The West grabbing a growing share of Canada’s investment capital – by Gordon Hamilton (Vancouver Sun – October 29, 2011)

The Vancouver Sun, a broadsheet daily paper first published in 1912, has the largest circulation in the province of British Columbia.

Strong commodities markets, especially mining, pulling growing volume of M&A activity to western provinces

The Western provinces are taking a bigger share of Canadian business investment as a result of the global commodities boom, a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report on mergers and acquisitions shows.

Ontario and Quebec continue to be the top investment destination, according to the report Deals Quarterly Special Feature, but the two Central Canada provinces are losing market share to the West. The report looks at merger and acquisition activity province-by-province over the last 10 years.

“There is certainly a shift, a trend,” Kristian Knibutat, PwC Canadian deals leader, said in a teleconference on the report Friday. He said the geographic shift comes as no surprise, given the “super cycle” that commodities have been experiencing over the decade.

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Canadian strength leads to push in mining – by Drew Hasselback – (National Post – October 26, 2011)

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

How Chambers went to South America and found Canada

Even the most geographically confused individual has to know that Canada is nowhere near South America. So you wouldn’t expect to see any Canadian firms mentioned in a legal directory that lists the best law firms and lawyers in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Yet the 2012 Chambers Latin America and Caribbean directory contains a unique section called Projects, Mining: Leading Canadian Firms. I think it speaks to the growing international recognition that Canadian firms enjoy in the mining world. Here you have a guide that’s supposed to list the leading law firms in Latin America, and yet it goes out of the way to point out that if you’re looking for expertise on mining projects, you should consider approaching the eight Canadian firms profiled on the list — even though only one of them has its own offices in South America.

In fact, if you leaf through the guide or check it out online, you’ll see Chambers even had to invent a special category to reflect this reality.

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Falling copper points to global pain – by Carolynne Wheeler (Globe and Mail – October 24, 2011)

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.

BEIJING — The answer to where the global economy is headed may well be found in the piles of trash towering above the brick and tin shacks belonging to Beijing’s army of garbage recyclers.

On the northeastern edge of sprawling Beijing, the hardscrabble neighbourhood of Dongxiaokou is some 20 kilometres from the glittering skyscrapers that provide this community’s livelihood. Here, virtually every scrap left over from a modern life – used computers and mobile phones, household appliances, furniture, clothing, even paper and plastic bottles – is collected, sorted, broken down and sold for cash.

Traditionally, copper (HG-FT3.330.113.46%) has been among the most valuable materials for collection. But this week, after a month of sinking prices, no one is in a good mood.

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Africa provides a rich seam for resources sector – by Kevin Rudd ( The Australian – October 24, 2011)

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/

Kevin Rudd is Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs

AFRICA is starting to surprise us. We have known for some time that the continent is changing. After the “lost decade” of the 1980s, many African governments have been democratising and liberalising their economies.

But when we find that, today, six of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world are from Africa, it’s worth taking a much closer look.

When we do, we see not only Africa’s growth, but the remarkable transformation of Australian business in Africa, particularly in the mining sector. Rewind 20 years, and the involvement of Australian resource companies in Africa was almost non-existent.

Now, about 40 per cent of all Australian overseas mining projects are in Africa. At least 230 Australian companies are active in the resource sector on the African continent. Between them, they are pursuing 650 individual projects in 42 countries. Their total investment is estimated at a whopping $24 billion.

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Saskatoon is home to Canada’s fastest growing economy – by Jeannie Armstrong (The [Saskatoon] StarPhoenix – October 22, 2011)

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

The country’s top economists are in agreement. Saskatoon will continue to lead economic growth in Canada through 2013.

[SASKATOON] FASTEST GROWING ECONOMY

The Conference Board of Canada, known for its conservative economic forecasts, says that Saskatoon’s economy will expand by 4.1 per cent this year, and will remain at the top of the economic growth leader board through 2013.The gap between Saskatoon and second place Calgary is quite significant, with Calgary’s economy expected to grow by 3.4 per cent.

What factors are contributing to Saskatoon’s sustained economic growth?

According to the Conference Board of Canada announcement, “Saskatoon is benefiting from strong resource development, while healthy population growth is bolstering the housing market.”

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Iron ore the latest commodity to slide – by Brenda Bouw (Globe and Mail – October 21, 2011)

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.

Iron ore was the one commodity left largely unscathed in the recent market rout, until now. The price of the key industrial commodity, which is used to make steel, has slumped in recent weeks and is expected to keep dropping as demand falls on a weakening Chinese economy and fallout from the European debt crisis.

Steel mills have been cutting iron ore purchases as they curb production, while major iron ore producers such as BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto PLC move forward with plans to ramp up output of the mineral.

The combination of lower demand and increased supply is putting pressure on iron ore prices, which had held steady even as other key industrial metals such as copper and aluminum were in freefall.

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Japan’s government, people split on nuclear power – by Mark Mackinnon (Globe and Mail – October 14, 2011)

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.

TOKYO— As the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant continues to reverberate, two diverging plotlines are developing in Japan: Ordinary citizens are becoming increasingly anxious about nuclear power, even taking to the streets in rare protest, Meanwhile, their government is moving back into its old and comfortable embrace with the nuclear industry.

Former prime minister Naoto Kan, who was in office on March 11 when a tsunami triggered a series of terrifying explosions and meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi, declared in the aftermath that the country should become nuclear-free. It’s a position that polls suggested had 70 per cent support.

But Mr. Kan was blamed by the public and the media for dithering at the height of the crisis, and was forced to resign in August. His successor, Yoshihiko Noda, quickly declared that he wants to see the country’s nuclear reactors restarted by next summer.

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Canada, U.S. feel drag in China slowdown – by Simon Avery (Globe and Mail – October 14, 2011)

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.

Commodities, resources take hit as Beijing moves to rein in inflation, develop more sustainable economic model

As China’s leaders apply the brakes to slow the world’s second-largest economy, Canadian and U.S. markets are feeling the jolt.

Copper prices have plunged, as have the values of other commodities reliant on Chinese demand. The recent volatility on global stock markets reflects, in part, concerns about how fast and severe the slowdown in China will be.

North American stocks will be hammered if China’s annual GDP growth should shrink to 5 per cent, says Jurrien Timmer, director of global macro for Fidelity Management & Research Co. and co-manager of the Fidelity Tactical Strategies fund.

While that’s still a robust figure by today’s western standards, it would represent a dramatic decline from the 9.6-per-cent growth that China boasted in the first half of the year.

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In standoff with Ivanhoe Mines, Mongolia blinks – Brenda Bouw (Globe and Mail – October 7, 2011)

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 — Mongolia is backing off plans to grab a larger stake of the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project following warnings from its majority owner, Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., that such a move would create mistrust among future international investors.

Statements from government officials put an end to weeks of speculation that the country might seek to prematurely boost its stake in the project.

Investor worry spurred a sharp selloff of shares of Ivanhoe Mines, the project’s 66 per cent owner, as well as Rio Tinto PLC, which owns 49 per cent of the Canadian company.

Oyu Tolgoi is key to economic growth in the country, the officials said, warning of the economic consequences of revising the existing deal that gives the country a 34-per-cent stake in the project. It has the option to increase that ownership to 50 per cent in 30 years.

The Mongolian government and Ivanhoe Mines, alongside its project partner Rio, later put out a joint statement confirming their support for the existing deal signed in 2009.

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Ivanhoe Mines overreliant on a benevolent Mongolia – by Pierre Fournier (Globe and Mail – October 6, 2011)

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.

Investors should consider last week’s events in Mongolia as a warning shot for the long-term geopolitical risks associated with Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.’s massive copper and gold project in Mongolia.

The Mongolian government’s brazen attempt to renegotiate the terms of ownership of the Oyu Tolgoi mine comes less than two years after a formal agreement was reached with Ivanhoe, following six years of tumultuous negotiations. The $6-billion project is only half completed and is not scheduled to start production before the first half of 2013.

At some level, the government’s power play to squeeze a few more nuggets out of Ivanhoe and project partner Rio Tinto is another classic case of resource nationalism. A poor country, rich in resources, and with an election looming next year, is being promised by politicians from both major parties that they can and should expect more from the mining companies. In the short term, the showdown is unlikely to lead to either a full-blown renegotiation of the contract or a significant hit to shareholders. But a few face-saving “concessions” to the Mongolian government cannot be ruled out.

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Resources should rise if Europe’s woes fixed – by Jonathan Ratner (National Post – October 5, 2011)

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

Amid the staggering sell-off in commodities, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for investors – assuming we don’t see another global financial crisis.

The pullback in everything from oil and coal to copper and agriculture runs counter to strong Asian demand growth and structurally short supplies for metals, food and fuels.

So investors are left with a simple question: Will the European sovereign debt crisis and the resulting stress on the financial sector trigger a world economic recession as was experienced in 2008?

“The best way of assessing the likely future remains to track current economic momentum,” Credit Suisse said in a note to clients on Tuesday. “To that end, the first two months of panic looks to have had surprisingly little impact on the data from China and the U.S., although the Euro area has weakened noticeably.”

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Rails to the Ring of Fire – Stan Sudol (Toronto Star – May 30, 2011)

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.

For the web’s largest database of articles on the Ring of Fire mining camp, please go to: Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

“The Ring of Fire railroad should be subsidized by
governments as the huge economic impact will benefit
the economy for decades to come, help balance budgets
and alleviate aboriginal poverty in the surrounding
First Nations communities.” (Stan Sudol)

Notwithstanding the recent correction in commodity prices, near-record highs for gold, silver and a host of base metals essential for industry confirm that the commodity “supercycle” is back and with a vengeance.

China, India, Brazil and many other developing economies are continuing their rapid pace of growth. In 2010, China overtook Japan to become the world’s second largest economy and surpassed the United States to become the biggest producer of cars.

In March, Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney remarked: “Commodity markets are in the midst of a supercycle. . . . Rapid urbanization underpins this growth. . . . Even though history teaches that all booms are finite, this one could go on for some time.”

Quebec’s visionary 25-year “Plan Nord” will see billions invested in northern resource development and infrastructure to take advantage of the tsunami in global metal demand and generate much needed revenue for government programs.

In Ontario, the isolated Ring of Fire mining camp in the James Bay lowlands is one of the most exciting and possibly the richest new Canadian mineral discovery in more than a generation. It has been compared with both the Sudbury Basin and the Abitibi Greenstone belt that includes Timmins, Kirkland Lake, Noranda and Val d’Or.

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Strong North, strong Canada [Resource development] – by Anne Golden and David STewart-Patterson (Toronto Star – October 2, 2011)

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.

Anne Golden is president and chief executive officer and David Stewart-Patterson is vice-president of public policy of The Conference Board of Canada.

“At the Diavik diamond mine, for instance, the company
managed to recruit 67 per cent of its operating workforce
from local communities, with almost half being aboriginals.
Resource companies are working with governments and
aboriginal organizations to boost the future capacity of
the northern and aboriginal labour force.” (Anne Golden
and David Stewart-Patterson)

The fact that getting a morning double-double costs about 35 per cent more in Iqaluit than in Mississauga is not exactly top of mind for traffic-bound commuters in the GTA. Canada’s North looms large in our national imagination, but not in the daily lives of most Canadians.

What happens in the North, however, matters to all of us. How our far-flung northern communities develop will have a real impact on the economic future of our country, and all of us need a better understanding of the forces at work.

The galloping growth of emerging economies like China and India has made the economic opportunities obvious. The world is hungry for Canada’s resources, and much of what we have — gold, silver, copper, zinc, diamonds, oil and gas — is to be found in our vast northern spaces.

Northerners face major challenges as they seek to take full advantage of these opportunities.

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CIBC NEWS RELEASE: Energy infrastructure megaprojects will unlock Canada’s resource wealth and create a million new jobs, says Hon. Jim Prentice, CIBC Vice-Chairman

Investments will help Canada ride out current uncertain economic environment

A copy of the CIBC Economics report Energizing Infrastructure is available here.

A copy of Mr. Prentice’s full speech is available here: “Nation-building in the 21st Century: The Case for the Lower Churchill Hydro Development”

HALIFAX, Sept. 28, 2011 /CNW/ – Canada’s era of nation-building through transformational infrastructure investments is far from over as planned megaprojects will unlock resource wealth, secure new markets for Canadian energy and create a million new jobs, the Hon. Jim Prentice, CIBC Senior Executive Vice-President and Vice Chairman, said today.

“No other nation is leading energy projects at our pace and scale,” Mr. Prentice said in a speech to the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council. “And in an economic climate where the world debates how much public money to borrow to create stimulus jobs, Canada stands alone in terms of its potential to chart a different course.”

“The economic potential of these projects, the job creating power of these projects, led for the most part by the private sector, is immense.”

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Strategic Minerals: Is China’s Consumption a Threat to United States Security? – by Dr. Kent Hughes Butts, Mr. Brent Bankus, and 2nd Lieutenant Adam Norris (U.S. Army War College – July, 2011)

“China’s resulting role in the mineral trade has increased
Western security community concern over strategic minerals
to its highest point since the end of the Cold War….The
U.S. dependence on overseas sources of strategic minerals
essential to sustain its economy and defense sector is more
pronounced than its dependence upon foreign oil….There is
not, for example, a substitute for … chromium in the
production of stainless steel.”
(U.S. Army War College Issue Paper)

 Center for Strategic Leadership,U.S. Army War College

For the web’s largest database of articles on the Ring of Fire mining camp, please go to: Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

No great nation willingly allows its standard of life and culture to be lowered and no great nation accepts the risk that it will go hungry. — Hjalmer Schacht, German Minister of Economics, 1937

The vitality of a powerful nation depends upon its ability to secure access to the strategic resources necessary to sustain its economy and produce effective weapons for defense. This is especially true for the world’s two largest economies, those of the United States and China, which are similarly import dependent for around half of their petroleum imports and large quantities of their strategic minerals.

Because China’s economy and resource import dependence continue to grow at a high rate it has adopted a geopolitical strategy to secure strategic resources. China’s resulting role in the mineral trade has increased Western security community concern over strategic minerals to its highest point since the end of the Cold War.

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