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NEWS RELEASE: Xstrata Nickel shares $15.2 million of Raglan’s operating profit with Inuit communities

www.xstratanickel.com

Québec City (Québec) – June 1, 2011

Xstrata Nickel Raglan Mine today presented a cheque in the amount of Cdn$15.2 million to the Makivik Corporation and the Inuit communities of Kangiqsujuaq and Salluit. This sum represents the Inuit communities’ share of the profits generated in 2010 by the Raglan nickel mine operation, located in Nunavik, Northern Québec.

To date, more than Cdn$100 million in profit-sharing payments have been directed to an Inuit trust fund for economic and community development through the Raglan Agreement.

The comprehensive agreement signed in 1995 by the Raglan operation, the Makivik Corporation and local Inuit communities supports harmonious relations and fosters opportunities between Xstrata Nickel and local populations in areas such as training, hiring of local businesses and environmental management. 

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POV: Northeastern Ontario municipal leaders have the right idea – by Wayne Snider (The Daily Press – June 21, 2011)

Wayne Snider is the city editor for The Daily Press, the city of Timmins newspaper. Contact the writer at news@thedailypress.ca.

In September, community leaders will get together to plan a campaign in hopes of kick starting growth in the region. Members of the Northeastern Ontario Municipal Association (NEOMA) recognize the challenges facing the region and hope to not only stem youth out migration, but find ways to attract more people to the area.

The goal is not only to maintain the lifestyle Northerners have come to love, but use it as a selling point to people sick of the urban jungle. It’s a very proactive approach and, if successful, would increase the tax base and human resources of our little corner of the province.

“Our way of life is critical to who we are as a people,” said Cochrane Mayor Peter Politis at a recent NEOMA session. “We need to stand up and do something about it.

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Canada must remain a free-trading [mining] nation – by Pierre Gratton (National Post – June 21, 2011)

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

Pierre Gratton is president and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada (MAC).

In the Northwest Territories, $7-billion has been invested
in northern and aboriginal businesses. This has cut the number
of citizens in the territory requiring income support in half.
Some 26 Aboriginal companies are supplying expertise to N.W.T. diamond mines and are well positioned for future opportunities.
(Pierre Gratton – CEO Mining Association of Canada)

In recent weeks, Canadians have again debated the merits of foreign investment in our industries. I am astonished to read commentators claiming that, despite the fact that natural resources are increasingly central to Canada’s economic trajectory, multinational investment delivers a limited return to Canadians.

Nothing could be further from the truth. If Canada is to seize the opportunity for new mining investment that’s currently before it, we need to welcome investment from every quarter of the planet.

Canada’s mining sector is booming. Commodity prices are at or near record highs, driven in large part by impressive Chinese growth, and the industry is enjoying a period of buoyancy not seen since the years that followed the Second World War. The economic crisis of 2008, from which other sectors of the global economy have not yet recovered, has been left far behind.

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Standing together [Sudbury 2011 Workers Mermorial Day] – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – June 21, 2011)

The Sudbury Star, the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper. hcarmichael@thesudburystar.com

Joyce Colasimone did something Monday she had never done before: Talk publicly about the June 20, 1984, rockburst at Falconbridge Mine that claimed the life of husband, Richard Chenier.

“How many people actually stop to think about the rescuers involved?” Colasimone asked a crowd of more than 150 on hand for the 27th Annual Workers Memorial Day ceremonies at the Caruso Club on Monday.

“We call them heroes. Why do we not honour them for rescuing and helping people in accidents? I stand here today to say thanks and I do appreciate the people who responded.

“To the people that have put themselves at risk, I want you to appreciate the bravery within you. You are the true heroes.”

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NEWS RELEASE: International Indigenous Energy and Mining Summit will chart new course for relationships, partnerships with industry and government

Canada NewsWire

OTTAWA, June 20, 2011 /CNW/ – Next week, Indigenous peoples and government representatives from around the world will gather for a major summit on resource development in the spirit of a shared commitment to produce and provide long-term sustainable energy for future generations.

“Consistent with First Nations rights and our responsibilities as stewards of the land, we will begin to chart a new Indigenous economic relationship where First Nations can and will take the lead to build our own economies and contribute to Canada’s economy in ways that respect the environment and provide a sustainable future for all Canadians,” said Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, who will co-chair the Summit with Jefferson Keel, President of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI).

“We look forward to continuing our work with President Keel and the Tribal Chiefs of NCAI on energy and the environment, justice and border issues and I look forward to new discussions among the global Indigenous community on how our work together can transcend borders.”

The International Indigenous Energy and Mining Summit taking place in Niagara Falls June 27-29 will bring together key representatives from the global Indigenous community and governments. 

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Commodities boom lifts Aboriginal incomes – by Jeremy Torobin (Globe and Mail Blog – June 17, 2011)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous impact and influence on Canada’s political and business elite as well as the rest of the country’s print, radio and television media.

Click here for: TD report on Aboriginal incomes

Anyone who reads the business pages knows that lofty commodity prices have mostly been bonus for the Canadian economy and average household wealth, even if the strong currency that comes with them is a headache for manufacturers.

But here’s a good-news aspect of Canada’s emergence as a globally renowned hotbed for coveted resources that doesn’t get the attention it deserves: Aboriginals are sharing in the bounty, finding jobs more easily and seeing their personal and community incomes grow. Since 2001, thanks to a steady stream of jobs in the oil-and-gas and mining sectors, as well as in construction, total personal income for Aboriginals has grown by an average 7.5 per cent each year, according to a new study from TD Economics.

In fact, TD economists Sonya Gulati and Derek Burleton estimate in their report that the combined income of Aboriginal households, businesses and governments could top $32-billion within five years. That’s more than the combined level of nominal gross domestic product of Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, making Aboriginals a fast-growing consumer market that all Canadian businesses would do well to factor into their marketing plans, the authors suggest.

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For South Africa’s sickened gold miners, a long wait for justice – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – June 20, 2011)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous impact and influence on Canada’s political and business elite as well as the rest of the country’s print, radio and television media.

Apartheid’s Legacy

JOHANNESBURG – His breathing is laboured, his chest is tight, and he is too weak to work in his garden any more. At the age of 63, former mine worker Wilson Mafolwana wonders if he’ll still be alive when justice is done.

He is among the millions of migrant workers who toiled in South Africa’s gold mines in the apartheid era, building the world’s biggest gold industry – and often sacrificing their health in the process. Breathing clouds of dust, usually without ventilation masks, tens of thousands of miners contracted silicosis and tuberculosis, and many are now dying.

Mr. Mafolwana and 17 other ex-miners with silicosis have launched a test case against the South African unit of Anglo American, one of the world’s biggest mining companies, to seek compensation for their illnesses. But the case has dragged on for seven years, with no decision expected until next year at the earliest. While the company fights the lawsuit with all its legal and financial resources, four of the 18 former miners have died. Others grow sicker every day.

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NEWS RELEASE: Rencore Resources Announces the Signing of an Exploration Agreement with Webequie First Nation

Toronto, Ontario (June 17, 2011) – Rencore Resources Ltd. (CNSX: RNC) (“Rencore” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has signed an exploration agreement with the Webequie First Nation (“WFN”). This agreement is a sign of the cooperative relationship and mutual respect between Rencore and the people of the Webequie FirstNation.

“Webequie First Nation is pleased that more progressive exploration companies like Rencore Resources have made the effort for meaningful engagement and we look forward to a deeper participation and partnership as the exploration program evolves” said Chief Cornelius Wabasse.

Rencore President and CEO, Richard E. Nemis states, “We are very pleased to have reached his agreement and we look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship with the Webequie First Nation”.

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NEWS RELEASE: Cliffs Workers Walk off Job Site in Ring of Fire

Poor working conditions not tolerated by First Nations and Non-Native Workers

Sunday June 19, 2011 – Ring of Fire, Northern Ontario: – Over two dozen First Nation and non-native workers employed by Cliffs Natural Resources have walked off their job-site in the Ring of Fire Mining Camp this weekend. 

Protesting poor wages, deteriorating working conditions and inadequate health & safety infrastructure, workers at the camp are taking an indefinite stand against the Cleveland-based mining giant, Cliffs Natural Resources. 

Workers describe an average week‘s work in the Cliffs Mining Camp as moving out bulk samples of Chromite, weighing up to 200 tons or 400,000 pounds.   This labour intensive work is carried out by hand and manpower exclusively and involves manually loading rocks into 15 gallon pails and onto airplanes.  

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Cleveland-Cliffs Incorporated History (1846 – 2004) – by International Directory of Company Histories

For a large selection of corporate histories click: International Directory of Company Histories

Company History:

With six iron ore mines in Michigan, Minnesota, and Eastern Canada, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is North America’s leading producer of iron ore pellets, which are used in the steelmaking process. The company’s capacity stands at 36.9 million tons of ore, which represents nearly 28 percent of the continent’s annual pellet capacity. Throughout its history, Cleveland-Cliffs has faced competition from imports, takeover attempts, shareholder revolts, ill-advised diversification efforts, and the vagaries of the cyclical steel sector. In the early years of the new century, the company focused on bolstering its assets while the industry restructured and consolidated.

Early History in the 1800s

Cleveland-Cliffs’ predecessor, the Cleveland Iron Mining Company, was established in 1846 by a group of investors led by Samuel L. Mather. Mather, an attorney, had moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1843, just two years after iron ore was discovered in the Marquette Range of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Although Mather was confident that, given time, the venture would prove profitable, it was for many years a losing proposition.

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[Resource Shortages] Time to Wake Up: Days of Abundant Resources and Falling Prices Are Over Forever – by Jeremy Grantham (GMO Quarterly Letter – April 2011)

GMO is a global investment management firm committed to providing sophisticated clients with superior asset management solutions and services. As of March 31, 2011, GMO managed nearly $108 billion* in client assets using a blend of traditional judgments with innovative quantitative methods to find undervalued securities and markets. (GMO website)

Jeremy Grantham, who co-founded GMO in 1977, is the chief investment strategist and is an active member of GMO’s asset allocation division.

Summary of the Summary

The world is using up its natural resources at an alarming rate, and this has caused a permanent shift in their value. We all need to adjust our behavior to this new environment. It would help if we did it quickly.

Summary

 Until about 1800, our species had no safety margin and lived, like other animals, up to the limit of the food supply, ebbing and flowing in population.

 From about 1800 on the use of hydrocarbons allowed for an explosion in energy use, in food supply, and, through the creation of surpluses, a dramatic increase in wealth and scientific progress.

 Since 1800, the population has surged from 800 million to 7 billion, on its way to an estimated 8 billion, at minimum.

 The rise in population, the ten-fold increase in wealth in developed countries, and the current explosive growth in developing countries have eaten rapidly into our finite resources of hydrocarbons and metals, fertilizer, available land, and water.

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James Y. Murdoch (1890 – 1962) 1989 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee

The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame was conceived by the late Maurice R. Brown, former editor and publisher of The Northern Miner, as a way to recognize and honour the legendary mine finders and builders of a great Canadian industry. The Hall was established in 1988. For more information about the extraordinary individuals who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, please go to their home website: http://mininghalloffame.ca/

 A lawyer by profession, James Y. Murdoch, who became first president of the fledgling Noranda Mines in 1922, at the age of 32, was one of the greatest its builders Canada has ever produced. Not just a mine-builder, but a nation builder.

He was president of the company for 30 years, until 1956, and chairman until his death in 1962. His “temporary” appointment became famous as “the most permanent temporary appointment on record”.
Out of the “important-looking” discovery of prospector Ed Horne in the wilds of northwestern Quebec, Murdoch masterminded the growth and development of Noranda into a massive complex of mines and processing facilities. His energy and judgment could be seen in every step of consequence Noranda took during Murdoch’s 30 years as president.

From the earliest days of its development, Murdoch saw Noranda as more than just the mine that Horne discovered. He visualized, instead, a rounded industry that would refine and fabricate its metals as well as producing them, proving that Canadian raw materials could be processed to the finished state within Canada.

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Edmund Horne (1865 – 1952) 1996 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee

The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame was conceived by the late Maurice R. Brown, former editor and publisher of The Northern Miner, as a way to recognize and honour the legendary mine finders and builders of a great Canadian industry. The Hall was established in 1988. For more information about the extraordinary individuals who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, please go to their home website: http://mininghalloffame.ca/

Along with many other prospectors of his generation, Edmund Horne came to northern Ontario at the turn of the century with hopes of finding his pot of gold. Success was elusive, but rather than give up, Horne decided to venture across the border into Quebec, based on his belief that good geology did not stop at the Ontario border. This conviction grew over the years, and ultimately led to the discovery of the magnificent Horne copper and gold mine which formed the foundation for Noranda, one of Canada’s great mining companies.

Born in Enfield, Nova Scotia, Horne was a miner and prospector of wide experience long before he ventured into the wilds of Quebec’s Rouyn Township. He worked for several years at the Oldham gold mine near his home before wanderlust seized him. His travels took him to Colorado, and then to the gold camps of British Columbia and California. In 1908, Horne caught wind of the silver discoveries in Cobalt, and came to northern Ontario to start the most important chapter of his wandering miner’s odyssey.

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Chance to make decisions [Ontario Think North event] – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – June 17, 2011)

The Sudbury Star, the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper. hcarmichael@thesudburystar.com

The Ontario Government is pushing ahead with one of the key planks in the Northern Ontario Growth Plan, says the minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry.

“Northerners have said that when decisions are being made, they want it to be an independent not-for-profit policy institute,” Michael Gravelle told reporters Thursday, during a visit to Greater Sudbury to give a speech at the Think North 2 Summit.

“It’s a good chance by northerners to make some decisions on what works. The institute will be able to look for evidence- based advice on what can work the best in Northern Ontario.”

Gravelle said the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation will provide $5 million to get the new policy institute running. One of the first steps in the process, he said, will be to get a board of governors and a board of directors in place.

The minister also said he has met with Laurentian University president Dominic Giroux and Lakehead president Brian Stevenson and asked for their advice on the policy institute since both have a strong background and experience in preparing policy.

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City of Timmins – The city with a heart of gold – (Canadian Business Journal – April, 2011)

Canadian Business Journal

The City of Timmins, Ont., is at an interesting junction. The city is celebrating 100 years since the Porcupine Gold Rush, the event that is responsible for putting Timmins on the map and one that introduced this part of Northern Ontario to thousands of prospectors and miners in search of prosperity. 2009 marked 100 years since the first prospectors staked a claim in the Porcupine Camp. In 2010, the city celebrated 100 years of mining recognizing the riches of three gold mines that are of historical significance: Dome, Hollinger and McIntyre Mines.

This year marks 100 years since “the great Porcupine fire of 1911” that burned through the mining camp claiming many lives and livelihoods in the process. While this unfortunate turn of events may have caused a setback, ultimately it did little to stem the tide of Timmins’ growth. At the same time it celebrates its rich history, Timmins is moving forward with the development of a vision/strategic action plan that will provide the city with a blueprint that will govern and establish strategic direction for economic development over the next 10 years.

The Porcupine Gold Rush of 1909 is said to be the largest gold rush ever. By 2001, the Porcupine Camp had mined over 67 million ounces of gold, compared to the 12 million ounces produced during the well-known Klondike Gold Rush.

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