Canadian/International Media Resource Articles – Page 13

This accountant is mining her potential – by Virginia Galt (Globe and Mail – July 5, 2013)

July 5, 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.

Ikram Al Mouaswas’s career as a chartered accountant has taken her – in hard hat and steel-toed boots – to remote mining projects in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Northwest Territories, and Northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire region.

A manager in Deloitte Canada’s assurance and advisory group, Ms. Al Mouaswas specializes in commodity mining – diamonds, gold, nickel, copper. “I love the mining industry. It’s changing every day. There’s always a complex or interesting transaction going on.” It’s rewarding work with a demanding schedule.

Still, every fall, Ms. Al Mouaswas and her colleagues at Deloitte engage in some prospecting of their own – blanketing Canadian university campuses in search of the next generation of accounting professionals. “Recruiting season” starts in September, and wraps up by Thanksgiving. And the war for talent is fierce, Ms. Al Mouaswas says.

“The big [professional accounting] companies and some of the mid-sized ones, as well, heavily recruit. They go out there and have events, rent banquet halls and bring out as many of their representatives as they can to tell the students about their firms, about the advantages, about their own experiences.”

Chavez’s 70% Gold Bet Unravels as Reserves Plunge: Andes Credit – by Charlie Devereux & Corina Pons (Bloomberg News – July 4, 2013)

July 5, 2013

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The bet on gold that former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made in the final years of his life is collapsing at the wrong time for his country.

Chavez, who argued that Venezuela should move away from the “dictatorship of the dollar,” stockpiled more than 70 percent of Venezuela’s foreign reserves in gold by 2012, the highest percentage among all emerging-market countries and more than 50 times that held by neighbors Colombia and Brazil, according to the World Gold Council.

After rewarding Venezuela with a rally of almost 400 percent in the past decade, gold has tumbled 25 percent this year, helping drive the central bank’s reserves to an eight-month low and compromising the government’s ability to repay foreign debt. The yield on Venezuela’s dollar-denominated bonds has risen 62 basis points, or 0.62 percentage point, to 11.84 percent in the past month, compared with an average increase of 57 basis points for other countries in Latin America.

“Venezuela’s reserves have taken a big hit,” Francisco Rodriguez, an economist at Bank of America Corp., said by phone from New York. If current gold price levels continue, “then you will see an increase in perception that Venezuela’s capacity to pay is weakening.”

Tailings Dump at the Red Chris Mine: Will It Hold Water? – by Christopher Pollon (The Tyee.ca – July 4, 2013)

July 5, 2013

http://thetyee.ca/

More work needed to understand potential impacts of waste storage, industry-funded review finds. More work is required before anyone knows how an estimated 300-million tonnes of tailings from the proposed Red Chris mine will eventually affect water in the upper Stikine watershed of northwest B.C., concludes a confidential industry-funded review acquired by The Tyee.

The report, paid for by mine owner Imperial Metals at the urging of the Tahltan Nation, recommends a comprehensive field investigation including additional drilling, groundwater collection and monitoring wells be undertaken as a way of addressing existing information gaps.

“…Studies completed to date are not sufficiently detailed to fully assess/monitor potential environmental impacts due to seepage from the tailings storage facility on the downstream aquatic environment,” concludes the study presented early this year to a panel of First Nations, government and industry overseeing the permitting of the proposed mine, which is scheduled to begin operations by May 2014.

The report comes years after Red Chris received environmental approval from B.C. and the federal government — the latter the subject of a drawn-out legal battle with environmentalists that went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.

China’s exploration spend is world’s largest – by Natalie Greve (MiningWeekly.com – July 4, 2013)

July 5, 2013

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

Amid a global trend of increasing exploration expenditure, China has emerged as the country that spends more on exploration activities than any other country in the world, MinEx Consulting MD Richard Schodde said on Wednesday.

“To be fair, however, around half of this is for bulk minerals,” he said during an address at the Geological Society of South Africa’s 2013 GeoForum conference.

This came as Canada, Australia and the US’s market shares had halved in the last 20 years, despite global exploration expenditure hitting an all-time high of $29.4-billion in 2012 alone. China’s spend accounted for around 14% of this amount.

While gold remained the primary target, Schodde had observed a major increase in spending associated with bulk minerals, which had accompanied a shift from exploration in developed countries to developing ones.

He added that growing exploration spend was driven by commodity prices, emphasising that there was a strong correlation between the gold price and exploration spend.

Mining revival offers hope in crisis-hit Europe – by Susan Thomas (Reuters U.K. – July 4, 2013)

July 5, 2013

http://uk.reuters.com/

LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) – A gradual shift in European attitudes and policy toward mining in the past four years, spurred by the need to create jobs and to ensure supply of critical materials, has led to investment and a nascent revival of the industry.

New or resurrected mining and smelting projects in some areas of Europe are providing some prospects for growth in the region as countries struggle with recession and crippling unemployment.

A handful of countries, including hard-hit Spain and Portugal, are attracting investment with good grades of ore, a large labour pool, revamped mining regulations and low political risk.

“Spain has gone from being shy of mining to being welcoming of mining. The political landscape has turned 180 degrees,” said EMED Mining Chief Executive Harry Anagnostaras-Adams, whose London-listed company plans to reopen a former Rio Tinto copper mine near Seville.

“There has been a marked transformation between when we arrived six years ago, when mining was not conventionally regarded as a favourite industry, to today when it overshadows most other initiatives in the area.”

Eviction notice adds to gloom in mining sector – by Martin Cash (Winnipeg Free Press – July 4, 2013)

July 4, 2013

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

These are not the best days to be in the mineral-exploration business in Manitoba.

Metal prices are low — gold prices are at their lowest level in 36 months; nickel, lowest in 48 months; copper, lowest in 30 months; and zinc, lowest in 18 months — investors’ appetite for risky (albeit tax-deductible) exploration plays is just about non-existent and starting this week in Manitoba, there is an additional one percentage point of sales tax on expensive equipment.

On top of that there is the potentially deal-breaking uncertainty over treaty land claims. One exploration company — Mega Precious Metals — that has been diligently working on a Manitoba gold property called Monument Bay for many years was surprised this week with an eviction notice from nearby Red Sucker Lake First Nation in northeast Manitoba.

In a news release, the band referred to the operation as “a mineral-exploration company operating illegally in Red Sucker Lake First Nation traditional territory.” But that same mineral-exploration company has been co-operating with the band for years and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Red Sucker Lake in 2010.

Manitoba First Nation evicts mineral-exploration company – by Staff (Winnipeg Free Press – July 2, 2013)

July 4, 2013

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

The Red Sucker Lake First Nation presented a stop-work order and eviction notice over the weekend to a mineral-exploration company that reserve officials say is operating illegally in its traditional territory.

Mega Precious Metals, a mineral-exploration company based in Thunder Bay, has been drilling and developing a potential gold mine for a few years at Monument Bay, about 60 kilometres northeast of Red Sucker Lake First Nation.

Red Sucker Lake is about 700 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. A spokesman for the band said action was taken now because new permits were issued recently without appropriate consultation with the band.

“The permits and licences granted to Mega Precious Metals Inc. are unlawful due to the absence of adequate consultation and accommodation,” says a statement from the band.

A spokesman for the band said there has been no violence or aggressive action related to the eviction notice.

Export income dispute holds up Rio’s Oyu Tolgoi mine – Mongolia – by Terrence Edwards (Reuters India – July 4, 2013)

July 4, 2013

http://in.reuters.com/

ULAN BATOR, July 4 (Reuters) – The Mongolian government and Rio Tinto have not yet reached an agreement on whether the miner can repatriate earnings from the $6.2 billion Oyu Tolgoi mine, the country’s mining minister said, delaying first copper shipments.

The dispute could heighten investor concerns about the risks of mining in Mongolia and threaten Rio Tinto’s plans to grow its copper portfolio to ease dependence on iron ore.

Metals traders have been closely watching whether Rio gets official approval to export concentrate from Oyu Tolgoi amid a shortfall in shipments from the Grasberg mine in Indonesia, run by Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold. The unlocking of ore shipments would increase supply in top copper consumer China and boost treatment and refining charges charged by smelters there.

Exports from the copper and gold mine were initially due to start on June 14, but were then postponed to June 21, before the Mongolian government told Rio to delay them again without setting a date. Uncertainty over the reasons for the delay has slashed the share price of other Mongolian miners.

Editorial: This is what a washout looks like [Barrick Gold] – by John Cumming (Northern Miner – July 3, 2013)

July 4, 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

Barrick Gold is the world’s leading gold company, and its Pascua-Lama gold-silver megaproject under construction on the Chilean-Argentine border is its leading development project. And so the gold industry watches in dismay as the major grapples with the project’s ballooning capital costs and construction delays, slumping gold prices, writedowns, job cuts and a pummelled share price.

At the time of writing, Barrick’s shares trade for only $15.29 — or US$14.69 — off 56% this year alone, and 74% since their peak in April 2011. Here again, Barrick is the leader of the gold sector that has seen overall share price declines around 50% this year.

Barrick has also led in terms of corporate-suite excess, with the pink-slipped minions at head office bearing the brunt. Fired CEO Aaron Regent was paid US$12 million last year, mostly as severance, while the whole management team pulled in an astonishing US$57 million, up 148% year-over-year. In April, Barrick shareholders finally had enough, and there was heated opposition to the $17-million pay package offered to incoming co-chairman John Thornton, a former president of Goldman Sachs.

Barrick may yet prove to be a leader in accumulating unwieldy debt and tabling enormous writedowns as Pascua-Lama moves forward. At the end of the first quarter, Barrick had US$2.3 billion in cash and US$15 billion in debt.

Negotiators in Ring of Fire make big bucks – CBC News Thunder Bay (July 4, 2013)

July 4, 2013

http://www.cbc.ca/thunderbay/

Better governemnt policy would eliminate need for negotiators, First Nation policy analyst says

Ontario taxpayers are footing a bill in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for negotiations on the future development of the Ring of Fire region, and one First Nations policy analyst sees it as money poorly spent.

Former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci and former Liberal MP Bob Rae are being paid by the province to work out a mining deal between the province and nine First Nations, closest to the mineral reserves. But First Nations policy analyst Russell Diabo said that expense could be spared if governments imposed mining rules that respect treaty rights.

“So there are ways to streamline it if the political will is there. But often the economic interests are so great that they want to subjugate First Nations interests and make it complicated where they can,” Diabo said

The government hopes to see billions of dollars in investment in the mineral-rich area, investment it hopes will also benefit First Nations in the area.

Chinese demand to drive African iron-ore projects – by Natalie Greve (MiningWeekly.com – July 4, 2013)

July 4, 2013

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

An increasing dependency on iron-ore imports by China would present substantial opportunity for the intensified development of African iron-ore projects, the MSA Group geology operations manager Brendan Clarke said at the Geological Society of South Africa’s GeoForum conference on Thursday.

China’s iron-ore import ratio was set to rise from 70% of total consumption to 85%, as local grades declined and the costs associated with the mining and beneficiation of lower-grade ores increased.

While the Chinese government was a significant producer, Clarke believed that domestic producers offered an expensive, yet low-quality product. As a result, the country was the world’s largest importer of iron-ore, bringing in 58% of total production in 2012.

The bulk of these imports were from the Pilbara region of Australia, accounting for 45% of imports. South Africa accounted for 6% of the iron-ore China sourced from outside the country in 2012. “Aside from projects in South Africa, there is very little production elsewhere on the continent, as the mega-projects, such as Tonkolili, in Sierra Leone, Simandou, in Guinea, and Mbalam, in Cameroon, struggle to get over the line,” Clarke commented.

The Commodities Supercycle Is Over — Here’s What’s Next – by Ashley Kindergan (The Financialist/Business Insider – July 4, 2013)

July 4, 2013

http://www.businessinsider.com/

Sluggish global growth and a recent economic slowdown in resource-hungry China have hammered commodities markets this year, sending the price of everything from iron ore to copper tumbling. With those sharp reversals—as well as the Fed’s comments about tapering the size of the United States’ monetary stimulus—fresh in their minds, the 300 clients who convened last week at Credit Suisse’s New York headquarters for the bank’s third annual Commodities Day had plenty to talk about.

With few exceptions, the prices of commodities such as oil products, precious metals and industrial metals have been steadily rising over the past decade in what analysts have termed a “commodities supercycle.” That era is over, Credit Suisse experts say, and they expect prices to remain under pressure at least through the end of the year.

What’s more, the prices of individual commodities will no longer rise and fall together as they have for the last five years, Credit Suisse’s commodities team explained in a June 25 research note (“Commodities Forecast Update: The Return of Fundamentals”). As a result, investors and traders are going to have to focus on the specific supply and demand dynamics for individual commodities.

Copper and iron ore prices, for example, are expected to decline because supplies of both metals are becoming more plentiful at the same time that demand is declining.

Special Report: Why Brazil’s new middle class is seething – by Paulo Prada (Reuters U.S. – July 3, 2013)

July 4, 2013

http://www.reuters.com/

SÃO GONÇALO, Brazil (Reuters) – André Tamandaré isn’t supposed to be so angry. Over the past decade, the 33-year-old high-school dropout has moved into his own house, got a steady job and earned enough income with his longtime girlfriend, Rosimeire de Souza, to lead their two kids into Brazil’s fast-rising middle class.

Now a public health worker in a sprawling suburb east of Rio de Janeiro, Tamandaré is the kind of citizen that Brazil’s government thought was fulfilled. Instead, he is one of the more than one million people across Latin America’s biggest country who have hit the streets in a wave of mass protests.

Brazilians are railing against poor public schools, hospitals and transport. They are protesting soaring prices, crime and corruption. They are lambasting a political class so self-satisfied that it failed to see, much less address, the mounting dissatisfaction that led to the protests.

Combined, the concerns reflect growing unease among Brazil’s nearly 200 million people that the country’s long-promised leap into the developed world has fallen short once again.

Ring of Fire Negotiators Pay – CBC News Thunder Bay (July 4, 2013)

July 4, 2013

http://www.cbc.ca/superiormorning/ Morning radio show Superior Morning highlights what’s happening now in Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario. Rae vs Iacobucci. Those are the two high profile negotiators for the Ring of Fire mining development. But First Nation policy analyst Russel Diabo wonders who will really benifit. Hear what he has to say. Click here for radio …

Oil at new high raises Canadian oil sands prospects – by Jeffrey Jones (Globe and Mail – July 4, 2013)

July 4, 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.

CALGARY — Oil prices surged to a 14-month high on Wednesday, triggered partly by unrest in Egypt, a factor that may pull some investor interest back into a Canadian energy sector that has been pressured for months by uncertainty over obstacles to increasing oil sands crude exports.

Canadian oil companies such as Suncor Energy Inc. and Imperial Oil Ltd., which produce and refine the fuel, may surprise investors with strong second-quarter results in the coming weeks as world crude prices climb and Canadian prices follow suit.

Strong oil prices have not translated into share gains recently, though that has less to do with oil market fundamentals than the way large investors are allocating their money, said Chris Feltin, analyst at Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd.

“The equities haven’t really responded,” Mr. Feltin said. “The Canadian institutional investors are largely positioned where they want to be, but the U.S. and international investors have been walking away over the past couple of years because they saw increasing risk with Canada in terms of its ability to grow, with reduced visibility for getting any pipelines built, like [Keystone] XL and Northern Gateway.”