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Canada Mining

Bill Doyle: A passion for feeding a growing world – by Jacquie McNish (Globe and Mail – October 29, 2011)

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.

SASKATOON— Almost a year to the day after Ottawa called a halt to the bruising 100-day Potash War, its victorious general has little interest in reliving old stories from the battlefield.

“It was an experience,” Bill Doyle allows when asked about BHP Billiton’s foiled bid to acquire Canada’s potash champion, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, where he has been chief executive officer since 1999.

But what about the nationalist outcry against the deal? The duel with BHP’s Marius Kloppers, whose hostile takeover attempt thrust Potash Corp. into a global spotlight? The stinging criticisms of Mr. Doyle’s decision to make his home in Chicago? Ottawa’s dramatic, 11th-hour rejection of the takeover bid?

“A distraction,” he says with a dismissive wave of his hand during our lunch at Truffles, a small bistro in downtown Saskatoon that specializes in local produce.

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The Man In The Middle and The Moose In The Room- Aboriginal Mining: Hans Matthews and CAMA – by David Hicks (The Global Commodities Report – October, 2011)

Published by New Vanguard Media, The Global Commodities Report is a digital magazine about the benefits of resource business.

The Global Commodities Report Interview with Hans Matthews of the Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association (CAMA)

Heading into the 19th annual Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association conference, “Meeting Minds, Making Mines”, it’s President, Hans Matthews, sees much done and much to do.

Introduction

As a Canadian First Nations member and a veteran of the mining industry, Hans Matthews knows the minds of both miners and indigenous peoples. He studied Geology and Earth Sciences at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, and the University of Western Ontario in London. During his mining career he worked for companies ranging from juniors to majors such as Sherritt Gordon, Placer Dome, Noranda and Xstrata, doing everything from claim staking to mining to raising capital.

He then created the Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association 20 years ago, as a not-for-profit Aboriginal corporation, and moved back to a First Nations Reserve 15 years ago. CAMA’s 19th annual “Meeting Minds, Making Mines” conference is being held in Vancouver, November 6-8, with over 50 corporate sponsors.

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Gold miners bump up their dividends – by Brenda Bouw (Globe and Mail – October 23, 2011)

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 – Gold miners are sweetening their shareholder payouts in an attempt to lure investors as they dive back into the precious metal.

Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Mining Corp. two of the world’s top producers, announced increases to their dividends on Wednesday, while Goldcorp Inc. hinted a hike is in the works.

Gold companies traditionally have paid low dividends, but they’re stepping up payouts as they compete for investors in the precious metals industry.

More investors are turning to gold as a haven amid turmoil in global financial markets, which stems from worries about a replay of the last global recession.

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Chambers notes Canadian presence in Latin American mining sector – by Drew Hasselback (National Post – October 26, 2011)

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

Macleod Dixon LLP’s pending merger with Norton Rose OR LLP addresses a couple of lingering questions.

The first is why Norton Rose had merged with Ogilvy Rénault LLP, and not someone else. The British firm’s stated goal was to link with a Canadian firm in the oil patch, and Ogilvy Rénault’s office in Calgary was at the time relatively new. The second is whom Norton Rose would target next. The British firm hinted it was looking at Latin America because of its interest in the resource business, but specifics were wanting.

Now it’s all starting to make sense. Macleod Dixon joins Norton Rose on Jan. 1, 2012 to create a new firm called Norton Rose Canada. The Calgary-based firm brings with it a long history in the oil patch and a book of resource files. It also comes with offices in Bagota, Colombia, and Caracas, Venezuela. You can see where the London headquarters of Norton Rose is delighted to welcome Macleod Dixon to the global fold. The deal demonstrates how Canadian resource lawyers have caught global attention.

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Canadian strength leads to push in mining – by Drew Hasselback – (National Post – October 26, 2011)

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

How Chambers went to South America and found Canada

Even the most geographically confused individual has to know that Canada is nowhere near South America. So you wouldn’t expect to see any Canadian firms mentioned in a legal directory that lists the best law firms and lawyers in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Yet the 2012 Chambers Latin America and Caribbean directory contains a unique section called Projects, Mining: Leading Canadian Firms. I think it speaks to the growing international recognition that Canadian firms enjoy in the mining world. Here you have a guide that’s supposed to list the leading law firms in Latin America, and yet it goes out of the way to point out that if you’re looking for expertise on mining projects, you should consider approaching the eight Canadian firms profiled on the list — even though only one of them has its own offices in South America.

In fact, if you leaf through the guide or check it out online, you’ll see Chambers even had to invent a special category to reflect this reality.

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B.C. shells out $30 million in settlement of [uranium] mining company case – by The Canadian Press (Canadian Business Magazine – October 21, 2011)

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/

VANCOUVER – At a time when British Columbia’s premier has staked her jobs agenda on a burgeoning mining industry, the province has agreed to hand over $30 million to one company in a settlement over what the company’s president called “dirty dealings.”

Boss Power Corp. and lawyers for the provincial government were scheduled to square off in court this month over the company’s claim that the province had effectively expropriated its uranium deposit 50 kilometres northeast of Penticton without compensation.

Instead, lawyers for the government agreed to the pay out, saying in a news release earlier this week that B.C. had reached a legal agreement for Boss Power to surrender all claims to its uranium and mining rights.

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Canada hypocritical on a dangerous mineral [asbestos] – by Keeble McFarlane (Jamiaca Observer – October 22, 2011)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/

We all no doubt remember the rushing cloud of whitish dust which ballooned out over southern Manhattan on the morning of September 11, 2001, as the iconic towers of the World Trade Centre fell in on themselves after the planes commandeered by terrorists crashed into them.

In addition to the almost 3000 people who died in the towers themselves, dozens of rescue workers and others caught in the cloud have since died from exposure to the dust. Many others developed serious lung problems which have severely affected their health and which will invariably shorten their lives.

That cloud was a toxic mixture of all the materials contained in those towering structures – gypsum wallboard, floor and ceiling tiles, disintegrated concrete, shredded paper, furniture, carpets and draperies, office chemicals, metal residue, even food blown to bits in the devastation and, saddest of all, people and their clothing. Perhaps most crucial was the 400 tonnes of asbestos, used as a fire-retardant.

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Saskatoon is home to Canada’s fastest growing economy – by Jeannie Armstrong (The [Saskatoon] StarPhoenix – October 22, 2011)

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/index.html

The country’s top economists are in agreement. Saskatoon will continue to lead economic growth in Canada through 2013.

[SASKATOON] FASTEST GROWING ECONOMY

The Conference Board of Canada, known for its conservative economic forecasts, says that Saskatoon’s economy will expand by 4.1 per cent this year, and will remain at the top of the economic growth leader board through 2013.The gap between Saskatoon and second place Calgary is quite significant, with Calgary’s economy expected to grow by 3.4 per cent.

What factors are contributing to Saskatoon’s sustained economic growth?

According to the Conference Board of Canada announcement, “Saskatoon is benefiting from strong resource development, while healthy population growth is bolstering the housing market.”

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MININGWATCH NEWS RELEASE: ATTEMPT TO REVIVE PROPOSED PROSPERITY MINE MUST END NOW Oct 19, 2011

 Source: http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/861389/attempt-to-revive-proposed-prosperity-mine-must-end-now

Posted on behalf of the Tsilhqot’in National Government-MiningWatch

[MiningWatch is providing logistical support to the Tsilhqot’in during their Ottawa vist and will continue to support them with techncial reviews of the project and communications support.]

Company submits option already reviewed and found to be worse than original plan

OTTAWA, October 19, 2011: The Tsilhqot’in Nation, supported by BC and national chiefs, today called on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) and the federal government to reject the re-bid Prosperity mine project without further waste of time and tax dollars.

“The company is on record admitting this new option is worse than the one that was rejected last year, and a CEAA review panel has already agreed with that assessment,” said Chief Joe Alphonse, Chair of the Tsilhqot’in National Government, which represents six First Nations.

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Open Letter: UBCIC Supports Tsilhqot’in Nation and Call for Rejection of “New Prosperity” Mine (October 19, 2011)

The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs was founded in November, 1969, by a majority of Indian chiefs in BC, partly in response to the federal government’s 1969 White Paper, which was a blueprint for assimilating Canada’s First Peoples, and partly as an inevitable outcome of a growing conviction of many of our people that our survival in the face of such policies depended upon our ability to work together. The goal of the UBCIC is to support the work of our people, whether at the community, nation or international level, in our common fight for the recognition of our aboriginal rights and respect for our cultures and societies.

October 19, 2011

Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Government of Canada

Premier Christy Clark
Province of British Columbia

Dear Prime Minister Harper and Premier Clark:

Re: UBCIC Support for Tsilhqot’in Nation and Call for Rejection of the “New Prosperity” Mine

We are writing with respect to Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) Resolution 2011-35, “UBCIC Support for Tsilhqot’in Nation and Call for Rejection of the “New Prosperity” Mine” which was presented, affirmed and passed by consensus at the UBCIC’s 43rd Annual General Assembly on September 15, 2011.

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MIHR NEWS RELEASE: New study reveals mining companies are exploring alternatives, like dual-career paths, to retain knowledge workers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OTTAWA (October 14, 2011) – Dual-career development paths are being adopted by mining companies to retain knowledge workers as the global competition for talent becomes more fierce, according to a new study, released by the Mining Industry Human Resources Council, in partnership with the Canada Mining Innovation Council.

The two organizations have joined forces to publish Making the Grade: Human Resources Challenges and Opportunities for Knowledge Workers in Canadian Mining. Knowledge workers are a key segment of the mining sector’s workforce and play an essential role in research and innovation. A significant proportion of this group is now nearing retirement age which could lead to a devastating loss of both specialist knowledge and leadership in the sector.

Knowledge workers are typically defined as people who are highly educated, technologically savvy, and engaged in work that leads to the creation of knowledge and innovation. They apply theory and factual knowledge quickly and creatively to solve complex problems with shifting parameters. “Despite their importance, the industry lacks key information about this segment of the workforce throughout all phases of the mining cycle” says Dr Martha Roberts, Director of Research at the Mining Industry Human Resources Council.

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Agnico-Eagle writes off Goldex mine – Euan Rocha, Reuters (Globe and Mail – October 20, 2011)

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.

Toronto— Reuters – Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd.  is suspending operations at its Goldex mine at Val d’Or, Que., indefinitely because of water inflow and ground instability, the Canadian gold miner said Wednesday, sending its shares sharply lower.

Toronto-based Agnico will write off its investment in Goldex, resulting in a pretax third-quarter charge of about $260-million (U.S.). On an after-tax basis, the charge will be about $170-million, or $1 a share, the company said.

The writeoff prompted analysts at Credit Suisse and Macquarie to downgrade the stock, while analysts at a number of other brokerage firms lowered their price targets on Agnico-Eagle shares. Dahlman Rose analyst Adam Graf, in a note to clients, said Goldex accounts for roughly 13 per cent of Agnico’s net asset value and about 14 per cent of next year’s gold production.

“This would appear to be a major blow to Agnico-Eagle,” Mr. Graf said. “While Goldex is only a minority of annual production and value, it is nonetheless quite significant.”

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Rio Tinto tops hostile Cameco bid for Hathor – by Brenda Bouw (Globe and Mail – October 20, 2011)

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. Brenda Bouw is the Globe and Mail mining reporter.

A battle is shaping up between global mining giant Rio Tinto PLC and Canada’s Cameco Corp. over a promising uranium explorer in Saskatchewan, with Cameco under pressure to win as it seeks to double production of its single resource.

London-based Rio has struck a friendly deal to buy Hathor Exploration Ltd. for $578-million or $4.15 a share, topping Cameco’s hostile offer of $3.75 a share made in late August.

The companies are vying for control of Hathor’s assets in the uranium-rich Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan, where about 20 per cent of the world’s uranium is produced. Both bids come as the price of uranium, used to fuel nuclear power plants, struggles to recover from a slump since the nuclear crisis in Japan last March caused many countries to re-examine their nuclear power programs.

With the long-range belief that nuclear energy will expand in key growth countries such as China and India, Rio is looking to expand its existing uranium operations in Australia and Africa. Its offer for Hathor is the first Rio has made for a Canadian company since its ill-timed purchase of Montreal-based aluminum producer Alcan in 2007, on the eve of the global recession.

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Can $300M save Fish Lake and B.C. mining? – by Terence Corcoran (National Post – October 20, 2011)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.  Terence Corcoran is the editor and columnist for the Financial Post section of the National Post.

First Nations appear to threaten B.C. mining over Taseko’s Prosperity mine

The benefits of mining to Canada are well known. A news story in the Financial Post Tuesday suggests the industry’s contribution to the national economy may be too well known, even taken for granted, to the point where nobody much cares if $11-billion worth of GDP growth is blown away in a protracted battle with First Nations groups and environmentalists over Taseko Mines’ gold and copper project in British Columbia.

At the centre of the project, near Williams Lake, some 400 kilometres north of Vancouver, sits Fish Lake, a small 118-hectare body of water. Call it the $300-million lake. That’s the amount of money Taseko Mines has anted up to preserve Fish Lake in response to a Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) claim that the destruction of the lake was grounds for killing the Prosperity mine. At $300-million, or $3-million per hectare, Fish Lake is likely more valuable than Lake Tahoe.

In a 250-page panel review last July, the CEAA could find few problems with Taseko’s open-pit mine project, a $1-billion investment that would create thousands of jobs over a 24-year operating period.

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Taseko floats second plan for B.C. site – by Peter Koven (National Post – October 19, 2011)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.  pkoven@nationalpost.com 

TORONTO  – The economic benefits appear to be massive. Now the main question is whether the federal government will approve it this time.

Nearly a year after Ottawa rejected Taseko Mines Ltd.’s Prosperity project in central British Columbia, the company is highlighting a third-party economic study that shows the proposed mine would increase real gross domestic product in Canada by $11-billion over the next two decades, while creating an estimated 71,000 jobs.

The study, prepared by the Centre for Spatial Economics, also suggests government revenue would rise by $9.8-billion over the life of the mine, and the B.C. population would grow by an estimated 5,400.

“It just shows you the kind of economic impact one mine can have. It’s unreal,” Taseko chief executive Russell Hallbauer said. Prosperity, 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake, is already one of the most controversial mining projects in Canadian history, well before any shovel has been put into the ground.

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