Republic of Mining

Politics, not principle, doomed Keystone pipeline – by Robert J. Samuelson (Toronto Star – January 20, 2012

January 20, 2012

Robert J. Samuelson writes on economics for the Washington Post.

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico is an act of national insanity. It isn’t often that a president makes a decision that has no redeeming virtues and — beyond the symbolism — won’t even advance the goals of the groups that demanded it. All it tells us is that Obama is so obsessed with his re-election that, through some sort of political calculus, he believes that placating his environmental supporters will improve his chances.

Aside from the political and public relations victory, environmentalists won’t get much. Stopping the pipeline won’t halt the development of the tarsands, to which the Canadian government is committed; therefore, there will be little effect on global warming emissions. Indeed, Obama’s decision might add to them. If Canada builds a pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific for export to Asia, moving all that oil across the ocean by tanker will create extra emissions. There will also be the risk of added spills.

Now consider how Obama’s decision hurts the United States. For starters, it insults and antagonizes a strong ally; getting future Canadian cooperation on other issues will be harder.

NEWS RELEASE: Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. Announces 2012 Capital Expenditure Plan

January 20, 2012

Company Also Provides Preliminary Capital Estimates for Chromite Project Based on Ongoing Prefeasibility Study

CLEVELAND, Jan. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) (Paris: CLF) today announced projected full-year 2012 capital expenditures expectations. Cliffs plans to invest approximately $1 billion, comprised of approximately $300 million of sustaining capital and $700 million of growth and productivity-improvement capital. Cliffs’ 2012 capital budget represents an expected 12% increase over the Company’s 2011 capital expenditures of approximately $880 million. Cliffs indicated this amount was less than its previous estimate of $900 million and an original 2011 budget of $1 billion.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101104/CLIFFSLOGO )

While plans will continue to be reviewed and adjusted in response to changes in market conditions and other factors, Cliffs’ 2012 capital budget is primarily intended to fund the organic growth pipeline the Company has acquired through the completion of a number of strategic transactions in recent years. These transactions have meaningfully diversified Cliffs’ business and provided the Company significant exposure to customers outside of its historical North American steelmaking customer base.

Northern Ontario is to Southern Ontario is as Canada is to the United States – Well, almost… – by Livio Di Matteo (Northern Economist Blog – January 17, 2012)

January 19, 2012

Livio Di Matteo is Professor of Economics at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Visit his new Economics Blog “Northern Economist” at http://ldimatte.shawwebspace.ca/

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s recent comment that he does not want the future of the Northern Gateway pipeline to be decided by “certain” people in the United States who would like Canada to be one giant national park was remarkable in its parallels to the economic development situation in Northern Ontario.

In the case of the Northern Gateway, along with opposition from environmental groups and some First Nations in Alberta and British Columbia, a number of U.S. based environmental groups accompanied by some Hollywood celebrities have voiced opposition to the plan. In Northern Ontario, there have been complaints that the Far North Act and the Endangered Species Act will hinder northern development because of the wish of environmental groups in southern Ontario to turn the north into a vast provincial park.

The parallels are intriguing. The relationship between Northern Ontario and the south is remarkably similar to that between Canada and the United Canada. Relative to the United States, Canada is natural resource intensive and sparsely populated.

[Quebec Plan Nord] Is More Talk the Right Prescription for Northern Ontario? – by Livio Di Matteo (Northern Economist Blog – January 19, 2012)

January 19, 2012

Livio Di Matteo is Professor of Economics at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Visit his new Economics Blog “Northern Economist” at http://ldimatte.shawwebspace.ca/

Media reports on the visit yesterday by Quebec based consultants who worked on Quebec’s Plan Nord appear to have emphasized their prescription for more planning and discussion. The Plan Nord is the Quebec government’s parallel to our own Northern Growth Plan and their plan to develop their own north with anticipated investments of 80 billion dollars and the creation of as many as 20,000 jobs.

The Mayor of Greenstone was quoted as saying the time for talk had passed and some direct action was needed by the province in getting things going. On the other hand, according to a report on TBNewswatch:

A pair of Quebec-based consultants, however, have suggested what’s needed is more talk. It’s worked in Quebec, said Yvan Loubier, a senior consultant for National Public Relations in Quebec City, who has worked with both governments and communities in Northern Quebec to help facilitate a 25-year plan for economic salvation in an area hard hit by many of the same concerns afflicting Northern Ontario, particularly First Nations communities. It didn’t come easily, at least not at first.

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New agreement strengthens Ontario mining industry-First Nations relations

January 19, 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.

A Memorandum of Understanding between Ontario Mining Association member Quadra FNX and the Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation strengthens relationships among mining companies and First Nations in the province. The MOU is designed to serve as a foundation for a working relationship between both parties concerning Quadra FNX’s advanced exploration program on the Victoria Project in Sudbury.

Quadra FNX and the Sagamok First Nation will work towards a full Impact Benefits Agreement. The company is proceeding with efforts to gain environmental permitting for the project. The MOU was signed in Sudbury by Chief Paul Eshkakogan of the Sagamok First Nation and Michael Winship, Chief Operating Officer of Quadra FNX.

“This MOU will facilitate open and timely dialogue between Quadra FNX and our First Nation as it relates to the company’s activities to develop the Victoria Advanced Exploration project,” said Chief Eshkakogan. “We look forward to negotiating an IBA that will provide benefits for our members and ensure the environment and our traditional territories are protected.”

Obama’s Keystone rejection just political theatre – by Lorne Gunter (National Post – January 19, 2012)

January 19, 2012

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

It would seem that Wednesday the Obama White House put a dagger through the heart of TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline. But did it? In a presidential election year, very little in American politics is exactly as it appears.

In accepting the State department’s recommendation that he not grant a construction permit to Keystone, President Barack Obama pointed out that he was heeding that advice not because of the merits of the pipeline project, but because “the rushed and arbitrary deadline insisted on by Congressional Republicans … prevented a full assessment of the pipeline’s impact, especially (on) the health and safety of the American people, as well as our environment.”

This is political theatre, pure and simple. It is intended solely to solidify the “green” vote behind Obama in November’s presidential election and, for the general electorate, to make it appear as if Mr. Obama’s Republican opponents are truly to blame for the thousands of jobs that will not be created.

Arizona town bitterly split over copper mine – by Paul Waldie (Globe and Mail – January 19, 2012)

January 19, 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.

Florence, Ariz., isn’t the kind of place that usually gets a lot of attention. After all, its main claim to fame is being home to nine prisons.

But these days Florence is up in arms over plans by a Canadian company to build a copper mine right in the middle of town. The proposed mine, by Vancouver-based Curis Resources Ltd., has garnered national attention and brought out some heavy hitters, including Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and developer Robert Sarver, who owns the Phoenix Suns basketball team.

Ms. Brewer has expressed support for the project, saying it will spark badly needed economic development in the area. Mr. Sarver, whose company has a housing project in town, is backing a campaign to stop the mine, arguing it will ruin the water supply.

The city’s 10,000 residents are bitterly divided over the proposed mine. A recent survey by city officials found 39 per cent of locals support the mine, 32 per cent don’t and 28 per cent aren’t sure.

Commodity prices to drop in 2012: BoC – by John Shmuel (National Post – January 19, 2012)

January 19, 2012

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

Canada’s economy will fend off declining commodity prices and a year-long eurozone recession in 2012, but it won’t emerge unscathed, says the latest policy report from the Bank of Canada.

The central bank now forecasts a deep and prolonged recession for the eurozone compared with its outlook in October, when bank governor Mark Carney and his team said any recession in Europe would be brief. Saying that conditions have “deteriorated,” the bank is also forecasting that a year-long recession in Europe will hit non-energy commodity prices – and by extension, Canada’s resource-dependent economy.

” The crisis in Europe is expected to have an indirect impact on the Canadian economy through its implications for financial conditions, confidence and global commodity prices,” the bank said in its Monetary Policy Report.

[Quebec’s Plan Nord] Growth tips shared – Special to The Chronicle-Journal (Thunder Bay Chroncicle-Journal – January 19, 2012)

January 19, 2012

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

Those who helped develop Plan Nord say the next 25 years are going to be exciting for Northern Quebec. Northwestern Ontario would like to share in some of that excitement.

Members of National Public Relations, who helped develop Plan Nord, gave a presentation in Thunder Bay on Wednesday.

The presentation was hosted by the Northwestern Ontario joint task force on regional economic development pilot project, the Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce and the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association.

Plan Nord is an economic development project aimed at Northern Quebec, which over the next 25 years is estimated to generate more $80 billion in investments and create more than 20,000 jobs a year.

Obama rejects Keystone pipeline, open to alternative route – by Sheldon Alberts – (National Post – January 19, 2012)

January 19, 2012

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

The Obama administration on Wednesday denied a presidential permit for construction of the $7-billion Keystone XL pipeline, ruling that a proper environmental review could not be conducted before a 60-day deadline set by the U.S. Congress to rule on the controversial oilsands project.

But Calgary-based TransCanada Corp., the company behind the 2,700-kilometre pipeline, has been given the option of making a new application — and company officials confirmed they will propose an alternative route for Keystone XL that avoids environmentally sensitive areas in Nebraska.

In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. State Department said its decision was “predicated on the fact that the Department does not have sufficient time to obtain the information necessary to assess whether the project, in its current state, is in the national interest.”

Things getting sticky in oil sands – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – January 19, 2012)

January 19, 2012

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

With U.S. President Barack Obama’s extreme decision Wednesday to deny a permit to the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, Canada’s oil-sands industry, one of the few engines of investment and job creation in North America, stands on the brink of a slowdown.

Export pipeline capacity is expected to run out by around 2016, throwing today’s growth strategies into serious doubt.

Keystone XL, and its all-Canadian alternative, Northern Gateway, were supposed to be the main solutions to transporting growing oil sands production to new markets.

Both are stuck. To be sure, Keystone XL proponent TransCanada Corp. has been invited to apply for a new permit with a revised route that avoids environmentally sensitive areas in Nebraska. But the reality is that there will be no pipeline decision — and it could still be a ‘no’ — until at least after the November presidential election, and possibly longer.

Ottawa looks to Asia after U.S. rejects Keystone pipeline project – by Bruce Campion-Smith (Toronto Star – January 19, 2012)

January 19, 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—The federal government says it will renew efforts to ship Canadian oil to Asian markets after the White House rejected plans for a $7 billion pipeline to move Alberta crude into the U.S.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper told Barack Obama in a phone call Wednesday he was “profoundly disappointed” with the U.S. decision on the Keystone XL project and pointedly said that Canada would seek other markets for its energy exports.

Soon after the two leaders spoke, Obama made public his decision to deny the application by Canadian energy giant TransCanada Corp. to build the pipeline, citing a “rushed and arbitrary deadline” imposed by Congress to review the project.

“This announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline that prevented the State Department from gathering the information necessary to approve the project and protect the American people,” Obama said in a statement.

AT THE CUTTING EDGE: ‘REPUBLIC OF MINING’ BLOGS ABOUT THE NORTH – by Graham Murray (Inside Queen’s Park – January 4, 2012)

January 18, 2012

Inside Queen’s Park is an insider newsletter which offers widely respected analysis of, and insight into, the inner workings of Ontario government and politics. It is published by G.P. Murray Research Limited which provides Ontario Government relations and information services.

As a devout generalist, ready to splash around in puddles that are a mile wide provided they are not more than an inch deep, IQP defers to and relies upon the many specialists who drill deeply in one field or even more. One such is Stan Sudol, a talented writer and energetic researcher whose long experience of all things mineral is evident to those who keep up with his RepublicOfMining.Com web-site and blog postings.

A self-professed Sudbury Inco-brat – he worked for the company’s Clarabell Mill in 1976-77 and underground at the Frood-Stobie mine in 1980 – he now calls Toronto home but still keeps a close eye on northern Ontario and mining issues. He also worked at various Queen’s Park ministries in the late nineties and early part of this decade as a communications consultant.

The blog is a combination of Sudol’s columns, industry news releases, speeches, opinion pieces and an aggregator of mainstream media mining news.