October 11, 2012 – Republic of Mining

Cliffs’ Sudbury smelter location not final – by Jody Porter (CBC Radio Sudbury – October 11, 2012)

October 11, 2012

http://www.cbc.ca/sudbury/

Documents reveal the company is still looking for a deal on energy costs

CBC News has learned Cliffs Natural Resources is not locked into its decision to build a smelter near Sudbury. Documents obtained through Freedom of Information reveal the American company’s plans to shop around for the best deal on electricity prices and tax rates.

In an e-mail to his colleagues, Bill Thornton with the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines recapped some “confidential highlights” from a 2011 meeting with Cliffs. “Not mentioned in the document [Cliffs’ base case] is the fact that Cliffs will also examine whether other jurisdictions outside of Ontario offer better costs (sic) advantages for locating their ferrochrome production facility.”

A slide from a Minister’s office briefing from Dec. 16, 2011 labelled “confidential draft for discussion” said: “Cliffs base case scenario has identified a potential site north of Sudbury (Capreol) but intelligence suggests that Quebec has been aggressively lobbying for a site near Becancour where there is an existing industrial complex supporting aluminum production.”

Tanzania’s president says critics misrepresent impact of development – by Michael Posner (Globe and Mail – October 11, 2012)

October 11, 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.

“There is so much distortion,” complains Jakaya Kikwete. “It’s ridiculous. You see important newspapers writing nonsense.” In an exclusive interview with The Globe and Mail last week, the 62-year-old Tanzanian President – in Canada on an official state visit – says critics are misrepresenting a planned, 480-kilometre highway that will partly traverse Serengeti National Park.

Environmentalists allege the road is designed to bring oil from landlocked Uganda to Tanzanian ports and will imperil the habitats and migratory patterns of wildebeest, zebra and other wildlife. Not so, maintains Mr. Kikwete, holding court at Rideau Hall, residence of Canada’s Governor-General.

“We are building 11,000 kilometres of new roads,” he explains. “The only people left out are the people living in these remote communities. So it’s a development need, not a need to bring oil from Uganda. Second, we are not building a tarmac road through the Serengeti. [And] these people live 80 kilometres away from the Serengeti, I don’t see a risk to wildlife when you build 80 kilometres [away].”

B.C. government knew for years of plan to import Chinese miners – by Craig McInnes (Vancouver Sun – October 11, 2012)

October 11, 2012

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

Young Canadian workers could have been trained for highly paid mining positions

How long does it take to train a coal miner? Granted, at least in Canada, it’s been a while since all that was required was a strong back, a desperate need of a job and a high tolerance for dangerous and dirty work.

But five years? That’s how long the provincial government has known that a company proposing an underground coal mine near Tumbler Ridge in northeastern B.C. wanted to bring in experienced miners from China as part of its operating plan because of a lack of skilled underground miners here.

As Vancouver Sun reporter Peter O’Neil noted Wednesday, Premier Christy Clark didn’t mention during her trade mission to China last November that most of the coal mining jobs created by a $1.4-billion Chinese investment in B.C. would be filled by Chinese workers. But at least her officials should have known that the rationale given in 2007 by the Canadian Dehua International Mines Group for bringing in miners from China appears to be essentially unchanged in 2012, despite her government’s focus on jobs for British Columbians.

As O’Neil reported, the first of a group of 200 temporary Chinese workers approved by the federal government will be arriving in B.C. in the coming weeks to start work on one of four projects that could provide employment for 1,600 to 2,000 Chinese miners and an estimated 480 to 800 jobs for Canadians.

South African platinum and gold mine mechanisation – no simple path – by Lawrence (Mineweb.com – October 11, 2012)

October 11, 2012

www.mineweb.com

South Africa’s platinum and gold mining companies are being told to cut their workforces and introduce more mechanisation – but this is not as easy as it sounds

LONDON (MINEWEB) – With the focus over the past couple of months first on South Africa’s platinum mines, and subsequently its gold mines as labour problems have appeared to intensify we find the international mining community, for the most part, totally baffled by the sizes of the huge labour workforces working at some of these properties.

As an example – although this is going back a bit – after working on a South African gold mine where perhaps you would find a gang of 20-30 miners working on a single 3m x 3m development tunnel, the writer went to work on a Canadian underground mine where a similar sized development drive would be staffed by a gang of just two people.

The part answer to this, of course, was mechanisation, whereby the drilling itself would be undertaken by an early stage single boom drill jumbo rather than by four or five rock drill operators plus their attendants, working off and under a drill platform in the South African case.

Canada: Mining [Legal Superstars in Canadian Mining] – Who’s Who Legal (October 2012)

October 11, 2012

http://www.whoswholegal.com/

The Toronto Stock Exchange is home to 58 per cent of the world’s public mining companies and the industry is crucial for the Canadian economy and job market. In this chapter we identify 49 exceptional lawyers, an increase of four listings since our last publication.

According to our research, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP has proved itself again as one of the leading mining firms in Canada with six lawyers selected for inclusion. Mark Bennett leads a “very good practice” with a focus on corporate finance and M&A. Gordon Chambers is “first class” and works on corporate finance with clients such as Anvil Mining. John Craig has an “excellent practice for mining” and is a “key player” in the negotiation and drafting of mining concession agreements around the world.

Jay Goldman has “an outstanding mining practice nationally” and is a member of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute. Another “superb” lawyer at the firm is Erik Goldsilver who has advised clients such as Goldcorp and Yamana Gold. Paul Stein is “building a name for himself” in the field and comes highly ranked by our respondents. He specialises in negotiating joint ventures, farm-in agreements and the financing of development and exploration projects both domestically and internationally.

Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP also has six “leading” lawyers in this area. Michael J Bourassa is an “amazing lawyer” and a “rare person”. He has extensive experience with international mining due diligence and is past chair of the Natural Resources Section of the Ontario Bar Association.

Rainy River district rediscovers mining – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – October 2012)

October 11, 2012

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. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca.

What’s old is new again. For decades, the Rainy River district in northwestern Ontario had no operating mines even though the Fort Frances area held a rich legacy of gold mining dating back to the mid-1800s.

With 27 past-producing mines on the books, more than half of Ontario’s gold production came from here between 1890 and 1910. Small wonder as gold prices have shot up that the district has become an exploration hot bed. Now a new generation is learning all over again what the mining industry is about.

“It’s a forgotten industry for a lot of people here because pulp and paper, and logging have ruled the economic paradigm here for several decades,” said Kyle Stanfield, director of environmental sustainability with Rainy River Resources.

His company is advancing toward production of its flagship Rainy River Gold project, located in Chapple Township, 65 km northeast of Fort Frances. Part of the company’s outreach is teaching the locals how the mining cycle works.

Global coalification – by Terence Corcoran (National Post – October 11, 2012)

October 11, 2012

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

Europe and Asia are massively expanding?

I’ve been looking into the coal industry, in a superficial way. And here’s the scoop. The coal industry is dead and dying, in the U.S. and elsewhere — if not right now, then pretty soon. Scientific American in May trumpeted the news: “The End of Coal Burning in the U.S.” The Wall Street Journal noted: “The Coal Age Nears its End.” And then there’s Canada’s in-house peakster: “Is Peak Coal Coming?” asks economist/author Jeff Rubin.

So there you have it, except that’s only the half of it. The other half is this: “Coal Era Beckons for Europe,” says BusinessWeek. Bloomberg reports that “Merkel’s Green Shift Forces Germany to Burn More Coal.” Another report, citing the World Resources Institute, said 1,231 new coal plants with total power capacity of 1.4 million megawatts are planned worldwide.

“Beyond the biggest users — China, India and the United States,” reports ClimateWire, “the assessment finds a heavy coal demand building in Russia, Vietnam, Turkey and South Africa. The United States, with 79 coal plants in the pipeline, ranks fourth in this category.”

These two contradictory views of coal cannot long coexist, and a gambler might be well advised to put his money on a coming coal boom. The idea that coal is dying seems to be mostly wishful thinking on the part of green activists, as well as some politicians and regulators in the United States and parts of Canada. Ontario aims to end dirty coal-fired power generation, at great cost to consumers who are now paying high prices for the putative clean alternatives, wind and solar.

Nexen deal promises CNOOC front-row seat in Canada – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – October 11, 2012)

October 11, 2012

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

As the debate intensifies over whether Ottawa should open the floodgates to Chinese investment in the Canadian oil and gas sector, some argue that Nexen Inc., the Calgary-based oil and gas producer targeted by CNOOC Ltd., isn’t worth protecting because its assets are predominantly based overseas.

Hopefully we aren’t that naive. Current production is only one metric of an oil and gas company’s worth. Just as important is where production will come from in the future — in Nexen’s case, the oil sands in Alberta and shale gas in British Columbia, as well as its management skills, technology, brand and platform, all of which are 100% Canadian. The famous line by petroleum geologist Wallace Pratt is worth repeating: “Oil is found in the minds of men.” Producing fields are the outcome.

The full range of Nexen’s Canadian value isn’t lost on the state-controlled Chinese company.

As CNOOC says on its website: “Canada is a prime location in the world with rich oil sands resources. Since oil sands are expected to become one of the new growth areas of oil and gas exploration and development in the future, the Company expects that making a foothold in the region could help to achieve sustainable growth.”

Canada’s resource sector braces for slowdown – by Pav Jordan and Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – October 11, 2012)

October 11, 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.

Toronto, Ottawa — Canada’s resource-fueled economy faces the threat of a swooning commodities market at a crucial point in the economic recovery.

From Europe to the United States and especially in China, the outlook for commodities is diminishing heading into 2013, with the impact already being felt abroad.

Evidence is mounting that Canada, where commodities drive about 20 per cent of the gross domestic product, will not be spared some hardship. Canada is a major producer of potash, coal, iron ore, nickel, copper, gold, zinc and uranium, among other base and precious metals that have been hit especially hard as a decade-old commodities market starts to lose steam.

Resource companies account for about half the weight of the Toronto Stock Exchange, and some are feeling the pinch in profits.

On Wednesday the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and the U.S. Energy Information Administration both shaved their forecasts for crude-oil consumption in 2012 and 2013, citing ongoing weakness in the global economy and hitting a key economic driver for Canada.

The oil patch opens an eastern front – by Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – October 11, 2012)

October 11, 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 – The battle over Alberta’s oil sands is spreading east as governments in Quebec and the eastern U.S. are confronted with aggressive moves by western crude producers to access new markets.

The oil industry’s critics in Quebec and Maine are gearing up for a fight over existing plans and potential projects that would reverse the flow of oil in a cross-border pipeline network in order to carry crude from Alberta and North Dakota to refineries in Quebec and perhaps as far as the U.S. East Coast.

The latest flashpoint is in Maine, where activists held a news conference on Wednesday to denounce an allegedly secret plan by Portland Pipe Line Corp. to open a new route to carry western crude by way of Ontario and Quebec through northern New England to the Atlantic coast.

That prospect highlights the mismatch between abundant, low-cost western crude and the reliance of eastern refineries on premium-priced offshore imports. As the oil industry looks to spread eastward, governments in Quebec and New England will be thrust into the centre of oil politics and environmental concerns.