Some mining companies decide to stay in mine-field Ecuador

Despite the tumultuous political climate in the country, some oil companies have decided to sit down with the Government and negociate. Petrobras (Brazil), Repsol (Spain) and Andes Petroleum (China) are the companies who have made good with the Government, despite the legal spider-web that President Correa has woven around the energy sector over the past 10 months.

These companies are braving this storm in spite of the investor-hostile environment the country displays at present. Let's hope their stay is a good precedent for others in similar positions.

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Alert! future homeowners: Energy leak technology available

Now that energy costs and savings seem to be at the top of everyone's mind, a new device has come out to help detect energy leaks, thus reflecting in energy savings.

This camera uses 40-year old military technology that has now been made available for a price tag of about $3k. Not precisely cheap, but manageable for professionals. For instance, when you're buying a new home, you may want to ask your home inspector to use it to detect any possible leaks in your new abode. This is a good consumer tool, to ensure that the 30-year old commitment you're entering is leak free, virtually!

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Alas! Oil prices drop to lowest point in three-month stretch

Today oil prices were as low as $111 per barrel, which translates into less expensive heating oil and lower gas prices. Given the approaching end of summer, heating expenses are in the mind of just about everyone, so this is good news for those who have oil-base heating. Cheaper gas also helps, particularly when you have an SUV or a long commute, ouch!

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Canada and Panama explore FTA

During his Latin American tour (Mexico, Panama and Ecuador) Canadian Minister of Trade, Michael Fortier, discussed the possibility of a Free Trade Agreement with Panamanian President Martín Torrijos. If it came to fuition, said agreement would considerably strengthen Canada-Panama relations to both their benefit.

Panama is host to several Canadian companies such as Scotiabank, Teck Cominco, Inmet Mining and SNC Lavalin, and educational entities like McGill University, St. Clair College and Durham College. These entities hire locals and thus vitalize their economy.

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Union strikes again!

"The number of union employees at Verizon has declined since the last strike, when it was at 87,000. Verizon Wireless, the company's big growth driver, has few union employees" When you read this kind of statement you can't but wonder why would they hire less and less union employees? Might it be because lately Unions take companies and consumers hostage of their so-called demands, also known as corporate bullying?

Never mind fair working conditions, unions get greedier and greedier, to benefit their leaders. Unions were created as positive entities necessary to protect employees from greedy employers, way back when. At some point, the tables turned and now we need to save employees and companies from greedy union leaders.

Read on

Investment in AZ on potential porphyry copper project

The company announced its investment of US$652 million to support the feasibility study for porphyry copper. The company expects these Pre-feasibility studies to be completed by 2012, and production at the new mine would start by 2020. The indicated goal is to reach a copper production of 500,000 tonnes per annum.

This production increase is surely going to translate into more jobs for Arizona workers. It'll be interesting to watch the current work-force conditions vs. the job market in AZ in 2020.

Full company release

CANADIAN COMPANY TO TRADE ON PERUVIAN STOCK EXCHANGE

Canadian mining company Aponquindo Minerals Inc. will begin trading in the Peruvian Stock Exchange under the symbol AQM. The company's Peruvian subsidiary holds options to two projects, a gold-silver prospect and a porphyry copper prospect in Peru.

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Minerals' prices go up - Anglo American profits

LONDON (AP) - Mining company Anglo American PLC said Thursday that first-half profit rose 27 percent on the back of high copper, platinum and coal prices.Net profits for the six months through June 30 rose to US$4.3 billion from US$3.38 billion in the same period last year. Revenue rose 13 percent to US$14.53 billion from US$12.88.«The key drivers of this performance were production growth in copper, iron ore, manganese ore, coal and phosphates, continued strength in the commodity price environment and the early benefits of tighter operational discipline across the businesses,» chief executive Cynthia Carroll said in a statement.

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GM has a tough 2nd Quarter

Today, GM reported a loss of over $15 billion in the 2nd Quarter of '08. This is partly due to a decrease in sales and many other factors, among which you can count a "$197 million charge related to the settlement of a nearly three-month strike at supplier American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc., which hurt production at more than 30 GM plants."

This is bad news folks. If one of the largest auto manufacturers in the county is having a hard time it's probably because, in spite of any official reports, our economy is at an all-time low. Of course, this doesn't help the upcoming election, but I think it's time to fact the facts.

See GM article

In the midst of Summer, is oil on your mind?

As a New Englander, even in the hottest day I can't help but wonder about oil for the upcoming fall and winter. Last year alone, I spent close to 3,500 to warm up a 1100 sq. ft. condo. This year, I don't wanna know... Granted, I've spent a good chunk of July getting my burners serviced and getting in new replacement windows. I have hope... maybe next winter I won't have to resort to coal to stay warm. Those were the good old days, I guess, when you could buy cheap, reliable coal to stay warm. Granted, it's a bit messy, but with fuel and oil prices these days I'd gladly go for coal, given the chance.

Below some links to pieces on the subject:

Article 1

Article 2

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Student loans no more... is this the begining of an educational crisis?

With the news about college loans being more elusive than ever, going to college may become tougher than ever for an average middle-class student. How are parents going to afford sending kids to college? And what will happen 4 years from now when there are fewer professionals joining the workforce? How will we close that gap?

Read the article below:
"Since the unprecedented collapse of the student loan market, financing a college education has become more complicated than ever. For the Ferragutos, it started in April with a letter from the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority, the nonprofit lender for thousands of students who attend colleges and universities in Massachusetts. The letter said the authority would no longer offer federal loans, including low-interest Stafford and parent loans. Even worse, the authority said money for private student loans was in doubt."

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Oil prices finally come down!!

NEW YORK—Oil prices shed nearly $4 Wednesday, tumbling below $125 a barrel for the first time since early June on growing fears that high prices and the weak economy are destroying demand.
Light, sweet crude for September delivery dropped $3.98 to settle at $124.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude's lowest finish since June 4. The August contract expired Tuesday at $127.95.
At the gas pump, prices continued to let up. Regular gasoline dropped more than a penny to an average of $4.0402 a gallon nationwide, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. That is down more than 7 cents from last Thursday's all-time high. Diesel slipped 0.6 cent to $4.802.
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Outrageous!!!! Since when is no job better than a pay cut???

At this time of crisis, it is disheartening to see how unions strive to make things more difficult for their "members". I was simply outraged when I read the following article detailing how "The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is protesting an emergency 15% pay cut granted by a bankruptcy court judge and what it sees as unfair labor practices."

When an employer is facing a financial hardship, wouldn't it make more sense to work together to minimize the number of jobs lost? Isn't it better to take a pay cut than to be unemployed? Well, apparently the Teamsters (or their leaders) don't think so. Read on...

Mining center would boost jobs in Canada

I encourage people to read the article that follows. It is about a community that is actually upset at the government for not allowing a mining center in their neck of the woods. These folks, for a change, are hitting center when they realize the economic development that this mining center can bring to their area. Congrats for knowing what's good for them and their families.

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Gas gone mad

According to a Boston Globe article, "High diesel prices cut boat operators' profits, keep many craft moored." Now with the summer season finally here, where are our boating hopes? It seems like Bostonians will not get as much ocean time this year, which is a shame when you think of it. In the past, many used to await the arrival of summer to take out their boats for leisure or to take boat rides to go whalewatching. How many a times did we go whalewatching just because it was a nice day? Well, this year, you'd better check your wallet to make sure you've got enough money to pay for fuel.

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Caterpillar goes to Brazil!

Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest maker of earthmoving machines, agreed to acquire MGE Equipamentos & Servicos Ferroviarios Ltda., a Brazilian manufacturer of components for trains. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
MGE also maintains and rebuilds locomotives and transit cars and its customers include railroads and transportation authorities throughout South America, Peoria-based Caterpillar said in a statement today.
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Canada's mining industry leads sustainable development

Kudos to the MINING ASSOCIATION OF CANADA's (MAC) Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) for their initiative on Sustainable development.

VANCOUVER - A new study by Five Winds/Strandberg Consulting indicates that the MINING ASSOCIATION OF CANADA's (MAC) Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) initiative has positioned Canada's mining industry as a leader in sustainable development."MAC won a Globe Foundation award in 2005 for its work on TSM," stated Gordon Peeling, president and CEO of MAC. "This new study reaffirms that TSM is effective, credible and enabling our members to demonstrate their commitment to improved sustainable development performance."

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Responsible mining for miners - coal to save forests

Nigerian environmental experts have called on the government to reintroduce coal mining in a move aimed at solving the country's current power crunch and salvaging its disappearing forests.

WINDHOEK -
Environmentalists in petroleum rich Nigeria, West Africa's economic giant, should be bracing themselves for a major war of words with their radical counterparts from the developed world.
In a surprising sign of defiance to the long-standing conservation tradition, environmental experts have called on the President Umaru Yar'Adua government to reintroduce coal mining to end the country's current energy crunch. The environmentalists are not only concerned about Nigeria's power generation problems, but say the move will help slow down forest losses and desertification.

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No more confusion when it comes to airtravel expenses

Kayak.com will offer its new interface to users to help them calculate the latest convoluted prices of air travel. With the latest changes in air travel expenses, frequent flyers are confused, but as of mid-July that will no longer be. Go to kayak.com to get your airfair calculated.

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New data mining tool

Teradata Corporation, A global provider in enterprise data warehousing, recently introduced Teradata Warehouse Miner 5.2, which embeds 50 new statistical data mining functions from its partners into the Teradata Database to accelerate the data mining process. Data mining is a powerful technology that discovers patterns in customer, financial and operational data that can provide valuable business insights.

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Technology: New device makes mining safer

By: MATT HARTLEY
June 18, 2008 at 3:26 PM EDT
Believe it or not, the next evolution in mine safety technology has a lot to do with remote-control garage door openers.
Steve Barrett is president and chief executive officer of Active Control Technology Inc. (ACT), a company that until recently specialized in high-tech remote control garage door openers, but is now on the verge of rewriting the rulebook on mining safety.
If Mr. Barrett has his way, ACT's ActiveMine systems will help mining companies prevent tragedies such as the Sago Mine disaster that killed 12 miners in West Virginia in January, 2006.
Today the Burlington, Ont., company — which took the lead spot in the technology sector of the 2008 TSX Venture 50 ranking — is on its way to becoming one of Canada's rising technology stars by specializing in wireless mesh communications networks that work in the deep, dark recesses of coal mines.

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Mining Association of Canada pays almost $11 billion to Canadian Government in 2006

VANCOUVER, June 18 /CNW Telbec/ - A new report released today by The Mining Association of Canada indicates that the industry paid almost $11 billion to Canadian governments in 2006, a significant increase from 2005. The Canadian mining industry operates approximately 180 producing minesin Canada, with an important focus upon metals such as gold, copper and nickeland non-metals such as coal, potash, diamonds and oil sands. The industry alsocomprises 38 non-ferrous smelters and refineries producing refined aluminum,copper, nickel, zinc and other metals. These three components of the industry,generically known as "the mining industry", together employ 180 thousandworkers and, according to the study by ENTRANS Consultants, paid the followingamounts to governments in 2006:
Royalties and Similar Payments $2.33 billion
Corporate Income Tax $3.96 billion
Personal Income Tax $1.86 billion
Total $8.15 billion

The paper also highlights a significant year-on-year increase in thesepayments. Payments in 2006 increased by approximately 50% over the$5.5 billion payment total of 2005, reflecting the global price increases innatural resources during this period.

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Gas prices affect home buying trends

With oil prices sky high, home buyers are doing whatever it takes to minimize their commute. It's no surprise that nationwide more and more people try to live near a train station to reduce their driving - thus their gas consumption.

This begs the question, what is more important now, the tag price on a home or its distance to a commuter rail? How much money you spend on gas might be the amount you could spend on a better neighborhood or a more costly (and nicer) community. These are just things to think about when you decide to either buy a new home or move to a new place.

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Casino goers celebrate!

Casino debuts new touch-screen bar table
By Oskar Garcia

Associated Press Writer / June 11, 2008
LAS VEGAS—Microsoft Corp. and Harrah's Entertainment Inc. introduced a high-tech interactive bar table Wednesday that lets patrons order drinks, watch YouTube videos, play touch-screen games and even flirt with each other.
more stories like this
The tables offer Harrah's a new way to track its customers' habits and behaviors, adding to its sophisticated costumer rewards program that tracks users' gambling habits.
"Of all the goodies up our sleeves lately, this is one of the most dramatic," Tim Stanley, chief information officer of Harrah's, told The Associated Press. "The range of opportunities are fairly limitless."

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Metal prices going down!

Gold tumbles as retail sales hike demand for dollar


By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
Last update: 12:00 p.m. EDT June 12, 2008


NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures on Thursday fell to their lowest level since early May, upended after stronger U.S. retail sales for May bolstered demand for the dollar and tarnished the precious metal's allure as another asset option and hedge against inflation.
"Gold is again taking its cue from oil, which is down, and the dollar, which is up this morning," said Mark O'Byrne, executive director of Gold & Silver Investments Ltd.
Down $9 an ounce at the start, gold for August delivery got carried lower still, recently retreating $18.90 to stand at $864.00 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Another loser in Nymex metals dealings, July silver fell 54 cents to $16.32 an ounce.



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Wanna go to college, check this out!

College Funding Gap? Get Creative with Your Financing

The cost of college is seeing a huge increase. Indeed, college costs more and more every year. And, at the same time, the available resources for college funding are diminishing. Federal aid -- especially aid to middle class families -- is falling off. And, with the current mortgage market mess, getting a home equity loan or line of credit to help with the college funding is difficult. This means that, in many cases, it becomes necessary for some students to borrow using private student loans in order fill the college funding gap. But those have higher interest, and can be a paid to pay back. The good news is that some are seeing a need and fulfilling it for a reasonable cost. Creative college financing is on the way:
Virgin Money allows students to borrow money for Student Payback loan, documenting the private loan process between parents and children, or college students and others. The idea is that you can set up a doable payment plan for very little. This is an interesting idea that could help fill the Funding Gap.
GreenNote is another option. This loan takes the principles behind microfinance and applies them to student loans. The student sets up a profile, and friends, family and strangers can contribute $100 or more. The student pays it back at a low interest rate (GreenNote uses the Stafford loan rate as guidance), friends and family can help -- and earn a small return. So, before you turn to private student loans, look into your other options. They are out there, and there are more of them.

Source: http://allbusiness.boston.com/economy-economic-indicators/economic-indicators/10207122-1.html

Unemployment galore!

Jobless rate leaps to 3-1/2 year high in May

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. unemployment rate surged to 5.5 percent in May, its highest in more than 3-1/2 years, as the barely growing economy lost jobs for the fifth straight month.

It was the biggest jump in the monthly jobless rate in 22 years and raised concerns the economy was at increased risk of stalling into recession.
"The unemployment rate is the shocker," said Robert MacIntosh, chief economist at Eaton Vance Management in Boston. "The actual payrolls number itself was consistent with what we have been seeing in terms of a slowdown but not quite a recession. But the employment rate gives you a much weaker economic outlook than the payrolls number," said MacIntosh.
The Labor Department on Friday said 49,000 jobs were shed by employers last month on top of 28,000 in April -- for a total of 324,000 lost since the beginning of the year. May's unemployment rate was up from 5 percent in April and was the highest since October 2004.
The soft jobs data helped drive stock prices steeply lower, but it sent U.S. Treasury debt prices soaring as investors bet it pushed back any chance that the Federal Reserve might raise interest rates before November's presidential election.

WHITE HOUSE UNEASE
It added to discomfort at the White House, where spokesman Scott Stanzel said the unemployment rate was "too high for our liking," though he noted it stemmed partly from more job-seekers and "not from a broad increase in layoffs"

The number of people in the work force climbed by 577,000 in May, up sharply from an increase of 173,000 in April. There typically is a rise in the number of young people seeking temporary work when school is out, the department said.

More info at: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/06/06/jobs_cut_for_5th_straight_month_unemployment_rate_jumps_1212759939/

Channel Expands & Advances West Bienville Uranium Project, Completes Geophysics at Tanlouka Gold Project

Vancouver, BC - Channel Resources Ltd. ("Channel" or the "Company", TSX.V:CHU) reports that, based on target area dimensions and trends outlined by airborne magnetic and spectrometer survey data, the Company has extended the West Bienville Uranium Project license area in northern Quebec from 220 claims (108.2 square kilometres) to 288 claims (141.7 square kilometres). The south-easterly extension of the property follows a trend of uranium anomalies spatially associated with a regional scale fault.
Field follow-up investigations of these anomalous trends will commence shortly at West Bienville taking advantage of an early spring thaw in the area. The uranium footprint, as well as other geochemical parameters and magnetic data suggest that the property has the potential to host intrusion-related and/or structurally-related uranium mineralization. Channel can earn a majority interest in West Bienville under an option agreement with Azimut Exploration Inc.

At the Tanlouka Gold Project in Burkina Faso, 30 line kilometers of Induced Polarisation (IP) and ground magnetometry surveys have now been completed. The geophysics report for these surveys is pending but they are expected to aid in the definition of drill targets along the 1,800 metre trend of gold in soil anomalies.

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Latest Peruvian Mining News Headline

Candente Resource announced an updated mineral resource estimate on its wholly-owned Cañariaco Norte copper project located in Lambayeque Department, northern Peru. At a 0.3% Cu cut-off grade, measured and indicated resources total 622 Mt grading 0.47% Cu for 6.47 billion pounds contained copper. Inferred resources are estimated at 128 Mt grading 0.43% Cu for 1.21 billion pounds contained copper. A higher grade, near-surface resource shell of 102 Mt of measured and indicated mineral resource grading 0.57% Cu containing 1.28 billion lbs of copper at a 0.3% Cu cut-off grade offers the potential for accelerated production of this material and improved project economics. Estimates for potential by-product credits from gold and silver are expected to be completed by 3Q 2008.