PDAC: CUCC
Round Table on Mineral Mining and Oil & Gas in Ukraine
By John Pidkowich
The largest event
of its kind in Canada, the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of
Canada (PDAC) Convention was held March 4-7, 2012 in Toronto. Not only billed
as an international convention, it is complemented with an impressive Trade
Show & Investors Exchange – Mining Investment Show which attracts companies
the world over interested in mineral mining, and energy resource exploration
and production. The added attraction for coming to the convention and show is
the venue city destination’s Toronto Stock Exchange, which has the world’s
greatest listing of such resource companies, particularly in mining. If not
already done so, many of these companies attending eventually would like to
list on the stock exchange and raise some investment funds.
Considering
its international significance and taking advantage of the world-wide interest
in the PDAC Convention, the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce, with the help
of the Canadian Embassy in Ukraine, organized a trip for a 5 person delegation
from Ukraine to attend the convention, meet its participants and be introduced
to the industry’s players. The Ukrainian delegation involved mainly two groups
– NADRA of Ukraine and the State Geological Service of Ukraine. Both
organizations are responsible for resource policy and management of minerals
and mining, and includes oil and gas activity. The latter is responsible more
for the geological scientific side of projects, and the issuing of licences and
permits required for exploration and development necessary for production.
NADRA is usually the operator of such projects.
A
number of CUCC member companies are active in the area of mineral exploration.
In the oil and gas industry, KUB Energy has natural gas projects in Zakarpattya
and Luhansk oblast. Iskander is working in eastern Ukraine, mainly in the area
of coal bed methane extraction. Shelton Petroleum works in oil production in
Central Ukraine’s Chernihivs’ka oblast, and Azov Sea and Black Sea natural gas
exploration projects with Chornomornaftogaz. In mining, Black Iron is a
Canadian iron ore mining company working in Kryviy Rih. East Coal from
Vancouver now operates two coal mines in Luhansk oblast where they took over
and revived old shutdown Ukrainian mines by bringing them back into production
with new technology and current mining industry know-how, and similarly, are
looking for other projects in the area.
Potential
new CUCC members include one company looking for gold mining opportunities, and
another company in copper mining projects in Ukraine.
According
to CUCC and Shelton Petroleum President, Zenon Potoczny, the idea behind
bringing the Ukrainian delegation to the PDAC Convention and industry show was
to introduce them to industry players here and meet with CUCC member companies
active in mining, and oil and gas projects that have come across some problem
or complicated bureaucratic issue in licensing or permits in Ukraine. Heading
the delegation were two top individuals in charge of handling these licensing
and permit issues: Oleh Proskuryakov, Chairman of NADRA of Ukraine, and
Liubomyr Honcharuk, First Deputy Head of the State Geological Service of
Ukraine. “We wanted to introduce them, first of all, to these companies, while
at the same time attend a conference. Also, we agreed to organize a round table
which involved our CUCC members and a few non-member companies interested in
mineral mining in Ukraine, as well as some finance groups and brokerage firms
that finance such projects all over the world, some already in Ukraine –
companies that work or are interested in these areas, and those that can
finance these projects,” said Potoczny.
Held
March 5 at the National Club on Toronto’s Bay St., the round table session
kick-off started with a general presentation by Liubomyr Honcharuk on the
geology and minerals of Ukraine. The interesting presentation gave an overview
of all the minerals found in deposits in Ukraine, from gold, silver, copper and
lithium, to coal and iron ore, to oil and gas, shale gas, etc. The round table
began in earnest with each one of the 20 participants around the table
introducing himself, describing the company represented and its area of
activity, with notes made on particular involvement or interests in Ukraine.
Then, Liubomyr Honcharuk, followed by Oleh Proskuryakov, proceeded to make
industry specific presentations on areas of interest based on what they heard
around the table, such as one on iron ore addressed to Black Iron, one on gold
of interest to another company, etc.
Interspersed
between the presentations where opportunities for questions and provided
answers. After the three hour session, the round table participants were very
satisfied to have met as “contact and relationship building in Ukraine is very
important,” said Potoczny, adding that it’s good to know who to turn to with a
licensing problem when “a direct phone call does make a difference.” Another
provided benefit of the round table presentations was the additional
information obtained about available mineral mining opportunities and how
contract deals are made in Ukraine.
An
immediate result gleaned from the round table was the signing of two Memoranda
of Understanding (MOU) and Confidentiality Agreements. One MOU is between the
Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce with NADRA of Ukraine, for the purpose of directly
obtaining any information of possible projects or deals in the area of mineral
mining or oil and gas activity in Ukraine. The second MOU is one of cooperation
between Shelton Petroleum with NADRA and the State Geological Service of
Ukraine, by which Shelton’s geologist are to be sent to Ukraine in early April,
as well as the provision for Shelton to have access to and review over 100
project licences made available by NADRA of Ukraine to be exercised in
cooperation with various foreign companies. Upon review during the next weeks,
Shelton hopes to have selected a few of the most interesting projects and “by
the end of the year strike a deal!” optimistically stated by Potoczny.
PHOTOS
1
- L. to R.: Liubomyr Honcharuk, Zenon Potoczny, Oleh
Proskuryakov
2 - Participants in CUCC Round Table on mineral exploration in
Ukraine