2012 – Page 163 – Republic of Mining

Kinross Gold Could Be a Takeover Target – by Charles Mead, Liezel Hill and Rita Nazareth (Bloomberg.com – January 20, 2012)

January 22, 2012

http://www.bloomberg.com/

By paying too much for acquisitions in western Africa, Kinross Gold Corp. (K) is now turning itself into the cheapest gold-mining target in the world.

Kinross, Canada’s third-largest gold producer, fell the most in almost two decades after saying this week it will write down the value of its Tasiast mine in Mauritania. The company sold for 76 cents per dollar of net assets yesterday, versus the industry median of 2.5 times, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Writing off the excess $4.6 billion it spent on Tasiast would still leave Kinross at a 50 percent discount to its competitors, the data show.

While Kinross bought the Mauritanian mine for almost three times what the gold deposit is worth, the company is facing rising labor and raw material costs that may delay production at some of its projects. After more than quadrupling revenue in the past five years as gold prices reached a record, Kinross may now attract interest from Newmont Mining Corp. or Polyus Gold International Ltd. (PLGL) as they try to boost capacity to meet demand, said Stifel Nicolaus & Co. On its own, analysts say Kinross is worth 50 percent more than its current price.

Celebrating Our First Century of Global Discovery – by Jonathan Buchanan (Vancouver Sun – January 21, 2012)

January 21, 2012

The Vancouver Sun, a broadsheet daily paper first published in 1912, has the largest circulation in the province of British Columbia.

The Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia Turns 100

One hundred years ago, Vancouver was a prosperous place. Industry was booming, the Vancouver Sun was born, and the first professional hockey game Vancouver Millionaires vs. the New Westminster Royals was played in Vancouver’s Denman Arena -the first Canadian artificial ice rink and reportedly the largest in the world. The Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC) also had its start in 1912 – as the Vancouver Chamber of Mines.

“The necessity of a reliable centre in Vancouver,” the Chamber noted at the time, “where mining men can meet, exchange views, and discuss matters relating to mining, was recognized long ago. A big city is the natural mecca of the miner and prospector, the logical place for him to gravitate to in the hope of attracting capital either to buy or develop his prospect.

“One hundred years later, the Association has more than fulfilled its mandate as a “reliable centre” – AME BC now represents thousands of members – hundreds of whom are now women – including geoscientists, prospectors, engineers, entrepreneurs, exploration companies, suppliers, mineral producers, and associations who are engaged in mineral exploration and development in BC and throughout the world.

Cliffs Natural Resources makes case for $1.8B smelter – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – Janurary 21, 2012)

January 21, 2012

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Cliffs Natural Resources is looking to spend close to $3 billion to get its chromite project in Northern Ontario into production, with $1.8 billion of that going to build a ferrochrome processing plant, the company said this week.

Cleveland-based Cliffs released its 2012 capital expenditure plan Thursday.

The company said it will spend $150 million to develop the Black Thor mine site, one of three sites it controls in the Ring of Fire, and $800 million to construct a near-mine concentrating plant.

Not included in those estimates is $600 million to build an all-weather road it says will benefit remote northern communities and other Ring of Fire mining projects.

Because of that, Cliffs says it will be looking to private and “government entities” to share the cost of the road.

With Keystone, it’s Harvard vs. the heartland – by Margaret Wente (Globe and Mail – January 21, 2012)

January 21, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Two people named Redford have sharply differing opinions about Barack Obama’s decision to block the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would have run from Alberta down to Texas. The obscure Redford (Alison, the Premier of Alberta) is “bitterly disappointed,” while the famous Redford (Robert, the Hollywood celebrity) is ecstatic. He calls it “a victory of historic proportions” against “one of the most nightmarish fossil fuel projects of our time.” Whose side you’re on may say a lot about where you live and who you voted for.

For environmentalists, the decision is a long-overdue down payment on Mr. Obama’s campaign promise to wean the U.S. from its dependency on oil. But it’s much more than that. It’s a stand against the rape and pillage of the planet by greedy corporate interests that have politicians in their pockets. These environmentalists don’t really care about safety matters such as oil leaks or possible pollution of the aquifers. It’s the oil sands they hate – the water-gulping, forest-devastating, carbon-spewing monster that’s despoiling Mother Earth.

The day the oil-sands battle went global – by Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – January 21, 2012)

January 21, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

It was the 2009 annual summer retreat of the Green Group – the chief executives, presidents and executive directors of the largest environmental organizations in the United States – and their Canadian counterparts had wrangled an invitation for the first time.

The U.S. environmental movement appeared to be on a roll, with a new ally in the White House, the House of Representatives on the verge of passing a climate bill, and guarded optimism about a breakthrough at the United Nations summit in Copenhagen later that year.

That June, the green leaders gathered at the Airlie Center, a historic farmhouse turned conference centre an hour’s drive from Washington, in rural Virginia. Billed as an “island of thought,” Airlie is a sylvan retreat for American progressives: It was there that Martin Luther King Jr. laid plans for the Poor People’s Campaign and U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson announced plans for the first national Earth Day.

Iqaluit: Gateway to Greenland’s resource riches – by Paul Waldie (Globe and Mail – January 19, 2012)

January 20, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Air Greenland isn’t exactly among the world’s major airlines. It only has 10 airplanes, 600 employees and one international route – to Iceland.

But when the airline announced Wednesday that it’s starting regular flights from Nuuk to Iqaluit this summer, many in the global mining community took notice. That’s because Greenland has become one of the hottest places in the world for mining and oil exploration.

Global warming, new extraction technologies and a recent move by Denmark to give the island territory autonomy over natural resources has prompted a small stampede of companies rushing to Greenland to tap into its wealth of uranium, iron ore, gold, gemstones, rare earths and offshore oil.

“Over the past few years, we’ve just seen a growing demand for this service,” Christian Keldsen, an Air Greenland spokesman said from Nuuk. “There is a lot of exploration going on.”

Politics, not principle, doomed Keystone pipeline – by Robert J. Samuelson (Toronto Star – January 20, 2012

January 20, 2012

Robert J. Samuelson writes on economics for the Washington Post.

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico is an act of national insanity. It isn’t often that a president makes a decision that has no redeeming virtues and — beyond the symbolism — won’t even advance the goals of the groups that demanded it. All it tells us is that Obama is so obsessed with his re-election that, through some sort of political calculus, he believes that placating his environmental supporters will improve his chances.

Aside from the political and public relations victory, environmentalists won’t get much. Stopping the pipeline won’t halt the development of the tarsands, to which the Canadian government is committed; therefore, there will be little effect on global warming emissions. Indeed, Obama’s decision might add to them. If Canada builds a pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific for export to Asia, moving all that oil across the ocean by tanker will create extra emissions. There will also be the risk of added spills.

Now consider how Obama’s decision hurts the United States. For starters, it insults and antagonizes a strong ally; getting future Canadian cooperation on other issues will be harder.

NEWS RELEASE: Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. Announces 2012 Capital Expenditure Plan

January 20, 2012

Company Also Provides Preliminary Capital Estimates for Chromite Project Based on Ongoing Prefeasibility Study

CLEVELAND, Jan. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) (Paris: CLF) today announced projected full-year 2012 capital expenditures expectations. Cliffs plans to invest approximately $1 billion, comprised of approximately $300 million of sustaining capital and $700 million of growth and productivity-improvement capital. Cliffs’ 2012 capital budget represents an expected 12% increase over the Company’s 2011 capital expenditures of approximately $880 million. Cliffs indicated this amount was less than its previous estimate of $900 million and an original 2011 budget of $1 billion.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101104/CLIFFSLOGO )

While plans will continue to be reviewed and adjusted in response to changes in market conditions and other factors, Cliffs’ 2012 capital budget is primarily intended to fund the organic growth pipeline the Company has acquired through the completion of a number of strategic transactions in recent years. These transactions have meaningfully diversified Cliffs’ business and provided the Company significant exposure to customers outside of its historical North American steelmaking customer base.

Northern Ontario is to Southern Ontario is as Canada is to the United States – Well, almost… – by Livio Di Matteo (Northern Economist Blog – January 17, 2012)

January 19, 2012

Livio Di Matteo is Professor of Economics at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Visit his new Economics Blog “Northern Economist” at http://ldimatte.shawwebspace.ca/

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s recent comment that he does not want the future of the Northern Gateway pipeline to be decided by “certain” people in the United States who would like Canada to be one giant national park was remarkable in its parallels to the economic development situation in Northern Ontario.

In the case of the Northern Gateway, along with opposition from environmental groups and some First Nations in Alberta and British Columbia, a number of U.S. based environmental groups accompanied by some Hollywood celebrities have voiced opposition to the plan. In Northern Ontario, there have been complaints that the Far North Act and the Endangered Species Act will hinder northern development because of the wish of environmental groups in southern Ontario to turn the north into a vast provincial park.

The parallels are intriguing. The relationship between Northern Ontario and the south is remarkably similar to that between Canada and the United Canada. Relative to the United States, Canada is natural resource intensive and sparsely populated.

[Quebec Plan Nord] Is More Talk the Right Prescription for Northern Ontario? – by Livio Di Matteo (Northern Economist Blog – January 19, 2012)

January 19, 2012

Livio Di Matteo is Professor of Economics at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Visit his new Economics Blog “Northern Economist” at http://ldimatte.shawwebspace.ca/

Media reports on the visit yesterday by Quebec based consultants who worked on Quebec’s Plan Nord appear to have emphasized their prescription for more planning and discussion. The Plan Nord is the Quebec government’s parallel to our own Northern Growth Plan and their plan to develop their own north with anticipated investments of 80 billion dollars and the creation of as many as 20,000 jobs.

The Mayor of Greenstone was quoted as saying the time for talk had passed and some direct action was needed by the province in getting things going. On the other hand, according to a report on TBNewswatch:

A pair of Quebec-based consultants, however, have suggested what’s needed is more talk. It’s worked in Quebec, said Yvan Loubier, a senior consultant for National Public Relations in Quebec City, who has worked with both governments and communities in Northern Quebec to help facilitate a 25-year plan for economic salvation in an area hard hit by many of the same concerns afflicting Northern Ontario, particularly First Nations communities. It didn’t come easily, at least not at first.

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New agreement strengthens Ontario mining industry-First Nations relations

January 19, 2012

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

A Memorandum of Understanding between Ontario Mining Association member Quadra FNX and the Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation strengthens relationships among mining companies and First Nations in the province. The MOU is designed to serve as a foundation for a working relationship between both parties concerning Quadra FNX’s advanced exploration program on the Victoria Project in Sudbury.

Quadra FNX and the Sagamok First Nation will work towards a full Impact Benefits Agreement. The company is proceeding with efforts to gain environmental permitting for the project. The MOU was signed in Sudbury by Chief Paul Eshkakogan of the Sagamok First Nation and Michael Winship, Chief Operating Officer of Quadra FNX.

“This MOU will facilitate open and timely dialogue between Quadra FNX and our First Nation as it relates to the company’s activities to develop the Victoria Advanced Exploration project,” said Chief Eshkakogan. “We look forward to negotiating an IBA that will provide benefits for our members and ensure the environment and our traditional territories are protected.”

Obama’s Keystone rejection just political theatre – by Lorne Gunter (National Post – January 19, 2012)

January 19, 2012

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

It would seem that Wednesday the Obama White House put a dagger through the heart of TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline. But did it? In a presidential election year, very little in American politics is exactly as it appears.

In accepting the State department’s recommendation that he not grant a construction permit to Keystone, President Barack Obama pointed out that he was heeding that advice not because of the merits of the pipeline project, but because “the rushed and arbitrary deadline insisted on by Congressional Republicans … prevented a full assessment of the pipeline’s impact, especially (on) the health and safety of the American people, as well as our environment.”

This is political theatre, pure and simple. It is intended solely to solidify the “green” vote behind Obama in November’s presidential election and, for the general electorate, to make it appear as if Mr. Obama’s Republican opponents are truly to blame for the thousands of jobs that will not be created.

Arizona town bitterly split over copper mine – by Paul Waldie (Globe and Mail – January 19, 2012)

January 19, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Florence, Ariz., isn’t the kind of place that usually gets a lot of attention. After all, its main claim to fame is being home to nine prisons.

But these days Florence is up in arms over plans by a Canadian company to build a copper mine right in the middle of town. The proposed mine, by Vancouver-based Curis Resources Ltd., has garnered national attention and brought out some heavy hitters, including Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and developer Robert Sarver, who owns the Phoenix Suns basketball team.

Ms. Brewer has expressed support for the project, saying it will spark badly needed economic development in the area. Mr. Sarver, whose company has a housing project in town, is backing a campaign to stop the mine, arguing it will ruin the water supply.

The city’s 10,000 residents are bitterly divided over the proposed mine. A recent survey by city officials found 39 per cent of locals support the mine, 32 per cent don’t and 28 per cent aren’t sure.