China makes plans to mine the Arctic

[steven lloyd]

Hmmmm

China makes plans to mine the Arctic
by The Canadian Press - Story: 85212
Dec 30, 2012 / 7:18 pm

Another massive Chinese-owned resource project is before Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet.

Some time in the new year, four federal ministers are to decide how to conduct an environmental review for the Izok Corridor proposal. It could bring many billions of dollars into the Arctic but would also see development of open-pit mines, roads, ports and other facilities in the centre of calving grounds for the fragile Bathurst caribou herd.

"This is going to be the biggest issue," said Sally Fox, a spokeswoman for proponent MMG Minerals, a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned Minmetals Resources Ltd.

It would be hard to exaggerate the proposal's scope. Centred at Izok Lake, about 260 kilometres southeast of Kugluktuk, the project would stretch throughout a vast swath of western Nunavut.

Izok Lake would have five separate underground and open-pit mines producing lead, zinc and copper. Another site at High Lake, 300 kilometres to the northeast, would have another three mines.

MMG also wants a processing plant that could handle 6,000 tonnes of ore a day, tank farms for 35 million litres of diesel, two permanent camps totalling 1,000 beds, airstrips and a 350-kilometre all-weather road with 70 bridges that would stretch from Izok Lake to Grays Bay on the central Arctic coast.

MMG plans a port there that could accommodate ships of up to 50,000 tonnes that would make 16 round trips a year -- both east and west -- through the Northwest Passage.

Izok Lake would be drained, the water dammed and diverted to a nearby lake. Three smaller lakes at High Lake would also be drained. Grays Bay would be substantially filled in.

The result would be a project producing 180,000 tonnes of zinc and another 50,000 tonnes of copper a year.

"That's not insignificant," Fox deadpanned.

The deposits are an old story. Izok was discovered in the late 1970s and High Lake dates back to the 1950s. They'd been owned by a half-dozen different companies before they were acquired by Minmetals in 2009.

Their time has come, said Fox.

"They're very much about our future confidence in zinc," she said from Melbourne, Australia, where MMG is headquartered. "We see in the next few years a number of major zinc mines will be coming off-line."

One of those is MMG's own Century mine, which produces 500,000 tonnes of zinc annually.

"Between the Izok Corridor project in Canada and our other project in Australia, we would be hoping that they would replace the zinc production of our Century mine," Fox said.

MMG estimates the Izok project would create about 1,100 jobs during construction and 710 permanent jobs. The mine life is estimated at 12 years, but Fox said exploration is likely to expand that.

But more than 400 individuals, organizations, aboriginal groups and governments registered concerns about the project with the Nunavut Impact Review Board.

"Both the Izok Lake mine site and the High Lake mine site, as well as the route of the Izok corridor all-weather road, occur either near to or on the Bathurst calving ground," wrote the government of the Northwest Territories.

"The proposed project may cause significant adverse effects on the ecosystem and wildlife habitat," wrote Environment Canada.

"We are concerned that our hunting and harvesting rights will be in jeopardy if the project is allowed to proceed as is," added the Lutsel K'e Dene.

Many pointed out that the Bathurst herd has only recently stabilized after a 90 per cent drop in the 1980s to today's 32,000 animals. That drop was steep and sustained enough for aboriginal groups to stop hunting the herd and many are leery of anything that could impede its recovery.

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-st ... .htm#85212

[grammafreddy]

I read that yesterday and I share your Hmmmm

I feel like Harper is just giving the farm away and can't help but feel, in the long run, we will severely regret all this China business in our country taking our natural resources.

I understand jobs are nice - but will those be jobs for Canadians or will they be Chinese imports with all their wages going back to China to support their families there?

Is 12 - 20 years of mining worth all the upheaval and damage to the huge area's environment and the perhaps permanent loss of those calving grounds when they are already in jeopardy? These are not small and insignificant changes the mining company wants. They could mean the annihilation of the native way of life and survival in the north and then after the mines close, what would be left for them there?

[kibbs]

I feel like Harper is just giving the farm away and can't help but feel, in the long run, we will severely regret all this China business in our country taking our natural resources.

It almost feels like spite and a political move .western and eastern canada have been at war since trudeau angered the west .Harper has sold all the manufacturing jobs in the east to china,weakening them and canada. And is now making up for it buy selling off the wests resources .he has cut off our nose to spite our face and is now hollowing out our guts.we need a pm that will love all of canada .vote justin i think he has learned from his fathers mistakes.

[Hassel99]

Not sure how you can blame Harper for low wages in other parts of the world ie china. When you make a claim such as this that has no basis in fact it takes away from your other potentially valid points.

[kibbs]

he encouraged more trade with china did not change policy to keep buinesses in canada to maintain a manufacturing base here. im no expert this is just one mans opinion .i think all pipe lines should go east if any where to support canada.Let the Chinese move to canada and become Canadians if they want to work here

[averagejoe]

China makes plans to mine the Arctic
by The Canadian Press - Story: 85212
Dec 30, 2012 / 7:18 pm

Another massive Chinese-owned resource project is before Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet.

Some time in the new year, four federal ministers are to decide how to conduct an environmental review for the Izok Corridor proposal. It could bring many billions of dollars into the Arctic but would also see development of open-pit mines, roads, ports and other facilities in the centre of calving grounds for the fragile Bathurst caribou herd.

"This is going to be the biggest issue," said Sally Fox, a spokeswoman for proponent MMG Minerals, a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned Minmetals Resources Ltd.

It would be hard to exaggerate the proposal's scope. Centred at Izok Lake, about 260 kilometres southeast of Kugluktuk, the project would stretch throughout a vast swath of western Nunavut.

Izok Lake would have five separate underground and open-pit mines producing lead, zinc and copper. Another site at High Lake, 300 kilometres to the northeast, would have another three mines.

MMG also wants a processing plant that could handle 6,000 tonnes of ore a day, tank farms for 35 million litres of diesel, two permanent camps totalling 1,000 beds, airstrips and a 350-kilometre all-weather road with 70 bridges that would stretch from Izok Lake to Grays Bay on the central Arctic coast.

MMG plans a port there that could accommodate ships of up to 50,000 tonnes that would make 16 round trips a year -- both east and west -- through the Northwest Passage.

Izok Lake would be drained, the water dammed and diverted to a nearby lake. Three smaller lakes at High Lake would also be drained. Grays Bay would be substantially filled in.

The result would be a project producing 180,000 tonnes of zinc and another 50,000 tonnes of copper a year.

"That's not insignificant," Fox deadpanned.

The deposits are an old story. Izok was discovered in the late 1970s and High Lake dates back to the 1950s. They'd been owned by a half-dozen different companies before they were acquired by Minmetals in 2009.

Their time has come, said Fox.

"They're very much about our future confidence in zinc," she said from Melbourne, Australia, where MMG is headquartered. "We see in the next few years a number of major zinc mines will be coming off-line."

One of those is MMG's own Century mine, which produces 500,000 tonnes of zinc annually.

"Between the Izok Corridor project in Canada and our other project in Australia, we would be hoping that they would replace the zinc production of our Century mine," Fox said.

MMG estimates the Izok project would create about 1,100 jobs during construction and 710 permanent jobs. The mine life is estimated at 12 years, but Fox said exploration is likely to expand that.

But more than 400 individuals, organizations, aboriginal groups and governments registered concerns about the project with the Nunavut Impact Review Board.

"Both the Izok Lake mine site and the High Lake mine site, as well as the route of the Izok corridor all-weather road, occur either near to or on the Bathurst calving ground," wrote the government of the Northwest Territories.

"The proposed project may cause significant adverse effects on the ecosystem and wildlife habitat," wrote Environment Canada.

"We are concerned that our hunting and harvesting rights will be in jeopardy if the project is allowed to proceed as is," added the Lutsel K'e Dene.

Many pointed out that the Bathurst herd has only recently stabilized after a 90 per cent drop in the 1980s to today's 32,000 animals. That drop was steep and sustained enough for aboriginal groups to stop hunting the herd and many are leery of anything that could impede its recovery.

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-st ... .htm#85212
[/quote][/quote]

At least with China buying and developing our resources, it will create job's for Canadian's!

[kibbs]

At least with China buying and developing our resources, it will create job's for Canadian's!

cant we do better than the least we can do .how about the most we can do .pump the oil back east refine it in sarnia 'bring the cost of energy down in canada and allow our manufacturers rebuild sans powerful unions ,all this stuff we get from china is crap .im tired of the junk.

[Hassel99]

he encouraged more trade with china did not change policy to keep buinesses in canada to maintain a manufacturing base here. im no expert this is just one mans opinion .i think all pipe lines should go east if any where to support canada.Let the Chinese move to canada and become Canadians if they want to work here

When he "encourages more trade from china" he is trying to get china to buy more from Canada not the other way around. Buying from China is natural as its SO cheap and lax to MFG there. We currently have a trade deficit and need to sell more Canadian products. Sadly much of the "product" we sell is raw materials, again this is due to low wages in other countries. The easy fix to that is break the unions, bump min wage down to $1/hour remove all environmental red tape as well as lower the corporate tax OR we can stop buying cheap goods from china..

Which one of those horrible solutions are you in favor of?

Sorry we got a bit off topic. Back to China mining in the Arctic, where are all the Canadian mining companies that should be lining up to make all this money? I guess that is the real question, what reasons do they have for not being interested? Do they not see the same profit margins? did they not have the forsight to buy the land? Do they think its not worth the trouble to deal with the local and federal red tape and enviormental concerns? Those are the real questions in my eyes

[averagejoe]

We as Canadian's can profit from buying cheaper items made in China. Lower labour costs, lower manufacturing costs and now they can mine, buy our oil companies, our grain fields in Sask. and make items even cheaper. I mean, just look at the line-ups at Walmart across North America buying Chinese products! The Chinese seem to have it figured out. 1 out of 10 expensive California homes are being purchased by mainland Chinese. Now they are living the American dream. We will all profit in the long run by being employed by Chinese firms. Job creation.

[Captain Awesome]

Watch out for another real estate bubble in the Arctic. Igloo market will eventually melt...

[GenuinelyInterested]

We as Canadian's can profit from buying cheaper items made in China. Lower labour costs, lower manufacturing costs and now they can mine, buy our oil companies, our grain fields in Sask. and make items even cheaper. I mean, just look at the line-ups at Walmart across North America buying Chinese products! The Chinese seem to have it figured out. 1 out of 10 expensive California homes are being purchased by mainland Chinese. Now they are living the American dream. We will all profit in the long run by being employed by Chinese firms. Job creation.

So Chinese citizens should not be allowed to buy a home in Canada/USA? Should they be disallowed to live any life they can afford, anywhere in the world? What do you have against the Chinese? Do you include all Asian peoples?

[averagejoe]

How do you get that out of my comment? They are smart and have it figured out. I think that by your comments, I would say your the one who is against it? I'm all for creating jobs in Canada. But you have to be a Canadian to understand that.

[logicalview]

When I first saw the thread title I had visions of Inuit on their snowmobiles being blown to kingdom come by landmines...

[kibbs]

When I first saw the thread title I had visions of Inuit on their snowmobiles being blown to kingdom come by landmines

red dawn all night long

[the truth]

there might be some truth to that
the chinese government is as eveil as it gets these people think about whats good for there country
100 years from now not next year like us north americans,i would not trust them with a million foot pole