April 28, 2014 – Republic of Mining

Ontario offers $1bn to develop RoF infrastructure, looks to feds to match – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – April 28, 2014)

April 28, 2014

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The provincial government of Ontario on Monday announced a massive $1-billion set aside in its new budget, which would be announced on Thursday, to develop strategic all-season industrial and community transportation infrastructure in the Ring of Fire (RoF), in Northern Ontario.

In making the webcast announcement in Thunder Bay, provincial Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle beseeched the federal government to match its contribution and throw its weight behind the development of what had been billed as a “project of national significance”.

“Our government is committed to making a significant investment to fund transportation infrastructure development in the RoF. We have made important progress over the past few months to bring partners and divergent interests together. Now we need the federal government to match this commitment so that we can move forward on realising the RoF’s potential and making important advancements on regional, environmental, and economic developments,” Gravelle said.

The Ontario provincial government and local First Nations last week Thursday celebrated the recent signing of a regional framework agreement to develop the RoF, a mineral-rich area in the northern muskeg-wastelands of Ontario.

Mining industry support firms congregate here – by Tony Davis (Arizona Daily Star – April 27, 2014)

April 28, 2014

http://azstarnet.com/

A growing phalanx of companies in Tucson and Southern Arizona service the mining industry.

Amigos, a statewide industry support group, counts its Southern Arizona membership at about 250 to 300 businesses. They employ a total of 25,000 to 30,000 people, says Bob Humphrey, an Amigos board member. The business count has grown from about 150 in 2003, due mainly to the rise in global copper prices from about $1.30 per pound back then to a little over $3 today.

The companies include engineering firms, environmental consultants, industrial distributors, equipment manufacturers, metal fabricators, dealers of Caterpillar construction equipment, systems suppliers, temporary employee firms, construction service firms, structural concrete and steel suppliers, construction services firms, mine planning and evaluation firms and many more.

While individual companies cite many reasons for locating here, chief among them is the large copper mine presence in the region, including Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold’s Sierrita Mine and Asarco’s Mission Mine south of Tucson; mines elsewhere in Arizona and in southern New Mexico; and a smelter in Hayden.

Focus: Disclosure of mining payments a hot topic – by Charlotte Santry (Law Times – April 28, 2014)

April 28, 2014

http://www.lawtimesnews.com/index.php

Move to boost transparency could have negative consequences

Forcing energy companies to disclose payments to aboriginal communities could make treaty negotiations smoother and more transparent, lawyers believe. But some warn it could also encourage the federal government to slash funding for infrastructure and social services in those communities.

Former natural resources minister Joe Oliver told mining executives last month the federal government was upholding its commitment to ensure mining companies disclose payments made to governments at home and abroad.

The plans would cover payments of more than $100,000 made by oil, gas, and mining companies to all levels of government, including aboriginal communities. This would affect payments made by resource companies via legally binding impact benefit agreements. The agreements set out how a community will benefit from land used in operations such as mines.

Julie Abouchar, a partner at Toronto law firm Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP, says the proposals could benefit negotiations on impact benefit agreements. “A good process involves regular reporting to communities about the progress of negotiation and that the agreement be made available to community members to read before any agreement is ratified,” she says.

Barrick Gold says Newmont Mining ends merger talks – by Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – April 28, 2014)

April 28, 2014

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.

Barrick Gold Corp. said on Monday that Newmont Mining Corp. has decided to end their merger talks, a development that could lead Barrick to launch a hostile bid for its American rival.

The Toronto-based Barrick had been trying to renew talks with Colorado-headquartered Newmont last week, a source had said. But Newmont’s board of directors decided to “terminate” their discussions, Barrick said.

“Although Barrick believes the interests of shareholders are best served through the completion of this business combination, Newmont’s board has determined that the interests of Newmont’s shareholders are best served by remaining independent,” Barrick said in a statement. Newmont had no immediate comment.

The companies, the world’s two largest gold producers, have discussed merging at least two other times over the last two decades.

The rout in the gold industry led to their recent discussions, with the miners identifying about $1-billion in cost savings.

COLUMN-Asian coal miners pursuing self-defeating output gains – by Clyde Russell (Reuters India – April 28, 2014)

April 28, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

Clyde Russell is a Reuters columnist. The views expressed are his own.

LAUNCESTON, Australia, April 28 (Reuters) – Coal producers in Asia are currently their own worst enemies, raising output in a bid to boost revenue in order to compensate for lower prices.

Economic logic would suggest that when the product you make is in oversupply, eventually prices will fall to the point where output becomes loss-making and is shut down. However, this logic isn’t applying to Asian coal markets, with miners ramping up output by more than demand is increasing.

The short-term impact has been that spot prices have tumbled, with benchmark Australian thermal coal at Newcastle Port dropping to $73.12 a tonne in the week to April 25. That is not far from a four-and-a-half-year low of $72.98 hit last month.

The price is also down 15 percent so far this year and has almost halved since the post-2008 recession peak of $136.30 a tonne, reached in January 2011. The response to this collapse in pricing has resulted in some production leaving the market, most notably in China and the United States.

Election violence flares in South Africa’s platinum belt – by Ed Stoddard (Reuters U.K. – April 27, 2014)

April 28, 2014

http://uk.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG – (Reuters) – Police used water cannon and stun grenades to disperse rioters in South Africa’s strike-hit platinum belt on Sunday after a government minister was attacked by rock-throwing protesters while campaigning for the May 7 election.

Police spokesman Thulani Ngubane told Reuters a community hall, municipal centre and the house of a councillor for the ruling ANC were burnt down. He would not identify the rioters but local media and union leaders said the minister had been attacked by members of the striking AMCU miners’ union.

Ngubane confirmed sports minister Fikile Mbalula had to be whisked away under police protection after he and the ANC activists he was campaigning with were confronted by a crowd in the shanty town of Freedom Park northwest of Johannesburg.

It was after this that the protest erupted into a full-scale riot, Ngubane said. Sydwell Dokolwana, the regional secretary for the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), a key ANC ally and AMCU’s arch rival, told Reuters he was with the minister at the time and that several people were hurt in the scuffle.

News Release: Ontario Investing in the Ring of Fire

April 28, 2014April 28, 2014

MNDM Press Conference April 28 2014 Minister Gravelle by netnewsledger

Province Moving Forward with Support for Strategic Infrastructure

April 28, 2014 10:25 a.m. Ministry of Finance

The Ontario government is prepared to commit up to $1 billion to develop strategic all-season industrial and community transportation infrastructure in the Ring of Fire.

Ontario needs a partner and is calling on the Federal government to equally match this funding to build the infrastructure required for this important project in the north that will create jobs and boost the northern economy.

The approach and priorities with respect to this investment will be established in partnership with First Nations, governments and industry partners through the development corporation.

The province is currently facilitating the creation of a development corporation to accelerate strategic infrastructure development in the region. The corporation will bring together key mining companies, First Nations, and the provincial and federal governments to develop, construct, finance, operate and maintain infrastructure supporting access to strategic resources in the mineral rich Ring of Fire.

Province providing $1 billion for Ring of Fire – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – April 28, 2014)

April 28, 2014

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.

The Ontario government is providing $1 billion to develop transportation infrastructure in the Ring of Fire. Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle made the announcement on April 28 in Thunder Bay with Bill Mauro, MPP for Thunder Bay-Atikokan, and David Orazietti, MPP for Sault Ste. Marie.

Gravelle said the province was committed to “make a very significant investment in transportation infrastructure,” but made it clear he expected the feds to pony up their share as well.

“That is absolutely a commitment we expect to be matched by the federal government,” he said. “We’re coming to table with our best offer and we need the prime minister and his team to join us there.”

Calling the Ring the “next great mining development, not just for Ontario, but across the entire country for Canada,” Gravelle said because the Ring is in a remote part of the province never before developed, infrastructure development would be a “complex undertaking.” He did not specify which transportation mode—road or rail—the government favours.

Big-name lawyer takes on Ontario’s law society [Bre-X and Joe Groia] (MACLEAN’S Magazine – April 27, 2014)

April 28, 2014

http://www.macleans.ca/

Judges said that Joe Groia was “unprofessional” in his successful defense of Bre-X vice-president John Felderhof against fraud charges in the late 1990s

The Canadian Press – TORONTO – A prominent securities lawyer and the society that regulates the legal profession in Ontario are bound for court in the latest round of an epic battle started in the aftermath of the billion-dollar Bre-X mining fiasco in the late 1990s.

Closely watched by the legal profession, the contest pits Joe Groia, who successfully defended the only person charged in the history-making securities scandal, against the Law Society of Upper Canada.

“There have been few cases, if any, where the (society) has been so dogged and determined to maintain a position that was so damaging to the public and profession as a whole,” Groia argues in court documents.

How he behaved during the tumultuous Bre-X courtroom odyssey is what’s at issue. The society maintains Groia misbehaved to such an extent in defending Bre-X vice-president John Felderhof that he warranted a two-month suspension and ordered him to pay $247,000 in costs — reduced on initial appeal in March to one month and $200,000.

At helm of Anglo American, consummate miner digs deep for savings – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – April 26, 2014)

April 28, 2014

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.

LONDON — Mark Cutifani and I meet in the strangest places. My first encounter with the CEO of Anglo American, one of the world’s biggest mining companies, came last September at a Vatican mining conference in Rome. He and other mining bosses were learning how to inject a bit more of the Holy Spirit into their digging activities.

The second time was two months later at a gold mine in Chelopech, Bulgaria, of all places. The little mine wasn’t Anglo’s. It belonged to Toronto’s Dundee Precious Metals and Mr. Cutifani was there to learn how the Canadians had reduced costs by some 50 per cent through a range of technologies, such as novel underground WiFi and data networks. “This is where the innovations are, in the small mines,” he said at the time, decrying the lack of technology in Anglo’s own mines.

The third meeting came in March, at Anglo’s headquarters in London, near Trafalgar Square, at the heart of what used to be world’s greatest empire. The location is appropriate. Anglo American was founded in 1917 by Sir Ernest Oppenheimer with £1-million ($1.85-million) in capital from British and American sources (hence the name Anglo American). Like Britain, it would establish outposts around the world. From its foundation in South Africa – home to its vast gold, platinum and diamond operations – it would expand into base metals in Canada, coal and manganese in Australia and iron ore, ferronickel and copper in Latin America. At one point, Anglo was the world’s mightiest mining company.

Amid legal uncertainty on conflict minerals, alternatives emerge – by Alison Moodie (The Guardian – April 23, 2014)

April 28, 2014

http://www.theguardian.com/uk

How can manufacturers – and consumers – fight the conflict minerals that are destabilising central Africa?

The illegal trade of tantalum, tungsten, tin and gold from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and surrounding countries is fueling conflict in central Africa. Sales of these conflict minerals help fund arms for militias, ultimately leading to human rights abuses. Meanwhile, US companies that use these metals are facing growing pressure to find sources that are conflict-free. An Securities and Exchange Commission rule, which had been scheduled to take effect next month, would require the vast majority of US companies to disclose whether they use conflict minerals from the region.

Now the SEC rule has come under fire: A US appeals court last week ruled that part of the regulation – a provision requiring companies to state whether their products use conflict minerals – is unconstitutional. That, and other ongoing litigation, has raised uncertainty about exactly how the conflict minerals rule will take effect.

The good news for companies is that compliance with these new regulations just got easier. In January, the Conflict Free Sourcing Initiative (CFSI) announced the existence of certified conflict-free smelters for all four of the conflict minerals. A key step in the supply chain, smelters turn rocks into purified metals for use in electronics.

Kids eye career in mining – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 28, 2014)

April 28, 2014

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

Claudine Beausoleil is a woman of her convictions. The vice-chair of Modern Mining and Technology Week can’t think of a better career for a young person than mining.

The co-ordinator at the Bharti School of Engineering at Laurentian University says becoming a mine engineer will allow a young person to get a good-paying job and work at locations all around the world. There are plenty of other opportunities in mining whether in computers, robotics, construction, maintenance or human resources.

Beausoleil and several other people staffed booths at the New Sudbury Centre on Saturday at the MMTS Showcase to kick off Modern Mining and Technology Week. The purpose of the week is to educate young people about mining, said Beausoleil.

That is done with fun activities such as Mine Opportunity Mining Games April Monday and Tuesday at Dynamic Earth, where 300 students will be engaged in a game that’s a combination of Monopoly and a scavenger hunt.

On Wednesday and Thursday, 600 Grade 4 students and their teachers are expected to participate in Mining Matters workshops at Dynamic Earth. Grade 4 is a good age to interest students in mining as a career, said Beausoleil.

Up to $1B could go toward Ring – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 28, 2014)

April 28, 2014

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

An industry insider, who did not wish to be identified, said he wouldn’t be paying
attention to Monday’s announcement because the amount of money pledged by the Liberals
– three days before it delivers a spring budget that could trigger an election –
is irrelevant.

Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Michael Mantha travelled to Thunder Bay for a Monday morning news conference at the Ring of Fire Secretariat to find out if what his Queen’s Park sources were telling him was true.

That Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle was to announce a provincial investment of up to $1 billion to develop infrastructure for the Ring of Fire, but only if the federal government matches it.

Mantha, the New Democrats’ mining critic, said figures ranging from $770 million to $1 billion were being bandied about as the amount the province was going to announce last week and, if they’re accurate, it’s good news.

Neskantaga First Nation News Release: Fourth World Living Conditions in the Ring of Fire: Call to Action

April 28, 2014

“I have to do something because my people live in poverty, my people are killing themselves,
my people don’t have clean drinking water…I want to make a change for the betterment of the community
and the people and the generations to come.” – Chief Peter Moonias

Neskantaga First Nation is an isolated fly-in Oji-Cree First Nation community located in northern Ontario along Attawapiskat Lake in the Ring of Fire. The community itself covers approximately 831 hectares of vast northern Ontario landscape and has an estimated population of 420 residents, 60 percent of whom are youth. In this small community, there were seven youth suicides (7) and twenty seven suicide attempts (27) over a twelve-month period, which forced Chief Peter Moonias to declare a state of emergency in the spring of 2013.

Since that time, the community has been calling on all levels of government, health providers, the justice community, social service agencies, and families to collectively support Neskantaga during their time of crisis. While a number of initiatives were started to assist the community in dealing with their grief, suicides of young people continue. Regrettably, since the summer of 2013, three (3) more youth have taken their lives, with the most recent suicide of a 16-year-old girl on April 2, 2014.

These suicides are directly linked to the deplorable living conditions in the community. For example, the residents of Neskantaga have had no clean drinking water since 1995, lack access to fresh and affordable food, and inhabit homes that are dangerously overcrowded and infested with black mould.