THUNDER BAY — An official with the Steelworkers union calls the proposed takeover of North American Palladium by a South African-based company a positive development for the over 500 workers at the Lac des Iles mine north of Thunder Bay.
Impala Platinum Holdings, the third largest palladium producer in the world, has reached an agreement to acquire private equity firm Brookfield Business Partners' 81 per cent stake in North American Palladium for one billion dollars.
The transaction is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.
NAP is the seventh largest platinum producer on the globe.
It's most important asset is the Lac des Iles operation, located about 100 kilometres from Thunder Bay.
Steelworkers representative Herb Daniher said he's been told that for now "it's business as usual" at the mine, which he described as an efficient operation.
"I'm not sure there's going to be a lot of changes, but you never know when you get into a new ownership group," he said, adding that Lac des Iles is a big economic driver for the Thunder Bay region.
"The fact that somebody wants to buy it, I would say that's very positive news," Daniher said.
John Mason, the project manager for mining exploration for the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission, said Impala likely saw NAP as an attractive target because its mines in Africa are deep operations requiring extensive infrastructure.
"Lac des Iles is a significant, low-cost operation...they've got well over 10 years of resource remaining," Mason said, noting that NAP has also maintained an active exploration program that has identified new ore deposits.
"There's a little more horsepower with the strength of Impala. They see NAP as an opportunity. I would think in terms of advanced development, in terms of a path forward, I don't see this as a negative," he said.
The market for platinum is strong, with the price having surpassed the price of gold.
"The demand for palladium for clean air, for catalytic converters for vehicles, will only grow. NAP has had five or six good quarters. It was a good time for Brookfield to move the project," Mason said.
