Twitter

NEWS RELEASE: Key Components of Global Silver Demand Rose in 2014

https://www.silverinstitute.org/site/

(New York City – May 6, 2015) Key components of global silver demand rose in 2014, with global silver jewelry demand posting a new record last year and silverware offtake rising to its highest level since 2006. This was coupled with notable growth in key silver industrial end uses, including ethylene oxide, photovoltaics, and brazing and alloys, according to World Silver Survey 2015, released today by the Silver Institute. Gains in supply from mine production and producer hedging were partially offset by a continued decline in scrap supply.

Silver Fabrication Demand

Total silver physical demand stood at 1.07 billion ounces last year, the fourth highest level recorded since 1990, but a 4 percent decline from the 2013 total. A main factor in the decrease in physical demand was a fall in coin and bar demand from 2013, which had been a record year.

The largest component of physical silver demand, industrial applications, which accounted for 56 percent of total physical silver demand, was marginally lower by 0.5 percent. On a regional basis, a modest increase in industrial demand in developing countries, led by 4 percent growth in China and Taiwan, was offset by weaker demand in advanced countries in 2014. This marks the fifth consecutive year of Chinese industrial demand growth. Last year’s industrial demand total for Taiwan was 23 percent above their 2009 figure.

Read more

Short-term investment undermines sustainable growth – by Dominic Barton (Globe and Mail – May 7, 2015)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

In a world that desperately needs long-term investment, we face a daunting shortfall. Global long-term investment collapsed during the Great Recession of 2008 and has not recovered since. Across advanced economies, real private business investment fell by 10 to 25 per cent from 2007 highs, and recovery has been slow.

Business investment is a key determinant of long-term growth, and essential for creating jobs. The world is facing a vast unmet infrastructure challenge: Investments of nearly $60-trillion (U.S.) are needed in roads, rail networks, airports, sea ports, water and telecommunications by 2030. Moreover, in industries with the biggest need for innovation, such as health care, research and development spending is declining.

In this context, long-term investment is needed now. Yet short-termism is actually on the rise.

Indeed, it has become the norm in our capital markets. Almost all public companies dedicate significant resources to meeting quarterly earnings guidance, and assess their performance relative to it. Since more than 50 per cent of a typical company’s value comes from activities that will take place three or more years in the future, businesses are clearly failing to make profitable investments as a result.

Read more

Don’t count out India for Asia’s top economy – by Gwynne Dyer (Sudbury Star – May 7, 2015)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

The picture of the two Asian giants that most people carry around in their heads shows China racing ahead economically while India bumbles along, falling ever further behind.

People even talk about the 21st century as “China’s century”, just as they called the 20th century the “American century”. But it may turn out to be only China’s quarter-century.

The headline economic news this year is that India’s economy is growing faster than China’s. Not much faster yet, according to the official figures — a 7.5% annual rate for India vs. 7.4% for China — but there is good reason to suspect that the real Chinese growth rate is considerably lower than that.

Anybody who goes to both countries will see that India has a huge amount of catching up to do. The contrast in infrastructure is especially striking: China has 100,000 kilometres of expressways (freeways, motorways); India has only 1,000 km.

The differences in income and productivity are also very big: Gross domestic product per capita in China is between three and five times higher than in India, depending on how you calculate it.

Read more

Cominco Ltd. History (1906 – 2001)

For a large selection of corporate histories click: International Directory of Company Histories

Incorporated in Canada in 1906, Cominco Ltd. has emerged as a leading integrated zinc and copper producer. With mines in Canada, the United States, Chile, and Peru, Cominco is the world’s largest producer of zinc concentrate as well as the fourth-largest zinc metal refiner. Additionally, Cominco produces lead, silver, gold, germanium, and indium. The company’s head office is situated in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, while it oversees subsidiaries worldwide. Teck Corporation is the largest single shareholder with 44 percent of Cominco’s Common Shares.

The Beginning: 1850-1900

Cominco’s history reaches back to the Gold Rush in the second half of the 19th century. Thousands of placer prospectors flocked to the unexplored wilderness that was later to become the Province of British Columbia. (Placer refers to a gravel deposit containing particles of gold). Although the Gold Rush ended after ten years, it hastened the proclamation of the Colony of British Columbia in 1858 and influenced the development of trails throughout the region.

The newly created trails made it possible for the remaining prospectors to move further afield. Before long, placer gold was discovered in various parts of the Kootenay region in southeastern British Columbia. Soon after, steamboat service along the upper Columbia River made it easier for miners, prospectors, and others to reach the area.

Despite these transportation enhancements, mining activity was limited until the coming of the railways 20 years later.

Read more

Kinross keen on M&A but will take a disciplined approach: CEO – by Euan Rocha (Reuters Canada – May 5, 2015)

http://ca.reuters.com/

TORONTO (Reuters) – Kinross Gold K.TO is scouting for acquisition opportunities but vows it will be disciplined and only strike a deal if it offers value to shareholders, the Canadian gold miner’s chief executive said on Tuesday.

“On the external front, we are looking like everyone else is,” Paul Rollinson said in an interview. “But at the end of the day we will be disciplined.”

The CEO spoke as the Toronto-based company reported results that edged past expectations.

Investors have punished Kinross for a risky deal in 2010 that eventually soured badly. In March, the company settled a lawsuit that had accused it of defrauding investors by making a bet on Red Back Mining and its Tasiast mine in Mauritania that has led to over $6 billion in writedowns.

Its share price has fallen nearly 90 percent since the time the Red Back deal closed in September 2010. Despite this, Kinross, whose assets include operations in Russia, Brazil and the United States, among other countries, is once again scouting for assets with an eye to future growth.

Read more

Mine rescue teams from district converge on Timmins – by Len Gillis (Timmins Daily Press – May 6, 2015)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – It’s Ontario Mine Rescue competition week in Timmins. Beginning today and carrying through to Friday, mine rescue teams from Timmins and Kirkland Lake will be taking part in a double district competition.

Two of the North’s best-known mining communities will be holding their annual district events at the McIntyre Arena with four teams competing for the Timmins district title and four teams vying for the Kirkland Lake district title.

Competing for the bragging rights in Timmins are Glencore Kidd Operations who are last year’s local winners, Goldcorp Porcupine Gold Mines, Lake Shore Gold and Dumas Mining. Competing for the Kirkland Lake title are Kirkland Lake Gold Inc., AuRico Gold, SAS St. Andrew Goldfields Ltd., and Primero Gold Black Fox Mine.

By Friday night, two teams will emerge as district winners and with that they also win the right to represent their district at the All-Ontario Mine Rescue competition which is to be held in Thunder Bay on June 11 and 12. Timmins Mine Rescue officer Manny Cabral said the annual competitions are important to the overall mine rescue program because the competition teams learn from the annual exercise and bring that knowledge back to their mine rescue colleagues at their particular mine.

Read more

Kidd Mine, Minister Gravelle announce legacy fund – by Alan S. Hale (Timmins Daily Press – May 5, 2015)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Kidd Operations is looking to maintain its practice of supporting local non-profit organizations beyond the year 2021, when their mining operations in Timmins are set to come to an end.

On Monday, the mining company announced that it and the Ontario Trillium Foundation will spend $500,000 each over the next six years to create a $1-million “legacy” endowment fund. After the mine is closed, the fund will be managed by the foundation and will be distributed as grants by a volunteer board.

According to Kidd Operations’ general manager, Tom Semadeni, the deal to create the new fund with the government-run foundation was two years in the making.

“We realized that Kidd has had a very significant involvement in the community, and we’re aware that when we leave there will be a potential void. So we want to provide a lasting legacy, where we could still provide support to the community,” said Semadeni. “We worked together with the Trillium Foundation on what would be a reasonable sized endowment that could be managed going forward.

Read more

PRECIOUS-Gold down as strong shares, U.S. yields offset weaker dollar – by Clara Denina (Reuters U.S. – May 6,2015)

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) – Gold edged down on Wednesday, as the impact of stronger European shares and higher U.S. real yields counteracted the effects of a weaker dollar and prospects that the Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates at its meeting in June.

Spot gold was down 0.2 percent at $1,190.53 an ounce by 1011 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for June delivery lost $3.20 an ounce at $1,190.00.

Gold was depressed by rebounding European shares as strong euro zone services data and corporate results offset a sell-off in the region’s government bonds and a rise in the euro.

The metal, which pays no interest, was also under pressure from a two-month high in the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield.

“One might be puzzled why the gold price is not reacting to a weaker dollar  but you have to look at U.S. real yields, which correlate the most to the gold price, and these have risen,” Macquarie analyst Matthew Turner said.

Read more

Mining far more expensive in Canada’s North: Report – by Lisa Wright (Toronto Star – May 5, 2015)

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Groups recommend tax credits to help build infrastructure to reach remote sites.

The cost of building new mines is up to 2.5 times higher in northern Canada than in the rest of the country, creating major obstacles to extracting metals in remote regions and putting the industry’s long-term viability in jeopardy, warns a new report.

A significant cost premium is directly linked to the lack of infrastructure in the north, says the report released Tuesday by several industry groups, including the Mining Association of Canada and the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada.

The study shows that unlike many of their southern counterparts, mining companies operating in these remote areas need to invest in costly but essential ports, power plants, winter roads, permanent roads and housing. And in most cases, there are also sparse populations or no people for hundreds of kilometres from the project or mine.

Despite Canada’s leadership in the global mining business, reserves for several base metals such as nickel, lead and zinc have been in significant decline since the 1980s, and production volumes have fallen relative to other mining countries, the report notes.

Read more

Kinross reports solid Q1 earnings, agrees to settle class action suit – by Peter Koven (National Post – May 6, 2015)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

TORONTO – Kinross Gold Corp. reported solid earnings on Tuesday, beating analyst estimates in the first quarter even though most of its competitors failed to meet them.

The Toronto-based miner also announced it has agreed to pay $12.5 million to settle a Canadian class action lawsuit, eliminating a time-consuming headache. The legal action was tied to the company’s statements about the Tasiast expansion project in Mauritania, which did not live up to its original expectations.

In March, Kinross reached a US$33 million settlement of a similar class action suit out of the United States. Chief executive Paul Rollinson noted that there is no cost to Kinross, as the money is paid out through directors and officers insurance. The company made no admission of guilt in either case.

“When settling these things, it’s really a call on time and cost and energy efficiency,” he said in in an interview.

Read more

Alberta’s oil patch now in uncharted waters with NDP premier – by Jeffrey Jones (Globe and Mail – May 6, 2015)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Calgary — The Alberta oil patch is in uncharted political territory after the NDP’s unprecedented rise to power. The energy sector, the province’s dominant industry and one that’s been friendly with the Progressive Conservatives, will find itself dealing with a left-of-centre premier and ruling party that have been among its harshest critics on issues of royalties, taxes and environmental policy.

NDP Leader Rachel Notley, who ended nearly 44 years of Progressive Conservative rule in Alberta in an extraordinary majority win on Tuesday, has said her government would review the royalties rates paid by oil and gas companies, increase corporate taxes, strengthen environmental rules and halt the practice of spending taxpayer dollars to promote pipeline projects in Washington and elsewhere.

The stunning change comes at a time when oil prices are just starting to recover from lows that had sapped billions of dollars of government energy revenues as the sector fell into a downturn.

The NDP’s stated policies are “directionally negative” for the industry, as they point to higher costs, said Samir Kayande, analyst at ITG Investment Research in Calgary. For instance, a royalty review does not suggest that rates will be cut, he said.

Read more

Rachel Notley rides stunning orange wave in Alberta – by Tim Harper (Toronto Star – May 6, 2015)

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Alberta goes NDP in a sweep that ranks with the most seismic shifts in Canadian political history.

Voters in Alberta made history Tuesday night — and they sealed it with an exclamation point. Rachel Notley and her New Democrats secured a majority victory in an election that was supposed to be a stroll in the park for a powerful Progressive Conservative dynasty that had all but swallowed up its opposition in the province.

Instead, Jim Prentice rolled the dice on an early election and has found his own place in Canadian political lore. Albertans gave the middle finger to 44 years of unbroken rule and Prentice resigned, both as party leader and MLA, riding sadly into the prairie night.

The former Stephen Harper cabinet minister who was once thought to be a potential Harper successor, is the man who squandered a dynasty with staying power never before seen in this country. Ultimately, it sputtered and died, succumbing to the twin diseases of entitlement and hubris. The party sat in third place behind Wildrose, its future very much a question mark.

Read more

Furious B.C. magnate says he’s caught up in ‘vicious’ smear campaign against Clinton charities – by Brian Hutchinson (National Post – May 6, 2015)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

VANCOUVER — This seems out of character: Frank Giustra, one of Canada’s wealthiest and most guarded businessmen, is openly seething. Smacking the boardroom table and swearing.

“I can’t deal with this anymore,” snaps the mining and entertainment magnate. To his horror, he’s become hot political fodder south of the border. All because of his close relationship with former U.S. president Bill Clinton, suggestions of influence-peddling through related charities the two men established and a growing scandal ensnaring Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“I’ve spent the last 10 days doing nothing but dealing with media calls. I can’t get anything done,” Giustra says, his voice starting to crack the longer our interview inside his downtown Vancouver office this week continues. “It’s out of control. It’s a f—ing circus.”

A rags-to-riches multi-millionaire who normally shuns publicity, Giustra made his fortune as a stockbroker before “retiring” two decades ago, shy of his 40th birthday. An ugly, Bre-X-style gold mining scandal caused by others was singeing his feathers and creating what he describes as “internal conflict” at Yorkton Securities Inc., the Vancouver-based brokerage he headed.

Read more

Vaughn Palmer: Coal deal heralds future of resource development – by Vaughn Palmer (Vancoucer Sun – May 4, 2015)

http://www.vancouversun.com/index.html

Rights holders compensated and mine plan frozen, with possibility of future joint venture with First Nation

VICTORIA — When Mines Minister Bill Bennett met with reporters at the legislature late Monday afternoon, he announced an innovative solution to a dispute over some coal mining licences that also heralded the future for resource development in B.C.

The specifics involved some 61 privately held mineral licences, together forming the basis for an anthracite coal mine in the Klappan region in the northwest of the province.

Together they also formed the basis for a decade-long standoff between the two private company holders of the licences and the Tahltan First Nation, in whose traditional territory the mining property was located.

The Tahltan opposed the project, a determination manifested with blockades going back 10 years. Thus stalled, the rights-holders — Fortune Minerals and POSCO Canada — had no practical option to develop their property, acquired in good faith in 2002.

Read more

Inco’s Roots: The Sequel – by Marty McAllister (Inco Triangle – June 1990)

For Inco Triangle Archives, click here: http://www.sudburymuseums.ca/triangle/?home

This article came from the June 1990 issue of the Inco Triangle: thttp://www.sudburymuseums.ca/triangle/data/INCOTriangle-19900601.pdf

“Fools rush in …” In my January column, I boldly wrestled with the objective of finding the very beginning of Inco’s oldest operation. I even set out a rule: there had to be evidence of organizational continuity, right through to the present. So, after a fair bit of research (and an assumption that came back to haunt me), I declared Wiggin Steel and Alloys the winner — because it started as a partnership in 1835.

Now, with not a steroid user in the lot, the Wiggin group has to be stripped of its medal. Sorry, Birmingham friends, I goofed — but I hope you enjoyed your few months in the sun.

For the benefit of Canadian readers, David Balchin is the Executive Vice-President with responsibility for Inco’s Alloys and Engineered Products segment. With extensive operations on both sides of the Atlantic, he’s a busy man. Not too busy to notice, however, when some self-styled authority hands a heritage award to the wrong member of his group! So gather `round, faithful readers, while I share the continuing story of Inco’s oldest roots.

Read more