November 17, 2012 – Republic of Mining

Last man to land on the moon has lunar mining dreams – by The Canadian Press (Vancouver Province – November 16, 2012)

November 17, 2012

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

LONDON, Ont. — You may have to excuse Harrison (Jack) Schmitt if the former American astronaut gets itchy feet for the moon these days. It was 40 years ago next month, on Dec. 6, 1972, that he and fellow astronaut Eugene Cernan became the last humans to set foot on the lunar surface.

If the former Apollo 17 astronaut had his way, the United States would head back to the moon first, before travelling to planets like Mars.

The 77-year-old geologist, who has his eye on lunar mining opportunities, says the commercial sector could be back on the moon within 15 to 20 years.

Schmitt even sees a role for Canada whose mining industry, he says, is very active and is an important player in the world economy. He also says humankind has the ability to put settlements on the moon within 40 years.

Talking about his own experience, Schmitt recalled moonwalking or skiing on moon dust in December 1972.

Moving South Africa’s mining sector into the 21st century – Mamphela Ramphele -by Geoff Candy (Mineweb.com – November 17, 2012)

November 17, 2012

http://www.mineweb.com/

A crisis should never be wasted

GEOFF CANDY: Hello and welcome to this mineweb.com newsmaker podcast my name is Geoff Candy and joining me on the line is Dr. Mamphela Ramphele. She’s an author, academic, activist and self-described change agent. She’s been at the height of many of the issues South Africa has faced during its transition from apartheid to democracy. She’s helped found the black consciousness movement in the country and has had transformation very much in the site since the 1970s. She’s the founder of Letsema circle and more recently the Citizens Movement.

She served as the vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Town as well as the managing director of the World Bank. She’s also the chairwoman of Goldfields. Dr. Ramphele thank you for joining me. Now the last in the wave of strikes have affected the country’s mining sector since the tragic events at Marikan, ended yesterday but we’ve seen strikes flaring up in other sectors. One gets the sense that while the strikes have to an end for the moment this was only the opening salvo in a much bigger transformation. Would you agree with that?

DR. MAMPHELA RAMPHELE: I would absolutely agree that we are paying the price of having neglected to pay attention to the urgent need for restructuring or the transformation of our socio economic reality because we inherited in 1994 an economic system and a social system that persists to date.

Future uncertain for [Timmins Goldcorp] mine pit park – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – November 16, 2012)

November 17, 2012

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Now that Goldcorp is only awaiting the Ministry of Environment’s approval to start mining the Hollinger open pit near downtown Timmins, the long-term future of the site is still up in the air.

The general understanding had been that a publicly accessible park and lake would be left behind in 10 years when Goldcorp is scheduled to end its mining operations at the Hollinger.

But now that the project is starting to get into gear, some Timmins residents want concrete answers rather than vague promises.

It’s important to note that Goldcorp representatives have been insistent on the fact that the Site Plan Control Agreement between the company and the city is separate from the Subsequent Land Use Plan, which is still up for public input as the project moves forward.

The section on the company website relating to the Hollinger project explains that, “Detailed studies have determined that the removal of mine hazards through filling or mining of historic mine workings would allow for partial to full future use of the Hollinger property.”

Planning should determine Vale’s request – by Brian MacLeod (Sudbury Star – November 17, 2012)

November 17, 2012

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

It is the city’s planning committee, not the labour board, that is considering whether to allow Vale to temporarily house workers on its properties, so committee members should consider the request with sound planning principles in mind.

And while the request is obviously not good planning, temporary exemptions to planning regulations are not uncommon. If the city’s planners feel this can be done safely, and it’s a necessary requirement, councillors should consider placing restrictions on how the housing is used, such as a time limit that would require the company to reapply for an exemption.

In June, Vale began work on a historic $2-billion Clean ARE project to retrofit and upgrade its smelter. The largest environmental project of its kind in Sudbury’s history is expected to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions at the Copper Cliff smelter by 70%, bringing emissions down to 45 kilotonnes per year, well below the regulatory limit of 66 kilotonnes per year.

It’s a project that’s of enormous benefit to the city, not just for the obvious environmental advantages, but that amount of money spent on materials and labour is a major boost to the economy. Up to 70% of the money may be spent locally. But since the city has, for years, had a low vacancy rate, Vale says it needs to be ready to house an influx of workers that could hit 1,300 at peak construction in 2014/15.

PQ makes oily mess with its pipeline rhetoric – by Sophie Cousineau (Globe and Mail – November 17, 2012)

November 17, 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.

Just when you think the Parti Québécois has finally put the lid on the outbursts and non-scripted remarks that characterized the party’s first days in power, here comes Daniel Breton.

On Wednesday, Mr. Breton, Quebec’s Environment Minister, said the province could block Enbridge Inc.’s project to transport oil from Alberta to Quebec on environmental grounds. Never would Mr. Breton accept the reversal of the flow of the pipeline between Sarnia and Montreal if it were imposed by Ottawa against Quebec’s will. “What I see is Alberta wanting to transport its oil on our territory without our consent. Are we masters of our own territory or not?” he said, even if is unclear whether the province has authority over the project, which the National Energy Board will review.

After a call from Pauline Marois’ office, Mr. Breton tamed his words. Even his colleague Martine Ouellet, the Natural Resources Minister who has made incendiary remarks of her own, tempered the discourse of this former activist, who is so green he glows in the dark. “There are economic advantages with respect to costs and it also represents an alternate source of supply,” she noted.

There are also political advantages in saving jobs.

In U.S. energy renaissance, flares of fear for Alberta’s oil patch – by Nathan Vanderklippe (Globe and Mail – November 17, 2012)

November 17, 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.

WILLISTON, N.D. — As the sun dips below a grain stubble horizon, the flares flicker into view, a dozen tongues of flame licking against a pink sky.

The flares are natural gas being burned off in the rush for a far more valuable resource – oil. Shining in the gathering dusk, they are industrial glimmers of a changed future for a nation whose long-faltering dreams of energy independence are being revived.

Oil is pouring out of North Dakota. In September, some 728,000 barrels a day flowed, up a startling 57 per cent from the year before. And it’s not just here: Similar fields in Texas and elsewhere are seeing similarly fast rises in oil output, prompting a near-euphoric re-examination of what’s ahead for a country that has long relied heavily on imported oil to fill its gas tanks and keep its economic engine running.

Now, as hundreds of drilling rigs employ technological advances to extract rich reserves of previously untapped energy, the oil renaissance is triggering some startling forecasts.

The International Energy Agency predicted this week that the U.S. is set to become the largest oil-producing nation on earth, more prolific even than Saudi Arabia. One day, the IEA said, the U.S. could drive away most foreign imports.

Alaska-bound rail project could solve Canada’s oil sands problems – by Diane Francis (National Post – November 17, 2012)

November 17, 2012

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

A group of Canadian businessmen has obtained the blessing of Alaskan tribes and Canadian First Nations to build a railroad through their lands that could carry up to five million barrels per day from the oil sands to the super tanker port in Valdez, Alaska.

This is truly a nation-building project that must be seriously evaluated by all governments and the oil industry. Preliminary feelers have been placed and it’s clear that the concept is the most viable and pragmatic solution for Canada’s logistical problems.

The proposed 2,400-kilometre railway would link Fort McMurray, Alta., with the Alaska oil pipeline system then on to the Valdez for export. The proposal, conceived a few years ago in studies commissioned by Alaska and Yukon, would liberate the stranded oil sands and bypass opposition to new pipelines in both countries.

Other solutions have been proposed, but this is the best for many reasons: The group promoting this realizes that any major infrastructure project is a non-starter without a social licence. So they began by seeking and obtaining local support.

“The greatest strength of our Alberta-Alaska railway concept is the support it has received from First Nations along the route and from the Assembly of First Nations across Canada,” said consortium CEO Matt Vickers.