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Vancouver Island First Nation declares ‘tribal park’ to protect land – by Gordon Hoekstra (Vancouver Sun – April 13, 2014)

http://www.vancouversun.com/index.html

Latest park meant to thwart potential Imperial Metals mining project near Tofino

The Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation on Vancouver Island has used a unilateral tribal park declaration to try to control development on their traditional territories. The Tranquil Valley tribal park in Clayoquot Sound — where Imperial Metals is investigating the possibility of a mine — is the third tribal park the First Nation has declared.

The Tla-o-qui-aht has declared this territory, about 20 kilometres northeast of Tofino, off limits to mining activity after the province issued a gold exploration permit to the Vancouver-based company last summer.

While tribal parks have not been recognized by the province, Parks Canada worked with the Tla-o-qui-aht on a “tribal parks establishment project” in one of its declared parks in 2009.

The tribal parks are meant to create a management system to protect the land, but also create sustainable jobs. The Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation has done that, for example, with hatchery programs to improve fisheries, bear watching and run-of-the-river hydro projects.

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China-backed group pays US$6B for Glencore’s Las Bambas copper mine – by Karen Rebelo and Silvia Antonioli (Reuters/National Post – April 14, 2014)

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

A Chinese consortium bought the Las Bambas copper mine in Peru from Glencore Xstrata for US$6 billion, the high end of analysts’ forecasts in China’s biggest acquisition of a mine, showing the strength of its long-term need for copper.

MMG Ltd, the Hong Kong-listed offshore arm of China’s state-owned Minmetals Corp, led the winning bid in partnership with Hong Kong-registered Guoxin International Investment Corp and state-owned investment giant CITIC Group.

Commodity trader Glencore had agreed to sell Las Bambas to secure approval from China’s competition authorities for its takeover of miner Xstrata. Beijing made this condition to prevent the merged group from having potentially too much power over the global copper market.

A Chinese buyer had been considered a virtual certainty since Las Bambas was put on the block, given the deep pockets of China’s state-owned enterprises and its hunger for copper as the world’s top consumer of the metal.

Glencore will receive about US$5.85 billion in cash upon completion of the deal, which compared with analysts’ forecasts between US$5 billion and US$6 billion.

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On the road to reconciliation, tension between miners and Aboriginals grow – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – April 11, 2014)

 http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – While Canada has come a long way in reconciling pre-existing Aboriginal sovereignty with assumed Crown sovereignty, tension is rising between the proponents of several new mining projects located on Crown lands, or within Aboriginal reserves, and Aboriginals, who increasingly assert their rights.

In recent weeks, several Aboriginal communities have voiced their concerns regarding proposed mining projects, insisting on their right to self-determination.

For example, this week the West Moberly First Nations were in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, in Nanaimo, where they argued their case against a proposed coal project in an area 34 km north of Chetwynd, in north-east British Columbia, which had been deemed of “critical spiritual and cultural importance” by the community.

Last summer, the Energy and Mines Ministry issued mining permits to Canadian Kailuan Dehua Mines – a Chinese-backed mining company – for its Gething project, authorising the company to remove 100 000 t of material, transport 15 000 t of coal and construct the main components of a mine that would operate for about 30 years.

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The LNG race: The lessons Canada can learn from Australia – by Iain Marlow and Brent Jang (Globe and Mail – April 12, 2014)

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.

GLADSTONE, AUSTRALIA and VANCOUVER – On a warm evening in late February, on an island just off the coast of eastern Australia, workers started to pour the concrete roof of an enormous liquefied natural gas tank that stretches 90 metres in circumference and rises 10 storeys into the sky.

The workers toil away late at night to avoid the searing heat of Australia’s late summer sun. They had recently built the roof for an identical adjacent container, both part of the $24.7-billion Australian ($25.5-billion Canadian) joint venture Australia Pacific LNG, owned by American oil and gas firm ConocoPhillips Co., Australian energy giant Origin and China’s state-owned Sinopec.

The two enormous tanks will hold natural gas tapped from the deep coal beds further inland and piped hundreds of kilometres to the LNG export terminal on Queensland’s Curtis Island. Facing the sheltered harbour of the industrial port city of Gladstone, the gas will be chilled until it condenses to one-six-hundredth of its original size – essentially from the size of a beach ball down to a table tennis ball – making it possible to load the liquid gas onto LNG carriers with enormous domed tanks and ship it off to the surging economies of Asia.

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UPDATE 4-Osisko takeover battle heats up as Goldcorp raises offer – by Allison Martell and Nicole Mordant (Reuters U.S. – April 10, 2014)

http://www.reuters.com/

Osisko Mining Corp on Thursday, squeaking above a white knight bid by Yamana Gold Inc and heightening a bidding war that has helped inject life into a depressed gold mining sector.

Vancouver-based Goldcorp, the world’s second-biggest gold miner by market value, said early on Thursday it increased its offer for Osisko by some 38 percent to about C$3.6 billion ($3.3 billion), or C$7.65 a share.

Osisko is a smaller Canadian gold miner with one producing mine, Canadian Malartic in Quebec. The mine is an attractive asset as it is large and low-cost and located in a stable political jurisdiction.

Goldcorp shares fell nearly 4 percent following the news, reducing the value of its cash-and-stock bid to around C$7.47 a share. Still, the offer remained around 4 percent higher than Yamana’s cash-and-shares offer, based on analysts’ estimates.

Yamana, another Canadian gold miner, launched a complex offer for 50 percent of Osisko’s assets last week. It said at the time that its offer was valued at C$7.60 a share although analysts have pegged it lower than that. Some Osisko shareholders said the new Goldcorp bid was no blockbuster.

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Stornoway lands $944M financing agreement to build Renard diamond mine – by Alisha Hiyate (Mining Markets – April 10, 2014)

http://www.miningmarkets.ca/

Stornoway Diamond (TSX: SWY) has lined up a $944-million financing deal to build its Renard diamond mine in Quebec. The binding agreement signed with three parties constitutes the largest ever project financing package for a publicly listed diamond company.

The complex deal involves debt, equity and streaming components, and involves funding from the Quebec government, a private equity firm, an institutional fund, and an equipment manufacturer. The company expects to start construction in June, plant commissioning in the third quarter of 2016, and commercial production in the second quarter of 2017.

Private equity firm Orion Co-Investments will provide US$360 million (C$396 million): US$110-million in equity financing; US$200 million for a 16% streaming interest; and US$50 million in a 7-year, unsecured convertible loan with an interest rate of 6.25%.

Resources Quebec, a subsidiary of provincial agency Investissement Québec, will provide $220 million: $100 million in equity financing; $100 million in a 10-year senior secured loan at an interest rate of prime plus 4.75%; and another $20 million in a senior secured loan for credit overrun facilities.

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Holcim-Lafarge cement mega-merger to be felt in Canada – by Nicolas Van Praet (National Post – April 8, 2014)

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

MONTREAL – Holcim Ltd. and Lafarge SA confirmed they will merge to form the world’s biggest cement maker in a deal with significant market concentration implications in Canada and other countries.

The two companies are already among the world’s largest suppliers of cement, crushed stone and sand and gravel. In combining into a new producer with annual revenue of US$40-billion, management of the two companies believe they will be required to sell assets representing about 18% of that revenue to satisfy competition regulators.

In Canada, Lafarge and Holcim together employ about 9,000 people and hold about half of the cement market, according to a 2008 estimate published by the Cement Association of Canada. The industry is centered in Ontario and Quebec.

Rivals such as Bolton, Ont.-based James Dick Construction Ltd. said they were surprised by the announcement, but added it could create an opportunity to grow their own businesses by buying what Lafarge and Holcim are forced to discard. Dick specializes in so-called aggregates, which are granular construction materials such as gravel and sand.

“I don’t think it’s bad news. It’ll open it up a bit for us,” company president Jim Dick said Monday. “We would expand if it makes sense.”

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Goldcorp Inc hikes hostile bid by $1-billion, but Osisko Mining Corp. still favours Yamana – by Peter Koven (National Post – April 11, 2014)

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

TORONTO – The shareholders of Osisko Mining Corp. face a tricky choice: take the clean takeover bid and walk away, or take a more complex deal with a disputed value that management firmly believes is better.

Goldcorp Inc. hiked its hostile bid for Montreal-based Osisko on Thursday to $3.6-billion, or $7.65 a share in cash and stock. The dollar value is roughly $1-billion more than Goldcorp offered in January, when its own share price was significantly lower.

That bid is going up against the multi-faceted transaction Osisko unveiled last week with Yamana Gold Inc., in which Yamana will buy 50% of Osisko’s assets and Osisko will receive funding from two pension funds. The result is that Osisko would distribute about $1-billion to shareholders while continuing to operate its flagship Canadian Malartic mine in Quebec.

To determine which offer is better, investors must decide what they think the new Osisko would be worth after the Yamana transaction. And that is a source of considerable debate. When Osisko announced the deal with Yamana, it assumed a valuation for the new Osisko (“Osisko 2” or “O2”) of $3.35 a share. That gave the whole transaction a value of $7.60 a share, which is very close to Goldcorp’s bid.

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Brian Mulroney’s green gall – by Peter Foster (National Post – April 11, 2014)

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

The former PM’s speech featured a lack of historical context, presumably because it would have been too embarrassing

Brian Mulroney’s speech earlier this week to Canada 2020 – a “progressive” group of PR/government advisory types who pretend to chart the country’s future – presumably involved walking a fine pipeline. Progressives tend not to be great fans of Canada as an “energy superpower,” and no fans at all of Stephen Harper, that notion’s main proponent.

However, energy superpower-dom was essentially what Mr. Mulroney was promoting, so he leavened his recommendations with an attack on Mr. Harper’s leadership on energy and climate issues.

I’m not sure how far that spoonful of vitriol helped the medicine go down, but Mr. Mulroney’s speech, while it contained a great deal of obvious good sense and some inevitable blarney, also featured a lack of historical context, presumably because it would have been too embarrassing.

Mr. Mulroney suggested that Canada lacked a “coherent plan” to harness its vast resources, but shouldn’t the man who dismantled the National Energy Program be a little more skeptical about grand strategies?

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Challenges ahead to sustain Saskatchewan’s rate of economic growth – by Meaghan-Craig (Global News – April 9, 2014)

 

http://globalnews.ca/toronto/

SASKATOON – Experts and mining leaders are weighing in on a new report that suggests Saskatchewan cannot sustain its current rate of economic growth.

According to a new study released Wednesday, while it’s a good time to be living in Saskatchewan, we may be relying too heavily on high commodity prices.

“For opportunity to continue you can’t rest on your laurels and what worked 10 years maybe doesn’t work the same way anymore,” said Doug McNair, with Certified Management Consultants of Saskatchewan.

The report by The Institute of Certified Management Consultants of Saskatchewan says the province’s rapid growth has been strongly influenced by the global commodity supercycle.

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Ottawa needs tighter controls on resource wealth, says Nobel prize winner – by Richard Blackwell (Globe and Mail – April 10, 2014)

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 federal government needs to take a stronger role in ensuring the benefits of Canada’s resource-based economy flow to all its citizens, one of the world’s most respected economists said Thursday.

Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel prize winner and a professor at Columbia University, said Canada has done relatively well in making sure that resource wealth is used to benefit all its citizens, but Ottawa needs to do more if it wants to be in the top ranks or resource-intensive nations.

He was speaking in Toronto at a press conference launching a conference sponsored by the Institute for New Economic Thinking and the Centre for international Governance Innovation.

Generally, economists talk of a “resource curse” where countries with an abundance of resources tend to perform poorly, Prof. Stiglitz said. That’s because the domestic currency tends to be high, impairing manufacturing and exports, and the resource sector can be subject to wide fluctuations in commodity prices.

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Why privatizing First Nation resources is a really dumb idea – by James Munson (ipolitics.com – April 10, 2014)

http://www.ipolitics.ca/

In the clamour of capitalism that is the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto, at least one tiny mining company wasn’t willing to move with the pack.

Golden Predator Mining Corp., a junior with gold properties in the Yukon owned by Americas Bullion Royalty Corp., has had its life made complicated by aboriginal land right regimes in the territory, but it wasn’t willing to criticize those rights as a whole.

Janet Lee-Sheriff, vice-president of communications and First Nations relations for the firm, refused to describe a 2012 Yukon Court of Appeal decision as a hindrance to business, as many in her industry have over the past year. The decision, which expanded a company and mining department’s duty to consult an aboriginal community all the way up to the early staking process, wasn’t a bad thing if you knew how to engage a community, she said.

The Fraser Institute couldn’t disagree more. And it couldn’t be more presumptuous. The policy direction of the last 40 years – whereby negotiations, agreements and Supreme Court decisions have grown and expanded aboriginal rights over resources to ever-unprecedented levels – hasn’t been a good thing for miners, according to one of the authors of Divergent Mineral Rights Regimes, a report released by the institute last week.

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Vancouver is biggest winner when forests, farms and mines do well – by Don Cayo (Vancouver Sun – April 9, 2014)

http://www.vancouversun.com/index.html

A lot of city slickers underestimate the value of resources to the B.C. economy, but a new think-tank makes the case that it is Metro Vancouver that benefits most when traditional hinterland industries prosper and grow.

“An initial boost to natural resources in B.C. spreads to other industries through demand for inputs or more spending induced by higher incomes,” writes Philip Cross, formerly StatsCan’s chief economic analyst, in a paper released today by Resource Works, a newly minted, Vancouver-based think-tank that intends to specialize in resource-related issues.

“The income and jobs this generates enriches all of B.C., especially the Lower Mainland,” Cross writes. “It is the cities that provide the wide range of financial, business and even transportation services used by the resource sector. It is also in the cities where the higher incomes in the resource sector and its spinoffs are spent on a wide range of retail and personal services.”

Cross bases his conclusions on sophisticated forecasting techniques developed by StatsCan — a combination of labour market analysis and a detailed analysis of tax records that document purchases by resource firms from suppliers. This not only provided “a precise accounting of all the inter-relationships among industries needed to produce all goods and services in Canada,” but also allowed him to look at how the benefits are shared among regions and provinces.

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Activist investor George Armoyan calls for ouster of Sherritt CEO – by Peter Koven (National Post – April 10, 2014)

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

TORONTO – Activist investor George Armoyan has called for the chief executive of Sherritt International Corp. to be fired, raising the animosity between the two sides ahead of a scheduled proxy showdown at next month’s annual meeting. In a circular filed Wednesday, Mr. Armoyan revealed he has been pushing Sherritt to replace CEO David Pathe with a “qualified executive who has operating experience.”

“The guy is not an operator; he’s not a leader. He was just put in there by default,” Mr. Armoyan, the CEO of Clarke Inc., said in an interview. He added that some Sherritt insiders, including former directors, have indicated to him that there is a vacuum of leadership at the company.

He said he has nothing against Mr. Pathe, but simply does not think he is CEO material. He noted that Mr. Pathe was an associate lawyer on Bay Street who joined Toronto-based Sherritt as assistant general counsel in 2007. He kept getting promoted, and six years later he was CEO. In Mr. Armoyan’s mind, he is not qualified to lead a mining company and Sherritt could recruit a much stronger candidate.

Sherritt did not comment on Mr. Armoyan’s plan to replace Mr. Pathe, but did state that the activist has not provided “any alternative to Sherritt’s current strategic plan or any credible ideas to increase shareholder value.” Both sides have said they are committed to cutting costs and reducing debt.

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Goldcorp sweetens hostile Osisko bid to $3.6-billion – by Bertand Marotte and Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – April 10, 2014)

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.

MONTREAL/TORONO — Goldcorp Inc. is raising its hostile bid for Osisko Mining Corp. to $7.65 per share or $3.6-billion in an attempt to knock out a friendly deal between Osisko and Yamana Gold Inc.

Vancouver-based Goldcorp said on Thursday its offer now stands at 0.17 of a Goldcorp common share plus an increase in the cash portion of its offer to $2.92 for each Osisko share, from 0.146 and $2.26 respectively.

Goldcorp’s previous unsolicited bid was valued at about $6.30 per share. The agreement between Montreal-based Osisko, Yamana and two of Canada’s biggest pension funds is valued at $7.57 a share. The key asset Goldcorp is after is Osisko’s Canadian Malartic gold mine in northwestern Quebec.

Osisko chief executive officer Sean Roosen said Goldcorp’s offer is an improvement but does not sufficiently value Malartic’s potential. “It’s more respectful but it certainly doesn’t offer the same potency and the upside to Canadian Malartic that the Yamana-Osisko bid does,” he said in an interview.

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