Around the North

The Industrial Accident Prevention Association has mapped out several training sessions scattered across Northern Ontario throughout March 2009.

Some of the City of Greater Sudbury's most outstanding citizens were celebrated at the sold-out Sixth Annual Community Builders Awards of Excellence gala held on Feb. 26.

AbitibiBowater is temporarily laying off 650 workers at its Fort Frances paper plant for the entire month of March. One paper machine will be shut down for five weeks, while two others will be idled for two weeks.

North American Palladium (NAP) posted a $160.7 million loss for 2008, including a fourth quarter loss of $112 million.

Hawk Uranium reports it is opting out of a joint venture agreement with Noront Resources in the McFaulds Lake exploration camp in the James Bay Lowlands.

The lure of Alberta's Oil Patch can't keep Thunder Bay manufacturers at home. The city's Oil Sands Consortium and the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission attended the National Buyer/Seller Forum in Edmonton, Feb. 10-12.

Lakehead University is showcasing the talent of its researchers this week in Thunder Bay. Research and Innovation Week, running Feb. 20-27, kicks off with a keynote address by Dr.

Video game programming students from Algoma University are taking their talents to the West Coast for their annual conference. Future 2009 is scheduled for May 12-13 in Vancouver as part of the Games Developers Canada conference.

AbitibiBowater has completed the sale of private timberlands in Quebec. The debt-laden paper giant sold 74,724 hectares of private lands for $70 million. In a Feb. 20 news release, the company intends to use the money for "general corporate purposes.

Teck Cominco is getting out of its joint venture partnership in the Hemlo gold camp. The miner is selling its 50 per cent stake in the two-mine operation near Marathon to Barrick Gold for $65 million US.