Canadian Media Resource Articles – Page 344

Canada’s First Quantum expected to pay $1-billion in Zambia tax dispute: Wall Street analyst – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – March 28, 2018)

March 28, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canadian copper producer First Quantum Minerals Ltd. will ultimately pay around US$1-billion to settle its tax spat with Zambia, according to a Wall Street analyst.

Last week, the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) slapped First Quantum with a US$7.9-billion tax bill, claiming the miner had drastically underpaid certain import duties over a period of five years.

In a subsequent conference call with analysts, First Quantum’s chief executive officer Philip Pascall declined to speculate how much the company may end up paying, saying it wouldn’t be prudent to comment in a public forum.

The Northwest Territories and Nunavut’s share of mining exploration spending is on the decline – by Walter Strong (CBC News North – March 28, 2018)

March 28, 2018

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

The Northwest Territories and Nunavut’s share of expected spending on resource exploration and deposit appraisals in Canada is on the decline, and has been for a few years.

The most recent numbers from Natural Resources Canada indicate spending in the N.W.T. is expected to decline to $81.3 million this year, down from $90 million last year. Exploration spending in the territory peaked in 2007 at $194 million.

In Nunavut, the decline is more dramatic. Spending there is expected to decline by more than $58 million — from $169 million last year to $110.7 million this year. In 2007, companies spent $338 million on mining exploration in Nunavut.

Ottawa bolsters rules to prevent dumping of cheap metals in U.S. – by Greg Keenan (Globe and Mail – March 28, 2018)

March 28, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The federal government is moving to block cheap offshore steel and aluminum that could be funnelled to the United States through Canada to avoid tariffs Washington has placed on several countries.

The actions announced on Tuesday will be taken after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assured U.S. President Donald Trump that Canada will not become a back door for countries seeking to avoid the 25-per-cent tariff on steel and 10-per-cent levy on aluminum announced by the U.S. government earlier this month.

Canada was granted an exemption after intense lobbying, but the exemption is temporary until May 1. Whether it is extended or made permanent depends partly on Canada blocking its own borders to cheap offshore steel and aluminum and on progress in the negotiations to revamp the North American free-trade agreement.

Ottawa to levy tax against polluting industries in non-compliant provinces under planned carbon-pricing regime – by Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – March 28, 2018)

March 28, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ottawa is targeting heavy industry in provinces that fail to adhere to federal standards for carbon pricing by forcing those emitters to reduce their greenhouse gases by 30 per cent or pay tax on emissions above that threshold.

The federal carbon levy – which could grow to tens of millions of dollars per plant – would currently only apply to Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.

However, opposition Conservatives in Ontario and Alberta have threatened to kill existing carbon-tax plans in their provinces should they win in coming elections, raising the spectre of future federal-provincial showdowns.

Data reveals close to 600 suicides in northern Ontario since the mid-1980s – by Martha Troian (APTN News.ca – March 27, 2018)

March 28, 2018

http://aptnnews.ca/

Brian Rae remembers his nephew, Dario Strang, as someone who was smart and did well in school. Rae thought Strang had a bright future ahead of him. But on June 8, 2009 everything changed.

After visiting a family member from Sioux Lookout, Ont., Strang returned to his home in Pikangikum First Nation and lost his life to suicide. He was just 18 years old. “He was a young man, he had everything going for him at that time,” says Brian Rae, originally from Sandy Lake First Nation, from his home in Sioux Lookout.

“He was in school. He had aspirations of going into the army. He was already accepted to go into the Bold Eagle Program.” The Bold Eagle Program is a summer military program for Indigenous youth.

‘Off the chart’ carbon target means Canadian refiners stuck paying tax on emissions no one in the world can eliminate – by Peter Boag (Financial Post – March 27, 2018)

March 27, 2018

http://business.financialpost.com/

Peter Boag: This scheme might actually achieve emissions reductions in Canada — by closing refineries

The federal government’s proposed carbon-pricing “backstop” requires large emitters like refiners to reduce their emissions by 30 per cent from their sector average or pay the federally mandated carbon price on excess emissions, starting in January 2019.

For now, refiners in provinces that already have a carbon-pricing system in place — Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia — are exempt. Not so for refiners in other provinces like New Brunswick and Saskatchewan. A review in 2020 will determine the longer-term application of the backstop to refiners currently exempt.

What does a 30 per cent reduction mean for Canadian refiners? It’s an emissions-performance level that no refiner in the world has been able to achieve — by a wide margin. Comprehensive and credible global data shows that when compared with their peers in the developed world, Canadian refiners’ emissions performance is in the middle of the pack.

New B.C. report discredits green groups’ narrative that First Nations are opposed to fossil fuel projects – by Claudia Cattaneo (Financial Post – March 27, 2018)

March 27, 2018

http://business.financialpost.com/

Indigenous communities are upset that many LNG projects haven’t been built, according to a joint report co-authored the B.C. government and the First Nations LNG Alliance

A new report has found that First Nations in British Columbia support the establishment of a liquefied natural gas sector, further discrediting the green movement’s narrative that Canada’s Indigenous communities are opposed to fossil fuel projects.

According to a joint report co-authored the B.C. government and the First Nations LNG Alliance, the nascent sector enjoys such high Indigenous support many are in fact upset many projects haven’t been built.

“There have been many positive impacts to First Nations communities related to LNG development, prior to any construction,” according to the report, made public Monday. “Much capacity has been created due to these projects.

Barrick Gold cuts 2017 compensation for top two executives – by Susan Taylor (Reuters Canada – March 23, 2018)

March 27, 2018

https://ca.reuters.com/

TORONTO (Reuters) – Barrick Gold Corp, the world’s largest producer of bullion, cut the 2017 compensation for its top two executives to reflect a challenging “shareholder experience” and operations at some mines.

Shares in the Canadian miner declined 15 percent last year, even as the price of gold gained 11 percent. In 2017 Barrick had a third cyanide spill in 18 months at its Veladero mine in Argentina and struggled under an export ban for its Acacia Mining unit in Zambia that is still not resolved.

The Toronto-based company cut the 2017 long-term bonus for Executive Chairman John Thornton by 18 percent to $4.3 million. That reduced his total compensation to $7.7 million, down 9.4 percent from $8.5 million in 2016.

[Ontario] Province sets new pollution targets, but Sudbury smelters not expected to hit them – by Erik White (CBC News Sudbury – March 25, 2018)

March 26, 2018

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

The amount of sulphur dioxide that industries can pump into Ontario’s atmosphere will be dramatically reduced under new regulations set to take effect in 2023, but the environment minister says companies won’t be required to hit those targets.

The province announced last week that it will slash the annual emissions limit from 250 parts per billion to 40 parts per billion. But Environment and Climate Change Minister Chris Ballard says polluting industries, like the mining sector in Sudbury, won’t be punished if it doesn’t follow the new rules.

“We understand there are technological limits in some industries and smelting certainly is one of those where even if they were to double or triple their pollution control investments today, our experts tell us it wouldn’t perceptibly drop the sulphur dioxide emissions,” says Ballard.

Trudeau will learn a painful lesson — voters really dislike climate crusading – by Lawrence Solomon (Financial Post – March 23, 2018)

March 23, 2018

http://business.financialpost.com/

Global warming is so yesterday. There’s pretty much nothing the public cares less about than climate change

The United States government is expected to approve a massive US$1.3-trillion omnibus spending bill Friday, a sweeping victory for Democrats who fought for — and won — funding for virtually all of the left’s priorities, everything from Planned Parenthood to gun control to child care to public transportation.

The Democrats even won funding, and plaudits, for infrastructure and domestic programs they couldn’t secure under the Obama administration.

But no one is remarking on the Democratic cause that was thrown off the omnibus — climate change — because no one still considers it a Democratic priority. Nowhere in the bill’s 2,232 pages of spending goodies do the words “climate change” or “global warming” even appear.

‘Is it climate change?’: Unexpected early thaw in B.C. a relief for Centerra Gold’s Mount Milligan mine – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – March 23, 2018)

March 23, 2018

http://business.financialpost.com/

Climate change giveth, and climate change taketh away — that is, if you can attribute anything to climate change.

Last December, Toronto-based Centerra Gold Inc. shut down the mill at its Mount Milligan mine in British Columbia after anemic snowmelt runoff and an unexpected extreme cold snap froze the shallow supply of water in its tailing ponds. On Friday, the company announced that same mill resumed operating at near full capacity, ahead of schedule, thanks in part to an earlier-than-expected thaw. The company’s stock rose 2.2 per cent to $7.31 per share.

Scientists say that climate change is making water management increasingly difficult because weather patterns are less predictable, but Centerra’s chief executive Scott Perry expressed skepticism.

‘An unjustified infringement’: First Nation sues Ottawa, British Columbia over oil tanker ban – by Claudia Cattaneo (Financial Post – March 23, 2018)

March 23, 2018

http://business.financialpost.com/

As protesters in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland go berserk over tankers from the federally approved Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain expansion, First Nations in the Northern Coast are suing governments for banning them.

The Lax Kw’alaams Indian Band says it filed a civil claim in the Supreme Court of British Columbia Thursday against the federal and provincial governments. It seeks to declare Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s tanker ban “an unjustified infringement on the plaintiffs’ aboriginal rights and title.”

It also knocks British Columbia’s establishment of the Great Bear Rainforest, which the ban aims to protect, but which the band disputes because it says it was implemented in its traditional lands without its consent.

Eldorado down on Q4 loss – by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud (Mining.com – March 22, 2018)

March 23, 2018

http://www.mining.com/

Shares in Eldorado Gold (TSX:ELD)(NYSE:EGO) were down on Thursday after the company reported a Q4 loss and technical studies for its Kişladağ, Lamaque and Skouries mines.

In a press release, the Vancouver-based miner stated that, due to a 20 per cent y-o-y fall in sales volumes, its adjusted Q4 loss came in at $400,000 compared to $2.9 million in earnings in the year-ago quarter. In detail, sales moved down to 67.3K from 84.6K ounces.

In terms of production, Eldorado revealed that the last quarter of 2017 totaled 83.9K oz., up slightly from 82.8K in the same period of 2016. Full year gold production was of 292,971 ounces, including Olympias pre-commercial production and 7,061 ounces of gold produced from a bulk sample at the company’s newly acquired Lamaque project in Quebec.

Trade war looms as U.S. hits China with $60-billion in tariffs – by Adrian Morrow and Nathan Vanderklippe (Globe and Mail – March 23, 2018)

March 23, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to hit US$60-billion worth of Chinese goods with tariffs threatens to spark a protracted trade war between the world’s two largest economies and send a shudder through international commerce.

The move – which may also include restricting Chinese investment in the United States and launching a World Trade Organization case against Beijing – is retaliation for China forcibly taking, and sometimes allegedly stealing, U.S. technology.

It is also meant to start erasing Washington’s US$385-billion trade deficit with Beijing, which Mr. Trump blames for the hollowing out of the U.S. manufacturing sector.

RNC mulls selling Aussie mine to focus on massive cobalt-nickel project in Quebec – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – March 22, 2018)

March 22, 2018

http://www.mining.com/

Canada’s RNC Minerals (TSX: RNX) said Thursday it might sell all or part of its Beta Hunt gold and nickel mine in Western Australia to focus instead on its Dumont cobalt and nickel project in Quebec, the world’s largest undeveloped reserve of both metals.

The Toronto-based miner, which acquire Beta Hunt in 2016, said while it has grew the scale of the operation ever since, such asset is now considered to be non-core to RNC, particularly since Dumont’s potential value is significantly greater than the Australian mine’s current worth.

The company, however, did say it would consider other strategic alternatives for Beta Hunt, adding that no decision about the mine future has been made at the time.