Twitter

Strateco suing Quebec for $190-million over blocked uranium project – by Nicolas Van Praet (The Globe and Mail – December 12, 2014)

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.

MONTREAL — Quebec mining junior Strateco Resources Inc. is suing the provincial government for $190-million in investment losses following its decision to block the company’s uranium project after years of preliminary work.

“This whole thing has left us extremely frustrated,” Strateco chief executive Guy Hébert said Thursday, noting that he put two mines into production in Quebec within a nine-year period while this project has taken a decade and still isn’t producing.

Strateco’s Matoush uranium project in Northern Quebec was once hailed as a key part of former premier Jean Charest’s Plan Nord, a multibillion-dollar effort to develop Quebec’s north, pinned on natural resource extraction. Today, it sits undeveloped, highlighting the confusion that’s come from Quebec City in recent years on mining activity.

Boucherville, Que.-based Strateco, once a $4 stock that now trades for pennies, said it invested an average of $20-million a year on the Matoush project from 2006 to 2012 on the basis that uranium exploration and mining are allowed in Quebec. The government granted the company some 30 permits to start work at the site, including permission to build an airstrip.

Read more

Angkor Gold: A gold standard for CSR – by Joseph Kirschke (Asia Miner – December 1, 2014)

http://www.asiaminer.com/

BANTEAY, Cambodia: Accessing this village eight hours north of Phnom Penh is daunting on the best of days, not least during the rainy season. On the main artery from the capital, buses, cars and tractor-trailers alike can be seen moored in the mud, all resembling helplessly grounded ships. Another 30-minute ride can foil the hardiest off-road vehicle at the gruelling final stretch.

Visitors are greeted by barefoot children supervised by adults and elderly, listless and weathered far beyond their years amid thatched huts and stray, emaciated oxen. But beneath the surface, something remarkable is unfolding nearby a mid-sized copper-gold deposit: Canadian junior Angkor Gold Corp is fulfilling a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mandate – one unprecedented for a miner its size in the region. Stakeholder engagement through Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) blooms here near a rainforest clearing of peppercorn, cassava and cashew patches, and classrooms full of students.

A clean slate

History hasn’t been kind to Cambodia. Over the half decade ending in 1979, the Khmer Rouge purged the intellectual class while bringing the country to ‘zero’ for an agrarian-based communist society after a brutal US bombing campaign. In all, two million lives were lost as the world stood by in silence; memories of forced starvation, mass graves and unspeakable atrocities continue to elicit tears to this day.

But Cambodia has turned the page, with its emerging market economy and small-scale mining industry an open book. Early next year, Angkor and Mesco Gold Cambodia will begin operating one of the country’s newest commercial mines while establishing Phnom Penh’s first continuing royalty revenue stream from mining.

Read more

Build refineries with money, not bitumen – by Andrew Leach (The Globe and Mail – December 12, 2014)

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.

Andrew Leach is the Enbridge Professor of Energy Policy at the University of Alberta.

Albertans own the resource. Given how the cost of oil sands production has increased over the past decade, most economists would agree that we’re likely dissipating rents through a too-rapid pace of development. For projects such as Imperial Oil’s Kearl, the impact of multibillion-dollar cost-overruns will be softened by lower future tax and royalty payments.

Others, such as Suncor, paid only 7.4 per cent of gross revenues from oil sands operations in royalties to the province in 2014. Albertans should ask whether we are taking on more risk than we should and whether we’re giving away our bitumen to drive economic activity.

We could slow the pace of development and increase the effective charges on oil sands by requiring companies to build refineries or upgraders, or we could charge them more for access to the resource. It’s the preference for the former which I’ve never understood: Why tax via demands to build refineries companies would otherwise not build? Why not simply take a larger share in cash, and deploy the cash toward the construction of things we’d likely value more – such as hospitals and schools, or toward rebuilding the Alberta Heritage Fund?

Alberta has, in effect, already made the decision to do the opposite – to use government revenues to build a refinery.

Read more

Wataynikaneyap Power signs agreement with Aecom – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – December 9, 2013)


 
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.

(Please note this article is from December 2013)

http://www.wataypower.ca/

A new energy company is planning and permitting a transmission line into Ontario’s Far North to power up an underground mine and connect remote Aborginal communities that exist on expensive diesel generation.

A group of 18 northwestern Ontario First Nations have teamed up on a joint venture with Goldcorp, operators of the Musselwhite Mine, to carry out a $1-billion project to beef up power capacity in the region.

Wataynikaneyap Power (Watay Power) has a two-phase plan that begins with stringing a 230-kV transmission line 300-kilometre long north from Dryden to Pickle Lake by 2016, and eventually further north into the communities of the James Bay region by 2017.

The early stages of an environmental assessment for the first phase is underway and a corridor study is examining options for the second phase.

Read more

Canadian Bush Stories – Videos by Geologist and Prospector Frank Racicot

Pat Sheridan (PDAC 2013) from Frank Racicot on Vimeo.

 http://www.canadianbushstories.ca/

Pat Sheridan (1932-) Pat graduated from the U of T in 1955. The first conductor he ever worked on in New Brunswick turned out to be an ore body but didn’t become a mine until over 50 years later. As a bonus for finding the ore body, he chose a bottle of Queen Ann Scott whiskey…apparently not the best whiskey around at the time. It didn’t take long to realize that ore bodies were not that easy to find. He found the Lac des Illes mine near Thunder Bay and advises prospectors to be inquisitive and not believe everything they hear from geologists, keep exploring and work like hell.

Film Maker and Geologist Frank Racicot

Frank Racicot is the man behind Canadian Bush Stories. He is a trained geologist and prospector who makes a living working in the bush. His intense passion is mineral exploration. He has searched for gold, platinum, nickel, copper, diamonds, uranium and other commodities. He loves his work.

Read more

Confronting the Potential Extinction of a Canadian Institution – by Tommy Humphreys (CEO.ca – December 10, 2014)

http://ceo.ca/

http://www.kaiserresearch.com/s/Home.asp

To a packed crowd in Vancouver yesterday, veteran junior resource analyst John Kaiser gave a presentation hosted by AME BC entitled, Confronting the Potential Extinction of a Canadian Institution.

Here is a link to the 59 slide PDF presentation, courtesy John Kaiser.

Mr. Kaiser has been closely involved with Canada’s venture capital markets for over thirty years. In the 80’s and early 90’s, he was a research analyst at various securities firms focused on the junior resource sector. In 1994 he started his own newsletter, known as Kaiser Research or Kaiser Bottom Fish Report, that has earned a reputation for being the most comprehensive data source on Canada’s public venture capital markets.

Mr. Kaiser has a bulletproof reputation and is a sought after guest on business television and at conferences.

In his presentation to the AME, BC’s mining lobby group, Kaiser begins by reviewing the junior resource markets from 1978 until today. In that time span, Canadian venture capital stock exchanges provided the early stage capital for countless wealth creating mineral discoveries, but has undergone a number of structural changes aimed at preventing frauds. In hindsight, Kaiser says these regulations are now overkill.

Kaiser believes there are four key narratives that drive investment in early stage mining equities, and notes that none of them appear to apply today. These Key Narratives are:

Read more

Third rail line to Quebec’s north a necessity, says Schefferville – by Marika Wheeler (CBC News Montreal – December 11, 2014)

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

The head of Schefferville says experts have it wrong: there can’t be a Plan Nord without another train line

The administrator of Schefferville says despite what experts say, he believes the Plan Nord — Quebec’s plan for the development of the north — depends on having a third train line to get iron to market.

“If the government wants to have some sort of Plan Nord in the Fosse du Labrador, they have to have a third way to ship the iron to Sept-Îles,” said Paul Joncas.

Transportation represents about 40 percent of production costs for iron mines working in the Labrador Trough along the Quebec-Labrador border. Rail is the only way to transport the millions of tons of iron produced each year.

​There are currently two tracks that run north. One is owned by ArcelorMittal, and runs from Port-Cartier to Fermont. It only carries ore extracted by ArcelorMittal.

The second track runs from Sept-Îles to Schefferville and is owned, in part, by the Iron Ore Company (IOC). That means other companies working in the Schefferville area must pay a competitor to carry their product.

Experts warn waste of money

Read more

COLUMN-Big miners’ coal M&A activity points to price bottoming out – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – December 11, 2014)

http://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Dec 11 (Reuters) – If you were looking for a sign that coal prices have finally bottomed out, then the ramping up of merger and acquisition activity is often a good indicator.

Just as major mining companies tend to buy assets at inflated prices at the zenith of the market, they tend to sell them at discounts at the nadir.

In the past few days, a flurry of announcements have hit the headlines, including Anglo American’s proposed sale of coal assets in Australia and South Africa, and Peabody Energy and Glencore agreeing to form a joint venture at neighbouring mines in Australia’s Hunter Valley basin.

The M&A activity hasn’t been limited to Australia and South Africa, with Brazil’s Vale selling a stake in its Mozambique mine to Japan’s Mitsui, and Consol Energy saying it plans to pursue an initial public offering of some of its U.S. thermal and coking coal assets.

Companies tend to use obfuscatory language in the announcements of these deals, often resorting to terms such as “unlocking shareholder value” or “maximising synergies,” but behind the spin is often the simple message that the assets are loss-making and the pain on the bottom line has become too much to bear, or if they are profitable, they aren’t providing enough of a return on capital.

Read more

Editorial: Friendly Manitoba, slow Manitoba – by John Cumming (Northern Miner – December 10, 2014)

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry. Editor John Cumming MSc (Geol) is one of the country’s most well respected mining journalists.  jcumming@northernminer.com

One of the hottest topics on the sidelines of the recent Manitoba Mining and Minerals Convention in Winnipeg was the provincial lawsuit launched by two prospectors against the Manitoba government for allegedly failing in its “duty to consult” with the Manto Sipi Cree First Nation community near the duo’s mineral claims, which effectively ruined their business.

The statement of claim filed in October by Manitoba prospectors James Campbell in Winnipeg and Peter Dunlop in The Pas may stem from a bureaucratic nightmare that directly impacts only a handful of people, but it’s the kind of conflict that is becoming all too common across Manitoba and Canada.

For that reason, the plaintiffs say they have drawn sympathy and moral support from mining industry professionals and associations across Manitoba and beyond.

The lawsuit centres around Campbell and Dunlop’s Godslith lithium claims in the Gods Lake region of northeastern Manitoba. While the ground had seen earlier exploration by companies such as Inco, Dunlop staked the ground in 1988 and transferred it to Campbell in 2004, who in turn optioned it to Golden Virtue Resources (formerly named First Lithium Resources) in 2009.

Read more

NEWS RELEASE: KGHM International: A Legacy of Responsible Mining – by Robert Spence (Mining Global – December 10, 2014)

http://www.miningglobal.com/

As a wholly owned subsidiary of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A., KGHM International (KGHM-I) is focused on its operating assets, working to advance its growth pipeline. The company operates a group of projects spread across North and South America including four open-pit mines and two underground mines.

One of the most advanced and responsible initiatives the company has undertaken is the implementation of a mine-for-closure operating plan at its KGHM-I Carlota (“Carlota” or “the company”) mine.

Responsible mining initiatives

Permitted in 1997, the Carlota project is a 100 percent owned open-pit, heap leach mine producing roughly 25 million pounds of copper annually. Located in Arizona, the mine became one of the first copper mines designated and permitted under modern environmental legislation within the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Since the inception of the mine, Carlota has been pursuing a goal of responsible environmental stewardship and excellent community relations. The company has implemented a mine-for-closure plan that follows suit with the Arizona environmental regulations as well as Federal guidelines. The key component of mine-for-closure is incorporating closure activities into the mine plan during operations and continuing copper production while conducting closure.

Read more

Transboundary issues remain thorny – by Elwood Brehmer (Alaska Journal of Commerce – December 11, 2014)

http://www.alaskajournal.com/

Alaska groups concerned about the impact of British Columbia mines on Southeast fisheries continue to push for federal intervention in Canada’s project review process.

Leaders from Rivers Without Borders, the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, Salmon Beyond Borders and the United Tribal Transboundary Mining Working Group urged attendees of the Dec. 2 Bureau of Indian Affairs Tribal Providers Conference in Anchorage to sign a petition requesting Secretary of State John Kerry to initiate the International Joint Commission process — the only way the Alaskans can have their voices heard they said.

The commission, or IJC, consists of five commissioners, two from Canada and three from the U.S., who review transboundary watershed issues. The IJC can only get involved when called upon by both governments. In the U.S., the State Department makes that call.

Rivers Without Borders Alaska Campaign Director Chris Zimmer said there are about a dozen proposed mines in British Columbia that his organization is concerned about. However, the Kerr Sulphurets Mitchell, or KSM, gold proposal on the British Columbia side of the Unuk River drainage seems to be top priority for most individuals worried about the issue.

Read more

NEWS RELEASE: Silver Demand for Industrial Applications Forecast to Reach Nearly 680 Million Ounces in 2018

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

(Washington, D.C. – December 10, 2014) Total silver industrial demand is forecast to grow 27 percent, adding an additional 142 million ounces of silver demand through 2018 compared with 2013 levels, according to a new report issued today by the Silver Institute. Half of this growth will be accounted for by the electrical and electronics sector, but additional demand will be due to growth in other industrial applications, as highlighted in the report entitled, “Glistening Particles of Industrial Silver.”

The unique properties of silver – its excellent thermal and electrical conductivity, as well as its malleability, ductility and optical reflectivity – make it indispensable in many industrial applications, from watch batteries to industrial-scale solar energy systems, according to CRU Consulting, the London-based metals consultancy and authors of the report.

Increasingly, applications for silver are being invented, discovered and, importantly, commercialized. The report outlines the potential for growth from several of the most important industrial silver applications. Increasing demand for silver in solar panels, as well as in the production of ethylene oxide, automobiles, bearings and batteries, has influenced consumers in developed and developing countries to varying degrees, with silver industrial demand shifting among key geographical locations. Increased use of silver has driven consumption growth in both China and India and the trend seems likely to continue.

Silver Consumption in Examined Industrial Sectors – 2013 and 2018F (millions of ounces)

Read more

Why OPEC still has oil markets over a barrel – by Yadullah Hussain (National Post – December 11, 2014)

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

The oil-importing world has long hoped that the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries — a union of countries often at odds with each other — will fall apart and usher in an era of free-market oil.

OPEC’s decision at its November meeting to maintain output at 30-million barrels per day has once again raised the age-old speculation that the 12-member group featuring Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela and Iraq, among others, has become ineffective.

“With oil having to ‘balance itself’ going forward, OPEC has given up on its traditional role of keeping supply and demand in check,” said Francisco Blanch, commodity strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in a report. “The cartel is now effectively dissolved.”

Hold the champagne. Since the 1970s the group’s recalcitrant members have lurched from one oil episode to the next and have a long tradition of holding acrimonious meetings that seem to be their last. Often those meetings have not yielded the desired results, either.

The dysfunctional group has survived bloody wars between member countries (Iraq and Iran; Iraq and Kuwait), overcome US$9 per barrel oil in the late 1990s, and managed to hold regular meetings even as Saudi Arabia and Iran engage in proxy wars for regional influence.

Read more

Glencore boss slams iron ore sector (The Australian – December 11, 2014)

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

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES – The chief executive of mining giant Glencore, Ivan Glasenberg, again criticised the industry for its over-investment in certain commodities, telling investors that “fortunately we don’t produce iron ore.”

Mr Glasenberg’s apparent distaste for the key steelmaking ingredient comes despite Glencore’s approach earlier this year to Rio Tinto, one of the world’s largest iron ore producers, over a potential tie-up. The approach was rejected and under UK company rules Glencore can’t revive the talks until later next year.

Mr Glasenberg has criticised mining rivals such as Rio and BHP Billiton for continuing to invest in and ramp up iron ore production even though the commodity’s price slumped this year. Speaking at the company’s investor day, he said the reason prices had fallen was that “we’ve all invested too much, we’ve increased supply and unfortunately a big amount has gone in the iron ore market.”

The comments came as benchmark iron ore slid to $US68.90 a tonne overnight, just over 1% above its five-year low. Glencore said it would continue to take a disciplined approach to expanding its production capacity, amid the recent fall in commodity prices.

Mr Glasenberg said “capital misallocation, not a lack of demand, remains a key issue for the sector resulting in a clear need to differentiate by commodity.”

Read more

Steel, Vale send message about positive bargaining – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – December 11, 2014)

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

Some might call it a Christmas miracle.

Representatives from Vale Ltd. and United Steelworkers Local 6500 held a joint news conference Wednesday to signal their intention to work together to settle a new collective bargaining agreement before the current one expires May 31, 2015.

The fact it was held at the Steelworkers’ Hall was unprecedented for a company and a union who were involved in an acrimonious, year-long strike from July 2009 to July 2010.

Both sides want to put that troubled past behind them and move forward so history doesn’t repeat itself.
Rick Bertrand, president of USW Local 6500, told reporters a great deal of work has been done between his union and the company to repair the bad feelings that existed after the longest strike in the union’s history.

Kelly Strong, vice-president of Ontario/UK Operations for Vale, said several meetings have been held between the company and the union in the last two to three years to build a relationship of “mutual respect and trust.”

In the past, the company and the union have met first on neutral territory — usually a hotel boardroom — making a show of exchanging proposals about three months before a contract expired.

Read more