain approval for an amendment of the current route.

A New Addiction the US Can’t Afford: [Vanadium] Foreign Batteries – by By Ron MacDonald

October 24, 2011

Based in Vancouver, Canada, Ron MacDonald is Vice Chairman & Director, Senior Council Global Markets of American Vanadium Corp.

The US government’s commitment to supporting both the renewable energy and electric vehicle industries underlines the need for the rapid development of the automotive and mass storage batteries, and has thrown the spotlight on domestic vanadium supplies.

In the not-too-distant future, will America find itself exchanging an addiction to foreign oil with an addiction to foreign batteries? Or will it create a successful battery market policy through its current efforts to bolster manufacturing while securing strategic materials? Either way, it seems certain that playing a critical role will be a little known element: vanadium.

It’s easy to connect the four dots involved: (1) US government policy is focused on reducing reliance on foreign oil and lowering CO2 emissions; (2) As a result, renewable energy investments and electric vehicles production will capture an increasingly large part of the American economy; (3) Since renewables such as wind and solar require mass storage batteries to effectively integrate with the grid, and since electric vehicles require higher performance batteries to compete with gas-burning cars; then (4) new battery solutions are vital to the US hitting its policy targets.

Matawa [Ring of Fire] demand ‘unfortunate’ – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – October 24, 2011)

October 24, 2011

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

Cliffs Natural Resources says it’s committed to “working hand-in-hand” with nine remote First Nations that could benefit from the company’s proposed chromite mine in the Ring of Fire.

But the company said it’s disappointed over last week’s all-or-nothing demand by Matawa First Nations for a higher level environmental review into the mine proposal. “It’s unfortunate that the focus is over the panel (review) versus comprehensive approaches,” Cliffs said in a statement.

“The comprehensive review process provides a clear and thorough path, as well as the flexibility to address the specific concerns of impacted communities,” the statement said.

Matawa is demanding a government-appointed joint review panel — similar to the one underway for a copper and palladium mine near Marathon — because “it allows for more public participation (including) oral hearings to be held in each community.”

Let’s hear from the 2011 OMA So You Think You Know Mining winners

October 24, 2011

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.

As the Ontario Mining Association prepares to officially launch the fourth edition of its high school video competition So You Think You Know Mining, we thought it might be a good idea to hear from some of the 2011 winners. The SYTYKM winners are an accomplished group of students who have benefitted from participation in this OMA film making initiative.

The winner in the Best Overall category in 2011, which carried a $5,000 prize, was Amanda Ceniti from Georgetown District High School for “Mining: A Musical.” In an e-mail sent to us at the OMA, she said “I am truly honoured to be a SYTYKM winner. It is a really great idea for a competition and being a part of it was a lot of fun.”

“I am using my award money for university tuition. I am specializing in neuroscience at the University of Toronto and taking a minor in music history and culture,” she said. “I am very excited to start this new chapter in my life.”

Forestry move under MNR welcomed – by Ryan Lux (Timmins Daily Press – October 24, 2011)

October 24, 2011

The Daily Press, the city of Timmins newspaper.

Renewed sense of optimism expressed

While NDP House Leader Gilles Bisson was underwhelmed by Dalton McGuinty’s “stay the course cabinet,” he joined Ontario’s forest industry representatives in expressing tentative optimism for the forestry sector based on the minor cabinet shuffle.

In general, Bisson described McGuinty’s new cabinet as a “missed opportunity” to demonstrate a change in direction. However, he said the Premier’s choice of Thunder Bay’s Michael Gravelle as Minister of Natural Resources should give Northerners a glimmer of hope.

Fuelling Bisson’s hope for a rationalized approach to forestry at Queen’s Park is McGuinty’s decision to return the forestry portfolio under the responsibility of the ministry of natural resources.

Falling copper points to global pain – by Carolynne Wheeler (Globe and Mail – October 24, 2011)

October 24, 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.

BEIJING — The answer to where the global economy is headed may well be found in the piles of trash towering above the brick and tin shacks belonging to Beijing’s army of garbage recyclers.

On the northeastern edge of sprawling Beijing, the hardscrabble neighbourhood of Dongxiaokou is some 20 kilometres from the glittering skyscrapers that provide this community’s livelihood. Here, virtually every scrap left over from a modern life – used computers and mobile phones, household appliances, furniture, clothing, even paper and plastic bottles – is collected, sorted, broken down and sold for cash.

Traditionally, copper (HG-FT3.330.113.46%) has been among the most valuable materials for collection. But this week, after a month of sinking prices, no one is in a good mood.