Canada Mining – Page 206 – Republic of Mining

Canada – a land of golden opportunity. As is Australia, Ghana etc – by Lawrie Williams (Lawrieongold.com – September 16, 2015)

September 17, 2015

I have just been sent a copy of a new Newsletter being put out by Peartree Securities – which reckons to be the largest provider of mining flow-through capital in Canada so knows something about junior mining. While the newsletter theoretically looks at Canadian resources in general it is most relevant to the hugely depressed junior gold sector and could well be being initiated at a most opportune time for investment in this volatile part of the market.

True resource analysts have been calling the bottom in the gold price dip for the past couple of years – and still gold has trended lower. As we have pointed out before, the lower the price falls, though, perhaps also the lower the downside investment risk in percentage terms. Gold has been fairly steady in its current range in US dollar terms of late and while some analysts – notably from the bullion banks – are calling for further falls still, triggered by US Fed interest rate raising forecasts.

We are of the opinion that, even so, any further downside is definitely limited given the likely minimalist rate raising that may be contemplated by the Fed if and when it actually takes place. While holding gold may not generate any interest, rates are still likely to remain in negative territory in real terms after any initial raise – a factor which just doesn’t seem to be being taken into account by the investment sector.

Canadian rare earth elements miners band together for survival in pricing downturn – by Peter Henderson (Canadian Press/CTV News – September 16, 2015)

September 17, 2015

http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/

TORONTO — Experts say government support for research and development of Canada’s rare earth elements has encouraged new co-operation in the usually dog-eat-dog world of junior mining companies.

China is the world’s major supplier of rare earth elements, prized for their unique properties — including powerful magnetic fields — and used in high-tech goods such as smartphones, laptops and electric cars.

Prices rose dramatically in 2011, and by 2013 there were at least 11 Canadian projects at the advanced exploration stage before a steep slide in value put a halt on development.

Ian London, who heads the Canadian Rare Earth Elements Network, said companies are instead working together to develop new methods for extracting and refining the 17 metals that make up the rare earth group.

“Now that there has been a lull that’s gone on for a little while, folks have become much more realistic and are looking to address those challenges,” he said.

N.W.T. draft plan for protected areas has Chamber of Mines up in arms – by Guy Quenneville (CBC News North – September 16, 2015)

September 16, 2015

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

Draft target of 40% will damage territory’s already struggling minerals industry, says chamber vice-president

The N.W.T. and Nunavut Chamber of Mines says it is “deeply concerned” with an “outrageous” suggestion from the N.W.T. government that as much as 40 per cent of land in the territory be set aside for conservation, but the government says that worry is premature.

“We appreciate their concerns. The document is stamped ‘DRAFT,'” says Michael Miltenberger, minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

Miltenberger’s department circulated a draft plan on N.W.T. conservation areas earlier this month to environmental groups (the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Tides Canada), aboriginal groups, the chamber of mines and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

The plan proposes “a target of 40 per cent in conservation areas in the N.W.T.” Miltenberger says only half of that land would be shut off to companies; the other half, only potentially so.

Ex-Centerra CEO remains in Bulgarian limbo as extradition hearing delayed – by Jeff Gray (Globe and Mail – September 15, 2015)

September 15, 2015

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.

Former Centerra Gold Inc. chief executive officer Len Homeniuk, who was arrested by Bulgarian border police in July at the request of Kyrgyzstani authorities, is now expected to remain in limbo under house arrest in Bulgaria with his wife until at least Oct. 7.

Toronto-based Centerra operates the massive Kumtor gold mine in Kyrgyzstan and is locked in contentious talks with the government there over the country’s stake in the mine, which the former Soviet republic has in the past threatened to nationalize.

The 68-year-old Mr. Homeniuk, a Canadian-U.S. dual citizen who lives in California, retired as CEO in 2008. He was picked up in late July while on holiday with his family on a boat cruise on the Danube after Kyrgyzstan last year put him on Interpol’s wanted list, alleging he was involved in “corruption” while at the helm of Centerra. Mr. Homeniuk and Centerra dismiss the allegations as baseless, and Mr. Homeniuk says the allegations are nothing more than an attempt to pressure Centerra in the current talks.

In a phone interview, Mr. Homeniuk said on Monday a Bulgarian extradition hearing that had been scheduled for Wednesday has now been put off until Oct. 7.

UN Considers Canada’s Overseas Mining Record – by Ryskeldi Satke (The Diplomat – September 15, 2015)

September 15, 2015

http://thediplomat.com/

Canadian mining outfits have come under widespread fire for their practices in Central Asia and elsewhere.

Human rights abuses linked to the operations of Canadian mining businesses abroad took center stage in Geneva in June, when the UN Human Rights Committee addressed a series of concerns over Canada’s extractive industry’s record.

Canada is a global leader in the mining sector, and mining alone contributed $54 billion to Canada’s GDP in 2013. However, complaints about human rights violations and mistreatment of indigenous peoples by Canadian mining companies have accumulated over the years, prompting Amnesty International and the Canadian Human Rights Commission to raise the issue with the UN. Canadian firms have been accused of damaging the environment, with mass protests in South America and Central Asia.

In Guatemala, Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals was criticized for its inability to stop the rape and murder of local environmental activists. The contractors of another Canadian mining giant, Barrick Gold, were allegedly involved in a mass rape of 137 local women aged between 14 and 80 in Papua New Guinea. In Kyrgyzstan, a Centerra Gold-operated mine triggered violent protests against the Canadian firm, which led to allegations that community activists were tortured by government forces and local police.

NDP wouldn’t reverse historic uranium mine decision, Mulcair says – Rod Nickel (Reuters/Globe and Mail – September 10, 2015)

September 11, 2015

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.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Reuters – The New Democratic Party views Canada’s uranium as a “strategic asset,” and would not reverse a rare government decision to allow foreign ownership of a proposed mine, leader Thomas Mulcair said on Thursday.

The uranium industry is unpopular in Quebec, the NDP’s stronghold heading into next month’s election. But it is a key part of the economy in Saskatchewan, where the party hopes to add support.

The governing Conservatives in June made an exception to the country’s longstanding policy requiring uranium mines to be majority-owned by Canadian companies, and approved an application by Australia’s Paladin Energy Ltd.

If the left-wing NDP forms government after the Oct. 19 election, it would not change that decision, Mulcair said during a Winnipeg campaign stop.

AUDIO: [De Beers and Attawapiskat] After the Last River screens at Bay Street Film Festival in Thunder Bay (CBC News Thunder Bay – September 10, 2015)

September 10, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/

Movie highlights relationship between First Nation and mining company in northern Ontario

The Bay Street Film Festival kicks off Thursday through Sunday in Thunder Bay. One highly-anticipated film screens Thursday evening after receiving a great deal of attention during production.

After the Last River tells the story of the Attawapiskat First Nation’s experience with the nearby De Beers diamond mining company in northern Ontario.

The small community near James Bay garnered international attention for its’ social issues through the grassroots Idle No More campaign.

Vicki Lean, the film’s director, said there’s not enough discussion about how mining companies and small communities can impact each other.

Nova Construction hopes to open Junction Road coal mine – by Richard Cuthbertson (CBC News Nova Scotia – September 9, 2015)

September 9, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/

Town once famous for mines could start supplying Nova Scotia Power

An industry that was once the economic lifeblood of Springhill, N.S., could soon return to the town, as an Antigonish company seeks the green light to sample 10,000 tonnes of coal starting as soon as early next year.

Springhill Coal Mines Ltd., a subsidiary of Nova Construction, wants to dig an open pit to pluck the coal from land it owns in the Junction Road area and ship it to Trenton to test as fuel in Nova Scotia Power’s generating station.

“We’re still a province that burns a lot of coal per year to generate electricity,” Nova Construction President Donald Chisholm told CBC News. “For a number of years to come, that’s probably going to remain the same.”

Springhill Coal Mines submitted an application to Nova Scotia Environment on July 27. At this point, the company is only applying to drill for test amounts and any move to open a full scale open pit mine would be subject to a fresh application and full environmental assessment.

NEWS RELEASE: Ivanhoe Mines, Laurentian University and the University of Limpopo forge educational partnership to provide skills for South Africa’s miners of tomorrow

September 9, 2015September 9, 2015

Representatives of the South African and Canadian governments, Ivanhoe Mines, Ivanplats, Laurentian University (LU) and the University of Limpopo (UL) celebrate the new partnership in mining education at the latter's Turfloop Campus in Polokwane today. (L to R) Vinesh Devchander (Department of Mineral Resources), Dr. Patricia Makhesha (Managing Director, Ivanplats), Dr. Bruce Jago (LU), Michael Langa (MSc candidate), Prof. John Dunlevey (UL), Prof. Mahlo Mokgalong (Vice-Chancellor, UL), Prof. Aifheli Gelebe (UL), Thabiso Makohliso (MSc candidate), Louise Holt (Canadian High Commission) and Jeremy Michaels (Ivanhoe Mines). — Representatives of the South African and Canadian governments, Ivanhoe Mines, Ivanplats, Laurentian University (LU) and the University of Limpopo (UL) celebrate the new partnership in mining education at the latter’s Turfloop Campus in Polokwane today. (L to R) Vinesh Devchander (Department of Mineral Resources), Dr. Patricia Makhesha (Managing Director, Ivanplats), Dr. Bruce Jago (LU), Michael Langa (MSc candidate), Prof. John Dunlevey (UL), Prof. Mahlo Mokgalong (Vice-Chancellor, UL), Prof. Aifheli Gelebe (UL), Thabiso Makohliso (MSc candidate), Louise Holt (Canadian High Commission) and Jeremy Michaels (Ivanhoe Mines).

www.ivanhoemines.com

POLOKWANE, SOUTH AFRICA – September 9, 2015 – Ivanhoe Mines Limited (TSX: IVN), the University of Limpopo in South Africa and Laurentian University in Canada signed an agreement today officially launching an educational collaboration between the two universities. The collaboration, initiated and sponsored by Ivanhoe’s South African subsidiary, Ivanplats, was celebrated at a signing ceremony on the University of Limpopo campus attended by officials from Laurentian University, the University of Limpopo, Ivanhoe and the South African and Canadian governments.

A principal goal of the five-year partnership, which is renewable for a further five years, is to develop and equip the University of Limpopo’s geology department to become a centre of excellence in geosciences. This will be achieved through measures that include:

• improved training and curriculum choices in economic geology and mineral exploration at the University of Limpopo;
• increased teaching and research capacities at the graduate student level;
• equipping laboratories;
• purchasing an outdoor vehicle and trailer for field excursions; and
• collaborating with Laurentian University to improve the University of Limpopo’s learning programmes.

Franco-Nevada Mulls Credit as `Hokey’ Streaming Goes Mainstream – by Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – September 8, 2015)

September 8, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/

For Franco-Nevada Corp., the best time to take on debt is at the bottom of a market. The day may be approaching for the Canadian royalty and streaming company as the commodity rout boosts demand for alternative funding.

“There are so many opportunities out there, we might have to dip into our credit lines,” Chief Executive Officer David Harquail said in an interview last week from his Toronto offices. “The ideal is you lever yourself up at the very bottom of the bear market and hopefully, if you’ve called it right, then you really benefit as the market turns around.”

Streaming companies like Franco-Nevada, Silver Wheaton Corp. and Royal Gold Inc. give miners upfront payments in exchange for the right to buy metals at a discount in the future. Franco-Nevada also does royalty agreements, tying portions of production to land titles.

Plunging metal prices, with copper down 24 percent and gold 11 percent in the past year, combined with surging credit costs and volatile stock markets, have made streaming attractive even for majors such as Barrick Gold Corp. and Freeport-McMoRan Inc., giving the business more credibility.

How First Nations resurgence could help or hinder pipeline projects (Business Vancouver – september 8, 2015)

September 8, 2015

https://www.biv.com/

There’s something significant going on in the aboriginal world, which needs to be viewed with a historical frame of reference. From demonstrations of indigenous identity …

The Canadian oilpatch was dumbstruck by incoming Alberta Premier Rachel Notley’s pre-election announcement that her government would withdraw support for Enbridge’s (TSX:ENB) Northern Gateway pipeline.

“It’s not worth it,” Notley said, suggesting that she considered First Nations opposition intractable and noting the “intense” environmental sensitivities in British Columbia.

Shortly after the NDP’s orange crush started giving Calgary energy executives the blues, B.C.’s Lax Kw’alaams Band unanimously rejected the $1.1 billion offer from Petronas-led Pacific NorthWest LNG to site its liquefaction terminal on Lelu Island near Prince Rupert.

As Canada’s oil and gas export industry starts shifting from the shrinking U.S. market to the expanding Asian markets, getting aboriginal buy-in for the requisite infrastructure has proved extremely difficult.

Do tax credits help Northern mining? Economists and industry disagree – by Chris Windeyer (CBC News North – September 4, 2015)

September 8, 2015

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

‘Everybody thinks it’s a magic bullet but it doesn’t do anything,’ economist says

It’s been a regular feature of Conservative federal budgets since 2006: an extension, for another year, of the 15 per cent Mineral Exploration Tax Credit.

The Conservative Party is now promising to extend that credit for another three years, if it’s re-elected, and boost the credit to 25 per cent in remote areas, including the territories and large parts of the provincial North.

There’s just one problem, says Lindsay Tedds, an economist with the University of Victoria: it may not actually work.

“Everybody thinks it’s a magic bullet but it doesn’t do anything,” Tedds says. “It does not increase investment to the point where you’re going to have increased exploration.”

Mining makes its debut in Canadian election – by Andrew Topf (Mining.com – September 6, 2015)

September 8, 2015

http://www.mining.com/

It’s not often that mining makes headlines as an election issue in Canada, but there it was last week, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a scheduled campaign stop in the battleground riding of Nipissing–Timiskaming in Northern Ontario.

Harper, whose incumbent Conservative Party finds itself in a tight three-way race with the Liberal Party and the NDP, told a group of supporters in North Bay that the 15 percent mineral exploration tax credit, in place since 2006, would be extended at least another three years if the government is re-elected.

Projects that face steep overhead costs due to remote locations, such as the Ring of Fire in Northern Ontario and the Plan Nord in Quebec, would qualify for a 25 percent tax credit.

The cost of extending the credit and the new enhanced credit would be about $60 million a year starting in 2016-17. Both Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau and the leader of the NDP, Tom Mulcair, have said they oppose the tax credit.

Canada and Australia feel the squeeze in wake of Chinese economic slowdown – by Heather Stewart, Calla Wahlquist and Jared Lindzon (The Guardian – September 5, 2015)

September 8, 2015

http://www.theguardian.com/

Iron and oil producers proved resilient during the crash of 2008-09 but are now struggling as commodities prices decline

In the mining town of Port Hedland, 1,500km north of Perth, modest prefabricated homes called fibro shacks, which were changing hands for more than A$1m four years ago, are now failing to find a buyer at a third of the price. Apartment blocks hurriedly tacked together by developers at the peak of the country’s boom stand empty, because their promised supply of “fly-in-fly-out” mineworkers has dried up, along with the jobs they were brought in to do.

In 2011, the iron ore-rich Pilbara region of north-west Australia was on the frontier of a 21st century gold rush, this time with iron ore as the main prize – driven by China’s formidable appetite for natural resources to build up its infrastructure and modernise its economy.

Pilbara boasted salaries two-thirds higher than the national average and almost 80% of workers were flown into their jobs from Australia’s big cities. Now, mortgaged to the hilt on homes that lost value almost before the paint had dried, the mineworkers that remain are accepting longer hours and lower wages in an effort to keep up with the repayments.