Twitter

Chromium/Platinum Group Metals

NEWS RELEASE: KWG, Bold Ventures Join Forces to Drill Black Horse Chromite Discovery to Determine Economic Feasibility

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Feb. 4, 2013) – KWG Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:KWG) announces that it has agreed to fund Bold Ventures Inc. (“Bold”) as the Operator to drill off the Black Horse chromite discovery, commencing with an initial program starting as soon as the transaction with Bold closes. The intent of the program is to determine whether this chromite mineralization occurs in sufficient quantity and quality to demonstrate the feasibility of mining it and transporting it to market by rail via the claims of KWG subsidiary Canada Chrome Corporation.

“The Black Horse discovery encountered 55 meters of 45% chromite, the richest drill core recovered in the Ring of Fire,” said KWG President Frank Smeenk. “There is compelling geological and geophysical evidence to suggest that this mineralization could be part of an extensive continuous emplacement. If this drilling program is able to confirm that, we would wish to be the first Canadian companies to develop markets for the Ring of Fire chromite by providing transportation over Canada Chrome Corporation’s contiguous claims.”

Bold recently concluded a four-stage option to acquire the Black Horse claims from Fancamp Exploration Ltd., subject to Fancamp retaining a price-variable gross metal royalty (the “Fancamp Option”). Under the terms of an agreement now concluded between KWG and Bold Ventures, KWG can acquire up to 80% of Bold’s interest in the Fancamp Option by funding 100% of Bold’s earn-in expenditures and option payments. The current program has budgeted $2 million to drill the chromite horizon. An additional $1 million has been budgeted to drill a contiguous possible nickel target.

Read more

Anglo American – Haunted by history – by Rex Gibson (Financial Mail – January 31, 2013)

http://www.fm.co.za/

What’s in Mark Cutifani’s in-tray

What kind of company will Mark Cutifani inherit? Every move Anglo American makes provokes an intense response from its myriad local stakeholders. This despite its moving its primary listing to London 14 years ago . Rex Gibson reflects on the role mining, and in particular Anglo American, has played in the SA economy.

It may be one of the most inept public relations performances ever by a government not renowned for its PR skills. President Jacob Zuma went to the World Economic Forum in Davos intending to reassure the world that SA welcomed investors in mining. But it appears that nobody told some of his top lieutenants.

A few days before, mineral resources minister Susan Shabangu launched a broadside of remarkable ferocity and insensitivity against Anglo American and its subsidiary, Anglo American Platinum (Amplats). The two culprits had had the nerve to announce their business proposals without talking to her.

Though clearly directed at these two, her bullying approach carried a disturbing message for the industry as a whole: “I’ll show you who’s the boss.” The result was that Zuma felt obliged to repudiate Shabangu, insisting that investors were welcome. But that didn’t do much for the confidence and sense of security of those looking to store their money for the long term in a safe place.

Read more

Excerpt from “The History of Mining: The events, technology and people involved in the industry that forged the modern world” – by Michael Coulson

To order a copy of The History of Mining please click here: http://www.harriman-house.com/products/books/23161/business/Michael-Coulson/The-History-of-Mining/

HANS MERENSKY (1871-1952)

Hans Merensky was born in 1871 in Botshabelo in the Transvaal. His father Alexander, a German, was an ethnographer interested in the scientific study of local African culture; he was also resident missionary in the area.

In 1882 the family returned to Germany where Merensky finished his schooling and then went to the State Academy of Mining in Berlin to study mining geology and engineering, and then took a doctorate in geology at the Royal Technical College of Charlottenburg. His course professor in Berlin remarked on Merensky’s sixth sense for ferreting out mineral deposits.

Following that he worked in the coal mines of Silesia before joining the Department of Mines in East Prussia. In 1904 Merensky returned to South Africa on sabbatical from the Department to do some geological field studies and it was here that he made the first of a suite of major mineral discoveries in southern Africa. Working in the Transvaal he discovered tin near Pretoria and then became associated with Premier Diamonds.

Read more

More strife in South Africa’s troubled mines – by Margaret Evans (CBC New.ca – January 21, 2013)

 http://www.cbc.ca/news/

Labour unrest ripping through the country

Picture a site not far from the town of Rustenburg in the broad expanse of South Africa’s North West “platinum province,” along the border with Botswana. To one side stands the industrial hulk of the Lonmin mine, symbol of industry and (until recently) South Africa’s booming resource economy. It’s grey concrete shafts rise up out of the ground to tower over a maze of power lines.

Sprawled at its feet, the muddy shantytown that serves as home to the miners who fuel the industry, and scratch out their meagre living. In the distance you can see the red kopi, the hill where 34 miners met their end, shot dead by police in the midst of a wildcat strike in August. A crooked cluster of white wooden crosses, their memorial.

This is the stage where the most seminal event in South Africa’s recent history was played out, where the raw elements of a fractured society collided with deadly effect.

“They were killed right in front of me,” says miner Teboho Hlakentso. “And some of the people who got killed, they were not just shot, they were stabbed with spears by the police.

“So the people would be shot and they would be laying there wounded and dying and the police would take their spears and the police would finish them off with spears.”

Read more

Striking Amplats miners agree to return to work – by Ed Stoddard (Globe and Mail – January 17, 2013)

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.

JOHANNESBURG — Reuters – Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (Amplats) miners will end an illegal walkout from Wednesday night and want talks to prevent further action against the world’s largest producer of the precious metal, a labour leader said.

Workers at three of Amplats’ South African mines went on a wildcat walkout from Tuesday’s overnight shift, hours after the company, a unit of London-listed Anglo American, announced plans to mothball shafts and cut 14,000 jobs.

“The strike was only for last night,” Amplats labour leader Evans Ramokga told Reuters. He added workers would press management to find a way to head off job cuts, which were equal to about 3 per cent of South Africa’s overall work force in the mining sector. Amplats officials were not immediately available to comment.

Amplats earlier said an unspecified number of employees at its Khomanani, Thembelani and Tumela mines, in the heart of South Africa’s platinum belt, had refused to go underground.

Only Khomanani was among the mines slated for indefinite closure or sale by the company, so the wildcat action indicates militant labour activists had persuaded miners in other shafts to join sympathy strikes.

Read more

Amplats offers new non-mining job for every mining job lost – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – January 15, 2013)

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

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), which is setting out to create at least one new non-mining job for every mining job lost in its proposed downsizing, saw its own share price and the global platinum price rise after announcing the most far-reaching restructuring of its 58-year history, which proposes that two mines close, four shafts be mothballed, a mine be put up for sale and the 14 000 mining jobs earmarked for shedding be matched by the creation of at least an equal number of new non-mining jobs.

In addition to redeploying one-third of 14 000 people back into the rest Anglo American group and the mining industry as a whole, Amplats is offering a new non-mining job opportunity, on top of a retrenchment package, to each of the employees who cannot be placed in another mining job and are forced to enter the non-mining space.

The aim in reducing the employee complement to 45 000 is to be job neutral. “We’ll seek to ensure that we compensate for any necessary labour restructuring through the creation of an equivalent number of non-mining jobs,” Amplats CEO Chris Griffith said.

This saw its share price rise 1.28% on the JSE to R497.30 before 10 am and the platinum price rise to $1 691/oz, overtaking a gold price of $1 653/oz. South Africa’s Chamber of Mines CEO Bheki Sibiya applauded Amplats for setting out to create new non-mining jobs in housing, infrastructure and small business development in Rustenburg and labour-sending areas to make amends for the mining jobs lost.

Read more

S. Africa’s Amplats to shed mines, 14,000 jobs – by Ed Stoddard (Globe and Mail – January 15, 2013)

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.

JOHANNESBURG — Reuters – Anglo American Platinum, the world’s top platinum producer, said it will mothball two South African mines, sell another and cut 14,000 jobs, risking a repeat of last year’s strikes when about 50 people died.

In a review announced on Tuesday that is seen as crucial to reviving the fortunes of Anglo American, which owns about 80 per cent of Amplats, the platinum producer said it aimed to cut output by around a fifth or 400,000 ounces.

But analysts have cautioned the cut could be overstated, as it is based on production capacity that Rustenburg mines have not matched for several years. Against forecast production, the cuts may amount to closer to 300,000 ounces.

Amplats has said it probably fell to a full-year loss because of the 2012 strikes, which were centred on Rustenburg where most of the job cuts will fall. The price of platinum rose over 2 per cent to 3-month highs, leaping past gold for the first since March last year, on concerns over supply.

Reaction was swift, with an Amplats labour leader threatening a strike across its South African operations if the indefinite closures, when they would be put on “care and maintenance”, go ahead.

“If they put any shaft on care and maintenance, all of the operations will go on strike. Nothing like this will be allowed,” said Evans Ramogka, labour leader in Rustenburg.

Read more

UPDATE: 14,000 jobs affected as Amplats restructures Rustenburg – by Geoff Candy (Mineweb.com – January 15, 2013)

http://www.mineweb.com/

The platinum miner hopes to extract R3.8bn in cost savings and create 14,000 new jobs through the plan.

GRONINGEN (MINEWEB) – Anglo American Platinum said Tuesday it will, among other things, reconfigure its Rustenburg operations into three mines, sell its Union mine and deliver R3.8bn in cost savings by 2015.

These plans are all the result of a review of its operations undertaken by its parent Anglo American in a bid to return the company to long-term profitability and are expected to affect as many as 14,000 jobs, 13,000 of which will be in the Rustenburg area.

According to a release out on Tuesday morning, the group said, it would restructure its Rustenburg operations into a sustainable 320-350,000oz platinum producer across three operating mines.

As a result, “Four unsustainable, high-cost shafts, namely Khuseleka 1 and 2 and Khomanani 1 and 2, will be put on long-term care and maintenance.” This it says will see the production profile reduced by approximately 400,000oz per annum with a baseline production target of 2.1 – 2.3 million oz per annum.

Read more

Vale cut not ‘fatal’ to city’s economy – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – January 12, 2013)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Vale’s decision to cut in half the proposed $2 billion it would spend on a massive pollution-reduction project at the Copper Cliff Smelter site will affect local mining supply and service companies, but it’s not a fatal blow, says Dick DeStefano.

DeStefano, executive director of the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association, said local companies had about a 25% of Vale’s Clean Atmospheric Emissions Reduction project, which will now cost $1-billion. The members reaction, he said, is the work will be made up somewhere else.

“I haven’t heard one complaint because they made a business decision,” said DeStefano. “No one has called me up saying ‘I am losing a pile of money.’ Our guys are saying ‘let’s move on. There are other markets in other places. If we don’t see it here, there are others. We have to live with it.’”

DeStefano said the good news Thursday is the increased push to develop the Victor-Capre Mine and the Copper Cliff Mine brownfield site, which he said, could lead to $500 million-plus of investment at each site, more than making up for the lost $1 billion from Clean AER.

While he accepts that the Clean AER announcement was a business decision, DeStefano said the Copper Cliff Smelter could run into problems down the road when it operates with just one furnace.

Read more

Project Focus: Ring of Fire – by John Chadwick (International Mining – January 2013)

http://www.im-mining.com/

There is a very exciting new mining camp developing in Canada, John Chadwick reports

According to the Ontario Government, “The Ring of Fire is one of the most promising mineral development opportunities in
Ontario in almost a century. Located in Ontario’s Far North, current estimates suggest the multigenerational potential of chromite production,as well as significant production of nickel, copper and platinum.”

The projects will open up economic opportunities in an extremely remote and undeveloped area, an 80 km by 100 km swath of
muskeg, especially for local First Nations communities. Any new infrastructure (community, social, etc.) will further benefitlocal communities. The region will require significant investment in mine and processing infrastructure, the construction and operation of transportation infrastructure and the provision of energy. Rail and all-weather road options are currently being assessed for the transportation corridor.

The exploration and prospecting involves some 16,400 claim units, covering an area of 2,630 km2, with 21 companies currently holding claims in the Ring of Fire belt. The area of most intense exploration is about 20 km long running northeast from Noront’s Eagle 2 prospect to Spider-KWG’s McFauld’s #2. Discoveries include chromite, nickel, copper, zinc, gold and kimberlite.

Read more

Accent: Ring of Fire – Miles to go before we dig [Part 1 of 2] – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – January 5, 2013)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

It may be a cliche, but over the past six months, how things have changed and how they’ve stayed the same in the Ring of Fire.

There may be some ongoing activity or discussions behind the scenes, but without a doubt, the declining state of the global economy, First Nations issues and Ontario politics seem to have halted any progress on a variety of issues.

First let’s look at the fragile nature of the world economy. The U.S. is still struggling; Europe is worse, with skyrocketing unemployment rates in many countries; and China’s past double-digit expansion is gone. It is estimated that their economy will “only” grow 7% this year.

The price of commodities and the value of resource companies have plummeted. Many mining projects are being put on hold or cancelled, while layoff notices are being handed out. Funding for junior exploration companies — the source of future discoveries like the Ring of Fire — has become almost impossible to find, putting many on life support.

The stock price of Cliffs Natural Resources has plummeted from US$100 per share a year and a half ago to a little under US$30 recently.

Cliffs has publicly stated that they are looking for a partner to help develop their Northern Ontario chromite deposits. Recently, the company has put their Bloom Lake iron ore expansion project in Quebec’s Labrador Iron Trough on hold and stopped production at two of their U.S. iron ore mines.

Read more

South Africa’s ANC vetoes plan to nationalize mining – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – December 21, 2012)

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.

BLOEMFONTEIN, SOUTH AFRICA — After years of damaging debate, South Africa’s ruling party has finally vetoed the idea of nationalizing its mining sector.

The announcement is part of a broad defeat for the left-wing factions in the African National Congress, reassuring investors and allowing more influence for pro-business leaders in the party. But in a compromise with the left-wingers, the ANC agreed to impose some form of higher taxes on the mining sector, and it promised a bigger role for a state-controlled mining company.

As the world’s biggest platinum producer and the fifth-biggest gold producer, South Africa should be attracting interest from mining investors from around the world. But many companies are scared away by its poor labour relations, heavy government involvement in the sector, and the continuing talk of nationalization.

Many Canadian mining companies have avoided South Africa, preferring to invest in other places, especially West Africa, where governments are seen as friendlier. Canadian mining companies are among the biggest investors in West African countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Senegal.

Read more

CHROME’S COLOURFUL HISTORY – From The International Chromium Development Association (ICDA)

The International Chromium Development Association (ICDA) http://www.icdacr.com/

The Discovery of Chrome

In 1762, J. G. Legmann described an orange-yellow mineral discovered in Siberia’s Ural Mountains, which he called crocoite because it resembled the colour of egg yoke (krokos in Greek). Thirty-five years later, French chemist Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin identified a new metallic element in this mineral. He called it “chromium”, after the Greek khrōma, meaning colour, because of its colourful compounds. Indeed, the yellow deposit obtained by crushing the mineral was already being used as a paint pigment. After further research, Vauquelin found that trace elements of chrome give rubies their characteristic red colour and emeralds, serpentine and chrome mica their distinctive green.

Read more

Oligarchs, not investors, to get Abramovich Norilsk windfall – by Polina Devitt (Reuters U.K. – December 11, 2012)

http://uk.reuters.com/

MOSCOW – (Reuters) – Roman Abramovich, the Kremlin’s enforcer on a peace deal at Norilsk Nickel, will pay cash straight to the Arctic giant’s two main oligarch owners for a stake in the company, depriving other investors of the windfall from an end a billionaires’ feud.

Norilsk Nickel, which mines the vast mineral deposits of Russia’s far north, was one of the biggest prizes handed to insiders in the post-Soviet carve-up of Russian industry that created a clique of politically powerful tycoons.

For years the world’s largest nickel and palladium producer has suffered from a feud between its two main owners, billionaires Vladimir Potanin and Oleg Deripaska.

Fellow billionaire Abramovich, owner of London’s Chelsea football club, settled the row last week by sweeping in to buy a stake under a deal that appeared to have the blessing of President Vladimir Putin.

A revision, announced on Tuesday by Norilsk and Deripaska’s Hong Kong-listed aluminum producer RUSAL (0486.HK), would see Abramovich buy a slightly smaller stake, but pay for it directly to the two billionaires’ firms, rather than Norilsk.

Read more

Will the real Norilsk owner please stand up? – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – December 7, 2012)

http://www.reuters.com/

Dec 7 (Reuters) – The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has just issued a report on doing business in Russia.

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained: Changing international perceptions of Russian business” is based on a survey of 195 senior executives from outside Russia, with particular focus on those who have been or are considering joint venturing with Russian corporates.

“Non-Russian executives have decidedly mixed views of their Russian partners,” the report notes, explaining: “Access to energy and financial resources, and technical know-how, are the big pluses (…) poor language skills, inefficient management and corporate governance are the big minuses.”

Third on the EIU’s recommended list of nine ways for Russian companies to break free of outsiders’ “stereotypes” is to “avoid ‘insider’ practices and back-room deals”. Oh, and one other thing. The study was commissioned by Russian aluminium giant UC RUSAL and is available for download from the company’s website (www.rusal.com).

Read more