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Steve Ashton threatens Vale with [Manitoba] provincial mining legislation on smelter and refinery shutdown – by Ryan Flanagan (Thompson Citizen – June 3, 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.  news@thompsoncitizen.net

Minister says if 1956 agreement isn’t going to be relied on by company, then all bets are off

It’s been more than six months since Vale announced their plans to close their Thompson refinery and smelter by the end of 2015, and more than three months since a group of local stakeholders traveled to Toronto to present Vale senior management with their proposals to reverse that decision, or at least minimize its impact on Thompson.

What’s changed in that time? To hear Thompson MLA Steve Ashton tell it, nothing.

“We’re disappointed, provincially, and I’m certainly disappointed that Vale is still not addressing the direct issue,” said Ashton on May 20. “We continue to believe that the issue here is value-added jobs from the resource, and we certainly have not given up on the smelter and refinery.”

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[Thompson, Manitoba] Birchtree Mine: On the ramp at the 300-foot level – by John Barker (Thompson Citizen – June 3, 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.  news@thompsoncitizen.net

Vale Manitoba Mine Rescue teams show their stuff

They’re the elite: The best of the best. The miners who volunteer and train rigorously to go underground in hazardous conditions to rescue their fellow miners in the event of a fire, smoke, explosion or some unknown event, and restore the mine to a safe working condition, as Stu Waring, general manager for mining and milling, and the number two guy at Vale’s Manitoba Operations, describes the work they do.

The 2011 Provincial Manitoba Mine Rescue Competition was held May 27 and 28 at Vale’s Manitoba Operations in Thompson with the winning team this year from San Gold in Bissett. The event rotates to a different mine site in the province every year. Next year’s Manitoba Mine Rescue Competition will be held at Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting Co. Ltd. in Flin Flon.

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Steve Ashton: Manitoba MLA Report – (Thompson Citizen – May 27, 2011)

This article was originally published in the Thompson Citizen which was established in June 1960. The Citizen 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.  news@thompsoncitizen.net

Vale’s continued lack of commitment to value-added jobs disappointing

Steve Ashton

Since 1956 the vision of the Thompson Inco operation has been clear. It was the first fully integrated nickel operation in the world.

The 1956 framework and the agreement signed by Inco and the Manitoba government specifically identified the fact Thompson would have a mine, mill, smelter and refinery. It outlined both the obligations Inco would have to support municipal services and various land allocations, including exclusive access to mineral leases in the Thompson area.

In the early days Inco provided many of the initial facilities and services for Thompson. Over time Inco also paid a grant-in-lieu of taxes to the City of Thompson and school board. This decreased over time as renewals were negotiated.

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Niki Ashton: Manitoba MP Report – (Thompson Citizen – May 27, 2011)

This article was originally published in the Thompson Citizen which was established in June 1960. The Citizen 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.  news@thompsoncitizen.net

Thompson deserves better

Niki Ashton

Six months ago Vale announced its intention to close the smelter and refinery in Thompson. This came just weeks after they received $1billion in unsecured loans from the federal government.

The City of Thompson came together with the Steelworkers and the province of Manitoba to develop solutions that would keep value-added jobs at Vale in Thompson. The solutions addressed the specific issues Vale had raised. The solutions included action by the federal government. Vale rejected these solutions without ever once proposing any solutions of their own.

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[Thompson, Manitoba] Nychyporuk says ‘no’: USW rejects vision – by Ryan Flanagan (Thompson Citizen – May 20, 2011)

This article was originally published in the Thompson Citizen which was established in June 1960. The Citizen 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.  news@thompsoncitizen.net

‘We believe our community will not recover from the loss of our jobs or any other related employment. We also believe this decision will change the landscape of our community forever’

Almost exactly six months after Vale’s announcement that they will close their Thompson smelter and refinery by the end of 2015, the company and other local stakeholders have begun to turn their attention to what they want the city to look like after that point.

In a joint May 18 news release from the City of Thompson and Vale, the two groups announced the formation of the Thompson Economic Diversification Working Group (TEDWG), which will be chaired by the city and will also include representation from local business and aboriginal communities. Vale is funding the group, which is expected to last an initial 12 months for identification and implementation of a strategy.

“What I want this working group to do is go out there and really drill down,” said Mayor Tim Johnston. “Go out there and get the details of some proposals – I want them to be really detailed, looking at what are real opportunities.”

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Rich in Land, [Australian] Aborigines Split on How to Use It – by Norimitsu Onishi (New York Times – February 12, 2011)

The New York Times has the third highest weekday circulation in the United States (after USA Today and the Wall Street Journal) and is one of the country’s most influential newspapers.

BROOME, Australia — Australia is experiencing a natural resources boom, driven by China’s headlong modernization, that is often described as a once-in-a-century phenomenon. It has minted billionaires out of businessmen who deal in iron ore and coal, and it has enriched many Australians by increasing the value of their homes and creating well-paying jobs.

But it has conspicuously left out Aboriginal Australians, whose home ownership and education levels fall below the national averages. High unemployment and widespread alcoholism have continued to debilitate isolated Aboriginal communities here in northwestern Australia, on the other side of the continent from the major cities along the eastern coast.

As resource companies push ever deeper into Australia’s remotest areas, however, Aboriginal leaders are leveraging their rights as traditional landowners to negotiate deals with companies and governments that are seeking to develop their holdings. They say the potential windfall — hundreds of millions of dollars — will rescue their communities from their long dependence on welfare and state subsidies.

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Josephine Cone: Metis Mining Pioneer (1913-2011) – by Joanne Wetelainen (Wawatay News – July 1983)

Wawatay News, published by Wawatay Native Communications Society since 1974, is an Aboriginal newspaper serving Northern Ontario.

“This is a story built upon happy memories, a story of hardship and struggle. It is a true account of a Metis woman’s life. The material for this article was collected through my many years of knowing her and listening to her wisdom. This is the story of my grandmother Josephine Cone.” (Joanne Wetalainen)

Mail-order ballet lessons, travelling the Northwestern Ontario waters by right with two young children and guiding groups of prospectors through the wilderness in sub-zero temperatures are all treasured memories of seventy-year old Josephine Cone.

Born in May 1913 in Dinorwic, Ontario, to an Italian father and an Objiway mother, Josephine has a wealth of life’s experience to share with those willing to listen. She doesn’t call herself an “Ojibway” nor does she call herself a “Metis” but readily admits it was her mother who was the driving force in her upbringing.

After only a few years of marriage, her father became tri-lingual; speaking not only native Italian and English but learning to speak fluently in Objiway. “He could speak better Indian than some of the Indians in Dinorwic could,” Josephine recalls affectionately.

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[Asbestos] The Story of a Dead Sailor, His Widow and a Bunch of Boneheaded Politicians – by Serge Schmemann (New York Times Editorial Observer – September 3, 2011)

The New York Times has the third highest weekday circulation in the United States (after USA Today and the Wall Street Journal) and is one of the country’s most influential newspapers.

Robert Keyserlingk died in December 2009 of mesothelioma, a cancer usually caused by exposure to asbestos. Mr. Keyserlingk, a neighbor and good friend on the Canadian mountain lake where we spend our summers, had been a history professor and a wonderful gardener. Forty years earlier, he was a cadet in the Canadian Navy, in an era when the plumbing and wiring in naval vessels were routinely coated with asbestos.

In the 2 1/2 years he struggled with his disease, he and his wife, Michaela, a textile conservator, became involved in the political campaign against the continued mining of asbestos, specifically chrysotile, or white asbestos, in Canada, and its export to the third world.

This summer, to Mrs. Keyserlingk’s surprise and in a rather peculiar way, her continuing campaign was thrust into the limelight. The Conservative Party, which is currently governing Canada and has steadfastly supported asbestos mining, sent her a sharp notice demanding that she cease using the party’s logo on the modest Web site for her campaign. It threatened “further action” if she did not comply.

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Gold Fever Gripping the Australian Outback – by Matt Siegel (New York Times – August 15, 2011)

The New York Times has the third highest weekday circulation in the United States (after USA Today and the Wall Street Journal) and is one of the country’s most influential newspapers.

SYDNEY, Australia — Four years ago, Marco Nero was on top of the world. He was earning more than $1 million working as a film effects designer for some of the world’s most prestigious digital animation houses. His mind, however, was elsewhere.

Mr. Nero, 40, was increasingly spending his office hours poring over Web sites for anything he could find about an unlikely subject: gold. Like Humphrey Bogart’s character in the classic 1948 film “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” he realizes now, he was developing a full-blown case of gold fever, a condition whose genesis he traces to a trip to a prospecting supply shop in the Sydney area.

“I happened to talk to the gentleman that was behind the counter, and he showed me a 2-ounce gold nugget he had and it was a beautiful piece. I held that in my hand,” he said. “I was probably hooked at that point.”

Shortly thereafter, despite protests from friends and family, he quit his job to hunt for gold.

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Ontario Gold Mining – by Stan Sudol

Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant and mining columnist. stan.sudol@republicofmining.com

Historically, Ontario’s gold mining industry has played a major role in the settlement of the province’s northern regions and along with the Cobalt silver boom and further gold and base metal discoveries in northwestern Quebec were primarily responsible for the establishment of Toronto as today’s mine financing capital of the world.

The many gold mines that came into production during the Depression of the 1930s made a vital contribution to keeping the province solvent and with over a century of experience building many underground mines helped solidify Ontario’s hard-rock mining expertise that is well respected globally.

However, northern Ontario’s gold rushes have always seemed to play second-fiddle to the legendary Klondike in the Yukon, aided by famous writers like Jack London, Robert W. Service – of the Cremation of Sam McGee fame – and Canadian literary icon, Pierre Berton. At it’s peak, the Klondike gold rush only lasted for a few years – 1896-99 – and produced a miserly 12.5 million ounces of gold. “Chump change” compared to northern Ontario’s four major gold rushes and a number of smaller gold districts, most of which are still producing the precious metal today.

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Hydro, HST will affect vote [in Northwestern Ontario] – by Christina Blizzard (Toronto Sun – August 30, 2011)

Christina Blizzard is the Queen’s Park columnist for the Toronto Sun, the city’s daily tabloid newspaper.  christina.blizzard@sunmedia.ca

Devastating downturn in forestry industry hurts Thunder Bay

THUNDER BAY — For Mary Kozorys, the soaring price of electricity isn’t just a wedge issue to be exploited in an election. She chokes up when she talks about how hydro rates have hurt people.

Kozorys, the NDP candidate in Thunder Bay-Atikokan, was door-knocking in a blue-collar part of town.

“We’ve had an unusually hot summer for the north,” Kozorys explained. “The door was open and the lady beckoned me into the living room. In front of her was a fan … She said, ‘I’m sitting here and I can’t afford to plug this fan in any longer. I have to make a choice whether or not I pay all of my utility bills, or I pay part of my utility bills and I eat.’”

Kozorys has known the family for years. They’d owned a small business. When the economy took a nosedive, they were forced to close.

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Mill closures will haunt Liberals – by Christina Blizzard (Toronto Sun – September 01, 2011)

Christina Blizzard is the Queen’s Park columnist for the Toronto Sun, the city’s daily tabloid newspaper.  christina.blizzard@sunmedia.ca

THUNDER BAY — The battle in Northern Ontario for the hearts and minds of voters in the Oct. 6 election is being waged on many fronts here.

It’s about forestry and wood allocations. About mining and resources. And the Far North Act, which critics say will strangle development and turn economically-productive forestry and mining areas into parkland.

Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP Mike Gravelle is the Liberals’ Minister of Northern Development. He’s taking flak for making changes to the wood allocation system — the lifeblood of mills.

Like many others, the Buchanan Mill in Atikokan was idled following the housing downturn in the U.S. and was recently put into receivership.

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Quebec [mining] firms fear impact of Bill 14 – by Peter Hadekel (National Post – September 2, 2011)

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

Quebec’s mining companies say the government should create an independent commission to govern the industry, like the commissions that oversee the financial industry and agricultural zoning.

The recommendation comes from the Quebec Mineral Exploration Association, which is worried about the impact of a new bill now under consideration by the Quebec National Assembly.

Mining exploration has been booming in this province over the past several years, with billions of dollars worth of projects now underway or on the drawing boards.

But getting those projects started is sometimes difficult. Companies with mining claims have to reach a deal with property owners, who often want more information about drilling plans as well as financial compensation.

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NEWS RELEASE: Canada most acquisitive country with 196 mining deals in first half of 2011: Ernst & Young

Mining and metals deal value in first half of 2011 doubles from 2010

Click here for: Mergers, acquisitions and capital raising in the mining and metals sector – 1H 2011

(Vancouver, 31 August 2011) Canada topped the global mining and metals sector as the leading acquirer with 196 deals and as the leading target destination with 129 deals from January to June 2011, says Ernst & Young.

Following Canada, Australia was the second top acquirer by volume with 83 deals and the second target destination with 72 deals occurring within the country.

“So far, 2011 has brought fewer but larger deals to the global mining sector,” says Tom Whelan, Leader of Ernst & Young’s national mining and metals practice. “Despite the drop from 573 deals in the first half of 2010 to 511 deals in the first part of this year, the total deal value of mining transactions from January to June more than doubled to US$96.3b from US$47.9b.”

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Arctic has great riches, but greater challenges – David Ljunggren and Euan Rocha/Reuters (National Post – September 1, 2011)

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

At the rim of the Arctic Circle in Canada, gold mining firm Agnico-Eagle is learning how tough it is to operate in a remote region with temptingly large, but frustratingly inaccessible, reserves of oil, gas and minerals.

Commentators rarely mention nightmarish logistics, polar bears and steel-snapping cold when they confidently predict that as the Arctic warms up, melting sea ice and shorter winters will open up the expanse to exploration.

But the rosy words obscure the reality of working in an icy wasteland that stretches across Russia, Scandinavia, Alaska and Canada. And rather than making life easier, the warming of the Arctic and the thawing of its permafrost could make operating here even more complicated.

A closer look at the far northern Canadian territory of Nunavut, one of the most promising areas for exploration, reveals challenges so huge that the Arctic may well turn out to be a niche market where big firms with a serious tolerance for risk and adversity develop a handful of major deposits.

For all the talk of a bonanza there is just one mine working in Nunavut today – Agnico-Eagle’s Meadowbank operation, which has cost a total of US$1.5-billion so far.

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