Labour finally invited into ONTC talks – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – December 2, 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.

The unions at the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC) say they’ve won a small victory in being asked to participate in the provincial process to determine the future of the Crown-owned agency.

“It’s great news,” said Brian Kelly, spokesman for the General Chairperson’s Association. “This is what we’ve been looking for. This is actually a very good day as far as we’re concerned.”

Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle issued a Dec. 2 release that the provincial government’s previous 2012 marching orders to sell off the assets of the ONTC have been officially “revised” to look at other options.

In signalling a stark change in policy direction, Gravelle said the memorandum of understanding has changed from a “mandate for divestment to a mandate for transformation of the ONTC.”

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KWG Resources Inc. – CEO Interview – Round 1 In The Ring of Fire (December 2, 2013)

http://www.kwgresources.com/ Frank Smeenk, President and CEO of KWG Resources goes head to head with George Tsiolis, Founder of AGORACOM to discuss potential solutions to challenging development obstacles in the Ring Of Fire. KWG has a 30% interest in the Big Daddy chromite deposit and the right to earn 80% of the Black Horse chromite where …

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FAQ: Everything you need to know about PolyMet – by Elizabeth Dunbar and Dan Kraker (Minnesota Public Radio – December 2, 2013)

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/

What is PolyMet proposing?

PolyMet wants to mine copper, nickel and precious metals for 20 years at a site located just north of Hoyt Lakes in the Superior National Forest. The NorthMet Deposit is part of what is known as the Duluth Complex, which stretches from about 150 miles north of Duluth all the way to the Canadian border. PolyMet would build three open pits and blast and drill to get to the ore containing minerals. Ore would be put in rail cars and shipped seven miles west to an old iron ore processing plant — LTV Steel — which closed in 2001. PolyMet is repurposing the facility to process up to 32,000 tons of copper and nickel per day.

How significant are the deposits?

The Duluth Complex is considered one of the biggest copper-nickel deposits in the world. PolyMet’s mine would tap into just a small part of that, with the possibility of expanding later. PolyMet’s goal is to produce 72 million pounds of copper, 15 million pounds of nickel and 106,000 ounces of precious metals annually.

How does this proposal compare to other copper-nickel mines in the U.S.?

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We all breathe easier in post-coal Ontario – by Stephen Bede Scharper (Toronto Star – December 2, 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 elimination of coal-fired plants in Ontario is a deeply hopeful story. It shows that progress can be made in fighting climate change.

A decade ago, in the team-taught core environmental studies course at the University of Toronto, my colleagues and I assigned the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) Smog Report as our touchstone text. The report noted the severe health effects associated with air pollution in Ontario.

In 2000, for example, the OMA detailed, there were 1,925 premature deaths, 9,807 hospital admissions, 45,250 emergency room visits, and over 46 million minor illnesses engendered by increased Ontario smog levels. Taken together, these fulsome effects take your breath away—literally.

These disquieting figures all jumped significantly five years later, as indicated in the OMA 2005 report, and were projected to continue to rise unless something were done about elevated levels of air pollution in the province.

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B.C. mining company faces multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuit – by Ryan Hicks (CBC News Manitoba – December 02, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/

Most investors are from Saskatchewan and Manitoba

More than 460 investors from across the country hoped to cash in on undiscovered gold in British Columbia’s interior. But instead of striking it rich, they are suing the mining company for millions in a class action lawsuit after they say their money disappeared and the Canada Revenue Agency ruled their income tax deductions invalid.

“It’s affected my ability to enjoy some of my retirement plans in terms of travel, improvements around the house, acting as a safeguard for my old age,” Ed Walker of Winnipeg, who says he lost tens of thousands of dollars in the alleged scheme, told the CBC News I-Team in an interview. Reynold Robertson, the lawyer representing investors, estimates the lawsuit is worth at least $10 million.

The investors — who are mostly from Saskatchewan and Manitoba, with some from Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and New Brunswick — are suing Royal Crown Gold Reserve Inc., its president Douglas Stewart Scott and his associate Claude Taillefer for deceit, misrepresentation, and breach of contract. It also said the prominent legal firm, McMillan LLP, and one of its lawyers, Michael Friedman, were negligent.

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Manitoba mining towns go boom or bust as industry taps resources (CBC News Manitoba – November 29, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/

Lynn Lake, Thompson tell tale of two mining towns dealing with very different fates

A Manitoba town with a thriving mine is hoping to avoid the fate of another mining town not far away, which recently saw a mass exodus of people. Thompson is enjoying the benefits of a thriving nickel mine operated by Vale, but even the mine operators know that won’t last forever.

“All mines have a finite life, regardless of how good the resource is,” said Mark Scott, the manager of mining for Vale. That’s why the company, Thompson’s city leaders, First Nations groups and local business owners have come up with a diversification strategy called the Thompson Economic Diversification Working Group (TEDWG) to bring variation to the town’s economy.

“It’s important to make sure the economy can stand on its own two feet when life after Vale Manitoba operations eventually does arrive,” said Scott. Life after mining has already arrived in Lynn Lake, 322 kilometres away. Christine Shortt has lived in Lynn Lake for 55 years. Shortt works at the Bronx Motel in town and said the town is markedly different than it was when mining was at its peak.

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NEWS RELEASE: Commitment Remains; Ring of Fire is about more than one company: minister – by Michael Gravelle (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 30, 2013)

 Michael Gravelle is Ontario’s Minister of Northern Development and Mines and MPP for Thunder Bay-Superior North.

There has been much discussion about the Ring of Fire development project in Ontario’s Far North. Our Liberal government remains committed to seeing smart, sustainable and collaborative development move forward in the Ring of Fire. Indeed, it’s an exciting opportunity; an incredible mineral deposit that includes one of the largest chromite deposits in the world, as well as generous deposits of nickel, copper and platinum. Certainly, the value of the mineral deposit in the Ring of Fire and the attractiveness of a strong business climate in Ontario is a winning combination.

This has not changed. There continues to be tremendous opportunity in the Ring of Fire. Development in the region has the potential to create thousands of jobs and significantly strengthen the economy of this province, and, in fact, the entire country, for years to come.

The province continues to work diligently to ensure we are ready to support this development and remain firmly committed to working with any and all interested parties to develop the region. Development in the region has always been about more than one company. Currently there are 27 companies and individuals holding approximately 12,850 active mining claims in the region and we remain committed to working with all our key partners.

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UPDATE 2-Finland’s Outokumpu announces major financing plan, divests assets – by Jussi Rosendahl (Reuters India – November 30, 2013)

http://in.reuters.com/

HELSINKI/FRANKFURT, Nov 30 (Reuters) – The world’s No. 1 stainless steel maker Outokumpu said it planned to raise 650 million euros through a rights issue and divest assets back to ThyssenKrupp in an unexpected package of steps aimed at shoring up its finances.

The move will partly reverse Finnish Outokumpu’s 2012 acquisition of Thyssenkrupp’s stainless steel business Inoxum as it transfers a large steel plant in Terni, Italy, and high-performance alloy unit VDM back to the German group.

Outokumpu has been hit hard by Europe’s economic slowdown and by overcapacity in the industry, pushing up its debt and leading to speculation that it may need more cash from its shareholders.

The assets will be transferred to ThyssenKrupp in exchange for the cancellation of a 1.25 billion euro ($1.7 billion) loan note that Thyssen granted to Outokumpu when their original deal was done in 2012.

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Transform or ship out, Shabangu warns as Zuma praises GlencoreXstrata – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – November 29, 2013)

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

HOTAZEL (miningweekly.com) – Mining companies that refused to transform had no place in South Africa, Minerals Resources Minister Susan Shabangu said on Friday, shortly before President Jacob Zuma, from the same platform, praised the confidence that London-listed GlencoreXstrata had demonstrated in South Africa by listing on the JSE.

Both were speaking at the launch of the integrated manganese mine and sinter plant, in the Northern Cape, and a planned manganese smelter at Coega, in the Eastern Cape. “Beneficiation is the way the whole of Africa has to go,” Zuma said, quipping that he had instructed Shabangu to make it a mining licence condition. The President has just returned from Ghana, which, he said was also striving for maximum local minerals beneficiation.

Earlier Kalagadi Manganese chairperson and co-founder Daphne Mashile-Nkosi, the woman who led the project in the teeth of the world’s worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, said of the final leg of the project: “The smelter must be constructed. Forward we go, backwards, never”, to cheers from her team.

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Analysis: Madagascar faces struggle to restore mining industry – by Alain Iloniaina and Richard Lough (Reuters India – December 2, 2013)

http://in.reuters.com/

ANTANANARIVO – (Reuters) – Madagascar’s next president will struggle with low metals prices and distrustful companies as he seeks to revive a mining industry that was the main source of foreign investment until a 2009 coup cut flows to a trickle.

The primary risk is that neither of the two candidates clearly wins a mandate on December 20, prolonging political turmoil. But both say they aim to restore mining, which five years ago attracted $8 out of every $10 in foreign direct investment to the Indian Ocean island.

“The mining sector is sick,” Mines Minister Rajo Daniella Randriafeno told Reuters. “It’s like a person who is slowly losing the blood that keeps him alive.”

Madagascar’s deposits of nickel, titanium, cobalt, iron, coal and uranium as well as its hydrocarbon prospects had previously encouraged foreign firms to queue for deals. Among them, Rio Tinto (RIO.L) began mining ilmenite, an ingredient used as pigment in paints, paper and plastics.

The political turmoil that has followed the 2009 power grab by President Andry Rajoelina, however, has choked off the issuance of all but a handful of new mining permits.

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Worst Raw-Material Slump Since ’08 Seen Deepening: Commodities – By Elizabeth Campbell (Bloomberg News – December 2, 2013)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The commodity slump that spurred bear markets in everything from gold to corn to sugar this year will deepen by the end of December as prices head for their first annual loss since 2008, if history is any guide.

The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index of 24 raw materials fell in December 83 percent of the time since 1971 when the benchmark gauge was posting losses for the year through November, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The average December loss was 3.9 percent, which if it happened this time would mean a 7.8 percent drop for the year.

Investors pulled a record $34.1 billion from commodity funds since the end of December, according to EPFR Global, which started tracking the flows in 2000. Ample rains boosted global crops, increased mine output spurred supply gluts in metals and the U.S. is extracting the most crude oil since 1989. Economic growth in China, the biggest user of everything from soybeans to zinc to cotton, is poised to slow for a third year in 2013, according to economist estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

“It’s likely that the trend will hold through the end of the year,” said Michael Cuggino, who manages about $11 billion of assets at Permanent Portfolio Family of Funds Inc. in San Francisco. “Investors see anemic or slowing economic growth in the world’s mature and emerging-market economies, while there’s more supply on hand. That translates to lower prices.”

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Ring of Fire: Feds, province need to work together on Ring: Gravelle – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – December 2, 2013)

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

Nickel Belt MP Claude Gravelle wants the federal and provincial governments to stop playing the blame game and get on with the serious work of developing the Ring of Fire chromite deposits.

The New Democrat mining critic will introduce a motion at today’s meeting of the all-party Natural Resources Committee to invite representatives of the Ontario government to attend the committee and speak about its concerns regarding the Ring of Fire.

He wants provincial officials to outline exactly what it is they want from the federal government to help move the $60-billion chromite project forward. Cliffs Natural Resources, one of the biggest players in the Ring of Fire, announced Nov. 20 that it was indefinitely suspending work on its chromite project.

It has invested $500 million planning and developing a chromite mine at McFaulds Lake, about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, as well as its plans for a ferrochrome processing plant near Capreol, in Gravelle’s riding.

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Barrick’s Thornton Said to Seek China Deal to Rebuild Min – by Liezel Hill & Matthew Campbell (Bloomberg News – December 2, 2013)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Peter Munk built Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX) into the world’s largest gold producer by expanding into Africa and South America. Now former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. President John Thornton is betting on China to help revive the beleaguered company’s fortunes.

At a Dec. 4 board meeting, Thornton will be confirmed as Barrick’s next chairman, succeeding Munk, 86, who plans to retire at the Toronto-based company’s next annual shareholders meeting after three decades, according to people familiar with the situation.

Thornton, 59, currently co-chairman, already helps to oversee long-term corporate strategy. As part of that remit, he’s trying to establish partnerships with Chinese companies that may include investment in Barrick and future mining projects, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. China Investment Corp., the country’s largest sovereign wealth fund, is among potential partners Barrick has met with, the people said.

The leadership change at Barrick comes at the end of a difficult year for the company. It has lost 41 percent of its market value in 2013 while debt levels have soared after a slump in gold prices, rising operating expenses and a cost blowout at an $8.5 billion mining project in the Andes.

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Platinum and copper the metals for the end of the decade – Friedland – by Lawrence Williams (Mineweb.com – December 2, 2013)

http://www.mineweb.com/

Robert Friedland’s presentation at MineAfrica in London avows that the supercycle is not dead and sees huge value ahead for his Ivanhoe company’s new Pt, Cu and Zn projects in South Africa and the DRC.

LONDON – There are two mining related events on in London today – Mines and Money’s first day (of three) – and MineAfrica (just today) – luckily they are not being held so far apart as to make attending some of both impossible. So, so far today I have taken in talks from Frank Holmes and John Meyer at the former event – both presenting a relatively optimistic picture for mining over the next few years – Holmes looking at what he terms the E7 countries – for the most part those with the largest populations and enormous growth potential as witnessed by China’s huge urbanisation programmes which have totally transformed the country’s economy – and the feeling that this process could be underway in the others too. Holmes also felt that gold and gold stocks have been hugely oversold and is looking for a turnaround here.

From Mines and Money a quick journey to MineAfrica and to hear Robert Friedland’s take on the industry over the next few years. Obviously Friedland was talking his Ivanhoe book with his very positive views on Africa in general and on his Platreef, Kamoa and Kipushi Projects – the first in South Africa and the next two in the Democratic Republic of Congo – in particular. As expected he was hugely positive on all three – Platreef as a game-changer for the platinum sector, Kamoa as one of THE copper projects of the future as a far higher grade option than most, if not all, other major known new copper projects and Kipushi as having huge high grade zinc mining potential, but with copper, gold and silver also.

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Ontario’s Ring of Failure: Our provincial leadership is badly stricken by analysis paralysis – by Gary Laine (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – December 2, 2013)

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

Our governing Liberals have got it bad and that ain’t good. I’m talking about the debilitating case of analysis paralysis infecting our provincial leadership that has turned the much-heralded Ring of Fire into a Ring of Failure.

The online encyclopedia Wikipedia defines analysis paralysis as “the state of over-analyzing (or over-thinking) a situation so that a decision or action is never taken, in effect paralyzing the outcome. A decision can be treated as over-complicated, with too many detailed options, so that a choice is never made, rather than try something and change it if a major problem arises. A person might be seeking the optimal or ‘perfect’ solution upfront, and fear making any decision which could lead to erroneous results.”

Clearly, Kathleen Wynne and Michael Gravelle, who both repeatedly hide behind the phrase “we want to make sure we do things right,” are victims of this progress-preventing condition.

Mineral resources in the Ring of Fire (RoF) were first discovered in 2002. The Liberals took power in 2003. Ten years have gone by, in other words, and still no road and still no development.

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