SummaryA 2017 CCPA report found that the average compensation for the 100 highest-paid CEOs in Canada was $9.5 million, which was 193 times higher than the average industrial wage in Canada ($49,510).Extending the analysis to include all CEOs in the survey reduced average compensation by 78.4% to $2.1 million; the ratio of CEO-to-worker pay fell to 42 to 1.Quite telling, the average CEO compensati...Read More
The December issue of BullionStar's 'Gold Market Charts' looks at developments in the world's major physical gold markets during November, the latest month for which the relevant data is available. Each month, this series of article uses gold charts from the GOLD CHARTS R US market charting website.SGE Gold WithdrawalsPhysical gold withdrawals from the vaults of the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE...Read More
Back in October 2016, Centerra Gold CEO Scott Perry told investors that purchasing the Mount Milligan gold and copper mine would give the company an asset in “one of the lowest risk jurisdictions” in the world — British Columbia.At the time, his company’s other flagship asset, a gold mine in the Kyrgyz Republic, was mired in disputes with the local government about pol...Read More
SummaryAs Canada's most successful metropolitan areas continue to grow, they face pressures to grow outward-through the construction of new communities at the urban fringe-and upward-by accommodating more residents in existing urban areas, leading to higher populations densities. This bulletin compares population densities across 30 cities located in high-income countries.To ensure comparability b...Read More
The early part of the year is typically when there is movement on the Street, and 2018 is no exception.Vancouver-based PI Financial has hired two new staffers for its mining research group. The firm has retained the services of Chris Thompson as head of its mining research group and Justin Stevens as a mining research associate. They both joined from Raymond James where they covered precious metal...Read More
SummarySince coming into office, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has repeatedly claimed to have reduced taxes for middle class Canadian families-a claim based solely on the federal government's reduction to the second lowest personal income tax rate from 22 to 20.5 percent. However, a recent study found that when all the Trudeau government's major changes to the personal income tax syst...Read More
Move over Bitcoin. In 2018, so far, it’s gold that’s catching investors’ attention.Gold hit a four-month high on Friday, trading at US$1,338.39 per ounce on the back of strong production outlooks from companies, higher price predictions from bank analysts and merger activity.“It’s going to get more competitive,” Clive T. Johnson, chief executive of B2Gold C...Read More
One of the biggest diamonds in history has been discovered in the mountainous kingdom of Lesotho in southern Africa.Gem Diamonds Ltd. found the 910-carat stone, about the size of two golf balls, at its Letseng mine in the country. It’s a D colour Type IIa diamond, which means it has very few or no nitrogen atoms and is one of the most expensive stones. The diamond is the fifth-biggest ever f...Read More
SummaryThe unemployment rate has long been the single measure most used by the media, policymakers, and politicians to gauge overall labour market performance.However, the unemployment rate can decrease for two reasons that imply very different performance: 1) people are finding work, which is positive; or 2) potential workers are dropping out of the labour force and not looking for work anymore,...Read More
Stung by some lousy investments that led to billions of dollars in losses a few years ago, the world’s major gold producers have cut way back on mining deals — even as metal prices posted their biggest rally since 2010.The value of the industry’s transactions, from acquisitions to venture-capital financing, tumbled by more than a third in 2017 to US$8.95 billion, the lowest...Read More
While the provision of health care involves the use of a considerable number of inputs, including medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, health-care services still draw largely on the expertise of health-care professionals. Physicians, in particular, play a prominent role. In this regard, while Canada has one of the most expensive universal health-care systems among developed countries, the number...Read More
TORONTO — The Chilean government has ordered Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) to permanently close all surface facilities at its troubled Pascua-Lama project high in the Andes.The government had suspended the massive project that straddles the Chile-Argentina border in 2013 over concerns of environmental damage and water contamination during development.Barrick was fined the maximum US$16 millio...Read More
Mike Mozak's union was in the middle of labour negotiations with Teck Resources Ltd. last spring when the company announced a proposed $1.2-billion deal to sell its hydroelectric dam that powers the lead and zinc smelter where his members worked."It was a shock to all of us," said Mozak, president of United Steelworkers Local 9705, who questions how the sale could affect the smelter's future. Nest...Read More
Recently, Russian television network RT extensively quoted me in a series of articles about the US Government's gold reserves. The RT articles, published on the RT.com website, were based on a series of questions RT put to me about various aspects of the official US gold reserves. These gold reserves are held by the US Treasury, mostly in the custody of the US Mint. The US Mint is a branch of th...Read More
LONDON — The field of prospective bidders for ScotiaMocatta, the metals trading arm of Canada’s Bank of Nova Scotia, has narrowed to two, three banking and industry sources said on Wednesday.The two – Goldman Sachs Group and Citi – are undertaking due diligence checks, the sources said.The sources said Japanese trading house Sumitomo and Australian bank ANZ (Australia and N...Read More
The Human Freedom Index (HFI) presents a broad measure of human freedom, understood as the absence of coercive constraint. This third annual index uses 79 distinct indicators of personal and economic freedom in the following areas:Rule of LawSecurity and SafetyMovementReligionAssociation, Assembly, and Civil SocietyExpression and InformationIdentity and RelationshipsSize of GovernmentLegal System...Read More
Conventional wisdom suggests 'buy low, sell high' is the best strategy. But as gold prices surge to new peaks daily, and some companies hang back from acquisitions, Leagold Mining Corp.'s chief executive Neil Woodyer believes he's found a loophole to this age-old adage: In about a one-year timespan, he has built a Latin America-focused intermediate by snapping up assets that larger companies cast...Read More
Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. and parent Rio Tinto Group’s ambition to build one of the world’s largest copper and gold mines, called Oyu Tolgoi, in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, has hit a number of stumbling blocks in recent weeks.Last week, Jean-Sebastien Jacques, the chief executive of Rio Tinto, flew to Mongolia’s capital city to meet with prime minister Ukhnaagiin Khurelsuk...Read More
There are serious financial risks associated with running deficits during times of positive economic growth. One of the principal risks is that the budget cannot be balanced regardless of economic conditions because a permanent imbalance between how much the government spends and the amount it raises from taxes and other revenues develops. The Trudeau government took office in late 2015 and immedi...Read More
The Fraser Institute is the top think-tank in Canada for the tenth straight year and ranks in the top 25 among all think-tanks worldwide, according to the 2017 Global Go To Think Tank Index published by the University of Pennsylvania and released recently in Washington, D.C.The annual index ranks the Fraser Institute first among 100 think-tanks in Canada and 21st out of more than 7,800 think-tanks...Read More