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Resource agreements balance [Aboriginal] heritage with economic development – by Ryan Lux (Timmins Daily Press – October 27, 2011)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

Mining activity is providing a ray of sunshine in a region where little economic activity has occurred in the past 30 years, said a manager with De Beers Canada.

Shannin Metatwabin was one of the speakers at this week’s Mining Ready Summit in Timmins which brought First Nations together with representatives from Ontario’s mining sector. Metatwabin manages Aboriginal affairs and sustainability for De Beers’ Victor Lake Mine, 90 kilometres west of Attawapiskat.

Originally from Fort Albany, Metatwabin said he feels as though he has a stake in the development and wants the region’s people to see benefits.

Explorations near Attawapiskat began in 1985 and the Victor Lake Mine didn’t go into production until 2008. Metatwabin said during the intervening years De Beers worked hard at educating communities on mining and developing residents’ employment capacity.

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[Aboriginal] Voice must be heard [about resources] – by Ryan Lux (Timmins Daily Press – October 27, 2011)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

First Nations willing to work with resource firms

Resource companies and the province seeking to develop land in Treaty 9 territory must do more than consult First Nations. Mushkegowuk Grand Council Chief Stan Louttit maintains firms must obtain consent before work can proceed.

Louttit made his case at the Mining Ready Summit Wednesday morning based on recently discovered diaries of one of the original treaty commissioners.

Found in the Queen’s University library in 1995, the diaries have been subject to legal analysis for the past three years and the Mushkegowuk council argue they reveal something their Elders have said all along. Their ancestors never surrendered authority over their lands.

Louttit told the First Nations and mining sector representatives gathered at the summit the story of how the treaty was originally signed in 1905.

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Opportunity knocks to make amends with [Ontario] Northerners – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – October 27, 2011)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper. rgrech@thedailypress.ca

It is difficult to remember the last time Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals did something right for Northern Ontario’s economy. For a government that perpetually has its head up a dark cavity on Northern issues, putting forestry back under the umbrella of the Ministry of Natural Resources was like a positive first step toward making amends with this region.

The decision essentially reverses a decision the same government made two years ago to have forestry governed by two ministries — the MNR and Northern Development and Mines.

The consequence of that decision was that forestry had to deal with two sets of government bureaucracies with different sets of priorities. Last week’s cabinet shuffle set that mistake right.

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First Nations must be able to have a say [Ring of Fire] – by Brian MacLeod (Sudbury Star – October 27, 2011)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper. Brian MacLeod is the paper’s managing editor. brian.macleod@sunmedia.ca

A s Ontario cabinet ministers were sworn in Oct. 21, Matawa First Nations were demanding that the environmental assessment (EA) process on the Ring of Fire development must be changed — and they want an answer by Tuesday.

The Ring of Fire is a 5,120-square-kilometre chromite, nickel, copper platinum and palladium deposit in the James Bay lowlands. It’s possibly the richest undeveloped deposit in the world, maybe even akin to the riches in Sudbury.

Aside from the mining royalties collected by governments, the enormous infrastructure required– including a $2-billion, 350-km railway — will provide a hefty economic boost for Ontario.

Cleveland-based Cliffs Natural Resources wants to start processing chromite, which is used to make stainless steel, at its Black Thor deposit in 2015, and Toronto’s Noront Resources, which has spent $100 million on exploration in the area, wants to start nickel mining along the same timeline.

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Vale profits drop in third quarter – by Brian Ellsworth and Brad Haynes (Sudbury Star – October 27, 2011)

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

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazilian mining giant Vale’s third-quarter profit dropped 18% from a year earlier, missing analysts’ estimates as a tumble in Brazil’s currency caused losses on derivatives and boosted its foreign debt load.

Offsetting stronger revenue from iron sales, Vale lost $2.8 billion as it was forced to adjust the value of its foreign debt and derivatives contracts set up to protect it from a strengthening real — which dropped sharply in the quarter. Looking forward, the company said it expected the iron ore market to remain hot as a result of growth in emerging market economies.

That outlook comes on the heels of a drop of nearly 30% in iron ore prices this month, stern warnings from steelmakers of grim months ahead and evidence of a slowdown in China, Vale’s main market.

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Chambers notes Canadian presence in Latin American mining sector – by Drew Hasselback (National Post – October 26, 2011)

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

Macleod Dixon LLP’s pending merger with Norton Rose OR LLP addresses a couple of lingering questions.

The first is why Norton Rose had merged with Ogilvy Rénault LLP, and not someone else. The British firm’s stated goal was to link with a Canadian firm in the oil patch, and Ogilvy Rénault’s office in Calgary was at the time relatively new. The second is whom Norton Rose would target next. The British firm hinted it was looking at Latin America because of its interest in the resource business, but specifics were wanting.

Now it’s all starting to make sense. Macleod Dixon joins Norton Rose on Jan. 1, 2012 to create a new firm called Norton Rose Canada. The Calgary-based firm brings with it a long history in the oil patch and a book of resource files. It also comes with offices in Bagota, Colombia, and Caracas, Venezuela. You can see where the London headquarters of Norton Rose is delighted to welcome Macleod Dixon to the global fold. The deal demonstrates how Canadian resource lawyers have caught global attention.

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‘Will Canada walk away from a $14T resource?’ asks economist – by Yadullah Hussain (National Post – October 26, 2011)

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

Will Canada walk away from a $14-trillion resource? That’s the question John Felmy, chief economist at the American Petroleum Institute, is asking environmentalists who believe that blocking the Keystone pipeline would somehow cap Canada’s oil sands development.

“There is this argument that if somehow we can stop the pipelines coming to the U.S., we are going to stop oil sands development in Canada,” says Felmy, who works at the Washington-based trade association of American oil and natural gas producers.

“What are the oil sands worth? $14 trillion — at around $80 a barrel. Canada’s GDP is about $1.4 trillion – the notion that they wouldn’t develop a resource that is ten times their GDP! In all likelihood it is is going to be developed,” says Felmy, noting that if the oil sands don’t come to the U.S. they will generate even higher emissions as they will need to be shipped, probably to China, where they may be processed less efficiently.

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NEWS RELEASE: MassMin 2012 – Advancing the State-of-the-Art in Mass Mining

The 6th International Conference & Exhibition on Mass Mining
Held for the first time in [Sudbury] Canada June 11 to 14, 2012

MONTREAL, Oct. 26, 2011 /CNW Telbec/ – The 6th International Conference & Exhibition on Mass Mining, Advancing the State-of-the-Art in Mass Mining: MassMin 2012, will be held for the first time in Canada, from June 11 to 14, 2012. This premier technical mining conference will take place in Sudbury, Ontario.

After the US, South Africa, Australia, Chile and Sweden; it’s time for Canada to host this important conference for the first time. “Sudbury is one of the three key mining supply areas in the world and we are very proud to host this conference,” says Dr. Greg Baiden, International Committee Conference Chair, CEO – Penguin Automated Systems and Professor – School of Engineering Laurentian University.

MassMin 2012 local and international committees are composed of highly influential individuals directly involved in the transition from open-pit to underground mining. Sessions will be presented by companies such as Vale, Codelco, Rio Tinto, Subsea Massive Sulphides, Lunar Mining and Robotic Mine of the future.

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‘All-out war’ feared as Congo goes to the polls – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – October 26, 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.

JOHANNESBURG – One of Africa’s biggest and most unstable countries is sliding toward a resurgence of armed conflict as a crucial election campaign is increasingly tainted by fraud allegations and violent clashes.

Few people are expecting a fair vote on Nov. 28 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and analysts predict that the mounting distrust is likely to trigger more violence after the election. Up to five million people have died since 1998 in Congo in one of the world’s bloodiest civil wars.

Despite the danger signs, the international community has cut back its support for Congo’s democratic process after providing massive funding for Congo’s first-ever democratic election in 2006. The Canadian government is facing criticism for sending only six observers to monitor the election in a vast country of about 72 million people and 62,000 voting stations.

Congo, formerly known as Zaire, is one of the most mineral-rich and strategically important nations in Africa, attracting billions of dollars of investment by Canadian mining companies alone.

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Canadian strength leads to push in mining – by Drew Hasselback – (National Post – October 26, 2011)

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

How Chambers went to South America and found Canada

Even the most geographically confused individual has to know that Canada is nowhere near South America. So you wouldn’t expect to see any Canadian firms mentioned in a legal directory that lists the best law firms and lawyers in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Yet the 2012 Chambers Latin America and Caribbean directory contains a unique section called Projects, Mining: Leading Canadian Firms. I think it speaks to the growing international recognition that Canadian firms enjoy in the mining world. Here you have a guide that’s supposed to list the leading law firms in Latin America, and yet it goes out of the way to point out that if you’re looking for expertise on mining projects, you should consider approaching the eight Canadian firms profiled on the list — even though only one of them has its own offices in South America.

In fact, if you leaf through the guide or check it out online, you’ll see Chambers even had to invent a special category to reflect this reality.

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‘Family focus’ in oil patch – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – October 26, 2011)

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

In meetings with oil and gas executives and the media in Calgary last week, British Columbia Premier Christy Clark spoke about how energy development in her province fits well with her family-focused agenda.

Family agenda? The typical oil pitch – whether from a politician or an industry executive – tends to boast about the benefits to Canada of being an energy superpower, expands on the efforts to shrink the environmental footprint, warns about the need to diversify markets. It is loaded with jargon such as “environmental stewardship,” “supply mix” and “portfolio of opportunities.”

“Families are the most important structure in any healthy society” is the way the B.C. Premier chose to explain why she wants more energy projects in her province. “I recognize that for families to be able to do a good job, they need to have a job. All the wealth-creators I met here in Alberta are interested in creating wealth, but are also interested in creating jobs. When jobs are created, when economic activity is enabled, it’s good for families.”

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Longtime [Sudbury labour] activist dies at 89 – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – October 26, 2011)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper. cmulligan@thesudburystar.com

Members of United Steelworkers Local 6500– and working people in Sudbury — owe a debt of gratitude to a man whom many of them have never met.

Gilbert “Gib” Gilchrist, a former senior staff representative for USW Local 6500 and a former president of the Sudbury & District Labour Council, died Monday in Gore Bay at age 89. Longtime friend and fellow labour activist Homer Seguin, 77, was deeply saddened to learn Tuesday about his friend’s death.

Seguin, a former USW staff representative and Local 6500 president, said he first met Gilchrist in 1964 when Seguin was a trustee with the union and Gilchrist arrived in Sudbury from Elliot Lake. Gilchrist was born near Spr ing Bay on Manitoulin Island, the youngest of nine children, on a farm his family homesteaded in 1883.

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Native communities playing catch-up [in mining sector] – by Ryan Lux (Timmins Daily Press – October 26, 2011)

The Daily Press, the city of Timmins newspaper.

Chiefs say they could have benefited from information offered at summit

When Detour Mine initiated talks to re-start operations in Mattagami First Nation territory, Chief Walter Naveau says the band lacked the expertise to properly engage in those early negotiations. Naveau said the community leader would have benefited from the type of information being offered at this week’s Mining Ready Summit.

First Nation leaders from across the Northeast along with mining company representatives have gathered in Timmins for two days to share expertise and collaborate on the future of resource development in traditional territories.

Looking back, Naveau said, “Initially, we were in a place where we weren’t too sure what was happening in terms of duty to consult. Then we started looking to our treaty rights and spoke with lawyers and consultants.”

He said it has been hard to keep up with the pace of development when his community started off with a deficit of mining knowledge.

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Act now or miss out on [mining] opportunities, Hodgson warns [First Nations] – by Ryan Lux (Timmins Daily Press – October 26, 2011)

The Daily Press, the city of Timmins newspaper.

Two-day mining summit kicks off in Timmins

First Nations in Ontario’s Far North need to lobby government to cut down the time it takes for a mine to be approved by half or risk missing out on what could be the last chance to profit from the ore under their traditional territories. That was the message Ontario Mining Association president Chris Hodgson delivered to an audience at the Mining Ready Summit in Timmins Tuesday night.

“There’s this sense that the minerals are in the ground and will be valuable whenever we get around to developing them, but the fact is they might not be worth anything by then,” Hodgson said.

He pointed to research which shows commodity prices have been declining since the late 19th century, except for in times of great demographic change, like mass industrialization of the U.S., and the reconstruction efforts following both world wars.

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Independent audit vindicates Silvercorp – by Brenda Bouw (Globe and Mail – October 25, 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.

Silvercorp Metals Inc., the China-focused miner battling allegations of wrongdoing, says an independent audit has cleared its name, but the company won’t claim victory until the anonymous short sellers behind the accusations are punished.

A KPMG Forensics Inc. audit released on Monday vindicates Vancouver-based Silvercorp’s claims that it has not overstated revenues, as alleged in two sets of reports that surfaced last month.

“It confirms our business is real … There is no fraud,” Silvercorp chairman and chief executive officer Rui Feng said in an interview from Hong Kong on Monday.

KPMG was hired by a special committee of the Silvercorp board to investigate the accusations and found its recent cash and short-term investment balances were “substantially correct” and that revenues were not exaggerated.

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