Republic of Mining

Australian Prospectors and Miners Hall of Fame Historical Profile – May Brown (1875-1939)

June 26, 2008

May Brown was a famous mining entrepreneur; the Northern Territory’s ‘wolfram queen’.

May Brown, mining entrepreneur, the Northern Territory’s “wolfram queen”, was born in Sydney on 24 May in 1875. She first visited the Northern Territory in 1890 when she joined her sister, Florence, who with her husband ran hotels in the ‘Top End’. May Brown continued to visit the Territory until 1901 when she settled in Sydney after marrying George Seale, a former amateur boxing champion. In 1902, they had a son, George, who later married Mary Fisher, a Territorian.

May’s first husband, George, died in 1906 and six months later she married James Burns, a Territory wolfram miner. The pair moved to Pine Creek a small township near Burns’ Wolfram Creek and Crest of the Wave mines. May started to work in the mines alongside her husband and their Chinese tributers.

Australian Prospectors and Miners Hall of Fame Historical Profile – Lang Hancock (1909-1992)

August 7, 2008June 26, 2008

Lang Hancock discovered and promoted the vast iron ore deposits in the Pilbara of Western Australia

On 16 November 1952 prospector and pastoralist Lang Hancock and his wife Hope were flying over the Hamersley Range in Australia’s rugged Northwest. Bad weather forced Hancock to fly low over the headwaters of the Turner River. From the cockpit Hancock noticed large bands of red rock on the hills below and wondered if they might be iron ore. Six months later he returned to the Turner River and confirmed his discovery; a discovery that provided the impetus for the establishment of the huge iron ore mines in Australia’s Northwest. Hancock’s aerial prospecting earned him the title “The Flying Prospector”.

Langley Frederick George Hancock was born June 10 1909. He was a descendent of the pioneering Hancock family who had arrived at Cossack on the Sea Ripple in 1864. His father, George Hancock, built the homestead at Mulga Downs station and it was here that Lang Hancock spent most of his childhood, eventually becoming the station manager.

More Women Needed in the Mining Sector

August 7, 2008June 25, 2008

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.

Four female employees from Hemlo Mines brought their unique perspective to a recent Ontario Mining Association conference session “How to make the mining workplace more feminine friendly.”

Aileen Pajunen, Employee Relations Superintendent; Geraldine Colbourne, a level-one production miner with 11 years experience working underground; Deborah Hanson, who has worked underground in the shaft and services area for 18 years; and, Allison Craig, a mining engineer currently working as an underground supervisor; all shared their work experiences, ambitions, frustrations, successes and long term goals with participants in the OMA “Demographics, Global Markets and Future Workforce” conference.

The panel session was preceded by OMA President Chris Hodgson and Ryan Montpellier, Executive Director of the Mining Industry Human Resource Council (MiHR). Hodgson reminded the group that, on the national level, mining is looking for an estimated 92,000 new employees over the next decade.

Honourable Kevin Kruger – British Columbia Minister of State for Mining – The Canadian Institute Keynote Address in Vancouver

June 24, 2008

MINE SAFETY

Thank you Tim, it’s a pleasure to be here.

Ladies and gentlemen . . .

I am happy to report that the mining industry is alive and well in British Columbia, and in for the long run.

I am very happy to report that the industry is pretty much thriving here in British Columbia. Recently during Mining Week, we celebrated 150 years of mining in B.C. since we showed up but First Nations have made it very clear to me that they were mining a number of quantities for thousands of years before European contact. So I try to make sure to mention that each time I am talking about our century-and-a-half of experience in the industry.

B.C. MINING SUCCES STORY

We call it the B.C. Mining Success Story, and it’s a story that I am certain that everyone here this morning is familiar with.
In conjunction with Mining Week . . . the Mining Association of British Columbia released the 40th annual PricewaterhouseCoopers report card on the state of the industry and it tabulated the results of forty mining companies that responded.

The report found that mining in B.C. is a $6.9 billion industry . . .

that 2007 was another excellent year for the B.C. mining industry . . .

gross revenues remain very strong, even though they were reduced somewhat by coal prices which bumped along around $80 dollars a tonne average. They have been better in 2006 and volumes were slightly down as well but present day companies are signing contracts for $300 dollars a tonne and it is looking like 2008 will be a banner year.

Honourable Kevin Krueger – British Columbia Minister of State for Mining – An Introduction

June 24, 2008

Kevin Krueger was appointed Minister of State for Mining on February 7, 2007. Kevin was re-elected as MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson in 2005 after being elected in 1996 and re-elected in 2001. He was named as Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier responsible for Rural Development in the fall of 2006. Kevin is also a member …

Honourable John Rodriguez – Mayor of the City of Greater Sudbury – State of the City – 2008 Speech

December 8, 2010June 23, 2008

Madame Chairperson, fellow Councillors, Ladies and Gentlemen.

I want to thank you all for coming this afternoon and I want to thank the Chamber for giving me the opportunity to speak to you today. I want to also express my appreciation to George Revie and his team at Persona Communications, who are here today to tape this event for broadcast this Thursday evening. As you know, Persona also broadcasts City Council meetings, and their efforts make it easier for citizens to understand our city and how it operates.

As I stand here today, I am mindful of the fact that I am blessed to be Mayor of this wonderful city, and doubly blessed to be Mayor at such an exciting time in the history of our community, our country, and our world.

Ten days ago, we celebrated a birthday to mark the 125th Anniversary of the founding of the community we now know as Greater Sudbury. It was a tremendous event!

I reflected that day upon how far we have come as a community and what a debt we owe to our forbearers. In our community’s history, thirty-three men – and one woman – have served as Mayor of Sudbury or Greater Sudbury, and many, many more have served as mayor or reeve of our constituent municipalities.

Our 125 year relationship with this land is but a blip in the history of our aboriginal cousins. It is important that we acknowledge the strong relationships we have with our aboriginal community and the strong ties we all share with the land we live on. Aboriginal peoples are the fastest growing segment of our community and it is fitting that one of the signature events in this anniversary year was the first ever Northern Aboriginal Festival. I congratulate the organizers and our partners at Laurentian University and Cambrian College.

City of Greater Sudbury Mayor John Rodriguez – An Introduction

December 8, 2010June 23, 2008

The trillion-dollar Sudbury Basin is the richest mining district in North America and among the top ten most strategically important in the world. Sudbury is located in the Canadian province of Ontario, whose annual 10.5 billion dollar mineral sector is the largest in the country. About half of Ontario’s mining activity takes place in the …

Great War Proved Need for Ontario Refinery – Gary Peck

May 4, 2015June 23, 2008

With the First World War, in Canada there was considerable agitation over what was coined the “Nickel Question.” One of the problems that arose pertained to the refining of nickel in Canada. For some, it may have been regretted that our nickel industry was controlled by foreigners. However, for a variety of reasons, it was argued that the refining at least should occur in Canada.

By the outbreak of The War, the necessity of nickel for modern warfare was established. Nickel was necessary for automobile parts, cartridge cases, bullet coverings, heavy ordnance, rifle barrels and armour-plate. Of course, its value was recognized by all of the then major powers. Canada had the new materials that in 1890, were mined by two foreign-owned companies. Yet, if the refining continued outside Canada, this country and the province of Ontario had no control over the ultimate destination of “the product”. For some, this was not satisfactory.

Evidence suggests that on numerous occasions federal and provincial governments had examined and indeed promoted the refining of nickel in Canada. In 1886, a committee of the House of Commons refused to report a bill authorizing the Canadian Copper Company (C.C. Co.) of Ohio to operate in Canada until its promoters indicated that they would build a refinery.

The Beauty of Mining Machines – Dr. David Robinson

April 5, 2015June 20, 2008

The Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal gave Republic of Mining.com permission to post Dr. David Robinson’s column. This Sudbury-based magazine showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury.

Dr. David Robinson

Mining is a rough industry and nowhere is it as challenging as Northern Ontario’s deep, hardrock operations. The mines are hot, dirty and wet. The air has to be pumped in, as if miners were working on another planet. At the bottom of the deepest mines, the rock creeps like toffee under pressure. It can shatter like glass, killing and trapping miners.

In this harsh world, equipment must do miracles. Ventilation systems move minus -40° air to a depth of 2,493 m. Hoist cables lift 4,000 tons per day. There is no room for mistakes. Yet these may be the safest mines in the world.

No wonder Sudbury is the training ground for so many mining experts and the testing ground for some of the toughest machines. The knowledge accumulated by the people of the Sudbury Basin is a treasure. It will grow in value as the mining industry battles to keep up with demand over the next century.

Good-bye to Sandy McIntyre’s Second Chance in Kirkland Lake – Michael Barnes

April 5, 2015June 20, 2008

We keeping losing our heritage in Northern Ontario. In November 1995 another part of it came tumbling down.

A striking introduction for eastbound visitors to the town of Kirkland Lake would no longer grace the gold camp skyline and another link with our mining past was gone.

One of the distinctive contributions mining offers to Canadian architecture are headframes, which when covered in with wood or steel become the shaft house. A newcomer might think of them as the above ground part of an elevator shaft.

Many hard rock mines are deep and the cables for the cage or elevator run up to a drum at the top of the shaft house. Each of these structures are different due to location, depth of the shaft and other factors.

Honourable Buyelwa Sonjica – South Africa Minister of Minerals & Energy – Mining Indaba Conference Speech in Cape Town

May 15, 2010June 19, 2008

Introduction

Programme director
Honourable Ministers
Distinguished guests
Senior Government Officials

Ladies and gentlemen

On behalf of the people of South Africa, I extend to you all a warm and hearty welcome as we convene for the 13th annual Mining Indaba Conference here in Cape Town. It is apt for me to congratulate the organisers of this conference, the IIC, for continuing to successfully facilitate this level of knowledge and information exchange among stakeholders in the mining industry. I am pleased to see my counterparts from other parts of the continent as well as local and international participants at this critical juncture in the mining industry.

The past few weeks have been characterised by global economic instability, which is being underpinned by news of the looming economic recession in the USA. The mining industry has not been immune to this development, although we view this development as a short-term correction and believe the fundamentals remain in place for a prolonged demand growth for the bulk of the mineral commodities.

The African Economic Reforms

Since the late 1970s, the African countries have been in search of a policy framework to guide a continent wide fundamental socio-economic transformation that would enable them to overcome the pervasive structural weaknesses. It was not until the last decade or so, that African countries undertook economic reforms to invigorate their respective economies through positive development philosophy.

Honourable Buyelwa Sonjica South Africa Minister of Minerals & Energy – An Introduction

May 15, 2010June 19, 2008

Buyelwa Patience Sonjica was appointed to the high-profile position of South Africa’s Minister of Minerals and Energy on May 22, 2006, after serving as Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry from April 2004 to May 2006. Before that post, she served as Deputy Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology. Ms. Sonjica’s interesting and extensive …

Norilsk Nickel CEO Denis Morozov on Sustainable Mining

May 12, 2010June 18, 2008

The following excerpt by General Director, Chairman of the Management Board Denis S. Morozov is from the OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel 2007 Social Report which is available at: Norilsk Nickel 2007 Social Report

Dear readers,

OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel is pleased to present the social report for 2007 which represents another step forward by the company in disclosing information regarding various aspects of its operations and activities concerned with sustainable development. At the core of our development strategy and our everyday business is the belief that consistent observance of social responsibility principles is a prerequisite for sustained and effective development of business.

In 2007, the Company continued the successful implementation of the adopted development strategy, modernised the existing production facilities, provided for further development of the unique resource base and entry to the Russia’s new regions.

In 2007, the Company significantly expanded the geography of its operations. OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel successfully completed the transaction to acquire nickel business of OM Group Inc. and consolidated 100% shares of LionOre Mining International Ltd.1

The purchase of LionOre is the largest foreign acquisition in the history of Russian business. Today, MMC Norilsk Nickel is a leader of international metal markets with excellent outlook for further development.

Lead: It Will Follow (Digging Through the Sudbury Soil Study)-By Janet Gibson

May 15, 2010June 17, 2008

Northern Life, Greater Sudbury’s community newspaper, gave Republic of Mining.com permission to post Janet Gibson’s article. www.northernlife.ca

What people can do to reduce their exposure to this toxic heavy metal

(Third instalment of a four-part series) Sudbury Soils Study

JGIBSON@NORTHERNLIFE.CA

The average citizen can get lost reading the $10 million Sudbury Soils Study, which sits in three volumes on a shelf at your local library. But it’s worth the read if you take a proactive attitude toward your health. Volume 2 is the human health risk assessment, done to find out if residents’ health was at risk from exposure to the soil, air, drinking water or food. Consultant Chris Wren and his colleagues concluded there were “no unacceptable health risks predicted for exposure to four of the six chemicals studied: arsenic, copper, cobalt and selenium.”

As for the other two chemicals – nickel and lead – “the study calculated a minimal risk of respiratory inflammation from lifetime exposures to airborne nickel in Copper Cliff and the west portion of Sudbury Centre.” As well, “there’s a potential risk for young children living in Copper Cliff, Coniston, Falconbridge and Sudbury Centre due to levels of lead in some soil samples and indoor dust.”