It seems Mining watch has stepped into the GSLR trap:
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Grenville-sur-la-Rouge: le projet de mine n'est pas viable, selon une étude | JEAN-THOMAS LÉVEILLÉ | Régional
Le projet de Canada Carbon à Grenville-sur-la-Rouge « ne démontre aucune viabilité économique », conclut une analyse indépendante réalisée pour le compte de...
Today at 1:00 AM
Canada Carbon's project in Grenville-sur-la-Rouge "shows no economic viability," concludes an independent analysis conducted for La Presse's Mining Watch Canada organization.
The marble quarry and open-pit graphite mine that the Vancouver-based company wants to develop is also worth $ 96 million, the amount demanded by the mining company from the small municipality. the Quebec Court of Appeal is to consider the case today.
"It confirms the analysis we were doing, and the fears we had about the project," La Presse Ugo Lapointe, coordinator of Mining Watch Canada and member of the coalition Pour que le Québec a better mine, told La Presse .
"When the company threatens to claim 96 million, it does not hold the road at all," he adds, referring to a "highly speculative" mining project.
Estimated" resources
Mining Watch Canada has commissioned engineering firm Kuipers & Associates to study documents produced by other firms on behalf of Canada Carbon to evaluate the mining company's project, the Miller Project.
The technical report and the preliminary economic assessment "correctly inform" the company and investors about the lack of economic viability of the project, concludes Kuipers & Associates.
The preliminary economic assessment "is based only on the estimated mineral resources", and not on the verified resources, which is "rarely used" to demonstrate the feasibility of a project, reads the independent analysis.
As a result, the value of the Miller project, which is the subject of litigation in court, is largely overstated, the report concludes.
"In my experience, claims that are not based on a valid economic analysis are generally considered speculative and are often used as a threat in lawsuits. "
- James R. Kuipers, author of the analysis
The Miller project also poses high risks because of its dependence on the exchange rate with the US dollar and the market for graphite and marble and does not meet all the obligations required by the Quebec Mining Act, says analysis.
Complaint to the Securities Authority
The independent analysis of the Miller project shows that the British Columbia Securities Authority must be complained about, says Mining Watch Canada, which is preparing to file a complaint.
Under the Securities Act, "a company can not base a preliminary economic study on inferred resources, which [Canada Carbon] has done," says Ugo Lapointe.
"There are so many uncertainties" that the yield could vary by 50%, he adds, saying that a reprimand of the organization could lead to a negative reaction from investors.
Canada Carbon told La Presse that it did not want to comment on Kuipers & Associates' analysis until it could be read.
"The Company has no doubt about the quality and conclusions of its preliminary economic evaluation," said R. Bruce Duncan, President and Chief Executive Officer, in an email sent by his Quebec lawyer, adding that the assessment of Canada Carbon was prepared "based on a thorough knowledge of agreements and contracts that have never been made public and discussions with various industry experts."
SLAPP?
The Quebec Court of Appeal will consider today the dispute between Canada Carbon and Grenville-sur-la-Rouge.
The mining company has filed a $ 96 million lawsuit against the small municipality of the Laurentians, which it blames for losing potential revenue by blocking its quarry project of marble and graphite pit open.
The amount of his lawsuit amounts to 16 times the annual budget of the municipality of nearly 2800 inhabitants.
Grenville-sur-la-Rouge considers that this is an abusive lawsuit and wishes to have it dismissed by the court, but the Quebec Superior Court estimated in November that it was premature to classify the action as "prosecution". -bâillon ".
This is the appeal of this decision that will be heard by the Superior Court.
Ugo Lapointe fears that a rejection of the appeal creates a dangerous precedent, but believes that this would be a strong signal sent to the Quebec government showing the deficiency of current laws. "Yesterday was Ristigouche, today is Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, tomorrow, who's going to be? "
He argues that other companies that exploit natural resources could use the same kind of tactics whenever they do not get social acceptability.
"It seems that the ultimate goal of this company, he says, is to withdraw from Quebec with financial compensation that the government would send him. "
Mr. Bruce Duncan Canada Carbon CEO answers this morning : Here is what they attack us on and below each point what is my answer at this time :-They say the PEA doesn't show economic viability because its not a feasibility study.-They say that we used estimated resources and not verified resources, which is rarely used to show economic viability.
"answer : the project PEA used inferred resources. There is no such thing as estimated resources or verified resources category. Those category don't exists."-Because the PEA base itselve on "not verified" resources, it cannot be relied on to define viability or not.
"answer : Most of the PEAs are based on inferred resources so the Miller PEA is not different in that regard. We should get a list of PEAS and their associated resources. its not because PEAs use inferred resource that they are not viable... "
"A PEA is not necessary to open a quarry and is more depth than what is required".-They say because we used inferred resources the project is over-evaluated.
"answer : since the PEA, we drilled and moved the resources to the Indicated category. Its a public report that is available to Kuiper but they obviously didn't look at it".-They say that the project is dependant on USD/CAD change.
"answer : If the USD/CAD is at 0.98 (parity) then the project lose approx 16% of its value. If the exchange rate goes below 0.75, it gain value. Parity wouldn't make the project unviable.-They say the project is dependant on graphite and marble price.
answer : what a good comment... of course its dependant on prices. |
