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Saskatchewan Mining

Divisive $13 Billion Potash Plan to Test BHP’s New Chairman – by David Stringer (Bloomberg News – July 17, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

BHP Billiton Ltd.’s plan to enter the potash market with a contentious $13 billion project in Canada is adding to challenges facing the incoming chairman of the world biggest mining company.

Ken MacKenzie, a 53-year-old board member who takes up the role in September, currently is on a global tour to meet investors in the wake of an activist campaign in recent months spearheaded by Elliott Management Corp. Issues of concern for some shareholders include the producer’s U.S. onshore oil and gas assets and its plans to accelerate the Jansen potash venture.

Proceeding with Jansen risks a “severe strategic misstep,” according to Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd. analyst Paul Gait, as the new supply would risk depressing prices by delaying to about 2036 the ability of the potash market to work through overcapacity. Paul Singer’s Elliott went public in April with a campaign seeking asset sales and a corporate overhaul, claiming management decisions have eroded as much as $40 billion in value.

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BHP says work on Jansen mine moving ahead – by Ashley Robinson (Regina Leader-Post – June 28, 2017)

http://leaderpost.com/

Giles Hellyer is optimistic about the multi-billion-dollar Jansen potash mine project. The BHP president, Potash Canada, presented an update Wednesday during a Regina & District Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

Located about 140 kilometres east of Saskatoon, the massive Jansen project has experienced significant delays, but Hellyer stressed during the luncheon that plans and work on the mine are progressing.

Last month, BHP CEO Andrew Mackenzie told a conference in Barcelona that the mine’s first phase could go to the Melbourne-based company’s board of directors for approval next summer and be operational in 2023.

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‘Something forward-thinking, with the promise of innovation’: PotashCorp, Agrium to merge as Nutrien – by Alex MacPherson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – June 21, 2017)

http://thestarphoenix.com/

A process engineer from Ohio and business manager from Texas came up with the ideas that inspired Nutrien Inc., the name of the new company that will be formed in the planned merge of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. and Agrium Inc. later this year.

Announced Wednesday, almost 10 months after the companies confirmed that a US$26-billion deal was in the works, the name emerged from a massive contest that resulted in employees from the two companies submitting more than 4,000 ideas.

“Quite literally, the list of names went from ‘Abundantly’ to ‘Zon Terra,’” PotashCorp spokesman Randy Burton said, adding that most of the suggestions — from the Latin “Fertilis” to the Greek “Auxesia” — reflected the combined companies’ businesses.

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New project aims to extract rare earth elements from uranium tailings – by Alex MacPherson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – June 5, 2017)

http://thestarphoenix.com/

New technology under development in Saskatoon could make it profitable for Saskatchewan-based mining companies to extract “significant” quantities of rare earth elements from uranium tailings solution that would otherwise go to waste.

The parallel processes being piloted by Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC), which started work on the project three years ago, involve concentrating the tailings solution and then using “cells” containing mixers to separate out each of the rare earth elements.

“It’s good for our uranium companies and it’s good for the province,” said Bryan Shreiner, who heads SRC’s minerals division. “And in terms of value for Canada and the rest of the world, rare earths are in demand.”

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BHP aims to grow potash mining into a core business – by Kaori Takahashi (Nikkei Asian Review – June 5, 2017)

http://asia.nikkei.com/

Resource giant weighs sell-off of US shale gas assets in restructuring drive

SYDNEY — BHP Billiton is increasing its investment in potash mining and seeking to divest its U.S. shale gas assets. Andrew Mackenzie, CEO of the world’s largest miner, told The Nikkei that “under some circumstances, we might start to grow potash to the size of our iron ore business today.”

Mackenzie said BHP will continue its restructuring effort. It is looking for an opportunity to sell its shale gas business, which has seen its profitability deteriorate, to focus more on potash, potentially bringing it into line with the company’s dominant iron ore business which reaps over $9 billion a year.

“It’s taken us 50 years to create today’s iron ore business. It will be another 50 years to create a potash equivalent. So you have to start somewhere,” Mackenzie said.

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BHP talks up Saskatchewan potash project – by Matt Chambers (The Australian – May 23, 2017)

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/

BHP’s board could have the most expensive ­single development approval ­decision in the miner’s history in front of it next financial year, in the form of a $US4.7 billion ($6.3bn) investment in the Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan.

Lost in the ramp-up of activist fund Elliott Management’s hostilities last week was the revelation that the miner is nearly ready to give approval to the first production stage of the Jansen project, where it has approved $US3.8bn to sink 1km-deep shafts to get to the big potash deposit.

The enthusiastic BHP mood around potash will create trepidation among some investors that the Elliott push to create value through an oil and gas restructure and share unification is accelerating potash development, while Canadian analysts have queried whether the global potash market can support it.

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BHP stays course on Canada potash mine few expected built – by Rod Nickel (Reuters U.S. – May 18, 2017)

http://www.reuters.com/

NEW YORK – BHP Billiton Ltd’s (BHP.AX) (BLT.L) Canadian potash mine will use advanced, cost-saving technology, giving it a competitive edge in a currently over-supplied fertilizer market, the executive in charge of the business said on Thursday.

Australia-based BHP aims to start potash production at Jansen, Saskatchewan in 2023, the company said this week, eventually producing 4 million tonnes annually.

The mine is already under construction but requires BHP’s board to approve another $4.7 billion to bring Jansen into production. That decision may happen as early as June 2018.

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Uranium mine cleanup moves ahead, but Saskatchewan is left with ballooning cost – by Rob Drinkwater (CBC News Saskatchewan – May 14, 2017)

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

Cleanup cost about 10 times higher than original $25M estimate

The Canadian Press – The total price tag was estimated at under $25 million when the federal government agreed to pay for half the cleanup of a radioactive Cold-War-era uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan.

But a decade later, the expected cost for remediation of the remote Gunnar mine has swelled to about 10 times that and Ottawa isn’t offering any more money, even as the province starts this summer to remediate millions of tonnes of tailings and waste rock left when the mine closed in 1964.

“With Gunnar, just the size of the waste-rock piles and the tailings area alone, it’s fairly unavoidable that costs were significantly more,” said Cory Hughes, executive director of mineral policy at the Saskatchewan Ministry of the Economy. “You really have to be there to appreciate the size of the project.”

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K+S opens new potash mine; first new mine in Saskatchewan in more than 40 years – by Jennifer Graham (Saskatoon Star Phoenix – May 2, 2017)

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/

BETHUNE, Sask. — The first tonne of marketable potash is expected to be produced at the end of June from the first new mine in Saskatchewan in more than 40 years. After five years of construction, German fertilizer company K+S AG is opening the new mine near the village of Bethune, about 70 kilometres north of Regina.

“To tell you the truth, we made the investment decision at a time when prices were significantly higher,” Norbert Steiner, the CEO of K+S AG, said Tuesday at the opening ceremony. “But when you are on the road to build such a big plant, you are well advised that you continue the building of the plant until it is finished,” Norbert said.

“But still, we are of the opinion that the cost that we will have for the production of our products here in Saskatchewan will be significantly lower compared to the prices that we have right now in the industry and, therefore, we foresee that we have a positive (earnings before interest, taxes and amortization) already in 2018 and of course the better years will come afterwards.”

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Storage wars: New U.S. potash player K+S faces warehouse squeeze – by Rod Nickel (Reuters U.S. – May 1, 2017)

http://www.reuters.com/

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA – May 1 Germany’s K+S AG will crack into the U.S. fertilizer market this spring when it opens the first new western Canadian potash mine in nearly five decades. But the fifth-largest global potash seller faces a stiff challenge before it makes a single delivery: where to store the pink granular nutrient until farmers need it.

The U.S. market for potash – a key type of fertilizer used to grow corn and wheat – is already dominated by Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, Agrium Inc and Mosaic. It’s also saturated: potash prices are near nine-year lows.

Not only do these market leaders have an ample supply of potash, they also boast a string of warehouses built strategically across the Midwest where they can quickly distribute their product to U.S. farmers, who have a narrow window every spring to fertilize.

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Potash Market Rebound in ‘Full Force’ as Global Demand Improves – by Jen Skerritt (Bloomberg News – April 27, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Potash prices are recovering after a decade of weakness, lifting the prospects of a turnaround in fortunes for fertilizer companies following a slump in farm spending.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s second-biggest producer, boosted its full-year earnings forecast on Thursday and said strong demand will continue for the rest of the year as North American farmers seek to replenish soil nutrients after record harvests. Chinese potash shipments are expected to increased in 2017, it added.

The Canadian company’s performance suggests the potash recovery is in “full force,” Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst Jonas Oxgaard said in a note. Canpotex — the joint venture handling overseas sales for Potash Corp. and its two largest North American peers, Agrium Inc. and Mosaic Co. — has kept the market tight and driven up prices, while volumes have exceeded expectations in North America and export markets, a positive sign for the companies, he said.

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Western Potash announces plans to move ahead on Milestone Project – by Ashley Robinson (Regina Leader-Post – April 16, 2017)

http://leaderpost.com/

The Rural Municipality of Lajord isn’t holding its breath when it comes to the Western Potash project at Milestone. “(Western Potash) told us eight years ago they’re going to be (building it) so thats the bottom- line. I can’t get excited anymore, when we see things move ahead then we’ll start getting excited,” said Erwin Beitel, reeve of RM of Lajord.

The long-delayed potash mine is once again slated to move forward. On Tuesday, Western Potash held an open house in Kronau — one of many held over the years.

The project was first proposed in 2009, with an original plan to produce 2.8 million tonnes of potash per year. At the time potash prices were US$400 per tonne, but then the economy dipped and potash prices fell, causing the project to be delayed.

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Federal government passes landmark First Nations mining regulations – by Alex MacPherson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – March 30, 2017)

http://thestarphoenix.com/

A landmark law passed this week by the federal government helps pave the way for a Saskatchewan First Nation and a Toronto-based potash development company to build the country’s first on-reserve mine northeast of Regina.

The “unprecedented” legislation under the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act (FNCIDA) will apply provincial regulations to the $3-billion mine proposed by Enancto Potash Corp. and Muskowekwan First Nation.

“This represents a critical piece … to ensure a favourable investment climate for the development of the first potash mine on First Nations land,” Encanto president and CEO Stavros Daskos said in a statement.

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NEWS RELEASE: First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act Finalized by Order in Council to Allow for Future on Reserve Potash Mine Development

TSXV: EPO

VANCOUVER, March 29, 2017 /CNW/ – Encanto Potash Corp. (“Encanto” or the “Company”) (TSXV: EPO) announces that an Order in Council P.C. 2017-258 was issued on March 24, 2017 by the Governor in Council, ending a multi-year process that has culminated in the successful conclusion of the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act (“FNCIDA”) process and the delivery of the Muskowekwan First Nation Solution Potash Mining Regulations into law.

The process enables the Muskowekwan First Nation, who had decided to pursue a large scale commercial or industrial on-reserve project (in this case, a large scale potash mine partnered with Encanto Potash) to request the Government of Canada to develop regulations applying to this specific project on a specific piece of reserve land.

FNCIDA works by essentially reproducing the provincial rules and regulations that apply to similar large-scale commercial or industrial projects off reserves and applying them to a specific on-reserve project.

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Miners shy away from investing in Ontario: land claim uncertainty to blame, report says – by Angela Gemmill (CBC News Sudbury – March 01, 2017)

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

Want to invest in mining? Fraser report says look to Manitoba and Saskatchewan

When it comes to investment in mineral exploration, Ontario has dropped into a slump, the latest report from the Fraser Institute says. The think-tank recently rated 104 regions around the world on their geological and regulatory attractiveness to those looking to invest in mineral exploration.

The report named Saskatchewan as the top jurisdiction for investment. The prairie province moved up to first from second place in 2015. Manitoba moved up to second place this year after ranking 19th the previous year.

Western Australia dropped to third, after Saskatchewan displaced it as the most attractive jurisdiction in the world. Rounding out the top-10 are Nevada, Finland, Quebec, Arizona, Sweden, the Republic of Ireland, and Queensland. Ontario dropped three spots this year to 18th place. The reason? Mining companies are put off by the uncertainty around land claims in Ontario, the report says.

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