Republic of Mining

Conflict mineral readiness: what companies need to know – by Charlene Easton (Canadian Mining Journal – January, 2012)

January 27, 2012

The Canadian Mining Journal is Canada’s first mining publication providing information on Canadian mining and exploration trends, technologies, operations, and industry events.

Charlene Easton is a Senior Manager and Business Practice Leader in Ernst & Young’s Climate Change and Sustainability Services group. She is based in Vancouver.

Canadian mining and metals companies’ corporate social responsibility is about to get a lot more interesting as an uptake in regulations and frameworks for due diligence on mineral supply chains in conflict-affected and high-risk areas emerge around the world. The goal of these newly introduced regulations and frameworks is to ensure responsible supply chain management so that so-called “conflict minerals” do not directly or indirectly contribute to regional conflicts in areas where armed aggression can lead to severe human rights abuses against workers and local people.

In an attempt to prevent mined minerals from fuelling conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the US introduced a conflict mineral requirement in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in July 2010. Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act requires all US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registrants – including any Canadian company listed on a US stock exchange – to disclose whether the minerals they source contribute to armed conflict.

Obama loves oil — Not! – by Peter Foster (National Post – January 27, 2012)

January 27, 2012

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

Nothing more clearly indicates U.S. President Barack Obama’s economic muddledom and ideological stubbornness than the dog’s breakfast of energy policies revealed in Tuesday’s State of the Union address. The good news is that hydrocarbons are back (as long as you forget Keystone XL). The bad news is that “clean” energy isn’t going away. Instead it’s “all of the above.”

Without his nose growing visibly, the President claimed the government was behind the technological advances that led to the current shale gas boom, and even suggested that he might take credit for the rise in domestic oil production. In fact, Mr. Obama’s administration has hampered and castigated oil companies at every turn. In the light of the hysterical grandstanding over the BP Gulf spill (whose impact proved to be greatly exaggerated), it was ironic indeed to hear the President now declare a great opening up of offshore exploration.

The industry has responded to attacks by becoming more innovative and productive. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, between 2007 and 2010, U.S. oil production grew from 5.1 million barrels a day (mbd) to 5.5 mbd. The agency predicts domestic production will hit 6.7 mbd by 2020, helping take imports down to 36% of domestic usage in 2035 from 60% in 2005. So much for peak oil.

[Sudbury] Steel hall honours union boss – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – January 27, 2012)

January 27, 2012

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

It was almost a first for union boss Leo Gerard. Gerard was apparently blind-sided when it was announced Thursday that the executive and membership of United Steelworkers Local 6500 had named their new hall after the international president of their union.

That news came just before the ribbon was cut at the grand opening of the local’s new headquarters at 66 Brady St.

“I guess it’s almost a first. I’m almost speechless,” said a teary-eyed Gerard when a cloth cover was removed from the plaque reading “Leo W. Gerard Hall,” which hangs over the entrance to the main hall.

The day was a bittersweet one for Gerard, Local 6500 members and residents of the community. They were excited about the transformation of the former grocery store into a state-of-the-art hall and conference centre, but tears were also shed for the Steelworkers’ Hall at 92 Frood Rd. that burned to the ground in September 2008.

Let’s get the geological world to Vancouver in 2020

January 27, 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 supports the bid of Vancouver to host the prestigious International Geological Congress in 2020. This event is held in Olympian style once every four years. This group got off the ground in 1876 and held its first event dedicated to the advancement of global Earth science in 1878 in Paris, France.

In a letter to council members of the IGC and the International Union of Geological Sciences, OMA President Chris Hodgson said “Canada is a mining nation and the foundation of this industry and its future success is based on geoscience.”

“The OMA strongly supports the efforts of Vancouver, British Columbia, to host the 36th International Geological Congress in 2020. This major Canadian city is a major mining centre in a mining province, which would be an ideal location for your event,” he added. “The world will be welcome. All of Canada will be there.”

Solid Gold fights court order – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – January 27, 2012)

January 27, 2012

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper

A mineral exploration company that was forced by injunction to halt drilling outside Wahgoshig First Nation has responded with a two-pronged legal attack.

Solid Gold Resource Corporation has filed an appeal against the court’s decision to award an injunction and it is suing the Ontario government.

“We’re appealing the injunction that was awarded to Wahgoshig, ordering the Crown and Solid Gold to enter some kind of consultation,” said company president Darryl Stretch. That appeal is to be heard on Feb. 29 in Toronto.

“We have also just served notice to the Crown for damages that have affected our company as a result of this injunction,” said Stretch. “That claim is for at least $100 million.”

Attawapiskat chief wants share of revenues from nearby diamond mine – by Bruce Campion-Smith (Toronto Star – January 26, 2012)

November 5, 2015January 26, 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.

OTTAWA—Chief Theresa Spence says she has the answer to turning around her troubled aboriginal community of Attawapiskat — getting a share of the resource revenues flowing from a nearby diamond mine.

Without that, she warns that the troubling living conditions on her northern Ontario community will likely worsen and that lives may even be lost.

“Great riches are being taken from our land for the benefit of a few, including the Government of Canada and Ontario, who receive large royalty payments while we receive so little,” Spence said during a lunch speech Tuesday.

“Our lands have been stripped from us and yet development on our land area in timber, hydro and mining have created unlimited wealth for non-native people and their governments,” she said.

Miner Solid Gold sues Ontario over court ruling halting its operations – by Romina Maurino (Canadian Business – January 25, 2012)

January 26, 2012

This article came from the Canadian Business website: http://www.canadianbusiness.com/

The Canadian Press

TORONTO – Solid Gold Resources Corp. (TSXV:SLD) says it plans to sue the Ontario government for $100 million over a ruling that temporarily prevents the junior mining company from drilling on Crown land near traditional First Nation territory.

The company alleges the province is liable for losses it suffered after a ruling earlier this month sided with the Wahgoshig First Nation in saying Solid Gold failed to consult before beginning its exploration.

Solid Gold has said any duty to consult with First Nations falls to the government, not the mining company, and it’s not something the province can delegate.

Solid Gold president Darryl Stretch, who is appealing the injunction, said the ruling has far-reaching implications because it means it would now be up to companies to get consent from First Nations on any project that runs near their traditional land.

Canadian mining company denies link to shooting death of protester in Mexico – by Peter O’Neil (National Post – Janurary 26, 2012)

May 4, 2015January 26, 2012

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

OTTAWA — Vancouver-based mining company Fortuna Silver says it has nothing to do with the shooting death of a protester in a town near the company’s mine site in Mexico.

Police have arrested the alleged shooter implicated in the death of Bernardo Mendez Vazquez, who was shot last week during a protest that news reports have linked to opposition to the gold and silver mine.

The shooting took place in the town of San Jose del Progreso, where the mine is the chief employer. The town and mine in the southwestern state of Oaxaca have been the sites of past conflicts involving groups who say the mine is an environmental threat to the arid region’s scarce water supply.

But Fortuna Silver president Jorge Ganoza said “misinformation” is behind media reports tying his company to the violence, which also left another protester with a leg wound.

Strengthening the chain between First Nations and non-aboriginal Canadians – by Catherine Murton Stoehr (Toronto Star – January 26, 2012)

November 5, 2015January 26, 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.

Catherine Murton Stoehr is an instructor in the department of history at Nipissing University.

On Tuesday, Assembly of First Nations national chief Shawn Atleo presented Governor General David Johnston a silver wampum belt symbolizing the relationship between the British people and the First Nations. He stopped short of saying what we all know to be true, that the chain is almost rusted out.

One of the central reasons for this breakdown is that non-aboriginal Canadians see all money and resources given to First Nations people as charity, while people in Atleo’s world see it as rent. If you’re handing out charity, you get to set conditions like submission to unelected managers. But people paying rent don’t get to interfere in their landlords’ business.

When British officials took over the land and destroyed the hunt in northern Ontario, they promised to immediately rebuild aboriginal communities’ infrastructure and then to support that infrastructure forever. In the same way that a lease remains in effect as long as a person rents a house, the treaties remain in effect as long as non-First Nations people live in Canada. Consistently fulfilling the terms of the treaties is the minimum ethical requirement of living on the land of Canada.

[Sudbury Local 6500] Union probe on Stobie deaths to be made public – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – January 26, 2012)

January 26, 2012

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

United Steelworkers Local 6500 is “dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s” on its report into its investigation into the deaths of two Stobie miners June 8, 2011, and will share its findings soon with members and the public.

Local 6500 president Rick Bertrand said the union is making sure its report is thorough so that “when we walk away, we can say we’re pleased with the investigation (and) we’ve done everything we can.”

Vale Ltd. released the findings of its investigation Tuesday at a news conference. That report didn’t pinpoint exactly how Jason Chenier, 35, and Jordan Fram, 26, were killed about 9:45 p.m., while working at the 3,000-foot level near the No. 7 ore pass at Stobie.

Kelly Strong, vice-president of mining and milling for Vale’s North Atlantic operations, said six factors contributed to the men’s deaths– water manage-m ent, ore mixing, ore pass management, operational controls, roles and responsibilities, and training and awareness.

Cliffs wants outside investment in Ring of Fire haul road – by Northern Ontario Business staff (January 20, 2012)

January 26, 2012

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North.

Cliffs Natural Resources expects public and private investment in a transportation corridor to process and export Ring of Fire chromite.

After additional pre-feasibility of its chromite projects in the James Bay lowlands, the Ohio-based international miner said it intends to produce 1 million annual tons of chromite ore concentration for export, on top of its original 600,000 tons of ferrochrome.

Cliffs owns three properties in the Ring of Fire, including its flagship Black Thor project, which it expects to have in production by 2015. The company released its 2012 capital expenditure plan, Jan. 19.

Preliminary project estimates peg the mine development at US $150 million, a nearby concentrating plant at $800 million, with a ferrochrome processing facility of a whopping $1.8 billion.

Obama adopts gas for future – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – January 26, 2012)

January 26, 2012

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

Global energy superpower versus inward-focused fortress. It’s hard to believe these are the energy visions of Canada and the United States, and that it’s Canada that is going big, while the U.S. is going home.

But there you have it. After nixing the Keystone XL pipeline that would have imported lots of secure oil-sands oil from Canada, U.S. President Barack Obama made it abundantly clear in his State of the Union address that he wants a future based on U.S.-made energy, even if it takes subsidies to get there.

But not just green energy, which has been central to his energy vision in the past. He’s now embracing natural gas from shale, a fossil fuel deplored by his green constituents, but whose supplies are surging globally without his support, thanks to advancements made and funded by Big Oil, including Canadian companies and entrepreneurs.

[Resource] Revenue sharing, education key to native self-reliance – John Ivison (National Post – January 26, 2012)

November 5, 2015January 26, 2012

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

Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence didn’t imagine she’d ever address the venerable Economic Club of Canada or face a bank of television cameras in the nation’s capital. “When I declared an emergency last September, it wasn’t my intention to cause embarrassment to Canada and I didn’t plan this type of exposure. I just wanted to help my community,” she told a lunchtime crowd.

Whatever her intent, she succeeded in getting millions of dollars of aid shipped into her northern Ontario reserve, in the form of 22 new modular homes, a retrofit of the community’s healing lodge and emergency supplies like water purification systems and health equipment.

But while everyone can agree Attawapiskat was a humanitarian crisis, there are divergent views on how it came about.

Judging by her remarks, Chief Spence is in no doubt – it was all Ottawa’s fault. In a classic case of blame-shift, she said the housing crisis was the result of government funding cuts and broken promises.

NEWS RELEASE: HUDAK PLANS TO GET NORTHERN ONTARIO WORKING AGAIN

January 25, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 25, 2012

TIMMINS – The North faces unique economic challenges and pressures, but this region has extraordinary and exciting potential, Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak said today during a speech to the Timmins Chamber of Commerce.

“Today, Northern Ontario has a jobs crisis,” Hudak said. “This region’s unemployment rate is nearly twelve per cent – well above the provincial average at nearly eight per cent,” Hudak said.

“Big mills and small businesses are plagued by alarming energy costs. Some have even closed their doors permanently,” Hudak added.

“The McGuinty Liberals won’t listen. They think they know what’s best for the North. They don’t understand that the North’s success can’t be driven from the special interests’ office in Toronto.”