Last year was the busiest ever for the silver and gold streaming companies. They acquired a staggering US$4.2 billion of precious metals, according to Financial Post data. The majority of it came from large miners that were desperate to raise cash and connect their balance sheets. “Streaming truly became the dominant type of (mining) financing,” Randy Smallwood, chief executive of ...
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PDAC 2016: Ontario mining minister ‘encouraged’ about Ottawa’s involvement in Ring of Fire
Justin Trudeau’s authorities hasn’t even issued its first budget yet. But Michael Gravelle said he is already “very encouraged” it’ll play a powerful role in growth and development of Ontario’s “Ring of Fire” mineral belt. “I’m feeling very tolerant of the federal government role coming forward with the Ring of fireside,” Gravelle, Ontario’s minister of northern development and mines, said ...
Read More »PDAC 2016: Stornoway Diamond CEO explains company’s ‘fairy tale’ rise into the big leagues
Junior miners almost never dive right in into successful producers with large-scale operations and happy shareholders. But Stornoway Diamond Corp., which is on the right track to create Quebec’s first diamond mine into production this year, showed it truly can be done, even in a tough market. Unfortunately, it might be pretty difficult to replicate the Stornoway model. It required ...
Read More »PDAC 2016: How lithium has become a rare winner amid the commodity slaughter
The commodity slaughter of the last five years has left very little metal unscathed. Almost. There is really a notable exception. Little-known lithium has been a solid performer for the last several years, and has simply skyrocketed recently due to expectations of soaring demand from electric vehicles and market distortions in China. “You could argue it’s done better than anything,” ...
Read More »Avingstone abandons its plan to become a SPAC, withdraws amended prospectus
The ranks of would-be special purpose acquisition companies within the Canadian market have been reduced by one with the news that Avingstone Acquisition Corp. has “withdrawn” its prospectus. The scorecard now reads this way: filings have been made for seven SPACs, five have raised capital; the first is still in the market and one has been withdrawn. SPACs are new ...
Read More »Canadians’ consumer confidence remains weak amid job security concerns, polls show
OTTAWA – As the Canadian economy entered 2016 with a little more oomph than anticipated, consumers still appear reluctant to open their wallets and start spending more – a sign that many are involved about employment at a time when the country’s unemployment rates are running at a two-year high. Given that uncertainty, it’s not surprising that Canadians continue to ...
Read More »Saudi Arabia faces new oil titan when — and if — it wins battle with U.S. shale
Even if Saudi Arabia wins its struggle with U.S. shale producers over share of the market, it will face a new billion-barrel adversary. Natural gas prices may plunge below $1 on ‘insane’ storage glut not seen in 18 years A lukewarm winter and record gas storage are conspiring to bring Canadian gas prices down, and such affordable prices could force ...
Read More »PDAC 2016: Large miners should work flexibility into their production profiles
The mantra in mining has more often than not been bigger is better. Miners, especially in the bulk commodity space, are continually trying to maximize production from their operations in an effort to gain scale and lower costs. The downside of that strategy is becoming apparent in the last couple of years, as it can certainly result in massive oversupply ...
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