Archive | Canadian Media Resource Articles

Hudbay Minerals piles on gold ounces in Canada – by Amanda Stutt (Mining.com – May 28, 2020)

May 28, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Manitoba Mining

https://www.mining.com/

After beginning the year by formally appointing Peter Kukielski as its CEO, and this month settling a long-drawn-out boardroom battle with its second-largest investor, Canadian copper producer Hudbay Minerals (TSX, NYSE: HBM) is setting its sights on gold.

Despite strong performance at its Canadian operations, Hudbay swung to a loss in the first three months of the year, mainly due to weak base metal prices and lower grades at its Constancia copper mine in Peru.

Then the pandemic hit, and Peru operations were halted, but it had no material impact on the business as a whole, Kukielski told MINING.COM. Hudaby expects a delay of up to four months before it can start mining an extension at Constancia. Continue Reading →

Platinum giant to enter battery space in ‘due course’ – by Michael McCrae (Kitco.com – May 27, 2020)

May 28, 2020 in Africa Mining, Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Platinum Group Metals

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Despite the rise of electric vehicles, platinum group metals still have a good 10 years in front of them, and an entry by the world’s largest primary producer of platinum, Sibanye-Stillwater, into the battery space is planned in “due course,” said CEO Neal Froneman. Froneman spoke to Kitco last week.

Sibanye-Stillwater (NYSE:SBSW) timed its entry into the platinum group metals space perfectly by picking up discounted platinum assets in the mid-2010s.

Sibanye-Stillwater, which was spun out of South Africa’s Gold Fields in 2013, picked up Anglo American’s Rustenburg for $95 million in 2015. It also purchased South African platinum miner Aquarius for $294 million 2016. Continue Reading →

Ottawa to scrutinize Chinese acquisition of gold miner as Huawei case reaches crucial stage – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – May 27, 2020)

May 28, 2020 in Canada Mining – North of 60, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://business.financialpost.com/

Reviewing deal for embattled TMAC in what one observer calls a ‘mix of security considerations and political considerations’

The federal government says it is reviewing a Chinese mining company’s proposed $207 million buyout of a struggling gold mining company in Nunavut under the Investment Canada Act, as a high-profile case against a Chinese executive in Canada reaches a crucial point.

Shandong Gold Mining Co. Ltd., a Chinese state-owned enterprise that’s listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, announced earlier this month it would purchase Toronto-based TMAC Resources Inc., which operates a mine near Cambridge Bay that has been beset by operational challenges.

Ottawa declined to provide any details on why it is scrutinizing the TMAC buyout, but lawyers who practise in this area said the government can easily invoke national security concerns amid rising political tensions with China. Continue Reading →

Kirkland Lake Gold invests in Melkior Resources – by Carl A. Williams (Northern Miner – May 21, 2020) https://www.northernminer.com/

May 26, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver, Junior Exploration Sector, Kirkland Lake, Ontario Far North Act, Timmins

Global mining news

Kirkland Lake Gold (TSX: KL; NYSE: KL) has struck a strategic partnership with Melkior Resources (TSXV: MKR), which is advancing its flagship Carscallen gold project in the Timmins gold camp of Ontario.

The Toronto-based gold miner, whose high-grade mines in Canada and Australia produced 974,615 oz. of the precious metal last year, is investing $1 million in a non-brokered private placement for up to 1.25 million units of Melkior at 80¢ per unit, giving it a 9.9% stake in the junior on a fully-dilutive basis.

“We are extremely proud to announce this landmark equity investment and potential joint-venture agreement with one of the world’s most respected gold mining companies,” Jonathon Deluce, CEO of Melkior Resources, said in a May 20 press release. Continue Reading →

2020 was supposed to be copper’s year to shine. Now everything is uncertain – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – May 23, 2020)

May 26, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Copper

https://business.financialpost.com/

Earlier this month, Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals Inc. injected US$115 million in cash to its balance sheet, shoring up the company’s finances just as a veil of uncertainty settles over the copper market.

The cash came from an agreement by Hudbay to pre-sell 80,000 ounces of gold from its Manitoba operations at an average of US$1,682 per ounce over the course of 2022 and 2023. As chief executive Peter Kukielski told shareholders, “it looks like gold is flying.”

By pre-selling gold, which has risen 15 per cent since January to US$1,737 as of Friday, Hudbay was able to preserve its access to a revolving line of credit, as clouds build over its copper business — which along with other base metals accounted for 80 per cent of its revenue in 2019. Continue Reading →

AngloGold Ashanti shuts South African mine after 164 workers test positive for COVID-19 – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – May 25, 2020)

May 25, 2020 in Africa Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. has reported 164 cases of the novel coronavirus among its workers at a gold mine in South Africa, raising new questions about how to prevent the virus from spreading in deep underground mines.

The cases were discovered at Mponeng, the world’s deepest mine, where operations extend as far as four kilometres beneath the Earth’s surface.

In response, the company has temporarily closed the mine and begun tracing the contacts of those who tested positive, using an electronic tracking system. It says the “vast majority” of those who tested positive are showing no symptoms of illness. Continue Reading →

Morneau not committing to keeping tougher foreign investment scrutiny post-coronavirus – by Amanda Connolly (Q107.com – May 24, 2020)

May 25, 2020 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Resource Nationalism

https://q107.com/

Despite warnings from national security experts that Canada needs a strategy to deal with hostile foreign takeover attempts post-coronavirus, Finance Minister Bill Morneau won’t say whether the government will consider keeping new rules in place after the economic crisis ends.

In an interview with The West Block‘s Mercedes Stephenson, Morneau was asked about a warning issued by the federal spy agency CSIS last week on the threat posed by hostile foreign takeovers of key Canadian companies, and what the government is doing to limit that risk.

“We need to make sure we protect our economy for the long term,” Morneau said without offering specifics. Continue Reading →

CHART: Mining exploration spending to drop 29% this year – by Frik Els (Mining.com – May 21, 2020)

May 25, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver, Junior Exploration Sector

https://www.mining.com/

The rally in the gold price will not be enough to prevent 2020 turning into the worst year in 15 for global exploration spending.

According to a new report by S&P Global Market Intelligence, outlays for exploration across the industry are set to drop from $9.3 billion in 2019 to $6.6 billion this year.

Despite a gold price approaching seven-year highs above $1,700 an ounce, money spent on drilling for the precious metal this year is likely to shrink by more than $800 million, compared to 2019. Continue Reading →

OPINION: The United States is going back to space. But we have some things to figure out on Earth first – by Michael Byers (Globe and Mail – May 23, 2020)

May 25, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Space Mining, United States Mining

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Michael Byers holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law. Aaron Boley holds the Canada Research Chair in Planetary Astronomy. They teach at the University of British Columbia and co-direct the Outer Space Institute.

“That is a spacecraft, sir. We do not refer to it as a capsule,” said astronaut Alan Shepard, as portrayed by Scott Glenn in The Right Stuff.

Mr. Shepard was a pilot, not a passenger. In 1961, he became the first American to reach space; 10 years later, he walked on the moon.

This month, the United States returns to human spaceflight after a nine-year hiatus. There is much to celebrate, including in Canada, where the Canadian Space Agency works closely with NASA. Yet these celebrations should be tempered with caution, as the Trump administration seizes the moment to challenge long-standing rules of international space law – and demands acquiescence from Canada. Continue Reading →

Bold action needed to repair Canada’s economy – by Maddie Di Muccio (Troy Media – May 13, 2020)

May 25, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

https://troymedia.com/

In the post-COVID-19 era, government needs to invest in game-changing projects. Here are some good places to start

The clamour to reopen the economy has reached a crescendo in many parts of North America. But the global economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be far-reaching for years to come.

Canadian historians list 1935 as the year the worst of the Great Depression was over. But the nation really didn’t begin to return to prosperity until the Second World War was over in 1945.

So if history is any guide, we could expect a decade or longer, and significant public expenditure in the interim, before we return to some semblance of economic normalcy. Continue Reading →

Ottawa eyes national-security review of gold miner takeover – by Steven Chase, Robert Fife, Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – May 25, 2020)

May 25, 2020 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A Cayman Islands-incorporated gold-mining company, whose principal investor is an Egyptian billionaire, has been notified that Ottawa is considering whether to subject its $1-billion takeover of a Canadian rival to a deeper national-security review.

All foreign takeovers are screened for national-security concerns but in rare instances – fewer than 10 in the previous fiscal year – Ottawa conducts a deeper, more thorough review under Section 25.3 (1) of the Investment Canada Act. These would be cases where the Innovation, Science and Economic Diversification Minister “considers that the investment could be injurious to national security.”

Endeavour Mining Corp., the buyer, whose corporate head office is in London, says it has no idea why Ottawa would be taking a keen interest in its bid to buy Semafo Inc., a Canadian gold-mining company based in Montreal. Both companies’ stocks are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Continue Reading →

COPPER-SILVER: Rio Tinto preps plans for 2020 at Janice Lake – by Staff (Canadian Mining Journal – May 20, 2020)

May 22, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Copper, Rio Tinto, Saskatchewan Mining

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

SASKATCHEWAN – Following up on a positive 2019 exploration program, Rio Tinto is planning 2,000 metres of drilling, plus mapping, prospecting and geophysical surveys this year at the Janice Lake copper-silver project in northern Saskatchewan.

The major is earning up to an 80% interest in the project from Forum Energy Metals, which has optioned the property from Transition Metals.

Last year’s program at the sedimentary copper-silver project, located 55 km southeast of Key Lake, included 21 drill holes totalling 5,209 metres. Continue Reading →

Canada Nickel discovers PGM zones at Crawford – by Carl A. Williams (Northern Miner – May 21, 2020)

May 22, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Junior Exploration Sector, Nickel, Ontario Mining

Global mining news

Canada Nickel Company (TSXV: CNC) has discovered two new palladium-platinum zones and extended nickel mineralization at its wholly owned Crawford nickel-cobalt project located in the Timmins-Cochrane mining camp, 40 km north of Timmins, Ontario.

Discovery holes drilled in the East zone at the property have doubled the strike length of the nickel mineralization, while partial assays from a third hole have extended the PGM zone on the Main zone, the company reports.

“Crawford just keeps getting bigger and better as we move forward,” Mark Selby, the company’s chairman and CEO, said in an interview. “It’s pretty amazing that after we’ve already drilled off the eleventh largest nickel-sulphide resource globally, that with our first step-out holes from this anomaly we get the best nickel intersection and best palladium-platinum intersection to date.” Continue Reading →

The Impact Assessment Agency must consider meaningful engagement with First Nations and the public as regional assessment planning forges ahead. – by Brady Reid (Policy Options – May 22, 2020)

May 22, 2020 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Ontario Mining, Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

Policy Options – Institute for Research on Public Policy

Ontario’s “Ring of Fire” is a disputed deposit of minerals within Treaty 9 territory of Northern Ontario. Prior to the escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic, on Feb. 11, 2020, Jonathan Wilkinson, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced that a regional assessment of potential mining operations for the Ring of Fire will be undertaken.

A key aspect of the regional assessment will be to “work with the Province of Ontario, Indigenous groups, federal authorities, non-government organizations and the public to determine the appropriate activities, outcomes and boundaries of the regional assessment,” according to the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, which posted the announcement on its website.

On top of the exacerbated risk that First Nations in Northern Ontario face from the spread of COVID-19, the ability of communities that may endure direct, devastating negative impacts from development near Ontario’s Ring of Fire to engage in future planning processes may now be further constrained. Continue Reading →

Gold-silver price ratio to keep falling as ‘undervalued’ silver outperforms – analysts – by Allen Sykora (Kitco News – May 21, 2020)

May 21, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – With silver seemingly “undervalued” and the reopening of economies expected to boost industrial demand, traders are looking for the gold-silver ratio to continue its decline as silver continues its recent outperformance.

The view is not unanimous, however, as some traders worry that renewed trade tensions between the U.S. and China could dent industrial demand for silver.

The gold-silver ratio measures how many ounces of silver it takes to buy an ounce of gold, with a rising number meaning an underperformance by silver compared to gold, and vice-versa. Back in March, the ratio rose as high as 127. Continue Reading →