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Year: 2012

Vale: Investing in the Future – by Gay Sutton (Business Excellence Magazine – Janauary 23, 2012)

This article is from Business Excellence Magazine

When the world’s second largest diversified mining company Vale acquired the iconic Canadian nickel miner Inco five years ago it was the beginning of the largest investment in Canadian mining in the country’s history, as Cory McPhee explains to Gay Sutton.

Superficially, the icy northern reaches of Canada and the hot arid deserts of Australia have little in common other than the language. Look more closely, and both benefit from enormous mineral resources that account for a significant portion of the national economy and an even greater percentage of their exports. Moreover, some of these resources have been mined for more than a century and a half. In both cases a number of famous mining towns and cities have sprung up – providing services, products, homes and entertainment for those working in some of the world’s least hospitable places.

The city of Sudbury in Ontario is one such place. With long cold winters and brief but warm and humid summers, it began as a simple mining camp in the rich geological region known as the Sudbury Basin. Today Sudbury is a city of some 158,000 people and its economy has diversified to include financial services, business, tourism, healthcare and education. But mining continues to play a significant role. According to figures produced by the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation last year, Vale – which can trace its history back to 1902 when Inco opened its first mine in Sudbury – is still the city’s largest employer. 

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Cameco’s requests to nuclear commission opposed by Northwatch – by Dan Bellerose (Sault Star – January 24, 2012)

This article came from: http://www.saultstar.com/

The largest commercial uranium refinery in the western world, located 140 kilometres east of Sault Ste. Marie, immediately west of Blind River, is seeking to double its licence period and increase production capacity.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission heard the application from Cameco Blind River late last week in Port Hope, Ont., and a decision is expected in the coming weeks.

Cameco, whose current five-year licence expires Feb. 29, wants to double its operating licence period from five years, to 10 years, and increase production capacity by 6,000 tonnes, from 18,000 to 24,000 tonnes.

“Our environmental and safety performance merits a longer licence term,” says Bill Koch, director of public and government affairs for the Cameco fuel services division.

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NEWS RELEASE: NWT Mining Industry Recommends Mineral Resource Potential Remain Open for Development in the Ramparts Region

Yellowknife, NT – January 20, 2011.

The Chamber of Mines has submitted its recommendations that important mineral resources in the 10,000 square kilometre Ts’ude niline Tu’eyeta, or Ramparts area of the Northwest Territories be protected for its future development potential. The area is a candidate protected area under the NWT Protected Areas Strategy.

Geoscience studies reveal that large parts of the Ramparts area have the potential to host deposits of zinc, lead, copper, diamonds and oil & gas that could create socio‐economic opportunities for the K’asho Got’ine people, for the Sahtu region, and for the Northwest Territories. To maximize the opportunities, the Chamber recommends that the moderate to high mineral potential areas not be included under any protected area designation that blocks development forever.

The Chamber recommends the Sahtu Land Use Plan be the tool used for protection as it can be modified by future generations to accommodate their needs, it provides a more flexible approach to balancing environmental values and economic development, and it provides more control to local communities.

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‘An aboriginal uprising is inevitable’ if Harper doesn’t listen, chief threatens – by By Peter O’Neil

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

The announcements underscore the Harper government’s
messaging that the best route out of aboriginal poverty
is economic and resource development instead of social
program spending.

OTTAWA — Canada could face an Arab Spring-style “uprising” if Prime Minister Stephen Harper doesn’t give a clear indication in his meeting with aboriginal leaders here Tuesday that he’s prepared to take their concerns seriously, a B.C. native leader warned Monday.

“We must do better. The honour of the Crown and the very integrity of Canada as a nation is at stake,” said Stewart Phillip, grand chief of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, in a news release issued by the Assembly of First Nations’ B.C. wing.

“Otherwise, an aboriginal uprising is inevitable.”

An estimated 400 chiefs from across Canada, including 47 from British Columbia and 22 from Alberta, have gathered here for their first face-to-face meeting with Harper since the Conservatives formed government in 2006.

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Pan American Silver buys Minefinders Corp. – by Brenda Bouw (Globe and Mail – January 24, 2012)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

VANCOUVER – Pan American Silver Corp. plans to create a silver-producing powerhouse with the proposed $1.5-billion acquisition of Mexico-focused Minefinders Corp. But investors weren’t impressed, driving down Pan American shares 10 per cent on Monday.

Pan American is offering cash or shares – or both – for fellow Vancouver-based company Minefinders, owner of the Dolores silver and gold mine in northern Mexico and the nearby La Bolsa property set to begin production later this year.

The deal will create a combined company valued at $4-billion and double Pan American’s silver production to 50 million ounces by 2015, with eight mines across Latin America. Still, Pan American shareholders showed concern about the dilution of their shares as a result of the transaction.

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There is hope for Canada’s First Nations – by Ken Coates and Greg Poelzer (National Post – January 24, 2012)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

…and a boiling crisis in Ontario. The Ontario government
does not really get the challenges and opportunities of its
north, particularly those of aboriginal communities, and is
currently more preoccupied with resource development than
aboriginal issues. (Ken Coates and Greg Poelzer)

Ken Coates is professor of history at the University of Waterloo. Greg Poelzer is an associate professor of political studies at the University of Saskatchewan.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s meetings this week with First Nations leaders have a quiet urgency about them. It has been a long while — really not since the final negotiations on the Kelowna Accord late in 2005 — since there was a First Nations meeting of this importance.

The shadow of Attawapiskat — and David Inlet and Kashechewan and other communities in crisis — hangs over this gathering. Conditions on many First Nations reserve communities are appalling and represent a national disgrace. Governments and First Nations leaders alike agree that education and economic opportunity are the keys to long-term revitalization. There is also a consensus that the housing conditions, facilities and infrastructure in many communities need immediate upgrading.

There is less agreement about what to do next. First Nations want more money; the Government of Canada wants greater accountability and transparency. First Nations demand greater autonomy and access to resource revenues. The Government wants improvements in local governance and viable economic strategies, particularly for remote communities.

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The [Far North Act] Colouring Book Government – by Livio Di Matteo (Northern Economist Blog- January 21, 2012)

Ontario Government Far North Act Coloring Book

Livio Di Matteo is Professor of Economics at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Visit his new Economics Blog “Northern Economist” at http://ldimatte.shawwebspace.ca/

Click Here for the: Far North Act Colouring Book

The Far North of Ontario and in particular, the Far North Act, has generated a contentious set of policy issues for Ontario’s government.  For the uninformed, the Far North Act is a process for community-based land use planning and development, that is also setting aside from development an interconnected area of conservation lands of at least 225,000 square kilometres — an area that is about 20 per cent of the landmass of Ontario.

To put it into context, it is an area about twice the size of southern Ontario — which represents only about 10 per cent of Ontario’s land mass.  There is concern about its impact on the long-term development prospects of Northern Ontario and the First Nations in the Region.  A response of the provincial government is that the Act has been misunderstood and needs to be better explained.

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Mining-based Sudbury is the Luckiest City in North America – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – January 23, 2012)

This column was published in today’s  Sudbury Star , the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper. It is the start of a monthy mining column for the Sudbury Star.

Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant and columnist who blogs at www.republicofmining.com ; stan.sudol@republicofmining.com

Last year the global population reached seven billion. More than half of us now live in urban centres and experts estimate that figure will climb to 70% by 2050. China is witnessing the largest rural to urban migration in the history of mankind in its stampede to industrialize and modernize. China also has become the world’s second largest economy and currently needs to build the equivalent of two cities the size of Toronto and Sydney Australia every year to accommodate this rapid growth. India, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia and other developing countries are following in its footsteps but at a less frenzied pace.

According to a recent study by McKinsey & Company, “up to three billion more middle-class consumers will emerge in the next 20 years compared with 1.8 billion today, driving up demand for a range of different resources.” Notwithstanding the current depressed prices of some metals, most analysts feel that the current mining commodity super-cycle will last for decades. It is estimated that over the next 25 years, we will need to dig out of the ground as many minerals as consumed since the beginning of time.

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Ottawa summit aims to boost first-nations economies – by Bill Curry (Globe and Mail – January 23, 2012)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

OTTAWA— Boosting economic activity on aboriginal land will be the dominant focus of Tuesday’s gathering with native chiefs, as Stephen Harper aims to bring first nations on board with his efforts toward increased natural-resources development.

The Prime Minister’s vocal support of a pipeline from Alberta’s oil sands to the Pacific Ocean is just one high-profile example of the economic stakes riding on smooth relations with first nations.

With the government planning a budget with a focus on cuts – as well as long-term job creation and changing demographics – the Tuesday summit in Ottawa, according to government officials, will include a discussion of how aboriginal communities with high unemployment can contribute to development projects that are expected to face shortages of skilled labour.

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Foreign influx in oil sands top issue – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – January 22, 2012)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

The heated debate over new export pipelines has morphed in recent days into a debate over foreign meddling into Canadian oil sands development.

The issue was thrust into prime time by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver when they questioned the legitimacy of foreign environmental organizations stirring the pot against the Northern Gateway pipeline, a Canadian project they have turned into an extension of their successful fight in the U.S. against Keystone XL.

Foreign groups shot back the debate over the oil sands is a global one, and that foreign oil companies are also meddling into Canadian affairs because they are driving their expansion.

Here’s the wrinkle: according to an independent poll by Toronto-based Forum Research Inc., Canadians are more worried about increasing foreign ownership in the oil and gas industry, which lately has seen a surge in Asian purchases, than about foreign environmental organizations targeting the oil sands.

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Follow the Keystone money, then expose the misinformation – by Peter Foster (National Post – January 20, 2012)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Don’t just follow the money — expose the hysterical misrepresentations and the tactics

Congressional Republican attempts to force U.S. President Barack Obama’s hand on the Keystone XL pipeline produced the required result on Wednesday, at least from the GOP perspective. The President gave the project the thumbs-down, and Republicans instantly castigated Mr. Obama as a job destroyer.

For his part, the President naturally made no mention of toadying to radical greens, and even claimed that he had nothing against the pipeline, which would create tens of thousands of jobs and is designed to take up to 900,000 barrels a day of diluted bitumen from the Alberta oil sands to the Gulf Coast. His rejection, rather, was due to Congress’s “rushed and arbitrary deadline,” which prevented the State Department from gathering material necessary to “protect the American people.”

Such electoral manoeuvering has hardly done Keystone sponsor TransCanada — or the oil sands more generally — any favours. Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed “profound disappointment” at Wednesday’s decision, and reportedly told Mr. Obama of Canada’s determination to diversify export markets. This will be easier said than done.

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5 Gold Miners Become Takeover Targets – by Marc Courtenay (Seeking Alpha.com – January 22, 2012)

This commentary came from: http://seekingalpha.com/

What investors really get paid for is holding ‘dogs’. Small stocks tend to have higher average returns than big stocks, and value stocks tend to have higher average returns than growth stocks. – Kenneth R. French–Dartmouth Economist NBER

Like an old familiar song, it seems that as soon as a company which is making money announces some bad news and disappointing “guidance”, the stock price craters. Like “blood-to-hungry sharks”, this brings the company to the attention of larger “fish” who may gobble it up for its cash and holdings. This is exactly what has happened to Kinross Gold (KGC). The company had disappointing news released on Monday and Tuesday, January 16 and 17th that caused its shares to plunge to a new 52-week low of $9.96. This was a 24% drop from its January 12th high of $13.11.

The Canadian gold producer said Tuesday that it expects production to be flat to slightly higher this year, while production costs will rise between 12% and 19% due to higher labor and mine expenses. Kinross also said it expects to record an accounting charge, mostly related to a decline in the value of one of its mines.

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Rhetoric over substance: Obama and the Keystone XL decision – by Duggan Flanakin and Redmond Weissenberger (Troy Media – January 22, 2012)

This article is from: http://www.troymedia.com/

The Keystone XL project would ensure the U.S, jobs, affordable energy and national security, which Obama purports to support

TORONTO, ON, Jan. 22, 2012/ Troy Media/ – Oilfield workers in Alberta, refinery workers in Texas and countless factory workers have now learned that the White House will not allow construction of an oil pipeline that would bring over half a million barrels of oil a day from Canada’s Alberta Province and North Dakota’s Bakken Field to refineries in Texas and Louisiana.

The job-killing decision was a victory for radical environmentalists and well-heeled U.S. foundations that have long battled Canadian oil sands companies and the U.S. oil and gas industry. Not in “the national interest”

U.S. President Barack Obama says Congress gave him insufficient time to examine environmental issues. TransCanada Keystone Pipeline LP can reapply, he added, if it reroutes the pipeline around Nebraska’s Ogallala Aquifer and Sand Hills area and addresses other concerns. In the meantime, the Administration insists, the project “would not serve the national interest.”

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Alberta oilsands crucial to have-not Ontario future – by Greg Van Moorsel (Sudbury Star – January 20, 2012)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

“Alberta government figures show oilsands investment over
the last decade topped $100 billion. Ontario’s only new
auto plant built over the same period, Toyota’s Woodstock
complex, checked in at $1.1 billion.” (Greg Van Moorsel)

An early investor in the Alberta oilsands, Ontario cashed out a generation ago. That said, Canada’s most populous province still stands to lose from the setback dealt the oilsands industry and the hottest economic province by U.S. President Barack Obama’s rejection of the proposed Alberta-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline.

After the 1970s oil crisis, Queen’s Park bought a sizeable stake in a pioneering Athabasca oilsands venture.

That was before dwindling conventional oil supplies and surging prices made the capital-intensive oilsands the boomer it is now.

But while Queen’s Park sold out in the 1990s, its books then awash in red ink like they are now, Ontario still accrues huge benefits from the oilsands: Alberta jobs for its many unemployed workers, shots at manufacturing much of the needed equipment and, like all other “have-not” provinces, equalization payments that flow to it from an Alberta government now paying many of Canada’s net bills.

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Major [mining] investments return to BC – by Gavin C. Dirom (Northern Miner – January 23-29, 2012)

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry.

The author is president and CEO of the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC), which is celebrating its one-hundredth anniversary with special activities planned during AME BC’s twenty-ninth Roundup in Vancouver from Jan. 23–26, 2012. Visit www.amebc.ca for more information.

B.C. is on the cusp of regaining its rightful position as one of the best jurisdictions in the world to explore and develop mineral resources.

Driven by record-breaking expenditures in 2011, encouraging commodity prices and increasingly progressive government policy, mineral exploration and development in B.C. represents a multi-generational, socio-economic opportunity that can be measured in billions of dollars and thousands of jobs.

In 2011, an estimated $450 million to $500 million was spent on mineral exploration in B.C. This is higher than the $322 million recorded in 2010 and illustrates spending not seen since the eighties. One million metres of rock was drilled in search of rare mineral deposits for developing into viable mines to produce critical raw materials, such as copper, gold, coal and zinc.

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