Ontario Mining – Page 196 – Republic of Mining

Haileybury Park upgrade seeks mining industry support – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – July 28, 2014)

July 29, 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 rock samples at RockWalk Park in Haileybury may be billions of years old, but even ancient boulders need a facelift once in a while.

A volunteer group dubbing itself the RockWalk Park Committee, along with Northern College, is eager to rejuvenate the park, which has suffered from neglect in recent years. The vision includes an $800,000 facelift, the addition of new features, and industry sponsorship to pay for it all.

Lending a hand to the effort is Ron Lauzon, owner of Picturesque Stone, who will contribute his experience and expertise creating precision-cut images into stone bricks, plaques and monuments. Lauzon sees the new RockWalk Park as a testament to the contributions of mining to the North and across Canada.

“We really want to help them bring this park and this information on the map as a tourist destination first and foremost,” he said. “And yet we want to bring all the history and culture of mining and everything that’s been done since mining began.”

The current park features massive boulders of various rock samples placed along a walkway, with interpretive signs explaining their significance to the Canadian mining landscape. Proposed additions include a new sign, a sundial made of drilling rods, a water feature composed of plow disks, a reflexology walking path, a Zen garden, and an outdoor fitness area.

Airport/port authority possible for Ring of Fire – by Rick Garrick (Wawatay News – July 25, 2014)

August 3, 2014July 28, 2014

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

A former deputy minister of Transport Canada recently recommended an airport/port transportation authority model for the Ring of Fire mineral development area.

“It would be at arms length from the government, it would have its own fiduciary financial responsibilities and management responsibilities,” said Nick Mulder, author of the Northern Policy Institute commentary: The Airport/Port Transportation Authority Model Is It Applicable for Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Development. “It would decide on the chair and the management team, it would finalize the plans for the road and railroad or whatever else is needed. It would finalize all the funding with the mining companies and transportation companies and private sector interests, pension funds, whatever.”

Mulder described his recommendation during his July 8 Northern Policy Institute speaker’s breakfast at the Valhalla Inn in Thunder Bay, where he indicated the Ring of Fire infrastructure authority would not be involved in the social and economic infrastructure needs of the First Nation communities in northern Ontario.

“Those 40 or whatever number of communities there are have their own special needs,” Mulder said. “It isn’t up to a business-driven or market-driven kind of entity that I am recommending — they should decide on what kind of water or sewer or other kind of systems they need or local roads in the community or so on.”

Mulder said some of the monies required to finance the Ring of Fire road or railroad could come from the provincial government, but the majority should be raised in the marketplace or through the mining companies.

Feeling the Ring of Fire’s Burn – by Jason Unrau (Unpublished – January 2014)

July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

This unpublished article was originally written for Canadian Business Magazine in January 2014.

Black Thor, Big Daddy and Thunderbird, unearthed between 2007 and 2008, put a place called Ring of Fire on the mining map. Sounding more like comic book gods than incredible mineral discoveries – chromite their dominant feature and crucial for stainless steel manufacture – by the end of 2013 they had roused nearly one billion dollars to the exploration altar.

Frank Smeenk was among the group of six mining execs and geologists who discovered the Ring. Located deep inside Ontario’s north, its riches are vast enough for a century of mining, yet dispersed in a 5000 square km crescent of muskeg so remote, the place might as well be celestial.

“It’s inaccessible for all practical purposes, except by air, and to sell chrome you’ve got to get it to market and its steel mills of the world,” says Smeenk, CEO of KWG Resources, the plucky junior with a 30 per cent stake in Big Daddy, one of the biggest deposits of them all.

It was DeBeers’ quest for new diamond sources after the Second World War that eventually ushered the first mine into this corner of the James Bay Lowlands. But it was Asia’s insatiable economy, emerging fast and furious in the last decade, that turned sights toward the region’s metal potential.

While Ring of Fire is just 90 kilometres west of DeBeers’ Victor Mine, producing diamonds and mining metal are not analogous, says Smeenk, because “… you can put diamonds in your pocket and walk on the plane.”

Noront appeals Ontario Mining Recorder ruling – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – July 24, 2014)

July 24, 2014

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Noront Resources, the proponent of what could possibly be one of the first projects to get off the ground in Ontario’s prospective Ring of Fire mining district, has launched an appeal to the province’s mining and lands commissioner to set aside the finding of the Provincial Mining Recorder that rival KWG Resources is the first to stake two 16-unit claims when they came open on the morning of June 17, 2011.

KWG on Wednesday said it was on Tuesday served with a notice of Noront’s appeal.

The two claims were next to the southern two claims of Fancamp Exploration’s Koper Lake claims, where KWG is assessing the economic potential of the Black Horse chromite deposit under an option agreement with Bold Ventures and Fancamp. Noront is developing the Eagle’s Nest nickel/copper/platinum/palladium deposit.

“Koper Lake is an important amphibious aircraft facility for the Ring of Fire and the area used for landing and docking is within the eastern boundary of these claims. In the past, our exploration crews have been blockaded there, or embargoed from landing there, or [have] been levied substantial landing fees,” said KWG president Frank Smeenk.

He stressed that the firm believed that this was a critical part of the area’s transportation assets and should be operated as a public facility, from which the concept sprang of a federally sponsored port authority.

Third party probes [Timmins mine] blast – by Len Gillis (Timmins Daily Press – July 24, 2014)

July 24, 2014

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – It could take as long as week for Goldcorp Porcupine Gold Mines (PGM) to find out what went wrong Tuesday when a blast threw a piece of rock into the company’s parking lot at the old Hollinger Mine building.

PGM Timmins mine general manager Marc Lauzier revealed Wednesday that a third-party consultant is being brought in to try to figure how the rock escaped the blast zone during a routine blast Tuesday morning at the Hollinger open pit.

“We had a small blast of about 13,500 tonnes or so, near surface. A piece of flyrock was expunged from the blast and landed in the parking lot on one our employee vehicles,” Lauzier explained.

“Immediately we suspended all blasting activities. Of course public safety is our No. 1 concern, so I want to understand what caused a piece of rock to land in the parking lot and what is going to be done to prevent this in the future.”

The consultant will be reviewing blasting procedures and video of the incident, since Goldcorp makes a video record of every blast at the new mine. This is the first known incident involving flyrock landing outside the mining zone since the first blast at the Hollinger pit occurred back in February.

“So until I get the results of that investigation and we are comfortable that we can blast without this reoccurring, we won’t be blasting,” Lauzier said. “And so it will take about a week to do the investigation properly.”

First Nickel’s plan for Sudbury mine draws praise – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – July 23, 2014)

July 23, 2014

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

The owners of First Nickel Inc. have gone “over and above” standard in determining a method to allow workers to safely re-enter and return to work in the area of Lockerby Mine in which two drillers were killed May 6.

Normand Charles Bisaillon, 49, and Marc Methe, 34, were killed by a fall of material, preceded by seismic activity

The men worked for Taurus Drilling, and were not members of Mine Mill Local 598/Unifor, which represents about 150 production and maintenance workers at the mine. But Mine Mill has been involved in the company investigation into the men’s deaths.

First Nickel released a statement Tuesday saying it has been actively cooperating with the Ministry of Labour to determine a method to safely allow workers to re-enter the 65-2 level, an underfill heading, which has been closed since the tragedy.

“Although not ordered by the ministry, First Nickel suspended its underfill operations in all areas of the mine after the accident until satisfied that workers would not be put at risk,” First Nickel said in the statement.

After consulting with outside engineers, FNI developed a plan to resume work on the 65-2 level and in underfill headings, which ensures the safety of workers.

Much longer version of “This Magazine” article on Ring of Fire “Our home and golden land” – by Andrew Reeves (This Magazine – May/June 2014)

July 23, 2014

http://this.org/

This is a much longer and more detailed version of Andrew Reeves’ article on the Ring of Fire which was originally published in the May/June 2014 issue of This Magazine. http://this.org/magazine/2014/06/09/our-home-and-golden-land/?utm_source=thismag&utm_medium=header&utm_campaign=skybar

The on-line version is roughly 6400 words versus the original 3500 words in the print edition of the magazine. This detailed account will be of interest to many and special thanks to journalist Andrew Reeves and This Magazine for giving RepublicOfMining.com permission to post the extended version.

Please note, “Our home and golden land” was written between February and March 2014 and would not reflect the many new issues that affect the continiously evolving story about the Ring of Fire.

OUR HOME AND GOLDEN LAND

“The North is not a quiet place.” Linda Kamerman, Ontario’s Mining and Lands Commissioner Linda Kamerman used that statement to open her September 2013 report on a turf war between rival companies over access rights to a remote crescent of minerals, tucked in the province’s far north where few but local Aboriginals could say they knew where they were. The report sparked yet another round of sabre-rattling and political hand-wringing, the latest in what a labyrinth of competing claims, high-level negotiations and First Nations assurances the project would move forward on their timetable or it wouldn’t.

This is Ontario’s Ring of Fire, an as-yet undeveloped cluster of mining stakes held by 25 combinations of claim holders independently or in partnership. At its best, the Ring is a $60 billion, multi-generational opportunity for provincial, federal and First Nations governments to reap mineral riches from Ontario’s far north, spurring investment in well-paying jobs to replace those lost after the 2008-09 recession.

Documentary producer eyes the Ring of Fire – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – July 22, 2014)

July 22, 2014

http://insyncmedia.ca

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. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca.

Lalita Krishna has no intention of following the same contrived script that’s evident in the mining reality shows currently being embraced by network television.

The award-winning Toronto producer of television documentaries intends to drill down to the essence of the multi-faceted world of mining by documenting the lives of the people who toil at the grassroots edge of the industry.

Krishna recalls spending four bone-chilling days with Barb Courte Elinesky, CEO of two Thunder Bay drilling companies, and her rugged crew shooting video in a remote exploration site in Greenstone last March.

The conditions were harsh, a vehicle became stuck on an access road, and they returned to their hotel in Beardmore one night after an exhausting day to find all the restaurants closed.

Chromite: ‘Go slow’ on Ring of Fire, say Greens – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – July 22, 2014)

July 22, 2014

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

A motion calling for responsible development of the Ring of Fire, passed at the Green Party of Canada’s biennial meeting in Fredericton, puts “the party in the game” and shows it has good ideas other parties might want to consider.

Sudbury’s Steve May attended the convention and was surprised to learn every person attending had heard about the rich chromite deposits 540 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay — whether they were from British Columbia or New Brunswick.

May has been thinking of the Ring of Fire as a regional issue, “but had I lived in Alberta in the early ’80s, I might have thought the development of the tar sands was a regional issue.

“We know it’s not,” he said of the Ring of Fire. “It’s a national project.”

Before delegates to the convention met, they agreed to put a motion on the weekend agenda calling for a five-pillar policy to develop the area. It addresses community benefits, energy, transportation, value-added industry and lifecycle planning for extracted resources.

To maximize the Ring of Fire’s economic potential for Canada, the Greens’ policy is calling for the creation of a working group to assess the feasibility of a value-added stainless steel industry as a requirement of development.

Sioux Lookout gears up for growth [Ontario] – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – July 21, 2014)

July 22, 2014

Sioux Lookout economic development manager Vicki Blanchard wants to make the town of 5,500 more “investment ready.”
Vicki Blanchard, Sioux Lookout’s economic development manager, is an admitted “map freak.”

When she started at her new position in early March with marching orders to make this town of 5,500 “investment ready” for development, Blanchard referred to her love of cartography to begin strategizing.

The town and its busy airport has always been a regional hub providing goods and services to 29 remote communities, including a few in the Ring of Fire.

Blanchard wants to grow out and enhance that capability with some social enterprise, mining and energy initiatives on her agenda.

A resident of nearby Dryden, she shifted over last winter from a development position with the municipality of Greenstone where she spent four years in “Ring of Fire boot camp.”

The rural municipality was knee-deep in the lobbying process, competing with Sudbury and Thunder Bay, in trying to convince Cliffs Natural Resources to site its proposed ferrochrome refinery in the village of Nakina.

Land rulings a clear message to Ottawa, provinces: It’s time to govern – by Thomas Isaac (Globe and Mail – July 21, 2014)

July 21, 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.

Thomas Isaac is leader of the Aboriginal Law Group at Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt.

The Supreme Court of Canada has delivered two significant decisions this summer regarding aboriginal title and treaty rights. In June, the Tsilqhot’in decision affirmed aboriginal title over a discrete area of central British Columbia. In early July, the Keewatin decision confirmed Ontario’s authority to legislate regarding Treaty 3, including over areas such as forestry and mining.

At first the decisions look quite different. They deal with different provinces, different facts and appear to have differing outcomes. However, both decisions are actually consistent with each other and their outcomes similar. Both decisions affirm that governments bear the burden of balancing aboriginal and non-aboriginal interests fairly and reasonably and confirm that governments have the tools to govern.

In Tsilqhot’in, the Supreme Court confirmed the six Tsilqhot’in Bands hold aboriginal title to approximately 1,700 sq. km of remote and sparsely populated land in central British Columbia. As a result, these bands now hold the land and, with a few important restrictions, can use and derive benefits from it. Importantly, the decision confirms that both governments can legislate regarding aboriginal title lands and can infringe aboriginal title, where justified.

While Tsilqhot’in is the first decision affirming aboriginal title in Canada, there is actually little new law in it, except that it is now clear that provincial laws can apply to aboriginal title lands and that provinces and the federal government can infringe aboriginal title.

NEWS RELEASE: Northern Superior: 2ND Year Recognition for Its Commitment to Progressive Aboriginal Relations

July 21, 2014July 21, 2014

http://www.nsuperior.com/

SUDBURY, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – July 21, 2014) – Northern Superior Resources Inc. (“Northern Superior” or the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE:SUP) is pleased to announce that it has re-committed to the Progressive Aboriginal Relations (“PAR”) “Committed” status (“PAR Committed”) of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) for the second year in a row. The CCAB is a national non- profit organization whose primary mission is to foster sustainable business relations between First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples and Canadian business.

PAR is a certification program that confirms corporate performance in Aboriginal relations. Northern Superior`s recognition as a PAR committed company for the second year in a row confirms: a) the Company`s commitment to continual improvement in Aboriginal relations; and b) the Company`s intention to undergo additional external verification of its performance in the future to eventually obtain full PAR certification.

”Northern Superior is very proud to be recognized by the CCAB as a “PAR Committed” company for the second year in a row. For over 13 years Northern Superior has understood the importance and advantages of working closely with Aboriginal Communities within whose traditional territories Northern Superior conducts its mineral exploration programs. As Northern Superior stated last year, the CCAB is a staunch advocate for Aboriginal businesses and the improvement of Aboriginal livelihoods from coast, to coast, to coast, and it is an honor to be involved with them.” states Tom Morris, President and CEO of Northern Superior Resources.

“PAR is the only CSR program with an exclusive focus on Aboriginal relations. We are pleased to recognize Northern Superior’s ongoing commitment to building meaningful relationships with Aboriginal communities and businesses.” said J.P. Gladu, President and CEO of the CCAB.

Family discovers abandoned mine shaft in Sudbury backyard – by Darren MacDonald (Northern Ontario Business – July 17, 2014)

July 18, 2014

A Sudbury family got the shock of their lives last month when they discovered what they thought was a sinkhole in their backyard was actually an abandoned mine shaft.

The family has asked their names not be used to ensure no one looks for their home, located in the Sudbury suburb of Hanmer, violating their privacy and potentially putting themselves in danger.

However, the problem has since been addressed under a Ministry of Northern Development and Mines policy dealing with abandoned mines. The province paid the roughly $70,000 it cost to fix the problem. Much of that solution involved pouring concrete — 5 1/2 loads, to be exact – into the hole until the area was safe.

Lesley Cooper, manager of mine rehabilitation and compliance section with the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, said the homeowner contacted the ministry on June 11, and staff were sent out the same day. City crews first secured the area with a fence, which was then reinforced by the ministry.

While the property isn’t in its abandoned mines database, Cooper said it’s likely some sort of exploration work had been done there.

“We don’t have any record of it being a mine, but that’s what we believe it to have been,” she said. “It certainly didn’t appear to be a natural occurrence.”

Program trains Aboriginal women in mining – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – July 16, 2014)

July 17, 2014

Her official title is job coach, but in her role with the Temiskaming Native Women’s Support Group, Kelly Lamontagne can, on any given day, also serve as a social worker, mover, relationship guru, personal shopper, addictions counsellor, cheerleader and headhunter.

It’s all done in the name of helping Aboriginal women in Temiskaming and Timmins train for work in the mining industry through the two-year program Aboriginal Women in Mining.

“The group’s purpose is to help as many women as we can,” Lamontagne said. “If you’re making strong women who can make strong decisions and have a good career and have good self-esteem, you’re then making stronger children, stronger families, better men.”

Any woman with First Nations, Métis or Inuit heritage within the catchment area is eligible to apply to the program, although it’s targeted primarily to women who have faced serious life challenges such as trauma, poverty or addictions.

Participants start by developing life skills and move into job training, which includes job interview techniques, resume writing and setting up partnerships with employers.

Toronto’s unique financing role: Accessing creative forms of financing in a cash-constrained environment – by Angela Harmantas and Irina Negoita (Global Business Reports – July 2014)

July 17, 2014

http://gbroundup.com/

Toronto may be the global epicenter of mining finance, but even Canadian investors – long lauded for their knowledge of the risks associated with the mining industry – have grown wary of investing in the sector. Mining companies have been amongst the worst performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and the Toronto Venture Exchange (TSX-V). For the first time in many years, the first quarter of 2013 did not feature a single mining IPO.

With fewer companies listed and less capital raised, the TMX Group, owner of the TSX and TSX-V, decided to utilize its global reach to access investors outside of Toronto. The Group recently signed an agreement with the Santiago Stock Exchange to create a new venture exchange in Chile that allows TSX-V listed companies to list on its Latin American counterpart and tap into the investor base in South America.

“Our unique two-tier exchange system is at the core of our value proposition and differentiates us from other markets. In Santiago’s case, both the government and the exchange really liked the two-tier model. Many of our Canadian issuers are doing business in Latin America and it seemed like a natural extension of our capabilities for us to be involved,” explained Kevan Cowan, president, TSX Markets and group head of equities.

Closer to home, the TSX eased its rules to allow companies to raise capital at less than $0.05 a share, while the federal government extended mineral exploration tax credit for another year. However, according to Denis Frawley, partner at Ormston List Frawley LLP, these measures are not enough to tackle the funding issue. “The industry expected the tax credit to be extended due to the current financial situations, and the pricing policy has not led to a strong influx of capital on the TSX,” he said.