Canadian Media Resource Articles – Page 617

Plunging Gold Price Has Mining Companies Selling at Loss – by Liezel Hill and Kevin Crowley (Bloomberg News – November 5, 2014)

November 6, 2014

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The latest decline in the price of gold is saddling higher-cost producers with losses on every ounce mined, and pushing others to the brink of also slipping into the red.

Gold fell to a four-year intraday low of $1,137.10 an ounce today, below production costs for seven of 19 mining companies tracked by Bloomberg Intelligence, including Harmony Gold Mining Co., South Africa’s third-largest producer, and Primero Mining Corp. (P) Two more producers are within $50 of the figure.

“What’s developing is almost a two-tier type of market,” John Ing, chief executive officer at brokerage Maison Placements Canada Inc., said by phone. One tier has companies with good assets and lower costs, while the other comprises producers “who are saddled with high-cost operations” and stretched balance sheets.

“Investors are looking through the so-called carnage and are holding onto the top tier and are dumping the second tier,” he said.

The seeds of the industry’s predicament were sown during gold’s 12-year bull-run, when it rose to a record $1,923.70 an ounce in New York in 2011. Mining costs were allowed to spiral “out of control” and mines were built assuming high prices, said Mike Schroder at Old Mutual Investment Group in Cape Town.

Buy Canadian, except resource stocks: ‘Good news for everyone else’ – by John Shmuel (National Post – November 6, 2014)

November 6, 2014

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

If you steer clear of resource stocks, it’s a great time to own a Canadian company. A weak loonie and lower fuel prices are propping up the bottom line for everyone from retailers to transport companies in Canada, economists say.

“It’s obviously very bad news for the energy sector and a few provinces, but it’s actually pretty good news for everyone else,” said Robert Kavcic, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets. “Especially in manufacturing and areas like consumer spending — you’re basically getting a tax cut across the board.”

The favourable climate for a lot of Canadian companies is easy to overlook because of how bad this year has been for resource companies, which account for a big chunk of the country’s economy.

Energy companies make up one-third of the Toronto Stock Exchange and they are reeling from a collapse in oil prices. Similarly, gold companies, a sizable portion of the important materials sector, are cutting guidance as the precious metal approaches price levels that are dangerously close to the break-even point for many miners.

The commodity price rout has weighed heavily on the TSX, which is now down 7% since its early September highs.

Keystone XL in best position ever to get Washington’s approval – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – November 6, 2014)

November 6, 2014

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

Canadian energy stocks got a big boost Wednesday from the Republican sweep in the United States’ mid-term elections, and for good reason: TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline is in the best position it’s ever been to finally get Washington’s approval.

Republicans, who are now in control of both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, are expected to move quickly to get approval for KXL, either in stand-alone legislation or by attaching the pipeline’s approval to another bill.

“I think Keystone will be one of the first bills we’ll be able to put up in the new Congress,” John Hoeven, the Republican Senator from North Dakota, told Reuters.

“I’ve got a bill right now that’s got about 56 co-sponsors … and with the election results, we’ll have over 60 who clearly support the legislation.”

The pipeline could also be included in other legislative vehicles, such as bills involving the budget, tax reform, the debt ceiling, energy efficiency or infrastructure.

It helps that there is a new mood in Washington for building consensus.

Gold’s last pillar of support — Asian buyers — crumbles – by John Shmuel (National Post – November 5, 2014)

November 5, 2014

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

Gold prices plunged to a more than four-year low Tuesday, as the last pillar of price support — Asian demand — appears to have crumbled.

Prices on the Shanghai Gold Exchange, which usually trade at a premium to gold prices in the west, are trading at a US$1-$2 discount this week. Gold futures on the Comex in New York for December delivery fell 0.2% Tuesday, to close at US$1,167.20 an ounce, marking the fifth straight trading decline and the lowest settlement price since July 28, 2010.

In the past, when the price gap between east and west prices closed, Asian buyers would swoop in and buy the discount. But analysts note this is not happening yet, even as a peak buying season has taken hold in China.

“We’ve not seen any significant physical demand on the back of this (price drop),” said Victor Thianpiriya, analyst at ANZ in Singapore. “That’s a worrying sign for prices as Chinese buying was really the only thing supporting the market on sell-offs last year.”

Gold prices in China typically rise at this time of year and trade at a premium to western prices ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in February, which sees a large uptick in physical gold buying, particularly jewelry.

B.C.’s mines minister in Alaska to ease concerns over provincial mining – by Dirk Meissner (Canadian Press/Winnipeg Free Press – November 5, 2014)

November 5, 2014

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

VICTORIA – British Columbia’s Energy Minister Bill Bennett is in Alaska to soothe concerns about the province’s mining industry, which he says is perceived by many Alaskans as a threat to their environment and salmon fishery.

Bennett will address the annual Alaska Miners Association convention in Anchorage, and meet with state officials, commercial and sport fishing organizations and aboriginal groups during his two-day visit.

“There is this impression in some parts of Alaska that our environmental standards, compliance and enforcement efforts are not as strong as theirs,” Bennett said in an interview. “My purpose in going up there … is to talk to folks about how our process actually works. How do you get a mine permitted in B.C.”

The minister will be accompanied on his trip by Chad Day, the Tahltan Central Council president, along with senior government environment and energy officials.

Bennett said concerns about B.C.’s plans to expand its mining interests in the province’s north have heightened since last summer’s massive tailings pond failure at the Mount Polley mine in the central Interior.

Howard Hampton to advise federal NDP on Ontario’s Ring of Fire – by Rosemary Barton (CBC News – November 04, 2014)

November 5, 2014

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics

Success in northern Ontario important to federal NDP’s chances in 2015

In a bid to try and push ahead the ill-fated development of the Ring of Fire mining project in northern Ontario, the federal NDP is bringing a well-known Ontario face on board to help.

CBC News has learned federal New Democrat Leader Tom Mulcair will announce former Ontario NDP leader Howard Hampton as a special adviser for the party. Mulcair will make the announcement before the party’s weekly caucus meeting tomorrow.

Sources says Hampton will start working for the federal party immediately as a liaison on the complicated development file.

Hampton, who spent 24 years as a member of provincial Parliament, or MPP, for the northern Ontario provincial riding of Kenora-Rainy River, has experience at Queen’s Park, but has also worked extensively with First Nations communities in the region, as well as with mining companies.

As an adviser for the Official Opposition, Hampton will only be able to lay the groundwork for how and what the NDP would do if the party were to form the government after the next election. The appointment speaks to the party’s interest in the project. But it’s also about politics.

Steelworkers president optimistic for future of Wabush Mines – by Ty Dunham (St. John’s Telegram – November 4, 2014)

November 4, 2014

http://www.thetelegram.com/

Businesses and families are feeling the slowdown of the iron ore market, especially those affected by the idling of Wabush Mines in February.

The recent news of Cliff’s Natural Resources choosing to shut the mine down permanently after negotiations with potential buyer MFC Industrial fell through has prompted many to worry about their future in Wabush.

But MFC is continuing to explore options to take over the mine, which is why United Steelworkers (USW), Local 6285 president Jason Penney is remaining optimistic.

“From what we’ve been told, as royalty holders they have certain contractual rights, which will allow them to re-enter the plant,” explained Penney. He said it’s not a matter of if MFC reopens the mine, but when.

“MFC seems like a very solid and strong company. This is not their first rodeo. And they’re adamant that they’ll reopen the mine. We just

hope it can be done in a quick time frame.” While it isn’t the preferred route, Penney said it’s better than the alternative. “There’s no doubt we’re disappointed by the sale. This way will be longer. The important thing I want people to remember is all hope is not lost.”

Ontario mining minister ‘startled’ by Ring of Fire criticism – by Lisa Wright (Toronto Star – November 4, 2014)

November 4, 2014

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.

Cliffs Natural Resources CEO ‘wrong’ to say Ring will never be developed, says Michael Gravelle.

Ontario’s mining minister says the province is “absolutely committed” to the Ring of Fire mining development despite recent criticism that the project will never get off the ground.

Lourenco Goncalves, the new chief executive of Cliffs Natural Resources, said last week that he thinks there is “zero hope” that a mine will ever be built in the rich mineral belt in the James Bay lowlands, after the Cleveland-based miner spent $500 million trying to tap into the vast chromite deposit and got nowhere.

Cliffs has the largest land position in the area but abandoned the region last winter citing red tape from the Ontario government and First Nations groups around building necessary transportation and power infrastructure. Cliffs’ assets are for sale but there have been no takers yet.

“I will admit I was startled by those comments,” Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle said in an interview Monday. “I think he’s wrong. We all understand that this is a complicated project in a remote area of the province that has never been developed before,” he said.

In Polley’s Wake, Downstream Alaska Fears BC’s Mining Boom – by Christopher Pollon (The Tyee.ca – November 1, 2014)

November 3, 2014

http://thetyee.ca/

Tag along with the fishermen whose livelihood depends on watersheds that cross borders

Roaring at seven knots up the U.S. side of the Stikine River, a grizzly bear of a man named Mark Galla steers our jet boat through a gauntlet of protruding logs, attempting to point out the exact point at which Alaska becomes British Columbia. Against the vastness of the surrounding wilderness, the border is invisible, almost arbitrary. Until recently, most Alaskans couldn’t see it either.

That all changed in August when YouTube video highlights of the Mount Polley mine disaster circulated through panhandle towns like Ketchikan, Petersburg and Wrangell. Media from across the state drew comparisons between Mount Polley and the tailings dams that could one day accompany the half-dozen open pit mines proposed in the wild river watersheds that Alaska and B.C. share — the Unuk, Taku and, more than anywhere else, the Stikine.

The first of these proposed mines will be Red Chris, a copper and gold mine built by Mount Polley-owner Imperial Metals in the B.C. headwaters of the Stikine, scheduled to open later this year. Another is the $5.3 billion Kerr-Suphurets-Mitchell (KSM) project, which could generate two billion tons of waste rock, requiring tailings storage in the Nass River drainage and waste rock dumps in the Unuk watershed.

The grand enabler of these projects is a taxpayer-subsidized power line completed this year, which will bring cheap, rock-grinding electricity to the B.C.-Alaska border region for the first time. With the price tag of about $750 million (BC Hydro’s original estimate was $404 million) comes the electricity required for at least five new northwest mines.

Disaster down deep — inside the 2010 Chilean mine collapse – by Héctor Tobar (National Post – November 3, 2014)

November 3, 2014

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

In the San José Mine, sea level is the chief point of reference. The five-by-five-metre tunnel of the Ramp begins at Level 720, which is 720 metres above sea level. The Ramp descends into the mountain as a series of switchbacks, and then farther down becomes a spiral. Assorted machines and the men who operate them drive down past Level 200, into the part of the mountain where there are still minerals to be brought to the surface.

On the morning of Aug. 5, 2010, the men of the A shift are working as far down as Level 40, some 2,230 vertical feet below the surface, loading freshly blasted ore into a dump truck. Another group of men are at Level 60, working to fortify a passageway near a spot where a man lost a limb in an accident one month earlier. A few have gathered for a moment of rest, or idleness, in or near El Refugio, the Refuge, an enclosed space about the size of a school classroom, carved out of the rock at Level 90, that serves as both emergency shelter and break room.

The mechanics led by Juan Carlos Aguilar find respite from the oppressive heat by setting up a workshop at Level 150, in a passageway not far from the vast interior chasm called El Rajo, which translates loosely as “the Pit.” The mechanics have decided to start their workweek by asking Mario Sepúlveda to give them a demonstration of how he operates his front loader. They watch as he uses the clutch to bring the vehicle to a stop, shifting from forward directly to reverse without going into neutral first. He’s mucking up the transmission by doing this, wearing out the differential. “No one ever showed me,” Sepúlveda explains when asked why he’s operating the machine that way. “I just learned from watching.”

John Ralston Saul calls for all Canadians to be idle no more – by Joe Friesen (Globe and Mail – November 1, 2014)

November 3, 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.

In the winter of 2012-13, John Ralston Saul watched as the Idle No More movement swept across the country, bringing thousands of aboriginal people into the streets to draw attention to a wide range of issues.

When the round dances stopped and the media moved on, he decided to write something – a pamphlet or manifesto that would help explain to a non-aboriginal audience what had just happened. According to Mr. Saul, when aboriginal leaders speak, many Canadians tend to misinterpret what they are saying.

The result is his new book The Comeback, the story of a movement that has been building from a low point a little more than a century ago to where it’s now poised, he says, to reclaim a central place in Canadian affairs.

The author begins by dismissing sympathy, the lens through with which many Canadians view aboriginal issues. That’s just soft racism, he argues. Sympathy is fine as a point of entry, but it obscures why things are the way they are.

Ring of Fire region needs protection – by Anna Baggio (Globe and Mail – October 31, 2014)

November 3, 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.

Re The Ring of Fire failure to ignite (Oct. 22): Reporter Rachelle Younglai deftly digs into the Ring of Fire and goes beyond the rhetoric. What’s missing, however, is the ecological context.

The Ring of Fire is located in the heart of an irreplaceable environmental treasure. This wilderness of trees, wetlands, lakes and rivers is part of the planet’s largest intact forest – the Boreal Forest. First Nations call these lands their ancestral home and have inherent rights to the land.

The region supports hundreds of plant, mammal and fish species, most in decline elsewhere, and is the continent’s main nesting area for nearly 200 migratory birds. For some species, it’s the last refuge. As one of the world’s largest storehouses of carbon, it helps keep climate change in check.

Mount Polley mine reopening is an issue of credibility – by Justine Hunter (Globe and Mail – November 3, 2014)

November 3, 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.

VICTORIA — It is not too soon, in Williams Lake, to talk about reopening the Mount Polley mine.Not three months has passed since the tailings pond dam failed, releasing millions of cubic metres of waste into central British Columbia waterways.

The province and the company are still working on a cleanup plan that will take years to fully implement. It will be months, at least, before any clear explanation for the dam failure is made public.

But Williams Lake city council, mindful of the uncertain future for hundreds of mine workers, is drafting a letter to Premier Christy Clark – expected to be approved this week – to urge her to get the gold-copper mine back to full operation.

The mine is 55 kilometres from Williams Lake, and many of its workers and suppliers reside in the community. The province has launched three investigations into the ecological disaster, and has cautioned against rushing to judgment on just what happened and why.

“It is going to be really important that none of us form conclusions until we get to the end of those investigations,” Environment Minister Mary Polak said last month.

Canadian gold stocks crushed amid bad earnings, bad prices – by Peter Koven (National Post – October 31, 2014)

October 31, 2014

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

Canadian gold miners picked the wrong week to report a bad batch of earnings and run into political turmoil.

With the Federal Reserve announcing an end to quantitative easing, investor sentiment for the precious metal is at its lowest point in months. So when a few of the large miners reported disappointing results, they got absolutely no sympathy from the market.

Shares of Goldcorp Inc. (down 13%), Yamana Gold Inc. (down 16%) and Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (down 12%) were all hammered after reporting poor third quarter earnings. Their competitors also got dragged down in the rout as gold prices dropped back below US$1,200 an ounce.

In this sort of market, it is no surprise that investors did not look kindly at political risk either. Shares of Iamgold Corp. and SEMAFO Inc., which both operate in Burkina Faso, fell sharply as protests intensified against President Blaise Compaoré, who is eager to extend his protracted 27-year term.

While the gold stocks may rebound quickly from Thursday’s beatdown, the day provided a stark reminder that the sector does not make much money at current prices. And the companies with higher debt or operating costs could face liquidity concerns if prices stay at these levels for the long haul.

Energy East is worth the fight – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – October 31, 2014)

October 31, 2014

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

TransCanada Corp.’s twin-cities news conference Thursday to announce the filing of its Energy East application to the National Energy Board was pipeline theatre at its finest.

After 18 months of planning, the company presented to the world a 30,000-page document — filling 68 binders in 11 official-looking boxes — to provide evidence in support of the $12-billion project.

The Calgary-based company pulled out all the stops: There were panels of top executives in both Toronto and Quebec City to explain the benefits, representatives of business, trade unions, and municipalities present to demonstrate the depth and breadth of support, simultaneous French/English translation and no question left unanswered — about whether the project threatens beluga whales, whether it contributes to climate change or whether the company deserves to be trusted given some recent incidents in its system.

“At over 30,000 pages, the document is one of the most extensive regulatory applications ever developed in our history,” Russ Girling, president and CEO of TransCanada told media in Toronto. “The final result is a body of work that I believe achieves what we set out to do many months ago, and that is to listen — we listened to communities, businesses, governments, landowners and other stakeholders across this country.”