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Foran Mining Corp., a Canadian company with a promising copper and zinc project in Saskatchewan, is raising $200-million to fund its next stage of development, a rare financing for a junior miner in a tough market for share sales.
Foran, which is based in British Columbia, is selling up to $190-million worth of new shares at $4.10 apiece through a private placement, as well as $10-million worth of “flow-through” shares that carry a special tax treatment.
Washington | BHP is considering nuclear energy to power what will be the world’s biggest potash mine in Saskatchewan, Canada, in a move that would help the Australian mining giant achieve its net-zero emissions target by 2050.
A decision to pursue nuclear generation in a country where it has long been part of the energy mix raises further questions about Australia’s own interest in the clean but controversial energy alternative.
BHP’s Sask. mine breaking new ground for women
In July of this year, mining giant BHP announced a company first. More than 14,000 kilometres away from its Melbourne, Australia headquarters, BHP said it had achieved its “gender balance” target for its local workforce in Saskatchewan.
With women making up more than 43 per cent of the company’s workforce at its Jansen potash mine project as well as its Saskatoon corporate office, the province became the first BHP location in the world to reach a goal set back in 2016.
A major uranium project in northwestern Saskatchewan has cleared a significant regulatory hurdle. NexGen Energy said Thursday that its proposed uranium mine and mill to be built on the Athabasca Basin north of La Loche known as “Rook I” was granted full approval after an environmental assessment carried out by provincial officials.
“Throughout the rigorous [environmental assessment] process, the Government of Saskatchewan recognized the unparalleled value and future opportunities the Rook I Project will provide for local communities, Saskatchewan, and Canada,” NexGen CEO Leigh Curyer said in a release.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/
Companies, governments, others must do more to train, recruit, retain workers: expert
Saskatchewan needs to train or recruit thousands of new skilled workers in the mining industry if it wants to realize its economic potential, according to a new report from consulting firm Deloitte. “Saskatchewan is one of the most significant mining jurisdictions in the world,” said Deloitte’s managing energy partner Andrew Swart.
“Solving this [shortage] is multifaceted. We need to take a new look at how we look at skills development.” Swart and others discussed the shortage at a conference in Saskatoon this week. He said job vacancies for skilled mining positions have grown by more than 130 per cent in the past four years.
BHP’s nearly $19 billion potash mine near Jansen is getting resounding approval from Lanigan mayor Tony Mycock. Lanigan, which is about a 15-minute drive from the mine site, is expected to benefit from the economic boon for the province and the local area after BHP announced plans for a $6.4 billion stage two expansion at the site Tuesday.
“It was pretty exciting,” he said. “They’ve been talking about it for a while and I didn’t expect it to happen this quick. “It’s very exciting for our community, the surrounding area and I mean, the province as a whole. This is a huge investment in Saskatchewan.”
Mike Henry discusses the rationale behind BHP’s potash investment and how it intends to compete with the world’s largest potash producer
The world’s biggest miner BHP Group Ltd. is aiming to enter Canada’s potash industry in a big way when it starts producing the commodity in 2026 in Saskatchewan. The Jansen potash project is one of its biggest capital investments and while prices of the commodity have taken a hit in recent times, the miner is confident the expenditure will be worth it in the long run.
BHP’s chief executive Mike Henry was born in Canada and studied at the University of British Columbia. He left for Australia in 1999 to work for the Melbourne-based company and gradually rose up the ranks to become head of it in 2020.
Mike Henry says political stability, abundant stores of critical minerals and talent make country a good place to invest
BHP Group Ltd. chief executive Mike Henry doesn’t shy away from trying new things. Just last week, he decided to take a leap of faith and went parachute jumping for the first time while visiting Montreal. “It was incredible,” he said.
Perhaps not so incredible, though, that the head of the world’s biggest miner will be making a hobby of it. Henry, a native of Vancouver, said he will be sticking with more relaxing pastimes to give his mind a rest from running a company with operations in more than 90 locations.
(Bloomberg) — Canada’s NexGen Energy Ltd. is looking to Australia’s equity market as it sets up financing for its first-ever uranium mine back home, a project with a $1 billion price tag.
That’s partly because its co-founder heralds from Down Under and the market has a depth of experience with mining stocks. But more important is Australia’s $2.2 trillion pensions industry, creating what NexGen’s Chief Commercial Officer Travis McPherson termed “unrelenting” demand for assets.
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BHP Group Ltd. CEO Mike Henry is talking down the chances of acquiring Canadian fertilizer giant Nutrien Ltd., as the world’s biggest mining company concentrates on building its own potash business instead. In 2010, the giant Australian miner attempted to buy Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Nutrien’s predecessor company, but the deal was blocked by the federal Conservative government as not being of net benefit to Canadians.
BHP held talks with Nutrien in 2021 around a possible joint venture on its Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan. However, discussions between the two companies eventually fizzled. BHP elected instead to go it alone on the $7.5-billion project, the most expensive the company has ever undertaken.
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With its one-time pariah commodity back in vogue, one of Canada’s biggest mining companies is reaching valuations not seen in more than 15 years.
Cameco Corp.is benefiting from a resurgence in uranium, as nuclear power is increasingly embraced by countries looking for ways to cut carbon emissions and supply concerns arise. On Monday, the company’s shares closed at $54.54 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, about $5 below their all-time high in 2007.
BHP, the world’s largest miner by market valuation, is increasing its capital spending this year on the Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan by 55% even as potash prices dropped by more than a third this year.
Construction outlays at the site 180 km north of Regina are planned to rise to $1 billion from $647 million as crews work to start the mine in late 2026 instead of in 2027 as earlier planned, the company’s Calgary-based potash unit said. Jansen’s $5.7 billion stage one is 26% complete and would produce 4.4 million tonnes a year when finished, it said.
The Ukraine war thrust fertilizer minerals to the centre of the food security debate
The vital role of fertilizer minerals in food production has propelled a niche corner of the mining industry to the centre of a global debate about the security of supplies. Potash and phosphate rock surged in price after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year. In June, United States lawmakers even proposed adding them to the country’s list of critical minerals in new legislation in Congress.
“Our food security is our national security, so when we’re dependent on Russian and Chinese minerals for the fertilizer that grows our crops, we are putting ourselves at risk,” said Democrat congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, one of the sponsors of the bill.
As nations move away from Russia’s civilian nuclear power supply chain Canada can easily step in as the 4th largest producer of uranium in the world, writes David Olive
The July 26 coup d’état in Niger could eventually spur dynamic growth in Canada’s uranium industry. The degree of Kremlin involvement in the military ouster late last month of Niger President Mohamed Bazoum is unclear.
But pro-coup demonstrators in the streets of Niamey, the Nigerien capital, wave Russian flags to express their anti-American and anti-French sentiment. That sentiment has been stoked for years in the former French colony by Russian propaganda.
British regulator probes deal to buy Westinghouse Electric
Uranium miner Cameco Corp. has raised its consolidated revenue outlook for 2023 as demand for nuclear power grows in the transition away from fossil fuels, even as the company reported a 14 per cent drop in revenue in its second quarter. The Saskatoon-based company on Aug. 2 said it expects to sell higher volumes of uranium this year, and also reported higher long-term contracting numbers.
Cameco said that as of June 30, its long-term commitments require an average annual delivery of 28 million pounds of uranium over the next five years as opposed to the 26 million pounds reported at the end of March. The company also said it hopes to deliver between 31 million and 33 million pounds of uranium this year, a boost from previous expectations of 29 to 31 million.
