Canadian Media Resource Articles – Page 477

China’s African retreat: How a once-celebrated relationship turned cold – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – February 27, 2016)

February 29, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The vast sprawling machinery of South Africa’s second-biggest steel factory is sitting idle these days. After decades of noise and dust and smoke, the factory quietly shut its doors this month, sending its last 1,800 workers home.

The once-busy highway outside the factory is now silent and empty, aside from a few prostitutes who patrol the road, raising their skirts desperately to the occasional passing motorist.

Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium, one of the world’s 15 biggest steel makers less than a decade ago, has fallen victim to a flood of cheap Chinese steel imports and a slowdown in demand from the Chinese economy. The entire South African steel industry has plunged into a deep crisis, with an estimated 50,000 jobs in jeopardy, despite last-ditch government efforts to protect the industry by imposing tariffs on cheap Chinese imports.

Dividend cut speeds up shift in Goldcorp’s leadership – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – February 27, 2016)

February 29, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

After shocking investors with a multibillion-dollar loss, Goldcorp Inc. is telling disgruntled shareholders to be patient as the gold producer prepares for a shift in leadership next week.

The Vancouver-based miner slashed its dividend while delivering ugly results and underwhelming guidance after markets closed Thursday. In response, its share price tumbled 13.1 per cent on Friday.

“I’m certainly aware that many shareholders are disappointed with some of the news this morning and I share their disappointment,” Chuck Jeannes, the outgoing chief executive officer, told analysts. However, he defended the dividend cut as being a realistic response to a gold price that has mostly trended lower in recent years.

Canada needs to play tough, old-time hockey to protect domestic industries [Steel sector] – by Christian Provenzano (Globe and Mail – February 27, 2016)

February 29, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Christian Provenzano is mayor of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

If international trade were a hockey game, it would be one that is rife with clutching, grabbing and underhanded tactics. As a player, Canada is trying its best to ignore this. We’re committed to playing by a code of politeness that our opponents choose to ignore. It’s time to muscle up, go into the corners again and have “fair trade” re-enter the lexicon alongside “free trade.”

The best way to begin doing this is by modernizing our trade-remedy system. Our current, antiquated system is putting our domestic industries at a competitive disadvantage, with the steel sector being particularly hard hit in recent times.

Mining firms in B.C. to face tougher penalties for health and safety failures – by Justine Hunter (Globe and Mail – February 25, 2016)

February 26, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

VICTORIA — British Columbia is catching up with other provinces by introducing tougher penalties for mining companies that fail to comply with health and safety rules.

Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett introduced amendments to the Mines Act on Thursday that will give regulators new powers to levy financial penalties without having to go to court. As well, the courts will be able to impose more severe punishment including fines of up to $1-million and three-year jail terms.

It’s the latest in a string of measures to improve mining safety in the wake of the 2014 environmental disaster when a tailings pond collapsed at the Mount Polley copper and gold mine in central B.C.

You can grow a long, grey beard awaiting Ontario mine permits (BNN Commodities Reporter Andrew Bell interviews Fraser Institute’s Kenneth Green (Business Network News – February 23, 2016)

February 25, 2016

http://www.bnn.ca/ Click here for the Fraser Report: http://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/permit-times-for-mining-exploration-how-long-are-they

Ontario court ruling opens up potential road access to ‘Ring of Fire’ mineral belt – by Peter Koven (Financial Post – February 25, 2016)

February 25, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

TORONTO — The planned development of Northern Ontario’s “Ring of Fire” mineral belt got a potential boost on Wednesday when an appeals court ruled that a small junior mining firm should not have exclusive access to a transportation corridor.

The decision opens the door to construction of a north-south road to the Ring, which is thought to contain about $60 billion of chromite and other minerals. The Ontario government supports a road, in part because it would link up with remote First Nations communities.

In 2009, a Toronto-based company called KWG Resources Inc. staked more than 200 mining claims going from the Ring of Fire all the way down to the CN rail line in Exton, Ont. Effectively, this gave KWG control over a crucial 340-kilometre access route to the mineral belt.

B.C.’s Thriving Jade Industry Is A Family Affair In ‘Jade Fever’ – by ClaudiaBunce (Huffington Post – February 24, 2016)

February 25, 2016

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/

Claudia Bunce owns and operates a mining company in Jade City near Dease Lake, B.C., and is the star of Discovery’s JADE FEVER.

Jade City is located on the Cassiar highway, which the Americans use to enter Alaska. It didn’t take long for this tiny mining community to become a world famous tourist stop. My father started mining around Jade City in the 1970s and retired in 1992.

My husband Robin and I have taken ownership of the Cassiar Mountain Jade store and set up Dease Lake Jade Mining, all with the help of our family. We’re the only family based mining company that we know of. There isn’t a large scale in mining in the jade industry — that is why it’s still here!

BHP finally faces extent of commodity rout with long-needed dividend cut – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – February 24, 2016)

February 25, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

BHP Billiton Ltd. is slashing its dividend. This is good news. As painful as the cut might be in the short term, it demonstrates that management is finally recognizing the extent of its long-term challenge.

Until Monday, the world’s largest miner had stubbornly stuck to a progressive dividend policy despite years of falling commodity prices. BHP had promised to maintain or increase payouts year after year, even if it cost the company billions in badly needed capital.

It was an act of hubris. Trying to strap an ever loftier dividend onto the unpredictable ups and downs of the commodity market brings to mind a certain story that involves making wings out of wax, flying too close to the sun – and you know how it goes from there.

The great [Ontario] green carbon tax grab – by Terence Corcoran (Financial Post – February 25, 2016)

February 25, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

Touted by economists as a wondrous market mechanism that will deliver Canada from the evils of climate change, carbon pricing is emerging out of the political swamps as a regulatory nightmare. It is also shaping up as the Great Canadian Carbon Tax Grab.

In advance of a first ministers’ meeting next week with Prime Minister Trudeau in Vancouver to begin setting national carbon objectives, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne announced that – just as consumers are beginning to benefit from lower oil prices – her province’s cap-and-trade version of a carbon tax will add 4.3 cents to the price of a litre of gasoline. Natural gas prices will also go up $60 a year per household.

More fiscal details are to come in a budget Thursday, but a Globe and Mail report says the government will ultimately collect $1.3 billion a year in fresh revenue from its cap-and-trade taxes on gasoline and natural gas.

Alberta braces for longest economic slump since 1980s – by Justin Giovannetti and Kelly Cryderman (Globe and Mail – February 25, 2016)

February 25, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

For the first time since the early 1980s, Alberta is expected to have an economic slump that lasts for two years as low oil prices persist and the province’s Finance Minister warns of a “once-in-a-generation” challenge reflected in a provincial deficit that could top $10.4-billion next year.

After years of Alberta’s energy-fuelled economy leading Canada’s growth, the province’s challenges have become a national burden, with unemployment mounting, banks reporting losses on loans and the federal government sliding into a deeper deficit.

“There is no minimizing the impact that low oil prices are having on people’s jobs, on the economy and the government’s fiscal situation,” Finance Minister Joe Ceci said on Wednesday. “This is a once-in-a-generation challenge.”

Resource development: Stuck at a yellow light – by Jeffrey Simpson (Globe and Mail – February 24, 2016)

February 25, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada has become a country of yellow lights, with project after project delayed by governments, courts, aboriginal groups and non-governmental organizations.

No longer does the country have the capacity to make decisions about major projects that cause the slightest controversy. No matter what scientific review or regulatory process is put in place to examine projects, its credibility is attacked from the get-go by those who oppose the projects, full stop.

We have now entered a period where proponents of anything might ask: Why bother spending heaps of time and money on the review or regulatory process when governments aren’t going to pay any attention but rather make decisions based on politics?

‘Mr. Saskatchewan’ Brad Wall steps up as oil economy’s chief defender – by Claudia Cattaneo (Financial Post – February 24, 2016)

February 24, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

The oil crash has been rough on political leaders, but not Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall. If opinion polls prove accurate, the two-term premier and his Saskatchewan Party are sailing toward another solid majority in the April 4 provincial election.

Wall, 50, remains wildly popular despite his oil-producing province’s economic slowdown and deteriorating government finances. Similar conditions contributed to the defeat last year of conservative, oil-industry supportive governments in Alberta and in Ottawa and are even poking a hole in Wall’s narrative that “Sask. Party times are good times” — as Regina Leader-Post columnist Murray Mandryk recently put it.

“It is pretty interesting to watch how Mr. Wall’s popularity continues to defy the odds,” said Quito Maggi, president and CEO of Mainstreet Research, which has done polling in the province.

BHP Billiton Ltd still likes giant Saskatchewan potash project, but not in any hurry to develop – by Peter Koven (National Post – February 24, 2016)

February 24, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

The world’s biggest mining company says it is still keen to build the world’s biggest potash mine, despite a severe bear market in the crop nutrient. But it sure doesn’t seem to be in a hurry.

Andrew Mackenzie, BHP Billiton Ltd.’s chief executive, told investors on Tuesday that he doesn’t expect the potash market to make a serious recovery until the early 2020s. “It’s a long way off,” he said on a conference call to discuss half-year earnings.

Melbourne, Australia-based BHP is in the midst of a US$2.6-billion investment to build production shafts at its Jansen project in Saskatchewan. Jansen would be a game-changer in the industry, as BHP is aiming to produce eight million tonnes of potash a year, which would amount to nearly 15 per cent of global supply.

Teck Resources announces sweeping executive changes – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – February 24, 2016)

February 24, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Teck Resources Ltd announced sweeping changes in its senior ranks on Tuesday, including the retirement of its chief operating officer.

In an unrelated announcement, the copper, coal and zinc producer was downgraded by Moody’s Investor’s Services, which pointed to the impact of continued low commodity prices on its balance sheet.

“The rating action reflects Moody’s view that there has been a fundamental downward shift in the mining sector with the downturn being deeper and the recovery longer than previously expected,” the credit rater said in a press release that announced it was lowering Teck’s rating to B3 from the previous Ba3.

Gold: Safe haven or just another volatile commodity? – by Terry Cain (Globe and Mail – February 23, 2016)

February 23, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

On Feb. 11, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged by nearly 255 points, the S&P 500 dropped 1.2 per cent, and most of the Canadian equity market fell just as much in the latest in a series of sharp selloffs for global equities.

However one asset – and one equity sector – flew in the opposite direction. The price of gold soared by more than $50 (U.S.) an ounce, and gold-mining stocks enjoyed gains of 5 per cent or more.

Gold has long been considered a safe haven when there is turmoil in the rest of the financial world. Whether it is war, currency crises, stock market crashes or runaway inflation, gold has historically been an asset that holds its value when other assets are crumbling. But is it still an effective way to limit downside risk for average investors?