Canadian Media Resource Articles – Page 465

Nevsun Resources to buy Reservoir Minerals for $365 million (Reuters Canada – April 25, 2016)

April 25, 2016

http://ca.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Canadian miner Nevsun Resources Ltd NSU.TO said it has agreed to buy Reservoir Minerals Inc RMC.V for about $365 million in cash and stock. Nevsun, which owns the Bisha copper-zinc mine in Eritrea, will pay two shares of Nevsun and $0.001 in cash for each Reservoir share, the company said on Sunday.

The deal values Reservoir shares at C$9.401 each, representing a 35 percent premium to its last close, based on Nevsun stock’s Friday closing price. Nevsun will also provide $135 million in financing to Reservoir, by buying about 12.2 million of Reservoir shares for $90.3 million and providing an unsecured cash loan of $44.7 million to Reservoir.

Vancouver-based Reservoir is a mining exploration and development company. Its flagship venture is the Timok copper and gold project in Serbia, which it owns in a joint venture with U.S.-based miner Freeport McMoRan Inc FCX.N.

KWG CEO: Unlock Ring of Fire Riches With Chinese-Built Rail – Bloomberg TV’s Pamela Ritchie Interviews Frank Smeenk (April 22, 2016)

April 25, 2016

http://bloombergtv.ca/ Frank Smeenk, President & CEO of KWG Resources joins Bloomberg TV Canada’s Pamela Ritchie to discuss his proposal to build a railroad to Ring of Fire that could be financed by Chinese banks.

Ring of Fire development a political winner, but not quite so for mining companies – by Barrie McKenna (Globe and Mail – April 25, 2016)

April 25, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

OTTAWA — Good lobbyists know that advancing an agenda works best when the stars align. That’s the moment when what you want is in sync with what the government wants. Take the Ring of Fire – a mineral-rich, but untapped swath of northwestern Ontario.

The problem (beyond the immediate inconvenience of depressed commodities prices) is that the area is essentially cut off from the world. There are no roads, rail links or power supply to get at the vast deposits of nickel, chromite, copper and platinum buried in the belt, located 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay.

Enter Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He’s committed to spending billions of dollars on infrastructure. He also wants to forge a new relationship with indigenous Canadians, involve them in resource development and create economic opportunities for troubled northern communities, such as Attawapiskat.

Dominic Cardy calls for ‘clarity’ on Aboriginal veto – by Alan White (CBC News New Brunswick – April 22, 2016)

April 22, 2016

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/

New Democratic Party Leader Dominic Cardy is urging the federal Liberal government to make a decision quickly about the proposed Sisson mine project in New Brunswick.

A new study by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency found not enough has been done to offset the “significant” impact the 12.5 sq.-km mine would have on four Maliseet communities that have traditionally used the area northwest of Fredericton for hunting, fishing and gathering resources.

The chiefs of five First Nations and the chief of the Wolastoq Grand Council have all called for the Sisson mine proposal to be rejected by the federal government. An environmental assessment process is taking place and a decision is expected this summer.

Fallen angels: Downgrades surge amid commodities rout – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – April 22, 2016)

April 22, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

More companies were tossed into the investment junkyard during the first three months of this year than in all of 2015, as weak commodity prices helped to undermine once-solid corporate balance sheets.

Moody’s Investors Service, one of the world’s largest credit raters, said in a report that it pushed 51 companies out of its investment-grade category during the first quarter of 2016, a reflection of their increasing risk of default.

By comparison, Moody’s downgraded only 45 companies to below investment-grade status during all of last year. The surge in downgrades is a worrisome sign for a global economy that is still finding it difficult to generate robust growth seven years after the financial crisis ended.

Cameco Corp to shutter Rabbit Lake mine, cut 500 jobs due to weak uranium market – by Peter Koven (National Post – April 22, 2016)

April 22, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

Cameco Corp. announced it will shutter its long-running Rabbit Lake operation in Saskatchewan as the company tries to adjust to an extremely weak uranium market.

The shutdown will lead to roughly 500 job losses, Saskatoon-based Cameco said on Thursday night. The miner is also curtailing production at its U.S. operations, which will result in an additional 85 job cuts.

Cameco chief executive Tim Gitzel said these moves were unavoidable as the company needs to be prepared for a “lower-for-longer” scenario in the uranium business. “It was just a tough day for all of us here at Cameco and we’re thinking of our employees,” he said in an interview.

Uranium market is getting crushed – by Frik Els (Mining.com – April 21, 2016)

April 22, 2016

http://www.mining.com/

Uranium price falls to lowest since May 2005 as bearishness overwhelms the sector

Iron ore is on an insane run, copper’s dug itself out of January’s seven-year trough, tin and zinc are in bull markets, coking coal is heading for triple digits and crude’s holding onto 60% gains since February’s low despite the Doha disaster.

Uranium? It’s having the worst start to a year in a decade. U3O8 is down more than 25% in 2016 with the UxC broker average price sliding to $25.69 a pound on Friday. That’s the cheapest uranium has been since May 2, 2005.

Haywood Securities in a research note points out that the spot U3O8 price “saw three years of back-to-back double-digit percentage losses from 2011-13, but none worse than what we’ve seen thus far in 2016, and at no point since Fukushima, did the average weekly spot price dip below $28 a pound.” The long term price, where most uranium business is conducted, is languishing at around $44 a pound.

Curbing carbon emissions will cost the economy, but not changing ‘could be substantial,’ PBO says -by Yadullah Hussain (Financial Post – April 22, 2016)

April 22, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

Curbing carbon emissions would cost Canada between one and three per cent in economic growth by 2030, but the price of leaving greenhouse gas emissions unchecked “could be substantial,” Parliamentary Budget Officer said Thursday.

The federal government and a number of provinces have introduced a slew of measures to curb emissions, but they will not be enough, the PBO said in a report.

“Those measures, while substantial, are unlikely to achieve the target on their own. Deeper reductions will be needed,” the independent parliamentary body noted.The report comes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to sign the Paris climate change agreement in New York on Friday, along with leaders of 130 other nations.

Sprott portfolio manager sees wave of M&A ahead in gold sector – by Jonathan Ratner (Financial Post – April 22, 2016)

April 22, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

Everything begins at the macro level for gold investors. With the precious metal having spent five years in a bear market, and only about three months off its lows, it’s starting to look like now may be a good time to take on more risk in the sector.

For Paul Wong, senior portfolio manager at Sprott Asset Management, that means buying more small and mid-cap companies, many of which are in the project development phase.

What’s driving gold higher these days is monetary policy, which is closely tied to currencies, interest rates and credit. Given the elevated volatility in each of these three markets, it’s easy to see why gold is outperforming most other asset classes.

How the madness of Muskrat Falls might finally be fixed – by Tom Adams (Financial Post – April 22, 2016)

April 22, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

Mired in controversy, cost overruns, construction delays, politicized decision-making, existential litigation and secrecy, the Lower Churchill Muskrat Falls hydroelectric megaproject in Labrador has just generated the first good news in its history.

The energy-development arm of Newfoundland and Labrador’s government, Nalcor Energy, has this week seen a changing of the guard. Out are Nalcor’s board and CEO. Together, they had an intimate association with the former provincial Progressive Conservative government, which had initiated and shielded the Muskrat Falls project from prying eyes.

In, as of Thursday, is a new CEO, Stan Marshall, recently retired as the head of the private utility powerhouse Fortis Inc. Under Marshall, Fortis rose from its roots as a medium-sized domestic power distributor based in St. John’s to become an extremely successful international multi-energy utility company.

Cameco Corp. shuts down Rabbit Lake uranium mine indefinitely and cuts 500 jobs (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – April 21, 2016)

April 21, 2016

http://thestarphoenix.com/

Cameco Corp. is shuttering its Rabbit Lake uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan and curtailing production at its U.S. operations, resulting in the loss of about 585 jobs.

“Unfortunately, continued depressed market conditions do not support the operating and capital costs needed to sustain production at Rabbit Lake and the US operations,” Cameco CEO Tim Gitzel said in a statement late Thursday afternoon.

Rabbit Lake, which began production in 1975, will be placed in a “safe care and maintenance state” until market conditions improve “significantly.” The move will result in a reduction of about 500 jobs at the operation.

Layoffs will take place over the next four months, with affected employees being offered severance packages or alternatives such as relocation to other Cameco operations or job sharing options, the company said in a news release.

Northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire needs a road, not rail, Noront CEO asserts – by Bill Curry (Globe and Mail – April 21, 2016)

April 21, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

OTTAWA — The biggest player in Northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire says government infrastructure cash should focus on an east-west road rather than grand plans for a $2-billion north-south rail line.

Alan Coutts, president and CEO of Noront Resources Ltd., responded to a proposal recently promoted to the federal and Ontario governments for a 340-kilometre-long rail line that would be built and financed by Chinese investors.

“What we’re saying is let’s not blow our brains out building the biggest, costliest infrastructure known to mankind without the economic justification,” Mr. Coutts told The Globe and Mail.

Both Ottawa and Ontario are looking to make major investments in infrastructure to spur the economy and help struggling First Nations communities.

5 Maliseet chiefs want Sisson mine rejected – by Alan White (CBC News New Brunswick – April 21, 2016)

April 21, 2016

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/

St. Mary’s, Tobique, Kingsclear, Oromocto, Madawaska chiefs respond to environmental assessment

The chiefs of five Maliseet First Nations in New Brunswick are calling for the proposed Sisson mine project to be rejected because of its impact on Maliseet people.

The chiefs of Kingsclear, Madawaska, Oromocto, St. Mary’s and Tobique First Nations issued a statement on Thursday in reaction to a federal study that said the proposed mine would have a “significant” impact on several communities.

The proposed mine would impact 1,253 hectares of land about 60 kilometres northwest of Fredericton that have been traditionally used for hunting, fishing and resource-gathering by the Tobique, Kingsclear, Woodstock and St. Mary’s communities.

Men of the Deeps director wins Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award – by By Hal Higgins (CBC News Nova Scotia – April 19, 2016)

April 21, 2016

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

Jack O’Donnell took group on as a one-time project, still with them 50 years later

As a recipient of the Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2016 ECMA gala concert in Sydney last weekend, Jack O’Donnell is reflecting on a connection with the legendary folklorist that began in 1966.

“It was 50 years ago this month,” he said, recalling how Creighton encouraged him when he was a professor in the music department at St. Francis Xavier University to collect coal mining songs from Cape Breton. Moreover, she wanted him to become the director of a singing group composed of miners and former miners.

The singing group was the brainchild of Nina Cohen of Glace Bay. She had proposed the formation of such a chorus, which would showcase Cape Breton’s mining history at Expo ’67 in Montreal during Canada’s centennial year.

Chinese engineers visit Ontario’s Ring of Fire to survey possible $2B railway route (Canadian Press/Toronto Star – April 19, 2016)

April 21, 2016

http://www.thestar.com/

Engineers from China recently visited the Ring of Fire in northern Ontario to assess the potential of building a $2-billion railway line, a proponent behind developing minerals in the area said Tuesday.

Frank Smeenk, CEO of Toronto-based mineral exploration company KWG Resources, said the rail line is crucial for the extraction of nickel, chromite, copper and platinum from the massive deposits.

He said a team of engineers from a subsidiary of the state-owned China Railway Construction Corp. surveyed a proposed 328-kilometre route last week as part of detailed engineering work before they advance toward a final investment decision.