Prices heading north even as strikes continue
By Daniella D’Alimonte – Exclusive to Potash Investing News
The TSX main index made a turn-around from its bearish outlook on September 10. Commodities played a part in this bounce-back after a string of bad sessions.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT: TSX) made a 2.2 per cent gain to nearly US$153 per share and is still on the rise.
There are speculations that Potash Corp. could take over Incitec Pivot Ltd., Australia’s largest producer of fertilizer. With the company’s lack of debt in addition to its US$39.8 billion dollar value, six times that of Incitec, Potash Corp. could make the purchase without selling any shares.
Incitec failed to comment on speculations when questioned by Bloomberg.
Norway’s Yara International ASA, Agrium Inc. and Mosaic Co. are also possible contenders to make the purchase. Potash Corp. has announced a private-agreement purchase of 500,000 of its shares for cancellation from a third party seller. The company has now bought 15.15 million of the 15.82 million shares for its previously announced repurchasing program.
One month after strikes began at Potash Corps Allan, Cory and Patience Lake, workers are still standing their ground, demanding a larger cut of the company’s record earnings. The company maintains that its employees are already the highest paid in the industry, thus, refusing to budge.
Workers recently held a barbecue in an effort to boost morale. “We are feeling pretty good. We are prepared to wait. We won’t run out of money — the Steelworkers have a deep strike fund,” said Ron St. Pierre, strike coordinator and a worker at the Allan mine, in an interview with Saskatchewan News Network.
Business is full steam ahead at Athabasca Potash Inc.’s (TSX: API) Canadian Burr Project. A potentially profitable quality of potash was located in four of the wells drilled and the company’s 2008 drilling program has been increase from six to nine holes. In addition, Athabasca has applied for licensing for five more wells. This process is expected to be completed by the end of November.
Shares, which went public at the end of last year, are now trading around US$3.60 per share. Western Potash Corp. (TSX: WPX) has been granted a further exploration permit for 49,000 hectares of land south of its Russell-Miniota property in Manitoba. Seismic data has shown potentially expansive areas of potash deposits, according to the company’s press release. Several wells are being developed to access these deposits.
Potash One has confirmed the initiation of its drilling program at its Legacy Solution Mining Project. Into the first phase at the southern Saskatchewan project, the company has found promising solution mining development areas that have long term potential. This first phase will produce three to five wells while the following phase will produce an additional nine.
Ohio-based Boulby Potash mine could soon play a part in scientific history. An experiment held at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) near Geneva from September 10 attempted to re-create the ‘Big Bang’ theory to better understand gravity and black matter. Over in Cleavland, 3,000 feet under the ground in a small lab beneath Boulby, scientists are also working to pinpoint black matter as well as beat the Swiss project to the punch.
“It is a race in the world astrophysics community to directly observe dark matter – and we would like to be first,” Dr Sean Paling, a Boulby researcher, told the Evening Gazette. Boulby has been considered for this research since the 1990′s, with its depth making it an ideal space. The CERN project could be completed in about two years while the Boulby project could succeed in half the time.
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