Republic of Mining

Ottawa summit aims to boost first-nations economies – by Bill Curry (Globe and Mail – January 23, 2012)

January 23, 2012

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.

OTTAWA— Boosting economic activity on aboriginal land will be the dominant focus of Tuesday’s gathering with native chiefs, as Stephen Harper aims to bring first nations on board with his efforts toward increased natural-resources development.

The Prime Minister’s vocal support of a pipeline from Alberta’s oil sands to the Pacific Ocean is just one high-profile example of the economic stakes riding on smooth relations with first nations.

With the government planning a budget with a focus on cuts – as well as long-term job creation and changing demographics – the Tuesday summit in Ottawa, according to government officials, will include a discussion of how aboriginal communities with high unemployment can contribute to development projects that are expected to face shortages of skilled labour.

Foreign influx in oil sands top issue – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – January 22, 2012)

January 23, 2012

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

The heated debate over new export pipelines has morphed in recent days into a debate over foreign meddling into Canadian oil sands development.

The issue was thrust into prime time by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver when they questioned the legitimacy of foreign environmental organizations stirring the pot against the Northern Gateway pipeline, a Canadian project they have turned into an extension of their successful fight in the U.S. against Keystone XL.

Foreign groups shot back the debate over the oil sands is a global one, and that foreign oil companies are also meddling into Canadian affairs because they are driving their expansion.

Here’s the wrinkle: according to an independent poll by Toronto-based Forum Research Inc., Canadians are more worried about increasing foreign ownership in the oil and gas industry, which lately has seen a surge in Asian purchases, than about foreign environmental organizations targeting the oil sands.

Follow the Keystone money, then expose the misinformation – by Peter Foster (National Post – January 20, 2012)

January 23, 2012

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

Don’t just follow the money — expose the hysterical misrepresentations and the tactics

Congressional Republican attempts to force U.S. President Barack Obama’s hand on the Keystone XL pipeline produced the required result on Wednesday, at least from the GOP perspective. The President gave the project the thumbs-down, and Republicans instantly castigated Mr. Obama as a job destroyer.

For his part, the President naturally made no mention of toadying to radical greens, and even claimed that he had nothing against the pipeline, which would create tens of thousands of jobs and is designed to take up to 900,000 barrels a day of diluted bitumen from the Alberta oil sands to the Gulf Coast. His rejection, rather, was due to Congress’s “rushed and arbitrary deadline,” which prevented the State Department from gathering material necessary to “protect the American people.”

Such electoral manoeuvering has hardly done Keystone sponsor TransCanada — or the oil sands more generally — any favours. Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed “profound disappointment” at Wednesday’s decision, and reportedly told Mr. Obama of Canada’s determination to diversify export markets. This will be easier said than done.

5 Gold Miners Become Takeover Targets – by Marc Courtenay (Seeking Alpha.com – January 22, 2012)

May 16, 2012January 22, 2012

This commentary came from: http://seekingalpha.com/

What investors really get paid for is holding ‘dogs’. Small stocks tend to have higher average returns than big stocks, and value stocks tend to have higher average returns than growth stocks. – Kenneth R. French–Dartmouth Economist NBER

Like an old familiar song, it seems that as soon as a company which is making money announces some bad news and disappointing “guidance”, the stock price craters. Like “blood-to-hungry sharks”, this brings the company to the attention of larger “fish” who may gobble it up for its cash and holdings. This is exactly what has happened to Kinross Gold (KGC). The company had disappointing news released on Monday and Tuesday, January 16 and 17th that caused its shares to plunge to a new 52-week low of $9.96. This was a 24% drop from its January 12th high of $13.11.

The Canadian gold producer said Tuesday that it expects production to be flat to slightly higher this year, while production costs will rise between 12% and 19% due to higher labor and mine expenses. Kinross also said it expects to record an accounting charge, mostly related to a decline in the value of one of its mines.

Rhetoric over substance: Obama and the Keystone XL decision – by Duggan Flanakin and Redmond Weissenberger (Troy Media – January 22, 2012)

January 22, 2012

This article is from: http://www.troymedia.com/

The Keystone XL project would ensure the U.S, jobs, affordable energy and national security, which Obama purports to support

TORONTO, ON, Jan. 22, 2012/ Troy Media/ – Oilfield workers in Alberta, refinery workers in Texas and countless factory workers have now learned that the White House will not allow construction of an oil pipeline that would bring over half a million barrels of oil a day from Canada’s Alberta Province and North Dakota’s Bakken Field to refineries in Texas and Louisiana.

The job-killing decision was a victory for radical environmentalists and well-heeled U.S. foundations that have long battled Canadian oil sands companies and the U.S. oil and gas industry. Not in “the national interest”

U.S. President Barack Obama says Congress gave him insufficient time to examine environmental issues. TransCanada Keystone Pipeline LP can reapply, he added, if it reroutes the pipeline around Nebraska’s Ogallala Aquifer and Sand Hills area and addresses other concerns. In the meantime, the Administration insists, the project “would not serve the national interest.”

Alberta oilsands crucial to have-not Ontario future – by Greg Van Moorsel (Sudbury Star – January 20, 2012)

January 22, 2012

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

“Alberta government figures show oilsands investment over
the last decade topped $100 billion. Ontario’s only new
auto plant built over the same period, Toyota’s Woodstock
complex, checked in at $1.1 billion.” (Greg Van Moorsel)

An early investor in the Alberta oilsands, Ontario cashed out a generation ago. That said, Canada’s most populous province still stands to lose from the setback dealt the oilsands industry and the hottest economic province by U.S. President Barack Obama’s rejection of the proposed Alberta-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline.

After the 1970s oil crisis, Queen’s Park bought a sizeable stake in a pioneering Athabasca oilsands venture.

That was before dwindling conventional oil supplies and surging prices made the capital-intensive oilsands the boomer it is now.

But while Queen’s Park sold out in the 1990s, its books then awash in red ink like they are now, Ontario still accrues huge benefits from the oilsands: Alberta jobs for its many unemployed workers, shots at manufacturing much of the needed equipment and, like all other “have-not” provinces, equalization payments that flow to it from an Alberta government now paying many of Canada’s net bills.

Major [mining] investments return to BC – by Gavin C. Dirom (Northern Miner – January 23-29, 2012)

January 22, 2012

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

The author is president and CEO of the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC), which is celebrating its one-hundredth anniversary with special activities planned during AME BC’s twenty-ninth Roundup in Vancouver from Jan. 23–26, 2012. Visit www.amebc.ca for more information.

B.C. is on the cusp of regaining its rightful position as one of the best jurisdictions in the world to explore and develop mineral resources.

Driven by record-breaking expenditures in 2011, encouraging commodity prices and increasingly progressive government policy, mineral exploration and development in B.C. represents a multi-generational, socio-economic opportunity that can be measured in billions of dollars and thousands of jobs.

In 2011, an estimated $450 million to $500 million was spent on mineral exploration in B.C. This is higher than the $322 million recorded in 2010 and illustrates spending not seen since the eighties. One million metres of rock was drilled in search of rare mineral deposits for developing into viable mines to produce critical raw materials, such as copper, gold, coal and zinc.

Kinross Gold Could Be a Takeover Target – by Charles Mead, Liezel Hill and Rita Nazareth (Bloomberg.com – January 20, 2012)

January 22, 2012

http://www.bloomberg.com/

By paying too much for acquisitions in western Africa, Kinross Gold Corp. (K) is now turning itself into the cheapest gold-mining target in the world.

Kinross, Canada’s third-largest gold producer, fell the most in almost two decades after saying this week it will write down the value of its Tasiast mine in Mauritania. The company sold for 76 cents per dollar of net assets yesterday, versus the industry median of 2.5 times, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Writing off the excess $4.6 billion it spent on Tasiast would still leave Kinross at a 50 percent discount to its competitors, the data show.

While Kinross bought the Mauritanian mine for almost three times what the gold deposit is worth, the company is facing rising labor and raw material costs that may delay production at some of its projects. After more than quadrupling revenue in the past five years as gold prices reached a record, Kinross may now attract interest from Newmont Mining Corp. or Polyus Gold International Ltd. (PLGL) as they try to boost capacity to meet demand, said Stifel Nicolaus & Co. On its own, analysts say Kinross is worth 50 percent more than its current price.

Celebrating Our First Century of Global Discovery – by Jonathan Buchanan (Vancouver Sun – January 21, 2012)

January 21, 2012

The Vancouver Sun, a broadsheet daily paper first published in 1912, has the largest circulation in the province of British Columbia.

The Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia Turns 100

One hundred years ago, Vancouver was a prosperous place. Industry was booming, the Vancouver Sun was born, and the first professional hockey game Vancouver Millionaires vs. the New Westminster Royals was played in Vancouver’s Denman Arena -the first Canadian artificial ice rink and reportedly the largest in the world. The Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC) also had its start in 1912 – as the Vancouver Chamber of Mines.

“The necessity of a reliable centre in Vancouver,” the Chamber noted at the time, “where mining men can meet, exchange views, and discuss matters relating to mining, was recognized long ago. A big city is the natural mecca of the miner and prospector, the logical place for him to gravitate to in the hope of attracting capital either to buy or develop his prospect.

“One hundred years later, the Association has more than fulfilled its mandate as a “reliable centre” – AME BC now represents thousands of members – hundreds of whom are now women – including geoscientists, prospectors, engineers, entrepreneurs, exploration companies, suppliers, mineral producers, and associations who are engaged in mineral exploration and development in BC and throughout the world.

Cliffs Natural Resources makes case for $1.8B smelter – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – Janurary 21, 2012)

January 21, 2012

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

Cliffs Natural Resources is looking to spend close to $3 billion to get its chromite project in Northern Ontario into production, with $1.8 billion of that going to build a ferrochrome processing plant, the company said this week.

Cleveland-based Cliffs released its 2012 capital expenditure plan Thursday.

The company said it will spend $150 million to develop the Black Thor mine site, one of three sites it controls in the Ring of Fire, and $800 million to construct a near-mine concentrating plant.

Not included in those estimates is $600 million to build an all-weather road it says will benefit remote northern communities and other Ring of Fire mining projects.

Because of that, Cliffs says it will be looking to private and “government entities” to share the cost of the road.

With Keystone, it’s Harvard vs. the heartland – by Margaret Wente (Globe and Mail – January 21, 2012)

January 21, 2012

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.

Two people named Redford have sharply differing opinions about Barack Obama’s decision to block the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would have run from Alberta down to Texas. The obscure Redford (Alison, the Premier of Alberta) is “bitterly disappointed,” while the famous Redford (Robert, the Hollywood celebrity) is ecstatic. He calls it “a victory of historic proportions” against “one of the most nightmarish fossil fuel projects of our time.” Whose side you’re on may say a lot about where you live and who you voted for.

For environmentalists, the decision is a long-overdue down payment on Mr. Obama’s campaign promise to wean the U.S. from its dependency on oil. But it’s much more than that. It’s a stand against the rape and pillage of the planet by greedy corporate interests that have politicians in their pockets. These environmentalists don’t really care about safety matters such as oil leaks or possible pollution of the aquifers. It’s the oil sands they hate – the water-gulping, forest-devastating, carbon-spewing monster that’s despoiling Mother Earth.

The day the oil-sands battle went global – by Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – January 21, 2012)

January 21, 2012

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.

It was the 2009 annual summer retreat of the Green Group – the chief executives, presidents and executive directors of the largest environmental organizations in the United States – and their Canadian counterparts had wrangled an invitation for the first time.

The U.S. environmental movement appeared to be on a roll, with a new ally in the White House, the House of Representatives on the verge of passing a climate bill, and guarded optimism about a breakthrough at the United Nations summit in Copenhagen later that year.

That June, the green leaders gathered at the Airlie Center, a historic farmhouse turned conference centre an hour’s drive from Washington, in rural Virginia. Billed as an “island of thought,” Airlie is a sylvan retreat for American progressives: It was there that Martin Luther King Jr. laid plans for the Poor People’s Campaign and U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson announced plans for the first national Earth Day.

Iqaluit: Gateway to Greenland’s resource riches – by Paul Waldie (Globe and Mail – January 19, 2012)

January 20, 2012

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.

Air Greenland isn’t exactly among the world’s major airlines. It only has 10 airplanes, 600 employees and one international route – to Iceland.

But when the airline announced Wednesday that it’s starting regular flights from Nuuk to Iqaluit this summer, many in the global mining community took notice. That’s because Greenland has become one of the hottest places in the world for mining and oil exploration.

Global warming, new extraction technologies and a recent move by Denmark to give the island territory autonomy over natural resources has prompted a small stampede of companies rushing to Greenland to tap into its wealth of uranium, iron ore, gold, gemstones, rare earths and offshore oil.

“Over the past few years, we’ve just seen a growing demand for this service,” Christian Keldsen, an Air Greenland spokesman said from Nuuk. “There is a lot of exploration going on.”