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 member De Beers Canada’s Victor diamond mine is a sparkling example of promoting Aboriginal employment.  The Victor diamond mine, which is located about 90 kilometres west of Attawapiskat in the James Bay lowlands, currently has 226 employees from First Nations, or 43% of its workforce.

More than 90 employees from this group are from Attawapiskat with large representation from Fort Albany, Moosonee and Moose Factory and Kashechewan and 40 are from First Nations outside the James Bay area.  In Canada, mining is the largest private sector employer of Aboriginals.  This group comprises 7.5% of the mining workforce, which is up from 3.6% of the country’s total mineral sector workforce in 2006.

The Victor Mine operates with three different impact-benefit agreements – one each with Attawapiskat, Fort Albany/Kashechewan and Moose Factory/Moosonee.  “Negotiating the impact-benefit agreement is the relatively easy bit, implementing it is the tough part and making sure everyone understands their role is more difficult,” said Jonathan Fowler, De Beers Canada Vice President Aboriginal Affairs and Sustainability. 

“One of our strengths is in striving to build a culture of diversity,” he added.  “We don’t believe in a having a specific percentage of First Nation employment.  We want to provide opportunities for people to grow and develop and the real target is to maximize First Nation employment.” 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.

Barrick’s Hemlo operations organized a series of educational and celebratory events to mark the 25th anniversary of gold production in the Hemlo gold camp in Northwestern Ontario, near Marathon.  The Ontario Mining Association was pleased to participate in the activities.  Lesley Hymers, OMA Environment and Education Specialist, was on hand with an interactive display booth promoting careers in mining and the OMA high school video competition So You Think You Know Mining.

Back in the 1980s, Hemlo was the industry newsmaker and headline driver in Ontario.  It was the most exciting and largest mineral development in the province since the Kidd Mine in Timmins in the 1960s.  The Hemlo orebody supported three mines originally. Good old fashioned prospecting smarts, innovative geological thinking and interpretations and perseverance led to the discovery and development of this gold mining complex.  At the time, it was improbable to think that three headframes not more than two kilometres apart located within snowball throwing distance of the Trans Canada Highway were producing gold on previously explored ground.

The mine in the middle – Golden Giant Mine – began production in 1985 and it closed in 2006.  The mine in the east – David Bell – and the mine in the west – Williams – are still in operation today and part of Barrick’s fleet of global gold mines.  The Williams and David Bell mines share milling, processing and tailings facilities and the ores are co-mingled for the extraction process.  In 2009, these mines produced 275,000 ounces of gold.  Estimated proven and probable ore reserves contain more than 1.3 million ounces of gold.

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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 Ontario Mining Association is participating in a Teacher’s Mining Tour at the Canadian Ecology Centre near Mattawa.  Thirty teachers will participate in the sold-out course, which is being run from August 9 to 13.  The goal is to help educators learn more about the realities of modern, high tech, environmentally responsible mining in Ontario.

The Teacher’s Mining Tour is a professional development program for Ontario teachers and teachers in training.  Teachers taking the course will be able to earn a component of their Environmental Science Additional Qualification through Nipissing University and the Ontario College of Teachers.

Lesley Hymers, OMA Environment and Education Specialist, will be representing the Association at the event.  The themes for the conference include modern mining, environmental stewardship and sustainability, occupational health and safety and career opportunities within the industry.   

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Chris Hodgson is President of the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province. This column was provided by the OMA.

The Ontario Mining Association held a conference in June “The future of mining in Ontario: Is it golden?” in North Bay, which celebrated the Association’s 90th anniversary. There was the appropriate cake on hand and other touches to mark the occasion along with a commemorative plaque, which was presented by Mines Minister Michael Gravelle on behalf of Premier Dalton McGuinty.

This plaque reads “Since its founding in 1920, the OMA has excelled in representing the interests of companies engaged in the exploration, production and processing of our province’s mineral resources. As the voice for the mining industry in Ontario, the OMA plays a crucial role in securing the sector’s prosperity and competitiveness, while ensuring that Ontario’s mining potential is developed in a sustainable way.”

Perhaps after 90 years, it is time to reflect on how the industry has changed over those decades. After all, the OMA has been open for business longer than all national mining organizations except the Canadian Institute of Mining. In order to put things in a historical perspective, since 1920, Canada has had 15 different people serve as Prime Ministers while Ontario has had 17 different premiers and 32 different mines ministers.

When the OMA first hung out its shingle, Sir Robert Borden was Canada’s leader in Ottawa and Ernest Drury of the United Farmers of Ontario was running things at Queen’s Park. The list of people who have served as Chairmen of the OMA -and there have been 77 of them -reads like a Who’s Who of Canadian corporate history.

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(L to R) Marc Boissonneault, Xstrata Nickel, VP Sudbury Operations; David DeLong; George Burns, Goldcorp, VP Canada and U.S. Operations; Alan DeLong

View DeLong Brothers’ video

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. To view all the winners of the So You Think You Know Mining competition, please go to OMA 2010 Video Winners.

A parent’s journalistic interview for a magazine article about the inaugural Ontario Mining Association’s So You Think You Know Mining (SYTYKM) high school video competition in 2009 provided a spark for a Sudbury student who won the Best Overall Video prize in 2010.  Adelle Larmour, a reporter with Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal, produced an article on the genesis of the SYTYKM contest in the June 2009 edition of SMSJ.

“Inspired by famous Canadian scholar Marshall McLuhan’s observation that the medium is the message, the OMA launched a video contest late last year to educate an unlikely audience about the mining industry,” said Ms. DeLong in the article, “Video contest introduces students to mining.”  “The SYTYKM video contest was a way to reach high school students who are interested in video making, music, or script writing, but who may know very little about where the components of their computer come from or about the different mined resources that make up the materials for many of the fundamental tools used in daily living.”

She shared her enthusiasm for her article with her youngest son, David DeLong, a grade nine student at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School.  David clearly took his Mother’s suggestion to enter SYTYKM and her encouragement to heart.  He recruited the assistance of his elder brother Alan DeLong, a grade 12 student at St. Benedict, and work on the production Lego Mining began.  Read the rest of this entry »

Katrina Malinski from Sudbury won the best writing award. She attends Lockerby Composite school.

View Katrina Malinski’s video

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. To view all the winners of the So You Think You Know Mining competition, please go to OMA 2010 Video Winners.

The winning videos in the Ontario Mining Association’s high school video competition So You Think You Know Mining (SYTYM) provide clear evidence that an abundance of creativity and artistic talent is possessed by teenagers.  Go to the OMA website www.oma.on.ca and click on the SYTYKM panel, watch the 2010 award winning videos, which are now available for viewing and we are sure you will agree.

Along with all the winning entries, you can experience the flavour of the SYTYKM awards gala in a production by Amanda Ceniti, a runner up in the competition, from Georgetown District High School.  The SYTYKM trophies were presented at an OMA conference held in North Bay.  Ms. Ceniti’s production captures the bright lights, the inspiration of the winners, the upbeat music and buzz of the ceremony.

Congratulations to the SYTYKM 2010 winners.  While individual names are attached to each award, most were team efforts involving one or more classmates and in some cases relatives.  The Best Overall Video was captured by David DeLong from St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School in Sudbury, for his production Lego Mining.  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.

De Beers Canada celebrated two official diamond mine openings back-to-back in July 2008 – the Victor Mine in Ontario and the Snap Lake Mine in the Northwest Territories. However, the path to those production start-ups took a circuitous and difficult journey of almost 50 years. It took vision, faith and dedication to complete the trek.

De Beers, which is acknowledged as the world’s leading diamond company, began in 1888 in South Africa. The company commenced its exploration activities in Canada in the early 1960s with a staff of four. The first geological field season for De Beers in Canada was 1961.

If you move forward almost half a century to 2009 and De Beers Canada’s first full year of production, you can look at the results. From an operational standpoint, Victor turned out 696,000 carats and Snap Lake produced 444,000 carats for a total diamond output of 1,140,000 carats. This led to a revenue of $316.4 million ($243.7 Victor and $72.7 Snap Lake).

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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.

Business commentator and author Diane Francis presented her views on mining as Canada’s hidden success story in her keynote address at a recent Ontario Mining Association conference. The National Post editor at large helped to kick off the OMA “The future of mining in Ontario: Is it golden?” conference June 14 in North Bay.

“Mining built Canada and mining still runs Canada,” said the Ms Francis, who has been a media fellow at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and at the Kennedy School of Government in the United States. “It should not be politically incorrect in Canada to support mining. We have nothing to be ashamed of. The only industry that is truly wealth creating is mining and in this country one in 10 First Nations people are employed in mining.”

“Mining is what Canada is all about and we in this country are riding a commodities rocket ship,” she said. “Four hundred million people are going to be born in the next decade providing a demographics of demand.” Read the rest of this entry »

Honourable Michael Gravelle – Ontario Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry

Thank you, Steve [Steve Wood, Vale / OMA Director] and good day, everyone.
 
I am very pleased to address members and guests of the Ontario Mining Association this afternoon. It’s a pleasure to be back in North Bay, and to enjoy your hospitality.
 
First let me give my heartiest congratulations to Chris Hodgson and his staff on OMA’s milestone 90th anniversary.

I’m very proud of the longstanding positive working relationship between the Ontario Mining Association and my ministry.

We share a passionate for working collaboratively to build on the strengths of mining for the good of all Ontarians.

That collaboration is also reflected in the OMA’s own positive relationships with First Nations and Métis communities, the supplies and services sector, and mining-sector stakeholders overall.

And my Ministry appreciates your valuable input to our government’s initiatives and programs.

The last decade has been record breaking for Ontario, with one of the best mining cycles in our history. By the same token, the industry has also had a couple of very tough years.

But there are signs of recovery, progress and opportunity: 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.

The provincial budget delivered by Finance Minister Dwight Duncan yesterday in the Legislature has made the future of mining in Ontario significantly brighter. The budget not only boosts the prospects of existing mineral producing operations but it reduces economic resistance to new developments.

“The budget begins to chart a course to a stronger economic future for the people of Ontario,” said Mr. Duncan. Several measures in the budget, which support statements in the Throne Speech of March 8, indicate that course will go through Northern Ontario and involve mineral production as a cornerstone.

The $450 million Northern Industrial Electricity Rate Program (NIERP), the $45 million new project based skills training program for Aboriginals and Northern Ontario residents, the appointment of a Ring of Fire Co-ordinator and the $1.2 billion in infrastructure development to strengthen Northern communities all represent positive commitments for the mineral sector. 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.

The contributions of Ontario’s mining sector to society and the economy were celebrated yesterday at Queen’s Park by politicians of all stripes and industry officials at the Ontario Mining Association’s Meet the Miners event.  The industry can’t take the legislature to the mines but it can take the mines to the legislature at least one day a year.   Meet the Miners is an OMA initiative at Queen’s Park involving member companies and their employees, which helps shine the spotlight on the industry in government circles. 

At an evening reception, OMA Chairman and President of mining contractor JS Redpath George Flumerfelt welcomed guests and encouraged them to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the OMA, which has been representing mineral producers in the province since 1920.  He noted that the importance of mining to the future prosperity of the province was highlighted in the Throne Speech to open this session of the Legislature on March 8, 2010.  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.

Mining was given top billing as a builder of Ontario’s future prosperity in the throne speech opening the new session of the provincial legislature yesterday.  Ontario Mining Association President Chris Hodgson attended the throne speech as an invited guest of Premier Dalton McGuinty.  “It is positive to see mining recognized in this important address as a contributor to solving Ontario’s economic challenges,” said Mr. Hodgson.   

In introducing the launch of the five year “Open Ontario Plan” for economic growth and development, the speech, delivered by Lieutenant Governor David Onley, recognized the important role of mining.  “Your government will ensure the North benefits from its Open Ontario Plan,” he said. 

“In 2008, Northern Ontario became home to our first diamond mine.  Your government will build on that success – particularly in the region know as the Ring of Fire.  It is said to contain one of the largest chromite deposits in the world – a key ingredient in stainless steel.”

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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 Ontario Mining Association´s submission on the Mining Amendment Act and the Far North Act suggests both pieces of proposed legislation need some additional work, if they are to achieve the government´s intended goals.  The OMA submitted a full version of its review of Bill 173, Mining Amendment Act, and Bill 191, Far North Act, to the Legislature´s Standing Committee on General Government today. 

Last month, OMA President Chris Hodgson presented highlights of the OMA´s views to this committee at hearings in Thunder Bay.  Mr. Hodgson was accompanied at the public consultation by John Blogg, OMA Secretary and Manager of Industrial Relations, Adele Faubert, Manager of Aboriginal Affairs at Goldcorp´s Musselwhite Mine, and Jerome Girard, Mill Superintendent at the Musselwhite Mine. 

“Recent turbulence in the economy has had a negative impact on our industry, but there are steps that the government can take to ensure Ontario remains in an optimal position to take advantage of the next boom in commodity prices,” said the OMA submission.  “Bill 173 and Bill 191 are a start in that direction, but only if this committee ensures that the amendments recommended are in fact implemented in a manner that will foster the growth of mining in the province.”

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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 Ontario Mining Association submitted its views on two important pieces of legislation today at hearings in Thunder Bay.  OMA President Chris Hodgson presented the Association´s report to the Legislature´s Standing Committee on General Government, which is reviewing both Bill 173, An Act to Amend the Mining Act, and Bill 191, An Act with respect to land use planning and protection of the Far North.  Joining Mr. Hodgson was John Blogg, OMA Secretary and Manager of Industrial Relations, along with Adele Faubert, Manager of Aboriginal Affairs at Goldcorp´s Musselwhite Mine, and Jerome Girard, Mill Superintendent at the Musselwhite Mine.

The OMA stuck to three main points on each piece of legislation.  “The OMA does have some concerns with Bill 173 and would like to seek clarification on some aspects of the proposed legislation, ensuring that there are no ambiguities impairing the ability of mining to continue to play the major role it does in the economic and social development of Ontario,” said Mr. Hodgson.  On the Mining Act, the OMA focused on the duty to consult, Notice of Material Changes concerning existing closure plans and consultation and the dispute resolution process. 

“A basic foundation of mining success in Ontario — the things that set us apart and give us an advantage over some other jurisdictions with significant mineral potential — is rule of law and certainty of title,” said Mr. Hodgson.  “For this reason, the Aboriginal consultation provisions in Bill 173 need to be clear, transparent and consistent with current case law, which states the government has the primary duty, with some exceptions, to consult with Aboriginal communities.”  The OMA also asked for greater clarity in mine closure plan consultation rules and the make-up of tribunals to handle disputes, which may arise.

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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 Ontario Mining Association Environment Committee has representatives from most member companies, who possess a wide spectrum of specialties and tackle a broad palate of issues and concerns.  Under the leadership of Committee Chair Nancy Duquet-Harvey of Northgate Minerals, about 30 of the green miners met recently in Timmins.  The group had an extremely full agenda in the session, which followed the second Ontario Mine Reclamation Symposium and Field Trip.

The OMA Environment Committee regularly deals with the Ministry of Environment and handles both analysis of proposed legislation and regulations and proactively develops programs, protocols and, in some cases, computer software to improve environmental performance and reporting of member companies.  The group makes it a habit of sharing best practices, communicating well and working co-operatively.  The collective expertise that members bring to the Committee makes it possible to effectively address issues that are highly complex and technical. 

Major items on the agenda for the recent Timmins meeting included responses to the Toxics Reduction Act and the air standards setting process under Regulation 419.  The Committee has made two submissions on the toxics reduction initiative, expressing support for the government´s intent, but concern about provisions for very broad regulation-making powers and the lack of any defined test setting out how “toxic substances” will be identified and designated. 

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