Mining: Diamond moves
Stornoway Diamond Corp. (TSX:SWY) is skipping town.
The locally based diamond explorer said last week it’s moving its head office to Montreal to be closer to its flagship Renard project, which it believes will become Quebec’s first diamond mine.
“It now makes sense to consolidate our head office and operating functions in one location,” said Stornoway president and CEO Matt Manson.
“Initially, we expect minimal relocation of staff associated with this announcement. Our exploration team will continue to operate out of North Vancouver, with a mandate to explore all of Canada.”
Energy: Pipeline opposition
Coastal First Nations says Enbridge’s (TSX:ENB) multimillion-dollar ad campaign for Northern Gateway is a waste of time.
Art Sterritt, executive director of Coastal First Nations, said a real, fact-based debate is needed regarding the proposed 1,170-kilometre oil pipeline, which would extend from near Edmonton to Kitimat.
“Instead of spending millions on advertising, I would urge Enbridge to publicly debate myself and others and let the public decide on the merits of the project,” said Sterritt.
Consultation hearings for the project have begun throughout communities in northern B.C.
Mining: Coal shipments
The border is opening up between Mongolia and China, spurring business opportunities for a local coal miner.
SouthGobi Resources (TSX:SGQ) said last week that eight new border gates exclusively for coal transportation opened at Shivee Khuren-Ceke, allowing for an increase in the flow of coal to China from Mongolia.
SouthGobi said Shivee had only one eight-metre wide gate prior to last week’s announcement.
“We believe the new infrastructure will eliminate the ‘bottleneck’ at the border for quite some time,” said SouthGobi CEO Alexander Molyneux.
Fisheries: Tuna trouble
B.C.’s cross-border tuna fishery has been officially shut down for 2012.
Last month, Canadian and U.S. fisheries negotiators met in Portland, Oregon, to sort out concerns that too many Canadian fishermen were harvesting albacore tuna in U.S. waters.
The cross-border fishery is the only one of its kind and has never been shut down. Canadian delegates prepared a number of proposals for discussion at day one of the meetings, but, on day two, the U.S. negotiator apologized for not having any proposals to lay out for Canadians.
The U.S. said it’s keen to discuss renewing the cross-border agreement.
Forestry: Lumber lag
Vancouver-based lumber manufacturer Conifex Timber (TSX-V:CFF) posted a $6.5 million net loss for 2012’s first quarter compared with a $3.6 million loss for the same period in 2011.
The company, which has mills in Fort St. James and Mackenzie, said that although its lumber segment displayed stronger results in the first quarter, those results were partially offset by a strengthening of the Canadian dollar over the greenback.
Conifex also continued to expand its reach into foreign markets, where 62% of total shipment volumes were sent to Asia compared with 44% for the same period in 2011.
