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Canada Mining – North of 60

Securing essential supplies in the post-COVID world – by J. Berkshire Miller (National Post – June 10, 2020)

https://nationalpost.com/

J. Berkshire Miller is a senior fellow and deputy director of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad.

The COVID-19 crisis has provided a moment of clarity for many countries, including Canada, on the importance of secure supply chains. The lockdowns around the world have revealed important weaknesses in the supply chains used by many multinational companies — including those that Canadians rely on for critical supplies, such as protective personal equipment (PPE).

Acquiring PPE has been an enormous challenge for Canada since the pandemic was declared back in March. It has been particularly challenging because one of main source countries for PPE is China, where the pandemic originated.

Many Chinese companies have been engaged in horse trading and the often-disingenuous auctioning of such supplies, attempting to take advantage of an international market for PPE and other medical supplies that cannot be satiated in the near term as a result of COVID-19.

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Don’t sell Hope Bay to China, Yellowknife MLA warns – by Derek Neary (Nunavut News – June 3, 2020)

https://nnsl.com/nunavut-news/

Debate continues to simmer around the pending $149-million (U.S.) sale of TMAC Resources and control of the Kitikmeot Hope Bay gold property to Chinese-based Shandong Gold Mining.

Commenting on a previous Nunavut News article about the prospective deal, Yellowknife MLA Rylund Johnson strongly urged the Government of Canada to reject the purchase agreement.

“There is no benefit to the Inuit in having a Canadian colonizer swapped out for a Chinese one,” Johnson wrote. “There are so many risks that come with allowing the Chinese government to increase influence in the Arctic, including the fact they are one of our main competitors in mining.”

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EDITORIAL: Inuit investment in mining needed (Nunavut News – May 31, 2020)

https://nunavutnews.com/

The Hope Bay gold mine in Nunavut was recently acquired by Chinese gold mining company Shandong Gold Mining.

As Canada’s resource industry is rocked by the fallout from Covid-19, the foreign mining firm has scooped up Hope Bay from TMAC Resources for what is likely a good price, despite suspicious timing, creating what Tom Hoefer, executive director NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines, has called “good news for everyone.”

Not everyone is happy though as the purchase has generated a national debate around Arctic sovereignty and Canada’s dealings with China.

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Ottawa to scrutinize Chinese acquisition of gold miner as Huawei case reaches crucial stage – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – May 27, 2020)

https://business.financialpost.com/

Reviewing deal for embattled TMAC in what one observer calls a ‘mix of security considerations and political considerations’

The federal government says it is reviewing a Chinese mining company’s proposed $207 million buyout of a struggling gold mining company in Nunavut under the Investment Canada Act, as a high-profile case against a Chinese executive in Canada reaches a crucial point.

Shandong Gold Mining Co. Ltd., a Chinese state-owned enterprise that’s listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, announced earlier this month it would purchase Toronto-based TMAC Resources Inc., which operates a mine near Cambridge Bay that has been beset by operational challenges.

Ottawa declined to provide any details on why it is scrutinizing the TMAC buyout, but lawyers who practise in this area said the government can easily invoke national security concerns amid rising political tensions with China.

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Chinese ownership of Nunavut’s resources stokes unease – by Derek Neary (Nunavut News – May 21, 2020)

https://nnsl.com/nunavut-news/

The Chinese stake in Nunavut’s minerals is about to grow, if approvals are granted, and that’s raising some eyebrows.

China’s government controls many Chinese mining companies, including Shandong Gold Mining, which is in line to buy Toronto-based TMAC Resources for $149 million (U.S.).

“There’s a long-running sort of latent fear of selling strategic resources to an entity which is controlled entirely, or in part, by the government of a competitor,” said Adam Lajeunesse, co-author of the 2017 book China’s Arctic Ambitions and What They Mean for Canada.

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Chinese company makes agreement to buy Nunavut gold mine – by John Last (CBC News North – May 20, 2020)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

The company behind an ongoing gold project in Nunavut’s Kitikmeot region, is all set to be sold to a Chinese mining company. TMAC Resources owns the Hope Bay gold mine project, located 125 kilometres southwest of Cambridge Bay.

On May 8, the company announced a “definitive agreement” to sell to Shandong Gold Mining, a state-owned Chinese mining company, for around $230 million.

The deal values TMAC at $1.75 per share — a 52 per cent premium on the share’s average price, according to the announcement, and about 30 cents more per share than its listed price before the announcement.

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Ottawa urged to scrutinize China’s mining activities in the Arctic in wake of TMAC takeover – by Robert Fife, Steven Chase and Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – May 18, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

China’s growing control over strategic minerals could be a threat to Canada’s national security, a former head of CSIS says, and Ottawa should recognize this when it reviews a proposed takeover of an Arctic gold mine by a Chinese state-owned conglomerate.

Shandong Gold Mining Co. Ltd., one of the world’s largest gold producers, is paying $207.4-million to buy TMAC Resources Inc., the latest struggling Canadian junior miner to be swept up by a larger and better-capitalized company.

The deal will be among the first pored over by Ottawa after it announced in April that it would bring “enhanced scrutiny” to bear on acquisitions by foreign state-owned investors in a period where the COVID-19 pandemic has driven down the value of companies. China is the largest producer and consumer of gold in the world.

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Will the Arctic Become the Next South China Sea? – by Anya Gorodentsev (National Interest.org – May 17, 2020)

https://nationalinterest.org/

Why does China often refer to itself as a “Near-Arctic state” when the most northern point of the country is nearly 1,000 miles away from the Arctic Ocean?

As climate change in the twenty-first century began to reveal undiscovered oil and open up previously frozen shipping routes in the Arctic, China sought to become involved in the region in hopes of taking advantage of global-shipping shortcuts and hydrocarbon resources.

In 2018, China released its Arctic policy officially declaring its intentions to actively participate in Arctic affairs as a major shareholder and declaring itself a “near-Arctic state.”

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China’s interest in western Nunavut gold mine is commercial: legal expert – by Jane George (Nunatsiaq News – May 13, 2020)

https://nunatsiaq.com/

The recent news that TMAC Resources Inc., a Canadian junior mining company in western Nunavut, wants to sell its Hope Bay gold mine to a huge Chinese mining company, Shandong Gold, has alarmed some Nunavut residents.

That’s understandable, but Shandong Gold, better known as SD Gold, just wants to make money, says Michael Byers, a legal scholar who holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia and is is the author of “Who owns the Arctic?”

While general concerns about the probable sale of the mine to the Chinese-controlled company are justified, the Hope Bay acquisition looks more like a good business deal than a challenge to Canadian sovereignty, Byers said.

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Nunavut’s Hope Bay goldfields to be bought by China’s SD Gold – by Jane George (Nunatsiaq News – May 8, 2020)

https://nunatsiaq.com/

TMAC Resources Inc., which owns the Hope Bay gold mine complex in western Nunavut, is poised to be bought up by a Chinese gold-mining giant.

The Shandong Gold Mining Co. Ltd., better known as SD Gold, is willing to pay $207.4 million for the western Nunavut mine. That’s $1.75 per share in cash, a price that is 4.2 per cent above Thursday’s closing price on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

“We look forward to completion of the transaction and the opportunity to invest in the project for years to come as the generational potential of the camp is unlocked,” said Yumin Chen, chair of SD Gold.

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China’s Shandong buys Canadian gold miner TMAC Resources for US$149-million – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – May 8, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

State-controlled Chinese gold company Shandong Gold Mining Co. Ltd. is buying Canada’s TMAC Resources Inc. for US$149-million, the latest struggling junior to be swept up by larger and better capitalized seniors.

Shandong is paying $1.75 a share in cash, 4.2 per cent above the Thursday close on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Toronto-based TMAC was founded by well-known mining entrepreneur Terry MacGibbon. Its chief executive is ex-BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. mining banker Jason Neal. TMAC operates the Doris gold mine in Nunavut, which went into production in 2017. Over the years, the miner has grappled with operational issues, particularly problems with its mill.

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De Beers diamond mines win industry awards for safety record – by Walter Strong (CBC News North – May 8, 2020)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

Gahcho Kué and Victor mines both multiple year safety award winners

The De Beers Gahcho Kué and Victor diamond mines have received industry awards this year for their safety records.

The Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) has named the N.W.T.’s Gahcho Kué mine as the national 2020 John T. Ryan award winner for the lowest reportable injury frequency in the previous year.

According to a press release from De Beers Thursday, the mine “reduced the number of injuries by 38 per cent compared to 2018 and had zero lost-time injuries during the year.”

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Western Nunavut gold miner deals with fallout from COVID-19 pandemic – by Jane George (Nunatsiaq News – May 6, 2020)

https://nunatsiaq.com/

For more than a month, under new COVID-19 restrictions, TMAC Resources Inc. has managed to operate its Hope Bay gold mine complex with reduced staff and operations.

Now the junior mining company has obtained some temporary relief from meeting its 2020 Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. exploration requirements due to the challenges in fielding exploration crews this year.

“Under this agreement, we are required to explore on tenured Inuit owned lands a minimum amount per hectare per year. This is just not logistically possible at this moment,” Alex Buchan, TMAC’s vice-president for corporate social responsibility, told Nunatsiaq News.

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Mining resumes under COVID-19 but faces slow return: GlobalData – by Greg Klein (Resource Clips – April 28, 2020)

http://resourceclips.com/

As of April 27 some 729 mines worldwide remain suspended, down from more than 1,600 shutdowns on April 3. The numbers, released by GlobalData, reflect government decisions to declare the industry an essential service, as well as implementation of new health standards and procedures. Those efforts, often involving staff reductions, contribute to “a slow return for the industry,” stated the data and analytics firm.

“Silver production is currently being severely damaged by lockdown measures,” pointed out GlobalData mining analyst Vinneth Bajaj. “As of 27 April, the equivalent of 65.8% of annual global silver production was on hold.

Silver mining companies such as First Majestic, Hochschild, Hecla Mining and Endeavour Silver have all withdrawn their production guidance for 2020 in the wake of the outbreak.

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North-OPINION – N.W.T. mines are COVID-19 time bombs — let’s put people over profit – by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen (CBC News North – April 28, 2020)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen is an organizer with Our Time Yellowknife, the local chapter of a grassroots, youth-led climate justice movement for a Green New Deal in Canada.

COVID-19 has forced everyone to make sacrifices. Beyond the human impacts, many businesses in the N.W.T. have closed or curtailed their operations, leaving owners in a cash crunch and sending employees to the online unemployment line.

But in the Northwest Territories, one sector is largely exempt from the travel restrictions and ban on indoor gatherings that keep us safe.

Two diamond mines still operate in the territory. They are ticking time bombs that risk causing a COVID-19 outbreak. This could overwhelm our health-care system and extend the current measures by months.

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