Africa Mining – Page 120 – Republic of Mining

NEWS RELEASE: Ivanhoe Mines condemns promotion of false and dishonest claims by Mining Watch Canada

May 20, 2016

https://www.ivanhoemines.com/

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – Ivanhoe Mines condemns in the strongest terms possible the attempt by Mining Watch Canada – and its dishonest associates in South Africa – to spread falsehoods about the Platreef mine development project in the South African province of Limpopo. The recycled and false allegations published by Mining Watch Canada yesterday are not new and previously have been rebutted by Ivanhoe Mines and its South African subsidiary, Ivanplats. However, it is important to restate Ivanhoe Mines’ position for the benefit of shareholders, the media and the public at large.

Ivanhoe Mines is disappointed, although not surprised, that Mining Watch Canada has chosen to act as a Canadian blinkered cheerleader for the falsehoods and misrepresentations that have been perpetuated, and violent acts that have been staged, by South African activist Aubrey Langa who previously has been convicted by South African courts of furnishing false information, robbery and attempted murder.

Mr. Langa is recognized for waging what one prominent South African newspaper recently described as his “single-minded campaign” against the Platreef mine currently being developed by Ivanplats in Limpopo province.

News Release: Is Ivanhoe Mining Informing its Shareholders of Ivanplats’ Real Risks, Liabilities, and Irregularities? (Mining Watch – May 18, 2016)

May 20, 2016

http://miningwatch.ca/news

(Ottawa) Ahead of Ivanhoe Mines’ annual shareholders’ meeting tomorrow in Vancouver, community representatives and activists are asking if shareholders are prepared to condone the human rights abuses and illegal operations that they allege the company is responsible for as it pushes ahead with development of its Ivanplats (Platreefs) project in South Africa.

Community representatives from Mokopane, Limpopo Province, assert that the government has unlawfully granted the Canadian company permits for the relocation of hundreds of ancestral graves in an area excluded from its designated mining area. The community has protested to the government and the Canadian High Commission against the violation of graves and the lack of enforcement of laws and customary rules protecting them.

Derrick Tsita, spokesperson for Mokopane Interested and Affected Communities Committee (MIACC) says, “The granting of these permits is a final insult to our human rights and our human dignity.”

Best friends? Anglo keeps De Beers’ diamonds – by Philip Blenkinsop (Reuters Africa – May 19, 2016)

May 19, 2016

http://af.reuters.com/

ANTWERP (Reuters) – Mining group Anglo American has retained De Beers as a prize asset after a radical overhaul in the belief that surging Chinese and Indian demand for diamonds will outstrip dwindling supply even after a 2015 crunch.

The group, in which Anglo American has an 85 percent stake, has seen its market share fall from over 80 percent in the 1980s to about a third now, losing it control of supply and unleashing price volatility.

Its challenges are compounded by competition from synthetic diamonds and uncertain demand from customers in the “millennial” generation, aged roughly 18 to 34. Anglo has cut the value of De Beers assets in its books each year since 2012, after it had paid $5.1 billion for a 40 percent stake.

South Africa plans levy on mines to tackle acid mine water pollution – by Mfuneko Toyana (Reuters Africa – May 19, 2016)

May 19, 2016

http://af.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s water ministry plans to charge mining firms two-thirds of the cost for treating polluted water emanating from their century-long operations in Johannesburg’s mining belt.

Water Affairs Minister Nomvula Mokonyane said the new environmental levy will see companies foot 67 percent of the bill for setting up plants to process the waste blamed for threatening the region’s already scarce water supply.

Acid mine drainage (AMD) results from the outflow of acidic water from mines, and often affected water supplies develop pH levels similar to those of battery acid, rendering the water harmful to humans as well animal and plant life. Water is already scarce in South Africa, which is in the midst of its worst drought in over 100 years as an El-Nino weather pattern has caused rainfall levels to plummet.

State of mining remains bleak – by Sungula Nkabinde (Mineweb.com – May 19, 2016)

May 19, 2016

http://www.mineweb.com/

Chamber of mines AGM paints picture of an industry struggling to dig itself out of a hole.

Chamber of Mines of South Africa (COM) CEO Roger Baxter painted a pretty grim picture of the country’s mining sector at the chamber’s annual general meeting, which was held on Wednesday at the Johannesburg Country Club. The event saw Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman announced as the incoming vice president of the COM, replacing the outgoing Graham Briggs.

Baxter said the mining sector was still reeling from a very tough 18-to-24-month period where, with the exception of gold, commodity prices tumbled due to weakening global demand and slowing growth in China.

“Costs have risen too quickly,” said Baxter, “If you look at the five years until the end of 2014, electricity prices rose by an average of 19% per year, steel prices by 12% per year, labour costs by about 11% per year and structural steel prices by about 12% per year.”

CMOC’s investment in Tenke Fungurume and Kokkola is set to further increase China’s hold on global cobalt – by Edward Spencer (CRU Group.com – May 18, 2016)

May 19, 2016

http://www.crugroup.com/

Chinese companies have been seeking to diversify their portfolios for a number of years now, unafraid to invest large amounts in overseas and upstream operations. Last week China Molybdenum Co., Ltd. announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary CMOC Limited had entered into a definitive agreement with Freeport-McMoRan to acquire its 56% share of the Tenke Fungurume copper-cobalt mine in the DRC.

The US$2.65B acquisition is China Moly’s second major deal within two weeks, having agreed to buy Anglo American’s niobium and phosphates business on 28th April for US$1.5B.

While many have focused on the phosphate and copper components of these deals, much of the value of these assets lays in their minor metal associations – namely niobium and cobalt. On completion of the acquisitions CRU estimates that China Moly will be the world’s second largest producer of both ferroniobium and cobalt in addition to being the fourth largest producer of molybdenum.

Robin Wright targets Congo’s ‘conflict minerals’ violence with new campaign – by Ed Pilkington (The Guardian – May 17, 2016)

May 18, 2016

http://www.theguardian.com/

House of Cards star Robin Wright has launched a campaign with Congolese and American activists to end the pillage of Congo’s vast mineral resources and break the cycle of devastating wars that have claimed more than five million lives.

The campaign will target US tech companies and political leaders in an attempt to push for greater transparency in the mining of so-called “conflict minerals” such as coltan that have aggravated the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Wright has produced and narrated a new film, When Elephants Fight, to be shown in 50 university campuses around the US as part of what she and her fellow campaigners hope will become a movement for reform under the banner #StandWithCongo.

“I felt a personal responsibility to step up, take action, create a voice,” Wright told the Guardian after presenting the film in New York. A longtime advocate for human rights in Congo, she said her commitment stemmed from the realization that big US electronics companies were inadvertently encouraging corruption, funding militia groups and prolonging brutal conflicts by entering into mining deals with anonymous shell companies for minerals used in their smartphones and laptops.

Zambia’s chamber of mines defends new price-based mineral tax (Reuters Africa – May 18, 2016)

May 18, 2016

http://af.reuters.com/

LUSAKA (Reuters) – Zambia’s new price-based mineral royalty tax will enhance the collection of government revenue rather than compromise it, the Chamber of Mines said on Tuesday, defending the new levy after recent criticism.

The chamber’s president Nathan Chishimba was reacting to a statement by civil society organisations advising against the new tax regime on the grounds it was investor-led and would not maximise revenue in times of commodity price booms.

“One cannot separate mining tax revenue from mining investment, because it is the mining investment which ultimately produces the tax revenue,” Chishimba said in a statement. Zambia’s amended mines bill proposes to reduce copper royalties to a variable tax of 4 to 6 percent, depending on the price of the metal.

Rio Tinto submits feasibility study for Guinea’s giant iron ore deposit (Reuters U.S. – May 17, 2016)

May 17, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto (RIO.L) has submitted feasibility studies to the Guinean government for its massive Simandou project, considered the world’s biggest untapped iron ore deposit.

The studies are a further step toward bringing onstream a deposit that holds more than 2 billion tonnes. The real cost of the project has yet to be revealed but it is tipped to reach $20 billion.

It could make Guinea one of the world’s top iron ore exporters, but analysts caution the world already has a surplus of iron ore for the foreseeable future. Rio Tinto’s joint venture Simfer said in a statement on Monday it had submitted the bankable feasibility study of the mine and the infrastructure of the Simandou South Project on the basis of extensive analysis over the last two years.

Guinea to take legal action against Global Witness – president – by Saliou Samb (Reuters U.K. – May 15, 2016)

May 16, 2016

http://uk.reuters.com/

CONAKRY – Guinea will take legal action against watchdog group Global Witness over a report that said Sable Mining Africa Ltd financed President Alpha Conde’s election campaign in 2010, the president said on Sunday.

The legal action would aim to force Global Witness to provide proof to back up its claims, said Conde who denied the allegations. The watchdog group also said in its report published last week that Sable Mining, which is registered in the British Virgin Islands, paid money to Conde’s son, Alpha Mohammed Conde, for bribes to secure the rights to its Mount Nimba iron ore concession.

“No member of my family is involved in anything corrupt,” Conde told a news conference on his return from a foreign trip on state business. He gave no further details of the contemplated legal action.

South Africa: Understanding the Silicosis Judgment – by Paul Lewis (All Africa.com – May 16, 2016)

May 16, 2016

http://allafrica.com/

Hundreds of thousands of families could benefit from the class action lawsuit that can now take place. On Friday, Judge Phineas Mojapelo handed down the court’s findings on the landmark silicosis judgment.

In the case of Bongani Nkala and 68 Others v Harmony Gold Mining Company Ltd and 31 Others, Mojapelo and two other judges addressed this question: can mineworkers and former mineworkers bring action for damages as a class, against gold mining companies for negligence as a result of which they were exposed to dust that caused silicosis and/or TB.

The litigation could run into billions of rands. All the big mining companies are affected, including Anglo American, Anglogold, Gold Fields, Harmony Gold, Randgold, DRDGold, and African Rainbow Minerals. Anglo American has described the case as “without precedent in South African law and indeed in any other jurisdiction in the world”.

Ivanhoe substantially lifts Platreef’s resources – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – May 11, 2016)

May 13, 2016

http://www.miningweekly.com/

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Africa-focused project developer Ivanhoe Mines has released an updated mineral resource estimate for its flagship Platreef platinum-group metals (PGMs) nickel, copper and gold project on South Africa’s Bushveld Complex’s northern limb, located near the town of Mokopane, in Limpopo.

The TSX-listed firm reported an increase of 58% in the compliant indicated mineral resources tonnage to 346-million tonnes, at a grade of 3.77 g/t platinum, palladium, rhodium plus gold (3PE+Au), 0.32% nickel and 0.16% copper, at a cutoff grade of 2 g/t 3PE+Au.

The updated mineral resource had also calculated an increase of 21% in the inferred mineral resources tonnage to 506-million tonnes, at a grade of 3.24 g/t 3PE+Au, 0.31% nickel and 0.16% copper, at a cutoff grade of 2.0 g/t 3PE+Au.

South Africa allows silicosis class action against gold firms – by TJ STRYDOM AND ZIMASA MPEMNYAMA (Reuters U.S. – May 13, 2016)

May 13, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa gave the green light on Friday for class action suits seeking damages from gold companies for up to half a million miners who contracted the fatal lung diseases silicosis and tuberculosis underground.

The High Court decision sets the stage for protracted proceedings in the largest class action suits in Africa’s most industrialized country. Analysts have said the suits could cost the gold industry hundreds of millions of dollars.

Judge Phineas Mojapelo said workers who had died of the diseases could be included in the suits, with any damages paid to family members, and that each mining company should be held liable separately for any damages.

Miner Faces Scrutiny for Payments in Africa – by Scott Patterson (Wall Street Journal – May 11, 2016)

May 12, 2016

http://www.wsj.com/

LONDON— Sable Mining Africa Ltd. made payments to government officials in West Africa in 2010 before winning lucrative mineral concessions, according to documents reviewed and interviews conducted by The Wall Street Journal.

Separately, investigative nonprofit Global Witness, in a report released Wednesday and reviewed by the Journal, says its investigation shows Sable made payments to government officials and people close to the government in Liberia and Guinea, hoping to get favorable decisions for mining deals.

Sable, which is registered in the British Virgin Islands, owns mining rights to a plot of land in Guinea it says is rich in iron ore, and has secured the right to export it through Liberia. Independent of the Global Witness report, the Journal reviewed a trove of emails and internal Sable documents that showed company officials detailing payments to government officials.

Nigeria’s mining pioneers weigh risks and rewards – by Ulf Laessing (Reuters Africa – May 11, 2016)

May 12, 2016

http://af.reuters.com/

ANKA, Nigeria (Reuters) – Arriving on motorbikes after midnight, a dozen gunmen opened fire on gold miners sleeping at a camp in northern Nigeria last month, killing one of them and stealing their equipment before fleeing into the bush.

The site, a collection of huts and tents flanked by Baobab trees where locals sell nuggets they get from crushing and washing rocks, is the kind of place Nigeria hopes will attract investors to reduce its reliance on oil exports.

Eighty percent of mining is done like this in Nigeria, where the only significant foreign investor is Australia’s Kogi Iron. The experience of both the local miners and the Australian company sheds light on the advantages and challenges of following their lead.