Twitter
Boston-Bay-Mines-Announcement

Canada Mining

Canada’s hope to be a global power in the energy transition needs a strategic push – by Jeffrey Jones (Globe and Mail – February 27, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada’s hopes to be a global power in the low-carbon transition could be dashed unless it develops national strategy based on competitive strengths and aligns its diplomacy, trade and public policy, a new report warns.

The country takes its place in the geopolitical pecking order for granted after prospering for decades as a major oil and gas supplier, says the study by the Centre for Net-Zero Industrial Policy, released Tuesday. Without a new plan, Canada risks losing out as clean energy expands as a supply source and developers look for locations to invest capital, it says.

Read more

First Quantum seeks US$20 billion from Panama in free trade case – by Jacob Lorinc (Bloomberg News – February 20, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. is seeking US$20 billion from Panama in a free trade arbitration case after the Central American nation shut down the company’s flagship copper mine late last year.

The amount represents the “minimum value” sought by the Vancouver-based company in an arbitration process under a Canada-Panama free trade agreement, First Quantum Chief Executive Officer Tristan Pascall said Wednesday in an earnings call.

Read more

Canadian gold miner agrees to sell itself to Chinese company in possible test of Ottawa policy – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – February 26, 2024)

https://financialpost.com/

Yintai Gold to buy Osino Resources for $368 million

Ottawa’s policy of preventing Chinese companies from investing in Canadian-listed firms may be put to the test after Vancouver-based Osino Resources Corp. agreed to be bought by Yintai Gold Co. Ltd. for $368 million.

Yintai’s main interest in Osino seems to be the latter’s gold project in central Namibia. The Twin Hills Gold project is expected to have a 13-year mine life with average gold production of more than 169,000 ounces per year, according to a third-party study. The project is expected to generate about US$1.5 billion with a relatively low cost of about $365 million to build the mine.

Read more

Canada’s SRG Mining plans move to the Middle East to avoid national security review – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – February 26, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada’s SRG Mining Inc. is planning on moving to the Middle East in an attempt to skirt a Canadian national security review into a key financing deal with China-based Carbon ONE New Energy Group Co. Ltd.

Last summer, when Montreal-based SRG announced that China’s C-One was buying a 19.4-per-cent stake for $16.9-million, it warned the deal would be scrutinized by Ottawa on national-security grounds. Late in the year, SRG flagged that it was looking at redomiciling the company, and on Monday said in a press release that it plans on relocating to the United Arab Emirates, where it will have “expanded strategic optionality.”

Read more

Alberta regulator will hear Australian company’s revived plan for a controversial coal mine – by Emma Graney (Globe and Mail – February 23, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Alberta’s energy regulator will consider controversial applications to explore a new coal mine in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, ruling the project is excluded from a government-mandated ban on exploration approvals. The decision announced on Friday applies to a set of permit applications for exploratory activities by Northback Holdings Corp. at Grassy Mountain, on the site of an old mine that closed about five decades ago.

Northback, formerly Benga Mining Ltd., is a subsidiary of Australian mining giant Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd. Benga’s application for an open-pit mine on the land was rejected by a joint federal-provincial panel in June, 2021, because of environmental concerns.

Read more

Newmont to sell six non-core assets in Canada, Australia – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – February 22, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Newmont Corp (NYSE: NEM) said on Thursday it plans to sell six non-core assets, including its Éléonore mine in Quebec, the Musselwhite and Porcupine mines in Ontario, the Coffee project in the Yukon Territory and its 70% stake in the Havieron joint venture with Greatland Gold (LON: GGP) in Western Australia.

The world’s largest gold miner, which completed the acquisition of Newcrest Mining in November, said that proceeds from the transactions will be used to cut debt. The company, which had $8 billion in debt at the end of 2023, has set a near-term debt-reduction target of $1 billion.

Read more

First Quantum gets financial boost from Chinese company after Panama production pause – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – February 22, 2024)

https://financialpost.com/

Receiving a US$500-million prepayment from a Chinese shareholder

A Canadian miner is receiving a US$500-million prepayment from a Chinese shareholder with hopes of strengthening its balance sheet after its key copper mine in Panama was forced to stop production late last year. In return, Toronto-based First Quantum Minerals Ltd. will annually supply Jiangxi Copper Corp. with 50,000 tonnes of copper for three years from its Kansanshi mine in Zambia. The Canadian miner will also have to pay interest on the prepayment, the company said.

The Panamanian government ordered First Quantum to shut down its lucrative copper mine in December following protests from environmentalists and a Supreme Court order that annulled a mining contract the company had signed with the country.

Read more

First Quantum launches US$1B bought deal as Panama closure pushes miner to the brink (Canadian Press/Ottawa City News – February 21, 2024)

Homepage

TORONTO — First Quantum Minerals Ltd. said it will raise roughly US$1 billion through a bought deal offering and use the proceeds to repay debt and bolster its liquidity as it says its operations could be threatened by the closure of its Cobre Panamá mine.

The deal is being underwritten by a syndicate led by RBC Capital Markets, BMO Capital Markets and Goldman Sachs, where the underwriters have agreed to purchase 121,680,000 common shares of First Quantum at a price of C$11.10 each.

Read more

Optimism for metals clashes with reality for juniors ahead of PDAC – by Alisha Hiyate (Mining.com – February 18, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Increasing funding for battery metal and uranium projects versus gold brings home the global energy transition but big financing deals for preproduction companies have almost disappeared, new figures show ahead of the country’s largest mining showcase.

The data, from the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) which holds its 92nd annual convention Mar. 3-6 in Toronto, shows just how much junior miners are struggling, despite a growing international recognition of mining’s importance.

Read more

Critical minerals sector is ‘not healthy,’ says head of global gold giant – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – February 18, 2024)

https://financialpost.com/

‘Just look at the so-called critical minerals industry today, lithium’s a bust, so is nickel’ — Barrick chief

The critical mineral industry required to power the energy transition away from fossil fuels is in an unhealthy state and running ahead of itself, says Barrick Gold Corp.’s chief executive Mark Bristow, who heads the world’s second-largest gold company.

Bristow said the mining sector is entering an era dominated by the demand for metals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt, but the projects containing these critical minerals are often led by promoters more focused on the short-term benefits rather than by “responsible miners” that are in it for the long run.

Read more

NDP to move bill calling for ban of coal exports as Canadian output booms – by Mia Rabson (Canadian Press/CTV News – February 14, 2024)

https://www.ctvnews.ca/

OTTAWA – Canadian exports of the kind of coal used to make electricity hit an eight-year high in 2022, even as the Liberals have promised to work on banning exports completely by the end of the decade. The Liberals made the promise during the 2021 election and it was listed in Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s mandate letter that December.

In the year that followed, Canada exported more than eight million tonnes of domestically produced thermal coal, a 60 per cent increase over 2021 and more than eight times what was exported in 2018. That year, thermal coal exports hit a low of one million tonnes, before rapidly rising, doubling to two million tonnes in 2019, almost five million tonnes in 2020 and 5.5 million tonnes in 2021.

Read more

Barrick Gold executive shuffle sees John Thornton moved to chair – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – February 15, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The power structure at the upper tiers of the world’s second biggest gold company is shifting with the diminution in the role played by long-term Barrick Gold Corp. executive chairman John Thornton. Toronto-based Barrick on Wednesday announced that Mr. Thornton has moved from the role of executive chairman to chairman, a position that carries fewer responsibilities, lower pay, and much more clearly-defined parameters.

Barrick said the change in Mr. Thornton’s role was driven in part by governance considerations. In a regulatory disclosure alongside its latest quarterly earnings, Barrick said that considering Mr. Thornton had achieved key objectives following the company’s 2019 acquisition of Randgold Resources Ltd., this was both the right time for him to transition to chairman, and for the company to do away with the executive chairman role.

Read more

Heather Exner-Pirot: Why critical minerals are key to Canada’s global influence – by Heather Exner-Pirot (The Hub – February 12, 2024)

Home

It’s time to establish strategic reserves for critical minerals

From the acquisition of a rare earths stockpile from a mine in the Northwest Territories to the purchasing of stakes in Canadian miners Solaris Resources and First Quantum, a recent spate of Chinese investment in Canadian mining projects has rightly sparked concerns. In the past three years, many Western nations including Canada have put out critical minerals strategies to promote friendly sources of supply and mitigate Chinese dominance in the sector. Yet we are still falling behind.

At the same time, one empathizes with Canadian miners looking to China for investment; they are not finding it anywhere else. Junior and mid-sized miners are starved for capital even as Western politicians are proclaiming their commitment to the sector. Thankfully, there is a solution to the challenge of both reducing dependence on Chinese-controlled exports and boosting Western investment in our own supply. It is time to establish strategic reserves for critical minerals.

Read more

Federal Court allows judicial review of southern Alberta coal mine denied by panel – by Bob Weber (Canadian Press/CBC Calgary – February 14, 2024)

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

Company lost earlier attempt to seek review from Alberta Court of Appeal

A Federal Court ruling Tuesday has thrown out a decision from federal Environmental Minister Steven Guilbeault denying a permit for an open-pit coal mine in the Alberta Rockies. The ruling, which comes in response to two Alberta First Nations, will force Guilbeault to revisit the issue after consulting with the bands on the economic benefits of the proposed mine.

The company hoping to develop the mine, Benga Mining, also requested the decision be reviewed. It was denied. The court ruled that the Piikani and Stoney First Nations never received a consultation opportunity they had been promised by the federal-provincial panel that reviewed Benga’s application.

Read more

Impossible for Panama’s next government to ignore mining, says First Quantum CEO – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – February 13, 2024)

https://financialpost.com/

Canadian miner holds out hope May elections will bring change in fortune for its besieged Cobre Panama mine

The Panamanian government’s order to shut down Toronto-based First Quantum Minerals Ltd.‘s lucrative copper mine in December seemed like the final straw for the company, which has faced several issues in the Central American country in recent years.

Panama and First Quantum initially tussled over the terms of a new contract to run the mine. Although a deal was reached, thousands of protestors demonstrated against it on environmental grounds. The nation’s Supreme Court then intervened and annulled the deal, which led to the order to close the Cobre Panama mine, about 120 kilometres west of Panama City.

Read more