May 23, 2012 – Republic of Mining

Argentine policies have Canadian miners rethinking projects – by Pav Jordan (Globe and Mail – May 23, 2012)

May 23, 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.

Efforts by Argentina to fine-tune its economy are forcing miners to reassess investment plans in the Andean country that is home to massive gold, copper and other resource deposits.

Argentina, Latin America’s third-largest economy, has moved aggressively in recent months to stem capital outflows and bolster the market with measures including forced repatriation of export revenue on local markets and requirements for companies to source equipment locally.

The measures could hinder access to cash flow in one of the world’s most capital-intensive industries, and cause operational delays in terms of getting equipment to remote sites in a timely manner.

NEWS RELEASE: CP Rail Strike Adversely Affects Canadian Mining Operations

May 23, 2012

OTTAWA, May 23, 2012 /CNW/ – The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) expressed grave concern regarding the significant economic impact that the CP rail strike will have on mining communities and urged the Government of Canada to take immediate action to resolve the labour dispute.

The impact is felt strongly by mining companies dependent on rail to either transport fuel in, or transport products and by-products from operations. “A strike by CP workers will have a serious effect on the industry,” said Pierre Gratton, MAC’s President and CEO. “The shipment of fuel and other supplies to mine sites will be compromised as is the transport of mineral products.”

The CP rail strike will cause a shortfall of essential fuel and supply shipments to mines across Canada. It will also prevent mines from delivering their products to their end-point destinations, thus seriously and adversely affecting their ability to operate at any functional capacity. In this time of post-recession economic recovery, a threat to the stability of the natural resource sector is a threat to the stability of a stalwart of the Canadian economy.

Neskantaga chief demands real consultation on Ring of Fire – by Rick Garrick (Wawatay News – May 22, 2012)

May 23, 2012

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

Neskantaga Chief Peter Moonias has raised further issues over the Cliffs Natural Resources chromite mine project in the Ring of Fire.

Moonias sent a letter to Michael Gravelle, minister of Natural Resources, on May 17 stating he has learned that Cliffs and/or its wholly owned subsidiary Cliffs Chromite Ontario Inc. has applied for land use and other permits on provincial crown land to begin mobilizing for infrastructure development and commencement of construction, including the north-south access corridor to the Ring of Fire.

Moonias stated in the letter that Ontario cannot lawfully consider these applications without fulfilling its constitutional duty of consultation. The chief said that the granting of an easement, issuance of any kind of land use or other permits to Cliffs in support of its proposed developments would be a further breach of Ontario’s duty to consult.

Moonias had earlier stated in a May 11 letter to Rick Bartolucci, minister of Northern Development and Mines, that Ontario is in breach of its constitutional duty to consult with Neskantaga and other Aboriginal peoples regarding the Cliffs mine and infrastructure development in and to the Ring of Fire.

[Ring of Fire] Ontario needs better energy infrastructure – by George Smitherman (Sudbury Star – May 23, 2012)

May 23, 2012

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

George Smitherman former deputy premier and Energy minister of Ontario

By the sounds of the name it’s been given, the Ring of Fire is the last place on Earth where you’d think you have to worry about how to supply power. However, when you are proposing mining activity 300 km north of any paved road, things get complicated quickly.

Maybe that’s why Ontario is actually allowing a giant American mining company, and at least one smaller Canadian one, to propose that diesel generation be used to provide electricity. Problem is, their needs are projected to start at 30 mw and grow to 70 mw. That would take about 10 million litres of diesel fuel each month. Diesel fuel that would presumably be trucked 300 km along a road that will be carved out of environmentally sensitive lands.

This Ring of Fire mining activity will be taking place in the James Bay Lowlands on the traditional territories of several First Nation communities. It’s ironic that a pressing need of these same communities is a more reliable, healthy and cost effective means of generating electricity than the small diesel generators they currently use.

First Nations communities have experienced the limitations of electricity from diesel for far too long.