Canada set to make hostile takeovers much tougher – by by Euan Rocha (Reuters Canada – March 14, 2013)

http://ca.reuters.com/

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian regulators unveiled proposals on Thursday on the use of poison pills as a takeover defense, introducing new guidelines that will make hostile corporate takeovers a lot harder.

Two sets of proposals, laid out by the umbrella group for provincial securities regulators, aim to bring more coherence to Canada’s regulatory regime after conflicting rulings by individual provincial regulators on the “poison pills”, which companies use to fend off unwanted suitors.

The plans will curb drastically the ability of regulators to overturn a poison pill, and give companies more ammunition to fight hostile bids through the use of the defensive maneuver.

Poison pills, or shareholder rights plans, effectively raise the price of a hostile bid by giving existing shareholders, excluding the hostile bidder, the right to buy more stock in the target company at a discount.

Canadian provincial securities regulators typically quash these pills within two months, giving companies only a narrow window to look for an alternative proposal to the hostile bid.

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First Quantum has its work cut out on Cobre Panama – by Pav Jordan (Globe and Mail – March 14, 2013)

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.

It took six months and more than $5-billion for First Quantum Minerals Ltd. to get its hands on Cobre Panama, one of the world’s largest copper projects.

The trick now will be to build the mine on time and on budget in a world where costs have skyrocketed and the outlook for metals prices is murky. Moreover, Cobre is to be built in a country, Panama, that has virtually no mining industry to speak of.

Vancouver-based First Quantum gained control of the project this week with the hostile takeover of Inmet Mining Corp., and hopes it can shave as much as $1-billion (U.S.) from the $6.2-billion construction cost budgeted by its current owner.

The mine, already fully financed under Inmet, will be the largest ever in Central America and represents the most ambitious development project in Panama since the building of the Panama Canal. After it comes into production in 2016, it is expected to produce about 300,000 tonnes of copper a year for 40 years.

Analysts are divided on whether First Quantum can build Cobre Panama more cheaply than Inmet, pointing to such massive cost escalation across the mining industry that it has felled free-spending CEOs and decimated smaller companies.

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Editorial: The PDAC-saw – by John Cumming (Northern Miner – March 13, 2013)

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry. Editor John Cumming MSc (Geol) is one of the country’s most well respected mining journalists.jcumming@northernminer.com

The first week of March was dominated by the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s mega-convention in Toronto, with 30,147 investors, analysts, mining executives, geologists, government officials, students and international delegations converging in downtown Toronto, just slightly off last year’s record numbers.

The floor was again overwhelming, with more than 10 interesting things going on at any given time for four days straight, and so many people circulating that you could no longer count on just bumping into someone you wanted to meet.

Not bad at all, considering the sharp downturn for junior miners over the past year. Still, the mood was much more sombre than during the giddiest peaks of 2006 and 2011, and a few juniors couldn’t scratch enough money together to buy an airplane ticket and occupy their hard-to-come-by booths.

Lack of funding for juniors was the number-one topic for speakers and delegates. Number two was the dismal share price performances of so many juniors over the last years, as the term “penny stock” has once again become an accurate description of many companies’ shares, rather than a quaint phrase from another era.

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NEWS RELEASE: Report: NWT Diamond Mining Benefits Continue to Mount

For the full report, click here: http://www.miningnorth.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Measuring-Success-Diamond-Benefits-to-NWT-March2013.pdf

Yellowknife, NWT (March 13, 2013)Diamond mining benefits to the North continue to accumulate according to a report released by the Chamber of Mines. “Measuring Success: The Positive Impact of Diamond Mining in the Northwest Territories” describes a variety of benefits provided by the three NWT diamond mines – EKATI, Diavik and Snap Lake. These benefits include:

• Training: $11.4 million in cash and in-kind investments were invested with the NWT Mine Training Society between 2004 and 2012 to provide training to 1,400 northern residents, supporting a new generation of millwrights, electricians, mechanics, underground miners, process plant operators, and providing a base of skilled Northerners. The vast majority of these trainees are Aboriginal. The 3 mines recently committed an additional $6.6 million in financial
and in-kind support over the next 3 years to the Society.

• Jobs: Collectively, EKATI, Diavik, and the Snap Lake Mine are employing significantly more northerners than the companies had predicted. In 2011, the mines provided 1,541 northern jobs, or 403 more jobs than were predicted during the mines’ environmental assessments.

• Business spending: Combined, the three mines spent $12.8 billion from 1996-2011 to build and operate the mines. Of this, $9.25 billion (72%) was with northern companies, including over $4 billion with Aboriginal companies.

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First Quantum believes hostile bid for Inmet likely to succeed – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – March 13, 2013)

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Base-metals miner First Quantum Minerals on Tuesday said it expected to close its C$5.1-billion hostile takeover bid for Inmet Mining on March 21, after unveiling Inmet shareholders had tendered about 61.45% of the company’s outstanding shares to the offer as on Monday at 23:59 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

First Quantum on Tuesday changed the cash-and-stock offer to allow the minimum tender condition to be satisfied when more than 50% of the outstanding Inmet shares (on a fully diluted basis) had been validly deposited, before the newly extended expiry time of the offer closed at 23:59 EDT on March 21.

“We are delighted with the overwhelming support that Inmet shareholders have shown for our offer. We have varied our offer such that the minimum tender condition will now be satisfied if more than 50% of the Inmet shares have been tendered at the revised expiry time of the offer.

“Accordingly, with all regulatory approvals already received, it is our expectation that we will be in a position to complete the offer and begin taking up and paying for shares shortly, following the expiry of the offer on March 21,” First Quantum chairperson and CEO Philip Pascall said.

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First Quantum takeover of Inmet crosses finish line Pav Jordan (Globe and Mail – March 13, 2013)

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.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. has gained control of Inmet Mining Corp. after a drawn-out hostile bid, charting a course to the major leagues of copper mining as it takes on the massive Cobre Panama project.

Vancouver-based First Quantum said on Tuesday that holders of just over 61 per cent of Inmet stock had tendered to the $5.1-billion cash-and-stock bid. First Quantum also lowered the minimum threshold for acceptance to 50 per cent and extended the deadline another 10 days.

In winning Inmet, First Quantum will get Cobre Panama, one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper projects. When it is up and running some time in 2016, the project will add around 300,000 tonnes a year of copper production for the next 40 years.

The First Quantum deal could in theory still be scuppered by a surprise white knight bidder, but that is seen as increasingly unlikely at a time when the mining world is facing some of its grimmest times since the financial crisis of 2008. The anticlimactic outcome of the deal, with no higher offer made by First Quantum, reflects the sombre state of the mining industry, which is coping with lower prices, uncertain demand and a string of recent writedowns due to overpriced deals done in the industry’s high-flying days a few years ago.

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NWT celebrates ‘day of dreams’ with deal for province-like powers by Josh Wingrove (Globe and Mail – March 12, 2013)

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 and the Northwest Territories have reached a deal to hand the territory province-like power over its land, a move aimed at empowering local leaders to unlock more of their resource riches.

More than a decade in the making, the agreement celebrated by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and NWT Premier Bob McLeod in Yellowknife on Monday will hand the territory an additional $130-million a year and give it greater independence in approving resource projects.

The hope of both parties to the historic agreement is that it will spur development and reshape the economy of Canada’s North at a time when its output of oil and diamonds has declined, while low commodity prices have stalled other projects.

“This is a big day for the Northwest Territories. It is a day of hopes, a day of dreams and a day of transformation,” Mr. McLeod said.

The deal is the latest move by Mr. Harper’s government to reduce Ottawa’s role in provincial and territorial affairs.

“Our government believes that opportunities and challenges here would be better handled by the people who understand them best. That is to say, you who live here in the Northwest Territories,” Mr. Harper said.

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Want to build something? Ask the angry mob first – by Chris Selley (National Post – March 12, 2013)

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

A panel discussion at the Manning Networking Conference in Ottawa on Saturday considered the various pipeline routes that more Albertan bitumen might travel to market: west to the British Columbia coast and thence to China, south to the United States, or east to Saint John, N.B., and thence the world. The first two are already political hot potatoes in Ottawa and Washington, respectively, and the latter would be a hot potato in Quebec City, and no doubt on the streets of Montreal, if the idea ever gathered steam.

On the matter of these political obstacles, political strategist Rick Anderson ruefully asked an interesting question: “If somebody came forward today with a proposal to build a national railroad across the country, would it survive the processes that we now have in place? Would we get that done?” Or would it bog down in red tape, native blockades and street protests and eventually die on the vine?

Canada today wouldn’t exist as it does without the railroad, of course, but within the scope of the thought experiment the answer is clearly “no.” A Toronto example hammers home the point: For much of my lifetime, a rail link between Pearson Airport and downtown has been both a screaming priority and the stated desire of just about everyone.

This has never been a herculean undertaking. There is, and has been for nearly 40 years, a commuter rail station less than a kilometre away from the end of Pearson’s runway 23.

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Canada must do much more to promote ethical mining – by Natalie Brender (Toronto Star – March 11, 2013)

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Canada’s efforts to promote ethical mining amount to no more than tap-dancing on the tip of an enormous iceberg of problems.

Recent months have seen heated debate about CIDA’s venture into funding partnerships between Canadian mining companies and international development NGOs. Earlier in March, CIDA Minister Julian Fantino told a gathering of international resource companies, government officials and NGOs that Canada’s venture into such partnerships is part of a larger vision for the mining sector. “A responsibly managed extractive sector,” he said , “can drive sustainable economic growth, lead to more gainful employment, and provide more resources for families and their communities.”

Fantino’s words make it sound as though an ethically responsible approach to mining is already well understood, lacking only a bit of willpower, cooperation and funding to be put into effect. With the right management, he implies, mining can deliver ‘wins’ all around—for mining companies, Canadian and foreign governments, the environment and local communities.

High on that list of sound management techniques are apparently efforts such as the CIDA-funded projects in the area of corporate social responsibility, which see mining companies aiming to improve communities in the locales of their mining sites. Coming at the issue from another angle, Canada also has a strong track record in advocating for voluntary measures such as transparency initiatives (which seek to make public the financial transactions between mining companies and governments) and compacts to stem the flow of minerals bound up with armed conflicts.

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The Honourable Tony Clement Minister for FedNor – ONTARIO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE [RING OF FIRE] SPEECH (March 11, 2013)

This speech was given at the TMX Broadcast Centre, Gallery Room, The Exchange Tower, Toronto, Ontario.

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Thank you for that kind introduction. I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the Ontario Chamber of Commerce today.

The important role your organization plays as an advocate for small business and entrepreneurship in this province is second to none.

It is clear that you understand the value of the small business sector to the economic success of our nation. Let me assure you that the Harper Government shares your vision and determination that Ontario be a leading destination in the world to do business.

We appreciate your engagement with the upcoming budget and your targeted recommendations for spurring job creation, growth and investment in the province. We also appreciate your recognition of the significance of the Ring of Fire to Ontario’s long-term prosperity.

Your call that there be a federal lead on this incredibly important development was timely and prescient. You recognized that there needed to be not only federal leadership, but a coordinated, whole of government approach to what is a promising yet very complex opportunity.

And our government agrees. The Prime Minister understood the need to bring renewed impetus to this development. The promise and possibility of the Ring of Fire has been talked about for several years now. But the flames of excitement, quite honestly, had started to dampen and the Prime Minister realized it was time to add a little oxygen to the embers.

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First Quantum makes last-minute plea for Inmet investors to accept $5.1-billion deal – by Pav Jordan (Globe and Mail – March 11, 2013)

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.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. made a last-ditch plea to shareholders of Inmet Mining Corp. on Monday to tender their shares to a $5.1-billion takeover offer, promising to unleash greater value in the giant Cobre Panama copper project in Central America.

Vancouver-based First Quantum’s cash-and-stock offer for Inmet expires at one minute before midnight on Monday, unless extended.

“By tendering today, as First Quantum shareholders you will have immediate exposure to the Company’s strengths and renowned project capabilities on Cobre Panama, a project at a critical juncture of its development in a challenging environment,” the company said in a statement.

“Our vision of the two companies combined is that a major geographically diversified copper company will be created,” it said. “We have already outlined the superior growth prospects of the combined entity. To achieve this vision, the combination needs to be established soon in order to exploit First Quantum’s strengths and capabilities on the Cobre Panama Project.”

Cobre Panama is one of the world’s few large copper projects in development. It would be one of the most ambitious projects ever in its native Panama, home to the namesake canal that joins the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The mine would be the largest ever in Central America.

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When the world’s miners descend on Toronto, prospects for a party are solid – by Tim Kiladze (Globe and Mail – March 9, 2013)

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.

Barely two hours after sundown on Tuesday, security at Toronto’s swanky new Shangri-La Hotel rushed to the lobby to control the size of a fast-growing crowd. Upstairs, the party was bustling under the chandeliers in the third-floor ballroom, and masses of people were flocking from across the downtown core, creating a capacity problem.

The attraction: PricewaterhouseCoopers’ “crystal cocktail party,” put on for the annual mining conference run by the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada. While Dee Dee and the Dirty Martinis performed live cover songs, swarms of men and a sprinkling of women – a 5-to-1 ratio, at least – treated themselves to oysters, sushi and free drinks. By 8 p.m., they were on the dance floor, doing their very best to find the beat.

The crowd was full of people from different countries, especially the mining hotbeds of Australia, Britain, China and Peru. Despite the chill felt across the global mining sector, they drank and danced like they didn’t care – at least not for the four days they were in town.

It was a spectacle led by the people who lead a troubled industry. Plagued by billions in recent writeoffs from ill-conceived acquisitions and an uncertain outlook for metals prices, mining stocks are in the dumps. Yet it’s hard to subdue PDAC, as the conference is universally called.

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Minister of Natural Resources – The Honourable Joe Oliver 2013 PDAC Speech (March 4, 2013)

Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) International Convention 2013

March 4, 2013
Toronto, Ontario

Joe Oliver is the Canadian Minister of Natural Resources

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Introduction

Thank you very much Mr. Nolan. [Glenn Nolan, President of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada] I want to congratulate the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada for putting together yet another outstanding conference and trade show.

It’s a pleasure to be here to welcome all of you, especially those coming from other countries from around the world, to the largest event of its kind in the world.

Strength and Stability

From the change in your pocket to the airplane that brought you here today, the evidence of the necessity for minerals and metals is all around. Mining, in fact, has been driving Canada’s economic development for years. In 2011, the sector contributed $63 billion in nominal GDP or 3.9 percent to the total Canadian economy — that’s almost $2,000 for every man, woman and child in the country.

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Mining bull run to return in the second half of the decade – Mohr – Interviewer: Geoff Candy (Mineweb.com – March 8, 2013)

http://www.mineweb.com/

While Scotia Capital commodity expert Patricia Mohr believes that base metal prices are likely to go lower over the course of the next two years, the following five should prove interesting.

GEOFF CANDY: Hello and welcome to this Mineweb.com Newsmaker podcast. Joining me live at the PADC 2013 is Patricia Mohr – she’s the vice president of economics and commodity market specialist at Scotia Capital. Patricia there’s been a lot of talk over the last few months, well indeed over the last few years about the rise of China, the impact of China on the supercycle. More recently there’s been a lot of talk about whether or not the supercycle is coming to an end. There does seem to be a divide – some people saying it is at an end, others saying that this is just a pause or almost a palate cleanser between courses. What is your view, where are we placed in the current cycle?

PATRICIA MOHR: Well I think in the next few years probably we’re going to see a little bit of a slowdown in global exploration activity and of course the junior mining sector is having difficulty getting equity finance at the moment. I think we’re at a point where some new mine capability either has come on stream in the case of commodities such as nickel or is about to come on stream which I think is the case for copper and so probably we’re going to have a number of years – I’m really talking about two years when market prices are a little bit lower than they have been in the past five years.

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GoldCorp pioneers mining-industry wide health & safety study – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – March 7, 2013)

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canadian miner Goldcorp is spearheading a mining-industry-wide health and safety study with global auditing firm Deloitte & Touche, to deepen the industry’s level of insight into why people do wrong things at work that not only impacts on their colleagues’ safety, but also the outside perception of the company they work for.

Goldcorp senior VP for people and safety Paul Farrow told Mining Weekly Online during this week’s Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada event that it was of critical importance for all miners to strive to maintain the best possible health and safety records for their operations, owing to the damaging effect it had within the organisation itself, and the knock-on effect it could potentially have on the industry as a whole.

Farrow took on the role of senior VP for people and safety in 2012, a new position at Goldcorp, with the goal of integrating its people and safety strategies.

He explained that a faultless safety record was built on creating a positive culture of responsibility among employees and through continuous education.

“Safety is critically important, but people are more important. Safety can only happen through people, and that is what we are trying to achieve through continuous interaction with our employees,” Farrow said.

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