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Saskatchewan Mining

Why now might be the right time to plant Nutrien in your portfolio – by Jonathan Ratner (Financial Post – July 5, 2018)

https://business.financialpost.com/

A recent rally in potash and nitrogen prices has pushed Nutrien’s shares back up toward the level at which they began trading post-merger

Maybe it has something to do with the name change, but more likely it is the result of a persistently weak market for fertilizer ingredients.

Any way you slice it, Nutrien Ltd. has been buried in the back of many investors’ minds since it was created through the US$36-billion mega-merger of Agrium and PotashCorp of Saskatchewan early this year.

But things could be about to change, thanks to a recent rally in potash and nitrogen prices that has pushed Nutrien’s shares back up toward the level at which they began trading post-merger.

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Nutrien to occupy what will be Saskatchewan’s tallest office building – by Alex Macherson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – June 14, 2018)

http://thestarphoenix.com/

The world’s largest fertilizer company is set to move into what will become the province’s tallest office building once it’s built on the north edge of Saskatoon’s River Landing.

Nutrien Ltd. on Thursday announced plans to relocate its roughly 300 local employees to the 18-storey steel-and-glass tower, construction of which is set to begin soon.

While the terms of the agreement are confidential, Nutrien President and CEO Chuck Magro described it as a multi-year, multi-million-dollar investment for the company.

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All-women mine rescue team hoping to break down barriers – by Alex MacPherson *Saskatoon StarPhoenix – May 14, 2018)

http://thestarphoenix.com/

Kari Lentowicz hopes taking what is thought to be the world’s first all-female mine rescue team to a major competition in Russia will help demolish barriers in a male-dominated industry.

The seven-member group, nicknamed Diamonds in the Rough, is currently raising the $84,000 it needs to travel to Ekaterinburg for the 2018 iteration of the biennial International Mines Rescue Competition.

Lentowicz, who spent more than a decade working in Saskatchewan’s mining industry and has spoken previously about her struggles in a sector dominated by men, is serving as the Diamonds’ coach.

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Mosaic Company reported lower sales volumes but higher sales revenue for quarter – by Tom Meersman (Minneapolis Star Tribune – May 7, 2018)

http://www.startribune.com/

Late spring planting and rail bottlenecks in Canada affected its earnings.

Helped by higher prices for phosphate and potash, net sales for the Mosaic Company rose by about 19 percent during the first quarter of 2018, although adjusted earnings were negatively affected by the late spring planting and other weather-related issues.

The global fertilizer company based in Plymouth said Monday that its net sales during the quarter were $1.9 billion, compared with $1.6 billion last year.

Mosaic CEO Joc O’Rourke said the company expects the positive momentum to continue because of improving market conditions and strong operational performance. In addition, O’Rourke said in a statement: “Our excellent progress on the transformational initiatives at Mosaic Fertilizantes is expected to generate substantial earnings growth in the second half of 2018.”

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‘It’s getting to a point where we have too many of these existential crises’: Saskatchewan government renews call for federal solution to transportation woes – by Alex MacPherson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – April 30, 2018)

http://thestarphoenix.com/

Saskatchewan’s energy and resources minister says the federal government should act swiftly to prevent another railway backlog like the one that has plagued the province’s farmers and potash producers this year.

Ottawa should not only pass Bill C-49 — new legislation aimed at improving rail service — but ensure the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline System to B.C. is built, Bronwyn Eyre said Monday in an interview.

“If those two factors were resolved, the railway would be more free and more product could move. It’s getting to a point where we have too many of these existential crises (for) too many sectors,” Eyre said.

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Fertilizer giant Nutrien to temporarily lay off up to 1,300 in Saskatchewan (Canadian Press/Globe and Mail – April 27, 2018)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Fertilizer giant Nutrien Ltd. says it will temporarily lay off up to 1,300 workers at two of its potash mines in Saskatchewan. The layoffs are to affect staff at the Vanscoy mine this month and the Allan mine in early May.

Will Tigley, a company spokesman, says some essential staff would remain at both facilities. According to Nutrien, the layoff is directly related to rail transportation backlogs, the possibility of a Canadian Pacific Railway strike and growing inventory.

The company says layoffs aren’t unusual and they could last for days or weeks. Premier Scott Moe called on the federal government to put pressure on the railways to improve service.

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Brazilian shuffle: Canpotex opens Sao Paulo office as Vale exits fertilizer industry – by Andrew Willis (Globe and Mail – April 23, 2018)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

As Brazil’s largest mining company exits the fertilizer industry, Canada’s leading potash exporter is ramping up its operations in South America’s largest agricultural market.

Canpotex Ltd., the Saskatoon-based company that sells potash from 10 Saskatchewan mines to farmers around the world, is expected to announce the opening of its first office in Brazil on Monday.

In an interview, Canpotex chief executive Ken Steitz said expanding its sales effort in Brazil is part of a $1-billion investment to better position the Canadian company as a dominant fertilizer supplier to a country that’s expected to lead the world in food production over the next three decades.

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How U.S.-Russia tensions could revive Canada’s struggling uranium mines – by Gabriel Friedma (Financial Post – April 18, 2018)

http://business.financialpost.com/

Just months after Saskatoon-based Cameco Corp. laid off hundreds of workers and shuttered the largest high-grade uranium mine in Canada, the market for the radioactive metal used in nuclear power generation is suddenly in flux, as tensions between the U.S. and Russia flare.

Last week, in response to new U.S. sanctions, Russian lawmakers proposed measures that would halt enriched uranium exports to the U.S. — a move other countries could follow — which analysts believe could reset the supply and demand picture.

“The fact of the matter is it could potentially be quite explosive,” said Rob Chang, a former analyst with Cantor Fitzgerald, who now sits on the board of Fission Uranium Corp., an exploration company.

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BHP strikes potash as Jansen shafts reach 940 metres – by Alex MacPherson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – April 6, 2018)

http://thestarphoenix.com/

One of the world’s largest mining companies has struck potash in Saskatchewan. Five years after committing $2.6 billion to sink a pair of kilometre-deep shafts at its Jansen mine project, BHP confirmed that drilling crews reached potash deposits 924 metres below ground late last month.

While the multibillion-dollar mine has yet to be sanctioned by the Anglo-Australian mining giant’s board, Giles Hellyer, the company’s vice president of potash operations, said reaching potash was a “significant milestone.”

“Shaft sinking is technical and complex,” Hellyer said in an emailed statement. “The ongoing sinking and completion of the shafts over the next couple of years will help us reduce the development risk of this greenfield project and give us access to what we believe is one of the world’s best undeveloped potash resources.”

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PDAC 2018 Bill Dennis Award: NexGen Energy

PDAC 2018 – Bill Dennis Award – NexGen from PENDA Productions on Vimeo.

http://www.pendaproductions.com/ This video was produced by PENDA Productions, a full service production company specializing in Corporate Communications with a focus on Corporate Responsibility.

Bill Dennis Award - NexGen Energy Ltd..jpg

Leigh Curyer (left)

This award, named for a former president of the association, honours an individual or team of explorationists who have accomplished one or both of the following: made a significant mineral discovery; made an important contribution to the prospecting and/or exploration industry.

NexGen Energy – For the discovery of the Arrow uranium deposit in the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan, Canada

NexGen Energy discovered the Arrow uranium deposit in 2014, less than a year after listing on the TSX-V. Subsequent drilling established Arrow as the largest undeveloped uranium deposit in the Athabasca Basin, and one of the most prolific uranium camps globally. Based on a maiden Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) released in 2017, Arrow will conceptually be the world’s largest uranium mine.

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Athabasca exploration juniors reveal voluminous resource increases – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – February 20, 2018)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Junior explorer Fission Uranium has reported an increase of about 30% in the total compliant indicated and inferred resources at its flagship Triple R deposit, in North-Western Saskatcewan.

The Kelowna, British Columbia-based company on Tuesday said the resource estimate for the Triple R deposit now spans the R1515W, R840W, R00E, R780E and R1620E zones, and essentially doubled the inferred resource by some 95%, while the amount of pounds of uranium in the indicated resource rose 8%.

TSX-listed Fission noted that the increase in the indicated resource is mainly owing to infill drilling on the R780E zone, while the increase in the inferred resource is attributable to the discovery and delineation of the R1620E, R840W, and R1515W zones.

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$2 million in mine exploration funds coming from federal, Saskatchewan governments – by Eric Westhaver (Flin Flon Reminder – February 14, 2018)

http://www.thereminder.ca/

Mine exploration around Flin Flon is about to get a boost, courtesy of the federal and Saskatchewan governments. A joint venture between the two sides will provide a total of $2 million in funding for aerial exploration and incentives for junior mining companies.

Under the program, Saskatchewan’s provincial government will spend $1 million on a geophysical survey of the area around Flin Flon, Creighton and Denare Beach. A budget proposal for other parts of the project is in the planning stages.

The surveying will be done jointly by the Geological Survey of Manitoba and the Geological Survey of Canada and Natural Resources Canada. Work on the project is expected to begin before early March.

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Potash demand ‘robust’, but Nutrien CEO doesn’t rule out closing higher cost mines – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – February 7, 2018)

http://business.financialpost.com/

Nutrien Ltd., the newly formed company from the merger of The Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan and Agrium Inc., is well on course to achieve savings of half a billion dollar in synergies annually, according to its chief executive officer Chuck Magro.

“When we look at it, the $500 million in annual synergies — we’re very confident about that number,” Magro told investors on Nutrien’s first conference call about the company’s 2018 guidance. Already, the company has saved $40 million, Magro said, predicting that more savings will be achieved through the combination of the transportation, operations, finance and procurement functions.

For instance, he pointed to the elimination of 200 railcars as one example of a cost-saving synergy that resulted from the combination. But integrating the two companies could send ripples throughout Canada, with impacts far beyond Nutrien’s bottom line.

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Exploration agreement aims to help junior mining companies in northern Sask. and Man. – by Bridget Yard (CBC News Saskatoon – January 31, 2018)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/

Future of Creighton, Sask.’s main industry ‘up in the air,’ according to longtime Mayor Bruce Fidler

An agreement between the Saskatchewan and federal governments worth approximately $2 million will aim to help junior mining companies in their exploration of northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The agreement was signed in December 2017.

The future of the mining camps near Creighton, Sask., which is approximately 430 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, is “up in the air,” according to the town’s mayor.

“The forecast put out a year ago by Hudbay [Minerals] was that the 777 mine, the one in operation right now where they’re producing ore, is going to run out and shut down in three or four years,” said Bruce Fidler.

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Canadian fertilizer producer Nutrien to keep Saskatchewan base: premier – by Rod Nickel (Reuters Canada – January 4, 2018)

https://ca.reuters.com/

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) – Nutrien Ltd, the fertilizer company formed this week by a merger of Potash Corp of Saskatchewan and Agrium, has committed to establishing its head office in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and increasing corporate office jobs there, Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall said on Thursday.

Wall said that in recent meetings, Nutrien’s leading executives agreed to increase corporate office positions in Saskatchewan by 15 percent, to 300.

Saskatchewan is home to all of Nutrien’s operating potash mines, and the provincial government sets royalties and taxes on production. The location of top executives has long been politically sensitive as many were once based in Chicago.

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