New landscape for BC mining environmental reviews

A coal mine project in Alaska that could have negative impacts on salmon spawning will be allowed to push ahead. Alaska Dispatch reports that the state government has denied a petition to declare land within a drainage system in the Upper Cook Inlet unsuitable for coal mining: The petition sought to block in particular a strip mine project planned on Alaska Mental Health Lands Trust land by Delaware-based PacRim Coal LP, whose plan calls for the destruction of 11 miles of a tributary which Alaska Fish and Game has deemed significant habitat for spawning Cook Inlet salmon.

Vancouver-based Goldcorp on Wednesday reported record third-quarter net income on an adjusted, non-GAAP basis of $459 million or $0.57 per share from $244 million or $0.33 per share in the third quarter last year. Revenues for the quarter grew 48% to $1.31 billion from $885 million in 2010 on gold sales of 571,500 ounces. Average realized gold price surged 39% over 2010 to $1,719 per ounce. Cash costs at Goldcorp now amount to $258 per ounce on a by-product basis and $551 per ounce on a co-product basis.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Oct. 26, 2011) - Teck Resources Limited (TSX: TCK.A and TCK.B, NYSE: TCK) announced today that it will pay an eligible dividend of $0.40 per share on its outstanding Class A common shares and Class B subordinate voting shares on January 3, 2012, to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 15, 2011. This represents a 33 percent increase from the previous dividend.

The US state department's anonymous leak to the media on Tuesday lowering expectations about a decision on Keystone this year should not come as a surprise to anyone following Barack Obama's poll numbers or the increasing bitterness on the left about his perceived closeness to industry.

On top of a 3.3% decline in US crude oil prices on Wednesday comes news from Reuters that a US State Department official said the year-end target to approve the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline could well be missed. It would be the second time a decision has been pushed out. A surge in inventories at the Cushing hub in the Midwest, the pricing point for US crude was behind the fall and a further delay to Keystone, designed to carry Canadian crude to Texas refineries and relieve the Cushing glut, will hit oil sands producers particularly hard. Canada's heavy oil already sells at almost a $30 discount to the international price.

Canada's number one coal producer and world-leading nickel miner, Sherritt jumped 10.2% on Wednesday after reporting a doubling of quarterly net earnings and good progress at its massive Ambatovy project in Madagascar. Sherritt will start production at Ambatovy in the first quarter of next year. The company has already spent more than 90% of the planned $5.5 billion to build what will be the world's biggest nickel mine with the capacity to produce 60,000 tonnes of nickel and 5,600 of cobalt a year. Sherritt and its Asian partners have made the largest investment in the island's history and will make nickel the country's number one export for the next 27 years.

In the last decade spending on exploration in British Columbia has increased 20 fold. It was another bright spot for British Columbia's mining sector, as covered in PricewaterhouseCoopers' industry survey. "The estimated total economic output, value added GDP employment generated from exploration and development activities are $352 million, $168 million and 3,017 jobs respectively," wrote the survey authors.

Legislation introduced in the Queensland state parliament could have a negative impact on mining. The bill, the first of its kind to be introduced in Australia, bans mines that would make land unusable for farming, the Courier-Mail reported Wednesday: "The resources sector is growing in Queensland, but our government's commitment is to sustainable growth supporting mining in the right places, while ensuring best agriculture land is protected for future generations," (Environment Minister Rachel) Nolan said in a statement.

According to a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), direct mining expenditures in British Columbia mining crested $5.2 billion in 2010. An additional $3.7 billion was spent in secondary and support industries and services resulting in a total of $8.9 billion of economic activity across British Columbia. The Economic Impact Analysis report commissioned by the Mining Association of British Columbia (MABC) and compiled by PwC measures direct, indirect and induced economic impacts of mining in terms of output, Gross Domestic Product, employment and government tax revenues.