HIGH-GRADE NI-CU-PT-PD-ZN-CR-AU-V-TI DISCOVERIES IN THE "RING OF FIRE"

NI 43-101 Update (September 2012): 11.1 Mt @ 1.68% Ni, 0.87% Cu, 0.89 gpt Pt and 3.09 gpt Pd and 0.18 gpt Au (Proven & Probable Reserves) / 8.9 Mt @ 1.10% Ni, 1.14% Cu, 1.16 gpt Pt and 3.49 gpt Pd and 0.30 gpt Au (Inferred Resource)

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Message: Pipe line is a go !!!

Inca, read this article:

https://business.financialpost.com/commodities/energy/supreme-court-dismisses-b-c-s-appeal-in-trans-mountain-pipeline-case

The TransMountain pipeline was intended to get product (heavy oils and/or bitumen) from northern Alberta to the BC coast, to allow for it to be shipped overseas.  Alberta (and by default, the rest of Canada which also benefits very slightly from taxes) needs this pipeline very badly.  There is currently a huge differential between the selling price of product in Alberta versus market prices elsewhere around the world because they can't move their product to hubs for processing and redistribution.

The Canadian government bought the pipeline project from the company that originally started it, because that company felt there was too much political risk and uncertainty, and the pipeline might never get completed.  However, after that happened, British Columbia (Alberta's neighbour), one of the ten Canadian provinces, tried to stop the pipeline.  There were multiple reasons behind that move, but a simplication would be to say out of respect for First Nations (whose territories the pipeline would have to cross) and perceived lack of adequate study of potential environmental issues.  This caused a lot of argument between the two provinces, and Canada's federal government was also in the cross-hairs due to their involvement.

Compounding the issue was that the Alberta provincial government is conservative (right-leaning) and Canada's federal government is liberal (left-leaning).  There was a recent federal election, and even though the liberals were elected nationally, all of the federal seats from Alberta went to conservatives, similar to how the power rests with conservatives at the provincial level.  So there are lots of politicians (and residents) of Alberta who strongly dislike the federal political party, and there was a lot of unhappiness.  The leader of the federal liberal party could tell Alberta to screw off, since they contributed nothing to his party's power base, but he's attempting to reconcile in some ways.  He has to walk a tightrope because on one hand, he can't cater too much to Alberta at risk of alienating his own support base elsewhere in the country, but on the other hand, Canada is much stronger when Alberta and the federal government work together.

Anyway, the yesterday's failure of British Columbia to win their case with Canada's highest court, the Supreme Court, means that one major obstacle to the pipeline has been lifted.  This is good for Canada as a whole, and for Alberta.  Within British Columbia, it is good for some who support business and the pipeline, and bad for others who support the environment and First Nations.  However, there has been a lot of concern (from the business world) over the past few years that Canada was becoming an increasingly unappealing place to due business, due to increasing government regulation, but yesterday's case sends a signal to the international markets not to give up hope.

I tried to write this to be as impartial as possible.  It's difficult, because I live and work in both British Columbia and Alberta for almost equal parts of my year, and I definitely have sympathy for both sides in this issue.  Also, to clarify, I did not vote for either the Conservatives or the Liberals in any of the recent provincial or federal elections.

 

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