TNM’s 2013 Mining Persons of the Year: Fission’s Ross McElroy and Dev Randhawa – by John Cumming (Northern Miner – December 23, 2013)

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

Since the days of the Manhattan project, there have been three conventional rules for finding uranium mineralization in Saskatchewan: it occurs in the Athabasca basin, usually in the lowest sandstone unit that’s in contact with the basement rock; the best place to look is in the eastern part of the basin; and the shallow stuff has all been found, so you need to go deeper into the basin to find more.

Well, the new Patterson Lake South ultra-high-grade uranium discovery by joint-venture partners Fission Uranium (TSXV: FCU; US-OTC: FCUUF) and Alpha Minerals turns all that conventional wisdom on its head: the deposit is 8 km outside the southwestern edge of the basin in a relatively unexplored area, and it lies almost at surface, covered only by glacial overburden and a shallow lake.

And for this, we are awarding our 2013 “Mining Persons of the Year” to Fission president and COO Ross McElroy, the technical point man on the discovery, and Fission chairman and CEO Dev Randhawa, who has ably guided the company through not one, but two major corporate overhauls in a single year.

Ross McElroy is a veteran geologist with an uncanny ability to place himself at the heart of the discovery of high-grade Canadian mineral deposits.

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Colossus shocks market with cancelled financing, low resource estimate – by Peter Koven (National Post – December 24, 2013)

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

TORONTO – A Canadian miner on the brink of financial collapse has surprised investors by releasing a shockingly low resource estimate for its flagship gold project.

Late Friday night, Colossus Minerals Inc. unveiled potentially fatal news to the market: that a desperation financing agreement with Arias Resources Capital Management has fallen apart. The Toronto-based miner, which has a small interest payment due on Dec. 31, warned it may not be able to raise capital to carry on business past that date.

Finding that money may not become any easier after what Colossus reported on Monday.

The company released a mineral resource estimate for its Serra Pelada project in Brazil that identified a miniscule 274,000 ounces of gold. Given that Colossus has raised more than $380-million for development of Serra Pelada, and the mine is close to production, this resource figure is absurdly low. Investors figured Colossus possessed millions of ounces at Serra Pelada, a past-producing property.

According to experts, that is likely the case.

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Where Arctic camels once roamed, coal mining can wait – by CBC News North (December 24, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/north/

A coal exploration project proposing to tread the same ground as the ancient fossil forests on Nunavut’s Ellesmere Island has been temporarily put on the shelf.

Canada Coal has delayed its exploration program on Ellesmere Island for at least a year, and withdrawn its application to Nunavut regulators, saying it needs more time to address a host of concerns raised by people in nearby Grise Fiord and scientists across Canada and the U.S. Canada Coal’s active exploration licenses cover more than 7000 square kilometres, mostly on Ellesmere’s Fosheim Peninsula. The company had proposed to set up a 20 to 30-person field camp next summer in order to map and drill for coal the region.

However, the project was controversial. The Fosheim Peninsula is a renowned source of unique fossils, including alligators, turtles and primates that lived on the Arctic Island 50 million years ago, as well as beavers and horses that occupied the site just a few million years ago.

“Frankly, when you discover something new, something people have never seen before, or something that really fills in an important piece of a puzzle, it’s a thrill,” says Jim Basinger, a paleontologist at the University of Saskatchewan.

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Americans’ appetite for bling on fire as gold prices sink – by Frank Tang (Reuters U.S. – December 23, 2013)

 http://www.reuters.com/

NEW YORK – (Reuters) – Tumbling gold prices, growing consumer confidence and aggressive discounting by retailers have Americans flocking to jewelers’ counters this holiday shopping season.

The U.S. gold jewelry industry is on track for its highest sales for the fourth quarter since 2010 and its first annual increase in gold sales in more than a decade, precious metal consultant Thomson Reuters GFMS has estimated.

“I always look for the price of gold in the news and pay attention to discounts and deals,” John Mora Gonzalez, a 31-year-old mechanic in New York, said after purchasing a necklace for his wife for Christmas. Mora had spotted J.C. Penney Co Inc’s 20-percent discount on fine jewelry, and paid $40 for a 10-karat gold necklace.

Gold prices have plunged almost a third this year, halting a 12-year run of gains. Bullion lost favor with institutional and retail investors as they braced for the U.S. Federal Reserve to reduce its monthly $85 billion bond-buying program, moving funds to equities and other riskier assets.

Renewed consumer appetite for gold is unlikely to counteract the lack of investment dollars and reverse the downward trend for prices.

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Schefferville enjoying resurgence thanks to iron ore venture – by Robert Gibbens (Montreal Gazette – December 23, 2013)

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

MONTREAL — In 1982 Brian Mulroney, then head of the Iron Ore Co. of Canada, suddenly announced the shutdown of the company’s Schefferville mines in Quebec-Labrador. The news hit Montreal 1,000 kilometres away like a thunderbolt.

Mulroney said the Schefferville mines, built in the early 1950s, were no longer economic at prevailing prices and IOC would focus on its newer mines and concentrators 217 kilometres south at Carol Lake, near Labrador City.

Now — more than 30 years after Mulroney’s coups de grâce — life is returning to Schefferville and the billions of tonnes of high-grade iron ore deposits lying along the 210-kilometre Millennium Iron Range.

In September, New Millennium Iron Corp. and India’s Tata Steel, through a 20-80 joint venture called Tata Steel Minerals Canada, began shipping beneficiated ore by rail from Schefferville to the Port of Sept-Îles. The ore is loaded into 150,000-tonne ore carriers for delivery to Europe.

This is known as the “DSO Project” and it is the New Millennium partners’ initial iron ore production effort at Schefferville.

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NEWS RELEASE: Sherritt to Divest of Coal Assets for $946 Million and Focus on Core Businesses

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – Dec. 24, 2013) –

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

Sherritt International Corporation (“Sherritt” or “the Corporation”) (TSX:S) today announced it is divesting its coal business for total consideration of $946 million.

A group led by Altius Minerals Corp., will acquire Sherritt’s entire royalty portfolio and its interest in coal development assets for cash consideration of $481 million, subject to closing adjustments.

Westmoreland Coal Company (“Westmoreland”) will acquire Sherritt’s operating coal assets, currently described as the Prairie and Mountain Operations, for total consideration of $465 million, comprised of $312 million in cash and the assumption of capital leases presently valued at $153 million, subject to closing adjustments.

“Today’s transaction to divest the coal business is the culmination of a competitive bidding process which has extended over several months. It simplifies our asset portfolio to concentrate on our core strengths, enhances our liquidity, and provides us with the opportunity to reduce our debt,” said David Pathe, Sherritt’s President and CEO.

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