“Our message to the Biden administration is, ΓÇÿDo everything you can to do everything here in America. Get your permitting process streamlined,” Dunleavy told Reuters news service on the sidelines of the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, Tex. The comments were posted in a Scotiabank investment newsletter this morning (Thursday).

It is “somewhat nonsensical,” the governor said, that Biden has pushed for greater adoption of electric vehicles – which require far more critical minerals to build than internal combustion engines – but has blocked Northern Dynasty’s Pebble copper and gold mining project. “If we don’t get our permitting processes together, if we don’t start to use data and science again instead of emotion, the chaos is going to continue,” Dunleavy said.

These comments have been published just days after Northern Dynasty issued a response to the Biden Administration’s proposed ban on waste disposal that would hobble the company’s plan to develop its flagship Pebble gold and copper mine in Alaska.

The Environmental Protection Agency issued a formal recommendation on December 1, 2022, to bar the disposal of mining waste in Bristol Bay, an area that hosts the world’s largest salmon harvest. If finalized, the proposed ban would essentially block efforts by Northern Dynasty via its Pebble Ltd. Partnership subsidiary to mine gold, copper and molybdenum from southwestern Alaska.

Northern Dynasty has spent the last two decades trying to develop the Pebble Project, which located on a contiguous block of 1,840 mineral claims in southwestern Alaska. First discovered in 1989, the project ranks as one of the world’s largest undeveloped gold-copper resources.

John Shively, CEO of the U.S.-based Pebble Ltd. Partnership released the following statement, pushing back against what he described as “the unprecedented EPA decision” to veto mining at the Pebble Project:

“We still firmly believe that the proposed determination should have been withdrawn as it is based on indefensible legal and non-scientific assumptions,” he said. “The process and the decision have been political from the start, as evidenced by White House Climate Change Advisor Gina McCarthy, stating in November of 2021 that the administration would shut down the project once and for all while praising the action with a ΓÇÿhallelujah.'”

Shively said that in his opinion, the EPA has made wildly speculative claims about possible adverse impacts from Pebble’s development that are not supported by any defensible data and are in direct contradiction to the facts validated in the USACE’s Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Pebble Project. “The FEIS clearly states that Pebble can be developed without harm to the Bristol Bay fishery,” he said.

On Thursday, Northern Dynasty shares eased 1.2% or $0.005 to 40.5 cents. The shares trade in a 52-week range of 58 cents and 28 cents.

By David Duval

With the COVID-19 ├é pandemic devastating much of the global economy it almost seems counterintuitive that base metals, most notably copper, would be in such high demand – not to mention trading at near record highs.

Ever since the advent of the industrial era, copper has been a barometer of global economic activity and there are good reasons for that. Because of its ability to conduct heat and electricity, copper is essential in the production of electrical equipment such as wiring, motors and industrial machinery. Not surprisingly, the housing market is a major consumer of copper as is the automotive industry.

Today, markets for copper concentrate remain tight, partly due to production constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, production in two major producing countries, Chile and Peru, have trended downward this year because of record high cumulative COVID-19-related mine production disruptions. Contributing to the shortfall, Rio Tinto delayed the restart of its Kennecott mine in Utah due to maintenance.

Antaike, the China Nonferrous Metal Industry Association’s research department, revised its 2020 forecast for refined copper imports as June and July saw record import levels. The agency estimates 3.8 million tonnes of refined copper imports for 2020 compared to 3.55 million tonnes imported in 2019. Moreover, Antaike confirms that China’s State Grid will increase its investment by the end of 2020 which will increase copper demand.

China’s September copper imports were the second-highest level on record as recovering factory activity boosted demand for the metal despite increasing prices.

Australia’s ANZ Research notes that “Strong industrial and construction activity continued to drive primary copper demand,” adding further that “China’s plan to build strategic reserves is likely to keep imports resilient as well.”

Massive fiscal stimuli in major economies throughout the world continue to bolster the fortunes of this important industrial metal. Indeed, the futures market remains heavily in long territory compared to the early half of the decade, according to the latest COT (Commitment of Traders) report.

Copper demand is expected to continue to grow, driven by building, construction and electrical network infrastructures. Additionally, targeted green economy investments by governments globally have increased the demand forecast for copper in the electric vehicles and renewable energy markets.

Comparisons are being made to the commodity bull market of 2009, suggesting that copper prices have further potential to rise.

US investment firm, Goldman Sachs, is forecasting a bull market for commodities in 2021 based on its outlook for a weaker dollar, inflation, and the prospect of further economic and fiscal stimulus.├é They are predicting a 12-month return of 30% on the S&P’s Goldman Sachs Commodities Index and are recommending long positions in a basket of metals including silver, copper and gold.

Goldman cites tightening supply amid adverse weather conditions and greater demand from China for its bullish outlook, noting that “Economic stimulus measures in the world’s second-largest economy have helped to drive demand for metals to its highest level since 2011.” The company expects base metals and agriculture to have “more near-term upside than oil, with smaller inventories to move through before prices begin to rise.”

Goldman’s head of commodities research, Jeffrey Currie, recently said in a research note that: “Given that inventories are drawing this early in the cycle, we see a structural bull market for commodities emerging in 2021.”

COVID-19 impacted the broader metals market in a similar fashion including the zinc concentrate market which remained in deficit in the third quarter. Analysts cite production and logistics issues in Latin America, combined with lower Chinese domestic mine production, with exacerbating the shortage of material available to smelters late in the year. Zinc is used as a galvanizing agent in steel manufacturing to inhibit rust.

According to Teck Resources, a major zinc miner and refiner, “Chinese zinc mine production was down 3.8% year to date to July, while smelter production was up 2.4% according to the International Lead Zinc Study Group. Zinc concentrate shipments into China rose 39% to the end of August over the previous year. Despite an increase in imports over 2019, the global concentrate market remained tight, as supply from Latin America during the first three quarters remained under pressure.”

“The slow reopening of economies in Europe and North America started to bring buyers back into the market. In China, manufacturers returned to normal operating rates with galvanized steel benefiting from improved construction and infrastructure demand. In the rest of the world, construction and infrastructure demand remained relatively stable while manufacturing and automotive demand have been slower to recover.”

According to├é Fitch Solutions’ latest industry report, zinc├é prices will edge higher over the remainder of 2020, continuing a strong rebound from the lows posted during the initial COVID-19 outbreak.├é However, a long-term structural downtrend in zinc prices is forecasted by Fitch to begin in 2021.

Stainless steel demand, the primary driver of nickel prices, was 14.5% higher year-over-year in third quarter 2020, largely due to production increases in China which helped offset weakness in Europe and North America.

Nickel is the most expensive material in electric vehicle batteries after cobalt and is also one of the most highly used outside of the battery industry. Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) worldwide increased 60% year-over-year in Q3, mainly due to sales strength in Europe. While electric vehicle passenger car sales are forecasted to increase slightly this year, the overall auto industry is expected to decline approximately 15 to 20%. This has pushed the EV penetration rate to the highest on record.

The nickel market is projected to be in surplus in 2020 given the fact COVID-19 has impacted demand, particularly in the high-value markets such as aerospace, automotive and oil & gas sectors. Nonetheless, positive signs have emerged including increased Chinese stainless-steel production along with a strong rebound in EV and automotive sales.

The long-term prospects for nickel remain positive and the successful development of a COVID-19 vaccine might help boost depressed markets such as airlines and Oil & Gas which are directly related. In addition, governments globally have committed record amounts of fiscal stimulus that will lend further support to the “green economy.”

Aurania Resources Ltd. [ARU-TSXV; AUIAF-OTCQB; 20Q-0FSE] is currently drilling 16 precious metal and base metal targets in Ecuador. The company has identified over 50 prospective targets that could potentially host several different types of mineral deposits: epithermal gold, iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG), silver-lead-zinc, porphyry copper, and sedimentary copper-silver deposits.

Aurania’s targets are analogous to known major deposits. For example, the gold-silver epithermal targets use Lundin Gold’s Fruta del Norte deposit as an exploration guide and the├é Spanish Colonial mines of Logrono and Sevilla, believed to be located within the concession area, are also thought to be of this type. Its silver-lead-zinc targets are similar to Pan American Silver’s Navidad deposit or deposits in the Cerro de Pasco district of Peru. To be brief, Aurania’s other target types are also analogous to well-known mineral deposits.

The Company has funding for 11,000 metres of drilling with each target receiving 1,000 to 4,000 metres of drilling in three to five holes. With so many targets to test in this scout drilling program, Aurania is utilizing light-weight, man-portable drill rigs to make for better logistics.

If the initial drilling of a target makes an interesting discovery, a second drill rig will be brought in for follow-up.

The IOCG system identified in the Tsenken N2 target area extends to target Tsenken N3, where it strengthens and the where the first copper mineralization identified in the drill core at Aurania’s flagship Lost Cities-Cutucu Project in southeastern Ecuador.

Aurania’s chairman and CEO, Dr. Keith Barron, noted that the Tsenken N2 and N3 targets form part of a single, large IOCG target that covers over 20 km². IOCG systems are typically large and contain gold as well as copper. Exploration elsewhere in the concession area is identifying other IOCG targets consistent with IOCGs typically being in clusters. A helicopter-borne mobile magnetotellurics survey is underway, and should detect conductive sulphides expected to be in the central part of the IOCG system.

Following the scout drilling at Tsenken, the company will target Tiria-Shimpia which could host a silver-zinc-lead system similar to the Cerro de Pasco District.

For sediment-hosted copper-silver, with evidence of a copper-silver mineral belt in adjacent Peru, Aurania has applied for exploration concessions there covering over 400,000 hectares where more targets will be tested. The company’s exploration concessions in Ecuador cover 208,000 hectares.

The management team at Aurania is particularly well qualified with three PhD’s, a mining engineer, former investment banker and a civil and mining engineer. The management team at the Ecuadorian subsidiary is also well qualified. CEO Dr. Keith Barron, as well as other insiders put up much of the early high-risk capital in the early, riskiest stages of the exploration program. Today, insiders own about 44% of outstanding shares.

Aurania is well-funded. On October 29 the company announced the closing of an $11.5-million public offering. Cantor Fitzgerald Canada was lead underwriter with a syndicate of underwriters, including Canaccord Genuity, Echelon Wealth Partners, Eight Capital, Haywood Securities and Raymond James. The company has approximately 44 million shares outstanding.

Aurania Resources represents an opportunity to be in on the ground floor of South American mineral discoveries with potential to make multiple discoveries in Ecuador and Peru.

Surge Copper Corp. [SURG-TSXV; GRJVF-OTC] is moving to capitalize on renewed investor interest in copper metal by advancing a merger and acquisition strategy that aims to consolidate strategic porphyry districts in British Columba.

It hopes to achieve this goal after recently watching the price of copper rally to a 7-year high on the back of ongoing U.S.-China trade tensions and hopes that deployment of COVID-19 vaccines will accelerate a global economic recovery and boost demand for the metal.

On Monday December 21 copper was trading at US$3.56 a pound, just below the recent high of US$3.57, and up from US$2.10 in March 2020.

The foundation stone for Surge’s strategy is its 100%-owned Ootsa Project in British Columbia, which contains three large copper porphyry deposits located beside the Imperial Metals Corp. [III-TSX] Huckleberry mine and mill complex.

A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) completed in 2016 has estimated that the three deposits (Ox, East Seel and West Seel) contain a measured and indicated pit constrained resource of 224 million tonnes, hosting 1.1 billion pounds of copper and 1.0 million ounces of gold (2.5 billion pounds of copper equivalent – CuEq).

The company has ambitions plans to materially increase its large resource base through expansion drilling and M&A activity and is looking at potential for building a large scale, stand-alone mining operation. A 10,000-metre drill program is in progress at Ootsa to test the expansion and near-deposit exploration potential of the Seel Cu-Au-Mo porphyry trend.

A 3D IP survey conducted this summer identified multiple geophysical anomalies over the Seel Trend which are currently being tested by one of the two drills active on the property. The second drill is focused on expanding the large West Seel deposit, were recently released hole S20-219 returned an impressive 700 metres grading 0.51% CuEq, including 422 metres grading 0.60% CuEq.

Surge Copper recently solidified its position in the district by entering a definitive option agreement with Thompson Creek Metals Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Centerra Gold Inc. [CG-TSX]. Under the terms, Surge can earn a 70% interest in the Berg copper-molybdenum-silver project by issuing $5 million worth of common shares and spending $8 million on the project over five years.

The Berg property hosts a large porphyry Cu-Mo-Ag deposit in the Tahtsa Ranges approximately 28 km northwest of Surge’s Ootsa Project. A 2018 historical resource estimate stands at 397 million tonnes grading 0.44%. Measured and Indicated Resources are 14 million tonnes grading 0.34% CuEq. Inferred Resources have not been calculated.

Prior to launching the 10,000-metre drill program on late October, 2020, the company closed a non-brokered flow-through private placement that raised $6 million from the sale of 40 million flow through units priced at 15 cents each.

Each flow-through unit consists of one flow-through share and one flow-through share purchase warrant entitling the holder to purchase an additional non-flow through common share for 17 cents for up to three years after closing.

The completion of this financing, together with the exercise of over 7.0 million previously issues share purchase warrants that generated $1.08 million, has left the company with $7.6 million in the treasury.

On December 21, 2020, Surge shares were trading at 76 cents in a 52-week range of 85 cents and $0.02, leaving the company with a market cap of $61, 484,000, based on 80.9 million shares outstanding.

The share price has almost doubled in value since November 26, 2020 tabled assay results from the upper portion of hole S20-218 the first hole of the 2020 drilling program. The upper part of the hole, drilled through the East Seel deposit returned 176.1 metres of copper equivalent.

That includes higher grade portions of 126.0 metres grading 0.89% copper equivalent and 32 metres grading 1.30% copper equivalent. The company says it is fully funded to expand the 10,000-metre drill program as conditions warrant.

Aside from Ootsa, the company also holds a 2% net smelter return royalty interest on the Auro and Auro South properties, which cover 23,000 hectares and are adjacent to the Artemis Gold Inc. [ARTG-TSXV] Blackwater Gold Project in central B.C., about 160 km southwest of Prince George.

Blackwater is estimated to contain 8.0 million ounces of gold and 60 million ounces of silver reserves.

Copper Fox Metals Inc. [CUU-TSXV; CPFXF-OTC] is a company that aims to acquire potentially large, low-cost porphyry copper projects and advance them to a point where they can be sold for development to larger mine operators.

It is a strategy that aims to capitalize on the growing recognition of the role that copper could play in the evolving green economy as investments by governments around the world increase the demand for the red metal in electric vehicles and renewable energy.

From a demand perspective, stronger than expected strategic buying by China this year is sending what was thought to be a balanced copper market into deficit, Eric Heimlich, a base metals analyst at CRU Consulting, said recently.

In recent weeks, analysts say investors have also been attracted to copper and copper-related equities as they search for assets that offer exposure to a post-pandemic economic recovery that is being facilitated by a global vaccination drive that is now underway.

Trading at 18 cents on December 16, 2020, shares in Copper Fox offer what looks like a low-risk entry to this unfolding scenario.

Copper Fox has two advanced stage projects in its portfolio that contain significant quantities of copper, gold, and molybdenum. One is the Schaft Creek Project in northwestern British Columbia. It ranks as one of the largest undeveloped porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum-silver deposits in North America. The other is the 100%-owned Van Dyke in-situ copper recovery project in Arizona.

The company is also working to complete the purchase of a second British Columbia project that could host a sizable porphyry copper system.

In January, 2013, Copper Fox released the results of a Feasibility Study for Schaft Creek. The study concluded that a 130,000 tonnes-per day conventional open pit mine could be developed at the site at a cost of $3.26 billion and would produce copper and separate molybdenum concentrates over a lifespan of 21 years. Pursuant to the finalization of the Feasibility Study, Vancouver-based metals giant Teck Resources Ltd. [TECK.B-TSX; TECK.A-TSX; TECK-NYSE] exercised their back-in right and acquired a 75% interest in Schaft Creek, with Copper Fox holding a 25% carried interest in the joint venture. In the eight years since the feasibility study was announced, Teck has spent $19 million on the project.

Copper Fox issued a news release on November 24, 2020 saying it has engaged Tetra Tech Canada Inc. to prepare a Preliminary Economic Assessment, a NI 43-101 technical report for the Shaft Creek Project. The PEA will outline the current status of the project and outline the potential impact of recent studies to enhance the value of the project by identifying a number of opportunities to lower capital and operating costs. It will also provide Copper Fox with an updated reference point from which to establish a strategy of maximizing the value of this asset to its shareholders.

Meanwhile, the company is taking a similar approach at the Van Dyke Project where it is working to complete a PEA that will take into account the positive changes in resource classification and a substantial increase in soluble copper content that was reported in an updated resource estimate

According to the updated estimate announced May 5, 2020, Van Dyke contains an indicated resource of 97.6 million tonnes, grading 0.24% recoverable copper, containing 517 million pounds of soluble copper. On top of that is an inferred resource of 168.0 million tonnes, grading 0.19% recoverable copper containing 699 million pounds of soluble copper.

The most recent estimates envisage a base case annual production rate of 85 million pounds annually over an 18-year mine life. That’s up from a 2015 estimate of 60 million pounds per year over a mine life of 11-years.

“The robust geological and updated copper recovery models combined with higher long term copper pricing area expected to have a significant impact on project economics and mine life, indicating that the Van Dyke project continues to prove itself as a serious competitor in the ISCR sector in Arizona,” said Copper Fox President and CEO Elmer Stewart.

Meanwhile, Copper Fox is also working to complete the purchase of 100% of the Eaglehead project in northern British Columbia from District Copper Corp. [DCOP-TSXV, CAXPF-OTC]. While this is an exploration stage project, the technical data for the project indicates the potential for this project to host a sizable porphyry copper system, the company has said.

The Copper Fox portfolio also contains two exploration stage copper projects in Arizona, known as Mineral Mountain and Sombrero Butte, both of which are hosted in Laramide Age intrusives located along well established copper porphyry trends.

Throughout the history of advanced Western democracies there’s probably never been a year quite like 2020. Most of the wars Canada and its allies have fought were overseas (Europe and Asia), with virtually no danger to their citizens residing on home soil. Governments were not able to impose restrictions on its citizens like they are today in their efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Canada, the ruling Liberal government – aided by the New Democratic Party – is using the pandemic to implement a radical ideologically-driven agenda that would have been impossible had Canadians not felt threatened by a virus.

Among the most serious threats to our long-term economic security is the massive deficit that Canada is presently running – estimated to be at least $350 billion this fiscal year. (It’s hard to tell what the final number will be given the fact the government has not formally tabled a budget to parliament).

Equally as onerous is the fact there is no clear plan presented by the government on how it plans to pay it down the debt or when it will rein in spending. As of March 31, 2021, Canada’s federal debt is projected to be $1.43 trillion, an unprecedented level for a country with a population of less than 38 million.

Fitch Ratings has stripped Canada of its AAA credit rating and downgraded the country to an AA+ rating, stating it expects the federal government’s COVID-19 response measures to raise Canada’s debt to 115.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, up from 88.3% in 2019.

Although interest rates remain low and are likely to remain so for some time to come, higher interest payments are a major consequence of debt accumulation. Much like households paying interest on borrowing related to mortgages, vehicles, or credit card spending, governments must make interest payments on their debts. These payments can increase with rising interest rates which are beyond their control. Revenues directed toward interest payments mean that there is less money available for tax cuts or government programs such as health care, education, and social services.

The delayed parliamentary budget filing comes amid reports it is planning to increase the capital gains tax on income-producing real estate. In addition, investors fear the minority Liberal government, supported by the Socialist-leaning NDP, will decide to increase the capital gains tax on stock purchases, effectively diminishing returns to investors including pensioners who no longer have access to interest rate-sensitive sources of revenue. The current capital gains inclusion rate in Canada is 50% which compares to long-term capital gains tax rates in the United States for assets held for more than a year of├é 0%, 15%, and├é 20%, depending on one’s income.

Adding to the long-term consequences of escalating federal debt is the government’s ideological promotion of climate change and its resolve to destroy or effectively negate the contribution of Canada’s energy industry to the national economy. Most of Canada’s oil industry is located in land-locked Alberta which between 1961 and 2017 contributed more than $600 billion to Ottawa in net federal transfer payments, largely due to a robust and prosperous energy sector.

Yet the federal government continues to implement roadblocks to this vital economic contributor under the guise of modernizing the National Energy Board (NEB) whose mandate is to “promote safety and security, environmental protection and economic efficiency in the Canadian public interest, in the regulation of pipelines, energy development and trade.”

Oil industry executives say the passing of Bill C-69, which the government says is designed to modernize the NEB, will effectively prevent any new pipelines from accessing tidewater in Canada.

The Trudeau government has already killed Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline├é after it had undergone years of a grueling regulatory process and was passed by the Harper government. Trudeau’s government had to purchase Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline and its plans for the twinning of the pipeline which will run roughly parallel to the existing pipeline between Edmonton and Burnaby, (east of Vancouver) and will be used to transport diluted bitumen to the west coast and overseas markets.

More recently, Ottawa extended the review period of TC Energy’s bid to build the final segments of an expansion of the NOVA Gas Transmission by another 150 days, reportedly to accommodate further consultations with Indigenous communities near the route. The project involves the construction of 344 kilometres of natural gas pipeline and associated facilities in northwestern Alberta to enhance natural gas transmission from northwestern Alberta and northeastern B.C. With a planned startup in April 2021, the project was to employ 5,500 workers in its construction phase, with implied additional upstream spinoff benefits of $1.5 billion.

You may not like U.S. President Donald Trump; however, he recently approved a permit for a proposed rail line connecting Alaska and Canada which would decrease the time required to move products between Asia and North America. Trudeau has already cautioned that the plan must undergo a rigorous environmental assessment under Bill C-69, hinting it was unlikely to pass muster “before the proponent goes too far down the round and invests too much money in it.”

Once supportive of Bill C-69, the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) has expressed “deteriorating confidence” in the liberal government’s new project assessment act, citing Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson’s decision to subject Teck Resources’ Castle Mountain Mine expansion project in southeastern BC to federal review.

The project had already undergone a rigorous provincial environmental review process with the BC Environmental Assessment Office and is an essential element in extending the life of Teck’s existing Fording River steel-making coal operation, one of Teck’s four steel-making coal mines that are significant economic drivers for BC and Canada.

Pierre Gratton, President and CEO of MAC, said the decision “certainly has the potential to lead to longer timelines at a time of unprecedented global economic uncertainty.”

This is the second major regulatory hit for Teck Resources which had no option but to cancel ├é a planned CAD$20.6 ├é billion oil sands├é mine in northern Alberta owing to ├é uncertainty about Canada’s climate policy,

For some of Canada’s resource industries, the future looks uncertain – maybe bleak – and guess who will make up for the lost resource revenues the government currently enjoys.

The Covid-19 pandemic is still impacting the global economy and the virus’s impact will likely be felt for years to come. In addition, the prospects of finding an effective vaccine in the near term appear to be slim to none.

Estimates for the availability of a vaccine range from a year at the earliest to several years and perhaps never. Given the economic consequences to date, all this uncertainty is hardly a confidence-building scenario for Canadian business including the minerals sector.

The SARS pandemic in 2003 – which was nowhere as widespread and deadly as Covid-19 – was the opening salvo in an ongoing pandemic threat that will continue to be a major public health concern. There is still no SARS vaccine which no doubt largely relates to the fact that SARS failed to come back the following year.

However, Brett Finlay, a professor at UBC’s Michael Smith Laboratories, suspects that Covid-19 is “probably going to be here for the long term.” In the past, it has taken 10-15 years to get a vaccine approved, he notes, given the stringent regulatory climate imposed on medical research and human testing. “Making vaccines is a $200 million to billion-dollar investment to get it out to the public,” he adds.

So, what does this mean to critical economic drivers such as oil & gas, mining, forestry, agriculture and other industries whose products are not only job creators but are major sources of dollar-supportive foreign exchange?

Companies have been forced to adapt to the new reality and in many cases stringent regulations have been imposed on them by governments within Canada and abroad. Indeed, there’s hardly a mining company around that hasn’t faced production losses and the financial impact has been arguably worse for junior explorers who typically raise money through private placements but are still struggling to meet financially onerous listing and compliance issues with regulators.

Major companies such as Barrick Gold, which jointly operates the Veladero gold mine in Argentina, has stepped up to the plate and purchased hundreds of thousands of test kits to help combat and contain the spread of the virus in Argentina and within communities adjacent to its mines. While there is some question concerning the reliability of finger-prick antibody testing kits to screen workers, Barrick feels the testing is adequate for screening purposes.

Barrick is one of only a few mining companies that has experienced a pandemic. The company has been through two Ebola pandemics and already had protocols in place to deal with them. Of particular concern for the company was its relationship with Indigenous employees and the communities they live in.

Barrick CEO Mark Bristow noted in a recent Financial Post article that “In both Canada and Nevada we have worked with our first-nation communities to lock them down because that was a big social risk,” he said. “Their view is they always get really damaged in pandemics like this. So we put in place support structures├óΓé¼ΓÇ░.├óΓé¼ΓÇ░.├óΓé¼ΓÇ░.├óΓé¼ΓÇ░gave them support on food and medicine and everything else.” Because of operational shutdowns, Barrick reported the lowest quarterly production since the third quarter of 2018 and is hardly alone.

Kinross Gold has adopted Covid-19 protocols including a ban on all non-essential business travel, individual site management controls and screening to limit access to mine sites, isolation plans and on-site isolation facilities, emergency medical preparedness, supply chain contingency plans and alternative work arrangements for employees.

Across the company, a number of precautionary steps have been taken to promote awareness of the importance of hygienic practices, such as frequent and proper handwashing. In addition, the company is following the protective measures outlined by the World Health Organization.

Strict practices and protocols have been adopted at mine sites to help prevent exposure to COVID-19 and include: implementing physical distancing measures at all sites; enhanced screening process at entry point; limiting face-to-face interactions to the extent possible; and postponing non-essential deliveries and visits by external personnel.

These protocols are adaptable to just about any segment of the economy including the exploration sector which generally operates in more remote areas but often involves a conglomeration of personnel camped in a relatively confined area.

In addition, field personnel can have interactions with small isolated communities, many of them Indigenous, who are especially vulnerable to Covid-19 given the limitations of health care services in remote areas.

In a business segment that’s been struggling for years, Covid-19 is but another challenge for mineral explorers and their employees. Most have been unable to visit their offices, field work and business travel have been reduced or eliminated and face-to-face meetings avoided. In many parts of Canada exploration is seasonal and the window of opportunity to prepare and implement exploration programs has passed, leaving companies with another year of overhead and no results to attract financing. With the federal government bailing out most of the country, you’d think there would be some crumbs left over for our exploration sector.

Thirteen years ago, Nassim Taleb, a Lebanese-American scholar, former option trader and risk analyst, published a book titled The Black Swan. The book focused on the extreme impact of rare and unpredictable outlier events and humans’ tendency to find simplistic explanations for them – something he called the Black Swan theory.

The financial crisis of 2008 is one such event and transpired despite former US Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, assuring Americans the economy wasn’t at risk. Without coordinated Central Bank intervention, the world economy would have likely slipped into a 1930s-style depression with catastrophic consequences.

The parallels today to these time periods are alarming with the DOW selling off a record 2,000 points (almost 8%) in one day and oil prices falling by over 30% almost overnight. Adding to these unprecedented market pressures is what seems to be an upcoming pandemic from the highly infectious coronavirus (COVID-19) which has ground parts of the Chinese economy to a standstill.

A week ago, I watched video footage from a drone flying over the virus’s epicentre in Wuhan, China – a city of 11 million – and there wasn’t a person in sight. With China being the world’s warehouse and also an importer of western-manufactured products as well, one can only imagine the impact on the global economy. Before the recent downturn in oil prices, global demand had already dropped significantly, partly due to the dire economic situation in China and its domino effect elsewhere.

Canada’s economic problems have been largely self-inflicted, with rail and road blockages impacting the daily lives of working Canadians – not to mention the national economy which has slowed to near recession levels. The future for our resource industries in particular looks bleak. Despite an 85% approval rate among First Nations in northwest BC, a few hereditary chiefs are holding up a major LNG pipeline and related infrastructure valued at approximately $40 billion – the largest single investment in Canadian history.

It’s hard to imagine a smooth way forward for the project when the chiefs are vehemently opposed to it and they have the backing of activist groups who are seen to be above the law and can blockade anything they want.

Equally as controversial and subject to widespread environmental resistance is the Trans Mountain Expansion Project that involves the twinning of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline and expansion of the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, BC. The pipeline is now owned by a federal Crown corporation which purchased it from Trans Mountain for $4.5 billion about two years ago. Since that time, the cost of the project has escalated from $7.4 billion to $12.6 billion. When the dust settles on this project – if indeed it ever gets completed – you can bet the final price is going to be a lot higher.

In terms of immediate impact, the coronavirus appears to be the most serious threat to Canada’s economy and the Bank of Canada has already responded with a half-point cut in interest rates, matching that of the US Federal Reserve. That might be perceived as good news by home buyers who are not immune to bidding up home prices with all that cheap money. The other side of the coin; however, is the threat of job losses in an economic downturn which would potentially cause highly indebted mortgage holders to default on their payments. Lower rates are bound to impact the strength of the Canadian dollar which will serve to make imports more expensive – especially anything from the US including vegetables and other foodstuffs.

Longer term, the decline of Canada’s oil industry and its resource sector in general poses the biggest risk to our standard of living which Canadians seem totally oblivious to. Driving this risk is the widespread, well organized, largely foreign-funded resistance to all things oil which has already led to the cancellation of $150 billion in Canadian and foreign investment.

These activists have virtual immunity to police action at federal, provincial and local levels, making a mockery of Canada`s rule of law. The unusual number of rail derailments, many of them involving hydrocarbon products, gets rarely a mention in Canada’s mainstream media, and what’s worse, there are ongoing jurisdictional disputes as to who should be investigating these derailments.

The timing of these Black Swan events couldn’t come at a worse time politically. Canada has a new parliament with the Liberals holding a comfortable minority. The Bloc Qu├â┬⌐becois will side with the Liberals to serve their own interests and not Canada’s. The NDP party is broke and could not afford to face another election.

If there’s a recession, a lot of previously indifferent anti-everything Canadians are going to face some serious hurt which might be what the doctor ordered!