Mining and Exploration

Steve Todoruk, a mining veteran who joined Rick Rule in 2003 at Sprott Global Resource Investments Ltd. says he’s seeing some key similarities between today and the last big bear market for resource stocks, which lasted from around 1998 to 2001. Many of today’s mining legends made their reputation and their fortune during that time.

The last time we saw this happen was in the late 1990s.

Gold was around $300 per ounce; silver was near $6; and copper was $0.60 a pound.

It’s not random chance that puts mining at the head of the list of industries – and it’s a long list – that HAWK serves. HAWK is an Australian company, founded in 1988 with a focus on serving that country’s resources sector with locally designed and produced products. Over the years the company has expanded into different geographic areas, mainly into countries with a mining presence, working through a network of specialised distributors.

Canada’s enhanced Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategy, “Doing Business the Canadian Way: Advancing Corporate Social Responsibility in Canada’s Extractive Sector Abroad” was announced by the Canadian government on November 14. It builds on experience and best practices gained since the 2009 launch of Canada’s first CSR strategy, “Building the Canadian Advantage: A Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy for the Canadian Extractive Sector Abroad.” The idea is that Canadian companies operate abroad with the highest ethical standards.

Whenever contaminated trucks from construction sites, mines, harbours, landfills, dumpsites or industrial areas drive out directly onto the public roads, the MobyDick Wheel Washing Systems can prevent dangerous contamination from getting onto the roads and highways. As a further positive effect, pollution of the air with dust around the areas is also reduced considerably.

There’s no arguing with the fundamentals. Growing populations, reduction in arable land, changing dietary preferences, climate change and the escalating demands of emerging economies have placed food security at the top of the political as well as the economic agenda. World population is growing by some 75 million every year. By 2050 almost 9.3 billion people are expected to inhabit the earth.

Chile is one of the most stable, competitive and fastest growing economies in the world, and certainly holds that position within Latin America. In 2013 Chile’s maintained its positive recent growth rate, recording 4.1 percent increase in its GDP – just a little lower than last year but still an enviable figure. Much of that growth has been driven by the country’s mineral resources, with the state mining company Codelco accounting for a third of the nation's economy.

Since we last looked at Greenland Minerals and Energy A/S (GME), a subsidiary of Perth (Australia) based Greenland Minerals and Energy Ltd, a great deal of progress has been made. To recap, GME entered the Greenland scene in 2007 when it acquired a majority interest in an exploration licence covering the northern Ilimaussaq Complex, subsequently increasing that to 100 percent.

The opening ceremony was held in the presence of government authorities of Chile, Poland and Japan. Sierra Gorda, one of the largest and fastest-developed mining projects in the world, is located in the Antofagasta region within the Atacama Desert, which is Chile’s largest copper producing region. The mine started feeding ore into its processing plant in July 2014.

Rare earth elements (REEs) continue to be a hot topic. This group of 17 chemically similar elements crucial to the manufacture of many hi-tech products is causing international supply headaches. China currently produces about 90 percent of the world’s rare earths and produces more than 70 percent of the world’s rare earth magnets - neodymium in particular is used to make smaller, more efficient and more powerful magnets used in loudspeakers and computer hard drives.