Junior Exploration Sector – Page 23

Ecuador Takes Another Step Out Of The Cold With A Major Copper Discovery – by Tim Treadgold (Forbes Magazine – November 2018)

November 22, 2018

https://www.forbes.com/

Tim Treadgold has been writing about the mining and oil industries for more than 40 years.

Ecuador has not been at the top of anyone’s investment list for some time thanks to its aggressive treatment of the U.S. oil major, Chevron, and its provision of a bolt-hole in London for wanted Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, but if recent mineral exploration news is as good as it appears the country could soon be the center of a copper rush.

Ironically, given Assange’s home in Ecuador’s London Embassy, the copper news is appearing first in London where a small explorer called SolGold has its stock exchange listing.

Early yesterday SolGold updated the market on its work at the Alpala project in the north of Ecuador and while investors yawned it was one of the most significant items of exploration news for several years.

Drill-ready money: Canada’s hitting a six-year high in exploration spending – by Greg Klein (Resource Clips – November 19, 2018)

November 20, 2018

http://resourceclips.com/

Blockchain might offer intrigue and cannabis promises a buzz, but mineral exploration still attracts growing interest. A healthy upswing this year will bring Canadian projects a nearly 8% spending increase to $2.36 billion, the industry’s highest amount since 2012. According to recently released data, that’s part of an international trend that puts Canada at the top of a worldwide resurgence.

The $2.36 billion allotted for Canadian exploration and deposit appraisal forms just a small part of the year’s total mineral resource development investments, which see $11.86 billion committed to this country, up from $10.61 billion in 2017.

Those numbers come from Natural Resources Canada, which surveyed companies between April and September on their spending intentions within the country for 2018. The $2.36-billion figure includes engineering, economic and feasibility studies, along with environmental work and general expenses.

Supreme Court opens door to national securities regulator – by Tim Kiladze, Sean Fine and Alexandra Posadzki (Globe and Mail – November 10, 2018)

November 12, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The fate of a unified, pan-Canadian securities regulator rests with provincial leaders after the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously endorsed legislation to create one. The question now is whether there remains the political will to finish the project, a quest that goes back to 1935.

On Friday, the Supreme Court gave its blessing for a pan-Canadian regulator, which would govern the country’s financial industry, to be known as the Capital Markets Regulatory Authority (CMRA).

Canada is the only Group of 20 country that does not have a national securities regulator. Its proponents have struggled to create one for decades because of political tension between the provinces and Ottawa, as well as the intricacies of the country’s constitutional law.

BHP’s ‘measured creep’ of risk appetite – by Matthew Stevens (Australian Financial Review – November 11, 2018)

November 12, 2018

https://www.afr.com/

Ivan Glasenberg wondered recently how it was the BHP had moved into mining frontier of Ecuador when management at Australia’s Smart Thinking resources house was supposedly content to sustain and grow its business around its existing sites. This bemusement is well founded.

Among the themes consistent through Andrew Mackenzie’s evolving reformation of BHP are that it has little or no appetite for investment in frontier opportunities and that the company’s growth aspirations will be best afforded through a laser focus on the Global Australian’s existing six-strong fleet of mega-resource basins.

But that message is in the process of being massaged into something more nuanced, and not just because BHP’s two-stream play to possibly shape Ecuador’s future in copper stands an obvious test of the past house line in emerging mining sovereignties.

After Alaska’s ‘Burning Man for salmon’, fishermen wary of mine proposal outcome – by Gregory Scruggs (Reuters U.S. November 5, 2018)

November 5, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

SEATTLE (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – As the commercial fishermen who ply salmon-rich, southwestern Alaska pack away their fishing gear for the winter, many are watching anxiously as a controversial mine proposal moves through the federal permitting process.

On Tuesday, Alaskans will vote on an initiative that, if passed, would set stricter regulations for proposed infrastructure projects that affect salmon habitats.

Advocates for the measure hope it will derail Pebble Mine, the world’s biggest undeveloped gold and copper project, and which is slated for the region of Bristol Bay – the largest fishery for sockeye salmon globally. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is preparing an environmental review of Pebble Mine, with preliminary results due in January.

You can find any mineral you want in SA, but most investors won’t bother, says industry – by David McKay (MiningMX.com – October 30, 2018)

October 30, 2018

MiningMX.com

DESPITE having re-mortgaged his house, and selling everything else he owned, Sifiso Nkosi quickly ran out of money. That’s how it is in the mining exploration game where it costs R1,000 to R1,500 per metre to drill the earth, and where potential resources considered shallow require several hundred metres of drilling.

And that’s just for knowledge. Paying for that knowledge can be a painful exercise when all you might learn is that there’s no minerals.

“To cut a long story short, we entered into a joint venture to try and get people to come and assist for the expansion,” said Nkosi of his plan to drill for anthracite in KwaZulu-Natal province. “They were not there to assist for the expansion; they were there to add into their portfolio so they could go outside and still attract more capital using us as an asset that’s written into their portfolio,” he said.

Rockcliff Metals drills historic gold mine in Manitoba – by Staff (Mining.com – October 29, 2018)

October 30, 2018

http://www.mining.com/

Rockcliff Metals (TSX.V: RCLF) announced that it is about to kick off a first phase drill program on its high-grade Laguna Gold property located in Snow Lake, Manitoba.

The Laguna Gold Property hosts the past producing Rex-Laguna Mine that was Manitoba’s first and highest-grade gold mine. The 2,500-metre drill program marks the first drill program on the property in over 70 years.

In a press release, the Toronto-based miner explained that gold mineralization on Laguna is controlled by thrust faults attributed to the major regional Crowduck Bay Fault which crosses the entire length of the property.

India framing funding options for global junior exploration companies – by Ajoy K Das (MiningWeekly.com – October 29, 2018)

October 30, 2018

http://www.miningweekly.com/

KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) – With global resource majors showing tepid interest in Indian mineral exploration projects, the Mines Ministry is working on models including offers of financial incentives for foreign junior exploration companies to undertake such projects.

Government officials familiar with the framing of such models said that foreign junior exploration companies would be offered funding, including risk funds from the National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET), if they floated joint ventures (JV) with Indian companies for specific mineral exploration projects in specific geographies.

The government reckons that, unlike global resource majors, which are more interested in following up exploration projects with own development and mining investments, junior explorers will be more amenable to undertake standalone exploration projects in collaboration with existing Indian mining companies.

It Doesn’t Feel Like It But Mining Sector Is Alive – Chad Williams – by Neils Christensen (Kitco News – October 24, 2018)

October 30, 2018

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – While 2018 has not been a positive year for the mining sector, the rumors of its demise are greatly exaggerated, according to one financing executive.

Although the sector has struggled to find investment capital, the Canadian mining sector continues to dominate deal flow, raising the most money out of any other sector in Canada, Chad Williams, president of Red Cloud Klondike Strike, said in a presentation Xplor, a Quebec annual mining conference. He also noted that so far this year the mining sector has seen deals valued at $5 billion.

“The value of the deals made in the mining space far outstrip what we’ve seen in the marijuana market,” he said. “Even though it has been a difficult year, companies are making money even in a bear market,. There is hope going forward”

Timmins metals explorer signs MOU with First Nation: Pancontinental Resources partners with Flying Post First Nation – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – October 12, 2018)

October 12, 2018

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

A junior miner searching for battery-grade metals in the Timmins area has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a nearby First Nation community. Pancontinental Resources (Pancon) inked the cooperation agreement with Flying Post First Nation, northwest of Timmins, which came into effect Oct.1.

The Toronto-based exploration outfit has three early stage nickel-cobalt-copper projects in the area. The MOU indicates that the company respects Aboriginal and treaty rights when engaged in exploration activities, and lays out a framework for future engagement.

It sets down a consultation and accommodation process with the First Nation, that, as the projects advance, can evolve into negotiations for an impact benefit agreement (IBM) should any of the three projects reach the feasibility stage.

Cobalt refinery edges closer to restart: First Cobalt puts out the mill feed call to North American, international suppliers – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – October 11, 2018)

October 11, 2018

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Securing outside feedstock is the key to a faster restart of a cobalt refinery in northeastern Ontario. First Cobalt announced Oct. 10 that it’s in discussions with “several parties” to obtain an outside supply of feedstock that could help finance the restart of its mill near the town of Cobalt.

The Toronto junior miner is evaluating all aspects of how soon to reopen the shuttered operation it purchased in 2017, and position it as a toll milling facility. How soon it reopens depends on the outcome of those talks with suppliers.

The company acquired the 22-year-old facility when it began assembling its sizeable land holdings of more than 11,700 hectares in the Cobalt camp, which includes 50 former silver mines containing cobalt material.

Batteries Juicing the Nickel Market: LME Nickel Sulfate Contracts in 2019? (Investing News Network – October 8, 2018)

October 9, 2018

Investing News Network

This INNspired Article is brought to you by Tartisan Nickel Corp.

The recently announced LME nickel sulfate contracts under consideration are a strong indication that the nickel sulfate market and upstream nickel sulfide market are facing considerable growth. Annual sales of electric vehicles are expected to climb from 1.1 million in 2017 to 30 million by 2030. Each one requiring a battery chock full of base metals, especially lithium, cobalt and nickel sulfate.

The price of nickel has climbed nearly 60 percent since mid-2015 on an improved nickel demand forecast, mainly from the steel sector. The surging demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and in turn base metals such as nickel is expected to push those prices up further.

The impressive growth outlook for battery materials has prompted the London Metals Exchange (LME) to consider offering a suite of battery materials futures contracts in 2019 — including lithium, cobalt and nickel sulfate — to better take advantage of the booming EV market.

Numbers looking solid for River Valley project – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – September 20, 2018)

September 20, 2018

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

New Age Metals holds annual tour of proposed platinum group mine, gives updates on progress of project

New Age Metals’ River Valley project could be a historic mine site, according to its developers, so long as investor confidence and the markets remain strong enough to see it become a reality.

Investors, First Nations partners, geologists and curious members of the public were invited on Sept. 12 to take a site tour of the proposed open pit mine, located approximately 100 kilometres northeast of Sudbury.

Visitors were first taken to a core shack in the town of River Valley, 22 kilometres south of the site, to examine samples, and then brought to the 16,000-acre, 16-kilometre-long site itself, to examine outcroppings and drill hole locations. Company representatives also fielded questions on the history of the region, potential economic benefits and recent developments.

New Voisey’s Bay royalty calculation agreed on – by Marleny Arnoldi (MiningWeekly.com – September 17, 2018)

September 18, 2018

http://www.miningweekly.com/

TSX-listed Altius Minerals and Nasdaq-listed Royal Gold have entered into an agreement with Vale Canada to settle litigation related to the calculation of the royalty in respect of all concentrates produced from the Voisey’s Bay mine, in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Voisey’s Bay 3% net smelter return royalty is directly owned by the Labrador Nickel Royalty partnership, of which Altius is a 10% owner and a subsidiary of Royal Gold is a 90% owner.

The parties agreed to a new method for calculating the royalty regarding concentrates processed at Vale’s Long Harbour processing plant, which will be effective for all Voisey’s Bay mine production after April 1 this year.

RNC Minerals does it again with another Beta Hunt gold haul in Kambalda – by Josh Chiat (The West Australian – September 16, 2018)

September 17, 2018

https://thewest.com.au/

The Kambalda mine that produced more than $15 million worth of spectacular gold specimens a fortnight ago from a single deep cut 500m underground has turned out another precious stone after development restarted after the announcement.

A specimen stone weighing 43kg and estimated to contain 1100 ounces of gold, valued at about $1.8 million, was recovered after work resumed underground at the Beta Hunt gold mine.

The stone, along with another piece weighing 7kg and containing 190oz, will be taken to the Perth Mint and added to a haul that included what was believed to be two of the biggest gold specimens discovered.