Canada Mining – Page 209 – Republic of Mining

Former Centerra CEO ‘shocked’ by lack of Canadian action after controversial arrest in Bulgaria – by Peter Koven (National Post – August 19, 2015)

August 18, 2015

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

TORONTO — The former chief executive of Centerra Gold Inc. is lashing out at Canadian authorities after his arrest last month in Bulgaria on corruption allegations he says are unfounded and simply an attempt to sway current negotiations around a gold mine.

“My situation here is, in my opinion, pretty dire,” Len Homeniuk said in a phone interview.

Homeniuk, 68, was on a cruise on the Danube River with his family when Bulgarian authorities detained him in late July. He spent 11 days in prison, and was then transferred to house arrest. He is confined to a small apartment in Sofia, and is facing a potential extradition to Kyrgyzstan.

Homeniuk was arrested because the Kyrgyz government put him on Interpol’s wanted persons list due to alleged involvement in corruption. This comes as Centerra and the Kyrgyz government try to negotiate a new ownership agreement over the Kumtor gold mine.

“In my opinion, the only reason for this action is to put pressure on Centerra in the ongoing negotiations,” he said. He appealed the Interpol notice months ago, but the case has not yet been reviewed.

UPDATE 2-Barrick scraps co-president structure in management shuffle – by Euan Rocha (Reuters U.S. – August 18, 2015)

August 18, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

Aug 17 (Reuters) – Barrick Gold Corp said on Monday that Jim Gowans, a veteran miner and one of its co-presidents, was retiring and that he would not be replaced, as the miner moves to thin out its ranks and create a leaner operating structure.

In the latest reshuffle, Kelvin Dushnisky, who has served as co-president with Gowans for a year, has been named as president and will continue to report to Executive Chair John Thornton, a former Goldman Sachs executive.

Toronto-based Barrick said Gowans would step down as co-president immediately, but stay on as an adviser to the chairman until he retires at the end of the year.

Analysts said the exit of Gowans, who has four decades of industry experience, leaves a void of first-hand mining know-how in Barrick’s senior ranks.

“The loss of a senior executive with the mining experience of Jim Gowans does reduce the ‘bench strength’ of the overall management team,” noted Barclays analyst Farooq Hamed in a note to clients on Monday.

Canada’s natural-resource wealth must be included on balance sheets – by Lyn Brown and Julie Desjardins (Globe and Mail – August 18, 2015)

August 18, 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.

Lyn Brown is managing director of the Council for Clean Capitalism. Julie Desjardins is director, reporting and capital markets, of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada.

The amount of natural-resource wealth within Canada’s borders is impressive. Natural-resource assets, which include timber, oil, natural gas and other subsoil minerals, have been valued by Statistics Canada at about $1-trillion. This puts Canada in an enviable position relative to other countries.

As with financial and produced or physical assets, natural capital (land, ecosystems and natural-resource stock) generates economic value in various ways. Accounting for Canada’s natural capital enables informed policy and capital-allocation decision making. While Statistics Canada has valued our natural-resource assets, it has not as yet fully incorporated natural capital into its national macroeconomic accounts.

To understand the importance of accounting for and integrating natural capital in public accounts, consider the private sector.

Will a smaller global commodities appetite benefit Canada? – by Jeff Rubin (Globe and Mail – August 18, 2015)

August 18, 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.

Popular opinion suggests any slowdown in resource demand from China, which is becoming more desperate in its attempts to revive its flagging economy, will be especially bad for a commodity-dependent economy such as Canada’s.

That may well be the case, but it does overlook at least one key silver lining. Sharply lower commodity prices are now offering Canada an opportunity to push the reset button on an economy that’s become distorted by an overdependence on resource markets.

Whether you’re talking about oil, coal, or copper, it seems as if all roads have led to China for going on 20 years. With the sun now appearing to set on China’s track record of robust economic growth, questions are now being asked about whether the country might follow the example of Japan’s economy, which set the world on fire decades ago before sliding into a protracted period of stagnation that it’s still struggling to shake off.

Whether it’s stimulus spending, rate cuts or a recent devaluation of the yuan, Beijing’s attempts to prod China’s once seemingly unstoppable manufacturing sector back to its former heights continue to fall short.

The Gold Bull of the Great White North Is Ready to Mine More – by Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – August 17, 2015)

August 17, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Ian Telfer is the proud father of a spanking new $2 billion gold mine named Eleonore. Perched near the rocky shore of James Bay, 500 miles north of Montreal, Eleonore might seem like a problem child given the collapse in world gold prices.

But in this unhappy season for gold bugs, Telfer, chairman of Goldcorp Inc., scoffs at suggestions that gold is somehow falling out of fashion. “Yeah right. Just like Tiffany’s,” he says. “For thousands of years people have wanted to own gold.”

For the moment, the market is far less enthusiastic. Since 2011, gold has generally headed in one direction: down. The price has fallen from a high of more than $1,900 an ounce to around $1,100 and, in the process, lost at least some of its vaunted status as the ultimate safe haven investment.

On an inaugural visit to Eleonore, Telfer is unbowed. While other miners respond to the downturn by selling assets and seeking partners to offset risk, Goldcorp is presiding over a major expansion that includes this mine north of Canada’s 52nd parallel, another in Mexico and one in Argentina — three multibillion-dollar projects in five years.

Barrick Gold Corp shakes up management structure, drops co-president model- by Peter Koven (National Post – August 17, 2015)

August 17, 2015

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

Barrick Gold Corp. is scrapping its unusual “co-president” management structure less than a year after it went into effect.

Co-president Kelvin Dushnisky has been appointed Barrick’s sole president, the company said Monday morning. Until now, Dushnisky was sharing the president duties with Jim Gowans. Barrick announced that Gowans will retire at the end of this year, which was a surprise.

A couple of other management appointments were made in conjunction with these moves. Chief of staff Richard Williams has been named chief operating officer and will report directly to Dushnisky. Williams is a very unconventional choice for a COO, as he has a military background rather than a technical mining background. However, he will be assisted by Basie Maree, a mining veteran who was promoted to chief technical officer.

“As we work to accelerate Barrick’s return to the lean, decentralized model that drove the company’s early success, the time is right to put a structure in place that supports this vision,” chairman John Thornton said in a statement.

Northern Dynasty’s Last Stand – by Tommy Humphreys (CEO.ca – August 13, 2015)

August 14, 2015

http://ceo.ca/

Pebble’s new backers bet on EPA compromise and new JV partner for the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold deposit

Two experienced mining financiers are making a $4.7 million bet that one of the world’s largest and most controversial minerals deposits is about to turn a major corner.

Frank Giustra and Gord Keep’s Cannon Point Resources (CNP.TSXv) is being acquired by Northern Dynasty Minerals (NDM.T) for a touch over its cash value (C$4.7 million). Pro forma, the deal would give Cannon Point about 8% of Northern Dynasty.

Northern Dynasty owns 100% of the Pebble Deposit in Alaska. The project saw over C$750 million of investment over the past decade and contains a jaw-dropping 107 million ounces of gold, 80 billion pounds of copper, 5 billion pounds of molybdenum, and over 500 million ounces of silver* and showed robust economics at $1050 gold and $2.50 copper in a February 2011 PEA.

Pebble is also vehemently opposed by the EPA, which began a process to veto the project in February 2014 and more recently has tried to impose development restrictions.

Mining mergers and acquisitions – still under the bridge – by Kip Keen (Mineweb.com – August 13, 2015)

August 13, 2015

http://www.mineweb.com/news

EY figures are more confirmation of moribund merger and acquisition volume.

HALIFAX – You could almost recycle last year’s EY reports on mining mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to represent deal flow during the first half of 2015.

Which isn’t knocking EY. Just to say that mining M&A is still in the dumps.

As EY put it in their recent report on mining, “Overall activity in the 1st half of 2015 (H1 2015) remained subdued, following similar levels of malaise in 2014.” In fact, in some important ways, this year is worse off than last. EY was dead on describing IPO activity as flat-lining in the first half of 2015.

It looked dead last year. It’s deader now. Noting “persistently weak” IPOs in mining, E&Y data suggests the value of IPOs in the first half of 2015 is down 71% to $335 million from the first six months of 2014. The number of IPOs was also down to 6 from 8 and that says a lot.

Moody’s downgrades Barrick credit to lowest investment grade rating – by Rachele Younglai (Globe and Mail – August 13, 2015)

August 13, 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.

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Barrick Gold Corp.’s credit to the lowest investment grade rating, a blow to the company that is on track to reduce its debt by $3-billion (U.S.) this year.

Barrick is rapidly selling mines to reduce its $13-billion debt load. But Moody’s said Barrick’s debt is still too high given the weak gold price.

“Material organic debt reduction is unlikely and production will start declining in the next several years,” Darren Kirk, Moody’s senior credit officer, said in a statement announcing the downgrade.

Moody’s changed the miner’s outlook to “stable” from “negative” and downgraded Barrick’s debt to one notch above junk status, a risky rating that would increase the company’s borrowing costs.

IN DEPTH: Nunavut hunters want feds to stay out of uranium mine decision – by Sima Sahar Zerehi (CBC News North – August 11, 2015)

August 12, 2015

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

‘This would be a political disaster for Nunavut, and for Canada,’ Kivalliq Wildlife Board

Hunters in Nunavut say if the federal government overrides a recent uranium mining decision from the Nunavut Impact Review Board if will seriously erode the confidence of the Inuit in the regulatory system.

“This would be a political disaster for Nunavut, and for Canada,” states the Kivalliq Wildlife Board in a letter they sent to the minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development yesterday.

“Residents and institutions of Nunavut have spent considerable time and resources participating in the NIRB screening and review of Areva’s proposal,” states the letter, “If you reject the NIRB report and recommendation, residents of Nunavut will question what the point of their participation in this process was.”

This spring, the Nunavut Impact Review Board issued its final report on a proposed uranium mine near Baker Lake. The report rejected Areva’s proposed Kiggavik mine on the grounds that it lacks a definite start date and a development schedule. The review board concluded that without this information it was impossible to assess the environmental and social impacts of the uranium mine.

How recent currency moves have been an absolute gift to miners outside the U.S. – by Peter Koven (National Post – August 11, 2015)

August 11, 2015

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

It is no secret that mining companies are struggling through tough times. Commodity prices are down sharply in the past few months, and investor interest in the space has plummeted.

However, recent earnings reports show that many companies are adapting well to the lower-price environment. And one of the main reasons involves absolutely no work on their part.

It comes down to exchange rates. The sharp rise of the U.S. dollar against most foreign currencies is an absolute gift to anyone mining outside the United States. Since commodities are priced and sold in U.S. dollars and most of a company’s operating costs are in the local currency, they receive significant cost reductions just by doing what they always do.

Of course, a rising U.S. dollar is almost always negative for commodities, since they are viewed as a currency hedge. That has certainly been the case in recent weeks. But the exchange rate movements have offset much of the pain from tumbling metal prices.

Baffinland ships first load of iron ore to Germany from Nunavut mine (Nunatsiaq News – August 11, 2015)

August 11, 2015

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

Mary River ore heads off to Germany

The first load of iron ore from the Mary River iron mine on northern Baffin Island is now on its way to Germany, Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. said Aug. 10.

A bulk ore vessel, the Federal Tiber, departed from the mine’s Milne Inlet port Aug. 8 carrying 53,624 tonnes of iron ore.

The ship is bound for the North Sea port of Nordenham, Germany where its cargo will be offloaded and eventually used to make high quality steel, Baffinland said.

“This is a great moment for Baffinland, its investors, and its employees, who have worked hard to reach this goal. In just two years, the men and women who work at the site, both Inuit or southern, have collaborated to build the mine and its infrastructure and have now moved the new port into full operation — this is their achievement and they can be proud of what they have accomplished,È Tom Paddon, Baffinland’s president and CEO said in a company statement on the first ore shipment.

Whose Sovereignty? Gabriel Resources v. Romania – by Adam Cernea Clark (Huffington Post – August 6, 2015)

August 7, 2015

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Adam Cernea Clark is a writer on sustainable development issues and an environmental attorney.

Two weeks ago, a little-known Canadian gold mining company that has developed or operated exactly zero mines over 17 years announced to its investors that it had initiated international arbitration proceedings against the government of Romania for failing to permit what would be the largest open-pit gold and silver mine in Europe.

Claiming this right under Romania’s bilateral investment treaties (BITs) with Canada and the U.K. (the company consists of ten separate entities in half a dozen countries), Gabriel Resources opined that the Romanian government had unlawfully deprived them of their right to develop the project and extract the full value of their investment.

Using some 40 tons per day, Gabriel subsidiary Roşia Montana Gold Corporation’s project would have created a massive pool of cyanide over priceless archaeological gold mining sites dating back to the Roman Empire and possibly earlier. It would have destroyed the village of Roşia Montana and two adjacent villages, as well as four mountains in this remote corner of the Carpathians.

Almost two years ago, the project triggered historic street protests of tens of thousands of people around Romanian cities.

Embattled Barrick selling assets to cut debt, reduce costs – by Lisa Wright (Toronto Star – August 7, 2015)

August 7, 2015

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Gold miner cuts dividend and will shave another $2 billion from operations in pursuit of profitability.

Just about everything is for sale or on the chopping block – except for a handful of core mines – as Barrick Gold Corp. fights to stay atop the gold mining industry amid crippling debt and a tanking bullion price that has dragged its stock down to 26-year lows.

“If you have interested parties, be in contact with us please,” company co-president Kelvin Dushnisky said with a slight chuckle when an analyst asked on Thursday’s conference call if the miner’s equipment was up for sale at its now dormant Pascua-Lama site in Chile.

The Toronto-based gold miner said it will now target spending cuts across its operations at $2 billion before the end of 2016 — a move that tacks an extra $1 billion of cuts onto a previously announced target to lower expenses and improve productivity.