Canada largest private sector union elects first woman president


By Shreya Jain


© Reuters/COLE BURSTONU

nifor, Canada's largest private sector union, announce their new president in Toronto

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's largest private sector labour union, Unifor, elected Lana Payne as president on Wednesday, making her the first woman to lead an organization representing more than 315,000 workers, including in the auto sector.

Payne was previously National Secretary-Treasurer of Unifor, and was the first woman to hold that position as well.

Payne replaces Jerry Dias, who retired after eight-and-a-half years as president in March.

Unifor was formed in 2013 from the merger of the Canadian Auto Workers union and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.

(Reporting by Shreya Jain,; Additional reporting by Allison Lampert and John Stonestreet)

Sumitomo hikes Chile copper project cost estimate by 60%

Reuters | August 8, 2022 | 

QB2 is Teck’s most important growth project, which will extend the existing mine’s life by 28 years. (Image courtesy of Teck Resources.)

Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd and Sumitomo Corp said on Monday they had raised their estimate of the construction cost for the Quebrada Blanca phase 2 (QB2) copper project in Chile to about $7.5 billion from $4.7 billion.


The 60% increase comes as the covid-19 pandemic has delayed construction which started in 2019 and boosted expenses to deal with the outbreak, they said in a statement.


The move also follows a revision of the estimated project cost by Canadian miner Teck Resources Ltd, which holds a 66.67% stake in the project, to $6.9 billion-$7.0 billion from $4.7 billion last month, based on updated assumption of forex rate and other factors, the Japanese companies said.

Teck has said previously it expects the QB2, considered one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper resources, to begin production in 2021, but it now targets to start the initial production in late 2022.

The higher cost estimate by the Japanese partners compared with Teck’s is due to their assumption of the forex rate going forward at 775 Chilean pesos a dollar, against Tech’s assumption of 850 pesos a dollar, a spokesperson at Sumitomo Metal said. Currently, $1 is equal to around 916 pesos.

Sumitomo Metal, a Japanese miner and smelter, owns a 27.77% stake in the QB2 while Sumitomo Corp, a Japanese trading house, holds 5.56%.

The higher project cost will start affecting their earnings starting in 2023 as the depreciation of construction costs will be booked after next year when a commercial operation is expected to begin, the Sumitomo Metal spokesperson said.

(By Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Signal Gold obtains environmental approval for Goldboro project in Nova Scotia

Staff Writer | August 8, 2022 | 

Signal Gold’s Goldboro gold property in Nova Scotia. Credit: Signal Gold

Signal Gold (TSX: SGNL) has reached a major milestone in the regulatory approval process of its Goldboro gold project in Guysborough county, Nova Scotia, that would see the company a step closer towards bringing the proposed 1-million-ounce operation to life. The Goldboro mine project consists of two open pits, a processing facility, a tailings management facility, waste rock storage areas, as well as water management infrastructure.


Last week, the company was advised by the Nova Scotia Minister of Environment and Climate Change that the Goldboro project has been approved, subject to the terms and conditions outlined in the environmental assessment (EA) approval. With the minister’s approval, Signal Gold is now allowed to commence site-specific permitting processes including the industrial approval and the Crown land and mining lease applications.

In a statement, the minister stated he was “satisfied that any adverse effects or significant environmental effects of the undertaking can be adequately mitigated” through the terms and conditions outlined in the EA approval, as well as “through compliance to the other licenses, certificates, permits and approvals that will be required for operation.”

“Signal Gold is extremely pleased to have received the environmental approval for its Goldboro gold project, an important milestone that reflects the culmination of five years of environmental baseline monitoring and analysis. This approval marks an important milestone towards the development of Goldboro, which will have a significant socio-economic impact on the region and the province,” Kevin Bullock, Signal Gold CEO said in a media release.

“We recognize that a mining project is a temporary use of land, and we are committed to sustainably developing a project that mitigates environmental impact at every phase, including construction, operations, reclamation and closure,” he added.

The company is currently reviewing the terms and conditions and is also reviewing all comments provided by rightsholders and community stakeholders through the EA process. Future updates will be provided as it progresses Goldboro towards development, it said.

According to a feasibility study released in December 2021, the Goldboro Phase 1 open pit is expected to produce 100,000 oz. of gold per year at an average grade of 2.26 g/t over an 11-year mine life. Its after-tax net present value (5% discount) is estimated at C$328 million, with an internal rate of return of 25.5%. The projected after-tax payback is 2.9 years.

St Barbara wants to raise tailings dam at Touquoy gold mine in Nova Scotia

Staff Writer | August 8, 2022 | 11:23 am News Canada Gold

Touquoy gold mine, Nova Scotia: Credit: St Barbara

St Barbara (ASX: SBM) could be forced to suspend operations at the Touquoy gold mine in Nova Scotia soon, should it fail to receive provincial government approval for a proposed tailings capacity expansion by early August. The mine’s current tailings capacity is expected to be exhausted in mid-September 2022.


The Touquoy open pit mine is part of St Barbara’s Atlantic operations that includes three other projects nearby at Beaver Dam, Fifteen Mile Stream and Cochrane Hill. The combined mineral reserves for the Atlantic operations are estimated at 1.6 million oz. at a grade of 1.0 g/t gold. Together they have an estimated mine life to 2030.

The Australian miner first began mining at Touquoy in 2017, reaching commercial production a year after. The processing plant at Touquoy is a conventional carbon-in-leach (CIL) circuit with a nominal capacity of 2 million tonnes per year.

In 2020, St Barbara began the provincial permitting process to convert the Touquoy open pit into a tailings management facility (TMF) upon completion of open pit mining. This longer-term strategy for tailing deposition was implemented to extend the life of the Touquoy mine, following similar paths to Beaver Dam and Fifteen Mile Stream.

However, late in the process, the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Climate Change (NSECC) sought further clarification on aspects of the in-pit tailings deposition application, which impacted the timeframes for the company’s in-pit tailings solution. At the current rate, construction work on the in-pit tailings infrastructure will not be completed by the time the current TMF capacity is exhausted.

The company therefore elected to make an application to raise the existing tailings dam as an interim solution while the in-pit deposition matter is settled. The capital cost for the tailings lift is approximately $4.2 million and will extend the life of the Touquoy operation until the end of fiscal 2023.

A permit application to lift the dam was then submitted, but the timeframe for a decision was set at early August 2022. Should approval of the permit not arrive by then, there would be insufficient time to allow for the construction of the raise, leading to the Touquoy operation being placed into care and maintenance.

The potential tailings dam raise has alarmed environmentalists, according to reports by CBC, as the industrial permit is considered separate from the normal environmental assessment process. “Raising a tailings dam puts it more at risk of breaking and this decision is going to be made behind closed doors and you’ve really got to question it,” said Karen McKendry, wilderness outreach co-ordinator for the Halifax-based Ecology Action Centre, in a CBC interview.

At of this moment, the Nova Scotia environmental department is still reviewing St Barbara’s proposed interim tailings solution.

Chile to ‘sanction’ those responsible for sinkhole near copper mine
Reuters | August 8, 2022 | 

Sinkhole at the Alcaparrosa mine. (Image by Sernageomin, Twitter).

Chile will seek to apply harsh sanctions on those responsible for a huge sinkhole near a copper mine in the country’s north, the mining minister said on Monday.


The mysterious hole of 36.5 meters in diameter that emerged in late July has provoked the mobilization of local authorities and led the mining regulator Sernageomin to suspend operations of a nearby mine owned by Canada’s Lundin in the northern district of Candelaria.

“We are going to go all the way with consequences, to sanction, not just fine,” Mining Minister Marcela Hernando said in a press release, adding that fines tend to be insignificant and the ruling must be “exemplary” to mining companies.

Chilean authorities have not provided details of the investigation into causes of the sinkhole.

Local and foreign media showed various aerial images of the huge hole in a field near the Lundin Mining operation, about 665 kilometers north of the Chilean capital. Initially, the hole, near the town of Tierra Amarilla, measured about 25 meters (82 feet) across, with water visible at the bottom.

The Canadian firm owns 80% of the property, while the remaining 20% is in the hands of Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd and Sumitomo Corp.

The minister added that although the country’s mining regulator had carried out an inspection in the area in July, it was not able to detect the “over-exploitation.”

“That also makes us think that we have to reformulate what our inspection processes are,” she said.

In a statement, Lundin said the over-exploitation referred to by the minister had been duly reported.

“We want to be emphatic that, to date, this hypothesis as reported by Sernageomin has not been determined as the direct cause of the sinkhole. The hydrogeological and mining studies will provide the answers we are looking for today,” Lundin said.

“Different events that could have caused the sinkhole are being investigated, including the abnormal rainfall recorded during the month of July, which is relevant,” added Lundin.

(By Fabian Andres Cambero and Carolina Pulice; Editing by Leslie Adler and Kenneth Maxwell)

Pope worried about pollution of rivers with mercury used by gold miners in the Amazon
Reuters | August 9, 2022 | 

(Image courtesy of Catholic Church England and Wales | Flickr.)

Pope Francis will install the first cardinal of Brazil’s Amazon region this month in a sign of his concern for the rainforest and its indigenous inhabitants, the man whom he picked for the role said.


Dom Leonardo Steiner, archbishop of the Brazilian city of Manaus, said in an interview that Francis, the first pope from Latin America, is worried about deforestation, threats to indigenous cultures and pollution of rivers with mercury used by gold miners in the Amazon.

“The naming of a cardinal of the Amazon shows the pope’s desire to bring the Church closer to the Amazon,” Steiner said last week.

Steiner will be among 21 new cardinals that Pope Francis will appoint on Aug. 27 in a ceremony known as a consistory.

Illegal logging and mining in the Amazon has surged under Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. His government has also opened the door to more evangelical missionaries in the region.

Steiner said indigenous communities complain that the evangelical missionaries often undermine traditional rituals, songs and even their languages.

“That often results in the uprooting the culture of indigenous peoples and their different way of looking at the world,” Steiner said.

The Catholic Church was guilty of this in the past but now defends the preservation of indigenous cultures, he said.

Steiner highlighted the pope’s public apologies in Canada last week for sexual abuse at now-closed schools for indigenous children run by Catholic orders.

“We must ensure the indigenous people don’t lose their roots and always drink from their own fountains,” he said.

Francis held a synod, a session of consultation and dialogue, on the Amazon in 2019. In June, he met at the Vatican with the bishops of Brazil’s Amazon states along with priests, nuns and lay people from the region.

The pope encouraged them to engage with local communities, Steiner said, including original inhabitants of the forest and tribes that have had little contact with the rest of Brazil.

(By Bruno Kelly and Anthony Boadle; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Australia’s coal shipments face a ‘deadline,’ Greens leader says
Bloomberg News | August 9, 2022 | 6:55 am Australia Coal

Coal-loading terminal at Hay Point in Mackay Region, Queensland. Image courtesy of BHP Group.

Greens Party leader Adam Bandt has warned the Australian government needs to start moving away from coal exports to prop up its bottom line, saying net zero goals in major trade partners will cut into fossil fuel earnings.


Bandt said three of Australia’s biggest export markets for thermal coal — Japan, South Korea and Taiwan — had all pledged to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 or 2060. The process to decarbonize their economies to meet those targets would act as a “deadline” for Australian coal exports, he added.

“It’s going to be increasingly untenable for the government to maintain its desire to keep opening new coal and gas projects,” Bandt said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

The Greens Party has a significant number of senators in Australia’s upper house, making Bandt’s support vital to passing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s policy agenda. Since he was elected in May, Albanese has attempted to push greater climate action in Australia, including increasing emission cuts targets to 43% by 2030 and rolling out a strategy for greater use of electric vehicles.

However, Australia’s economy is heavily reliant on its mining and minerals exports, with the trade surplus hitting a record high in August off the back of strong growth in the resource sector. Coal is forecast to generate about A$104 billion ($73 billion) of export earnings in the year through June 30.

Australia is the world’s largest exporter of metallurgical coal and the second largest exporter of thermal coal.

Bandt has called on Albanese to go further in his action on climate change, including committing to end all new coal and gas mines in Australia. Albanese’s rejection of a moratorium on new fossil fuel projects is undermining his government’s promise of bolder decarbonization policies, according to campaigners.

“These weak targets could be blown out of the water in the next 12 months or so as the government approves some very big coal and gas projects that are on the books in Australia at the moment,” Bandt said.

(By Ben Westcott)

Foran Mining to receive $155m for McIlvenna Bay copper project in Saskatchewan

Staff Writer | August 9, 2022 | 

McIlvenna Bay project in Saskatchewan, Canada. (Image courtesy of Foran Mining.)

Canada’s Foran Mining Corporation (TSX.V: FOM) (OTCQX: FMCXF) has inked a preliminary deal for a C$200m ($155.1m) investment by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, for the company’s McIlvenna Bay copper project in Saskatchewan.


The agreement locks the parties into an exclusivity period deal, with the goal of signing a definitive agreement in Q3 2022.

The proceeds of the proposed investment will be used for the development of the McIlvenna Bay project towards commercial production, Foran said.

McIlvenna Bay is said to be the largest undeveloped Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) deposit along the prolific Flin Flon Greenstone Belt, which sprawls east-central Saskatchewan and the central area of Manitoba.

Recent feasibility results outlined an initial phase 18 year mine life producing 65 million pounds of copper equivalent at an average all-in sustaining cost (net of credits) of $0.90 per pound.

Foran is also trying to turn McIlvenna Bay into the world’s first carbon-neutral copper mine by offsetting carbon emissions generated in the exploration phase.

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, with more than $240 billion in net assets, has investments in natural resources and royalty interests in oil and gas.

The organization manages benefits for retired school teachers of that Canadian province.

Denison makes improved offer in attempt to hijack Uranium Energy’s UEX bid

Staff Writer | August 9, 2022 | 

The Wheeler River camp in northern Saskatchewan. Credit: Denison Mines.

Denison Mines (TSX: DML) has made an improved offer to acquire UEX Corp. (TSX: UEX) after seeing its US-based rival Uranium Energy Corp. (UEC) trump its original bid earlier this week. The new proposal would see UEX shareholders receive 0.32 of a Denison share for UEX share held, representing an implied purchase price of C$0.51 per UEX share on a spot basis.


Denison said this offer represents a 7% premium to the price implied by the amended agreement between UEX and UEC, based on the one-day volume weighted average price on August 8, 2022, and a 9% premium to the 20-day volume weighted average price. The offer by UEC, which it revised to beat out Denison, had an implied price of C$0.49 per UEX share at the time, based on a share exchange ratio of 0.089 to 1.

“Following the expiration of our previous acquisition proposal, which equated to a premium over the amended UEC agreement on a 10- and 20-day volume weighted average price basis, and after internal discussions, including with our legal and financial advisors, Denison decided to make a further premium acquisition proposal to UEX,” Denison CEO David Cates said in a media statement.

“The success of this offer is subject to the board of UEX determining that it is superior to the amended UEC agreement and is also subject to UEC’s five-day right to match,” Cates said. “We note that on August 5, UEC increased its offer in response to Denison’s superior acquisition proposal of July 22, and that the UEX board of directors concluded that the amended terms offered by UEC constituted a matching offer – despite the fact it implied a lower UEX price from the perspective of premiums over normalized trading periods.”

Cates also said the company recognizes that UEC remains in the “driver’s seat” through its right to match, and that its offer may not ultimately prevail.

“That said, we believe that the UEX assets are so complementary to our own portfolio and Athabasca Basin specialization that it would be short-sighted not to afford another opportunity for both Denison and UEX shareholders to prosper from this combination.”

A successful acquisition of UEX would see Denison consolidate a 100% ownership of the Wheeler River project, which is host to the high-grade Phoenix and Gryphon uranium deposits and represents the largest undeveloped uranium project in the Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan.

Denison Mines Wheeler River Project | Home

https://wheelerriverproject.ca

Denison 

Denison is actively advancing the Phoenix deposit, which is proposed as a low-cost in situ recovery mining operation through the environmental assessment and feasibility study processes. The results from the pre-feasibility study completed for Wheeler River suggest that Phoenix has the potential to be one of the lowest cost uranium mining operations in the world. Denison currently has an effective 95% interest in Wheeler River.

Through acquiring UEX, Denison would also be able to obtain 100% ownership of JCU (Canada) Exploration Company, which holds a portfolio of 12 uranium project joint venture interests in Canada, including a 30.099% interest in the Millennium project (Cameco – 69.901%), a 33.8118% interest in the Kiggavik project (Orano Canada – 66.1882%), and a 34.4508% interest in the Christie Lake project (UEX – 65.5492%). Denison currently has a 50% ownership interest in JCU.

Denison Mines - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denison_Mines

Denison Mines 

Imperial Metals records $29.3M net loss in Q2 as it works to reopen Mount Polley

Jackson Chen | August 9, 2022 |

A feasibility study for the Red Chris underground is expected early next year. 

Credit: Imperial Metals

Imperial Metals (TSX: III) racked up further losses during the second quarter of 2022, recording an adjusted net loss of $29.3 million compared with $5.1 million for the 2021 comparative quarter. This was despite a slight revenue increase of $2.2 million from the second quarter 2021.


Contributors to the higher net loss include a $1.4 million decline in mine operations income, over $30 million of spending on the Mount Polley mine restart, a $4.6 million rise in idle mine costs, and an additional $3.5 million in tax recovery. Capital expenditures including leases also rose to $39.6 million in the June 2022 quarter, up from $23.8 million in the 2021 comparative quarter.

Imperial’s mining operations, specifically the Red Chris mine that is 70% owned by Newcrest Mining, helped to lift up the company’s revenue in the second quarter 2022. Metal production from the northwest B.C. mine totalled 22 million lb. of copper and 19,540 oz. of gold, which respectively were 25.2% and 26.5% higher than the 2021 quarter.

Exploration drilling at Red Chris remains underway, with up to eight drills in operation during the second quarter, focusing on expanding the East Ridge zone and gathering geotechnical information for infrastructure related to the development of a block cave. The exploration decline had advanced 1,717 metres as of July 20, 2022. Work on the block cave feasibility study is ongoing and is targeted to be released in the first half of 2023.

At Mount Polley, Imperial first began the required work to reopen the copper-gold mine during the fourth quarter of 2021. Initial mill commissioning and operations began on June 25, 2022. Commissioning work continues into the third quarter, with six of the eight mills in the grinding circuit now in operation. During the second quarter, 62,775 tonnes were milled and 6.3 million tonnes were mined, achieving a day rate of 69,013 t/d. By the end of the second quarter, approximately 1.3 million tonnes had been stockpiled for future milling.

The restart of the facilities took approximately three months longer than planned due to difficulties in hiring operating personnel, certain supply chain challenges and unanticipated electrical and mechanical work that needed to be completed in order to get the plant operating. Also, the failure of a key electrical component two weeks after the restart of mill operations caused a 10-day delay in the ramp up of mill operations. As a result, Imperial has sought additional funding for the Mount Polley restart budget.

Additional information about the Mount Polley mine restart is posted on www.ImperialMetals.com.

SEE Contamination from Mount Polley spill continues to affect waterways, study finds | CBC News

Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley restart facing budget shortfall

Staff Writer | August 8, 2022 |

Credit: Imperial Metals

Imperial Metals (TSX: III) said it intends to secure additional financing for the restart of its Mount Polley mine by way of a convertible debenture financing totalling C$45 million ($35m).


The Mount Polley mine, which has been on care and maintenance since 2019, is currently operating at targeted production rates. The company had previously aimed to reopen the mine operation by the end of June.

However, the mine restart took longer than planned due to difficulties in hiring operating personnel, supply chain challenges and unanticipated electrical and mechanical work. This, together with lower copper prices, caused a shortfall in revenues compared to budget. In addition, Imperial Metals’ previously announced rights offering was not fully subscribed, resulting in a shortfall in budgeted equity financing. Due to these reasons, the company is now seeking additional funding via debt financing.

The convertible debentures will have a five-year term ending August 31, 2027. Each C$3.20 of the principal amount will be convertible into one common share of Imperial Metals. Up to 14.06 million common shares are expected to be issued if all the convertible debentures issuable were converted.

Murray Edwards, the company’s largest shareholder, has advised that he intends to purchase between C$30 million and C$35 million of the debentures.

Located about 56 km northeast of Williams Lake in south-central British Columbia, the Mount Polley copper-gold underground mine was first shut down in 2014 after a massive tailings pond collapse. Imperial Metals had to rebuild the mine’s tailings and spent more than C$70 million in environmental rehabilitation. Operations resumed two years later, but was halted again in 2019 due to a slump in copper prices.

Aiming to restart the operation once again, Imperial Metals has spent around C$22.4 million in one year, dating back to the end of the March 2021 quarter. This includes C$21.7 million in operating costs and C$700,000 in depreciation expense. Exploration, development and capital expenditures on Mount Polley rose by C$2 million in the March 2022 quarter in comparison to the 2021 quarter.

In the week following the repair of a key electrical component on July 27, the concentrator at Mount Polley produced concentrate containing approximately 336,000 lb. of copper and 550 oz. of gold against the budget for the initial week following start-up of 188,403 lb. of copper and 495 oz. of gold.