Junior Exploration Sector – Page 34

Orefinders consolidates prospective Shining Tree district, in Ontario’s famed Abitibi – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – December 1, 2017)

December 1, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – TSX-V-listed Orefinders Resources has entered into agreements for a series of three acquisitions of adjoining properties from two individual landholders and from private company Premet.

Orefinders said in a press release on Thursday that it views the Shining Tree District as a significantly underexplored and a not well understood region of Ontario’s Abitibi, which holds great potential for a district scale mining camp.

Orefinders’ Shining Tree consolidated land package now includes 67 claims and 14 patented leases covering over nearly 2 348 ha, which makes the company a significant mineral landholder in the region.

Orford to capitalise on ‘district-scale’ Qiqavik gold discovery, near-term catalysts in Carolina – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – November 30, 2017)

December 1, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Planning is under way for another summer drill campaign at recently-gone-public explorer Orford Mining’s Qiqavik project, in the remote emerging gold belt of Cape Smith, in Northern Quebec.

“We’ve discovered a new gold district in Canada. This is like walking into the Timmins Belt for the first time,” veteran geologist, fund manager and now Orford president and CEO David Christie told Mining Weekly Online in an interview.

He explained that the Cape Smith Belt, especially the southern part, had seen significant exploration in the 1970s for base metals such as nickel. According to him, everyone was focused on nickel and no one considered the gold potential of Northern Quebec, until the 1980s.

Australia’s new gold rush lures prospectors Down Under – by James Regan (Reuters U.S. – November 29, 2017)

November 30, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Canada-based Kirkland Lake Gold will list its shares on the Australia bourse on Thursday after investing millions of dollars and joining dozens of other prospectors in a modern-day gold rush.

Kirkland Lake expects to produce a quarter-million ounces of gold in 2017 from a mine it bought a year ago in eastern Australia and is also dipping a toe into a tantalizing new gold region on the other side of the continent. More than 25 publicly-listed companies and legions of small prospectors are exploring for gold on the western fringe of Australia in an area known as the Pilbara, better regarded for iron ore.

The target is gold occurring in clusters of pebbles and which investors such as Kirkland are betting will compare in size with South Africa’s massive Witwatersrand Basin, where more than a third of the world’s gold has been mined.

RNC to double nickel output at WA mine, resumes talks for Quebec project – by Mariaan Webb (MiningWeekly.com – November 28, 2017)

November 28, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – TSX-listed RNC Minerals has said it plans to double nickel production from its Beta Hunt mine, with production of four-million pounds of contained nickel forecast for 2018.

RNC Minerals is ramping up gold production at the Beta Hunt mine in Western Australia’s Kambalda mining district, with gold production expected to reach an annualised rate of 70 000 oz/y by the end of 2017.

President and CEO Mark Selby said on Monday that the mine provided good optionality from both gold and nickel production. “With the much larger scale in gold production, versus a standalone nickel mine, nickel production can be added at much lower cost compared to many other nickel producers in Western Australia,” he said.

Gowest aims to unlock refractory gold potential of legendary Timmins Camp – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – November 14, 2017)

November 24, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Little-known exploration and development company Gowest Gold is preparing to become the newest gold producer in the legendary Timmins Gold Camp, which, since its discovery in the early 1900s, has produced almost half of all the gold mined in Canada.

The TSX-V-listed company is moving its North Timmins gold project – host to the Bradshaw deposit – through the permitting process, with a view to start commercial production during the first quarter of 2019. It expects to ship first ore to a nearby plant before the end of the year as part of a 30 000 t bulk sample.

Gowest CEO Gregory Romain told Mining Weekly Online in an interview that the company is unlocking an opportunity in the Timmins Gold Camp by being one of the first to look into the potential of developing the refractory and sulphide ores in the region, something most other district participants overlooked in their quest for the “low-hanging fruits” that made the region famous.

What makes Vancouver a good place for mining companies? – by Olivia McCall (Born2Invest.com – November 23, 2017)

November 24, 2017

Vancouver, Toronto, Perth, Sydney, and London are the top five mining-friendly places in the world

Vancouver has been hailed as a mining capital of the world. What makes this place attractive to companies around the world?

According to Mining.com, Vancouver is the undisputed mining capital in the world because of the total miners and juniors that can be found in the city. Only the ones which are considered legit because they are publicly-traded and active until November this year. The list did not mention suppliers, consultancies or private companies.

Also in the list are Toronto (300), Perth (263), Sydney (96), London (92), Calgary (56), Melbourne (37), Montreal (30) and Johannesburg (14). Some cities in the U.S. such as New York, Denver, and Salt Lake City missed the list because the number of miners and juniors in their areas are below 9.

The World Needs Copper. Does It Need This Controversial Mine? – by Julia Rosen (National Geographic – November 15, 2017)

November 15, 2017

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/

The fight over the proposed Pebble mine in southern Alaska is a harbinger: Global copper demand is expected to grow dramatically.

On a Thursday in October, dozens of Alaskans piled into a cavernous airplane hangar in the remote village of Iliamna to discuss — yet again — the fate of the proposed Pebble Mine. Seventeen miles to the northwest, underneath snaking rivers and spongy bogs, lies one of the largest undeveloped deposits of copper and gold in North America.

Mining companies have been exploring it for decades. But many fear that an open pit mine here, at the headwaters of two of the last great salmon rivers on Earth, will harm fish — and the people who depend on them.

In 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency moved to impose restrictions that would have blocked plans for a large mine, citing the impacts on fish-bearing streams, lakes, ponds, and wetlands. But the mine’s backers sued, putting the restrictions on hold.

Canada’s ‘Light Touch’ on Penny Stocks Draws Ire as Deal Fails – by Danielle Bochove, Kristine Owram and Natalie Obiko Pearson (Bloomberb News – November 9, 2017)

November 9, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Investors are fuming over the collapse of a $750 million mining deal that sent a tiny magnesium explorer soaring, sparking criticism that Canada’s light-handed approach to regulating its venture market needs to get heavier.

Canada’s investment regulator won’t be reversing the trades on West High Yield (W.H.Y.) Resources Ltd. from Oct. 5, when the Calgary-based penny stock surged almost 1,000 percent on a deal to sell its main assets to an unknown buyer.

The announcement “did not contain information which was either misstated or inaccurate,” according to a letter obtained by Bloomberg News that the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada sent to an investor in the company.

Op-Ed Pebble Mine is a poison pill for Alaska’s wild salmon – by Carl Safina and Joel Reynolds (Los Angeles Times – November 9, 2017)

November 9, 2017

http://www.latimes.com/

Carl Safina is a professor of journalism at Stony Brook University and the founder and president of the Safina Center. Joel Reynolds is western director and senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The Bristol Bay watershed, in southwest Alaska, comprises 40,000 square miles of bogs and evergreen forests, rimmed by distant mountains and shimmering with rivers and feeder streams. In these waterways, miracles happen. Together they sustain the largest remaining salmon fishery on Earth.

For more than a decade, a Canadian mining company, Northern Dynasty Minerals, has wanted to gouge one of the world’s largest gold and copper mines into the heart of the watershed, putting its rivers on a centuries-long poison drip.

The company has failed to move forward with the project, known as Pebble Mine, due to intense and sustained opposition.

The $750 Million Magnesium Deal That Came Up $750 Million Short – by Danielle Bochove, Natalie Obiko Pearson and Kristine Owram (Bloomberg News – November 8, 2017)

November 8, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

It was one of 2017’s mega mining deals. And then it wasn’t. West High Yield (W.H.Y.) Resources Ltd. — the tiny Canadian explorer that surged nearly 1,000 percent last month after announcing a pact to sell its main assets for $750 million — said the deal has collapsed. The buyer couldn’t come up with a deposit for less than 1 percent of the transaction value, or $500,000.

“The purchaser failed to pay the deposit” by the Nov. 6 deadline, Calgary-based West High Yield, which trades under the ticker WHY, said in a statement late Tuesday. “The board of directors of the company decided to terminate the agreement.”

The collapse ends a transaction that sparked a review by regulators following West High Yield’s extraordinary surge on Oct. 5 after it announced the deal. The stock jumped to C$2, from just 36 cents the previous day, giving the company with no revenue a market value of C$114 million ($89 million).

Terry MacGibbon: Mining legend tells all – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – November 6, 2017)

November 7, 2017

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Terry MacGibbon has had a long and successful career in mining all over the world, to put it simply. The executive chairman at TMAC Resources was happy to share his story and thoughts on how he became a major player in the global mining industry at Laurentian University’s Goodman Lecture Series in Sudbury on Nov. 2.

The presentation looked at how the companies were acquired, financed, managed, the sites built and how the markets influenced their success. The overarching message, he said, is that to be successful, one has to have passion, persistence and be willing to do some hard work.

“I tell anyone getting involved with junior companies to only get involved with really great assets,” MacGibbon said. “Without great assets, you have nothing. All four of the companies I talk about had really good transformative acquisitions. You need a great management team as well. If you have great assets, they are nothing without a great management team to move ahead.”

Movers, shakers, even rock-breakers meet for mining conference in St. John’s – by Stephanie Kinsella (CBC News Newfoundland and Labrador – November 5, 2017)

November 6, 2017

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/

Old meets new at the Mineral Resources Review in St. John’s — billed as the largest event of its kind in Atlantic Canada, with more than 700 delegates and exhibitors.

The four-day conference, which started Thursday, has courses, technical sessions and a trade show — and it’s a chance for participants to network and show their strengths.

CBC caught up with a couple of them: prospectors who are keeping it in the family, and the creator of a new app for rock enthusiasts or the curious types. Prospecting might seem like a trade of the past, but it’s still very much alive. Just ask Mark Stockley who, with his brother Stephen and cousin Troy, “go out in the woods, cracking open rocks” in Gambo.

NEWS RELEASE: Increased Investment, Rising Consumer Technology Demands Responsible for Renewed Confidence in Junior Mining Sector

November 6, 2017

Click here to read the full report. https://www.pwc.com/ca/en/mining/publications/p386537_jr_mine_report_en_v5-04.pdf

• Market capitalization of the top 100 junior mining companies on the TSX Venture Exchange hit CA$12.2-billion, up 7% from CA$11.4-billion for the twelve-month period ended June 30, 2017
• Combined valuation returned to 2010 levels, but underperformed the TSX-V market overall, which gained 33%
• Mining remains the dominant industry on the exchange, accounting for 47% of the total value in 2017

TORONTO, Nov. 6, 2017 /CNW/ – Canada’s junior mining sector is seeing renewed confidence as valuations rose for the second year in a row, according to PwC Canada’s Junior mine 2017 report released today.

According to the report, upward trends in cash balances and deal activity were key indicators that the sector has moved into a delicate recovery period of cautious optimism. Investors in the top 100 mining companies on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V) are pouring money into the sector, showing their willingness to embrace additional risk.

Penny Stock That Surged 1,000% Says Canada Mining Deal May Fail – by Natalie Obiko Pearson and Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – November 3, 2017)

November 3, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

West High Yield (W.H.Y.) Resources Ltd., the tiny Canadian miner that last month announced it was selling its main assets for $750 million, said the deal may fall through because the buyer doesn’t yet have financing.

West High Yield surged almost 1,000 percent last month, after the company — which has no revenue — announced it had sold a magnesium deposit in British Columbia for 46 times its market value. The shares have been halted since Oct. 6 and the Alberta Securities Commission launched an inquiry, citing “the magnitude of this transaction.”

“There is substantial risk that the purchaser may not be able to obtain financing necessary to complete the proposed transaction,” the Calgary-based company said Friday in a statement. “The purchaser does not have the financial resources” to complete the deal without third-party funding.

Could EV demand cause a shortage of battery-grade nickel? – by Andrew Topf (Stockhouse Publishing – November 2, 2017)

November 2, 2017

http://www.stockhouse.com/

FULL DISCLOSURE: North American Nickel is a paid client of Stockhouse Publishing.

Nickel: The dark horse in the EV battery race

Without a doubt, the barn door that has been cracked open on electric vehicles (EVs) is only going to swing further. One recent projection puts EVs at 16% market penetration by 2030 and 51% by 2040. Several countries including China, France and the UK have signalled they will eventually ban gas-powered vehicles, and one automaker, Volvo, recently announced that starting in 2019, all models will be hybrids or electrics.

This has investors flocking to companies that mine lithium and cobalt – two key ingredients of batteries used in EVs. But it’s a lesser-known fact that nickel, a cheaper, up-to-now industrial metal used primarily in stainless steel, will also be needed for EV batteries.

In fact, so much nickel could be demanded in the next few years that analysts are predicting a shortage of battery-grade nickel. Investors who can identify companies with properties that contain this type of nickel stand to make a bundle, especially those in the early exploration stages.