Coal – Page 3 – Republic of Mining

Rare earth discoveries mean coal mines could have a key role to play in the energy transition – by Anmar Frangoul (CNBC.com – November 24, 2023)

November 27, 2023

https://www.cnbc.com/

From Pennsylvania to the north of England, coal mines helped to power the Industrial Revolution, turbocharging the economic growth of countries around the world. Today, however, the production and use of coal has become a thorny issue, with critics slamming the fossil fuel’s huge impact on the environment.

Organizations like Greenpeace describe coal as “the dirtiest, most polluting way of producing energy.” From the UN Secretary General to the International Energy Agency, talk of phasing out coal is becoming increasingly common.

OPINION: Teck’s inessential coal sale makes it smaller and more vulnerable to takeover – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – November 24, 2023)

November 27, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

After two decades of evisceration, the Canadian diversified mining industry had one big name standing – Teck Resources. The company was not among the half-dozen giants that dominate the global mining industry, but it was the biggest we had left. With a smart strategy, disciplined spending and more than a little luck, Teck could emerge as a homegrown champion, perhaps not among the industry’s A-team players, but near the top end of the B list.

That was the vision, at least. What happened instead was self-evisceration. On Nov. 14, Teck sold its vast coal assets, all of them in Canada, to Glencore of Switzerland, Japan’s Nippon Steel and South Korea’s POSCO, in an US$8.9-billion deal. The sale of Teck’s coal made sense on one level, perhaps, and no sense on others.

‘Easier deal to swallow’ — B.C. politicians soften their stance as Glencore buys Teck’s coal mines – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – November 22, 2023)

November 22, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

Two dozen commitments agreed by the Swiss mining giant reassure community leaders

The mayors of two towns in British Columbia’s southeastern Kootenay region weren’t too happy when Glencore PLC first tried to buy Teck Resources Ltd. and its four steelmaking coal mines.

Six months on, however, both mayors seem to have changed their point of view now that Glencore is set to take over most of Teck’s coal mines for about US$7 billion. One of them even hopes the Swiss mining giant can help build more homes to address the region’s housing shortage.

Australian company revives its push for a controversial coal mine in Alberta – by Emma Ganey (Globe and Mail – November 21, 2023)

November 22, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A company whose application for a coal mine in Alberta was rejected two years ago is back – with a new name, and an updated request to explore its lease in the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

Northback Holdings Corp., formerly Benga Mining Ltd., is a subsidiary of Australian mining giant Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd. It is again eyeing a potential mine at Grassy Mountain, submitting applications to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) for a 105-day exploratory drilling program and a request for a water diversion.

Ukraine’s coal mines turn to women to solve wartime staff shortages – by Max Hunder (Reuters – November 22, 2023)

November 22, 2023

https://www.reuters.com/

PAVLOHRAD, Ukraine, Nov 22 (Reuters) – After more than a thousand of its workers went to fight Russia’s invasion, a coal mining enterprise in eastern Ukraine suffered a huge staff shortage. Its answer was to allow women to work underground for the first time in its history.

Over a hundred took up the offer. “I took this job because the war started and there were no other jobs,” 22-year-old Krystyna said candidly. For five months, she has worked as a technician 470 metres below ground, servicing the small electric trains which haul workers more than four kilometres from the lift shaft where they descend to the seams of coal.

This Coal Giant Now Wants to Get Out of Coal – by Julie Steinberg (Wall Street Journal – November 19, 2023)

November 20, 2023

https://www.wsj.com/

Glencore Chief Executive Gary Nagle made his name running the commodity giant’s sprawling coal operations. Now he’s leading an effort to get the company out of coal altogether.

Glencore this past Tuesday agreed to a multibillion-dollar deal that will eventually rid it of its coal mines, a move that represents the company’s biggest strategic shift in years. That leaves it to focus on bolstering its position as a major supplier of the metals needed for electric-vehicle batteries and other green technologies.

From bad blood and public bashing to an $8.9-billion deal: How Teck made nice with Glencore – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – November 18, 2023)

November 20, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Back in the spring, Teck Resources Ltd. suffered one of the biggest blows in its more than 100-year history. At the 11th hour, Canada’s biggest diversified mining company called off a restructuring that had been years in the making, after failing to garner enough support from shareholders.

On the day of that grim announcement, the atmosphere at Teck’s annual general meeting was akin to that in a morgue. Teck’s sombre-faced chief executive officer Jonathan Price and its board of directors were forced to publicly accept blame for putting forward a poorly conceived restructuring.

Vern vs. the miners – by Robson Fletcher and Joel Dryden (CBC News – November 20, 2023)

November 20, 2023

https://www.cbc.ca/

Vern Emard is 62 years old but his age doesn’t show as he leads the way up a rickety plywood ramp. His boots clomp as he steps onto the metal roof of what he calls his “palapa” — a shelter that’s not quite a complete house — at a high point of land on his remote property north of Blairmore, in the southern Alberta Rockies.

From atop the roof, he gestures across the valley toward Grassy Mountain, its rocky peak protruding from an evergreen forest, dotted with yellow deciduous trees, into blue sky.

Teck coal sell-off a green politics manoeuvre – by Terence Corcoran (Financial Post – August 17, 2023) https://financialpost.com/

November 17, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

Green promise may not play out as imagined

Somewhere within the machinations of Canada’s largest mining corporation the goal of increasing shareholder gains must still exist in some form, although the latest developments around Teck Resources does make one wonder.

The news Tuesday that the mining giant has agreed to sell its steelmaking coal operations to Swiss mining giant Glencore and companies in Japan and Korea for an “implied value” of $9 billion popped Teck shares to $52, a gain of eight per cent on the day. But the pop didn’t last long.

Glencore-Teck deal reveals the irony of coal: Profitable and vital, yet endlessly shunned – by Heather Exner-Pirot (Globe and Mail – November 17, 2023)

November 17, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Heather Exner-Pirot is the director of energy, natural resources and environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

In many ways, the US$8.9-billion deal Glencore has struck for Teck Resources’ coal assets represents an elegant split that plays to each company’s strengths.

Teck, the Canadian miner, can now focus on its core base metals business, in particular copper, as it bets on strong returns in the years to come. Swiss commodities giant Glencore can build up its coal empire, adding the steelmaking coal assets to its vast thermal coal trade.

OPINION: Ottawa sets out clear path for Glencore’s purchase of Teck’s coal mines – by Andrew Willis (Globe and Mail – August 17, 2023)

November 17, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The federal government is giving Switzerland’s Glencore PLC a clear path to acquiring Canada’s largest coal miner from Teck Resources Ltd., while making it clear Ottawa will block any foreign player bidding for all of Teck itself, the country’s critical minerals champion.

Although federal officials previously signed off on acquisitions of major metals producers – so long Inco Ltd., farewell Alcan Inc. – the current regime signalled a more protectionist, nationalist approach this week during a news conference at a condo construction site in Toronto.

Teck to sell coal business to Glencore, Nippon Steel and POSCO in US$8.9-billion deal – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – November 14, 2023)

November 14, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Teck Resources Ltd. has agreed to sell its coal business to Swiss commodities trading giant Glencore PLC and two Asian steelmakers, in a US$8.9-billion transaction that requires federal approval, and will be closely scrutinized by Ottawa before it can proceed.

Vancouver-based Teck has been fielding offers for its core metallurgical coal business since the spring, when an earlier plan to spin it off was cancelled at the eleventh hour because of insufficient shareholder support. Founded in 1913, Teck is Canada’s largest diversified mining company, a major employer in British Columbia and one of the oldest miners in the country.

U.S., Canada and Ktunaxa Nation to discuss coal-mining pollution in Kootenai River watershed (Montana Free Press – November 9, 2023)

November 10, 2023

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At the first-of-its-kind meeting, representatives of U.S., Canadian and tribal governments will discuss water quality impacts stemming from an expansive coal-mining operation in British Columbia.

After years of delays and false starts, eight governments impacted by an expansive Canadian coal-mining operation are set to meet today on Indigenous territory in Cranbrook, British Columbia, to discuss the future of the governments’ shared waterways.

The meeting will include representatives from the federal governments of the United States and Canada and the Ktunaxa Nation Council, which advocates for the interests of six bands of Indigenous people spread across present-day British Columbia, Montana and Idaho. The council, which includes representation from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, has for years asked for greater oversight of Teck Resources’ British Columbia-based coal-mining operation.

Conservation groups sue feds in bid to protect endangered species from Appalachian coal mining – by Ryan Knappenberger (Courthouse News – November 8, 2023)

November 9, 2023November 9, 2023

https://www.courthousenews.com/

The endangered Guyandotte River crayfish, one of three at-risk species centered in the lawsuit, has suffered a 93% habitat loss due to coal mining activity in the region, conservationists say, limiting the species to just two creeks in West Virginia.

WASHINGTON (CN) — Environmental groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday urging the federal government to enact protections for endangered fish and crawfish found in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia as they groups say nearby coal mining operations are driving the species to potential extinction.

The suit, brought by the Center for Biological Diversity and Appalachian Voices in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, slammed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, saying the agency had ignored the significant impacts of coal mining sedimentation and approved hundreds of mining permits without the required protections.

The $2 Million Coal Mine That Might Hold a $37 Billion Treasure – by Julie Steinberg (Wall Street Journal – November 9, 2023)

November 9, 2023

https://www.wsj.com/

Wyoming discovery could be America’s first new source of rare-earth elements since 1952

Twelve years ago, former Wall Street banker Randall Atkins bought an old coal mine outside Sheridan, Wyo., sight unseen, for about $2 million. He thought the mine might eke out a profit. Instead, Atkins recently learned it could bring a windfall.

Several years after Atkins bought the Brook Mine, government researchers came around asking if they could run some tests to see if the ground contained something called “rare-earth elements.” When Atkins acquired the mine, he says he “didn’t know the difference between rare earths and rare coins.”