Archive | Canada Mining

Acacia Mining, independent consultant push Barrick Gold to increase takeover offer – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – July 10, 2019)

July 10, 2019 in Africa Mining, Barrick Gold Corporation, Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. has been given more time to table a formal takeover bid for Acacia Mining PLC, as its London-based subsidiary pushes for a materially higher offer.

On Tuesday, just hours before a deadline set by a British takeover panel was set to expire, Barrick was granted a 10-day extension to consider a report by an independent mining consultant that argues Acacia is worth about 38 per cent more than Barrick is willing to pay.

In a release, Acacia said that SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd. has calculated the “preferred” value for Acacia to be 271 pence ($4.45) a share. In May, Toronto-based Barrick said it was willing to pay 0.153 of its own shares for each Acacia share it doesn’t already own, or roughly 197 pence a share. Continue Reading →

Medallion considering US, Canada for rare-earth plant – by Mariaan Webb (MiningWeekly.com – July 9, 2019)

July 10, 2019 in Canada Mining, Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals, International Media Resource Articles

https://www.miningweekly.com/

TSX-V-listed junior Medallion Resources, which is pursuing production of magnet metals, believes the time is right to start selecting potential sites for a rare-earth plant as part of a strategy to rebuild a North American rare earth value chain.

The company is seeking third-party proposals to advance the development of a North American extraction plant, with one proposal calling for the evaluation of logistics and plant sitting operations in the US and Canada, while the other calls for the development of the process engineering design for Medallion’s rare-earth flowsheet.

Rare earths have been front and centre in recent months, as a result of the trade friction between China and the US. These metals are also increasingly important to the electrification of transportation, particularly electric vehicles. Continue Reading →

Roof collapse at coal mine – by Michael Tutton (Canadian Press/Global News – July 8, 2019)

July 9, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Coal

https://globalnews.ca/

Nova Scotia’s Labour Department said Monday that inspectors have been sent to the mine to look at the extent of the rock fall that occurred over the weekend, when no workers were in the area.

Scott Nauss, the province’s senior director of inspection compliance, says there were no injuries in the incident, which comes after a series of roof collapses last year in working areas of the Donkin mine.

Kameron Coal’s operations in Cape Breton were suspended for just under a month in late December before the company was allowed to partially resume activities in one portion of the mine while it prepared a revised roof support plan. Continue Reading →

Top 10 Canadian miners by market cap – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – July 9, 2019)

July 9, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles

Northern Miner

The Northern Miner presents the top-10 Canada-headquartered mining companies by market capitalization, as of July 2019.

1. Nutrien

Market capitalization: $41.8 billion

Nutrien (TSX: NTR; NYSE: NTR) is the world’s largest provider of crop inputs and services, and produces and distributes over 26 million tonnes of potash, nitrogen and phosphate products each year. In 2018, the company sold 13 million tonnes of potash, 10 million tonnes of nitrogen, and 4 million tonnes of phosphate.

It was formed in a 2018 merger between Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, the world’s largest potash producer, second-largest phosphate producer and third-largest nitrogen producer, and Agrium, a retail supplier of agricultural products and service.

In February, Nutrien approved the purchase of up to 5% of its outstanding common shares over a one-year period through a normal course issuer bid, noting that the company’s “strong balance sheet and cash flow provide a significant opportunity to enhance shareholder value.” Continue Reading →

Canada, U.S. gain as India cuts dependence on Australian coking coal – by Sudarshan Varadhan (Reuters U.S. – June 25, 2019)

July 3, 2019 in Asia Mining, Australia/New Caledonia/Papua New Guinea Mining, Canada Mining, Coal, International Media Resource Articles, United States Mining

https://www.reuters.com/

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Shipments of coking coal from the United States and Canada rose to a sixth of all Indian imports of the fuel during the year ended March 2019, as steelmakers in the coal guzzling country look to cut their dependence on Australia.

Australia’s share in India’s coking coal market fell to 71%, or 36.91 million tons, during the year ended March 2019 from about 88% three years ago, India coal ministry data reviewed by Reuters showed. The United States and Canada had a 5.6% share of the market three years ago.

Regular interruptions in India’s main supplier over the last few years, including a flood in a major coal producing region in February and a cyclone which tore into Queensland in 2017, have caused worries about major supply disruptions in India. Continue Reading →

Gold on six-year high, with observers predicting ‘multiyear bull market’ – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – July 1, 2019)

July 2, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

After about three years of going nowhere, gold is once again the commodity du jour and some observers predict the rally is just getting going.

Since hitting a record high in late 2011 just shy of US$1,900 an ounce, gold has largely been out of favour among investors. As recently as August of last year, the precious metal was trading at US$1,170, almost 40 per cent below its peak.

But last week, gold futures hit a six-year high, driven on by expectations of interest-rate cuts and a weaker U.S. dollar. In the past month alone, gold has jumped 10 per cent, catapulting to more than US$1,400 an ounce. Continue Reading →

Editorial: Global geopolitics sideswipe African uranium miners – by John Cumming (Northern Miner – June 18, 2019)

June 28, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, United States Mining, Uranium and Nuclear Power Industry

Northern Miner

The global uranium mining market in the 2010s took a hit from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011 — which cut global uranium demand some 10% for many years — and the simultaneous ramping up of low-cost uranium production out of Kazakhstan that has transformed the country into the world’s largest uranium producer.

Thanks to the massive devaluation of the Kazakhstan tenge currency in 2014 and 2015, the country is also easily the lowest-cost producer in the world, with its in-situ recovery mines operated by Kazatomprom and Uranium One dominating the first two quartiles of uranium mining costs globally in 2018.

With Kremlin-backed Russian interests heavily influencing Kazatomprom and Uranium One, and the Russian government striking numerous nuclear-energy cooperation deals in developing countries across the globe, it couldn’t be clearer that the global nuclear fuel cycle is increasingly controlled by Russia, with all its geopolitical implications for the rest of this century. Continue Reading →

Barrick doubles down on allegations of overvaluation by Acacia – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – June 27, 2019)

June 27, 2019 in Africa Mining, Barrick Gold Corporation, Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. says its proposal to acquire Acacia Mining PLC is “fair,” and it’s doubling down on claims that its London-based subsidiary has overvalued some of its mines.

In a statement on Wednesday, Barrick said that “certain assumptions made by Acacia in relation to its mine plans are not appropriately risked or supportable and that adjustments should be made.”

Last week, Barrick expressed skepticism about the true value of some of Acacia’s assets, suggesting its own analysis shows that Acacia may be overestimating grade and underestimating costs at some of its mines. Continue Reading →

Merger mania could return as gold hits all-time high in Canadian dollars – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – June 26, 2019)

June 26, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://business.financialpost.com/

‘When things are going downhill, and you’re getting squeezed, everybody has a bunker mentality’

If the price of gold hits an all-time in the Canadian dollar, does anyone notice?

A little after midnight on Tuesday morning, intraday gold spot prices soared to $1,895.20 per ounce — higher than any previous closing price, according to Bloomberg data. Yet hours later, many Canadian gold companies, big and small, were trading down.

“People don’t look at gold in Canadian dollar terms,” said Bruce McLeod, chief executive of Vancouver-based Sabina Gold & Silver Corp., which is struggling to raise funds to build a mine in western Nunavut. “They don’t look at what’s actually happening.” Continue Reading →

Acacia Mining says Barrick Gold offer doesn’t fairly value mining company – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – June 25, 2019)

June 25, 2019 in Africa Mining, Barrick Gold Corporation, Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Acacia Mining PLC says Barrick Gold Corp.’s takeover proposal undervalues the company, prompting Acacia to push its biggest shareholder to table a “fair” bid.

Last month, Toronto-based Barrick said it was willing to acquire the 36.1 per cent of London-based Acacia that it doesn’t already own for US$285-million in stock. At the time, the proposal was worth roughly 9 per cent less than Acacia’s market value.

Barrick chief executive Mark Bristow told The Globe and Mail that the discounted proposal was justified because of the inherent risk Acacia presents: It operates three gold mines in Tanzania and is currently subject to a gold concentrate export ban in the East African country. Continue Reading →

Acacia Mining says Barrick offer undervalues the company – by Noor Zainab Hussain and Nichola Saminather (Reuters U.S. – June 24, 2019)

June 24, 2019 in Africa Mining, Barrick Gold Corporation, Canada Mining, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles

https://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Acacia Mining on Monday strongly disagreed with majority shareholder Barrick Gold Corp’s valuation of the company, saying Barrick’s proposal undervalued its life of mine plans and appears to have ignored the value of its exploration and development assets.

However a fair value buyout offer from the world’s No. 2 gold miner would be attractive, it added.

Barrick’s proposal to take full control of its African unit to resolve a long-standing tax dispute with Tanzania has drawn the ire of Acacia’s minority shareholders, who may have the ultimate vote on a deal. Continue Reading →

‘The future is nickel’: Cobalt 27 sells off its namesake metal after tough year – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – June 18, 2019)

June 19, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals, Junior Exploration Sector, Nickel

https://business.financialpost.com/

Toronto-based Cobalt 27 Capital Corp. is selling out at a low point for its namesake metal, a crucial component in the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and other devices.

The company, which stockpiles and streams cobalt, on Tuesday announced a $510-million deal that splits the company along cobalt and nickel asset lines.

Its largest shareholder, Swiss private-equity firm Pala Investment Ltd., which owns more than 19 per cent, will pay $3.57 cash per share for the company’s cobalt assets. The rest of the shareholders will also receive equity in a new company that retains the company’s nickel assets plus $5 million in cash. Continue Reading →

Reporters investigated abuse and corruption at a Barrick gold mine in Tanzania. They faced threats and censorship – by Marion Guégan and Cécile Schilis-Gallego (Toronto Star – June 19, 2019)

June 19, 2019 in Africa Mining, Barrick Gold Corporation, Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Mining Conflict and Opposition

https://www.thestar.com/

In Tanzania, reporters trying to investigate violence, environmental damage and other wrongdoing connected to a gold mine in the north of the country are trapped between the silence of a mining giant and the lies of a repressive government.

At least a dozen reporters — local and international — who wrote about the mine have been censored or threatened. Forbidden Stories, an international consortium of 40 journalists publishing in 30 media organizations around the world, unveiled the shameful history of gold leaving the North Mara gold mine to end up in coveted high tech phones and computers.

This is part of the “Green Blood” series, a project pursuing stories of journalists who have been threatened, jailed or killed while investigating environmental issues.

“Truly innovative products leave their mark on the world instead of the planet,” Apple proudly claims on its website. “We are building a better world for future generations,” says Canon’s CEO. Nokia’s “technology improves lives.” Continue Reading →

Barrick Offers More Talk But Not More Shares for Acacia Stake – by Danielle Bochove and Elena Mazneva (Bloomberg/Yahoo Finance – June 18, 2019)

June 18, 2019 in Africa Mining, Barrick Gold Corporation, Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — Barrick Gold Corp.’s CEO has no intention of raising his offer to buy out the rest of troubled African unit Acacia Mining Plc — but he will use the next three weeks to talk.

Barrick said on Tuesday it received a three-week extension to make a formal offer to minority shareholders for the roughly 36% stake in Acacia it doesn’t already own. In a separate statement, Acacia said it’s open to a formal offer, provided the price is fair and its shareholders support the transaction.

“My job is to sit down in the next few weeks and work through it with the minority shareholders,” Barrick Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow said by phone Tuesday. Asked if those talks will include an offer for a higher indicative price, he was unequivocal. “No, we’re not,” he said. “We’re not. We would have done that already.” Continue Reading →

Metals mines association, accounting for most federal enviro assessments, OK with Bill C-69 (Canadian Press/CBC News – June 13, 2019)

June 14, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Oil and Gas Sector-Politics and Image

https://www.cbc.ca/

New bill gives more clarity and flexibility in assessment process says mining association head

The head of the Mining Association of Canada says the hotly contested federal environmental assessment bill is welcome in the industry it will affect the most.

“This promises to be a better system than what we’ve had for the last seven years,” said Pierre Gratton, the president of the association.

Bill C-69 overhauls Canada’s environmental assessment regime for major national resource and transportation projects but the high-octane opposition from the oil and gas sector has drowned out much of the comment from other affected industries. Continue Reading →