Canadian Media Resource Articles – Page 448

Centerra Gold to buy Thompson Creek for $1.1-billion – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – July 6, 2016)

July 6, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Centerra Gold Inc. of Toronto, a miner looking for ways to lower its risk, has struck a $1.1-billion (U.S.) deal to purchase Thompson Creek Metals Co. Inc., a Colorado-based miner seeking relief from a mountain of debt.

Centerra owns the Kumtor gold mine in Kyrgyzstan and the Boroo gold mine in Mongolia. The company has been seeking a North American counterweight to those riskier locales and Thompson Creek’s Mount Milligan copper and gold mine in British Columbia fits with its desire for safety.

“The acquisition will establish an operating base in Canada, one of the lowest-risk mining jurisdictions in the world,” Centerra chief executive officer Scott Perry said in a press release.

Mining companies keep draining Arctic lakes and moving all of their fish – by Hilary Beaumont (Vice News – July 5, 2016)

July 6, 2016

https://news.vice.com/

In what’s being called a “fishout program,” Canada’s most remote northern territory has given the go-ahead for a mining company to drain an entire lake and relocate all of its fish. Once mining is done, the company plans to re-flood the lakebed and put the fish back.

Though the plan may seem absurd at first blush, it’s actually the second time the mining company has relocated fish from a lake in order to expand its open pit Meadowbank gold mine — a practice by mining companies that’s become surprisingly common in northern Canada.

It’s become so normal that the Canadian government drew up guidelines in 2011 for how mining companies should drain lakes and relocate fish. Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. wants to drain 500,000 cubic metres of water from Phaser Lake in Nunavut, one of Canada’s three arctic territories.

Galt No. 6 coal mine in Lethbridge designated as historic site – by Ayesha Clough (CBC News Calgary – July 6, 2016)

July 6, 2016

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

A remnant of Lethbridge’s mining past will be preserved in a new park after city council designated the Galt Mine No. 6 site as a Municipal Historic Resource.

Not much remains of the mine shaft that closed more than 80 years ago, aside from the boiler hoist base, tipple foundation and drift tunnel — but that’s not stopping the project.

“The fact there’s not a lot there [is] actually giving us more opportunities,” says Belinda Crowson, president of the Lethbridge Historical Society. “In my mind, ruins and holographic material … you could have an amazing display there of what the buildings used to look like.”

‘Just sit back and watch’: Silver on a massive tear, but how long will it last? – by Peter Koven (Financial Post – July 5, 2016)

July 5, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

Silver has gone on a tear over the last month, culminating in a massive gain on Monday that is only adding to questions about the sustainability of the rally.

The metal has jumped 28 per cent since the start of June, but the gains have accelerated since the Brexit vote on June 23. The key futures contract jumped as much as eight per cent overnight, reaching a two-year high of US$21.23 an ounce.

U.S. markets were closed Monday and commodities often go through huge fluctuations when liquidity is low. Peter Hug, global trading director at Kitco Metals Inc., said the move could simply be short covering in a thin market. “Everyone’s looking at silver and saying, ‘It doesn’t feel like it’s real, but we’re not going to get in the way of it right now. Let’s just sit back and watch,’” he said.

A murky picture unfolds as commodity rally stuns even bullish analysts – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – July 5, 2016)

July 5, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The commodity boom is back – surprising many observers and raising questions about how long the good times will persist.

Over the first six months of the year, the Bloomberg Commodity Index surged 14 per cent, well ahead of global stocks and bonds. The benchmark, which follows the prices of 22 raw materials, continued its strong performance on Monday, with silver and nickel making big advances.

Prices for several commodities are now outrunning the expectations of even bullish analysts. Last week, in response to silver’s brighter outlook, Anita Soni at Credit Suisse raised her forecast for the metal by 15 per cent, bumping it up to $19.03 (U.S.) an ounce in 2017. On Monday, silver sped past her revised estimate for next year and briefly touched $21 an ounce.

Time for a firm stand against asbestos, Canada – by Kathleen Ruff (Ottawa Citizen – July 4, 2016)

July 5, 2016

http://ottawacitizen.com/

Kathleen Ruff is founder and co-cordinator of the Rotterdam Convention Allliance, which represents civil society organizations around the world. She was recently awarded the medal of the Quebec National Assembly for her work to stop asbestos mining and ban asbestos.

One of the key promises made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is that his government will restore Canada’s badly tarnished image on the international stage. Canada is back, says the prime minister. Canada will support global policies based on evidence and play a positive role at the United Nations. Trudeau’s pledge has been welcomed by most Canadians and by the international community.

But when it comes to asbestos, Trudeau is breaking that pledge. Asbestos is the biggest killer of Canadian workers. The Trudeau government has prohibited use of asbestos at Public Works and Government Services Canada workplaces and indicated that it will join 55 other countries in banning asbestos.

BHP said to be after Potash Corp again – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – July 2, 2016)

July 4, 2016

http://www.mining.com/

Shares in Potash Corp. (TSX, NYSE:POT), the world’s second-largest producer of the fertilizer, soared as much as 6.6% in Toronto on Thursday to $22.18, closing at $21, on fresh rumours that BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) had made an unsolicited takeover offer for the Canadian miner.

According to The Fly website, the word among traders was that the Saskatchewan-based miner had hired an investment bank to analyze the proposal.

In 2010 the Canadian government’s rejected BHP’s $40 billion hostile takeover bid for Potash Corp. saying the offer failed to meet the criteria of providing a net benefit to the country. Analysts believed at the time the move would deter any potential suitors from approaching the company in the future.

‘Not sustainable at all’: Investors stockpiling miners in spite of soaring share prices – by Peter Koven (Financial Post – July 2, 2016)

July 4, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

It feels like a lifetime ago, but only five months have passed since investors thought Canada’s two biggest copper miners were at risk of collapsing.

In mid-January, Teck Resources Ltd.’s long-term notes traded as low as 38.5 cents on the dollar. Meanwhile, the debt of First Quantum Minerals Ltd., one of its chief rivals, traded between 40 and 45 cents. The mining industry was drowning in debt and the market feared that big-name companies were heading for painful restructurings, if not outright failure.

It’s easy to see where that kind of thinking came from. Commodity prices were plummeting, and most experts thought they were going nowhere for at least the next few years, possibly the next decade. Stock prices across the mining sector were at multi-year lows, and investor sentiment on the sector was arguably the worst it had ever been.

Dirty or clean, politics drive cross-border energy deals – by Konrad Yakabuski (Globe and Mail – July 4, 2016)

July 4, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The U.S. President who infamously opposed one form of cross-border energy infrastructure is putting his weight behind another. But will Barack Obama’s support for more cross-border electricity transmission links rescue provincially owned utilities from the deep holes they’ve dug by spending billions on new hydro projects amid a flooded North American power market?

The goal set at last week’s North American Leaders’ Summit to increase the share of clean energy in the continent’s electricity mix to 50 per cent by 2025, from 37 per cent now, could largely depend on the fate of a several proposals to build new transmission lines to transport Canadian hydropower south.

Yet each of those proposals faces steep opposition from U.S. environmental groups and electricity distributors, which argue that Canadian hydropower is neither clean nor renewable, while its cost far exceeds that of greener homegrown alternatives.

[Canada resources] A SEISMIC SHIFT – by David Parkinson (Globe and Mail – July 2, 2016)

July 4, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada’s entire history has been intertwined with its natural resources. But in our nation’s 150th year, our status as a resource economy may be at a crossroads as it grapples with a downturn in the energy sector. We’ve had cyclical ups and downs before, but might this time be different? And if so, are we ready for the challenges ahead?

Before there was a Canada, there were the resources.

The Europeans arrived in this harsh, untamed land more or less by mistake, looking for a shortcut to the Far East; but the abundance of natural wealth lured them back. The fish and furs and trees, the ores within the earth, the vast expanses of rich soil – the natural resources were the reason people came here, stayed, formed the communities and towns and cities that eventually banded into a country.

“The present Dominion emerged not in spite of geography but because of it,” wrote economic historian Harold Innis in 1930 in The Fur Trade in Canada, perhaps the most influential examination of Canada’s economic development ever written.

Barrick Gold’s Thornton Named Silk Road Finance Corp. Chairman – by Cathy Kit Ching Chan (Boomberg News – July 2, 2016)

July 4, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Barrick Gold Corporation chairman John Thornton has been named chairman of Asian investment firm Silk Road Finance Corp., as the company seeks to tap the veteran banker’s global experience and boost its reach across Asia and Europe.

Thornton, 62, was one of the founding partners advising the establishment of Silk Road and will oversee the company’s strategy, said chief executive officer Li Shan by phone. “He is one of the best bankers in the world,” Li said. “He helped build Goldman Sachs’ Asia and its European business and has a very good understanding of the belt and road environment.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the “One Belt, One Road” infrastructure program in 2013, aiming to deepen China’s economic ties across Asia. The program includes plans to build a “New Silk Road” network of roads, railways, pipelines and ports from Asia to Europe, and will include providing legal services, facilitating capital flows and promoting the Chinese yuan’s internationalization along the route.

Editorial: Brexit vote stokes gold rally – by John Cumming (Northern Miner – June 28, 2016)

June 30, 2016

http://www.northernminer.com/

With all the political turmoil surrounding the United Kingdom’s surprise, non-binding vote in a June 23 referendum to leave the European Union, the world has certainly learned a few lessons.

Number one for gold miners and investors is that gold performed exactly as promised by gold bugs, serving as a valuable insurance policy against political and currency risk in any investment portfolio.

Polls in the months leading up to voting day all pointed to “Remain” winning, as did the early voting results, but as the night wore on, “Leave” swung to the winning side. Ultimately, 51.9% of U.K. voters supported an exit from the EU (17.4 million votes) while 48.1% (16.1 million votes) expressed their desire to remain, with a turnout of 72.2%, out of a total population of all ages of 65 million.

Lucara shares drop after its giant diamond fails to sell at auction – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – June 30, 2016)

June 30, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Shares of Lucara Diamond Corp. of Vancouver nosedived on Wednesday after the giant gemstone it discovered last year failed to sell at a London auction.

The top bid of $61-million (U.S.) fell short of Lucara’s minimum selling price for its historic discovery. Slightly smaller than a tennis ball, the 1,109-carat stone is the largest diamond unearthed in more than a century.

Lucara’s shares plunged as much as 17 per cent in the hours after the auction and finished the day down 14.5 per cent. The stock had doubled in price over the past year as Lucara produced a stream of supersized diamonds from its Karowe mine in Botswana.

Kinross eyes expansions at its new gold mines in Nevada – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – June 29, 2016)

June 29, 2016

http://www.mining.com/

Canada’s Kinross (TSX:G) (NYSE:KGC), the world’s fifth largest gold producer, believes it can increase reserves at its Bald Mountain and Round Mountain mines, which it acquired from Barrick Gold (TSX, NYSE:ABX) late last year.

The company, which is looking to strengthen its portfolio in North America, has increased its exploration budget for the year by 50% to $9 million as “promising results” at Bald Mountain have “reaffirmed Kinross’ confidence in the site’s significant upside potential,” it said in a market update ahead of an analyst tour this week.

Kinross, which operates two mines in Russia and also owns the problem-plagued Tasiast operation in Mauritania, also see great potential in its other Nevada-based mien — Round Mountain.

BHP Billiton says Jansen project still alive despite comments from MLA – by D.C. Fraser and Alex MacPherson (Regina Leader-Post/Saskatoon StarPhoenix – June 28, 2016)

June 29, 2016

http://leaderpost.com/

A government backbench MLA hinted earlier this month that BHP Billiton Canada Inc. would abandon its multi-billion-dollar Jansen potash mine if it doesn’t get further approval to proceed with construction. However, the global mining giant and the government minister responsible for the file said that isn’t case.

Glen Hart, MLA for Last Mountain-Touchwood, told a group of citizens fighting a separate proposed potash mine that BHP employees in Saskatoon told the government that the massive Jansen mine was “at a stage now where if the board of directors doesn’t authorize any more expenditure on this project, they’re going to walk way.”

Hart’s comments were recorded, though it’s unclear if the MLA knew he was being taped. The MLA claims the quote was taken out of context and he was trying to describe his understanding of the process for how potash mine is built. According to a spokeswoman for the premier’s office, Hart in no way meant to sound as if the mine would not proceed.