Ring of Fire coordinator never been at site, says energy critic – Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 27, 2012)

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business  provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca.

Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli said the provincially-appointed Ring of Fire coordinator admitted to him that she has never set foot on the burgeoning mineral exploration camp in the James Bay lowlands.

He is accusing the McGuinty government of mismanaging the Ring of Fire mining development in the James Bay lowlands. Kaszycki was a guest speaker at a professional engineers luncheon in North Bay, Jan. 27.

Fedeli, who attended the event as the Ontario Progressive Conservative Energy Critic, introduced himself to Kaszycki and spoke of his experience in the exploration camp last year. He flew up to the region with Muskoka MPP Norm Miller last August for one day to tour the area.

The Ring of Fire is roughly 530 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay and is the site of a cluster of world class, multi-generational chromite deposits. Chromite is processed into ferrochrome which is used in the making of stainless steel.

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ONTARIO CONSERVATIVE PARTY NEWS RELEASE: TIME TO LIGHT THE FUSE ON THE RING OF FIRE

This news release was issued by Ontario Conservative Vic Fedeli who is the MPP for Nipissing.

January 27, 2012

Government Coordinator Never Been to Site

NORTH BAY – Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli chastised the McGuinty government Friday for mismanaging the vital Ring of Fire mining development in Northern Ontario and causing unnecessary delays.

The development schedule for the major companies has already been pushed back a year to 2016. Today, Dalton McGuinty’s Ring of Fire coordinator, Dr. Christine Kaszycki, admitted to Fedeli at a conference in North Bay that she has NEVER stepped foot on the site.

“I was shocked to learn that she has never set foot in the Ring of Fire. No wonder this project is stalled!” exclaimed Fedeli, who toured the site himself last summer and is working to arrange a sales trip for local firms there this spring.

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What miners should know about the injunction against Solid Gold Resources [Wahgoshig First Nation] – by Nalin Sahni & David Hunter (Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP – January 27, 2012)

Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP: http://www.fmc-law.com/Home.aspx

Ontario Court Halts Exploration After Mining Company Refused to Consult First Nation – Nalin Sahni & David Hunter

The Wahgoshig First Nation (“WFN”) in Northern Ontario has obtained an injunction to temporarily stop Solid Gold Resources Corp. (“Solid Gold”), a junior mining company, from drilling on their First Nation Treaty lands. In a decision released last week (2011 ONSC 7708 (CanLII)), Justice Brown of the Ontario Superior Court halted all exploration activities for at least 120 days after finding that Solid Gold had repeatedly failed to respond to consultation requests from both WFN and the Ontario Government.

While this decision should not come as a surprise to knowledgeable observers, it is important for three reasons:

1) It confirms that as yet there is no Aboriginal veto over mining exploration activities;

2) It highlights problems with the Crown’s practice of delegating the consultation to proponents and

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China mining Canadian resources – by Tim Armstrong (Hamilton Spectator – January 27, 2012)

This column was originally in the Hamilton Spectator: http://www.thespec.com/

Tim Armstrong is a lawyer, who has been Ontario deputy minister of industry and trade and agent general for the Asia-Pacific Region.

Harper’s visit to China essential; Canada needs a strategy to deal with the huge trade imbalance

In February, Prime Minister Harper will revisit China, a nation that The New Yorker’s Henrik Hertzberg has accurately labelled “a fearsome engine of capitalist commerce.” What are the goals, and the prospects for achieving them?

In 1986, as Ontario’s Agent General, I made my first visit to the Ontario-Jiangsu Science and Technology Centre in Nanjing. The building had just been completed by workers from Hong Kong, because the local Nanjing workforce lacked the skills to perform simple construction work. Later that year, in Shanghai, I gazed at the empty mud flats of Pudong across the Huangpu River. A decade later, the site was dominated by a skyline resembling Manhattan. Since then, China’s spectacular growth has continued to outpace all other nations. So Harper’s mission is essential.

The Prime Minister’s Office has announced the agenda will focus on trade and investment, heralding the fact that China is now our second-largest trading partner, with two-way trade tripling over the last decade to a total of about $58 billion.

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Questions raised about foreign aid link with resource development – by Elizabeth Payne (Montreal Gazette – January 27, 2012)

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

The Conservative government is fundamentally realigning the way Canada delivers foreign aid, using private-sector partners in the mining and agricultural sectors. In some instances the government’s aid agency is even helping write legislation regulating the mining industry in developing countries.

But if the policy direction at the Canadian International Aid Agency seems to blur the line between Canada’s economic interests and international development goals, it is not something that worries International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda. When asked, during an interview with the Citizen, how she separates Canada’s trade and foreign policy interests from Canadian development goals, she replied: “I really don’t separate them.”

“I think if we can increase the capacity of any country to become a global trading partner, if they’ve got products Canadians need, we can import them, and if Canada has products they would like, Canada can export them.”

And Oda says she wants to see more partnerships between aid agencies and companies to help deliver Canadian aid around the world.

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Conflict mineral readiness: what companies need to know – by Charlene Easton (Canadian Mining Journal – January, 2012)

The Canadian Mining Journal is Canada’s first mining publication providing information on Canadian mining and exploration trends, technologies, operations, and industry events.

Charlene Easton is a Senior Manager and Business Practice Leader in Ernst & Young’s Climate Change and Sustainability Services group. She is based in Vancouver.

Canadian mining and metals companies’ corporate social responsibility is about to get a lot more interesting as an uptake in regulations and frameworks for due diligence on mineral supply chains in conflict-affected and high-risk areas emerge around the world. The goal of these newly introduced regulations and frameworks is to ensure responsible supply chain management so that so-called “conflict minerals” do not directly or indirectly contribute to regional conflicts in areas where armed aggression can lead to severe human rights abuses against workers and local people.

In an attempt to prevent mined minerals from fuelling conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the US introduced a conflict mineral requirement in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in July 2010. Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act requires all US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registrants – including any Canadian company listed on a US stock exchange – to disclose whether the minerals they source contribute to armed conflict.

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Obama loves oil — Not! – by Peter Foster (National Post – January 27, 2012)

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

Nothing more clearly indicates U.S. President Barack Obama’s economic muddledom and ideological stubbornness than the dog’s breakfast of energy policies revealed in Tuesday’s State of the Union address. The good news is that hydrocarbons are back (as long as you forget Keystone XL). The bad news is that “clean” energy isn’t going away. Instead it’s “all of the above.”

Without his nose growing visibly, the President claimed the government was behind the technological advances that led to the current shale gas boom, and even suggested that he might take credit for the rise in domestic oil production. In fact, Mr. Obama’s administration has hampered and castigated oil companies at every turn. In the light of the hysterical grandstanding over the BP Gulf spill (whose impact proved to be greatly exaggerated), it was ironic indeed to hear the President now declare a great opening up of offshore exploration.

The industry has responded to attacks by becoming more innovative and productive. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, between 2007 and 2010, U.S. oil production grew from 5.1 million barrels a day (mbd) to 5.5 mbd. The agency predicts domestic production will hit 6.7 mbd by 2020, helping take imports down to 36% of domestic usage in 2035 from 60% in 2005. So much for peak oil.

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[Sudbury] Steel hall honours union boss – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – January 27, 2012)

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

It was almost a first for union boss Leo Gerard. Gerard was apparently blind-sided when it was announced Thursday that the executive and membership of United Steelworkers Local 6500 had named their new hall after the international president of their union.

That news came just before the ribbon was cut at the grand opening of the local’s new headquarters at 66 Brady St.

“I guess it’s almost a first. I’m almost speechless,” said a teary-eyed Gerard when a cloth cover was removed from the plaque reading “Leo W. Gerard Hall,” which hangs over the entrance to the main hall.

The day was a bittersweet one for Gerard, Local 6500 members and residents of the community. They were excited about the transformation of the former grocery store into a state-of-the-art hall and conference centre, but tears were also shed for the Steelworkers’ Hall at 92 Frood Rd. that burned to the ground in September 2008.

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Let’s get the geological world to Vancouver in 2020

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.

The Ontario Mining Association supports the bid of Vancouver to host the prestigious International Geological Congress in 2020.  This event is held in Olympian style once every four years.  This group got off the ground in 1876 and held its first event dedicated to the advancement of global Earth science in 1878 in Paris, France.

In a letter to council members of the IGC and the International Union of Geological Sciences, OMA President Chris Hodgson said “Canada is a mining nation and the foundation of this industry and its future success is based on geoscience.”

“The OMA strongly supports the efforts of Vancouver, British Columbia, to host the 36th International Geological Congress in 2020.  This major Canadian city is a major mining centre in a mining province, which would be an ideal location for your event,” he added.  “The world will be welcome.  All of Canada will be there.”

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Solid Gold fights court order – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – January 27, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper

A mineral exploration company that was forced by injunction to halt drilling outside Wahgoshig First Nation has responded with a two-pronged legal attack.

Solid Gold Resource Corporation has filed an appeal against the court’s decision to award an injunction and it is suing the Ontario government.

“We’re appealing the injunction that was awarded to Wahgoshig, ordering the Crown and Solid Gold to enter some kind of consultation,” said company president Darryl Stretch. That appeal is to be heard on Feb. 29 in Toronto.

“We have also just served notice to the Crown for damages that have affected our company as a result of this injunction,” said Stretch. “That claim is for at least $100 million.”

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