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 most recent report by the Mining Industry Human Resource Council (MiHR) shows that Canada’s mining sector faces a human resource challenge to attract 145,000 new workers over the next decade. “Canadian Mining Industry Employment, Hiring Requirements and Available Talent 10-year Outlook” presents, in detail, views on the economic future of the industry, its workforce requirements — and shortfalls — and suggested actions to reduce the impending labour gap.

The study bases industry employment levels on three different economic forecasts. A baseline case shows the sector with cumulative hiring requirements out to 2023 to be 145,870. The expansionary case shows labour requirements of almost 200,000 workers over the same period while a contractionary case still shows cumulative hiring requirements of 116,850 for the next decade.

The MiHR report puts employment forecasts for 66 core mining occupations under the microscope. Difficulties are foreseen due to pending high retirement rates related to the industry’s demographics as well as recognition that mining must compete with other sectors to attract and retain valuable employees. It also recognizes the remote locations of many mining operations can be a barrier. Read the rest of this entry »

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Metals and mining are expected to be Ontario’s “star performer” on the export stage this year, with the sector that makes up 34% of the province’s exports expected to grow by 15% in 2013.

Export Development Canada’s (EDC’s) ‘Global Export Forecast for Ontario’, released on Wednesday, stated the province’s exports would get a “huge” boost this year, thanks to the double-digit surge in metal exports. EDC chief economist Peter Hall said the improvement was timely.

“Ontario mineral producers can expect to ship a lot more volume in 2013, which will help to offset lower base metal prices. Gold production will jump by over 20%, while nickel output will be more muted. Added to that, chemical manufacturing, which will spike towards the end of the year, will round out a solid sectoral performance,” Hall said.

This sector was expected to grow by about 2% in 2014. EDC expected Ontario’s total international exports to grow by 8% this year and by another 4% in 2014.

Hall pointed out that after a few years of double-digit gains, the automotive sector would slow considerably, held back by tight capacity. “A revival of US private investment will be really good for Ontario’s machinery and equipment industry this year and next,” he said. 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 member Vale has recently launched a new sustainability website to share environmental information on its operations with citizens of Sudbury. The website www.valegreatersudburysustainability.com provides greater access to detailed and current information on Vale’s environmental initiatives in the Sudbury region.

The nickel producer has bumped up the level of disclosure and transparency with this website and provided the community with new channels to communicate questions, concerns and ideas to the company. This is an innovative approach to sharing information with employees, the local community and the broader public. Go ahead take a look at the site.

“Vale is committed to the long term sustainability of our operations in Sudbury, the local environment and our community,” said Angie Robson, Manager of Corporate Affairs for Vale’s Ontario Operations. “As part of that commitment, we have developed this resource for sharing information with the public about Vale’s environmental initiatives.”

The website has four main components dealing with air quality, water quality and treatment, reclamation activities and a community section. The air chapter contains information on the Clean AER (Atmospheric Emission Reduction) project and particulate control and monitoring programs. Read the rest of this entry »

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 municipality, its economic development commission and Fort William First Nation released their mining readiness strategy to serve as their game plan to prepare the communities for the monumental economic spinoffs expected to come their way.

A 398-page document, entitled Advantage Northwest, takes a wide angle view in forecasting the opportunities and challenges coming from mining development in northwestern Ontario and the Far North Ring of Fire exploration camp.

Prepared by SNC-Lavalin and Edward Hoshizaki Development Consulting, a final draft was circulated at two public meetings in April before a final document was released at month’s end with a list of recommendations and priorities to tackle.

Among the issues addressed are the transportation and electricity shortcomings in the region, business development to service the industry, labour issues, partnerships with First Nations, future land supply for incoming companies and people, and research and development opportunities. Read the rest of this entry »

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

In a bid to boost mine exploration, the federal government has extended the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit for another year as part of its Economic Action Plan 2013.

Joe Oliver, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, confirmed the announcement Thursday, while visiting a former mine site on the Podolsky property just north of Capreol.

“Mining workers and communities across Canada can count on our government’s support of this vital engine of economic growth,” Oliver said in a release. “That is why, in our latest federal budget, we extended the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit to continue to provide junior mining companies access to the venture capital they need to finance their exploration activities.”

Oliver’s announcement was not new; the federal government, as part of Economic Action Plan 2013, said it would extend the credit until March 31, 2014.

The 15% Mineral Exploration Tax Credit helps junior mineral exploration companies raise capital by providing an incentive to investors in flow-through shares issued to finance mineral exploration. Read the rest of this entry »

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

A Progressive Conservative government led by Tim Hudak would appoint a senior cabinet minister to head development of the Ring of Fire, not leave it to sit idle under the watch of a mid-level bureaucrat, says the Tory leader.

That cabinet minister would have the authority to “clear aside all obstacles,” so nothing stands in the way of the incredible opportunity for job and wealth creation offered by the massive chromite deposit, Hudak said Wednesday in a teleconference with reporters.

He and Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli spoke about their party’s northern vision in the half-hour news conference, stressing the party’s determination to return Ontario to its No. 1 position in mining and forestry.

“The bottom line is, we want to see Northern Ontario back and firing on all c ylinders again,” said Hudak, by building on traditional strengths in natural resources and expertise in areas, such as technology.

When asked what his party would do differently from the Liberals to move development of the Ring of Fire ahead, Hudak said a number of things. It would work with the private sector to build a transportation corridor “to bring the ore to market, to refine the products and to create jobs, but also to make sure the energy sources (are there to) actually run the mines.” Read the rest of this entry »

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.

When Wayne Tonelli and Allan Epps proposed getting some co-workers together for a little pickup hockey, it was intended as a fun way to socialize amongst colleagues. Today, their small idea is producing big results for the Northern Cancer Foundation.

It was 1996 when the friends, who both worked as general foremen for Inco in Sudbury (now Vale) at the time, proposed getting their co-workers together for inter-mine and inter-office hockey and baseball games as a way to socialize outside the workplace.

But as the games grew into tournaments and the tournaments started generating money, the pair decided to donate the earnings to the Northern Cancer Foundation, the Sudbury-based medical centre that offers treatment to cancer patients from around the North.

To date, Miners for Cancer has raised more than $700,000 for the cancer foundation, and Tonelli anticipates hitting the $1-million mark within the next year.

“Primarily, in the past, everything ended up in southern Ontario and we got little bits and pieces here up north,” said Tonelli, president of Miners for Cancer. “But the fact that the money stays in the North to help people in the North was the biggest contributing factor.” Read the rest of this entry »

http://www.cbc.ca/news/

On the eastern shore of James Bay, a very different story

Freezing, mouldy homes. Sewage contamination. Sick kids. Unemployment. A blockade on the road to the mine. A hunger strike by the chief.

That, it seems, is the news from the Cree of James Bay — at least, as it’s defined by the desperate community of Attawapiskat, in northern Ontario. Before that, there was the news from nearby Kashechewan. Flooding. Despair. Suicide.

And both James Bay towns endured fresh emergencies this spring as the annual meltwaters exposed, again, their rickety infrastructure.

But bad news makes headlines and good news usually does not. So we’ve heard all about the mess on the Ontario shore of James Bay — and next to nothing about the success on the eastern shore, in Quebec. 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 sixth annual Ontario Mine Reclamation Symposium will be applying modern science to the rehabilitation of historic mine sites. This environmental event, which is organized by the Ontario Mining Association in collaboration with the Canadian Land Reclamation Association (CLRA), is being held June 18 and 19, 2013 in Cobalt – one of the oldest mining regions in Canada.

The program for June 18 explores both the geology and history of mining in the cobalt camp and the environmental legacy of this activity. “Challenges with Developing Closure Plans for Historical Mining Areas like Cobalt-Coleman” is the title of a paper being presented by Michel Julien and Jean-Francois Doyon from Agnico-Eagle Mines, which maintains a large landholding in the area.

Another presentation, “From Tailings Basin to Aquatic Ecosystem: The ecological recovery of two waterbodies” is on the agenda. There are also talks dealing with water quality monitoring, improvements in water treatment and engineering wetland systems to manage tailings areas.

At the banquet in the evening of June 18, the Tom Peters Memorial Reclamation Award will be presented. Mr. Peters was a pioneer in the field of mine reclamation and a founding member of the CLRA, which was established in 1975. There are two components to this award – one for industry and a $5,000 bursary, which is sponsored by Vale, for a graduate student pursuing a degree in this discipline. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

80 jobs will be brought to the “biggest little town” on the western edge of Algonquin Park. Electric car and fears of capped exports by Chinese mines have brought new life into the “biggest little town” of Kearney, Ontario.

On Monday, Ontario Graphite Inc. announced it has final approval to re-commission the Kearney graphite mine, on the western edge of Algonquin Park, which could be up and running by November.

“Everyone’s excited about the growth of the battery industry and specifically, electric vehicles,” said Simon Moores, graphite industry expert and manager at Industrial Minerals Data. “That’s what’s driving the renewed interest in the last two years.”

Roughly 80 jobs — 60 to 65 of which the company says will be sourced locally — will process one million tonnes of ore into 20,000 tonnes of high-grade, large flake graphite. It would make it the largest graphite mine in North America, producing more graphite than the only other Canadian mines, in B.C. and Quebec, combined.

Interest in the mine wasn’t renewed until prices jumped in 2010. Privately-owned Ontario Graphite Inc. applied to re-commission the mine that December, and got the final approval from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment last week. Read the rest of this entry »

The City of Thunder Bay, together with Fort William First Nation (FWFN) and the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC) has initiated a Mining Readiness Strategy to address and strategically plan for growth in Thunder Bay and the Northwestern Ontario Region. The Strategy is a major step forward to help guide all of Northwestern Ontario in capitalizing on the many opportunities that mining development is expected to bring to the Region.

The Strategy can be downloaded at: www.thunderbay.ca/miningreadiness

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction and Strategy Context

The Northwestern Ontario region is forecasting significant growth in mineral exploration and mining development. This growth is expected to result in substantial economic and social development for Thunder Bay, its surrounding municipalities and First Nation communities. The discovery and development of major gold deposits, nickel and chromite in Northwestern Ontario’s “Ring of Fire” and other mineral resources are expected to create a variety of business opportunities that positively influence the Region’s economic outlook. This growth will place unique pressures on infrastructure and government services as well as the current, and future, mining labour market. Read the rest of this entry »

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

CONFIRMATION that Bob Rae will negotiate for First Nations in the Ring of Fire mining belt should please all parties involved. Ensuring First Nations have an influential place at the table is essential to their full and fair inclusion in the biggest potential economic development in recent Ontario history. But it is not just the Matawa First Nations who should welcome the longtime MP and former Liberal leader to the table.

Governments have been flailing away on this file for years, trying to come to some sort of agreement on how to negotiate the ways in which First Nations are to be involved in development. Not what to negotiate, mind you, but how.

Government comes at this with a formal model that differs greatly from how aboriginal people talk to other people. Matawa has known and trusted Rae since he visited individual First Nations as Ontario NDP leader. He has held various responsibilities for First Nations activities at Queen’s Park and in Ottawa and he is clearly one of the few senior Canadian political figures who enjoy the confidence of First Nations.

Industry, too, should welcome Rae to the mining development talks since they have been caught between First Nations and government on most occasions when exploration is undertaken.

“ . . . There are many different public interests that need to be served in this regard and that’s certainly something I want to make sure happens,” Rae said back in March when he was first identified as Matawa’s choice. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Lake Shore Gold in Timmins is expecting 2013 to be a breakout year. “We are on track now to really transition from junior exploration company to a producer,” said president and CEO Tony Makuch at a presentation in April. He was addressing an audience of more than 150 at a luncheon put on by the Canadian Institute of Mining’s (CIM) Northern Gateway Branch in North Bay.

“We built everything from scratch, starting with greenfield discoveries. We have raised and invested close to $650 million since 2008. And, we are building a mine. We have had a lot of challenges but some big successes,” he said.

With 525 employees, and about 200 contractors, the company operates the Timmins West Mine, which is about 20 kilometres west of Timmins; the Bell Creek Mine, about 20 kilometres northeast of the city; and the Bell Creek mill. The Fenn-Gibb Project, 60 kilometres east of Timmins, has the potential to become an open-pit operation.

“Since 2008 we have discovered seven million ounces. Our challenge is not just to discover, but to show we are profitable. We know there is still a lot of gold there and we can find it, but we have to demonstrate how to turn it into a profitable business,” he said.

Last year, the company met its guidance, achieved a lot of development success, mined and processed 720,000 tons of ore, developed more than 2,000 metres of mine ramps and produced 86,000 ounces of gold. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

It was a first for Canada and a first for Wabi Iron and Steel Corp. in New Liskeard. In March, the company delivered the first of three 50-tonne ore skips for Agrium’s Vanscoy Mine in Saskatchewan. The remainder of the 68-feet long skips were shipped in April.

“It’s a first for the company and we are confident they are the biggest in Canada for now. We know our competitors have received contracts of the same size but these are the first to be done,” said Peter Tuomi, director of sales.

The Vanscoy Mine expansion project is a potash mine and mill upgrade managed by SNC-Lavalin and PCL Construction in a joint venture partnership. When complete, the Vanscoy Mine will have a capacity of more than three million tonnes per year.

The company got involved in 2010 when it submitted a proposal along with other potential contenders.

“Everyone knew the expansion plans for Saskatchewan and we prepared ourselves and started making trips out there,” he said. “Then we were asked to submit a concept design to Agrium and then a formal tender process began and we submitted and got the order.

“It was a longer process than what we have been through before since they are big pieces of equipment.” 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.

Xstrata Copper Kidd Operations was presented with the John T. Ryan National Safety Trophy for metal mines for the 11th time. Other national winners were the Potash Corporation New Brunswick Division for select mines and Prairie Mines & Royalty Genesee Mine in Alberta in the coal category and both have been to this podium many times previously. The three winners of the John T. Ryan National Safety Trophies for 2012 have built up safety cultures at their operations which have lasted through decades of time and generations of workers.

“Winning this award again attests to our record of continually improving safety performance over many years,” said Tom Semadeni, General Manager for Xstrata Copper Kidd Operations. “It also speaks to our on-going commitment to achieving Zero Harm so that all of our employees and contractors can continue contributing to the well-being of their families and our community.”

This marks the eleventh occasion that Xstrata Copper Kidd Operations has captured this national award. Previous years as the country’s safest metal mine were 1991, 1985, 1984, 1982, 1981, 1980, 1978, 1977, 1976 and 1975. Kidd is also an 18-time winner of the Ontario regional trophy. Genesee Mine also is an 11 time winner in the coal category. Previous years it has earned the national coal trophy include 2009, 2007, 2005, 2003, 2002, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996 and 1995. Read the rest of this entry »