Twitter

Day: January 20, 2012

Iqaluit: Gateway to Greenland’s resource riches – by Paul Waldie (Globe and Mail – January 19, 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.

Air Greenland isn’t exactly among the world’s major airlines. It only has 10 airplanes, 600 employees and one international route – to Iceland.

But when the airline announced Wednesday that it’s starting regular flights from Nuuk to Iqaluit this summer, many in the global mining community took notice. That’s because Greenland has become one of the hottest places in the world for mining and oil exploration.

Global warming, new extraction technologies and a recent move by Denmark to give the island territory autonomy over natural resources has prompted a small stampede of companies rushing to Greenland to tap into its wealth of uranium, iron ore, gold, gemstones, rare earths and offshore oil.

“Over the past few years, we’ve just seen a growing demand for this service,” Christian Keldsen, an Air Greenland spokesman said from Nuuk. “There is a lot of exploration going on.”

Read more

What is going on at CIDA? [Aid dollars support miners] – by Elizabeth Payne (Ottawa Citizen – January 19, 2012)

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/index.html

Canada’s aid agency is becoming more politicized, less effective, and less transparent, writes Elizabeth Payne

Something is rotten at the Canadian International Development Agency. Many things, in fact, according to increasingly vocal critics who say Canada’s international development organization is becoming more politicized, less effective, and less transparent under the Conservative government, despite persistent claims to the contrary.

If CIDA has really introduced “more transparency, timeliness and predictability” as International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda claims, there is little sign of it.

Aid agencies are frustrated and demoralized by delays and lack of transparency in their dealings with CIDA. Some have cut programs and laid off staff as a result.

And the government’s recent habit of prioritizing and then deprioritizing countries for foreign aid dollars makes it difficult for aid agencies to build long-term relationships and has perplexed many in the international community.

Read more

NEWS RELEASE: Canada Makes Steady Progress on Corporate Social Responsibility in Developing Countries

Canada NewsWire: Report on Mining, Oil and Gas Companies CSR Initiatives Released

OTTAWA, Jan. 19, 2012 /CNW/ – The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) today released a report providing an update on the status of recommendations arising from the National Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the Canadian Extractive Industry in Developing Countries.

In 2007, Mining Association of Canada staff participated on an advisory group to the federal government that included representatives of the extractive industry, the investment community, civil society, academia and government. The advisory group reached an unprecedented consensus and produced a report that included 27 recommendations related to different aspects of CSR in the developing world. These recommendations remain an important reference for on-going discussions about CSR and the extractive industry in Canada.

The report released today by MAC is the result of a research project commissioned by MAC’s International Social Responsibility Committee to review, identify and understand the actions taken by government and other actors to implement the Roundtables’ recommendations, as well to identify current gaps.  The report shows that 18 of the report’s 27 recommendations have been fully or partially implemented, such as the following:

Read more

Politics, not principle, doomed Keystone pipeline – by Robert J. Samuelson (Toronto Star – January 20, 2012

Robert J. Samuelson writes on economics for the Washington Post.

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico is an act of national insanity. It isn’t often that a president makes a decision that has no redeeming virtues and — beyond the symbolism — won’t even advance the goals of the groups that demanded it. All it tells us is that Obama is so obsessed with his re-election that, through some sort of political calculus, he believes that placating his environmental supporters will improve his chances.

Aside from the political and public relations victory, environmentalists won’t get much. Stopping the pipeline won’t halt the development of the tarsands, to which the Canadian government is committed; therefore, there will be little effect on global warming emissions. Indeed, Obama’s decision might add to them. If Canada builds a pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific for export to Asia, moving all that oil across the ocean by tanker will create extra emissions. There will also be the risk of added spills.

Now consider how Obama’s decision hurts the United States. For starters, it insults and antagonizes a strong ally; getting future Canadian cooperation on other issues will be harder.

Read more

NEWS RELEASE: Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. Announces 2012 Capital Expenditure Plan

Company Also Provides Preliminary Capital Estimates for Chromite Project Based on Ongoing Prefeasibility Study

CLEVELAND, Jan. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) (Paris: CLF) today announced projected full-year 2012 capital expenditures expectations. Cliffs plans to invest approximately $1 billion, comprised of approximately $300 million of sustaining capital and $700 million of growth and productivity-improvement capital. Cliffs’ 2012 capital budget represents an expected 12% increase over the Company’s 2011 capital expenditures of approximately $880 million. Cliffs indicated this amount was less than its previous estimate of $900 million and an original 2011 budget of $1 billion.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101104/CLIFFSLOGO )

While plans will continue to be reviewed and adjusted in response to changes in market conditions and other factors, Cliffs’ 2012 capital budget is primarily intended to fund the organic growth pipeline the Company has acquired through the completion of a number of strategic transactions in recent years. These transactions have meaningfully diversified Cliffs’ business and provided the Company significant exposure to customers outside of its historical North American steelmaking customer base.

Read more