Canadian Media Resource Articles – Page 603

Mining industry welcomes BC’s independent panel report on Mount Polley – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – February 3, 2015)

February 3, 2015

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) has committed to reviewing the information and recommendations of the Friday-released report examining the August 2014 tailings dam failure at the Mt Polley mine, in British Columbia, with a view to enhancing tailings dam safety.

The report, compiled by the British Columbia government-appointed independent panel, concluded that the cause of the tailings dam breach was a layer of clay underneath the dam that was not taken into account in the original design. The panel stated that the failure occurred notwithstanding effective regulatory oversight.

“The tailings dam failure at the Mt Polley mine was an unfortunate incident that has been taken seriously by the entire industry. While a necessary component of mining, tailings facilities create risks that need to be effectively managed. We believe that every effort must be taken to prevent failures and we support continual advancement in their design, operation and management,” MAC president and CEO Pierre Gratton said.

Immediately following the breach, while the cause was still unknown at the time, MAC proactively initiated a review of its tailings management programme. This included a review of the tailings management requirements of MAC’s mandatory Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) initiative, as well as the association’s three tailings management guides.

Gold positioned for comeback: Goldcorp founder, CEO – by Robert Gibbens (Montreal Gazette – February 2, 2015)

February 3, 2015

http://montrealgazette.com/

Both the founder and the present CEO of Goldcorp Inc., now commissioning the big Éléonore mine in Northern Quebec, predict investors will soon start returning to the unloved gold mining sector.

“In the past two years, as bullion dropped from a record of almost US$2,000 an ounce, gold miners have dumped old management, slashed exploration spending, lowered operating costs and shifted to high-grade ore to focus fully on restoring cash flow,” said Rob McEwen, chairman of McEwen Mining Inc.

“You’ve got a serious gap developing between declining global output and steadily mounting demand from Asia where millions of new middle-class consumers are emerging,” he said in a recent telephone interview. “That gap could last several years.”

McEwen created Goldcorp via a string of mergers in the 1990s and left in 2005 after a disagreement over strategy. Goldcorp is now the world’s largest gold producer by market value.

He then formed McEwen Mining which plans to dig 96,500 ounces of gold and 3.12 million ounces of silver from mines in Mexico and Argentina in 2015 and aims at intermediate status with annual output of one million ounces of gold.

Industry applauds Kaska Nation plan to pass resource law – by Nancy Thomson (CBC News North – February 02, 2015)

February 3, 2015

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

North American Tungsten says move by 5 Kaska First Nations is ‘exciting, positive’

The Kaska Nation’s announcement that it is planning to pass a resource law to create more certainty for industry is being welcomed by one large mining company with projects on Kaska traditional territory.

The five Kaska First Nations have territory in the Yukon, northern British Columbia, and parts of western N.W.T. They say they’ll pass the law later this year, with regulations to follow.

“We’re going to create a set of guidelines and policy around when a company comes in, what they have to do to consult the First Nation, what they have to do to accommodate right and title interest on the land to make sure that all of our interests are met,” said Brian Ladue, chief of the Ross River Dena Council.

Ladue says the law will simplify the process for mining companies, and ensure good relationships with industry. He says leaders are entrusted to protect and preserve the land for future generations. North American Tungsten owns the MacTung project north of Ross River, and the CanTung mine north of Watson Lake.

Commodity slump could finally bring balance to Canada’s economy – Hamid Faruqee, Lusine Lusinyan and Andrea Pescatori (Globe and Mail – February 3, 2015)

February 3, 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.

Since last fall, oil prices have plunged 50 per cent and nervousness is running high about a slowing Canadian economy. Lower oil prices will unambiguously hurt growth and the latest data on GDP point in that direction. About one-quarter of Canada’s exports and private investment (excluding housing) are tied to the energy sector that, itself, accounts for about 10 per cent of GDP.

Weakness in the oil and gas sector could also spill over to the wider economy. In response, the Bank of Canada surprised markets on January 21 and cut its policy rate – which had been on hold at 1 per cent since September, 2010. The currency fell and interest rates eased. The loonie currently is near a 6-year low against the U.S. dollar. So is the economy in trouble?

In the IMF’s annual report on Canada released last week, forecasts for growth have been marked down. A further downgrade is likely to come given that oil prices have fallen further since the forecasts were made. The oil shock has been noteworthy in terms of its nature, size and sharpness – perhaps, best resembling 1986’s supply-driven price decline, when Canada was not a large oil exporter.

So it is hard to know with high confidence just how deep the effects might be. What is clear is that the energy sector is on the front lines and will take a hit. Recent announcements from the oil industry confirm plans for layoffs and scaling back investment in the near term.

Mount Polley spill taints Alaska-B.C. mine relations – by Mark Hume (Globe and Mail – February 1, 2015)

February 2, 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.

VANCOUVER — A provincial government report that found the tailings pond dam at Mount Polley collapsed because it was built on a weak foundation has heightened concerns in Alaska about British Columbia’s mine safety standards.

Commercial fishermen, native organizations and the mayors of two Alaska communities say they are worried the Red Chris mine, now being built in northern British Columbia by the same company that owns Mount Polley, poses a similar risk.

Both the company and the government, however, have issued assurances that the new mine is safe. In a joint statement, the Alaskans say they “want to have an equal seat at the table with Canada in discussions about how and if watersheds shared by both countries are developed.”

The Red Chris copper-gold mine is currently under construction near Iskut, B.C. It is located near the headwaters of the Stikine, one of the most important salmon rivers flowing into Southeast Alaska. Several other B.C. mines are proposed in the area.

“The Mount Polley tailings dam was approved by Canadian regulators to last in perpetuity, yet it failed in less than 20 years.

A ‘doomed’ tailings dam and a system that ‘institutionalizes failure’ – by Vaughn Palmer (Vancouver Sun – January 31, 2015)

February 2, 2015

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

Report calls for systemic (and costly) change that will eliminate possibility of dam failures

VICTORIA — The tailings dam at the Mount Polley mine was “doomed to fail” and the remedies that could have prevented the reckoning were undertaken “too little and too late.”

Such was the depressing, persuasive conclusion of the trio of experts appointed to review last August’s breach of the dam — an environmental catastrophe that need not have happened at all.

The root cause of the failure, they determined, was literally at the root of the dam: an underlying deposit of glacial till that was never fully mapped nor properly understood. We only know about it now because of the forensic engineering work that was part of their review.

But if that were the whole story, their report would not be as troubling as it is. For authors Norbert Morgenstern, Dirk van Zyl and Steven Vick — all experts in engineering — painted a far from flattering portrait of the Mount Polley operation and the constant raising of the dam that preceded the breach.

“Dam-raising proceeded incrementally, one year at a time, driven by impoundment storage requirements for only the next year ahead,” they write. “More reactive than anticipatory, there was little in the way of long-term planning or execution.”

Goldcorp’s Jeannes at Roundup 2015: Gold sector ‘on its way back to relevance’ (Northern Miner – January 28, 2015)

February 2, 2015

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

“I think in our business we’re really too insular. The reality is we have
a lot more people to convince in order to be given the broad social license
we need to continue to conduct our business. We have to operate in a way
that benefits more than just our shareholders.”
(CEO Goldcorp Chuck Jeannes – 2015 Vancouver Roundup)

VANCOUVER — When it comes to discussing gold markets there likely aren’t many people who can command as much attention as Goldcorp (TSX: G; NYSE: GG) president and CEO Chuck Jeannes. The company is positioned as the world’s biggest gold producer by market capitalization, and has been an industry leader when it comes to controlling operating costs and driving growth with a policy of strong capital discipline.

Goldcorp hit record production of 886,000 oz. gold during the fourth quarter, and produced 2.87 million oz. last year. The company brought two new mines into commercial production over the past six months — including the Cerro Negro operation in Argentina and Éléonore project in Quebec — and it is now positioned to generate free cash flow indefinitely, assuming a gold price of around US$1,200 per oz.

“Right now the multiples the market is affording our business is at a thirty-year low. When I say our shareholders have abandoned us I think that’s the biggest piece of proof. But that gives us great opportunity to improve moving forward, and I think you’ll see those multiples bounce back,” Jeannes comments.

Reports of fisticuffs and blood after alleged spat at TD mining conference turns ugly – by Barry Critchley (National Post – January 29, 2015)

January 30, 2015

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

The old story has it that a visitor to Canada arrived eager to take in our national sport. Asked about it afterward, he remarked: “I went to a fight the other night, and a hockey game broke out.”

A visitor to TD Securities’ annual mining conference this week in Toronto, may have been mistaken had they thought they were at a fight – and not a mining conference.

The conference, held on Tuesday and Wednesday at Toronto’s Shangri-La Hotel, has been a regular TD event for the past few years. At the two-day session, presentations were made by about 60 issuing clients.

According to a post on the website IKN Daily Digest, which deals with “Latin America stocks, economics, politics and stuff like that,” it seems events got a little bit out of hand on Tuesday evening.

On IKN’s gossipy post Wednesday night, and under the heading “unconfirmed though decently sourced,” it alleged: “Clive Johnson, CEO of B2Gold (BTO.to) (BTG) and Daniel Earle, sell side analyst at TD Sec, got into a fistfight last night and according to reports picked up at IKN Nerve Centre, The Clive came off second best and today has a black eye and a pair of broken glasses for his troubles. Red wine was a third party in the fracas.”

B.C. report on Mount Polley results will decide Morrison mine’s fate – by Justine Hunter (Globe and Mail – January 29, 2015)

January 30, 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.

VICTORIA — One of the little-known casualties of the Mount Polley mining disaster was a proposed new mine hundreds of kilometres away, its fate left in limbo since the tailings pond dam collapsed.

When the provincial government releases a report Friday on the cause of the massive breach at Mount Polley, it will be forced to reconsider its decision on the Morrison mine project.

In the fall of 2012, British Columbia refused to issue a certificate for the Morrison copper-gold mine, despite the fact a government report had concluded it would not result in significant adverse effects if mitigation measures were followed. It was a surprising decision from a pro-resource government that had systematically streamlined regulation and reduced oversight to encourage investment. Suddenly, the industry was questioning whether the ground rules for mining in British Columbia had changed.

A B.C. Supreme Court judge overturned the government’s decision in December, 2013, saying the province had failed to meet the requirements of procedural fairness. At the time of the original decision to reject the Morrison mine, then-environment minister Terry Lake explained that his government had applied new “risk versus benefit” criteria that the proponent, Pacific Booker Minerals Inc., failed to meet.

Rio’s McIntosh at Roundup 2015: Mining not a ‘sunset industry’ (Northern Miner – January 27, 2015)

January 28, 2015

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

VANCOUVER — There’s likely not an explorer with a bigger technical team or budget than Rio Tinto’s (NYSE: RIO; LON: RIO) Stephen McIntosh, who serves as the mega miner’s global head of exploration and has been with the company for over 28 years.

McIntosh took to the podium at the Association for Mineral Exploration BC’s (AMEBC) annual Roundup conference to address the company’s view on discovery success and the current downturn in the commodity cycle.

Even a company with the financial swagger of Rio — which maintains a market capitalization of roughly US$99.5 billion at the time of writing — hasn’t been immune to the cutbacks in exploration spending.

The company went from investing around US$2 billion in project development and greenfield programs in 2012 to around US$750 million in 2014. McIntosh was quick to underline, however, just how important maintaining a robust project pipeline is to the large-cap miner, and pointed out that “exploration is in this company’s DNA.”

Rio Tinto’s exploration arm employs a team of roughly 450 people, who handle the company’s greenfield and brownfield programs and also deal with business intelligence, big data analysis, and commodity strategies.

B.C. mining conference urges social engagement with First Nations – by Mark Hume (Globe and Mail – January 27, 2015)

January 28, 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.

VANCOUVER — Mining executives may sometimes feel they face insurmountable problems in British Columbia, where the courts have reaffirmed aboriginal title over land and where environmental regulations seem myriad.

But participants at a major mining conference in Vancouver were told Tuesday that if the industry can come up with a new way of incorporating social and environmental issues into its planning, the province could emerge as a global leader.

“This community has everything in the world going for it – just don’t screw it up,” said Rick Rule, chairman of Sprott US Holdings and an expert on international resource investment.

The development landscape in B.C. has become more complicated since the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed last year that aboriginal title exists and that both government and industry have an obligation to consult First Nations over proposed projects.

But Mr. Rule and other speakers on a panel about aboriginal engagement said the ruling has clarified the legal ground rules and it is now up to industry and First Nation leaders to rise to the challenge of finding ways to move ahead.

Report on Mount Polley mining disaster set for release – by Justine Hunter (Globe and Mail – January 28, 2015)

January 28, 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.

VICTORIA — A report to be released on Friday will pinpoint the cause of the Mount Polley dam failure and is expected to lead to new safety standards for the entire Canadian mining industry.

But blame and consequences for any misconduct won’t be part of the story this week. Almost six months after the ecological disaster, responsibility for the collapse of the tailings pond that released millions of cubic metres of waste material into Quesnel Lake and other waterways in central British Columbia is still under investigation.

The provincial government is set to release the results of a geotechnical inquiry by an independent panel – this will be the engineers’ explanation of what went wrong.

The report’s findings could pave the way for the partial reopening of the copper and gold mine 55 kilometres northeast of Williams Lake. Two other investigations have yet to be published that would determine if any fines or prosecution are warranted – one by the Chief Inspector of Mines and the second by the Conservation Officer Service, a law-enforcement body that would send any recommendations for charges to provincial Crown Counsel.

Provinces making bad bets with resource-based budgets – by Brian Lee Crowley (Globe and Mail – January 9, 2015)

January 28, 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.

You can’t say you weren’t warned. That’s a message that should be posted on billboards opposite the premier’s office in Edmonton, St. John’s and various other provincial capitals where falling energy prices have devastated government budgets.

Those of us who care about such things have been repeating for years the wisdom best summed up by former Alberta treasurer Jim Dinning: “Non-renewable natural resource revenues are non-reliable revenues.”

When your provincial budget is the attic in a house of cards, the first breath of contrary wind brings the whole structure tumbling down. I remember when a 10-cent difference in the price of natural gas meant a swing of $142-million in Alberta’s revenues. The price of that commodity has of course gyrated all over the place in the past 20 years, but mostly in a direction that has caused apoplexy at budget time.

The volatility of natural resource revenues is far less interesting than what might be done about them. On the other hand, if you can’t get policy makers to grasp the fragility of their budgets, you will never get them to take the hard decisions necessary to put things on a sounder footing.

Mining financier Sheldon Inwentash departs Pinetree Capital in big shakeup – by Peter Koven (National Pot – January 28, 2015)

January 28, 2015

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

TORONTO – It is the end of an era at Pinetree Capital Ltd.

The investment and merchant bank, which was a world leader in financing junior resource firms, announced this week that controversial chairman and chief executive Sheldon Inwentash is resigning after more than 22 years at the helm of the company. His departure is tied to a proposed deal with creditors that gives them security over the firm’s assets, but keeps Toronto-based Pinetree afloat after it defaulted on a debt covenant. The stock, which peaked at more than $15 in 2007, is now worth 7.5¢.

It is a disappointing outcome for Mr. Inwentash. He was on top of the world during the commodity bull market, making an enormous personal fortune as his firm helped hundreds of start-up mining companies get off the ground. His name also adorns the University of Toronto’s faculty of social work, to which he and his wife donated $15-million.

When micro-cap junior miners went looking for capital on Bay Street, Mr. Inwentash was, along with Ned Goodman and Eric Sprott, one of the first people they would think to call. Pinetree held investments in more than 400 public and private resource companies at its peak, with a big focus on precious metals. The firm’s investments had a fair value of almost $800-million by the end of 2010.

Mr. Inwentash came under scrutiny for his high compensation during those heady days.

In defence of Winnipeg – by Ken S. Coates (National Post – January 28, 2015)

January 28, 2015

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

With its current edition, Maclean’s magazine has sparked a national debate about the nature and extent of Canadian racism. Through the simple device of calling Winnipeg the “most racist” city in Canada, it has shone a light on one of the greatest “wicked problems” (a complex problem for which there is no simple solution) in Canadian public life. But it moves us no closer to a resolution.

Racism is clearly part of the picture. But attaching it to the situation facing First Nations suggests that the solution lies in tackling the racists and changing their attitudes. That’s putting the cart before the horse.

Picking on Winnipeg also blames the city for demographic and social accidents beyond its control. The challenges facing indigenous peoples are particularly acute in cities with large aboriginal populations, both in percentage and absolute terms. In these cities — Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton and Calgary — the size of the First Nations population makes the issue a collective challenge and responsibility.

There are serious issues in the Manitoban capital. The migration of First Nations people from northern Manitoba, which has one of the lowest per-capita incomes in the country and many communities in serious crisis, exacerbates the existing problems in the city. For northern First Nations people, Winnipeg is an “arrival city,” a place that at least holds the promise of a better life and an escape from hardship. There is thus little reason for Canadians in other cities to look down their noses at those on the frontlines trying to deal with the legacy of Canada’s failed aboriginal policies.