U.S. Silver & Gold announces fourth quarter and 2013 full year results and 2014 guidance

TORONTO, Jan. 20, 2014 /CNW/ – U.S. Silver & Gold Inc. (TSX: USA)  (OTCQX: USGIF)  (“U.S. Silver & Gold” or the “Company”) today announced fourth quarter and 2013 full year production figures for its Galena Mine Complex and guidance for 2014.

Highlights

• Production of approximately 450,000 silver ounces and 543,000 silver equivalent¹ ounces for the fourth quarter of 2013 at a silver cash cost of $16.25 per ounce and an all-in sustaining cost per ounce of $21.00² despite a 10-day shaft shutdown at the Galena Complex in mid-December.
• Full year Galena Complex production of 2.12 million silver ounces at a silver cash cost of $17.75 and all-in sustaining costs of $24.25.  Year-over-year silver production down 6%, cash costs per silver ounce reduced 7% and all-in sustaining costs decreased 20%.
• The Small Mine Plan implemented early in the third quarter of 2013 delivered significant cost reductions and increased silver cut-off grade by 33% to over 15 ounces per ton silver equivalent.  Silver head grade for the quarter rose 34% to 14.38 ounces per ton and increased 12% for the year to 11.31 ounces per ton.
• 2014 Galena Complex silver production forecast to be 2.2 – 2.4 million ounces with projected silver cash costs of$14.50 – $15.50 per ounce and all-in sustaining cash costs of $18.00 – $19.00 per ounce. This represents an 8% increase in production, a 15% reduction in cash costs and a 24% decrease in all-in sustaining cash costs over full year 2013.  As in the previous year, the Company expects to see continued cost improvement throughout fiscal 2014.
• Year-end cash balance of approximately $7.2 million as at December 31, 2013.

Year-end financial statements for U.S. Silver & Gold are scheduled to be released by March 27, 2014.  References to cash, cash costs and all-in sustaining cash costs for both the quarter and full year are unaudited and may change based on final audited results.

“We made significant progress in 2013, reducing costs, increasing grade and achieving our production guidance for the year,” said Darren Blasutti, President and CEO of U.S. Silver & Gold.  “Given the current silver price environment, we made a strategic decision mid-year to focus on delivering higher grade silver at lower tonnage levels by introducing the Small Mine Plan which considerably reduced our operating costs, capital expenses and exploration budget.  In 2014, we expect to increase silver production slightly while further reducing silver cash costs to approximately $15.00per ounce and all-in cash costs to between $18.00 and $19.00 per ounce.  Management took over the Galena Complex in late August 2012 and is on pace to reduce all-in cash costs by 45 percent since the third quarter of 2012.”

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1} Silver equivalent ounces produced is based on prices of $22 per ounce silver, $0.90 per pound lead, and $3.25 per pound copper for Q4 2013.
² Silver industry cash cost plus all development, capital expenditures, exploration spending and mine general and administrative costs.

Galena Complex Production Update

The Galena Mine delivered strong production of 449,652 silver ounces during the fourth quarter of 2013 and 2.12 million ounces for the full year despite receiving an order from the Mine Safety and Health Administration requiring the Company to shut down Shaft #3 for 10 days pending resolution of previously existing citations that did not allege any imminent danger. Had this production loss not occurred, the mine would have surpassed its production goal for the quarter and the mid-point of its guidance for the year.  Prior to the shutdown, the Company was on track to produce roughly 500,000 silver ounces at a cash cost of $15.00 per ounce and an all-in sustaining cost below $20.00 per ounce.

Ore grade for the fourth quarter was 14.38 ounces per ton, and 11.31 ounces per ton for the year compared with 10.70 ounces per ton in the fourth quarter of 2012 and 10.09 ounces per ton for the year.  This represents an increase of 34 percent for the quarter and 12 percent year-over-year.

Study cuts fracking waste’s radioactivity

Researchers believe they have found an unlikely way to decrease the radioactivity of some hydraulic fracturing wastewater: Mix it with the hazardous drainage from mining operations.

The wastewater is created when some of the chemical-laced water used to fracture thick underground rocks flows back out of the wellbore. The water is tainted with chemicals, toxins and sometimes naturally occurring radioactive materials, such as radium. Research has shown that even wastewater that has been treated with conventional means was changing the chemistry of rivers when discharged into waterways.

In 2011, Pennsylvania barred drillers from taking the wastewater to treatment facilities, forcing them to haul the fluid waste to be disposed in underground injection wells in Ohio. This, along with a lack of freshwater in other parts of the country needed to drill new wells, has scientists and the industry looking for creative solutions.

The discovery by Duke University researchers would allow oil and gas drillers to combine flowback waters from the fracking process with acid drainage from mining, or any other salty water. The solids that form, which include radioactive materials, are removed and dumped at a hazardous waste landfill, and then the now cleaner water is used to drill a new well, said Avner Vengosh, the Duke professor who oversaw the project, which included scientists from Dartmouth College and the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.

The metals and radium in the drilling wastewater automatically attract to sulfates – or salts, he explained.

“It’s a romance. It’s inevitable it will combine,” said Vengosh, a professor of geochemistry and water quality.

The research was primarily funded by Duke University, Vengosh said. One of the scientists had some funding from the National Science Foundation, he added.

Vengosh’s research was published in December in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, but still needs to be field tested, he said.

Finding solutions for safely dealing with contaminated water and having enough usable water to drill new wells is crucial for the oil and gas industry. It’s boomed in recent years due to new methods of hydraulic fracturing – or fracking – a method that uses millions of gallons of chemical-laced water to crack thick layers of underground rock so fossil fuels can flow out.

But as drilling spreads to more areas the industry has faced obstacles. In the gas-rich Marcellus shale region of Pennsylvania, wastewater disposal is problematic. In drought-prone areas, drillers face a shortage of freshwater. As a result, the industry is seeking to recycle wastewater.

Vengosh’s researchers blended fracking wastewater from the Marcellus shale with acid drainage from mines, materials collected in western Pennsylvania by the industry. The researchers had hypothesised that the salts, metals and radium would combine so they could be removed as solids, leaving behind water clean enough to be used in another fracking operation, though not quite pure enough to be potable.

After two days, they examined the chemical and radioactive levels of the 26 different mixtures they had created and found that within the first 10 hours the metals – including iron, barium and strontium – and most of the radium had combined to form a new solid. The salinity of the remaining fluid had reduced enough to be used in fracking, Vengosh said.

“I’m not sure it resolves all the problems, but it can have some improvement,” Vengosh said.

Ben Shepperd, president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, which represents drillers in an oil-rich, desert-like area of West Texas, said maximising water use is a top priority for the industry.

“Those of us who live, work and play near oil and gas activities place a premium on efficient water uses,” he said.

But Tad Patzek, chairman and professor of the petroleum engineering department at the University of Texas in Austin, cautioned that the method could present problems in the field. The remaining water would still be jam-packed with chemicals and toxins, he noted.

“That water can get spilled,” Patzek said. “That water can get into a shallow aquifer. There are many other considerations.”

Still, freshwater and wastewater are such serious issues that Donald Van Nieuwenhuise, director of the University of Houston’s geosciences program, said researchers are seeking solutions on several fronts: by recycling flowback water, by creating ways to use less water to begin with or by using a liquid other than water to crack the rock.

Canadians should fact-check Neil Young’s anti-oil sands rap, industry’s pronouncements

Neil Young is in Calgary this Sunday for the last in his series of anti-oil sands concerts.

Dogged by controversy, Canadian rock legend’s “Honour the Treaties” tour is in support of northern Alberta’s Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation. It is aimed at helping the Chipewyan raise funds for a court fight to block the expansion of Shell Oil’s Jackpine oil sands mine, upstream of the First Nation’s reserve.

The First Nation contends oil sands extraction is destroying its way of life and it has not been consulted on the expansion, as required under a series of Supreme Court rulings and under terms of a treaty it signed with the Crown.

Chief Allan Adam joined Young and prominent environmentalist David Suzuki at a news conference before a Friday night concert in Regina. Adam was wearing a hoodie sweatshirt with the slogan “Got Land? Thank an Indian,” which was briefly banned from a Regina school because it was deemed provocative, CBC News reported.

“This shirt is reality,” Young said. “There is nothing wrong with it. We should all be proud… That there is a heritage, that Canada goes back and it came from the First Nations, that we made these peaceful arrangements, these treaties.”

[ Related: ‘Got Land? Thank an Indian’ sweater joins ranks of controversial T-shirt slogans ]

Young has always been comfortable with the provocative, hammering die-hard segregationists in the early ’70s songs Southern Man and Alabama.

His opposition to oil sands goes back a long way. A life-long car guy, Young championed clean-vehicle technology via the LincVolt, a 1959 Lincoln Continental convertible using a hybrid drive system fuelled by biomass.

But critics say he over-reached himself last fall when he compared the land around oil-sands hub Fort McMurray, Alta., to Hiroshima’s nuclear-blasted wasteland.

David Collyer, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, bit into Young inGlobe and Mail op-ed article on Thursday.

Young is entitled to speak up, Collyer said, but “everyone is not entitled to their own facts.”

The oil industry has made strides in its relationship with First Nations and oil sands projects have resulted in $1.3 billion in annual revenue to aboriginal-owned businesses and more than 1,700 permanent jobs for local First Nations people, he said.

“No one in industry begrudges the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation or any other aboriginal community from representing their interests,” Collyer wrote, “And there’s no question that aboriginal issues must be addressed if Canada is to have timely access to markets for its energy production – timely access that benefits all Canadians.

However, fostering conflict and divisiveness through off-oil rhetoric and ignoring the many examples of mutual benefits and shared value involving the oil and gas industry and First Nations is not constructive.”

Support for Keystone waning among Canadians, poll suggests

In April 2013, a poll by Nanos Researchsuggested that about 67% of Canadians supported TransCanada’s proposed Keystone pipeline. Nanos conducted that same poll again last month and the results show that support for Keystone has declined by more than 10%.

The new poll suggests that the majority of Canadians still want to see Keystone XL go forward; about 52% of those surveyed said they support or somewhat support approval of the project.

However, only 47.5% of Canadians had a positive or somewhat positive impression of the project, compared to 60% in April 2013.

Project awareness has also increased slightly, to about 94%.

Opinions vary greatly by region. In British Columbia for example, 62% of respondents in December had negative views of the project. In April this figure was 34%. Meanwhile, only 24% of respondents in the prairies said last month that they had a negative view of the Keystone pipeline.

And while BC was Keystone’s biggest supporter in April – with 75% wanting approval – in the following survey, only 40% saying they want to see the project approved, making BC Keystone’s least supportive region.

The results are based on two days of random telephone and online surveys of 1,000 people. The research was commissioned independently by Nanos Research and led by Nik Nanos, a Global Fellow on Energy Policy at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC, and President of Nanos Research.

The survey results come in the midst of a heated debate in Canada over Alberta’s oil sands. Rockstar Neil Young has been very vocal about his opposition to oil sands development and recently embarked on a benefit tour to support First Nations communities in their fight against the industry’s expansion.

Young’s attack has sparked a war of words, with the Prime Minister’s office issuing its own statement and various other rebuttals from academics, industry people and commentators.

It’s also a critical moment for Keystone approval. The Canadian government has been lobbying intensely in Washington to gain the Obama administration’s blessing. US Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday he would like to give his “friends in Canada” a prompt answer but that environmental studies on the pipeline’s impacts are not finished yet.

How the oil boom could change U.S. foreign policy

The United States is suddenly awash in crude oil. From 2008 to 2013, domestic oil production rose by 2.5 million barrels per day — the biggest five-year increase in the country’s history. Last year, U.S. produced more oil than it imported for the first time since 1995.

So what does that mean for the rest of the world? Or for U.S. foreign policy? Well, for starters, it probably doesn’t mean that Americans can now safely ignore the Middle East. The U.S. economy is still heavily reliant on oil, and prices are still largely swayed by what goes on in the global markets. Disruptions in places like Saudi Arabia, Iran or Iraq still have a big impact. That’s one conclusion of a major new report by a commission of former generals and senior officials, backed by Securing America’s Energy Future (SAFE).

“The oil boom has sparked a lot of loose talk about how we can now ignore what goes on in the Middle East,” said Adm. Dennis Blair, a former director of National Intelligence who led the commission, in an interview Tuesday. “But that’s just not true.”

Blair pointed out that the oil boom has already had some impact on U.S. foreign policy. For example, increased North American oil production likely allowed the United States and Europe to impose stricter sanctions on Iran without worrying as much about resulting price spikes. There are also early, tentative signs that China could become more cooperative on Middle East issues now that the fast-growing nation has displaced the United States as the biggest oil importer from the region.

But what’s arguably more telling is how much hasn’t changed. Even with the boom, the United States is still quite vulnerable to oil shocks. As such, the SAFE report proposes a number of policy steps to deal with that, from working with China to protect global oil shipping lanes to developing more predictable guidelines for using strategic petroleum reserves. It also calls for a renewed push to curtail the U.S. economy’s dependence on oil, such as shifting to alternative vehicle fuels such as electricity and natural gas. After all, even with the shale boom, U.S. production is still expected to peak by 2020 or so.

The report also offers a detailed look at how the U.S. oil boom is upending the world energy markets and affecting everyone from African oil producers to China and Russia. Here are six highlights:

Once a leading climate change foe, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. now works tirelessly for Keystone approval

Keystone pipeline causes rift between Gary Doer and one-time allies

With his country’s foreign minister in tow, Canadian Ambassador Gary Doer walked the marble corridors of the U.S. Capitol Wednesday pitching the prize his nation is seeking: the Keystone XL pipeline.

“It always makes more sense in our view to get energy from middle North American than the Middle East,” Doer said after a session with Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, a Keystone supporter.

Backing a project bitterly opposed by environmentalists is something of a shift for Doer. During his three terms as premier of Manitoba, he built a reputation as a champion of combating global warming. He backed the Kyoto Protocol to cut global carbon emissions, pushed to shut coal-fired power plants and promoted renewable energy such as wind and hydropower. He was named by Businessweek in 2005 as one of 20 people leading the fight against climate change.

Now Doer is on the other side of an issue that has inflamed his one-time climate allies.

“I’m just trying to put the puck in the net,” Doer said in an interview last month at the expansive Canadian embassy in Washington, a little more than a slapshot from the Capitol and decorated with drawings of Niagara Falls, a walrus and a polar bear.

While environmentalists consider Keystone an assault on the climate, Canada is counting on TransCanada Corp.’s $5.4 billion project to connect its vast reserves of crude oil to the world’s largest refining center along the U.S. coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The pipeline would help oil-sands developers reach their goal of doubling production by 2025, and raise the prices they are paid for the fossil fuel — putting pressure on Doer and his colleagues to make a case in Washington.

Visitor logs show Doer has been a frequent visitor to the White House. He also meets regularly with U.S. and Canadian media outlets as well as labor groups and government agencies, highlighting the benefits of Keystone to both countries.

In October, the embassy co-hosted an event with an oil- industry group whose members include Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and Dow Chemical Co. Yesterday, Doer took Foreign Minister John Baird to Capitol Hill where he met with both Democrats and Republicans. Baird is scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry tomorrow.

As premier of Manitoba, being good on climate is good politics. It’s not part [his current] job description

“He is an immensely pragmatic politician,” Keith Stewart, a climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace Canada, which opposes the pipeline, said of Doer. “As premier of Manitoba, being good on climate is good politics. It’s not part of the job description to be Canada’s ambassador to Washington.”

‘Environmental Industry’

In the interview at the embassy, Doer dismissed opposition to Keystone as uninformed and driven by an “environmental industry” in Washington that has turned the controversy into a tool for fundraising. He said he promoted oil and gas development when he was premier, too.

“My view is the oil is coming from Canada now,” he said. “It’s just a question of how it gets there.”

Trains that fill a gap in transport capacity release more greenhouse gases and aren’t as safe as pipelines, Doer said. Canada is a reliable U.S. ally, and its oil will displace imports from Venezuela, which isn’t, Doer said.

With graying hair and a slightly grizzled voice, Doer, 65, has built his career, from president of the Manitoba Government Employees’ Association to chief of his nation’s most important embassy, by nurturing relationships. He employs humour, energy and a deft personal touch.

Kogi lowers strip ratio at Agbaja

Junior developer Kogi Iron has lowered the average strip ratio at its Agbaja project, in Nigeria, effectively bringing down mining costs to some $8/t of concentrate.

The iron-ore hopeful reported on Wednesday that based on further optimised mine planning, the strip ratio for the Agbaja project had been reduced from 0.72:1 to 0.55:1.

This meant that waste material movement was reduced by some 23%, and overall material movement was reduced by 9%.

“The company is very excited and encouraged by the excellent results achieved in the mine plan and subsequent mining cost estimate,” said Kogi MD Iggy Tan.

He noted that the reduced strip ration was low in iron-ore mining industry terms, adding that mining costs close to $8/t were very competitive and put Kogi in good stead for highly competitive overall operating costs, which would be finalised as part of the current prefeasibility study.

“A lot of hard work at an accelerated pace by Kogi’s management and project team means that we are still on track to deliver the prefeasibility study by the end of the first quarter,” said Tan.

The Stage 1 area of the Agbaja project was estimated to contain about 158-million tonnes of inferred resource, while the Stage 2 area was estimated to contain some 63-million tonnes of the total 488-million tonnes of inferred resource.

The Stage 1 area could provide processing feed for an initial 14 years, while the Stage 2 mining area could provide processing plant feed for an additional six years.

Caterpillar launches updated wheel dozer – the 834K

The Cat^® 834, introduced in the mid-1960s, has set the standard for wheel dozer design and performance for almost 50 years, ensuring customers optimum productivity, durability and availability through multiple life cycles. The new 834K builds on the strengths of its predecessors with a completely new cab, drive train refinement, new monitoring and diagnostic features, new safety features and structural enhancements. Available blade types include straight, universal, semi-universal and coal, ranging in capacity from 10.3 to 29.0 cubic yards (7.9 to 22.2 m³).

PRODUCTION-FOCUSED POWER TRAIN

Rated at 496 net horsepower (370 kW), the Cat C18 engine used in the 834K is available in three configurations to tailor the machine for any region of the world: Tier 4 Final (Stage IV) using a diesel particulate filter and a selective catalytic reduction system to control emissions; Tier 3 equivalent without after-treatment; and Tier 2 equivalent without after-treatment.

The C18 uses the field proven Cat mechanically actuated, electronic unit-injection system for precise control of fuel delivery, yielding optimum performance and economy in all operating situations. Fuel-saving enhancements for the 834K include engine-idle-shutdown and engine-idle kick-down systems, and the delayed-engine-shutdown system protects the engine from hot shut-downs. An on-demand, hydraulically driven cooling fan reduces horsepower draw for increased efficiency.

The Cat 4F/3R planetary power-shift transmission used in the 834K features a new Advanced Productivity Electronic Control Shifting system, which is designed to provide greater machine momentum through shift points, enhancing performance and saving fuel. Forced-flow oil lubricates and cools the transmission high-torque clutches to ensure long component life.

For increased productivity and precise control, the impeller clutch torque converter (ICTC) allows the operator to adjust rimpull from 100 to 25 percent in order to match hydraulic effort and rimpull to the operating situation. The ICTC system reduces tire wear and permits full-throttle shifts for greater productivity.

The 834K axles feature shaft-mounted, oil-cooled, multiple-disc brakes. The braking system can be equipped with auxiliary oil coolers for added protection. To reduce brake loads, an available automatic retarding system maintains a set downhill speed, minimizing brake use.

NEW OPERATOR STATION

The 834K features a completely redesigned operator station, with automatic temperature control, new touch-screen display with soft keypad, electro/hydraulic parking brake, and the Cat Comfort III seat with air-ride suspension and integral controls—including the Steering Transmission Integrated Control (STIC) that allows convenient joystick steering. Interior sound levels also are significantly reduced to a quiet 71 dB(A).

The 843K also is equipped with the Cat next-generation Vital Information Management System (VIMS™ 3G), which features a large touch-screen interface and easy-to-use navigation to keep operators informed of machine operating parameters. The system, with data-logging capability, features an Ethernet connection module and an integrated Cat Product Link telematics system, which transmits data to a secure web-based application (VisionLink™) for use by equipment managers.

STRUCTURAL STRENGTH

Reflecting the solid design of its predecessors, the new 834K retains its massive full-box-section rear frame that resists torsional shock and twisting forces. Heavy-duty steering cylinder mounts are designed to transfer and effectively dissipate steering loads into the frame. Blade- mounting push beams have a “through-width” design, versus simply being attached to the sides of the frame, a design that dissipates the stress of blade corner-loading into a larger area of the frame.

New for the 834K is a redesigned rear-axle trunnion, now wider and bolted directly to the frame rails, eliminating the previously used intermediate casting and allowing loads to be more effectively dispersed. In addition, the lower articulation point (lower hitch) has been strengthened with an increase in front frame plate thickness and a significant increase in pin diameter in conjunction with a larger bearing.

SAFETY AND SERVICEABILITY

A major design focus of the 834K is operator safety, and to that end, the new model features a standard rearview camera, repositioned access ladders, full-perimeter railings and convenient ground-level panel that houses a stairway light switch, engine-shut-down switch and lockouts for the starter and transmission. Available for the 834K is the Cat Detect system, which supplements the rearview camera with radar sensors on the rear of the machine to provide both audible and visual indicators of objects in its working space.

Routine service points are accessible from ground level or from large, skid-resistant platforms. Swing-out doors on both sides of the engine give ready access to daily maintenance items, and ecology fluid drains facilitate service and protect the environment. For added convenience, the Electronic Technician diagnostic port and the VIMS service port are conveniently located in the cab.

Australia: Torquay Beaches to Receive New Sand

The Fraser Coast Regional Council is racing the clock to shore up the foreshore ahead of predicted 4.2 metre King Tides at the end of the month.

“Given the extent of the erosion at Torquay there is insufficient sand and beach to enable an adequate sand push to reprofile the beach,”Deputy Mayor George Seymour said.

“To complete the project, about 3,000 cubic metres of sand will be taken from the Tooan Tooan Creek mouth.

“The estimated cost for these temporary emergency works is up to $160,000.

“The race is on to complete the works, given the predicted 4.2 metre King Tides at the end of January. We are also constrained by the tides so only have limited hours to work per day.

“This is a temporary solution, whilst further investigations are taken on more permanent protection options.”

“Based on our recent experience with the Toogoom rockwall which cost $5,000 per linear meter, it is estimated that permanent protection works for the priority areas along the foreshore may cost more than $7 million.”

Vancouver director waxes psychological with Oil Sands Karaoke

WE’VE ALL HEARD about the environmental toll that the oil sands are taking on Canada. But no attention has been given to the impact they’re having on the mental landscapes of their workers.

Vancouver director Charles Wilkinson did just that with Oil Sands Karaoke (which opens Friday [January 17] at Vancity Theatre). The documentary provides a rare view from inside the most hotly contested site in our nation.

In a phone interview, Wilkinson explained that the film is the second feature in an environmental trilogy. The first, 2011’s Peace Out, explored the true cost of energy projects, such as the Site C Dam in B.C. and a nuclear-power plant proposal in Alberta, along the Peace River.

“That movie asked the question ‘Are we ripping apart the wilderness for energy? Are we in trouble?’ ” Wilkinson said. “And the answer was, ‘Yeah, absolutely.’ ”

That film ended in Fort McMurray, Alberta, which is where Oil Sands Karaoke starts. On a Peace Out screening tour, Wilkinson stumbled upon a karaoke bar in Fort McMurray and was struck by how it united people from all walks of life.

“We certainly could feel how much people valued that—that there’s almost a quality of franticness to really, truly enjoying those few hours you have off because you’re back at work in the blink of an eye.”

Wilkinson was inspired to explore what he saw more in depth. Although he said everything quickly fell into place, mounting a documentary shoot about a karaoke contest in the eye of an environmental storm was far from an easy task. He pointed out that the residents are so used to being heavily criticized that they’ve become highly defensive.

“When they see somebody show up with a camera, they know that 10 times out of 10, what the person is doing there is saying bad things about their project. And so they’re very suspicious.”

Yet after winning them over, he faced another hurdle.

“When we were interviewing them, it was a very unusual circumstance for these guys. They don’t engage in a great deal of abstract thought, and yet that’s what I was asking them to do at all times.…‘What do these things really, truly mean to you deep down?’ ”

As he shifted into psychologist mode, the revelations from the interviewees, ranging from conflicted truck driver Brandy Willier to entrepreneur Massey Whiteknife (who moonlights as the fearless drag queen Iceis Rain), resonated with him.

“Almost everyone expressed doubts about what they’re doing. And I thought that was super-poignant to be willing to reveal that about what they do to make a living, that they have misgivings about it.”

Wilkinson also exposes another invisible consequence they must suffer: social deprivation.

“It’s just such a lonely place to be,” he says. “The shift work is crushing. People spend 12 hours at work, usually an hour or possibly more commuting, depending on where they’re staying.…So piece together how difficult it would be to form a relationship, even just a friend, a buddy.…His shift starts at a different time than yours—when are you going to see him?”

It’s no wonder, then, that competing in a karaoke contest provides a brief moment of escape, where the workers can transcend the gruelling conditions of their daily lives and rekindle lost dreams.

“What really struck me was sort of a deeply human thing of how hard it is for us to focus on abstract ideas when we’re so concerned with the stuff right in front of us: I’ve got payments to make, I’ve got divorce payments, I’ve got child support, I’ve got student loans to pay off.…The question that the film is fundamentally asking is ‘If we are in so much trouble, how come we aren’t able to do anything about it?’ ” Wilkinson says. “And of course the answer is we’re all busy competing in a karaoke contest.”

Although he says that last comment tongue-in-cheek, his next film, which will focus on Haida Gwaii, will in fact explore what can be done about the environment—before the last song is sung.