Northern Dynasty share price rises 12% as company officially reclaims 100% of Pebble project |
- Northern Dynasty share price rises 12% as company officially reclaims 100% of Pebble project
- Gold price finds footing ahead of Fed
- Opponents of New Prosperity Mine rally in front of Taseko headquarters
- Grasberg lifts copper price to near 3-month high
- NAFTA environmental body questions Canada's enforcement of environmental law
- Augusta shares surge as giant Arizona copper mine clears hurdle
| Northern Dynasty share price rises 12% as company officially reclaims 100% of Pebble project Posted: 13 Dec 2013 02:46 PM PST
Diversified mining giant Anglo announced in September that it would pull out of the controversial copper project – part of the company's cost-cutting efforts. On Friday, Anglo concluded its exit from the Pebble Partnership, leaving Northern Dynasty with a $300 million payment. At the same time, Northern Dynasty announced that it had taken over Anglo's interest in the Partnership, giving it 100% ownership of the project once again. Northern Dynasty first acquired the site in 2001. All Anglo representatives have resigned from the Pebble Mines Corporation board of directors. Northern Dynasty shares were up 12% on the Toronto exchange on Friday, trading at $1.12 per share. "During the course of the last six years and at a cost of $556 million …, substantial progress has been made toward our goal of permitting, constructing and operating a world-class, modern and environmentally responsible mine at Pebble that will co-exist with the fisheries resources of southwest Alaska," Northern Dynasty CEO Ronald Thiessen said in a statement. According to Thiessen, Northern Dynasty is now in a position to trigger federal and state permitting in the first quarter of 2014. The company is also working on getting a new partner for the project. "Our primary focus is to select the right partner for Northern Dynasty and the right investor for Alaska, a company with sufficient financial resources and technical capabilities, working experience in the United States and a shared commitment to environmentally sound and socially responsible development. We have little doubt that Pebble will attract major mining company interest in the months ahead," Thiessen said. But over the past year the Pebble mine has attracted a lot of unwanted interest. Environmental groups have fiercely opposed the mine over fears that it would endanger fish populations and other wildlife. Proponents of the mine argue that Alaska is in desperate need of the estimated 15,000 jobs the project would provide and the $400 million boost it would give to Alaska's annual gross state product. The Pebble deposit holds an estimated 55 billion pounds of copper and 67 million ounces of gold.  |
| Gold price finds footing ahead of Fed Posted: 13 Dec 2013 01:28 PM PST The gold price enjoyed a nice bounce of nearly $13 or 1% an ounce on Friday ahead of a decision by the US Federal Reserve next week on winding down its US monetary stimulus program. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery traded at $1,237.70 an ounce at the close, up $12.80 from yesterday in light Friday trade. The Federal Open Market Committee could announce a reduction in purchases under its quantitative easing program that has pumped $4 trillion of easy money into the US economy at its two-day meeting ending on Wednesday. The Fed has been reviewing QE and is eager to throttle back asset purchases running at $85 billion a month at the first signs of a solid economic recovery in the US; something the data have been supporting recently. Most observers believe the impact on the gold market of the eventual QE taper announcement would be minimal unless the cuts are much more than anticipated or it hints at a radically different direction for monetary policy, something that is unlikely so near a change of leadership at the central bank. The dreaded taper has been signposted for months and should now be baked into the gold price. More damaging to the gold price than a Fed move is the continued dumping of gold-backed ETFs by hedge funds and big money managers. While physical demand for the metal from Asia is growing the volumes being liquidated in the West have become overwhelming. The holdings of the world's largest gold ETF, SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) has dropped some 15 tonnes so far this month, falling to the lowest level since January 2009. GLD has experienced year-to-date outflows of 526 tonnes to 827.6 tonnes, down more than 38% from the start of the year. |
| Opponents of New Prosperity Mine rally in front of Taseko headquarters Posted: 13 Dec 2013 01:01 PM PST Just two days after BC business groups gathered in Vancouver to declare their support for Taseko's (TSE:TKO) New Prosperity project, mine opponents staged their own gathering. Dozens of protesters blocked downtown Vancouver's busiest street at noon on Friday and marched to Taseko headquarters where police officers were stationed in the lobby. In a press release issued Friday morning, members of the Tsilhqot'in first nation community stated their intent to organize a "flash mob" to demonstrate their opposition to the New Prosperity copper-gold mine in British Columbia's Williams Lake region. The protest comes at a critical time for the New Prosperity mine. BC Minister of Energy and Mines Bill Bennett is currently in Ottawa trying to convince federal law makers to approve the mine. Opponents of the project claim that the mine would pollute Williams Lake and endanger fish populations. Taseko says that the environmental review panel which drew these conclusions was looking at the wrong tailings facility design. The Federal government is currently assessing the $1.5 billion project. |
| Grasberg lifts copper price to near 3-month high Posted: 13 Dec 2013 12:22 PM PST The spot copper price raced ahead on Friday, jumping to a near 3-month and capping a 2.2% weekly gain. Spot, or so-called front-month futures contracts were last trading at $3.35 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the best level since September 19. Trading in immediate delivery copper has been particularly tight with the LME cash price for the red metal surging to a $14.50 premium over the 3-month contract yesterday, a close to 18-month high before easing back to $8 on Friday. The spot market for copper has been supported by LME Warehouse levels which continue to shrink. On Friday headline inventories fell by more than 3,000 tonnes to 393,000 tonnes, down from 678,000 tonnes hit mid-year. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange on Friday touched its highest level since November 1, of $7,265.25 a tonne, while gains on the most active traded March 2014 future on Comex were also more subdued at $3.32 a pound. Also lending short-term support to copper – considered a bellwether for the metals industry – is uncertainty surrounding output from Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE:FCX) giant Grasberg mine in Indonesia. The US company is working to get permission from the Indonesian government to keep shipping concentrate ahead of a January 1 ban on all exports of unprocessed metal from the Asian country. Production at Grasberg, the world's largest gold and second-largest copper mine with output of 1.1 billion pounds and 1.2 ounces of the metals, will have to be slashed to 30% – 40% of capacity if a ban is imposed according the Freeport. Also boosting the price is robust demand from China. Copper imports into China, the world's top consumer of the metal which is responsible for 42% of the seaborne trade, reached 435,600 tonnes in November, up 7.1% from October and up more than 19% from a year earlier. Total imports of the metal in the first 11 months is still showing a decline of 4.8% compared to last year at to 4.1 million tonnes, according to customs date out earlier this week. In November refined-copper output in China rose 28% from a year earlier to 654,000 tonnes, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. That was 2.7% more than the previous record set in October of 637,000 tons a month earlier. The copper price remains down 7.2% this year after recovering from near three-year lows of $3.04 a pound struck at the end of June. The copper price peaked above $4.50 a pound in February 2011. While demand for copper have remained stronger than previously predicted for 2013 the price is expected to come under pressure as massive new supply starts hitting the market. For the past seven years annual supply growth has been essentially static falling to as lows as 0.4% a year in 2010 to 2011. This year growth in copper mine supply is set to jump by more than 5% and accelerate further in 2014, topping 6% and averaging over 4% through 2016. |
| NAFTA environmental body questions Canada's enforcement of environmental law Posted: 13 Dec 2013 11:39 AM PST Canada's oil sands industry is being threatened with a collection of facts. This week, the North American Free Trade Agreement's (NAFTA) environmental branch asked Ottawa to address allegations that it is failing to enforce environmental laws related to waste water leakage from oil sands operations in Alberta. The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) – an intergovernmental organization between Canada, Mexico and the US – has given the Federal government 60 days to respond to the claims, at which point the CEC will decide whether to create a 'factual record.' A factual record is nothing more than a collection of facts. According to the CEC guidelines, its purpose is to provide an "objective presentation of the facts" and to allow the reader of the record to "draw their own conclusions." It is not meant to draw any conclusions or make any recommendations. The allegations stem from a submission filed with the CEC in 2010 by two non-governmental organizations – Environmental Defence Canada and the Natural resources Defense Council – and three individuals. The group claims that the government of Canada has not been properly enforcing the section of the Fisheries Act which deals with pollution prevention and establishes a prohibition against depositing harmful substances into water bodies inhabited by fish. While exemptions to this law have been granted to the pulp paper and petroleum refining industries, the group agues that no such exemption has been granted to the oil sands mining industry and their tailings ponds. They also assert that the waste water has contaminated groundwater and in some cases surface waters. Although the CEC may not have the power compel governments or companies to act, a 'factual record' could have some important consequences for the oil sands industry. Currently the Canadian government is pushing hard for US approval of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline which would carry Alberta's crude to the southern US. The Obama administration has been withholding consent due to environmental concerns. Gillian McEachern with the Environmental Defence told the Canadian Press that the CEC decision "casts doubt on Canada's ability to manage the environmental impacts of the oil sands." |
| Augusta shares surge as giant Arizona copper mine clears hurdle Posted: 13 Dec 2013 10:55 AM PST Augusta Resource Corp. (TSE, NYSEMKT:AZC) jumped 8% higher on Friday after announcing the US Forest Service has completed the final environmental impact statement for its massive Rosemont Copper project and released a draft of the so-called Record of Decision. "The issuance of the draft ROD, which includes the approval of the preferred Barrel alternative, provides the roadmap for the operation of the Rosemont Copper Project," said Augusta President and CEO Gil Clausen. The draft ROD impact statement follows an exhaustive six-year review process and will be open for comments for a period of 45 days expected to commence on January 1, 2014. The Rosemont Copper project near Tucson, Arizona would be the third largest copper mine in the US and Augusta now expects a water use permit for which it has already secured the rights in the first quarter of next year, with construction starting in the second half of 2014. Rosemount mine construction and commissioning is pegged at $1.23 billion of which more than $100 million has already been spent with planned production scheduled for 2015. Augusta has inked a deal with streaming company Silver Wheaton which in exchange will inject $230 million in up-front cash payment for 100% of Rosemont's life of mine gold and silver production. The Vancouver-based company also has a $106 million deal with Korean investors, leaving it to raise $890 million for capex. In early afternoon dealings Augusta shares were trading up 7.9% at $1.50 on the NYSE MKT, giving up gains of more than 18% enjoyed at the open. The $216 million company is still showing losses for 2013 – it is down 39% year to date. At full tilt Rosemont could account for about 10% of annual US copper output, producing 243 million pounds of copper per year, 5.4 million pounds of molybdenum, 2.9 million ounces of silver and small quantities of gold as a by-product over a mine life of more than 22 years. Augusta estimates production costs of just $0.87 a pound of copper compared to today's price for the red metal of $3.35. |
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