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NEWS RELEASE: Governments of Canada and Quebec support the Centre d’innovation minière de la MRC des Sources

Innovation for the economic diversification of an entire region

ASBESTOS, QC, June 27, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ – Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED)

Communities need to build on innovation to diversify themselves strategically and develop lasting regional competitive advantages.

The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie and Member of Parliament for Compton–Stanstead, acting on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED), and Karine Vallières, Member for Richmond and Parliamentary Assistant to the Premier (youth), acting on behalf of Lise Thériault, Deputy Premier and Minister responsible for SMEs, Regulatory Streamlining and Regional Economic Development, announced that financial support has been granted to the Centre d’innovation minière de la MRC des Sources (website in French only).

CED has granted $2,500,000 in the form of a non-repayable financial contribution to start up a centre specializing in pilot-plant processes supporting business innovation projects in mining and industry. The funding was awarded through CED’s Canadian Initiative for the Economic Diversification of Communities Reliant on Chrysotile.

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A tale of two mines: One shovel in the past, the other in the future – by Sunny Freeman (Financial Post – June 21, 2017)

http://business.financialpost.com/

Booms and busts are the norm when it comes to towns built on the mining industry, but the future could see the creation of communities specifically designed to last as long as the mine and for the economic benefits to be spread among many towns. Financial Post reporter Sunny Freeman and videographer Tyler Anderson traveled to one such mine ramping up in northern Quebec and another in Timmins, Ont., which is agonizing over the closing of its increasingly old-fashioned mines

Coverall-clad miners sip coffees and clutch metal lunch boxes as they listen for the shaft operator’s familiar tap-tap-tap signalling the elevator is on its way for the start of another subterranean shift at Goldcorp Inc.’s Dome mine in Timmins, Ont.

They wait for the muddy night-shift workers to step out of the cage before turning on their headlamps, a common courtesy so as not to blind their weary colleagues, before descending a kilometre underground. It’s a daily routine that has been performed for more than a century at Canada’s oldest operating gold mine.

The Dome mine was incorporated in 1910, when northeastern Ontario’s gold rush brought eager prospectors, families and a sense of community to what was then considered the remote north. It is a working relic, an homage to a long history of towns built on the bedrock of mining, when rich, multi-generational projects breathed life into local economies.

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U.S. company signs collective agreement to restart Wabush Mines – by Andrew Topf (Mining.com – June 13, 2017)

http://www.mining.com/

Miners at the closed-down Wabush Mines in Labrador could be back on the job thanks to the recent signing of a collective agreement with the union. Five hundred people were thrown out of work in 2014 when Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE:CLF) shut the gates on the operation in Western Labrador.

Last week however the United Steelworkers Union had good news to share, telling its members it signed a five-year collective agreement with Tacora Resources, an American company without a functioning website, for the Scully Mine operation.

Part of Wabush Mines, Scully Mine began operating in 1965, with iron concentrate railed to a pelletizing facility in Pointe Noire, Quebec, for shipment to Europe and throughout North America. Before it closed in 2014, a victim of low iron ore prices, Wabush Mines was Canada’s third largest iron ore operation, with an annual capacity of 6 million tonnes. The site since then has been tied up in regulatory proceedings.

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[Abitibi and James Bay Regions] Quebec’s golden pockets – by Virginia Heffernan (CIM Magazine – December 15, 2016)

http://magazine.cim.org/

Exploration spending is down across the board, but budgets for gold exploration have suffered less than other metals. And in two particular regions of Quebec – the established Abitibi gold belt and the emerging James Bay region – exploration drills are busily biting the rock.

The latest map of exploration drilling in Canada resembles a nighttime satellite image of the country: vast expanses of monochrome punctuated by clusters of brightness. If the clusters represented urban areas, the Abitibi greenstone belt straddling the Quebec-Ontario border would be a bustling metropolis and the James Bay region a small but growing municipality.

Despite a global slowdown in exploration spending that S&P Global Market Intelligence expects to continue into 2017, pockets of Quebec could be on the cusp of an upswing. The province’s share of Canadian drilling activity averaged about 30 per cent in the first nine months of 2016, reaching almost 40 per cent in August, according to analysis by S&P Global.

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Osisko Gold Royalty stock soars as company signs ‘transformational’ $1.13B deal to buy U.S. assets – by Sunny Freeman (Financial Post – June 6, 2017)

http://business.financialpost.com/

Montreal-based Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. said it is more than doubling its precious metals portfolio with the $1.13 billion acquisition of diamond, gold and silver assets from U.S. private equity firm Orion Mine Finance Group.

Osisko has been seeking out such a “transformational” acquisition since the company formed three years ago, said CEO Sean Roosen. Monday’s announcement positions the company as the “leading growth story” among senior precious metals royalty companies, which also include larger peers such as Franco-Nevada Corp. and Wheaton Precious Metals, he said.

“We have kept our powder dry waiting for a transaction like this, we have deployed and we hope that our shareholders will be very happy with the outcome,” Roosen said on a conference call Monday. The news sent Osisko shares up more than 10 per cent Monday to $15.92 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

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Osisko Mining expects winnings from Windfall – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – May 23, 2017)

http://www.northernminer.com/

Osisko Mining’s (TSX: OSK) 400,000-metre drill program at its Windfall project in Quebec should lead to a resource update before year-end, a feasibility study and permitting in 2018, and construction in 2019, president and CEO John Burzynski announced at The Northern Miner’s Canadian Mining Symposium in London.

“We could pour gold as early as 2020,” Burzynski said during a presentation at the one-day mining event at Canada House on May 9. “It’s an aggressive time frame … we’ve got an aggressive program, with lots of drills and more drills coming.”

Twenty-two drill rigs are turning at the project and Osisko will have 25 rigs by the start of June, in what is easily the largest drill program on any one deposit in Canada, and arguably the largest anywhere in the world.

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Having hit potential ‘tale of the tiger’, reinvigorated Northern Superior gathers momentum – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – June 1, 2017)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Junior exploration company Northern Superior Resources is building on the strong momentum gained in recent months, making two new gold discoveries at its Croteau Est project, in Quebec, and gearing up for further exploration at its key assets.

“It’s very exciting to get back to exploration again,” president and CEO Dr Thomas Morris told Mining Weekly Online in a recent interview (see attached video). “We find ourselves flush with cash and the aim is to demonstrate growth in terms of ounces.”

Morris pointed out that at March 31, the company had cash and cash equivalents of C$6.61-million, comprising C$2.11-million of flow-through funds, and working capital of C$5.55-million.

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Miner thinks small to resurrect big Canadian iron ore mine – by Susan Taylor (Reuters U.S. – May 24, 2017)

https://www.reuters.com/

TORONTO – Champion Iron Ltd is thinking small with its plans to bring Quebec’s giant Bloom Lake iron ore mine back to life. Chief Executive Michael O’Keeffe intends to slash costs while cutting millions of tonnes from a planned production expansion. The strategy runs counter to the traditional economy of scale formula, which bumps up production for proportional cost savings.

It may prove a prescient approach as iron ore prices pull back from 30-month highs in February. The recovery sparked signs of life for a handful of hibernating miners in Canada’s metal-rich Labrador Trough, straddling the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, including Champion, Alderon Iron Ore and Tata Steel Minerals Canada.

Champion is taking a different tack with Bloom Lake than its previous owner and North America’s biggest iron ore producer, Cliffs Natural Resources, beginning with the price tag.

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Eldorado to acquire Integra as gold miners play it safe – by Nicole Mordant (Reuters U.S. – May 15, 2017)

http://www.reuters.com/

Eldorado Gold Corp agreed on Monday to purchase fellow Canadian mining company Integra Gold Corp for C$590 million ($432.4 million) in the latest move by gold miners to opt for less risky geopolitical regions in a lackluster gold market.

Canada’s stable legal and taxation system, clear way of getting mining permits and government support for the industry are drawing cards for miners as bullion stays rangebound between $1,100 and $1,300 an ounce, analysts and mining executives said.

The Eldorado cash-and-stock deal values Integra at C$1.21 a share, a 52 percent premium to Friday’s closing price. The deal sent Integra’s shares soaring 39 percent to C$1.12 on the TSX Venture Exchange on Monday. Eldorado’s stock dropped 7.8 percent to C$4.61.

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NEWS RELEASE: Eldorado to Acquire Integra Gold Corporation (May 15, 2017)

http://www.eldoradogold.com/

VANCOUVER, May 15, 2017 /CNW/ – Eldorado Gold Corporation (the “Company” or “Eldorado”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Integra Gold Corp. (“Integra”) (TSXV:ICG) (the “Arrangement Agreement”), pursuant to which Eldorado has agreed to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Integra that it does not currently own, by way of a plan of arrangement (the “Arrangement”) under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia).

Under the Arrangement, shareholders of Integra will be entitled to receive, at their option, for each Integra share they own either (i) 0.24250 Eldorado shares, (ii) C$1.21250 in cash, in both (i) and (ii) subject to pro ration, or (iii) 0.18188 of an Eldorado share and C$0.30313 in cash.

The maximum number of shares issuable by Eldorado under the Arrangement will be approximately 77 million (based on the number of Integra shares outstanding less Integra shares currently owned by Eldorado). The maximum amount of cash payable by Eldorado under the Arrangement will be approximately C$129 million equal to 25% of the total consideration. The total transaction value is approximately C$590 million, inclusive of Integra shares held by Eldorado.

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Johnson Matthey approves of Nemaska Lithium’s first shipment – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – May 6, 2017)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Project developer Nemaska Lithium has received the first C$2-million tranche of a C$3-million milestone payment for delivering the first shipment of lithium hydroxide to offtake partner Johnson Matthey Battery Materials (JMBM), the company said Friday.

Quebec City-based Nemaska now expects to receive the final C$1-million payment by JMBM once Nemaska delivers a second shipment of lithium hydroxide that meets JMBM’s final criteria.

Nemaska expects to send the final samples once the lithium hydroxide solution is processed through the crystalliser, which has been received at the Phase 1 plant and is being commissioned.

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Algonquins say pact with mining company vital for community’s future – by Christopher Curtis (Montreal Gazette – May 2, 2017)

http://montrealgazette.com/

For as far back as he can remember, Chief David Kistabish says there were mines on Algonquin territory. Workers came and went, companies plundered gold from the earth and, in the very worst cases, dumped their waste into the rivers that had sustained life on the territory for millennia. At no point, throughout this process, did they consult with the people whose livelihood still depended on the land, Kistabish says.

“Elders in our community tell us that, historically, the gold mine up river dumped its tailings into the water,” said Kistabish, Chief of the Abitibiwinni First Nation — a community about 600 kilometres northwest of Montreal. “They spoke about seeing beavers and other animal corpses floating along the river. It poisoned an important food source for us. That’s what mining means to them.”

Despite the history of distrust between his community and the mining industry, Kistabish announced an agreement Tuesday with RNC Minerals (formerly called Royal Nickel Corporation). Under the deal, the Algonquins of Abitibiwinni will oversee a study about the impact a nickel mine could have on their hunting and fishing grounds.

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[Quebec Mining] Inuit engagement critical to Nunavik’s expanded mine project: KRG (Nunatsiaq News – April 28, 2017)

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

Glencore hopes to extend Raglan’s life to 2040 and beyond

The mining sector might be key to the health of Nunavik’s economy, but Makivik Corp. says Glencore’s Raglan mine has yet to deliver its full potential of benefits to the region.

The Kativik Regional Government has other concerns; the KRG says it wants better communication and access to documentation from the region’s environmental and social impacts review body, which evaluates development projects in the regions.

Nunavik’s regional organizations made their comments in written briefs submitted to recent hearings into the Sivumut project, plans to expand Glencore’s Raglan nickel mine operations past 2020. The Kativik Environmental Quality Commission hosted public hearings on the proposed project in Salluit and Kangiqsujuaq between April 3 and April 6.

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Asbestos, spying and the Canadian connection – by Michelle Lalonde (Montreal Gazette – April 29, 2017)

http://montrealgazette.com/

This week in Geneva, delegates to a conference of the parties to the Rotterdam Convention are again discussing whether chrysotile asbestos should be put on the list of hazardous substances.

One hot topic is sure to be Canada, which until 2012 was a major exporter of chrysotile — the most common form of asbestos — and opposed its inclusion on the hazardous list. However, Ottawa has recently and dramatically changed its tune.

“When it comes to asbestos, the scientific evidence is clear,” Science Minister Kirsty Duncan said in an April 21 statement, just days before the conference got underway. “Irrefutable evidence has led us to take concrete action to swiftly ban asbestos and to support the listing of chrysotile asbestos to the Rotterdam Convention.”

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Quebec govt approves Canadian Malartic openpit expansion – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – April 20, 2017)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VAANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – The Quebec provincial government, under the leadership of Quebec Liberal Party premier Philippe Couillard, has approved the proposed $200-million expansion of the Canadian Malartic mine, owned and operated in a 50:50 joint venture by Agnico Eagle Mines and Yamana Gold. The expansion will see the diversion of Highway 117 at a cost of $53-million.

Preliminary work will start in the coming weeks after obtaining the required authorisations, including the relocation of public services. Deforestation and the construction of a temporary bridge over Highway 117 are among the first steps.

The highway diversion will allow the mine to access the Barnat zone, which has softer ore and could allow for higher throughputs. The 203-million tonnes, on a 100% basis, of reported reserves as at December 31, include the Barnat zone and could allow the mine to continue production for a further six years to 2027.

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