October 7, 2015 – Republic of Mining

Obama’s ozone rules won’t prove to be platinum’s saviour – by Prinesha Naidoo (Mineweb.com – October 7, 2015)

October 7, 2015

http://www.mineweb.com/

The precious metal’s future remains in the hands of consumers.

JOHANNESBURG – The Obama administration’s move to decrease smog pollution in the United States (US) by tightening federal ozone standards is unlikely to have a material impact on the platinum market.

Citing “extensive scientific evidence” on the effects of ground-level ozone pollution or smog on public health and welfare, the country’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reduced the amount of ground-level ozone to 70 parts per billion (ppb) from the 75ppb limit set by the Bush administration in 2008.

Under the new rules, the EPA will give states until 2017 to collate air quality data and devise plans to meet the limits by 2025. However, some areas, depending on the severity of their smog pollution, will have until 2037 to meet the standards.

In anticipation of tighter ozone regulations, the non-profit International Precious Metals Institute (IPMI) ran a public policy advertisement in a Washington newspaper, stating “precious metals help turn dangerous ozone into harmless oxygen” and “platinum group metals provide the critical spark that makes catalytic converters work to reduce smog and harmful emissions.”

Gloom hangs over [Quebec] mining convention – by Robert Gibbens (Montreal Gazette – October 26, 2015)

October 7, 2015

http://montrealgazette.com/

Miners at the Quebec Mineral Exploration Association’s Xplor event in Montreal this week not only are battling the lowest metal prices in 11 years, cutting costs and scratching for capital, they’re coping with a more complicated permit process.

“It’s taking three years or more to complete federal and Quebec clearances, including environmental, sustainability, social requirements and benefits pacts with the native peoples,” said Guy Bourassa, chief executive of Nemaska Lithium Inc.

“It’s a huge and costly challenge for mine finders and developers since you don’t get financing until the permitting process is fully completed,” he said from Quebec City.

Nemaska’s $500-million Whabouchi hardrock lithium project in the James Bay area, 300 kilometres north of Chibougamau, has won full authorization.The ore will go by truck and rail to a new processing plant at Shawinigan and the resulting top-grade lithium carbonate will head for new-generation battery-makers.

“We’ve been lucky with rising lithium prices, contrary to gold, base metals, rare earths, iron ore and most other commodities, and now I’m negotiating the long-term financing needed for Whabouchi’s 2018 start-up,” he added.

Mining tycoon Lukas Lundin promotes Denison-Fission merger to skeptical retail shareholders – by Peter Koven (National Post – October 7, 2015)

October 7, 2015

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

TORONTO – Mining tycoon Lukas Lundin has joined an effort to convince Fission Uranium Corp.’s skeptical retail shareholders that they should approve a friendly merger with Denison Mines Corp.

The shareholder vote is scheduled for Oct. 14, and executives at both companies acknowledged on Tuesday they do not know which way Fission’s investors will go. The vast majority of the stock is held by retail shareholders, some of whom are loudly resisting the deal with Denison, one of Lundin’s companies.

As a result, Lundin himself is speaking with retail investors in Toronto this week to make the case for the $280-million, all-stock deal. For him, the argument is pretty simple.

“We’re trying to become the go-to name in the industry,” he said in an interview. “When uranium moves up again, we should move quite strongly because there’s nowhere else (for investors) to go. You have Cameco (Corp.) and Denison.”

Fission chief executive Dev Randhawa said he appreciates that retail investors would prefer a monster takeover offer from Cameco or Areva to this smaller deal with Denison. But he thinks they are ignoring one simple fact: there is no such deal out there.

Alberta oil and gas royalty review more about survival than more money – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – October 7, 2015)

October 7, 2015

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

Alberta’s oil and gas royalty review started off as an NDP campaign plan to squeeze more money out of the oil sector, but is morphing into an industry survival strategy as the oil shock and tax hikes continue to depress activity.

The evolution was in plain sight Monday evening, when review panel chairman Dave Mowat, president and CEO of ATB Financial, promised “a strategic look to set us up for success” as he faced a testy oilpatch crowd during a community engagement session in downtown Calgary, where many have lost their jobs.

From corporate directors to recent hires, geoscientists to consultants, hundreds responded to an invitation to share their views on royalties with the four-member panel, which is due to give its recommendations to Premier Rachel Notley’s government by December.

And they provided an earful. Many questioned the $3-million exercise during an already-tough oil price downturn. Some worried recommendations would be politicized to fit the NDP agenda. There were even calls for government incentives to give the sector a boost.

Among the feedback:

NEWS RELEASE: Canada’s Junior Miners must embrace unconventional strategies to survive continued economic challenges – PwC report

October 7, 2015

Bleak numbers lead miners on innovative paths to disrupt the downturn

TORONTO, Oct. 6, 2015 /CNW/ – The drying up of equity and debt markets coupled with new lows in cash reserves have pushed Canada’s junior mining industry on a further downward financial trend, according to PwC’s annual report on the TSX Venture’s top 100 junior mining companies. But the industry is looking to innovate and collaborate in an effort to move forward.

According to the 9th annual Junior mine report, Time for Change, the top 100 juniors raised $514 million in equity financing in 2015, down 25% from last year, while debt financing fell 27% to $278 million over the same period. Despite attempts to reduce spending, cash reserves are dwindling to new lows as the top 100’s on-hand cash dropped on average from $10 million to $7 million.

These numbers are paired with news that overall revenue is down 28% from 2014, a drop of nearly $195 million, balanced slightly by an 18% reduction in overall net losses. Market capitalization dropped significantly from $7.9 billion to $4.8 billion as of June, 2015.

“The challenges in the junior mining sector persist and the industry is really at a crossroads,” said Liam Fitzgerald, PwC’s Canadian Mining Leader.

Sudbury played key role in [Physics] Nobel prize – by Liam Casey (Canadian Press/Sudbury Star – October 7, 2015)

October 7, 2015

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

A professor emeritus at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont. — the former director of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory in northern Ontario — is a co-winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on tiny particles known as neutrinos.

Arthur McDonald was roused from sleep at about 5 a.m. on Tuesday by a phone call from the Nobel Prize committee telling him the news.

“I was a little surprised,” he said in a telephone interview from Kingston, laughing with joy. “I am overwhelmed, but excited.”

The first thing the 72-year-old did as a Nobel Prize winner was hug his wife. “Thank you,” he told her. McDonald and Japanese scientist Takaaki Kajita were cited for the discovery of neutrino oscillations and their contributions to experiments showing that neutrinos change identities.

“We were also able to determine that neutrinos do have a small mass and that’s something that wasn’t known before and it helps to place neutrinos in the laws of physics at a very fundamental level,” McDonald said.