Mine revitalization [Superior Copper] – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – May 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.

Superior Copper developing former Sault-area mine

Eyeing up the Batchawana area north of Sault Ste. Marie, Superior Copper Corp. has identified the former Coppercorp Mine as a promising area for exploration, not because of what’s been found there, but because of what hasn’t.

“It was closed to staking for 30 years because they hadn’t covered the old shaft,” said Judy Baker, Superior’s president and CEO. “So there’s been a significant lack of exploration activity out there as a result of that.”

Minimal exploration efforts were carried out by a handful of companies when the property became available for staking in 2002. The copper exploration company, formerly operating as Cenit Corp., sees the lack of activity as a promising opportunity to find significant mineral deposits in the area.

Located 85 km north of Sault Ste. Marie, Coppercorp operated as an underground copper mine from 1965 to 1972, milling 1,021,358 tons of ore and producing 24 million pounds of copper, 2,000 ounces of gold and 228,000 ounces of silver. The mine is characterized by Keweenawan rock and Kincaid breccia just north of the site, Baker noted.

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Answers coming [about Cliff’s ferrochrome processor] – by Jamie Smith (tbnewswatch.com – May 2, 2012)

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

For a short news report about teh Carrabba speech click here: http://www.tbnewswatch.com/video/24466/CCAB-Cliffs

The head of Cliffs Natural Resources says an announcement on where his company will put a ferrochrome processor is days away.

But Joseph Carrabba couldn’t say where when asked about the decision and announcement Tuesday afternoon at a Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business luncheon in Thunder Bay.

Recently a group of regional mayors and First Nations leaders signed a document calling for the processor to be built in Greenstone rather than Cliff’s base case of Sudbury. Carrabba said he understands it’s an emotional issue and that every region wants to fight hard for economic development.

“Obviously we’re not going to be able to please everyone,” he said. “If we can’t work it out, we can’t work it out.” Carrabba did say that consultations between Cliffs and First Nation communities needs to continue.

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Canadian graphite producers prepare for boom – by Pav Jordan (Globe and Mail – May 2, 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.

Move over rare earths – graphite is the new darling of the mining industry. Canadian graphite miners are angling to be high-end suppliers to the global lithium ion battery market, where companies such as LG, Samsung, Mitsubishi and Hitachi are fuelling growing demand for new technologies ranging from smartphones and laptops to electric cars.

After decades of near-dormancy in the graphite industry, an increasing number of companies are racing to produce flake graphite, the purest natural form of the mineral touted for its lightness, extreme resistance to heat and high conductivity.

The mineral is a major component of lithium batteries – lighter and more powerful than traditional batteries – that are finding their way into ever broader markets, from laptops and cordless power tools to hybrid electric vehicles.

“If electric cars start happening, this is going to go through the roof,” said Simon Moores, a graphite market specialist for Industrial Minerals, a group that gathers data on the graphite and other mineral industries.

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Residents get look at Victor-Capre Project – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – May 2, 2012)

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

He’s speaking cautiously, but the project manager for Vale’s Victor-Capre Project is optimistic about the future of the site. “It looks like a viable project, a sustainable project for our future,” Lee Weitzel said.

Weitzel was at a Vale open house in Skead on Tuesday, where members of the community were invited to learn more about the project. The Victor-Capre Project is a potential site for a future mine located near the Greater Sudbury Airport, about 25 kilometres northeast of Sudbury. Vale is in the midst of a pre-feasibility study to see if it’s viable to tackle an exploration project at the site.

“We wanted to hold this open house to begin a dialogue with residents and inform them about the study and some of the options that we’re looking at,” said Angie Robson, Vale’s manager of corporate affairs, Ontario operations.

The Victor-Capre site is made up of what was formerly two different sites, Victor and Capre. The former Victor site has been explored before, said Weitzel.

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Drill results exciting: Pacific North West – by Star Staff (Sudbury Star – May 2, 2012)

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

Officials with Vancouver-based Pacific North West Capital say they are excited by the latest test results from its River Valley property east of Sudbury.

In a release Tuesday, Pacific North West said it has increased the amount of gold and platinum group metals estimates at the site to 2.5 million ounces — a much larger amount than previous studies had indicated.

“The large increase in the estimated mineral resources confirms that River Valley is one of the largest undeveloped primary PGM projects in North America,” said William Stone, president and chief operating officer of Pacific North West.

“The strategy of including all the mineralized zones and the full value of the metal suite in the mineral resource estimation produced a very positive result. It greatly increases PFN’s confidence in River Valley as the project is advanced toward a preliminary economic assessment study.

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