mining

The Fraser Institute, Canada’s leading public policy think tank and the intellectual home for three of our policy experts, has teamed up with CRU Group, the leading independent business analysis and consultancy group focused on metals and mining, again to host their third Mining Business Risks Summit, to be held in Toronto, Canada, 1-2 November 2012.

According to the conference hosts, miners’ concerns are mounting as uncertainty rises on all fronts:

• Are the heady days of the commodity boom ending?
• Which way will the global economy tip—and what does it mean for mining?
• Are the stakes getting higher as resource nationalization gathers momentum?

These, and many other questions will be discussed by industry experts at this year’s Summit. For more information, click here.

Also, if you haven’t had a chance to visit www.miningfacts.org led by Alana Wilson, senior research analyst with the Fraser Institute’s Global Centre for Mining Studies yet, you’re missing out.

MiningFacts.org offers “timely research and articles that examine the economic, environmental, and social impacts of mining in Canada and around the world” – written for a general audience.

A profile of Alaska’s mining industry in Petroleum News showcases the benefits the sector provides to the state, including “substantial and growing contributions” to Alaska’s economy and its communities.

Here are some of the piece’s key points:

• In 2011, the mining industry accounted for 4,500 direct and 4,500 indirect jobs, most of which were year-round jobs.
• With total spending of $620 million on direct and indirect payroll, and annual averages of about $100,000, mining registered some of the highest wages in the state.
• Rents, royalties, fees and taxes filled state coffers to the tune of $148 million (an increase of 170 percent over 2010 revenues), while local governments received $17 million through property taxes and other payments. This is on top of more than $70 million in other payments into state coffers, such as for transportation and construction projects.
• Mining companies spent more than $300 million on mineral exploration projects in the state in 2011.

 
The profile also highlights the ripple effects for other Alaska native corporations, and touts the civic impact of the mining industry representing the most significant private-sector presence in many communities.

The conclusion: while challenges have to be overcome, “further development of Alaska’s mineral resources would bring additional benefits in the form of more high-wage jobs and increased spending with local vendors as well as government and Alaska Native revenue from taxes and royalties. The presence of responsible mining organizations also would dramatically improve the quality of life for many Alaskans who will never see the inside of a mine.”

While Alaska is already benefiting from its natural resources, the sheer vastness of its mineral wealth alone suggests that much more can be done. A look to the Canada may be in order, where the Canadian province of Quebec is pursuing its ambitious Plan du Nord. As American Resources principal Daniel McGroarty points out in his latest column for Real Clear World, the idea behind the comprehensive plan which encompasses the allocation of $80 billion to resource exploration, is to develop the province’s mineral riches in “strategic bid to contribute to the wealth and prominence of the province.”

Given its vast mineral potential, Alaska may well be America’s Plan du Nord. The question is, are we ready to implement it?

While the U.S. Government continues to talk about critical minerals access and the dangers of foreign dependency, New Zealand’s government is taking action. According to MiningNe.ws, the New Zealand government is “looking at ways of speeding up approvals for big mining projects because endless court action is “frustrating” companies and costing them millions.” Here are [...]

Another example of the mining sector’s contribution to economic growth and U.S competitiveness comes to us via our friends at The More You Dig. As the Nevada Review Journal reports, Nevada’s economy, which is slowly rebounding, is expected to add 10,000 to 15,000 workers to its payrolls this year. This news follows on the heels [...]

Canada is a global leader in the mining industry and has benefited greatly from its natural resources. Yet despite its economic importance, the mining industry is poorly understood and debates on its local and global effects are increasingly polarized. MiningFacts.org is a new website offering timely research and articles that examine the economic, environmental, and [...]

A cautionary tale comes to us from Argentina, where major resource companies are increasingly shying away from investments in light of growing populism on the part of the Argentinian government. The latest company to pull out of the country is Cameco Corp, a major Uranium producer, announcing the end to a joint-venture exploration project with [...]

Contrasting sharply with the current U.S. domestic mineral policy environment, Canada’s federal budget to be released by the Harper Administration next week will reflect its stated commitment to removing barriers to investment and resource development. Specific legislative language has yet to be introduced; however, according to the Canada Free Press, the budget outline will emphasize [...]

This week, I traveled to Seattle, Washington to attend the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration’s (SME) annual meeting, and give a presentation titled “Public Policy in the Resource Wars.” A policy speech at a mining conference is a little like topping your banana split with broccoli; mining folks understand chemistry, geology, economics and physics [...]

Canada is the leading country for mineral exploration for the 10th year in
 a row, according to the latest rankings from 
Metals Economics Group’s (MEG) Corporate 
Exploration Strategies. The country
 represents 18 percent of worldwide investments into non-fuel mineral
 exploration. Here are some interesting figures on Canada from the MEG Corporate 
Exploration Strategies study, which Commodities Now says 
includes [...]

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and like-minded state legislators are currently attempting to re-write the state’s mining laws to “create certainty in the regulatory process.”  Legislation that would streamline the permitting of iron mines passed the Assembly last week at a vote margin of 59 to 36, with the governor touting the benefits he says passage [...]