Christina Blizzard is the Queen’s Park columnist for the Toronto Sun, the city’s daily tabloid newspaper.

For an extensive list of articles on this mineral discovery, please go to: Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

christina.blizzard@sunmedia.ca

The big question to ask Northern Development Minister Mike Gravelle when he unveils his long-awaited Northern Development Growth Plan Friday is this: Is this really about jobs, development and good health and education services for the North?

Or is this a last-ditch pitch by the Liberals to shore up their fortunes in a part of the province that has felt shunned and ignored for the past seven years?

The Conference Board of Canada released damning figures Thursday that reveal northern Ontario had the second slowest growth in the country — after northern Quebec.

Hard hit by the downturn in forestry and associated manufacturing, from 1999-2008, northern Ontario clocked only a 3% growth rate. Quebec’s was lowest overall at 2.2% — but neighbouring northern Manitoba’s growth rate was 12.2% and southern Ontario came in at 8.5%. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca and this article is from the March, 2011 issue.

For an extensive list of articles on this mineral discovery, please go to: Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

With massive mine, transportation and processing developments coming to Ontario’s Far North within the next few years, First Nation leaders were gathering in February to map out a strategic direction built on consultation with mining companies. Cliffs Natural Resources has aggressive timelines to start construction for its chromite mine, processing and transportation project in the McFaulds Lake area of the James Bay region by early 2013, with mine production by 2015.

Les Louttit, deputy grand chief of the Thunder Bay-based Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), said “the timing is right” for First Nations to determine how best to gain the maximum benefits from resource revenues, future jobs and spinoff business opportunities from the mine development.

The political advocacy organization, representing 49 communities within northwestern Ontario and the James Bay Lowlands, gathered its membership in Thunder Bay in late February for an inaugural economic summit. They wanted to collectively identify what challenges are ahead, and what they want out of a future resource-based economy. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca and this article is from the March, 2011 issue.

For an extensive list of articles on this mineral discovery, please go to: Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

Christine Kaszycki has to maintain a delicate balancing act. Appointed as the province’s Ring of Fire Coordinator last fall, she’s has the wide-ranging task of keeping Aboriginal people, Northerners and the mining companies all on the same page to advance the biggest mineral find in Ontario since the turn of the last century.

Kaszycki, a former assistant deputy minister of the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry (MNDMF), already has well-established relationships with mining companies and many Aboriginal leaders in the Far North.

Though living in Sudbury, she regularly commutes to Thunder Bay, where she is staffing up a secretariat’s office there, and travels to the Northern communities for constant consultation with Aboriginal leaders.

Kaszycki views the job as evolving over time. For now, she’s concentrating on building capacity to prepare people in the Far North, many living in Third World-like poverty conditions, to take advantage of all the positive spinoffs from the looming mining projects in the James Bay Lowlands. Read the rest of this entry »

2010: Ungeared for growth
Mergers, acquisitions and capital raising in the mining and metals sector

Click here the full report: 2010: Ungeared for growth

For a wide variety of current Ernst & Young mining reports please visit: www.ey.com/mining 

Highlights of the report:

The report examines the different aspects of financing, such as:

Mergers and acquisitions
Capital raising – equity and debt 

 It also takes a closer look at:

Commodities – aggregates, aluminium, coal, copper, gold, iron ore, nickel, potash, silver, lead & zinc, steel, uranium

Countries – African countries, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, India, Japan, Mexico, Mongolia, Peru, Russia, South Korea, UK, US

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