July 4, 2011 – Republic of Mining

Canada’s stance on asbestos disgraceful – by Ruth Farquhar (Sudbury Star – July 4, 2011)

July 4, 2011

The Sudbury Star, the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Our government has once again given Canada a black eye internationally, refusing to put chrysotile asbestos on the hazardous list at the Rotterdam Convention two weeks ago.

At a time when work is being done to remove all traces of asbestos in the Parliament buildings and the official residence of our Prime Minister, we say it’s OK to export it without any kind of warning.

Actually, we stayed quiet at the convention and even when the United Nations confirmed our position, Environment Canada sent this email to the Toronto Star, “with regards to your question on Rotterdam, our previous response that our position at Rotterdam will be the same as our position in Canada, which is we promote the safe and controlled use of chrysalides still stands.”

I wonder if staff at environment Canada choked over that one. Given that Health Canada since 2006 has recommended that asbestos be put on the hazardous list, it’s unbelievable that we can’t put a warning label outlining the risks when we sell this deadly substance to countries such as India.

New commodity bull market ready to charge ahead – by Simon Avery (Globe and Mail – July 4, 2011)

July 4, 2011

The Globe and Mail is 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.

Resources

A resurgence in global growth will fuel a new bull market later this year for commodities ranging from copper to corn, according to a leading market watcher. While prices for several key raw materials have recently taken a tumble, “it’s always tricky to assume commodity prices have peaked, unless you get a major, major slowdown in global economic growth,” says Patricia Mohr, economics and commodity market specialist at Bank of Nova Scotia. “I think that what is probably occurring is a mild growth slowdown.”

The Scotiabank Commodity Price Index dipped 2.6 per cent in May from a month earlier, led by a 3.9 per cent decline in oil and gas prices. But it still remains 56 per cent above its low in April, 2009.

The most important factor determining future prices is the outlook for China. The country accounts for 40 per cent of world demand for the four key basic metals – copper, aluminum, zinc and nickel – while the U.S. consumes less than 10 per cent. “China really does dominate the commodity outlook,” Ms. Mohr says.

HISTORY: Porcupine Camp ablaze [The Great Fire of 1911] – by Karen Bachmann (The Daily Press – June 30, 2011)

July 4, 2011

The Daily Press is the newspaper of record for the city of Timmins. Karen Bachmann is the director/curator of the Timmins Museum and a local author.

As local milestones go, next week will mark a very important one for the Porcupine Goldfields. July 11, 2011 will mark the 100th anniversary of the Great Porcupine Fire of 1911. Environment Canada described this event as one of the five greatest Canadian fire disasters. Its magnitude and severity shaped the early mining communities and truly tested the rugged pioneers.

Just barely two years into its existence, the small towns that had sprung up around the mining camps were annihilated by a huge forest fire. It is because of the determination of those early people (and let’s face it – the lure of untold riches from the gold in the area) that we are still here today.

It didn’t take long for the world to learn about the tragedy. A number of Canadian and American newspapers were quick to file stories. Some of these first-hand accounts give us a glimpse into that fateful day and graphically describe how events unfolded.

The Globe (Toronto) sets the tone with this article printed on July 12, 1911: