September 27, 2012 – Republic of Mining

Duty to consult questioned in Wahgoshig mining case – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – September 26, 2012)

September 27, 2012

Northern Ontario’s First Nations Voice: http://wawataynews.ca/

As a legal decision, the Sept. 4 finding that Solid Gold Resources will be allowed to appeal its case against Wahgoshig First Nation over mineral exploration on Wahgoshig’s traditional land was hardly remarkable. It was simply a matter of a company asking for and receiving approval to take its appeal to a higher, precedent-setting court.

The finding of the judge, however, has the potential to have far-reaching consequences on whether mining companies have the duty to consult First Nations before conducting exploration on traditional lands.

Justice H.P. Wilton-Siegel’s ruling to give Solid Gold Resources leave to appeal took aim at the duty to consult – specifically, whether Ontario can pass its duty to consult with First Nations to a mining company.

“I see no basis in the facts of this case for an imposition of a duty to consult on Solid Gold,” Wilton-Siegel wrote. “If the Crown wishes to delegate operational aspects of its duty (to consult First Nations) it … must establish a legislative or regulatory scheme (to do so). The mining act does not presently contain such a scheme.”

The case stems from Wahgoshig’s efforts to block Solid Gold from exploring on its traditional lands in an area thought to contain sacred burial sites.

Mine hearings to take place next year – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – September 27, 2012)

September 27, 2012

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

Public hearings into a proposed copper and palladium mine on Marathon’s outskirts could take place early next year if an independent panel reviewing the project decides it has enough information to proceed.

The three-member panel of two scientists and an engineer must decide by Nov. 26 if an environmental impact statement submitted this summer by Stillwater Canada is sufficient to set the stage for up to 30 days of public hearings.

Stillwater is proposing an open-pit operation just north of the town’s airport. The mine, with one main pit and four satellite pits, is projected to operate for nearly 12 years and provide about 400 direct jobs. Surrounded by the Pic River and some inland lakes, the mine site would require a new two-kilometre access road and a new four-km hydro transmission corridor.

If the panel decides that it does have enough information to proceed, the hearings could take place in January, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency panel co-manager Marie LeGrow said Wednesday during an update in Marathon about the ongoing review.

Saskatchewan miners emerge with tale for the grandkids – by Nathan Vanderklippe (Globe and Mail – September 27, 2012)

September 27, 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.

ROCANVILLE, SASK. — Deep inside a mine, a fire is serious. Circulation systems keep air moving in a steady breeze, and smoke spreads fast. Light a cigarette in one part of the mine and it won’t be long before someone a kilometre away knows what you’re doing.

So, when the emergency system in Potash Corp.’s Rocanville mine activated alarm lights and bells just before 2 a.m. Tuesday, Jamie Johnson did not wait around. Mr. Johnson was lead hand on a three-man crew running a miner, the large machine that burrows through the earth. Flames had erupted 300 metres away in a large wooden cable reel, producing noxious smoke from plastic insulation burning on a 30-metre-long, six-centimetre-thick electrical cable.

He didn’t yet know that. He did know he had to act fast. This was only the second time he had experienced an emergency below ground in nine years.

Mr. Johnson grabbed the phone located on the miner and called the control room. He was told to move to a refuge station – number 13 in his case, or lucky 13 as he would later joke, when he and 19 other miners were brought to the surface 24 hours after their shifts started.

Say yes to CNOOC, then sort out ‘net benefit’ – by Tom Flanagan (Globe and Mail – September 27, 2012)

September 27, 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.

Tom Flanagan is professor of political science at the University of Calgary and a campaign manager for conservative political parties.

The attempt by the Chinese National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) to purchase Nexen Inc. has many attractive features. CNOOC already has a Calgary office and a track record of managing almost $3-billion worth of Canadian energy assets. Although the Chinese government is the majority owner, CNOOC stock is listed in Hong Kong and New York, and the company has independent directors as well as those representing the Chinese government.

This friendly bid, incorporating a hefty premium on the stock price, has been approved by both the directors and shareholders of Nexen. CNOOC is promising to retain Nexen’s staff, as well as the Calgary head office, and to start listing its shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

No issue of military technology, of the kind that derailed a U.S. company’s attempted acquisition of MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. in 2008, is involved here.

Publisher David Black ups ante for [Kitimat] refinery to process Northern Gateway oil – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – September 27, 2012)

September 27, 2012

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

Rather than falling off the rails because of its challenging economics, a proposal to build an oil sands refinery in Kitimat, B.C. by newspaper baron David Black has gained so much support it seems to be getting British Columbians to warm up to the dreaded Northern Gateway pipeline.

The main reason? Jobs. British Columbians seem to be willing to downplay environmental concerns, aboriginal priorities and even Alberta envy if it means thousands of new B.C. paycheques and tax revenue.

A poll of 1,400 British Columbians conducted for Mr. Black, the Victoria-based newspaper publisher who proposed the $13-billion project last month, found that 72% are in favour or somewhat supportive of refining Alberta’s oil in Kitimat using local labour rather than shipping bitumen to Asia.

“In B.C., that’s a landslide,” Mr. Black said Wednesday, when he made public the poll results. “This was a vote on the pipeline and the refinery — obviously there is no refinery without a pipeline. The average person is in favour of the two.”

Forum seeks to find ‘resolution’ – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – September 27, 2012)

September 27, 2012

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Jodi Blassuti is on a mission. And she’s not going to stop until she’s achieved it. Blassuti, a miner for the past six years, has devoted countless hours and energy to pushing for a mining inquiry in Ontario.

“I was reading a lot in the paper and I was watching Cheryl and Ephraim Dufoe who had lost their son five years ago … that hit home with me really hard, and I know that he’s not the first one to do that. I was watching them and it’s five years later and they’re still fighting for changes and trying to get answers.”

On July 23, 2007, Lyle Dufoe, 25, died after falling 150 feet. He was found at the bottom of a stope next to the scoop and tram he operated in Timmins. Meeting with the Dufoes lit a fire in Blassuti.

“The three of us met after that and we talked for a long time, and they told me everything that they’d been through and how they’re basically getting nowhere, and there’s not a lot of support.

“We’re not going to stop until change is made, and that’s a promise I made to the Dufoes … I feel very passionate about this. It’s something that I’ve lost sleep over.”

Political storm brews in U.S. over Nexen deal – by Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – September 27, 2012)

September 27, 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.

OTTAWA — CNOOC Ltd. is encountering a political backlash in the United States over its proposed takeover of Nexen Inc. that could force the Chinese state-owned company to divest Nexen assets in the Gulf of Mexico to win approval for the deal.

Prominent members of the U.S. Congress have urged the Obama administration to block the transfer of Nexen’s offshore leases to CNOOC, both for national security reasons and on the grounds that some of the leases were issued under a mid-1990s incentive program that offered royalty-free production in exchange for drilling in deep water.

“I think it is extremely unlikely that the U.S. government would approve the transfer of a zero-royalty lease to another government,” Gordon Giffin, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada, said in an interview Wednesday. Mr. Giffin is a member of the advisory board of the Canada-U.S. Business Council and serves on several Canadian corporate boards, including Canadian Natural Resources.

Mr. Giffin said a political brawl in the U.S. over the Nexen deal could complicate Ottawa’s calculus as it considers whether to give the deal its blessing. CNOOC has won approval from Nexen shareholders for its $15.1-billion offer and is now awaiting a decision from the federal government on whether the deal is of a net benefit to Canada.