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NEWS RELEASE: Vale proposes Executive Board reorganization to the Board of Directors

www.republicofmining.com

11/21/2011
 
On November, 24, Vale’s CEO Murilo Ferreira will submit to the Board of Directors a proposal for a new structure of the company’s Executive Board. This restructuring seeks to establish an operational model with clearly defined roles and responsibilities for each business unit.

Under this new model, each executive director will be responsible for Planning, New Business Development, Operations and Marketing & Sales. This model will help us reach our growth goals and consolidate our business, with the aim of further strengthening the company.

The composition of the new Executive Board, once approved by the Board of Directors, will be as follows:

Fertilizers and Coal – Eduardo Bartolomeo
Iron Ore and Strategy – José Carlos Martins
Logistics and Exploration – Humberto Freitas
Base Metals and IT – Peter Poppinga
Capital Projects Implementation – Galib Chaim
Finance – Tito Martins
HR, Health & Safety, Sustainability and Energy – Vania Somavilla

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Canada’s chronic asbestos problem – by John Gray and Stephanie Nolen (Globe and Mail – Report on Business Magazine – November 21, 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.

For a place of modest size, Asbestos has made an impressive imprint on the Canadian psyche. In 1949, the Asbestos Strike—which took place at the mines in Asbestos and nearby Thetford Mines—helped to usher in the Quiet Revolution that shaped the modern Quebec. And in 2011, the place’s eponymous product is giving a black eye to Canada’s international reputation as a fair dealer.

Most of the world, including the medical community, agrees that asbestos is desperately dangerous. The World Health Organization reports that more than 100,000 people die every year from lung cancer and other respiratory diseases due to asbestos exposure. And many more will die, because 125 million people are exposed to asbestos in their workplaces today and every day.

No surprise, then, that the stuff is effectively banned in Canada. And a surprise, to observers, that Canada exports it to other countries, most notoriously India, where public-health regimes are less vigorous than in Canada.

But that fact is no more mysterious than two forces that are as well known in India as they are in Canada.

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NEWS RELEASE: The Mining Association of Canada Recognizes Industry Leadership in Corporate Social Responsibility

OTTAWA, Nov. 22, 2011 /CNW/ – During its annual Mining Day on the Hill, The Mining Association of Canada (MAC)  is presenting its 2010 Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) Awards, recognizing Canadian mining facilities that have demonstrated excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

2010 TSM Award recipients include Barrick Gold Corporation, De Beers Canada Inc., Diavik Diamond Mines Inc., Iron Ore Company of Canada, Syncrude Canada Ltd., Teck Resources Limited, and Xstrata. Facilities owned by these companies demonstrated performance excellence in a number of categories: 

•Tailings Management.
•Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.
•External Outreach.
•Crisis Management Planning.

TSM performance categories for 2011 onwards will also include:

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Innovation and the Canadian mining sector – by Paul Stothart (CIM Magazine – May, 2011)

Founded in 1898, the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) is a technical society of professionals in the Canadian minerals, metals, materials and energy industries.

Paul Stothart is vice-president, economic affairs, at the Mining Association of Canada. He is responsible for advancing the industry’s interests regarding federal tax, trade, investment, transport and energy issues.

In late 2010, the federal government launched a review of its core research and development (R&D) funding and tax programs. In so doing, it established an “expert review panel on R&D” tasked with providing recommendations to the government by October 2011.

Based on the premise that Canada does poorly converting knowledge to innovation, the overall intent of the exercise is to improve Canada’s ability to stimulate innovation, capitalize on knowledge and create economic value. In some circles, the launching of this review has drawn cynicism, given that the federal government has conducted similar exercises in recent years without leading to appreciable improvements.

The Mining Association of Canada prepared a submission to the expert panel in late February 2011 that highlighted the following three key messages:

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“Nation-building Infrastructure: A Roadmap to Economic Growth” – by the Honourable Jim Prentice, P.C., Q.C.

Address by the Honourable Jim Prentice, P.C., Q.C.; Senior Executive Vice President and Vice Chairman, CIBC – to the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce November 21, 2011

Check against delivery

Thank you and good afternoon.

I’m delighted to be here in Edmonton. I am very fond of this city. I lived here as a young man and my Bachelor of Commerce degree is from the University of Alberta, which I am proud to say has emerged as Canada’s top research university.

Over the last few months I’ve had the privilege of speaking to audiences in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Boston. At each event I’ve focussed on energy infrastructure development, and the tremendous opportunity for jobs, investment and long-term wealth creation that it represents.

In fact, it would not be overstatement to say that the build out of Canada’s energy infrastructure could be the main driver of our economic growth. A report released just days ago by CIBC’s Institutional Equity Research team concluded that Canada is in the midst of an infrastructure “super cycle”. In the energy sector alone, the report listed twentyeight current and proposed projects in Canada, and the total size of the investment is close to $75 billion. A good portion of that build out will take place right here in Northern Alberta.

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Keystone debate pushes Canada’s energy policy in new direction – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – November 22, 2011)

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

The United States’ administration treated the Keystone XL pipeline as a political inconvenience. Environmental organizations painted it as the tipping point between a future based on fossil fuels and one based on green energy. The oil industry wanted it to support its growth agenda.

Now it’s Canada’s turn to decide what Keystone XL stands for. Most likely, it will be about putting Canada first. Whether that suits any of the above is secondary.

Jim Prentice, the former senior federal Cabinet minister, said Keystone XL’s regulatory review process and its ultimate deferral by U.S. President Barack Obama were a transformational moment for the country on the necessity to open new markets for its biggest export commodity, oil.

The transformation has been so deep he contends it has pushed Canadian energy policy in a new direction.

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Saudis face waning power in North America – by Yadullah Hussain (National Post – November 22, 2011)

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

While the green movement naively harbours hopes it will be able to shut down unconventional oil and gas development, in Saudi Arabia they are already contemplating a time when North American fossil fuel will replace their oil.

Looking past the din of protesters, state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco is resigned to the fact that its influence will wane because of the massive unconventional fossil-fuel development underway in North America. As such, Saudi Arabia has no plans to raise its production output to 15 million barrels per day from 12 million, said Khalid Al-Falih, the powerful chief executive of Aramco.

“There is a new emphasis in the industry on unconventional liquids, and shale gas technologies are also being applied to shale oil,” Al-Falih, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, warned a domestic audience in a speech in Riyadh Monday.

“Some are even talking about an era of ‘energy independence’ for the Americas, based on the immense conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources located there.

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[Cliffs Natural Resources] Miner plans on shipping chromite to Asia – CBC News Canada (November 21, 2011)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/

Cliffs Natural Resources says sending concentrate to Asia will help make its Ring of Fire project more viable

Cliffs Natural Resources said it plans to send some of the chromite it mines in the Ring of Fire to refineries in Asia, despite the Ontario Mining Act stipulation that ore mined in the province must be processed in Canada.

Bill Boor, senior vice president with Cliffs, said the company will seek an exemption to the Act, if necessary.

He said the economic viability of the project depends on being able to sell chromite to world markets in different forms — both ferrochrome and concentrate. “Selling concentrate is … an acknowledged value-added product within the world market that’s already existing,” Boor said.

He added the company will process material at the mine site — upgrading the chromite ore to concentrate, and that most of what Cliffs mines will end up being refined at the ferrochrome smelter it plans to build in northern Ontario.

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A giant step in the mining agreement process [Goldcorp and Cree Nation of Wemindji] – by J. Borsato (CIM Magazine – May, 2011)

Founded in 1898, the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) is a technical society of professionals in the Canadian minerals, metals, materials and energy industries.

Cree Nation sets the tone for future collaborations with mining industry

Mineral exploration and development in Canada typically occur in close proximity to Aboriginal communities. The positive impact such activities have on these communities are significant on many levels – agreements with First Nations on mining-related projects can result in job creation, skills training and economic growth at both the local and regional level.

If approached in a proactive, respectful and responsible way, companies can tip the balance in favour of a harmonious and profitable partnership. Moreover, when a First Nation is proactive in its negotiations, it is not only a recipe for success, it is a model to be emulated.

Historically, impact benefit agreements (IBAs) existed as bilateral agreements between the government and an Aboriginal community, to ensure local rights are respected and that employment opportunities are created for the people in the community.

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Lessons from Keystone – National Post Editorial (National Post – November 21, 2011)

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

Two weeks ago, the United States State Department, at the behest of the White House, unexpectedly postponed until after next November’s U.S. presidential election a decision on whether to permit the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast. Their official reason?

The proposed route threatened a vital aquifer in Nebraska. A detour might be necessary and evaluating the feasibility of a new route would take 13 to 16 months, which (entirely coincidentally, we’re sure) would bury the controversy until after the 2012 presidential vote. Moreover, the State Department explained, Nebraska was opposed to the Keystone route.

Then on Wednesday, the Nebraska state legislature voted unanimously to approve a proposed new route around the underground river and pipeline-owner TransCanada mused about building the southern portion of the line (from Texas up to Nebraska), even before the White House had signed off on the Nebraska diversion. It’s unclear whether this last-breaking moment of sanity and cooperation will be enough to salvage a worthy project.

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Obama’s Keystone cop-out – by Charles Krauthammer (National Post – November 21, 2011)

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

In 2008, the slogan was “Yes We Can.” For 2011-12, it’s “We Can’t Wait.” What happened in between? Candidate Barack Obama, the vessel into which myriad dreams were poured, met the reality of governance.

His near-$1-trillion stimulus begat a stagnant economy with 9% unemployment. His attempt at Wall Street reform left in place a still too-big-to-fail financial system as vulnerable today as when he came into office. His green energy fantasies yielded Solyndra cronyism and a cap-and-trade regime not even a Democratic Congress would pass.

And now his signature achievement, Obamacare, is headed to the Supreme Court, where it could very well be struck down, just a week after its central element was overwhelmingly repudiated (2-1) by the good burghers of Ohio.

So what do you do when you say you can, but, it turns out, you can’t? Blame the other guy. Charge the Republicans with making governing impossible. Never mind that you had control of the Congress for two-thirds of your current tenure. It’s all the fault of Republican rejectionism.

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Government Subsidies and Economic Development: Is the End Near for the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund? – by Livio Di Matteo – (November 19, 2011)

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/

In the art of politics, timing is everything.  My curiosity was certainly piqued earlier in the week when a story in the Ottawa Citizen reported that Ontario’s premier Dalton McGuinty was hinting that he was ready for a major policy reversal regarding the practice of provincial government grants and subsidies for business.  According to the story, he was listening “to all the arguments” on these grants which have been referred to as corporate welfare.

In many respects, this would be a remarkable turn around given the Ontario Liberals campaigned on the strength of their economic strategy – a strategy of government investment in green energy in particular as a job creation program.  There have been enormous subsidies to producers of wind and solar energy in the form of generous prices for the electricity generated.  As well, there is the money in the regional development funds such as the Eastern Ontario Development Fund and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund.

Why the sudden shift?  It turns out the Ottawa Citizen has apparently been investigating stories that the Eastern Ontario Development Fund has been favouring businesses in Liberal ridings since the fund was established. 

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An argument for new pipelines – by Neil Reynolds (Globe and Mail – November 21, 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.

You might think that humans have built enough oil and gas pipelines by now to get it right. And, fact is, they have. Oil and gas provide 60 per cent of the world’s primary fuel: a million tonnes of oil every hour, a quarter of a trillion cubic metres of gas every hour.

Almost all of it moves, at one time or other, in pipelines – the safest way, by far, to move it. And this is not inherently surprising. Pipelines are usually buried a metre underground. We’re not talking deep-sea drilling here.

But Canadian-made and Canadian-managed pipelines are in a class by themselves, either the safest in the world or indistinguishable from it. Canadian pipeline companies operate 100,000 kilometres of pipeline. The Canadian Energy Pipeline Association puts the average annual loss of liquid fuels from these pipelines at two litres for every million litres moved. The safety performance of these companies, in other words, can be expressed as 99.999 per cent.

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Stand together against the tar-sands scourge – by Rober Redford (Globe and Mail – November 21, 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.

During four decades of environmental advocacy, actor and filmmaker Robert Redford has received numerous honours, including the United Nations Global 500 award.

Vancouver — Working in Vancouver for the past several months has allowed me to spend fall in one of the most spectacular cities in the world, amid the natural splendour and wilderness wonder of British Columbia.

It’s been a reminder to me of the close partnership Canadians and Americans have forged as neighbours, bound by geography, history and culture reaching back to our national beginnings. Over the generations, these bonds of common experience and identity have combined to create something even more important: the values we share around the need to stand up for the lands we treasure and love.

Today, together, we need to stand up once more, because the lands we treasure and love are imperilled by a threat we must meet as one.

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[Manitoba] Province mining bright future – by Martin Cash (Winnipeg Free Press – November 19, 2011)

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

Many projects could start up in next few years

In the next five years the mining industry in Manitoba could find itself in a challenging position — trying to find people to fill 2,000 additional jobs that might be created. That’s because a number of development projects that have been percolating for years may be coming to fruition.

With employment up almost 25 per cent over the past five years to 6,100 and capital spending up 25 per cent in the past year, the industry is booming. Base metal prices continue to hold their own and gold prices continue to rise as global economic uncertainty persists.

It means that a number of projects — some that could be among the largest ever developed in the province — continue to progress, creating the potential for several new mine openings over the next few years. It will take billions of dollars to make that a reality, which means it’s far from a foregone conclusion.

But the current optimism — manifested by registration numbers at this week’s annual Manitoba Mining and Minerals Convention hitting 1,000 for the first time ever — does not come out of the blue. Typically, new mines take up to 10 years to develop. Leading off the development bonanza in Manitoba is one of the fastest discovery-to-development projects in the country — HudBay Minerals’ Lalor project.

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