The White Stuff: Mining Giant Rio Tinto Unearths Unrest in Madagascar – by Jessica Hatcher (Time World Magazine – February 8, 2013)

http://world.time.com/

Fort Dauphin – For five days in January, a few hundred protesters armed with slingshots in Fort Dauphin, Madagascar, blocked the road to one of the country’s largest economic assets, a $940 million mining operation run by the British-Australian company Rio Tinto. Their grievances were local: high unemployment, alleged political corruption and unsatisfactory reimbursement for relocating homes to make room for the mine. But the protest’s effects were global, and relate to anyone who wants to brush their teeth, put on sunscreen or whitewash their house.

Fort Dauphin could have supplied a tenth of the world’s ilmenite, a mineral used to make titanium dioxide, the white pigment commonly found in toothpaste, cosmetics and paint. The product is a staple of household goods in the west and global demand is growing, especially in India and China. But three weeks after the Fort Dauphin standoff, which ended when the Malagasy military dispersed the crowd with teargas, Rio Tinto announced a major scale-back in Madagascar. The company is shelving plans for a second – and larger –mine nearby in St. Luce, which leaves only one of three planned sites in operation.

The cuts mark a potential setback for Madagascar, where 70% of the population lives on less than $1 per day. The African nation has hydrocarbon deposits, gold, and half of the world’s sapphires, and the arrival of mining companies like Rio Tinto brought the prospect of improved economic conditions. But the protesters in Fort Dauphin say the mine exploited them, a charge the company denies.

Fort Dauphin is a small stretch of arable land bordered by mountains and sea in southeastern Madagascar. When Rio Tinto moved in to set up its mine, the only land it could offer in compensation to displaced locals had little agricultural value, so the company gave out cash.

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Mali turmoil bad for Canadian mining ambitions in West Africa: analysts – by Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press/CTV News – February 8, 2013)

http://www.ctvnews.ca/

OTTAWA, Ont. — As Islamist rebels controlled a chunk of Mali the size of France late last month, Toronto-mining analyst Pawel Rajszel honed his advice to investors on a leading Canadian mining company in the country.

Rajszel had previously told investors to “take their money and run.” His note of Jan. 24 concluded with one word: “Sell.”
Even after French and African troops routed al Qaeda terrorists from major cities in Mali’s north this week — and after French President Francois Hollande basked in the euphoria of a liberated Timbuktu — Rajszel was still unmoved.

“We haven’t changed our opinion,” Rajszel, head of the precious metals team at Veritas Investment Research, told The Canadian Press.

The Mali crisis and its spillover into West Africa are a monkey wrench in the Harper government’s ambitions for Canadian firms, especially in the mining sector.

The government is actively promoting Canadian business opportunities in Africa, but has no stomach for contributing troops to the French-led military campaign to drive al Qaeda-linked extremists out of northern Mali. Industry analysts say headlines about terrorists gaining a foothold in West Africa are chilling investors, and casting a pall over future prospects.

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NEWS RELEASE: Release of the study Metal Processing and Greater Montréal: A Sustainable and Promising Alliance by the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal

Montréal, February 7, 2013 ‒ Today the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal is releasing the results of its study Metal Processing and Greater Montréal: A Sustainable and Promising Alliance. The study shows that the economic spinoffs of metal processing for the Montréal metropolitan area are in the order of $1.8 billion per year, maintaining 19,000 direct and indirect jobs.

“The study we are releasing today furthers the analysis that began in 2012 about the spinoffs of natural resource exploitation for the metropolitan area,” said Michel Leblanc, President and CEO of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. “The Government of Quebec announced its intention to hold consultations on the royalty regime and will soon propose new legislation on mining. Given this, it is important that we base our debate on facts and dispel any myths. The Board of Trade study clearly shows that Quebec already processes a significant portion of the metal extracted in the province, contrary to what is widely believed. This is in addition to processing ore from abroad.”

“The fact that we process a significant share of metals doesn’t mean there’s no room for improvement,” Michel Leblanc said. “To take full advantage of business opportunities in natural resource exploitation, we can increase the spill-over effects upstream and downstream in the value chain. That said, we have to do it intelligently, based on the particularities and challenges of each sector, from extraction to tertiary processing. The situation changes dramatically, depending on whether we’re dealing with iron, copper, nickel, gold or titanium.”

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Why Africa Will Rule The 21st Century – Anver Versi (African Business – January 7, 2013)

http://africanbusinessmagazine.com/main-articles/new-african

According to the authors of a new book, The Fastest Billion – the story behind Africa’ s Economic Revolution, Africa’ s current sustained growth level is set to not only continue but rise over the next four decades so that, come 2050, the continent’ s GDP will equal the combined GDPs of the US and the EU at current prices. There is a possibility that Africa’ s growth could outstrip that of Asia over this time span. Some have described this scenario as over-optimistic and an exercise in wishful thinking. But the authors of the book put forward sound arguments based on analyses of trends going back centuries to support their thesis. Editor Anver Versi talked to the book’ s lead author, economist Charles Robertson, to outline the case for a defence of the theory.

The one thing most economists and historians are agreed upon is that we have not yet discovered a magic formula that allows us to explain why civilizations rise and fall when they do. The best we can do is in retrospect and assign this or that cause to the rise of this power and the decline of that power but what triggers the change that turns a humdrum nation into a mighty empire, or what series of events bring about the collapse of a mighty power continues to baffle us. There are so many ifs and buts, so many accidental turns, so much good fortune or bad fortune involved in the destiny of nations that crystal ball gazing by crunching numbers has shown up many prophets of the future to be little more than educated idiots.

Take this passage quoted by Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and the former MD of the World Bank, in a foreword to The Fastest Billion: “Imagine a continent torn by multiple wars, beset by ethnic and religious warfare, malnutrition, disease and illiteracy – all of it complicated by poorly drawn borders, a still potent post-colonial stigma and the incessant meddling of outside powers.

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Metals processing in Montreal worth about C$1.8bn to metropolitan economy – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – February 8, 2013)

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The economic spinoffs of metals processing in the Montreal metropolitan area are worth about C$1.8-billion a year and maintain about 19 000 direct and indirect jobs, a study by the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal said on Thursday.

The report, titled ‘Metal processing and Greater Montreal: A sustainable and promising alliance’ found 46% of Quebec’s primary processing businesses and 42% of its secondary processing businesses were located in the metropolitan area, and an increase in activity in this sector would benefit the city’s manufacturing industry.

“The study we are releasing today furthers the analysis that began in 2012 about the spinoffs of natural resource exploitation for the metropolitan area. The Government of Quebec announced its intention to hold consultations on the royalty regime and will soon propose new legislation on mining.

“Given this, it is important that we base our debate on facts and dispel any myths. The Board of Trade study clearly shows that Quebec already processes a significant portion of the metal extracted in the province, contrary to what is widely believed. This is in addition to processing ore from abroad,” Board of Trade CEO Michel Leblanc said. He added that the fact that Montreal processes a significant share of metals did not mean there was no room for improvement.

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Teck Resources changes tune on acquisition opportunities – by Peter Koven (National Post – February 8, 2013)

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

When Teck Resources Ltd. holds its quarterly earnings conference calls, chief executive Don Lindsay is always asked about acquisition opportunities. His usual response is that Teck is looking, but price tags are too high.

That changed on Thursday’s call. He acknowledged that values have come down in recent months and more assets have come available. That includes projects in the iron ore sector, an industry that Teck has been eager to break into for years. Mr. Lindsay also speculated more assets could come available as many large mining companies are writing down projects, firing senior management and cleaning up their portfolios.

Teck has not made a major acquisition since 2008, and this would be a reasonable time to do it. In addition to the iron ore opportunities, the Vancouver-based miner is facing declining copper production over the next couple of years. Its key copper growth projects in Chile are being held up by permitting delays, meaning it is unclear when they will reach production.

“Something that might fill the gap would be of interest to us,” Mr. Lindsay said. However, he tempered speculation that Teck will do a deal. He said it remains “pretty tough” to pull off a successful transaction, and pointed out that Teck’s “stay the course” strategy of organic growth is poised to deliver major production increases for shareholders in the years ahead.

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Stalled pipeline projects costing Canada $30M-$70M a day, new report suggests – by Lauren Krugel (National Post – February 8, 2013)

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

CALGARY — Canadian Press – The inability to get oil sands crude to the right markets is costing the Canadian economy dearly, according to a new report paid for by the Saskatchewan government.

Each stalled pipeline project means a loss to the Canadian economy of between $30-million and $70-million every day, said the report penned by the Canada West Foundation, a Calgary-based think-tank.

“The loss to the Canadian economy will be devastating if we don’t dramatically expand our pipeline capacity to multiple markets,” said Canada West Foundation CEO Dylan Jones. “Abandoning this industry to oil producing countries with lower standards is not leadership.”

The report was commissioned by the Saskatchewan government, whose premier has been an outspoken supporter of new pipeline projects. Most recently, Brad Wall, along with 10 U.S. governors, signed a letter urging U.S. President Barack Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline.

In recent months, oil sands crude has been trading at a painfully steep discount to both U.S. and global light crude benchmarks. It’s a trend that has both eroded oilpatch profits and caused the Alberta government to warn of a $6-billion budget shortfall.

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NEWS RELEASE: UNITED STEELWORKERS DONATE $50,000 FOR LAURENTIAN RESEARCH CHAIR IN OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY


(L to R) Caleb Leduc, CROSH Graduate student School of Human Kinetics; Dr. Michel Larivière, Associate Director of Laurentian University’s Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health and Associate Professor within Laurentian’s School of Human Kinetics; Alexandra Clement, Graduate student representative for CROSH; Tamás Zsolnay, Executive Director University Advancement; Rick Bertrand, president of Steelworkers Local 6500; Leo Gerard, President of the United Steel Workers and Chair of the CROSH advisory board.

Sudbury, ON (FEBRUARY 7, 2013) The United Steelworkers (USW) today announced a donation of $50,000 toward the establishment of a Research Chair in Occupational Health and Safety at Laurentian University.

The new Research Chair in the Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health (CROSH) will lead research relevant to a broad range of workplaces. The Research Chair will work to make the Centre a national and international leader in occupational health and safety research, development, education, training, and global best practices. The CROSH Research Chair will be supported by a team of researchers, graduate students, and other personnel.

“Occupational health and safety is critical for the well-being of all workers and the overall economic health and productivity of our communities,” said Leo W. Gerard President, USW International. “The United Steelworkers is extremely pleased to be able to make this donation to help fund a Research Chair in Occupational Health and Safety at Laurentian University.”

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[Bartolucci retires] ‘We must move forward’ – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – February 8, 2013)

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

Former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau decided to leave politics in 1984 during a fateful walk in the snow. Sudbury Liberal MPP Rick Bartolucci arrived at the same conclusion after Christmas while walking a Florida beach with his wife, Maureen.

Nineteen years to the day after he agreed to run for the Sudbury Liberals, Bartolucci announced he will resign from cabinet Monday, will not run in the next provincial election, but will serve out his term of office. “Together we achieved great things for our community,” Bartolucci told a crowd of about 175 people Thursday at the Caruso Club, the same place he made the decision to enter provincial politics in 1994.

Bartolucci, 69, was unapologetic about the “stunts” he pulled to draw attention to issues in Sudbury when his party was in opposition. He shared credit for the $8 billion he said his government has invested in Sudbury since 2003 with the people of the city.

“In short, we went from being a have-not to a have community,” said Bartolucci, rhyming off a number of “key achievements.”

Among them were building and opening the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and seven elementary schools, investing $2.7 billion in health care including funds to reduce wait times, hire new nurses and build 450 more long-term care beds, and making headway on the four-laning of Highway 69 south.

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NEWS RELEASE: MINERS FOR CANCER RAISES OVER $60,000 FOR CANCER RESEARCH & PROGRAMS


(L to R) Rob Payette with his wife Marlene and daughter Lucinah picking up the 2nd prize Kubota RTV.

Sudbury, February 08, 2013 – Miners for Cancer is pleased to announce that their annual Allan Epps Memorial Hockey Challenge (sponsored by Sandvik), that took place January 24-27th at the T.M. Davies Community Arena, generated $60,540. This brings the group’s fundraising total to over $700,000 – all of which is donated to cancer research and programs in Northern Ontario.

“This was a really great way to kick off our 2013 fundraising year,” said Wayne Tonelli, President, Miners for Cancer, “and we will keep on fundraising for cancer research & programs as long as cancer keeps affecting our community.”

To help with fundraising efforts, Miners for Cancer held a raffle draw and throughout the days leading up to the hockey challenge, board members and participating hockey players took part in selling tickets. The draw took place on Saturday, January 26th, and the winners were:

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Yukon’s court ruling on free-entry mining could help Idle No More – by Bertrand Schepper (Rabble.ca – January 22, 2013)

http://rabble.ca/

On December 27 this past year, the appeals court of the Yukon Territory gave an important ruling regarding the rights of First Nations in relation to Yukon’s free-entry mining policy. The plaintiff in the case, the Ross River Dena Council tribe, considers that Yukon’s government cannot allow quartz production on its territory without first consulting the Council. The Kaska nation, to which the Ross River Council belongs, owns more than 63,000 square km, which represents nearly 13 per cent of the entire Yukon Territory.

Just as does Quebec’s Mining Act, based on free mining principles, Yukon’s Quartz Mining Act allows any person (physical or moral) the right to claim a given territory of up to 1,500 square feet, but to record it only afterwards. This after-the-fact procedure is a mere administrative formality. To keep one’s rights over the land, one just needs to demonstrate that more than $100 has been invested on the claimed territory.

A person, in most cases a mining company, which has claimed land may start exploration activities without giving any additional information to governments. However, since these activities entail transforming the land both environmentally and economically, the Ross River Dena Council considers that its ancestral rights take precedence over the Quartz Mining Act, voted in 2003, and that Yukon’s government must consult First Nations before it can allow anyone to claim parcels of their land.

Justice Tysoe, Justice Groberman, and Justice Hinkson have ruled that “While Class 1 exploration programs are limited, they may still seriously impede or prevent the enjoyment of some Aboriginal rights in more than a transient or trivial manner.” The appeals court goes on to conclude that “the [mining] regime must allow for an appropriate level of consultation before Aboriginal claims are adversely affected.”

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Getting a stake in the mining patch – by Justine Hunter (Globe and Mail – January 11, 2013)

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.

VICTORIA — British Columbia had a banner year for mining investment in 2012. But the $463-million poured into the ground represents just a handful of successful projects. Most junior mining companies were running up against skeptical investors who have watched one too many projects fall apart because of the endless battle over ownership of the land and the resources below ground.

The mining industry does not need to follow the Idle No More movement to know it has a problem. For decades, conflict with first nations over mining resources has been blamed for curtailing the industry’s growth. When mining executives meet later this month for their annual conference in Vancouver, they’ll do so in an aboriginal-themed pavilion, part of a growing recognition that successful ventures will hinge on the co-operation of affected first nations.

A Dec. 27 court ruling offers a new reason to try to build a better relationship. The decision directs the Yukon government to consult with first nations before allowing prospectors to stake a mining claim. In B.C.,where most of the Crown land is still subject to aboriginal land claims, the ruling can’t be ignored.

The 16-page unanimous decision of the Yukon Court of Appeal – penned by three B.C. Appeal Court judges – gives the government there one year to introduce a consultation mechanism.

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NEWS RELEASE: Landmark Yukon Free-Entry Mining Court Ruling a Serious Wake-up Call for BC (January 14, 2013)

VANCOUVER, Jan. 14, 2013 /CNW/ – The BC government and mining industry have been given a blaring wake-up call in the form of a precedent-setting court ruling against the existing free-entry claims process, says the BC First Nations Energy and Mining Council.

The government and industry now has the choice of spending huge sums and possibly several years trying to fight this decision before the Supreme Court of Canada, where First Nations have a winning record, or sit down now with First Nations to finally come up with a better way of doing business, says the FNEMC.

The ruling has huge national ramifications and is most immediately and directly applicable to the BC system – on which the Yukon system is based. Delivered Dec. 27 by three justices from the BC Court of Appeal sitting in Whitehorse, the court decision granted an appeal by the Ross River Dena Council (RRDC) and found that allowing claims staking without first consulting First Nations is a break of the Crown’s duty to consult.

“This decision will eventually result in significant reforms to the mining industry across British Columbia,” said FNEMC Board Director Chief Roland Willson. “For the first time in a mining case the Courts have said the duty to consult and accommodate must take place prior to the granting of an exploration interest, including the commencement of activities.”

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NEWS RELEASE: Lithium is Driver of Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Growth – by Jean-Sébastien Lavallée (February 8, 2012)

Access to Supply in Regions minus Geopolitical Strife Crucial

Jean-Sébastien Lavallée, P.Geo, President and Chief Executive Officer of Critical Elements Corporation, www.cecorp.ca, represents the third generation of an established Canadian mining family. Mr. Lavallée joined Critical Elements Corporation in 2009. In 2010, Mr. Lavallée made the discovery of the Company’s 100% owned-Rose Tantalum-Lithium Project in James Bay, Quebec.

Lithium is a key component of lithium-ion battery packs that power electric vehicles (Evs) and hybrid vehicles. A recent report from Pike Research forecast global sales of EV charging equipment will grow from 200,000 units sold in 2012 to nearly 2.4 million in 2020, representing a compound annual growth rate of 37%. With lithium a key component to the electric vehicle market, it is crucial that North America has adequate supply to this critical element minus any geopolitical conflicts.

Credit Suisse has forecast a 10.3 percent annual growth in demand for lithium between 2009 and 2020. Global lithium demand has tripled over the past decade, and the global market price of lithium carbonate has tripled since 2001 to its current level of around $6,500 per ton. An industrial research report by David & Company forecasts that the global market for lithium-ion batteries will increase to $43 billion by 2020 compared to an $11 billion levels in 2010 with the primary catalyst the increased demand for electric cars.

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Attawapiskat and diamonds – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (February 8, 2013)

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

SORTING out the situation confronting Attawapiskat First Nation and the nearby Victor diamond mine is difficult at best. On the surface, all should be well. Mine owner DeBeers Canada spends a considerable amount of money in the community of 1,900 people — $40 million in business contracts in 2012 alone, it says.

It contributes more through an impact development agreement it signed when the mine opened — which earned it Mining Magazine’s Mine of the Year award in 2009 — though it agreed not to divulge details and the band office won’t. The company gives Attawapiskat about $2 million a year for use of its traditional land. It also hires locally and provides various training programs. Up to 100 of the mine’s 500 employees are from Attawapiskat.

While an audit of the federal government’s $95-million transfer to the band found paperwork discrepancies, together with the money the mine pays and spends, the people of the First Nation would hardly seem to be short of money. Yet a group of residents have been blockading the road to the mine over vague allegations that the money is not getting to the community.

DeBeers developed a comprehensive policy on aboriginal involvement in its operations. On its website the company “acknowledges the status of aboriginal people of Canada and their constitutionally entrenched rights” and “will work to strike a balance between these considerations and other economic, social and environmental responsibilities.”

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