Welcome back to your weekly mining news recap, where we catch you up on some of the news you may have missed. This week’s headlines include Ideon Technologies developing a new underground exploration method, Canadian Malartic Mine reaching a collaboration agreement with Anishinabeg First Nations and Canadian Securities Administrators suggest improvements to technical disclosures.

Guyana Goldfields has received a $323 million takeover proposal by an unnamed foreign-based multinational mining company, a 35-per-cent increase over Silvercorp Metals’ offer, as reported by Mining.com. According to Guyana Goldfields, the company’s offer proposes a $30 million secured-loan facility for its flagship Aurora gold mine but is otherwise substantially similar to Silvercorp’s proposal, which the board still recommends. Silvercorp will have five days to either match or improve the unnamed company’s $1.85 in-cash-per-share bid.

Canadian Malartic Mine has reached a collaboration agreement with the Abitibiwinni, Lac Simon, Long Point and Kitcisakik Anishinabeg First Nations, the first of its kind between the Anishinabeg First Nations and an active mining company in the region. The collaboration agreement will increase Indigenous participation in the company’s activities relating to training, job and business opportunities and environmental protection until 2027. The company will also provide annual financial contributions to the four Anishinabeg nations to promote sustainable development and community-building projects.

After more than two months, about 80 per cent of mines in Mexico have resumed operations following the government shutdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as reported by Mining.com. The government allowed companies to begin restarting mining operations in mid-May and declared mining an essential service. Companies such as Newmont, Alamos Gold, Endeavour Silver, Fortuna Silver Mines and more have resumed their operations across the country.

As remote working has become the new normal during the global COVID-19 pandemic and employees work from home on personal devices, mining companies are facing increased cyber security risks. Since mining data is very valuable when it comes to both time and money, weaker cyber security can open a company up to attacks, which can cause significant financial damage and risk employees’ safety. Companies can plan for this greater risk by managing their cyber security policies, processes, technology and by hiring qualified personnel to protect a company’s information systems.

British Columbia’s government is extending current mineral exploration Notice of Work permits through to December 31, 2021, as reported by Mining.com. The decision was a key recommendation made by the Association for Mineral Exploration that will allow companies that are unable to begin field programs this year, or that will be undertaking reduced programs because of the COVID-19 pandemic, to extend their activities without seeking new permits. The provincial government’s Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Ministry is expected to complete permit extensions by the end of June.

Canadian start-up Ideon Technologies has developed a new method for underground mineral exploration by using subatomic particles created by cosmic rays. The company is preparing to launch its “cosmic-ray muon tomography” mineral deposit detectors, which are designed to make exploration more efficient and identify targets with a certainty of at least 95 per cent. The cosmic ray detectors are meant to enhance exploration drilling and can be inserted into drill holes to create 2D and 3D images to help locate and define deposits.

A Yukon Supreme Court judge has ruled that the territorial government has a priority over other stakeholders owed money by the bankrupt Yukon Zinc Corporation, as reported by Yukon News. The mine has been in care and maintenance since 2015. The territorial government has been doing on-site remediation work on the company’s Wolverine mine site since 2018, and requested a claim of $35,548,650 against the company for cleaning up the site. While the judge denied the claim, stating that the government could not prove that its remediation and clean-up costs would total that exact amount, they ruled that the government will be the priority recipient of Yukon Zinc’s remaining assets after it uses the $10,588,966 the company did provide in security.

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has published the results of a review of mining companies’ disclosure of resource estimates, reporting that while most are “satisfactory,” there is room for improvement, as reported by Investment Executive. The review was carried out in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Alberta in late 2018 and examined resource estimate disclosures from 86 companies, finding deficiencies in ten companies’ reports. The CSA reported that some aspects of technical disclosures should be improved, such as asking companies to provide more detail on the technical and economic assumptions underlying their estimates, ensuring this data is verified and improving disclosures about risks and uncertainties of projects.

Investors are questioning Rio Tinto after it carried out blasting at its Brockman 4 mine in Western Australia and destroyed a 46,000-year-old ancient Aboriginal heritage site in late May, as reported by Bloomberg Green. While the blasting was authorized in 2013 by the state government, the company only informed the traditional landowners, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura Aboriginal Corporation, ten days before and has since apologized.

Centerra Gold announced it has achieved commercial production at its Öksüt gold mine in Turkey. The company’s first gold pour at the mine was in late January of this year. The open-pit heap-leach mine is expected to produce 80,000 to 100,000 ounces of gold in 2020.

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