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Day: June 18, 2012

DFO pressured for opinion on Ring of Fire – Jody Porter (CBC Radio Thunder Bay – June 18, 2012)

http://www.cbc.ca/thunderbay/

Documents show federal departments concerned about Ontario mining project

CBC News has learned bureaucrats in the Department of Fisheries and Oceans felt pressured to weigh in on the environmental impacts of a major mining project before they were ready.
 
Documents obtained under Access to Information show ongoing concerns about requests for feedback from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA).
 
“There is concern about these requests since it’s rare for us to have the information necessary to respond …,” a senior policy analyst with Fisheries and Oceans wrote in an email dated Aug. 17, 2011.
 
At the time, CEAA was trying to determine whether the Cliffs Natural Resources chromite mine project should be subjected to public hearings as part of its environmental assessment.

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Securing Free, Prior and Informed Consent at Inmet’s Panama project – ICMM June 2012 Newsletter

This article is from the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) June 2012 newsletter.

Inmet’s Cobre Panama Project is one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world and represents the largest private sector investment in Panama’s history.

Inmet’s 80 percent-owned subsidiary Minera Panama S.A. (MPSA) identified the need to recognize and respect the land tenure of Ngäbe indigenous people who since 2003, have migrated eastward from their reserve, informally settling in the project area in search of a better life.

When it became clear that the development of Cobre Panama would involve the displacement of some Ngäbe families, MPSA established a resettlement process that emphasizes the highest international standards of fairness and transparency, tailored to account for language, cultural, gender, generational, family and community variables.

As part of the resettlement process, in-depth consultations and negotiations were conducted with those affected under the leadership of indigenous rights experts – including Ngäbe employees – and rePlan, experienced third-party resettlement professionals. The process has successfully resulted in the fully documented free, prior and informed consent of those being
resettled.

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Australian exploration spending hits record US$1.09bn – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – June 18, 2012)

www.mineweb.com

Despite the levying of carbon pollution and mineral resources rent taxes, Australian mineral exploration spending achieved a record in the quarter ending March.

RENO (MINEWEB) – Spending on mineral exploration in Australia reached a record A$1.09 billion (US$1.09bn) in the March quarter-the first time more than a billion dollars has been spent on exploration in a single quarter.
 
In his weekly Treasurer’s Economic Note issued Sunday, Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan observed “In fact, exploration expenditure has risen by about 35% since a price on carbon pollution was announced, and nearly 80% since the Minerals Resources Rent Tax was announced.”
 
“It’s yet another reality check for those who try to talk down the outlook for our resources sector or make ridiculous claims that important economic reforms are hurting investment,” he stressed.
 
Beginning on July 1, Australia will levy a controversial carbon tax on 294 firms for the A$23/tonne (US$22.96/tonne), with mining companies, steel makers and electricity generators among the largest polluters.

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Glencore buys into seafloor mining – Peter Koven (National Post – June 16, 2012)

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

The world’s largest commodity trader has endorsed speculative undersea mining as a handful of entrepreneurs continue to try to put the industry on the map.

Vancouver-based DeepGreen Resources Inc. has struck a deal with Glencore International Inc. under which the commodity giant agreed to buy 50% of the nickel and copper DeepGreen plans to produce from a seafloor project located west of Mexico.

DeepGreen is a private company founded by David Heydon, the man who built industry leader Nautilus Minerals Inc. and kick-started the underwater mining business. He has planned to take DeepGreen public in Toronto for more than a year, and Glencore’s commitment is a potential catalyst to attract investors to an IPO. The offering has already been delayed because of weak market conditions.

Mr. Heydon views the Glencore deal as evidence that DeepGreen – and seafloor mining as a whole – need to be taken seriously.

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Let’s build a Canadian oil pipeline from coast to coast – by Frank McKenna (Globe and Mail – June 18, 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.

The last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway was driven in 1885. This was a remarkable accomplishment pitting the indomitable will of our early railroad pioneers against the rugged Canadian terrain. In a country where gravitational forces often move north and south, this ribbon of steel has helped knit the country together both symbolically and economically.

It is time for another bold project, national in scope: A pipeline network extending from coast to coast. This essential infrastructure project would be good for all regions of Canada. It would be an extraordinary catalyst for economic growth. It would be a powerful symbol of Canadian unity.

Much has been made recently about who wins and who loses from Western oil sands. This is the wrong way to look at it. We should turn this challenge into a nation-building exercise rather than encourage a corrosive debate pitting one region against another.

Although the ripple effect of oil-sands development across this country is well documented, a national pipeline, subject to a thorough environmental and regulatory review, would put the issue beyond dispute.

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