Teck Cominco, NovaGold Pull the Plug on Galore Creek

摘要

NovaGold Resources and Teck Cominco sent ripples of surprise--and concern--throughout the industry when they announced on November 26 that they were suspending construction activities at the Galore Creek copper-gold-silver project in northwestern British Columbia after a review indicated vastly higher capital costs and a longer construction schedule for the project. These two factors, combined with reduced operating margins as a result of the stronger Canadian dollar, made the project--as currently conceived and permitted--uneconomical at current consensus long-term metal prices, said the two companies in a joint statement. The Canadian dollar has appreciated strongly, rising 60 percent since 2002 and surpassing the U.S. dollar in September.