Canadian exporters continue to struggle even with rising oil

An angry dispute over a proposed massive gold and copper mine in B.C.'s central Interior has set off duelling requests for court injunctions against the opponents.

A group of Indian companies and Canada's Kilo Goldmines Ltd. (CVE:KGL) have been awarded the contract to mine the Hajigak iron ore deposit in Afghanistan. MINING.com reported Nov. 19 that Indian firms were leading the chase for the huge iron ore property, which is being touted by the Afghans as the world’s largest iron ore deposit at 1.8 billion tonnes. The deposit extends over 32 kilometres and covers 16 separate zones. Bloomberg reports that President Hamid Karzai and his government awarded three of the four Hajigak blocks to seven Indian companies, led by state-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd. and NMDC Ltd., that were bidding with support from the Indian government. The fourth block was awarded to Kilo Goldmines, which is described on its website as a gold exploration and development company that is actively drilling several past-producing mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

WawaTay News reports Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation – a community of 1,200, 600km north of Thunder Bay, Ontario – is preparing for what may be a confrontational winter after talks on traditional land use with the Ontario government broke down last week. KI walked away from negotiations after Ontario said they were unable to stop God’s Lake Resources, a junior gold mining company, from exploring in the area while the panel meets. The land under dispute at Sherman Lake was the site of a gold mine active from 1938 to 1941. KI claims there are numerous burial sites in the area. KI was involved in a similar dispute with a platinum miner a few years ago.

“Chinese companies that are looking to invest in Canada do not want to become a Potash-like story themselves. Face and company reputation are important,” Peter Harder, president of the Canada-China Business Council told The Globe & Mail in an interview in Beijing this week as executives gathered for the council’s annual general meeting.

The mining industry in Quebec is roaring, with $2.92 billion in investment in 2010, up from 43% in 2009. The Institut de la statistique du Québec, which released the findings on Wednesday, said that this was the seventh straight year mining investment increased, and in each of the last three years investment was greater than $2 billion. In March the Fraser Institute warned that changes to the province's tax code would harm business investment, and Quebec slid from first to fourth in the institute's list of mining-friendly jurisdictions. If the changes don't weigh on province, 2011 could be a banner year.

Syncrude's heavy equipment operator, Maggy Horvath, unearthed what may be a nearly complete plesiosaur and the 10th fossil found on Syncrude leases. The discovery contributes to Alberta's prehistoric history and the understanding of the evolution of life on Earth. The fossil, which Horvath found during her shift on November 14, 2011, is currently being examined by scientists and technicians from the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology. "This is a very rare find. It's a long necked plesiosaur, which is a marine reptile with a very long neck, small head and short body. The last one that was recovered was 10 years ago; it was recognized as a new kind and given the name Wapuskanectes," said Dr. Don Brinkman, Director at Royal Tyrrell. "It felt pretty good to call my son and let him know that I found a prehistoric fossil while working in the mine," said Horvath.

Pele Mountain Resources Inc. (TSX Venture: GEM; OTCQX: GOLDF) (“Pele” or the “Company”) today announced that processing design improvements have resulted in sharply higher recoveries of critical rare earth oxides (“REO”), including neodymium, dysprosium and yttrium oxides, (Pele’s “Big 3 REO”) at its Eco Ridge Mine Rare Earths and Uranium Project (“Eco Ridge” or the “Project”) in Elliot Lake,Ontario.

The Royal Canadian Mint has a hit on its hands after raising $600 million from the sale of its exchange traded fund alternative, exchange traded receipts backed by physical gold bullion held in the mint’s facilities in Ottawa, Ontario. The Canadian mint, which introduced the ETRs just over three weeks ago, says that ETRs are different than other gold investment products since the purchaser of an ETR owns the actual gold rather than a unit or share in an entity that owns the gold. Given the money raised, the Globe and Mail calculates that the ETRs may be the largest initial public offering of the year.

The Maritime Executive reports iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes totaled 5.7 million tons in October, a decrease of 11 percent from September, but an increase of 13 percent compared to a year ago. October loadings also were up 7.2 percent compared to the month’s 5-year average. Shipments from US ports totaled 5.1 million tons, an increase of 18 percent compared to a year ago. However, loadings at Canadian ports slipped 16.3 percent from a year ago.