Mining: Canadian Zinc, Paragon Minerals to merge
Vancouver's Paragon Minerals Corp. (TSX-V:PGR) has announced a merger with Vancouver-based Canadian Zinc Corp. (TSX:CZN), whereby Canadian Zinc will acquire all Paragon's outstanding common shares.
"The merger is consistent with Canadian Zinc's strategy of building a growth focused base metal producer in North America and is an excellent value opportunity," said John Kearney, Canadian Zinc's chairman and CEO.
Paragon president and CEO Michael Vande Guchte emphasized Canadian Zinc's financial strength and development expertise as benefits in the deal.
Forestry: Catalyst to shutter Snowflake mill
Richmond-based Catalyst Paper has announced the permanent closure of its Snowflake recycle mill in northeastern Arizona and its subsidiary, the Apache Railway Co.
The company stated that the decision follows extensive efforts to improve Snowflake's financial performance in the face of "intense" supply input and market pressures.
"The decision to close Snowflake is an extraordinarily difficult one given the exceptional effort that employees, unions and public officials have given to address the challenges at this mill," said CEO Kevin Clarke.
Mining: New Gold announces strong second quarter
Vancouver-based New Gold Inc. (TSX:NGD) announced strong second-quarter results August 1, including an 8% increase in gold production from the prior year. The company said its new New Afton mine has now reached commercial production. New Gold also welcomed a court ruling confirming its partnership with Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) at the El Morro project.
Citing the New Afton startup and the lawsuit win, New Gold executive chairman Randall Oliphant said the quarter may prove to be one of the most important in the firm's history.
Wind energy: Leadership struggle at Western Wind
Concerned shareholders are pushing five new nominees for the board of Vancouver's Western Wind Energy Corp. (TSX: WND), after the company on July 29 announced plans to sell.
Savitr Capital, LLC, an investment manager of funds and accounts with significant holdings in Western Wind, announced that it will nominate five new directors at the company's annual general meeting September 25. It cited the sale plan as a key reason for its move.
The market, however, has endorsed the sale plan, with stock up 50% after the announcement.
Mining: First Quantum beats analyst estimates
Vancouver-based First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (TSX:FM) beat analyst estimates August 1 even though it revealed that second quarter profit fell 9%, thanks to lower copper prices and higher production costs.
The base metal miner earned $142 million, or 30 cents per share, in the quarter that ended June 30, compared with $155.3 million, or 33 cents per share, in the same quarter in 2011. Revenue in the quarter rose 9% to $722.3 million, the company said.
Analysts had expected the copper and gold miner to earn 22 cents per share on $688 million in revenue.
