Republic of Mining

Long road ahead for environmental monitoring in the oilsands by Jennifer Pagliaro (Toronto Star – December 18, 2011)

December 18, 2011

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.

Government “outsourcing” of environmental monitoring in the oilsands has created a fractured system lacking scientific credibility and transparency that caters to oil industry interests, top scientists and environmental groups say.

As environmental groups’ criticism for development in the oilsands finds renewed vigour — with Kyoto abandoned and Total’s Joslyn North strip mine approved in the span of less than a week — the disjointed array of monitoring groups tasked with protecting vulnerable ecosystems simply can’t keep up.

And while the Alberta government promises plans for a new comprehensive monitoring system as early as next month, many are worried it will never match the pace of development.

The provincial government passed most of the responsibility for monitoring land, biodiversity, air and water quality in the oilsands to third-party groups as development boomed in the late ‘90s. Now, production is forecasted to more than double by 2025 — nearly 4.1 million barrels of bitumen per day.

Russia blasting into fragile Arctic in search of oil – by Paul Watson (Toronto Star – December 18, 2011)

December 18, 2011

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.

MURMANSK, RUSSIA—For as long as humans have spread out to conquer the planet, despoiling as they progress, the Arctic’s punishing environment has been its best defence.

Like fortress ramparts, heavy snow, metres-thick ice and battering winds made it very hard for miners, oil drillers and industrialists to take much ground, let alone make a grab for the riches of a frozen sea. Those walls are crumbling fast.

The rush is on to drill offshore in the fragile Arctic, and Russia is at the front of the pack with ambitious, and risky, plans to exploit some of the world’s biggest untapped oil and natural gas reserves.

Around 1,200 kilometres northwest of here, squeezed from all sides by the powerful ice of the Pechora Sea, Russia’s first ice-resistant stationary oil rig in the Arctic shelf is set to begin drilling for crude.

Fifteen years in the building, the Prirazlomnaya drilling platform is 126 square metres, weighs 117,000 tons without ballast, and sits on a gigantic box of heavy steel designed to withstand the intense pressure of constantly shifting Arctic ice.

[Kirkland Lake History] ERNIE’S GOLD: A Prospector’s Tale – by Brian (Chip) Martin

December 18, 2011

For an autographed copy of Ernie’s Gold, please contact the author at: chipmartin@sympatico.ca.

Great Christmas Gift: $20.00 plus shipping!

In the early 1900s, young Ernie Martin immigrated from Staffordshire, England, to Canada to seek his fortune. He finally ended up in Kirkland Lake, where gold was to be found if you were willing to work at it. Ernie was. And so was Harry Oakes. The two of them became prospecting partners. Ernie and Harry worked hard and non-stop to find a vein of gold so they could start a mine.

When it finally happened, the mine grew into a huge money-maker for the two of them. Ernie’s first wife, Mary, also was a prospector, and in fact ended up financially far better off than Ernie. Why was that? How is it that multi-millionaire Ernie Martin arrived at the end of his life virtually a pauper? This is a book full of surprises and answers — and a few questions.

Excerpt from Ernie’s Gold: A Prospector’s Tale:

Mary wasn’t particularly attractive, being rather short and sturdy in build with a sallow complexion and deep-set eyes. Her fierce, independent spirit discouraged some suitors who were seeking a more traditional mate; but in a land where men far outnumbered women, Mary’s odds had improved.

Why more than a dozen towns are considering hosting Canada’s high-level radioactive waste – by Tom Spears (Ottawa Citizen – December 16, 2011)

December 17, 2011

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/index.html

Who would want a pile of used fuel from nuclear reactors that will be radioactive for millennia? William Elliott does. Badly enough to fight for it.

The boss at the economic development corporation serving the Elliot Lake region sees the upside of something that usually provokes gut reactions of not-in-my-back-yard. “There’s the obvious economic impact of 700 to 1,000 permanent full-time jobs (and) $16 billion to $24 billion of direct investment,” he says.

“It’s going to be one of the biggest economic development projects in Canadian history.” Put that way, maybe it’s not so hard to see why Elliot Lake and its neighbours are campaigning to become the place where Canada buries all our high-level radioactive waste.

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization is looking for a site to sink thousands of tonnes of used reactor fuel forever, replacing the temporary storage that Canada has used for 60 years.

Russia re-embraces a cold war — in the North – by Paul Watson (Toronto Star – December 17, 2011)

December 17, 2011

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.

MURMANSK, Russia— In the noonday twilight, as dockworkers squint through the gloom to move mountainous heaps of coal bound for Europe, the hum of Arctic power is unmistakable.

The stevedores labour in the damp cold, 200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, part of the vanguard leading Russia’s latest push to build its future on the rich resources of the Far North.

Grab buckets with massive steel jaws, dangling from yellow cranes several storeys high, chomp at mounds of coal, iron ore pellets and other bulk cargo steadily replenished by a stream of trains from the south. And this is a slow winter’s day.

Russians stopped wondering about whether to develop the Arctic generations ago. The only question now is, how fast can progress march?

The Kremlin has declared the Arctic critical to the country’s 21st-century economy and national security. And it is risking billions on a strategy to reverse years of neglect and decline in its Far North.

Rob McEwen still predicting $5,000 gold – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – December 15, 2011)

December 17, 2011

http://www.mineweb.com/

Bullish as ever on gold, Rob McEwen foresees a tough road ahead for mining explorationists and mining developers, who fail to take into account the needs of a non-mining investment community.

RENO – As gold bugs get discouraged in the wake of year-end sell offs, über precious metals mining entrepreneur Rob McEwen still is firmly bullish on gold in the long run and stands pat on his $5,000 per ounce gold price prediction.

In a talk to the Geological Society of Nevada Wednesday in Reno, McEwen urged the audience to “step out of line once in a while” and constantly question fundamental assumptions about geology and discoveries.

During his address, McEwen recalled his own struggles with his senior geologists and the mining analysts who assumed that Goldcorp’s 50-year-old mine in Red Lake, Ontario, was played out. The former mutual fund manager had no mining expertise, but had emerged as Goldcorp’s majority owner.

Porketta bingo is Sudbury’s delicious passion – by Jennifer Bain (Toronto star – December 17, 2011)

December 17, 2011

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.

SUDBURY—Stompin’ Tom Connors should come back and write a song about a Sudbury Saturday afternoon. This time it won’t be about booze and bingo, it’ll be about the Beef ‘n Bird tavern where they play cards for pork.

The tavern’s air is so thick with slow-roasted pork lavishly spiced with dill, garlic, salt and cracked black pepper that you can’t smell all the pitchers of Molson and Labatt.

Hockey hero Jerry Toppazzini has five televisions tuned to the NHL game, but everyone’s watching a roasted pork shoulder ooze its juices over a wooden cutting board on a table on the dance floor.

Four identical bronzed beauties, busting out from butcher’s twine nooses, stay warm in the kitchen. The only way to get a mouthful of crackling-encased porketta — roasted eight hours this morning at Tarini Brothers Meat Market and delivered hot — is to win one.

The Rock’s hard place: Labour shortage looms in Newfoundland and Labrador – by Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – December 17, 2011)

December 17, 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.

LONG HARBOUR, NFLD.— Rinaldo Stefan has a tough challenge as he manages construction of Vale SA’s sprawling, $3-billion nickel processor on Placentia Bay: finding enough skilled workers to complete the job on time and on budget.

Mr. Stefan must find 1,500 welders, electricians, plumbers and other workers by next summer, on top of the 2,000 already on the job at the site. But due to a shortage of available skilled tradespeople in Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Stefan is now in a mad scramble to fill the positions, placing advertisements across Atlantic Canada to entice qualified workers.

“We are working hard to find the people we’ll need,” said the native of Romania, who has lived around the world working as a construction project manager for Vale, the global mining giant. “For the moment, we are looking in Canada, but the contingency plan will be to go offshore to find people.”

Newfoundland and Labrador is in the midst of an unprecedented energy and resources boom that is straining the province’s ability to keep up. Finding enough workers to complete some $43-billion worth of major projects under way and planned is proving to be a monumental challenge.

A Christmas wish list for our many Attawapiskats – by Patricia Pearson (Globe and Mail – December 17, 2011)

December 17, 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.

Patricia Pearson is a journalist and an adviser to the North-South Partnership for Children, a coalition of NGOs, private companies, universities and individuals working with Ojibway and Cree communities.

They may be closer to the North Pole, but the aboriginal people of Northern Ontario have a much harder time grabbing Santa’s attention, apparently, than those of us in the South.

It’s not that they’re being unrealistically desirous of swimming pools and ponies. On the contrary, their wish lists tend to be almost heartbreakingly humble. The children of Pikangikum First Nation, an Ojibway reserve a few hundred kilometres north of Thunder Bay, told youth-engagement workers for the North-South Partnership for Children that they longed for running tap water.

Can they garner our goodwill and understanding? That would be on their wish list. So would a desire for simple and practical help.

‘Dead capital’ killing reserves – by Michel Kelly-Gagnon, Special to QMI Agency (Sudbury Star – December 16, 2011)

December 17, 2011

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

Michel Kelly-Gagnon is president of Montreal Economic Institute ( www.iedm.org)

Several years ago, I was asked by a journalist to explain why people in Third World countries were poor while we were rich. She had never heard any other explanation than the Marxist claim that those poor nations were being exploited and deprived of their wealth by evil and greedy multinationals.

I told her about the ground-breaking research done by famed Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto. He showed convincingly how their own governments systematically prevented the populace from accumulating capital and creating wealth.

When it takes months of paperwork and it costs a small fortune in bribes to simply register a small business, when everything you possess can be taken away because property rights are not recognized or enforced, it’s awfully difficult for entrepreneurship to flourish. De Soto estimated there exists at least $9.3 trillion US in what’s termed “dead capital,” untitled assets held by the world’s poor.

Why Ian Delaney, the Smiling Barracuda of Bay Street, is moving on – by Jacquie Mcnish (Globe and Mail – December 17, 2011)

December 17, 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.

TORONTO— Weeks away from ending a 21-year run at the helm of Sherritt International Corp., Ian Delaney has lost none of the bluster that defined his tumultuous reign at the mining conglomerate.

“I’m not retiring; I’m firing myself,” he says, flashing the toothy grin that years ago earned him the nickname, the Smiling Barracuda of Bay Street.

In January, Mr. Delaney, 68, will hand the reins to successor David Pathe, saying it’s time. “One of the disadvantages about getting old is you get too thoughtful. We need younger people who have higher energy levels,” Mr. Delaney says.

Still, talking to the chief executive officer over a simple lunch of baked chicken and steamed vegetables at Sheritt’s spartan offices in Toronto’s Rosedale neighbourhood, the Bay Street legend sounds more restless than tired. “The intensity is gone,” he says, poking at a steamed vegetable. “I can no longer flip the company on its ear every 18 months with a deal.”

Northern reserves have been separated from their resources – by Stephen Hume (Vancouver Sun – December 16, 2011)

December 16, 2011

The Vancouver Sun, a broadsheet daily paper first published in 1912, has the largest circulation in the province of British Columbia.

A dominant motif in the Canadian discourse regarding first nations is that reserve communities, particularly those in remote areas, are economically unviable.

People should move from communities such as Attawapiskat to where they can get a job and become economically self-reliant like the rest of us, the argument commonly goes.

Attawapiskat is now the object of blame-casting by a federal government that is itself responsible for capacity-building, financial oversight and adequate funding of infrastructure and services in first-nations communities. Canada assumed this responsibility when it unilaterally appropriated lands formerly occupied by the inhabitants of many such communities.

Let’s be clear about what reserves are. They are a government invention. Reserves were created by government to concentrate, for administrative purposes, peoples who roamed those landscapes and exploited their resources.

NEWS RELEASE: Leaders in [British Columbia’s] Mineral Exploration and Mine Development to Be Recognized at January 25 Gala

December 16, 2011

Vancouver, B.C. — December 14, 2011 — The Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC) is pleased to announce the 2011 recipients of its annual awards presented to individuals or teams for significant contributions to the mineral exploration industry in British Columbia and Western Canada.

“We are pleased to honour the diverse achievements of this year’s recipients,” said Mona Forster, AME BC’s Chairperson. “It is satisfying to see the traditions of discovery, development and dedication carried forward as we prepare to celebrate 100 years as an industry association.”

AME BC’s awards are named in honour of industry leaders who made transformative contributions to mineral exploration and development and to the progress of AME BC through advocacy and service. These awards are presented annually at Mineral Exploration Roundup, the world’s premier mineral exploration conference.

Keystone delay costs $100B yearly – by Sheldon Alberts (National Post – December 16, 2011)

December 16, 2011

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.

The Obama administration’s ongoing delay approving the Keystone XL pipeline is a “tragedy” that is costing the North American economy thousands of jobs and up to $100 billion a year in economic benefit, TransCanada Corp.’s chief executive said Thursday.

“That’s the kind of economic stimulus that gets generated. I don’t think we can afford to continue to delay things like that,” TransCanada president and CEO Russ Girling said in an interview.

But even as he noted Keystone XL has undergone “the most rigorous review of a pipeline ever built anywhere in North America,” Girling told Postmedia News he wants no part of the current fight in Congress over speeding up a decision on his company’s $7 billion oilsands project.

Despite its initial disappointment with a State Department last month that delayed a ruling on a permit for Keystone XL until early 2013, Girling said TransCanada is comfortable working within the new timeline.