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Gold and Silver

Western Nunavut gold project heads into technical review (Nunatsiaq News – August 25, 2015)

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

Nunavut regulators seek comment on TMAC’s revamped project

The price of gold is down, but TMAC Resources Inc. continues to move ahead with its Hope Bay-Doris North gold mine project in western Nunavut, about 125 kilometres south of Cambridge Bay, with a view to getting its mill in operation by the end of 2016.

By then the price of gold — now languishing at US $1,164 per ounce — may rise again to US $1,250 per ounce which TMAC said, in its pre-feasibility study, is required for the mine to make money.

Meanwhile, the Nunavut Impact Review Board and the Nunavut Water Board have opened the project for technical review and asked for comments on TMAC’s new plans for the gold-rich Doris North deposit.

The project, originally reviewed and approved, when it was still owned by Newmont Mining Corp., involved the development of an underground mine at Doris North.

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South African Gold Miners Rally Most Since 1999 as Metal Rises – by Neo Khanyile (Bloomberg News – August 21, 2015)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

South Africa’s index of gold-mining stocks surged the most this week on record as the precious metal traded near a one-month high and the rand extended declines.

The five-member FTSE/JSE Africa Gold Mining Index climbed 2 percent to 1,022.93 by the close in Johannesburg, bringing its five-day gain to 28 percent. Pan African Resources Plc led the advance on Friday, adding 3.8 percent to bring its gain this week to 17 percent. AngloGold Ashanti was the best performer in the week, gaining 33 percent. Spot gold advanced 0.5 percent to $1.158 an ounce, the highest since July 13.

The precious metal has climbed 3.8 percent this week as investors scaled back bets on a Federal Reserve rate increase next month and a stock and currency sell-off in emerging markets spurred demand for safe assets. South African gold miners also benefit from a weaker rand because they pay costs in the local currency while selling their exports for dollars, helping the index to rally from a 15-year low on August 6.

“The gold stocks, particularly South African gold stocks, were undervalued, not only relative to the global peer group, but to the local mining index as well,” Richard Hart, director of equity research at Arqaam Capital SA Pvt Ltd., said from Johannesburg. “This has really been a recovery of some of that value.”

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Nunavut mine owner eyes open pit satellite for Meadowbank (Nunatsiaq News – August 21, 2015)

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

AEM believes Amaruq gold deposit, at two million ounces and growing, might extend Meadowbank’s lifespan

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. will study the possibility of transforming its promising Amaruq project, now estimated at two million ounces of gold, into a satellite open pit connected to Meadowbank, the company said Aug. 19.

“This rapidly growing deposit remains a focus for the company given its economic potential, partly due to its close proximity to Agnico Eagle’s nearby Meadowbank mine and mill,” the company said in a news release.

The company said in June that drill teams had continued to find high-grade samples at its new Amaruq site that “exceed our expectations.”

Right now, the Meadowbank mine and mill, which started up in 2010 to become Agnico Eagle’s biggest gold producer, is expected to churn out gold bars until the third quarter of 2018.

But there’s now a possibility that an operation at Amaruq, about 50 kilometres from the existing mine and mill, could extend Meadowbank’s lifespan beyond that date.

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Rehabilitation efforts bring new life to Hemlo – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – August 18, 2015)

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North.

Reclamation work being done by Barrick Gold at its Hemlo property near Marathon has changed the landscape of the former mining operation. Where once there stood a headframe, access roads and outbuildings, there is now only a grassy plain, accented by native trees and inhabited by a variety of wildlife.

This is what nature after mining looks like in 2015.

“It kind of caught us off guard, because the (David Bell) mine is still beside an operating mine,” said Shane Hayes, Barrick’s mine closure co-ordinator at Hemlo. “The area has been rehabilitated so quickly, I’d be lying if I said we weren’t surprised at how quickly nature re-established itself.”

Three mines started up at the Hemlo site in the 1980s. The still-operational Williams Mine produced 206,000 ounces of gold in 2014, while David Bell closed that same year. A third mine, Golden Giant, closed in 2010. The bulk of the rehabilitation work to date has focused on David Bell.

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Eldorado Gold shares slump on Greek mining halt (CBC News Business – August 19, 2015)

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

Relations between Vancouver-based Eldorado and the leftist Greek government have been testy

Shares of Eldorado Gold slid in Wednesday trading following reports that the Greek government is temporarily halting production at the company’s operations in northern Greece.

Reuters quoted Greek Energy Minister Panos Skourletis as saying Eldorado had “violated some terms.” He provided no elaboration.

“We are recalling the technical studies, which will result in the halting of operations at Skouries and part of operations in Olympiada,” Skourletis said, referring to two of the company’s mine sites.

According to the Associated Press, documents released by the ministry say the violations concern a project to build a copper and gold processing plant, including not carrying out certain tests on the flash smelting process proposed for use. According to the decision, the suspension will be lifted if the company resubmits the necessary documentation and meets the requirements within a year.

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IAMGOLD silent as signs point to mining camp closing – by Alan S. Hale (Timmins Daily Press – August 19, 2015)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

GOGAMA – It appears IAMGOLD is shutting down its exploration camp in Gogama.

The Daily Press received unofficial word on Tuesday that the Côté Gold Project will be completely shut down by the end of the week. According to the source, some exploration at the site will be continuing for the time being, but after this Friday the mining camp will be closed, and a skeleton staff will continue to dismantle it next week.

The Daily Press subsequently contacted IAMGOLD to get confirmation.

When asked if the information was true, Cheryl Naveau, the company’s head of aboriginal and community relations for the Côté project, said she could not comment, but that IAMGOLD was planning a teleconference early next week.

The Côté Gold Project was initially proposed in 2012, and for the past few years has been conducting prospecting for a potential open pit mine with an expected ore production period of 15 years. No actual mining has taken place yet.

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Can Canada’s Yukon Gold Deposits Surpass Nevada’s Gold Fields? – by Neils Christensen (Kitco News – August 18, 2015)

http://www.kitco.com/news/

(Kitco News) – Geologists no longer dispute that the Yukon Territory in Canada’s northwest holds gold deposits that are similar in geology to the gold fields in Nevada, but for many the only question is how far these newly discovered deposits actually spread.

For many years it was believed that Nevada’s gold deposits were unique and specific to that region; however, that theory had to be abandoned after the discovery of Canada’s first Carlin-type gold deposit in 2009.

Since then ATAC Resources (TSX.V: ATC) has been busy exploring the Rackla Gold property which covers an area of 1,700 square kilometers; the company has identified at least five Carline-type clusters, which could only be the start.

“We have lots of [geological] anomalies that we just haven’t had time to assess yet,” said Julia Lane, vice president of exploration for ATAC. “There is a ton of regional potential here.”

Exploration of the Carlin-type deposits started in earnest in 2010 and has been steadily progressing.

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Former Centerra CEO ‘shocked’ by lack of Canadian action after controversial arrest in Bulgaria – by Peter Koven (National Post – August 19, 2015)

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

TORONTO — The former chief executive of Centerra Gold Inc. is lashing out at Canadian authorities after his arrest last month in Bulgaria on corruption allegations he says are unfounded and simply an attempt to sway current negotiations around a gold mine.

“My situation here is, in my opinion, pretty dire,” Len Homeniuk said in a phone interview.

Homeniuk, 68, was on a cruise on the Danube River with his family when Bulgarian authorities detained him in late July. He spent 11 days in prison, and was then transferred to house arrest. He is confined to a small apartment in Sofia, and is facing a potential extradition to Kyrgyzstan.

Homeniuk was arrested because the Kyrgyz government put him on Interpol’s wanted persons list due to alleged involvement in corruption. This comes as Centerra and the Kyrgyz government try to negotiate a new ownership agreement over the Kumtor gold mine.

“In my opinion, the only reason for this action is to put pressure on Centerra in the ongoing negotiations,” he said. He appealed the Interpol notice months ago, but the case has not yet been reviewed.

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Major South African gold producers fly into the danger zone – by Lawrie Williams (Mineweb.com – August 18, 2015)

http://www.mineweb.com/

Many of South Africa’s major gold mines will be making losses on an AISC basis at current gold prices and it is hard to see the industry recovering much failing a major bullion price increase.

LONDON -A few months ago, Mineweb published a thought-provoking article suggesting the South African Gold Mining industry as we know it might not survive beyond the end of the decade (See: Could SA’s gold mining industry be gone by 2020?).

In it Patrick Cairns reported on a talk by Peter Major, mining specialist at Cadiz Corporate Solutions, to JSE’s Power Hour in Cape Town, where he laid bare the serious problems facing the industry which have almost brought it to its knees. The current gold price is now around, or below, many of the miners’ latest AISC guidance levels and if the forecasts of most mainstream analysts are to be believed – the future of the industry looks bleak.

Major’s talk pointed to numerous political and union-related changes that have already seen the industry reduce to a fraction of the size it was only a decade or so ago. And unless there is a major pick-up in the gold price there would seem to be little prospect of any recovery.

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UPDATE 2-Barrick scraps co-president structure in management shuffle – by Euan Rocha (Reuters U.S. – August 18, 2015)

http://www.reuters.com/

Aug 17 (Reuters) – Barrick Gold Corp said on Monday that Jim Gowans, a veteran miner and one of its co-presidents, was retiring and that he would not be replaced, as the miner moves to thin out its ranks and create a leaner operating structure.

In the latest reshuffle, Kelvin Dushnisky, who has served as co-president with Gowans for a year, has been named as president and will continue to report to Executive Chair John Thornton, a former Goldman Sachs executive.

Toronto-based Barrick said Gowans would step down as co-president immediately, but stay on as an adviser to the chairman until he retires at the end of the year.

Analysts said the exit of Gowans, who has four decades of industry experience, leaves a void of first-hand mining know-how in Barrick’s senior ranks.

“The loss of a senior executive with the mining experience of Jim Gowans does reduce the ‘bench strength’ of the overall management team,” noted Barclays analyst Farooq Hamed in a note to clients on Monday.

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COLUMN-Chinese gold demand limbers up for bull-bear tussle – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – August 17, 2015)

http://www.reuters.com/article

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Aug 17 (Reuters) – Gold investors are trying to work out whether the yuan’s depreciation and the recent turmoil in Chinese equity markets is good, bad or indifferent for demand for the precious metal in the world’s biggest buyer.

It’s possible to construct plausible-sounding arguments why the recent drama in China’s financial markets could be both bullish and bearish for gold.

At the heart of most of the arguments is a view on how Chinese consumers will respond to the recent developments but it seems this is largely guesswork on the part of analysts, as there are few precedents to serve as a guide to future behaviour.

One big question is whether the yuan’s sudden 3 percent decline against the U.S. dollar last week and the swings in equity valuations are likely to be important drivers of Chinese gold demand, or whether other factors with a lower media profile are at work.

Looking at the yuan depreciation first, and the important thing seems to be that the authorities are signalling the drop last week was a one-off move, not part of any sustained weakening.

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Barrick Gold Corp shakes up management structure, drops co-president model- by Peter Koven (National Post – August 17, 2015)

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

Barrick Gold Corp. is scrapping its unusual “co-president” management structure less than a year after it went into effect.

Co-president Kelvin Dushnisky has been appointed Barrick’s sole president, the company said Monday morning. Until now, Dushnisky was sharing the president duties with Jim Gowans. Barrick announced that Gowans will retire at the end of this year, which was a surprise.

A couple of other management appointments were made in conjunction with these moves. Chief of staff Richard Williams has been named chief operating officer and will report directly to Dushnisky. Williams is a very unconventional choice for a COO, as he has a military background rather than a technical mining background. However, he will be assisted by Basie Maree, a mining veteran who was promoted to chief technical officer.

“As we work to accelerate Barrick’s return to the lean, decentralized model that drove the company’s early success, the time is right to put a structure in place that supports this vision,” chairman John Thornton said in a statement.

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Northern Dynasty’s Last Stand – by Tommy Humphreys (CEO.ca – August 13, 2015)

http://ceo.ca/

Pebble’s new backers bet on EPA compromise and new JV partner for the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold deposit

Two experienced mining financiers are making a $4.7 million bet that one of the world’s largest and most controversial minerals deposits is about to turn a major corner.

Frank Giustra and Gord Keep’s Cannon Point Resources (CNP.TSXv) is being acquired by Northern Dynasty Minerals (NDM.T) for a touch over its cash value (C$4.7 million). Pro forma, the deal would give Cannon Point about 8% of Northern Dynasty.

Northern Dynasty owns 100% of the Pebble Deposit in Alaska. The project saw over C$750 million of investment over the past decade and contains a jaw-dropping 107 million ounces of gold, 80 billion pounds of copper, 5 billion pounds of molybdenum, and over 500 million ounces of silver* and showed robust economics at $1050 gold and $2.50 copper in a February 2011 PEA.

Pebble is also vehemently opposed by the EPA, which began a process to veto the project in February 2014 and more recently has tried to impose development restrictions.

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Moody’s downgrades Barrick credit to lowest investment grade rating – by Rachele Younglai (Globe and Mail – August 13, 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.

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Barrick Gold Corp.’s credit to the lowest investment grade rating, a blow to the company that is on track to reduce its debt by $3-billion (U.S.) this year.

Barrick is rapidly selling mines to reduce its $13-billion debt load. But Moody’s said Barrick’s debt is still too high given the weak gold price.

“Material organic debt reduction is unlikely and production will start declining in the next several years,” Darren Kirk, Moody’s senior credit officer, said in a statement announcing the downgrade.

Moody’s changed the miner’s outlook to “stable” from “negative” and downgraded Barrick’s debt to one notch above junk status, a risky rating that would increase the company’s borrowing costs.

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Gold mine spill shines light on practice of avoiding environmental assessment – by Nelson Bennett (Business Vancouver – August 11, 2015)

https://www.biv.com/

Pollution on a remote northern B.C. island only discovered after whistleblower reported improper practices

A small gold mine on an uninhabited island on B.C.’s north coast has some big problems. Just seven months after its Tel mine was declared to be in commercial production, Banks Island Gold Ltd. (TSX-V:BOZ) has been forced to shut it down, putting 100 people out of work and leaving investors with shares that fell more than 70% in value over the course of one week.

There is some question whether the mine can reopen, as the company had been struggling with a $14 million deficit before the mine was shut down and says it will need to seek “immediate financing” in order to restart.

The mine was ordered shut down for unauthorized discharges of effluent from its mine site that resulted from flooding. An inspection by the Ministry of Energy and Mines also found a number of permit violations, including the processing of ore from an unpermitted mine site.

The company is facing potential legal action from the Gitxaala Nation, which says the Banks Island Gold mine is an example of project splitting and scoping –

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