October 24, 2012 – Republic of Mining

Opposition on uranium mines won’t change: Cree – by Michelle Lalonde (Montreal Gazette – October 23, 2012)

October 24, 2012

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

MONTREAL — The next step in the proposed uranium mine project near Mistissini in northern Quebec got a green light from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission last week, but even the commission acknowledges that the Cree Nation is waving a big red stop sign.

Chief Robert Shecapio flew down to Montreal from his community of Mistissini, north of Chibaugamau, this month to draw attention to his community’s intense opposition to uranium mining. That position is held widely across the nine Cree nations of northern Quebec, not to mention hundreds of municipalities all over the province that have passed resolutions against it.

“We are not opposed to any other kind of development foreseen in our territory … (but as for uranium), our opposition will not change.” Shecapio told The Gazette last week.

The Matoush Project is the most advanced of about 20 proposed uranium mining projects for northern Quebec, and was part of the defeated Liberal government’s much-vaunted Plan Nord. While the Parti Québécois called for a moratorium on uranium mining in 2009, the party was less clear on the issue during the recent election campaign.

Environment Minister Daniel Breton and his aide Danielle Rioux have refused repeated requests for an interview with The Gazette on the issue over the last two weeks.

Vale profits to drop 61%: Analysts – by Jeb Blount and Sabrina Lorenzi (Reuters/Sudbury Star – October 23, 2012)

October 24, 2012

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

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Vale SA (VALE5.SA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) the world’s No. 2 mining company, is expected to report that third-quarter profit tumbled 61 percent from a year earlier as output slipped and the price of iron ore and other metals dropped to three-year lows.

Profit is also likely to be hurt by the company’s decision to set aside about $540 million for the possible payment of back royalties in a dispute with Brazil’s government.

Net income likely fell to $1.92 billion in the three months ending September 30 from $4.93 billion the year before, according to the average estimate of 19 analysts in a Reuters poll.

If results expected late on Wednesday confirm the estimate, it will mark the company’s worst quarterly profit in 33 months. Falling prices and weak demand in China, Vale’s largest market, have led the Rio de Janeiro-based company to delay spending, close operations and consider cuts to investments and dividends.

“Third quarter results are likely to suffer from a steep drop in prices,” BTG Pactual Group analysts Edmo Chagas, Antonio Heluany and Gregory Goldfinger wrote in a Monday report.

NEWS RELEASE: Mining Association of Canada launches new scholarship for mining finance students

October 24, 2012

Shortage of young professionals needed in fields of mining and mineral economics

OTTAWA, Oct. 23, 2012 /CNW/ – The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) has announced the launch of a new scholarship available to Canadian university students interested in pursuing a career in mineral economics.

MAC and its members established the Paul Stothart Memorial Scholarship following the passing of its valued colleague, Paul Stothart. A graduate of Queen’s University (MBA Finance, Bachelor in Civil Engineering), Paul was an accomplished professional who was passionate about advancing the Canadian mining industry in his role as MAC’s Vice President of Economic Affairs, which he held from 2006 to 2012. The scholarship is valued at $3,500 and will be awarded annually to one student studying either a Bachelor or Master of Economics, or Master of Business Administration. Candidates must also demonstrate an interest in mineral economics through current or future course work.

As of today, students are able to submit their applications until April 15, 2013. The inaugural scholarship will be awarded to the selected candidate for the 2013-2014 school year.

A 2011 report from the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR) estimates that the mining industry in Canada must hire 100,000 new workers over the next decade to replace retiring workers and to fill new positions.

Rejecting Asia – by Joseph Caron (National Post – October 24, 2012)

October 24, 2012

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

Joseph Caron is former ambassador to China, Japan and high commissioner to India, and a distinguished fellow with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. He is also Special Advisor, Asia Pacific with Heenan Blaikie LLP.

Petronas, CNOOC will have big impact on how Canada is seen

The Canadian government’s interim determination, announced last Friday, that the proposed Petronas takeover of Progress Energy does not provide an as-yet-undefined “net benefit” to the country, has elicited more interest in Canada and internationally than would normally be the case for any other mid-sized and otherwise run-of-the mill foreign-investment transaction. Petronas is not well known in Canada beyond the oil patch.

(True, it is a state-owned enterprise, but who’s afraid of Malaysia?) Its failure — so far, that is, as the determination remains subject to appeal — has ramifications beyond whatever shadow it projects on the upcoming decision regarding CNOOC’s Nexen takeover proposal. The Petronas-Progress and CNOOC-Nexen issues demonstrate the dominant role that resource and energy continue to play in the perception, more than the reality, of the Canadian economy. Statistics Canada has called this “the return of the old economy.”

Conservatives work to clarify foreign takeover policy – by Steven Chase and Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – October 24, 2012)

October 24, 2012

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 Harper government is sharpening its policy on takeovers by foreign corporations to single out firms controlled by other governments and set more detailed conditions they must meet before Ottawa would approve a deal, sources say.

Under rising pressure to clarify Canada’s rules on foreign takeovers, the Conservatives are trying to strike a balance between attracting foreign investment to develop Canada’s natural resources and concerns about the objectives of powerful state-backed firms from China, Russia and elsewhere that have deep pockets and big appetites for resources.

Senior government sources offered the most detailed sense yet of what the Conservatives are considering.

At its heart would be a more sharply delineated, two-track system for judging whether a foreign takeover provides a “net benefit” – one track for transactions with typical corporations and another track for firms under the influence of foreign governments.

Treaty settlement the only way to end pipeline deadlock – by Daniel Veniez (Globe and Mail – October 17, 2012)

October 24, 2012

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 broken treaty process is a conspicuous illustration of a major impediment to the expansion of British Columbia’s economy. The Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline debacle is its latest casualty.

In 1992, the federal and provincial governments created the BC Treaty Commission (BCTC) to facilitate the negotiation and settlement of treaties in British Columbia. Twenty years and an estimated $900-million later, a grand total of three treaties have been signed. Sophie Pierre, the Chief Commissioner, told me that the commission could be around for another 20 years.

Unsettled land claims are a quagmire, and the perpetual uncertainty over ownership and control of the land has stopped resource development. This should be a wake-up call to policy makers.

Aboriginal rights and title are protected by the Constitution, and confirmed as a concept in common law. The courts have repeatedly encouraged governments to deal with these claims. Politically at least, Ottawa and Victoria have not shown an interest in resolving these issues. Governments don’t appear to appreciate the economic damage their procrastination has inflicted. Some politicians are skeptical of treaties and prefer to pretend there’s no need for them.

Northern Iron wants Domtar as railroading partner – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – October 2012)

October 24, 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.

Northern Iron Corp. is knocking on Domtar’s door to gain access to a railroad right-of-way to advance a proposed open-pit iron ore operation in northwestern Ontario.

The Vancouver junior miner has a series of iron deposits spread out over 14,600 hectares, east of Ear Falls and south of the Red Lake gold mining district, that includes the former Griffith open pit, once operated by Stelco. The project contains an historic estimate of more than 500,000 million tonnes that the company is trying to prove up.

The company wants to build an on-site processing plant that converts iron ore into premium hot briquetted iron (HBI) for the North American and global steel industry. They’ve secured two advance orders of 960,000 tonnes of HBI from two Chinese state-owned companies if the mine goes ahead with production in 2016 as planned.

But to move product out, the company wants to gain access to a railway right-of-way that runs 120 kilometres south from the Griffith site to Amesdale, a spot on the Canadian National Railway’s (CN) main east-west line.

Ontera sell-off worries Northern [Ontario] leaders – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – October 23, 2012)

October 24, 2012

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

IROQUOIS FALLS – Even though Northlander passenger service has already been derailed, leaders from across Northeastern Ontario are still fighting for the ONTC.

Since the provincial government announced plans to divest itself of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, members of the Northeastern Ontario Municipal Association (NEOMA) have been lobbying to save the services provided by the ONTC.

With passenger rail service now gone for the Hwy. 11 corridor, NEOMA is turning the bulk of its attention to preserving freight rail and infrastructure to the information highway.

Members of NEOMA, at its quarterly meeting in Iroquois Falls on Friday, discussed the future of ONTC. Northern leaders expressed frustration of the fact that the provincial government has not been sharing a lot of information about the divestiture.

“We’ve met with the government several times about the freight rail,” said Timmins Mayor Tom Laughren, chairman of NEOMA. “We haven’t been getting a lot of traction.

Cry, the beloved country [South Africa] – The Economist (October 20, 2012)

October 24, 2012

http://www.economist.com/

South Africa is sliding downhill while much of the rest of the continent is clawing its way up

NOT so long ago, South Africa was by far the most serious and economically successful country in Africa. At the turn of the millennium it accounted for 40% of the total GDP of the 48 countries south of the Sahara, whereas Nigeria, three times more populous, lurched along in second place with around 14%. The remainder, in raw economic terms, barely seemed to count.

Despite South Africa’s loathsome apartheid heritage, solid institutions underpinned its transition to democracy in 1994: a proper Parliament and electoral system, a good new constitution, independent courts, a vibrant press and a first-world stockmarket. Nelson Mandela, whose extraordinary magnanimity helped avert a racial bloodbath, heralded a rainbow nation that would be a beacon for the rest of Africa.

Since then, Africa, once harshly labelled by this newspaper as “the hopeless continent”, has begun to make bold strides (see article). Meanwhile South Africa, though still a treasure trove of minerals with the most sophisticated economy on the continent, is on the slide both economically and politically (see article). By some calculations Nigeria’s economy, messy as it is, will overtake it within a few years. What went wrong with South Africa, and how can it be fixed?

Over the rainbow [South Africa] – The Economist (October 20, 2012)

October 24, 2012

http://www.economist.com/

It has made progress since becoming a full democracy in 1994. But a failure of leadership means that in many ways, South Africa is now going backwards

ON JUNE 26th 1955, 3,000 South Africans gathered in a dusty square in Kliptown, a district of Soweto, a sprawling black township on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Members of the African National Congress (ANC) congregated alongside their anti-apartheid confederates to proclaim a new vision of the future. The next day police broke up the meeting (Nelson Mandela disguised himself as a milkman to escape). But the dream had already been declared.

“The people shall govern,” announced the Freedom Charter. South Africa would belong to all of its people, no matter what their colour. There would be work, education and security for all. Everyone would be equal before the law. It was an extraordinary affirmation, full of hope and the promise of a better future.

Today the square is named after Walter Sisulu, an ANC hero and mentor to Mr Mandela. It boasts shops, offices, a conference hall and a pricey hotel. As the birthplace of the new, inclusive South Africa, it has become a stop on the tourist trail. But just across the railway track, rickety shacks huddle together. The roads are rutted and muddy. Communal latrines stand useless, their doors open and rubbish piled inside. Next to them on the uneven ground wobbles a portable toilet, its door padlocked against vandals. A sludgy stream trickles past, fouled by children unable to find the key in time. Walter Sisulu Square is close by, but the aspirations of the Freedom Charter are nowhere to be seen.