Republic of Mining

The Business Case For [Aboriginal]Respect: [Australia’s] Pluton Resources – by David Hicks (The Global Commodities Report – October, 2011)

November 2, 2011

Published by New Vanguard Media, The Global Commodities Report is a digital magazine about the benefits of resource business.

With an innovative zero-impact exploration program and a partnership with the indigenous Mayala People, Australia’s Pluton Resources landed both a prestigious Golden Gecko environmental award and an iron ore mining agreement where others had failed: on an uninhabited, culturally significant, island off the northwest Australian coast.

Picture a miner out in a boat fishing off the northwest coast of Australia in the Kimberley region, scanning the iron-red shoreline of uninhabited Irvine Island, knowing that historic mistrust of the mining industry keeps its resources out of reach, and wondering to himself, “How can we make this work?”

Pluton Resources Limited Managing Director, Tony Schoer, had already worked on two nearby mining projects. “I knew this area well because I had worked on Koolan Island in the 1980’s and I was the joint venture representative for Cockatoo Island, so I knew of Irvine Island. We used to go fishing close by and you can see iron concentrations in the cliffs.”

2020 Vision for the [Timmins] Kidd Mine – by David Hicks (The Global Commodities Report – October, 2011)

November 2, 2011

Published by New Vanguard Media, The Global Commodities Report is a digital magazine about the benefits of resource business.

For a mining town like Timmins Ontario, Xstrata Copper Canada’s announcement that it is extending the mine life of the world-class Kidd Mine is welcome news.

For the second time in the past three years, Xstrata Copper Canada has announced that it is extending the projected mine life of the Kidd Mine. This time to 2020. The previous such announcement in 2008 bumped the closure back to 2017.

Quoted in Timmins’ The Daily Press, the mine’s General Manager, Tom Semadeni said, “We’re seeking to lengthen the life of the mine and the concentrator to 2020. Last year, our (expected) life was 2017, we now think 2018, and we’re working towards 2020.”

The Kidd Creek Mine, as it was first known, was discovered in 1964 and opened in 1966. It was one of the largest and richest volcanic massive sulfide discoveries in the world, bearing copper, zinc, indium, cadmium, silver and sulfuric acid. The mine produces 3.4 million tonnes of ore per year, and rendered 52,000 tonnes of copper and 45,000 tonnes of zinc in 2010.

Crisis on the [James Bay] coast – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – November 1, 2011)

November 2, 2011

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

State of emergency declared

With a housing shortage forcing residents to live in tents and cold November winds beginning to blow off James Bay, communities on the coast have collectively declared a state of emergency.

“There is definitely something terribly wrong” when billions of dollars in revenue is being generated from mining while “the citizens of this rich land continue to face daily hardships with decent housing, education, health care and a high rate of suicide,” said Mushkegowuk Deputy Grand Chief Leo Friday.

“This is not right and something has to be done.” There are families, he added, living in “tent-frame structures, wooden storage sheds, hazardous and condemned homes.” Friday said he is aware of five families in Attawapiskat that have been living in a tent for more than a year now while three families in Kashechewan and another two in Fort Albany have been living in sheds.

Republic Of Mining named to ‘Top 10 Mining Blogs’ list by Australian guide – by John Barker (Thompson Citizen – November 1, 2011)

November 2, 2011

The Thompson Citizen, which was established in June 1960, covers the City of Thompson and Nickel Belt Region of Northern Manitoba. The city has a population of about 13,500 residents while the regional population is more than 40,000. editor@thompsoncitizen.net

Mining IQ, a Sydney, Australia-based mining guide and international learning and communications portal, which is a division of International Quality & Productivity Center (IQPC), has named Republic Of Mining (http://republicofmining.com) to its list of “Top 10 Mining Blogs,” one of only two Canadian sites to be included.

In 1973, the publishers of Industry Week magazine co-founded a company called Penton Learning Systems, which managed a consortium of more than 100 colleges and universities and assisted in the design and development of over 30,000 short courses and seminars in the fields of quality management, project management, finance and accounting, marketing management, strategic planning and implementation. IQPC was founded in 1989 and is still owned by Penton Learning Systems of Little Falls, New Jersey.

Republic of Mining is published by Stan Sudol, a Toronto-based journalist, communications consultant, mining strategist and speechwriter. Sudol picks up Thompson Citizen and Nickel Belt News mining stories, editorials and photos, with our permission, from time to time, usually about Vale’s Manitoba Operations.

The Far North Act, Economic Development and the Aboriginal Future – by Livio Di Matteo (November 1, 2011)

November 1, 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/

The aboriginal population of Northern Ontario is growing at a much faster rate than the non-aboriginal population and faces a number of economic and social challenges. Along with education and the acquisition of human capital, another source of future economic welfare improvement must be the employment opportunities associated with resource development in Ontario’s north.

The Ring of Fire will likely be one such opportunity. However, the prospect of other future resource discoveries and associated economic development is now much diminished as a result of the Far North Act passed by the McGuinty Liberal government a year ago. This is unfortunate given the forecast increases in future demand for resources from the developing world – in particular, the Asia-Pacific region.

As a result of the Far North Act, some 225,000 square kilometers of Ontario’s far north will be off limits to resource development – an area that is roughly twenty percent of the province’s land mass. While this action has ostensibly been done with the aim of protecting a large chunk of Ontario’s environmental heritage, it has not been welcomed by northern Ontario’s First Nations.

No joint review, no Ring of Fire: Matawa chiefs – by Rick Garrick (Wawatay News – October 27, 2011)

November 1, 2011

Wawatay News is Northern Ontario’s First Nation Voice with offices in Sioux Lookout, Timmins and Thunder Bay.

The chiefs of Matawa First Nations have withdrawn their support for development in the Ring of Fire. The Oct. 21 announcement comes after the federal government announced plans to conduct an environmental study of a potential mine project in the Ring of Fire, an area in the James Bay lowlands near several Matawa communities.

But Matawa chiefs said they want a more thorough study of the chromite mine proposed by Cliffs Natural Resources, a company based out of Cleveland, Ohio. Constance Lake Chief Roger Wesley said that request fell on deaf ears by the federal agency responsible for environmental studies.

“We will be forced to resort to alternative measures if Canada and Ontario continue to ignore the First Nations that are being impacted by Ring of Fire developments,” Wesley said. “We want development, but we also want to make sure that our lands, waters, wildlife, and our way of life are not destroyed in the process.”

The Right Footing: Rio Tinto Alcan and the Haisla First Nation – by David Hicks (The Global Commodities Report – October 2011)

November 1, 2011

Published by New Vanguard Media, The Global Commodities Report is a digital magazine about the benefits of resource business.

The Kitimat aluminum smelter was built smack in the middle of the claimed traditional territory of the Haisla First Nation back in the oblivious 1950s. With a $2.5 billion upgrade in the works, it was time to re-engineer the social relationship as well.

A long overdue formal agreement, called the “Haisla Nation – Rio Tinto Alcan Legacy Agreement”, has been achieved between Rio Tinto Alcan, the owner and operator of the aluminum smelter at Kitimat, British Columbia, and the Haisla First Nation, both of whom reside at the headwaters of the Douglas Channel in northwestern BC.

While the first relationship protocol and series of meetings between the parties began just over a decade ago, the current relationship took work, but both parties ratified the 30-year renewable agreement in support of the aluminum operations at Kitimat.

Finding the golden lining [Nuinsco Resources] – by Thomas Watson (Canadian Business Magazine – October 19, 2011)

November 1, 2011

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/

Executives from Nuinsco Resources, a Toronto-based mineral exploration company, recently checked in to the Corinthia Hotel in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. The oval-shaped structure is known locally as Gadhafi’s Egg; its construction was financed by the notorious Libyan leader. The executives were there to pursue mining opportunities in Sudan, a country with a rough reputation in the Canadian business community and where, until recently, only mad dictators would consider investing in real estate.

For more than two decades, Sudan has been ruled by the Islamist government of Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, who spent decades locked in a brutal civil war with Christian separatists in the south. Accused of genocide in the country’s Darfur region, al-Bashir is officially listed as a sponsor of terror by the United States and wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.

Nevertheless, he earned some credit for allowing the referendum that recently led to an independent South Sudan and effectively ended the country’s war. But Sudan must now confront a severe economic crisis. The country’s annualized rate of inflation was 21% in August, and its division this summer handed the south custody of most oil assets. As a result, the nation is looking to expand its minerals industry.

Have engineering companies found a secret for successful employee engagement?

November 1, 2011

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 in Ontario continues to face current and future human resource challenges due to industry growth and pending retirements from the existing workforce. Attracting and retaining employees for the right jobs in the right locations is a key strategy to be successful.

The Mining Industry Human Resource Council (MiHR) indicates Ontario’s mining industry will need between 5,578 and 17,000-plus new employees leading up to 2018. That range is based on different scenarios for global demand of metal and minerals. Ontario Mining Association President Chris Hodgson is a Director on the MiHR Board.

A recently released best employer study rates employee engagement as a key indicator for success in attracting in retaining workers. Aon Hewitt’s Best Employers in Canada study, which looked at 261 employers with a total of 112,000 employees, said the average engagement score for the top 50 companies was 78% while the average engagement score of the other companies was 58%.

Jobs waiting for hard rock mining grads – by Chris Ribau (Timmins Daily Press – November 1, 2011)

November 1, 2011

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

First group to complete program at Northern College

The first graduates have completed the Basic Underground Hard Rock Miner Common Core program at Northern College. The Porcupine Campus, in partnership with Goldcorp Porcupine Gold Mines, held a luncheon Monday to honour the students who graduated from the 12-week program.

“We’re here to celebrate the journey of the first group of graduates in our industry leading Basic Underground Hard Rock Miner Common Core program,” said Norm Bolduc, training consultant for Northern College.

Peter MacLean, vice-president of Northern College, offered some encouraging words for the graduates.

[Aboriginal Mining] Ontario Far North Act: Reducing Aboriginal Poverty through Parks or Mines? – by Stan Sudol

December 5, 2011October 31, 2011

Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant and columnist who blogs at: www.republicofmining.com He can be reached at stan.sudol@republicofmining.com

Honourable Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper at the Agnico-Eagle Meadowbank Mine, Nunavut

There are many reasons that contributed to Premier McGuinty’s minority government in the recent Ontario election. However, one of the most contentious issues contributing to his decline in the vast regions of the North – an area that is seldom on the Toronto media’s agenda – was the much detested Far North Act. Praised by the south’s many well-funded and powerful environmental groups, this legislation cuts off half of the Far North – 225,000 square kilometers – to resource development, roughly 21 per cent of the province’s landmass and turns it into natural parks.

As they often say, “the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” The horrific downside to this green ideology is that mineral exploration and potential mines – the only form of economic development that could reduce the impoverished, third-world living conditions in First Nation communities – is being reduced or stopped in the affected territory.

A generation ago the destruction of the fur industry in northern Aboriginal communities by an aggressive, media-savvy environmental movement caused enormous economic hardships and contributed many social ills. Are McGuinty and his environmental thugs doing the same with their parks agenda? Is the Far North Act inherently “Anti-Aboriginal”?

The West grabbing a growing share of Canada’s investment capital – by Gordon Hamilton (Vancouver Sun – October 29, 2011)

October 30, 2011

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

Strong commodities markets, especially mining, pulling growing volume of M&A activity to western provinces

The Western provinces are taking a bigger share of Canadian business investment as a result of the global commodities boom, a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report on mergers and acquisitions shows.

Ontario and Quebec continue to be the top investment destination, according to the report Deals Quarterly Special Feature, but the two Central Canada provinces are losing market share to the West. The report looks at merger and acquisition activity province-by-province over the last 10 years.

“There is certainly a shift, a trend,” Kristian Knibutat, PwC Canadian deals leader, said in a teleconference on the report Friday. He said the geographic shift comes as no surprise, given the “super cycle” that commodities have been experiencing over the decade.

American nimbyism real threat to Canada – by Diane Francis (National Post – October 29, 2011)

October 30, 2011

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

The United States has become the world’s ultimate Banana Republic, a nation choked by the “Build-Absolutely-Nothing-Anywhere-Near-Anyone” people who prowl its corridors of power.

This, more than any Greek, Euro or banking crises, threatens Canadian living standards.

America’s political gridlock afflicts all forms of industrial or energy development. It is harming U.S. living standards and job creation that indirectly hurts Canada because of the close economic partnership. More specifically, the Banana mentality is threatening Canada’s critically important oil sands and the building of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline to bring 700,000 barrels a day of new production to the U.S. market.