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Saskatchewan Mining

‘Basically, we’re mining the centre of the Earth’: Sask. company says it’s cracked code on geothermal power – by Staff (Saskatoon CTV News – December 9, 2020)

https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/

SASKATOON — What could be a renewable energy breakthrough has emerged from the depths of the Saskatchewan landscape. Deep Earth Energy President and CEO Kirsten Marcia spoke with CTV News at Noon host Jeff Rogstad about the company’s promising foray into geothermal power. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Before we talk about the big news, let’s talk a little bit about an overview. For people who haven’t heard about Deep Earth, what exactly are you doing?

There is a very, very deep, hot aquifer in Williston Basin – so below our potash resources, below our oil and gas resources. Three and a half kilometres down there’s this big, hot pancake. We’re talking 120C to 130C, hot enough that we can produce that geothermal brine, bring it to the surface, harvest the heat out of it and generate power.

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The 100-Day War: An oral history of BHP’s hostile takeover bid of PotashCorp – by Alex MacPherson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – November 13, 2020)

https://thestarphoenix.com/

Ten years after it happened, the Saskatoon StarPhoenix spoke with key players in what was at the time the biggest business story in the world.

It was ten years ago that BHP Billiton tried to buy Saskatchewan’s most iconic company. The Anglo-Australian mining giant’s hostile takeover bid for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. in the late summer and fall of 2010 was the biggest business story in the world at the time.

Tens of billions of dollars were at stake, not to mention a former Crown corporation at the heart of an industry that has long been considered the backbone of Saskatchewan’s identity, history and economy.

PotashCorp owned five of the nine potash mines then operating in the province, and employed thousands of people. It was also a global success, with operations around the world. And it was not for sale.

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ROB MAGAZINE: What investors still don’t understand about Nutrien – by Michael McCullough (Globe and Mail – October 27, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Farmers in Saskatchewan have been social distancing for over a century, the joke in the agricultural sector goes. Behind the cheap laugh lies an essential truth: A global pandemic isn’t felt much on a crop farm.

The work conditions don’t require a lot of human contact compared to other industries and, as another well-worn industry adage goes, “People gotta eat.”

Which is good news for Nutrien Inc., the largest producer of potash—and second largest of nitrogen fertilizer—in the world, with 20,000 employees and a market capitalization approaching $30 billion.

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Estevan looks to diverse coal usages, modular potash mines – by Evan Radford (Regina Leader-Post – November 2, 2020)

https://leaderpost.com/

As part of southeast Saskatchewan’s move away from burning coal, Estevan is looking to a new partnership struck with a nearby First Nation and a veteran geologist to help keep jobs and money in the area.

The city has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ocean Man First Nation and Buffalo Potash Corporation to study how and if it can bring modular potash mines to the area and a processing facility that wouldn’t burn coal, but would still use it to create fuel.

Ocean Man sits about 100 kilometres north of Estevan. Buffalo Potash Corp., founded in 2018, is headed by long-time geology consultant and potash expert Stephen (Steve) Halabura; some of his past work includes pinpointing underground potash reserves in the province and helping BHP Billiton set up its mining sites.

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Cameco’s tax dispute with CRA may end up before Canada’s highest court (CTV News – November 1, 2020)

https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/

SASKATOON — The Canada Revenue Agency is taking a dispute with Cameco over tax reassessment to the Supreme Court of Canada, seeking an appeal to a lower court ruling earlier this year.

On Oct. 30, the uranium mining company received notice that CRA is seeking a ruling from the Supreme Court of Canada, appealing the June 26 decision of the Federal Court of Appeal which sided with Cameco in its dispute of reassessments issued by the CRA for the 2003, 2005 and 2006 tax years.

“After two clear and decisive rulings in our favour from the Tax Court of Canada and the Federal Court of Appeal that confirmed we complied with both the letter and intent of the law, it is incredibly disheartening and unfair for our employees, communities and many other stakeholders to be once again thrown into uncertainty as a result of CRA’s actions,” said Cameco president and CEO Tim Gitzel in a news release.

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Canadian miner develops environmentally friendly way to produce potash – by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud (Mining.com – October 11, 2020)

https://www.mining.com/

A Canadian company has developed a new, environmentally friendlier mechanism to produce potash without generating salt tailings and requiring no surface brine ponds.

According to Saskatoon-based Gensource Potash (TSX-V: GSP), the absence of tailings eliminates decommissioning risks, while not having ponds removes the single largest negative environmental impact of conventional potash mining.

The extraction method that Gensource has created injects a hot salt (NaCl) brine into horizontal caverns in the ore body, which selectively dissolves potash, (KCl) leaving salt in place.

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Explorers targeting Saskatchewan’s diversified mineral prospects – by Ellsworth Dickson (Resource World – September 22, 2020)

https://resourceworld.com/

Saskatchewan is the largest exporter of agri-food products in Canada; however, it is also notable for hosting a variety of mineral resources and even heat for a new geothermal plant.

The Prairie province has approximately half of the world’s potash reserves and 8% of the world’s recoverable uranium reserves. The Athabasca basin of northern Saskatchewan has the world’s highest grade uranium mines.

Its 2019 production of 18 million pounds of U3O8 are being used in Canada and globally to generate some 306 billion kilowatt hours of electricity which is equivalent to powering about 28 million homes with an almost zero carbon footprint – and there is a great deal of uranium yet to be discovered and to mine. Proven and Probable Reserves stand at 565.8 million pounds U3O8.

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BHP CEO eyes pivot to potash, but Nutrien chief warns new mines make ‘no sense’ – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – August 31, 2020)

https://financialpost.com/

Potash is one of the few “future-facing” commodities that BHP Group, one of the world’s largest miners, expects to produce in the future, according to Mike Henry, the chief executive of BHP Group.

Henry said that when the company takes stock of the “megatrends” occurring in the world, such as decarbonization and the electrification of vehicles, it sees potash, a fertilizer salt that enriches crop quality and quantity, as a smart bet.

“I’ve been clear that BHP needs to increase its exposure to future facing commodities and that includes things like copper, nickel and potash,” Henry said in an exclusive interview with the Financial Post.

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Saskatchewan building rare earth processing plant, capitalizing on emerging industry – by Anna McMillan (Global News – August 27, 2020)

https://globalnews.ca/

Construction has begun on a facility expected to put Saskatchewan at the fore of an emerging industry in the mining sector.

The province has invested $31 million to build a rare-earth element processing facility in north Saskatoon, owned and operated by the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC).

“In the future, rare-earth elements are going to play a major role in powering the 21st century,” Premier Scott Moe said at a news conference on Thursday.

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Discontent in Belarus could benefit Canada’s potash miners – and send this 5% yielding dividend stock soaring – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – August 26, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Pro-democracy protests in Eastern Europe are helping to boost the outlook for Saskatchewan’s potash miners. Investors who fled the bad-news sector in recent years may want to take a fresh look at the situation.

Shares of Nutrien Ltd., Mosaic Co. and other companies with potash mines in Canada have bounced higher over the past month. The jump reflects improving fundamentals in the fertilizer industry.

It also reflects geopolitical turmoil – in particular, the decision of many Belarussians to walk off their jobs as part of mass demonstrations aimed at toppling the country’s long-time dictator, Alexander Lukashenko.

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Do any Liberals still support Canadian resources? – by Brad Wall (National Post – August 25, 2020)

https://nationalpost.com/

If properly supported, Canada’s resource sector and Canadian agriculture will be leaders in the recovery

Were there an official committee of the federal cabinet constituted of those members who were fiscally conservative, economy-focused and supported the Canadian resource sector, they might only need an e-bike built for two to accommodate in-person meetings.

Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino may be one of them and, hope against hope, the new finance minister may take the other seat.

Only after watching her approach to trade and, more recently, Western alienation, did I come to this view.

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BHP defers decision on Jansen potash mine – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – August 18, 2020)

https://www.mining.com/

BHP (ASX, NYSE: BHP), the world’s largest miner, will decide whether to go ahead with its long-delayed $17 billion Jansen potash project in Canada by mid-2021, about a decade after completing the feasibility study for the operation.

The company had planned to make an investment decision in February 2021, but delays relating to the completion of shafts have pushed out the date by a few months.

BHP said initial challenges with placement of shaft lining, rectified since, as well as the group’s covid-19 response plan impacted Jansen’s progress during the quarter ended June 30.

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Star Diamond and Rio Tinto to face off in court – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – August 12, 2020)

https://www.mining.com/

A Canadian court has ruled that Star Diamond (TSX: DIAM) has grounds to take its legal fight with Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) to court over their joint Star-Orion South project in north-central Saskatchewan, but said the junior faces an “uphill battle.”

Judge Grant Currie said the Saskatoon-based company may struggle to prove that Rio Tinto Exploration Canada (RTEC) improperly exercised its options to obtain a majority ownership stake in the proposed diamond mine.

The legal row involves a 2017 agreement under which Rio Tinto’s subsidiary would spend $75 million in phases to acquire 60% of the Star-Orion South diamond project.

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This lithium exploration project could revitalize the Sask. oil industry – by Taylor Rattray (CTV News Regina – August 4, 2020)

https://regina.ctvnews.ca/

REGINA — A new project is bringing lithium exploration to Saskatchewan, and it could have major implications for the province’s oil industry.

Prairie Lithium Corp. is part of a project that will take oilfield brine water, and extract lithium through a series of chemical reactions.

“The lithium-free brine water is then sent back down hole for disposal, and the extracted lithium can be sent for further refining into battery-grade materials,” said Zach Maurer, president and CEO of Prairie Lithium Corp.

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Cameco’s uranium production on hold but hopeful for steadying market – by Nykole King (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – July 26, 2020)

https://thestarphoenix.com/

Reduced uranium production worldwide has sparked optimism that the market may be steadying.

Mining projects in Saskatchewan will operate to regular capacity this summer, except for Cameco Corp.’s uranium mine.

Cameco’s Cigar Lake uranium mine and SSR Mining Inc.’s Seabee gold operation opted to go into care and maintenance mode in March. A spokesperson for Cameco said the decision was made to protect workers and northern communities against the spread of COVID-19.

“Above all, we would need to have a sufficient degree of comfort that we could restart the mine, maintain production and bring more personnel back to site while still protecting the safety of our workplace, workforce and surrounding communities,” Jeff Hryhoriw said in an email.

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