Twitter

Canada Mining

U.S.-Russia rift shaking up Canadian mining sector, for better and worse – by Peter Koven (National Post – July 16, 2014)

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

Escalating geopolitical tensions between Vladimir Putin and the West may be setting off tremors in Canada’s mining sector, with Russian backers withdrawing from North American assets, creating both big opportunities and major headaches for Canadian firms.

Toronto-based Corsa Coal Corp. announced Tuesday that it would purchase U.S. coal producer PBS Coals Ltd. for $60-million from Russia’s OAO Severstal — just a fraction of the $900-million purchase price that Severstal paid for PBS in 2008, which had already been discounted from a previous offer Severstal had made before the financial crisis struck.

“We think it’s a transformative deal for the company,” Corsa director George Dethlefsen said. Mr. Dethlefsen said that the Russian steel giant decided it no longer needs be vertically integrated on the coal side. Those issues made PBS expendable and gave Toronto-based Corsa a unique growth opportunity at the bottom of the coal market.

At the same time, however, Vancouver-based Mercator Minerals Ltd. is facing a dire financial position as a deal with Russian firm Intergeo MMC Ltd. appears to be on the brink of collapse.

Intergeo, which is controlled by flamboyant Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, agreed to buy Mercator last December, before the Ukrainian crisis, rescuing the company from liquidity problems. The deal would have given Intergeo ownership of Mercator’s Mineral Park mine in Arizona.

Read more

Too much time on your iPad? It can cause an allergic reaction – by Lindsey Tanner (Globe and Mail – July 16, 2014)

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.

CHICAGO — The Associated Press – Unexplained rash? Check your iPad. It turns out the popular tablet computer may contain nickel, one of the most common allergy-inducing metals.

Recent reports in medical journals detail nickel allergies from a variety of personal electronic devices, including laptops and cellphones. But it was an Apple iPad that caused an itchy body rash in an 11-year-old boy recently treated at a San Diego hospital, according to a report in Monday’s Pediatrics.

Nickel rashes aren’t life-threatening but they can be very uncomfortable, and they may require treatment with steroids and antibiotics if the skin eruptions become infected, said Dr. Sharon Jacob, a dermatologist at Rady Children’s Hospital, where the boy was treated. Jacob, who co-wrote the report, said the young patient had to miss school because of the rash.

The boy discussed in the Pediatrics report had a common skin condition that causes scaly patches, but he developed a different rash all over his body that didn’t respond to usual treatment. Skin testing showed he had a nickel allergy, and doctors traced it to an iPad his family had bought in 2010.

Doctors tested the device and detected a chemical found in nickel in the iPad’s outside coating.

Read more

The Queen of Diamonds Eira Thomas has turned her attention to gold – by Tryst Williams (Walesonline.com – July 13, 2014)

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/

Eira’s father Gren, born in wartime Swansea, formed the Aber Diamond Corporation (after his home of Abertawe) to make his big diamond finds

A millionaire Welsh miner’s daughter dubbed “The Queen of Diamonds” after her exploration work with her father made Canada one of the gem capitals of the world has now set her sights on gold.

Eira Thomas, 45, the only woman who can wear diamonds she discovered herself, is now chief executive of Vancouver based Kaminak Gold.

The company has just released a preliminary assessment showing desirable “high-margin low-risk” economics for its Coffee gold mine project in Canada’s legendary Yukon gold fields.

The report, by JDS Energy and Mining, says gold at Coffee is near-surface and importantly not too expensive to extract.

A statement from Kaminak said: “Total gold production over the life of the mine is expected at 1.86m ounces at a grade of 1.23 grams per tonne of gold, yielding operating cash flow of US $1.24bn and gross revenue of US $2.4bn.

Read more

‘The Ring of Fire is a national project’ says Kathleen Wynne (Business Network News – July 15, 2014)

  http://www.bnn.ca/ The federal government needs to see the Ring of Fire as a national project that will benefit Canadians, says Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne in an exclusive interview with BNN’s Greg Bonnell. The so-called Ring of Fire is the region located in Northern Ontario believed to be rich with minerals. The provincial government is …

Read more

Arctic mine gives Dominion Diamond more stones – by Liezel Hill (Montreal Gazette/Bloomberg News – July 15, 2014)

http://www.montrealgazette.com/index.html

Dominion Diamond Corp. is proving it can operate a diamond mine in the harsh Arctic conditions of Canada’s remote Northwest Territories after selling the luxury Harry Winston jewelry brand last year.

The Ekati mine, acquired last year from BHP Billiton Ltd., is Toronto-based Dominion’s first attempt at running an excavation. With a promise of higher returns for unpolished stones, Ekati, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) below the Arctic Circle, offers the challenge of improving results in tough conditions.

“Inevitably when you buy something that you’ve only really been able to see on paper you hold your breath a little bit,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert Gannicott said in a phone interview last week. “It’s worked pretty well for us.”

Dominion is increasing recovery at Ekati by capturing more smaller diamonds from crushed ore, Gannicott said. The company plans to make those adjustments permanent and Gannicott believes more improvements can be achieved.

Last week, Dominion said it agreed to buy out one of Ekati’s minority partners, Chuck Fipke, for about $67 million. Fipke and Stewart Blusson, who still has an interest in Ekati, discovered the deposit in 1991.

Initial results have been encouraging, according to Edward Sterck, an analyst at Bank of Montreal.

Read more

B.C. claims privilege on Kitimat report – Wendy Stueck (Globe and Mail – July 13, 2014)

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.

VANCOUVER — In an ongoing tussle over the Kitimat Airshed Study, lawyers representing two women in an Environmental Appeal Board case have asked that agency to force the province to turn over the study or explain its claim of cabinet privilege.

The study, which the province commissioned last year to weigh the impact of industrial emissions on the Kitimat Airshed, has yet to be publicly released, even though some groups interested in its conclusions – including the District of Kitimat – had expected to see it before the end of June.

Now, the report is the subject of a tug-of-war between the province and appellants in the EAB case, which concerns sulphur dioxide emissions from the Rio Tinto Alcan smelter in Kitimat. The province says it received a draft of the Kitimat Airshed Report in March and that it is “now part of discussions around cleanest LNG requirements” and will be released later this year. For now, however, the government says the report is being discussed by cabinet and subject to Crown privilege.

Emily Toews and Elisabeth Stannus – the appellants in the EAB case – would like to see the report now, maintaining it would provide the most up-to-date information about industrial emissions in Kitimat.

Read more

Ontario’s ‘win’ in Grassy Narrows comes at a high cost – by Bruce McIvor (Troy Media – July 13, 2014)

http://www.troymedia.com/

Bruce McIvor is Principal of First Peoples Law Corporation .

VANCOUVER, BC, Jul 13, 2014/ Troy Media/ – The Supreme Court of Canada’s recent Grassy Narrows (Keewatin) decision places a heavy legal burden on provincial governments when they seek to exploit Indigenous lands covered by the historical treaties of Canada. The challenge now is for First Nations to hold the provinces to account.

What the case was about?

Between 1871 and 1923, Canada negotiated 11 numbered treaties with First Nations across the country, including the Anishinaabe of Treaty 3 in northwestern Ontario and eastern Manitoba. With slight variations, each treaty allowed for the ‘taking up’ of lands for non-Indigenous settlement, mining, lumbering and other purposes. The primary issue inGrassy Narrowsis what limits exist on Ontario’s ability to exercise the taking up clause in Treaty 3.

After one of the longest and most thorough treaty interpretation trials in Canadian history, Justice Mary Anne Sanderson of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice confirmed the Anishinaabe understanding that Treaty 3 was made with Canada, not Ontario. This, coupled with Canada’s exclusive responsibility for “Indians, and lands reserved for the Indians” under the Constitution, meant that only Canada can issue forestry authorizations that significantly affect the exercise of treaty rights.

Read more

Barrick teams with Saudi Arabian miner on copper project – Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – July 14, 2014)

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.

Barrick Gold Corp. will work with a prominent Saudi Arabian miner to develop its copper mine in the country, a partnership that the Canadian company aims to replicate with other projects such as its mothballed Pascua Lama in the Andes.

The Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) will pay $210 million (U.S.) to own half of Barrick’s Jabal Sayid copper asset, which has been delayed due to regulatory hurdles in the Kingdom.

Barrick, the world’s largest gold producer, said the state-owned Ma’aden’s “extensive experience in the Saudi Arabian mining sector,” would help move the project to completion.

Jabal Sayid is expected to start operating in 2015 with annual production of about 100-130 million pounds of the red metal during its first five years of operation, according to Barrick.

The joint venture marks the first partnership the company has formed since John Thornton became Barrick’s executive chairman earlier this year. Mr. Thornton has spoken to media about developing a long-lasting relationship with China, currently the world’s biggest gold producer and consumer.

Read more

Court’s land claims ruling harms Canada’s business environment – by Gwyn Morgan (Globe and Mail – July 14, 2014)

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.

On June 26, the Supreme Court of Canada awarded title to a piece of the B.C. Interior roughly the size of Prince Edward Island to the 3,000-member T’silhqot’in First Nation. Initial government and business reaction characterized the decision as merely a clarification of previous lower-court judgments.

That was before it became clear that the land-claim entitlement criteria set out in the 37-page decision, written by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, exceeded the worst-case scenario of both governments and industry.

Under previous legal rulings, the “basis of occupation” to be used in establishing aboriginal title was limited to the immediate environs around settlements. The Supreme Court has vastly expanded that, saying: “[A]boriginal title … extends to tracts of land that were regularly used for hunting, fishing or otherwise exploiting resources and over which the group exercised effective control at the time of assertion of European sovereignty” (that is, the mid-1800s).

The court justifies this extreme interpretation by stating “… what is required is a culturally sensitive approach to sufficiency of occupation based on the dual perspectives of the Aboriginal group in question … and the common-law notion of possession as a basis for title.”

Read more

Fipke still looking for new diamond finds – by Anna Nicolaou (Globe and Mail – July 12, 2014)

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.

Charles (Chuck) Fipke doesn’t like giving interviews, but on this occasion, the multimillionaire geologist has a message to send: Selling his last piece of Canada’s first-ever diamond mine was anything but a retreat.

Rather, it’s his thirst for adventure that spurred him cut financial ties to Ekati, Canada’s first diamond mine and the product of his epic discovery in the Canadian arctic in the 1990s. The chunk of cash he’ll receive – a cool $67-million (U.S.), plus “quite a bit” of adjustments and interest payments – will help him to actively hunt for new sparkling gems.

Dominion Diamond Corp. – formerly known as Harry Winston Diamond Corp. – bought Mr. Fipke’s remaining interest on Wednesday, officially ending his financial involvement with the mine.

“I’m an explorer, not a manager,” Mr. Fipke explained over the phone from his home in Kelowna, B.C., where he studies gravel samples from around the world in his laboratory.

“It was always nice to own part of the [Ekati] mine,” he said, noting that he attended every quarterly meeting since before the mine was born. “It was fun, but I’m more of a geologist than a mining manager,” he repeated. “This allows me to do more exploration.”

Read more

Market leadership CEO’s goal – by Scott Larson (Regina Leader-Post – July 14, 2014)

http://www.leaderpost.com/index.html

Plans to maintain, expand status

THE STARPHOENIX – Jochen Tilk is beginning to settle into his new role as president and CEO of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, the largest fertilizer company in the world.

The 50-year-old has been on the job just a week after taking over from the retiring Bill Doyle, who spent the last 15 years as CEO and president overseeing the massive growth of the company.

Tilk has 30 years of experience in mining, most recently as president and CEO of Inmet Mining, a Canadian company with global operations. He now takes over the reins of a company in a sector that has weathered a few rough years.

Last July, the $20-billion global potash market was rocked when industry giant OAO Uralkali, the Russian half of BPC, split with its Belarusian partner, sending potash prices down 25 per cent.

This year, PotashCorp laid off 1,045 employees, or almost 20 per cent of its workforce. Tilk spoke to The Star-Phoenix about his goals and expectations for Potash-Corp. What follows is an edited version of that conversation.

Read more

Life after Ekati: Legendary Canadian geologist Chuck Fipke gears up for more exploration – by Peter Koven (National Post – July 12, 2014)

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

Chuck Fipke fondly recalls the glory days of Arctic diamond exploration in the 1980s and early 1990s.

His budget was so tight that he flew around in a plane by himself, zigzagging across the Northwest Territories over an 800-mile stretch of prospective land. If he brought an assistant, it would have used up more fuel and left him less weight to carry rock samples.

“It was just fun every day,” the famous geologist said in an interview this week. “Most of the time when I’m working, it’s not really work to me at all.”

In 1991, his efforts paid off as he and partner Stewart Blusson hit the motherlode: They found the Ekati deposit, which became Canada’s first diamond mine and remains one of the richest diamond discoveries ever made.

The Ekati find made Mr. Fipke a prospecting legend and triggered a massive treasure hunt across the Arctic. Eventually, other large diamond deposits would be found as well: Diavik, Snap Lake and Gaucho Kué.

Mr. Fipke became a very wealthy man as shares of his company, Dia Met Minerals Ltd., soared through the roof. Dia Met was sold to mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd in 2001, but Mr. Fipke maintained exposure to Ekati through his 10% direct stake in the mine.

Read more

Supreme Court of Canada upholds Ontario’s right to issue development permits on aboriginal treaty land – by Drew Hasselback and Peter Koven (National Post – July 12, 2014)

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

Ontario’s natural resource companies welcomed a ruling Friday by the Supreme Court of Canada that confirms provinces have the authority to issue logging, mining and other development permits on aboriginal treaty lands.

In doing so, the high court rejected a claim from Grassy Narrows First Nation, which argued that Ontario needed the federal government’s approval before issuing a logging permit.

Had the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Grassy Narrows in the so-called Keewatin case, many permits issued in Ontario that did not involve the federal government could have been subject to challenge by First Nations.

“If the decision had gone the other way, and in light of [last month’s] Roger William case, there would have been great uncertainty with respect to aboriginal title, aboriginal treaties and aboriginal law in Ontario,” said Neal Smitheman, a partner at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, referring to the Supreme Court judgment in British Columbia that changed the way governments must deal with First Nations over land where aboriginal title is claimed.

Friday’s top court ruling involved the interpretation of Treaty 3, a 141-year-old agreement that covers about 142,000 square kilometres in what is now northwestern Ontario and eastern Manitoba.

Read more

Lundin Mining emerges as front-runner for Chile copper mine – by Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – July 11, 2014)

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.

Canada’s Lundin Mining Corp. is emerging as the front-runner to buy a major Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. copper mine in Chile, sources familiar with the matter said.

Toronto-headquartered Lundin would pay more than $2-billion for the Candelaria mine, according to people familiar with the current proposal. It would partner with Franco-Nevada Corp., which would pay up to $1-billion for a stream of the mine’s future gold production, the sources said.

The base-metals miner has been hunting for a copper acquisition for more than two years. Its chief executive officer Paul Conibear told The Globe and Mail in April, 2013, that assets with at least a 10-year mine life and capable of producing some 50,000 tonnes of copper per year would be ideal.

At the time, Mr. Conibear said the company had a strong balance sheet, no debt and has been on the lookout for the right deals for the last year and a half. If Lundin’s proposal succeeds, the Chilean mine would boost Lundin’s copper production significantly.

The interest in copper assets comes after a tumultuous few months for the red metal, used in construction and power generation. It dropped below $3 (U.S.) a pound on fears that China’s slowing economy would weaken demand, though has since rebounded and is trading around $3.25.

Read more

Renewed Plan Nord’s betting on diamonds -by Nicolas Van Praet (Montreal Gazette – July 10, 2014)

http://www.montrealgazette.com/index.html

Declining prices for resources causes an overall re-think

Quebec is turning north again for deal-making and growth. It may find it has to contend with industry contraction first.

Barely a month after sketching out plans to revive the so-called Plan Nord, a multibillion-dollar economic development strategy hatched by former Premier Jean Charest and pinned on natural resource extraction north of the 49th parallel, the reality of world markets has set in. And for many companies active in Quebec’s north, that means shrinking before they expand.

Take Canadian iron ore miner Labrador Iron Mines Holdings. The company, which operates in the Labrador Trough in Quebec, said last week it has stopped operations this year as a flood of new supply cools prices by about 30 per cent so far in 2014. The company is experiencing “considerable strain” on its cash reserves and needs outside investment to continue, its CEO said.

It’s not the only one. U.S.-based Cliffs Natural Resources in February announced a 50 per cent pullback on capital spending this year, putting on hold a planned expansion of its Lac Bloom, Que., facility. It’s also facing a proxy fight from shareholder Casablanca Capital.

Overall, low commodity prices persist after falling significantly last year. Net earnings in the industry remain near a decade low.

Read more