Sudbury Basin – Page 28 – Republic of Mining

City has a lot to offer to Noront workers – by Robert Kirwan (Sudbury Star – February 26, 2018)

February 26, 2018

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Robert Kirwan is the city councillor for Ward 5.

The City of Greater Sudbury has submitted a compelling bid to host the proposed Noront Resources ferrochrome production facility. Noront will consider other proposals from Timmins, Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie in addition to the Sudbury bid.

Since Greater Sudbury is recognized as one of the global leaders in the mining and mining supply and services industry, we should be considered as a frontrunner in this competition for the billion-dollar plant that comes with about 350 permanent jobs and about 150 indirect jobs within the community. The city is proposing that the optimal location for the plant is the former Inco’s Coniston smelter site, which is already zoned and suitable for the facility.

Noront has indicated that it will only select a city where it knows it is welcome. A survey conducted recently showed that 77 per cent of the people polled support the construction of the facility.

No social license for Coniston smelter – by Steve May (Sudbury Star – February 25, 2018)

February 26, 2018

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

City officials dropped a bombshell on the community of Coniston earlier this month when, through a press release, Mayor Brian Bigger announced that Greater Sudbury had selected the small community as the preferred location for Noront Resources’ ferrochrome smelter.

Almost immediately, officials were scrambling to provide information to stunned Conistonians. Coun. Deb McIntosh, whose ward includes Coniston, hastily arranged a public meeting for the following week. Mayor Bigger, fresh from his tour of the Outokumpu ferrochrome facility in Finland, did the rounds with local media to assure the public that there is nothing to worry about when it comes to ferrochrome.

It all looked and sounded like damage control. Almost overnight, Conistonians, fearful of the impacts that a new smelter will have on their community, were provoked into action. A website was registered – www.saveconiston.ca – and content about the potentially harmful effects of chromite processing was being shared around the community via social media.

Mining equipment company develops global reach: RDH Mining Equipment acquired by German-based SMT Scharf Corp. – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – February 21, 2018)

February 22, 2018

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

RDH Mining Equipment has joined a larger family, which its management says will mean more opportunities to grow as a company and more markets to expand into. The mining equipment producer announced in a news release Feb. 7 it was acquired by German-based company SMT Scharf for $8 million.

“We were approached by Scharf and they said they were interested in making a deal,” said Neil Edward, chief financial officer for RDH Mining Equipment. “We had visited them in Germany to continue discussions back in October to discuss our two businesses.”

The company is located in Alban, about an hour southeast of Sudbury and supplies mines with mobile equipment. SMT Scharf produces rail transport systems for the mining industry.

Glencore records $14.76 billion profit (Bloomberg News/Sudbury Star wire service – February 22, 2018)

February 22, 2018

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Glencore Plc surprised investors with a bigger dividend on the back of surging profit and commodity prices, but is still stockpiling cash as dry powder for future deals.

“We’re generating $10 billion of free cash flow on current commodity prices,” said Chief Executive Officer Ivan Glasenberg. “There is room if and when we want to do any acquisitions.”

Glencore nearly tripled its dividend payout to $2.9 billion and reported full-year results largely in line with expectations. The results leave Glasenberg well positioned to continue doing what he knows best — deals. While competitors such as Rio Tinto Group shied away from dealmaking last year, Glencore announced acquisitions worth more than $4 billion in copper, oil, zinc and coal.

Who pays Ontario’s highest fine against a mining company? – by Matt Durnan (Northern Ontario Business – February 21, 2018)

February 22, 2018

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

First Nickel fined $1.3 million following 2014 deaths of two miners

Defunct First Nickel Inc. was fined $1.3 million by Justice David Stone in a Sudbury courtroom on Feb. 20 stemming from the May 2014 deaths of a pair of miners who were working at Lockerby Mine.

The ruling of six guilty counts by Stone prompted Crown counsel David McCaskill to seek fines totalling $1.5 million.After more than an hour of deliberation, Stone responded with fines $200,000 short of the Crown’s request, but it makes it the highest fine levied against any mining company in Ontario.

Two contract drillers at Lockerby Mine – Marc Methe, 34, and Norm Bisaillon, 49 – died May 6, 2014 after 12 tonnes of material fell from above, trapping and asphyxiating the two men.

Record fine fails to impress Sudbury widow – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – February 21, 2018)

February 21, 2018

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

It no longer exists, but the company that owned and operated Lockerby Mine has been fined a record $1.3 million for the deaths two miners in May 2014. However, the widow of one of the miners said the financial penalty was meaningless, since First Nickel Inc. went out of business in 2016.

“It’s a joke,” Romeena Bisaillon, Norm Bisaillon’s widow, said in an interview after court closed Tuesday. “They (First Nickel) are not here. The company went bankrupt. There is no one to be held accountable for it …

“It doesn’t matter if it’s $1.3 million or $1.30. It’s the same thing. There is nobody going to pay for it.” Norm Bisaillon, 49, and Marc Methe, 34, who worked for Taurus Drilling Services, were killed in the fall of ground. First Nickel had hired Taurus Drilling for production mining work at Lockerby.

Noront sees some light from the Ring of Fire – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – February 8, 2018)

February 8, 2018

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Mine developer pleased First Nation partnership, government getting traction on access road

What a difference a year makes. Early last year, Noront Resources president-CEO Alan Coutts delivered a doom-and-gloom speech to a Sudbury crowd that cast doubt about whether the Toronto mine developer even saw a future in the Ring of Fire.

There was frustration over government inaction in planning an access road to reach the isolated James Bay mineral deposits, the glacial pace of dialogue with First Nation communities with the Regional Framework talks seemed to be going nowhere, and Coutts was dropping hints that the project could be shelved if the company’s financial backers weren’t seeing progress.

This time, an upbeat Coutts was striking a more optimistic tone as the featured headliner at the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce’s Procurement, Employment and Partnerships Conference on Feb. 6.

Coniston pushes back against chromite smelter – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – February 8, 2018)

February 8, 2018

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

City officials attended a boisterous meeting in Coniston on Wednesday to discuss the prospect of a chromite smelter. Last week, the city named Coniston as its preferred location in its bid to Noront Resources for the smelter.

Ian Wood, the city’s director of economic development, said Wednesday Coniston was chosen as a location because the logistics made sense. It is zoned appropriately, it is a brownfield, and the site has proximity to water, Highway 17 and the railway, as well as easy access to hydro.

“The CN mainline is ideal,” Wood said. “Coniston sits very close to a main hydro-electric corridor, with the Hanmer transformer station. It’s critical for their power supply.”

[Noront Resources] Miner must now choose which one lands the Ring of Fire ferrochrome smelter – by Jim Moodie (North Bay Nugget – February 7, 2018)

February 8, 2018

http://www.nugget.ca/

Noront Resources has a difficult decision to make on where it will process Ring of Fire chromite. “It’s not an obvious slam dunk for one community,” said the company’s CEO Alan Coutts on Tuesday. “There’s no one proposal that was head and shoulders above all the others.”

Coutts said the company anticipated each pitch would be strong. “It’s great because everyone put on their thinking caps, became creative, and has come forward with compelling proposals.”

The Noront head was in Sudbury for a chamber of commerce-hosted conference on Tuesday, less than a week after the Nickel City, along with Timmins, Thunder Bay and the Sault, submitted bids to host a ferrochrome smelter. North Bay has backed the Timmins bid, as it would be the most beneficial to the Ontario Northland Railway. Speaking with media after his keynote address, Coutts said the miner has to weigh a number of factors in making a final choice.

Northern Ontario cities make a grab for the chromite ring – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – February 6, 2018)

February 6, 2018

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Ring of Fire developer Noront Resources receives community bid packages for smelter project

Feb. 2 was D-Day for four Northern Ontario cities to make their best pitch in vying for a Ring of Fire ferrochrome processing plant. That was the deadline Noront Resources marked on the calendar for Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Timmins and Thunder Bay-Fort William First Nation to each deliver their most convincing case on why they should host the $1-billion mineral processing development.

The Toronto-based mine developer will spend the next few months huddled with Hatch project engineers to assess the comparative strengths and weaknesses of each city’s bid.

On the table are 350 permanent smelter jobs for the facility’s first stage, many plant construction jobs, a multitude of service spinoff opportunities, and a huge economic boost for one community that may continue for generations to come as the Far North opens up for mining development.

Ferrochrome plant decision in 3-4 months: Noront – by Staff (Sudbury Star – February 6, 2018)

February 6, 2018

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Now, the waiting begins. On Monday, Noront Resources Ltd. confirmed it had received bids from Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay and Timmins to become host for its new $1-billion ferrochrome production facility.

In a release, Noront Resources said Hatch, a Mississauga-based engineering and consulting company, will now help evaluate the bids, which were due Friday.

“Next steps include calculating indicative capital and operating costs and reviewing these alongside community and First Nations support, site appropriateness, environmental factors, access to a skilled workforce and other elements,” Noront said in a release. “Near the conclusion of this detailed analysis, Noront will engage directly with the owners of the favoured site(s) to come to a mutually agreeable commercial arrangement for the use of the property.

Sudbury Accent: No ‘weakness’ in city’s bid for Noront’s ferrochrome plant – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – February 3, 2018)

February 3, 2018

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Sudol believes Sudbury is the right choice for the ferrochrome
smelter. “The facility in Finland does not have a detrimental
effect on their local environment or workers. It will be the
same in Sudbury,” he said. “Sudbury is serviced by two class
one rail lines, has a number of brownfield sites that can be
used to construct and expand the facility and has no issues
with power availability.

“With strategic clusters of mine supply and services, mining
education – two colleges and a university – and a wide assortment
of underground, metallurgical, environmental, and health and safety
research in the community, Noront can take advantage of more than
135 years of mining expertise that is unmatched anywhere else in
Northern Ontario or the entire country for that matter. (Stan Sudol)

On the heels of his fact-finding mission to Finland, Mayor Brian Bigger is really excited about Sudbury’s bid to host the Noront Resources ferrochrome production facility.

For one thing, there is already a skilled and knowledgeable work force in Sudbury that supports eight mines, two smelters and two mills.

“There is a lot of expertise within our community to support that kind of operation,” Bigger said this week. “We’re familiar with these types of operations in Sudbury. We understand what’s required to support that kind of business.”

Sudbury finalizes bid for ferrochrome smelter – by Staff (Sudbury Star – February 2, 2018)

February 2, 2018

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

The former Inco Coniston smelter site would be the best location if Noront Resources picks Sudbury as home for its new ferrochrome production facility, city officials say.

“We have the talent, we have a strategic location, we have a strong industrial base and we have a demonstrated commitment to environmental sustainability,” Mayor Brian Bigger said in release. “This is the winning combination that we will put before Noront and I am proud to be working in concert with Wahnapitae First Nation Chief Ted Roque and Atikameksheng Anishnawbek Chief Steve Miller as we pursue this opportunity for our community.”

On Thursday, the City of Greater Sudbury said it will file its bid Friday for the $1-billon facility that would process ore from the so-called mineral-rich Ring of Fire area in northwestern Ontario.

NEWS RELEASE: Greater Sudbury Finalizes Bid for Noront Ferrochrome Production Facility (February 1, 2018)

February 1, 2018

The City of Greater Sudbury and the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation, with support from key community partners including Wahnapitae First Nation and Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, are excited to deliver a compelling bid to host the proposed Noront Resources Ferrochrome Production Facility (FPF).

Earlier this month, Mayor Bigger and Chief Roque led a delegation to visit the Outokumpu Ferrochrome Production Facility in Tornio, Finland which uses the same closed furnace technology that Noront is proposing. The group gained key insights into the environmental safety and sustainability of the Tornio facility which has a 50 year record of excellence in these areas.

The delegation also met with municipal, public health and economic development officials to gain an all-encompassing understanding of best practices in welcoming a FPF and developing prosperous relationships.

Sudbury delegation impressed by Finnish ferrochrome smelter – by Darren MacDonald (Northern Life – January 26, 2018)

January 29, 2018

https://www.sudbury.com/

Noront Resources plans to build similar facility in Northern Ontario

A delegation from Greater Sudbury that visited Finland last week came away impressed by the way the ferrochrome smelter operates in that nation, both environmentally and economically.

Mayor Brian Bigger led the delegation that returned Jan. 18 from Tornio, the Finnish community near the border with Sweden where the Outokumpu smelter is located.

The most technically-advanced chromite smelter in the world, Noront Resources plans to build a similar facility in Northern Ontario to process ore from the Ring of Fire. Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins and Thunder Bay are all in the running to become home to the smelter, expected to create as many as 400 jobs.