By Chris Bowerman
For TROY MEDIA

KELOWNA, B.C., Sept. 7, 2010/ Troy Media/ – Nate Phelps balked at the opportunity to run the Calgary chapter of the pan-global, multidisciplinary Centre For Inquiry, a charity that posits itself as a “hub for rationality and critical inquiry worldwide.”

After all, he was a cab driver. He didn’t know how to run a professional institution on the provincial level, let alone direct its unorthodox coterie of secular humanists, atheists, naturalists, pagan dissenters and garden-variety infidels.

But since his own family had already condemned him, what did he have to lose?

Phelps took the executive director post this spring. Taking his newfound mission seriously, he said his job is to “interact with a diverse group of people, engage in debate over issues I’m passionate about, and try to understand ideas I would otherwise never encounter.”

Emancipated from hateful Phelps clan

Phelps was emancipated some 30 years ago from the notoriously hateful Phelps clan.

His father, “Pastor Fred,” leads the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., known for its varied slogans, such as “God Hates Fags” and “Thank God for 9/11.” Fred’s fanatic followers also picket and hector mourners at military repatriation ceremonies.

Nate escaped these foul clutches when he turned 18; two of his 12 siblings also made it out, but the others stayed.

Phelps moved to Canada

Free at last, Phelps traveled west, eventually winding up in Canada. Although distanced from the tyranny of his father’s hell-and-brimstone religiosity, he still suffers the psychological trauma of his brutal childhood indoctrination.

But he finds that talking about it allows him to gain new insight. “l’ve learned that by being more active and outspoken, I’m a tiny bit more in control of my life,” he explains. “Every day that I’m able to successfully combat the tapes in my head – to  use my capacity to reason through an issue – I feel like I’ve succeeded at defying the hatefulness I was taught to embrace.”

Which securely places him on the CFI’s stated mission: “To foster a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values.”

The CFI challenges the kind of power-brokering imbued with mythology, largely supporting the separation of church and state; it’s opposed to the “principles that recognize the supremacy of God,” as the preamble goes in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms – the country’s moral bedrock, if it has one.

Somewhere between a modern-day Rosa Parks and a multinational buttinsky, the organization deserves a seat on the human-rights bus.

Science, reason and religious ideology

“A large percentage of Canadians still embrace some form of belief in God,” Phelps says. “By and large, science and reason are viewed as adversarial to religious ideology, and rightly so. The inability to separate the positive aspects of religion – such as charity and kindness toward fellow citizens – and the mythological components creates this constant tension between the secular perspective and religious groups.”

As Phelps sees it, “It’s a war of words between secularists and monotheists, both feeling disobliged and spiritually offended by the other.”

But words are OK, Phelps says. “Public discourse is important in all instances,” he adds, “because it shines light on human ideas and exposes them to consideration and, ultimately, acceptance or rejection by society.”

Secularism’s neutral position

Secularism, in theory, is a neutral position. The CFI can’t rightly say that it always maintains that ideal, but it does avidly promote civil discourse. Even in the most fixed dichotomies, human rights, controversy and debate often catalyze social progress. In the atheism-monotheism divide, says Phelps, both sides are heard, equanimous, and, perhaps more often than not, agreeable to disagreement.

Using dogma to justify hate

Theistic groups such as the Catholic Civil Rights League adhere to “Sacred Scripture,” allowing them free religious expression – but the parameters are vague.

Where does free speech cross the line into hate speech, Phelps  wonders? “This is a very difficult area for me,” he goes on, “having grown up in America, where freedom of religion is sacrosanct. The overarching notion of hate speech speaks to the direct connection between the words and violence perpetrated on an individual or group. Of course, this extreme is rarely realized.”

In America, any notion of restraint in speaking one’s religious convictions is aggressively challenged, says Phelps. “A primary argument against restraining speech is the slippery slope. Too often, people use their dogma to justify hatred of another individual or group. This is abhorrent because it gives individuals the right to express hatred without taking personal responsibility for it.”

Could godless nonbelievers – infidels – become a prime new target for human-rights discrimination?

In The God Delusion, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins writes: “The status of atheists in America today is on par with that of homosexuals fifty years ago.”

Phelps carefully considers these notions in the context of rural Wyoming, circa 1998, and a 21-year-old gay man named Matthew Shepherd. Shepherd was tortured and bludgeoned to death by two teenage homophobes.

The case ultimately galvanized lawmakers, after bringing state, federal, and international attention to the issue of hate crime. Shepherd’s funeral, sadly, was picketed by Phelps’ estranged father,  Pastor Fred, with his vile placards.

“There is certainly a thread of conversation within the extreme religious groups that argues the idea that atheists are satanic and represent a threat to God and country,” says Phelps. “That perception is an uphill battle for mainstream nonbelievers – but I don’t see the fundamentalist fervor that is visited on gays translating over to the atheist community.”

As Phelps sees it, atheists struggle with social alienation and unfair characterizations of immorality, not loss of life. “I just don’t see the extremists beating an atheist and leaving him to die, hanging on a fence in rural Alberta,” he says.

“God willing,” he adds, borrowing a phrase from his past.

To learn more, contact Nate Phelps, Centre For Inquiry (Executive Director, Calgary), nphelps@centerforinquiry.net.

By Todd Hirsch
Alberta Business Columnist
Troy Media

Todd Hirsch

CALGARY, AB, July 16, 2010/ – The last weekend of the Calgary Stampede is upon us, and just as quickly as those midway rides were set up, it’s almost time for them to pack up and leave already. Given the number of corndogs and deep fried Oreo cookies (!) consumed over the past week, a hardcore Stampede fanatic may be forgiven for saying “Yeeee-haw . . .  and thank goodness it’s all over!”

Without question the Stampede is the biggest annual urban event for the city of Calgary, and among the very largest and well-known festivals in the country – and even the world. Love it or hate it, it’s a big deal.

But the calculation that’s always on the minds of economists and business-types is how much economic activity does the Calgary Stampede actually generate?

Measuring the economic impact

There are a couple of ways of measuring the economic impact of the Stampede. One is simply to tally up the total dollars spent on all official Stampede-related activities, such as the rodeo events, midway ticket purchases, and food and services on the Stampede grounds itself. That alone would tally into the millions.

But add on top of that all of the extra money that is spend on non-official “Stampede” events but related to the week’s festivities, such as corporate Stampede breakfasts, money spent at bars and restaurants by Stampede goers, and other parties and events throughout the city. That adds several more millions of dollars.

Finally, you could add all of the indirect money that is spent on transportation, accommodation, and other services not particularly a part of the Calgary Stampede, but linked indirectly to those travellers attending the events, especially from out of town. Millions more are added. All those Wrangler jeans and white cowboy hats aren’t cheap!

Tallying up all of the direct and indirect money spent, the Calgary Stampede Board estimates total spending of $345 million, with the majority of that ($300 million) supporting local hotels, restaurants, retail shopping and other businesses in Calgary. (It’s a lot of cash . . .  but some perspective: the cost of the new Bow skyscraper in Calgary is estimated at $1.4 billion – or about four years worth of Stampedes!)

But when considering the economic impact on Calgary, it is not quite accurate to say that the Stampede represents a $345-million injection of spending into the city. A good deal of the money spent is by people living in Calgary and, in absence of the Stampede, they may have spent their recreational and discretionary dollars on something else in the city anyway. For example, a family of four living in Calgary may decide to spend a day at the Stampede, ride the C-train to the grounds, eat lunch on the midway, buy tickets for rides for the kids, and have a nice dinner at a restaurant on their way home. The whole day may cost $300, and that is attributed to the Stampede.

However, if that same family had decided to spend their $300 of recreational money on something else, it may or may not have contributed to Calgary’s economy. They could have spent that money on buying tickets to a Calgary Flames home game, or they could have gone to an event at Theatre Calgary. In each case, the total economic impact of that $300 for the city would be the same.

But if they had taken that same $300 and spent it on recreation out of the country, that would represent a direct economic loss for Calgary, for Alberta, and for Canada.

The bottom line is that the Calgary Stampede does generate an enormous amount of spending during those wild 10 days in July. But many of those dollars would have been spent anyway, and if they were spent within Calgary, the Stampede cannot actually take credit for generating those dollars of economic activity.

Out of province dollars

Where the Stampede really does make a large economic impact, though, is in the out-of-province dollars it brings in. If a family from Kalispell, Montana comes to Calgary and spends $US 300 – and if that same family would never have come to the city for any other reason than the Stampede – then we know that the event is truly generating a lot of economic activity.

In the case of the Stampede, out-of-province visitors do make an enormous contribution – much more so than most other events or festivals in the country. As well, they give Calgarians and Albertans an opportunity to spend their recreational dollars here at home, rather than outside the country.

It may be a stretch to say that the Calgary Stampede generates economic activity worth $345 million, since much of that money would have been spent anyway. But the important thing is that the Stampede gives Calgarians a reason to spend money at home. It also generates civic pride, and helps put Calgary on the map for those foreign tourists.

Now, if they could just invent a fat-free, zero-calorie corndog . . .

Todd Hirsch is Senior Economist with ATB Financial.

Channels: The Amherst Daily News, the Truro Daily News, the New Glasgow Evening News, July 19, 2010

June 28, 2010

By Doug Firby
Managing Editor
Troy Media

Doug Firby

 CALGARY, AB, June 28, 2010/ — The 20-something sales clerk surveyed my youthful striped T-shirt and tight-fitting jeans, then clapped her eyes on the hip, state-of-the-art watch fastened to my wrist.

“It matches your clothes,” she observed, smiling approvingly without a hint of mockery. Indeed it was cool. OK, perhaps there’s irony in the watch’s name – Fossil – but my new watch is all modern; designed to accentuate the carefree boho style I cultivate with calculated precision. If how you look is indicative of who you are, then I am defying the laws of nature.

You sure you want to compete?

I dress like I’m 20, but I’m not. In fact, I’m staring 60 in the weather-beaten face, raging at every turn against the dying of my middle-age light. Like many of my peers, I am doing things that would have seemed reckless just a generation ago – skiing double-black diamond runs, cycling hour-and-a-half sprints with a monitor strapped to my chest so I can push my heart to the limit, kayaking mountain streams, and, yes, staying drink-for-drink at pace with people half my age

Sixty? Sure, that’s what the calendar says. But, in my mind and in my heart, I’m 40.

Get beyond the myth of aging

Growing old is really all right. But we must define what that means by the way we deal with that inevitability. We’ve seen what happens to the people who give up: They put on weight, lose muscle tone, their bodies atrophy, their brains slow down, often they’re shooting insulin for their diabetes and complaining about swelling limbs. Not a pretty picture. The pathetic reality is that most people accept decline as a given.

That’s what life has in store for all of us – if we choose to go down that road. But I, and many of my friends, have chosen another path. We’re in the health club, sweating it out with the hard-bodied young moms in their Lululemon. We’re on the scales every morning, and we’re choosing salads instead of fries and pizza.

We have our own teeth, and spend thousands of dollars to keep them that way. We’re fitter, sexier and richer than any previous sexagenarians. We’re not dying – in fact, we’re not even retiring. And “old age” is somewhere on an ever-receding horizon.

United Nation statistics reveal that in Canada average life expectancy exceeds 80 years.  In contrast, the US – with its super-sized fast-food joints, complex, unequal and new health-care system – falls nearly five years short of that.

My dad died in his early 60s from colon cancer, and were it not for the simple and relatively cheap colonoscopy I regularly undergo, I almost certainly would be facing the same fate. Instead, the odds now say I’m at higher risk of getting run down by a bus.

Many of my peers are also benefiting from life-prolonging medical procedures and stand a good chance of seeing eight decades, but will also be alert enough to enjoy them.

The privileged baby boomers

Baby boomers are unquestionably one of the most privileged generations. And that generation’s denial of aging is another manifestation of the sense of entitlement they’ve  held since Leave It To Beaver was king of black-and-white TVs. The boomers have  taken a lot of heat for their attitudes, but this might just be one occasion in which entitlement is a good thing.

Wanting to be young is a powerful driver and motivator. The payoff is staying fitter means quality of life moves up a few significant notches.

What better proof than Jerry, the 93-year-old skier I’ve gotten to know well over the years. Every winter, he drives his Mercedes hundreds of kilometres across the Canadian prairies to ski in the Rocky Mountains. Until a couple of years ago, he celebrated his birthday by skiing one of the most extreme double-black runs on the continent. Curious about his compulsive drive to keep this routine up despite his advanced age, I asked him how he’s managed to avoid breaking bones skiing. Before I could get the question out of my mouth he said,  “Decades of motorcycling has taught me how to fall without hurting myself.”

“You used to ride motorcycles?” I asked.  “No,” he replied, “I ride motorcycles,” and he fished out a current photo to prove it.

The cruel hand of fate won’t let all of us all live as long as my friend, Jerry. Over the years, I have watched friends die, through disease, accidents, and sometimes at their own hands or the hand of others. Sadly, we have no choice but to accept what has happened and thank God that we are not among that number.

For those of us lucky enough to beat the dice’s roll, what we used to call “old age” promises to be the new prime. Don’t call them the golden years. More appropriately, they’re the cast iron years.

Now there’s a power-packed, locked-and-loaded image the ad guys can get their hands around.

Welcome to the new middle age.

Doug Firby is former Editorial Pages Editor of the Calgary Herald.

Channels: Slave Lake Lakeside Leader, July 12, 2010

In Canada, we often hear concerns about a Canadian company being taken over by a foreign, often American, enterprise. Our natural patriotism leads us to see such acquisitions as chisels chipping away at our Canadian identity.

But such takeovers aren’t necessarily bad news. In fact, they’re often good for Canadian business.

For some sectors, such as advanced technology, it is the way companies evolve and fuel innovation. Whether the innovation originated in Calgary or California, the commercialization path—the route all great ideas take on their way to becoming a successful company—leads to acquisition more often than not.

Advanced technology companies face hurdles many other companies don’t. Taking a new product from the idea stage to a marketable product requires a tremendous commitment to research and development—something that can take a financial toll on a startup company. And the life cycle of most technology products is short. You only have to consider how fast your home computer becomes obsolete to understand that taking a product to market fast is key to success. What’s more, to be really successful, a tech company usually has to break into international markets to realize big wins — and that takes a lot of financial and human resources.

It’s easy to see why entrepreneurs often consider the exit strategy crucial, and why investors typically look for an exit strategy before buying in.

While not all early-stage tech companies are candidates for acquisition, for those that are, it’s a win all around. In fact, news of a successful exit often makes entrepreneurs salivate as they anticipate the influx of new money and experienced business mentors.

It’s a fact that few entrepreneurs ever really retire. While they might enjoy some much deserved time on a beach, eventually they start thinking about finding new challenges. Their appetite for another success, combined with their experience and new-found wealth, are the ingredients other start-up companies need to commercialize their technology and build a solid company. Not only are successful entrepreneurs sought as mentors and advisers, but they also often become angel investors, bringing their money and been-there-done-that expertise to the table.

Of course, just because a company is acquired by a larger corporation doesn’t mean jobs move south. On the contrary, Calgary, for instance, has seen a number of lucrative technology deals transpire that not only keep jobs in the local economy, but also give the company the fuel it needs to stay ahead of the competition.

For example, when Garmin Ltd. acquired Dynastream Innovations Inc., of Cochrane, it stayed the course and maintained Dynastream’s brand and base of operations. The ink was still wet on the paperwork when Dynastream began recruiting and planning a major expansion, bringing industry stability to the town.

More recently, Calgary-based Veer (provider of visual and design related elements to the professional market) was acquired by Corbis (Microsoft’s creative resources company) for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition gives Veer the clout it needs for its long-term growth plans while maintaining the brand and its Calgary operations.

In another case, Hewlett Packard’s acquisition of Calgary-based Voodoo Computers enabled it to solve its product development challenges for expansion into the mobile market. Voodoo founders joined the executive team at HP and, with the power of HP behind it, the company is on a fast track to developing a new manufacturing facility in Calgary for its sought-after high performance gaming machines.

Acquisition is also an indirect win for supporting industries. Local suppliers that were dealing with local tech companies are now doing business with multinationals, opening up new potential for supply chains. Commercial real estate also gets a boost as companies embark on faster growth and expansion strategies.

As the tech sector gains traction in Canada, we are starting to see Canadian companies acquiring foreign tech companies, as well. Sierra Wireless of B.C., for example, acquired California-based Airlink in May 2007.

In a perfect world, Canada would have a bigger share of major technology-based corporations that keep home-grown tech companies Canadian owned.  But, even then, acquisition would enable Canadian technologies to grow in importance on the world stage and for the talent to foster new tech ventures in our local markets.

By Doug Firby
Writer
Troy Media

CALGARY, AB, Oct. 30, 2008/ Troy Media/ — John Morgan’s modest office is just a few blocks from the heart of Calgary’s business establishment – the Petroleum Club, a place where, for decades, oil barons have cut deals and hatched plans over single-malt Scotch and cigars.

Morgan volunteers quickly that he doesn’t belong to the exclusive club.

“It’s expensive,” he says with a half grin. “We’re trying to keep our overhead low.”

Indeed, the rented head office of Infinito Gold is a paragon of fiscal restraint – files kept in old, wooden cabinets, just two or three office staff and a CEO who answers his own phone. There is very little to suggest that this determined little company is on the brink of a breakthrough that could finally bring long-anticipated excitement for patient investors.

But then, Morgan explains, minerals don’t generally draw much interest in Calgary’s downtown core, where the social environment is almost all oil and gas.

“It’s funny being in an oil town,” says Morgan. “You talk about being in the gold business, and they say to you, ‘Are you lost?’.”

Actually, Infinito is anything but lost. When Infinito, formerly Vannessa Ventures Ltd., departed Vancouver a few years ago, it brought them closer to the offices of Calgarian Ron Mannix, who saw potential in the company when others only saw stagnation and now his company, Exploram   controls just over half of Infinito.  In 2004 the  company hired Morgan, who had worked for the Mannix family two decades earlier, when they controlled Manalta Coal. (Manalta, then Canada’s biggest coal producer, is now an income trust.)

And, indeed, Mannix’s faith appears to be about to pay off. After years of delays, Infinito’s key property, the $66-million Crucitas mine in north central Costa Rica, is about to go into production, with the first gold being milled by November, 2009.

“With any luck, we’ll have gold bars (more correctly “dore”, a silver and gold combination that will be refined into pure gold in Canada) by December, 2009” smiles Morgan.

It will be the end of a long and convoluted regulatory and political maze for the former Vannessa, not only in Costa Rica but also in Venezuela, where the company argues its Las Cristinas project was expropriated by the hostile regime of leftist President Hugo Chavez.

Though never as tough as Venezuela, for years Costa Rica was less than a welcoming place for the little Canadian gold company, especially when the country was ruled by anti-mining president Abel Pacheco, who stonewalled the company during his tenure in office.

“There definitely was political influence,” says Morgan. “There was no will for the project to go ahead.” At that point, “I couldn’t look anybody in the eye and say with confidence that we could start producing by a certain date.”

But, rather than give up on a good prospect, Infinito stayed on, building relationships with the local people and pressing appeals through the courts. The project finally got permission to proceed in 2006, the last year of Pacheco’s term.

Morgan credits that ultimate success to Infinito’s long-term commitment to the local people.

“The process was started long before I got involved,” he says. But, importantly, when the development bogged down, the company did not abandon the social programs it was creating for the local people – improving roads, a school, helping to set up  technical training programs, and a tilapia fishery and offering jobs wherever possible.

At one critical environmental public meeting, 1,200 people turned up. Opposition to the project came from urban activists and academics, but the local people got behind the project. In one compelling speech, a mother told the crowd that five of her seven children had to leave the area because there was no work and, to reverse that trend, she was prepared to trust the Canadian company that had treated her people in good faith.

“At the end of the day, it was almost a reverse NIMBY,” says Morgan, clearly moved by the local support.

With the court’s approval, an environmental green light and support of the new government of president Oscar Arias Sanchez, mine construction got under way in June.

Though relatively small by world standards, Infinito’s open pit mine is promising an impressive yield – 120,000 ounces per year in the initial years with a 92-per-cent recovery of the precious mineral. Company officials estimate one million ounces of gold are recoverable, and another one million ounces are inferred resources.

Gold mining is one of the few mineral operations well positioned to weather the current market turmoil – as most stocks tumbled, gold closed in New York on Friday at $846 US per ounce, a far cry from the days when the mine’s initial investor, Placer Dome (now owned by Barrick Gold), decided this prospect wasn’t worth the wait. It shelved the project when gold fell below $300 per ounce.

“We’ve got the luck of recovering gold prices,” says Morgan.

“Remember when oil was $18 a barrel? A lot of oil sands plays didn’t make sense then, either.”

Morgan acknowledges that another reason for investor ambivalence to his company is the fact that Mannix and now Steven Dean, Chairman of Amerigo Resources Ltd., together control roughly 60 per cent of the common stock. That makes the company “anomalous” in the marketplace. Investors sometimes ask, ‘Are you a private company?’

One other  factor is memories of Calgary’s most notorious gold mining company, Bre-X Minerals Ltd., whose claims of an enormous gold resource in Indonesia turned out to be the largest fraud in Canadian history. Thousands of investors lost their life savings when the company collapsed in 1997.

“Bre-X was a real black eye for the Canadian mining economy,” says Morgan. But, as a result, today’s regulatory standards are much more stringent, and a repeat of that shameful chapter is considered virtually impossible. Placer’s original core samples for Crucitas, for example, are readily available, unlike Bre-X’s, which disappeared when the core shack mysteriously burned.

Infinito’s breakthroughs include both Costa Rica and Venezuela – again, after a tough fight against what Infinito alleges is expropriation of their mining rights at Las Cristinas.

Infinito launched a process of international arbitration action against the Venezuelan government, and recently won a jurisdictional hearing. That means that an international panel, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, now has the authority to rule on Infinito’s claim for damages: $200 million invested (including Placer’s initial contribution), plus a “lost opportunity” claim that lifts the total above $1 billion.

Morgan says the panel could theoretically rule to return the property to Infinito, but that’s not a preferred option because, “Venezuela is a tough place to do business right now.”

The cleaner solution would be a cash settlement – “With the history we have there, it would be difficult to go ahead” with the project.

Infinito much prefers the friendly turf of Costa Rica, where both the local people and now the government seem to welcome their Canadian partners.

“It’s a good place,” says Morgan. “It’s safe. It’s a country of laws. The police are on your side.”

Editor’s note:

On Tuesday, October 21, Infinito Gold’s Costa Rican subsidiary, Industrias Infinito S.A. (IISA), was served with a court order from the Constitutional Court (SALA IV) requiring that tree cutting operations be suspended. This suspension was due to a challenge from an individual in Costa Rica under provisions which entitle every citizen to apply directly to the SALA IV for decisions on constitutional issues, in this case the environmental protection provision in Costa Rica’s constitution.

While this matter is before the courts construction activity on the project has been suspended.

Channels: Canada Free Press, October 30, 2008

By Doug Firby
Writer
Troy Media

CALGARY, AB, Oct. 23, 2008/ Troy Media/ – Infinito Gold Ltd.’s Crucitas operation in Costa Rica will become a model for how open pit mines – from an environmental perspective – should be managed and rehabilitated, Infinito’s CEO John Morgan says.

John Morgan

His company’s environmental leadership, he says, is a big part of why the project has won the support of local citizens, and goes hand in glove with the contributions the company is making to the community.

Located near the northern border with Nicaragua, the Crucitas area is almost equidistant between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. While Costa Rica is known for its pristine beaches, the Crucitas area has no such appeal: “I don’t know if there’s ever been a tourist there,” chuckles Morgan.

The economy is weak, and young people frequently leave the area looking for better job opportunities. Now Infinito aims to bring the jobs to the community, investing heavily in what it calls the “social licence.” It’s undertaken a series of projects, including rebuilding the local school, upgrading roads, and insisting that Internet service  to be provided when the main transmission line to supply the mine is constructed  be  supplied to schools, clinics and police stations free of charge.. It has established training centres for small business, teaching computer and sewing skills. It is also contributing to reforestation programs, and will contribute $700,000 per year in social development funding while the mine is in operation.

At the same time, it is making sure those job opportunities don’t take a toll on the local environment.

Some environmental lobbyists have long opposed open pit mining: This month, the Cordoba province in Argentina passed a law banning it and, in Alaska, Canadian-based Northern Dynasty Minerals has run into severe opposition to a proposed copper and gold mine. There has been resistance in Costa Rica, too, but the government of president, Oscar Arias Sanchez has taken a more moderate position, recognizing the economic boost such projects bring to highly impoverished parts of the country.

But at the same time, notes Morgan: “Costa Rica has extremely tough environmental standards.”

Even though Crucitas is an open pit design, only 176 hectares of space will be disturbed – 50 hectares for the pits and 126 hectares for tailings, according to a presentation by Sandra Arredondo, Infinito’s environment manager. That makes it a fraction of the size of most oil sands operations in Alberta, and miniscule compared to what is reputed to be the world’s largest open pit, the Alrosa diamond mine in Siberia, which is about 1.6 km across.

Once it is closed, one of the two pits at Crucitas – Fortuna – will be converted into a lake, with potable water and stocked with fish. The water in the tailings area will also be entirely potable. Much of the area will also be reforested, including additional land owned by the company and which is currently pasture, with 50 trees planted for every one removed by mining operations.

The Crucitas project was subject to a prolonged environmental review, including: socio-economic studies; social profiles, public opinion studies, baseline studies of forestry, mammals and reptiles. Its environmental management plan contains policies on forestry, wildlife habitat, wastewater treatment, erosion control and surface water management. The company has also agreed to pay for independent environmental audits.

The job of overseeing the construction of the mine has fallen to John Thomas, vice-president of Operations and a metallurgist with 35 years of experience in South America, Russia, Canada and Zambia.

Thomas, who has relocated to Costa Rica, built the Choco 10 mine in the El Callao district of Venezuela. Like, Crucitas, it is a multipit, open pit mining operation, and Thomas is bringing the same processes to Crucitas that were used there.

Key to the mine’s minimal environmental footprint is the installation of state-of-the-art technology to ensure the complete destruction of cyanide used in the mining process. The CombinOx detoxification process developed by CyPlus GmbH, of Germany, and Inco Technical Services Ltd. of Mississauga, uses oxidation technology to detoxify the cyanide in milled ore slurry immediately after the gold is leached.

Further, Infinito has taken a no-risk policy to operations – if the detoxification process goes down for any reason, the mill stops.

The process is all contained in steel tanks and the tank area is also bermed and completely self-contained. As a result, Infinito is confident of zero discharge of contaminants into the environment, Morgan says.

The containment is just part of the overall environmental commitment. During the process, there was a reduction in the size of the pit areas, use of a hydro based electric power supply instead of building noisy and smelly diesel-powered generating plants and commitments were made to monitor physical and biological issues during the mine’s entire operation.

It also agreed to strict measures around tailings ponds and the management of waste rock.

Perhaps most importantly, he adds, Infinito agreed to reforest a 283-hectare area that is now pasture land, creating a biological corridor of 140 hectares.

Morgan credits Costa Rica’s independent judiciary with taking a fair and balanced view towards the operation. After years of review, including numerous reports and public meetings, the Crucitas project received its original environmental approval, even though then-president Abel Pacheco was opposed to it.

Although the initial permit only allowed digging in the soft saprolite rock near the surface, the government was so satisfied with Infinito’s commitments, it agree to allow deeper excavation, into the hard rock beneath. It was a significant victory that further enhances the long-term prospects for profitability that could only have come from Infinito’s comprehensive environmental strategy.

Editor’s note:

On Tuesday, October 21, Infinito Gold’s Costa Rican subsidiary, Industrias Infinito S.A. (IISA), was served with a court order from the Constitutional Court (SALA IV) requiring that tree cutting operations be suspended. This suspension was due to a challenge from an individual in Costa Rica under provisions which entitle every citizen to apply directly to the SALA IV for decisions on constitutional issues, in this case the environmental protection provision in Costa Rica’s constitution.

While this matter is before the courts construction activity on the project has been suspended.

Channels: Grande Cache Mountaineer, October 29, 2008

By Jim Bentein        
Writer
Troy Media

CALGARY, AB, Oct. 1, 2008/ Troy Media/ — Calgary-based Infinito Gold Ltd. is a year away from starting production at what will be the largest gold mine in Costa Rica, yet, even with investors flocking to the yellow metal, shares of the company have languished.

And that has Jim Decker, a mining engineer with extensive experience in the coal mining and precious metals sectors and a major investor in the company, bewildered.

“At gold prices of $750 an ounce, we have a 35 per cent rate of return and cash flow at $277 million before tax and $195 million after tax,” said Decker, an advisor to the firm.  Decker is convinced gold prices will reach $1,000 an ounce by the end of this year and even higher in the next couple of years, largely because of the world’s credit crisis and the flight of investors to hard assets.

Despite these predictions – shared by many others – and rosy economic projections for its Crucitas open pit gold mine in north central Cost Rica, shares of the TSX Venture Exchange-listed company have traded in a range of 20-50 cents over the past year. There are about 120 million shares outstanding. He believes they should be trading much higher than they are, given that Crucitas will soon be an operating mine.

The projections of its Crucitas project’s economics were generated as a result of a third party analysis by mining consultants Micon International Ltd., construction of the open pit mine, owned 100% by Crucitas, started in June and several buildings have already been completed, a road to the property has been upgraded and 3 bridges have been installed and site preparation has begun. The project is scheduled for completion by late 2009.

It will be completed at a capital cost of $66.2 million (U.S.) and the mine operating costs are estimated at $342 (U.S.) an ounce, net of silver credits.

The property, purchased from the former Placer Dome (which was taken over by Barrick Gold Corp.) is being designed initially to produce up to 120,000 ounces of gold a year. “We estimate there are one million ounces of gold recoverable and an additional one million ounces of inferred reserves,” he said. He said it’s conceivable the property might support production of as much as 200,000 ounces of gold a year, making it one of the larger producers in Central America.

There are other advantages, aside from that robust production potential.

“Another thing we have going for us is the geography,” said Decker.

“The terrain isn’t rugged, there’s a good road to the mine (which the company has spent $3 million to upgrade) and it’s a six hour drive to the coast.  He said a mine of similar size would cost much more in other parts of the world. “It would probably cost $200 million to develop a mine like this in remote areas of Mexico, for instance.”

Infinito kept its capital costs under control by contracting Sococo de Costa Rica, an experienced mine developer with over 30 years of experience in Latin America.

“It made more sense to use a contractor, rather than buying the mining equipment and hiring our own staff,” said Decker.

Another advantage the company has is that Costa Rica is a politically-stable, democratic country, he said.

Decker said there are few obstacles that must be dealt with to complete the project on time.

Financing, for example, should not be a major stumbling block – seized up credit markets aside.

On Sept. 18 the company announced it had signed an engagement letter under which BNP Paribas has agreed to act as the lead arranger of $66 million (U.S.) in debt financing to complete construction of Crucitas.

BNP Paribas is the largest bank in the Eurozone, with 162,000 employees and is active in 87 countries.

There are deep pockets behind the company, including those of the wealthy, Calgary-based Mannix family. It was Ron Mannix  an early investor in Infinito’s predecessor company, Vannessa Ventures Ltd., who brought CEO and President John Morgan on board to help make Crucitas a reality.

Decker worked from 1978 to 1986 for Manalta Coal Ltd., part of the LORAM Group, a conglomerate which was in the construction business, the oil and gas and pipeline sector and coal mining. Morgan was Vice President and General Manager of Manalta before it  was taken over by another firm.

Aside from Morgan, who has been in the mining business for over 30 years, Infinito has an experienced team of executives, including Steven G. Dean, the company’s Chairman, who was formerly President of Canadian mining giant Teck Cominco Ltd.

The company has other assets, including majority ownership of the giant Las Cristinas gold project in Venezuela, which has as much as 12 million ounces of gold. It has a claim for damages, including lost profits, of $1 billion pending against the socialist government of that country, which unilaterally seized the mine in 2001.

By Maclean Kay
Writer
Troy Media

CALGARY, AB, Jan. 16/ Troy Media/ — Calgary-based startups looking to compete and thrive in the high-tech sector are increasingly turning to networking to realize their dreams.

And Calgary has one of the most robust business networks in Canada.

“Networking, that is, putting prospective tech entrepreneurs in the same room with those who have survived the start-up war,” Ivan Sierralta, Director of Business Networking and Cluster Development with Calgary Technologies (CTI) said,  “is the best way of preparing newcomers to become competitive. They are able to tap into the benefits of experience, including all of the ups and downs.”

One of the prime movers behind the creation of the Calgary network was Bill Hews, president of Fideliter Inc. and Chairman of WiTec Alberta, the association that represents Alberta’s wireless industry.  According to Hews, creating a “cluster” of tech companies and individuals has resulted in a network greater than the sum of its parts – and much healthier and more prosperous than it might be otherwise.

“Real networking happens because of an interchange of ideas,” Hews said, which can mean anything from establishing mentoring relationships to putting young entrepreneurs in touch with investors.

He said a government-initiated evaluation of the provincial tech industry in 2001 led to the establishment of a tech cluster, which led to the need to network. “The government’s initiative led to the conclusion that the tech sector was a viable subsector of the provincial economy. It started people thinking about what could be done to strengthen the tech cluster, to help it overcome its challenges.”

Those challenges, he added, all amounted to the same thing: access. “Access to money, access to qualified people, and access to markets.”

Acceleware CEO Sean Krakiwsky conceded that, to those outside the tech sector, all this may sound like propping up companies and sectors that can’t survive on their own.  Why can’t tech companies simply sink or swim on their own?

“For starters,” he said, “that’s simply not how the industry works. In the tech sector, the bigger the network is the better. Companies succeed because there is a really solid network of local people available for hiring, for funding or even simply for advice.”

Randy Thompson, president of the Venture Alberta Angel Forum, agrees. “The competition, particularly for funding, is brutal. First-time (tech) entrepreneurs in Calgary have to compete for money and attention against guys in B.C. and Silicon Valley who are on their second or third startup. Networking makes the chances of success a little easier.”

Funding is always a struggle, Thompson said. Because investors naturally gravitate towards the industry and people they know and are comfortable with (“and who can blame them?”), it makes it hard for new startups from a non-traditional sector such as tech, to attract investment. “We have a problem in Alberta that is particular to us. Because our economy is weighed so heavily towards the oil and gas industry, it is hard for the tech sector to be noticed, no matter the quality of our products and services.”

Thompson speaks from experience: he founded one of Alberta’s first Internet Service Providers in 1992.  Despite the now-obvious opportunities, he struggled to survive. “We were growing at 35 per cent a month,” he recalls, “but we still couldn’t secure funding because there was just no local expertise base, either to invest or advise.”

Both Thompson and Hews quickly saw the need for a network. That’s one of the reasons Calgary Technologies Inc. created Wireless City, now operating under WiTec Alberta, an initiative which seeks to create market opportunities for Calgary-based technology exporters, and can assist them in securing that all-important access to money, qualified people, and markets.

Richard Belzil, Director of Wireless City, said that Wireless City and WiTec are trying to create enough critical mass so that the (local wireless) industry can swing above its weight. “We do that by linking and leveraging organizations, events, resources and projects. Networking strengthens the whole sector.”

Thompson pointed out that CTI’s Entrepreneur in Residence and Go-To Market Programs have been especially important and successful forCalgary’s tech sector. “These programs are really helping the sector to tap into the resources needed – through networking with others – to create a more attractive package for investors.”

But beyond gaining access to money and investors, networking also has subtler benefits.

“We all don’t really know each other,” Hews said. “There is an obvious benefit to networking: to find out what others are doing, to find new opportunities for growth, to simply exchange stories over the challenges we are all going through and how we are overcoming them. Networking increases our chances of survival – and success.”

By Ivan Sierralta
Director – Business Networking and Cluster Development
Calgary Technologies Inc

Ivan Sierralta

CALGARY, AB, Jan. 18, 2008/ — The bright minds in Calgary’s growing tech sector are generating innovative ideas. But many of those breakthroughs will miss their full commercial potential unless those young entrepreneurs get some solid advice on business development from seasoned veterans.

Mentorship is the most important and most effective tool entrepreneurs have in their arsenal.

Mentors can help entrepreneurs clear the common hurdles startups face: investment, strategic planning, and executing on an effective go-to-market strategy.

One of the most important areas in which mentors can help is in securing financing for the next stage of a company’s growth. Pitching to investors is often one of the most difficult hurdles to clear because it requires specific skills and knowledge. Seeking the advice of seasoned entrepreneurs with been-there-done-that experience, or getting feedback from investors themselves, can mean the difference between growth and fading into oblivion.

Just because you can develop a revolutionary idea into a viable technology does not mean that you also know how to grow a company. Because so many tech entrepreneurs started out as tech developers, their tendency is to get caught up in the R&D and never take the time to envision their company’s future.

The uphill climb becomes even steeper when you consider the short life cycle of technology.  A technology entrepreneur has a short window of opportunity before his or her product becomes obsolete or replaced by a newer idea.

While entrepreneurs in other sectors can spend three to five years and maybe even longer accumulating business knowledge as they grow, technology typically goes through two generations of development during that same period.

How then do entrepreneurs accelerate their knowledge of business as it relates to technology commercialization?

One of the best resources any startup can establish is an advisory board. Typically comprised of veterans of the business and tech community, these advisers usually don’t expect much in monetary rewards and often agree to participate as a way of “paying forward” the mentoring they received early in their careers. Their knowledge in finance, marketing and strategic planning can be the key to helping an entrepreneur move into profitability.

Entrepreneurs can seek out their own mentors through networking, or can turn to specialized organizations, like Calgary Technologies Inc. (CTI). As a non-profit organization, CTI offers a variety of programs and services at little or no cost. Entrepreneurs connect with mentors who can advise them on everything from pitching to investors to consulting on patents.

The Alberta Deal Generator network is one example. Operating as a joint program between CTI and TEC Edmonton, ADG is Alberta’s largest network of angel investors. It connects companies to investors through specialized investment forums.

CTI’s Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) is another example; an experienced entrepreneur meets one-on-one with new entrepreneurs to guide them through the challenges of growth.

CTI also offers the Applied Go-To-Market program that helps entrepreneurs develop and execute an effective sales and marketing strategy. Over the course of four months, entrepreneurs attend seminars led by experienced entrepreneurs and investors and work one-on-one with hand-picked mentors to develop a go-to-market strategy.

This program address one of the main reasons startups fail — the inability to get a new product to market. Some of the best ideas never got off the ground simply because the startup didn’t have the know-how and contacts to get their product or service into customers’ hands.

Mentoring is something that has helped define tech communities like Silicon Valley, and it’s the only sure way to accelerate the growth of the sector in Calgary and Alberta.

For their part, entrepreneurs have to make a concerted effort to take advantage of the experience available. Reaching out is not as hard as they might think. Those who have achieved success understand the importance of passing on their expertise to up-and-comers. Most successful business people are flattered to be asked to share their expertise and are only too willing to give back a little of what they received when they were starting out.

When the sector thrives everyone wins.

By Robert Roach
Director of Research
Canada West Foundation

Robert Roach

CALGARY, AB, Dec. 15, 2007/ — Christmas is associated with giving. This leads to the mind-numbing trips to the mall to buy presents for family and friends.

On these trips, many of us will notice the Salvation Army’s red kettles and throw in some change. It feels good to help out.

But if we are being honest, it is a very small gesture in the face of some really big social challenges. If we want to do something truly meaningful about affordable housing, for example, we should be building affordable housing units into every new development in the city. This would begin to match the scale of the problem.

To make action on this scale happen, we need a change in mindset. We need to think big. We also need to be much more compassionate and much more willing to give something up to see real change happen.

If a barrier to the public acceptance of affordable basement suites continues to be concern over more cars parked on suburban streets, we are not going to get very far when it comes to addressing homelessness, poverty, addiction, prostitution, and the dealers and pimps who prey on the desperate and marginalized members of our communities.

The results of the Canada West Foundation’s Looking West 2007 Survey are both encouraging and discouraging in this regard. The survey asked urban residents in seven large Canadian cities (including Calgary) their opinions on a number of urban social challenges.

First, the encouraging findings. Almost seven in 10 Calgarians feel that reducing homelessness in the city is a high priority. This is lower than the figure for addressing traffic, but it is still relatively high and suggests that Calgarians care about people who do not have adequate housing.

When asked what we should do about homelessness, four in 10 Calgarians say that we should increase the support programs available to people in need. This suggests that a fair number of Calgarians see the problem as more than just a question of bricks and mortar (although building more affordable housing is clearly critical).

When it comes to drug addiction, five in 10 Calgarians point the finger at the dealers and want to see the police target them rather than those suffering from addiction (only five per cent of survey respondents support a police crackdown on addicts).

When this is combined with the finding that five in 10 Calgarians feel that governments should treat illegal drug use as a health issue rather than a criminal issue, it is clear there is at least some support for helping people recover from their addictions as opposed to locking them up and forgetting about them.

The public’s views on prostitution are similar to how it sees drug addiction. A quarter of Calgarians support providing more social services to sex trade workers. The same number suggest licensing and regulating street prostitution (a change that would provide at least some protection for those working in the sex trade).

While far from a majority, these numbers suggest that there is a subset of Calgarians who appreciate that sex trade workers are part of our communities and deserve society’s help and empathy.

Now the less encouraging results.

Two-thirds of Calgarians report that they are “scared to set foot in” parts of the city.

Part reality and part perception, this finding points to a barrier to increasing public support — and by extension government action — for thoughtful and compassionate approaches to urban social challenges.

If people feel unsafe in certain areas, they will avoid those parts of town and, as a result, will not get to know the people who live there, will not appreciate the challenges they face, and will be more likely to accept solutions that simply keep problems and hardship contained to those areas.

Part — but only part — of the solution lies in increasing real and perceived public safety in our inner city and downtown communities. Safe streets are vital and interesting streets.

The bulk of the solution, however, lies in consciously deciding not to abandon the “bad parts of town” and committing to understanding, respecting, and helping the members of our communities who face barriers to fully enjoying and participating in the life of this great city.

Our governments will not take the bold steps necessary to address challenges such as homelessness, addiction and the exploitation of women and children involved in the sex trade if the public is exclusively focused on cracking down on crime or if it fears or forgets about the people and communities that are in need.

This Christmas, let’s all take a few minutes to ponder the human dimension of the “problems our city faces and see this as a first step to some truly powerful forms of giving.

Channels: Calgary Herald, December 12, the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, December 21, the Vancouver Island News Group, theGoldstream News Gazette and the Peninsula News Review, December 21, the Winnipeg Free Press, December 22, and the Edmonton Journal, December 24, 2007