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Mines Act changes signal B.C. ready to dig in against environmentalists – by Dirk Meissner (Winnipeg Free Press – November 20, 2011)

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

Hitch said Canada’s mining industry is regarded as the
most efficient and environmentally safe in the world,
but the B.C. government needs to do a better job
telling people how mining works and how it contributes
to the province. (Winnipeg Free Press)

The Canadian Press – VICTORIA – Premier Christy Clark is about to find out her plans to chip away at the mountain of bureaucracy facing mining developments in British Columbia won’t be an easy climb if environmental groups have any say in the matter.

Opening eight new mines is a key plank of Clark’s jobs strategy, the most important policy initiative she’s launched since becoming premier early this year, and last week, the Liberals introduced minor changes to the Mines Act.

The move has triggered an avalanche of protest from the Sierra Club of B.C. which accused the government of looking to clear the way for mining companies to bulldoze the province. Sierra Club president George Heyman said Clark’s Liberals are heading in the opposite direction of public opinion if they loosen regulations to open more mines.

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Ring of Fire exemption vital for jobs – by Brian MacLeod (Sudbury Star – December 1, 2011)

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

Ontario has an unenviable record of shipping natural resources out of the country, where they’re used for finished products. The issue has again appeared on the Ontario legislature’s radar screen and it could be trouble for the Liberals, since job creation is at the centre of that screen at the moment.

Ohio-based Cliffs Natural Resources plans to develop the massive Ring of Fire in Northern Ontario.

Loaded with chromite–which is used to make stainless steel–nickel, copper and gold, the 5,120-square-kilometre deposit sits in an isolated landscape about a two-hour flight northeast of Thunder Bay. Cliffs wants to begin production at its Black Thor mine by 2015–if it gets past legal objections to the environmental assessment process from area First Nations.

Cliffs plans to build a processing facility to produce concentrate near the mine, as well as a ferrochrome smelter–possibly in Sudbury –if it can get a favourable deal on electricity rates, which are much lower in Manitoba and Quebec.

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[Cliffs Natural Resources] U.S. mining giant looks to Asia to process Ring of Fire chromite – by Tanya Talaga (Toronto Star – December 1, 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

A U.S. international mining firm may seek permission from the Ontario government to process some of the precious ore it hauls out of the Ring of Fire to Asia.

Cliffs Natural Resources, an Ohio-based mining giant, is preparing to extract what is estimated to be one of the world’s largest chromite discoveries in an ecologically sensitive part of northern Ontario, about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay. The deposit is estimated to be worth $30 billion. International mining companies have staked 9,000 claims covering 480,000 hectares.

Most of the chromite will be processed and refined at plants in northern Ontario, but the company says some of the concentrate could be shipped offshore to Asia. Cliffs is proposing a ferrochrome production facility with an annual capacity of approximately 600,000 tonnes, said Pat Persico, Cliffs senior manager of global communications.

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MININGWATCH CANADA NEWS RELEASE: Wahgoshig First Nation To Seek Inunction Against Solid Gold Resources Corp.

Posted on Mining Watch website on behalf of Wahgoshig First Nation

November 23, 2011 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wahgoshig First Nation is going to court on December 1, 2011 to seek an urgent injunction to immediately stop drilling operations in a sacred area of Wahgoshig’s traditional territory. The area is immediately adjacent to the Wahgoshig reserve and is known to contain burial grounds as well as other archaeological sites. It is also an area frequented by Wahgoshig community members for hunting, trapping, fishing, medicine gathering, and ceremonial activities.

Solid Gold Resources Corp. is a mining exploration company based near Toronto, Ontario. Wahgoshig community members discovered Solid Gold operating in its territory in the spring of this year. Since that time Wahgoshig has continuously voiced its concerns to Solid Gold about the potential impacts to its traditional territory and rights. Wahgoshig has repeatedly requested that Solid Gold stop drilling and meet to discuss how to ensure the protection of these lands and its culture. These requests have been largely ignored.

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BHP to review Canadian diamond business – by Brenda Bouw (Globe and Mail – November 30, 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.

VANCOUVER— The mine that helped put Canada on the global diamond map could soon be for sale, put in play by the industry’s shifting economics and an inexorable drop in production.

The Ekati mine in the Northwest Territories, which is nearing the end of its life in 2019, is under review by mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd., which said Tuesday that it could quit the diamond mining business in Canada. BHP owns 80 per cent of Ekati, the country’s first diamond mine, and 51 per cent of the Chidliak project on Baffin Island.

It’s studying whether diamonds, which represent less than 2 per cent of its annual profit, should still be part of a business dominated by much larger industrial commodities such as iron ore, coal and base metals, and its foray into potash. Its strategy is to invest in bigger, long-term assets as it ramps up production to meet growing demand for metals, largely from China.

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‘Just watch us,’ Native group warns Enbridge – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – November 30, 2011)

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

If there were any doubts Enbridge Inc. faces an epic battle over its proposed Northern Gateway pipeline between Alberta and the British Columbia coast, a cross-border coalition representing environmentalists and First Nations put that to rest Tuesday as it launched the opening salvo against the $5.5-billion project.

Along with releasing a report on the dangers of oil sands transport, the coalition provided a taste of its strategy: it’ll fight the project before regulators, in the court of public opinion, by legal means if necessary and by using civil disobedience.

“As a famous prime minister once said, just watch us,” Gerald Amos, a member of the Haisla First Nation near the pipeline’s Kitimat end point and director of the Headwaters Initiative, warned in a conference call with reporters to kick off the campaign.

“Everyone involved, including myself, have made commitments to one another, that we will do whatever it takes, legally and otherwise, to stop this project.”

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NEWS RELEASE: Lack of government funding may force successful First Nations mining employment program to shut down

Vancouver, B.C. – (November 29, 2012) – Concern is rising in the British Columbia mining community that a successful program to train First Nations people for well paying mining jobs will be forced to shut down without the continuance of  Federal funding. If there is no commitment for funding by either the Federal or BC governments by December 1st, the BC Aboriginal Mine Training Association (BC AMTA) will begin the formal shutdown process. 

BC AMTA has candidates representing more than 120 Indian bands and currently has 60 employers in its network. To date, 222 Aboriginal people are working at well-paying mining jobs after going through the BC AMTA program. There are approximately 80 Aboriginal people including members of the Kamloops and Skeetschestn First Nations communities employed at the New Afton underground gold and copper mine under development 10 kilometers southwest of Kamloops. The mining operation is scheduled to begin production in July, 2012.

Two years ago, New Afton joined forces with the Association of Mineral Exploration BC and the Mining Association of BC and other companies to launch BC AMTA. 

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First Nation group prepares for Far North development – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – December, 2011)

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. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca.

Wasaya joint ventures with contractor, trucker

The Wasaya Group is bulking up to be a ready service supplier to the Ring of Fire. This fall, the Thunder Bay-based Native venture corporation announced joint ventures with a major Northern contractor and a Sioux Lookout trucking company. Wasaya has struck business partnerships with Dowland Contracting of Inuvik, N.W.T. and Morgan Transfer of Sioux Lookout.

Dowland business development director Martin Landry said the company has delivered more than $1 billion in mine and power line developments as well as hospital and school projects in Canada and Alaska since its inception 30 years ago.

The new venture, Wasaya Dowland Contracting, will provide construction expertise to Wasaya with future training and apprenticeship programs stemming from the relationship.

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The Horrible Reputation of Canada’s Mining Sector – by Stan Sudol

Stan Sudol is a Toronto, Canada-based communications consultant, mining columnist and blogger. stan.sudol@republicofmining.com

Biggest commodity super-cycle in the history of mankind

The future of mining has never been brighter, yet its image among the general population seems to have plunged lower than the famous Kidd Creek mine in Timmins, Ontario – the world’s deepest base metal operation. The largest rural to urban migration in the history of mankind is taking place in China. It has been often said, that China needs to build two cities the size of Toronto, Canada and Sydney, Australia to accommodate that growth, every year! Analysts estimate that China’s middle class is expanding so rapidly that it will soon overtake the current U.S. population of 312 million.

In October, 2011, the world’s population had passed the seven billion mark. India, Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey and many other developing countries are following China and urbanizing and industrializing their economies. Mining experts feel that over the next 25 years, we will need to dig out of the ground as many minerals as consumed since the beginning of mankind.

One of the biggest concerns is a shortage of skilled workers. In the next decade half the mining workforce in Canada is eligible to retire and there are significant difficulties attracting and engaging the digital generation.
According to the Ottawa-based Mining Industry Human Resource Council’s 2011 hiring report, the industry will need to hire betwee 75,280 to 141,540 new workers in Canada depending on the state of the global economy by 2021. Similar labour shortage issues exisit in other western mining jurisdicitions like Australia and the United States.

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Why we need more women in mining jobs

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.

Mining industry studies have helped Skills Canada Ontario and Women in Nuclear (WIN) produce a book designed to get more women involved into less traditional working roles.  “Women Working in the Skilled Trades and Technologies: Myths & Realities” debunks six false stereotypes about women in the trades.

Getting more females into skilled trades and technology careers is seen as being crucial to support Canada’s economy and infrastructure.  “The crisis associated with critical shortages of skilled workers makes it imperative that government, educators and industry work together as partners and utilize a cohesive approach in solving the problem of skilled worker shortages and do everything possible to attract women to the skilled trades and technologies,” said Gail Smyth, Executive Director of Skills Canada Ontario.

Women comprise 47.4% of the total Canadian workforce.  Mining knows females will need to have a larger role in the industry.  Currently, females make up 14.4% to the total mining workforce and there is a major role for women to play in the mineral sector as it works to solve its own skilled trades shortage.

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Canadian energy sector marches to its own drummer – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – November 29, 2011)

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

Mr. Edwards said the strategy is shifting to direct
communication with the public to win “social licence”
from one that had been focused on targeting politicians
to enable them to develop appropriate policies.
(Claudia Cattaneo – Financial Post)

It’s a measure of how much the Canadian energy sector marches to its own drummer that Murray Edwards, one of its top investors and entrepreneurs, regards building pipelines to new markets and improving its image through better communication as the top issues facing it next year.

The next two? Project execution to achieve higher productivity and manage costs, and commodity prices. It’s telling that the challenges are associated with managing growth, in contrast to worries now consuming the market, such as the eurozone crisis and fears of another global downturn.

Opening new markets for Canada’s oil and improving communication efforts shot to the top of the industry’s to-do list for 2012 as a result of this month’s announcement by the United States to delay a decision on whether to allow construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta’s oil sands to refineries in the U.S. Gulf Coast, said the influential billionaire, a leading investor and chairman or vice-chairman of companies such as oil and gas producer Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and oil services firm Ensign Energy Services Inc.

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Vale board approves US$21.4bn investment budget for 2012 – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – November 29, 2011)

http://www.mineweb.com/

Iron ore gets the lion’s share of Vale’s project capex budget next year, with the bulk of investment allocated to Brazilian projects and operations.

RENO, NV – Brazilian über iron ore miner Vale Monday announced its board of directors approved US$12.9 billion for projects, US$2.4 billion for research and development, and US$6.1 billion for sustaining operations in 2012.

The company also reinforced estimated mining production for 2012 including 312 million metric tons of iron ore, 50 million metric tons of pellets, 16.6 million metric tons of coal, 300,000 metric tons of nickel, 340,000 metric tons of copper, 650,000 metric tons of potash and 8 million metric tons of phosphate rock.

Vale now has 20 main projects now under construction to implement organic growth, comprising 75% of the $12.9 billion budgeted for project development next year. The bulk of the investment will be made in Brazil, which gets 63.7% of the total 2012 investment budget, while Canada will receive 11.7%.

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Keystone is an early warning for Athabasca – by David Olive (Toronto Star – November 29, 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

U.S. President Barack Obama shocked the Calgary oilpatch earlier this month in delaying approval of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would carry Athabasca crude oil across the U.S. Great Plains to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. That step has been greeted in some quarters here as an act of hostility toward Canada.

But it’s the opposite. The U.S. did everyone a favour by putting the brakes on this thing. The environmental impact is clear as mud. And the long-term economic viability not only of Keystone but Athabasca itself is by no means assured.

TransCanada, in which I own shares, earned its setback, playing almost perfectly to the widespread distrust of business in these times. The firm asserted, falsely, that Keystone was essential to U.S. energy security; that halting its progress would spark some kind of national U.S. emergency; and that Keystone had been more thoroughly vetted than any project of its kind.

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The people vs gold – a global battleground – by Lawrence Williams (Mineweb.com – November 29, 2011)

http://www.mineweb.com/

Recent public opposition to gold mining developments in Peru and in Bulgaria are indicative of a trend towards opposition to new mines which are accused of threatening water supplies.

LONDON – More and more it seems that local populations, perhaps stirred-up  by often misleading information from environmental activists, are protesting – sometimes violently – against the establishment of significant gold mining operations in their areas.

For example, in Peru, there is an ongoing protest by the citizens of Cajamarca against the development of the Newmont/Buenaventura $3.4 billion Minas Conga gold mine while in Europe’s Balkan region the citizens of the town of Krumovgrad in Bulgaria are currently conducting  a campaign against the development of an open pit gold mine by Dundee Precious Metals.  Both these to an extent also pit the locals against central government which sees the potential benefits of the respective mining operations to their revenues and in terms of increased employment.

The above protests revolve around water supply concerns, as have a number of other recent protests against mining operations.  In the case of Minas Conga, this is something of an embarrassment to Peru’s left-leaning new President, Ollanta Humala, whose government has so far supported the mining companies in this particular case because of its potential importance to the economy.

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York University to offer mining-focused MBA – by Brenda Bouw (Globe and Mail – November 28, 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.

The Schulich School of Business at York University is capitalizing on the looming leader shortage in the mining sector by offering a first-of-its-kind MBA specialization in global mining management starting next fall.

The two-year program, expected to be announced Monday, aims to appeal to future executives, investment bankers, analysts and other professionals eyeing a top-level career in the risk-driven resources sector.

“It’s great succession planning for the industry,” said Richard Ross, an executive in residence at Schulich and former chief executive at Inmet Mining Corp. The Toronto-based MBA program is expected to crank out future mining executives at a time when many of the current, often colourful, company founders are poised for retirement.

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