Teck (TCK) (MUR) (WLL) (PTR) (RIG) (WLT) Closed Down

Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TCK), Murphy Oil Corp (NYSE:MUR), Whiting Petroleum Co. (NYSE:WLL), Petrochina (NYSE:PTR), Transocean (NYSE:RIG) and Walter Energy (NYSE:WLT) closed down Monday as commodities came under pressure.

Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) closed Monday at $50.90, falling $1.31, or 2.51 percent.

Whiting Petroleum Co. (WLL) ended the day at $44.12, dropping $2.15, or 4.65 percent.

Petrochina (PTR) closed at $122.41, declining $3.09, or 2.46 percent.

Transocean (RIG) closed at $58.30, falling $0.87, or 1.47 percent.

Teck Resources Limited (TCK) closed Monday at $38.11, down $1.88, or 4.70 percent.

Walter Energy (NYSE:WLT) closed at $79.60, dropping $2.59, or 3.15 percent.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) Receives Order for 55 Wind Turbines from Suncor (NYSE:SU)

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) has reportedly ordered 55 wind turbines from General Electric (NYSE:GE) for its project in Alberta, Canada.

The order is expected to be fulfilled by General Electric in the second quarter of 2011.

Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK) is a 30 percent partner with Suncor in the project, which has the remaining 70 percent stake. The Wintering Hills project is located 79 miles northeast of Calgary.

Approximately 35,000 homes will be supplied power from the 88 MW project.

Suncor closed Tuesday at $32.81, gaining $0.26, or 0.80 percent. Teck Resources closed in New York at $45.33, increasing $0.48, or 1.07 percent. General Electric closed at $15.94, losing $0.01, or 0.06 percent.

Teck (NYSE:TCK) Agrees to Farm-in Deal with Rox Resources (ASX:RXL)

Teck Resources Ltd (NYSE:TCK) and Rox Resources (ASX:RXL) have come to terms on a joint venture and farm-in deal for the Myrtle zinc-lead deposit.

The Myrtle project, which Rox holds the rights to, includes an indicated and inferred resource of 43.6 million tons at a combined grade of 5.03 per cent.

Terms of the letter of intent include Teck being able to farm-in the tenements and earn 51 percent interest. On Teck's part they'll have to spend $5 million over a period of four years to attain that percentage.

Teck must also spend at least $1 million by July 21, 2012, part of which must include a drilling program, before they would be allowed to withdraw.

If Teck spends an additional $10 million over four more years, they would get another 19 percent interest, bringing the total to 70 percent.

Myrtle is close to MacArthur River, which is one of the largest zinc-lead deposits in the world.

Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK) Investment in Horizonte About to Pay Off?

In July Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK) sold its Araguaia nickel mine in Brazil to Horizonte in return for a 50 percent stake in the company. Now Horizonte is preparing a share sale in Toronto to raise capital to fund the project.

Other financing options include offtake agreements with nickel refiners and bank financing.

The Araguaia project has an initial resource of 60 to 70 million tons, and should produce a minimum annual volume of about 25,000 tons.

Nickel demand has shot up recently, with supply not being able to meet demand for the first time in five months, according to the International Nickel Study Group. The mine should be ready to produce in about 4 years. Drilling began on October 18.

Official numbers concerning actual resources will be determined in 2011, where at that time production costs and more accurate volumes will be known.

Once Horizonte has Araguaia ready for construction, Teck has an option to acquire the remaining shares in the company.

BHP (NYSE:BHP), Teck (NYSE:TCK), Freeport (NYSE:FCX) and Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) Will Soar on Quantitative Easing

With the Federal Reserve poised to inflate via quantitative easing, a number of commodities will surge in price, which will strongly benefit diversified miners like BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP), Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK), Freeport McMoran (NYSE:FCX) and Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO).

According to UBS (NYSE:UBS), some of their top commodity picks include gold, copper, palladium, iron ore, thermal coal and zinc. They added they believe it's a "game changer" for commodities.

Talking on global capital flows, UBS said that should strengthen "credit creation in emerging markets." The giant bank concluded, "We believe that QE2 will prolong the bull market in commodities."

UBS' top pick in the commodity sector is palladium, which they see making significant gains through 2015.

In what could be troubling news for aluminum producers like Alcoa (NYSE:AA), UBS sees aluminum and nickel, among other commodities whose supply has little constraint upon them as being less desirable and affected by quantitative easing.

Gold of course will continue to perform strongly for some time to come. In that space, besides companies mentioned above, they like gold mining giant Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX).

UBS said they like gold mining stocks over ownership of physical gold.

Teck (NYSE:TCK) Starts Commercial Copper Production at Carmen de Andacollo

Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TCK) said it has launched commercial copper production at its Carmen de Andacollo project in Chile.

As of October 1, 2010, production results will be credited to earnings that had been capitalized during the process leading up to the commercial production launch.

Teck's senior vice president of copper, Roger Higgins, said, “We are very pleased to have achieved this milestone. Our strong ramp up performance reflects good design, fast operational learning and close cooperation between the project development and operations teams.”

The development time usually takes from 18 to 24 months, and Teck was able to accomplish it in a short 7 months.

Costs for the project came in at about $440 million.

Carmen de Andacollo has a projected mine life of close to 20 years, with an estimated annual production of 80,000 tons of copper and 55,000 ounces of gold.

Royal Gold (Nasdaq:RGLD) acquired a 75 percent stake in the gold production of the mine in 2009.

Will Goldman (NYSE:GS), BAC (NYSE:BAC) Find Potash (NYSE:POT) Rival Suitor to BHP (NYSE:BHP)?

The number of proposed alternative offers to BHP (NYSE:BHP) for Potash Corp. (NYSE:POT) are starting to sound more like conspiracy theories than actual possibilities being put together by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), who are working with Potash.

As news circulates about the alleged offers being put together, it's starting to smell more of desperation than entities being interested in Potash.

Even the desperation aspect isn't making much sense, as the offer was a fair one, and even if more money was offered, which may happen, that doesn't really seem to be the reason behind the strange behavior of Potash in the matter.

Just as strange are some of the supposed offers in the works. Everything from breaking up the company to sovereign wealth funds and pension funds have been mentioned as potential white knights for Potash in the latest round of news.

Tech Resources Limited (NYSE:TCK) has even been brought back into the picture, who have said in the past they have no interest. They and others have also been identified as partnering with other entities to battle the takeover.

The question of course is why they would bother. BHP doesn't have a fertilizer business at this time, and ultimately would control about 20 percent of the global market if the deal were to be approved.

Nobody really sees how this could harm the company or Canada, and with competition not a problem, it is getting more bizarre by the day as to the why of the resistance.

Less taxes have been offered as one reason for rejecting the offer, but over time that doesn't appear to be the case at all.

The emotion of the response implies it's personal rather than logical as to the resistance. That means individuals are against the offer for personal reasons rather than those being offered through media outlets.

Potash was recently sued by some shareholders stating this very thing.

Teck (NYSE:TCK), Suncor (NYSE:SU), Total (NYSE:TOT) and Fort Hills Project

Now that Total SA (NYSE:TOT) has closed their acquisition of UTS Energy, they are going to put their heads together with Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) and Teck Resources Ltd (NYSE:TCK) concerning the Fort Hills Canadian oil sands project.

With the purchase of UTS Total gained a 20 percent share in the Fort Hills project, which includes Teck and Suncor as partners. Suncor has a 60 percent stake and Teck the other 20 percent.

Construction costs on the project soared right before the recession, causing the project to be shut down. Total wants to get together with their partners and put together a strategy on restarting the property.

Jean-Michel Gires, president of Total E&P Canada, said, "We will meet with the other partners ... in order to study the next step, especially how Suncor wants to promote a new development plan for this asset." There should be a plan in place within several weeks, added Gires.

Total has other projects in the sands, including their partnership with ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in Surmount, Joslyn, and Northern Lights.

Surmont and Joslyn could produce a combined 310,000 barrels a day in a few years. Joslyn still has to be approved by Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board. Surmont is projected to produce about 110,000 barrels a day by 2015.

Total is hoping for regulatory approval by the end of 2011, with production starting in 2017 if that happens.

Teck (NYSE:TCK) Coal Sales Down on Westshore Terminals Capacity Issues

Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TCK) said coal sales will be down because capacity constraint problems at Westshore Terminals.

The problem will affect coal sales not only for the current quarter, but also for the full year, driving them down.

Estimates for coal sales in the third quarter have been downwardly adjusted to a range of 5.2 million tons to 5.5 million tons, in contrast to original estimates of 5.8 million tons to 6.2 million tons.

Coal sales for the calendar year were downwardly revised from 23.5 million tons to 24.5 million tons to 23 million tons to 23.8 million tons.

Teck is taking interim steps to move their coal as the temporary constraints continue to hurt the business, by seeking alternative terminals to move their coal.

Westshore Terminals said the problem should be mitigated for 2011, expecting all of Teck's deliveries to be loaded for the year.

Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK) Freeport (NYSE:FCX), Bucyrus (Nasdaq:BUCY) Up on China Production

Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK), Bucyrus International, Inc. (Nasdaq:BUCY) and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold,(NYSE:FCX) all made nice upward moves Monday as China's production increased more than expected,

Industrial production grew 13.9 percent in August, beating average estimates of 13 percent from Bloomberg analysts.

China has been interesting because they seem to be sending different signals as time goes on, with a signal they're going to slow hammering the markets, and data showing growth, of course, doing the opposite.

There is no doubt China has been cutting back in urban infrastructure and property, but they've said they're looking at now expanding projects to rural areas, which they may have possibly already started to do.

Every time the underlying weakness of the global economy is exposed, data will be released which seems to contradict, or at minimum, confuse the situation.

It's dubious as to the growth in industrial production in China, but even if it's true, it does nothing to change the underlying weak fundamentals that haven't changed in any way.

Every time an alleged positive report or number comes out, the mainstream media pounces on it in order to give the appearance of a recovering economy in hopes of boosting the chances of the Democrats in the November elections in the U.S.

So we'll see this cat and mouse game go on until the elections, and whatever the outcome, the truth about the real weakness of the economy will continue to reveal itself.

For diverse mining companies like Teck, Freeport and Bucyrus, they'll continue to run the financial and economic data roller coaster until then.

Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK) Not Focusing on Potash

Before BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) made a bid for Potash Corp. (NYSE:POT), there wasn't a lot of thought from mining companies about entering into that sector, which was confirmed by Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK), which said they haven't been thinking along those lines.

A Teck executive did confirm there was a large demand for the fertilizer.

Senior Vice President for Corporate Development Ronald J. Vance said, "Potash is a commodity that is clearly in demand,” although it's “not something we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about, frankly.”

We'll probably see a bunch of copycats now following BHP, thinking they're missing out of something they must enter into. But BHP is unique in its size and financial position, and not that many miners could follow in their footsteps, even if they wanted to.

For most, like Teck, to go off their core business and enter into one they know nothing about, would probably end up being a disaster.

There's no doubt fertilizer will be a huge sector in the years ahead, but that has nothing to do with the mining industry.

BHP is obviously developing into a different kind of company, and they have the financial strength to do it. Most miners will do best to stick with what they know and let BHP do what they want.

Hopefully Teck will continue to ignore the faddish quality of the pursuit of potash resources and keep doing what they're good at.

Teck (NYSE:TCK) Notes Get "BBB-" Rating From Fitch

Fitch Ratings has assigned a "BBB-" to the $700 million in new notes offered by Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TCK)(TSE:TCK-B).

Here's how Fitch rated the new notes for Teck:

- Issuer Default Rating (IDR) "BBB-";

- Senior Unsecured Notes "BBB-".

The senior unsecured notes are due 2021 and 2040.

Teck will use the notes to acquire up to $1 billion in total principal of existing notes due 2019.

Fitch keeps the rating outlook on Teck stable, citing their strong position in copper, low cost zinc operations, and leading position in the seaborne hard metallurgical coal market.

The stable outlook by Fitch assumes Teck will continue on with its current financial profile.

Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK) to Buy Back $1 Billion of Notes by Issuing New Debt

With a goal of buying back up to $1 billion of notes, Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK) said they're going to offer as high as $700 million in senior unsecured notes on the market.

The notes to be acquired are outstanding senior secured notes due 2019.

To raise the capital to buy back the notes they're going to offer to sell up to $700 million of senior unsecured notes due 2021 and 2040.

An underwritten public offering in the U.S. will be initiated where the new senior unsecured notes will be sold.

The expiration of the tender offer to buy back the outstanding senior secured notes will be October 5, unless it is terminated earlier or extended to a later date.

Teck (NYSE:TCK), BHP (NYSE:BHP), Freeport (NYSE:FCX) Slump on Stronger U.S. Dollar

The ongoing recession has metal producer like Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK), BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX) down today, as the dollar strengthened, lowering the appeal of commodities.

Concerns over the continuing sovereign debt crisis in Europe is the major impetus behind this, as the focus goes back on the EU after being given a free ride in the press for some time.

Confirming what we and others commented on concerning the pathetic "stress tests" which made it appear the sovereign debt holdings were in better shape than they actually were for European banks, now they are again under pressure as the real story of their condition has yet to accurately be told, and we can almost be certain they'll be far weaker than thought.

Yield spreads for Germany and Greece were at their widest levels since May, and the gap between yields on 10-year German bonds and Portuguese and Irish debt are at the highest levels in history.

German bankers said Monday the ten largest lenders in the country may have to raise an additional $134 billion in new capital, underscoring their weakness.

Copper prices dropped on the news as demand issues were raised in light of the revelation things aren't as good as they were asserted in Europe.

NovaGold (AMEX:NG) Names Gerry McConnell New Chairman

NovaGold Resources Inc. (AMEX:NG) announced it has named Gerry McConnell as the new chairman of the board.

Chief executive officer and president Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse remains in his position, and continues on as a member of the board, which includes the feisty and interesting Marc Faber.

Van Nieuwenhuyse said on the appointment of McConnell, "I am pleased that Gerry has accepted this appointment as Chairman of the Board. Gerry's legal background and extensive knowledge of the mining business and our projects makes him the ideal candidate to manage the Board activities that help guide the company. NovaGold's Board of Directors and employees are committed to adding value for shareholders as we advance our world-class portfolio of projects."

NovaGold's assets are all based in North America, and include the Donlin Creek project in Alaska and the Galore project in British Columbia.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) is a partner in Donlin Creek, while Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK) is a partner in Galore.

NovaGold (AMEX:NG) Expanding Financing Search

After having a cash infusion of $175 million from combined investments from Paulson & Co. Inc. and Quantum Partners Ltd., it put NovaGold (AMEX:NG) (TSE:NG) in the enviable position of having a two-year cushion to work with.

But aren't resting on that by any means, as estimates for their part in the development of Galore Creek copper-silver-gold mine, which they're partnering with Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK), and on Donlin Creek, which they're partnering with Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE:ABX), comes in at about $4 billion.

When you consider the estimated revenue for NovaGold is $2 million this year, it's incredible to look at the numbers being thrown at them.

This isn't of about where they are, but where they're going to be, and once the feasibility studies are completed, we'll have a better look. But the large amount of resources at just these two mines are staggering, and will generate a flow of revenue for years.

For example, at Galore Creek, there is an indicated resource of close to 9 billion pounds of copper and 7.3 million ounces of gold. By the time these mines begin operating, assuming they do, it will be at a time when demand will continue to be high; for sure for copper, with gold being less certain depending on when production begins.

At earliest production at Galore isn't expected to launch until 2016, and most of the time they won't meet those dates, so it could be assumed to be even later than that.

NovaGold also has significant projects in Argentina, with their San Roque project, and in Alaska with the Ambler project, which may contain one of the largest copper-zinc deposits in the world.

They have a bright future, but it will be an expensive one to develop, and that's why NovaGold Chief Executive Officer Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse has been reaching out to Asia to woo investors in the company.

In exchange for investment, NovaGold is offering a piece of the metal production, which is a huge attractant to the Asian region who will be building out infrastructure for years.

Even in this recession, metal will be in demand, and is expected to surge again whenever a real recovery begins. Now it's a race to get the needed financing to supply the hungry markets.

With the demand out there, a significant number of interested parties should emerge, and NovaGold does have some time to find the best partners.

Teck (NYSE:TCK) Notes Rated "BBB-" by Fitch Ratings

New senior unsecured notes issued by Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TCK) have been given a "BBB-" rating by Fitch Ratings.

One of the group of senior unsecured notes worth $300 million will be due in 2017, and another group worth $450 million will be due in 2040.

Capital garnered from the offerings will be sues to acquire up to $800 million of existing notes which are due in 2014 and 2016.

Fitch said if other leveraged acquisitions were to be made, a negative rating for Tech could follow, and if they further pay down their debt, positive ratings could be applied to them as well.

Teck was rated by Fitch like this:

- Issuer Default Rating "BBB-";

- Senior unsecured notes "BBB-".

Teck (NYSE:TCK), Freeport (NYSE:FCX) Fall on Weak Economic Data

Teck Resources(NYSE:TCK) and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE:FCX) fell today as jobless claims in the U.S., as expected by Commodity Surge, increased again, this time to about 500,000.

The other bad economic news was the manufacturing in the Philadelphia area dropped fro the first time in a year, according to the Federal Reserve.

With increasing confirmation the recession is continuing on, concerns over how that will impact demand for raw materials is putting downward pressure on commodity companies and miners.

The positive side for those miners with strong gold exposure is this will cause misguided politicians and governments, especially the U.S. government, to print more money and buy up its own debt, making gold an even stronger performer in the years ahead.

China has, and will continue to, be the major importer of most commodities. And they will determine much of how companies like Teck and Freeport will perform going forward.

Teck (NYSE:TCK) Closes $750 Million Note Offerings

The announced note offerings of Tech Resources Limited (NYSE:TCK), which in the case of one offering was $300 million aggregate principal amount of 3.85% notes due 2017, and the other offering 450 million aggregate principal amount of 6.00% notes due 2040, has been closed today.

In a press release the company stated, "As a consequence of the closing of the notes offering, Teck expects to promptly accept for purchase 45.63%, or approximately US$434.6 million aggregate principal amount, of its 9.75% senior secured notes due 2014 that were tendered at or prior to the early tender date for its concurrent tender offer for its 9.75% senior secured notes due 2014 and 10.25% senior secured notes due 2016, which commenced on August 3, 2010."

Teck was up to $34.75, gaining $2.39, or 7.39 percent, at 3:46 PM EDT Tuesday.

Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK) Gets Option on GJ Copper-Gold Project

Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK), which already works with NovaGold Resources Inc. (AMEX:NG) with the Galore Creek project in the "golden triangle" of British Columbia in Canada, has now acquired an option on another property in the area, the GJ copper-gold project.

The GJ property has 43-101 compliant measured and indicated resource of about 1.8 million ounces of gold, and a huge 1 billion pounds of copper.

Per the option agreement, Teck will have the power to gain a majority stake in the property, which it is partnering with NGEx Resources Inc. (TSE:NGQ) on.

CEO and president of NGEx, Wojtek Wodzicki, said about the deal, “Teck brings to the partnership a combination of exploration and engineering skills, financial strength and long experience operating in B.C. that has the potential to add great value for our shareholders."

NGEx Resources is the exploration unit of the Lundin Group.

Teck can earn a majority interest in the property if it spends $44 million on it by 2020, which would give them a 75 percent stake.