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.

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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.

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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. Read the rest of this entry »

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 political career began in 1976 when, inspired by the Black Consciousness Movement, she became involved in student politics in the East London area of South Africa. She also joined the activities of the Mass Democratic Movement, including the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the National Education Union of South Africa (NEUSA). She then became an active member of the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) from its inception.

Her academic qualifications include a Secondary Teachers Certificate and a Bachelor of Arts degree, both from Vista University, Port Elizabeth, and a Bachelor of Arts honours from Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. She is also currently attaining a Diploma in Economics at the University of London.

Between 1992 and 1994, Ms. Sonjica was elected to the Regional Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC), ANC Women’s League (ANCWL), and ANC Regional Working Committee. She headed the ANC’s Department of Arts in the old Eastern Cape region, involved in both the transformation of the arts and the development of the ANC policy under famed South African writer, poet and politician Wally Serote, then national co-ordinator.

In 1994, she was elected to Parliament serving on the first Parliamentary Portfolio Committee of Arts and Culture. She also served on the portfolio committees on finance, trade and industry, as well as water affairs and forestry. In 1995, she became Chairperson of the Select Committee on Child Care Facilities.  From 1994 till 1999, she was an ANC Whip.

Ms. Sonjica was born on March 23, 1950.

Bio Supplied to Republic of Mining.com

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.

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

Designing Out Trouble

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

Both Vale Inco and Xstrata have committed to being part of the solution and not the problem. They said that in a joint news release on May 13 after the release of the Sudbury Soil Study Human Risk Assessment.

The first necessity is better information about what emissions, such as dust, are being released.

Before the Sudbury Soils Study, the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE) conducted monitoring of air emissions at Nickel Street in Copper Cliff and Lisgar Street in Sudbury. In 2003, both companies agreed to fund an expanded air monitoring program, including samples of particulate matter (PM10) which is thought to be more relevant for inhalation into a persons’ lungs. In 10 locations, 20 monitors were set up. That data was used in the Sudbury Soil Study.

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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.”

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Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.

I would like to begin by thanking the Canadian Club for the invitation to speak here today. I am aware of the long and proud history of this forum, which Rio Tinto Alcan is pleased to support as an associate corporate member.

My visits to Montreal are frequent enough these days that I am beginning to feel very much at home here. Of course, Montreal is home to the global headquarters of our Rio Tinto Alcan product group, and also serves as the Canadian hub for Rio Tinto’s other extensive interests in this country.

Last month, we brought our Board of Directors into town for a regularly scheduled meeting and we also hosted a visit for a group of analysts and institutional investors from Australia, the UK and elsewhere. Aside from the opportunity to sample your famed Montreal hospitality, the visitors were given a first-hand look at our aluminium facilities in the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean region. I am pleased to report that they
were suitably impressed with the high calibre of our Quebec operations, both existing and planned, — the people and organisation. They gave the visit some glowing reviews.

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All millionaires have to start somewhere. After chubby,ambitious Roy Thomson started his first radio station on a shoestring in North Bay, his attention turned to the bustling Timmins-Porcupine area.

The hard luck,hustling salesman came to Timmins in the early thirties and worked to open a radio station.No one would loan him any money but he found an ally in J.P. Bartleman.

The insurance salesman thought a radio station would be a good thing and he rented the newcomer space in a building of his in the seamier part of town.

Thomson’s long suffering engineer cobbled together the parts for broadcast output and fell foul of the law until his tight fisted boss paid union dues. The new station started with a piano and a few records. Even the sole announcer became fed up with playing ‘In a Monastery Garden’ several times a day because the discs were scarce.

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

Citizens Speak Out About Soil Study

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

JGIBSON@NORTHERNLIFE.CA

In 1986, Copper Cliff resident Silvana Oppedisano hung the laundry out to dry in the backyard of the family home on Serpentine Street. That afternoon, her husband Pat found a hole in one of the bedsheets.
“Ever since that day, there’s been no more clothesline outside,” Pat said. The hole, he said, was caused by fallout from the chimney at the Inco smelter. “That’s the way it is,” he said. “The wind shifts every which way.”

Pat, an affable barber, said people aren’t talking about the Sudbury Soils Study released two weeks ago. But he’s interested in reading it if he can find out where it is. “We know the soil’s contaminated,” he said. “Are we happy? No. The question is, ‘What can we do about it?’ Because you can’t live in a place like this without it being contaminated.”

The $10 million study, paid for by mining giants Vale Inco and Xstrata, said there were “no unacceptable health risks predicted for exposure to four of the six chemicals of concern studied: arsenic, copper, cobalt and selenim. The risk calculated for typical exposure to lead throughout the Greater Sudbury area is within acceptable benchmarks for protection of human health.

However, lead levels in some soil samples indicated a potential risk for young children in Copper Cliff, Coniston, Falconbridge and Sudbury Centre.” Pat said things have changed in Copper Cliff since 1961, when he first moved there. Some days in the 60s, he said, “you couldn’t see across the street.” Read the rest of this entry »

At the onset it became evident to the pioneer companies that the ores of the Sudbury district should not be direct smelted. The grade of mate produced was usually quite low resulting in too heavy a strain on the converters. Also with the sulphur content so high, it was imperative that it be driven off. Hence recast yards were required.

The summer of 1888 saw the Canadian Copper Company firing its first roast heap. This was but five years since the ores had first been exposed near what became known as Murray Mine. Then mechanization was not the norm with the ore brought to the Copper Cliff beds by wheelbarrows.

By 1912, there were three roast yards within a mile of Copper Cliff. With as many so close to the town, it was virtually impossible for the vegetation and the inhabitants to escape the sulphur atmosphere. However, 1915 saw plans under way for the establishment of beds in an area distant from the community.

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

A Primer on the Study, the Process and the Players Involved

(First instalment of a four-part series)

There is some excellent information on the history of mining activities in the Sudbury area in the first background study of the Sudbury Soil Study finished in January 2008, that can be downloaded at their website. Visit Sudbury Soils Study. Copies for public viewing are available at public libraries and post-secondary institutions.

Here are some highlights and quotes from the study that indicate the extent of the devastation of the Sudbury area:

• Roasting yards were an early method of separating valuable minerals from rock. The first roast yard, where crushed ore from pits was piled on beds of cordwood, was built in Dec. 1886. Between 1890 and 1930, 28 million tonnes of ore was smelted primarily in the open. After 1920, ore was mechanically smelted indoors. Until the process stopped in 1929, “they released about 10 million tonnes of sulphur dioxide at ground level, killing plants and acidifying soils…open-bed roasting was a cheap but ultimately inefficient method, as it allowed some of the nickel and copper to be washed into the soil by rains.” In 1916 one former resident of the community near the O’Donnell roast yard said there were days when “I could not see my hand in front of my face.”
• The wartime surge in nickel production in 1916, “increased the volume of noxious gases that wafted from the roast beds into the gardens and fields of the Sudbury basin.” Agriculture in the Blezard Valley was being smothered by the 600,000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide emitted annually by the nickel companies. “In 1916, after successive years of ruined crops, the farmers had had enough, forcing Canadian Copper to pay $137,398 for smoke damages in the year ending March 31, 1916.”
• As the landscape deteriorated around the smelters, effects of emissions could no longer be ignored. Early studies dealt with sulphur dioxide emissions. “Not until the late 1960s did the focus expand to include metal contamination and acidification of the soils. At that time, studies by local foresters and ecologists showed that soil acidity and concentrations of copper and nickel were elevated in the same areas where sulphur dioxide damage had been measured.” Read the rest of this entry »

Northern Life, Greater Sudbury’s community newspaper, gave Republic of Mining.com permission to post Michael Atkin’s column. www.northernlife.ca

Michael Atkins

If you have even a passing interest in the politics of northern Ontario, and Sudbury in particular, you will take note of last week’s refusal by FedNor to support the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) at Laurentian University and weep.

The message came from a PR flake in Toronto or Ottawa (it doesn’t really matter where) who was kind enough to point out that it “would not serve to maximize FedNor’s priorities of promoting growth, economic diversification, job creating and sustainable, self-reliant communities in northern Ontario.

Of course, and the tooth fairy henceforth is declining visits to our children on the grounds it no longer fits her mandate.

You will note this piffle did not come from the Sudbury office. It didn’t come from the Sudbury office because the Sudbury office was involved in helping to imagine this project from the beginning and has supported it strongly.

In fact this decision has nothing to do with the merits of the project, pro or con.

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The Honourable Michael Gravelle, Ontario Minister of Northern Development and Mines, gave this speech at the Ontario Mining Association (OMA) conference in Windsor, Ontario on June 10, 2008.

It is great to be back in beautiful Windsor, Ontario –The City of Roses.  My Cabinet colleagues Dwight Duncan and Sandra Pupatello, who represent local ridings, never tire of singing the praises of this community – and I can see why.

I know that my colleague, Sandra Pupatello had a chance to speak to you last night regarding initiatives that are being undertaken by her Ministry to help boost the competitiveness of both the mining industry in Ontario as well as the Ontario economy as a whole – initiatives that are important to ensuring future prosperity in our province.

Windsor is acclaimed as Canada’s automotive capital. It is also is home to the Hiram Walkers Canadian Club whisky plant.

And while great automobiles and fine beverages may have a special place in our collective hearts, I, as Minister of Northern Development and Mines, also like to think of Windsor as one of the premier salt producing regions in the country — home to the Canadian Salt Company’s nearby Ojibway mine.

The Canadian Salt Company is a source of pride not only for the local community but also Ontario’s mining community. It is a leader in modern salt processing methods and it is our nation’s largest salt manufacturer.

Ontario is recognized as a major producer of metallic minerals. Perhaps we don’t mention often enough that we also produce almost a quarter of Canada’s non-metallic minerals.  In that context, southern Ontario is an important and active contributor to our province’s mining industry.

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It is an honour to address such an assembly – and to be able to contribute to the debate about the future of company reporting of our non-financial impacts on the societies in which we work.

I would like today to look at various aspects surrounding sustainable development from a business perspective as the head of Anglo American plc.

I will start by introducing the company and will then move on to issues that concern us all, which include:

• the sustainable development challenge for the natural-resource industry;
• the problems surrounding water;
• the world’s future energy demands;
• Anglo American’s ‘clean’ initiatives and what we are doing to stay in the forefront of the sustainable development field
• the need for greater transparency in our SD partnerships and SD reporting.

Anglo American is one of the world’s top five mining groups and occupies a position in the top ten of the London Stock Exchange’s FTSE 100 Index. It has a market capitalisation of about 90 billion dollars.

We have a presence in 45 countries, stretching from Alaska to Australia and from Chile to China. Outside of the oil and gas sector, we are Africa’s leading investor.

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