Canada has one of the most expensive universal health-care systems in the developed world. However, there is an imbalance between the value Canadians receive and the relatively high amount of money they spend on their health-care system. Of particular concern is the fact that Canada has significantly fewer physicians and acute-care beds, and also ranks poorly for the availability of important medi...Read More
Collectively, the central bank sector claims to hold the world's largest above ground gold bar stockpile, some 33,800 tonnes of gold bars. Individually within this group, some central banks claim to be the top holders of gold bullion in the world, with individual holdings in the thousands of tonnes range.This worldwide central bank group, also known as the official sector, spans central banks (suc...Read More
Main ConclusionsBritish Columbia's NDP government recently announced a series of new policies intended to lay the foundation for "universal", government-subsidized, $10-per-day daycare across the province.This major policy intervention seems unnecessary as there does not appear to be a wide -spread lack of daycare spots in British Columbia: as of 2016, the province-wide average daycare vacancy rat...Read More
With his stock in freefall, First Quantum Minerals Ltd. chief executive Philip Pascall hopped on a hastily arranged conference call Wednesday morning to soothe investors about a surprise US$7.9 billion tax bill that Zambian authorities sent this week.Pascall rejected the US$7.9 billion figure - more than two-thirds of the company's US$9.5 billion market capitalization. Still, Vancouver-based First...Read More
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. is hoping to talk its way out of a US$7.9 billion tax assessment in Zambia. Investors aren’t so sure, with shares down 17 per cent in the two days since news of the claim emerged.The Vancouver-based miner “completely refutes” the claim and doesn’t understand the authorities’ assessment, chief executive Philip Pascall said on a conference ca...Read More
Climate change giveth, and climate change taketh away — that is, if you can attribute anything to climate change.Last December, Toronto-based Centerra Gold Inc. shut down the mill at its Mount Milligan mine in British Columbia after anemic snowmelt runoff and an unexpected extreme cold snap froze the shallow supply of water in its tailing ponds. On Friday, the company announced that same mil...Read More
Main ConclusionsThe Government of Alberta has run nearly uninterrupted deficits since 2008/09 including deficits expected to average over $9 billion annually between 2016/17 and 2018/19.Alberta's deficit today is much larger than the deficit the current government inherited (about $6 billion) when it took office in 2015/16.Blaming depressed oil prices or fiscal challenges that pre-date the recent...Read More
In early March, RT.com, the Russian based media network, asked me for comments and opinion on the subject of central bank manipulation of gold prices.The comments and opinion that I supplied to RT became the article that RT then exclusively published on its website on 18 March under the title “Central banks manipulating & suppressing gold prices - industry expert to RT“. This artic...Read More
On May 6, 2016, just three days after a wildfire engulfed Fort McMurray, Alta., and forced the evacuation of more than 80,000 people, business icon and philanthropist Peter Munk donated $1 million to the Red Cross to help displaced Alberta families.Measured against all of Munk’s charitable donations — which have totalled more than $200 million — it was a small amount. But this gi...Read More
Canadian gold mining companies have moaned for months that cryptocurrencies and blockchain companies are luring investors who would otherwise put their money into precious metals. Now, Vancouver-based Goldcorp Inc., one of the world’s largest gold producers, is dabbling in its own blockchain investment, albeit in a minor way: This week, it sent 3,000 ounces of gold — worth about U...Read More
A telling story comes to mind when Ammar Al-Joundi thinks back on his time as chief financial officer at Barrick Gold Corp. and its iconic founder Peter Munk, who passed away on Wednesday at age 90.The two men were standing in the expansive lobby of the TD Canada Trust Building, chatting amiably, when Al-Joundi caught sight of an elderly gentleman some 30 feet away who slipped and fell hard on the...Read More
The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) experienced a horrible financial year in 2016-17. It suffered its largest ever annual loss of $889 million, an amount equal to 18 percent of its total premiums, and it is heading for a $1.3 billion loss in 2017-18, which would represent 23 percent of its revenue from premiums. The corporation's claim costs have risen, its investment income has s...Read More
Vancouver’s Teck Resources is buying out a minority partner in a major copper project in Chile at a cost that could reach as high as $262.5 million.The total price tag, however, will depend on copper prices — often considered a barometer for global macroeconomic growth because it is used in so many products — and which at the moment are sliding as the U.S. and China slap tariffs...Read More
It's 11:55 p.m. and Steven Howard has just returned to his hotel room in Beijing after a draining day of meetings to promote his lithium exploration company. The next morning, he would fly to Seoul to do it again, and then on to Tokyo.“I’ve got wings and wheels strapped to my rear end,” he says about his travel schedule which included stops in Hong Kong, Shenzen, Huizhou and Tian...Read More
Victory Mines (ASX:VIC) hasreceived an updated progress report from geology consultant, Xplore Resources, on its NSW assets, confirming that geochemical analysis is now underway. Xplore has concluded the firstphase of the surface soil-sampling program, focused on pre-selected high-prioritytargets aligned with magnetic peaks.Geochemical analysis follows thecompletion of field mapping and preliminar...Read More
Auroch Minerals Limited (ASX:AOU) this morning informed the market that it has completed the acquisition of 90% of the Arden Zinc Project and 100% of the Bonaventura Zinc Project, both located in the world-class mining region of South Australia.The company can confirm the completion of the acquisitions following shareholder approval at a general meeting today. As reported by the company, the trans...Read More
ArcherExploration Limited (ASX:AXE) has today announced the findings of technicalanalysis undertaken at the world-class Australian Centre forMicroscopy & Microanalysis at The University of Sydney. The analysisfocused on the structural and physical properties of graphite samples sourcedfrom its Campoona graphite deposit, via viewing individual carbon atoms at anatomic scale.Theanalysis found th...Read More
The decision by Kinder Morgan to suspend all non-essential spending on its Trans Mountain pipeline despite regulatory approval is yet another sign of the significant problems in Canada's energy sector and indeed our broader economy. Fraser Institute analysts have weighed in on a host of different aspects of this decision and its implications for Canada's investment and business climate. For more i...Read More
ArcherExploration (ASX:AXE) has penned a deal with Urbix Resources for preliminarypurification testing of graphite from its Campoona Graphite Project to identifygrades suitable for battery and energy storage applications.Urbix has developed a low-temperature,non-oxidative purification technique which reduces the input costs andenvironmental impacts whilst still yielding graphite grades suitable fo...Read More
White Rock Minerals Ltd (ASX:WRM) has updated themarket on its plans to conduct a comprehensive exploration program at its 100%owned zinc VMS project at Red Mountain, Alaska. The company has now completed the mobilisationof the major items necessary for its planned exploration program, with thediamond drill rig and camp accommodation, as well as support infrastructure, nowat the camp site alongsid...Read More