2012 – Page 52 – Republic of Mining

Sudden decision to drop rail service in [Ontario] North no surprise – by Wayne Snider (Sudbury Star – September 22, 2012)

September 24, 2012

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

It should come as no great surprise that municipal leaders across Northeastern Ontario are hopping mad with the provincial government over the sell-off of the ONTC.

The Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, which is publicly funded by the province, has been a key catalyst to industrial growth throughout the region. While disappointed with the decision to divest the ONTC, the real anger stems from how the issue has been handled by the government.

Leaders from Northeastern Ontario were promised by the ruling Liberals they would be consulted along the way, as things progressed. But late last month, Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci suddenly announced Ontario Northland rail service would be shut down in September.

That prompted an angry response from the Federation of Northeastern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM), which represents 110 cities and towns across the region.

The belated demise of Canada’s asbestos industry – by Kathleen Ruff (Toronto Star – September 23, 2012)

September 24, 2012

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Kathleen Ruff is senior human rights adviser to the Rideau Institute and author of Exporting Harm: How Canada Markets Asbestos to the Developing World.

In the space of three weeks, the political support the Quebec asbestos industry has enjoyed for decades from the Quebec and Canadian governments came crashing down.

It could hardly have been more politically dramatic or more financially devastating for the tottering, bankrupt Quebec asbestos industry. After 130 years in operation, the last two asbestos mines in Quebec — the Jeffrey mine in the town of Asbestos and the mine run by LAB Chrysotile at Thetford Mines — shut down more than a year ago in the face of catastrophic financial and environmental problems.

Both mines, however, clutched to hopes of resurrection, nurtured by a $58-million loan given to the Jeffrey mine by former premier Jean Charest just before he called the recent Quebec election, as well as by the undying political support that Prime Minister Stephen Harper swore to give to the asbestos industry during the 2011 federal election campaign.

A reality check for the promise of the oil sands – by Nathan Vanderklippe (Globe and Mail – September 22, 2012)

September 24, 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.

AT THE JOSLYN NORTH MINE PROJECT — To build an oil sands mine, you start by tearing away the forest. You rip down trees, peel back the top layers of earth, and then cleave ground into carefully engineered trenches to divert rainfall and snow melt.

It’s a complex effort, compounded by the enormous scale and cost. Here at the Joslyn project 90 minutes northwest of Fort McMurray, French giant Total SA is clearing the way for a new $8-billion mine that is a major backbone of the next chapter in the oil sands.

It is a future that is already being stamped onto the landscape with heavy machinery by dozens of companies across hundreds of kilometres of boreal forest. It promises a coming decade that will see the oil sands double in output, elevating Canada to greater prominence on the global energy stage.

But the oil sands’ next chapter is suddenly in the midst of a major rewrite. Joslyn itself has become a symbol of both the eager ambition the world’s oil companies have brought to northeastern Alberta, and the question marks surrounding how those ambitions will be realized.

As asbestos industry collapses, a town’s fibre is torn – by Ingrid Peritz (Globe and Mail – September 22, 2012)

September 24, 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.

ASBESTOS, QUE. — The sign by the side of the highway is hard to miss: ASBESTOS. No, it’s not a health warning to motorists about hazardous material ahead.

It’s the name of a proud community in southern Quebec, waging a fight to survive in an increasingly lonely stand against the world.

Asbestos has become a mineral with a dubious reputation and a doubtful future, and its namesake town faces a similar fate. Medical experts link asbestos to cancer. Countries worldwide ban it and Canadians rip it out of their walls. And now, in the space of less than four weeks, formerly staunch political allies in Ottawa and Quebec City have abruptly jettisoned their support for the asbestos industry.

Yet here in the town that asbestos created, where a onetime miracle fibre made fortunes, built schools and enriched hard-working families, embattled residents defend asbestos the way a parent defends a misbehaving child. It’s theirs, they know it well, and there’s no way it can be as bad as everyone says.

“Go ahead, you can touch it,” Pierrette Théroux says as she shows off a chunk of asbestos displayed proudly on her desk.

Canada gears up for China uranium exports – by Carolynne Wheeler (Globe and Mail – September 22, 2012)

September 23, 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.

BEIJING — Canada’s vision to ship large quantities of oil and natural gas to China will be preceded by another key energy export: uranium.

Shipments of Canadian uranium concentrate are expected to arrive on Chinese shores within a year under a new agreement, once Parliament ratifies a new protocol for trade, says Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall.

“I just don’t see a lot of roadblocks” to an arrangement that is expected to open the door to some $3-billion in sales over the next decade, possibly starting as soon as six months from now, Mr. Wall said in an interview in Beijing this week. “It’s very significant.”

Saskatchewan-based uranium miner Cameco Corp. joined a major Canadian trade delegation here this month, encouraged by a supplementary protocol to the Canada-China Nuclear Co-operation Agreement negotiated earlier this year by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and signed by Foreign Minister John Baird this summer. The agreement will govern exports of uranium, used to fuel nuclear reactors.

China has 14 reactors now on line, 26 more under construction and several dozen more believed to be in the planning stages, part of its drive to move away from polluting fossil fuels in supplying its energy-hungry industries and population of 1.3 billion.

[South African] Platinum output disruption – It ain’t over yet – by Lawrence Williams (Mineweb.com – september 21, 2012)

September 21, 2012

www.mineweb.com

As the platinum price discount to gold increases again following the Lonmin settlement it may yet be too early to write off the labour problems at the SA mines as being over.

LONDON (MINEWEB) – As the dust begins to settle at Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine and workers drift back after the killings and walkouts, the platinum price has drifted back to a substantial discount to the gold price again. This morning the price for platinum was some $140 below that of gold, back from a deficit that had fallen to as low as the high $60s at the peak of the Lonmin upheavals.

But perhaps the quick new rise in the gold:platinum price ratio has been overdone given the amount of lost production to date, not just at Lonmin – and at Impala earlier in the year – but also at the other platinum mines in the Rustenburg area which have all been affected to some extent, as well as the potential for further loss of output ahead.

Notably, the world’s largest platinum miner, Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) has itself faced substantial disruption and had to temporarily suspend output for a few days and, perhaps more importantly, is still suffering in the fallout from the Marikana problems with militant miners blockading the streets and creating an atmosphere which is not conducive to their fellows returning to work.

Barrick Gold closes Peruvian mine for one day after violent clashes – by Vanessa Lu (Toronto Star – September 21, 2012)

September 21, 2012

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Barrick Gold is resuming operations Friday at its Pierina mine in Peru after violent clashes this week between police and nearby villagers left one person dead and four injured.

In an official statement from its Peruvian unit, Barrick, which is the world’s largest gold producer, said its mine operations were suspended Thursday out of mourning for “the unfortunate event.” The dispute centres on a disruption in the local water supply, which Barrick says is out of its control, blaming drought conditions.

The open-pit mine is high in the Andes in north-central Peru at an altitude of 4,100 metres above sea level. While it was once one of Barrick’s bigger mines, Pierina produced 152,000 ounces of gold in 2011, out of a company-wide total of 7.7 million.

Mining is central to Peru’s economy. The country is a key producer of gold, copper, silver and zinc, but opposition has long existed from locals, who worry about environmental problems and possible contamination of the water supply.

Quebec gas in peril as PQ signals ban – by Sophie Cousineau, Bertrand Marotte and Rheal Seguin (Globe and Mail – September 21, 2012)

September 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.

MONTREAL, QUEBEC CITY — Quebec’s new Natural Resources Minister has signalled she will move to ban hydraulic fracturing even as she ordered a new inquiry into the practice, a position that puts development of the province’s rich resources of natural gas in doubt.

“I cannot see the day when the extraction of natural gas by the fracking method can be done in a safe way,” said Martine Ouellet, as she walked to her first cabinet meeting in Quebec City.

This former Hydro-Québec engineer and long-time defender of the province’s water reserves also reiterated the Parti Québécois’s position on the province’s nascent shale gas industry. “We will impose a sweeping moratorium, both on exploration and on extraction of shale gas,” she said.

Ms. Ouellet’s statements dispel hopes the industry had that the PQ government would tone down its electoral rhetoric against the gas and mining industry. “If her decision is taken even before the studies are completed, it sends a very bad message to investors and developers,” said Yves-Thomas Dorval, president of the Conseil du Patronat du Québec, the province’s lobby for big business.

Foreign suitors circle oil patch as Ottawa weighs Nexen deal – by Jacquie McNish and Carrie Tait (Globe and Mail – September 21, 2012)

September 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.

TORONTO and CALGARY — A number of foreign companies are flocking to Canada’s oil patch in search of acquisitions and investments as Ottawa weighs the $15.1-billion takeover of energy company Nexen Inc. by China’s CNOOC Ltd.

While it is not unusual for companies to circle the oil patch, interviews with a dozen industry sources and deal makers over a month have revealed a picture of an industry set for a massive influx of foreign capital while the window to foreign investment remains open.

Industry executives and advisers say offshore buyers are currently in discussions or touring the operations of a wide variety of Canadian oil sands, conventional petroleum, natural gas, oil service and refining operations.

Some of these potential acquirers include state-owned entities such as Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) and others from China, Malaysia and Kuwait, sources said. A handful of private-sector oil and gas giants are also on the hunt, including France-based Total SA. Joining these suitors is a new class of Asian buyers believed to include privately held Chinese companies and one of China’s largest cities, Tsingtau.

Mining Association of Canada (MAC) focuses on transparency, free trade (Canadian Mining Journal – September 19, 2012)

September 20, 2012

The Canadian Mining Journal is Canada’s first mining publication providing information on Canadian mining and exploration trends, technologies, operations, and industry events.

VANCOUVER — For Mining Association of Canada (MAC) president and CEO Pierre Gratton, the future of the nation’s mining industry lies in clear cut regulatory reform and the cultivation of global free trade arrangements geared towards expediting the flow of goods and capital across international borders. In a speech at a Vancouver Board of Trade luncheon on Sept. 7, Gratton outlined his vision of a unified Canadian resource sector operating under clearly defined regulatory legislation.

One of the perceived problems with the current Canadian regulatory model lies in layers of reviews that criss-cross over provincial and federal jurisdictions. Gratton is quick to point out that when Canada first initiated its Environmental Review Act in 1993 the majority of provinces did not have comparable pieces of legislation,

“If you clear away the rhetoric with what is going on, and focus on the dual [provincial-federal] review regulations, I think it will make things better. As proponents of the industry we hear from communities expressing frustration they experience by being consulted twice on the same project,” Gratton explained during a question period. “What we’re doing 20 years later is taking a step back and saying ‘Do we really need these two systems doing this in parallel?

Canada’s Mining Sector: A Global Powerhouse Contributing to the Country’s Prosperous Future – by Pierre Gratton

September 20, 2012

Pierre Gratton is President and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada (MAC). This speech was given to the Vancouver Board of Trade on September 7, 2012.

Thank you. It’s a pleasure to be back and to reconnect with so many friends and colleagues, past and present.

Thanks everyone for coming to spend some time today to hear about the powerhouse that is Canada’s mining industry and why I firmly believe there’s a prosperous future for our industry – despite current volatility and price declines.

I want to impress upon you three key points:

1) the super cycle is not over, it is taking a pause;

2) Canada is a free trader, thrives on trade and has to avoid the trap of protectionism and

3) we need to continue the steps we have begun to optimize Canada’s future as a mining powerhouse.

Before we talk about the future, let’s rewind a bit. It’s with hindsight that one can look back at a period and observe that it represented a major turning point in human history. The Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, the first World War and the end of European colonialism, World War II and the rise of US domination.

NEWS RELEASE: VALE’S CLEAN AER PROJECT MARKS MAJOR MILESTONE WITH DELIVERY OF FIRST NEW CONVERTER

September 20, 2012

For Immediate Release

SUDBURY, September 20, 2012 – Vale is marking a major milestone on its $2-billion “Clean AER Project”, with the delivery of the first converter to be installed in its smelter converter aisle. The new converter is the first of four converters to be replaced as part of the project.

“The delivery of this first converter is a major step in achieving our emissions reductions and is a tangible example that we are on our way to successfully completing this project,” said Dave Stefanuto, Director of the Clean AER Project.

The Clean AER Project, where AER stands for ‘Atmospheric Emissions Reduction’, is one of the largest single environmental investments in Ontario’s history. It will see sulphur dioxide emissions at Vale’s smelter in Sudbury reduced by 70% from current levels, as well as dust and metals emissions reduced a further 35 to 40%.

The project involves a complete retrofit of the converter aisle in the Copper Cliff smelter. Sulphur dioxide that currently goes up the super stack from the converters will be captured in a brand new wet gas cleaning plant and acid plant, converted to sulphuric acid and sold.

B2Gold to buy Philippine miner for $1.1-billion – by Pav Jordan (Globe and Mail – September 20, 2012)

September 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.

A small Vancouver miner has struck the first major gold deal in months, marking what may be the start of a new wave of buying in the sector as bullion prices rise within reach of record highs from a year ago.

B2Gold Corp., which prides itself on mining for gold where others do not, said on Wednesday that it reached a $1.1-billion all-stock deal to acquire CGA Mining Ltd., owner of the largest operating gold project in the Philippines.

It is offering 0.74 B2Gold shares for each share of CGA, a 26 per cent premium to CGA’s closing price as of Sept. 17. Gold prices are near $1,800 (U.S.) an ounce, just off record levels near $1,900 an ounce a year ago.

“I think in a more buoyant market like we have now, there is a greater chance of things getting done,” said Jens Mayer, co-head of investment banking at Canaccord Genuity Corp., which advised B2Gold on the deal. “People are getting accustomed to the new world in terms of valuations.”

The B2Gold/CGA deal is one of the largest involving a Canadian company in recent months, adding some shine to what has been a lacklustre year for deal making in the sector.

Two more killed in crackdown on South Africa mine strikes – by Carley Petesch and Michelle Faul (Globe and Mail – September 20, 2012)

September 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.

Rustenburg, South Africa — The Associated Press

South African police have killed two more people in a crackdown on striking miners, labour advocates said Thursday, with the victims being a ruling party municipal councillor who died of injuries from a rubber bullet and a miner who was run over by an armoured car.

Police threatened to take further action Thursday against illegally protesting strikers at the world’s biggest platinum producer, Anglo American Platinum. Wildcat strikes continued at several other mines even as miners returned to work at the Lonmin PLC platinum mine where police killed 34 miners on Aug. 16. The violence started Aug. 10 with a wage dispute and union rivalry.

Police in two water cannon trucks and several armoured cars moved in Thursday morning on a gathering of striking Anglo American Platinum miners at a shantytown where residents set up barricades of rocks and burning tires and logs. Strike leader Evans Ramokga told The Associated Press that one miner was run over Wednesday by a police armoured car and dragged several meters (feet) before it stopped. He said the man died overnight in the hospital.

Uncertainty over Nexen deal plagues Canada’s oilpatch – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – September 19, 2012)

September 20, 2012

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

Next to the debate generated across Canada by the proposed takeover of oil producer Nexen Inc. by CNOOC Ltd., Thursday’s special shareholders meeting in Calgary to approve the transaction is expected to be a matter of only a few words.

Most shareholders are so thrilled with the $15.1-billion bid for the underperforming company they have already voted and few are expected to show up for the early-morning event in Calgary’s Metropolitan Centre — the few shareholders are expected to be outnumbered by the media.

Nexen chairman Barry Jackson will handle the formalities, then interim president and CEO Kevin Reinhart will have brief remarks — his first since the proposed sale of the senior company to a state-controlled Chinese entity was announced in July.

CNOOC will keep a low profile and Nexen’s 3,000 employees will get their turn later in the day to hear by conference call how they will be affected by the change in ownership.

Meanwhile, all eyes are on the political realm. Messages about how the federal government might react to the bid have been so mixed and so abundant no one is taking this deal’s closure for granted, as reflected in the broad discount between the bid price ($27.50 a share) and the share price ($24.67, down 8¢ on Wednesday).