Mineral exploration and prosperous communities
Mining industry warned to expect more Aboriginal protests over land claims
The mining industry – a world of opportunities
Diamond North Resources to drill Hepburn project
Clara Desjarlais: McClean’s contented McCleaner
Mineral exploration and prosperous communities
By Philip Bousquet, PDAC
Mineral exploration and mining can act as a catalyst in developing healthy, prosperous communities. This message was delivered by a range of speakers to an audience of over 250 Canadian and international delegates at the March 2007 annual convention of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC).
In a follow-up to the inaugural session at the 2006 convention, the PDAC organized a session on Aboriginal Participation in the Mineral Industry: Canada and international that brought together speakers and delegates representing companies and communities around the world. In response to delegate requests from last year, the 2007 session included international speakers and a panel discussion that encouraged audience participation. The event was a great success with delegates staying well into the afternoon to engage in the discussion.
The first speakers offered the audience their first-hand experience of mineral exploration and mining in Nunavut. Paul Kaludjak, President, and James Eetoolook, 1st Vice President, of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) explained the role of NTI in fostering Inuit economic, social and cultural well-being through the implementation of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.
With offices in Iqaluit, Cambridge Bay, Rankin Inlet and Ottawa, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. is responsible for the management of all Inuit-owned lands in Nunavut and it acts as the advocate of Inuit interests in Nunavut. The organization also provides a number of programs, including support to Inuit development corporations and community economic development organizations, an Elders pension plan, a harvester support program, and a bereavement travel program.
James Eetoolook spoke of the need to ensure that mineral exploration and mining brings benefits such as good jobs and improved social, health and economic standards while minimizing any environmental impacts that could affect traditional activities on the land.
One area that Mr. Eetoolook says must be addressed is the state of the territory’s geological mapping. Nunavut’s mapping is incomplete and until its coverage and quality is brought up to standard, the territory cannot fully take advantage of the benefits that come with mineral exploration. Paul Kaludjak repeated this message, stating that the federal government needs to invest in geoscience mapping in the North.
Overall, the NTI speakers were very hopeful about Nunavut’s prospects, saying that Nunavut can be a model to the world in its approach to sustainable development, education and maintaining traditions.
The 2007 PDAC convention session on Aboriginal participation in the mineral industry also featured speakers from Alaska, Australia, and the Northwest Territories, as well as a panel discussion involving lawyers representing the various parties to a legal case in northwestern Ontario that raises issues of land claims, engagement and constitutional rights. For copies of these presentations, please go to the Aboriginal Affairs page on the PDAC website at www.pdac.ca
As the national voice of the mineral exploration sector, the PDAC can serve a role in improving our members’ understanding of aboriginal issues, and helping communities work with the exploration industry. Through our work with PDAC volunteers and other organizations, we develop information resources and promote opportunities that encourage cooperation and sustainable development.
The next PDAC Convention will be held March 2 to 5, 2008 in Toronto. For further information, please contact Philip Bousquet, PDAC Director, Sustainability at 416-362-1969 or email pbousquet@pdac.ca
Mining industry warned to expect more Aboriginal protests over land claims
By Laura Bobak
The mining industry should steel itself for increasingly frequent protests and blockades linked with unresolved Aboriginal land claims in Canada, a pros-pectors conference heard on March 6th.
More Aboriginal communities will be seeking to block mining exploration and development, pending settlements of their backlogged land claims, warned Hans Matthews, of the Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association.
He spoke at a session during a four-day convention organized by the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada.
Matthews, a proponent of Aboriginal participation in mining, predicted there will be three or four more cases per year like the fierce dispute that remains unresolved at Big Trout Lake, near Thunder Bay, Ont.
The Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation (KI First Nation) shut down exploration efforts by Platinex Inc. (TSEV:PTX) with a blockade and then interim court injunction last year.
“The case seeks to strike out the entire Mining Act as unconstitutional,” Kate Kempton, a lawyer representing the KI First Nation, arguing the act doesn't recognize inherent Aboriginal land rights.
Companies who don't respect inherent Aboriginal land rights on non-treaty Crown land, “will be met with protests and blockades,” Kempton warned.
Kempton cited a federal Supreme Court ruling stating Aboriginal people are entitled to be consulted when mining is considered on Crown land covered by a claim.
The irony, junior mining companies say, is that the colossal failure of governments to settle land claims promptly is curbing mine exploration and development, which would create jobs in on poverty-stricken reserves.
“We really believe the mining industry is the solution to poverty in the Far North,” Don Bubar, of Avalon Ventures Ltd. (TSXV:AVL) told delegates at the annual prospectors convention, which has drawn 16,000 industry players from around the world.
Meanwhile, as Canada's 1,000 outstanding land claims remain unsettled, Canadian companies struggle to supply overseas markets hungry for commodities.
“We're finding ourselves as the ham in the sandwich between the First Nations and the federal government,” said Neal Smitheman, a lawyer representing Platinex, which believes it has found a major chromium deposit at Big Trout Lake.
“We need to find out if there's anything there and hopefully develop it in a way that will benefit everyone.”
Meanwhile, a striking contrast to the KI First Nation approach was evident among Aboriginal leaders involved in successful mining projects in the Northwest Terroritories, the United States and Auastralia, who also spoke at the session.
The Tlicho First Nation, near Yellowknife, N.W.T., employs nearly 400 people providing camp services to three diamond mines – Ekati, Diavik, and Snap Lake.
Now the Dene community of 4,000 is working with Fortune Minerals Ltd., (TSX:FT) on its proposed NICO gold-cobalt-bismuth project.
Other proposed operations include the Gahcho Kue diamond project and the Tyhee gold project.
Tlicho has established 25 joint-venture companies in construction, engineering as well as air and road transport and other services.
“We're always looking for new opportunities, every minute,” said Ted Blondin, of the BehCho Ko Development Corp.
Another highly successful joint venture featured Tuesday was Teck Cominco's (TSE:TCK) Red Dog mine in Alaska, where about 60 per cent of operations staff are Aboriginal.
Teck Cominco also spends $1.5 million on skills training in the region, and is educating Aboriginal residents so they can join management ranks.
The mining industry – a world of opportunities
It’s a fact – because of an aging workforce and industry growth, the mining industry is facing a shortage of up to 80,000 people over the next decade. There is no question that the industry is facing a human resources challenge that needs to be addressed now. The industry also needs to get the message out about the positive and rewarding career opportunities that the mining industry provides.
Running in conjunction with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum annual conference and exhibition, the Mining in Society (MIS) show will be held at the Montreal Palais des congrès from April 29 to May 1, 2007. It will proactively engage the next generation of mining workers and help demonstrate what makes mining great. Interactive and hands-on, the show is an excellent opportunity to discover real career choices.
MIS will be laid around pavilions showcasing the main areas of mining and all the careers that fall into each of those. The show will allow participants to “take a walk” through the mining industry. Each section will provide real-life demonstration of available career opportunities, describe the role of government, industry and associations and will highlight the diversity of education requirements.
Picture an exploration tent with all the tools to make that next big discovery or imagine a real-life mining operation here: okay, on a small scale. Discover the differences between how minerals, metals, diamonds, other gems and industrial minerals are processed. From toothpaste to computers to bicycles to fine art, products that we use in our day-to-day lives and that depend on mining will be on display. Just imagine the world of career opportunities. It is infinite.
There will also be a large career fair where over 30 employers will be recruiting and collecting resumes on site.
A visit to the Mining in Society show is free and all are welcome.
For more details on this event, visit www.mininginsociety.com
Addressing the human resources challenge in mining at the annual CIM Conference
On May 1, as part of the CIM Conference and Exhibition at the Palais de Congres in Montreal, an intensive full day program is lined up to dig deep for solutions to today’s human resources challenges facing the minerals industry. The day will kick off with morning sessions offering top-notch speakers on various aspects of HR, followed by a Women in Mining Forum in the afternoon, featuring a panel of nine outstanding women employed in various occupations throughout the minerals industry sharing their experiences and offering their suggestions to building tomorrow’s diverse workforce.
Take the crash course and arm yourself with the tools to ensure your workplace attracts the top employees. This program will attract people working in HR, management, and others aiming to build their own careers in the minerals industry.
Learn how companies are mitigating the impact of global skills shortages, investing best practices in workforce attraction, recruitment, and retention, as well as training and development.
The Women in Mining Forum will be an opportunity to develop strategies to enable more women to thrive in mining-related careers, and to recruit and retain female employees, lead by women who themselves are achieving great heights in the minerals industry.
For more information on the CIM Conference and Exhibition program, visit www.cim.org
Diamond North Resources to drill Hepburn project
By Shirley Collingridge
Diamond North Resources (DDN: TSX.V) hopes its Hepburn Project will rival Ekati and Diavik. The company announced a C$3 million exploration budget for its 100% owned Hepburn property located in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Airborne geophysics completed in 2006 identified more than 200 kimberlite targets. The Hepburn camp is now mobilized. Exploration work began in late March.
The impressive 200 geophysical targets were identified from an airborne survey covering just 30% of the property. Targets range from one to eight hectares and are associated with kimberlite indicator minerals recovered from the property, including G10 and eclogitic garnets often found in highly diamondiferous kimberlite.
“The large targets, favourable mineral chemistry and geological location of the Hepburn property increases our confidence of discovering another Ekati or Diavik, Canada's largest and most profitable diamond mines,” said Mark Kolebaba, President and CEO of Diamonds North Resources Ltd.
“Our objective in 2007 is to confirm a new diamondiferous kimberlite field at Hepburn which we believe would add significant value for our share-holders,” he added.
A C$3 million exploration budget for Hepburn in 2007 includes:
- Evaluating over 100 of the 200 targets with detailed geophysics;
- Drill testing at least 20 targets;
- Geophysical airborne surveying on the remaining 70% of the property.
The Hepburn project is located approximately 200 kilometres northwest of the Ekati Diamond Mine and is located along the western margin of the Slave Craton. The Slave Craton is one of the most prolific diamond producing terrains in North and South America. The Company has diligently advanced Hepburn from grass-roots exploration to an extensive first drill program in 2007.
In mid-February, the company confirmed new diamond discoveries on its 100%-owned Amaruk property in Nunavut. The second kimberlite, named Qavvik, contains a 4-hectare magnetic anomaly that yielded positive diamond results. Ninety-one diamonds or 1.5 stones per kilogram were collected from a 60.28 kilogram sample. These promising results prompted the expansion of the 2007 core drilling program, designating Qavvik as a candidate for mini-bulk sampling.
About 70% of the recovered diamonds are octahedrons; 95% of the diamonds are white in color. The three largest stones measure 0.51mm x 0.43mm x 0.36mm, 0.51mm x 0.46mm x 0.42mm, and 0.51mm x 0.43mm x 0.32 mm.
“The diamond counts are exceptional and even better then we had expected,” said Kolebaba. “What's exceptional is despite the diamond losses we anticipated from the RC drilling, the diamond yield is high.”
Some diamond loss is expected with this type of reverse circulation (RC) drilling. The down-hole hammer impacts the rock 1,400 times per minute and high pressure air pushes sample material upward at speeds approaching 110-kilometres per hour.
Company officials say the lack of stones remaining on screens above the 0.300 mm sieve is likely the result of the RC drill pulverizing the material and the relatively small sample size. Reconnaissance RC drilling is a cost-effective kimberlite discovery tool that verifies whether geophysical targets are kimberlite and whether they contain diamonds – critical factors given the more than 400 targets on the property, 25 of which are within a 10-kilometre area around Qavvik.
The results in Table 1 depict the first of two drill holes into the Qavvik kimberlite. From the second drill hole, an additional 400 kilograms are currently being processed for diamonds.
“In light of these results, we are looking forward to further evaluating the Qavvik kimberlite with a core rig,” said Kolebaba.
Kimberlite RC samples were logged in secure facilities at the field camp by geoscientists. Samples were then securely sealed in solid containers and shipped to SGS Lakefield Research in Ontario for processing. RC results presented here were processed by SGS Lakefield Research using their standard caustic fusion diamond recovery method. The 0.075 mm sieve was added to evaluate potential breakage during drilling.
The Qavvik sample was not sieved or split, and all material from the drill hole was processed by caustic fusion. SGS Lakefield is accredited by the Standards Council of Canada to the ISO/IEC Guide 25 standard for specific registered tests.
Diamonds North Resources is focused on discovering Canada's next diamond mine. The Company is rapidly evolving and committed to building long-term value through ongoing diamond discoveries.
For more information, visit www.diamondsnorth.com.
Clara Desjarlais: McClean’s contented McCleaner
By Shirley Collingridge
Pursue what you love, and you will never work a day in your life.
Confucius
Even though Clara Desjarlais puts in long hours as a supervising janitor on the nightshift at McClean Lake uranium mine, there are few places she would rather be. “I just love my job!” said the Dene Native.
Employed by Athabasca Basin Security and Janitorial Service, Desjarlais journeys from her Rosthern home to the northern campsite every second week. “I drive from Rosthern to Saskatoon and then we take a plane from there another about two, two and a half hours. From there – another 45 minute bus ride,” she said. Plane and bus rides are courtesy of the mine.
Athabasca Basin Security and Janitorial Service, a holding of the Athabasca Basin Development Limited Partnership (ABDLP), is contracted by AREVA’s McClean Lake uranium mine.
Originally from Uranium City and raised in Fond du Lac, Desjarlais had to come full circle before finding herself in AREVA’s camp. “I left Uranium in ‘66 to go to Northwest Territories,” she said. Eight years later, she moved to Alberta, then, “got tired of Alberta,” she said. “I was living in Alberta for 23 years in Fort McMurray.”
“From Fort McMurray, I moved to Uranium City because I wanted to get into one of the mines to work there as a janitor,” said Desjarlais. “I’ve been doing janitor work for the last 30 years.”
Looking back, Desjarlais says her future surprised her. “I was raised in a mining town but I never thought of working in the mines,” she said. “I started off cleaning in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories in the hospital.” It was at Fort Smith that Desjarlais got hooked on janitorial work.
At AREVA, “I got hired as a camp attendant first for a year,” she said. “Then I got laid off because they were cutting down on workers.”
The layoff would be short-lived. “The day I was going to leave, I got hired for supervising.” And seven years later, she says, “I’m still there,” she chuckled.
Desjarlais immediately underwent the several-day supervisory training course along with other AREVA employers and contractors to earn her certificate. Today Desjarlais is a supervising janitor, with a crew of six.
She works hard, yet Desjarlais says she would change nothing. “I just love my job. I work straight nights – seven in the evening ‘til seven in the morning. I start off, make sure all my workers are on time going to work and then I do my job too, working [at the] same time as a supervisor.”
Her non-supervisory work entails cleaning management offices and other areas. She gleans great satisfaction from a job well done. “When I strip and wax the floor, it looks good and I’m happy. It makes me proud when somebody else comes over and says hey, your work looks good,” she said.
Desjarlais also relishes the time she spends mentoring her team, lending an ear to their work and personal problems, and generally acting as mother hen. Still, she encourages each of her brood to leave the nest should they wish. “If they have a better opportunity there to get another job or a better paid job, we are happy about it,” she said. “If they want to go back to school, I always encourage them to go back to school because I don’t have hardly any education myself. I only got grade three – but as the years go by, I taught myself lots.”
Desjarlais herself has no plans to move on or to return to school. “I’m 58 years old. I’m healthy. My body still feels young – from all the hard work probably,” she laughed. Consequently, she added, she will stay at McClean even past retirement age – “’Til I drop.”
With her son and three daughters all grown, it is less difficult to be away from home for long periods “They have their own life and I have mine,” she said.
“I don’t really mind it at all,” she said of the isolation. “But sometimes if something happens to one of the family, it’s kind of hard. Like if there is a death in the family and you are stuck out there,” she said. Because of flight constraints, employees cannot get home the same day they receive news.
Back at home with hubby, she said, “We usually relax for a week,” adding of course – “and clean up the house!” Her own house must also shine.
Asked whom she most admires, Desjarlais responds with typical good humour. “I really don’t admire anybody at all – except my husband, I guess,” words she followed by a hearty laugh and an explanation that she had to name him because he had just walked in the door, home from work.