July 5, 2012 – Republic of Mining

First Nation fights for control in Ontario’s ‘oil sands’ [Ring of Fire] – CBC Radio Thunder Bay (July 5, 2012)

July 5, 2012

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

Tiny First Nation takes on an mining giant at obscure provincial tribunal

Ontario’s Mining and Lands Commissioner will hear arguments Thursday about a road to be built in Ontario’s so-called Ring of Fire.

The nickel and chromite deposits in a vast area of the James Bay lowlands have been compared to Alberta’s oil sands in terms of economic potential. Tuesday’s case is a critical battle in the long fight by First Nations to control the pace of development in the most isolated part of the province.

U.S. mining giant Cliffs Natural Resources hopes to build a 340-kilometre road to truck its raw ore south for processing. It would snake across an esker — a long ridge — rising out of the muskeg, cross 85 waterways and three major rivers, and run right through the traditional lands of Neskantaga First Nation.

Chief Peter Moonias, wants a say in how — and even if — the road is built. “We’re not just stakeholders,” Moonias said. “We are people that live on the land that came from the land.”

Mining suppliers cautiously optimistic to the core – by Pav Jordan (Globe and Mail – July 5, 2012)

July 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.

Craig Kipp’s business is booming. As he walks the floor of Boart Longyear Ltd.’s plant in Mississauga, Ont. , he looks upon row after row of steel drill rods that have no time to gether dust before being shipped to customers from Sydney to Santiago. This year, the Boart factory could hardly be busier. It’s the outlook for 2013 that makes Mr. Kipp a bit uneasy, because the mining world is swooning.

“Is the world more nervous than it was a couple of months ago? Yes,” said Mr. Kipp, the chief executive officer of the South Jordan, Utah-based company. “I’m more nervous.You wouldn’t be breathing in this environment without being a little concerned about what’s going on in Europe, in China and so on.”

But despite a murky outlook for his industry, Mr. Kipp is far from gloomy, energized by customers that include most of the world’s largest miners, which have not let up on drilling.

Every drill and drill bit pushed through the Boart Longyear plant in Southern Ontario has been spoken for, as have those it makes in seven factories around the world to supply companies from Ghana to Guatemala, Tucson to Tierra del Fuego.

Quebec should let the asbestos industry die – Globe and Mail Editorial (July 5, 2012)

July 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.

The news that the Jeffrey Mine will reopen may warm some hearts in the Eastern Townships. Nevertheless, the Quebec government’s decision to provide a $58-million loan to Canada’s last asbestos mine is a shameful thing.

As Canadians headed off to the beach and the cottage last Friday, Yvon Vallières, provincial Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and MNA for the riding of Richmond, visited Asbestos, Que. to officially announce the long-promised loan and the reopening. It’s a move that will provide 425 jobs for that community and may help the beleaguered Liberals hold Richmond and other ridings in the region when Premier Jean Charest calls an election. It’s also a move that will risk lives in India, where the mine will ship the white asbestos known as chrysotile for use as a composite in cement.

Although Canadian governments have long maintained that chrysotile is safe if properly handled, the World Health Organization, the Canadian Medical Association and the Canadian Cancer Society, along with a host of other health and environmental organizations, believe asbestos use should stop because exposure causes lung disease and various cancers.

[Marathon copper palladium] Mine won’t hurt environment – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – July 5, 2012)

July 5, 2012

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

A long-waited environmental report into a proposed copper and palladium mine near Marathon says the project won’t cause any “significant” impacts. The massive report, authored by mine proponent Stillwater Canada, is part of a lengthy review into the project overseen by an independent panel of experts appointed by the provincial and federal governments.

According to Stillwater’s report, the mine on the outskirts of Marathon “will not result in significant adverse effects on renewable resources and is not predicted to result in any significant adverse cumulative effects on the environment.”

If the project passes the environmental review and the company acquires numerous permits, the open-pit mine is forecast to employ 365 people for about a dozen years. The company said earlier that production could begin in about three years.

The report is subject to public input. Deadlines for comments won’t be set until hard copies of the report have been distributed at municipal offices and libraries, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency said.