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Tiny port, new energy battleground – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – January 7, 2012)

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

CALGARY — In a remote Aboriginal recreation centre on the shore of the Douglas Channel in British Columbia’s North Coast, Canadian regulators are kicking off historic hearings on Tuesday on the proposed $5.5-billion Northern Gateway oil sands pipeline. By the time they are finished in two years, thousands of Canadians will have had their say on the giant project.

The three-member Joint Review Panel will travel across Western Canada on behalf of the National Energy Board and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency to hear views about the environmental impact of the 1,172-kilometre project, starting with oral testimony from the elders of the Haisla Nation.

The 700-member community hosting the event’s high profile first days is located 12 km south of the city of Kitimat, the end point of the Enbridge Inc. project that would carry 550,000 barrels of oil a day from the Alberta oil sands to markets around the Pacific coast.

The region’s few hotels are stretched to the limit to accommodate the influx of visitors, including observers for the green lobby and the energy industry, the media, and the usual coterie of lawyers.

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Lots to celebrate in [Timmins] 1912 – by Karen Bachmann (Timmins Daily Press – January 7, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

Karen Bachmann is the director/curator of the Timmins Museum and a local author.

HISTORY: Newspaper articles highlight the unbridled enthusiasm seen in the early days of the Porcupine Camp 

OK, I’m feeling the pressure. This is the first article I get to pen for Timmins’ 100th anniversary, and it has to be special – so, of course, I’m frozen at my keyboard, awaiting Divine Intervention (or a third cup of coffee).

How to begin? What is there to be said?

Sadly, the stuff I should be writing about I am afraid to say, I have already written – the beginnings of the camp, the development of Northern Ontario, etc. … So, I pray your indulgence as I present to you a small piece based on the items from the front page from the very first Porcupine Advance newspaper, published on March 28, 1912 (Vol. 1, No. 1).

I have chosen to do this because the tone of that first newspaper and the articles presented back then really do illustrate the unbridled enthusiasm that was rampant in those early days of the Porcupine, and of the Town of Timmins.

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NEWS RELEASE: Wallbridge Mining Highlights Plans for 2012

January 05, 2012

Highlights

  • Wallbridge Mining is to advance the Broken Hammer copper-PGE project through feasibility with permitting and a production decision expected in 2012.
  • Wallbridge Mining plans 15,000 metres exploration drilling in Sudbury with a focus on Implats, Lonmin and Xstrata joint ventures.
  • Continued drilling at Parkin, following up high grade nickel-copper-PGE results at Milnet.

Toronto, Ontario — January 5, 2012 – Wallbridge Mining Company Limited (TSX: WM, FWB: WC7) (“Wallbridge”) today provided a business update highlighting its direction for 2012. Wallbridge plans include advancing its Broken Hammer copper-platinum group element (“PGE”) project through feasibility and completing over 15,000 metres of exploration diamond drilling on its Sudbury area projects.

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First Quantum exits DRC with $1.25-billion settlement – by Brenda Bouw (Globe and Mail – January 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.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM-T22.220.241.09%) is closing a painful chapter of its history in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by selling its mines and settling all legal claims for $1.25-billion (U.S.), years after its operations were nationalized by the government.

Vancouver-based First Quantum will sell the controversial Kolwezi copper-cobalt project, as well as its Frontier and Lonshi mines, to Kazakh miner Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. PLC, also known as ENRC, the same company it has been battling in international courts over its properties in DRC, one of the world’s most attractive copper regions.

The settlement comes as copper prices (HG-FT3.40-0.03-0.80%) are struggling to rebound from a 20-per-cent drop last year, amid worries that debt concerns in Europe and a slowdown in China’s rapidly growing economy could curb demand for the metal used in everything from cars to construction.

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Northern [Ontario] MPPS say growth plan fails – The Daily Press (January 6, 2011)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

A pair of Northern MPPs say a government growth plan has missed the mark. Gilles Bisson (NDP — Timmins-James Bay) and Michael Mantha (NDP — Algoma-Manitoulin) say the Northern Growth Plan has failed to address the real needs of northern Ontario.

The plan calls for the creation of “hubs” to promote development, but Sudbury and Thunder Bay are the only cities designated as such.

“The fact is that there is no money tied to the Northern Growth Plan. We’re not even sure what these two ‘hubs’ in Sudbury and Thunder Bay are meant to do. What money is being allocated to make these projects work?” said Bisson.

“I’m not only concerned for the cities like Timmins and Sault Ste Marie that are left out but I’m also concerned for Sudbury and Thunder Bay because without a clear vision and funds attached to it these centres are not likely to succeed.”

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Injunction ‘a matter of respect’ for First Nations – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – January 6, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper

Wahgoshig First Nation is not out to stop development, says Chief Dave Babin. The community, he added, simply wants its values respected by industry.

Wahgoshig won an injunction this week to halt mining exploration by Solid Gold Resource Corporation on its territory. The company was drilling in an area which the First Nation had identified as sacred ground.

“It’s a long-overdue issue that First Nations are facing with the industry and these are the things the industry has to understand with First Nations,” said Babin. “I’m not going to have people coming around here and terrorize the land because they feel they are following the Mining Act.

“They have to have respect for our cultural values within our territories. We have issues out there that we want to protect. It has no value to them but it has value to us.”

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[Aboriginal] Injunction shuts down [Northern Ontario] miner – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – January 6, 2012)

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

A court ruling in favour of a Timmins-area First Nation regarding a mining dispute is further evidence that courts are backing up Aboriginal legal requirements to be consulted before drilling and staking begins.

“It proves the point that if you don’t follow the law, you’re going to end up in court and it’s going to cost your investors money,” Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Stan Beardy said Thursday.

Beardy was reacting to Ontario Superior Court of Justice Carol Brown’s decision this week that granted a 120-day injunction to Wahgoshig First Nation to temporarily prevent junior miner Solid Gold Resources from drilling on their land.

According to the ruling, “no consultation occurred with (WFN) before Solid Gold’s drilling began in the spring of 2011.”

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MINING WATCH NEWS RELEASE: Wahgoshig First Nation (Ontario) Wins Injunction Against Solid Gold Resources’ Exploration

http://www.miningwatch.ca/

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Source: Wahgoshig First Nation

(Toronto) In a decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, released January 3, Madam Justice Brown ordered that Solid Gold Resources Corp. cannot carry on any further exploration activity on its claims block for 120 days, and that during this time the company and the Ontario Crown must engage with Wahgoshig in a process of meaningful consultation and accommodation about any such further exploration. She ordered that if this process is not productive, Wahgoshig can go back to court to seek an extension of the injunction.

Solid Gold’s mining claims block is in the heart of Wahgoshig’s traditional territory, on land that is of significant importance to Wahgoshig. Solid Gold came onto this land and started drilling without any consultation or accommodation occurring first. The court decision clearly finds this to be wrong.

“We are very pleased with this decision,” says Wahgoshig Chief David Babin. “We feel that justice has been done. Exploration and other companies across Canada will hopefully recognize that aboriginal and treaty rights really mean something and that courts will not let our rights be trampled on by unilateral actions and failures of industry and government.”

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Mining takes to the Toronto stage

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.

Are you ready for this?  The 2011-2012 Ross Petty pantomime at the Elgin Theatre featured a mining motif.  It is not often that mining takes a bow on stage but the new rendition of the “The Wizard of Oz” not only had miners doing a song and dance routine to “Macho Man” and other numbers but Donnie, one of the main characters was a miner.  Never mind that the Wicked Witch threatens to turn him into “a heap of scrap metal.”

Ross Petty has been producing a Christmas pantomime for 16 years and it has become a popular fixture on Toronto’s theatre scene.  Past productions have included “Peter Pan,” “Cinderella” (who can forget Celine and Shania as the evil step sisters?),”Robin Hood,” “Snow White,” “Jack and the Beanstalk” and “Aladdin,” which featured renowned wrestler Bret The Hitman Hart. 

The pantomimes are in the tradition of the old British shows, which included a lot of physical humour and music along with witty social commentary and criticism.  Audience interaction is encouraged and regular ad libbing by all the actors ensures no two performances are exactly alike.  The farce reigns supreme. “The Wizard of Oz” included some good shots at Toronto’s professional hockey team, bicycle paths, libraries and the city’s municipal leadership among others.

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Colorado emerges as next oil frontier – by David Ebner (Globe and Mail – January 5, 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.

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.— The Davis family has owned ranchland on the high-desert prairie of El Paso County in Colorado for the past century. Family lore recalls a prophecy of wealth from the Depression years. A geologist came through the desolate region, nestled on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, and told the family there might be oil under their land.

In the seven decades since the 1930s, there hasn’t been a single successful oil well on the Davis land – or anywhere else in all of El Paso County, a mostly rural region located south of Denver.

Now, however, subsurface fracturing – or fracking – technology so widely used in natural gas drilling is beginning to unlock oil reserves long considered impossible to tap successfully, like the suddenly prolific Bakken play in North Dakota.

In Colorado, the target is the tight oil of the Niobrara formation. Houston-based Ultra Petroleum Corp. is on the fringe of the formation in El Paso County and believes it can unearth 150 million barrels of oil.

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Oil giants back Gateway pipe – by Nathan Vanderklippe (Globe and Mail – January 5, 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.

CALGARY— Five oil sands companies have revealed themselves as supporters of the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline, lending their names to a massive infrastructure proposal that has stirred intense opposition in Western Canada.

Cenovus Energy Inc., MEG Energy Corp., Nexen Inc. Suncor Energy Marketing Inc., a subsidiary of Suncor Energy Inc. and Total E&P Canada, the domestic arm of French giant Total SA, have each spent money to help develop the $6.6-billion pipeline, which if built will funnel massive volumes of oil sands crude to the West Coast for export to California and Asia.

Each has signed up as a “funding participant,” joining the others in buying some of the 10 units that make up a $100-million fund Enbridge Inc. (ENB-T37.910.611.64%) sold in 2007 and 2008. The money was used to fund preconstruction development and engineering of the project.

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China’s oil-sands deal will have lasting impact – by Campbell Clark (Globe and Mail – January 5, 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.

Campbell Clark writes about foreign affairs from Ottawa

Meet the new boss: Jiang Jemin, the 55-year-old chairman of China National Petroleum Corp. He’s about to become an Alberta employer.

This week, Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. triggered an option on a 2009 deal with CNPC subsidiary PetroChina, so the Chinese oil giant is not just a shareholder but also the owner and operator of the MacKay River oil sands project, to open in 2014. In December, another Chinese firm, Sinopec, closed a $2.2-billion deal for Daylight Energy Ltd.

This is new and will have a lasting impact. Chinese firms aren’t just buying stakes, they’re buying whole operations. It’s a new phase of China’s step-by-step Canada strategy. It will change not just the oil patch but Canada’s foreign policy. And a game of international energy politics is afoot in Canada’s West.

These deals are different because Canadians will see how Chinese firms operate, not just invest. They’re state-controlled companies, with executives such as Mr. Jiang who have moved among the Communist Party, government and big oil.

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Canada’s asbestos industry on its last legs – by Bertrand Marotte (Globe and Mail – January 5, 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.

MONTREAL— The “miracle fibre” that helped drive Quebec’s economy for more than a century now represents an industry near death, despite government efforts to keep it afloat.

In its heyday in the mid-1960s, Canada’s asbestos industry employed thousands and produced about 40 per cent of the world’s supply of the silky-white product known for its resistance to fire, rust and rot. It was used widely in construction throughout North America, including at the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa.

Now, it’s known more for being ripped out of walls as a danger to public health. Many developed nations have banned it outright, and critics warn it’s impossible to ensure its safe use in developing countries. These concerns over a known carcinogen have put the industry on its last legs.

Production at one mine has been halted until it can get refinancing, and another miner – Thetford Mines, Que.-based LAB Chrysotile –filed for bankruptcy Wednesday, leaving no active operations in Canada.

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ONTARIO NDP NEWS RELEASE: First Nations injunction win shows why Province must consult: Vanthof

[John Vanthof is the MPP for Timiskaming – Cochrane]

January 4, 2011

TEMISKAMING SHORES — Today, after Wahgoshig First Nation won an injunction to prevent a junior mining company, Solid Gold Resources, from continuing exploration on Wahgoshig territory without proper consultation, Timiskaming – Cochrane MPP John Vanthof strongly criticized the McGuinty government’s failure to fulfill its obligations to consult with First Nations. 

“By ignoring First Nations at the outset of the exploration process, the government is in fact slowing down mine development and hindering economic opportunities throughout the province,” added Vanthof. “It benefits all Northerners to ensure resource development is done in a way that maximises economic benefits and sustainability for local communities. That means better consultation and accommodation from the outset, not lengthy legal battles.”

“Lack of action from the government forced Wahgoshig First Nation to appeal to the courts to settle a dispute which could have been avoided altogether through proper consultation,” said Vanthof.

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MINING WATCH NEWS RELEASE: Diamonds and Development: Attawapiskat and the Victor Diamond Mine

http://www.miningwatch.ca/

Thursday, December 15, 2011

In the last two weeks there has been an intense media storm around the current housing crisis in Attawapiskat, a remote Cree community on the coast of James Bay. The crisis is occurring in the context of many long-standing issues that are certainly not unique to Attawapiskat. Hopefully, the current attention will provide some immediate relief for the situation in Attawapiskat but also help drive an eventual resolution to the root issues that are causing the current crisis.

One element of the story that’s getting some attention and is of particular interest to MiningWatch is the fact that the community is ‘host’ to DeBeers’ Victor diamond mine, located 90 km west of the community, upstream on the Attawapiskat River, within the traditional territory of the Omushkego Cree. The juxtaposition is stark: a diamond mine producing millions of dollars of a sparkling luxury item, next to the poverty and infrastructure deficits in Attawapiskat.  It has led people to ask us: if there are millions of dollars of diamonds being taken from their traditional territory, why aren’t the conditions in the community improving?

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