April 10, 2014 – Republic of Mining

Challenges ahead to sustain Saskatchewan’s rate of economic growth – by Meaghan-Craig (Global News – April 9, 2014)

April 10, 2014

SASKATOON – Experts and mining leaders are weighing in on a new report that suggests Saskatchewan cannot sustain its current rate of economic growth.

According to a new study released Wednesday, while it’s a good time to be living in Saskatchewan, we may be relying too heavily on high commodity prices.

“For opportunity to continue you can’t rest on your laurels and what worked 10 years maybe doesn’t work the same way anymore,” said Doug McNair, with Certified Management Consultants of Saskatchewan.

The report by The Institute of Certified Management Consultants of Saskatchewan says the province’s rapid growth has been strongly influenced by the global commodity supercycle.

Voisey’s Bay nickel mine: Ice and lolly (The Economist – April 12, 2014 edition)

April 10, 2014

http://www.economist.com/

An icebreaker heads to the mines of northern Canada

BY ANY standards the Voisey’s Bay nickel mine is remote. Diamond prospectors found the deposit near the coast of Canada’s easternmost province of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1993 (see map); the mine, which is operated by Vale of Brazil, opened in 2005. No roads connect it to the outside world. Although a giant hydroelectric plant is just 365km (230 miles) away, at Churchill Falls, the mine gets no power from it.

The 300 mine workers can be flown in and out. The nickel has to be shipped—no easy task when the bay is closed off by sea ice for six months a year. The only way to get ore out all year round is with a polar-class icebreaking bulk carrier, the Umiak I. It makes 12 trips a year.

The Umiak I is the world’s most powerful icebreaking cargo ship. It has a reinforced hull and a soupspoon-shaped bow that rides up over the ice, which can be as thick as ten metres in places. The ship is powered by a 30,000 horsepower engine, large enough to drive an oil tanker ten times its size. Satellite imagery helps identify where the ice is thickest.

The future of mining in Nunavut? It’s all about China – by Jim Bell (Nunatsiaq News – April 10, 2014)

April 10, 2014

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

Scotiabank commodity guru says Chinese demand the biggest factor for what sells, what doesn’t

A influential Canadian bank economist says that if you want to predict which Nunavut mining projects are likely to make it and which ones aren’t, you have to study China.

“I pay far more attention to the Chinese economy than to that of the United States,” Patricia Mohr, Scotiabank’s commodity price specialist, said at the April 8 opening of the Nunavut Mining Symposium.

That’s because China now represents more than 40 per cent of global demand for commodities. That includes metals that lie embedded in the earth’s crust across northern Canada, such as zinc, copper, nickel and iron ore.

Many factors influence their prices — including economic growth, or the lack of it, in the United States, the European Union, Russia, Brazil and India, as well as the growth or decline of existing ore stockpiles. But the biggest factor of them all is the China’s relentless movement towards an industrialized and urbanized future for the 1.3 billion people who live within its borders, Mohr said.

Ottawa needs tighter controls on resource wealth, says Nobel prize winner – by Richard Blackwell (Globe and Mail – April 10, 2014)

April 10, 2014

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 federal government needs to take a stronger role in ensuring the benefits of Canada’s resource-based economy flow to all its citizens, one of the world’s most respected economists said Thursday.

Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel prize winner and a professor at Columbia University, said Canada has done relatively well in making sure that resource wealth is used to benefit all its citizens, but Ottawa needs to do more if it wants to be in the top ranks or resource-intensive nations.

He was speaking in Toronto at a press conference launching a conference sponsored by the Institute for New Economic Thinking and the Centre for international Governance Innovation.

Generally, economists talk of a “resource curse” where countries with an abundance of resources tend to perform poorly, Prof. Stiglitz said. That’s because the domestic currency tends to be high, impairing manufacturing and exports, and the resource sector can be subject to wide fluctuations in commodity prices.

Why privatizing First Nation resources is a really dumb idea – by James Munson (ipolitics.com – April 10, 2014)

April 10, 2014

http://www.ipolitics.ca/

In the clamour of capitalism that is the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto, at least one tiny mining company wasn’t willing to move with the pack.

Golden Predator Mining Corp., a junior with gold properties in the Yukon owned by Americas Bullion Royalty Corp., has had its life made complicated by aboriginal land right regimes in the territory, but it wasn’t willing to criticize those rights as a whole.

Janet Lee-Sheriff, vice-president of communications and First Nations relations for the firm, refused to describe a 2012 Yukon Court of Appeal decision as a hindrance to business, as many in her industry have over the past year. The decision, which expanded a company and mining department’s duty to consult an aboriginal community all the way up to the early staking process, wasn’t a bad thing if you knew how to engage a community, she said.

The Fraser Institute couldn’t disagree more. And it couldn’t be more presumptuous. The policy direction of the last 40 years – whereby negotiations, agreements and Supreme Court decisions have grown and expanded aboriginal rights over resources to ever-unprecedented levels – hasn’t been a good thing for miners, according to one of the authors of Divergent Mineral Rights Regimes, a report released by the institute last week.

Pouroulis family launch third pass at platinum – by David McKay (Miningmx.com – April 10, 2014)

April 10, 2014

http://www.miningmx.com/

[miningmx.com] – THARISA Minerals is the latest company to roll off the conveyor belt of the Pouroulis family, led by patriarch, Loucas Pouroulis.

A Cypriot by birth, Pouroulis came to South Africa after having been trained in metallurgy at the University of Athens. Mining was in his blood: his father was a copper miner in Cyrpus; the Pouroulis family lived near one of the mine’s slag dumps.

There is now, however, a third generation of Pouroulis’s plying their trade in the sector. Loucas’s eldest son, Adonis, is the chairman of the UK-listed Petra Diamonds whilst his brother, Phoevos, heads Tharisa, which is platinum/chrome miner. In truth, the Pouroulis family has an abiding obsession with mining platinum.

Loucas Pouroulis’ first encounter with platinum – Lefkochrysos – was unkindly referred to as Lefko-‘crisis’ following a decline it the platinum price around 1987 which left the elder Pouroulis’ plans in tatters. He went on to run Consolidated Modderfontein, a gold mine, before exorcising the ghost of Lekkochrysos after founding the breathtakingly successful, Eland Platinum.

Nunavut org set to benefit from lease, royalties agreements with Agnico Eagle (Nunatsiaq News – April 10, 2014)

April 10, 2014

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

NTI signs first-ever production lease deal for its sub-surface Inuit-owned lands

Nunavut Tunngavik has signed its first-ever mineral production lease, allowing Agnico Eagle Mines to extract gold from Inuit-owned land near the Meadowbank mine in exchange for annual fees and royalties paid to NTI.

The production lease will cover AEM’s 144-hectare Vault deposit, an open-pit operation about nine kilometres northeast of Meadowbank’s processing plant which is roughly 110 kms north of Baker Lake. “The production lease, which allows for commercial production, is the first that NTI has entered into with any company,” an NTI release said April 9

NTI president Cathy Towtongie said in the release that the agreement reflects a “clear commitment” set out in the organization’s December 1997 mining policy: “to support the development of mineral resources in Nunavut if there are significant long-term social and economic benefits for Inuit, and if it is consistent with protecting the eco-systemic integrity of Nunavut.”

According to an NTI mining policy brochure, a company must pay $100 per hectare for a production lease, at a minimum of $10,000. The lease has an initial term of 10 years that may be renewed for two additional five-year terms.

Agnico Eagle cautiously optimistic about second Nunavut gold mine – by David Murphy (Nunatsiaq News – April 10, 2014)

April 10, 2014

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

“Feasibility and permitting are really the critical part for us now”

Depending on gold prices, the approval of certain permits and the results of a feasibility study due later this year, the prospects for Agnico Eagle’s Meliadine gold mine project are looking good, a company manager said April 8.

“I believe very strongly that the project will move forward,” Nancy Guay, Meliadine’s general program manager, said during a project update session at the Nunavut Mining Symposium in Iqaluit April 8.

Last year, Agnico Eagle slashed $80 million from the project’s capital budget, leaving just $45 million to spend in 2014. Gold prices slumped in 2013 to about $1,300 an ounce and the company coped with one-time problems at its Kittila mine in Finland and at other projects.

The price of gold has improved a little this year. As of April 8, gold was listed at $1,428 per ounce on goldpriceoz.com. But at another April 8 presentation at the mining symposium, Scotiabank’s commodity specialist, Patricia Mohr, said she expects gold prices to settle in at around $1,350 per ounce by 2015.

Vancouver is biggest winner when forests, farms and mines do well – by Don Cayo (Vancouver Sun – April 9, 2014)

April 10, 2014

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

A lot of city slickers underestimate the value of resources to the B.C. economy, but a new think-tank makes the case that it is Metro Vancouver that benefits most when traditional hinterland industries prosper and grow.

“An initial boost to natural resources in B.C. spreads to other industries through demand for inputs or more spending induced by higher incomes,” writes Philip Cross, formerly StatsCan’s chief economic analyst, in a paper released today by Resource Works, a newly minted, Vancouver-based think-tank that intends to specialize in resource-related issues.

“The income and jobs this generates enriches all of B.C., especially the Lower Mainland,” Cross writes. “It is the cities that provide the wide range of financial, business and even transportation services used by the resource sector. It is also in the cities where the higher incomes in the resource sector and its spinoffs are spent on a wide range of retail and personal services.”

Cross bases his conclusions on sophisticated forecasting techniques developed by StatsCan — a combination of labour market analysis and a detailed analysis of tax records that document purchases by resource firms from suppliers. This not only provided “a precise accounting of all the inter-relationships among industries needed to produce all goods and services in Canada,” but also allowed him to look at how the benefits are shared among regions and provinces.

NEWS RELEASE: Discovery of the Year Award Presented to Transition and Implats by Northwestern Ontario Prospector’s Association

April 10, 2014

THUNDER BAY, ON, April 9, 2014 /CNW/ – Transition Metals Corp. (XTM – TSX.V) (“Transition”, “the Company”) is pleased to announce that the Bernie Schneiders Discovery of the Year Award has been presented to Transition Metals and Impala Platinum Holdings Limited (Implats) in recognition for the Sunday Lake Platinum discovery. The award was presented last night by the Northwestern Ontario Prospectors Association (NWOPA) to representatives of the discovery team at the annual awards dinner hosted during 2014 Northwestern Ontario Mines and Minerals Symposium in Thunder Bay.

NWOPA awards committee member Don Hoy congratulated the team commenting “we are all pleased to see another significant platinum discovery realized in the Thunder Bay region. It confirms our conviction that Northwestern Ontario remains a great place to explore. Northwestern Ontario is a low cost, stable jurisdiction with great infrastructure and a skilled workforce that continues to prove itself to be a rewarding region to make discoveries. We wish the team at Transition continued success as they continue to work with partner Implats to advance Sunday Lake.”

Sunday Lake Project Update

One drill is on site at the Sunday Lake project with a total of 2,500 metres of drilling planned to focus on expanding the extent of mineralization intersected during the discovery program. Geophysical crews have been mobilized to site to conduct borehole EM surveys in accessible holes completed during the discovery program.

Ontera vital to growth in Northeastern Ontario – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – April 8, 2014)

April 10, 2014

http://www.timminspress.com/

TIMMINS – The ONTC saga came to a head late last week in the form of an announcement by Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle.

Gravelle said the provincial government would be selling off Ontera and keeping four other divisions of the Crown agency.

Thus ends the two-year debate on divesting the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, which was introduced in the provincial spring budget of 2012 — and supported by both the Liberals and NDP.

At the time, the plan was to shut down the Northlander passenger rail service and sell off the remaining pieces of the ONTC.

In reaction to the following outcry by Northerners, Gravelle — to his credit — formed an advisory committee with stakeholders to look at completing the rest of the plan. Gravelle later said that privatization wasn’t the only possible solution for dealing with all of the ONTC’s assets.

Nickel the new market star – by Peter Kerr (The Age – April 10, 2014)

April 10, 2014

http://www.theage.com.au/business

Nickel’s transition from laggard to market darling is continuing apace, with a perfect storm of factors driving positive sentiment for the metal.

Australia’s three pure-play nickel stocks are surging this week on the back of a rising commodity price, elections in Indonesia and even a hint of takeover speculation.

The fun started in January, when one of the world’s major nickel suppliers, Indonesia, imposed a ban on exports of some unprocessed types of nickel, in a bid to try and lure miners to build processing facilities on Indonesian soil.
After years in the doldrums, the reduced exports sparked a rise in nickel prices that is still underway three months later.

With a 20 per cent rise under its belt since January, the benchmark nickel price (measured at the London Metal Exchange) is now at its highest price in 54 weeks.

LME Nickel for three month delivery was $16,718 per tonne this morning, which equates to about $US7.58 per pound in the local parlance.

Activist investor George Armoyan calls for ouster of Sherritt CEO – by Peter Koven (National Post – April 10, 2014)

April 10, 2014

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

TORONTO – Activist investor George Armoyan has called for the chief executive of Sherritt International Corp. to be fired, raising the animosity between the two sides ahead of a scheduled proxy showdown at next month’s annual meeting. In a circular filed Wednesday, Mr. Armoyan revealed he has been pushing Sherritt to replace CEO David Pathe with a “qualified executive who has operating experience.”

“The guy is not an operator; he’s not a leader. He was just put in there by default,” Mr. Armoyan, the CEO of Clarke Inc., said in an interview. He added that some Sherritt insiders, including former directors, have indicated to him that there is a vacuum of leadership at the company.

He said he has nothing against Mr. Pathe, but simply does not think he is CEO material. He noted that Mr. Pathe was an associate lawyer on Bay Street who joined Toronto-based Sherritt as assistant general counsel in 2007. He kept getting promoted, and six years later he was CEO. In Mr. Armoyan’s mind, he is not qualified to lead a mining company and Sherritt could recruit a much stronger candidate.

Sherritt did not comment on Mr. Armoyan’s plan to replace Mr. Pathe, but did state that the activist has not provided “any alternative to Sherritt’s current strategic plan or any credible ideas to increase shareholder value.” Both sides have said they are committed to cutting costs and reducing debt.

Goldcorp sweetens hostile Osisko bid to $3.6-billion – by Bertand Marotte and Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – April 10, 2014)

April 10, 2014

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.

MONTREAL/TORONO — Goldcorp Inc. is raising its hostile bid for Osisko Mining Corp. to $7.65 per share or $3.6-billion in an attempt to knock out a friendly deal between Osisko and Yamana Gold Inc.

Vancouver-based Goldcorp said on Thursday its offer now stands at 0.17 of a Goldcorp common share plus an increase in the cash portion of its offer to $2.92 for each Osisko share, from 0.146 and $2.26 respectively.

Goldcorp’s previous unsolicited bid was valued at about $6.30 per share. The agreement between Montreal-based Osisko, Yamana and two of Canada’s biggest pension funds is valued at $7.57 a share. The key asset Goldcorp is after is Osisko’s Canadian Malartic gold mine in northwestern Quebec.

Osisko chief executive officer Sean Roosen said Goldcorp’s offer is an improvement but does not sufficiently value Malartic’s potential. “It’s more respectful but it certainly doesn’t offer the same potency and the upside to Canadian Malartic that the Yamana-Osisko bid does,” he said in an interview.