July 10, 2012 – Republic of Mining

North must call out McGuinty on ONTC – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – July 10, 2012)

July 10, 2012

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

MPP says grassroots uprising only way to save Ontario Northland

If Northerners want to prevent the sale of Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, they need to make their voices heard at Queen’s Park. That was the key message conveyed by local politicians to a crowd of about 70 people who attended a public meeting held at Centennial Hall in Timmins Monday night.

Residents were urged to express their opposition to the sale of the ONTC by phoning or sending letters or emails to Premier Dalton McGuinty and Northern Development Minister Rick Bartolucci.

Timmins Mayor Tom Laughren said the only way they were going to be successful was through a “grassroots movement” in which the “people bring the fight to Queen’s Park.”

MPP Gilles Bisson (NDP — Timmins-James Bay) said if the McGuinty government “starts to sense there is a groundswell, that’s when they will start to respond… All I know is, if we don’t try, they’re just going to go ahead and do it.”

Renewed interest in High Arctic coal mining unearths angry opposition – by Randy Boswell (National Post/Postmedia News – July 9, 2012)

July 10, 2012

http://www.montrealgazette.com/index.html

A proposed Arctic coal-mining project that was rejected by a Nunavut development regulator in 2010 but has been revived by another Canadian company has triggered renewed concern about the potential impact on wildlife, Inuit hunting grounds and world-renowned fossil sites on Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg islands.

Linking the rebirth of the planned coal dig on Canada’s northernmost landmasses with recent federal cuts to Arctic environmental monitoring, Green Party leader Elizabeth May said: “Is it a coincidence that one of the most polluting resource-extraction industries is now ready to exploit the area?”

The Arctic-coal controversy has re-emerged at a time when scientists across Canada are sounding alarms about the potential impact of budget cuts to Canadian environmental research and ecosystem monitoring capacity. On Tuesday, hundreds of scientists attending a conference in Ottawa, along with allied environmental advocates, are scheduled to take part in a mock funeral march to Parliament Hill — a so-called “Death of Evidence” protest.

Potential Future Copper Shortages May Impact Industrial Growth – by Ron Thiessen

July 10, 2012

Based in Vancouver-based Ron Thiessen is CEO of Hunter Dickinson Inc. (HDI) a leading diversified, global mining group with more than 25 years of mineral development success.

There may come a time in the not too distant future when copper will be in shorter supply than the current shortage of rare earth elements (REEs). While this is not the situation today, an examination of the longer-term outlook for copper indicates this scenario might not be so far-fetched.

According to the International Copper Study Group (ICSG), a global production deficit of 92,000 metric tonnes was recorded for copper as of January 2012. Furthermore, ICSG estimates that worldwide usage in 2011 increased by 3.2% over the previous year while mine production remained unchanged. Market commentator Jack Lifton says the world has essentially ignored the need for copper, which he calls “the nerves of our civilization” because of its importance to a modern society. In a recent speech, Lifton says if this trend continues, where global copper production is less than the increase in demand, the copper deficit could make the REE shortages seem minor by comparison.

The REE deficit highlights a growing concern about how other minerals and metals might be similarly affected. It is not by chance that China became the world’s supplier of rare earth minerals.

Norway has been on a roll for decades – by Matthew Fisher (National Post – July 10, 2012)

July 10, 2012

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

STAVANGER, Norway — Some Albertans may fancy themselves to be the blue-eyed Arabs of the north. If Norwegians were not so modest about their place in the world that boast would make the five million citizens of this overwhelmingly blue-eyed nation laugh.

A digital counter at the Norwegian Petroleum Museum tells the happy story: It turns over so quickly counting petro-kroners from the North Sea that all but the biggest numbers on the screen are a constant blur.

At a time when most of Norway’s European cousins confront grave economic problems and Canadians are fearful of being sucked into the continent’s financial quicksand, this Scandinavian nation remains an oasis of stability and calm. The reason, plainly, is that it has more than 3.5-trillion kroner ($600 billion U.S.) in the bank and counting.

Norway’s Government Pension Fund is only 20 years old but is more than 30 times the size of Alberta’s Heritage Investment Fund, which former premier Peter Lougheed started for “a rainy day” back in 1975. It is also bigger than Saudi Arabia’s and a close second in size to the one run by one of the sheikdoms of the United Arab Emirates.