First Nations trainees treated right at Kemess
Gold mining returns to Arctic as Miramar prepares Doris North site
Tamerlane reaches agreement with the Deninuk K’ue First Nation
Four Aboriginals to sit on Silver Spruce board
Miramar launches website to communicate reclamation progress at the Con Mine
Promise or poison?: Crowds gather in Arctic community to discuss uranium mining on their lands
Steelworkers union say reject mining company’s labour import plan
Canada’s blood diamond safeguards need better funding
Nunavut not yet ready to control its own resources, says federal report
21st century mining: Understanding, vision and environmental sustainability
Focus shifts from exploration to engineering at Courageous Lake Gold Project
New skills key to career success
Mountain Province Diamonds provides update on Gahcho Kué Project
First Nations trainees treated right at Kemess
As the charter plane prepares to touch down on the airstrip at the Kemess mine, Edna Agla is rolling out the welcome mat for the mine’s newest employees.
Agla is the First Nations Liaison at Northgate Minerals Corporation’s Kemess Mine, a copper-gold mining and milling operation located roughly 400 kilometres northwest of Prince George, BC.
Edna Agla is the First Nations Liaison at Northgate Minerals’ Kemess Mine.
In this role, she supports the mine’s First Nations employees and is responsible for reviewing resumes and job applications, conducting telephone interviews and checking references for all potential employees.
She is also a key figure in Kemess’ First Nations training program. The program was developed to provide skills training for band members in the region, which often leads to temporary and permanent work at Kemess.
The Kemess Mine operates in some areas traditionally used by the Gitxsan House of Nii Kyap, Kwadacha, Tsay Keh Dene and Takla Lake First Nations, of which Agla is a member.
The program can accommodate four or five trainees at a time. They spend the equivalent of three months learning operations or maintenance procedures, as well as the day-to-day tasks that keep the mine and the mill running smoothly.
Agla recruits trainees for the program and helps the successful candidates make the transition to being at the mine. It's a fly-in operation where employees live and work for 14 days at a time. One of the most important things, Agla says, is meeting the trainees at the airstrip and welcoming them to her territory.
“It’s very important to let them know they are welcome here. It’s a sign of respect and it lets them know they have someone here they can go to with any questions or concerns.”
Agla says the idea of working at the mine can be quite intimidating for some. As a woman and an ethnic minority, she had her own concerns.
“I was worried I wouldn’t fit in. But it’s actually like one big community here.”
Before joining Kemess, Agla studied social work at the University of Northern British Columbia as well as at Langara and Douglas Colleges in the Lower Mainland. She says her education has helped her in her role at the mine.
“I love my job,” she enthuses. “I get to meet so many different people from all different areas. They know they can count on me for support. I’ll listen to them and I'm here to help.”
Forty-eight trainees have completed the program since it began in 2004, and 11 trainees have been hired at the mine after completing the training.
Maurice Ethier, Kemess’ General Manager, says the program is building capacity and providing meaningful employment and advancement within the workforce at Kemess.
“We’re finding people who are demonstrating a great attitude,” he says. “It’s become such a key part of our success at Kemess and hopefully the training is just the beginning.”
“I meet them when they start the training program and get to see the changes they go through as they learn new skills,” adds Agla. “It makes me so happy when they’re offered a job at the mine – it means I selected the right person and have helped set them on the path to success.”
Gold mining returns to Arctic as Miramar prepares Doris North site
By Bob Weber
Gold is returning to the North as Miramar Mining (TSX:MAE) readies a site along Canada’s Arctic coast for the first new gold mine development in a generation.
“It’s a great opportunity to see it coming back,” said Larry Connell, Miramar’s environmental manager.
Crews are now quarrying rock near the Vancouver-based company’s Doris North deposit in Nunavut and at the midpoint of Canada’s northern coastline south of the community of Cambridge Bay.
The rock will be used to build loading pads and a jetty for 12 barges loaded with equipment and supplies and now being marshalled in a yard at Hay River, N.W.T. The barges will eventually be towed up the Mackenzie River and through the Northwest Passage to the future mine site.
“It’s all the materials you need to build the earthworks and major buildings,” said Connell. “It is a long trip.”
If all goes well – and a final necessary permit is issued – construction on the $40-million mine will begin this winter with startup set for late 2008. That will make it the first new gold mine in the Canadian Arctic since the 1981 opening of the Lupin mine which produced until 2005.
It will also – for a while, anyway – be the only gold mine in the northern regions once famous for them.
Yellowknife was built over the underground tunnels of mines such as the Giant and the Con. The Discovery mine north of Yellowknife and the Lupin site in Nunavut kept a steady flow of the yellow metal heading south for generations.
But when Lupin closed in 2005 – the last of the North’s gold mines to do so – it was the end of an era.
Doris North could signal a rebirth, said Mike Vaydick, head of the N.W.T. and Nunavut Chamber of Mines.
“We’ve seen a big resurgence in exploration for gold, partly based on price,” he said.
Gold, now worth over $600 an ounce, is nearly twice as valuable as it was when some of those first-generation mines shut down.
Doris North, on its own, is a modest project with an ore body forecast to last only two years. However, Miramar plans to use profits from the high-grade mine to develop several deposits along a 60-kilometre stretch of rock.
“The intent is go much beyond,” said Connell.
There could be enough gold to keep Miramar busy for at least 15 years, and perhaps more, he said. One of the deposits, the Madrid, is estimated to contain 7.4 million ounces of gold, indicated and inferred.
Doris North is also the first gold mine to build on Inuit-owned land.
All royalties will be paid to Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the corporation that oversees the Nunavut land claim. The federal government will receive only taxes.
Impact and benefits agreements have been signed with the local Kitikmeot Inuit Association. The mine is expected to offer between 125 and 150 jobs when it’s complete.
Doris North is unlikely to remain the only northern gold mine for long.
Agnico-Eagle’s (TSX:AEM) Meadowbank development, also in Nunavut near the central Arctic community of Baker Lake, is to begin production in 2010. Meadowbank offers 2.9 million ounces of proven and probable gold reserves. That mine is expected to cost $375 million to bring into production.
Gold prices are also strong enough to bring new interest to old mines. Vancouver-based Tyhee Resources is bulk sampling at the old Discovery mine north of Yellowknife to see if it would be economic to reopen that deposit.
When Greg McKenzie was growing up in Black Lake, Saskatchewan, he dreamed of becoming an RCMP officer. Three decades later, the Dene man has partially realized that dream. McKenzie now works as a security guard for Athabasca Basin Security, positioned at the Cigar Lake uranium mine. Instead of tracking criminals, he monitors dials and pursues wayward wildlife.
“We chase bears around, mostly,” he said. “There are black bears that come and other wildlife. We have to kick them off the site. I saw a moose yesterday, just a cow – a big one,” he added.
McKenzie and his fellow guards use air horns to frighten off the animals, “to keep them away from where people are staying,” he said. “Sometimes it doesn’t work!”
Wildlife at remote minesites like Cigar Lake is common. To reach the minesite, “The company flies me in with Westwind Aviation. It takes a couple of hours,” he said. “It’s a big plane – a 44-seater, twin engine. They come from Saskatoon, stop in Prince Albert and La Ronge.”
McKenzie’s “real” job entails much more than chasing wildlife. “We monitor everything – make sure things run smoothly. You check all the panels and make sure everything is running [normally.] Every two hours, I do security checks on the nightshift guys – to make sure everybody is okay. And nobody looks after me!” he chuckled.
“They call me cop around here – just bugging me,” he chuckled again, showing his humour. “Cop” or not, McKenzie worked hard to achieve his current standing.
Before coming to McLean Lake, McKenzie had built up an interesting resume. “I got my grade 12 in Prince Albert,” he said, “then went to four years of Bible college.”
McKenzie earned a diploma in Biblical Studies and went on to pastor a church. “I planted (founded) a church in Saskatoon,” he said, “First Nations Baptist Church in 1997. It’s still going.”
McKenzie is not new to the security field. “I worked security with Prince Albert Development Corporation as supervisor for four years. I hired and fired people,” he said.
“I was working for Athabasca Health Authority at Black Lake at that time,” he added. “I was working as a security guard at the hospital in Stony Rapids then I decided to come to the minesite.”
McKenzie trained with the Prince Albert Tribal Police, where he earned the certificate required for a security license.
His occupational life might well have taken another turn recently if it were not for circumstances beyond his control. “Before this mine spill at Cigar Lake, I was going to be a mill operator at Cameco. I was going to Rabbit Lake mine for training,” he said. “When that mine flooded, they pulled that. They are still working on Cigar Lake – they want to be in production in 2010.”
The process of becoming a security guard can be daunting for northerners because of the time it takes. Besides having a clean criminal record, guards must pass the security examination and hold a valid driver’s license.
“Up north you can’t get your driver’s license quickly,” said McKenzie. “It’s not like down south.” As well, he added, “Down south, they have the security guard course every week but up here, they don’t [provide] that kind of course.”
The course is offered infrequently – often only once a year. That means applicants must plan ahead.
In light of his training, experience, and promise, McKenzie wished he could be better compensated at his current job. At ten dollars an hour to start, he says, “The pay is not good.”
Raises take place biannually. “They gave me a dollar raise and hopefully my next one in another six months,” he said. McKenzie also looks forward to more Dene moving into supervisory ranks.
“Just recently there was a security supervisor opening,” he said. “Without advertising the position, they [gave] it to somebody else. I personally wrote a letter to the company to post supervisory positions so we can have a chance within the company to move up,” he said. “I think all the supervisors are white; we are all Aboriginal workers. That’s not good. I told them we’re from Athabasca Basin, we should be appointed supervisor [when we qualify.]
Nevertheless, McKenzie wholly enjoys his job, especially the responsibility that arises from being a security officer. He also enjoys meeting people. As a bonus, during his seven a.m. to seven p.m., week-in, week-out shifts, McKenzie can communicate in Dene, his native language. “There are a lot of Dene people here. I get to understand Native people. They come from all over – Black Lake, Patuanak, la Crosse,” he said.
These night owl hours can bring challenges. “It’s kind of tough when you work nights,” said McKenzie. “Your body is different. I am usually asleep by 10.”
Still, he manages to squeeze in a little off-time fun, “Summertime, I go fishing for trout, for jack or grayling,” he said.
Now well into his thirties, McKenzie still dreams of hooking the big one – landing a position as RCMP officer. It is all part of planning ahead.
Tamerlane reaches agreement with the Deninuk K’ue First Nation
Tamerlane Ventures Inc. (TAM: TSX-V) is pleased to announce that a business agreement with the Deninu K’ue First Nation (DKFN) has been signed. The agreement outlines job and business opportunities to the Deninu K’ue First Nation for the Pine Point Project and ensures a long lasting relationship between Tamerlane and DKFN.
Chief Bill Norn from the Deninu K’ue First Nation states, “We are pleased that our Nation has employment and business opportunities, and that we will benefit from the resources in our area.”
Ross Burns, President & CEO, said: “We are extremely pleased to be continuing a mutually beneficial relationship with the Deninu K’ue people and look forward to working with them as we develop our Pine Point Project.”
This announcement comes just a few short weeks after Tamerlane signed a similar business agreement with the Katlodeeche First Nation (KFN).
In a letter from KFN to the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board stated, “The Chief and Council are satisfied that Tamerlane Ventures have taken all the necessary steps to ensure the protection of the lands and natural resources surrounding the mine site. Furthermore, the Chief & Council are satisfied Tamerlane Ventures inc. have met all the licensing requirements for this project and for the current and future business and economic opportunities between the parties.”
Tamerlane Ventures Inc. is focused on placing the Pine Point Zinc-Lead Property into production, and has positioned this project to take full advantage of current trends in metals prices. The historic Pine Point property is located in Canada’s Northwest Territories on the south side of the Great Slave Lake, and was mined from 1964 through 1987 by Teck Cominco, during which time it produced over 64 million tonnes of ore grading 7.0% zinc and 3.1% lead.
In returning the Pine Point Property to production, Tamerlane’s initial target is the R-190 deposit, which contains a historical estimated 1 million tonnes of ore grading 12.1% zinc and 6.3% lead (historical estimate, not NI 43-101 compliant). The company will utilize innovative approaches that combine existing and proven technologies to reduce production costs and enhance the recovery process. Such technologies include ground freezing, vertical conveyors and a dense media separation circuit. The use of these and other innovative approaches will allow Tamerlane to overcome the challenges faced by the previous operators of Pine Point. Successful extraction of the R-190 deposit will verify the potential to conduct full-scale mining of 34 other known deposits.
During the past year, Tamerlane reached several major milestones related to the project’s feasibility study, environmental permitting and community consultation process.
The company began its feasibility study for the R-190 deposit at the beginning of the year. The purpose of the study was to prove the economic feasibility of mining methods and ore processing techniques both for the R-190 deposit and eventual full-scale mining of approximately 34 other deposits believed to be economically viable mining targets. Necessary work for the study was conducted by Tamerlane’s staff of engineers and geologists, and was completed in April 2007.
Significant progress was also made toward obtaining the environmental permits for the Pine Point Project. Through close cooperation with local communities and the Mackenzie Environmental Impact Review Board (MVEIRB), the Company completed and submitted its Developer’s Assessment Report to the MVEIRB. The report is the culmination of over one year of research, baseline studies and community engagement, and is the single most important document in the permitting process.
Tamerlane will continue initiatives to bring the Pine Point project to production, develop the Los Pinos property and execute other strategies to further grow the company.
Four Aboriginals to sit on Silver Spruce board
Silver Spruce Resources Inc. is pleased to announce that it has formed an advisory Board to help guide its exploration in Labrador and elsewhere in northern Canada. Four people, all of Aboriginal descent and all residents of Labrador, have agreed to serve on the Board. They include: Marcel Ashini, George Riche, Ernest McLean and Ed Montague.
All of the Advisory Board members are active in their communities and in Aboriginal affairs.
Silver Spruce Resources is focussed on uranium exploration in scenic Labrador.
Marcel Ashini lives in Sheshatshui, is the development officer for the town, and works directly with the Chief of the Sheshatshui band.
George Rich lives in Natuashish, a mainly Innu community on the coast of Labrador, and is a member of their Child, Youth and Family Services committee.
Ernest McLean, who lives in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, is a former Minister of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs with the government of Newfoundland and Labrador and is a member of the recently formed Nunatsiavut government.
Ed Montague, a geologist, is the former representative of the Department of Natural Resources of the provincial government in Labrador West. He resides in Labrador City and is also a member of the Nunatsiavut government. Mr. Montague spent 25 years with mining and engineering companies such as Bechtel, Place Dome and United Keno Hill, working in Canada and overseas, prior to joining the provincial government. He is a graduate in geology from Memorial University of Newfoundland and is a Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo.) registered with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Lloyd Hillier, President and CEO of Silver Spruce, comments, “We appreciate the commitment to their province, and the sustainable economic development of it, that has convinced these gentlemen to agree to serve on the Board to help guide Silver Spruce’s exploration efforts. We are committed to working with the Aboriginal people of the province to develop its resources for the benefit of all the people in the province. The management of Silver Spruce looks forward to a long, mutually helpful relationship with the Advisory Board.”
Silver Spruce’s focus continues to be uranium exploration in the Central Mineral Belt of Labrador. The company is currently carrying out an intensive exploration program including a minimum 8,000m drill program on the Two Time zone that will lead to the company's first-ever uranium resource calculation.
Silver Spruce Resources Inc. is a junior exploration company primarily focused on uranium in the Central Mineral Belt (CMB) and other areas of potential in Labrador, Canada. With interests in over 9,800 claims totaling approximately 2,500 square kilometres, Silver Spruce is the one of the largest landholders in one of the world's premier emerging uranium districts. The large ground position, experienced partners, and strong financial backing, make Silver Spruce a leading uranium explorer in Labrador.
Miramar launches website to communicate reclamation progress at the Con Mine
Miramar Mining Corporation announced May 30th the successful re-start of the autoclave at the Con Mine as part of its ongoing reclamation activity at the mine in Yellowknife. The autoclave will process all of the remaining arsenic bearing sludges and calcines left on site from historic roaster operations prior to Miramar’s ownership of the mine.
Con Mine, NWT
This process will generate an environmentally safe and stable arsenic mineral called scorodite. This final stabilization of all of the remaining arsenic sludges and calcines is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2007 paving the way for the final cleaning and demolition of the surface processing facilities at the Con Mine (the Blend Plant, the Mill and the Autoclave) in late 2007 or early 2008.
After a four year period and the contributions of a working group comprised of technical experts representing the federal and territorial governments, the City of Yellowknife, the Stanton Regional Health Board, local Aboriginal groups and other stakeholders, the Closure and Reclamation Plan for Con Mine was approved by the McKenzie Valley Land and Water Board.
“Although clean up activities have been underway for some time, we are pleased to be in a position to officially start reclamation of the Con Mine following the recent approval of the Con Mine Closure and Reclamation Plan by the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board,” said Tony Walsh, Miramar's President and CEO. “Although mining at the Con has come to an end, we look forward to continuing our partnership with the City of Yellowknife, the Northwest Territory and it’s constituents for many years to come. We endeavour to maintain a high level of environmental stewardship in all of our activities and operations.”
Miramar also announced the launch of a website dedicated to communicating the status and progress of reclamation at the Con Mine to all residents of Yellowknife and to the public at large. This site can be accessed at the following internet address: http://www.conmine.ca/s/Home.asp.
Provision has been incorporated at this site for Yellowknife residents to request information from Miramar on the status of its reclamation activity at the Con Mine site.
Con Mine History Book
Miramar also congratulates the N.W.T. Mining Heritage Society on their publication of a new history book entitled “Con Mine – A Pictorial History”. It is more than just a history book in that the book was designed primarily as a photo history combined with stories of the many people who lived and worked at the Con. The book will be distributed to former and current Con employees (many of which contributed to the book with their stories and photographs). The book will also be sold as a fundraising vehicle through the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines, the Northern Frontier Visitors Centre or directly through the Heritage Society for $20.00 a copy.
Miramar is proud to have commissioned and funded the book as a dedication to the Con Mine and to the City of Yellowknife.
The First Nations of Quebec at the United Nations - Quebec must make way to joint management of ancestral lands
At an event taking place as part of the 6th Session of the United Nations’ Permanent Forum on Indigenous People, representatives of the Assembly of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL) have called on an urgent set up in Quebec, as well as in many other regions of the world, of joint management systems of ancestral lands and the natural resources lying both on and under the ground.
Chief of Pessamit, Raphael Picard
“The time has come for a new relationship between Quebec and the First Nations, a new relationship that will allow us to better develop the territory and the resources, a new relation that will allow us to encourage a better regional development and would also insure a better cohabitation between Quebecers and Aboriginals,” said Chief of Pessamit, Raphael Picard who is taking part for a third year in the Permanent Forum.
Chief of AFNQL Ghislain Picard reminded that, unlike other Aboriginal Nations in Canada and elsewhere, Aboriginal Nations living in Quebec have never signed any treaty that would have allowed either France or England to take possession of the lands under their control. He also reminded that these First Nations have never given up their sovereignty on these lands. Quoting some Supreme Court of Canada recent decisions, Chief Ghislain Picard said that, “Today, the question is not to find out if the Aboriginal Nations living in Quebec own sovereignty, but how to conciliate the Aboriginal Nations sovereignty to the sovereignty of the Canadian State.”
Chief of the Innus of Ekuanitshit Jean-Charles Piétacho has underlined that the Quebec Government cannot think anymore of developing the hydroelectric potential on the territory without taking into account the First Nations. “We hold a title and rights on these natural resources. The La Romaine hydroelectric dam project will be completed only if a joint management project with the Innus is agreed on.”
The fact that the three Chiefs from Quebec have taken part to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues certainly was a strong moment of this 6th Session. It will have an impact on the rest of the Session as well as on the future actions of the Permanent Forum.
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
The three Innus Chiefs have also seized the opportunity of their visit to the UN to reaffirm the importance for the UN's General Assembly to adopt the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. They have also stated positively their intention to multiply their presences to this type of International meetings so to have their grievances heard on new tribunes regarding the Quebec and the Canada governments.
“Our presence here… shows Chiefs of the First Nations of Quebec’s new will to play an increasingly active role on the International scene. We will use every useful means to have our voices and messages heard,” said Chief Ghislain Picard.
The Assembly of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL) is the regional body representing the First Nations Chiefs of Quebec and Labrador.
Promise or poison?
Crowds gather in Arctic community to discuss uranium mining on their lands
By Bob Weber
Crowds of scientists, miners, government officials and environmentalists descended on a tiny Arctic hamlet in the middle of the tundra recently as the people of Baker Lake, Nunavut, debated whether uranium mining will secure their future or poison it.
Observers say that while the Dene of the Northwest Territories have firmly rejected the industry, the Inuit are much more willing to consider mining the radioactive metal on their lands.
“The NWT side ... has been outspoken against uranium development,” says Barry McCallum with Areva Resources, which hopes to open the area’s first mine.
“I'm not seeing that in Nunavut.”
Ross Thompson, head of the board that oversees the area’s caribou herds, agrees.
“There is a different approach in Nunavut, and that is ‘We’re open for business in mining.’ ”
Hotels, bed and breakfasts and even private homes in the community of 1,500 were bursting as a three-day workshop, sponsored by the Nunavut Planning Commission, began on June 5th. Representatives from 22 different organizations, including federal, provincial and territorial governments, mining companies, environmental groups and research institutes were lined up to speak.
The meeting is the latest in a series of public consultations on the topic and the first one to bring together so many different interested groups.
The debate is driven by uranium prices, which have spiked from $7 a few years ago to the current price of more than $120 per pound.
This has drawn dozens of miners to the central Arctic. Areva owns the Kiggavik deposit southwest of Baker Lake, estimated to contain up to 45 million kilograms of ore. The company expects to decide this fall whether to go ahead with plans for a mine.
Some fear the mine could disrupt the calving grounds of the caribou herds, which Aboriginals in both Nunavut and the NWT depend on for food. Others are concerned about tailings from the mining operations that will remain radioactive for thousands of years.
Such concerns prompted the NWT community of Lutsel K'e to reject uranium mining on their lands, which extend nearly to the Nunavut boundary.
The territorial regulator recently accepted their arguments and ruled a uranium exploration project in the area should not proceed.
But Inuit groups, including Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., which oversees the Nunavut land claim, have been conditionally supportive of uranium mining. That could break an old, unspoken agreement between the Dene and the Inuit, says Monte Hummel of the World Wildlife Fund.
“The Inuit are counting on the Dene to protect the headwaters of Thelon River and the Dene are counting on the Inuit to protect the calving and post-calving areas of the three caribou herds,” he said in an e-mail.
“The Dene are keeping their end of the bargain, but what about the Inuit?”
McCallum says he’ll point to his company’s 30-year record of safe, careful uranium mining in northern Saskatchewan.
But he’ll face opposition from groups such as the Pembina Institute, an environmental think-tank.
“We’re not going up there with our firm view of uranium mining development but we definitely want to outline the environmental impacts, because they could be quite severe,” says researcher Alison Jamison.
Gordon Edwards of the Canadian Coalition for Environmental Responsibility says he’ll focus on the lingering effects of tailings ponds and mineral dust.
“When the mine stops operation, there’s going to be a legacy of radioactive waste that’s going to be very difficult to manage, especially in permafrost,” he said.
Left in the middle are the Inuit of Baker Lake.
“Right now, the people are just trying to get information,” says Mayor David Aksawnee.
“If this mine ever starts, that’s going to create jobs, not only for the community but the whole Kivalliq region.
“(But) what damage is this going to do to the health, not only of the people, but the wildlife?
“This is an important meeting.”
Steelworkers union say reject mining company’s labour import plan
Governments should immediately reject applications from a Chinese company to bring Chinese coal miners to Canada, say the United Steelworkers (USW).
USW Western Canada Director Steve Hunt urged rejection of Dehau International Mines Inc.’s plan to bring 400 coal miners from China to operate its Gething Coal Project near Hudson’s Hope, BC.
“There are so many things wrong with this that it’s hard to know where to begin,” said Hunt. “In less than five years Canada has lost 250,000 manufacturing jobs. Can’t we train any of those workers to mine coal? There is a skilled worker shortage and, at the same time, thousands of skilled workers have lost their jobs. Workers from declining sectors should be trained to do the emerging jobs. As well, government should be working with First Nations on employment opportunities."
Chinese miners work at the Wulong Coal Mine in Fuxin city, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, June 28, 2006. A gas explosion at the coal mine killed at least 22 miners and injured 37.
Hunt said BC does have an underground coal mine, the Quinsam mine near Campbell River.
“I’m willing to ask USW members there to train underground miners.”
China has little to show Canada in terms of mining expertise, he said.
“China has the world’s deadliest coal mines – about 5,000 coal miners died in thousands of gas blasts, floods and other accidents in 2006 as mine owners pushed production beyond safety limits to take advantage of surging profits; in the first three months of 2007, another 661 miners died; in 2005 industrial accidents killed 127,000 Chinese workers.”
Hunt said thousands of temporary workers already working in Canada are forced to work and live without labour and citizenship rights. He added that the BC government appears to have sanctioned plans for using foreign workers, citing an October 5th, 2006 report in the Peace River Block Daily News that quotes former minister of mines, Bill Bennett, who said more foreign workers will be needed in BC’s mining industry to get projects currently in the approval process up and running once they are approved.
“While governments might not have a problem with this,” said Hunt, “Canadians who have recently lost their good-paying manufacturing jobs likely will.”
Canada’s blood diamond safeguards need better funding
The Canadian diamond industry could suffer because the country’s fight against “blood diamonds” is so inadequately funded, warns a newly released audit. The Natural Resources Department polices Canada’s trade in diamonds to enforce the Kimberley Process, an international effort to curb the black market in raw diamonds that often finance bloody conflicts, mainly in Africa. But since Canadian legislation came into effect in 2003, the department has scrambled to find the dollars it needs for enforcement.
“The current business model for the Kimberley Process is not sustainable because of uncertain funding,” says an internal January 2007 audit, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.
“At risk is the economic future of the expanding Canadian diamond industry, with a 2005 estimated annual production of C$1.7 billion, and the reputation of the department.”
Canada’s diamond industry has sparkled since the first mine opened in 1998, at Etaki in the Northwest Territories. The country is currently the world's third-largest diamond producer by value, after Botswana and Russia. New northern mines are expected to boost Canada’s share of world production to at least 20 per cent by 2011.
Despite the phenomenal growth of the industry, Natural Resources has struggled to assemble the paltry $884,000 it needs annually to ensure no “blood diamonds” slip into or out of the country.
The department’s minerals and metals sector, responsible for enforcing Kimberley rules, is bracing for a $840,000 deficit for all its various programs in the current fiscal year, further straining available resources for diamond policing.
Nunavut not yet ready to control its own resources, says federal report
By Bob Weber
Despite Nunavut’s push for province-like powers over its resources, the Arctic territory is still not ready to take over from the federal government, says a report commissioned by Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice.
The territory faces challenges ranging from social problems to economic development, but its biggest problem remains a shortage of trained people, says Paul Mayer, the Montreal lawyer who wrote the report.
“Concerns about the human resource capacity in Nunavut are genuine and well-founded,” he wrote.
“The most significant challenge will be to ensure that the (government of Nunavut) has the human resources it needs to be fully ready and capable to honour its devolved responsibilities. If this issue cannot be satisfactorily dealt with, then the right conditions will not be in place to transfer federal responsibilities.”
Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik welcomed the report as a necessary step in negotiations with Ottawa to gain control over the territory’s increasingly valuable – and accessible – natural resources. Those include metals from gold to uranium to iron, and diamonds, oil and natural gas.
But Okalik said he was disappointed Mayer didn’t give Nunavut credit for its achievements, which include educating its first Inuit lawyers, nurses and teachers.
“I take that as a bit of cynicism that has developed from the outside,” he said. “Look at what we have delivered since we created Nunavut.”
Nunavut’s first diamond mine opened last year and five new mines are expected to open over the next decade, creating 1,700 jobs.
But the ability to collect royalties and regulate development remains with Ottawa.
Both Nunavut and the Northwest Territories want to assume those functions themselves and consider it crucial to their development.
“Look at Alberta and how well they have done,” said Okalik. “Just imagine if they weren’t getting any benefit from their resources.”
Mayer points out that there aren’t educated and trained Inuit to fill the jobs the territory already has, let alone new ones created by so-called “devolution.” He said the federal government will have to help create educational programs to develop people with the required skills.
Mayer also said Nunavut’s complicated regulatory regime must be reformed and Ottawa should ensure the territory's regulatory boards have the requisite staff and training.
“Industry representatives are ‘scared’ of the impact of devolution as they are aware of the many challenges that (Nunavut) has not been able to conquer and match since the territory was established and they cannot see how it is possible to them to assume more responsibilities,” he wrote.
But Okalik said Nunavut could take control over its resources, collect royalties and simply contract out the administration back to the federal government. That solution was applied in many areas after the territory was created in 1999 and all of those contracts have since been reassumed by Nunavut.
Okalik said devolution would also solve some of the issues with its regulatory regime. Cutting Ottawa out of the decision-making process would eliminate one layer of bureaucracy. “We’d have local control,” he said.
Mayer’s concerns about capacity in the North echoed those made in an April 2006 report by former justice Thomas Berger.
Berger found Nunavut’s education system doesn't produce graduates competent in either English or Inuktitut, largely because the federal government hasn’t lived up to the requirements of the Nunavut Land Claim. The report says it would take $20 million a year and revamped, bilingual schools to make things right.
Devolution talks between Iqaluit and Ottawa opened in 2005. Negotiations have fallen silent since that session.
Similar talks have been held for more than a decade with the Northwest Territories and no deal has been reached. The Yukon assumed control over its natural resources in 2003.
21st century mining
Understanding, vision and environmental sustainability
By Ian London, Vice President Corporate Development - Avalon Ventures Ltd.
One can’t help but hear or read about a new technology – every day – that helps a community, a country or the world meet the challenges related to greenhouse gases and global warming. Many of these solutions require us to better understand the environment in which we live, and prompt us to consider and respect different methods, economic models and societal values.
We also have to use our energies and limited resources wisely, which has invited tremendous attention on materials engineering and their sources. Today, and probably for the foreseeable future, we will be looking for materials which are stronger, lighter, faster, and require less energy to make… so that we can improve or replace many of today’s environmentally-unfriendly cars, power supplies, lighting, and manufacturing technologies.
Avalon Ventures Ltd. is in the mining exploration & development business, an industry where ‘environmental benefits’ may not be the first image that comes to mind. However, Avalon is unique in this regard, with its full attention on rare metals and in the way it manages its affairs. Avalon’s rare metals products such as the rare earth element neo-dymium present significant environmental benefits as their primary applications are integral to the manufacture of stronger magnets – a fundamental building block of the hybrid automobile, longer life and rechargeable batteries, stronger and lighter building materials, cost effective solar panels, low energy – high quality lighting, and as enablers in the energy-efficient production of other materials.
In conducting its activities, it is fundamentally important to Avalon that we properly assess and respect the areas in which we find resource opportunities, as well as understand and consider how we can best develop the possibilities while meeting the interests of all stakeholders, especially local Indigenous peoples. Avalon lives a core value of ‘operating in an environmentally responsible and ethical manner, partnering with its neighbours, and maintaining its commitments and promises to shareholders, customers, local communities and employees’.
As Avalon’s President Don Bubar stated during at a recent consultation meeting with First Nation Communities in the Northwest Territories, “AVL is committed to managing its business in an environmentally and socially-responsible manner so as to minimize impact and avoid harm; it is fundamentally important to the long-term viability of the business.” Where issues or concerns exist from past practices, the company takes steps to address them as it is now demonstrating at its Thor Lake rare metals project in the Northwest Territories.
Avalon believes that the contribution of mining to community sustainability begins at the earliest stages of exploration and extends through construction, operation, mine closure and long-term care and maintenance. Avalon strives to ensure that its operations provide benefits to the people living near its operations.
One of the first and most direct contributions is in the creation of jobs. Avalon strives to hire local people and works with community organizations to help create other related or indirectly related opportunities. Avalon also encourages the development of higher value-added and skilled job participation through training, education and mentorship programs.
To respectfully explore, assess and develop any mineral property, Avalon strives to partner with the local population to enable lasting benefits. Avalon lives its commitment to regular, open and honest dialogue with all groups affected by its activities. Consultation and dialogue assists in considering traditional, social, natural and spiritual values in an area, and how Avalon might best contribute to community development and sustainability. Avalon’s approach is initiated early in the process, generally before permit applications are even presented to permitting authorities.
Recently, Avalon’s Senior Management has been sharing its plans and inviting information exchanges with community leaders among the Yellowknife Dene First Nations, Deninu Kue, Lutsel K’e, and other Aboriginal groups in regard to its planned initial drilling program at Thor Lake, NT. In 1998, Avalon signed an MOU with the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations of Whitedog, ON and continues to maintain a dialogue with the community as it attempts to advance its Separation Rapids lithium project through feasibility to production. Avalon has also met with leaders in Foleyet, Chapleau, Wawa and Timmins, ON around the company’s hopes to establish a production and dry mineral processing operation in Warren Township.
Avalon sees great opportunities for partnering with Aboriginal communities in northern Canada to build and operate a new generation of environmentally-beneficial and sustainable mineral extraction businesses. Aboriginal peoples with their profound respect and attachment to the land are natural partners in developing the mines of tomorrow, which respect the environment and produce commodities used to reduce environmental degradation.
Focus shifts from exploration to engineering at Courageous Lake Gold Project
After three years of successful drilling at Seabridge Gold’s Courageous Lake deposit, the focus this year is on a new engineering study of the project’s economics.
The main FAT deposit at Courageous Lake now has 10.2 million ounces of gold which can be mined in a single large pit. But many questions remain to be answered before a mine can be built.
Seabridge Gold’s President notes that one key issue is mine life. “When the first mine plan was developed in 2005, we wanted the operation to be big enough to run efficiently using large scale equipment and processing facilities. But by sizing it larger to achieve these operating efficiencies, we ended up with a projected mine life of only 8.5 years – too short considering the enormous investment required to build a mine in a remote location,” says Mr. Fronk.
The drill programs in 2005 and 2006 therefore focused on the expansion of the resource in order to extend mine life. “We believe we may have added more than four years to project life, which was our objective. The new engineering study will tell us more, when it’s ready in September,” Mr. Fronk said.
Special attention is also being focused on possible energy savings in the design of the gold recovery process. “Energy is the biggest operating cost so anything we can do to reduce consumption is critical. Also, we reduce the stress on the winter road if we don’t have to bring in as much fuel.”
The previous project design assumed a large diesel generating plant. Other alternatives are being considered in co-operation with the diamond mines a short distance to the north of Courageous Lake.
Mr. Fronk noted that designing a mine in the Arctic is no easy matter. “With the help of our consultants, other companies and the advice of the aboriginal communities, we are learning how to proceed with a large mining effort in the region.”
New skills key to career success
With its 2,500 horsepower engine and more than 300 tonnes of steel, a massive Euclid truck can seem imposing. But Floyd Joseph sees it as an opportunity to gain new skills.
Kemess Mine
As a heavy duty mechanic at the Kemess Mine, Joseph works on some of the largest machines used in the mining industry including Caterpillars, hydraulic shovels and the Euclid haul trucks. He has worked at other mines as a mechanic, but says Kemess is unique.
“There’s lots of opportunity to learn here,” he says. “We have so many different types of equipment and you get to work on them all.”
The Kemess Mine is a copper-gold mining and milling operation owned by Northgate Minerals Corporation. Located roughly 400 kilometres northwest of Prince George, BC, Kemess employs 28 mechanics to ensure the equipment keeps the mine running around the clock, 365 days a year.
Joseph has worked at Kemess for nearly nine years. A member of the Iskut First Nation, he is originally from the Dease Lake area in northern BC, but now calls Prince George home. It makes for an easy commute to work, as the mine is a fly-in operation with flights staged from Prince George and Smithers. Joseph works a two week shift, then flies home to enjoy two weeks off with his family.
Kemess prides itself on its production record. In 2006, the mine produced more than 300,000 ounces of gold and approximately 80 million pounds of copper. Maurice Ethier, the mine’s General Manager, credits employees’attitudes with much of that success.
“It”s our people that make this place what it is,” says Ethier. “They look for areas we can improve on and ways to make us more efficient. They’re proud of the work they do and that shows.”
Joseph has voluntarily assumed additional responsibilities at the mine over the years. He recently sat on the health and safety committee, and now works with the training program for new employees.
In this role, Joseph teaches new employees to safely move the Caterpillars, loaders and Euclids when they come to the shop for maintenance. He shows them maintenance procedures for the equipment and signs off each employee when they’ve demonstrated the necessary skills.
“I’ve trained for most of the machinery that comes in here,” says Joseph. “These are valuable skills that we can use throughout our careers.”
Mountain Province Diamonds provides update on Gahcho Kué Project
Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. has reported that on June 11, 2007, the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board (MVEIRB) held the first of two Gahcho Kué work plan meetings in Yellowknife to provide an overview of the draft Terms of Reference for the Environmental Impact Study and draft Work Plan for the Environmental Impact Review (EIR) of the Gahcho Kué diamond project located in Canada's Northwest Territories.
Mountain Province President and CEO, Patrick Evans, attended the work plan meeting and also received a comprehensive briefing from the MVEIRB on the framework within which the Gahcho Kué EIR is being conducted. Commenting, Mr. Evans said, “It is apparent that the EIR is being conducted in a clear, transparent and disciplined manner. The EIR is designed to identify all of the key environmental issues that will be impacted by the development of the Gahcho Kué diamond mine and facilitate participation by key stakeholders in addressing these issues. Specific milestones have been identified through the process and MVEIRB is determined to meet those milestones on schedule.” Mr. Evans added, “I am encouraged by the constructive and professional manner in which the permitting process is being managed by the key stakeholders.”
Gahcho Kué, a joint venture between Mountain Province (49%) and De Beers Canada (51%), is the fourth diamond mine being developed in Canada’s Northwest Territories. De Beers Canada successfully permitted the Snap Lake diamond mine, which is located approx. 90 kilometers from Gahcho Kué. Construction of the Snap Lake mine is nearing completion with production expected to commence during the second half of 2007.
Through the advanced exploration phase of Gahcho Kué's development, a significant number of Northwest Territories residents have been employed at the project. Forty eight percent of Gahcho Kué employees were drawn from NWT residents this year, half of whom are Aboriginals, drawn largely from the First Nations communities in closest proximity to Gahcho Kué. During the construction phase Gahcho Kué is expected to employ approximately 600 people and during the production phase the work force is projected to exceed 400. In addition, service and supply contracts have already been awarded to First Nations companies and this trend is expected to grow once the project enters into the construction phase.
Located in Canada’s Northwest Territories, Gahcho Kué is the largest new diamond mine under development globally. The project consists of a cluster of three primary kimberlites with an indicated resource of approximately 14.4 million tonnes grading at 1.64 carats per tonne (approximately 23.6 million carats) and an inferred resource of approximately 17 million tonnes grading at 1.35 carats per tonne (approximately 22.9 million carats). Gahcho Kué is currently in the permitting and advanced exploration stage of development. At full production the Gahcho Kué diamond mine is expected to produce approximately 3 million carats a year over 15 years.