Global Mining Group Newsletter

At the end of August we helped Eldorado Gold to ink a deal to acquire all the shares of Sino Gold it does not own and create a $6.4 billion market cap mid tier gold producer with a significant position in China, which is the world's largest gold producer. Earlier in the quarter we were involved in the sale of Addax Petroleum to Sinopec for $9 billion. Our government relations group is significantly involved in the opposition to a Canadian Parliament private members bill whose passage would create unnecessary difficulties and costs for Canadian incorporated participants in the international extractive sector in discharging their corporate social responsibilities. On the positive regulatory side, the British Columbia Securities Commission is streamlining its prospectus approvals for mining and oil and gas companies. The Government of Quebec recently introduced its new strategy "Preparing the Future of Quebec; Mineral Sector." We welcomed Keenan Hohol as a partner in our Vancouver office. Keenan comes to us from BHP Billiton, bringing with him a wealth of international mining and M&A experience coupled with fluency in Ukrainian, Russian and Spanish.

Finally, some exciting news for the Global Mining Group out of Paris. Fasken Martineau has opened an office in Paris, France, and will welcome Jean-Claude Petilon to head the mining and energy team there. Jean-Claude is one of the world's top Africa specialists and brings enormous mining, energy, infrastructure and other experience with him. The Global Mining Group welcomes Jean-Claude and the rest of the Paris team.

Let's hope that the last quarter of 2009 will show a continuing high level of activity for all sector participants.