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Junior Exploration Sector

Lithium is the latest hot metal commodity, but investor fever could be cooling – by Sunny Freeman (Financial Post – March 18, 2017)

http://business.financialpost.com/

Lithium, the lightest metal on earth, has become such a heavyweight in commodities markets that it is increasingly being mentioned in the same sentence as rare earths or vanadium. It’s not a compliment.

Once red hot, those commodities are just the most recent metals to experience a boom/bust cycle of quickly rising prices and a subsequent rush by miners into the space, only to end in burst bubbles.

Demand for lithium, a silvery-white metal called “the new gasoline” by Goldman Sachs, rose 26 per cent in 2016 and is predicted to climb another 39 per cent in 2018. By 2025, demand is projected to increase by 73 per cent as electric vehicles become more viable and an increasing number of countries, including China, tighten restrictions on gas- and diesel-powered cars.

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Glencore tightens grip on zinc through deal with Canada’s Trevali – by Barbara Lewis and Eric Onstad (Reuters U.S. – March 14, 2017)

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON – Miner-trader Glencore (GLEN.L) has increased its control of core commodity zinc through a deal with Canada’s Trevali (TV.TO) in which it is selling shares in two mines and helping to create the first pure zinc company with wide geographical reach.

Glencore’s share price has risen around 13 percent this year, adding to gains of more than 200 percent in 2016 when it rebounded from a commodities price crash. Its CEO Ivan Glasenberg has said it is well-placed for deals, which analysts say are as likely to involve commodity offtake or tactical disposals as acquisitions.

Through a $400 million transaction, announced late on Monday, Glencore is selling 80 percent and 90 percent stakes respectively in a mine in Namibia and another in Burkina Faso to Trevali with which it has a long-standing relationship.

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Eastern Canada attracting the most mining exploration dollars: S&P report – by Nelson Bennett (Business Vancouver – March 14, 2017)

https://www.biv.com/

British Columbia can still brag about how beautiful it is, but in terms of drawing investment in mineral exploration, it may no longer be as attractive as it once was. Recent reports offer the mining and exploration sectors some optimism that a four-year-long bear market has ended, although projections are that exploration spending in 2017 will be flat.

Canada has been leading the way in exploration spending, accounting for 14% of the global budget, according to S&P Global’s recent Worldwide Mining Exploration Trends report. But much of that new spending appears to be going to Ontario, Quebec and mining’s new darling – Saskatchewan. B.C. appears to have fallen out of favour with those holding the exploration purse strings.

Of the investment in exploration in Canada during 2016, 41% was in Ontario and Quebec, with gold exploration accounting for 50%. That is telling, because B.C., not Ontario, is the province with the largest significant gold deposits, according to an SNL Metals & Mining report last year.

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Small miners seen driving deal-making, repeating past mistakes – by Susan Taylor (Reuters – March 7, 2017)

http://www.reuters.com/

TORONTO, MARCH 7 – Bankers and stock markets are signaling an upcoming wave of mergers and acquisitions among small and mid-sized miners, but financiers worry that companies have not learned from costly mistakes made in the last commodity boom.

In a “recycling of assets,” smaller miners bulked up in recent years as the world’s biggest operators sold a string of assets to repair debt-loaded balance sheets and ride out anemic prices.

“They’re not going to sit still,” said TD Securities deputy chair of investment banking, Rick McCreary, at a Toronto mining conference on Tuesday. “You’re going to see consolidation in the mid-tier and junior space to create platforms for growth going forward.”

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PDAC 2017 kicks off with mining investment seminars – by Frank Giorno (Sudbury Northern Life – March 6, 2017)

https://www.sudbury.com/

The 85th Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention, one of the largest mining shows in the world, with annual participants in the 25,000 to 30,000 range, officially kicks off the evening of Sunday March 5, with a reception for the army of media covering the event at the Royal York Hotel.

Jim Carr, the Canadian Minister of Natural Resources will be the featured speaker at the media reception. However, unofficially things got started on Friday with a mining investment conference at the Trump Toronto Hotel.

The investment conference known as the Red Cloud featured presentations from many mining exploration companies seeking and investors and investors looking for promising mining developments to build a fortune on.

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NEW RELEASE: Canadian Orebodies Discovers New Gold Zone at Hemlo North Limb Property

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – March 2, 2017) – Canadian Orebodies Inc. (“Orebodies” or the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE:CORE) is pleased to announce results from the Company’s fall prospecting programs and the discovery of a new gold zone on the North Limb property.

Gordon McKinnon, President and CEO of Orebodies said, “It is exciting that we were able discover a new gold zone in the short time we had for our fall prospecting program. This discovery enforces our belief that the North Limb is a highly prospective project in an underexplored extension of the Hemlo greenstone belt that has produced nearly 22 million ounces only 12km to the south.”

North Limb Property

The North Limb Property is a large, contiguous land package totaling 428 claim units or 6,800 hectares, along the northern extension of the Hemlo greenstone belt, and is located northeast of the Williams Mine operated by Barrick Gold Corporation.

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Mining exploration spending drops to 11-year low – by Frik Els (Mining.com – February 23, 2017)

http://www.mining.com/

A new report by SNL Metals and Mining on Corporate Exploration Strategies in 2016 shows an industry still caught in a deep downturn after four years of sharp declines. According to SNL, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence, 2016 exploration budgets at the 1,580 companies covered by the study totalled $6.9 billion, the lowest in 11 years.

Other measures show the extent of the damage to the sector: The average 2016 exploration budget was $4.4 million, the lowest since 2009, and the median budget was $800,000, the smallest in more than a decade.

Spending was dominated by the industry’s largest companies with just the top 10 companies were responsible for over $1 of every $5 spent on exploration – mainly for copper and gold – worldwide last year.

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Northern Dynasty hits back after scathing short-seller’s report – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – February 1, 2017)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., the Vancouver miner blindsided by a short-seller’s scathing report, fired back on Friday, saying the polemic is “unsupported speculation” from a “troubled organization” that doesn’t understand mining.

Kerrisdale Capital Management, a New York investment firm, hammered Northern Dynasty’s stock on Tuesday when it published a report arguing the miner is “worthless” because its undeveloped copper and gold resource in Alaska is not commercially viable.

In response, Northern Dynasty said Kerrisdale’s analysis contains numerous errors and misunderstandings. “Their report isn’t worth the paper it’s written on,” Northern Dynasty chief executive Ron Thiessen said in an interview.

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Sabina ready to splash cash at Back River – by Staff (Mining Journal – February 8, 2017)

http://www.mining-journal.com/

Vancouver-based Sabina Gold & Silver Corp (CN: SBB) has set aside C$8.5 million (US$6.45 million) to advance development of its proposed C$415 million Back River gold project in southwestern Nunavut but could spend up to $25 million if it can finally clear permitting hurdles. Investor optimism is returning.

Sabina was one of Canada’s best performed mining equities of the past 12 months (to January 31) despite a rollercoaster 2016. The stock is up about 46% since January 10 after the minister of indigenous and northern affairs Canada (INAC) ordered a review of a Nunavut Impact Review Board report blocking permitting progress at Back River.

Sabina has since received NIRB advice on its final environmental impact statement for the project, which it expects to file soon. That could pave the way for the company to proceed to the next permitting stage.

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Pebble revived: Owner plans to file for permits in 2017 – by Tim Bradner (Alaska Journal – January 25, 2017)

http://www.alaskajournal.com/

Alaskans are used to seeing apocalyptic images about the Pebble mine. TV ads opposing the large copper-gold prospect near Iliamna cast images of toxic sludge cascading down mountain valleys into Bristol Bay, killing all the salmon.

Is the hype shoe now on the other foot? It’s jarring, but sponsored-content pitches are now showing up on mainstream Internet sites touting Pebble, posted not by owner Northern Dynasty but by people touting Pebble’s stock.

The headline blares: “Is this tiny gold miner about to soar? Will Trump open development of the world’s biggest gold mine … right here in America?” With a new friend in Washington — meaning President Donald Trump — Pebble’s ultimate development is a no-brainer, the story goes.

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Vancouver junior inks $1 billion a year potash deal – by Frik Els (Mining.com – January 18, 2017)

http://www.mining.com/

Encanto Potash Corp. (CVE:EPO) on Wednesday announced the finalization of a blockbuster agreement with India’s national farmers co-operative to supply a minimum of 5 million tonnes of potash per year for the next twenty years.

Vancouver-based Encanto’s is advancing a $2.9 billion potash project in the Saskatchewan province of Canada in a joint venture with the Muskowekwan First Nation.

Encanto President Stavros Daskos said the deal is “clearly a defining moment for our company and the industry. India imports 100% of its potash and is susceptible to cartel-like practices from producers that can hurt its national food security.”

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[Klondex Mines] This Canadian Mining Darling Finds Gold in Projects No One Wants – by Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – January 18, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

When Paul Andre Huet became chief executive officer of Klondex Mines Ltd. in 2012, he says the Canadian gold miner had just $400,000 in cash, one asset and $7 million in invoices.

“We never declared bankruptcy but on our financials we were literally done,” says Huet, who made the leap to the insolvent company from Premier Gold Mines Ltd.

Many might have considered the move career limiting but Huet knew Klondex’s sole asset well: Nevada’s Fire Creek gold project, having previously studied it for two other mining companies. Confident the deposit was more profitable than it appeared, he took the job, staving off Klondex’s creditors and turning Fire Creek into a producing mine in just over a year. Then he doubled down by looking for more assets that other miners shunned.

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Sabina confident proposed Nunavut gold mine will go ahead (Nunatsiaq News – January 17, 2017)

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

Company pledges jobs, infrastructure and “best-in-class approach to protecting the environment”

Sabina Gold and Silver Corp. says it’s confident that any issues and concerns about its Back River gold mine project can and will be addressed.

The mining company says it’s “extremely pleased” with Ottawa’s latest move: Indigenous and Northern Affairs minister Carolyn Bennett sent the project’s final hearing report back to the Nunavut Impact Review Board last week, saying it needs further review.

The project, located in Nunavut’s Kitikmeot region, would include a chain of open pit and underground mines at its Goose property along with a 157-kilometre road from the mine to a port facility and tank farm in Bathurst Inlet. In June 2016, the NIRB recommended that Ottawa reject the Back River gold mine proposal, citing environmental and social impacts.

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#DisruptMining competition dangles another karat in front of staid gold mining industry – by Rick Spence (Financial Post – January 16, 2017)

http://business.financialpost.com/

Back in the day, big businesses and small businesses rarely interacted. What could a small business have or know that could possibly interest multi-national know-it-alls?

Money, distribution and influence were the assets that mattered then. But today the key currency is innovation. Smaller existing companies know they must either become masters of technology and shifting markets, or they’ll become a statistic. So now we see more of them grasping for innovation expertise by partnering with startups, sponsoring incubators, and even holding hackathons. They need innovation partners with one foot in the future.

Case in point: #DisruptMining, an innovation competition designed to bring solutions to the hard-pressed mining industry. The desire for change comes from Vancouver-based Goldcorp, the world’s fourth-largest gold producer. But the catalyst is Integra Gold, a junior explorer in Vancouver.

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NEWS RELEASE: Integra Gold and Goldcorp Team with IBM, Microsoft, Accenture and Cisco for #DisruptMining

Disrupt Mining 2017 from Integra Gold Corp on Vimeo.

Integra Gold Corp. (TSX-V: ICG, OTCQX: ICGQF) (“Integra” or the “Company”) and Goldcorp Inc. (TSX: G,NYSE: GG) are pleased to announce they have teamed with four of the world’s largest technology companies to explore potential applications of disruptive technologies in the mining sector.

#DisruptMining is a marquee event during the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (“PDAC”) conference that will showcase disruptive and exponential technologies with the potential to revolutionize the future of mining, from exploration and discovery to production and automation to financing, marketing and corporate social responsibility. Goldcorp has committed $1 million for a proof of concept at one of Goldcorp’s mines or investment in the winning technologies.

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