2016 PDAC Distinguished Service Award Winner: Patricia Sheahan

PDAC 2016 – Distinguished Service Award – Patricia Sheahan from PENDA Productions on Vimeo.

http://www.pendaproductions.com/ This video was produced by PENDA Productions, a full service production company specializing in Corporate Communications with a focus on Corporate Responsibility.

PDAC President Rod Thomas and Patricia Sheahan
PDAC President Rod Thomas and Patricia Sheahan (Photo by Envisiondigitalphoto.com)

This award recognizes an individual who has achieved one or more of the following: made a substantial contribution to mineral exploration and mining development over a number of years; given considerable time and effort to the PDAC; made outstanding contributions to the mineral industry in the field of finance, geology, geophysics, geochemistry research, or a related activity.

Patricia Sheahan: For her unique and outstanding contribution and dedication to Canada’s minerals industry.

Patricia Sheahan, or Pat as she is better known, has a long and unique career in the minerals industry. As a leader and entrepreneur, she founded a worldwide technical information service for exploration companies focused on diamonds, base and precious metals. The subscription service, which began in 1972, has been indispensable for those in the field looking to make the next diamond discovery.

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2016 PDAC Viola R. MacMillan Award Winner: Silver Wheaton Corp.

PDAC 2016 – Viola MacMillan – Silver Wheaton from PENDA Productions on Vimeo.

http://www.pendaproductions.com/ This video was produced by PENDA Productions, a full service production company specializing in Corporate Communications with a focus on Corporate Responsibility.

(L to R) Robert Schafer, PDAC President; Randy Smallwood, President and CEO Silver Wheaton Corp.
(L to R) Robert Schafer, PDAC President; Randy Smallwood, President and CEO Silver Wheaton Corp. (Photo by Envisiondigitalphoto.com)

This award, which is named in honour of the PDAC’s longest serving president, is given to (a) person(s) who has/have demonstrated leadership in management and financing for the exploration and development of mineral resources.

Silver Wheaton Corp.: For developing new and innovative business strategies that are a leading example for other companies and junior miners to follow.

Chap Mercantile changed its name to Silver Wheaton Corporation in July 2004, becoming a new and innovative type of publicly- traded company within the mining industry. Silver Wheaton’s business strategy portrays characteristics of a metal producer, a royalty owner, and has features of a corporate finance group.

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2016 PDAC Skookum Jim Award Winner: Darrell Beaulieu

PDAC 2016 – Skookum Jim Award – Darrell Beaulieu from PENDA Productions on Vimeo.

http://www.pendaproductions.com/ This video was produced by PENDA Productions, a full service production company specializing in Corporate Communications with a focus on Corporate Responsibility.

(L to R) James Siddorn, SRK Consulting Canada Inc.; Darrell Beaulieu, President and CEO of Denendeh Investments Incorporated and DEMCo Ltd.
(L to R) James Siddorn, SRK Consulting Canada Inc.; Darrell Beaulieu, President and CEO of Denendeh Investments Incorporated and DEMCo Ltd.  (Photo by Envisiondigitalphoto.com)

Recipients of this award have demonstrated exceptional achievement and/or service in a Canadian Aboriginal-run service business for the Canadian mining industry or a Canadian Aboriginal exploration or mining company, or have made a significant individual contribution to the mining industry.

Darrell Beaulieu: For his innovation, hard work and dedication to the minerals industry in his community.

Darrell Beaulieu is a leader and highly-respected member of his community who served three terms as Chief of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. His work in the mineral industry began early in exploration, staking mineral claims and working on a number of exploration projects in the Northwest Territories (NWT).

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2016 PDAC Environmental & Social Responsibility Award Winner: Lucara Diamond Corp.

PDAC 2016 – Enviromental & Social Responsibility Award – Lucara from PENDA Productions on Vimeo.

http://www.pendaproductions.com/ This video was produced by PENDA Productions, a full service production company specializing in Corporate Communications with a focus on Corporate Responsibility.

(L to R) Glenn Mullan, First Vice President PDAC; William Lamb, CEO of Lucara Diamond Corp.
(L to R) Glenn Mullan, First Vice President PDAC; William Lamb, CEO of Lucara Diamond Corp. (Photo by Envisiondigitalphoto.com)

This award honours an individual or organization demonstrating outstanding initiative, leadership and accomplishment in protecting and preserving the natural environment and/or in establishing good community relations during an exploration program or operation of a mine.

Lucara Diamond Corp.: For its stakeholder initiatives, community engagement and focus on sustainable practices and long-term benefits at their Karawoe mine in Botswana.

Lucara Diamond Corp. has committed to responsible development of its assets and operations, and has structured itself with long-term success in mind. It began publishing Global Reporting Initiative compliant sustainability reports in 2012 to ensure its performance was documented and communicated transparently to stakeholders.

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Deals to rise amid mine fire sale – by Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – March 11, 2016)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

As the world’s biggest base metal miners embark on a fire sale of their mines, Canadian banks are poised for a piece of the action. The groundwork has been laid for a busy year for mining deals after one of the slowest periods in more than a decade.

Desperation is high among indebted industrial metal producers, whose businesses have been felled by low commodity prices and weak demand from the world’s largest metal consumer, China.

Vale SA, Freeport-McMoRan Inc., Glencore PLC and Anglo American PLC are all planning to divest dozens of mines in a mad dash to raise cash, providing a smorgasbord of assets for potential buyers.

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First Quantum Minerals Ltd sells Kevitsa mine in Finland for US$712 million to repair balance sheet – by Peter Koven (Financial Post – March 11, 2016)

http://business.financialpost.com/

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. has struck a much-needed deal to sell a nickel mine and bring relief to its debt-laden balance sheet.

The Toronto-based company said on Thursday that it will sell its Kevitsa mine in Finland to Boliden AB for US$712 million in cash. The transaction with the Swedish firm should close in May.

First Quantum wants to cut its debt by US$1 billion in the first quarter of 2016, and this sale gets the company most of the way to its goal. Analysts cheered the deal, as Kevitsa fetched a higher price than most of them expected in a weak nickel market.

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Nunavut looks at ending fuel tax rebate for working mines – by Lisa Gregoire (Nunatsiaq News – March 9, 2016)

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

The Government of Nunavut has decided its fuel tax rebate program is too generous. That’s why the GN plans to tighten the purse strings when it comes to mining companies doing work in the territory.

The fuel rebate program, in place since 2006, gives mining companies, and others, a break on the amount they are obliged to pay in fuel tax — one of the few homegrown revenue streams available to the government for investment in much-needed territorial infrastructure.

In order to be eligible for the rebate, a company or individual must be involved in harvesting, outfitting, quarrying for carving stone, mineral exploration or mining development, extraction or reclamation.

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Nunavut board allowed mining exploration on Bathurst caribou calving grounds – by Sara Minogue (CBC News North – March 10, 2016)

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

2nd company allowed to proceed on breeding grounds against the advice of N.W.T. government

A second exploration company is making plans to work inside Nunavut’s caribou calving grounds — this time on the range of the dwindling Bathurst herd. And once again, it happened with the approval of the Nunavut Impact Review Board, and against the advice of the N.W.T. government.

Last spring Tundra Copper sought, and received, permission to search for copper on the Bluenose East calving grounds. Many in the N.W.T. only learned about it last week during hearings that will see several First Nations communities divide a drastically reduced harvest.

Also last spring, Crystal Explorations sought permission from the board for a multi-year diamond drilling exploration program at its Muskox Diamond project.

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NEWS RELEASE: Boliden to Acquire Kevitsa Mine in Finland (March 10, 2016)

BOLIDEN, Sweden–Boliden today announces that it has entered into an agreement with First Quantum to acquire the Kevitsa nickel-copper-gold-PGM mine in Northern Finland. The total consideration on a debt free basis is USD 712 million in cash. The agreement is subject to approval by competition authorities.

“This is an attractive opportunity to acquire a high-quality mine with excellent operational and geographical fit with Boliden. The acquisition of Kevitsa is consistent with Boliden’s growth strategy. Kevitsa started production in the end of 2012 and is an early stage mine, which we believe can provide good synergies with our existing business in mining, concentrating, smelting and regional exploration. It also establishes a nickel feed base load for our Harjavalta smelter”, says Lennart Evrell, President and CEO, Boliden.

“The timing of the acquisition fits us well. Boliden has executed substantial expansion projects in recent years and is ready to take on a new major project.

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Three precious commodity insights from a mining conference – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – March 10, 2016)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

You, too, can be a commodity market expert. Don’t scoff. The abrupt, unexpected moves in recent weeks – including a record-breaking 19-per-cent jump in iron ore’s price on Monday – may make you fear that understanding the dynamics of the metals markets is beyond any mortal’s ken.

Fortunately, I’ve spent the past four days attending the annual Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada Conference in Toronto. The massive get-together of mining-industry movers and shakers was illuminating.

I emerged with three hard nuggets of insight, extracted from multiple interviews and presentations, then purified in the blast furnace of the journalistic mind.

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Warming climate helps north Canada miners ship supplies, melts locals’ ice roads (Reuters India – March 9, 2016)

http://in.reuters.com/

TORONTO, March 9 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Global warming is making it easier for resource companies to ship supplies through Arctic waterways in northern Canada, but harder for remote communities to truck in food on winter ice roads, mining industry officials and indigenous leaders said.

Shifting transportation patterns in the far north due to the changing climate are expected to reduce the cost of mining and other projects in once frozen coastal areas, while raising the price of goods for residents and businesses operating inland.

Ice roads, built on frozen waterways, have until recently provided crucial winter transportation links to northern communities which have no regular road access.

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Stock exchange cracks down after stream of ‘shell’ companies make it to market – by Barbara Shecter and Peter Koven (Financial Post – March 7, 2016)

http://business.financialpost.com/

A steady stream of “shell” companies with little cash, assets or business plans marched onto public markets in 2014 and early last year. Now, under pressure from regulators, the Canadian Securities Exchange is taking significant steps to tighten that access.

An overhaul of the CSE’s listing requirements is in progress, the result of negotiations with regulators, primarily at the Ontario Securities Commission, sources say. The market watchdogs are understood to have been alarmed by the proliferation of these shells and the potential risk they might pose to investors.

The CSE, an upstart rival to the Toronto Stock Exchange, plans to introduce strict working capital requirements for newly listed companies, effectively pushing empty shells out of the picture.

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NEWS RELEASE: PDAC 2016 Convention exceeds 22,000 attendees

Toronto, March 9, 2016 – Optimism and opportunity abounded at the PDAC 2016 Convention of The Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada in spite of recent industry challenges, indicating a positive shift in sentiment amongst the industry’s key players.

A clear sense of industry confidence was evident as more than 22,000 attendees from more than 100 countries gathered at the annual PDAC convention where investors, analysts, mining executives, geologists, government officials and students gathered for the largest exploration and mining event in the world.

“The mineral exploration and mining industry has been facing an array of economic challenges the past several years but the sector continues to demonstrate its resiliency,” says PDAC President Rod Thomas, pointing to new money coming into the industry, favourable market trends and a move to drive new and sustainable solutions to mining activities. “The mood throughout the convention was optimistic and upbeat—a positive sign for the sector going forward.”

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Capital Markets Starting to Thaw for Miners, Toronto Bankers Say – by Scott Deveau (Bloomberg News – March 8, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The biggest rally in mining stocks since the aftermath of the financial crisis is opening the door for producers to return to the equity market in their ongoing battle to reduce debt, according to bankers in Toronto.

While the Bloomberg World Mining Index retreated on Tuesday, it surged 16 percent in the past month, the steepest four-week rally since August 2009. Metal prices have also rebounded, with gold up 19 percent this year. That shift in sentiment may mean that a pickup in equity deals this year will accelerate.

“We’ve all seen, thankfully, a much better start to 2016 than we saw at the end of 2015,” David Shaver, managing director of mining and metals at RBC Capital Markets, told the annual PDAC convention Tuesday. “Capital is beginning to flow back into the mining sector.”

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