June 26, 2011 – Republic of Mining

http://www.nytimes.com/

SAN ISIDRO, El Salvador — When a Central American gold rush brought a Canadian mining company here a few years ago, the company promised to stake a claim that would be as green as the lush hills.

The copious amounts of water needed would come only from the rain, not from the nearby Rio Lempa that is this country’s lifeline, the company said. Cyanide, a toxic chemical used to extract gold embedded in rocks, would be dispersed naturally, dried by sunlight in vast double-lined pools. Several hundred jobs could be created here, in one of the country’s poorest regions.

“No other mine in North America has gone to this level of environmental protection,” said Tom Shrake, the chief executive of the Canadian company, Pacific Rim, which is seeking to tap a vein that it says could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

But when the government of El Salvador, facing mounting public concern over the consequences of mining, failed to grant the company the final permit it needed, Pacific Rim sought to extract a different kind of green: $77 million from the nation’s treasury as compensation for lost profits.

This article was originally published in the Fall, 2005 issue of Highgrader Magazine . Highgrader is committed to serve the interests of northerners by bringing the issues, concerns and culture of the north to the world through the writings and art of award-winning journalists as well as talented freelance artists, writers and photographers.

Don McKinnon, a man with a vision. 45 years ago the Ontario government ordered a study on the viability of a northern port. Naturally, it has been put on the shelf. Now Don McKinnon explains why a sea port some 28 kms form Moosonee would rejuvenate the North’s economic viability for decades to come.

Northern Ontario was opened up as the result of the dream of politicians who wanted to secure it for future generations. The major communities were born as a result of men with dreams refusing to accept defeat and pursuing their ambitions beyond the bounds of logic. Iroquois Falls today is the result of entrepreneur Frank Anson’s vision. He established a mill, which, at one time was the largest pulp and paper mill on the continent.

His imagination was sparked by the reports about timber possibilities written by two students he had grubstaked in 1909 to seek gold. Anson then went north to access the potential of the frontier. Who would believe the ramifications of this man’s dream would result in the development of a modern community?

In 1910, Anson investigated the site and lumber properties. Two years later, Anson sent several experts to the Iroquois Falls mill site. Anson’s dream of creating the Abitibi Pulp and Paper Company Limited became known as ‘Anson’s Folly’ but he refused to give up.

First a Gold Rush, Then the Lawyers – by Randal C. Archibold (New York Times – June 26, 2011)

Don McKinnon Dreams of a Deep Sea Port in Moosonee for Northern Prosperity – by Gregory Reynolds (Highgrader Magazine – Fall, 2005)