June 29, 2012 – Republic of Mining

Mine contractor gains recognition for apprenticeship training programs

June 29, 2012

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

Ontario Mining Association member Cementation Canada has gained recognition for promoting skilled trades, showing leadership in teaching apprentices and supporting apprenticeship training programs. The North Bay based mine contractor was one of four companies recognized for its human resource practices at the annual Ontario Minister’s Awards for Apprenticeship Training.

Cementation Canada was recognized as a top provider of apprenticeships in Northern Ontario. “The employees involved in the program are committed to advancing their careers as they are all grateful for an opportunity,” said Eric Hodgins, Personnel Manager for Cementation Canada. “This program benefits both the individual and the company and we appreciate this recognition from the Ontario government.”

The company strives to take positive steps to bring young trades people into the mining sector through a well-developed apprenticeship program. Cementation Canada has 17 employees involved in the company’s apprenticeship program in the mechanical and electrical fields in Ontario and an additional seven apprentices working on projects in other parts of Canada.

Qatar iron man faces off with Glencore on Xstrata deal – by Mirna Sleiman (Mineweb.com – June 29, 2012)

June 29, 2012

Bankers who have dealt with Ahmad al-Sayed, the Qatari investment manager holding the fate of Glencore’s takeover of Xstrata, all agree he is a tough negotiator, someone who will cut the deal at the terms he wants.

www.mineweb.com

DUBAI (Reuters) – Ahmad al-Sayed, the Qatari investment manager holding the fate of Glencore’s $26 billion takeover of Xstrata in his hands, is known as an aggressive negotiator who relishes the big deal.

The lawyer was formerly general counsel at Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the sovereign wealth fund of the gas-rich Gulf state, before taking the helm as chief executive of Qatar Holding in 2008.

Well-liked and trusted by Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, the Qatari prime minister who is also chief executive of QIA and chairman of Qatar Holding, he has significant influence at the top level where decisions are made.

“An iron man, and a hedge fund manager in disguise, he can easily kill a deal if it doesn’t suit him,” said one banker who knows him personally.

Sherritt as Cuba’s CP – by Peter Foster (National Post – June 29, 2012)

June 29, 2012

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

Once a catalyst, underperforming miner needs one now

When the recent proxy fight broke out over CP — whose repercussions continued this week with the resignation from the CP board of Rick George — my colleague Terence Corcoran cited another all-too-rare example of a catalyst investor taking on the Canadian corporate establishment. It was Ian “the Smiling Barracuda” Delaney’s successful 1990 fight for control of Sherritt, an historic but failing fertilizer and nickel-refining company based in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.

In fact, the CP link doesn’t end there. Mr. Delaney subsequently guided Sherritt into Cuba, where he declared that he would make the company the island’s answer to … CP! Unfortunately, he spoke truer than he knew. Although Cuba now accounts for only a fifth of its assets, Sherritt has been a less than stellar performer over the past two decades. Meanwhile Mr. Delaney’s adventures as Fidel Castro’s “favourite capitalist” remain one of the more controversial aspects of the company’s recent history.

After Mr. Delaney expanded his Cuban ambitions to embrace a joint venture at Moa Bay, a cucaracha appeared in the ointment in the form of Helms-Burton, U.S. legislation that allowed its citizens, including naturalized Cuban-Americans, to sue anybody “trafficking” in assets expropriated by the 1959 Castro revolution.

Ministry of Natural Resources job cuts, office closures coming, province says – by Rob Ferguson (Toronto Star – June 29, 2012)

June 29, 2012

The Toronto Star, has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Job cuts and office closures are coming to Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources as it chops $70 million or 10 per cent of its spending over three years, Minister Michael Gravelle confirmed Thursday.

“These are tough decisions,” he acknowledged at a news conference, overshadowing the release of a plan to protect woodland caribou in a huge chunk of wilderness between Timmins and James Bay.

The deal, reached after negotiations with forestry firms and First Nations that signed the 2010 Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement, would also allow logging companies to cut down 20 per cent more spruce trees over the next 30 years.

The proposal — which covers an area five times the size of Toronto — would protect 800,000 hectares of caribou habitat while leaving 2.2 million hectares further south open to forestry. “In the southern zone we haven’t seen caribou for some time,” said Janet Sumner, executive director of the conservation group CPAWS-Wildlands League, which supports the plan.

Canada’s natural gas dreams closer to reality after Petronas moves – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – June 29, 2012)

June 29, 2012June 29, 2012

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

CALGARY — Plans for a new industry to sell Canadian natural gas to Asia moved a lot closer to take off with two big moves by Petronas, the Malaysian national oil company.

The Kuala Lumpur-based giant offered Thursday to take over Calgary-based natural gas producer Progress Energy Resources Corp. for $5.5-billion, or $20.45 a share in cash — a 77% premium over Wednesday’s closing price. The deal builds on last year’s $1.07-billion joint venture between the two companies to develop Progress’s Montney shale assets in British Columbia.

Petronas also said it plans to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant on Lelu Island near Prince Rupert, on the northern British Columbia coast, to ship 7.4 million tonnes a year from two trains, with the first cargo bound for Asia in 2018.

With Petronas’s advance, there are now three major LNG projects moving head in the B.C. coast, representing a solid platform for the emerging industry and providing a new market for depressed Western Canadian gas. Asia’s gas prices are much higher because they are linked to oil prices and there is demand to absorb huge supplies from shale fields such as the Horn River and the Montney.

Matawa First Nations pledge to put brakes on Ring of Fire – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – June 28, 2012)

June 29, 2012

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

Governments and industry are “running roughshod” over First Nations and ignoring Treaty 9 when it comes to the Ring of Fire, say the First Nations behind an upcoming eviction notice being sent to industry in the region.

Six First Nations plan to issue 30-day eviction notices to all mining companies with exploration and development camps on Matawa First Nations’ traditional territory.

“Cliffs, Noront and all the other mining companies active in the Ring of Fire will have 30 days from the time the eviction notice is served to pack up their bags and leave our lands,” said Aroland Chief Sonny Gagnon. Chiefs from Nibinamik, Neskantaga, Constance Lake, Ginoogaming and Longlake #58 joined Gagnon in issuing the notices.

“We are sending a strong message to Ontario and Canada that we need to negotiate a process for First Nation participation in the mining projects that will be changing our lives forever,” said Neskantaga Chief Peter Moonias. “Unless and until we have a table for government to government negotiations we will evict the intruders from our lands.”