This article was orginally published in Northern Ontario Business on April 23, 2010. Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investers with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North.

Copper production the focus of new company

Northern Ontario mining suppliers may be able to tap into global mining projects, including a $2-billion mine construction project in Chile, as a result of the recently announced merger between Sudbury miner FNX Mining Company Inc. and Vancouver-based Quadra Mining Inc.

“As part of the integration of the two companies, we’ll look at our purchasing systems and resource material and use our larger orders and larger demands in order to both save money and rationalize how we deal,” says Dave Constable, vice-president of investor relations with FNX.

“So I definitely think there will be opportunities for Sudbury suppliers, because they are global and already do supply to Chile. The new company will rationalize the purchasing systems and make opportunities available to suppliers for both companies to be competitive and bid on those things.”

Announced in late March, the merger of equals will create intermediate copper producer Quadra FNX, amalgamating FNX’s projects in the Sudbury Basin with Quadra’s projects in Nevada, Arizona and twin mining projects in Chile. Read the rest of this entry »

This article is also available on the websites of Northern Life and Northern Ontario Business.

Last Monday I attended a Laurentian University Next 50 Campaign event where two significant donations were made. Both FNX Mining Limited and Power Corporation of Canada each donated $1 million dollars to the university.

Power Corporation’s gift is earmarked towards graduate fellowships while FNX’s million dollars will be focused on mining programs.

In a press release, Terry MacGibbon, Chairman and CEO of FNX Mining Limited stated, “Laurentian is the go-to resource for research and employees for companies like FNX. This gift ensures Laurentian will be able to continue its tradition of training geologists and engineers with the knowledge and skills to hit the ground running when they enter the workforce.” 

MacGibbon could not attend the event, however, Vern Baker, FNX Vice-President of Sudbury Operations was on hand to present the million dollar cheque. Baker said, “One of our strengths is our geology team, many members of which are proud Laurentian University graduates. Read the rest of this entry »

Last month, I had the pleasure of participating in the 16th Annual Sudbury Mining Week, not as President and CEO of FNX Mining, but as the event’s Honorary Chairman.

It was appropriate to celebrate Mining Week in Canada, and especially in Sudbury – one of the most prolific mining camps in the world.  In Canada, mining contributes $40 billion dollars or 5% of Canadian GDP every year and pays $4.7 billion in corporate taxes alone.  This industry directly employs 370,000 Canadians and is the largest private sector employer of Aboriginals.  Canada remains the leading source of new capital for the global mining industry accounting for 36% of the $53 billion raised in 2007 or net $19 billion. 

As a mining engineer who has spent his career in Africa, the United Sates and Latin America, I can confirm that there are few places in the world where mining is embraced and supported as it is in Sudbury. 

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“We had the pick of the geologists’ crop in the depressed mining sector of 2002 and subsequently built one of the country’s biggest, youngest and most innovative exploration teams,” continues MacGibbon. “And with all that historical data, our fantastic computer- literate staff played a key role in helping us decide where to drill.”

Right from the beginning, this junior’s exploration mindset was on steroids. From 2002 to 2007 FNX will have spent more than $100 million on exploring its properties in the Sudbury Basin. Read the rest of this entry »

“Our company has a strategic position in the trillion-dollar Sudbury Basin which by far, is the richest mining district in North America,” observes Terry MacGibbon, executive chair of FNX Mining Company Inc. “With China’s and eventually India’s voracious hunger for metals, expected to last for decades, the long-term growth and future of our company on solid ground.”

MacGibbon’s dedication to the region is proudly on display in the front lobby of the company’s University Ave. head office – adjacent to Toronto’s high-rise financial core where many of the country’s top mining analysts and investors work – with a bold eight-by-four sculpted wall hanging in the shape of the famous Sudbury Basin.

“Most Canadians don’t realize the Sudbury Basin is a global ‘metallic super power’ and that there are many incredibly rich mineral deposits still to be discovered here. This 120 year old mining camp will be producing nickel, copper and platinum for at least another century if not more,” he said.

With two operating mines on the north range of the Sudbury Basin, another mine ready for production in 2008 and two other promising deposits in the district, many have overlooked the phenomenal growth of FNX Mining.

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