Canada Mining – Page 194 – Republic of Mining

Meet the new [resource environmental] regulations. Same as the old regulations – by Melanie Paradis (National Post – February 5, 2016)

February 5, 2016

http://news.nationalpost.com/

On the heels of the federal government’s new principles for environmental assessments, the Conservatives were quick to condemn the changes as obstructive to industry and the economy. This was rather cheeky of them, given that it was their government that rewrote our environmental legislation to include many of the very same principles.

To their credit, the Conservatives did make significant strides in improving and streamlining environmental approval processes. Streamlining did not mean diminishing regulation; quite the opposite. Harmonization with the provincial regulators removed redundant bureaucratic processes.

Previously, developers would need to produce multiple versions of reports that shared the same information but in slightly different formats while meeting slightly different specifications. Harmonization meant both levels of government would agree to use a single format and eliminate duplication. This may seem like a painfully obvious step, but it was only taken in 2012.

Canada’s Centerra given go-ahead to mine Mongolian gold deposit (Reuters U.S. – February 4, 2016)

February 4, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

Feb 4 Canada’s Centerra Gold Inc has been given the go-ahead from Mongolia’s lawmakers to mine the Gatsuurt Gold deposit after a five-year delay, as the resource-rich country looks to bolster its economic activity and gold reserves.

Mongolia’s once-booming economy has taken a steep slide, with the Asian Development Bank estimating growth in 2015 at less than 3 percent compared with 17.5 percent in 2011. Mongolia hopes to rake in greater revenue this year and stimulate growth by green lighting projects such as Gatsuurt, despite a backlash from some citizens.

The parliament passed a bill granting the country 34 percent ownership of the mine with 1.6 million ounces of probable gold reserves, a government website says. Centerra, which also owns the Boroo mine in Mongolia, will hold the remaining 66 percent of equity.

Editorial: Aboriginal think tank calls for ‘bold’ infrastructure development in Far North – by John Cumming (Northern Miner February 2, 2016)

February 4, 2016

http://www.northernminer.com/

With the new federal government having vowed in its election platform to improve the lives of Aboriginal Canadians and spend tens of billions on infrastructure projects to offset the economic downturn, it’s a perfect time for aboriginal groups to lobby governments to step up their investments in infrastructure investment in northernmost Canada.

And that’s exactly what the National Aboriginal Economic Development Board (NAEDB) is doing with its new report, “Recommendations on northern infrastructure to support economic development.”

Founded in 1990, NAEDB says its goal is to help Aboriginal Peoples in Canada become economically self-sufficient, and full participants in the Canadian economy. The NAEDB board is made up of 10 First Nations, Inuit and Métis business and community leaders from across Canada, with Clarence Louie, chief of the Osoyoos Indian Band in B.C., serving as chairperson.

NEWS RELEASE: Mining’s contributions to Canada strong despite downturn

February 4, 2016

New report details industry’s economic contributions, challenges and opportunities

OTTAWA, Feb. 3, 2016 /CNW/ – Despite market volatility and downward pressure on commodity prices, the mining industry’s economic contributions to Canada remain strong during the downturn, according to a new report from the Mining Association of Canada (MAC).

“The findings of this report serve as a reminder that even during a downturn, the mining industry plays a vital economic role in Canada’s rural and remote communities and in our largest cities,” said Pierre Gratton, President and CEO, MAC.

MAC’s latest annual Facts & Figures report revealed the industry directly employed more than 375,000 people in 2014.

NEWS RELEASE: PDAC Recommends Measures to Support the Canadian Mineral Exploration Sector in Pre-Budget Submission

February 3, 2016

Toronto, February 2, 2016 – In its pre-budget submission to the Government of Canada, the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) outlines its priorities for Federal Budget 2016 to support Canada’s mineral exploration and development sector. The PDAC recommends the Government take action to improve the flow of capital to the junior exploration sector, and address the infrastructure deficit in northern and remote Canada.

“A healthy junior mineral exploration sector is vital to the continued prosperity of Canada’s minerals and metals industry—an industry that contributes 4% of GDP and employs over 375,000 workers across the country,” says PDAC President Rod Thomas. “Canada’s junior mineral exploration sector is world-class, and has made 70% of all discoveries in Canada over the last 10 years.”

While the minerals sector is a key driver of the Canadian economy, it currently faces challenges that threaten its ability to continue to be a source of economic growth.

Canadians see appeal in [Australian] Beta Hunt – by Jarrod Lucas (The West Australian – February 3, 2016)

February 3, 2016

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/

Toronto stock exchange-listed Royal Nickel Corporation will take a controlling interest in the privately owned Beta Hunt mine near Kambalda in a $C7.5 million ($7.56 million) cash-and-scrip deal.

Royal Nickel will emerge with 67 per cent of Derek Fisher’s Salt Lake Mining, which acquired Beta Hunt for $10 million in 2013. Beta Hunt first operated in the 1970s and has the rare feature of nickel and gold resources in adjacent mineralised zones.

Nickel ore is delivered to BHP Billiton’s Kambalda concentrator, while gold is treated at St Ives, owned by South Africa’s Gold Fields, which holds the mining tenements at Beta Hunt.

Lowe’s-Rona deal the latest in long run of foreign purchases (CBC News Business – February 3, 2016)

February 3, 2016

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/

Canada’s falling dollar may continue to make companies attractive opportunities for foreign investors

The agreement that could see Quebec-based home improvement chain Rona Inc. acquired by U.S. rival Lowe’s is the latest attempt by a foreign investor to scoop up a Canadian business — a list that may grow longer with the lower loonie.

Canada’s cheap dollar stood at 72 cents US Wednesday morning, up from as low as 68.7 cents in January. Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe’s stock closed Tuesday at $71.87 US on the New York Stock Exchange.

On Wednesday, Lowe’s and Rona said each company’s board of directors had unanimously approved the $.3.2-billion Cdn acquisition, which still must get approved by the various regulatory bodies and shareholders for it to proceed.

Trudeau keeps digging himself deeper into a resources hole – by Gwyn Morgan (Globe and Mail – February 1, 2016)

February 2, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has a penchant for clever quips. He seems to especially relish combining them with digs at Stephen Harper, like his speech in Davos earlier this month, where he said, “My predecessor wanted you to know Canada for its resources. I want you to know Canadians for our resourcefulness.”

Besides being a gratuitous shot that hardly dignifies his position, it’s an ill-considered message to political and business leaders of countries that pay hundreds of billions of dollars for those resources.

Digging the hole deeper, Mr. Trudeau went on to say, “But Canadians also know … that growth and prosperity is not just a matter of what lies under our feet, but what lies between our ears.”

Canada’s economic image problem – by Eugene Lang and Philip DeMont (Toronto Star – February 2, 2016)

February 2, 2016

http://www.thestar.com/

The loonie rises and falls with the price of oil not because ours is a petro-economy but because the world thinks it is.

“The exchange rate is the most important price in the economy” is a quote often attributed to Robert Mundell, the Canadian-born, Nobel Prize winning economist. The dollar’s price is so important because it affects everything from the inflation rate, to the propensity of Americans to vacation in Canada, to the competitiveness of Canadian exports in foreign markets.

For the past five years, our exchange rate has been one of the biggest issues in Canadian economic policy. There is probably no advanced country in the world that has experienced such wild shifts in the value of its currency as Canada has recently.

NEWS RELEASE: MAC issues statement on Government Resource Revenue Sharing – Sharing of mining royalties between the Crown and Aboriginal communities

February 1, 2016

OTTAWA, Feb. 1, 2016 /CNW/ – The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) and its member companies have issued a position statement communicating its support for a principled, open and transparent approach to government resource revenue sharing between the Crown and Aboriginal communities that are primarily affected by a specific resource project.

“With this statement, MAC’s members, comprising some of the largest mining companies in Canada, are voicing their collective support for greater participation of Aboriginal people, communities, businesses and governments in the mining industry. We believe that government resource revenue sharing is one of many important ways that we can achieve that,” stated Pierre Gratton, President and CEO, MAC.

Government resource revenue sharing is understood as a sharing of resource royalties paid by industry to governments with Aboriginal communities. It is not an additional tax or royalty imposed on the industry.

‘Resourceful’ reputation must be earned – by William Watson (London Free Press – January 26, 2016)

February 1, 2016

http://www.lfpress.com/

That’s a nice line the prime minister delivered at Davos about how we want the world to know us for our resourcefulness, not just our resources. Nice. Not necessarily wise.

“Resourceful” says, literally, “full of resources.” We still are full of resources. They’re just worth a lot less than they were not long ago. If your resources lose value, then, sure, something other than resources is a useful second best. But when your resources are going for a high price, selling them is not actually cheating.

And, by the way, our resources don’t just show up at the border already packaged for export. We have to be very resourceful to get them there. In fact, a great first resourcefulness test for a new federal government focused on that quality would be to figure out how to get land-locked Alberta energy across pirate provinces hostile to it, and thence to world markets.

Junior miner takes B.C. to court over land transfer – by Iain Marlow (Globe and Mail – February 1, 2016)

February 1, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A junior miner with offices in Vancouver and Beijing is taking the government of British Columbia to court over a treaty-related transfer of land to a First Nations group that the company says should concern all resource companies in the province.

China Minerals Mining Corp. and its subsidiary Cassiar Gold Corp. have filed a petition with the Supreme Court of British Columbia that seeks to reverse a portion of the B.C. government’s transfer of Crown land near the Yukon border in northern B.C. to the Kaska Dena Council.

The transfer was done through an incremental treaty agreement, an arrangement in which the province can grant treaty-like benefits to First Nations groups in advance of a formal modern treaty – a process that could take many years in a province where most First Nations never signed treaties.

Canada’s Royal Nickel turns producer with two acquisitions – by Susan Taylor (Reuters Africa – February 1, 2016)

February 1, 2016

http://af.reuters.com/

TORONTO Feb 1(Reuters) – Canada’s Royal Nickel Corp , capitalizing on discount asset prices as commodity markets swoon, announced two cash and stock acquisitions on Monday that transform the mine developer into a cash-generating nickel, copper and gold producer.

Royal Nickel Chief Executive Mark Selby said the company will acquire a 67 percent stake in Australia’s privately-held Salt Lake Mining Pty, in a deal worth C$7.7 million, and 100 percent of Vancouver-based VMS Ventures Inc, in a separate transaction worth C$11.4 million.

Salt Lake Mining owns the Beta Hunt Mine, a low-cost nickel and gold mine in Western Australia. VMS’s main asset is a 30 percent stake in Reed Mine, a Manitoba copper mine that is 70-percent owned and operated by HudBay Minerals.

Like it or not, Canada’s edge is resources – by Gordon Gibson (Globe and Mail – February 1, 2016)

February 1, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. With all of the doom and gloom it is time for some big ideas in this country. But do we still have purpose and determination? Every big idea in the past decade has been nibbled to death by ducks. Nothing is firing on all cylinders except selling our real estate to foreigners.

We remain a resource-based country. Yes, I know – we have to convert that into a sustainable economy of ideas. But we haven’t done that. You remember the Alberta bumper sticker after the last crash? “Please God, let there be another oil boom. We promise not to piss it all away next time.” Well, She did, and they did.

Collectively we’ve bought comforts instead of investments in the future. We maybe have another shot at doing it right. Or, we can continue to dwindle away as a much nicer and poorer United States.

An environmental review process is an organized procrastination – by Rex Murphy (National Post – January 30, 2016)

February 1, 2016

http://news.nationalpost.com/

During the environmental review process for the Keystone XL pipeline, the Earth made eight full revolutions around the sun, U.S. President Barack Obama turned grey and the grand hotels of Poznari, Copenhagen, Cancun, Durban, Dohai, Warsaw, Lima and Paris offered shelter and sustenance to the jet-setting nomads of the church of climate change.

Keystone was given eight full years of protests, hearings, lawsuits, editorials, seminars, submissions, arguments and grandstanding — all to get to a big, fat “no” from Obama.

Yet Obama’s ultimate answer was preordained. During much of those eight years, it seemed like Congress, the U.S. State Department or various unions might give Keystone a splinter of brittle hope. But the environmentalist lobby — the Sierra Club, David Suzuki, Greenpeace and the green factions of every city and town — crowded the halls of Washington or Ottawa.