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Ottawa Urged To Share Resource Taxes With Aboriginals – by Bob Weber (Canadian Press/Huffington Post – March 3, 2015)

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/politics/

EDMONTON – First Nations should get some of the money generated by resources on their lands, suggests a report commissioned by the federal government and the Assembly of First Nations.

The report, released Tuesday by the Working Group on Natural Resource Development, says a First Nations resource tax could be a consistent and practical way for mineral and energy wealth to benefit aboriginal communities.

“We strongly urge the federal government, along with the provinces and territories, to come together with First Nations to explore options for resource revenue sharing,” says the report.

“This discussion is long overdue and requires immediate action in order to bring greater predictability to resource development in Canada and establish a long-term pathway to greater First Nations self-reliance.”

The group was struck after a meeting between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and former Assembly of First Nations grand chief Shawn Atleo. Its report was issued after meetings in Toronto and Edmonton between First Nations, governments, industry and non-governmental organizations.

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Goldcorp Sees Investors Taking Shine to ‘Beaten-Up’ Industry – by Liezel Hill(Bloomberg News – March 3, 2015)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

(Bloomberg) — The world’s largest gold producer by market value says investor sentiment for the sector may finally be starting to turn after years as one of the least-loved industries.

“There’s generalist value investors out there saying ‘OK, I like looking at beaten-up sectors, this sector is really beaten up,’” Goldcorp Inc. Chief Executive Officer Chuck Jeannes said in an interview Tuesday at Bloomberg’s Toronto office. “People are trying to call the bottom.”

Jeannes said he’s been fielding more calls from unfamiliar investors and has a new entity among its top 10 shareholders. Artisan Partners, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based investment company with more than $100 billion in assets, added 15.7 million shares in Goldcorp last year, making it the seventh-largest holder, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Gold & Silver Index plunged 70 percent from the start of 2011 to the end of last year. Producers struggled to contain costs and wrote off billions of dollars after prices for the metal — which had risen to more than $1,900 an ounce — began dropping in 2012. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 64 percent in the past four years.

Goldcorp fell 2.4 percent to C$25.45 at the close in Toronto. The shares, which have risen 19 percent in 2015, have dropped in the prior four years.

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Mood at PDAC 2015 ‘cautiously optimistic’ (Northern Miner – March 4, 2015)

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry.

This year’s annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention drew in 23,578 attendees from over 100 countries. While the crowd for the world’s largest mining event, held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, was slightly smaller than last year’s over 25,000 participants, the mood was relatively more positive, PDAC president Rod Thomas told The Northern Miner.

Here’s an edited transcript of an interview with Thomas from the four-day event, which ended on March 4:

The Northern Miner: How has the PDAC convention evolved since you have been attending the event? How long have you been involved with the PDAC?

Rod Thomas: I first came here as a student in the 1970s. And for a student, in those days, it was the free sweets and so and so forth, and that was the main attraction. But, I have been coming for close to 40 years, I suppose. It has grown a lot, of course. Back then, it was held in the Royal York and I think we probably had an attendance in the order of 2,000 people.

I didn’t really start getting involved as a volunteer until the early 1990s. At that time, one of the directors asked me to help them to vet or set up the Investors Exchange.

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Layoffs and empty streets as Australia’s boom towns go bust – by Rebekah Kebede (Reuters India – March 6, 2015)

http://in.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – When Probo Junio got a visa to work in Australia, he thought he had won a ticket to the good life.

In 2013, the 45-year-old boilermaker left his hometown of Cebu in the Philippines, where he was getting paid about $10 a day, to work in Karratha in Western Australia for $30 an hour. Enough to support his relatives and build a new life Down Under.

What Junio didn’t expect was that Australia’s booming resources industry would go bust less than two years later, taking his job, and leaving him just 60 days to find work or go home.

“It’s very difficult because most of the companies don’t want 457 visa holders,” he said, referring to temporary permits for skilled workers.

Across the country, people like Junio are falling victim to downsizing. Jobs, once plentiful and well paid, are scarce. Real estate prices in boom towns are sinking and even the notoriously high coffee prices in mining capital Perth have leveled off at under $4.

Prices of iron ore and coal, the country’s two biggest export earners, have plunged during the last two years amid falling demand from China, in the wake of its economic slowdown.

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Canada gold assets regaining lost luster, helped by soft C$ – by Euan Rocha and Susan Taylor (Reuters U.S. – March 5, 2015)

http://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Canadian gold projects once shunned by miners in favor of more alluring opportunities overseas are regaining their sheen, as a weaker currency, new tax breaks and greater security of tenure are wooing miners to return home.

In the gold rush during the last decade, Canadian miners had largely focused on projects in far flung countries that often offered much larger potential output than what was available at home.

But a rash of windfall gains taxes, political turmoil and even outright expropriation have caused those miners to rethink their strategies.

“Canada is, for all intents and purposes, one of the best places you can explore,” said Ian Ball, president of Abitibi Royalties Inc. “It had fallen out of favor a bit, but it is coming back quite rapidly.”

At this week’s Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention, the world’s largest mining gathering, the mood was somber. Many junior mining companies ravaged by the downturn in metal prices have struggled to raise financing, or attract the interest of larger rivals.

But that trend is beginning to turn for some of those with gold projects in Canada.

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Iron ore glut hits new highs – by Sarah-Jane Tasker (The Australian – March 6, 2015)

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

PORT Hedland, the world’s largest bulk-export terminal, shipped the most iron ore on a daily basis last month as suppliers increased output through the facility despite the slump in prices.

The latest statistics from the port showed monthly throughput of 48.8 million tonnes of the steelmaking commodity in February — a 6.2 million tonne, or 14.8 per cent, jump on the same period last year. Actual iron ore exports for the month hit 35.6 million tonnes, a 28 per cent hike on last February’s tally.

The push by Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals to increase tonnes into an oversupplied market has continued at a steady pace over the past few years. But the new supply is now hitting the market at a time when the price of the steelmaking commodity continues to fall and China forecasts its slowest growth in more than a decade.

A total of 1.27 million tonnes of iron ore was shipped from Port Hedland each day in February, according to Bloomberg. That surpassed the previous high of 1.21 million tonnes a day in September.

West Australian Premier Colin Barnett has previously accused the major miners of seemingly acting in “concert” with their new supply keeping the iron ore price at record lows, which is hitting his state’s budget.

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First Nations ready to be partners in development – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 3, 2015)

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca.

“We want to participate in the new economy, particularly the natural resources sector.”
Protecting large tracts of boreal forest for wildlife eliminates the scope of
possibilities in mining, energy and possibly even oil and gas projects.

And the community land-use planning process is only concerned with surface issues, he
said. “If there’s a greenstone belt running across the territory, those are usually
good opportunities for mines. There’s no opportunity to examine those areas.”
(Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Harvey Yesno)

At an Aboriginal energy conference last December in Toronto, keynote speaker Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Harvey Yesno shocked delegates when he remarked that 21 of the 49 communities in his territorial organization were under boil-water advisories; eight of them for more than 10 years. “In Kenora or Hamilton, nobody would put up with that.”

These are some of the extraordinary challenges – including housing, health care and educational shortcomings – NAN communities struggle with daily as the second largest Aboriginal remote cluster in Canada, behind Nunavut.

Yesno had to cut his remarks short to fly back north. Ten diesel-dependent communities in northwestern Ontario were facing serious fiscal challenges in arranging fuel shipping and storage capacity for the winter.

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Thirty-three miners dead after pit blast in east Ukraine – by Maria Tsvetkova (Reuters U.S.A.- March 4, 2015)

http://www.reuters.com/

DONETSK, Ukraine – (Reuters) – Thirty-three miners were confirmed dead late on Wednesday after a coal mine blast in the rebel-held city of Donetsk near the battle front in eastern Ukraine, indicating no one trapped in the rubble survived.

Mine officials said the explosion was most likely caused by gas and not fighting in the war between Moscow-backed rebels and Ukraine government forces. Nevertheless, Kiev suggested the war had made the disaster worse, accusing the separatists of holding up a rescue effort by restricting access.

Outside the gates of the Zasyadko mine, about 30 relatives clamored for information about any survivors. Sergei Baldayev, a miner injured in the blast, mingled with the crowd, his face covered in scratches and one arm hanging motionless by his side, the result of a broken collarbone.

The sister of one miner who was in the pit at the time of the explosion, Alexei Novoselsky, stood in tears. “Tell me, are there survivors? Why are you concealing the truth?” she asked as a rescue worker tried to calm her. The Donetsk regional administration said 16 injured people were in hospital.

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NEWS RELEASE: The Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada’s 2015 Convention exceeds 23,500 attendees

Toronto, March 4, 2014 – The Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PAC) welcomed 23,578 attendees from over 100 countries to its annual convention. The crowd included investors, analysts, mining executives, geologists, government officials and students who made the annual pilgrimage to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) for the largest exploration and mining event in the world.

“We consider this a very successful year, attendee feedback has been extremely positive and the number of attendees is similar to last year,” says PDAC President Rod Thomas. “The quality of networking and learning opportunities continues to be a prime attractor for attendees.”

The PDAC 2015 Convention started with a series of positive announcements supporting Canada’s mineral exploration and mining industry, including the federal government’s renewal of the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit (METC) and the appointment of Jeffrey Davidson as Canada’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Counsellor for the extractive sector. The federal government, in partnership with the Ontario government, jointly announced the study of an all-weather transportation corridor in the Ring of Fire region. In addition, the Government of Canada signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Republic of South Africa during PDAC 2015.

“The provincial and federal governments in Canada are important partners in creating conditions that allow the mineral industry to flourish nationally and internationally,” says PDAC Executive Director Andrew Cheatle. “We look forward to further building upon the constructive activities that occurred at PDAC 2015.”

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From prime rib to chips and dip: Lean times at mining’s annual conference – by Susan Taylor and Euan Rocha (Reuters U.K. – March 4, 2015)

http://uk.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – When the world’s miners head for Toronto each year to attend their industry’s annual conference, they arrive with certain expectations. They’re accustomed to finding oyster bars, rowdy parties, open bars with high-end liquor and elegant hotel suites.

But this year’s gathering of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) is a more subdued affair, with lavish spreads and grand lodgings increasingly giving way to cheese platters and Airbnb rentals.

After a years-long downturn in the mining sector – and with little relief in sight – the 2015 convention, which runs through Wednesday, has lost some of its glitz.

“We’re seeing far less prime rib, far more chips, far more salsa,” said Benjamin Cox, chief executive of explorer Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (BAY.V). “I’m really depressed that I have to drink bourbon versus single malt scotch, it just doesn’t do it for me.”

Striking a more serious note, Cox also summed up the overall mood of the miners: “Everyone is panicked in the industry. If you are not humbled this year, whether you work for a major or a junior or anyone in-between, you are insane.”

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Former Xstrata CEO poised for a comeback with X2 Resources – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – March 4, 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.

Mick Davis, the mining boss who sold Xstrata to Glencore for $50-billion (U.S.), has reached $5.6-billion in investor capital to finance a mining investment campaign that will almost certainly turn his comeback vehicle, X2 Resources, into an operating company this year.

X2 announced the finish of its capital raising effort from a roster of international “blue chip” investors Wednesday night in London. If debt leverage is added to the figure the new company would have considerable firepower, making it capable of buying assets or operating companies valued at $15-billion to $20-billion.

The $5.6-billion includes $4-billion in committed equity capital that can be spent immediately, and US$1.6-billion that can be spent under certain conditions. A year ago, X2 announced that it had raised $3.75-billion in unconditional and conditional capital, none of which has been spent. The new figure includes the amount raised last year.

The capital comes from 20 investors, of which only two have been identified. They are Noble Group of Hong Kong, one of the world’s largest commodities trading and infrastructure companies, and TPG Capital, the private American investment firm with $65-billion in capital under management. The others are sovereign wealth funds and pension funds, several of which are Canadian.

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