Africa Mining – Page 166 – Republic of Mining

Special Report: Areva and Niger’s uranium fight – by Daniel Flynn and Geert de Clercq (Reuters India – February 5, 2014)

February 5, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

ARLIT, Niger/PARIS – (Reuters) – When France began mining uranium ore in the desert of northern Niger in the early 1970s, Arlit was a cluster of miners’ huts stranded between the sun-blasted rocks of the Air mountains and the sands of the Sahara.

The 1973 OPEC oil embargo changed that. France embraced nuclear power to free itself from reliance on foreign oil and overnight this remote corner of Africa became crucial to its national interests.

Arlit has grown into a sprawling settlement of 117,000 people, while France now depends on nuclear power for three-quarters of its electricity, making it more reliant on uranium than any country on earth. Niger has become the world’s fourth-largest producer of the ore after Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia.

But uranium has not enriched Niger. The former French colony remains one of the poorest countries on earth. More than 60 percent of its 17 million people survive on less than $1 a day.

Arlit is a dusty and neglected place, scoured by desert sandstorms and barely touched by the mineral wealth it ships off to Europe each year.

Human Rights Watch News Release: Uganda: Rights at Risk in New Mining Region (February 3, 2014)

February 5, 2014

http://www.hrw.org/

Urgent Need to Protect Indigenous Land Rights in Karamoja

Click here for full report: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/uganda0214_ForUpload.pdf

(Kampala) – Uganda’s nascent mining industry could do more harm than good for indigenous people unless the government makes reforms and mining companies start respecting rights, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Uganda’s government has promoted private investment in mining in the remote northeastern Karamoja region to bring economic development, but should implement reforms to respect the rights of indigenous people to determine how their lands are used.

The 140-page report, “‘How Can We Survive Here?’ The Impact of Mining on Human Rights in Karamoja, Uganda,” examines the conduct of three companies in different stages of the mining process: East African Mining, Jan Mangal, and DAO Uganda. Human Rights Watch found that companies have explored for minerals and actively mined on lands owned and occupied by Karamoja’s indigenous people.

Canadian miners take another look at Africa – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – February 4, 2014)

February 4, 2014

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.

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA — Just days into his post-political career, former Quebec premier Jean Charest took on one of his first and toughest assignments: flying into Senegal to negotiate a complex deal for a Canadian mining company, even as war was raging in neighbouring Mali.

It was a good introduction to the risks and rewards of Africa’s mining industry, and it helped preserve a $500-million gold project. A year later, Mr. Charest is increasingly bullish on African business, attending investment conferences in Abidjan and Cape Town over the past few days.

Some investors might be less keen on the risky African frontier, especially after a gloomy year globally for the mining industry in 2013, and the launch of a damaging strike by 70,000 platinum workers in South Africa last month.

The platinum strike continued on Monday as investors gathered for the Mining Indaba, the biggest annual African mining conference. But people such as Mr. Charest were looking beyond the labour unrest and seeing huge potential across the continent.

Police Disperse Crowd of 3,000 at Amplats Amid Strike Talks – by Paul Burkhardt (Bloomberg News – February 4, 2014)

February 4, 2014

http://www.bloomberg.com/

South African police fired rubber bullets and water cannon to disperse a 3,000-strong crowd who massed at an Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (AMS) mine in support of a strike that has disrupted the world’s three biggest producers.

Police broke up the crowd at the Khuseleka mine, northwest of Johannesburg, Thulani Ngubane, a spokesman for the South African Police Service in the North West province, said by phone today. Two people were arrested.

The group had “the intention of not letting any mineworker go to work and we tried to resolve it amicably and we had to resort to minimum force,” Ngubane said.

Talks resumed in Pretoria aimed at resolving the dispute between producers and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, which has been on strike over pay since Jan. 23. The union has more than 70,000 members on strike at Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMP) and Lonmin Plc (LON), which run the largest mines in a country accounting for about 70 percent of global output of the precious metal.

Base metals in a post super-cycle world – Lennon – by Geoff Canday (Mineweb.com – February 4, 2014)

February 4, 2014

http://www.mineweb.com/

Jim Lennon discusses why demographics alone aren’t enough to recreate the massive type of growth in China that led to the super cycle.

CAPE TOWN (MINEWEB) – GEOFF CANDY: Hello and welcome to this Mineweb.com Newsmaker podcast, my name is Geoff Candy and joining me here live at the Cape Town International Convention Centre for the 2014 Mining Indaba is Jim Lennon, he’s the managing director at Red Door Research.

Jim, you’ve just done a presentation, the key note, about where we’re headed from a metals point of view, where the super-cycle is or if it’s going to come back, just generally speaking, the lay of the land. One of the things that struck from that is that it does seem to be moving very much from a demand-driven story to what’ s going to happening with supply over the next ten, 15, 20 years, is that a correct reading of things?

JIM LENNON: Partly, I think first China will continue to be a dominant factor on the demand side, the rates of growth in China were high double digit for the last ten years, we’re now seeing that slow down, so necessarily the growth rates are slowing. However, the volume required as a result of that slow growth because you’re working off the high base is still very, very high.

Tighter South African emission laws boost platinum ‘beneficiation’ – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – February 3, 2014)

February 4, 2014

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

CAPE TOWN (miningweekly.com) –Tighter vehicle emission legislation in South Africa would boost the struggling platinum mining industry and be a fantastic local beneficiation route for the metal, which is facing an uphill battle, SFA Oxford MD Beresford Clarke said on Monday.

Beresford, who was addressing the Investing In African Mining Indaba on Monday, said that South Africa was becoming less competitive in the platinum market and the next three years would be tough for platinum.

The recycling of platinum autocatalysts and platinum jewellery had risen to two-million ounces a year, four times higher than in 2000, and was tantamount to Lonmin-sized output being incrementally added every five years.

Palladium-rich Russian and North America were outdoing platinum-and-rhodium dominant South Africa, with both countries producing at lower cash costs and higher by-product credits than South Africa.

Beyond Blackwater: Prince looks to resources in Africa – by Stephen Eisenhammer (Reuters India – February 2, 2014)

February 3, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

LONDON – (Reuters) – After running one of the world’s biggest and most controversial private military groups, Blackwater founder Erik Prince is starting a new venture providing logistics for oil and mining companies in remote and dangerous parts of Africa.

China is increasingly looking to Africa to meet its ever growing demand for natural resources. Trade between the two reached an estimated $200 billion this year. With 85 percent of Chinese imports from the continent being oil or minerals, Prince sees an opportunity.

He wants to use his experience of getting people and equipment in and out of remote places, where there is little or no infrastructure, to help companies looking to exploit abundant natural resources in places like Sudan or Somalia.

The 44-year-old former U.S. Navy Seal became chairman of Frontier Services Group (FSG) (0500.HK) this month, a Hong Kong-listed company of which China’s state-backed investment fund Citic CITIC.UL owns 15 percent. Prince himself has share options in the firm that would convert to a 9 percent stake.

The appointment is a remarkable turn-around for a man vilified by many as a war-profiteer with blood on his hands.

On Moroccan Hill, Villagers Make Stand Against a Mine – by Aida Alamijan (New York Times – January 23, 2014)

February 3, 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/

IMIDER, Morocco — On a hilltop nearly 5,000 feet high in the Atlas Mountains here, a tiny outpost has taken shape over the past two years. The small stone buildings are decorated gaily with graffiti, and there is an open-air gallery. Many doors bear inspirational inscriptions from people like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa. On the dam of a nearby reservoir, someone has painted the face of a local activist, now in jail on what the locals regard as trumped-up charges.

It is an unlikely spot for a settlement, but it was established with a purpose: to protest a mining company’s expropriation of precious water supplies, as well as the pollution that results from the mining.

The inhabitants are drawn from the nearby municipality of Imider, 6,000 people scattered over seven villages and neighbor to the most productive silver mine in Africa. But while the area may be rich in silver, it is home to some of the poorest people in Morocco.

The people of Imider (pronounced ee-me-DER) say they have grown to resent the mine because they get nothing from it except pollutants. So two years ago, some of them climbed up the hill and cut the water supply to the mine. Since then, they have occupied the hill as they continue to fight the Imiter Mettalurgic Company and, by extension, the king of Morocco, its principal owner.

S. Africa Mining Unrest Overshadows Major Conference – by Anita Powell (Voice of America – January 30, 2014)

January 31, 2014

http://www.voanews.com/

JOHANNESBURG — Unrest in South Africa’s mining sector is overshadowing the nation’s largest mining event, scheduled for next week in Cape Town. Investors are worried that a union leading a platinum mining strike has failed to reach a deal, and economic justice activists say the system is flawed.

The annual Mining Indaba — the Zulu word for “gathering” — is undoubtedly the biggest mining sector event in the nation. It brings together industry leaders, government officials and investors to discuss billion-dollar deals in an industry that claims the lion’s share of South Africa’s economy. But this year’s Indaba is overshadowed by strife in the mining sector.

South Africa’s most powerful platinum mining union launched an indefinite strike on January 23. The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, AMCU, is demanding to almost double the minimum wage for entry-level miners, to about $1,200 per month.

Negotiations are ongoing as some 70,000 workers in the nation’s “platinum belt” have stopped work. The three largest platinum producers — Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), Impala Platinum (Implats) and Lonmin – say the wage demand is unsustainable, and say the strike is costing them more than $17 million per day combined.

Zimbabwe: Zimasco to Splurge U.S $300 Million – by Phillimon Mhlanga (All Africa.com – January 30, 2014)

January 30, 2014

http://allafrica.com/

ZIMBABWE Mining and Smelting Company (ZIMASCO), the country’s largest ferrochrome producer, is building a new 600 000 tonnes per annum sinter plant which is expected to boost output, it has been learnt.Sources with intimate knowledge of the company’s expansion plans told the Financial Gazette’s Companies & Markets that the plant, which is the latest technology in ferrochrome production, would cost between US$250 million and US$300 million.

It is understood that funding for the plant will be provided by Chinese majority shareholder, Sinosteel Corporation, which controls a 73 percent stake in the company. ZIMASCO’s spokesperson, Clara Sadomba, said she would not divulge details in the absence of the company’s chief executive who was in China.

“Unfortunately, I can’t officially comment on the developments because my CEO (Li Jinqian) is away on business in China but he is coming back after the second week of February,” said Sadomba. The plant, which will be built in Kwekwe, would process chrome fines into balls that can be processed by other existing blast furnaces.

UPDATE 2-Ghana puts plans for mining windfall tax on hold – by Kwasi Kpodo (Reuters India – January 24, 2014)

January 24, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

ACCRA, Jan 24 (Reuters) – Ghana has put on hold plans to introduce a windfall tax on mining profits, Finance Minister Seth Terkper told Reuters, a move that will delight struggling gold firms but could undermine efforts to reduce the country’s budget deficit.

Ghana is Africa’s second-biggest gold producer and the precious metal is a large source of revenues for the country whose government is seeking to maintain rapid economic growth while reining in the deficit and inflation.

But the decision comes after President John Mahama said this week his country had come under pressure from the industry over the planned tax, with companies warning it would lead to job cuts due to a steep fall in gold prices.

“It’s on hold in parliament and we are consulting,” Terkper told Reuters late on Thursday.

Terkper had told parliament during the annual budget in November that the government would impose the tax, which it has been trying to push through since 2012. No timeframe was given at the time.

Platinum Talks Today Will Seek End to Pay Strike at Mines – by Kevin Crowley, Andre Janse van Vuuren and Paul Burkhardt (Bloomberg News – January 24, 2014)

January 24, 2014

http://www.bloomberg.com/

South Africa’s government will today mediate talks between union officials and the world’s three biggest platinum producers as a strike that’s crippling mines enters a second day.

Labor Minister Mildred Oliphant will lead talks between Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (AMS), Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMP) and Lonmin Plc (LMI) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, said Musa Zondi, her spokesman. The discussions were due to begin at 9 a.m. in Johannesburg. The companies should expect “marathon negotiations,” AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa said.

“There are pressures from all sides” to reach an agreement, AMCU Treasurer Jimmy Gama said today by phone. “When you have these pressures, all the parties need to apply their minds constructively to deal with the issue.”

At least 70,000 employees downed tools at platinum mines yesterday in South Africa, home to 70 percent of the world’s production of the metal, causing about $13.1 million of lost revenue on the first day. The police stepped up safety measures as it sought to avoid a repeat of labor unrest that claimed the lives of at least 44 workers near platinum mines in August 2012.

Zambia Said to Withhold Up to $500 Million of Mine Refunds (2) – by Matthew Hill (Bloomberg News – January 23, 2014)

January 23, 2014

http://www.businessweek.com/

Zambia’s government has withheld as much as $500 million in value-added tax repayments from mining companies failing to provide importer documentation, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Zambia’s revenue authority is holding back the repayments after last year introducing rules requiring the provision of documents from importers, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. They said they estimated the amount because they don’t have the exact figures.

Vedanta Resources Plc (VED) and other miners in Africa’s biggest copper producer say they can’t comply with the rules because they sell to commodity traders and don’t know the final destination of their output. The tax authority also stipulated that export revenue must be paid directly to a Zambian bank, while some mining companies are paid via foreign accounts.

Mumbuna Kufekisa, a spokesman for the Zambia Revenue Authority in the capital, Lusaka, declined to comment. Emmanuel Mutati, president of the Chamber of Mines of Zambia, couldn’t immediately comment when called on his mobile phone.

Record iron-ore and coal production at BHP Billiton’s operations – by Staff (Business Day Live – January 22, 2014)

January 22, 2014

http://www.bdlive.co.za/ [South Africa]

GLOBAL resources group BHP Billiton has reported a strong operational performance for the six months ended December 2013, with production records achieved across 10 operations and several commodities.

Releasing its operational update for the second half of the year on Wednesday, the group said it had maintained strong momentum in the period. Full-year production guidance was retained for its petroleum, copper, iron-ore and coal businesses.

Iron-ore production was up 19% in the half-year to a record 98-million tonnes, while metallurgical coal production rose 22% to a record 22-million tonnes. Alumina production improved 8% to a record 2.6-million tonnes.

“A strong operating performance across our diversified portfolio in the December 2013 half-year delivered a 10% increase in production, and volumes are expected to grow 16% over the two years to the end of the 2015 financial year,” CEO Andrew Mackenzie said.

“Iron ore and metallurgical coal were particularly strong and are very well positioned to achieve guidance, notwithstanding the general uncertainty that exists as we enter the wet season,” he added.

Unrealistic demands threaten companies, employees and country – Platinum bosses – by Zandi Shabalala and Ed Stoddard (Mineweb.com – January 22, 2014)

January 22, 2014

http://www.mineweb.com/

The chief executives of Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin, in a rare joint statement, said strikes have cost the companies over $1.15bn in the last 2 years.

JOHANNESBURG (REUTERS) – Bosses of the world’s top three platinum producers accused South Africa’s AMCU union of making “unaffordable and unrealistic” demands on Tuesday ahead of a strike this week which could hit over half of global output of the precious metal.

The chief executives of Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin made the dramatic warning as signs of some divisions emerged in the hardline Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, which has called the stoppage for Thursday.

In a rare joint statement that throws down the gauntlet in a bruising standoff between capital and labour, the trio said that “it is of great concern … that employees are being made promises by AMCU that cannot be delivered upon.”