De Beers eyes expansion to mine project near Attawapiskat (CBC News Sudbury – August 15, 2013)

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

Attawapiskat band members interested in negotiating a new Impact Benefit Agreement for the Victor Mine Extension Project.

De Beers Canada is looking into the possibility of extending its current Victor Mine project on northern Ontario’s James Bay Coast, on traditional land, 90 kilometres west of Attawapiskat First Nation.

The company officially opened its existing Victor Mine site in mid-2008, after discovering the region’s lucrative kimberlite field more than two decades earlier. It was the province’s first diamond mine.

With an estimated five years remaining on that open pit diamond mine, the company has proposed the Victor Mine Extension Project.

The project is in an advanced exploration stage at the moment, meaning a final decision on whether to pursue the extension is still at least 18 months away, said Tom Ormsby, the director of external and corporate affairs at De Beers Canada.

An environmental assessment is currently underway, and core samples will be done to gauge the value of minerals in the ground.

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IBK Capital CEO [Michael White] calls the market bottom – by Alisha Hiyate (Mining Markets – August 14, 2013)

http://www.miningmarkets.ca/

Mining Markets recently spoke with Michael White, president and CEO of Toronto-based IBK Capital, for his views on the junior mining market. As the head of IBK, a private investment bank that largely deals with junior miners, White has had a front-row seat to the suffering of these companies over the past two years. While some companies won’t survive the current market malaise, White believes the market is at, or near, a bottom — and predicts a migration of talent from the majors to juniors that will build the next generation of majors.

Mining Markets: IBK does a lot of work with resource juniors, so you’ve got a front-row seat to the difficult markets they’ve been facing. Could you describe the current financing environment for the juniors?

Michael White: In the industry we talk about windows being open and windows being closed, and arguably, the window is closed. There are a few financings getting done, it’s not impossible to get financings completed. Sometimes these companies have to be a bit creative in order to fund their exploration or development, but generally speaking, the mining market today is much poorer than it was a couple years ago.

We really have seen a decrease in value in the equities for the exploration companies and the producing companies in metals and mining over the last two years.

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Foreign aid as a tool for Canadian development – by Campbell Clark (Globe and Mail – August 15, 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.

OTTAWA — The Conservative revolution in Canada’s foreign aid is finally here.

It’s not just that the Harper government has folded the former aid agency, CIDA, into the Foreign Affairs department, ending the flimsy pretense of separation between politics and aid policy. It’s that the money spent by Canada on aid now reflects the Tories’ view of the world, or at least the aid world.

For years the Tories have talked about changing Canadian aid, and NGOs and aid advocates have expressed fears about what they planned. But some of the Tories’ ideas about aid were ad-hoc notions, and it’s taken time for little shifts to really change the aid portfolio – a big, lumbering thing made up of thousands of multiyear projects. Now it has.

There’s a stronger belief in development banks, aid projects built around Canadian commercial interests in mining, and a profound faith in the power of the private sector.

The projects funded this year, especially, show an unmistakable Tory stamp.

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Penny stock fraud: Alleged mastermind Sandy Winick once lived the high life in Toronto – by Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew (Toronto Star – August 15, 2013)

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Winick’s past includes bankruptcy filings, scrutiny by stock market regulators, and co-founding The Fight Network.

More details are coming to light about one-time Toronto resident Sandy Winick, the alleged mastermind of a worldwide pennystock fraud believed to be on the run in Thailand.

Winick’s track record in business includes bankruptcy filings, a dizzying number of subsidiaries and companies that traded over-the-counter, and co-founding testosterone-laden cable channel Fight Network, which features boxing and mixed martial arts.

Winick, who U.S. authorities alleged this week ran the $140 million fraud ring, also has a taste for the highlife, as can be seen in a Star article profiling his home in 2005.

Winick, an aquarium enthusiast, and his wife Jodi spoke about elaborate plans for one salt water and one fresh water tank in their north Toronto home.

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NEWS RELEASE: Ontario to host global mine rescue event

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

The sixth annual International Mine Rescue Body (IMRB) conference will be held at two locations in Ontario this Fall. The symposium portion of the event will be held in Niagara Falls from October 5 to 10, 2013 and the field trip component will be held in Sudbury from October 10 to 13.

More than 160 delegates from 12 nations are expected to attend this international conference. It is being hosted by the Canadian Association of Chief Inspectors of Mines, Canadian mine rescue organizations – including Ontario’s — and the Canadian mining industry in general. Several Ontario Mining Association members are participating in and supporting the conference and field trip.

General topics to be discussed in Niagara Falls include emergency preparedness and response planning, crisis management, effective mine rescue training, emerging rescue technologies and mine rescue research. The chairman of the conference – David Stewart from New Zealand – will present the case for developing an international mine rescue code of practice to set minimum standards and facilitate assistance between and among countries in the case of emergencies.

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Why billionaire Tom Steyer has re-invented himself as an anti-Keystone campaigner – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – August 15, 2013)

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

In an open letter this week inviting Russ Girling, CEO of TransCanada Corp., to a live debate on the merits of the Keystone XL pipeline, California hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer said he is motivated by uncovering the truth.

It’s a noble pursuit. Yet the facts about the pipeline from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast have been in plain sight since its regulatory review in the United States began five years ago.

What’s less known is why Steyer, 56, a President Obama fundraiser and self-described “professional pain in the ass” who is re-inventing himself as a “clean-energy philanthropist,” has suddenly gone sour on the oil sands.

Steyer rose to the top of the list of oil sands foes this year and has been making a name for himself with anti-Keystone XL publicity stunts. His latest hit was a commercial so offensive toward Girling, the oil sands business and Canada that it was pulled off the air last week by WRC-TV, an affiliate of NBC in Washington, D.C.

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A Custom Fit [for Vale’s Newfoundland nickel project] – by Marianne Dupla and Dave Oliphant (Canadian Mining Journal – August 2013)

The Canadian Mining Journal is Canada’s first mining publication.

While it was rigorously testing a customized use of hydrometallurgical technology to assure commercial viability for its mammoth nickel-mining project, Vale Canada Ltd. was also testing a comprehensive effluent treatment program that incorporates new high-rate softening and clarification technology to help protect the environment.

International mining company, Vale, is nearing completion of its US$3.7-billion nickel processing plant at Long Harbour, on Newfoundland’s Placentia Bay. The Brazilian mining company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Vale Canada Limited, formerly known as Vale Inco, is directing the construction of the processing plant, which began in April 2009.

Start-up of the plant is scheduled for August 2013. Once fully operational, it is expected to annually produce 50,000 metric tons of nickel, 4,700 metric tons of copper, and 2,500 metric tons of cobalt.

The mined ore will first undergo a concentrating process at the Voisey’s Bay mine site in Labrador before it is transported by ship to the processing plant at Long Harbour. By processing ore concentrate at the plant, Vale anticipates achieving higher metal recoveries while also eliminating the time and expense of shipping to Ontario or Manitoba for refining.

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UPDATE 1-Job cuts ahead as Rio puts Mongolian expansion on hold (Reuters India – August 14, 2013)

http://in.reuters.com/

LONDON, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Rio Tinto said on Wednesday it would have to cut up to 1,700 jobs in its Mongolian operation, after a more than $5 billion underground expansion of the giant Oyu Tolgoi copper mine was suspended.

The expansion was put on ice last month as the global miner said the Mongolian government wanted parliament, currently in recess, to approve financing for the project. Mongolian Prime Minister Norov Altankhuyag said last week that Rio did not need to seek parliamentary approval for the development’s package.

The delay marked the latest bump in the road for Rio at one of its biggest projects – and one of the world’s largest untapped copper deposits – which started exporting from an open pit mine in July after two last-minute hiccups in securing government approval.

Mongolia has raised concerns about the costs of the Oyu Tolgoi expansion and the potential that rising expenditure will delay when it starts receiving its share of profits.

The government has also complained that locals are not well represented in the management of the project. A Rio spokesman said that the delay was now being implemented.

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Anglo American expands B.C. coal mine with eye on Asia – Brent Jang (Globe and Mail – August 15, 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.

VANCOUVER — Anglo American PLC is expanding its northeastern B.C. mine, betting that the quality of the coal and the ease of transport to Asia will help the company win more contracts from steel makers in Japan, China and others in the region.

London-based Anglo American, one of the world’s largest mining companies, will make the expansion announcement Thursday at its operations near Tumbler Ridge, B.C., about 700 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.

The company has budgeted $50-million for the first phase of a $200-million, multiyear project to boost output of coking (or metallurgical) coal, a key ingredient in the production of steel.

Seamus French, head of Anglo American’s metallurgical coal division, said in an interview that its Tumbler Ridge coal is high quality, and that the rail line transporting it to the port of Prince Rupert for export is underutilized. “We see fantastic long-term potential,” he said in an interview, adding that the mining expansion will provide employment security for the 420 Anglo American workers in B.C. as well as generate 100 construction jobs.

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Indian and Chinese “strong hands” continue to boost gold demand – WGC -by Geoff Candy (Mineweb.com – August 15, 2013)

http://www.mineweb.com/

According to the World Gold Council, the gold market continues to re-balance and demand is moving distinctively from West to East.

Gold demand in India and China is expected to account for close to 45 to 50% of the total gold market by year end, the World Gold Council says, as consumer demand for gold continues to ratchet higher.

Speaking to Mineweb on the launch of the group’s Gold Demand Trend report for the second quarter, MD for investments, Marcus Grubb, explained that based on the figures for the year so far, the council has moved its range for total demand to roughly the same level – 900 – 1000 tonnes each.

Both markets are up roughly 45 to 50% for the year to date and “they are remarkably close together; they are still within about 35 tonnes of each other, which is very similar to where they were in the first half of last year (about 30 tonnes apart) in spite of being 50% larger this year.”

Grubb points out that this forecast implies a new all time high total demand figure for China, comfortably higher than the previous record of 776 tonnes.

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Taking the province to task – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – August 2013)

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.

For northwestern Ontario community leaders, if there’s a physical symbol of the glacial pace of provincial power planning, it’s the dormant Thunder Bay Generating Station.

Last November, Ontario Power Generation stopped work on converting the coal-burning plant to natural gas. The final decision whether to resume or not is expected at the end of summer. “Why are they dragging out this decision on Thunder Bay?” asked Hebert, the former general manager of Thunder Bay Hydro.

Frustrated by the province’s inertia, Larry Hebert, now the chairman of Common Voice Energy Task Force, reminded Ontario’s two leading energy planners last month that the mining boom is coming and they need to hurry up on building power infrastructure.

There’s major concern whether new mines will come into production before an East-West transmission corridor is finished and whether the mothballed Thunder Bay Generating Station will be kept in service.

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UPDATE 2-Platinum miner Lonmin recognises AMCU union, averts strike threat – by Sherilee Lakmidas (Reuters U.S. – August 14, 2013)

http://www.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Platinum producer Lonmin and South Africa’s hardline AMCU said they signed a recognition accord on Wednesday in a move that averts threatened strike action by the union.

The agreement, reached two days before the first anniversary of the massacre of 34 striking workers shot by police at Lonmin’s Marikana mine, opens the way for wage talks between the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union and the company that are expected to start within weeks.

While the deal heads off a potential strike over recognition, the pay talks are expected to be extremely tough, given AMCU is demanding pay hikes as high as 150 percent from Lonmin rival Anglo American Platinum, the world’s top producer of the precious metal.

Members of AMCU, which claims most of Lonmin’s workforce, have twice this year staged brief illegal strikes at its mines and had threatened to down tools again unless the company recognised it as the dominant union.

The agreement formally recognises AMCU as the majority union at Lonmin, the world’s third largest platinum producer.

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Mining review not good enough: Steelworkers – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – August 14, 2013)

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

United Steelworkers Local 6500 president Rick Bertrand, and union health and safety representatives will meet Thursday with Labour Minister Yasir Naqvi to press their demand a full inquiry be called into mine safety in Ontario.

USW officials will go into the meeting convinced that Premier Kathleen Wynne and her Liberal government have “officially rejected” the call for a full-blown inquiry and are planning to announce a mining review be held instead.

The union said a senior government source informed them of Wynne’s decision not to hold an inquiry, similar to the one under way now into the June 2012 collapse of the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, in which two women were killed.

The source told the union the Liberals will instead announce plans for a review of mining practices “that falls short of the scope and standards of a commission of inquiry,” USW said in a news release.

The announcement about a review could come as early as this week, said the union. Bertrand called a review “an unacceptable alternative” to an inquiry. “It’s a disgrace this government believes it can placate miners, our families and our communities with its watered-down plan for a review,” said an angry Bertrand on his way to Toronto for the meeting with Naqvi.

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Coast to coast, a power grid stretched thin – by Shawn McCarthy and Josh Kerr (Globe and Mail – August 15, 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.

OTTAWA AND TORONTO — Faced with rising demand and aging infrastructure, Toronto Hydro is spending $184-million to install a transformer just south of the CN Tower to keep the lights on and air conditioners humming along the city’s lake shore.

It’s the first new transformer station the utility has built since the 1950s, and part of an ongoing investment plan to ensure North America’s fourth-largest city has a reliable power system that can withstand whatever nature or malicious humans might throw at it.

But observers warn that work under way in North America to improve power reliability isn’t addressing all of the most critical problems. Across Canada, electricity companies are spending billions a year to reinforce aging transmission and distribution systems, with the industry estimating it will need nearly $300-billion over all in the next two decades to meet Canada’s demand for reliable power, according to a 2012 report by the Conference Board of Canada. That sort of spending requires an assured rate of return for utilities and other investors footing the bill, and consumers are increasingly reluctant to stump up.

“What it comes down to is a discussion about what is the value of reliability; what is the value of risk reduction,” said Jim Burpee, president of the Canadian Electricity Association.

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