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Cliffs outlines plans for [Sudbury Chromite] processing plant – by Rita Poliakov (Sudbury Star – 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.

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Keystone re-route will cost TransCanada – by Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew (Toronto Star – November 16, 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

Choosing an alternative route for the Keystone XL pipeline will cost TransCanada Corp. time, money, and could send it through other environmentally sensitive areas, industry analysts say.

But it’s also the best chance that the Calgary-based company has to move forward on the massive $7-billion project. With a new route, some previous critics have melted away.

Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman, who had been an opponent, said he has asked the Obama administration to move quickly to push the project forward.

“Our most important objective all along was to move the route. So if we can expedite the supplemental environmental impact assessment and get moving on the construction of the pipeline, we’re all for that,” he said in a press conference in Nebraska Tuesday.

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Miners turn to renewable energy to cut costs – by Brenda Bouw (Globe and Mail – November 16, 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 – Mining companies are gluttons when it comes to energy use as they haul, grind and process ore, but soaring costs and environmental concerns have many turning to cleaner alternatives.

With energy now representing about 25 per cent of production costs, more companies are making huge long-term investments in wind, solar and other renewable energy projects to cut expenses and clean up their operations.

Companies such as Barrick Gold Corp., Teck Resources Ltd. and Rio Tinto PLC have ambitious wind-farm projects under way that will reduce energy costs and provide the much-needed social benefit of showing the communities where they work that progress is being made to reduce their environmental footprint.

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Pipeline-altering lessons – by Jeffrey Simpson (Globe and Mail – November 16, 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.

A year ago, with an election in the offing, Stephen Harper’s government nixed BHP Billiton’s bid for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan. Public opinion had turned against the Australian giant’s offer in the wake of Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall’s objections. The Harperites, reading the political mood and fearful of losing seats, swallowed their free-enterprise ideology and blocked the takeover.

So it’s a bit rich to listen to certain voices in the Harper government and among the chorus of lobbyists for the $7-billion Keystone XL pipeline decrying the Obama administration’s 11th-hour decision to further study the route through Nebraska. All politics, they claim, and thus all bad.

Of course, the delay was about Barack Obama’s precarious relationship with part of his party’s base. Environmentalists are disappointed in the President’s timid policies; postponing a decision on Keystone might assuage their disappointment.

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Deal to divert Keystone XL pipeline puts heat on Obama – by Konrad Yakabuski, Shawn McCarthy and Carrie Tait (Globe and Mail – November 16, 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.

WASHINGTON, OTTAWA AND CALGARY— A compromise between top Nebraska politicians and TransCanada Corp. to reroute the Keystone XL oil pipeline around a critical state aquifer has injected new life into the Canadian-led project and upended President Barack Obama’s plan to bury a political hot potato until after the 2012 election.

TransCanada’s decision to divert the pipeline away from the Sand Hills region, which sits atop the Ogallala Aquifer, immediately won the support of Nebraska’s Governor and shattered the anti-Keystone coalition of state politicians and national environmentalists.

With leading Nebraskan legislators now calling on the U.S. State Department to “expedite” its approval of the controversial $7-billion (U.S.) project, the Obama administration faced new pressures from environmentalists to kill the pipeline altogether.

“Our most important objective all along was to move the route.

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Quebec mining film festival will salute Ontario community leaders

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.

The second annual Mining Film Festival run by IDNR-TV will salute two Ontario mining community leaders and several Quebec officials to emphasize the mineral sector links and shared geology between Northeastern Ontario and Northwestern Quebec. This event is being held on Thursday, November 17, 2011 at the Cinema du Parc in Montreal. 

The festival’s aim is to act as a platform on which mining and natural resource industries can be viewed objectively and realistically and to raise awareness of one of Canada’s most important industries. Films will highlight major changes taking place in the sector, technological innovations and sustainable mining practices. 

Vic Power, who was Mayor of Timmins from 1980 to 2000 and from 2003 to 2006, will be presented with a tribute trophy for his positive influence on the growth and development of his city and region. Also, Tom Laughren, the current Mayor of Timmins, will receive a certificate of recognition. “IDNR-TV and Arcelor Mittal Canada Mines wish to acknowledge the outstanding contribution made by these regional leaders in building bridges and fostering cooperation between the francophone and anglophone communities that are central to the development of natural resources and the local mining industry.” 

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Chief has concerns with gold project – by Chris Ribau (Timmins Daily Press – November 15, 2011)

Location of Sold Gold Resources discovery sparks questions from First Nation

The Wahgoshig First Nation has expressed concerns over a exploration project close to the borders of their community. It’s concerns centre on Solid Gold Resource Corporation and their exploration of an area immediately north of the Porcupine Destor Fault zone at Lake Abitibi.

“Our territory covers basically south of Lake Abitibi,” said David Babin, chief of the Wahgoshig First Nation. “Our territory is about 12 miles long and three miles wide. Basically starting from Twin Lakes to three miles east. They’re not in our boundaries, but they’re just outside of them.”

Babin is concerned about keeping the historical significance of the area undisturbed and intact, as well as maintaining their culture and way of life.

“What we want is to make sure they adhere to some of our values within the area,” said Babin. “We have burial sites, artifacts in the area, and members of the community collect medicine for the community from the territory.”

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TransCanada backs new route to keep Keystone alive – by Shawn McCarthy, Kevin Carmichael and Carrie Tait – (Globe and Mail – November 15, 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.

Company agrees to shift pipeline from sensitive Nebraska area

OTTAWA, WASHINGTON AND CALGARY – For the oil sands industry, Plan B for Keystone XL looks a lot like Plan A.

After being handed a major setback by the U.S. move to sideline the $7-billion project until at least 2013, TransCanada Corp. appears to have put the project back on the rails with an agreement with key Nebraskan legislators to re-route the line.

Assuming the deal is passed by the full legislature, TransCanada will work with the state’s Department of Environmental Quality to identify a new route to avoid the environmentally sensitive Sand Hills area.

“It’s our sincere hope that with this agreement, we’ve put everybody in a place where they can support the new pipeline route,” Alex Pourbaix, TransCanada’s president for energy and oil pipelines, said in an interview from Lincoln, Neb..

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The Keystone victory that wasn’t – by Margaret Wente (Globe and Mail – November 15, 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.

Now that Barack Obama has kicked the Keystone project down the road, anti-pipeline activists are rejoicing. “This is what it means to change the conversation,” said Naomi Klein. “This is an amazing victory for our movement,” crowed Bill McKibben and his 350.org team.

In fact, the decision to re-review the pipeline route is an amazing victory for political expediency. By ensuring that nothing will happen until after the 2012 election, Mr. Obama buys himself a reprieve with the environmentalists. But nothing else will change.

The U.S. will not consume a litre less of oil if Keystone is never built. It will simply buy the oil from somewhere else. Nor will this decision threaten the long-term future of the oil (oops, tar) sands. If the U.S. doesn’t buy our oil, the Chinese will.

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TransCanada, Nebraska agree to re-route pipeline – by Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew (Toronto Star – November 15, 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

TransCanada Corp. and Nebraska agreed Monday to re-route the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline away from a vast underground water source in the state.

The move is sure to re-ignite the fierce debate over environmental concerns about the 2,700-kilometre pipeline versus the appeal of millions dollars in taxes and thousands of jobs for the stagnant U.S. economy.

The massive pipeline, if built, would deliver 700,000 barrels a day of crude from Alberta’s oil sands to refineries in Texas.

The proposed route would have crossed six states, including Nebraska’s ecologically sensitive Sandhills region and the Ogallala aquifer, which provides water for millions in the area.

“If all of this is about the aquifer, that’s an easy thing to fix.

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NEWS RELEASE: The 2nd Annual Mining Film [November 17, 2011] Festival Kicks Off, Welcoming Outstanding Contributions from Two Major Municipal Leaders at Cinema Du Parc in Montreal

MONTREAL, QUEBEC–(Marketwire – Aug. 23, 2011) – Thursday, November 17, 2011, the Cinema du Parc in Montreal will host the 2nd Annual Mining Film Festival. The festival’s aim is to act as a platform upon which mining and natural resource industries can be observed objectively in a contemporary setting: where the realities of the third millennium appear in stark contrast to those of the 20th century.

This announcement came today from executives at IDNR-TV: the festival’s promoter. They noted the major changes taking place in natural resource industries in Quebec and in the world: technological innovations in the last few decades have led to increased health and safety for workers, and to more sustainable development practices that benefit all of Quebec and Canada.

For IDNR-TV Anchor, Alexandre Dumas, the Quebec government’s Plan Nord presents an opportunity for several communities that are both directly and indirectly involved to appreciate the full spectrum of fast-paced, sustainable mining and environmental development; all the while generating a greater awareness of the enormous potential our natural resources can offer.

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Unlocking the wealth of Northern Ontario [Ring of Fire]- by Renald (Ron) Beaulieu and George Smitherman

Renald (Ron) Beaulieu is the Mayor of Greenstone
George Smitherman is a former Ontario Deputy Premier and Energy Minister

Discovery of the massive “Ring of Fire,” a chromite-rich mineral deposit in a remote area of Northern Ontario, is the first and perhaps easiest step in realizing the site’s potential. 

Mining the ore, then transporting it across the terrain of the Hudson Bay Lowlands will be challenging from an environmental and engineering standpoint.

Greater still is the challenge and responsibility of utilizing this resource in a way that advances the economic and social needs of our First Nation peoples whose traditional and reserve territories stand to be significantly impacted. The First Nation peoples living in the area have made it clear that they expect minerals extracted from their traditional territories to be refined nearby.

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The revenge of Jansen [Saskatchewan potash] – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – November 12, 2011)

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

Far in Saskatchewan’s southern plains, between immaculate century-old villages and snow-dusted grain fields, Australian mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd. is toiling hard to grow a Canada-based potash business from the underground up.

Its foundation, the planned Jansen project, is beginning to take shape near the rural municipality of LeRoy, 140 kilometres east of Saskatoon. Two shafts — one to hoist ore, the other men and equipment — are being prepped to sink a kilometre below the surface, where the province’s immense ore deposits lie.

A giant refrigeration plant, the site’s central facility, has started producing brine that is pumped below, freezing the ground so the shafts can be cemented and sealed through a big aquifer that stands in the way.

Coming up next is the carving of an underground city that will be teeming with workers in assembly and maintenance shops, lunchrooms and refuge stations, a maze of tunnels and production areas.

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The real Keystone issue: Property rights – by Terence Corcoran (National Post – November 12, 2011)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper. Terence Corcoran is the editor and columnist for the Financial Post section of the National Post.

The power to expropriate property to make way for pipelines is weakening

There are a lot of donkeys on whom to pin the blame for the U.S. State Department’s decision to kick TransCanada’s $7-billion Keystone XL pipeline into another political time zone, all of them valid.

One could start, possibly, by fingering the million-dollar public relations team that decided to nickname a sensitive oil-carrying and carbon-emissions facilitating project “XL”, as in extra large—implying bigger, wider and therefore more menacing than your average pipeline.

The Wall Street Journal, in an editorial titled “The Keystone Cop-Out,” also nailed the White House and President Barack Obama as culprits. Here’s a president who wants job creation, favours “shovel ready projects” and less U.S. dependence on oil sources controlled by dangerous foreign potentates.

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David Frum: Stopping Keystone XL won’t save the planet – David Frum (National Post – November 12, 2011)

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

Oil from Canada offers the United States energy security into the indefinite future.

The proposed Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico coast offered the immediate promise of 20,000 American construction jobs and many more jobs in oil refining and distribution.

Yet this week, the Obama administration delayed approval of the Keystone pipeline into 2013 — a delay that may well kill the project altogether, at great financial loss. Why?

One theory credits local opposition in the state of Nebraska, by Nebraskans who worry that a fractured pipeline might spill oil and contaminate the state’s aquifer. Nebraska is one of two states that splits its electoral votes, and in 2008 Nebraska contributed one to Barack Obama’s 365 electoral-vote landslide. Supposedly, Obama is eager to protect that single vote.

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