NEWS RELEASE: Co-Founders of Hunter Dickinson Inc. Inducted into Canadian Mining Hall of Fame

VANCOUVER, Jan. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Hunter Dickinson Inc. (HDI) is proud to announce that Robert Hunter and Robert Dickinson were inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame on January 12, 2012, in a gala ceremony in recognition of their outstanding lifetime achievements in mineral exploration and mining. They join a select group of prominent and respected leaders from the minerals industry who represent the very best of Canadian mining and its accomplishments.

Mr. Hunter and Mr. Dickinson co-founded HDI more than 25 years ago, forming an entrepreneurial business that has led to the development of one of the most successful teams in Canadian mining history. Today, HDI is a diversified, global mining group that has advanced mineral projects in Canada and around the world. The HDI track record of success includes 19 public and private companies, and dozens of mineral properties on six continents. Notable projects within the HDI fold include Mount Milligan, Kemess and Prosperity in BC, Pebble in Alaska and Xietongmen in China.

Both Mr. Hunter and Mr. Dickinson have been recognized by industry and business for their exceptional contributions to the Canadian and international minerals industry. Awards received include the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s Developer of the Year (1990), Mining Association of BC’s Mining Industry Person of the Year (2000), Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year® (2004) and PDAC’s Thayer Lindsley International Discovery (2007).

Read more

NEWS RELEASE: QUADRA FNX & SAGAMOK ANISHNAWBEK SIGN MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING FOR THE VICTORIA PROJECT

Sudbury, Canada– January 17, 2012 – Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation (“Sagamok”) and Quadra FNX Mining Ltd. (the “Company” or “Quadra FNX”) (TSX: QUX) are pleased to announce that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) that will serve as a foundation for a working relationship between the parties with respect to the Advanced Exploration Program at Quadra FNX’s Victoria Project until an Impacts and Benefits Agreement (“IBA”) is concluded. The agreement process is being pursued in conjunction with environmental permitting for the Victoria Project.

The MOU with Sagamok was signed by Chief Paul Eshkakogan and Michael Winship, Chief Operating Officer, Quadra FNX in Sudbury on December 23rd, 2011.

“This Memorandum of Understanding will facilitate open and timely dialogue between Quadra FNX and our First Nation as it relates to the Company’s activities to develop the Victoria Advanced Exploration Project. We look forward to negotiating an IBA that will provide benefits for our members and ensure the environment and our traditional territories are protected” said Sagamok Anishnawbek Chief, Paul Eshkakogan.

Read more

Quadra boosts ore estimate at Victoria mine – by Star Staff (Sudbury Star – January 17, 2012)

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

Quadra FNX Mining announced Monday it has increased the resource estimate of its Victoria project in Sudbury by 16%.

The results from the company’s 2011 drill program at Victoria led Quadra FNX to boost resource tonnage to 14.5 million tonnes. When operating, the mine will produce nickel, copper and precious metals.

In addition, geophysical surveys show possible extensions of Victoria. Diamond drilling in 2012 will test these areas, Quadra FNX said in a release.

Even before the latest drill results became known, Quadra FNX had said the Victoria deposit was an exciting find. Its goal is to begin production in 2017, creating hundreds of new jobs.

The Vancouver, B.C.-based company also said that during 2011, it produced 220 million pounds of copper, 103,000 ounces of precious metals and 10 million pounds of nickel.

Read more

Ottawa stalls foreign takeover review – by Tara Perkins (Globe and Mail – January 17, 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.

The Harper government appears to have dropped plans to clarify the rules for foreign takeovers, leaving investors in the dark as to how Ottawa would react if an acquirer were to bid for a major Canadian company.

When the government killed BHP Billiton Ltd.’s proposed takeover of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan in late 2010, the industry minister at the time, Tony Clement, promised to spell out the principles to guide the global business community on takeovers of Canadian companies. He also said he would ask the House of Commons industry committee to study the Investment Canada Act, the piece of legislation that governs such deals, and suggest improvements to it.

But more than a year later, new Industry Minister Christian Paradis is still quiet on the issue, and the industry committee is not studying the matter, according to two of its members, an indication that the issue is not high on the government’s agenda.

Read more

Canada: A global energy superpower – by Joe Oliver (National Post – January 17, 2012)

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

Joe Oliver is Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources. These remarks, from a speech titled Canada: A global energy superpower, were made Monday at the Hart House Alumni Committee Dinner Series in Toronto.

Today, the oil sands account for one-10th of 1% — that is one, one-thousandth — of total global greenhouse gas emissions. Studies have shown that life-cycle GHG emissions from the oil sands — the well-to-wheels calculation — are similar to, and in some cases lower than, several of the heavy crude oils produced elsewhere in the world, including California.

Close to 90% of the water used in the oil sands is recycled.

Scientists with my department are working with a consortium of oil sands companies to develop new technologies to deal with tailings. Rather than sitting in open ponds, we may soon see the day where tailings are reduced and compressed into dry, stackable blocks.

Yes, it takes time to reclaim land that has been used for oil sands mining, but it is being done. I walked through a forest in northern Alberta last summer. You would never know it had once been part of an oil sands project.

Read more

PwC 2012 GOLD PRICE REPORT: Keeping up with the price of gold

Click Here: 2012 Gold Price Report

PwC’s 2012 Gold Price Report assesses gold companies globally, with companies surveyed representing 26.5 million ounces of gold mined in 2011, and 37.75 million ounces to be mined in 2012.

Eighty percent of the mining executives surveyed expect the price of gold to continue to increase in 2012, with the majority of respondents expecting gold to peak at $2,000 in 2012.  Sixty-two per cent of respondents reported the price of gold was positively impacting their stock price, yet the impact was less than expected. Gold has risen 23.4% so far this year, but the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index increased only 3.9% through November 30, 2011.

One main driver behind this unprecedented disparity between the price of gold and gold stocks is the recent popularity of ETFs. This disparity is having an impact on how executives plan to spend their increased cash flow:

Read more