Crisis in Mining – by Richard (Rick) Mills (Ahead of the Herd.com – May 2012)

http://aheadoftheherd.com/

As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information

A combination of mass retirements and increasing natural resource demand from emerging economies has created a crisis in the resource extraction sector – one which is definitely not on investor’s radar screens. 

Currently there is a “massive talent gap” that is going to get worse because the global mining industry is experiencing the biggest wave of workforce retirements in 70 years – the oldest baby boomers turned 65 years old in 2011.

The Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MIHRC) has recently said that about 40% of the resource extraction industry’s workforce is at least 50 years old and one third of them are expected to retire by 2022. 

The organization also forecasts that the Canadian mining industry will face a shortage of 140,000 workers by 2021 – this number of workers being needed just to maintain current levels of production. 

The Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada warned a severe oil patch labor shortage is looming and that the “patch” will need to hire 24,000 new employees by 2014. 

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[Ring of Fire] Open Letter to Cliffs Natural Resouces CEO from Mayor of Greenstone – by Renald Beaulieu (May 4, 2012)

May 4, 2012

OPEN LETTER

Mr. Joseph Carrabba Chairman, President and CEO Cliffs Natural Resources

Dear Mr. Carrabba

I am writing to you today to ask some questions that are unresolved following your presentation to the Aboriginal Business Council’s luncheon event in Thunder Bay, Ontario earlier this week.

As the Mayor of Greenstone, I and several members of my Council attended the event with the expectation that we would  earn something about the company’s approach to matters that remain unaddressed. We left disappointed by the sheer lack of information.

Accordingly, since the matters are of such great urgency I am writing today to request your answers to the following questions.

1. You mentioned that Cliffs doesn’t come in and roll over local interests. With that in mind, could you please tell me if you are aware that area First Nations have  unanimously endorsed the principle that the ore body should be refined in the same territory from which it is extracted?

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Is Canada taking China for granted when it comes to energy? – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – May 4, 2012)

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

In the debate about whether Canada should welcome China’s growing investment in our energy, a couple of crucial points have been getting little air time: Canada’s energy isn’t as indispensible to China as some assume, and China is at least as motivated by learning how to operate in a Western market economy as it is by securing energy to fuel its future.
 
Junsai Zhang, China’s ambassador to Canada, drove those points home Friday — a rare attempt by the country to add its voice and bring back to reality a Canadian discussion it feels has gotten way ahead of itself.

“We haven’t imported one drop of oil,” Mr. Zhang said in an interview in Calgary. “It’s too early to say China imports your oil and gas. We are in a very good collaboration with Australia, with other Western countries. No problems. If we don’t import from here, we import from other countries. It’s OK.”
 
It’s a sobering and unexpected message. For all the concern about China’s increasing presence in Canada, not having the option of selling to that market would be a major setback. It would also be a missed opportunity to show global leadership.
 

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The economics of energy conservation [The Danish Paradox] – Jeff Rubin (Globe and Mail – May 5, 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.

Three years ago, Jeff Rubin left Bay Street to publish a book that warned that the world was on the brink of a period of deglobalization because of the rising cost of energy. Now, as he argues in his forthcoming book, The End of Growth, sustained high oil prices mean that advanced economies are gearing down into a new era of slow – or no – economic growth.
 
While most economists believe that zero growth means big trouble, Mr. Rubin says it does not have to be a disaster – because consumers in the developed world can learn to live with less, even in energy-hungry Canada. The former CIBC World Markets chief economist cites research to show that some of the happiest people on Earth live in slow-growth economies. Lofty oil prices will do more than any regulations to curb greenhouse gas emissions and slow urban sprawl. The transition to slower growth spells tough, near-term changes in the economy – but in the long run, the environment and its citizens might be better for it
.

Just what does this new world look like, and what will it take to adjust? Some surprising answers lie an ocean away, in Denmark.
 
The first thing I noticed on a flight into Copenhagen a few summers ago was a ring of wind turbines surrounding the city. Not far from the city’s harbor, the sweeping arc of offshore windmills is a hard sight to miss.

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[Aroland First Nation] First Nation chief frustrated by Cliffs encounter – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – May 4, 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.

A northwestern Ontario First Nation leader said his concerns about mining development in the Ring of Fire are falling on deaf ears with Cliffs Natural Resources.
 
Chief Sonny Gagnon of Aroland First Nation said his hour-long meeting this week with CEO Joseph Carrabba produced little in the way of results from the Ohio mining giant.
 
“He viewed what we gave him as threats and said he might not come back. Well, have a good life.” Gagnon met with Carrabba just prior to his May 1 speech in Thunder Bay at the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business.
 
Carrabba told a lunchtime crowd that the company’s decision on the location of a much-coveted ferrochrome smelter was only days away.
 
The company’s technical work at its Black Thor chromite deposit in the James Bay lowlands is expected to advance into the feasibility evaluation stage in the next couple of months.

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