Canadian Media Resource Articles – Page 502

CANADA FEDERAL ELECTION 2015: Trudeau rides national desire for change to majority government – by Eric Andrew-Gee, Steven Chase, Daniel LeBlanc and Les Perreaux (Globe and Mail – October 20, 2015)

October 20, 2015

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

In a stunning political comeback propelled by a national desire for change, Justin Trudeau and the Liberals won a decisive majority Monday night, bringing an end to the Stephen Harper era and a decade of Conservative rule.

Long derided by opponents as shallow and inexperienced, the Liberal Leader will now be the second Trudeau to take up residence as Prime Minister at 24 Sussex Dr. after leading the Liberals from the political wilderness back into government.

The result signals a vast reversal of fortunes for a party that was all but written off after winning just 34 seats in the past election. Their seat haul on Monday – with huge gains across the country – amounts to the largest increase in seats for a party between elections in Canadian history. The party was elected in 175 ridings and leading in a handful of others late Monday night.

The vote put an end to a long, acrimonious campaign that saw charges of Conservative Islamophobia and a bitter fight between the Liberals and NDP for the “change vote,” a battle the Liberals won.

In his victory speech in Montreal, Mr. Trudeau sent out a message of unity to Canadians, continuing the positive approach he adopted during the campaign. The Liberals operated on the principle that “you can appeal to the better angels of our nature, and you can win doing it,” he said.

[Saskatchewan Uranium waste] Gunnar cleanup to exceed $250M, 10 times estimate – by Alex MacPherson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – October 17, 2015)

October 19, 2015

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/

The cost of cleaning up an abandoned uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan is expected to exceed $250 million, more than 10 times the original estimate – and the provincial and federal governments are divided on how the burden will be shared.

Located on the northern shore of Lake Athabasca near Uranium City, about 800 kilometres north of Saskatoon, the Gunnar uranium mine was abandoned in 1964. The site remained littered with radioactive tailings, asbestos-laced buildings and other waste for more than half a century.

The original mine operator, Gunnar Mining Limited, no longer exists.

In 2006, the federal and provincial governments signed an agreement to rehabilitate the site and reduce further ground and water contamination. The project was originally estimated to cost no more than $24.6 million and take 17 years, according to Natural Resources Canada documents.

How Tesla sparked the latest race for bigger, better batteries – by Michael McCullough (Canadian Business Magazine – September 1, 2015)

October 26, 2015October 16, 2015

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/

Battery makers are suddenly finding themselves with an explosion of new markets to service—both big and small

You can be forgiven for thinking Tesla Motors is a car company. Yes, it started out making electric cars, but only because personal transportation is the lowest-hanging fruit in tackling the global energy and emissions problem. In fact, Tesla’s core mission is to make big batteries inexpensive and practical for any number of uses.

Last spring, founder Elon Musk unveiled a new product called Powerwall, a battery pack starting at US$3,000 that’s designed to power your whole home for 10 hours or more. If you have a solar panel on your roof, it will allow you to store the electricity produced during the day and use it in the evening to cook, do the laundry and max out your electronic devices.

Even if you don’t have solar panels, you may live in one of the growing number of jurisdictions where electricity costs rise and fall at different times of the day. You could save money on your utility bill by charging your Powerwall during the wee hours and drawing from it later.

Lithium, the love story – by Antoine Dion Ortega and Pierrick Blin (Corporate Knights.com – June 16, 2014)

May 13, 2016October 16, 2015

http://www.corporateknights.com/

Purmamarca, ARGENTINA – When Tesla Motors revealed in February it would build the world’s largest lithium-ion battery plant, shares in major lithium producers such as SQM, FMC and Rockwood – all active in South America’s so-called lithium triangle – got a noticeable boost.

Tesla pledged to invest more than $5 billion in its factory, construction of which would begin in 2017 with an eye to producing 500,000 batteries a year. Analysts now expect the Palo Alto, California-based electric carmaker to strike a strategic lithium supply agreement in the near future.

When that deal comes through, it could be huge. Tesla alone might represent an 8 per cent increase in global demand for lithium, and that’s good news for countries in the lithium mining game. Yet it’s unclear to what extent South America’s resource-rich nations will truly benefit from it, and whether the foreseen “white gold rush” will be a sustainable one.

Just a few days before Tesla’s announcement, Bolivian President Evo Morales was dressed in white overalls, carefully examining a battery cell during the inauguration of a pilot manufacturing plant, located within the 10,000 square kilometre salt flats of Uyuni.

Miners need to invest $150bn to avoid looming supply shortages – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – October 16, 2015)

October 16, 2015

http://www.mining.com/

While miners are holding off on new projects and looking to slow the completion of ones in the works as they face the worst commodity price collapse since 2008, research house Wood Mackenzie warns the industry could be paving the way for a major supply shortage.

In a presentation prepared for clients at LME Week in London, the firm’s vice chairman of metals and mining research, Julian Kettle, draws together the overall outlook for metals, citing the challenges of lower commodity prices, pressure from shareholders to curtail investment and a new reality of lower demand growth. Wood Mackenzie concludes that if the industry fails to invest the US$150 billion required to meet future supply needs, looming supply shortages will follow.

“The need for investment is becoming desperate in zinc and lead and will be an issue in copper in the next few years,” Kettle writes. “Unfortunately there is little appetite to invest with prices cutting into the cost curve, low free cash-flow, surpluses building, difficulty in financing and shareholders demanding dividends.”

China yet to hit ‘great wall’

Linamar Corp’s biggest deal yet bets that the cars of the future are aluminum – by Kristine Owram (National Post – October 16, 2015)

October 16, 2015

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Canadian auto-parts maker Linamar Corp. is betting that aluminum will continue to replace steel as automakers strive to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles, announcing the biggest acquisition in its 50-year history Thursday.

The Guelph, Ont.-based company has made an offer to acquire France’s Montupet SA for $1.16 billion plus debt, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.

Montupet makes complex aluminum castings for the global automotive industry with a particular focus on cylinder heads, complementing Linamar’s existing aluminum machining business.

“Aluminum is becoming more and more prevalent in the vehicle,” Linamar CEO Linda Hasenfratz said in an interview from Paris, where she announced the deal.

Centerra Gold hires former AuRico CEO to replace retiring chief executive – by Peter Koven (National Post – October 14, 2015)

October 14, 2015

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

TORONTO — Scott Perry is going to have his hands full. Perry, 38, has been named the next chief executive of Centerra Gold Inc. He will take over on Nov. 1 from Ian Atkinson, a veteran mining executive who is retiring.

Perry is stepping into one of the toughest jobs in the mining industry, or indeed any industry. Centerra’s flagship asset, the Kumtor gold mine, is located in Kyrgyzstan, where the political environment is as challenging as it gets.

Toronto-based Centerra has faced some massive obstacles over the years, including accusations from Kyrgyz officials that it engaged in international fraud, massive environmental destruction and other criminal acts.

None was ever proven. Len Homeniuk, the company’s founding CEO, got arrested and detained in Bulgaria this year after the Kyrgyz put him on Interpol’s wanted persons list on corruption allegations. Both Centerra and Homeniuk said the claims were nonsense.

Zinc turning bull? – by Kip Keen (Mineweb.com – October 13, 2015)

October 14, 2015

http://www.mineweb.com/

We look at the question of how much Glencore’s zinc cuts matter.

HALIFAX, NS – There’s no doubt that Glencore, in planning to axe some 500 000 tonnes zinc output, is throwing it’s weight around in the zinc market. The cut amounts to nearly 4% of world supply from mines. Indeed, zinc is a market where Glencore can, acting alone, make a difference to the big picture by curtailing operations.

But with demand growth for zinc and other metals waning in China somewhat, with a notable downturn in new construction there among other things, you wonder if, or to what degree, Glencore is chasing down a declining market (in growth terms).

With this question in mind, we asked BMO analyst Jessica Fung her view on how much of a difference Glencore’s zinc cuts make to the zinc market. She responds, “Glencore’s cuts do matter.”

To give perspective, she puts the zinc cut in copper terms. “Another way I have been explaining the impact of these cuts is that if this were announced in the copper market, it would be equivalent to 1 million tonnes of mine supply, which would be a very big cut from a copper miner.”

Canada’s prosperity built on network of railways, ports — and pipelines – by Gary Leach (Globe and Mail – October 14, 2015)

October 14, 2015

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Gary Leach is president of the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada.

The history of Canada is a story of nation-building across one of the world’s most difficult and challenging landscapes.

Our communities are separated by great distances and a sometimes-hostile natural environment. Our geography has endowed us, as a nation, with great natural resource wealth. But it also presents us with vexing challenges.

The great national transportation and infrastructure projects of the 19th and 20th centuries – our railways, highways, seaways, communications networks and pipelines – linked a string of remote and isolated communities and laid the foundation for one of the world’s most prosperous and respected countries. We were a nation that got things done. But today, much of that visionary infrastructure might never be built.

Ports are our lifelines to the world. Canada’s national prosperity is built on access to global markets, which maximizes the wealth we obtain from developing our abundant resources.

GLOBE EDITORIAL: Providing safe drinking water on reserves is simple. Just do it (Globe and Mail – October 14, 2015)

October 14, 2015

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Last January, there were 1,669 Canadian towns under drinking water advisories. By far the most common were advisories to boil tap water for a minute before consuming it.

Thankfully, these advisories are usually lifted quickly, because municipalities are governed by provincial regulations that define clear lines of responsibility and lay out rules on how to respond to problems. It’s rare for DWAs to last more than a few weeks.

On native reserves, however, they can go on for decades. It’s easy to see why.

Drinking water on reserves is a federal jurisdiction. Ottawa provides 80 per cent of the funding; the local councils build and maintain the systems and are responsible for training the operators and doing regular testing.

So far, so good.

Cree community looks on warily as De Beers scours North for diamonds – by Tanya Talaga (Toronto Star – October 10, 2015)

November 3, 2015October 13, 2015

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

With De Beers’ Victor Mine near Attawapiskat approaching the end of its lifespan, the company is looking farther north — causing a stir in Peawanuck, where residents are concerned about protecting their traditional lands.

WEENUSK FIRST NATION, ONT.—From a height of 300 metres, Jennifer Wabano looks out the window of the eight-seat float plane as it approaches the Winisk River watershed.

Wabano, a mother of 10, watches the mesmerizing landscape of the Hudson Bay Lowlands. String bogs resembling giant tiger stripes splashed across the land stretch for miles before giving way to fields of pristine, lime-green peatland that is thousands of years old. Scattered throughout the peat are hundreds of freshwater lakes of all shapes and sizes that were formed a millennium ago by retreating glaciers.

The lowlands are one of the world’s last untouched carbon storehouses, trapping the gases that warm the globe at an increasingly alarming rate. Bald eagles nest along the banks of the Winisk River. In summer, polar bears wander through town in search of food. Brook trout are caught in the mud flats of Hudson Bay. Migratory caribou and moose are staples in this community that continues to depend on the land for its existence.

New bids likely after U.S. Steel Canada splits from parent company – by Greg Keenan (Globe and Mail – October 12, 2015)

October 13, 2015

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

The divorce between United States Steel Corp. and U.S. Steel Canada Inc. will likely lead to new bids for the Canadian unit, sources familiar with the restructuring say.

U.S. Steel Canada has been effectively cut loose from its parent company under a transition agreement announced last week that includes a promise that the Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel will not be a bidder if there is a second effort to sell the Canadian unit.

Potential bidders were put off during the first sales effort by a process they believed was skewed in favour of U.S. Steel, sources said. “There are people out there who want to rebid,” said one source involved in discussions about the future of U.S. Steel Canada. “Now, we have a sensible sales and restructuring process.”

The promise that U.S. Steel will not bid for the company means other purchasers don’t have to worry about a potential claim of more than $2-billion that U.S. Steel applied against the Canadian company and had been planning to use as credit in its own bid.

Canada’s Liberals Vow to End Rampant Boil Water Advisories on Reserves – by Hilary Beaumont Vice News – October 6, 2015)

October 9, 2015

https://news.vice.com/

“We’re seeing a debate nationally about whether a person should wear a piece
of clothing, yet our First Nations communities are dying because of the poor
water conditions in their communities,” Chief Isadore Day said at a press
conference Monday in Toronto.

“So to be clear, you are committing then within five years there will be
clean water on all, for all First Nations?” VICE News Canada managing editor
Natalie Alcoba asked Trudeau at the town hall.”In all those 93 communities,
yes,” Trudeau replied.

If he’s elected prime minister on Oct. 19, Canada’s Liberal leader would end the rampant, widespread issue of boil water advisories on First Nation reserves.

Justin Trudeau made the promise Monday night during a town hall hosted by VICE Canada following announcements earlier that day by two First Nations that have each endured boil water advisories for nearly 20 years.

“We have 93 different communities under 133 different boil water advisories across the country,” Trudeau said when asked about the water issue.

John Baird says pushback needed to support mining (Northern Miner – October 8, 2015)

October 9, 2015

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry.

Former Foreign Minister John Baird says the mining industry and government “must play offence, not defence,” when it comes to defending their interests and combatting anti-mining activism.

“Far too often, the industry, and to some extent government, are playing defence when it comes to anti-mining activists and their close friends in the media,” Baird declared in a keynote address at a mining conference in Toronto. “To a great extent, anti-mining activism has become a bit of an industry in this country, and it takes many, many forms.”

Baird resigned his post as cabinet minister earlier this year and now sits on the advisory board of Barrick Gold Corp., is a global strategic advisor to engineering and development consultancy Hatch Ltd., and is a senior advisor at Bennett Jones, a law firm active in the mining industry.

“You would be absolutely amazed at how many times that we discovered Canadian taxpayers’ dollars going to fight Canadian commercial interests abroad, especially in the extractive sector,” he told the conference, organized by Red Cloud, a capital markets advisory service firm.

Mining stocks surge as end of commodity rout called – by Frik Els (Mining.com – October 7, 2015)

October 8, 2015

http://www.mining.com/

Morgan Stanley sees a sharp reversal in commodities with prices rising nearly 20% by 2017 making mining stocks historically attractive

Investors returned to the metals and mining sector in a big way on Wednesday after an analyst report called a bottom in the commodities rout.

On the Comex market in New York copper for delivery in December climbed 1.7% to a three-week high of $2.3960 or $5,280 a tonne before paring some of the gains in afternoon trade. The red metal is up more than 6% from a six-year low hit at the end of September.

The benchmark price of iron ore also advanced on Wednesday to exchange hands for $54.50 extending the steelmaking raw material’s bull run since hitting record lows in July. Iron ore is up 24% from the trough staying above the $50 a tonne level for the last 12 weeks.

Iron ore and copper are seen as bellwethers for the mining sector and today’s rally comes on the back of a positive research note from Morgan Stanley quoted in the Wall Street Journal.