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Who will tackle First Nations waterworks? (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – April 27, 2015)

Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

Trust Ontario’s Liberals to take a swipe at the feds in a provincial budget, but we got the point.

Last week’s big document by Finance Minister Charles Sousa notes that 30 Ontario First Nations remain under boil-water advisories, something that is primarily a federal responsibility.

In most communities in the province, clean drinking water is a given and a basic right, but at too many First Nations — both remote and road-accessible — it remains elusive.

In Sousa’s budget, the province acknowledges a long-term plan is needed to rectify this deplorable situation, but is light on details.

Every so often, First Nations will try to highlight faulty drinking water plants, or the fact that hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent each year on endless bottled-water relief programs.

Then, as part of an enervating back-and-forth routine, the federal government will say that money is indeed allocated every year for infrastructure, including waterworks.

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The End of the BRICs – by Gwynne Dyer (Gwynne Dyer.com – April 8, 2015)

http://gwynnedyer.com/

“The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable,” said John Kenneth Galbraith, the wisest American economist of his generation. (“A paltry honour,” he would have murmured.) But you still can’t resist wondering when the Chinese economy will be bigger than the US economy – or the Brazilian bigger than the British, or the Turkish bigger than the Italian – as if it were some kind of horse race.

The latest document to tackle these questions is “The World in 2050″, drawn up by HSBC bank, which ranks the world’s hundred biggest economies as they are now, and as (it thinks) they will be in 2050. It contains the usual little surprises, like a prediction that per capita incomes in the Philippines and Indonesia, now roughly the same, will diverge so fast that the average Filipino will have twice the income of the average Indonesian by 2050.

The Venezuelan economy will only triple in size, but Peru’s economy will grow eightfold. Per capita income will double-and-a-bit in Nigeria; in Ethiopia it will grow sixfold. Bangladesh powers past Pakistan, with a per capita income in 2050 that’s half again as big as Pakistan’s. (It’s only two-thirds of Pakistan’s at the moment.) And so on and so forth: local phenomena mostly of interest to local people.

But what’s happening at the top of the list is of interest to everybody. That’s where the great powers all live, with the BRICs nipping at their heels. Or rather, some of the BRICs are nipping at their heels, and some are not. That’s the big news.

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NEWS RELEASE: A RESILIENT AND PROSPEROUS NORTH REMAINS AN IMPORTANT DRIVER OF CANADA’S ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

Investments in Aboriginal youth, critical infrastructure, and governance are priorities

HIGHLIGHTS

• Resilient Northern communities strengthen Canada’s sovereignty, security, and economic prosperity.
• Upfront investments in critical infrastructure, population health and wellness, education, and the upgrading of essential skills will better enable Northerners to partake in economic development opportunities.
• Future planning for responsible growth in Canada’s North will require a more integrated approach to policy development between communities, industry, and governments at all levels.

Ottawa, April 29, 2015 – A new policy review from The Conference Board of Canada’s Centre for the North’s Building a Resilient and Prosperous North recommends three high-priority areas for decision makers to consider when planning for growth in Canada’s North: Investments in Aboriginal youth wellness, physical and telecommunications infrastructure, and good governance to steer growth.

“Building the resilience of Northern communities is vital to achieving national goals of sovereignty, security, and economic prosperity. The North is changing fast – politically, socially, and economically – and we should be promoting the economic potential without compromising the integrity of traditional ways of living,” said Anja Jeffrey, Director, Northern and Aboriginal Policy.

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Superintendent warned about water levels – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 29, 2015)

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

A former superintendent at Stobie Mine who toured the underground facility the day two men were killed at its 3,000-foot level said he left the mine about noon with concerns about excess water and plugged drain holes.

Larry Lauzon was brought in June 8, 2011, to offer advice to superintendent Keith Birney about safety practices. Stobie routinely experiences constant problems due to water being funnelled from surface.

Stobie supervisor Jason Chenier, 35, and miner Jordan Fram, 26, were killed by a run of tons of muck on the 3,000-level. The incident is believed to have occurred about 9:45 p.m.

Lauzon testified Tuesday at the seventh day of the coroner’s inquest into their deaths that he noticed on his tour varying depths of water accumulation at several levels of Stobie’s B division, where the men were overcome by muck. He talked with Birnie, cautioning him to take water issues seriously, and spoke with workers they encountered on their tour about safe mining practices.

As he was leaving the mine, Lauzon said he looked for the mine manager to see if he was aware of water conditions in the mine.

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Day of Mourning: Labour vows to ‘fight for the living’ – by Connor Pringle (Sudbury Star – April 29, 2015)

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

Workers who were killed, injured or suffered illnesses from workplace conditions were mourned Tuesday during the 31st Annual Day of Mourning hosted by The Sudbury and District Labour Council and United Steel Workers Local 6500.

The Annual Day of Mourning recognizes workers killed, injured and who suffered illnesses while on the job.

“It’s a day to make a commitment to protect the living and to prevent future injuries and fatalities,” said Alain Arseneault, co-chair of maintenance/electrical for the Health, Safety and Environment Committee.

The day started 31 years ago, according to Arseneault, with April 28 chosen as that is the date the Ontario government proclaimed the first comprehensive Workers Compensation Act in Canada.

The Sudbury region was the first region to declare April 28 as the official Day of Mourning in Canada and across the world. The Steelworkers local says 44 deaths have occurred on company property since the first Day of Mourning.

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Dazed and Confused in Deutschland – by Christopher Ecclestone (InvestorIntel.com – April 29, 2015)

http://investorintel.com/

In the balmy (barmy?) days before the global financial crisis in 2008, Germany was regarded as the Promised Land for Vancouver stock promoters. They had never seen anything like it… so many sheep to be fleeced and none of them up to date on the guiles and wiles of Vancouver’s best and brightest.

It was a happy hunting ground. Even better the various German exchanges went out of the way to make their lists open to all and sundry. Stocks that you couldn’t even find a ticker for in Canada, trading on some third sub-tier of Yellowknife Adventurers Exchange could get itself a listing in Berlin or Stuttgart by merely existing.

This not only gave an extra ticker to fill up embarrassing white spaces, between photos of the moose pasture, on the company website but also gave one status when one strutted the floor of the Munich Gold Show touting one’s vermiculite, granola or alfafa deposit. I have met executives who still sigh for the days when their registers frequently had 40% of the holders located on the Continent.

Sadly all good things had to come to the end and the severe fleecing the German sheep received at the hands of the promoters left their hides red raw and it was a long time in healing. Germany faded from view and most German-speaking investors forswore any involvement or interest in Canada besides the hockey scores at the Olympics.

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Iron ore streak extends to nine days – by Daniel Palmer (The Australian – April 29, 2015)

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

Iron ore has continued its march back toward $US60 a tonne in offshore trade amid rising hopes for more stimulus out of Beijing.

At the end of the latest session, benchmark iron ore for immediate delivery to the port of Tianjin in China was trading at $US59.20 a tonne, up 0.9 per cent from its prior close of $US58.70 a tonne.

The gains extend a withering run for the commodity that has come as a surprise to many, with a surge of over 25 per cent from its 10-year low of $US46.70 a tonne earlier this month. Much of this recovery has come in the past nine trading days, with iron ore last seeing a red session on April 15.

The developments have allowed for a strong bounce in stock prices within the iron ore sector, with BC Iron and Fortescue Metals leading the way.

The two WA-based miners endured a rare negative session yesterday during the current iron ore streak, with stock in both firms sinking around 5 per cent by the close as the broader market moved lower. Another lift in the commodity’s price overnight, however, leaves them primed to recover much of those losses during today’s trade.

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NEWS RELEASE: TRIBUTE TO KELLY STRONG, OUTGOING CHAIRMAN

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

This week marks the end of the Ontario Mining Association Chairmanship for Kelly Strong. On behalf of our 86 member companies, we would like to express our gratitude, and applaud his commitment to fostering a resilient and effective association.

Kelly’s leadership is characterized by pragmatic thinking, a commitment to enhancing the credibility of our sector and to building constructive relationships at Queen’s Park. He has been particularly passionate about issues related to mine safety, promoting a competitive energy policy, and communicating with the public through initiatives such as So You Think You Know Mining.

Kelly also championed the need to redouble our efforts to share safety practices among member companies. He feels strongly that OMA committees are in the best position to learn from each other, and enabling a process to do so must be the top priority for the association.

With close to 25 years in the mining industry, Kelly began his career at Placer Dome’s Campbell Mine in Red Lake, where he was promoted to senior roles, including Chief Mine Engineer and Mine Captain. In 2001, he joined Vale, most recently serving as Vice President of the company’s Ontario and United Kingdom Operations.

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Noront pays more for Cliffs claims – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – April 29, 2015)

Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

Noront Resources has formally acquired three key chromite deposits in the Ring of Fire, but for a much higher price than what the company had offered earlier this year.

The Toronto-based company said Tuesday it increased its offer to US$27.5 million from $20 million after the previous owner of the properties, Cliffs Natural Resources, “received an unsolicited, competing bid.”
“To ensure maximum value was received for its chromite assets, Cliffs then requested that both parties submit revised final binding offers, at which point Noront increased its offer to $27.5 million,” Noront said in a statement Tuesday.

“We feel $27.5 million is an attractive price for the acquisition of these strategic assets,” said Noront president Alan Coutts. Noront now holds 360 mining claims and roughly 65 per cent (80,000 hectares) of the Ring of Fire mining belt located about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.

“The project has value,” observed Thunder Bay-based Ontario Prospectors Association executive director Garry Clark. “It just depends on how long you can sit on it.”

Cleveland-based Cliffs, which noted the increased amount for the chromite properties in a separate news release Tuesday, said the planned sale “is another step in divesting interests in non-core assets.”

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Barrick to revamp executives’ pay after shareholder backlash – by Lisa Wright (Toronto Star – April 29, 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.

John Thornton told the company’s annual shareholder meeting that 75% of the votes were cast against compensation scheme.

Embattled Barrick Gold Corp. chairman John Thornton has promised to overhaul the miner’s controversial executive compensation system that hiked his pay by 35 per cent to $12.9 million (U.S.).

But at the annual meeting Tuesday, where shareholders voted overwhelmingly against executive salary increases, Thornton didn’t offer to hand any of it back, underscoring that he is personally tied to the future fortunes of the company since he bought half of his 1.4 million Barrick shares “with my own money.”

“We have heard you loud and clear,” he said, after early returns suggested 75 per cent of shareholders did not support the pay packages.

“We take that feedback and we will go back and reform our system – and specifically how it relates to me,” Thornton assured the investor audience at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

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NEWS RELEASE: NORONT ANNOUNCES GRANTING OF APPROVAL AND VESTING ORDER AND CLOSING OF THE ACQUISITION OF CLIFFS CHROMITE ASSETS

TORONTO, ON–(Marketwired – April 28, 2015) – The Quebec Superior Court has granted an approval and vesting order (the “Order”) for the acquisition by Noront Resources Ltd. (“Noront” or “the Company”) (TSX VENTURE: NOT) of the shares of Cliffs Chromite Ontario Inc. (“CCOI”) and Cliffs Chromite Far North Inc. (“CCFNI”), both indirect wholly owned subsidiaries of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) (“Cliffs”) for a purchase price of US$27.5 million.

On March 23, 2015, Noront entered into a share purchase agreement with certain subsidiaries of Cliffs, including Cliffs Quebec Iron Mining ULC (“CQIM”), pursuant to which the Company would acquire the shares of CCOI and CCFNI. Noront was subsequently advised by Cliffs that it had received an unsolicited, competing bid which it determined, after consultation with its legal and financial advisors and the Monitor, could reasonably be expected to lead to a superior proposal. Following receipt of this proposal, and to ensure maximum value was received for its chromite assets in the Ring of Fire, Cliffs requested that both parties submit revised final binding offers by close of business on April 15, 2015. Noront increased its offer to $27.5 million which was ultimately accepted by Cliffs and the parties entered into an amended share purchase agreement reflecting the revised purchase price.

The transaction closed prior to market opening on April 28, 2015.

“We feel $27.5 million is an attractive price for the acquisition of these strategic assets, which alongside our Eagle’s Nest nickel-copper-platinum group element deposit and our Blackbird chromite deposit will allow us to further our vision of becoming the leading resource company in the Ring of Fire,” said Noront President and CEO Alan Coutts. “Our next step is to have meaningful dialogue with the local First Nations and government regarding the development of these chromite assets which represent a generational opportunity.”

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Mongolia signals it will not pay US$100 million to Canadian uranium miner Khan Resources – by Terrence Edwards (Reuters/National Post – April 28, 2015)

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

The government of Mongolia signaled on Monday it will not abide by an international tribunal’s order to pay more than US$100 million to Canadian uranium explorer Khan Resources Inc., whose chairman died suddenly while in the country meeting with officials over repayment plans last week.

“The Mongolian government, in order to protect its own interests, will work for the invalidation of the arbitration award,” a statement by the justice minister, dated Monday, said.

The move comes just days after Jim Doak, Khan’s chairman and a well-known figure in Canada’s financial industry, died in Ulan Bator from reasons deemed to be natural causes on April 23, a day after talks between the two sides ended.

Grant Edey, Khan’s CEO, said in an e-mail that the meeting was short because the two sides “remained apart in their respective positions” and the company is confident the award will be upheld.

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Corporate harassment, from exec compensation to diversity – by Terence Corcoran (National Post – April 28, 2015)

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

Annual shareholder meetings of major corporations have never been of much practical use to investors. Certain legal requirements are fulfilled, the CEO reviews the corporation’s affairs with great flair or thudding dullness, depending on personality. Questions are taken from shareholders, results of proxy votes announced, and then the chair invites everyone for light refreshments before declaring the meeting terminated.

That still happens, but meetings have also recently been hijacked by corporate governance activists who have turned many annual shareholder events into meaningless ideological skirmishes. First it was executive compensation issues, but diversity is rising fast through the activist network of corporate harassment.

The CIBC annual meeting last week in Calgary turned into a spring against the bank’s executive compensation regime, particularly money paid to former CEO Gerald McCaughey and former COO Richard Nesbitt. As part of the now mandatory but non-binding “say-on-pay” resolution, shareholders voted 57 per cent to 43 per cent against the bank’s approach to executive compensation.

Rebellion fever runs high in anticipation of the Barrick Gold annual meeting in Toronto Tuesday. A large say-on-pay vote against the corporation is expected, mostly from the government-backed institutional pension industry that has decided it doesn’t like the pay Barrick has awarded John Thornton, the man who succeeded Peter Munk as chair of the company.

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Gold sector CEO pay is through the roof – and it’s embarrassing – by Tim Kiladze (Globe and Mail – April 28, 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.

Someone needs to break the bad news to gold miners: their party’s all but over. If they keep paying their chief executives handsomely, there’s no chance they’ll win back the global investors they sought for so long.

After peaking in 2011, the S&P/TSX Gold Index has been decimated, losing 63 per cent of its value. Miraculously, though, boards of directors have barely noticed. Which is why, even after tens of billions of dollars worth of writedowns and rounds of executive upheaval, the gold sector’s chief executives still get paid through the roof.

Barrick Gold Corp. is feeling the heat. Despite a share price that plunged by nearly one-third in 2014 – Barrick’s stock now trades at $15.52, a level not seen since last century – chairman John Thornton was handed a 36 per cent pay bump, bringing his total compensation to $12.9-million (U.S.).

If only it ended there. Barrick’s in the spotlight, but many of its rivals, such as Eldorado Gold Corp. and Yamana Gold Inc., are in the same boat.

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Barrick to sell part of Chilean mine in retreat from copper – by Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – April 28, 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.

Barrick Gold Corp. plans to sell part of its prized Chilean copper mine, in a move to reduce its $13-billion (U.S.) debt burden. The partial sale of Zalidvar will crimp Barrick’s cash flow at a time when it is dealing with a slump in copper and gold prices.

But Zaldivar, which used to be called the Andean ATM because it generated so much cash, is expected to attract top bids and help Barrick strengthen its finances under a revitalization plan laid out by chairman John Thornton.

“Potential buyers have expressed a strong interest,” Barrick said in a statement announcing its quarterly results.

The world’s biggest gold producer plans to cut its debt by $3-billion this year and said “no priority is more important than restoring our balance sheet.” The Toronto company has already put its Australian and Papua New Guinea mines up for sale. The partial sale of Zaldivar is a major step away from the copper business for Barrick.

The miner had tried to diversify further into copper with its ill-timed $7-billion acquisition of copper company Equinox Minerals, a purchase that it has written down completely and helped create Barrick’s debt problems.

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