Latest news with #StBarbara
CBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Mining, energy companies say hydro storage project could be template for N.S. mines
Halifax councillors have heard new details about a proposed hydro energy storage project at a former gold mine in the municipality. Representatives from Australia-based St Barbara Mining and Natural Forces, a Halifax-based renewable energy company, spoke to the Halifax Regional Municipality's environment and sustainability committee on Thursday. The two groups hope to use St Barbara's former Touquoy mining pit in Moose River, N.S., near Middle Musquodoboit for a closed-loop pumped hydro energy storage project. "Quite honestly, the history of mine reclamation of the province of Nova Scotia hasn't always been a great story, and we want to change that," Dustin O'Leary, St Barbara Atlantic spokesperson, said in an interview outside the meeting. Mining operations at Touquoy stopped in 2023, and St Barbara said last year it was conducting a feasibility study with Natural Forces on the hydro storage project. Tess Donahue, project manager with Natural Forces, said the pumped hydro system would be the first of its kind in Nova Scotia and could last between 50 to 100 years. It would use two reservoirs at different elevations, with pipes running between them. The current administrative complex of the Touquoy site would be turned into an upper reservoir, she said, with the former mining pit becoming the lower one. Renewable energy, like from wind farms, would come into the system and be used to pump water from the lower reservoir to the upper one where it would be stored. When that power is needed, the water would be pumped back down to the lower level and generate electricity for the grid. Donahue said the 80-megawatt system could produce energy for about 6.5 hours, resulting in about 513 megawatt hours of electricity. Nova Scotia Power has promised to have 80 per cent of the grid powered by renewable energy like wind, hydro and solar by 2030. Donahue said the utility will need places to store electricity, so the grid can be reliable when winds aren't blowing or the sun isn't shining. "If there was a long period of high demand, then it could support the grid for longer than a battery could," Donahue said. It is considered a closed-loop system because the reservoirs are only connected to each other, Donahue said, and fed solely by rain and groundwater. O'Leary said this would be the first pumped hydro storage system for St Barbara in any of their mines, which operate in various countries. "It doesn't have to just be St Barbara, either, it can be other mines," O'Leary said. "They're all creating a pit that could be used as an area to store power. So it's got a lot of potential." Coun. Sam Austin said the project seems like a good idea because it can be hard to "encourage, sometimes, good behaviour" in mining companies tending to their leftover sites. "If the site continues to actually have an economic rationale for being, I think that probably aligns a lot of interest in the right kind of direction," Austin said during the meeting. The committee voted to ask regional council to request a staff report that would consider sending a letter of support for the project to the province. "It's not a requirement, but I think it's a nice add-on to their work," said Coun. Cathy Deagle Gammon. Ongoing court case Atlantic Mining Nova Scotia, the St Barbara subsidiary that ran the mine, is in a legal fight with the province over the terms and conditions for the remediation of the Touquoy site. The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia is currently hearing the case, with the next date set for November. The Ecology Action Centre and Mining Association of Nova Scotia are intervenors in the matter. The court case doesn't change St Barbara's intention to reclaim the site and return it to a natural state as required, O'Leary said. He said the company has spent $10 million to date on cleanup costs. O'Leary said they are reviewing the regulations around the hydro storage project, and plan to start environmental studies soon. Their team hopes to get provincial approval to begin within the next few years, O'Leary said.
CBC
20-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Gold mining company purchases parcel of land for conservation
The company behind Nova Scotia's Touquoy gold mine has purchased land on the Eastern Shore to conserve, as required by the province. Australia-based St Barbara announced Tuesday it has bought 228 hectares of ecologically sensitive land next to the Ship Harbour Long Lake wilderness area and the Tangier Grand Lake wilderness area. The parcel of land is home to water courses and wetlands of special significance and is suitable for wildlife habitat. "We are excited to move forward with this important initiative that safeguards natural areas for future generations," said Andrew Strelein, the director of St Barbara subsidiary Atlantic Mining, in a news release. Conservation required under industrial approval The Touquoy gold mine in Moose River, N.S., opened in 2017 and wrapped up active mining in January 2023. As part of the company's industrial approval, it is required to acquire and conserve other land to offset the area that has been impacted by its mining operations. The company said it issued a call for suggestions for land parcels from land trusts, community groups and the public, and received 18 proposals. The selected land was previously in the hands of a private landowner. In April, the Environment Department agreed to give the land conservation status. The company did not release the purchase price, and did not immediately respond to a request for an interview.
Business Recorder
14-05-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Gold stocks drag Australian shares lower
Australian shares declined on Wednesday, after ending the last session at an 11-week high, as a slide in gold stocks outweighed the strength in tech and energy, amid growing expectations of an interest rate cut by the local central bank next week. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.1% to 8,260.3 points by 0053 GMT. The benchmark had ended 0.4% higher on Tuesday. The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to cut rates at its policy meeting on May 20, with expectations currently indicating a 95.3% chance of a cut. Gold miners shed 0.3%, with St Barbara and Northern Star Resources losing 0.9% and 2%, respectively. 'Gold miners continue to be sold off amid increased appetite for growth stocks following the temporary China-US trade deal announcement,' said Grady Wulff, a market analyst at Bell Direct. Insignia Financial, one of the biggest losers on the benchmark, slumped as much as 14.8% after Bain Capital walked away from a binding takeover bid. Aristocrat Leisure slipped more than 15% after the gaming firm missed its half-year revenue estimates. Meanwhile, Australia's corporate regulator said it has started legal action against Macquarie Securities (Australia), alleging the firm inaccurately reported millions of short sales for more than 14 years. The company is owned by Macquarie, which is down 1.1%. Energy stocks rose 2.6% on the back of rising oil prices. Woodside advanced 3.9% on signing a non-binding agreement with Aramco to explore opportunities, including the Saudi Arabian company's potential stake acquisition in the Louisiana LNG project. Santos gained 2.5%. Australian shares rise on trade optimism Technology stocks tracked their overseas peers higher, rising 1.4%. Financials added 0.1%, with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia climbing 0.3% after posting a 6% rise in its third-quarter cash earnings. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.1% to 12,798.75 points.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
St Barbara Limited's (ASX:SBM) Path To Profitability
St Barbara Limited () is possibly approaching a major achievement in its business, so we would like to shine some light on the company. St Barbara Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, mining, and sale of gold. The company's loss has recently broadened since it announced a AU$54m loss in the full financial year, compared to the latest trailing-twelve-month loss of AU$60m, moving it further away from breakeven. As path to profitability is the topic on St Barbara's investors mind, we've decided to gauge market sentiment. In this article, we will touch on the expectations for the company's growth and when analysts expect it to become profitable. This technology could replace computers: discover the 20 stocks are working to make quantum computing a reality. According to the 3 industry analysts covering St Barbara, the consensus is that breakeven is near. They expect the company to post a final loss in 2025, before turning a profit of AU$66m in 2026. Therefore, the company is expected to breakeven just over a year from now. In order to meet this breakeven date, we calculated the rate at which the company must grow year-on-year. It turns out an average annual growth rate of 72% is expected, which is extremely buoyant. Should the business grow at a slower rate, it will become profitable at a later date than expected. Underlying developments driving St Barbara's growth isn't the focus of this broad overview, but, bear in mind that typically metals and mining companies, depending on the stage of operation and metals mined, have irregular periods of cash flow. This means that a high growth rate is not unusual, especially if the company is currently in an investment period. Check out our latest analysis for St Barbara Before we wrap up, there's one aspect worth mentioning. The company has managed its capital prudently, with debt making up 1.2% of equity. This means that it has predominantly funded its operations from equity capital, and its low debt obligation reduces the risk around investing in the loss-making company. There are too many aspects of St Barbara to cover in one brief article, but the key fundamentals for the company can all be found in one place – St Barbara's company page on Simply Wall St. We've also compiled a list of pertinent aspects you should further research: Historical Track Record: What has St Barbara's performance been like over the past? Go into more detail in the past track record analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of our analysis for more clarity. Management Team: An experienced management team on the helm increases our confidence in the business – take a look at who sits on St Barbara's board and the CEO's background. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
While institutions invested in St Barbara Limited (ASX:SBM) benefited from last week's 13% gain, retail investors stood to gain the most
Significant control over St Barbara by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions The top 25 shareholders own 49% of the company Insiders have been buying lately AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early. If you want to know who really controls St Barbara Limited (ASX:SBM), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 50% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn). Retail investors gained the most after market cap touched AU$238m last week, while institutions who own 39% also benefitted. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about St Barbara. Check out our latest analysis for St Barbara Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing. As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in St Barbara. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see St Barbara's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story. Our data indicates that hedge funds own 6.9% of St Barbara. That worth noting, since hedge funds are often quite active investors, who may try to influence management. Many want to see value creation (and a higher share price) in the short term or medium term. IPConcept Fund Management SA is currently the company's largest shareholder with 9.5% of shares outstanding. With 6.9% and 3.8% of the shares outstanding respectively, Baker Steel Capital Managers LLP and BlackRock, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders. On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest. Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future. The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO. Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances. Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in St Barbara Limited. It has a market capitalization of just AU$238m, and insiders have AU$7.6m worth of shares, in their own names. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board, though we generally prefer to see bigger insider holdings. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling. The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 50% stake in St Barbara, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability. While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for St Barbara (1 is a bit concerning!) that you should be aware of before investing here. If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Sign in to access your portfolio
