Placeholder

Placeholder

Placeholder

Placeholder

Placeholder

Placeholder

With 35 years of institutional investing and money management experience in the United States and Canada, Donald Coxe has a unique background in North American and global capital markets  http://www.coxeadvisors.com  This was originally written in May, 2007.

We have been asked by several Canadian clients for clarification about our strong opposition to some of the takeovers of Canadian resource companies. This is our detailed response. (The opinions contained herein are those of Donald Coxe and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BMO Capital Markets.) The material is primarily for Canadian clients, but others who were forced to tender their Inco or Falconbridge shares, or who fear being forced to sell their oil sands holdings, should find the analysis of interest.

We opposed the takeovers of Inco and Falconbridge, and have for two years expressed strong concern that Big Oil’s Reserve Life Index problems would lead to takeovers of publicly-traded oil sands companies at unrealistically low prices—because they tend to trade in line with spot oil prices.

Last September, we gave a speech to the 30th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (whose membership includes the CEOs of Canada’s biggest companies) in which we ridiculed the prices at which Inco and Falconbridge were sold and warned that takeovers of oil sands companies would probably be next. (We had a polite exchange of views with the Brazilian Ambassador about his government’s holding in CVRD during the question period.

Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of being invited onto TVO’s flagship current affairs program, The Agenda, hosted by Steve Paikin. www.tvo.org

The topic headline was: Is Sudbury Sustainable? Labour strife, shaken confidence and an economic downturn. What does Northern Ontario’s largest city have to do to survive in a global market? The program is archived below.

As the station’s website states, “TVO is Ontario’s public educational media organization and a trusted source of interactive educational content that informs, inspires, and stimulates curiosity and thought. TVO’s vision is to empower people to be engaged citizens of Ontario through educational media.” The Agenda has been described as a program that “presents in-depth analysis and intelligent debate on issues of concern in the rapidly changing world around us.”

The participants on the four-member panel were:

From Sudbury:

David Robinson is an associate professor of Economics at Laurentian University. He writes for Northern Ontario Business. Read his complete biography at Laurentian.ca.

Carol Mulligan is mining reporter for The Sudbury Star.

From the Toronto TVO Studio:

Sylvie Albert is assistant professor in the faculty of management at Laurentian University.

Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based Communications Consultant – born and raised in Sudbury – and Freelance Columnist for Sudbury-based Northern Life.

In 1976, he worked at Inco’s Clarabell Mill for one year and in 1980 worked underground at Inco’s Frood-Stobie Mine as a summer student. Read his complete biography at Republic of Mining.com

Marilyn Scales is a field editor for the Canadian Mining Journal, Canada’s first mining publication. She is one of Canada’s most senior mining commentators.

ST. JOHN’S — The 66th Mines Ministers Conference was urged once again to take active measures in support of the Canada’s mineral industry. The plea came from the Canadian Mineral Industry Federation (CMIF), a group of 17 mining-related associations headed by the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) and the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC).

First, the ministers were reminded of mining’s economic importance to Canada. It contributed $40 billion to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and provided 351,000 jobs in 2008. There are an estimated 3,140 suppliers to the industry. The mining industry paid $11.5 billion in taxes and royalties to all levels of government. 

There are challenges ahead for the industry, and the CMIF brief addressed them.

1. Enhance commitment to the core mandate of natural resource ministers

 Many organizations, government departments and NGOs have adopted an aggressive anti-mining focus. It is critically important that Canada’s natural resource ministers maintain and enhance their dedication to economic development. In this sense, advocacy for infrastructure projects, for more open access to minerals, for northern development, and for tax incentives to encourage increased investment, among other objectives, remains fundamental.

Read the rest of this entry »

Vivian Danielson is a former editor of the Northern Miner and a co-author of “Gold Today, Gone Tomorrow: Anatomy of the Bre-X Swindle (1997). The following speech was given at the Mineral Economics Society 11th Symposium on January 25, 1999.

Ten years on, Ms. Danielson’s speech is still a very thought provoking analysis of industry strengths and weaknesses and many of the issues she raises continue to haunt the mining sector.

Please note that I added the term “Ugly Canadians” to the title for Google search terms. Stan Sudol

Vivian Danielson

The mining industry entered the 20th century like a lion, welcomed for its power and strength in building this nation’s economy. Many believe it will leave this century like a lamb, perhaps even a sacrificial one, laid to rest at the altar of changing public values and perceptions.

Some tough questions were asked about mining’s future during the CIM’s 100th anniversary celebration in Montreal last May. Would there be a 200th anniversary celebration? And could mining become the buggy whip industry of the 21st century, something to be studied by bright young MBA students on how not to manage an industry? Noranda’s David Goldman, the man who asked those questions, warned delegates that the industry may have lost the patience and good-will of the public, and that, for many, miners are no longer welcome in the modern world.

The industry can argue otherwise and point to parts of this country where mining remains an economic and social cornerstone. Mining is indeed welcome in Val d’Or, Sudbury, Timmins and Thompson, and in hundreds of other mining towns across this land. It is welcome in these communities because their citizens know the industry, and the people who work in it, first-hand. Knowledge leads to understanding, and understanding leads to acceptance.

Read the rest of this entry »