Romanian mining town suffers from its riches – by Luiza Ilie (National Post/Reuters – May 31, 2012)

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

ROSIA MONTANA, Romania — Nature has carved a humbling landscape of deep river valleys and reddish peaks in a corner of the Carpathian mountains in western Romania.
 
Rosia Montana town, made up of 16 villages that dot the slopes along the river Rosia, has hundred-year-old churches and houses, cemeteries and ancient Roman mine galleries.
 
It also has gold. But for many who live here, that is more of a bane than anything else. Canada’s Gabriel Resources wants to build Europe’s largest open cast gold mine in Rosia Montana, a 15-year quest that has put the area at the centre of a national debate between heritage and development.
 
The mine could bring billions of euros in taxes and potentially thousands of jobs to an economically depressed region. But it will also require blasting four mountain tops, relocating the community and flooding one village to create a 300-hectare pond for chemical waste held back by a 180-metre-high dam.
 
On Friday, shares of Gabriel rose more than 20% after Romania’s economy minister said he was convinced the Rosia Montana project would start this year. The mine has the support of most of the 2,800 locals, the mayor and county administration and President Traian Basescu, eyeing the bounty the investment will bring.

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Why Thomas Mulcair is clearly a national problem – by Diane Francis (National Post – June 1, 2012)

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

NDP leader Thomas Mulcair has had a couple of red-letter weeks. He moved into the mansion called Stornaway for Opposition Leaders, with its big expense account and Royal trappings.
 
He got tons of attention when he recycled the “Dutch Disease” phrase to blame the booming West for the beleaguered East. 
Then he toured the oil sands, Canada’s economic cornerstone, by helicopter and described them as big or “awe-inspiring”.
 
These recent events certainly serve to reveal the character of the latest actor on Ottawa’s stage who is in a major supporting role. Here’s my analysis of Mulcair based on his recent milestones:
 
1. On living in a mansion
 
Mulcair is the latest incarnation of what the British dubbed the “champagne socialist”. Stornaway is another symbol of inherited privilege, like the Monarchy, where status and perquisites are given away to the duly “crowned”.

Mulcair, if consistent with his ideology, should have declined the grand housing perq and diverted the excessive cost of his upkeep to some worthy cause.

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How Europe is mining’s emerging market – by Peter Koven (National Post – June 1, 2012)

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

You won’t find a region with a longer and richer mining history than Andalucia.
 
Digging up rocks has been a staple of the southern Spanish territory for the past 5,000 years, and its mineral wealth attracted the Phoenecians, Romans and many others over the centuries. This is the place that gave birth to mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd., and its namesake copper mine may be the oldest in the world.
 
But these days, everything feels brand new. Just 20 kilometres from the city of Seville (and more than 700,000 people), Inmet Mining Corp. is beginning to reap huge rewards at Las Cruces, a copper mine that has been running for just three years and boasts some of the industry’s highest grades. In the midst of the excruciating Andalucian heat — which doesn’t seem to bother locals in the least — the Toronto-based company has overcome a rough start and figured out an innovative process to produce copper cathode.
 
While other miners have ventured to distant outposts in search of riches, Inmet is making it work in what is arguably the least remote mine on the planet. A short drive away, the ancient Rio Tinto mine is being revived with a new company and modern technology. And across Spain, a host of new projects points to a reawakening of mining in a country that could never turn away from it, even if it appeared to be doing just that for the past 30 or 40 years.

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MPP Michael Gravelle on the Ring of Fire – (Ontario News North.com – May 22, 2012)

http://www.karinahunter.com/

Michael Gravelle is the Ontario M.P.P. for Thunder Bay – Superior North

There is very good reason for everyone in Northwestern Ontario to be excited about the growth of the mining sector in our part of the Province. Mineral exploration investments are at an all-time high and we can expect the opening of several new mines in the region to employ hundreds, if not thousands of people, which will drive the economy forward to levels we have not seen before. These opportunities are being embraced by First Nations and municipal governments all across the region as they seek to seize the long term benefits this renaissance in mining will provide.
 
There is no question that the project that has captured the most attention in Northwestern Ontario is the Ring of Fire, where an unprecedented level of investment is poised to bring economic benefits and jobs to thousands of people for many years to come.
 
While there are a number of companies making significant investments in this resource rich part of the Northwest, most of the public attention over the past year or so has been focused on Cliffs Natural Resources, a U.S. based firm that is eager to take the next major step forward in the development of a huge project; one that, if managed properly, will bring extraordinary long term economic benefits to many First Nations communities and municipalities across our region.

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Criminal charges possible [Vale mining deaths] – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – June 2, 2012)

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

Greater Sudbury Police Service has completed its investigation into the June 8, 2011, deaths of two men at Vale’s Stobie Mine, and the results are in the hands of officials with the Crown attorney’s office in Sudbury.

At this point, no determination has been made on whether criminal charges will be laid in the deaths of Jason Chenier, 35, and Jordan Fram, 26, said Greater Sudbury deputy police chief Al Lekun.

Police conducted a joint investigation with the Ontario Ministry of Labour, which this week announced nine charges against Vale and six against one of its supervisors under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. First appearances on those provincial charges are set for Aug. 14.

Lekun said police conducted a coroner’s investigation, which is mandatory in workplace deaths such as these. Chenier and Fram were overcome by a run or 350 tons of muck while working at the 3,000- foot level of Stobie Mine.

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Fire plan began in 1922 – by Karen Bachmann (Timmins Daily Press – June 2, 2012)

 The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

Karen Bachmann is the director/curator of the Timmins Museum and a local author.

Forest fire took out 90% of Haileybury

Rule No. 1 in the writing game – write about something you know, or at least find interesting, otherwise, your reader will now you are faking it (big time!).

Rule No. 2 – remember to just write and quit worrying about it. So, because today I feel like I don’t know much of anything, and I do not find anything particularly appealing (grouchy, aren’t I?), but I apparently still have to write something, I thought I’d write about a whole bunch of little things that happened in 1922 that may be of some interest to you.

If you do not find them interesting, you have my sincerest apologies and I’ll try harder next time.

So, perhaps we should set a little context before we start out on our trek through 1922. In world politics, Mahatma Gandhi was arrested in Delhi and charged with sedition (he served two years); Joseph Stalin was appointed the General Secretary of the Communist Party’s Central Committee in Russia; the Ottoman Empire was abolished; Mussolini became the youngest Premier in the history of Italy, and, hyperinflation hit Germany – 7,000 deutschmarks were needed to purchase one American dollar.

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