Canadian Media Resource Articles – Page 406

Multinationals to heed taxman’s further-reaching hand as transfer pricing disputes come to a head – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – March 6, 2017)

March 6, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – With several Canadian miners embroiled in acrimonious standoffs with the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) regarding transfer pricing rules, mining companies will have to come to terms with increased levels of uncertainty in their tax profiles and will need to consider the impact of all changes, not only on existing structures but also on new investments and transactions.

Since the CRA first introduced transfer pricing rules in 1998 to counteract base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), various Canadian resource firms have been singled out for their purported aggressive tax planning and alleged tax evasion schemes.

Among the high-profile miners that have filed pleadings with the Canadian Tax Court are Cameco, Silver Wheaton, Burlington Resources, Conoco Funding Company and Suncor Energy. Cameco’s case is the only one that has started hearings.

First Nation-led environmental review panel rejects Ajax mine in Kamloops, B.C. – by Maryse Zeidler (CBC News British Columbia – March 4, 2017)

March 6, 2017

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/

Controversial $1.3-billion project has residents divided

The Stk’emlúpsemc te Secwépemc Nation has rejected a proposed open-pit copper and gold mine south-west of Kamloops, B.C., after its months-long review of the project. The decision could be an important upset for KGHM International, a subsidiary of Polish company KGHM Polska Miedźthat, which has been trying to push the controversial $1.3-billion project forward since 2006.

According to the company’s website, the Ajax Project is the first in B.C.’s history that was required to prepare a First Nations consultation plan as part of its environmental assessment process.

The panel’s decision was announced Saturday afternoon at a ceremony at the Moccasin Square Gardens in Kamloops, with about 200 people in attendance. The First Nation said it prefers to protect the long-term health of its traditional territory instead of take advantage of short-term economic benefits.

Nova Scotia needs to mine coal while there’s still a market, says minister (CBC News Nova Scotia – March 2, 2017)

March 3, 2017

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/

Environmental advocate says selling coal represents ‘huge step backward’

The Canadian Press – A provincial cabinet minister from Cape Breton admits the day is coming when the world won’t need coal — but right now it does and he’s celebrating the rebirth of mining it on the island.

The Donkin mine began production earlier this week, marking the return of coal mining more than 15 years after Prince Colliery in Point Aconi shut down, ending 280 years of underground mining in Cape Breton.

“Obviously there is a need for coal in the international markets. We need it for energy, we need it for steelmaking,” said Geoff MacLellan, who represents Glace Bay in the provincial legislature. “Until the world doesn’t need it — and I think that day is coming, quite frankly, the Donkin mine officials know that that day is coming — we’re going to produce it for as long as we can.”

Excluded from Ontario’s hydro cuts, firms say they can’t compete – by Shawn McCarthy and Greg Keenan (Globe and Mail – March 3, 2017)

March 3, 2017

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne unveiled a new hydro plan Thursday that targets lower residential rates but provides only modest relief to industrial customers who say soaring electricity costs are driving business out of the province.

Through legislation it intends to pass before summer, the provincial Liberal government will cut residential rates by 25 per cent, including a previously announced 8-per-cent reduction. The plan also promises deep price cuts to rural and remote customers who faced dramatic increases over the past decade, and will boost subsidies for low-income households.

Business customers will not benefit from reduced rates but will instead see an expanded rebate program for those that can shift their consumption to off-peak hours. Companies in Northern Ontario and rural areas will also benefit from a reduction in delivery charges that have driven up bills in less-populated regions.

Kathleen Wynne’s sleazy, desperate hydro ploy to fool Ontarians is, well, brilliant – by Kevin Libin (Financial Post – March 2, 2017)

March 3, 2017

http://business.financialpost.com/

Ontario’s Liberal government is already being savaged for its latest scheme to quell the provincial outrage over out-of-control electricity rates. Even before the plan was official, the details that were leaked to the Toronto Star — reporting that power-bill costs would be “smoothed out” by rearranging contracts at lower rates, but longer periods — were being called a “shell game” by the opposition.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation complained that “spreading the cost … over more years, doesn’t solve the problem” but would just cost more in the long term. Sun Columnist Lorrie Goldstein called it “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

That is surely all true. As Kathleen Wynne confirmed in unveiling the plan Thursday, long-suffering Ontarians will be made to suffer even longer with extended contracts. Other costs will be shifted from hydro bills to taxes, costing the province another $2 billion a year it doesn’t have, after already rebating the provincial sales tax on power or, more accurately, paying for it with other provincial taxes, instead.

Gold Miners Running to Stand Still After Cuts, Franco CEO Says – by Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – March 1, 2017)

March 2, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The world’s gold miners will be running on the spot for years to come as a surge in gold prices prompts them to secure new production from less profitable projects, according to the largest mine streaming and royalty company. “In my mind, the industry is ex-growth,” said David Harquail, chief executive officer of Franco-Nevada Corp.

After a downturn that squeezed capital investments, most gold producers have no choice but to invest in new projects as existing mines are depleted, Harquail said Wednesday in an interview. They’ll be faced with options that are, cumulatively, unlikely to boost global gold production or lower the sector’s overall costs.

“None of those projects are really great,” Harquail said at the BMO Capital Markets mining conference in Florida. “They would have been built by now if they were.”

Cape Breton’s underground coal mining resumes 15 years after mine closures (Canadian Business Magazine – March 1, 2017)

March 2, 2017

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/

The Canadian Press – Underground coal mining has resumed in Cape Breton, more than 15 years after the fossil fuel was last cut from a rock face beneath the island. Kameron Coal Management Ltd., a subsidiary of U.S. mining giant Cline Group, confirmed Wednesday that 64 employees and contractors have been extracting coal from the Donkin site since Monday night.

“Coal is being produced once again in Cape Breton,” Cline CEO Paul Vining said in a statement, adding that the resource represents “some of the highest quality thermal and metallurgical coal in the world.”

It was a historic moment: Although dormant for nearly a generation, the local industry dates back to the early 1700s, when the French needed coal for their nearby fortress. Coal mining has long been considered a way of life on the island.

Matt Manson our Mining Person of the Year – by John Cumming (Northern Miner – March 1, 2017)

March 2, 2017

http://www.northernminer.com/

There’s something to be said for being first. And Matt Manson, The Northern Miner’s choice as Mining Person of the Year for 2016, bears the distinction of guiding Stornoway Diamond through a daunting, decade-long journey to open Quebec’s first diamond mine — Renard — in the province’s remote Otish Mountains.

Along the way, through two industry downturns and without a major mining company as partner, Manson capably managed virtually every aspect of the mining game: property acquisition and company consolidation; grassroots exploration; feasibility studies and mine permitting; project financing; mine and infrastructure construction; community relations; building and leading a workforce; production ramp-up; and product marketing.

Manson, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, earned a B.Sc. degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1987, and came to Canada to pursue graduate studies and complete a PhD at the University of Toronto in 1996.

Miners shy away from investing in Ontario: land claim uncertainty to blame, report says – by Angela Gemmill (CBC News Sudbury – March 01, 2017)

March 2, 2017

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

Want to invest in mining? Fraser report says look to Manitoba and Saskatchewan

When it comes to investment in mineral exploration, Ontario has dropped into a slump, the latest report from the Fraser Institute says. The think-tank recently rated 104 regions around the world on their geological and regulatory attractiveness to those looking to invest in mineral exploration.

The report named Saskatchewan as the top jurisdiction for investment. The prairie province moved up to first from second place in 2015. Manitoba moved up to second place this year after ranking 19th the previous year.

Western Australia dropped to third, after Saskatchewan displaced it as the most attractive jurisdiction in the world. Rounding out the top-10 are Nevada, Finland, Quebec, Arizona, Sweden, the Republic of Ireland, and Queensland. Ontario dropped three spots this year to 18th place. The reason? Mining companies are put off by the uncertainty around land claims in Ontario, the report says.

Explorers frustrated with waiting times for permits in B.C., the Territories – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – February 28, 2017)

March 1, 2017

http://www.mining.com/

Canada’s British Columbia and the Territories are the country’s mining districts where it takes the longest to obtain exploration permits, a new report released Tuesday shows.

According to a survey of mining executives by policy think-tank the Fraser Institute, while Canadian provinces and territories fared well compared to international competitors in terms of issuing permits in a timely manner, some provinces certainly have room for improvement.

A case in point is British Columbia, the study shows, where 60% of survey respondents said wait times have lengthened over the past decade, compared to just 38% in Quebec. In contrast, not a single respondent in Saskatchewan, the world’s new top mining investments destination according to a related study, said permit wait times were longer than 10 years ago.

Teck Bullish on Coal, But Not Enough to Add Production Capacity – by Danielle Bochove and Natalie Obiko Pearson (Bloomberg News – February 27, 2017)

March 1, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Teck Resources Ltd. is bullish on steelmaking-coal prices, but not enough to add production capacity, said the head of Canada’s largest diversified miner.

“I’m feeling excited,” Teck Chief Executive Officer Don Lindsay said Monday in a Bloomberg TV interview. “In the last 10 days we’ve seen a clear change in direction in coal prices,” with a surge in forward prices for the material that’s used to make steel, he said.

The possibility that China could reinstate coal output restrictions at the end of March and its decision to stop importing coal from North Korea are supportive of prices, Lindsay said at the BMO Capital Markets metals and mining conference in Hollywood, Florida.

Encanto Potash and Muskowekwan First Nation sign new mining regulation agreement – by Alex MacPherson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – February 28, 2017)

March 1, 2017

http://thestarphoenix.com/

Encanto Potash Corp. has signed an agreement with Muskowekwan First Nation and the provincial and federal governments that it says will pave the way for construction of its proposed potash mine on the reserve northeast of Regina.

The agreement is expected to lead to the first First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act (FNCIDA), legislation that applies existing provincial rules to large-scale projects on First Nations land, the Toronto-based company said in a news release.

“By achieving this milestone, the first ever for such a planned large scale operation in Canada, we have been breaking entirely new ground,” Muskowekwan Chief Reginald Bellerose said in a statement.

The Canadian prairies are now the best places for mining in the world, according to Fraser Institute’s global ranking – by Sunny Freeman (Financial Post – February 28, 2017)

February 28, 2017

http://business.financialpost.com/

Two Prairie provinces are the best places in the world to invest in mining, according to the Fraser Institute’s most recent survey of global mining companies. Saskatchewan deposed Western Australia from the global top spot among 104 jurisdictions, as determined by a poll of mining executives.

Manitoba moved ahead 17 spots to rank second — thanks in part to a favourable tax regime — while the region Down Under fell to third. The results were based both on geological and policy attractiveness.

“Competitive tax regimes, efficient permitting procedures and certainty surrounding environmental regulations and land-claims have vaulted Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the top in the eyes of miners looking to invest,” said Kenneth Green, senior director of the Fraser Institute’s energy and natural resource studies.

The revenge of Canada’s climate deplorables could lead to our very own Trump – by Kevin Libin (Financial Post – February 28, 2017)

February 28, 2017

http://business.financialpost.com/

We haven’t seen much of former U.S. president Barack Obama since he departed the job on Jan. 20th. He was spotted in New York City on Friday looking relaxed as he caught a Broadway show with his daughter. Before that, the ex-president was photographed cavorting with Richard Branson on the billionaire’s private Caribbean luxury resort island. If Obama’s conscience troubles him over whatever responsibility he bears for ushering in the turbulent, truculent Trump phenomenon, it doesn’t show.

But whether you’re pro-Trump or anti-Trump, it’s undeniable the current president is largely a response, a backlash even, to the excesses of Obama’s leadership, his determination to force through Democrat pet policies — Obamacare, climate regulations, the Iran deal — in spite of voter disapproval and, often, their hostility.

When politicians are certain their cause is righteous, they can rationalize away accounting for the will of the people. But in democracies, the people eventually get their revenge. In the U.S. that vengeance looked like Donald Trump.

High noon approaches for Centerra, Kyrgyz disputes as cash reserves dwindle – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – February 25, 2017)

February 27, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – A resolution to the drawn-out dispute between Canadian gold producer Centerra Gold, the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and State miner Kyrgyzaltyn could potentially be reached by mid-year, the multinational miner said in its year-end results statement issued late on Thursday.

Centerra, which in January filed a request for a partial award or interim measures against the Kyrgyz Republic with the Permanent Court of Arbitration, is seeking an award ordering the Kyrgyz Republic withdraw or suspend its claims relating to environmental, dividend and land use accusations, and related decisions and court orders.

The Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyzaltyn and Centerra are expected to make submissions by the end of April and the company expects that the arbitrator will render a decision on the matter in mid-2017.