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Mining Supply and Services Sector

There are two types of mine operators that are looking at battery technology – by Michael Allan McCrae (Mining.com – June 22, 2016)

http://www.mining.com/

Existing mines that want to go deeper are looking at battery technology, says Andrew Lyon, General Manager for Atlas Copco Mining and Rock Excavation.

Lyon, who spoke to MINING.com at the CIM convention in May, was introducing his company’s new battery operated Scooptram 7. Lowering the overall operating and capital cost of the mine is what’s driving battery adoption.

As well as existing mines, Lyon said that new mines are being considered that will use battery technology entirely. “Currently the mines that are talking to us are about to go deeper,” says Lyon. “They want to continue their mine life without having to put more capital into ventilation infrastructure, which is incredibly expensive.

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India firm aims to have plant in Timmins by 2018 – by Alan S. Hale (Timmins Daily Press – June 2, 2016)

http://www.timminspress.com/

IMMINS – For the past year, Timmins has been pushing hard to make inroads with the mining industry in India, with delegations from India attending this year’s Big Event Canadian Mining Expo – currently ongoing at the McIntyre Arena – as well as last year’s expo.

Now it appears those efforts are beginning to pay off, as one Indian company has decided to establish a production facility in Timmins so that it can sell its products directly to the mines in and around the city by 2018.

“I would like to announce that we will soon have a production facility in Timmins for our ground-support system. We make the ground safer from the ground-up,” said Sandeep Agarwal, the director of the company in question, Bolat Materials. “We are now in the final stages of completing the project. So hopefully we will be able to complete the documentation in the next few months. We will start construction in with either November or December. By the end of 2017 we should be up and running.”

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Putting Sudbury, North ‘on the map’ – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – May 26, 2016)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Sudbury’s export community got a nearly $2 million shot in the arm on Wednesday afternoon.

Navdeep Bains, Canada’s federal minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, and the minister responsible for FedNor, stopped by B&D Manufacturing, on Municipal Road 15 in Chelmsford, to announce $952,100 in funding for the Northern Ontario Exports Program (NOEP).

That amount will be matched by the provincial government for a total contribution of about $1.9 million. “This particular investment is designed to boost the value of exports and improve the capacity of northern Ontario firms,” Bains said. “This targeted investment will support ongoing delivery of the Northern Ontario Exports Program for a two-year period.”

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Idaho silver mine shaft sunk to final depth of 9,587 feet – by Frik Els (Mining.com – May 24, 2016)

http://www.mining.com/

The Lucky Friday silver, lead and zinc mine is located deep in the Bitterroot Mountains, in one of the world’s most prolific silver-producing districts: northern Idaho’s Silver Valley.

Lucky Friday has been in commercial production since 1942 and this week the number 4 shaft project to extend the life of the mine for another generation reached a big milestone. Cementation USA Inc. on Tuesday announced it has completed sinking the deepest shaft in the United States at the mine owned by Hecla Mining outside the town of Mullan in Shoshone county, Idaho.

With a finished diameter of 18 feet, the Lucky Friday #4 Shaft was sunk to a final depth of 9,587 feet (2.92 kilometres) below surface. The project is moving into the furnishing construction phase where shaft steel and the final conveyances will be installed.

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EQUIPMENT: Atlas Copco launches its first battery powered underground loader

Find your nearest Atlas Copco dealer at www.AtlasCopco.com.

SWEDEN – Atlas Copco is launching its newest zero emissions underground loader, setting a new benchmark in operator safety this week at the MassMin 2016. Look for it in North America before it is gradually rolled out around the globe.

The new Scooptram ST7 Battery has been designed to lift environmental standards in underground mines, lower energy costs as well as operators’ exposure to diesel particulate matter, and may lead the way for the redesign of mines. While there are already electric scoops in underground mines, these units have to be tethered via an electric cable, limiting their limited range and creating other operating challenges.

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[Western Australian Premier] Barnett attacks Rio’s pay delay – by Paul Garvey (The Australian – April 13, 2016)

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/

Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett will personally demand that Rio Tinto abandon its contentious plans to force its contractors and suppliers to wait longer for payment.

Mr Barnett yesterday slammed Rio Tinto for its decision to double the time it takes to pay its suppliers from 45 days to 90 days, warning that the move could drive vulnerable companies out of business.

“Rio Tinto is a global company. It makes, even at low iron ore prices, very good profits in Western Australia, and … to shift that financial burden on to local contractors, including many small businesses, I don’t think is a good policy. I’m hoping Rio Tinto will reverse that,” Mr Barnett said.

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Australia’s Rio Tinto to take longer to pay as resource slump bites – by Peter Gosnell (Reuters U.S. – April 9, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

SYDNEY – Rio Tinto , one of the world’s biggest miners, has doubled its payment terms in a move that will force embattled suppliers to wait up to 90 days to be paid.

A spokesman for the mining giant confirmed the change on Saturday, saying it would sustain jobs and supplier relationships. Previously, the payment term was 45 days.

“We announced at the Rio Tinto results presentation in February that we would be embarking on a further round of measures to free up cash and reduce working capital,” said the spokesman, Bruce Tobin. “This initiative is designed to preserve and maintain jobs and suppliers in a tough global environment for commodities.”

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Six yard battery-powered scoops head for Russia Batteries and lithium are King – by Norm Tollinsky (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – November 17, 2015)

http://www.sudburyminingsolutions.com/

RDH Mining Equipment builds on track record for innovation

RDH Mining Equipment, a manufacturer of underground mining equipment in Alban, Ontario, 50 kilometres south of Sudbury, has sold three battery-powered, six-yard load-haul-dump machines to a mine in Russia.

A global leader in the development of battery-powered underground mining equipment, RDH began manufacturing electric scoops in 2011 for Kirkland Lake Gold. Since then, it has sold the Ontario gold miner 12 battery-powered three-yard loaders and three haul trucks.

The three drivers for the mining industry’s interest in battery power are rising ventilation costs, heat issues and exposure to diesel particulate, which is now classified as a carcinogen, said RDH president Kevin Fitzsimmons.

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Battery power exec predicts diesel’s demise – by Walter Franczyk (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – November 17, 2015)

http://www.sudburyminingsolutions.com/

Mike Kasaba foresees the day when diesel no longer fuels underground mining. The chief executive officer of Artisan Vehicle Systems, a company that supplies battery-powered, electric powertrains for mining equipment, Kasaba predicts that within five years all new equipment purchases for underground mines will be zero emission and diesel equipment will be progressively phased out.

He delivered his forecast during a recent Toronto conference of the Mining Diesel Emissions Council. To prepare for diesel’s demise, his company recently opened a 60,000-square-foot battery development centre and production facility designed to boost production levels by 10 times, in Camarillo, California.

“The driving force behind the expansion is this opportunity and urgency in underground mining,” said Mark Dunseith, general manager of Artisan’s Canadian operations.

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Fast-growing mining and oil & gas industries, and the huge number of supply-chain jobs they create – by Joshua Wright (New Geography – September 18, 2013)

http://www.newgeography.com/

Please note this is a dated article, but very interesting – Stan Sudol

The fastest-growing industry in the U.S since 2010 isn’t large or well-known. In fact, nearly half of the estimated 5,100 jobs in support activities for metal mining are located in one state: Nevada. Nonetheless, employment in this niche mining industry has ballooned 53% since 2010, and it creates a huge number of supply-chain jobs in other parts of the economy.

Four of the five fastest-growing industries from 2010-2013, based on EMSI’s 2013.2 employment dataset, are related in some form to mining and oil & gas. These industries (e.g., oil & gas pipeline construction and support activities for oil & gas operations) have been carried by the boom in oil and natural gas production in pockets of the U.S., from North Dakota to Pennsylvania to Texas. And their growth has sparked new jobs in other sectors.

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Sombre, reflective tone at SAMSSA’s AGM – by Ella Myers (Northern Ontario Business – Decemeber 4, 2015)

http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

The Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Services Association (SAMSSA) welcomed a new president, two new board members and inducted two local businessmen into their respected Hall of Fame at their December 4 annual general meeting.

A crowd representing 110 of the organization’s 125 members stood in silence for the commencement of the meeting, out of respect for one of the Hall of Fame recipients, Andre Ruest of B&D Manufacturing, who passed away Nov.19.

“He was a great guy for me, always open to suggestions, I will sadly miss him, and we will honour his life and celebrate him at the end of the presentation today,” said executive director Dick DeStefano.

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Caterpillar warns lower Chinese demand will limit sales – by Lindsay Whipp (Financial Times – November 15, 2015)

http://www.ft.com/

Chicago – Caterpillar, the world’s largest mining and construction equipment manufacturer by sales, has warned that it does not expect Chinese demand for excavators to recover to the peaks of 2010-12.

Tom Pellette, group president for construction industry equipment, made the remarks as the Chinese economy recorded its slowest growth rate since 2009 in the third quarter, due to declining construction and factory activity, which many economists do not believe has bottomed out yet.

The forecasts also highlight Beijing’s efforts to rebalance the economy away from its traditional drivers such as manufacturing and investment and towards consumer spending. It also demonstrates the impact of the stimulus programme, which the government unleashed during the global financial crisis, had on demand.

Mr Pellette said industry-wide sales of hydraulic excavators between 10-90 tonnes, will reach the “23,000 range” in China this year. That compares with a total of more than 27,000 sold in March alone in 2011 and more than 112,000 for the whole of 2010, which was the peak year for the market. The company does not disclose figures for sales of its own products by country.

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Recession hits steel in Sault, mining supply in Sudbury (CBC News Sudbury – October 22, 2015)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

‘Commodity prices better change pretty soon,’ Sudbury mining supply official says

While there is some debate about whether or not Canada is in a recession, people in northeastern Ontario are feeling a downturn, with hundreds of layoffs over the last few months.

Some of the largest layoffs have been in the steel industry at Sault Ste. Marie. Essar Steel Algoma has laid off 100 workers, with notice that 80 more could come soon.

The other large local steelmaker, Tenaris Tubes, already has 270 workers on layoff and at the end of the month, a temporary shutdown will some of the remaining 230 employees on temporary lay-off, but the company expects to start calling them all back to work in late November.

Russell Rancourt was laid off at Tenaris in February and was hoping to get called back. He’s looked for other work in the region and out west, but has found nothing.

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Caterpillar’s cost-cutting plans a mark of struggling global economy – by Brian Milner (Globe and Mail – September 25, 2015)

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 must have seemed like a good idea when Caterpillar Inc. forked out $7.6-billion (U.S.) in 2011 to acquire mining machinery heavyweight Bucyrus International Inc.

At the time, Caterpillar could not keep up with the soaring demand for massive trucks, earth-movers and other heavy equipment in the midst of a global resource boom.

So the company happily paid more than a 30-per-cent premium to get its hands on Bucyrus and its hydraulic shovels, draglines and other expensive specialized gear it did not produce on its own.

But as it soon turned out, the timing of the costly expansion could not have been worse for the world’s biggest maker of construction and mining equipment. The resource balloon began deflating by mid-2012, and things have been going from bad to worse for Caterpillar ever since.

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Recession has little impact on Sudbury [mining]: Chamber – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – September 02, 2015)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Mining supply and services remain steady, but not great

While Canada officially entered a recession Tuesday, it has mostly been business as usual for the last two quarters in Sudbury, says the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce.

“I think Sudbury, as a whole, is doing reasonably well,” said Karen Hourtovenko, chair of the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce.

Statistics Canada announced Tuesday Canada’s gross domestic product decreased by 0.5 per cent between April and June, which marked the second GDP decline in as many quarters. The technical definition of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.

The recession has been driven by a slump in the oil and gas sector, but other sectors of the economy have seen more positive growth. The resale housing market, for example, increased nearly 10 per cent in the same quarter.

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