Archive | Gold and Silver

The odds are stacked against gold juniors like never before: Abitibi Royalties CEO – by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud (Mining.com – July 14, 2018)

July 16, 2018 in Abitibi Greenstone Belt, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver, Quebec Mining

http://www.mining.com/

Huge hurdles are stacked against gold juniors in the quest to become a mine, says Abitibi Royalties’ CEO Ian Ball.

Ball, who spoke to MINING.com in March at PDAC in Toronto, was former President of McEwen Mining before moving onto Abitibi Royalties four years ago. During Ball’s tenure as CEO, the company’s stock has increased 3.1 times in value going from $3.27 per share to $10.44.

Ball sees a lot of headwinds in the industry. He does not see a significant gold price moves to the upside. Average gold grade is declining, which requires larger plants and more capital to move ore. Regulations are becoming more stringent. Productivity improvements are still lagging. Continue Reading →

The Nugget Effect. What is it, and how to recognize it. – by Andrew Watson (Geology For Investors – July 2018)

July 16, 2018 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver

https://www.geologyforinvestors.com/

Andrew Watson is the principal of Anterrra Consulting, which provides strategic advice, project generation, investor relations services and digital data management services to clients in Mining, Junior Exploration and Oil and Gas.

One of the first things to recognize in the mining industry, is that all that glitters may not be gold. I’m not talking about the time the CEO of a junior exploration company picked up drill core freshly drilled from the corebox and called a zone of pyrite the best core he’d ever seen (it was if you like shiny things).

No, this is nature playing tricks on us. The core will assay 44 kilos of gold per tonne in 1 metre and 0.1 g/t per tonne the next. What’s even more frustrating, from the authors own personal experience, is when core is first assayed by one technique and then re-assayed by another and the gold disappears. Continue Reading →

World’s Gold Melting Away, Mining Experts Warn – by Zoe Papadakis (NewsMax.com – July 13, 2018)

July 13, 2018 in Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles

https://www.newsmax.com/

The world’s gold is melting away, mining experts have warned, and soon all our supplies could be depleted. Many have forecast that within a year we could hit “peak gold,” the maximum rate of global gold extraction, with discoveries in gold declining thereafter, The Daily Mail noted.

This has been a longstanding concern that has surfaced in the past, however it seems as if D-day is fast approaching.

Chuck Jeannes, chief executive of one of the world’s largest gold mining companies, Goldcorp, previously told The Wall Street Journal that a falloff in gold supply could support the gold price, however, it would make mining harder. This, he said, would ultimately lead to further consolidation in the industry. Continue Reading →

Indonesia to pay $3.85 billion for majority stake in Freeport’s Grasberg copper mine – by Wilda Asmarini and Bernadette Christina Munthe (Reuters U.S. – July 11, 2018)

July 12, 2018 in Asia Mining, Copper, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles, Rio Tinto, United States Mining

https://www.reuters.com/

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia on Thursday struck an agreement with Freeport-McMoRan Inc and Rio Tinto to buy a controlling stake in the world’s second-biggest copper mine via a series of transactions valued at $3.85 billion.

The heads of agreement establishes a structure for Indonesia, through its state-owned mining holding company PT Inalum, to gain control of the Grasberg mine located in the country’s eastern province of Papua. The deal should cap years of wrangling over the rights for the site as Jakarta seeks to gain greater control over its mineral wealth.

Last August, the two sides agreed to let Freeport (FCX.N) keep operating the mine possibly until 2041 while ceding control over its local unit, PT Freeport Indonesia. Continue Reading →

Detour Gold CEO clashes with discordant shareholder Paulson & Co. – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – July 11, 2018)

July 11, 2018 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver, Ontario Mining

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The interim chief executive officer of Detour Gold Corp. is firing back at dissident shareholder Paulson & Co. and insisting that remaining as a standalone, and not selling the company, is in the best interests of shareholders.

“[A sale] may benefit Mr. Paulson, but the shareholders I talked to aren’t interested,“ Michael Kenyon said in an interview. “We have lots of shareholders. The ones I talk to are interested in the life of mine execution. They see the value in developing a 16-million-ounce resource.”

Mr. Kenyon said he’s spoken to most of the company’s top shareholders and the “vast majority” are supportive of the plan to forge ahead with a costly expansion of its flagship mine in Northern Ontario. Continue Reading →

Barrick forges closer ties with Chinese partner in bid to revive South American mine – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – July 9, 2018)

July 9, 2018 in Asia Mining, Barrick Gold Corporation, Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://business.financialpost.com/

Barrick’s deal with Shandong shows how Chinese companies have in recent years stepped up their involvement with Canadian mining companies

Barrick Gold Corp. may be the largest gold miner in the world, but that hasn’t stopped it from asking a state-owned Chinese conglomerate to help in its decades-long quest to dig up a vast gold deposit near the border between Argentina and Chile.

On Monday, the Toronto-based company announced China’s Shandong Gold Group Co. Ltd. will study whether it makes sense to build an open pit, heap leach mine squarely inside Argentina — after Chilean authorities last year ordered the closure of mining activities on its side of the border.

The announcement, which came while Barrick’s senior management team visited China, shows the company’s growing reliance on Shandong as a partner. In April 2017, Shandong paid $960 million and formed a 50/50 joint venture in Barrick’s Veladero gold mine in Argentina, and the two agreed to explore future opportunities together. Continue Reading →

Acacia net cash restored after posting solid first half production – by David McKay (MiningMX – July 6, 2018)

July 6, 2018 in Africa Mining, Barrick Gold Corporation, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles

https://www.miningmx.com/

ACACIA Resources all but restored its net cash balance to safer levels following second quarter gold production which totalled 133,778 ounces which means the group is on-track to meet its full year half production guidance of between 435,000 oz to 475,000 oz.

The group’s cash balance increased to $120m from $13m in the first quarter taking its net cash to $63m at quarter-end. It was about $50m at the close of the first quarter. “We are pleased to report another strong operating performance in the second quarter,” said Peter Geleta, interim CEO of Acacia Resources, in a statement.

Production for the six months ended June 30 was 254,759 oz and has been achieved in difficult circumstances for the group considering it scaled back Bulyanhulu after the mine was prohibited by Tanzanian authorities last year from exporting gold-in-concentrate. Continue Reading →

Ian Telfer talks: Transcending low grades in school, he hit high grades in mining and philanthropy – by Greg Klein (Resource Clips – July 4, 2018)

July 6, 2018 in Canada Mining, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver, Goldcorp Inc.

http://resourceclips.com/

Here’s a guy who got rejected not by “virtually every university in Canada, it was every university in Canada”—and for an MBA program at that. Now chairperson of Goldcorp TSX:G, Ian Telfer credits one school’s 11th-hour offer with giving him a second shot at his career, putting an undistinguished background behind him to become a serial success story.

His reflections provided inspiration to a sold-out Vancouver audience of 850 people hoping to pick up some of the magic that made him a mining legend.

The June 28 event saw him interviewed on stage by Peter Legge, a standup comic-turned-publisher and author of several motivational books. Consequently, conversation focused less on mining deals than on qualities that might complement success in any industry. Hosting the event was BCBusiness, a magazine created by Cambridge House International founder Joe Martin and sold to Legge by local zillionaire Jim Pattison. Continue Reading →

Forging new bonds with First Nations: Indigenous-led AurCrest Gold sees a shared future with remote communities in northwestern Ontario – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – July 5, 2018)

July 5, 2018 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver, Junior Exploration Sector, Ontario Mining

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

A pioneering First Nation-led gold exploration and sustainable energy company has moved beyond having a social licence to operate by forging deeper bonds with remote communities.

When Chris Angeconeb took the helm as AurCrest Gold’s president and CEO in March 2017, he was determined to build upon the good faith relationships the company had fostered with First Nation communities in northwestern Ontario, and then take it a step farther.

When Angeconeb joined the Toronto junior miner as a director in 2011, his knowledge of mining was limited. A handful of his uncles and cousins had worked in the industry and he’d received an earlier indoctrination while taking a course at Algoma University in Sault Ste. Marie taught by MiningWatch co-founder Joan Kuyek. Continue Reading →

UPDATE 2-Indonesia extends permit for giant Freeport copper mine as talks continue – by Wilda Asmarini (Reuters U.S.- July 4, 2018)

July 5, 2018 in Asia Mining, Copper, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles, United States Mining

https://www.reuters.com/

JAKARTA, July 4 (Reuters) – Indonesia has extended a temporary operating permit for Freeport McMoRan Inc’s Grasberg project, the world’s second-biggest copper mine, until the end of the month while discussions continue over long-term rights.

Freeport’s local unit, PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI), has been given a temporary operating permit for Grasberg until July 31, Coal and Minerals Director General Bambang Gatot Ariyono told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.

Phoenix, Arizona-based Freeport has been in negotiations with Indonesia to secure long-term operating rights at Grasberg after the government introduced new rules last year aimed at giving Jakarta greater control over the nation’s resources. Continue Reading →

Indonesia Says $4 Billion Grasberg Deal May Be Signed This Week – by Tassia Sipahutar (Bloomberg News – July 2, 2018)

July 3, 2018 in Asia Mining, Copper, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles, United States Mining

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Indonesia confirmed it’s closer to reaching an almost $4 billion agreement to take control of Freeport-McMoran Inc.’s giant Grasberg copper and gold mine after more than a year of negotiations.

Talks between state-owned PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium, known as Inalum, Freeport and Rio Tinto Group have been completed and an agreement could be signed as early as this week, Indonesia’s State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno and Deputy Minister Fajar Harry Sampurno said on Saturday. On Monday, Freeport shares fell along with copper prices.

“We are finalizing the necessary documents,” Soemarno told reporters in Jakarta. “They are asking for stability in investment. They want to have documents that provide clarity in investment calculations, clarity in tax. These are all being processed.” Continue Reading →

Osisko Mining shareholders vote in favour of controversial stock-options package – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – June 29, 2018)

July 3, 2018 in Abitibi Greenstone Belt, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver, Quebec Mining

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Osisko Mining Inc.’s shareholders voted in favour of a controversial stock-options package Friday, while its chief executive officer says the company intends to move away from options as a form of compensation over time.

Ahead of Friday’s annual general meeting, proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) advised shareholders of the junior mining company to vote against the package, citing concerns over its excessive cost, and criticizing the lack of performance-based criteria for receiving the options.

At Osisko, options are widely granted to officers, directors and employees, and often make up the lion’s share of compensation. For example, CEO John Burzynski made $3.15-million, with about $2.1-million in options, a $500,000 salary and a $590,000 bonus. Independent director Sean Roosen was paid $743,000 last year, $688,000 in options and a $55,000 cash fee. Continue Reading →

Why Russia and Turkey Are Such Gold Bugs – by Leonid Bershidsky (Bloomberg News – June 27, 2018)

July 3, 2018 in Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Their moves out of U.S. debt and into the precious metal could be precursors of a bigger global shift.

Since December 2017, Russia has cut its holdings of U.S. foreign debt by more than half. Instead, it’s been increasing the share of gold in its international reserves. That’s understandable behavior for a country that has to deal with an unpredictable U.S. sanctions policy, but it’s also part of a trend.

Foreign governments and international organizations account for a decreasing share of outstanding U.S. debt, and some economies have in recent years aggressively upped the share of gold in their reserves instead.

The Russian reduction of Treasury holdings, to $48.7 billion in April 2018 from $102.2 billion in December 2017, has been nothing short of dramatic, though it wasn’t a huge blow to the U.S. Russia’s holdings of American government bonds have long been dwarfed by those of China and Japan, as well as Brazil and some European countries. Continue Reading →

‘Accidental’ gold discovery in Ring of Fire prompts Noront Resources to seek exploration partner – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – July 1, 2018)

July 3, 2018 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver, Ontario Mining, Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

https://business.financialpost.com/

Ring of Fire has good gold potential, CEO says: ‘It’s the right rocks, the right age, but we just really haven’t got around to dealing with the gold’

Noront Resources Ltd. is looking to partner with a gold company as it continues to lead exploration of the Ring of Fire, a vast isolated area in northwestern Ontario with untapped mineral resources.

The company has proven nickel and chromite deposits in the Ring of Fire, but those base metals are too heavy to transport out of the area, given the current lack of road access. Gold, on the other hand, is so valuable that it is often flown out of remote areas.

A road could take a minimum of five years to build, chief executive Alan Coutts said, so in the meantime the company has initiated discussions with several intermediate to senior gold producers, in Canada and elsewhere, about striking a joint partnership to explore for gold. Continue Reading →

U.S. billionaire who bet on housing crash clashes with Ontario gold producer Detour – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – June 29, 2018)

June 29, 2018 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver, Ontario Mining

https://business.financialpost.com/

A fight for control of Toronto-based Detour Gold Corp. is heating up, as one of the company’s largest shareholders on Wednesday threatened to replace the board of directors on the same day management released a new plan for its flagship mine.

The battle pits one of the world’s best-known hedge funds, Paulson & Co. — led by billionaire John Paulson, who was portrayed in The Big Short as making a prescient bet against the U.S. housing market a decade ago — against the board of Detour, which operates one of the world’s largest gold mines in northeastern Ontario.

The Paulson & Co. statement called Detour’s board “entrenched” for ignoring purchase offers amid a slumping stock price. Detour’s stock on Thursday afternoon was trading at $11.88, about 33 per cent off its 52-week high. Continue Reading →