Our Mining Group

The globalization of the mining industry has brought forward more challenges than ever before. You need professional advisors who have a demonstrated technical knowledge of this high-stakes industry, with experience in all aspects of the mining cycle — from grassroots exploration through mine development and operation to mine closure. Above all, you need a Firm that can respond to your varied and changing legal requirements throughout the life of a mining project or a mining company.

With first-rate, client-focused service to help you achieve the best possible results, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) has been at the forefront of the Canadian and international mining industry for over a century. We understand the complex legal and practical issues that present unique business, regulatory, financial and legal challenges to our mining clients in Canada and around the world.

BLG's commitment to service has resulted in the frequent recognition of many of our legal professionals at home and abroad. The professionals in BLG's Mining Group have been recognized in the 2010 edition of Best Lawyers in Canada, the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory and the International Who's Who of Mining Lawyers as leading practitioners in the field of mining law.

Our clients include: major, mid-tier and junior mining companies listed on various stock exchanges around the world; investment dealers and financial institutions involved in financing mining projects and companies; as well as service providers to the mining industry. BLG's clients are involved in the mining of, and exploration for, precious and base metals, uranium, precious and semi-precious stones, iron ore, coal, potash and industrial minerals throughout the key mining regions of the world.

The breadth of our Firm's strength across a wide range of areas of legal practice allows the core practitioners in our Mining Group to seamlessly draw upon the legal expertise of other practice groups and industry groups within the firm, including securities, M&A, Aboriginal, competition, construction and engineering, environmental and regulatory, government relations, immigration, international trade, labour and employment, lending, litigation, maritime and tax groups.

Members of our Mining Group actively participate in mining industry associations, conferences and seminars and are proactive in keeping our clients abreast of industry developments, as well as legal and regulatory changes affecting the mining industry in Canada and abroad.

At BLG, we are committed to staying focused on your success and achieving the best possible results.

Our Services

Our experience encompasses every aspect of the mining sector, both domestically and internationally, as outlined below.

Specialized Mining Agreements

Option, earn-in and farm-in agreements; joint venture and shareholder agreements; operator agreements; royalty agreements; EPC and EPCM agreements; equipment leases; marketing, ore sales and smelting contracts; off-take and hedging contracts; and impact benefit agreements with aboriginal groups.

Transactional

Asset (mine) acquisitions and dispositions; share acquisitions and dispositions, including control transactions; amalgamations, arrangements and other business combinations; solicited and unsolicited take-over bids; and proxy fights.

Finance

Domestic, cross-border or internationally financed initial public offerings; public offerings of equity and debt; private placements of equity and debt; stock exchange listings; reverse takeovers of CPCs; project finance; corporate borrowing; and equipment leasing and securitizations.

Regulatory

Mineral tenure; permitting and licensing; environmental compliance and waste management; compliance with occupational health and safety standards; hearings before administrative tribunals; and mine closure, decommissioning and reclamation (including, bond posting).

Litigation

Commercial litigation; domestic and international arbitration and mediation; construction, engineering, surety and fidelity litigation; and aboriginal land claims and disputes.

Business Advisory

Corporate governance; corporate and securities law compliance (including compliance with National Instrument 43-101); continuous disclosure; shareholder meetings; related party transactions; labour and employment; and tax.

Representative Transactions

Specialized Mining Agreements

• Counsel to Teck Resources Limited in connection with the sale of a gold royalty from its Andacollo mine in Chile to Royal Gold, Inc. for US$300 million
• Counsel to Pan American Silver Corp. in connection with its joint venture with Orko Silver Corp. on the La Preciosa project in Mexico

Transactional:

• Counsel to PBS Coals on its TSX listing and financing and subsequent $1 billion sale to OAO Severstal
• Counsel to Pan American Silver Corp. on its successful friendly $626 million take-over bid for Aquiline Resources Inc.
• Counsel to Eldorado Gold Corporation on its sale of the São Bento mine in Brazil to AngloGold Ashanti for US$70 million
• Tax counsel to Teck Cominco Limited on its $14 billion acquisition of Fording Canadian Coal Trust
• Counsel to Global Copper Corp on its friendly acquisition by Teck Cominco Limited for $415 million and the spin-off of Lumina Copper Corp
• Counsel to Eldorado Gold Corporation on its successful unsolicited $156 million take-over bid for Frontier Pacific Mining Corporation
• Counsel to Northern Peru Copper Corp. on its friendly acquisition by China Minmetals Nonferrous Metals Co., Ltd. and Jiangxi Copper Company Ltd. for $455 million
• Counsel to Imperial Metals Corp. on its successful friendly $65 million take-over bid for bcMetals Corporation
• Counsel to NovaGold Resources Inc. on its successful defence against Barrick Gold Corp.'s hostile $1.8 billion take-over bid
• Regalito Copper Corp. in connection with its friendly acquisition by Pan Pacific Copper Co. Ltd. for $135 million

Finance:

• Underwriters' counsel on a $908 million secondary offering of common shares of Centerra Gold Inc. by Cameco Corporation
• Underwriters' counsel on a $500 million public offering of unsecured debentures by Cameco Corporation
• Lender's counsel on the establishment of a US$600 million credit facility by Agnico Eagle Mines Limited
• Underwriters' counsel on a $100 million public offering of common shares by Uranium Participation Corporation
• Underwriters' counsel on a $460 million public offering of common shares by Cameco Corporation
• Counsel to Pan American Silver Corp. on a $103 million public offering of common shares
• Underwriters' counsel on a $290 million private placement of common shares and warrants by Agnico Eagle Mines Limited