British Columbia Mining – Page 63

Vancouver-based Goldcorp wins reprieve from Osisko Mining on takeover bid (Canadian Press – March 3, 2014)

March 4, 2014

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MONTREAL – Osisko Mining Corp. said Monday it has settled a lawsuit it filed against Vancouver-based Goldcorp Inc. as part of the Montreal-based company’s fight against a hostile takeover by the senior gold miner.

Under the settlement, the offer from Goldcorp has been extended to April 15, from March 10, while Osisko continues its search for an alternative bid. Osisko has also agreed to waive its shareholder rights plan by April 14 and provide Goldcorp with access to due diligence materials starting April 1, or earlier if Osisko signs a deal with another bidder.

“Given the robustness of our process to pursue value maximizing alternatives, the extension to April 15, 2014 provides a meaningful extension to the anticipated time to complete this work,” Osisko president and chief executive Sean Roosen.

“The April 15, 2014 date also provides certainty of timing for those in the process to complete their work and propose executable arrangements to unlock value for all stakeholders.”

Goldcorp-Osisko battle heats up in Quebec as court case begins Monday – by Peter Koven (National Post – March 2, 2014)

March 3, 2014

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

The takeover battle between Goldcorp Inc. and Osisko Mining Corp. is heating up. But not for reasons that have anything to with the terms of the actual bid.

The two sides are set to face off in the Quebec Superior Court this week over Osisko’s claim that Goldcorp misused confidential information when it launched the $2.6-billion hostile offer in January.

The court case, which begins Monday in Montreal, centres on whether the two companies had a verbal standstill agreement in place when Osisko disclosed private data in a meeting last year. The trial is set to last for three days and both sides expressed confidence they will win. Not surprisingly, Goldcorp dismissed the lawsuit as a stalling tactic while Osisko said it will shed light on nefarious actions by Goldcorp.

Outside of court, a more complicated battle is brewing as both sides talk up their Quebec credentials in an attempt to win the hearts and minds of the province. Osisko is the largest Quebec-based mining company and owns the giant Canadian Malartic mine in the province. Goldcorp, based in Vancouver, plans to produce first gold from its US$1.8-billion Eleonore mine in Quebec later this year.

B.C. to impose new fees on mining industry – by Justine Hunter (Globe and Mail – February 28, 2014)

February 28, 2014

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.

VICTORIA — The B.C. government is planning to impose new fees on the mining industry, saying the sector should bear the cost for better services. “It will give the ministry an opportunity to bring a few more resources in to improve our performance,” Mines Minister Bill Bennett told the legislature Thursday.

But the industry is calling the move “punitive” and warns it will undermine already-fragile small-scale mining companies.

Just two years ago, the B.C. Liberal government restored ministry resources for services such as permit approvals, at Mr. Bennett’s urging. He had argued that government service cuts had “starved” the “dirt ministries” – those governing mining, forests and oil and gas – to the point that economic growth was being choked.

Now, the province wants mining to pay for those restored services. But the opposition NDP said Thursday the changes are ill-timed.

Taseko New Prosperity Mine Rejected By Federal Government – by Canadian Press (Huffington Post – February 27, 2014)

February 27, 2014

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Canadian Press – VANCOUVER – The federal government has again rejected a proposed $1.5-billion, open-pit, gold-copper mine in British Columbia’s Interior over environmental concerns, a decision critics are celebrating but one the company vows to fight.

Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq said Wednesday evening that her ministry has rejected the New Prosperity Gold Copper Mine for a second time because it will cause significant adverse environmental effects that can’t be mitigated.

Just four years ago, the ministry rejected the project because Taseko Mines Ltd. (TSX:TKO) planned to drain a lake to use as a tailings pond. “The Government of Canada will make decisions based on the best available scientific evidence while balancing economic and environmental considerations,” said Aglukkaq in a news release.

“The government will continue to make responsible resource development a priority and invites the submission of another proposal that addresses the government’s concerns.”

Goldcorp prepared to walk away from Osisko bid, CEO says – by Rachelle Younglai and Sophie Cousineau (Globe and Mail – February 26, 2014)

February 26, 2014

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.

Goldcorp Inc.’s chief executive says he is prepared to kill his hostile bid for Canadian rival Osisko Mining Corp. if it becomes too complicated or expensive.

“This is not the only opportunity in the world,” Goldcorp CEO Chuck Jeannes said in an interview Wednesday. “It may be the case that if this becomes too complicated that we go look at something else. That would be a very bad day for Osisko shareholders. They would probably see their stock drop by 20 per cent overnight,” he said.

Mr. Jeannes would not provide detail on his company’s other options. The unsolicited cash and stock bid is currently on hold because Osisko sued Goldcorp for allegedly breaching a confidentiality agreement between the two Canadian miners. A Quebec court will make a decision on the lawsuit next week, which could further delay Goldcorp’s bid.

For more than five years, Mr. Jeannes has tried to acquire Osisko for its massive Canadian Malartic mine in Quebec. The mine would add an additional 10 million ounces of gold reserves to Goldcorp’s portfolio of mines and projects in the Americas and Mexico.

More at stake than a $1-billion mine – by Peter O’Niel (Vancouver Sun – February 16, 2014)

February 18, 2014

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Decision on B.C.’s New Prosperity project will set national tone for Ottawa-aboriginal relations, First Nations warn

OTTAWA — Lobbying has intensified as the Harper government prepares to make a high-stakes decision on a controversial $1-billion B.C. mining project.

A delegation of West Coast First Nations leaders, accompanied by Assembly of First Nations Chief Shawn Atleo, spent the past week on Parliament Hill, trying to get across their message that approving the New Prosperity mine near Williams Lake would deal a huge setback to Ottawa’s relationship with aboriginal Canadians.

Ottawa must make a decision the end of the month. But the native leaders left for home Friday after meeting only B-list political players, people of similar rank to those who met pro-mine members of the Williams Lake community a week earlier.

That’s far different from the high-level arm-twisting during two recent visits here by B.C. Mines Minister Bill Bennett, an enthusiastic New Prosperity supporter. Bennett met with a total of 13 federal MPs, seven of them cabinet ministers, as he tried to convince Ottawa to endorse New Prosperity despite a federal review panel’s Oct. 31 call for the mine be rejected.

NEWS RELEASE: World’s largest coking coal mine discovered in west Canada

February 14, 2014

Xinhua – February 14, 2014

A coal field estimated to have 7 billion tons of reserve has been discovered in west Canada, making it the largest coking coal field in the world, Canadian Dehua International Mines Group Inc (CDI) said on Thursday.

Vincent Li, chief engineer of CDI, told Xinhua that analytic data showed the 150 square kilometers field contains 7 billion tons of coal, most of which is buried within a depth of 1,000 meters, while half of the total reserve is high quality coking coal.

The newly discovered mine, located in the Wapiti river area in northeast British Columbia of Canada, surpasses the previous largest field, the Tavan Tolgoi in Mongolia, which has 1.8 billion tons of coking coal in its 6.5 billion tons of coal reserve.

The data came from months of studies conducted by Golder Associates, an environment and energy consulting company, the Snowden Consulting Company and China’s Shandong Geological Exploration and Research Institute, Li said.

Native band downstream from proposed B.C. mine fears long-term pollution – by Mark Hume (Globe and Mail – February 13, 2014)

February 13, 2014

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 – A native band downstream from what may become the biggest mine in Canada says it is worried about the long-term threat that pollution could pose to the Nass and Bell-Irving Rivers in northwest B.C.

“The mine’s life span is for 50 years and they are estimating that mine will be required to treat [waste water] for well over 200 years. And who’s going to be responsible for that?” Glen Williams, Hereditary Chief of the Gitanyow First Nation said Wednesday.

The Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) mine, which Seabridge Gold Inc. is proposing to build high in the mountains 65 kilometres northwest of Smithers, would use tailings ponds and a water treatment plant to handle pollution generated by two billion tons of waste rock.

Brent Murphy, vice-president of environmental affairs for the Toronto-based resource explorations company, said, “Protection of the environment has been a key guiding principle in the design of the project, and we’ve worked very hard to ensure that there’s no impact downstream of the facility.”

B.C. coal export plan faces resistance – by Brent Jang (Globe and Mail – February 10, 2014)

February 10, 2014

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 — As Canada’s efforts to send oil abroad encounter thorny opposition, critics are increasingly targeting another resource export: Coal.

Plans to export thermal coal from the West Coast to Asia are being put under the microscope as North American miners jockey to ship abundant domestic supplies overseas.

Demand for thermal coal, a commodity used by power plants to generate electricity, has weakened in recent years in North America due to the boom in U.S. shale gas production. With many U.S. power plants switching to natural gas, a coal glut has forced miners to look to Asia for new markets.

Fraser Surrey Docks LP, a marine terminal located on the Fraser River in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey, wants to serve as a new staging ground for exports of thermal coal originating from Wyoming’s Powder River basin. Fraser Surrey Docks is owned by Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, an investment fund managed by Australia’s Macquarie Group.

Osisko lawsuit against Goldcorp gets March trial date – by Nicolas Van Praet and Peter Koven (National Post – February 5, 2014)

February 5, 2014

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

MONTREAL and TORONTO – Osisko Mining Corp. has another month to find a white knight after a Quebec Superior Court judge set a trial date in early March to hear the merits of a lawsuit the Montreal gold miner brought against its hostile suitor Goldcorp Inc.

On Tuesday, lawyers for Vancouver-based Goldcorp rejected as “fabrication” Osisko’s claims that Goldcorp misused confidential information when it made a $2.6-billion hostile offer for Osisko, saying the Montreal-based miner launched legal action simply to buy time.

“When we see judicial procedures like these, typically the party bringing them forward is trying to torpedo the offer because there are no other bids,” said Alain Riendeau, a Fasken Martineau lawyer acting for Goldcorp.

A three-day trial has been scheduled, starting March 3. Among the witnesses expected to testify are Goldcorp chief executive Chuck Jeannes. Under the terms spelled out by Judge Louis Gouin on Tuesday, Goldcorp agreed not to challenge Osisko’s shareholder rights plan (or “poison pill”) until March 6.

Teck checking domestic piping system after Trail spill – by Sunny Dhilon (Globe and Mail – February 2, 2014)

February 3, 2014

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 — Teck Trail Operations says the company’s entire domestic piping system at its plant in Trail, B.C., is now being checked after a chemical spill last week reached the Columbia River.

Up to 25,000 litres of a high pH solution accidentally entered a domestic sewer line on Tuesday. The line, which runs to the regional district’s sewage treatment facility, discharges to the river.

The incident is not expected to have a long-term effect on fish or the environment, said the mining company, which has notified B.C.’s Ministry of Environment and Environment Canada.

“We do take this incident very seriously and we will be conducting a very thorough investigation,” Richard Deane, a Teck spokesman, said in an interview Sunday.

Vancouver researchers help exploration companies search for the next big mine – by Derrick Penner (Vancouver Sun – January 29, 2014)

January 31, 2014

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Geologists are constantly looking for better ways to ‘see through rock’

In the old days, geologists would scrape up soil samples looking for traces of the copper, gold, molybdenum or other minerals they were looking for in deposits close to the surface. More recently, they’ve discovered more definite signals that come from much deeper – sometimes hundreds of metres below the dirt and glacial till.

They don’t exactly know how the trace elements make it to the surface, but the science of figuring it out is at the cutting edge of mining exploration and something scientists at Vancouver’s Mineral Deposit Research Unit are taking on in a bigger way.

“We don’t understand it very well,” said MDRU director Craig Hart, but they know ore bodies do give off volatile components that show up in surface soils.

“It might be gases, it might be things that are attaching to hydrogen ions streaming to the surface. It could be microbes digesting and coming up through the column of material, but there is a big push on right now to try to (understand the process),” he added.

Metal is mined for myriad applications – by Brian Morton (Vancouver Sun – January 29, 2014)

January 30, 2014

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Metals are used in just about everything from the family car to your $10,000 road bike, to computers, door handles, windshields and smartphones, even tooth fillings and food.

Mining is an essential fact in our modern world and that isn’t likely to change soon or even in the very distant future. Gold, silver, copper and lead have been around for thousands of years and, while their uses occasionally change, they’ll likely be around and extensively used for thousands more years.

The bicycle — that greenest form of transportation — is completely manufactured from materials obtained by mining: steel processed by burning metallurgical coal, along with specialized metals such as titanium.

Your computer, tablet or smartphone contains iron, titanium, aluminum, copper, zinc, nickel, gold, silver, lithium, magnesium, mercury, yttrium, palladium, tin, cadmium, indium, lead, samarium, tantalum, gadolinium and dysprosium.

That DVD? Aluminum, gold, silver, nickel, polycarbonate petroleum derivatives and acrylic lacquer.

First Nations play an increasing role in resource development – by Derrick Penner (Vancouver Sun – Januaruy 29, 2014)

January 30, 2014

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Mining companies and aboriginal communities need strong relationships if both are to benefit

Between an increase in mining exploration work and development of a potential liquefied natural gas export industry, British Columbia’s First Nations are heavily engaged in consultations over resource projects in the province.

It puts the First Nations Energy and Mining Council, an aboriginal-created advisory body, in an important position at a critical time for aboriginal communities, both in terms of managing the impact of resource projects and realizing benefits.

“We need (the council),” said Ed John, Grand Chief of the B.C. First Nations Summit, “otherwise we don’t have the wherewithal.”

John said First Nations appoint experts to engage with governments, based on the direction of aboriginal leaders, on issues related to legislation and policy.

The council doesn’t negotiate with government, John said, but can offer advice to the First Nations contemplating development, or worried about development.