Republic of Mining

Activist nun who fought Indian mining companies brutally murdered – by Stephanie Nolen (Globe and Mail – November 18, 2011)

November 19, 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.

NEW DELHI – Sister Valsa John wanted to go home. Living in self-imposed exile hundreds of kilometres away, she pined for the hut in an aboriginal village where she had built a life. She talked about the people she loved there, and the quiet of the nights. Then she added, in a voice both wistful and matter-of-fact: “If I go home, most probably they will kill me.”

They did kill her. In the early hours of Wednesday morning, a mob of 25 or 30 men carrying spears, clubs and axes burst into her house in Pachuwara, a remote village in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand. They beat and hacked her to death, a week after she went home.

The “they” Sister Valsa feared were “goons” hired by the mining companies she had helped the community of Pachuwara fight. The “coal mafia” told her on more than one occasion to get out of Pachuwara or they would kill her. She had repeatedly appealed to police for protection after threats on her life.

Canada could create ‘thousands’ of diamond manufacturing jobs – by Matthew Hill (Miningweekly.com – November 18, 2011)

November 19, 2011

Mining Weekly is South Africa’s premier source of weekly news on mining developments in Africa’s most important industry. Mining Weekly provides in-depth coverage of mining projects and the personalities reshaping the mining industry.

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canada has the potential to create “thousands” of diamond cutting and polishing jobs as new mines come into production in the country over the next decade, Diamond Bourse of Canada GM Adam Shubinsky said in a recent interview.

To do so, the country, which produces 23% of the world’s diamonds by value, needs to implement policies that encourage cutters and polishers to set up shop in Canada, and also push miners to sell to local factories, he said.

“Canada is standing at a transformative point in its diamond history,” Shubinsky commented in an interview. A confluence of factors were aligning, creating potential for the country to benefit from its significant diamond resources, he said.

Chromite competition [Thunder Bay/Greenstone] Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (November 18, 2011)

November 19, 2011

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

THUNDER BAY and Greenstone have both made their pitches to host the facility that will process chromite ore from the Ring of Fire, Ontario’s most promising mineral deposit in years. Both sent delegations Wednesday to the Cleveland offices of Cliffs Natural Resources, the key player, and both came away confident they’d made the case for this important development.

Both have benefits and drawbacks, and without knowing what went on in Cliffs’ boardroom it is impossible to ascertain who may now enjoy an edge. But Greenstone appears to have put more effort into selling itself. It hired former Ontario energy minister now consultant George Smitherman to bring his influence to bear. It is also working with a public relations company.

Greenstone issued an opinion piece to this newspaper timed to coincide with Cliffs’ open house in Thunder Bay Monday and the trip to Cleveland two days later. It made a compelling case involving proximity to the proposed ore transfer point and a regional energy grid which is the key to such a power-hungry development.

Fighting for the [Ring of Fire] smelter – by Special to the Sudbury Star (Sudbury Star – November 18, 2011)

November 19, 2011

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

THUNDER BAY — Fort William First Nation Chief Peter Collins and Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs agree the ferrochrome processor that is to be part of the Ring of Fire development needs to be in northwestern Ontario, whether it is Thunder Bay or the Township of Greenstone.

Hobbs and Collins, along with other local leaders, returned to Thunder Bay on Wednesday following a trip to Cliffs Natural Resources headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, where they pitched Thunder Bay’s case as a potential site for the processor.

“The pitch was just that Thunder Bay may not be the base case, but it is the best case,” Hobbs said shortly after returning to the city. Sudbury is currently Cliff’s base case, but Hobbs said northwestern Ontario will only benefit if chosen as the site.

Timmins Arena was home to many NHL players – by Karen Bachmann (Timmins Daily Press – November 19, 2011)

November 19, 2011

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

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

A few news items from 1947 for your reading pleasure. For all the art lovers out there, Miss Helen Chisholm of the national art gallery came home to spend Christmas at her residence, 8 Maple St. S.

According to the news item “Timmins is proud to be the home town of Miss Chisholm, who has made quite a name for herself in the field of art … This past summer, Miss Chisholm was one of a group of artists who enjoyed a series of classes at Banff, Alberta, that scenic resort in the Canadian Rockies. The classes were in charge of A.Y. Jackson (a member of the Group of Seven). We anticipate still greater achievements from Miss Chisholm, another of Timmins’ offspring who aspire to a brilliant future.”

For those of you who think that nothing happened in Timmins, here is your gruesome story of the day. It appears that the body of a local trapper was found frozen in the Mattagami River.

The $200,000-a-Year [Australian] Mine Worker – by John W. Miller (Wall Street Journal – November 16, 2011)

November 19, 2011

http://online.wsj.com/home-page

Resources Boom Fuels Demand for Underground Labor, Spurs Skyrocketing Pay; a $1,200 Chihuahua.

MANDURAH, Australia — One of the fastest-growing costs in the global mining industry are workers like James Dinnison: the 25-year-old high-school dropout from Western Australia makes $200,000 a year running drills in underground mines to extract gold and other minerals.

The heavily tattooed Mr. Dinnison, who started in the mines seven years ago earning $100,000, owns a sky-blue 2009 Chevy Ute, which cost $55,000 before a $16,000 engine enhancement, and a $44,000 custom motorcycle. The price tag on his chihuahua, Dexter, which yaps at his feet: $1,200.

A precious commodity himself, Mr. Dinnison belongs to a class of nouveau riche rising in remote and mineral-rich parts of the world, such as Western Australia state, where mining companies are investing heavily to develop and expand iron-ore mines. Demand for those willing to work 12-hour days in sometimes dangerous conditions, while living for weeks in dusty small towns, is huge.

The pitch is made [for Ring of Fire refinery] – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal (November 17, 2011)

November 17, 2011

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

Fort William First Nation Chief Peter Collins and Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs agree that the ferrochrome processor that is to be part of the Ring of Fire development needs to be in Northwestern Ontario, whether it is Thunder Bay or the Township of Greenstone.

“The pitch was just that Thunder Bay may not be the base case, but it is the best case,” Hobbs said shortly after returning to the city. Sudbury is currently Cliff’s base case, but Hobbs said Northwestern Ontario will only benefit if chosen as the site. “There will be no benefit in this region if it goes to Sudbury,” he said.

China and South Africa: An alliance of [mining] ‘pragmatism’ – by Kenneth Kidd (Toronto Star – November 12, 2011)

November 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

JOHANNESBURG—Jianke Gao strolls into the boardroom of Wesizwe Platinum Ltd. wearing casual trousers and a short-sleeved shirt, as if he were heading to the links. It’s a marked departure from the traditional dour suit of Chinese business. It may also be apt.

Gao is just a couple of months into his new job as Wesizwe’s CEO, installed after China’s Jinchuan Group Ltd. and the China-Africa Development Fund teamed up to buy 45 per cent of the company for $227 million.

The Chinese consortium is now arranging $650 million in financing to develop Wesizwe’s Frischgewaagd-Ledig platinum mine in South Africa’s North West province.

As part of the deal, the Chinese loaned $27 million to Micawber 809, one of South Africa’s black empowerment entities, so Micawber could buy a 6 per cent stake in Wesizwe.

[Alberta premier] Alison Redford brings conciliatory oil sands pitch to Ontario – by Chris Selley (National Post – November 17, 2011)

November 17, 2011

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

TORONTO — Alberta Premier Alison Redford has a plan to move us beyond all the acrimony over Alberta’s oil sands and the pipelines that transport the black, carbon-intensive gold they contain. She calls it a “national energy strategy.” That’s strategy, not program, before you crack wise — and she’s going to grab this bull by the horns, not Ottawa.

“I see this as one big country with an awful lot of Canadians who have an interest in what our economic future will be,” Ms. Redford told reporters in Toronto on Wednesday.

Her big idea, outlined at a lunchtime address at the Royal York Hotel sponsored by the Economic Club of Canada, is that in a fact-based regulatory process, oil sands skeptics in the government and NGO communities will abandon their prejudices. They will agree to measurable targets for greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental goals, with results published independently and proactively. This calmer attitude would spread to Toronto, Ottawa, Nebraska, the White House and beyond.

Companies push duelling pipelines – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – November 17, 2011)

November 17, 2011

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

With the proposed Keystone XL pipeline beached for 18 months thanks to environmental lobby opposition, pipeline companies are switching to a step-by-step strategy to push growing Canadian oil production down to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

It’s a tough chess game next to the door-to-door, Alberta-to-Texas Keystone XL solution, but it could mean greater success and derail the greens’ goal to shut down the oil sands.

On Wednesday, Calgary-based Enbridge Inc., rival of Keystone XL proponent TransCanada Corp., announced the purchase of ConocoPhillip’s 50% interest in the Seaway pipeline for US$1.15 billion. Enbridge and its partner, Houston-based Enterprise Products Partners LP, owner of Seaway’s remaining 50%, plan to reverse the flow of the pipeline that currently moves oil from Freeport, Tex., to the Cushing, Okla., oil storage hub, where a glut has depressed Midwest oil prices below world prices.

NEWS RELEASE: Mining industry projected to invest $67.7 billion in Alberta over the next five years

November 16, 2011

Canada NewsWire

EDMONTON, AB, Nov. 15, 2011 /CNW/ – Canada’s mining industry has the potential to make almost $140 billion of capital investment in Canada over the next five years and almost 50 per cent of this investment is anticipated in Alberta. The province is set to lead the way in growth, driven by a strong mix of commodities and a potential $67.7 billion investment in 12 mining projects proposed for development by 2016.

That’s one of the messages Pierre Gratton, President and CEO of The Mining Association of Canada, is sharing in an address to the Edmonton business community at the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation’s 2012 Economic Outlook Luncheon today. “There is tremendous opportunity facing the Canadian mining industry – an opportunity not seen in several generations,” Gratton says. “Multi-billion dollar investments are planned in both new and existing projects in virtually every province and territory of Canada, bringing significant economic benefits, and Alberta is set to be a major player.”

Benefits include the generation of provincial taxes and royalties, employment and economic spin-off service and supplier benefits. The statistics speak for themselves: Alberta royalties and mining tax revenues from oil sands and coal alone (not including corporate and personal income taxes) grew by roughly 16 percent between 2009 and 2010.

Development and delay [Ring of Fire/XL Oil Pipeline] Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (November 16, 2011)

November 17, 2011November 16, 2011

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

TWO LARGE resource development proposals in this country highlight the difficulties in balancing economic opportunity with environmental protection. The addition of economic uncertainty and cultural considerations makes this balancing act even tougher.

Here in the Northwest, the proposal to develop the huge Ring of Fire chromite project is the subject of dispute over what form of environmental assessment is suitable. A comprehensive study of Cliffs Natural Resources’ proposal, by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, is already under way. First Nations in the James Bay Lowlands withdrew their support of the project when the federal government opted not to conduct a higher-level joint review panel EA.

Matawa First Nations claims the comprehensive study EA provides “no realistic opportunity for First Nations to participate.” It says the current process will fast track the EA process for government and Cliffs, but put First Nation communities and their lands at serious risk.

Noront’s [Ring of Fire] mine proposal under microscope – by Northwest Bureau (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 16, 2011)

November 3, 2015November 16, 2011

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

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency is accepting public comments on the proposed Eagle’s Nest project in the Ring of Fire. Noront Resources Ltd. has proposed a base-metal mining project in the area, in the James Bay Lowlands.

The agency has prepared draft environmental impact statement guidelines that identify potential environmental effects to be addressed and information that needs to be included in the proponent’s statement.

The federal and provincial governments are co-ordinating their respective processes for the comprehensive environmental assessment of the project.

Noront is proposing an 11-year, 2,960-tonne-per-day, underground nickel-copper-platinum mine, to be located 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.

Cliffs outlines plans for [Sudbury Chromite] processing plant – by Rita Poliakov (Sudbury Star – November 16, 2011)

November 16, 2011

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

Sudbury wants a ferrochrome facility. This was made clear to Mayor Marianne Matichuk at the Cliffs Natural Resources open house in Capreol on Tuesday.

“Most of the people I’ve talked to are very positive. They’re just like, ‘When are they coming?’ People are open to having this in their community,” Matichuk said about a proposed ferrochrome production facility that may be built at the Mountain Moose Mine site outside of Capreol.

While the Greater Sudbury location is one of many possibilities, Cliffs has marked it as a base case for the project. Although community support is there, Matichuk is worried about how Ontario’s hydro rates may affect Sudbury’s chances of getting the plant.