Canada Mining – Page 227 – Republic of Mining

These gold hunting drones and drills don’t need a permit to make your rich – Business Network News Andrew Bell interviews Shawn Ryan (March 5, 2015)

March 13, 2015

http://www.bnn.ca/

Article by Jeff Lagerquist, BNN.ca staff

The people behind GroundTruth Exploration Inc. are the Navy SEALS of prospecting. They use innovative technologies to gather precise intelligence. They can work under the harshest conditions deep in the wilderness, almost anywhere in the world, leaving behind virtually no trace. The data they gather can literally be worth millions. And they get the job done with a level of speed and efficiency that threatens to upend the way mineral deposits are found.

Shawn Ryan, principal at GroundTruth relishes the comparison to the elite U.S. fighting force, and says his Yukon Territory-based company’s potent combination of existing technologies newly applied to the prospecting industry can cut exploration costs by 80 percent.

“What would normally cost us two field seasons in the Yukon, and $500,000 to $700,000, we do it in two weeks, any time of the year, for under $100,000,” he said.

Franco-Nevada ready to bankroll cash strapped producers ahead of exploration drought – Business Network News Andrew Bell interviews Pierre Lassonde (March 3, 2015)

March 13, 2015

http://www.bnn.ca/

Article Jeff Lagerquist, BNN.ca staff

It’s a buyer’s market for gold royalty companies as cash-strapped miners look to fill the capital void left by fleeting venture capital and bank debt. Few know this as well as Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO 1.17%), the Toronto-based rival of Silver Wheaton (SLW.TO 2.16%) who announced a dividend for the first quarter of 2015 earlier this month.

Pierre Lassonde, Franco-Nevada’s chair, is making big bets ahead of the exploration drought he sees five-to-ten years down the road to the tune of U.S. $900 million in 2014.

Franco-Nevada announced in October it’s providing an up-front deposit of $648 million to acquire the gold and silver stream from Freeport-McMoRan Inc.’s (FCX.N -4.1%) Candelaria operation in Chile from Lundin Mining Corporation (LUN.TO -2.14%). It’s the biggest deal of the year for Franco, the royalty and streaming investor that became famous for acquiring a royalty on Barrick Gold’s Nevada mine in 1985.

KGHM relies on Canada for growth – Business Network News with Andrew Bell (March 2, 2015)

March 13, 2015

http://www.bnn.ca/ Polish-owned KGHM International is one of the world’s largest miners of copper and silver. A look at the subsidiary’s big growth projects in Canada, including planned base metals mines in Sudbury, ON, and near Kamloops, BC., with Derek White, CEO, KGHM International.

Future Arctic: More Mining, More Shipping and More Tourists – by Benjamin Hulac and Climate Wire (Scientific American – March 13, 2015)

March 13, 2015

http://www.scientificamerican.com/

As the Arctic thaws, northern nations dream of a new economy

ROVANIEMI, Finland—In one of this nation’s northernmost cities and at the close of a winter that citizens here have called unusually mild, foreign ambassadors spoke of their nations’ hope to do business in the Arctic, Finnish spokesmen outlined their plans to attract international money, and business owners burnished their cases for investment in the polar north.

“Nordic lights is a good example of business actually nowadays,” Juha Mäkimattila, the chairman of the Lapland Chamber of Conference, said at a dinner for foreign guests Wednesday, with a slideshow of aurora borealis photographs thrumming behind him. “We can actually make money on the northern lights from people from new parts of the world.”

At the two-day Arctic Business Forum, hosted by the Lapland chamber, delegations from more than 20 nations, most which do not border the Arctic Circle, said the tone reflected a robust appetite for economic expansion, natural resource extraction and an optimistic prognosis for strong tourist spending.

Meeting in a city that advertises itself on its website as “The Official Hometown of Santa Claus,” most speakers alluded to environmental management but didn’t get into the problems of melting permafrost or the additional threats of future oil spills or the loss of species.

On both days, the tone was bullish. Diplomats from global trade and economic powers signaled their governments’ growing interest in Arctic transit and heavy shipping in the Arctic Ocean.

65 Alberta Dams To Be Inspected For Integrity – by John Cotter (Canadian Press/Huffington Post – March 12, 2015)

March 13, 2015

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/alberta/

EDMONTON – The Alberta Energy Regulator says it will inspect the structural integrity and review the safety records of 65 dams used by the oilsands and coal industries in the province.

The announcement follows criticism by the auditor general that the provincial government is failing to properly regulate Alberta’s network of dams and tailings ponds.

The 65 dams are used to contain industrial waste and the regulator says 32 are classified as posing either “extreme” or “very high” environmental consequences if they were to fail.

CEO Jim Ellis said the regulator will apply the same safety standards to these dams that are used on oil and natural gas pipelines in order to ensure the safe, environmentally responsible development of energy resources.

“The auditor general has recognized the AER’s pipeline regulation performance, and Albertans can be confident that we will apply that same rigour to all AER-regulated dams,” he said. The regulator took responsibility for regulating energy industry dams from Alberta’s Environment Department last year.

Western Canada’s mining sector faces bleak employment outlook: report – by David Kennedy (Globe and Mail – March 10, 2015)

March 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.

From copper miners to the oil patch, plunging commodity prices are taking a toll on employment in Western Canada – a trend employers see persisting for at least another three months.

While most Canadian companies expect relatively steady hiring in the next quarter, miners in Western Canada are more likely to cut staff, the latest Manpower Inc. employment survey shows.

Across all sectors, 18 per cent of employers say they are looking to hire in the upcoming quarter, while only 5 per cent anticipate downsizing. Taking into account the seasonal adjustment, the net Canadian employment outlook is at 10 per cent, unchanged from last quarter and one percentage point higher than a year ago.

The net employment outlook is the percentage of employers expecting to bring on more staff, minus the percentage of employers expecting to cut back. “I can’t say that it’s strong from a year-over-year [comparison], when you’ve got a one-point percentage increase,” Michelle Dunnill, branch manager of Manpower’s Toronto office, said,“but given our challenges that are transpiring right now, [we’re] cautiously optimistic.”

Commentary: Aboriginal Peoples score 200 legal wins in Canada’s resources sector – by Bill Gallagher (Northern Miner – March 4, 2015)

March 10, 2015

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry.

Pipelines, energy exports, fracking, clear-cuts, tailings ponds and access to resources are daily in the news as the industry faces pushback on traditional lands from natives who feel that their way of life is threatened. But what’s different now is that the tone of the dialogue is changing — and not necessarily for the better.

For example, here is a quote from Northern News of Gino Chitaroni, president of the Northern Prospectors Association, recently speaking in Kirkland Lake, Ont.: “We are now at a crossroads, where our whole industry and way of life is completely threatened … the empowerment of First Nations at the expense of the mining and exploration industry … this is a massive sleeper problem that nobody wants to talk about in the press, because those who do may be targeted for reprisals and branded bigots and racists.”

We’ve seen a lot of court-bashing in the Canadian media from think tanks, former politicos and a former media tycoon. But the fact is that the native legal winning streak has rolled out in a highly consistent fashion. Indeed, it’s the courts themselves that have promoted the need for constructive dialogue for over 15 years now, based on the poignant closing in Delgamuukw, wherein the Supreme Court admonished one and all by writing: “Let us face it: we are all here to stay.”

Unfortunately, resource-centric governments have continued to do their talking in the court, with devastating results. Because today, after amassing 200 legal wins (I’ve been keeping track), Aboriginal Peoples are well on their way to redrawing the map of Canada not only at the resource sector’s expense, but also at the expense of the national economy.

Ring of Fire mining project needs First Nations consent, Bob Rae says – by Jody Porter (CBC News Thunder Bay – March 10, 2015)

March 10, 2015

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

Negotiator for Matawa First Nations says no community can be left behind in development

Moving ahead with the Ring of Fire will require not just consultation, but the consent of the First Nations nearest to the mining development area in northern Ontario, according to Bob Rae. Rae is the negotiator for the nine Matawa First Nations in their discussions with Ontario about the proposed mining project.

Last week the province and the federal government announced they would jointly fund a $785,000 study to look at the viability of a road that would connect four fly-in First Nations to the provincial highway at Pickle Lake, Ont. The route being studied would also provide an industrial corridor for a nickel mine planned by Noront Resources.

“This can’t be a process that is driven exclusively on the interests of one project or another,” Rae said. “It has to be seen as responding to a broader concern which is the isolation, the poverty, the real needs of these communities.”

To that end, Rae said, more than one road will be needed. First Nations envision a loop that begins near the provincial highway at Nakina, Ont. travels through Aroland and Marten Falls First Nations, connects with the route currently under study and ends at Pickle Lake, he said.

Take-Over Bids in Canada – A Must Read for Businesses, Boards and Bidders

March 6, 2015

http://www.fasken.com/en/home/

Click here for the 2015 Canadian Take-Over Bid Study

Toronto (Canada) – February 19, 2015 – International business law firm Fasken Martineau has released the results of a new 10-year empirical analysis of contested corporate take-overs in Canada. It arrives just as Canada’s securities regulators are set to release a proposal to make the most significant changes to the take-over bid rules in years, with the goal of levelling the playing field between bidders and target companies in unsolicited acquisitions.

Examining all 143 hostile take-over contests for control between 2005-14, Fasken Martineau’s study offers a sweeping, insightful overview of a decade’s worth of contested M&A deals in Canada. The research offers some surprising findings and will be of interest to all participants in Canada’s thriving M&A market, including boards, shareholders, bidders, advisors and regulators.

The study was co-authored by Fasken Martineau corporate partners in Toronto Aaron J. Atkinson and Bradley A. Freelan, both of whom have extensive experience advising in M&A, including contested transactions.

The study is the first of its kind in Canada and coincides with expected amendments to the Canadian take-over bid regime by the country’s securities regulators. In Canada, unlike the United States, boards do not have the ability to “just say no” to a hostile bidder to prevent it from proceeding. This has led to a spirited debate in Canada as to the proper role of the board in a transaction that is ultimately between the bidder and shareholders.

Cda. gaining poor rep starting up mining projects — Charest – by Len Gillis (Timmins Daily Press – March 5, 2015)

March 6, 2015

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Former Quebec premier Jean Charest told a breakfast audience in Timmins Thursday that government needs to be more pro-active when it comes to resource development because Canada is getting a reputation as a place where such projects do not get done quickly enough.

Charest was in Timmins as part of a quick cross-country tour for the Partnership for Resource Trade (PRT), a pro-resources organization.

Charest was in Vancouver and Winnipeg earlier this week and after his appearance in Timmins he will be speaking in Moncton and Halifax next week. The tour is sponsored by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

“The PRT is a group put that was together so we can have a much better dialogue about the future of resources in Canada and what role it plays in our economy,” Charest explained, adding there is growing concern about how resources are being managed.

“There is a sense that we must, in Canada, have a much, much better debate, dialogue, conversation, call it what we want, about the future of resources and how we manage them,” Charest told the Timmins business audience at Cedar Meadows Resort.

As a private sector lawyer, Charest travels the world setting up and negotiating agreements for Canadian mining companies. He said this gives him insight into how others see our country.

Lukas Lundin: Guts, glory and betting against the grain – by Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – March 6, 2015)

March 6, 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.

Lukas Lundin has no tricks for how to play the market, but somehow he has timed his deals impeccably.

The mining tycoon managed to sell a big gold mine for billions at the top of cycle. Then after bullion slumped 30 per cent he bought another gold project for a fraction of the original cost.

“It was some luck and some skill,” the executive said in an interview at this week’s Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference. Mr. Lundin said he learned his deal-making skills from his father, Adolf Lundin, who founded the $11.8-billion Vancouver- based Lundin Group, a conglomerate of mining and energy companies.

“He had a big appetite for risk,” said Mr. Lundin. One of the family’s 11 companies is called NGEx Resources Inc. It stands for “No Guts, No Glory Exploration,” a play on patriarch Lundin’s “no guts, no glory” motto.

“He was a big speculator, took big risks, sometimes maybe not calculated. Hopefully I take more risks that are calculated,” said Mr. Lundin.

Ottawa Urged To Share Resource Taxes With Aboriginals – by Bob Weber (Canadian Press/Huffington Post – March 3, 2015)

March 6, 2015

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/politics/

EDMONTON – First Nations should get some of the money generated by resources on their lands, suggests a report commissioned by the federal government and the Assembly of First Nations.

The report, released Tuesday by the Working Group on Natural Resource Development, says a First Nations resource tax could be a consistent and practical way for mineral and energy wealth to benefit aboriginal communities.

“We strongly urge the federal government, along with the provinces and territories, to come together with First Nations to explore options for resource revenue sharing,” says the report.

“This discussion is long overdue and requires immediate action in order to bring greater predictability to resource development in Canada and establish a long-term pathway to greater First Nations self-reliance.”

The group was struck after a meeting between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and former Assembly of First Nations grand chief Shawn Atleo. Its report was issued after meetings in Toronto and Edmonton between First Nations, governments, industry and non-governmental organizations.

Goldcorp Sees Investors Taking Shine to ‘Beaten-Up’ Industry – by Liezel Hill(Bloomberg News – March 3, 2015)

March 6, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

(Bloomberg) — The world’s largest gold producer by market value says investor sentiment for the sector may finally be starting to turn after years as one of the least-loved industries.

“There’s generalist value investors out there saying ‘OK, I like looking at beaten-up sectors, this sector is really beaten up,’” Goldcorp Inc. Chief Executive Officer Chuck Jeannes said in an interview Tuesday at Bloomberg’s Toronto office. “People are trying to call the bottom.”

Jeannes said he’s been fielding more calls from unfamiliar investors and has a new entity among its top 10 shareholders. Artisan Partners, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based investment company with more than $100 billion in assets, added 15.7 million shares in Goldcorp last year, making it the seventh-largest holder, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Gold & Silver Index plunged 70 percent from the start of 2011 to the end of last year. Producers struggled to contain costs and wrote off billions of dollars after prices for the metal — which had risen to more than $1,900 an ounce — began dropping in 2012. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 64 percent in the past four years.

Goldcorp fell 2.4 percent to C$25.45 at the close in Toronto. The shares, which have risen 19 percent in 2015, have dropped in the prior four years.

Mood at PDAC 2015 ‘cautiously optimistic’ (Northern Miner – March 4, 2015)

March 6, 2015

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry.

This year’s annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention drew in 23,578 attendees from over 100 countries. While the crowd for the world’s largest mining event, held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, was slightly smaller than last year’s over 25,000 participants, the mood was relatively more positive, PDAC president Rod Thomas told The Northern Miner.

Here’s an edited transcript of an interview with Thomas from the four-day event, which ended on March 4:

The Northern Miner: How has the PDAC convention evolved since you have been attending the event? How long have you been involved with the PDAC?

Rod Thomas: I first came here as a student in the 1970s. And for a student, in those days, it was the free sweets and so and so forth, and that was the main attraction. But, I have been coming for close to 40 years, I suppose. It has grown a lot, of course. Back then, it was held in the Royal York and I think we probably had an attendance in the order of 2,000 people.

I didn’t really start getting involved as a volunteer until the early 1990s. At that time, one of the directors asked me to help them to vet or set up the Investors Exchange.