January 21, 2012 – Republic of Mining

Celebrating Our First Century of Global Discovery – by Jonathan Buchanan (Vancouver Sun – January 21, 2012)

January 21, 2012

The Vancouver Sun, a broadsheet daily paper first published in 1912, has the largest circulation in the province of British Columbia.

The Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia Turns 100

One hundred years ago, Vancouver was a prosperous place. Industry was booming, the Vancouver Sun was born, and the first professional hockey game Vancouver Millionaires vs. the New Westminster Royals was played in Vancouver’s Denman Arena -the first Canadian artificial ice rink and reportedly the largest in the world. The Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC) also had its start in 1912 – as the Vancouver Chamber of Mines.

“The necessity of a reliable centre in Vancouver,” the Chamber noted at the time, “where mining men can meet, exchange views, and discuss matters relating to mining, was recognized long ago. A big city is the natural mecca of the miner and prospector, the logical place for him to gravitate to in the hope of attracting capital either to buy or develop his prospect.

“One hundred years later, the Association has more than fulfilled its mandate as a “reliable centre” – AME BC now represents thousands of members – hundreds of whom are now women – including geoscientists, prospectors, engineers, entrepreneurs, exploration companies, suppliers, mineral producers, and associations who are engaged in mineral exploration and development in BC and throughout the world.

Cliffs Natural Resources makes case for $1.8B smelter – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – Janurary 21, 2012)

January 21, 2012

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

Cliffs Natural Resources is looking to spend close to $3 billion to get its chromite project in Northern Ontario into production, with $1.8 billion of that going to build a ferrochrome processing plant, the company said this week.

Cleveland-based Cliffs released its 2012 capital expenditure plan Thursday.

The company said it will spend $150 million to develop the Black Thor mine site, one of three sites it controls in the Ring of Fire, and $800 million to construct a near-mine concentrating plant.

Not included in those estimates is $600 million to build an all-weather road it says will benefit remote northern communities and other Ring of Fire mining projects.

Because of that, Cliffs says it will be looking to private and “government entities” to share the cost of the road.

With Keystone, it’s Harvard vs. the heartland – by Margaret Wente (Globe and Mail – January 21, 2012)

January 21, 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.

Two people named Redford have sharply differing opinions about Barack Obama’s decision to block the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would have run from Alberta down to Texas. The obscure Redford (Alison, the Premier of Alberta) is “bitterly disappointed,” while the famous Redford (Robert, the Hollywood celebrity) is ecstatic. He calls it “a victory of historic proportions” against “one of the most nightmarish fossil fuel projects of our time.” Whose side you’re on may say a lot about where you live and who you voted for.

For environmentalists, the decision is a long-overdue down payment on Mr. Obama’s campaign promise to wean the U.S. from its dependency on oil. But it’s much more than that. It’s a stand against the rape and pillage of the planet by greedy corporate interests that have politicians in their pockets. These environmentalists don’t really care about safety matters such as oil leaks or possible pollution of the aquifers. It’s the oil sands they hate – the water-gulping, forest-devastating, carbon-spewing monster that’s despoiling Mother Earth.

The day the oil-sands battle went global – by Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – January 21, 2012)

January 21, 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.

It was the 2009 annual summer retreat of the Green Group – the chief executives, presidents and executive directors of the largest environmental organizations in the United States – and their Canadian counterparts had wrangled an invitation for the first time.

The U.S. environmental movement appeared to be on a roll, with a new ally in the White House, the House of Representatives on the verge of passing a climate bill, and guarded optimism about a breakthrough at the United Nations summit in Copenhagen later that year.

That June, the green leaders gathered at the Airlie Center, a historic farmhouse turned conference centre an hour’s drive from Washington, in rural Virginia. Billed as an “island of thought,” Airlie is a sylvan retreat for American progressives: It was there that Martin Luther King Jr. laid plans for the Poor People’s Campaign and U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson announced plans for the first national Earth Day.