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Junior Exploration Sector

Avalon planning for Kenora lithium open-pit mine – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – October 3, 2016)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Avalon Advanced Minerals has development plans for a Kenora-area lithium mine

The economics look good so far for Avalon Advanced Materials to begin mapping out their plans for an open-pit lithium mine and processing plant near Kenora. Company president Don Bubar is said to be “delighted” with the positive results coming from a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of its Separation Rapids lithium project.

Micon International’s report said the minerals in the ground and the rechargeable battery markets look favourable enough for the company is press ahead with a more detailed feasibility study for an open-pit capable of a producing 950,000 tonnes a year with an annual yield of 14,600 tonnes of lithium hydroxide for a 10-year mine life.

The purpose of the PEA is to evaluate the potential mineral recoveries of a lithium product that might be suitable for the rechargeable battery market. Micon reports the company has positive economics and a technically viable process for a battery-grade lithium hydroxide product.

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RNC focuses on free cash generation – by Salma Tarikh (Northern Miner – September 21, 2016)

http://www.northernminer.com/

RNC Minerals (TSX: RNX; US-OTC: RNKLF) — formerly Royal Nickel Corp. — has gone from a single-asset firm to a gold, nickel and copper producer, by taking advantage of the market downturn earlier this year to buy two producing assets.

RNC picked up a 100% interest in the Beta Hunt gold-nickel mine in Western Australia’s Kambalda district by acquiring private firm Salt Lake Mining in two transactions, completed in March and May.

“It’s a 40-year-old nickel mine, but a brand-new gold mine. There are few opportunities that you’d come across, where the first public news release on an asset is that it’s in production,” Mark Selby, RNC’s president and CEO, said in a webcast from the Precious Metals Summit in Beaver Creek, Colorado.

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Tsilhqot’in First Nation says no to mineral exploration by Amarc Resources on its Ike prospect – by Derrick Penner (Vancouver Sun – September 20, 2016)

http://vancouversun.com/

Above the tree line on a mountain in the Southern Interior is a spot most people have never heard of, but is increasingly the centre of attention for a mining exploration company and communities of the Tsilhqot’in First Nation.

It is a mineral claim being prospected by the Vancouver-headquartered company Amarc Resources Ltd. And the property is already spoken of in glowing terms for resembling the mineralization that formed the basis of Teck Resources Ltd.’s mighty Highland Valley copper mine. However, the property known as Ike is also in the last place that the Tsilhqot’in communities want a mine.

The location is above the watersheds of the Taseko and Chilcotin rivers and not that distant from Fish Lake (known to the Tsilhqot’in as Teztan Biny), where the First Nation fought a decades-long battle against the Prosperity and then New Prosperity mine proposals of Taseko Mines Ltd.

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Cost-conscious major miners look to agility of junior explorers – by Zandi Shabalala (Reuters U.S. – September 21, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

Tight budgets and nervous investors have convinced major miners that a cheap, timely way to ensure a strong pipeline of quality assets is to team up with junior, more nimble exploration firms.

Miners have slashed costs by delaying projects, sold assets and cut exploration budgets to free up cash to pay down debt, much of it acquired during and after the commodity price supercycle, which started in 2002.

Now, with prices of commodities such as copper and iron ore at multi-year lows, capital expenditure is expected to remain subdued and investors reluctant to sanction large acquisitions or projects.

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[Pacific North West Capital Corp.] Sudbury Accent: Slump easing for exploration company – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – September 17, 2016)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Say you’re a barber who runs your own shop, and you haven’t had a customer in your chair for five years. You may be tempted to give up, to literally throw in the towel, even enter another line of work. But you hang in there.

Finally, after a half-decade of inactivity, customers begin to return, slowly at first, but growing in number as word spreads you’re back and in business, and offering a good product. Harry Barr used that analogy this week at a town hall meeting in Sudbury intended to drum up interest in Pacific North West Capital Corp.’s River Valley Platinum Group Metal Project.

After a brutal five-year period, in which low commodity prices spooked investors away from sinking money into mineral exploration, interest in the River Valley project began to grow again. The presentation at the Holiday Inn, hosted by Barr, capped off two days of tours in which 30 or more people toured the River Valley property and visited the core shed for the project 100 kilometres northeast of Sudbury.

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NEWS RELEASE: Wallbridge Announces Fully-Funded $4.0 Million Exploration Program on Sudbury Joint Ventures

http://www.wallbridgemining.com/

Toronto, Ontario — August 30, 2016 – Wallbridge Mining Company Limited (TSX: WM, FWB: WC7) (“Wallbridge”) announces that the Exploration Committees for the Lonmin funded joint ventures in Sudbury have approved programs totalling $3.958 million for approximately 20,000 metres of drilling and other work to start October 1, 2016. The approved programs of joint venture committees are subject to the usual final approval by Lonmin’s board of directors.

“The exploration program for 2016-2017 is exciting in that it not only follows up on this year’s success at expanding the near-surface mineralization at Parkin, but also will test other exploration targets at depth” said Marz Kord, President and CEO of Wallbridge, “This exploration program will advance Wallbridge’s exploration stage assets in Sudbury and complements Wallbridge’s current efforts in acquiring an advanced stage gold asset, the Fenelon Mine Property, from Balmoral Resources, which the company is planning to rapidly advance to a production decision by mid-2017”.

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Sudbury miner ordered to pay $440,000 – by Staff (Sudbury Star – August 30, 2016)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

A Sudbury-based mining company has been ordered to pay more than $440,000 in legal costs after it unsuccessfully sued the provincial government. However, in a statement, Northern Superior Resources Inc. said it is appealing the outcome of the trial and the cost awarded by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

“The company will not be required to pay any amount to the province until the appeal has been heard and a decision rendered,” Northern Superior said in a release. “If the appeal of the trial decision is successful, the cost award will most likely be vacated. In addition, even if the company is not successful in overturning the trial decision, the Court of Appeal could still reduce or even vacate the cost award in any event.”

Northern Superior sued the province in 2013 for $110 million, claiming the government failed in its duty to consult with First Nations about its mining claims. It later said it would settle for $25 million.

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Ottawa should make mining companies more accountable (Toronto Star Editorial – August 21, 2016)

https://www.thestar.com/

The Trudeau government should re-introduce — and strengthen — a bill to make Canadian mining companies act more responsibly.

Canada likes to think of itself as a principled middle power, projecting a moral voice in the world. But in the rugged fields of international mining, oil and gas, it is a muscular giant whose power is not always wielded in an ethical way.

That’s why Father Melo, a Honduran Jesuit priest who is under death threats for defending environmental rights, travelled to Toronto last week to plead for help from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He wants the prime minister to make Canadian mining companies accountable for respecting human rights and environmental standards, including a halt to displacement of local indigenous communities.

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Why Australia will be at centre of lithium boom (Australian Financial Review – August 4, 2016)

http://www.afr.com/

Australia is on track to host the world’s two biggest lithium mines as soaring sales of electric vehicles and mobile phones in China drives demand for the rare metal.

Surging production of electric vehicles and the lithium batteries that power them is expected to underpin demand for lithium, the key Diggers and Dealers mining industry conference has heard.

Pilbara Minerals, which is developing the Pilgangoora Project in the iron-ore rich Pilbara region of Western Australia, has recently signed an offtake agreement with Chinese firm General Lithium and plans to start mining next year.

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COLUMN-Small Australian miners are the canaries of commodity prices – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.K. – August 4, 2016)

http://uk.reuters.com/

Aug 4 Are the strong gains this year in small Australian resource companies a harbinger of sustainable rallies for both bigger miners and commodity prices in general? Past evidence suggests yes.

The Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) Small Resources Index has jumped 66 percent so far this year, comfortably ahead of both large mining stocks like Rio Tinto, which has gained 10.5 percent, and a broad commodity price indicator, such as the Bloomberg Commodity Index, up 8.6 percent.

What this tells you is that small-capitalisation resource stocks have been the outperformer, but if you believe history is a guide then it is worth noting that the minnows have in the past rallied and peaked prior to major companies and overall commodity prices.

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Australia’s tiny miners rise from the ashes of the bust – by James Regan (Reuters U.S. – August 2, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

SYDNEY – From gold to graphite to zinc to lithium, Australia’s army of “penny dreadful” stocks is rising from the ashes of the mining bust and growing at rates that majors like BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto can only wish for.

Micro miners are posting double or even triple-digit gains, buoyed by a belief that metals prices have bottomed, while companies that managed to come through the downturn are being aided by cheaper labor and operating costs.

“It’s about the growth and the profit that can come very quickly,” said Perth-based retail investor Tim Larmont, who has been dabbling for over two decades in a sector that’s known as a hothouse for day traders and speculators.

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Canada’s junior mining sector unearthing new prospects – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – July 21, 2016)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

After four years of hard times and grinding retreat, Canada’s junior mining sector is once again attracting fresh capital and new investors.

The recent outburst of enthusiasm is centred on gold miners, says Michelle Grant, senior vice-president at consultants Ernst & Young and leader of its mining and metals transactions team in British Columbia.She expects acquisition activity in the sector to pick up speed in the months ahead as companies look for ways to ride the upswing in precious metals prices.

“There’s a new fear of missing out,” she says. She has talked to several mining executives who already regret not bidding more for potential acquisitions last year, given the big run-up in gold miners’ shares since the start of the year.

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Are private placements the new poison pills? – by Drew Hasselback (Financial Post – July 20, 2016)

http://business.financialpost.com/

The dollar values may be low, but the stakes are huge. Idaho-based Hecla Mining Co. has launched an unsolicited bid to take control of Vancouver-based junior miner Dolly Varden Silver Corp. According to Bloomberg, the bid has a cash value of only $10 million. But Canadian M&A lawyers are following the deal because it’s sparked a legal battle over the country’s hostile takeover rules.

The B.C. and Ontario Securities commissions are holding simultaneous hearings on Wednesday to decide whether companies can thwart unwanted takeover bids by selling a big chunk of their shares in a private placement.

Hecla, a silver producer, already owns just under 20 per cent of Dolly Varden. Hecla announced on June 27 that it would seek 50 per cent of the Dolly Varden shares it doesn’t already own. A formal offer was filed July 8.

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NEWS RELEASE: Goldeye Explorations Agrees to Be Acquired by Treasury Metals

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – July 11, 2016) – Goldeye Explorations Limited (TSX VENTURE:GGY) (“Goldeye” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has agreed to a proposal with respect to the acquisition of the Company by Treasury Metals Inc.
(TSX:TML) (the “Proposal”).

Given the complementary nature of Treasury’s development stage portfolio, and Goldeye’s exploration assets located in Northwestern Ontario, Goldeye believes that there is a compelling case for the combination of Treasury and Goldeye and that such a combination would be mutually beneficial to both sets of shareholders.

The Proposal contemplates that Treasury and Goldeye will enter into a business combination pursuant to a structure to be mutually agreed (the “Proposed Transaction”).

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Grits stifling mineral exploration: Ambrose – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – July 4, 2016)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Rona Ambrose, the interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, was in Sudbury Monday to talk flow-through shares.

“I’m here to raise the alarm that the Liberal government is looking to get rid of the mineral exploration tax credit and the flow-through shares for mining and mineral investments,” she told The Star. “This is a huge concern for the mineral and mining sector, because (the flow-through shares) constitute 60 per cent of how they raise their money.

So in 2014, in a $54 billion industry, 90 per cent of the money that was raised by junior mining companies was raised by flow-through shares. … This is a huge revenue-generating investment instrument that is used by junior mining exploration companies.”

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