Chromium/Platinum Group Metals – Page 30

Ivanhoe PEA provides glimpse of SA’s potential platinum future – by Jeff Candy (Mineweb.com – March 28, 2014)

March 28, 2014

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/

The miner is planning to have an 8 million t/y platinum operation up by 2024, at costs of under $500 an ounce excluding by-product credits.

GRONINGEN (MINEWEB) – Ivanhoe Mines’ preliminary economic assessment of its Platreef PGM project in South Africa is some welcome good news for a sector that has had more than its fair share of bad.

As the world’s three largest platinum miners continue to bleed in the wake of a strike that has cost them and their workers billions of rands, Ivanhoe’s PEA, released yesterday, confirms the size and scope of a project that not only has the benefit of significant base metal credits, but also ore veins that are wide enough to accommodate mechanised mining.

Driving home the difference between Platreef and its deep, thin-veined peers, CEO, Robert Friedland commented, “We’re looking forward to working with all of our stakeholders to advance the Platreef Project to production, to create valued and skilled jobs and to significantly contribute to the socio-economic development of the people of area communities who will have a voice in decision making and a direct share in our success through our responsively structured, broad-based, black economic empowerment partner.”

Fear of deadly reprisal, hunger, in Rustenburg as SA platinum strike marches on – by Ayanda Mdluli (Mineweb.com – March 27, 2014)

March 27, 2014

http://www.mineweb.com/

Mineweb correspondents investigate conditions and perspectives in Rustenburg – the town at the heart of a strike in South Africa’s platinum sector.

RUSTENBURG (MINEWEB) – When workers sell their hard earned possessions to buy food in the platinum belt of Rustenburg for lack of earnings after nine weeks of a brutal strike one can conclude bread-and-butter politics truly have the region in its grip.

Many stores are shuttered, except pawn shops, which are overflowing with household items that have been sold for next to nothing. In Rustenburg homes, cooking pots once filled with solid chicken cuts now swim with chicken heads and feet instead.

“I would love to talk to you about what is going on but the problem is that I am just too hungry and I need to look for something to eat. The problem is here,” says a middle-aged man, pointing to his abdomen.

His point made, the man, who claims to be a worker in the Karee Mine at Lonmin in Marikana, Rustenburg, South Africa, walks slowly away down the dusty street.

South Africa platinum strike causing ‘irreparable’ damage – producers – by Xola Potelwa (Reuters U.K. – March 25, 2014)

March 25, 2014

http://uk.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG – (Reuters) – Platinum producers Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin said on Tuesday a strike now in its ninth week at their South African mines was causing irreparable damage to the sector and local economy.

Wage talks have broken down between the companies and the striking AMCU union, which is demanding a doubling of basic wages, although the world’s top three platinum producers said they were open to talks “within a reasonable settlement zone”.

In a joint statement, the companies said they had lost nearly 10 billion rand ($921 million) in revenues, but also pointed to the cost to communities around the mines in the platinum belt northwest of Johannesburg.

South Africa’s biggest post-apartheid mine strike, which has hit 40 percent of global production of the precious metal, is also seen denting sluggish economic growth and widening the current account deficit as its effects ripple from the platinum communities throughout the wider economy.

“The financial cost … does not tell the full story,” the companies said. “Mines and shafts are becoming unviable; people are hungry; children are not going to school; businesses are closing and crime in the platinum belt is increasing.”

Multicommodity projects rolling out on Bushveld’s rich northern limb – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – March 20, 2014)

March 21, 2014

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

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Multicommodity-focused projects embracing iron-ore, vanadium, titanium and phosphate are rolling out on the rich northern limb of South Africa’s Bushveld Complex, a huge mineral repository best known for its world-leading platinum and chrome endowment.

Currently some of the Bushveld’s least-mined metals and minerals are beginning to come to the fore as experienced South African geologists prove up the area as a new iron-ore province with strong titanium and vanadium by-products.

The Council for Geoscience estimates that the Bushveld hosts between 25-billion tons and 27-billion tons of iron-ore and the metallurgical impediments that have stood in the way of easy exploitation have been steadily removed.

In addition, the Bushveld granites contain tin, as well as fluoride, uranium, base metals and rare earths. “All of a sudden, if you look at the area, it’s probably the richest piece of real estate on the planet,” Bushveld Minerals technical director, Professor Richard Viljoen, formerly of the University of the Witwatersrand, tells Mining Weekly Online in a video interview (see attached).

Ivanhoe Mines finds thick high-grades at Flatreef discovery – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – March 19, 2014)

March 20, 2014

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Africa-focused project-development firm Ivanhoe Mines on Wednesday revealed that it had uncovered new thick high-grade mineralisation in an area that had become a new extension of the Flatreef platinum/palladium/nickel/copper/gold/rhodium discovery at the company’s Platreef project, on the northern limb of South Africa’s Bushveld Igneous Complex.

The TSX-listed firm reported that drill hole UMT400, recently bored in the Ga-Madiba extension zone on the eastern flank of the Flatreef extension, intersected 48.6 m that contained 4.63 g/t of platinum, palladium and gold (3PE), and 0.30% nickel and 0.13% copper, at a cutoff of 1 g/t of 3PE.

The ratio of platinum to palladium was found to be about 1:1 in the mineralised intercept, while rhodium assays were still pending. The vertical intersection had a true thickness of about 34.4 m when adjusted for the dip of the mineralised zone.

The Ga-Madiba zone, covering about 3.7 km2, adjoins and stretches to the south from the established area of Canadian National Instrument 43-101-compliant inferred resources, which, in turn, surrounds the area of indicated resources that lay at the heart of the Flatreef discovery, and where Ivanhoe is planning to develop an underground mine.

Mine strike hits the micro and macro in S.African economy – by Ed Stoddard (Reuters India – March 20, 2014)

March 20, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

RUSTENBURG, South Africa, March 20 (Reuters) – As South Africa’s biggest post-apartheid mine strike marks its eighth week on Thursday, it is already denting growth and export earnings, and many of those affected are having to sell their most prized possessions to make ends meet.

In an informal bar near the platinum belt city of Rustenburg, striking miner Oupa Majodina holds up his cell phone to show a photo of his pride and joy: his cattle. “I own 11, but I will have to sell some of them. What can I do? I need the cash,” he said glumly as he nursed a beer.

No talks are scheduled between the two sides to the strike, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) and the world’s top platinum producers, Anglo American Platinum , Impala Platinum and Lonmin, and they remain poles apart on the issue of wages.

That means the misery will only spread, making an even bigger headache for President Jacob Zuma and the ruling African National Congress on the run-in to May 7 general elections.

Building the platinum demand of tomorrow – by David McKay (Miningmx.com – March 14 2014)

March 14, 2014

http://www.miningmx.com/

[miningmx.com] – TRYING to understand just how much platinum metal sits in investor hoards or mining company inventories is something of a dark art. GFMS Thomson Reuters, a UK-based market consultancy, estimated in 2012 platinum stocks at 4.5 million ounces.

The thinking is that there’s been drawn-down on those stocks, but the market is not sufficiently relieved. It also supposes 900,000 of platinum ounces held in Absa Capital’s exchange traded fund (ETF) is not actually an inventory.
Derek Engelbrecht, the outgoing marketing director of Impala Platinum (Implats), says these ounces are unlikely to be liquidated, although the track-record of ETFs shows they can be counted as ‘hot money’; in other words, investors will sell the metal – release it into the market – when there’s a profit to realise.

In any event, the inventories of platinum which have been amassed over the years is dampening the ‘fundamental deficit’ in the platinum market. Platinum producers aren’t mining enough metal to meet market demand such as autocatalysis.

That’s why Engelbrecht is hoping the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) accept his idea for a Mandela platinum coin.

SA platinum sector is dead, long live the new platinum sector – by Geoff Candy (Mineweb.com – March 13, 2014)

March 13, 2014

http://www.mineweb.com/

The future of South Africa’s platinum sector lies not in the deep-vein, shanty-town-lined mines of old but rather in the newer, shallower, more community-aware mines.

GRONINGEN (MINEWEB) – What was clear from the presentations and conversations in Toronto during this year’s Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference is that the long-term future of South Africa’s platinum sector lies not in the deep-vein, shanty-town-lined mines of old but rather in the newer, shallower mines that afford more opportunities to local communities and for mechanisation.

From a cost point of view, this, at least on paper, was obvious in a slide shown by Mike Jones, CEO of Platinum Group Metals, during his presentation.

As South Africa’s Minister of Mineral Resources, Susan Shabangu pointed out to Mineweb last week, “If you look at the new mines in SA, they are completely different from your traditional mines, especially the old gold mines in the West Rand of Johannesburg and the platinum mines in Rustenburg.

Rising Chrome-Ore Demand Pressures Zimbabwe to Lift Export Ban – by Felix Njini (Bloomberg News – March 11, 2014)

March 12, 2014

http://www.businessweek.com/

Zimbabwe is facing “huge” external demand for chrome ore, renewing pressure on the government to relax a law that bans exports of the unprocessed material, Mines Minister Walter Chidakwa said.

There has been a “lot of pressure on us to lift the ban,” Chidakwa said by phone yesterday from the capital, Harare. “Everybody is looking for raw chrome on the market, the pressure on us is huge.”

Zimbabwe started an embargo on exports of chrome ore in April 2011 to try force companies to process the metal locally. The ban resulted in some producers, such as Harare-based Zimbabwe Alloys Chrome Ltd., shutting down mining operations completely because of the country’s inadequate smelting capacity. Ferrochrome, produces in smelters using chrome ore, is used to make stainless steel.

The nation has the world’s biggest platinum and chrome deposits after South Africa and has reserves of diamonds, gold, coal, nickel and iron ore. Companies that operate in the country include Anglo American Platinum Ltd., Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. and Aquarius Platinum Ltd. Mining is the country’s biggest source of foreign exchange, with platinum group metals and gold leading tobacco as the nation’s biggest exports.

SA continues to slide in ferrochrome stakes – by David McKay (Miningmx.com – March 11, 2014)

March 11, 2014

http://www.miningmx.com/

[miningmx.com] – SOUTH Africa’s share of the world ferrochrome market shrank further in 2013 despite efforts by the industry to have the country’s government consider protective trade measures.

Merafe Resources said in comments to its year-end results, in which comprehensive income increased more than 300% to R210.6m (2012: R48.9m), that South Africa’s share of world ferrochrome production fell to 32% from 34% in 2012.

“Chrome ore imports into China increased by 30% year-on-year to 12.1 million tonnes (mt), of which 6.7mt (2012: 4.5mt) was from a South African source,” said Merafe Resources. Global ferrochrome production was 10.2mt in 2013, 8% higher than in 2012. Ferrochrome is used in the manufacture of stainless steel and is therefore highly geared to industrial production growth.

As early as 2011, Merafe Resources raised concerns about the export of cheap supplies of chrome ore, partly by platinum producers which mine chrome as a by-product, to China. The contention was that this allowed the Chinese market to grow while the local market struggled, especially amid rising power and labour costs in South Africa.

How A Chicago-Born, Backwards Hat-Wearing Former Steve Jobs Instructor Plans To Dominate South African Mining [Robert Freeland] – by Tommy Humphreys (Business Insider – February 18, 2014)

February 18, 2014

http://www.businessinsider.com/

The reality distortion field, made famous by Steve Jobs’ biographer Walter Isaacson, is a personal intensity and vision so powerful it bends people to your will, convincing them of a project’s higher purpose. Isaacson describes this capacity for influence as a notorious trait of Steve Jobs, who, as founder and CEO of Apple, managed to ship mountainous innovation that consistently redefined the relationship between art and technology.

An interesting footnote here is the fact that Robert Friedland, one of the world’s most successful global resource developers, taught Jobs about the reality distortion field when Jobs was a college student in 1972. And he’s used it to promote a ton of successful mining ventures over the past 35 years—he’s found and developed them on nearly every corner of the globe. And became a multi-billionaire in the process.

I was actually on a trip with Friedland last week, touring three of his latest mining projects in South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). I didn’t realize how privileged I was to be included in the crew, which consisted of members of Friedland’s family and a few investors, until on his Gulfstream jet on the way there, his 39-year-old geologist son Govind looked at me puzzled, then joked to his dad, “What is a blogger doing here?”

South Africa miners’ strike to drive up platinum over time – by Ed Stoddard and Jan Harvey (Reuters U.S. – February 18, 2014)

February 18, 2014

http://www.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG/LONDON Feb 18 (Reuters) – A face-off between platinum producers and striking miners in South Africa has had negligible impact on metals prices so far, but that is likely to change if the action grinds on past the end of the month and stocks are drawn down.

The strike by South Africa’s Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) against the world’s top three platinum mining companies has so far failed to ruffle traders. Platinum prices traded at around $1,422 an ounce on Tuesday, about 2 percent below its levels on the eve of the industrial action.

This is partly because the mining industry is better prepared than in 2012, when it was swept by a wave of rolling and violent illegal strikes. A spokesman for major producer Impala Platinum said last month it had enough in inventories to supply clients for six to eight weeks.

The strike began over three weeks ago when AMCU members downed tools at Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin. The two sides remain poles apart on the issue of wages, suggesting a prolonged stoppage.

Mechanised platinum mines forecast for South Africa – by Brendan Ryan (Business Day – February 10, 2014)

February 10, 2014

http://www.bdlive.co.za/

THE persistent climate of labour unrest and unsustainable pay demands could lead to a long-term structural change in South Africa’s platinum mining industry with the producers opting to develop new mechanised mines.

That is the conclusion drawn by JPMorgan Cazenove analysts Allan Cooke and Steve Shepherd in a recently published major review of prospects for the South African platinum industry. The implication of such a development is that the platinum industry would move towards the business model used by the country’s coal producers, where labour relations are far less volatile than on the gold and platinum mines.

The reasons are that the fewer skilled workers employed on the coal mines are far better paid than the larger numbers of unskilled workers employed on the labour-intensive, deep-level gold and platinum mines.

The new platinum mines would be built on the Northern Limb — or “Platreef” — section of the Bushveld Complex. That is where Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) has already established its Mogalakwena opencast mine and entrepreneur Robert Friedland plans to develop his high-tech “Flatreef” underground mine.

[South Africa platinum] Mining has to get its Act together – by Lynley Donnelly (Mail & Guardian – February 7, 2014)

February 7, 2014

http://mg.co.za/ [South Africa]

The issue of labour representation is central to the problems in the industry. The protracted strike by 70 000 mineworkers was the platinum elephant in the room at the 2014 Mining Indaba in Cape Town this week.

The volatile labour environment has become a major concern for companies and investors alike. Industry experts argued that, unless there is a major shift in industrial relations and the legacy of socioeconomic deprivation faced by mineworkers is meaningfully dealt with, South Africa’s mining sector will continue to suffer.

The opening speech by Minister of Mineral Resources Susan Shabangu provided little reassurance, failing to “decisively address continuing labour-relations challenges in the mining sector, especially the platinum sector”, Tony Zoghby, a partner at the professional services firm Deloitte, said.

Presenters at a discussion held by the South African Institute for International Affairs said violent strikes would persist if the labour relations framework did not become more democratic and miners’ living conditions were not addressed.

Friedland touts South African platinum play despite obstacles – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – February 6, 2014)

February 6, 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 – Robert Friedland could not have chosen a less auspicious day for his latest bid to persuade investors to take a chance on an unorthodox mining dream. Mr. Friedland, the Canadian billionaire founder of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., is planning a huge mine in South Africa’s famed platinum belt.

But even as he touted the project at Africa’s biggest mining conference, the platinum sector was besieged by a prolonged strike by 70,000 workers, with producers warning of escalating losses and the growing likelihood that the strike will lead to major restructuring and job cuts.

To make matters worse, South African miners are deeply worried by a planned overhaul of the country’s mining laws, which could force the producers of “strategic” minerals to limit their exports and sell their products at discounted prices to domestic companies.

Many of South Africa’s top mining executives were in a gloomy mood on Wednesday at the Mining Indaba conference, complaining of a hostile government and a poor investment climate.