Twitter

Canada Mining – North of 60

Agnico Eagle buying TMAC after failed deal with China’s Shandong – by Noah Zivitz (Bloomberg News – January 5, 2020)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. has swept in as TMAC Resources Inc.’s new takeover partner just a few weeks after that miner’s proposed sale to China’s Shandong Gold Mining Co. was blocked by the federal government.

Under the terms of the agreement announced Tuesday, Agnico will buy TMAC for $2.20 per share, compared to the $1.75 that Shandong had agreed to pay. As well, TMAC and Agnico said their arrangement will be implemented without requiring a new meeting of shareholders, who had previously voted 97.08 per cent in favour of the Shandong deal.

When TMAC revealed last May that it agreed to be purchased by Shandong, it was framed as an opportunity to bring the necessary financial heft to fully develop TMAC’s sprawling Hope Bay gold mine property in Nunavut.

Read more

Canadian government invokes national security to block Chinese takeover of Nunavut gold mine – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – December 23, 2020)

https://financialpost.com/

Shandong Gold Mining had proposed to pay about $230 million not including debt to purchase TMAC Resources

Canada has blocked a Chinese state-owned mining company from purchasing a gold mine in Nunavut on national security grounds, signalling a new escalation of already high tensions between the two countries.

Under the now terminated deal, Shanghai-listed Shandong Gold Mining Co. Ltd. had proposed to pay about $230 million not including debt to purchase Toronto-based TMAC Resources Inc., which in 2018 developed a gold mine in Hope Bay, Nunavut.

A spokesperson for Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada declined to answer questions about why the deal was blocked, but provided a statement noting that all foreign investments are subject to review under the Investment Canada Act.

Read more

Ottawa blocks Chinese takeover of Nunavut gold mine project after national security review (CBC News – December 22, 2020)

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

Move comes after review under the Investment Canada Act

A $230 million deal for a Chinese company to purchase a gold mine project in Nunavut is off. TMAC Resources Inc. made the announcement in a news release posted to its website Monday.

The company states that the Government of Canada rejected the proposal to sell all TMAC Resources shares and its Hope Bay gold mining project to Shandong Gold Mining Co. Ltd. The deal was approved by 97 per cent of TMAC shareholders on June 26.

The deal, according to TMAC president and CEO Jason Neal, “did not receive Canadian regulatory approval and will not proceed.”

Read more

157.4 carat diamond unearthed at Arctic diamond mine in Canada – by Levon Sevunts (Radio Canada International – December 17, 2020)

https://www.rcinet.ca/

A Canadian mining company says it has unearthed a “157.4 carat gem of exceptional quality” at a diamond mine in the Northwest Territories.

It is the largest “gem quality” diamond recovered to date from the Gahcho Kué mine and will be offered for sale during the first quarter of 2021, Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. announced Wednesday in a press release reporting its fourth quarter diamond sales.

The company said it sold 956,348 carats in the fourth quarter raising $80.2 million ($61.7 million US).

Read more

COMMENTARY: Chamber of Mines says mining criticism unfair – by Ed Peart (Yukon News – December 11, 2020)

https://www.yukon-news.com/

This commentary is a response to the commentary, “Trust the public with the public interest,” published last month in the Yukon News.

In a recent opinion piece in a Yukon newspaper, the former Chair of a Yukon Land Use Planning Commission stated “The Yukon government would do well to sincerely ask whether any mine — or for that matter, the mining sector — actually benefits the Yukon and serves our long-term interests.”

We believe all Yukoners should sincerely ask themselves the same question to allow them to develop an informed opinion with fact as a foundation.

To imply that mining provides no benefit to the Yukon or Yukoners does an incredible disservice to the thousands of us who have made a living in the industry and continue to do so.

Read more

Yukon Chamber of Mines wants action on road building promises – by Dave Croft (CBC News North – December 1, 2020)

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

The Yukon Chamber of Mines says the territorial government needs to speed up implementation of the Resource Gateway program announced more than three years ago.

The program announcement was the highlight of Justin Trudeau’s first visit to Yukon as prime minister.

Yukon Premier Sandy Silver and Trudeau jointly pledged just over $360 million in funding to build and upgrade mining roads. Mining companies promised another $108 million.

Read more

OPINION: Canada has plenty of reasons to stand up to China. Arctic sovereignty isn’t one of them – by Michael Byers (Globe and Mail – December 2, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Michael Byers is the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia, and the author of International Law and the Arctic.

A Chinese state-owned company wants to purchase a gold mine in Nunavut. Does the Arctic location make the purchase a national security risk?

The Hope Bay gold mine is operated by TMAC Resources, a junior Canadian mining company. Shandong Gold wants to buy TMAC for $208-million, and 97 per cent of TMAC shareholders have approved the sale.

Meanwhile, however, the Canadian government has ordered a national security review; some experts, including retired Major-General David Fraser, have pointed to Arctic sovereignty and security as reasons for blocking the sale.

Read more

Retired general urges rejection of Chinese takeover of Arctic gold mine – by Robert Fife and Steven Chase (Globe and Mail – November 30, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A former commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan is urging the federal government to reject a takeover of an Arctic gold mine by a Chinese state-owned enterprise.

Retired major-general David Fraser said this rejection should form part of a strategic rethink aimed at keeping China out of Canada’s Far North.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet recently ordered a formal national security review of the proposed acquisition of Toronto-based TMAC Resources Inc. by Shandong Gold Mining Co. Ltd., a Chinese state-owned conglomerate and one of the world’s largest gold producers.

Read more

New diamond and gold deposit found in Nunavut shows similarities to world’s richest gold mine, researchers say – by Brooklyn Neustaeter (CTV News – November 29, 2020)

https://www.ctvnews.ca/

TORONTO — A group of Canadian researchers, who discovered diamonds in a small rock sample found in an unrealized gold deposit in Nunavut, say their findings hint at the possibility of new deposits in the area that are similar to the world’s richest gold mine.

According to a press release issued in October, the new research “fills in blanks” about the thermal conditions of Earth’s crust three billion years ago.

The findings are set to be released in two studies at the virtual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union between Dec. 1-17.

Read more

Investment in mineral exploration in territories largely declining – by Blair McBride (Yellowknifer – November 14, 2020)

https://nnsl.com/yellowknifer/

The NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines is concerned over the ongoing decreases in mineral exploration expenditures in the North, which is expected to decline by about half from 2019 to 2020 and reach the lowest level in 20 years in the NWT.

Statistics from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) show that in the NWT, expenditures are expected to drop by 54 per cent, from $79.8 million in 2019 to $36.6 million in 2020. The figures for 2020 cover the period until September. The expenditures are the costs of searching for and appraising mineral deposits.

The 2020 level is the lowest for the NWT in the last 20 years, according to a summary graph based on NRCan that the Chamber published on Thursday. The last time exploration expenditures dropped to a comparable level was in 2009, when they came to $44 million. They peaked at $194 million in 2007.

Read more

Yukon panel tackles contentious issue of reforming mining laws – by Dave Croft (CBC News Yukon – November 10, 2020)

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

An independent panel has begun working on recommendations for how the mining industry should be run in the territory. It’s released the results of a public consultation it did earlier this year.

That included more than 90 meetings, many written submissions, and thousands of comments on a survey, said Michael Pealow, the facilitator of the Mineral Development Strategy process.

The process came out of an agreement between Yukon’s 11 self-governing First Nations and the Yukon government, Pealow said.

Read more

Northern Canada emerging as a new gold mining and exploration hotspot – by Vladimir Basov (Kitco News – November 10, 2020)

https://www.kitco.com/

According to Wikipedia, “Northern Canada, colloquially the North, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories (NWT), and Nunavut.”

With a total population estimate of 126,566 as of Q3 2020, the North already producing approximately 27 times more gold per capita than, for example, Ontario, the largest gold producing province or territory in Canada.

Nunavut is third largest Canadian gold producing province / territory with 465 koz of gold mined in 2019 and Yukon is eight with 84 koz. The North is a home to the great Klondike Gold Rush from the late 1800s that engulfed the Yukon Territory.

Read more

Russia preparing to beat Canada in race for Arctic resources – by Eugene Gerden (Resource World Magazine – November 9, 2020)

https://resourceworld.com/

Russia plans to beat Canada and the US in the race for Arctic hydrocarbon resources by establishing control of over 60% of them via recognition of its right to the Lomonosov Ridge by the special UN Commission which may take place as early as 2021.

According to earlier statements by Dmitry Medvedev, a member of the Russian Security Council, Russia is planning to “more vigorously defend its claims for the development of Arctic mining fields” amid the attempts of rivals to limit its access to these resources.

Needless to say, the main interest of Russia in the Arctic is related to the Lomonosov Ridge, an underwater ridge of continental crust under the Arctic Ocean that spans 1,800 km from the New Siberian Islands over the central part of the ocean to Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and which, in addition to Russia, could also be considered as an attractive region by Canada and Denmark.

Read more

Nunavut should take another look at uranium policy, MLA John Main says – by Jim Bell (Nunatsiaq News – November 5, 2020)

Homepage

If you thought the demise of the controversial Kiggavik uranium project in 2016 put a lid on the Nunavut uranium debate, think again.

John Main, the MLA for Arviat North–Whale Cove, said on Monday in a member’s statement that it’s time for the Government of Nunavut to take another look at the uranium policy statement it issued in 2012.

“I think we should consult Nunavummiut about whether they support uranium mining or not, and whether we should be talking about this matter, and if Nunavut should have that,” Main said.

Read more

Clyde River mayor braces for legal action over iron mine expansion – by Derek Neary (Nunavut News – November 4, 2020)

https://nunavutnews.com/

Jerry Natanine prevailed in a high-profile 2017 Supreme Court case to prevent offshore seismic testing, and he says he’s prepared to use the legal system again, if necessary, to stop Baffinland Iron Mines from building a railway.

“Absolutely, I’m prepared to go to court,” Natanine says. “They’re just walking all over us.”

The mayor’s primary concern is for wildlife, particularly caribou, in relation to the proposed 110-km railroad that would stretch from the Mary River mine to Milne Inlet.

Read more