January 5, 2012 – Republic of Mining

MINING WATCH NEWS RELEASE: Wahgoshig First Nation (Ontario) Wins Injunction Against Solid Gold Resources’ Exploration

January 5, 2012

http://www.miningwatch.ca/

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Source: Wahgoshig First Nation

(Toronto) In a decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, released January 3, Madam Justice Brown ordered that Solid Gold Resources Corp. cannot carry on any further exploration activity on its claims block for 120 days, and that during this time the company and the Ontario Crown must engage with Wahgoshig in a process of meaningful consultation and accommodation about any such further exploration. She ordered that if this process is not productive, Wahgoshig can go back to court to seek an extension of the injunction.

Solid Gold’s mining claims block is in the heart of Wahgoshig’s traditional territory, on land that is of significant importance to Wahgoshig. Solid Gold came onto this land and started drilling without any consultation or accommodation occurring first. The court decision clearly finds this to be wrong.

“We are very pleased with this decision,” says Wahgoshig Chief David Babin. “We feel that justice has been done. Exploration and other companies across Canada will hopefully recognize that aboriginal and treaty rights really mean something and that courts will not let our rights be trampled on by unilateral actions and failures of industry and government.”

Mining takes to the Toronto stage

January 5, 2012

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.

Are you ready for this? The 2011-2012 Ross Petty pantomime at the Elgin Theatre featured a mining motif. It is not often that mining takes a bow on stage but the new rendition of the “The Wizard of Oz” not only had miners doing a song and dance routine to “Macho Man” and other numbers but Donnie, one of the main characters was a miner. Never mind that the Wicked Witch threatens to turn him into “a heap of scrap metal.”

Ross Petty has been producing a Christmas pantomime for 16 years and it has become a popular fixture on Toronto’s theatre scene. Past productions have included “Peter Pan,” “Cinderella” (who can forget Celine and Shania as the evil step sisters?),”Robin Hood,” “Snow White,” “Jack and the Beanstalk” and “Aladdin,” which featured renowned wrestler Bret The Hitman Hart.

The pantomimes are in the tradition of the old British shows, which included a lot of physical humour and music along with witty social commentary and criticism. Audience interaction is encouraged and regular ad libbing by all the actors ensures no two performances are exactly alike. The farce reigns supreme. “The Wizard of Oz” included some good shots at Toronto’s professional hockey team, bicycle paths, libraries and the city’s municipal leadership among others.

Colorado emerges as next oil frontier – by David Ebner (Globe and Mail – January 5, 2012)

January 5, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.— The Davis family has owned ranchland on the high-desert prairie of El Paso County in Colorado for the past century. Family lore recalls a prophecy of wealth from the Depression years. A geologist came through the desolate region, nestled on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, and told the family there might be oil under their land.

In the seven decades since the 1930s, there hasn’t been a single successful oil well on the Davis land – or anywhere else in all of El Paso County, a mostly rural region located south of Denver.

Now, however, subsurface fracturing – or fracking – technology so widely used in natural gas drilling is beginning to unlock oil reserves long considered impossible to tap successfully, like the suddenly prolific Bakken play in North Dakota.

In Colorado, the target is the tight oil of the Niobrara formation. Houston-based Ultra Petroleum Corp. is on the fringe of the formation in El Paso County and believes it can unearth 150 million barrels of oil.

Oil giants back Gateway pipe – by Nathan Vanderklippe (Globe and Mail – January 5, 2012)

January 5, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

CALGARY— Five oil sands companies have revealed themselves as supporters of the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline, lending their names to a massive infrastructure proposal that has stirred intense opposition in Western Canada.

Cenovus Energy Inc., MEG Energy Corp., Nexen Inc. Suncor Energy Marketing Inc., a subsidiary of Suncor Energy Inc. and Total E&P Canada, the domestic arm of French giant Total SA, have each spent money to help develop the $6.6-billion pipeline, which if built will funnel massive volumes of oil sands crude to the West Coast for export to California and Asia.

Each has signed up as a “funding participant,” joining the others in buying some of the 10 units that make up a $100-million fund Enbridge Inc. (ENB-T37.910.611.64%) sold in 2007 and 2008. The money was used to fund preconstruction development and engineering of the project.

China’s oil-sands deal will have lasting impact – by Campbell Clark (Globe and Mail – January 5, 2012)

January 5, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Campbell Clark writes about foreign affairs from Ottawa

Meet the new boss: Jiang Jemin, the 55-year-old chairman of China National Petroleum Corp. He’s about to become an Alberta employer.

This week, Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. triggered an option on a 2009 deal with CNPC subsidiary PetroChina, so the Chinese oil giant is not just a shareholder but also the owner and operator of the MacKay River oil sands project, to open in 2014. In December, another Chinese firm, Sinopec, closed a $2.2-billion deal for Daylight Energy Ltd.

This is new and will have a lasting impact. Chinese firms aren’t just buying stakes, they’re buying whole operations. It’s a new phase of China’s step-by-step Canada strategy. It will change not just the oil patch but Canada’s foreign policy. And a game of international energy politics is afoot in Canada’s West.

These deals are different because Canadians will see how Chinese firms operate, not just invest. They’re state-controlled companies, with executives such as Mr. Jiang who have moved among the Communist Party, government and big oil.

Canada’s asbestos industry on its last legs – by Bertrand Marotte (Globe and Mail – January 5, 2012)

January 5, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

MONTREAL— The “miracle fibre” that helped drive Quebec’s economy for more than a century now represents an industry near death, despite government efforts to keep it afloat.

In its heyday in the mid-1960s, Canada’s asbestos industry employed thousands and produced about 40 per cent of the world’s supply of the silky-white product known for its resistance to fire, rust and rot. It was used widely in construction throughout North America, including at the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa.

Now, it’s known more for being ripped out of walls as a danger to public health. Many developed nations have banned it outright, and critics warn it’s impossible to ensure its safe use in developing countries. These concerns over a known carcinogen have put the industry on its last legs.

Production at one mine has been halted until it can get refinancing, and another miner – Thetford Mines, Que.-based LAB Chrysotile –filed for bankruptcy Wednesday, leaving no active operations in Canada.