January 14, 2012 – Republic of Mining

MINERS AT WORK, A HISTORY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA’S GOLD RUSHES – by B. Griffin (Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, B.C.)

January 14, 2012

ABSTRACT

The search for gold is the single most dramatic event of British Columbia’s early history. Although European settlement originally was founded on furs, it was the gold rushes of 1858 through the 1860s that changed the direction of development in this province for considerable time. These gold rushes not only brought a sharp increase in population and wealth but also initiated development of an early infrastructure of roads and services and directly influenced the shape of British Columbia’s politics.

It has been estimated that between 1860 and 1880 about $35 000 000 worth of gold was extracted from the 130 square kilometres (50 square miles) surrounding Barkerville. Although the later gold rushes were smaller, they also played an important role in our history.

The rush to British Columbia was only one of a series of sudden shifts in population and wealth that resulted from the search for placer gold. California and Australia both attracted hordes of miners in search of riches. This paper places the British Columbia gold rush in a world context; it drew less world attention and was smaller than either the Californian or Australian rushes.

NEWS RELEASE: AME BC Salutes Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductees

January 14, 2012

AME BC represents 4,000 thousand individual and 360 corporate members and is the predominant voice of mineral exploration and mine development in British Columbia.

Vancouver, B.C. — January 13, 2012 — The Association for Mineral Exploration BC (AME BC) salutes Robert Hunter (1927-2007) and Robert Dickinson, who were jointly inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame on January 12 in recognition of their outstanding lifetime achievements to the Canadian minerals industry.

Hunter and Dickinson are founders of Hunter Dickinson Inc. Today, because of the vision and leadership of Mr. Hunter and Mr. Dickinson, HDI is a diversified, global mining group with more than 25 years of mineral development success. From its head office in Vancouver, B.C., HDI applies its unique strengths and capabilities to acquire, develop, operate and monetize mineral properties that provide consistently superior returns to shareholders.

HDI is characterized by the drive and commitment of its founders, senior management and multi-disciplinary team. It is known for its technical excellence, experience and reliability. And it is passionate about bringing responsible mineral development to life in creative ways for the benefit of shareholders, partners and communities.

Think tank bullish on Sudbury in 2012 – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – January 14, 2012)

January 15, 2012January 14, 2012

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

There is yet another indication Sudbury’s economy will grow in the coming year. The Conference Board of Canada is predicting the Nickel City’s gross domestic product will increase 2% in 2012 because of what it calls “moderate growth” in the mining and construction sectors.

That forecast is included in the board’s Metropolitan Outlook- Winter 2012, which was released this week. The report offers an annual analysis of 27 Canadian census metropolitan areas.

Jean-Charles Cachon, an economist and professor of strategy in Laurentian University’s Faculty of Management, said GDP growth of 2% is significant, given the ups and downs Sudbury has experienced over the years. Add 2% to the value of “everything that’s being produced, everything that’s being done” in Sudbury, said Cachon.

Towns vie to be the final resting spot for Canada’s nuclear garbage – by Anna Mehler Paperny (Globe and Mail – January 14, 2014)

January 14, 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.

As roadside attractions go, “Home of Canada’s Nuclear Waste Burial Ground” isn’t one you’d normally put on a souvenir keychain.

But strange as the title sounds, nine Canadian communities are in the running to claim it – along with the opportunity to host the country’s spent uranium in underground bunkers for the rest of time.

The towns, scattered across Saskatchewan and Ontario, are responding to a call for volunteers from an organization the federal government has charged with finding a permanent resting place for Canada’s radioactive detritus. They’re a combination of native reserves, old mining and lumber towns and cottage enclaves. Many have spent the past decade watching their populations shrink and economies crater, and are desperate for an economic boost – even if it comes with an eternity’s worth of radioactive waste.

Keystone, Northern Gateway pipelines raise questions that need answers before approval – by David Olive (January 14, 2012)

January 14, 2012

The Toronto Star, has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

In hearings that began this week on the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline to carry tar-sands oil from Athabasca to the B.C. coast, we have a rare opportunity to insist on the world’s most carefully planned energy megaprojects ever.

In an ideal world, we would embrace conservation and greatly accelerated development of alternative sources of energy to make unnecessary the construction of Gateway and the even longer Keystone XL pipeline to take Athabasca crude the entire length of the U.S. to refineries on the Texas coast.

But that won’t happen, not for decades if ever. Canadians and Americans will ultimately consent to these two projects with their combined 4,000 km of three-foot-diameter pipe at a total estimated cost of $13.6 billion. Energy security will trump the many risks.

What the Gateway commission could learn from an oil sands pioneer [Joseph Burr Tyrrell] – by Ian Brown (Globe and Mail – January 14, 2012)

January 14, 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.

I spent a morning this week reading about the Northern Gateway pipeline, which, if it is approved by the National Energy Board, will carry oil-sands bitumen from Alberta to Kitimat on the coast of British Columbia and thence via supertanker to the ever-open crankcase of China.

Afterward, I stopped by the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto, as I do from time to time, though I admit a rare-book library may seem like an old-fashioned place to hang out, obsessed as the world is these days with technology and response rates and “going forward,” as managers like to say.

The funny thing was this: When I told Anne Dondertman, the acting director of the Fisher library, that I had been reading about the new proposed pipeline, she immediately started talking about a set of maps that were made 130 years ago by Joseph Burr Tyrrell, a Canadian geologist/paleontologist/explorer/historian/apple farmer/mining executive who was one of the first scientists to describe what we now call the Alberta tar sands.

Thou must not question Big Environment – by Rex Murphy (National Post – January 14, 2012)

January 14, 2012

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Rex Murphy offers commentary weekly on CBC TV’s The National and is host of CBC Radio’s Cross Country Checkup.

The environmental movement has enjoyed smooth, mostly untroubled progress since its beginnings in the 1960s, when its activists romped around the northern sea floes off the coast of Labrador. The enviros migrated with almost the same punctuality as the seals:

Every spring, you could treat yourself to the sight of them bobbing up and down on the ice-pans, high-bosomed starlets stroking the pelts of large-eyed newsmen and seals alike, whole platoons of photographers aiming for the perfect cute shot, and a kite tail of various enthusiasts and camp followers to give a sense of noise and drama. Labrador is more or less quiet these days: Those Who Care have decamped to the oil sands and other pastures.

Robert Redford, when he can tear himself away from the general dorkiness of the Sundance Festival, is big on saving the planet these days. James Cameron can generally be found rustling the vines somewhere in the Amazon rain forest. Leonardo DiCaprio is always good for a Vanity Fair cover as long as its backlit and there’s a polar bear somewhere.

[Timmins] Mine shops aid war effort – by Karen Bachmann (Timmins Daily Press – January 14, 2012)

January 14, 2012

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper

Karen Bachmann is the director/curator of the Timmins Museum and a local author.

Second World War impacted everyday life in the Porcupine Camp during 1942

A few local news briefs from 1942, courtesy of the Porcupine Advance newspaper. Jan. 25 was the date that was finally set for the official opening of the brand new United Church in Timmins. Located at the corner of Mountjoy Street and First Avenue, only the basement had been built at the time. Construction of the rest of the church was to move ahead in the spring with the help of both regular and volunteer workers.

Rev. J.C. Cochrane, D.D., superintendent of northern missions was secured as the guest speaker. A newly formed choir under the auspices of Mr. Wallace Young was prepared to sing special anthems and other musical numbers during the dedication service.

At that time, the charter roll of membership was to be presented as the basis of the organization, and the keys were to be turned over to the new church minister.