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Barrick considers new executive compensation rules – by Rachell Younglai (Globe and Mail – December 16, 2013)

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. is seeking to align the bulk of its executives’ compensation with the gold company’s performance and is expected to require top managers to hold their stock until retirement.

After a tumultuous year where Barrick’s stock plummeted 50 per cent and the company recorded nearly $14-billion (U.S.) in writedowns, the miner is considering a plan that would require its executives to hold their shares until they leave the company.

Currently, executives are paid a mix of cash, stock options, restricted share units and performance-based share units. They are not required to hold their Barrick shares until retirement and can exercise their stock options at certain dates.

“That would be a step in the right direction,” said Chris Mancini, an analyst with the Gabelli Gold Fund, which holds 2.9 million Barrick shares. “To the degree that this could have executives think toward long term, that would be a positive development,” he said.

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MiningWatch appeals to [Ontario’s] province’s auditor general to revamp mining taxation – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – December 16, 2013)

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

MiningWatch Canada is asking Ontario’s auditor general to conduct a review of the province’s mining tax with the goal of getting Ontarians more than 2% of the value of minerals mined in the province.

The lobby group wrote Bonnie Lysyk out of frustration, said its executive director Ramsey Hart, after waiting more than 18 months for the Liberal government to fulfil a commitment first made in its spring 2012 budget.

The Grits said the review was mentioned in both the 2012 and 2013 budgets, but when Hart called the Ministry of Finance this week to inquire about how it was progressing, he said he was disappointed with what he heard.

Not only has the review not begun, Hart said he was told. The approach for the review is still being conducted. “It’s complicated, but it’s not that complicated,” Hart said Friday.

In a letter, he appealed to Lysyk to conduct an impartial, non-partisan, independent review, saying MiningWatch is tired of waiting for the province to do it.

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Mining exploration not adequate, new law could bring in more funding – by Mansi Taneja (Business Standard – December 16, 2013)

http://www.business-standard.com/ [India]

 Canada and Australia spend maximum on mineral exploration with 19% and 12% respectively of global share

Despite being a mineral rich country, India’s share in global exploration budget has been less than 0.5% which might explain the fact the country’s proven reserves are only 5-10% of the total resources.

Canada and Australia are the top countries who spend maximum on mineral exploration with 19% and 12% respectively of the global share.

Exploration of minerals, except petroleum, has been primarily constrained by funding crunch, which is why unproven resources in India are more than twice the proven reserves.

For instance, India has gold resources of 490 million tonnes but only 17% of it has been explored and marked as reserves. Similarly for coal, out of total resources of 280 billion tonne, 40% are available as reserves and for iron ore with 25 billion resources, 28% are reserves. India produces about 87 minerals.

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Mineral exploitation in Odisha [India] low despite increased mining activity – by Sadananda Mohapatra (Business Standard – December 16, 2013)

http://www.business-standard.com/ [India]

The state has about 174 million tonne of nickel, which is yet to explored

Despite increased mining activity in Odisha, the mineral exploitation in the state remains low in last hundred years compared to its reserves.

Major minerals with sizeable reserves in the state include chromite, iron ore, bauxite and manganese. While only 13% of the total chromite deposits has been excavated so far, the same for iron ore and manganese are 9% each and for bauxite only three%.

Odisha currently possesses 159.40 million tonne of chrome ore that finds its usage in making stainless steel, out of 182.86 million tonne of preliminary proven reserve, according to the government statistics. About 23.50 million tonne of the mineral or 12.8% of the proven reserve has been excavated so far.

Nearly all of India’s chrome ore is found in Odisha with state-run Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) having control over one-third of production. Few players such as Tata Steel, Indian Metal and Ferro alloys (IMFA), Ferro Alloys Corporation Limited (FACOR) and Balasore Alloys (formerly Ispat Alloys) have also their captive mines in the state.

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ONTC was given the short shrift – by Tom Mills (Sault Star – December 14, 2013)

http://www.saultstar.com/

Does it surprise anyone that this provincial government apparently didn’t bother to find out how much it would cost to shut down the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission before announcing the move?

Or that taxpayers will foot the bill for another Liberal financial “oopsy”? Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk reported Tuesday that costs of the ONTC selloff could top $820 million.

That makes the projected savings of $265.9 million over three years, which the government trumpeted in its 2012 budget, seem like a figure pulled out of a hat. Or perhaps it was pulled out of that part of a finance minister’s anatomy where the sun don’t shine.

A cynic might point out that the difference between a $266-million savings and an $820-million cost isn’t much more than the amount taxpayers have paid to give a succession of Crown corporation executives some of the most obscene golden parachutes and platinum-plated expense accounts around.

But in this case the money itself might not be the most disturbing revelation in Lysyk’s investigation.

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B.C. Indian band breaking all stereotypes – by Paul Watson (Toronto Star – December 14, 2013)

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.

LAX KW’ALAAMS, B.C.—Out of sight on the rainforest’s edge, just south of Alaska, the people of this ancient fishing village couldn’t wait any longer for rescue.

Outsiders who flew in by float plane or landed at the ferry dock, 20 minutes away along a pot-holed road in Tuck Inlet, brought federal money and stacks of government rule books telling the Tsimshian band how to spend it.

Yet the community was drowning in debt. Leaning on Ottawa’s creaky native bureaucracy for support, it was a life-or-death struggle for Lax Kw’alaams’ people to hold their heads high enough to survive. They didn’t have the experts they needed to save themselves.

So chief councillor Garry Reece and his council looked outside for a new band administrator, eager to get someone who could find profit in the big water and trees that surround them.

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NEWS RELEASE: PRIMERO TO ACQUIRE BRIGUS GOLD AND CREATE A DIVERSIFIED, AMERICAS BASED MID-TIER GOLD PRODUCER

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – Dec. 16, 2013) – (Please note that all dollar amounts in this news release are expressed in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated.)

Primero Mining Corp. (“Primero” or the “Company”) (TSX:P)(NYSE:PPP)(ASX:PPM) and Brigus Gold Corp. (“Brigus”) (NYSE:BRD)(TSX:BRD) today announced that they have entered into an arrangement agreement (the “Arrangement Agreement”) whereby Primero will acquire all outstanding common shares of Brigus pursuant to a plan of arrangement (the “Arrangement”) to create a diversified, Americas based mid-tier gold producer.

Pursuant to the Arrangement, Primero will acquire each outstanding Brigus common share for 0.175 of a Primero common share (the “Exchange Ratio”). In addition, Brigus shareholders will receive 0.1 of a common share in a newly incorporated company (“SpinCo”) for each Brigus common share as part of the Arrangement. SpinCo will hold Brigus’ interests in the Goldfields project in Saskatchewan and the Ixhuatán and Huizopa projects in Mexico and will be capitalized with approximately C$10 million in cash.

Upon completion of the Arrangement, Brigus shareholders will hold, in aggregate, a 90.1% interest in SpinCo and Primero will hold the remaining 9.9% interest in SpinCo. All outstanding options to purchase Brigus common shares will be exchanged for options to purchase Primero common shares based upon the Exchange Ratio pursuant to the Arrangement.

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EDITORIAL: Ring of Fire ball dropped – by tbnewswatch.com (December 13, 2013)

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

There are a lot of people hoping they don’t have to wash egg off their face in the wake of the latest Ring of Fire developments.

Late last month Cliffs Natural Resources decided they were pulling out of the project, at least temporarily, stating they have no plans for further investment in the foreseeable future.

While some see it as political posturing, a move aimed at forcing the government’s hand to build a roadway to the riches buried on traditional lands in the North, others believe that as time marched on, the company decided the payoff simply wasn’t worth the investment.

Opposition parties are lambasting Premier Kathleen Wynne – and by default Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle – for bungling the project from the get go.

Wynne in turn says the federal government needs to step to the plate and become a partner in the exercse.
The province should have seen this coming and should have stepped in much sooner.

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P3s can support Canadian resource development – by Peter Kent (Daily Commercial News – December 10, 2013)

http://www.dcnonl.com/

Canadian resource development presents a conundrum. Without infrastructure there will be no development, but without development there will be no infrastructure.

While public-private partnerships (P3s) are largely used to deliver infrastructure to taxpayers, the model can also deliver roads, ports and railroads required to support the Canadian resource economy. At stake for Canadian builders — billions of dollars in contracts.

Panelists at the recent 21st annual national conference of the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships in Toronto weighed in on how P3s can bridge the gap between resource potential and development.

Bill Thornton, assistant deputy minister, northern development, Ontario Ministry of Northern Development & Mines noted that the province’s mining and forestry sector rely largely on public lands owned by the province, so P3s may flow naturally from that relationship.

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The dispute the entire oil industry is watching – by Kelly Cryderman (Globe and Mail – December 14, 2013)

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.

FORT McKAY FIRST NATION, ALTA. — ‘Beverly Hills” is the pride of Fort McKay.

A building boom is under way on this street of stylish new houses, nicknamed after one of America’s wealthiest cities. It’s a required stop for every visitor to this First Nation reserve smack-dab in the middle of Alberta’s oil sands region.

Cobblestone driveways, stainless steel appliances and spacious decks are standard features of the roomy homes. One street over, painting crews are finishing the interiors of another set of new houses as heavy-duty vehicles pack dirt at the next building site. The goal is to get Fort McKay First Nation residents out of the hamlet’s old trailers and houses and into 100 new homes in the next four years.

“People come to McKay, and they say it doesn’t even look like a reserve,” boasts Fort McKay Councillor Gerald Gladue.

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Florence [Arizona] scoffs at mining company’s claim – by Christina Sampson (Casa Grande Dispatch – December 13, 2013)

http://www.trivalleycentral.com/casa_grande_dispatch/

Town manager calls Florence Copper’s filing ‘grandstanding’

FLORENCE — A claim for $403 million by Florence Copper, the company that wants to build an in-situ copper mine on 1,182 acres it owns off Hunt Highway, was termed “grandstanding” by Assistant Town Manager Jess Knudson in a Tuesday press release.

“The only reason to file a $403 million notice of claim to say you have a right to compensation in that amount is to grab a headline,” Knudson said in the statement.

In October, Florence filed a lawsuit in Pinal County Superior Court seeking a declaratory judgment that Florence Copper has no historic right to mine the land. Florence Copper responded to the town’s action by filing a compensation claim for the fair market value of the land based on an appraisal by Deloitte LLP, a third-party accounting and financial firm.

If the court rules that a historic right to mine does exist on the land, the town plans to condemn the land and take it by eminent domain. However, should that occur the town would have to pay just compensation for the land as determined in court.

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Eggs Benny with the man who led the counter-revolution at Rio Tinto [Sam Walsh] – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – December 13, 2013)

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.

LONDON — Sam Walsh is a curious mix of plain-spoken modesty and polished style. With his cherubic face and easy smile, the Australian chief executive officer of Rio Tinto, the world’s second-largest mining company, would make the perfect Santa Claus. He is addicted to Coca-Cola, loves to tell stories and has a dotty obsession with milk jugs, the little porcelain ones you find on tea or coffee trays.

In China, he once paid for an entire dinner set just so he could nab the one jug that went with it. “I pulled the milk jug out and stuck it in my pocket,” he says, grinning. “The store owner went mad because she was left with a dinner set without a jug.”

Yet he is also addicted to fine suits – Canali is his brand – collects modern art and, along with his wife Leanne, is a regular at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

His easy-going manner is deceiving; his job is to fix the damage inflicted on the company by an epic spending spree that was highlighted by the $38-billion (U.S.) purchase in 2007 of Montreal’s Alcan, probably the biggest, stupidest resources deal of the last decade. He is doing it with the steely efficiency of the great white sharks hunting in the waters off his home town of Perth, Western Australia.

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First Nation seeks equal face-time to lobby feds on New Prosperity – by Derrick Penner (Vancouver Sun – December 13, 2013)

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

With B.C. Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett in Ottawa lobbying in favour of Taseko Mines Ltd.’s New Prosperity mine proposal in the province’s Interior, the First Nation affected by the project is seeking equal time with federal ministers to make their case as to why the mine shouldn’t be built.

And the Tsihlqot’in National Government warned federal decision makers that it will oppose any decision approving the project in court, which could leave the Crown on the hook for millions of dollars in compensation to Taseko if an approval is rejected.

Chief Joe Alphonse, Tribal Chair for the Tsihlqot’in National Government, said “it is a disgrace” for Bennett to be lobbying for the mine project despite two versions of Taseko’s proposal both receiving federal environmental assessment reviews that concluded the project would pose significant, irreversible risks to the environment.

Bennett went to Ottawa for meetings with four federal ministers and a dozen B.C. MPs to express his confidence in Taseko’s ability to build the mine without serious damage to the environment and deliver the message that the project is important for the economic development of the Cariboo region.

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Time to stop relying on others doing well – by Greg Van Moorsel (London Free Press – December 12, 2013)

http://www.lfpress.com/

Hewers of wood and drawers of water – for years, that’s been the rap against Canada’s economy: A one-trick pony, too hooked on natural resources.

For once, we can be thankful for all that oil, base metals, petro-chemicals and potash. As economy watchers close the books on 2013 and crystal-ball next year, it’s clear a stoked resources sector has done much of the heavy lifting to keep Canada out of the worst of the global muck since the economic meltdown of 2008.

Underlining the point, the Conference Board of Canada this week reported Alberta has been our largest contributor to economic growth for the last three years, outpacing the much larger economies of Central Canada. Expect the same in 2014.

Resources, however, are notoriously cyclical, and already we’re seeing signs of a downside including huge layoffs at fertilizer giant Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan and a loonie trading near a three-year low as world demand for our oil and other riches falls. The paradox – in a country that’s also relied on the consumer and government to help us ride out the recession – is that higher growth, in the mid 2% range, is forecast next year.

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Is Ontario Getting a Fair Share for Our Mineral Resources? – by Ramsey Hart (MiningWatch Canada – December 12, 2013)

http://www.miningwatch.ca/

An open letter To Bonnie Lysyk, Auditor General for Ontario

Bonnie Lysyk, Auditor General for Ontario

20 Dundas Street West, Suite 1530
Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C2
December 12, 2013

Dear Ms. Lysyk,

On behalf of MiningWatch Canada, please allow me to welcome you to Ontario and congratulate you on your appointment as the Auditor General for our province.Having come from Saskatchewan you are undoubtedly no stranger to mining and the
revenues the extraction of non-renewable resources can contribute to a provincial budget. As you learn more about Ontario, you may be surprised to learn that relative to Saskatchewan, Ontario has very poor system in place for recouping a fair share of the value of publicly owned minerals extracted by private mining companies.

While Saskatchewan retains 7% to 8 % percent of the value of uranium and potash in mining taxes, Ontario retains les than 2% of the value of minerals under the Mining Tax.

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