The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Two members of the provincial Tory caucus left Timmins with a better understanding of the issues impacting Northern Ontario.

Progressive Conservative MPPs Norm Miller (Parry Sound-Muskoka) and Laurie Scott (Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock) were in Timmins Friday on a fact-finding tour. The two politicians met with Mayor Tom Laughren, municipal and business leaders, toured Goldcorp’s operations and visited with local Ministry of Natural Resources staff. Miller is the Tory critic for Northern Development and Mines, while Scott is the critic for the MNR.

The duo also visited The Daily Press, where they discussed pressing issues for the North in an editorial board meeting.
Many Northerners feel they have lost their voice in Queen’s Park, as only 11 of 107 seats are based in Northern Ontario. While he doesn’t expect the region to ever gain more seats, Miller said it is the responsibility of government to consider the impact all legislation has on the North. Read the rest of this entry »

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North.

Timmins 100th anniversary special

At Xstrata Copper’s Kidd Creek Mine in Timmins, employee suggestions for improvement have helped increase the life of the mine. Its 2020 Vision initiative focused on engaging employees in an effort to realize cost savings that might further extend operations.
 
About 25 per cent of its workforce was interviewed by colleagues and the resulting 1,800 ideas are being put to good use. “We consolidated and grouped the ideas and the good news was that a lot of the ideas were things we had already started to do and people didn’t know about yet, so we were on the right track,” said mine manager Tom Semadeni.
 
“These ideas validated where we were going.” When the Kidd Metallurgical site closed in late 2010, only some concentrator employees were left. “We realized we needed to help all the employees understand they were part of a new organization because the dynamic was that we had the mine here and the met site concentrator some distance away,” he said.

Read the rest of this entry »

For the B.C. Mineral Exploration and Mining Strategy, click here: http://www.empr.gov.bc.ca/Mining/Documents/MiningStrategy2012.pdf

VANCOUVER - A long-term plan designed to develop the mining industry and create jobs to support B.C. families was announced today by Minister of Energy and Mines Rich Coleman.

“British Columbia is poised for a new phase of growth, investment and job creation, which will enable us to reach across the Pacific and tap into growing demand in Asian markets,” said Premier Christy Clark, who is presently on her second Asia Jobs and Trade Mission promoting resource development to overseas customers. “Long-term growth in our mining industry will translate into strong economic growth for our communities, First Nations and the province, and thousands of well-paying jobs that will benefit families in British Columbia.”

The new B.C. Mineral Exploration and Mining Strategy outlines a plan to create eight new mines and expand nine existing ones by 2015. The mining strategy’s six overarching goals are:

• Enhancing B.C.’s competitive edge.
• Streamlining regulatory processes. Read the rest of this entry »

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

MONTREAL – Jean Charest’s Liberals predict Quebec will make the historic transformation into a “have” province over the next quarter-century thanks to an ambitious northern-development plan.

Quebec’s natural resources minister says the project — known as “Plan Nord” — will enable the province to wean itself off decades of federal equalization transfers, tackle its heavy debt, and bankroll its costly social programs.

Clement Gignac’s prediction would see the province pump cash into the federation for the first time since the modern equalization program was established in the 1950s. Amid campaign clashes over tuition fees, corruption allegations and Quebec independence, Plan Nord is a sleeper issue heading into the Sept. 4 election.

Gignac says the initiative, which includes mining, energy and tourism projects, has the potential to become a game-changer for Quebec, much like the Hibernia oil project was for reversing the once-grim economic fortunes in Newfoundland and Labrador.

“It will increase our financial autonomy… and it will be a win-win for everybody,” Gignac told The Canadian Press in an interview. Read the rest of this entry »

http://www.timminstimes.com/

A close-up and personal look at a Timmins man who changed our mining history

ED’S NOTE: Following is a story on the life on Don McKinnon presented by a close friend of McKinnon and his family. McKinnon died Thursday.

The Canadian mining fraternity has lost one of the most successful prospectors from its ranks with the passing of Donald Duncan McKinnon. Just eight days before his 83rd birthday, Don passed away peacefully Aug. 9 at the Timmins and District Hospital surrounded by family and loved ones.

Born and raised in the Town of Cochrane, McKinnon had made his home in Timmins since 1956. The man with the heart of gold always loved the city with the heart of gold. This was his base as he prospected all over Canada from the High Arctic to the Maritimes and British Columbia. As well as in the United States.

He was much more than a prospector, however, as his interests ranged from municipal and provincial politics to the economy of Northern Ontario and the need to preserve the region’s special way of life. Read the rest of this entry »

http://www.ctvnews.ca/

MONTREAL – The Parti Quebecois says it will give Jean Charest’s signature northern-development plan a makeover if it wins the Sept. 4 election, altering a project the Liberal premier hails as Quebec’s ticket to prosperity.
 
The party’s mining critic said a PQ government would “redo” the multibillion-dollar Plan Nord. It argues the initiative offers up Quebec’s natural resources for next to nothing.
 
Martine Ouellet said the PQ is pledging to raise royalties; ensure more Quebec resources are processed in the province; and spend less public money to help private companies — unless Quebecers get something in return.
 
“The Parti Quebecois is okay with developing northern mines, but certainly not in the same way as the plan I call ‘The Plan Marketing du Nord,’ ” Ouellet said in an interview. “We can’t continue like this, we’re letting our minerals go for free.”
 
Ouellet also said the PQ would launch environmental reviews before each project and boost returns for Quebecers by processing more of the resources in the province. Read the rest of this entry »