Paul Stothart is vice president, economic affairs of the Mining Association of Canada. He is responsible for advancing the industry’s interests regarding federal tax, trade, investment, transport and energy issues. www.mining.ca This column was originally published October, 2009.

The development of the western oil sands constitutes one of the world’s most significant economic stories of recent decades. Technological advances and increases in crude oil prices from $20 per barrel in the 1990s to $140 in mid-2008 together reinforced the oil sands’ economic viability and, through hundreds of billions of dollars of investment, sustained its production growth from test-well quantities to volumes exceeding one million barrels per day.

As with any source of energy, the process of extracting oil from oil sands raises a range of environmental issues. Its rapid development has served to position this sector as target number one among some environmental groups. In this respect, it is important that NGOs and public policy stakeholders not ignore some key realities.

Economic contribution

Oil sands development has increased wealth and economic activity in western Canada during the past decade, creating 200,000 jobs, including many in central Canada that helped to offset job losses in the manufacturing sector. It is also estimated that each direct job translates to nine additional jobs among suppliers and indirect beneficiaries. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Ontario Mining Association President Chris Hodgson was on hand to help Minister of Natural Resources Donna Cansfield raise the curtain on Far North planning legislation earlier this week.   This legislation is a step towards permanent protection of about half, or 225,000 square kilometres, of Ontario´s Far North through a network of conservation areas.

This new bill proposes to enable community based land use planning involving First Nations in the determination of areas to be protected and areas available for sustainable economic development, to conserve habitat for a number of animal and plant species and to assist climate change efforts by ensuring much of Ontario´s Far North landscape acts as a giant carbon sink.  “This legislation would contribute to a sustainable and more prosperous future for the people and communities of the Far North and provide important and far-reaching environmental and economic benefits for our province as a whole,” said Minister Cansfield.

“On behalf of OMA members, we favour an open and transparent approach in which information is shared,” said Mr. Hodgson.  “Adding greater certainty to the process in a timely fashion assists in business related and investment and employment decisions.  We look forward to working with Minister Cansfield and her staff to help advance the Far North land use planning process.” 

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Pierre Gratton, President and CEO of The Mining Association of British Columbia

This is a must read speech!

Globe and Mail columnist Patrick Brethour wrote about this speech in the May 15, 2009 edition of the paper: After the election, a quiet revolution.

Introduction

Good afternoon.

Before I begin, I would first like to thank the Vancouver Board of Trade for the opportunity to speak to you today. This is an annual address on the state of the mining industry by the Mining Association of British Columbia (MABC) and we appreciate the opportunity the board provides
us to do this.

I would like to thank my colleagues on the executive committee and board of directors and the staff at the MABC who work tirelessly on behalf of the mining industry, along with friends and colleagues at AME BC and the Mining Suppliers Association of BC. I especially would like to
thank all the members of the Mining Week Committee who have worked hard to plan and organize this week’s events. In particular, I’d like to thank one of my staff, Claire Thomson, who has worked unstintingly but cheerfully pulling so much of this together.

Mining week, a venerable tradition for the past 102 years, celebrates the role this industry plays in making British Columbia a great place to live, work and play.

This week events take place in Vancouver, Kamloops, Elk Valley and in many other communities across the province.

Here in Vancouver, Mining Week celebrations started with a well-attended gala awards reception last evening at the Terminal City Club. The Mining & Sustainability Award 2008 – a tie this year – was presented to Absorbent Products and the Upper Similkameen Indian Band in
recognition of their respective contributions to sustainability in the mining industry.

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The Government of Ontario established  the Ontario Mineral Industry Cluster Council (OMICC) in 2003. The OMICC mandate is to lever Ontario’s current mineral industry assets to create a larger and more globally competitive cluster and to foster a sustainable and rising standard of living. The OMICC is co-chaired by Jim Gowans, President and CEO of De Beers Canada Inc. and Warren Holmes, Chairman, Nuinsco Resources Limited.

The following OMICC policy response has been sent to key Liberal Cabinet Ministers in the McGuinty Government:

Ontario Mineral Industry Cluster Council’s Position on Protecting a Northern Boreal Region
 
On July 14, 2008, Premier Dalton McGuinty announced the protection of 225,000 square kilometres of the far north boreal region under its Far North Planning Initiative. On behalf of the Ontario Mineral Industry Cluster Council (OMICC), we are pleased to submit OMICC’s position on the announcement and its potential impact on the Ontario economy, the communities, the industry and Ontario’s reputation as a preferred destination for mining exploration and development.

The OMICC, a provincial organization is mandated to foster a sustainable and rising standard of living from Ontario’s rich mineral endowment and lever the current mineral industry assets to create a larger and more globally competitive cluster of mineral and related industries. Members represent a range of mineral related industries, businesses, associations and organizations.

We find it encouraging to note that the Government of Ontario, as part of its Far North Planning initiative, has demonstrated its commitment to work with Northern communities and the mining companies to create opportunities for economic development and to ensure that the mining industry remains strong. You are well aware of OMICC’s strongly held position that responsible development of Ontario’s mineral wealth must ensure full and fair opportunities for the province’s First Nations to participate in all phases of the mining cycle and benefit from resource revenue sharing.

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The Mining Industry Resources Council (MiHR) contributes to the strength, competitiveness and sustainability of the Canadian metals and minerals industry by collaborating with industry, organized labour, educational institutions, the Aboriginal community, and other groups to develop and implement solutions to the industry’s national human resource challenges. Visit www.mihr.ca for more information.

The following news release was recently distributed by the MiHR:

Aboriginal communities to play critical role as Canada’s minerals and metals industry faces daunting shortfall in trained workers

Tens of thousands of skilled positions must be filled in next decade to keep mining industry robust

OTTAWA (April 27, 2009) – One of Canada’s most productive industrial sectors faces a serious skills shortage in the next decade according the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR), which today launched an awareness campaign to educate Canada’s Aboriginal communities and the mining industry how to work together to find a mutually beneficial solution.

A key player in the global mining industry, Canada is one of the world’s largest exporters of minerals, metals and diamonds. Aboriginal Peoples represent a significant, largely untapped resource for addressing the expected labour shortfall next decade, when tens of thousands of workers from the baby boom cohort are set to retire.  The Aboriginal population in Canada is growing six times faster than Canada’s non Aboriginal population. To address this, MiHR, an independent, industry-driven organization, has developed several tools including a website (www.aboriginalmining.ca) and two extensive informational guides for Aboriginal communities and industry employers.

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Raymond Goldie is a senior mining analyst with Salman Partners Incorporated and is the author of “Inco Comes to Labrador” (Flanker Press, 2005). This article was written in December, 2008.

Since the late twentieth century, there have been remarkable changes in the world’s mining industry’s attitudes with respect to community relations.  The mining industry has come to recognize that it is of critical importance to engage the local community in mining development, and it has acted accordingly.  The development of the Voisey’s Bay mine in northern Labrador by Inco Ltd. and its successor, Vale Inco, has epitomized these changes in attitudes and actions.

In 2002, Voisey’s Bay Nickel Company (“VBNC”, now Vale Inco Newfoundland and Labrador ), then a subsidiary of Inco (and now of Vale Inco), made deals with the government of Newfoundland and Labrador and with First Nations groups in the vicinity of the Voisey’s Bay mineral deposit.  These deals allowed Vale Inco to develop a mine and concentrator at Voisey’s Bay.  This operation produces concentrates (which are feedstock for smelters and refineries) of nickel and copper.  The deals also obliged Vale Inco to provide training, employment and business opportunities for members of local communities (including the engagement of local Labradoreans in caring for and monitoring Voisey’s Bay’s natural environment) , and to improve the provision of health care and other social services to those communities.

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Author Colin Alexander was the former publisher of News of the North in Yellowknife, N.W.T., and was the senior consultant on education for the Ontario Royal Commission on the Northern Environment. Currently living in Ottawa, he is also a retired trader, broker, and systems developer, and author of Streetsmart Guide to Timing the Stock Market. His most recent book, Timing Techniques for Commodity Futures Markets, was published by McGraw-Hill in 2007, and is available here at www.amazon.com.

As Canada’s Nunavut territory approaches its tenth anniversary on April 1, we should look at the mismatch between resource investment and the Inuit human capital, and consider these points:

* Employers need skilled and motivated workers. But where in their own land are the Inuit geologists and mining engineers, doctors and marine biologists? Where are the electricians, plumbers, heavy equipment operators and chefs?

* The Inuit population almost doubled between 1981 and 2006, and unemployment is very high despite considerable over-manning in administration. However, there are far more jobs in Arctic and sub-Arctic Canada than there are Indians and Inuit of employable age. Xstrata’s Raglan nickel mine in Quebec’s Nunavik region has 500 jobs onsite, with just 16% filled by Inuit.

* Resource-related jobs mostly require real qualifications, not the preferential hiring of the unqualified. As a shift boss at the Giant gold mine in Yellowknife once told me, “Any time I give someone a break who doesn’t deserve it, I risk having an accident that kills us all.”

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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 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) and the Assembly of First Nations strengthens the existing links between these two groups.  Through this MOU, the mining industry will boost its engagement with First Nations economies creating employment and business opportunities.  The MOU was signed by National Chief Phil Fontaine and Jim Gowans, President of Ontario Mining Association member De Beers Canada and Chair of the MAC.  This historic initiative got underway when MAC and the Assembly of First Nations signed a letter of intent in November 2007.

“In resource development, First Nations and the mining community are natural partners,” said National Chief Fontaine.  “Developing a new partnership between the AFN and MAC will complement and enhance the growing relationships between First Nations and Canada´s major mining companies.  The resource sector will come back stronger than ever in the very near future.  With a growing land base and growing populations, First Nations are poised to be key players in the years and decades to come,” he added.  “We want to work together towards greater certainty and sustainable mining developments that will contribute significantly to the economic, social and environmental well-being of First Nations.”

“Canada´s mining industry is the largest private sector employer of Aboriginal people,” said Mr. Gowans. Read the rest of this entry »

(left to right) Chief Glenn Nolan, AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine, Don Bubar-PDAC

March 3, 2009

CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY

I want to thank the PDAC – in particular Chief Glenn Nolan and Don Bubar – for inviting me here to provide an update on the Corporate Challenge and our work with the mineral industry.

It was exactly one year ago tomorrow – March 4th, 2008 – that I attended this convention for the first time and signed an MOU with then President Patricia Dillon resulting in PDAC joining the AFN Corporate Challenge.

As I look back to that signing, I wonder who could have foreseen then that the global economy was in for the transformative change we are witnessing today?

As we gather today on this anniversary, I come in the spirit of friendship on behalf of the AFN.  Amongst my peoples these bonds are strongest when times are difficult when times are difficult for our friends.

Although, economic forecasters differ on the pace and timing of the rebound in the global economy, there is no uncertainty that prices and demand will recover and grow.

With this in mind, let us discuss our common purpose in fostering relationships of strength and common prosperity as between First Nations and the mining industry, now and for tomorrow.

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Juan Carlos Reyes is the organizer of the annual Learning Together conference and an aboriginal consultant with Efficiency.ca. He is passionate about human rights and works tirelessly to help improve the lives of Canadian aboriginal people.

What a difference a few months can make! If I had written this article six months ago and attempted to predict the outlook of the mineral resource industry, it probably would have been a much different picture. As we all know, the financials of the minerals industry are on a real roller-coaster ride, and currently it seems to be still coasting downward. This decline tends to make a big difference in the amount and quality of capital available to the start or continuation of new initiatives. This has particular significance for aboriginal groups as this is where we would typically see new negotiations taking place.

On the other hand, not much has changed for aboriginal communities across Canada — poverty levels are still running high, government negligence is still a major concern and education about the industry throughout most communities is nearly nonexistent. Add to this the amount of new information now available regarding the need to consult and accommodate, and the impact of the recent jail terms served by the Chief and council from KI First Nation, and you have a recipe for tough negotiations ahead.

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