Republic of Mining

Elliot Lake Uranium Mining History – Our Wild Atomic City – by Alan Phillips (Originally Published in Maclean’s Magazine – May 25, 1957)

October 6, 2017September 13, 2010

Denison Mine was the largest uranium deposit in Elliot Lake, Ontario.

Here’s a Graphic Picture of Ontario’s Elliot Lake

A billion-dollar order for uranium
A $300-million spending spree to fill it
A lawless horde of transients
A Communist struggle to control mine workers
A serious outbreak of disease

Just off the Trans-Canada Highway skirting Lake Huron’s north shore, a buried vein of ore snakes north through the Algoma Basin in the shape of an upside-down S. It curves for ninety miles beneath the pineclad granite knolls, a mother lode that is spawning eleven giant uranium mines in the greatest eruption of growth since gold gave birth to Dawson City.

The hub of these mines is a chaotic city-to-be called Elliot Lake. Twenty-two months ago it was just a stand of timber dividing two lakes, so wild that a bulldozer leveling brush ran over a large black bear. Today it’s a prime example of a boom town, familiar symbol of dynamic growth – and trouble.

For a couple of months this spring Elliot Lake made headlines that had nothing to do with uranium. An outbreak of jaundice packed ninety victims into nearby Blind River’s 59-bed hospital. About three hundred cases were reported before the disease began to wane early last month. Provincial health officials insisted that the outbreak did not rate as an epidemic while union officials were demanding the mines shut down until the sewage system was improved.

Infectious disease is an age-old bugbear of the boom town, which has its other ageless features. It is the nation in miniature with its time span speeded up as in a silent movie.

Doug Morrison Joins CEMI Team to Help Expand Organization’s Mandate for Mining Innovation

September 13, 2010

The Sudbury-based Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) conducts research and development for the mining sector. CEMI strives to establish excellence in strategic areas of research such as deep mining, mineral exploration, integrated mine engineering, environmental and sustainability as highlighted in the 2009 Annual Report (www.miningexcellence.ca). CEMI is becoming an international centre for world-class, industry-focused research and innovation, advancing state-of-the-art concepts, processes and methodologies in support of the regional, national and international exploration and mining industries, and providers of mining services and supplies.

Sudbury, ON – On September 8, 2010, the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI), held its third Annual General Meeting (AGM) which highlighted the significant progress made by the organization in advancing mineral exploration and mining-related research during the past year. CEMI proudly announced that mining veteran, Doug Morrison will be joining the CEMI team as the Deputy Director. Mr. Morrison will begin his duties on November 1st, 2010.

As Deputy Director, one of Mr. Morrison’s objectives will be to build stronger relationships and effective collaboration among Ontario’s mining Research & Development (R&D) agencies, and from there, with national and international organizations. Over the years, he has worked with Canadian industry, academic and government research institutions, including CAMIRO, MIRARCO, and CEMI, to deliver innovation to the mining industry, and it is anticipated this will enable CEMI to expand the range of technical issues supported through R&D.

Mr. Morrison has 15 years experience in underground mine operations, and 15 years working as a consultant, including four years as global mining leader for Golder Associates, bringing international experience and a broad understanding of all of the issues confronting the industry globally.

Revenue Sharing is Only Fair, but Not All First Nations are Treated Fairly – by David Hill

September 13, 2010

David Hill is director and senior advisor of GMG Consulting Services. Reach him at david@gmgconsulting.ca. He has over 18 years of experience as a manager, senior policy advisor, project manager, program developer, communications coordinator and issues management advisor to the provincial government, Aboriginal communities and organizations, and private sector clients across British Columbia. He is a highly skilled and experienced facilitator, trainer, supervisor, planner, public speaker and writer and has professional training in project management and public speaking.

In addition to his direct experience with Aboriginal communities, Hill has also worked as a senior advisor and manager for Aboriginal relations for the BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, during which time he facilitated engagement between Aboriginal communities and the mining and petroleum development industries, and negotiated consultation, accommodation and benefit sharing agreements between Aboriginal communities and the provincial government.

Commentary

British Columbia’s first agreements to share mining revenue with three First Nations are being hailed as “game changers” and “the new standard for participation.”

These are indeed important agreements to be celebrated, and the leaders of the Stk’emlupsemc and Tk’emlups First Nations and the McLeod Lake Indian Band who negotiated the Economic Development Agreements should be commended for their efforts and the benefits they are bringing to their communities. First Nations communities and their members deserve to benefit from an industry that generates more than $300 million a year in tax revenues and royalties in British Columbia.

However, the agreements touted by the Government as “historic”, should not necessarily represent the new standard.

In fact, there is a serious flaw in the system.

The Political Storm Watch on Fish Lake [Taseko Mines Tailings]- by Wendy Stueck (Globe and Mail-September 11, 2010)

April 6, 2011September 13, 2010

Wendy Stueck is a reporter for the Globe and Mail, 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.

Aboriginals and pro-development groups are on a collision course as they await decision on $800-million B.C. mining project

On the surface, Fish Lake looks serene – a sun-dappled body of water where fish jump in the shadows of snow-capped mountains.

But this lake, about 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake in British Columbia’s rugged Chilcotin Territory, is the heart of a battle that has put the federal and provincial governments on a collision course, pitted predominantly aboriginal concerns about the environment against the prospect of jobs and investment in a hard-pressed region, and raised fears of violent confrontations if a proposed mine goes ahead.

The federal government is to make a final decision on the proposed Prosperity copper-gold mine, which the B.C. government has already approved, as early as this month.

Vale Targets Pristine Lake for [Mine] Tailings – by Linda Diebel (Toronto Star-September 11, 2010)

April 6, 2011September 13, 2010

Linda Diebel is a National Writer for the Toronto Star, which has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on Canada’s federal and provincial politics as well as shaping public opinion. This article was originally published on Saturday, September 11, 2010.

A coalition of environmental groups is fighting to set a national precedent by stopping Brazilian mining giant Vale from dumping 400,000 tonnes a year of toxic tailings into a Newfoundland lake known for its prize-winning trout.

“Sandy Pond is a wonderful, beautiful lake and all aquatic life is going to be annihilated,” said Meera Karunananthan, national water campaigner for the Council of Canadians and a member of the newly-created Sandy Pond Alliance. “The authorities are allowing the company to use our pristine water as one big garbage dump.”

Vale plans to use the lake for waste from a nickel processing plant, set to open in 2013. It’s located near Long Harbour on the Avalon Peninsula in southeastern Newfoundland, about an hour’s drive from St. John’s.

The environmental alliance recently filed a legal challenge in federal court to what they see as a loophole in the Fisheries Act. It allows Canadian lakes to be reclassified as “tailings impoundment areas.”

SAVE THE OIL SANDS! – by Carrie Tait (National Post-August 21, 2010)

April 6, 2011September 13, 2010

Carrie Tait is a reporter for the National Post, Canada’s second largest national paper. This article was originally published on August 21, 2010.

Alberta’s oil sands are twice the size of England. Alberta’s oil sands tailings ponds are, collectively, the size of Washington State. Alberta’s oil sands help subsidize continued wars of aggression against other oil-producing nations such as Iraq, Venezuela and Iran.

These three statements all make Janet Annesley’s Top 10 list, a David Letterman-inspired collection of the most egregious falsehoods against the oil sands. As the vice-president of communications for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), she is on the front lines of a he said/she said public relations war.

The oil-sands industry, she concedes, has been getting creamed.

“We were caught flat-footed,” she said. “The oil-and-gas industry was not being effective in engaging Canadians because it didn’t have the ability to connect with them emotionally.”

Indeed, organizations have been taking pot shots — as well as making reasonable and fair critiques — at the oil-sands industry for years. They reached out to citizens on an emotional level. But the industry’s wonky technical rebuttals went ignored.

Now, after two years of revamping its PR strategy, CAPP hopes it can trump, even pre-empt, its critics’ charges.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Canada’s Mining Exploration Sector: Doing the Right Thing Wherever We Work – Jon Baird (June 23, 2009)

September 12, 2010

Jon Baird, Past President of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), gave this speech to the Economic Club of Canada on June 23, 2009

Check against delivery

Thank you for your generous introduction, Bill. In a 2007 speech here at the Economic Club, National Chief Phil Fontaine of the Assembly of First Nations didn’t pull any punches.

He opened his talk by describing the poverty, suffering and frustration that too many of his people live with.
He called for businesses to join the AFN’s Corporate Challenge and work together with First Nations to help address long standing problems and alleviate poverty. The National Chief described the resource industry as a natural partner for First Nations and called on both groups to work together for their mutual benefit.

So it’s fitting that the PDAC is here today to publicly introduce our new corporate social responsibility initiative, e3 Plus: A Framework for Responsible Exploration.

Aboriginal people and Europeans have been working together on the hunt for minerals in Canada since Jacques Cartier arrived here 500 years ago looking for, he said, “gold, rubies and other gems.”

The PDAC marks the industry’s long connection with Aboriginal people with the Skookum Jim Award, which is presented at our convention in Toronto every March. It recognizes Aboriginal achievement in the industry. Skookum Jim was a Tagish man who led the group that discovered gold in the Klondike in 1896 and touched off the Yukon gold rush.

Those of you outside the mining community may not be aware of how closely geoscientists in this country work with First Nations people.

Northern Ontario’s Mining Supply Sector Worth an Astonishing $5.6 Billion – Norm Tollinsky

September 11, 2010

Norm Tollinsky is editor of Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal, a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. This article is from the September, 2010 issue.

A recently published study on the Northern Ontario mining supply and service sector confirms that it is a key engine of growth and a strategic asset with unrealized potential for the regional economy.

The Northern Ontario Mining Supply and Services Study, commissioned by the Ontario North Economic Development Corporation (ONE-DC) and carried out by Ottawa-based Doyletech Corp., estimated the total value of the sector’s output at $5.6 billion annually.

“The study firmly establishes the credibility and value of the mining supply and service industry in Northern Ontario by a third party,” said Dick DeStefano, executive director of the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA). “Prior to the study, we had been using numbers we extrapolated from various sources, so this finally puts us where we thought we were and confirms that we’re one of the largest wealth creators in Northern Ontario.”

Funded by the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry and by FedNor, the federal government’s economic development agency for Northern Ontario, the study identified approximately 500 companies and organizations with 23,000 employees that derive more than 50 per cent of their revenue from the sale of mining supplies and services. Counting companies that derive less than 50 per cent of their revenues from mining supplies and services boosts the value of the sector to close to $7 billion, said DeStefano.

Ten Major American Mining Disasters- by Ron Delfs

September 9, 2010

This interesting list of major American mining disasters came from environmental scientist Ron Delfs’ blog on Environmental Science Degrees http://www.environmentalsciencedegrees.net/blog/

The recent attempts to rescue 33 trapped miners from the San Jose Mine in Copiapo, Chile have once again brought mining safety concerns to the forefront of our consciousness. Earlier this year, the United States experienced its worst mining disaster in 40 years when 29 miners were killed in Montcoal, West Virginia during the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion. Regardless of whether the site is located in a first world or developing country, mining has always been an extremely dangerous job in which the risk of death is ever-present. Since the beginning of the 20th century, thousands of Americans have been killed in mining accidents. Here are 10 major mining disasters that occurred in the states. The high death tolls are indicative of an era of carelessness and primitive technology.

1. Scofield – 1900
Utah’s first great mining disaster, the Scofield Mine disaster, became America’s worst at the time. At least 200 miners were killed as an accumulation of coal dust caused a massive explosion that was said to have thrown a miner standing near the opening of the mine 820 feet. The state cleared the mine operators of blame and the Pleasant Valley Coal Company continued operating for 23 more years.

2. Monongah – 1907
The Monongah explosion of West Virginia is the worst mining disaster in American history, resulting in the deaths of 362 miners. The sole survivor was Peter Urban, who suffered the death of his twin brother and died in a cave-in 19 years later. The disaster is said to have been caused by the ignition of methane, which led to the ignition of coal dust. It’s unknown how the methane was ignited, but it has been theorized that a dynamite blast or open lamp may have been to blame.

Sudbury Area Mining Supply & Service Association Creates Enormous Wealth for Northern Ontario – by Dick DeStefano

September 14, 2018September 3, 2010

Dick DeStefano is the Executive Director of Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA). His column was originally published in Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal, a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. destefan@isys.ca

The recent Doyletech study of the mining supply & service sector provided significant data indicating that this sector has close to 500 companies in Northern Ontario that sell more than 50 per cent of their products and services to mining companies. This is a large industrial sector within this important geographical region. Results demonstrate that this sector created more than 23,000 jobs and generated more than $5.6 billion in gross sales in 2008.

The six months of face-to-face interviews of over 150 companies established this industry sector as a vital contributor to wealth and employment in the four major cities of Northern Ontario.

Thunder Bay’s Confederation College, Mineral Sector Train Aboriginal Students for Mining Jobs – Ian Ross

August 23, 2010

This article was originally published in Northern Ontario Business in the December, 2009 issue. Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North.

The next generation of mining employees will include many First Nations participants

Building a home-grown workforce has always been an important to Henry Wetelainen, president of Bending Lake Iron Group.

The Thunder Bay-based junior miner is partnering with Confederation College to run a prospectors course at the company’s iron ore deposit near Ignace in northwestern Ontario.

For his Aboriginally-owned, family-run company, Wetelainen said it’s always been a driving interest in his family to get First Nation youth interested in the grass roots end of the mining cycle.

“This is important to us as a company,” said Wetelainen, who has students from remote First Nation communities such as Gull Bay, Kasabonika and Big Trout Lake. “What’s an agreement with the First Nations worth if you can’t live up to it?”

Roasting (Heat) or Leaching (Liquid) Minerals: Which is More Environmentally Sound – by Marilyn Scales

May 4, 2015August 23, 2010

Marilyn Scales is a field editor for the Canadian Mining Journal, Canada’s first mining publication. She is one of Canada’s most senior mining commentators.

One the news releases that landed in my inbox last week made me wonder about the advancement of mineral processing technology. Is it going forward … or back?

The item in question came from a Canadian company testing a South American property for its zinc potential. The company and project shall remain nameless. What caught my eye was that the favourable results were obtained in a kiln. That made me wonder why hydrometallurgical methods were not being tested.

Anytime an ore is subjected to heating it gives off gases. The worst case scenario is the burning of sulphide ores and resulting clouds of SO2 and NOx responsible for widespread environmental damage. Such was the case in the early days of smelting nickel and copper ores from the mines near Sudbury, ON.

Fortunately today we have gas containment units, acid plants and various means of controlling particulate and other emissions. These technologies help protect the environment, but they come with certain costs and limitations.

Hydrometallurgical means of metal recovery does not produce such deleterious emissions. Methods have been adapted in recent history to leach almost every kind of ore imaginable and to create the purest metals. Hydrometallurgy is considered far cleaner than roasting ores.

Hollywood’s Avatar Imitates Ontario Mining/Aboriginal Conflicts – by Juan Carlos Reyes

February 20, 2012August 22, 2010

Juan Carlos Reyes is the organizer of the annual Learning Together conference and an aboriginal consultant with Efficiency.ca. He is passionate about human rights and works tirelessly to help improve the lives of Canadian aboriginal people. This column was originally published in May 2010.

There still may be a few among you who have yet to see James Cameron’s epic blockbuster Avatar. My advice: Go see it! The movie offers an interesting vision of colonial mentality — something to which many Aboriginal people will relate. Here’s my take on it: White Americans travel to a distant planet to mine an invaluable mineral.

They hire researchers and scientists to placate the indigenous population (called the Na’vi) by socially infiltrating the community and attempting to convince them to move to more “suitable” locations. When the ruse fails, the mining company gets fed up and redefines the term “explosive climax.” The hero of the story, a white American military recruit, switches sides and helps lead the Na’vi to victory.

James Cameron has received a lot of heat over this movie. But I think that Avatar was developed brilliantly. Some reviews claim that Cameron’s idea was to portray the Black or Muslim or indigenous experience. Regardless of his motivation, the movie succeeds in its depiction of the way industrialized nations have “taken over” in many developing countries.