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  • [2007.03.08] 加拿大矿业重现光明

    2007-03-20

    [2007.03.08] Mining in Canada: Out of a hole

    OUT OF A HOLE
    加拿大矿业重现光明

    How Canada's mining industry has changed since 1997's big scandal
    自97年丑闻后加拿大矿业如何发生变化
    Mar 8th 2007 | OTTAWA
    From The Economist print edition

    THERE was a time when the annual convention of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada drew a crowd of rough characters from Canada's northern bush intent on whooping it up in the big city and telling tall tales to financiers about their mining claims. The event in Toronto this week was not a frontiersman's gathering, however, but the world's biggest mining gabfest. A few old-timers remain, but most of the 15,000 delegates at this year's event were more adept at wielding a BlackBerry than a pickaxe, and were more likely to have come from Mongolia, Peru or South Africa than Balmertown, northern Ontario. Yet the conversation was reassuringly familiar. Will today's seam of luck (good or bad) continue? And how can the industry cope with changing times?
    以前，加拿大勘探者和开发商协会年会的参加者都是来自加拿大北部森林的矿工，他们参加会议时穿着随意，给人一种灰头土脸的感觉。这些人参加年会的目就是为了来大城市享乐一番，还有在会上向金融家们吹嘘他们的矿业权。但这一周在多伦多举行的年会可不是又一次勘探者的狂欢聚会，而是世界上最大的矿业会议。虽然还能看到几个以前的老矿工的身影，但这次会议的15，000个代表中大部分人玩起无线通讯设备比使用镐子还熟练，而且他们中有很多人来自蒙古，秘鲁或南非，而不是安大略北部的巴尔莫镇。当今矿业的命运会如何发展变化（好的或者坏的变化）？矿业的发展是否能够与时俱进呢？

    Canadian mining firms, like those elsewhere, have been riding high since metal prices began their stratospheric ascent in 2002. More than half of the world's mining and exploration firms, some 1,274 in total, are registered on Toronto's two exchanges, the TSX and TSX Venture. Collectively, they raised $11 billion in equity financing last year, largely on the strength of China's unabated appetite for raw materials. But recent jitters in stockmarkets and commodities markets have heightened concerns that some metal prices have peaked.
    和其它地方一样，自从2002金属价格持续狂涨后，加拿大的矿业工厂也是一片欣欣向荣的景象。全球大约有1，274个开采和勘探工厂，其中有一半以上是在加拿大的多伦多证券交易所(TSX)和加拿大创业板市场(TSX Venture)注册。去年它们一共获得110亿美元的股本筹资,这大部分归功于中国对原材料的强劲需求。但最近股票和商品市场上的剧烈反应使人们担心某些金属材料的价格已经升到了顶点。

    Even so, the mood in Toronto was celebratory. Before the boom, the junior mining companies that include most of the Toronto listings had suffered a long dry spell. Low mineral prices were only partly to blame for the dearth of investment to finance exploration and development. Another reason was the scandal over Bre-X Minerals, a Canadian firm that falsely claimed to have discovered a huge gold deposit in Indonesia. Stockmarket investors lost some C$6 billion ($4.4 billion) when the fraud came to light. No one was ever convicted for the largest stock swindle in Canadian history, though Bre-X's vice-president, John Felderhof, has been charged with insider trading. A verdict is expected later this year.
    即便如此，这次多伦多的会议还是充满了乐观的情绪。在矿业的繁荣期之前，低级的采矿公司经历了一段长时间的萧条期，这些公司中有大部分是在多伦多上市的。矿产价格低是缺少对勘探和开发进行投资的部分原因。另一个原因是加拿大Bre-X公司的矿业丑闻，该公司曾慌称在印尼发现一个巨大的金矿。骗局被揭发后，投资者损失了大约60亿加元（440亿美元）。 Bre-X公司的高层人员没有一个因为这一加拿大最大的股票诈骗而被定罪，除了该公司副主席John Felderhof,他被指控参与内部交易。但是这件案件可能要到今年晚些时候才能做出判决。

    For a while the scandal overshadowed other Canadian firms, but the cloud has now lifted, says Jens Hansen, a prospector based in Ottawa who attended the convention. Its legacy is tighter regulation, including a requirement that the results from exploratory drilling are independently vouched for, to prevent core samples being "salted" with gold or other minerals, as happened with Bre-X.
    加拿大的矿业公司有一段时间一直笼罩在这个丑闻的阴影之下，但现在情况已经好转，来参加这次年会的公司总部位于渥太华的一个勘探者Jens Hansen说道。这次丑闻给矿产工业带来的教训就是要加强管制，包括要求钻探的结果能被独立地证明，从而避免出现像Bre-X公司那样在矿样中参入黄金或其它矿物这样地事情发生。

    Mr Hansen is in the fortunate position of holding claims on properties showing potential for uranium, one of this year's sought-after minerals. As concern over climate change improves the prospects for nuclear power, uranium demand has outpaced supply and speculative buying has forced the price up to $85 per pound, from $10 in 2003. Canada's prospectors have fanned out to stake claims in northern areas that were previously overlooked.
    Hansen先生非常幸运，他所拥有地土地蕴藏有潜在储量巨大地铀矿。铀是今年最抢手的矿物之一。由于人们认为气候的变化会促进核能的发展前景，现在铀已经是供不应求，而且对铀的投机性购买已使铀价格从2003年的一磅10美元涨到85美元。加拿大的勘探者们已经在争先恐后地争夺先前被人忽略的北部地区。

    This has led to other shifts. Where once the talk was firmly on the mechanics and financing of mining claims, the convention's agenda now includes workshops on how to deal with aboriginal communities. In America such sessions have been an industry staple for at least a decade, says Hans Matthews, who advises aboriginal groups on how to treat mining firms. Much of the activity is on land that is either owned by aboriginal groups, or subject negotiations over title. All this is bringing out the miners' softer side. Corporate social responsibility was considered so esoteric two years ago that a planned session at the convention was cancelled due to lack of interest. This year's two-day session, by contrast, was sold out in advance.
    这次会议的内容还出现了其它一些新的变化。以前的会议总是局限于讨论机械和为矿业权融资这方面的问题。但这次会议的议程还包括了如何处理与原著居民之间关系的讨论会。在美国，这类讨论会作为矿业大会的主要内容已经有至少十年。现在许多被勘探和开发的土地属于当地的原著居民，或者通过一些辅助的协商来解决土地的所有权问题。这些变化都充分显示了当今矿业人员们更加体贴当地居民的一面。两年前，没有人理解公司的社会责任感为何物，以至在年会上举办的这类讨论会由于无人问津而最终取消。但今年为期两天的讨论会却受到了空前的欢迎。

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