Archive | Canadian Media Resource Articles

Exclusive: Gold worth billions smuggled out of Africa – by David Lewis, Ryan McNeill and Zandi Shabalala (Reuters Canada – April 24, 2019)

April 24, 2019 in Africa Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://ca.reuters.com/

NAIROBI, (Reuters) – Billions of dollars’ worth of gold is being smuggled out of Africa every year through the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East – a gateway to markets in Europe, the United States and beyond – a Reuters analysis has found.

Customs data shows that the UAE imported $15.1 billion worth of gold from Africa in 2016, more than any other country and up from $1.3 billion in 2006. The total weight was 446 tonnes, in varying degrees of purity – up from 67 tonnes in 2006.

Much of the gold was not recorded in the exports of African states. Five trade economists interviewed by Reuters said this indicates large amounts of gold are leaving Africa with no taxes being paid to the states that produce them. Continue Reading →

‘The gold was never there’: A miner’s reserves evaporate amid battle with former CEO – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – April 24, 2019)

April 24, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver, Latin America Mining

https://business.financialpost.com/

Even in an industry known to be high-risk, the sudden evaporation of more than a million ounces of gold raised eyebrows

When geologists speak about how deposits of precious metal form in the earth, they reference changes that can take place over hundreds of millions of years.

This spring, investors in Toronto-based Guyana Goldfields Inc. experienced geologic time at a significantly faster pace: One morning in March, they held shares in a company sitting on nearly four million ounces of contained gold at its Aurora mine; and, by the end of the day, that number had declined by about 1.5 million ounces.

The sudden evaporation of more than one million ounces of contained gold from the company’s “proven and probable mineral reserve estimate” garnered immediate attention, and the company’s share price has declined 30 per cent since then. Continue Reading →

Paris to decide fate of Russia-Canada gold mine in French Guiana – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – April 22, 2019)

April 24, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Europe Mining, Gold and Silver, Latin America Mining

http://www.mining.com/

France’s environment minister, François de Rugy, is expected to announce in June the government’s official position on a proposed open-pit gold mine and precious metals industry in French Guiana, potentially the department’s largest, and it has locals divided.

The Montagne d’Or gold project, a joint venture between Russian billionaire Alexey Mordashov’s mining company, Nordgold, and Canadian junior Columbus Gold (TSX: CGT), was originally planned over an 800-hectare site between two protected natural reserves.

But after complaints from opponents to the mine, worried mainly about pollution and biodiversity loss, the French government formed a special committee to evaluate in detail the social and economic benefits, as well as the impacts of a gold mining industry in the French department, wedged between Brazil and Suriname. Continue Reading →

Federal carbon tax favours coal-fired plants, could “diminish” renewables investment, new report says – by Jesse Snyder (National Post – April 24, 2019)

April 24, 2019 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Climate Change, Carbon Taxes and ENGOs, Coal

https://nationalpost.com/

OTTAWA — The federal carbon tax could favour coal-fired power plants over clean sources like wind and solar in its approach to industrial emissions, a new report says, potentially undermining a central aim of the Liberal government’s policy.

Environment Minister Catherine McKenna released a regulatory proposal in December 2018 that provided details on the heavy emitters portion of the carbon tax, including how levies would be applied to electricity generators.

Independent think-tank The C.D. Howe Institute reviewed the proposal and found it would actually give a leg up to higher-intensity emissions like coal and “diminish” investment in renewables, due to a decision to raise a critical threshold on certain producers. Continue Reading →

Netflix is lying about those falling walruses. It’s another ‘tragedy porn’ climate hoax – by Susan J. Crockford (Financial Post – April 24, 2019)

April 24, 2019 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Climate Change, Carbon Taxes and ENGOs

https://business.financialpost.com/

Opinion: Netflix and the WWF are misleading the public in the name of climate change — just as National Geographic did with the emaciated polar bear

Now that polar bears have failed to die off in response to a sea-ice decline as promised, climate alarmists are looking hard for a new icon. They think they’ve found it in the walrus. And for their purpose, walruses are more useful dead than alive, and best of all splattered against sharp rocks from a great height.

For instance, a now-famous episode of Netflix’s “Our Planet” documentary series, released this month and narrated by veteran BBC broadcaster David Attenborough, features walruses falling from atop a high cliff and bouncing helplessly over rocks to their deaths.

The incident occurs after what’s called a “land haulout,” which is when large herds of walrus females and calves emerge from the water to gather and rest on a beach. The show blames the land haulouts — and the deaths caused by falling from cliffs — squarely on lack of sea ice due to human-caused climate change. Continue Reading →

GOLD: Keith Barron loans $3 million to Aurania Resources (Northern Miner/Canadian Mining Journal – April 22, 2019)

April 23, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver, Junior Exploration Sector, Latin America Mining

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

ECUADOR – Keith Barron, who owns 53% of the outstanding common shares of Aurania Resources, has agreed to loan the company up to $3 million to support exploration at its 100% owned Los Cities gold project.

The chairman and CEO also participated in the company’s rights offering in March that raised $5.25 million. Barron acquired 1.48 million of the 1.95 million shares issued at $2.70 per common share.

The geologist privately co-founded Ecuador gold explorer Aurelian Resources and discovered the Fruta del Norte deposit in 2006. The company was acquired by Kinross Gold in 2008 for $1.2 billion. Continue Reading →

Proxy fight intensifies at Guyana Goldfields – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – April 23, 2019)

April 23, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver, Latin America Mining

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Junior gold company Guyana Goldfields is urging its shareholders to stick with its proposed slate of directors as it seeks to fend off a dissident shareholder group.

In documents filed on Monday detailing its attempts at a turnaround, Toronto-based Guyana said it has “turned the page” with a better mine plan in place, the right people in charge and improved financial controls.

Late last year, Guyana’s share price went into free fall when the company disclosed serious problems with its original mine plan, raising questions about the size and economics of its gold deposit. Continue Reading →

ROB MAGAZINE: How Lundin CEO Marie Inkster plans to change mining’s bad reputation – by Trevor Cole (Globe and Mail – April 23, 2019)

April 23, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Women in Mining

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Inkster opens up about her reluctance to take the top job and how she hopes to change the industry’s reputation

Based on the career of Marie Inkster, someone looking for adventure in business might want to consider accounting. Once a CA with Deloitte Canada, Inkster went to work for Geac Computer Corp. in the late 1990s.

When her boss left for Nortel, Inkster smartly decided not to join her. Instead, in 2002, she found herself in the three-person office of LionOre, being lured into a life in mining. Soon she was travelling the world. By 2009 she was CFO at Lundin Mining, a rising mid-tier miner run by the audacious Lukas Lundin, and walking through the Congolese jungle.

She orchestrated Lundin’s 2014 acquisition of the Candelaria Copper Mining Complex in Chile, raising $2.2 billion and nearly doubling the size of the company. In October of last year, Inkster replaced Paul Conibear as CEO. Continue Reading →

‘Wounded bulls’ remain nervous as oil prices rally ahead of earnings season – by Geoffrey Morgan (Financial Post – April 23, 2019)

April 23, 2019 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Oil and Gas Sector-Politics and Image

https://business.financialpost.com/

CALGARY — Despite a rapid spike in oil prices, investors are watching the rally from the sidelines as they ponder whether to jump in amid a broad rally in global energy stocks, led by the Canadian energy index.

“This is definitely not a crowded trade,” said Michael Tran, RBC Capital Markets managing director, global energy strategy, about rising crude prices.

Unlike the latter half of 2018, when bets that global oil prices would rise outnumbered short contracts by nine to one, funds are being more conservative during the current oil price rally. Tran said the number of long contracts for crude currently outnumber the shorts by just four to one. Continue Reading →

Beware Of Gold’s Move To $1,250, All Eyes On U.S. GDP Figure Next Week – by Anna Golubova (Kitco News – April 18, 2019)

April 18, 2019 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Raging risk-on sentiment continues to keep gold prices down and analysts are worried that things could get worse before they get better.

Gold prices struggled through a major sell-off this week, falling 1.4% and touching a four-month low. June Comex gold was trading flat on the day on Thursday, last seen at $1,275.20.

Better-than-expected retail sales played a significant role, revealing improved consumer sentiment, with the best results since September 2017. Continue Reading →

Thunder Bay: Project to build permanent road to northern Ontario First Nation ‘the right move’ chief says – by Matt Prokopchuk (CBC News Thunder Bay – April 18, 2019)

April 18, 2019 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Mining Railway, Road and Other Infrastructure, Ontario Mining, Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

https://www.cbc.ca/

The chief of a northern Ontario First Nation says an ongoing project to build an all-season road to the community will help in many ways.

Marten Falls, which is about 300 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, is in the midst of the provincial environmental assessment process to construct a thoroughfare that will link the remote First Nation to the provincial highway system north of Nakina.

“There’s a lot of socio-economic benefits that would derive from having an all-weather road to the community,” said Chief Bruce Achneepineskum, adding that those would include lowering the cost of freight, making it easier for community members to travel and better positioning the First Nation to take advantage of various economic development opportunities in the forestry, mining and tourism sectors. Continue Reading →

[Newfoundland] Valentine mine takes another step – by Barb Sweet (St. John’s Telegram – April 18, 2019)

April 18, 2019 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver, Newfoundland and Labrador Mining

https://www.thetelegram.com/

Central Newfoundland mine proposal registered for environmental assessment

It’s a gold reserve glittering with job potential but the proposed Valentine gold mine in central Newfoundland is several years away. The undertaking was registered this week for environmental assessment under the provincial Environmental Protection Act.

Marathon Gold Corp. is the Toronto-based gold exploration company proposing to develop the gold mine roughly 55 kilometres southwest of Millertown in central Newfoundland. The net present value of the project is about $500 million USD.

“It’s a major gold deposit, certainly the largest in Newfoundland and Atlantic Canada and it really stands out as one of the top projects in North America,” president and CEO Phillip Walford said in a telephone interview from Toronto Wednesday. Continue Reading →

How Bill C-69 could escalate regulatory costs until projects become unworkable – by Jack Mintz (Financial Post – April 18, 2019)

April 18, 2019 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Climate Change, Carbon Taxes and ENGOs, Oil and Gas Sector-Politics and Image

https://business.financialpost.com/

As the Senate continues its hearings on Bill C-69, it might be useful to focus on what is claimed to be the objective of the new environmental and regulatory approval act: A fairer, faster regulatory system.

Calgary’s National Energy Board will become a less-powerful Canadian Energy Regulator while an Ottawa-based body, the Impact Assessment Agency, will provide final advice to the government to determine whether a project is in the “public interest.”

The new legislation is ostensibly intended to reduce delays for federal approval of resource projects while providing greater political acceptability. It is hard to see how that will be case. Continue Reading →

Majority of B2Gold’s mines outperform guidance in strong first quarter – by Nadine James (MiningWeekly.com – April 18,2019)

April 18, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://m.miningweekly.com/

SX-listed B2Gold exceeded its first-quarter production and sales guidance by 6%, producing 230 859 oz and selling 232 076 oz of gold.

The Fekola, Masbate, Otjikoto and El Limon mines all exceeded their targeted production, with the Mali-based Fekola and the Philippines-based Masbate mines, having produced 6% and 15% above guidance, respectively.

The consolidated gold revenue of $302-million generated for the sale of 232 076 oz of gold at an average price of $1 300/oz was lower than the $344-million in revenue generated from the sale of 259 837 oz at an average price of $1 325/oz in the first quarter of 2018. Continue Reading →

U.S. shifts Cuba policy to allow lawsuits against foreign companies — and that includes Canadian firms – by Mike Blanchfield (Canadian Press/Financial Post – April 18, 2019)

April 18, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Latin America Mining

https://business.financialpost.com/

OTTAWA — Canada and the European Union hit back Wednesday at the Trump administration’s decision to allow lawsuits against foreign companies connected to properties seized from American firms during the Cuban revolution, vowing to protect their businesses.

Canada and the EU pledged to work together in the World Trade Organization and ban the enforcement or recognition of American court orders against Canadian or European companies.

The landmark tightening of the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba’s communist government represents a major shift in U.S. foreign policy — one that could place Canadian mining, tourism and financial services companies at risk in American courts. Continue Reading →