Investors press Canada over oil, gas, mining transparency laws – by (Thomson Reuters Foundation – August 29, 2013)

http://www.trust.org/

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – A group of international investors with $5.8 trillion under management has written to the Canadian government urging it to enact extractive transparency laws like those recently passed in Europe and the United States.

Transparency campaigners and a number of Western governments have pushed for greater transparency in the extractive sector so that citizens of resource-rich countries can better hold both their governments and extractive companies to account.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged in June to push forward mandatory reporting requirements for the Canadian oil, gas and mining industry that would force the companies to publish the payments they make to governments around the world. Canada has one of the world’s largest extractive sectors in developing countries.

About 3.5 billion people live in countries with extensive oil, gas or mineral reserves, but poor governance and corruption mean many of them do not benefit from the wealth created by their extraction.

“From an investor perspective, the key is reducing risk – operating risk for oil, gas and mining companies who face potential unrest – even violence – from a populace that sees little benefit from its mineral wealth;

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There’s enough for everybody here – by Harvey Yesno – Onotassiniik Magazine (Fall 2013)

 http://www.onotassiniik.com/

Harvey Yesno is the Grand Chief of NAN (Nishnawbe Aski Nation).

The following is excerpted from an opening address by Grand Chief Harvey Yesno at the Nishnawbe Aski Nation Chiefs Assembly in Mattagami First Nation, April 9, and his follow-up comments to chiefs about resource development and infrastructure, April 10.

It’s time to get down to business for Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN). The First Nations across James Bay Treaty 9 and the Ontario portion of Treaty 5 will not be bystanders or a stakeholder or an interest group as Ontario and Canada prepare to take our interest in the lands and resources to market. …

I am committed to ensuring that there be a balanced treaty and economic approach. NAN First Nations and our future generations will benefit from the development in our territory as was intended at the time of the treaty. …  How do we provoke the implementation of our treaties?

We must develop a strategic approach that includes ensuring that our treaty partners, Canada and Ontario, are equally responsible to uphold the promises made at the time of the treaty. Canada and Ontario cannot opt out of addressing the needs and concerns of NAN. Ontario cannot wash its hands of the duty to consult and accommodate First Nations, nor can it download its responsibility to industry. …

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Congo, beyond the conflict: Six reasons why it matters – by Vava Tampa (CNN.com – August 28, 2013)

http://www.cnn.com/

Editor’s note: Vava Tampa, a native of Congo, is the founder of Save the Congo, a London-based campaign to tackle “the impunity, insecurity, institutional failure and the international trade of minerals funding the wars in Democratic Republic of the Congo.”

(CNN) — Mention DR Congo, Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest country, and what comes to mind? Probably conflict minerals, proxy wars, the rape capital of the world, or the trigger for the 19th century “Scramble for Africa.”

But beyond the despair, there is another country; a country not like any other country in the world — a country with rich ancient traditions, a colorful cultural energy and creativity, amazing potential and much, much more.

Ask historians or archaeologists — one of the earliest known mathematical objects, the Ishango bone, was not made in Ancient Greece, Mesopotamia or Renaissance Europe but around Congo’s Lake Edward around 18,000 BC.

It is certainly difficult to picture this today: thirty-two years of dictatorship followed by wars, invasions and bad governance reduced Congo from being a potential economic powerhouse to one of the world’s poorest countries.

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South African gold producers gear up for strikes from Sunday – by Ed Stoddard and Sherilee Lakmidas (Reuters Canada – August 28, 2013)

http://ca.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African gold producers are preparing for bruising strikes that could start as early as Sunday, with some companies planning for stoppages of up to three months in a high-stakes fight between capital and labor in Africa’s biggest economy.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) will give gold producers on Friday 48-hours’ notice of its members’ intention to strike over deadlocked wage talks, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.

“The decision to issue a strike notice on Friday has now been taken,” the source, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. Workers could then begin stoppages from the Sunday night or Monday morning shifts in the country’s gold mines.

A complete shutdown of the gold sector could cost South Africa more than $35 million a day in lost output, according to calculations based on the spot price.

This will pile pressure on a struggling economy already weighed down by a slew of ongoing strikes in auto manufacturing, construction and aviation services, and facing threatened stoppages by textile workers and petrol station employees.

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Fears grow about Reko Diq Gold mines…Baloch senator says deal offered to China; government denies – by Shaheen Sehbai ([Pakistan] The News International – August 28, 2013)

http://www.thenews.com.pk/

WASHINGTON: While major world mining and investment companies are preparing to invest big time, big money in Balochistan, specially in the mining sector, suspicions and doubts that the biggest gold mine of Reko Diq may be quietly handed over to China as part of the growing economic ties are also coming to the fore.

Official and business circles have been wondering for some time what will happen to the multi-hundred billion dollar Reko Diq gold and copper mines after the world’s largest mining company, Barrick Gold of Canada, was thrown out of Pakistan by the Supreme Court of Pakistan during the PPP regime.

But after the recent visit of high level government delegation to China and a flurry of quick MoUs and super-paced exchange of visits, an important leader from Balochistan, former Senator Sana Baloch has alleged publicly that the government has promised these mines to China in a year or so.

While the Government leaders strongly denied any deal or any promise made during the Beijing visit, an official Pakistan Government statement assuring that the Reko Diq mines will be given to the highest bidder in an international tender is still awaited.

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NWT seeks $600 million for roads, bridges (CBC News North – August 28, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/north/

Minister says oil, gas, and mining industry would benefit

The Northwest Territories wants to welcome heavy industry such as mining and oil and gas extraction. But Industry Minister Dave Ramsay says it won’t happen without a hefty investment from Canadian taxpayers.

Ramsay says the NWT’s requests for federal infrastructure spending add up to $600 million. The territory wants the money to improve roads, airports, bridges and other infrastructure over the next decade.

This week in Yellowknife, ministers in charge of mining in all three Northern territories met with industry representatives. Delegates called for improved roads and air transport.

Ramsay says the territory of about 40,000 people cannot invest in such huge projects alone. He says better infrastructure would benefit local residents and set the stage for industry.

“We want companies to come back and invest in exploration and development of our resources. We need that infrastructure in place to allow that to happen,” he said.

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Russia orders oil cut to Belarus after potash clash – by Dmitry Zhdannikov and Vladimir Soldatkin (Reuters U.S. – August 28, 2013)

http://www.reuters.com/

MOSCOW – (Reuters) – Russia ordered its oil firms on Wednesday to cut supplies to neighboring Belarus by around a quarter, in a major escalation of a trade and diplomatic dispute following the arrest in Minsk of the boss of Russian potash firm.

Trade disputes between Russia and Belarus have affected oil deliveries in the past, causing knock-on disruptions to pipeline flows via Belarus to European countries such as Poland and Germany.

Memories of those cuts, which led to oil price spikes, resurfaced this week after a major diplomatic row erupted between Moscow and Minsk.

Belarus this week detained chief executive of Russia’s Uralkali (URKA.MM), the world’s top potash producer, accusing him of inflicted severe economic damage following the collapse of a Russia-Belarus sales cartel.

Russia demanded the release of Vladislav Baumgertner. Uralkali controls 20 percent of the world market and is partially owned by Suleiman Kerimov, a billionaire with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration.

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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH NEWS RELEASE: Tanzania: Hazardous Life of Child Gold Miners AUGUST 28, 2013


http://www.hrw.org/home

Government, World Bank, Donors Should Address Child Labor in Mines

Click here for full report: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/tanzania0813_ForUpload_0.pdf

(Dar Es Salaam) – Children as young as eight years old are working in Tanzanian small-scale gold mines, with grave risks to their health and even their lives, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The Tanzanian government should curb child labor in small-scale mining, including at informal, unlicensed mines, and the World Bank and donor countries should support these efforts.

The 96-page report, “Toxic Toil: Child Labor and Mercury Exposure in Tanzania’s Small-Scale Gold Mines,”describes how thousandsof children work in licensed and unlicensed small-scale gold mines in Tanzania, Africa’s fourth-largest gold producer. They dig and drill in deep, unstable pits, work underground for shifts of up to 24 hours, and transport and crush heavy bags of gold ore. Children risk injury from pit collapses and accidents with tools, as well as long-term health damage from exposure to mercury, breathing dust, and carrying heavy loads. A 17-year-old boy who survived a pit accident told Human Rights Watch, “I thought I was dead, I was so frightened.”

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Israel looks to glitter in world diamond trade – by Ari Rabinovitch (Reuters India – August 29, 2013)

http://in.reuters.com/

RAMAT GAN, Israel – (Reuters) – The Israel Diamond Exchange flexed its muscles this week, hosting a four-day show it hopes will strengthen its position as a major hub, and market leaders voiced optimism the struggling industry would have a strong end to the year.

Hundreds of companies crowded the world’s biggest diamond trading floor on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, where buyers, under heavy security and armed with eye loupes, ambled through rows of tables that displayed $2 billion of precious stones.

It was the largest event the exchange had held. Official figures were not made public, but Yair Sahar, president of the exchange, said sales were in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and he expected the show to provide a $2 billion boost by the end of the year.

“The eyes of the world are watching us. The mining companies, the jewelry manufacturers, they are wishing – ‘please be successful’,” Sahar said. Israel is already a key trading center and diamonds account for about 20 percent of all industrial exports. Manufacturing has dwindled, but trading has thrived, reaching an annual turnover of $25 billion.

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Anti-mining protests biggest hurdle for Peru’s mining growth – S&P – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – August 29, 2013)

http://www.mineweb.com/

Peru’s mining sector may be booming, but the country need political stability to support long-term mining growth, Standard & Poor’s advises.

RENO (MINEWEB) – Of all the challenges facing Peru’s mining sector, Standard & Poor’s considers anti-mining protests the main constraint on its expansion “because if protests become more widespread, other mining projects could be delayed or scrapped entirely.”

Nevertheless, S&P Credit Analysts Diego Campo, Francisco Serra and Richard A. Francis feel “Peru’s mining sector is poised for significant growth, thanks to its large and high-quality metals reserves, reasonable tax regime, regulations that promote private investment, attractive power costs, and a long track record of mining activity. Plus, the country has fostered the development of ancillary-services suppliers and qualified manpower.”

“We expect investment in the energy and mining sectors will continue at a steady, rapid pace through the 2016 national elections, supporting future economic growth,” the analysts forecast in note published Wednesday. “Moreover, fiscal revenues from the mining sector, along with implementation of the new fiscal rule, should help Peru’s fiscal accounts and continue to reduce the government’s debt burden.”

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Crossworks inks deal with Chinese firm – by Star Staff (Sudbury Star – August 29, 2013)

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

Craftspeople at Sudbury’s Crossworks Manufacturing Ltd. plant will soon be cutting and polishing diamonds for the world’s largest jewelry company, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd.

Crossworks president Uri Ariel has just signed a long-term supply and licensing agreement with the Chinese firm to provide Crossworks’ patented hearts and arrows ideal cut square diamond to the company.

Under the terms of the agreement, Chow Tai Fook will have exclusive distribution rights to sell the uniquely cut diamonds through its extensive retail network in Greater China.
Crossworks Manufacturing Ltd., a member of the HRA Group of Companies, is a Canadian company with five polishing facilities in Canada, Vietnam and Namibia. One of the Canadian plants is located in downtown Sudbury, where about 35 cutters process 10% of the diamonds mined by De Beers in the James Bay Lowlands.

Crossworks designed the square cut hearts and arrows diamond to enhance the brilliance, fire and scintillation in a square cut diamond, company spokesman Dylan Dix said in a release.

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Vale workers rescued from rooftop: Final update – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – August 29, 2013)

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

Two employees working on a roof had to be rescued and were taken to hospital for examination, but there were no injuries after a $2-million fire broke out at Vale’s Clarabelle Mill on Wednesday at 9:15 a.m.

Thirty firefighters from five downtown stations responded in 10 vehicles and, in about 90 minutes, contained a fire that was belching black smoke into the area, said a fire official.

Leo Frappier, senior public safety officer with Greater Sudbury Fire Services, said at 11 a.m. the fire had been downgraded from a Level 2 to a Level 1, and was contained to the building. A Level 2 fire is one in which there could have been “contaminants in the air, but there’s none,” said Frappier.

Vale spokeswoman Angie Robson said no one was injured and there was no threat to public safety. By mid-afternoon, Robson said the fire seemed to have been confined to one of three crushing lines at the mill, so the impact on production was expected to be minimal.

The cause of the fire was unknown, she said, and there was no estimate of damage.

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How to price a barrel of water in the oil sands – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – August 29, 2013)

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

We all know the value of a barrel of oil, but how do you put a price on a barrel of water? It’s a growing and challenging debate in the oil sands, where oil, which sells at a readily available market price, and water, which is priceless but restricted, are so intertwined one cannot be produced without somehow shortchanging the other.

Indeed, oil sands projects are also giant water handling factories, with oil sands mines using on average of about 3.1 barrels of fresh water for every barrel of oil they produce, and in-situ operations using about 0.4 barrels of fresh water for every oil barrel they produce.

Much like the larger debate over the oil sands’ greenhouse emissions, views on the right oil and water mix are polarized: for some, any water used to produce oil comes at an unacceptable cost to an ecosystem that needs it; for others, water use is minor relative to its abundance and justified by the value it creates through oil.

Environmental organizations like the Pembina Institute, for one, are indignant over withdrawals of any amounts of water from rivers like the Athabasca that run through Alberta’s oil sands region, claim development contaminates water bodies nearby and that monitoring is inadequate.

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Industrial policy good place to start generating Ontario’s economic growth -by Martin Regg Cohn (Toronto Star – August 29, 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.

The recovery from the 2008 economic slump has been feeble. Against that backdrop, all three parties are flailing. Time to get serious about jobs.

The party that best persuades voters it is serious about Ontario’s economic future will be best positioned to win the next campaign.

The recovery from the 2008 economic slump has been feeble. The political leadership has been equally weak. All these years later, all three parties are flailing.

The Tories have produced a dozen discussion papers that retreat into union-bashing and privatization to drive economic renewal. The New Democrats are obsessed with hiking corporate taxes as a panacea for prosperity.

And after a decade in power, the governing Liberals are adrift. Seven months after taking over, Premier Kathleen Wynne has yet to make her economic mark or even hint at a new vision for growth.

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The Ring of Fire: Ontario’s Mega Mining Project to be the “Next Fort McMurray” – by Derek Leahy ( DeSmog Canada – August 28, 2013)

http://www.desmog.ca/

Ontario’s largest mining find in decades – a 5000 square km region known as the Ring of Fire – won’t be developed by Cleveland-based Cliffs Natural Resources without facing significant obstacles.

“We question whether the Ring of Fire can be mined without being a massive financial burden on Ontario taxpayers, or without trashing the province’s most pristine watershed,” says Ramsey Hart, Canada program coordinator for MiningWatch Canada, an Ottawa-based organization.

“It is also unclear if this development will proceed in the best interests of the First Nations living in the Ring of Fire,” Hart told DeSmog Canada.

A briefing note to the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs from earlier this year warns that the Anishinaabe/Omushkego* (First Nations of the Ring of Fire) “are some of the most socioeconomically disadvantaged communities in all of Canada” and this could prevent the Anishinaabe/Omushkego from benefitting from the Ring of Fire mega mining project.

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