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Canadian Media Resource Articles

Former Xstrata head makes play for BHP Billiton’s nickel – by Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – June 20, 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.

Mining magnate Mick Davis made an initial bid for BHP Billiton Ltd.’s nickel assets in Australia, but his offer was rejected as too low, a person familiar with the matter said.

X2 Resources, Mr. Davis’ privately held company, has been looking for assets to start building itself into a medium-sized miner, and has raised up to $3.75-billion for acquisitions. It is unknown whether Mr. Davis will increase his bid.

Before X2 , Mr. Davis ran Xstrata Plc, a global mining giant. Xstrata grew by buying out its rivals, including Canadian nickel producer Falconbridge, before it was taken over by Swiss-based Glencore in 2013.

X2 , whose team helped create Xstrata, is one of many private equity firms looking for acquisitions amid the downturn in the commodity industry.

Its strategy is to acquire unwanted assets from the senior miners, which have been re-evaluating their businesses and zeroing in on core operations in order to deal with lower metals prices.

According to analysts, BHP Billiton’s nickel assets, known as Nickel West, contributed just 2.7 per cent of the miner’s overall revenue.

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B.C. businesses worry Northern Gateway clash could scare off investors – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – June 20, 2014)

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

Doing business in British Columbia is particularly challenging because of the province’s reputation as a hotbed of environmental and aboriginal activism. John Winter worries it could get worse, threatening $90-billion in planned projects, if the Northern Gateway oil pipeline isn’t built.

“If this thing fails it will be a serious and significant issue,” Mr. Winter, president and CEO of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, which represents 125 chambers around the province with 36,000 businesses in every sector of the economy, said in an interview.

“It’s going to be a test for our ability in the future to attract business.”

Environmental organizations and First Nations have been railing for years against the $7.9-billion Alberta-to-West Coast bitumen pipeline, claiming the risk of oil spills is too great and the benefits too small.

Federal government approval Tuesday — the culmination of a dozen years of planning, a protracted regulatory review and major initiatives to improve marine and land spill response and benefits to aboriginals — was met with even greater outrage. Legal challenges and mobilization to push a provincial referendum are under way. Civil disobedience and sabotage have been threatened.

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No, Mr. Mulcair, it’s not Northern Gateway that is a threat to our social order – by Andrew Coyne (National Post – June 19, 2014)

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

The point has been made, and well, that the Harper government was not exactly bubbling over with enthusiasm Tuesday in releasing its decision on the Northern Gateway pipeline project. No minister was on hand to make the announcement. The statement it put out did not formally approve Enbridge’s proposal, or even endorse last December’s report of the National Energy Board’s Joint Review Panel, which approved it subject to a list of 209 conditions.

All the government would say is that it accepted the panel’s recommendation to impose the conditions, while lecturing “the proponent” that it had “more work to do” if it hoped to ever actually build the thing. Why, it didn’t even refer to itself as “the Harper government,” as is its custom, but rather attributed the decision to some faceless entity by the name of “the Government of Canada.”

That could be read as the government edging away from a project it now sees as a political liability. Or it could just be doing what it should have done in the first place: stay out of it. At this point, having blared its unstinting support for the project even before the review panel had begun hearings, then smeared environmentalists raising the alarm at the project’s potential ecological impact as “foreign radicals,” then given itself the power to overrule the NEB should it find against it, the Harper government has less credibility on the issue, outside of the previously committed, than any organization in the country, Enbridge included.

And not only for its handling of Gateway. The government’s approach to most issues, not just Gateway, has been in the same high-handed, over-the-top vein, to the point that, on an issue it truly cares about, when it really needs the public to give it the benefit of the doubt, it finds no reserves of goodwill to draw upon.

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Vancouver-based Tahoe Resources faces lawsuit over violence at Guatemala mine – by Derrick Penner (Vancouver Sun – June 18, 2014)

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

Seven men allege they were shot at close range during a peaceful protest

A group of men wounded last year during a protest outside a Guatemala mine is suing the Vancouver-based mining company, Tahoe Resources Inc., in British Columbia Supreme Court arguing it should be held liable for the alleged violent action against them.

It is the first time a Canadian company has been sued in B.C. for events that occurred at operations outside of Canada, but it follows from three suits against Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals, which were accepted to proceed to trial by an Ontario Superior Court Judge last year, also related to alleged violent incidents in Guatemala.

Together, the suits are part of increasing efforts of non-government organizations seeking greater accountability from Canadian mining companies operating abroad.

“The plaintiffs feel like they’ve not got justice for what happened to them (in Guatemala),” said Matt Eisenbrandt, legal director for the Canadian Centre for International Justice.

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Quebec’s key asset: Ressources Québec’s $1 billion fund helping local projects advance – by Antoine Dion-Ortega (CIM Magazine – June/July 2014)

http://www.cim.org/en.aspx

In April, Montreal-based Stornoway Diamonds put together $944 million in financing, clearing the way to build its Renard diamond mine. As part of the deal, the company secured $220 million from a relatively new subsidiary of the Quebec government, Ressources Québec, and another $105 million from the Caisse de dépôt et de placement du Québec, for a total of $325 million in government funding – a little more than one third of the total construction cost. “The successful completion of these transactions will remove the last remaining financing risk for the project and allow principal project construction to commence,” said Stornoway CEO Matt Manson, when the financing was announced.

Ressources Québec (RQ) was born just two years earlier, as a subsidiary of Investissement Québec (IQ). Jean Charest’s Liberal government set aside $1.2 billion to invest in oil and gas and mining projects through the new body. To try to maximize Quebec’s benefits from the extractive sector, RQ would gather up the government’s $236 million in existing holdings and invest $1 billion more in future projects. Despite two provincial elections and a fair amount of political debate over mining regulations, RQ has become a key player in the financing of new projects in Quebec.

“RQ was the cornerstone of our fundraising,” said Benoit Gascon, president and CEO of Mason Graphite, which completed two funding agreements for a total of $15.6 million on April 28 to advance its Lac Guéret graphite project. “They said: ‘We’re here. Go get the rest, but we’re here.’” RQ’s $3-million investment in the project convinced other brokers of its solidity, he explained. “RQ was clearly the big boost that enabled us to close the campaign on time, and with much more money than we had expected.” Mason Graphite plans to complete its feasibility study in early 2015. Currently, its project has estimated Measured and Indicated Resources of more than 50 million tonnes with an average graphite grade of 15.6 per cent.

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Editorial: Ring road of fire? – by John Cumming (Northern Miner – June 18, 2014)

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry. Editor John Cumming MSc (Geol) is one of the country’s most well respected mining journalists.  jcumming@northernminer.com

The surprisingly strong majority win by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and her Liberal party in the provincial election in mid-June has given a boost to potential infrastructure development in the Ring of Fire chromite and base metals camp in northern Ontario.

On the campaign trail and in interviews after the big win, the premier and Finance Minister Charles Sousa spoke many times of the need for the provincial government to spend upwards of $1 billion to open up the camp and spur long-term economic growth in the province’s far north, particularly among the region’s nine First Nations communities.

This pro-Ring of Fire stance contrasted with the second-place Progressive Conservative Party, which promised cuts to the provincial budget, including an end to “corporate handouts” — additional corporate tax cuts notwithstanding.
Voters in the province had a choice between a smaller, leaner government and an activist, progressive one, and they voted en masse for the latter, to the benefit of those promoting Ring of Fire mining projects.

And so the timing was particularly good for a newly released think piece by Nick Mulder through Thunder Bay’s Northern Policy Institute that promotes an “airport–port transportation authority model” as the most applicable corporate body to oversee any new infrastructure into the Ring of Fire.

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After 22 Years, Canada’s Aboriginals Issue First Bond – by Ari Altstedter (Bloomberg News – June 19, 2014)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

When Deanna Hamilton returned to her British Columbia Indian reserve after taking early retirement, she found herself revisiting a mystery she had encountered as a child.

Unlike her reserve, the city of Kelowna across the lake didn’t suffer from foul-tasting drinking water, unlit streets or sewage-saturated lawns that discouraged children from playing outside.

In short order, Hamilton discovered an explanation in one of capitalism’s most basic tenets: Kelowna could finance its superior infrastructure by raising money in the debt markets — an option not open to her Westbank First Nation reserve.

From there, it was simply a matter of gaining acceptance for an aboriginal bond — a process that tested her perseverance through 22 years. This is the week Hamilton, 71, should finally see the First Nations Finance Authority, which she helped create, issue Canada’s first bonds backed by aboriginal governments.

Ernie Daniels, chief executive officer of the finance authority, said he expects to sell C$90 million ($83 million) worth of 10-year notes with National Bank of Canada as the lead underwriter.

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Ring of Fire planning should be holistic, study advises – by Colin Perkel (CTV News – June 18, 2014)

http://www.ctvnews.ca/

The Canadian Press – Exploitation of Ontario’s Far North offers the potential for huge economic benefits but could also result in conflict and large-scale environmental degradation unless a comprehensive, regionally based planning is used before development gets underway, a new scientific paper indicates.

The working paper, to be released Thursday, warns that current piecemeal assessment tools are inadequate for the vast, unspoiled but mineral-rich region known as the Ring of Fire.

The issue has taken on new significance with the province’s newly re-elected Liberal government promising quick action on development in the region. “Ontario will have only one chance to get it right in the Far North,” the paper states.

“We simply will not be able to circle back and undo poorly considered decisions about development, infrastructure or ecological and social tradeoffs once plans are approved and shovels are in the ground.”

The paper by the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada and Ecojustice Canada advocates a holistic approach to development planning.

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Marten Falls First Nation chief says water ’emergency’ ignored – by Jody Porter (CBC News Thunder Bay – June 18, 2014)

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay

Remote Northern Ontario reserve has been without safe drinking water for nearly a decade

The Chief of Marten Falls First Nation says the government isn’t taking a drinking water emergency in his community seriously. A boil water advisory for Marten Falls was first issued in 2005. The First Nation has been without potable water since then.

Now, Eli Moonias said a broken water filter at the water treatment plant means the tap water is no longer safe, even for bathing. Moonias said he’s worried someone will get seriously ill from the bacteria in the water.

“It’s possible, you know, we could have a situation here similar to Walkerton if someone ingests bacteria,” the chief said, referencing the southern Ontario town where people died after drinking contaminated tap water.

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China’s largest gold miner looks to partner with Barrick, Newmont – by Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – June 18, 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.

China’s state-owned gold mining company is working on potential partnerships with both Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Mining Corp., its president said on Tuesday.

If the Asian company is successful, the alliances would bring one or both of the Western miners closer to China, a country that is now the world’s largest consumer and producer of the yellow metal.

“Both sides are making an effort to co-operate in the future,” Xin Song, the president of China National Gold Group Corp., China’s largest gold producer, said in an interview.

For Toronto-based Barrick, the talks represent a step forward, one that could be the beginning of a long-lasting and meaningful union that Barrick’s new chairman John Thornton wants to establish with the Chinese.

When Mr. Thornton was an executive at Goldman Sachs, he started developing relationships with key Chinese policymakers. The investment banker was chosen by Barrick’s founder Peter Munk for his contacts in China to align Barrick more closely with the rapidly growing economy and to further his vision of turning Barrick into a major, diversified miner.

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Government silent as questions mount about asbestos danger – by Gloria Galloway (Globe and Mail – June 18, 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.

OTTAWA — The federal Conservative government is refusing to join the rest of the developed world in declaring that there are no safe uses for asbestos, even though the material is the top workplace killer in Canada and deaths from exposure are expected to rise.

While such countries as Australia, Japan, Sweden and Britain have imposed a ban on the flame-retardant mineral once widely employed in construction and still used in other applications including brake pads, Canada continues to allow asbestos to be both imported and exported.

The government would not respond directly on Tuesday to a question from the opposition about why the policy has not changed despite overwhelming evidence of the health risks.

A Globe and Mail report on Saturday said the federal government has dragged its feet in protecting this country’s citizens from asbestos’s deadly effects, and that more than 1,200 successful claims for fatality benefits were made in Canada between 2007 and 2012.

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First Nations hold the key to the Northern Gateway pipeline – by Ken Coates (Globe and Mail – June 18, 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.

Ken Coates is Canada Research Chair in regional innovation at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy in Saskatchewan, and a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

The government of Canada has made an obvious and much-anticipated decision on the Northern Gateway pipeline, but the debate is far from over. Based on the report of the Joint Review Panel, which recommended approval subject to important modifications and conditions, and the government’s strong commitment to resource development, few expected the plan to be rejected.

Now the real work begins. The criticism of the Northern Gateway project is broad and comprehensive, but there are three main opponent groups who have to be addressed:

First are the environmentalists, who oppose the expanded development of the oil sands and see the northern Alberta resource as a climate-change danger. This group is substantially unreconcilable. Their critique is well-known, and the federal government has rejected their intervention on many occasions. There is no federal effort to mollify this group.

Second are the environmentalists concerned about the potential effects of an oil spill on northern British Columbia and the coastal waterways outwards from Kitimat.

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Northern Gateway approval from Ottawa now means British Columbia must get on board – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – June 18, 2014)

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

With the Conservative government’s approval of Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway pipeline Tuesday, the spotlight now is on British Columbia — politicians, aboriginals, ordinary citizens — to get on board.

They’re the holdouts in this over-the-top melodrama that’s out of step with the rest of the country’s desire to diversify its export markets and get top value for its resources. It’s particularly out of step with Alberta, which desperately needs passage to the West Coast for its oil, much as B.C. natural gas has for decades traversed Albertan lands on the way to U.S. consumers.

British Columbians, too, need to accept the judgment of Canada’s institutions and trust Canada’s energy sector to deliver on its commitments.

Anything less presents a risk to the province that is more immediate than any risk to the environment of an oil pipeline or tanker rupture — a reputation for B.C. as a rogue jurisdiction where the economy is held hostage by environmentalists and aboriginals who oppose lots and offer little.

British Columbians seem to have forgotten that they courted Northern Gateway in the first place; making claims that Ottawa is imposing this project against their will is dishonest.

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The Invisible Epidemic [Asbestos] – by Tavia Grant (Globe and Mail – June 14, 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.

For John Nolan, the first warning signs came mid-November of last year while he was leading a tour in the Peruvian Andes. Mr. Nolan, 67, who lives in Fort Erie in southwestern Ontario, was guiding a group through the mountains near the storied Incan city of Cuzco.

He had criss-crossed the planet for years as a tour guide, and knew what higher altitudes typically felt like. But something terrifying happened while he was hauling his luggage up some steep stone steps to his cabin.

“I’ve never been out of breath in such a panicky, horrible way,” Mr. Nolan says in a raspy voice between laboured breaths. “Normally, when you run out of breath, you know you’re going to get it back. This was different. It was as if you were hitting a stone wall, with no hope of getting air. It was like suffocating.”

The diagnosis, back at home, was swift and cruel. It was mesothelioma — an incurable cancer caused almost exclusively by asbestos exposure. Mr. Nolan was initially given a few months to live.

Asbestos is the top on-the-job killer in Canada. But a Globe and Mail investigation has found that this stark fact has been obscured by the country’s longstanding economic interest in the onetime “miracle mineral.” Even though Canada’s own asbestos industry has dwindled from pre-eminence to insignificance —

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Canadian government approves Enbridge’s controversial Northern Gateway pipeline – by Shawn McCarthy and Steven Chase (Globe and Mail – June 17, 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.

OTTAWA — The Harper government has approved construction of the proposed $7.9-billion Northern Gateway pipeline, setting up a battle in British Columbia with opponents who vow to use every means possible to block it.

In releasing the much-anticipated decision Tuesday, Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford said the government accepted the advice of a federal review panel which recommended in December that cabinet approve Enbridge Inc.’s project, subject to the company meeting 209 conditions covering safety, environmental protection and consultations with local communities, including First Nations.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has long argued that Canada must have access to west coast ports for its booming oil sands industry, a conviction that hardened after the Obama administration delayed a decision on whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The government made the announcement through a press release, with neither Mr. Rickford, nor the government’s B.C. heavyweight, Industry Minister James Moore, available to answer questions.

Speaking prior to the announcement in the House of Commons, Mr. Harper said his government would not approve a resource project “unless we can determine that it is safe for the environment and safe for Canadians.”

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