NEWS RELEASE: PotashCorp Announces Operating and Workforce Changes

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (PotashCorp) announced today that it is taking the difficult but necessary step to reduce its workforce in Canada, the United States and Trinidad by approximately 18 percent from current levels.

We expect workforce reductions by region as follows:

  • Saskatchewan – approximately 440 people
  • New Brunswick – approximately 130 people
  • Florida – approximately 350 people
  • North Carolina – approximately 85 people
  • Other US locations and Trinidad – approximately 40 people

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NEWS RELEASE: Deloitte releases top 10 mining trends for 2014: Need to rapidly innovate industry

Mining companies must change core business strategies to achieve long-term growth

Click here for Tracking the Trends 2014: http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-Canada/Local%20Assets/Documents/EandR/Mining/ca_en_tracking_the_trends_2014_112813.pdf

NEW YORK, Dec. 3, 2013 — /PRNewswire/ — Mining companies will continue to face challenging market conditions in 2014 including rising costs, falling commodity prices, supply/demand imbalances, and decreased productivity levels. However, companies that embrace new forms of innovation can lay the foundation for long-term business growth and be best positioned for future success, according to Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited’s (DTTL) Tracking the Trends 2014 report released today.

The report outlines that in order to mitigate risks of a volatile industry, companies must adopt more innovative strategies as related to financial, safety and talent management programs, as well as with their stakeholders including relationships with communities, governments, shareholders, and regulators.

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Kinross calls for industry to trumpet benefits footprint – by Simon Rees (MiningWeekly.com – December 2, 2013)

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The mining sector should do more to broadcast its full benefit footprint on local and national economies, Kinross Gold VP corporate responsibility Ed Opitz told delegates at a recent conference in Toronto.

By doing so, the industry will also help debunk much of the “resource curse” thesis, he told the audience at the Mine Latin America conference on November 15.

CURSE OF THE CURSE

Opitz explored the resource curse, first coined by Richard Auty in 1993, and then expanded upon by Jeffery Sachs, in 1995.

At its heart, the thesis argues that countries richly endowed with natural resources experience the threat of heightened corruption, poorer development strategies and growth-debilitating inflation.

The cure presupposes that governments of resource-rich nations will focus a disproportionate amount of time, effort and money on facilitating the needs of the extractive sectors as opposed to delivering on other economic and civic commitments.

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CNSX courts struggling juniors – by Alisha Hiyate (Mining Markets – December 2, 2013)

http://www.miningmarkets.ca/

Ned Goodman and Thomas Caldwell invest in TSX Venture competitor

The dire predictions that hundreds of junior miners would be delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange this year have turned out to be dead wrong, despite the continuing downturn in the sector, which began in 2011.

Of the more than 2,000 companies listed on the Venture Exchange, only 20 have been “involuntarily delisted” this year, says the exchange’s president, John McCoach.

“The number doesn’t really change a lot in good markets and bad markets,” he said, adding that the prediction of “hundreds” was based on assumptions that juniors low on capital would not access financing or reduce costs. But penny pinching may only have delayed the inevitable for some companies, says Quinton Hennigh, president and CEO of Novo Resources (NVO-C).

“I think 2014 is going to be the critical year, personally,” says Hennigh, who is also a geologist and a contributor to Brent Cook’s popular Exploration Insights newsletter. “I talk to a lot of people and I know the state of a lot of these junior companies, and they are hurting now. There are going to be a lot of companies that don’t make their filings and we’re going to see some of them disappear.”

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Barrick’s Munk sets timeline for departure, shakeup – by RAchelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – December 3, 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. founder and chairman Peter Munk will step down at the company’s next annual meeting and hand over the reins to the miner’s co-chairman John Thornton, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

The company, which Mr. Munk built into the world’s largest gold producer, is expected to formally announce Mr. Munk’s retirement and changes to Barrick’s board after directors meet Wednesday.

In November, Barrick signalled in a regulatory filing that Mr. Munk would retire by the next annual meeting and said it would provide a corporate governance update, including decisions on the board and Barrick’s executive compensation arrangements.

The announcement came after Barrick’s institutional investors, including the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, said there were not enough independent directors on Barrick’s board and voted overwhelmingly against Mr. Thornton’s $11.9-million signing bonus.

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Potash Corp. slashes jobs; ‘We can compete,’ CEO says – by Eric Atkins (Globe and Mail – December 3, 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.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. is slashing its work force by 18 per cent amid low prices for its crop nutrients and weak demand in emerging markets.

The agriculture giant said Tuesday it will cut 440 jobs in Saskatchewan, 130 in New Brunswick, 350 in Florida, 85 in North Carolina, and 40 in other U.S. regions and Trinidad.

The company is also ceasing, suspending or cutting production at several operations. Potash Corp. chief executive officer Bill Doyle said the move is an attempt to match output of potash, nitrogen and phosphate with global demand, which has been flat since 2007.

A wide range of jobs – from sales to administration and production – are being eliminated, he said in an interview.

“Despite confidence in the long-term drivers of our business, a significant portion of fertilizer demand comes from developing markets where growth has been less robust than expected,” the Saskatchewan-based company said in a statement.

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Rio Tinto to Halve Capital Spending by 2015 in Focus on Cash – by Elisabeth Behrmann (Bloomberg News – December 3, 2013)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Rio Tinto Group (RIO), the world’s second-biggest mining company, will cut capital spending to about $8 billion in 2015, less than half its outlay last year, as mineral producers conserve cash after prices fell.

“Our capex is reducing, and will come down further,” Sam Walsh, chief executive officer of London-based Rio, said today in a statement. “From where I stand, we continue to see market fragility and volatility.”

Rio’s cutback underlines efforts by the world’s largest mining companies to rein in spending as a decade-long boom in metal prices wanes. Vale SA (VALE5), the biggest iron ore producer, yesterday slashed its investment budget for a third straight year to $14.8 billion, the lowest since 2010.

“It’s quite a substantial drop and it does suggest that right now Sam Walsh is concentrated very, very hard on affordability,” Evan Lucas, a Melbourne-based markets strategist at IG Ltd., said by phone.

Rio fell 0.6 percent to A$65.49 at the close in Sydney. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, declined 1.2 percent.

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Focus on transformation, not sell-off, of ONTC – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – December 3, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Selling off the remaining assets of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission is no longer the primary option for restructuring the Crown corporation.

Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle said Monday the mandate for the ONTC is now transformation rather than divestment. The announcement came following Monday’s meeting of the Minister’s ONTC Advisory Committee, which includes stakeholders from business, industry, labour and Northern municipalities.

“Together, we took the opportunity to further explore options as we move forward with the ONTC transformation,” Gravelle said in a press release. “There was very valuable discussion around the table related to the sustainability of the ONTC.

“Our goal throughout this process remains unchanged; ensuring northern communities and industries benefit from viable, efficient and sustainable transportation and communications systems. At today’s minister’s advisory meeting, I was pleased to reaffirm my commitment to look at all options.

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Too Soon for Timeline on Ring of Fire, Negotiator Says – by Gerrit De Vynck (Bloomberg News – December 3, 2013)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

As mining companies wait on the sidelines, aboriginal groups and the Ontario government haven’t even set guidelines for negotiations over how to develop and share the mineral-rich Ring of Fire area, a lawyer representing the indigenous groups said.

Until there’s more certainty over what will be discussed, such as environmental concerns, infrastructure and resource sharing, it’s too soon to say when companies including Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (CLF) and Noront Resources Ltd. (NOT) will be able to mine the Canadian region, said Bob Rae, 65, a former federal Liberal party leader.

“I’m very reluctant to predict the timing,” Rae, who represents the nine indigenous groups in the Matawa Tribal Council, said last week in an interview. “Aboriginal communities historically, and governments and companies, often see the issue of time from a different perspective.”

Aboriginal communities, also known as First Nations in Canada, are negotiating with the Ontario government over how to develop an area 1,000 kilometers (622 miles) northwest of Toronto that the province said may contain C$60 billion ($56 billion) of minerals.

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NEWS RELEASE: OMA member praised by provincial economic think tank (December 3, 2013)

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

Ontario Mining Association member Noront Resources was singled out as a bright spot on the future economic development horizon by the Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity. The organization’s recently released twelfth annual report “Course Correction: Charting a new road map for Ontario” offers several suggestions to accelerate stagnant growth.

The report notes that “Ontario’s GDP ranked a dismal 14th out 16 North American peers (similar jurisdictions in Canada and the United States). This ranking is unchanged from when the Task Force first began measuring Ontario’s economic progress more than a decade ago.”

“The Task Force urges the province to follow our road map to close the prosperity gap,” said Roger Martin, Chairman of the Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic Progress. “Without improvements to productivity and investments in future prosperity, the province will continue to fall behind its peers.”

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NEWS RELEASE: Mining payments to Canadian governments total $71 billion over decade

New report details Canadian mining industry payments to governments from 2003-2012

OTTAWA, Dec. 3, 2013 /CNW/ – The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) today released its annual report on mining industry payments to Canadian governments, prepared by ENTRANS Policy Research Group. Now in its tenth year of publication, the report found mining payments to federal and provincial government coffers total an estimated $71 billion from 2003 to 2012 in aggregate mining taxes and royalties, corporate income taxes and personal income taxes paid by mining sector employees.

“The importance of this report is that it quantifies one of the mining industry’s many significant economic contributions to Canadians both nationally and regionally. The royalties, taxes and other payments made to governments by the industry ultimately go towards supporting critical government services like health care, education and the building of infrastructure,” said Pierre Gratton, MAC’s President and CEO. “This impressive amount of more than $70 billion over the past decade also underscores the importance of mining in Canada as both a major employer across the country and significant contributor to the Canadian economy.”

The decade-long data shows that while payments can fluctuate from year to year due to the cyclical nature of the business—at times significantly—the overall contribution to governments is huge and the trend over the past decade is positive. The most recent data for 2012 showed an overall year-over-year decline in mining payments to an estimated $6.6 billion in 2012 from approximately $8.3 billion in 2011.

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ThyssenKrupp Is Stuck in Steel – by RENÉE SCHULTES (Wall Street Journal – December 2, 2013)

http://online.wsj.com/home-page

It Isn’t Clear How Costly Retaining Some of Its Assets Recently Might Be Longer Term

For ThyssenKrupp, TKA.XE -2.32% it is hard to escape steel. Shares in the loss-making German conglomerate dropped 8.5% Monday after it said it would raise up to a 10th of its market value in fresh equity, equivalent to about €900 million ($1.22 billion).

ThyssenKrupp’s more than decadelong project to shift its focus from volatile steelmaking to producing finished goods such as elevators has run into trouble. The company this weekend announced the sale of its U.S. steel mill but was forced to retain Brazilian mill CSA. Separately, a deal with troubled Finnish steelmaker Outokumpu OUT1V.HE -6.51% means ThyssenKrupp takes back two European assets it sold only a year ago.

Investors can hardly feel galvanized to buy in.

ThyssenKrupp had few alternatives. Selling its Americas business would have drawn a line under a misplaced attempt to make steel cheaply in Rio de Janeiro and ship it to the U.S. for processing, a strategy undone by rising production costs in Brazil. But CSA’s onerous supply contract with iron-ore miner Vale made potential buyers wary.

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World Coal: UN climate chief Figueres ‘ignoring reality’ – by Sophie Yeo (Responding to Climate Change – December 2, 2013)

http://www.rtcc.org/

The head of the World Coal Association (WCA) has accused UN climate chief Christiana Figueres of ‘ignoring reality’, following her call to the coal industry to invest in more efficient technologies.

In an interview World Coal chief executive Milton Catelin told RTCC that Figueres’ lack of expertise in the mining and energy sectors meant she “misses some of the fundamentals about the energy sector”.

He was responding to a speech Figueres made to a ‘Climate and Coal Summit’ on the sidelines of UN negotiations in Warsaw two weeks ago, where she told the audience that “coal must change rapidly and dramatically for everyone’s sake.”

Figueres called for the closure of all low-efficiency subcritical plants, a roll out of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology and a collective decision to leave most coal reserves in the ground. The UN climate chief was heavily criticised by green groups for attending the gathering, but her message does not seem to have gone down well with the coal investors and representatives inside.

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Dundee’s real-time data innovations are as good as gold – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – December 2, 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.

CHELOPECH, BULGARIA – You would think an iPhone would be an utterly useless gadget in Dundee Precious Metals Inc.’s Bulgarian gold mine for the simple reason that the mine lies nearly a half kilometre below impenetrable rock.

But the underground reception is working well and that makes Mark Gelsomini, information technology director for the Toronto-listed company, smile like he has just tripped over a gold nugget the size of a golf ball.About 400 metres underground, his e-mails arrive without a glitch. Phones are static free.

“You’re coming in clear,” Mr. Gelsomini tells Dundee CEO Rick Howes, who is also deep underground in a dark tunnel that connects the mine’s various operations.

The free-flowing communication at Dundee’s Chelopech mine is thanks to a fully enabled underground WiFi network – a technological leap is attracting international attention.

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Chinese firms want to buy coal assets overseas, but on the cheap – by Sonali Paul (Reuters U.S. – December 1, 2013)

http://www.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE, Dec 2 (Reuters) – Chinese companies are on the hunt to buy overseas coal mines as Beijing’s switch to cleaner fuels stokes demand for higher-quality coal produced in countries such as Australia, according to people familiar with the firms’ strategies.

A renewed appetite for acquisitions by the world’s biggest coal consumer will be a big boost for miners who are trying to dispose of assets worth billions of dollars to boost shareholder returns. These include Rio Tinto, which has put Australian and Mozambique coal operations on the block, and Linc Energy , which is selling its New Emerald Coal business.

The Chinese, however, are not rushing to buy. They see asset values coming under further pressure as coal prices remain depressed amid a supply glut that has already driven prices down about a third since 2011.

“We have clients who are interested in taking stakes in coal assets. But the view is the market’s not going to get any better for two years. So why buy something today when it’s going to be a lot cheaper in eight months’ time,” said Sam Farrands, a Hong Kong-based partner at law firm Minter Ellison.

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