Check-up with the rock doctor: It’s a long way to the top, but CEO Catharine Farrow has made it – by Kyle Born (Canadian Mining & Energy – September 2016)

http://www.miningandexploration.ca/

Most of us will never know what it’s like to be a CEO of an organization, but perhaps you’ve wondered what it’s like to walk in their shoes. Catharine Farrow has attained that coveted position within TMAC Resources Inc. As you might imagine, there’s not a whole lot of free time available to someone who’s accountable to so many. On this August morning Farrow is working away on emails at her home in Lake Nipissing, Ontario.

“My son is still off school, my husband has gone back to work, so this weekend I’m working from the cottage,” Farrow said. “I’m taking some downtime before the fall. I enjoy being a hockey mom to my son. He’s 12. Once I get into the fall I’m basically not home very much so I’m taking this week to hang out with the boys a little bit.”

If this is what downtime looks like, then what happens when things are busy? “I work out of the Toronto office,” Farrow said. “I basically get up in the morning and give ’er all day, see as many people as I can, do meetings.” TMAC owns the Hope Bay Project, which is a high-grade gold deposit located in Nunavut. Farrow oversees Hope Bay.

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[KWG Resources] How a junior mining company’s video featuring bikini-clad women spouting Ring of Fire facts became a cautionary tale for marketers – by Dave Burnett (Financial Post – September 14, 2016)

http://business.financialpost.com/

Dave Burnett is CEO of AOK Marketing, a Toronto-based firm that helps traditional offline businesses get discovered online

Here’s a cautionary tale for marketers everywhere. If somebody at your next marketing meeting suggests using two scantily clad young women to convey terribly mundane facts about mining — yes, mining — suggest they reconsider their chosen profession. Unless, as the chief executive or business owner, the idea was yours. In which case you need to heed the sage advice of your marketing team and change course before embarrassing your company.

Either approach might have helped prevent last month’s epic marketing failure by Canadian mining company KWG Resources. In it, two bikini-clad women share facts about the Ring of Fire, a mineral-rich area in Northern Ontario.

In a media interview, Frank Smeenk, CEO of KWG Resources, defended the video: “Attractive women attract eyes,” he said. “All junior companies trying to raise capital for exploration are always trying to figure out how to bring attention to their stories.”

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Women dig mining – by Maureen Arges Nadin (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – August 27, 2016)

http://www.chroniclejournal.com/

The world has changed since Janeanne MacGillivray challenged Subsection 10 of the Yukon Mining Safety Ordinance that stated “no female person shall be employed in underground work in any mine.”

That was in 1975 when MacGillivray headed north to seek equal opportunity in the resource economy and what she later described as a “big fat paycheque.”

There have been other female trailblazers in the mining industry and many might be surprised to know that the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada was established in 1941 by a prospector named Viola R. MacMillan. Women in mining today are picking up where these pioneers left off.

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Ring of Miner junior needs to mend fences with First Nations – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – August 19, 2016)

http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Using sex appeal to promote the Ring of Fire doesn’t sit well with the senior leadership of the Matawa First Nations.

Chief David Paul Achneepineskum, CEO of the nine-community tribal council, accused KWG Resources and company president Frank Smeenk of “stooping very low” in attempting to communicate with First Nations in the James Bay region.

“KWG really needs to be more respectful of our leadership and especially our peoples. But certainly we are very insulted on this approach.” KWG Resources of Toronto, a junior exploration firm with chromite claims in the Ring of Fire camp, released a campy promotional video featuring two models in bikini tops and short shorts talking about the mineral potential in the region in early August.

One of the two models, who’s sitting on a swing in cottage country setting, said First Nations are “interested in sharing in the resources.”

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The South African mining town where 1 in 4 women say they have been raped – by Yanan Wang (Hamilton Spectator – August 17, 2016)

http://www.thespec.com/

For years, South African women and men have come to Rustenburg Local Municipality in droves, attracted by its location at the heart of the world’s largest platinum group metals repository. Opportunities in mining have caused the population to balloon, making the town northwest of Johannesburg the fastest-growing municipality in the country.

But while employment has been abundant, it is largely men who have benefited.

Nearly 90 percent of Rustenburg’s mineworkers are men, while women, who have likewise flocked to the town from rural South Africa and nearby countries, struggle to find jobs. A Doctors Without Borders report released Tuesday suggests that this imbalance has carried insidious consequences: “Many females in Rustenburg may be financially dependent on men … [making] women less likely to report violence by a partner they depend on.”

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Ring of Fire video draws mixed reaction from women professionals – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – August 16, 2016)

http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

The reviews on a racy Ring of Fire promotional video from KWG Resources featuring bikini models is drawing mixed reaction from some professional women in the mining industry.

If the video was intended to educate casual investors on the Ring of Fire, Barb Courte, chair of the Thunder Bay chapter of Women in Mining, wondered what kind of lesson was being absorbed. “If you want to educate people, putting someone in a bikini is not going to educate them. It’s tacky.”

She posted the video, entitled ‘5 Interesting Ring of Fire Facts,’ to her chapter’s Facebook page to gauge members’ reaction.“Basically, the women are not happy with this, and you know what? We’ve evolved. Why must we go back to the old days? If you’re trying to appeal to a younger audience, that’s not how you do it.”

The short video features two former Sunshine Girl models promoting the mineral and economic potential of the Far North deposits while lounging at a lakeside cottage.

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Viral vixens court Ring of Fire [KWG Resources] junior miner controversy – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – August 12, 2016)

http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

KWG Resources president Frank Smeenk makes no apologies to the social media reaction from a spicy company-sponsored promotional video featuring two bikini-wearing women hawking the virtues of the Ring of Fire.

“I guess I’m kind of tickled. It proves the old adage there’s no bad news, especially if you’re a junior mining company looking for a means of educating the public on the value proposition.”

Whether viewers were absorbing the ‘5 Interesting Ring of Fire Facts’ is matter of ongoing web debate judging by the uproar from critics who view the video, and its use of kitschy sexual innuendo, as an objectification of women.

The video features two models, Theresa Longo and Ashley Nicole, both former Sunshine Girls, promoting the mineral and economic potential of the Far North deposits while lounging at a lakeside cottage.

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[KWG Resources] Video represents ‘all that is really sick about the mining industry’, Pam Palmater says – by Jody Porter (CBC News Thunder Bay – August 11, 2016)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/

First Nations women draw link between ‘sex sells’ attitude and missing, murdered Indigenous women

A promotional video for a mining company featuring young women in bikini tops is “disgusting” and has one expert calling on government to explore what she says is a link between mining companies and sexual violence against Indigenous women.

The one-minute video appears on KWG Resources Youtube channel and shows two scantily-clad women talking about the Ring of Fire mining project in part of northern Ontario where much of the land is claimed by First Nations.

In one scene, a woman identified only as Ashley sits on a swing and says: “First Nations is [sic] interested in sharing in the resources of Ontario’s Ring of Fire.”

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[KWG Resources] Mining firm stands behind sexy ads – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – August 11, 2016)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

There’s no such thing as bad press, says Frank Smeenk, so he won’t apologize for a controversial and sexy video hyping the Ring of Fire. Smeenk is president and chief executive officer of KWG Resources Ltd., an exploration company participating in the discovery, delineation and development of chromite deposits in the Ring of Fire.

Smeenk has come under fire since a short video produced by model-actress-entrepreneur Theresa Longo was released on YouTube. In it, Longo, 29, and friend Ashley Bonar, 32, rhyme off five facts about the Ring of Fire while dressed in bikini tops and short shorts at a cottage in Haliburton.

Smeenk said the idea for the video wasn’t his, but he’s glad Longo thought of it because it’s garnering headlines for the junior miner in Canada and abroad. That can’t be bad for a company trying to attract investors.

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Bikini-clad Ring of Fire video blasted as ‘archaic’ (Postmedia Network – August 11, 2016)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

TORONTO — Sex sells, apparently even to promote mining in the north. A new promo video featuring women in bikinis extolling the virtues of the Ring of Fire mining area in Northern Ontario is raising some eyebrows.

In the video, entitled “5 Interesting ‘Ring of Fire’ Facts,” one of the women, Theresa Longo, stands on a dock in a crop-top and tiny cutoffs. She notes the comparisons between Alberta’s oilsands and the Ring of Fire — about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont., that holds one of the world’s richest chromite deposits as well as nickel, copper and platinum.

A second woman, Ashley, sits on a lakeside swing in a bikini top and Daisy Dukes to let viewers know First Nations are “interested in sharing in the resources.”

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 Using sex to sell Ring of Fire mining project called ‘absurd’ by industry group – by Jody Porter (CBC News Thunder Bay – August 10, 2016)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/

‘We actually were sitting around in our bikinis’ thinking of ways to promote mining, model says

A model who wears a bikini in a video promoting a northern Ontario mining project says it has received exactly the sort of attention she was seeking, but many in the mining industry are condemning the tactic.

Theresa Longo produces a series called “Mining Minutes” for KWG Resources’ YouTube channel. A recent video features Longo and another woman, identified only as Ashley, wearing bikini tops and cut-off shorts and sharing facts about the Ring of Fire mineral deposit.

“Believe it or not, we actually were sitting around in our bikinis and then we decided let’s put on some shorts and we’ll present this in a way that is fun and lighthearted,” Longo said in an interview with CBC News. Longo said she is a shareholder in KWG and produces the videos as a “personal pilot project under the wing of KWG.”

Company president Frank Smenk responded to criticism of the video by telling CBC News that “sex sells,” but Longo said she didn’t approach the video that way.

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‘Sex sells’: Mining company defends use of bikini video to promote Ontario’s Ring of Fire – by Jody Porter (CBC News Thunder Bay – August 09, 2016)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/

KWG creates video featuring young women in bikinis to promote Ring of Fire mining development

An Ontario mining company’s use of young women in bikinis to promote the Ring of Fire mineral deposit is proof the development is off course, according to environmental group Wildlands League.

The exploration company, KWG Resources, published a one-minute video on its YouTube channel last week featuring two young women sharing “five facts” about the Ring of Fire.

Each fact comes with a change in scenery for the women who are dressed in bikini tops and cut-off shorts. In one scene, a woman identified only as Ashley sits on a swing and says: “First Nations is [sic] interested in sharing in the resources of Ontario’s Ring of Fire.”

In another scene, Ashley strides through the bush towards a tree, saying: “Tony Clement said the Ring of Fire would bring a hundred years of mining activity, spinning off jobs for generations.”

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COMMENT: Can sex sell junior mines? – by Marilyn Scales (Canadian Mining Journal – August 8, 2016)

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Click here for the KWG video and Sudbury Northern Life’s comments: http://bit.ly/2beZQjy

I thought the days of trotting out scantily clad women to entice people to buy a product were long gone. Evidently not, if Toronto-based KWG Resources manages to separate investors from their money using such an archaic and humiliating practice.

Frank C. Smeenk, president and CEO of KWG, has posted a series of interview style conversations with a beautiful blonde woman on YouTube in an attempt to sell the public on his plans for the Ring of Fire. To wit he has hired actress/product-ambassador Theresa Longo. She lobs him a softball question about the Ring of Fire and he replies at length.

Finally in episode 23, two scantily clad in women in what looks to be a Muskoka cottage setting talk about the five benefits of developing the Ring of Fire. 1. The minerals there are worth $60 billion. 2. The mineral wealth is equivalent to Alberta’s oil sands. 3. There will be 100 years of jobs. 4. Chromite is used in stainless steel. 5. The First Nations are interested in sharing the resources of the Ring of Fire.

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Today’s WTF ‘mining moment’ brought to you by KWG (Sudbury Northern Life – August 5, 2016)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Junior miner testing the theory that sex sells, even when it comes to the Ring of Fire

You know how sometimes you see something and it leaves you scratching your head, so you go back (in the case of a video you found on the Internet, let’s say) and watch it again, just to make sure you weren’t hallucinating?

Sudbury.com came across just that sort of thing today. Junior miner KWG Resources is selling the Ring of Fire deposit in northwestern Ontario, of which it has several claims in the still-undeveloped chromite hotspot, using girls in bikinis. Yes, girls in bikinis selling a mining development.

It’s quite likely the weirdest promotional video for a mining claim ever produced.

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[Zimbabwe diamonds] Women Brave Challenges To Scrape A Living In Mining – by Dumisani Nyoni (Radio Voice Of The People – June 8, 2016)

http://www.radiovop.com/

Bulawayo, June 09, 2016 – The face of Nomusa Dube, 40, is dusted red with soil as she and her five female colleagues take a brief lunch break. They have been working since dawn on their gold claim in Esigodini, 49 kilometres from Bulawayo along the Bulawayo-Beitbridge road.

She joined the male-dominated industry in 2014 after her husband succumbed to cancer in 2013. “By that time, I saw my world crumbling as I had nowhere to turn to. Two of my children were at high school and three at primary level. Therefore, I was supposed to pay for their school fees, clothe and feed them,” Dube said, checking the sun’s position – a traditional old practice of estimating time – ready to go back to work.

She tried vending in Bulawayo, but with little success. Low returns, and constant raids from municipality police confiscating their wares sucked her strength. In 2013, government invited women to take up mining to supplement their living and Dube was one of the first to respond.

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