Australia/New Caledonia/Papua New Guinea Mining – Page 46

Australia’s Newcrest Mining takes 70 per cent stake in B.C. mine from Imperial Metals – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – March 11, 2019)

March 11, 2019

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

One of Australia’s largest miners is buying a majority interest in a B.C. mine from Imperial Metals Corp. for US$806-million, providing a cash injection for the struggling Vancouver company that is backed by billionaire executive Murray Edwards.

Melbourne-based Newcrest Mining Corp. struck a deal on the weekend for 70 per cent of Imperial’s Red Chris property, a mine that opened three years ago and last year produced 12,000 ounces of gold.

Imperial’s board has been conducting in a strategic review of the business as it tries to get out of financial trouble. In 2014, a catastrophic tailings dam failure forced Imperial to suspend operations at its Mount Polley copper-gold mine in British Columbia for almost a year. Imperial has also dealt with operating problems at Red Chris since it started production in 2015.

Coal’s Perfect Storm Shakes $50 Billion of Australian Projects – by James Thornhill (Bloomberg News – February 26, 2019)

February 27, 2019

https://finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — It’s been a tough few weeks for Australia’s coal industry. First there was a court ruling blocking a new mine on climate change grounds, then one of the world’s largest producers Glencore Plc capped output growth, and finally China was seen to be slowing down Australian imports.

The developments are symptoms of the fuel’s decline and likely signal headwinds for the industry in Australia, the world’s second-biggest supplier of coal used for power generation and steel making, where the government estimates some A$70 billion ($50 billion) of new projects are in the pipeline.

“They’re probably game-changing events from what we once knew of coal,” said David Lennox, a mining analyst at consultancy Fat Prophets. Recent developments should be viewed as part of the fuel’s gradual decline from a position of dominance in the global power mix, he added.

A big Chinese port bans Australian coal and the dollar falls – by Kirsty Needham and Cole Latimer (Sydney Morning Herald – February 21, 2019)

February 21, 2019

https://www.smh.com.au/

Beijing: The Australian dollar fell 1 per cent on Thursday as news broke that a major Chinese port had banned imports of Australian coal, fuelling fears that diplomatic tensions were hitting Australia’s second largest export.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham told Senate Estimates on Thursday night there was no evidence to support claims the slow down in coal imports was linked to diplomatic tensions. But he said Australian ambasssador to China Jan Adams had escalated her representations to the Chinese government.

Dalian Port and Dalian Customs declined to comment to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald after Reuters reported that the port had banned Australian thermal coal imports.

Deep sea mining threatens indigenous culture in Papua New Guinea – by John Childs (The Conservation.com – February 19, 2019)

February 20, 2019

https://theconversation.com/

When they start mining the seabed, they’ll start mining part of me.

These are the words of a clan chief of the Duke of York Islands – a small archipelago in the Bismarck Sea of Papua New Guinea which lies 30km from the world’s first commercial deep sea mine site, known as “Solwara 1”. The project, which has been delayed due to funding difficulties, is operated by Canadian company Nautilus Minerals and is poised to extract copper from the seabed, 1600m below the surface.

Valuable minerals are created as rapidly cooling gases emerge from volcanic vents on the seafloor. Mining the seabed for these minerals could supply the metals and rare earth elements essential to building electric vehicles, solar panels and other green energy infrastructure. But deep sea mining could also damage and contaminate these unique environments, where researchers have only begun to explore.

The industry’s environmental impact isn’t the only concern. It’s been assumed by the corporate sector that there is limited human impact from mining in the deep sea. It is a notion that is persuasive especially when compared with the socio-ecological impacts of land-based mining.

Newcrest Mining CEO in no rush to find partner as gold industry consolidates – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – February 18, 2019)

February 20, 2019

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The head of the world’s third most-valuable gold company says he feels no pressure to do a sizeable mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transaction, despite larger rivals Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Mining Corp. striking multibillion dollar deals of their own in recent months.

“Getting bigger for bigger’s sake, I’ve never been a big fan of that,” Sandeep Biswas, chief executive officer of Melbourne-based Newcrest Mining Ltd., said in an interview. “There’s either got to be real synergies, or real technical or other capabilities, where one can enhance the combined entity.”

After about seven years of deep cost-cutting, write-downs and asset sales, there are signs the tide is turning in the beaten down global gold sector.

Opinion: Welcome to the accidental iron ore boom – by Elizabeth Knight (Sydney Morning Herald – February 13, 2019)

February 13, 2019

https://www.smh.com.au/

Even a month ago it would have seemed fanciful for anyone to suggest iron ore prices would be heading towards $US100 per tonne ($A141.33). But the market dynamics have changed.

Welcome to the accidental mining boom. There is a lot at stake in this latest boom for the profits of BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue not to mention the potential swell to the federal government’s coffers.

Just how meaningful the uplift will be for all involved depends on how long the current boomtime prices are sustained. With futures now hitting more than $US96 commodities experts are scrambling to assess how this will play out.

The Remote Island Sitting on $58 Billion of Gold and Copper – by Aaron Clark and Dan Murtaugh (Bloomberg News – February 12, 2019)

February 12, 2019

https://www.bloomberg.com/

A mining company claiming interests in copper and gold reserves estimated at $58 billion on the Pacific island of Bougainville said its rights are under threat by efforts to revive the resource sector in the run up to a independence referendum.

At the heart of the dispute is the Panguna mine, which was operated by Sydney-listed Bougainville Copper Ltd. for 17 years before shutting in 1989 amid clashes that killed as many as 20,000 people in the autonomous region of Papua New Guinea.

Now the company, known as BCL, is warning investors that legislation proposed by Bougainville’s government will make significant changes to its mining law, including granting powers to a new British Virgin Island-registered company to take mining leases across the island.

The Global Iron Ore Crisis: What’s Next in Four Charts – by Krystal Chia and Martin Ritchie (Bloomberg/Yahoo – February 12, 2019)

February 12, 2019

https://finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — The global iron ore market is reeling from the sustained and expanding impact of Vale SA’s deadly dam breach last month, which has roiled prices and spurred concerns about a shortage.

Since the initial incident in Brazil in late January, the top producer has announced supply cuts of as much as 70 million tons, although it’s said it will try to offset some lost production.

As the drama unfolds, investors, users and producers are grappling with a host of unknowns, starting with how much supply Vale will actually lose this year and next as executives seek to respond to what’s likely the greatest challenge the company has faced. There are other critical variables too, which will help to influence the direction of prices, which sank on Tuesday for a second day.

Opinion: Miners must appeal anti-coal landmark court decision – by Matthew Stevens (Australian Financial Review – February 10, 2019)

February 11, 2019

https://www.afr.com/

You have to admire the collective against coal mining. It sure does know when and how to pick its fights. On Friday, the NSW Land and Environment Court rejected an application by Gloucester Resources to build a three-pit coking coal mine near the central NSW town that named the company.

Left to stand, the decision by Judge Brian Preston would seem to establish precedent because it moves all three categories of carbon emissions to the front and centre of the state’s planning approval process.

This has not so far been the case in NSW or anywhere else in Australia, for that matter, a fact made plain by the victory celebrations that Judge Preston’s odd decision triggered among his fans, old and new, in the climate change lobby.

PM Adamant Mine MoA Should Benefit Locals (Papua New Guinea Post Courier – February 11, 2019)

February 11, 2019

https://postcourier.com.pg/

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill told the people of Usino-Bundi on Friday that there would be no new agreements or extension of the memorandum of agreement (MoA) for the Ramu-Nico project in Madang province.

This has now put to rest Madang governor Peter Yama’s continuous request to the government to review the mine agreement and have it benefit his people instead of the original arrangement where there was no benefits detailed.

Mr O’Neill said there were no traces of development in Madang from the mine, but assured the people that the Ramu Nickel mine agreement would be reviewed and changed to suit the people who have suffered.

[New Zealand Mining] All go for Martha project in Waihi – by Simon Hartley (Otago Daily Times – February 8, 2019)

February 7, 2019

https://www.odt.co.nz/

Oceana Gold’s mine at Waihi in the central North Island has the green light for its underground Martha project, after no appeals were filed against its recent resource consent application.

Oceana chief executive Mick Wilkes said the permitting process had concluded with no appeals filed and the company had received its resource consents to start operations.

“The Waihi operation has had a long, rich history of operating to the highest of environmental and social standards globally while contributing significant socio-economic benefits to Waihi and the country.

Surging Iron Ore Prices Will Hurt China’s Economy While Benefiting Australia And Brazil – by Jim Collins (Forbes Magazine – February 6, 2019)

February 7, 2019

https://www.forbes.com/

As we enter the Year of the Pig in the Chinese calendar, the performance of iron ore has been, well, piggish of late. Coal and iron ore are the two key ingredients in the production of steel in the Bessemer process. As popular as Alibaba, Tencent’s WeChat, iQiyi and countless other Chinese apps may be, steel production is still the best determinant of the health of the Chinese economy.

Chinese government estimates place 2018 steel output at 923 million tonnes, an 11% increase over 2017’s figure. October’s output of 82.552 million tonnes reflected an all-time record for the Chinese economy.

So, all those out-of-context, sentiment-based data points that seem to be showing a slowdown in the Chinese economy–PMI data for example–really are giving a false positive for the all-important “China’s economy is slowing” narrative that so many market observers in the U.S. love to push.

How Brazil’s mining tragedy could shake up Australia’s iron ore market – by Kylie Purcell (Your Money – February 1, 2019)

February 1, 2019

Your Money

Australia’s mining sector saw enormous financial gains this week – but it follows a tragedy that raises serious questions about the operations being run by some of the world’s most powerful mining corporations.

Shares in Australia’s iron ore sector surged Wednesday after news that Vale, the world’s biggest iron ore producer, would close some operations following a dam collapse in Brumadinho that left more than 100 dead and hundreds more missing.

Should the death toll increase, the catastrophe could mark Brazil’s deadliest ever mining accident and the country’s second iron ore mining disaster in recent years.

Vale’s Brazil disaster to prompt buyers to take more Australian iron ore – by Melanie Burton and Muyu Xu (Reuters U.S. – January 30, 2019)

January 30, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE/BEIJING (Reuters) – Vale SA’s catastrophic dam failure in Brazil may knock it off its perch as the biggest iron ore exporter as the resulting rally in high-grade ore prices steers buyers towards rivals offering cheaper ore, industry sources said on Wednesday.

The world’s largest iron ore miner is facing public ire and tougher regulation after the collapse of its tailings dam in the Brazilian region of Brumadinho killed at least 84 in one of the country’s worst ever industrial disasters. Hundreds are still missing and presumed dead.

Vale on Tuesday said it would take up to 10 percent of its output offline as it decommissions a total of 19 dams over three years, a move that would cut up to 40 million tonnes of iron ore production a year.

BHP second-quarter iron ore output down 9 percent, flags $600 million negative impact (Reuters U.S. – January 21, 2019)

January 22, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Global miner BHP Group said on Tuesday its second-quarter iron ore production fell 9 percent and flagged a $600 million negative impact due to production disruptions at its copper and iron ore operations.

The world’s biggest miner said unplanned production outages at Olympic Dam, Spence and Western Australia Iron Ore are likely to negatively impact productivity and flagged that it would revise guidance at its results on Feb 19.

The miner also raised its 2019 copper production forecast to between about 1.6 million tonne and 1.7 million tonne bolstered by the retention of Cerro Colorado copper mine in Chile, after a sale to private equity house EMR Capital fell through.