Commodity Super-Cycle and Decline – Page 59

York University to offer mining-focused MBA – by Brenda Bouw (Globe and Mail – November 28, 2011)

November 28, 2011

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.

The Schulich School of Business at York University is capitalizing on the looming leader shortage in the mining sector by offering a first-of-its-kind MBA specialization in global mining management starting next fall.

The two-year program, expected to be announced Monday, aims to appeal to future executives, investment bankers, analysts and other professionals eyeing a top-level career in the risk-driven resources sector.

“It’s great succession planning for the industry,” said Richard Ross, an executive in residence at Schulich and former chief executive at Inmet Mining Corp. The Toronto-based MBA program is expected to crank out future mining executives at a time when many of the current, often colourful, company founders are poised for retirement.

Mining industry faces labour crunch, volatility, high costs: Deloitte – by Lauren Krugel (Canadian Business Magazine – November 27, 2011)

November 28, 2011

Founded in 1928, Canadian Business is the longest-publishing business magazine in Canada.

To view the report, please visit http://www.deloitte.com/ca/mining-trends

The Canadian Press – The global mining industry is facing a severe labour squeeze, which means companies must be creative in finding enough talent to run their operations, says a report released Sunday by a major professional services firm.

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. said there simply are not enough workers to power the huge growth expected in the mining sector — capital expenditures this year are estimated to be US$113 billion, 50 per cent higher than 2010 — and firms must look at unconventional ways to fill the gap, like doing more work remotely.

“Given the acute shortage of key talent, delivering on all these projects may be near impossible,” said the report, called Tracking the Trends 2012. Glenn Ives, Deloitte Canada’s Americas mining leader, said demographics are at the heart of the problem.

“There is a 20-year gap in the mining industry. If you think about it, mining was not that great an industry to join in the 80s and the 90s, and so there weren’t a lot of new graduates joining the mining industry in that time frame,” he said in an interview.

Slowdown in Chinese manufacturing fuels global fears – by Andy Hoffman (Globe and Mail – November 24, 2011)

November 24, 2011

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.

China’s massive manufacturing sector is slowing, raising fears of a hard landing for the Asian economic superpower that would deliver a devastating blow to a struggling global economy.

Confirming concerns that Europe’s sovereign debt crisis is crimping demand for Chinese exports, a key measure of China’s manufacturing activity has slipped to its lowest level since March, 2009.

The HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to a reading of 48 in November, down from 51 in October. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.

“The drop suggests that the economy has taken a turn for the worse after a few months in which conditions seemed stable,” Mark Williams and Qinwei Wang of London’s Capital Economics said in a report.

[Manitoba] Province mining bright future – by Martin Cash (Winnipeg Free Press – November 19, 2011)

November 19, 2011

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

Many projects could start up in next few years

In the next five years the mining industry in Manitoba could find itself in a challenging position — trying to find people to fill 2,000 additional jobs that might be created. That’s because a number of development projects that have been percolating for years may be coming to fruition.

With employment up almost 25 per cent over the past five years to 6,100 and capital spending up 25 per cent in the past year, the industry is booming. Base metal prices continue to hold their own and gold prices continue to rise as global economic uncertainty persists.

It means that a number of projects — some that could be among the largest ever developed in the province — continue to progress, creating the potential for several new mine openings over the next few years. It will take billions of dollars to make that a reality, which means it’s far from a foregone conclusion.

But the current optimism — manifested by registration numbers at this week’s annual Manitoba Mining and Minerals Convention hitting 1,000 for the first time ever — does not come out of the blue. Typically, new mines take up to 10 years to develop. Leading off the development bonanza in Manitoba is one of the fastest discovery-to-development projects in the country — HudBay Minerals’ Lalor project.

The $200,000-a-Year [Australian] Mine Worker – by John W. Miller (Wall Street Journal – November 16, 2011)

November 19, 2011

http://online.wsj.com/home-page

Resources Boom Fuels Demand for Underground Labor, Spurs Skyrocketing Pay; a $1,200 Chihuahua.

MANDURAH, Australia — One of the fastest-growing costs in the global mining industry are workers like James Dinnison: the 25-year-old high-school dropout from Western Australia makes $200,000 a year running drills in underground mines to extract gold and other minerals.

The heavily tattooed Mr. Dinnison, who started in the mines seven years ago earning $100,000, owns a sky-blue 2009 Chevy Ute, which cost $55,000 before a $16,000 engine enhancement, and a $44,000 custom motorcycle. The price tag on his chihuahua, Dexter, which yaps at his feet: $1,200.

A precious commodity himself, Mr. Dinnison belongs to a class of nouveau riche rising in remote and mineral-rich parts of the world, such as Western Australia state, where mining companies are investing heavily to develop and expand iron-ore mines. Demand for those willing to work 12-hour days in sometimes dangerous conditions, while living for weeks in dusty small towns, is huge.

China and South Africa: An alliance of [mining] ‘pragmatism’ – by Kenneth Kidd (Toronto Star – November 12, 2011)

November 17, 2011

The Toronto Star, has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion

JOHANNESBURG—Jianke Gao strolls into the boardroom of Wesizwe Platinum Ltd. wearing casual trousers and a short-sleeved shirt, as if he were heading to the links. It’s a marked departure from the traditional dour suit of Chinese business. It may also be apt.

Gao is just a couple of months into his new job as Wesizwe’s CEO, installed after China’s Jinchuan Group Ltd. and the China-Africa Development Fund teamed up to buy 45 per cent of the company for $227 million.

The Chinese consortium is now arranging $650 million in financing to develop Wesizwe’s Frischgewaagd-Ledig platinum mine in South Africa’s North West province.

As part of the deal, the Chinese loaned $27 million to Micawber 809, one of South Africa’s black empowerment entities, so Micawber could buy a 6 per cent stake in Wesizwe.

Brazil’s Long Shadow Vexes Some Neighbors – by Simon Romero (New York Times – November 4, 2011)

November 13, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/

LA PAZ, Bolivia — Sandal-clad indigenous protesters have excoriated their president, calling him a “lackey of Brazil.” Angry demonstrations in front of Brazil’s embassy here denounced its “imperialist” tendencies. Bolivian intellectuals lambasted the “São Paulo bourgeoisie,” likening them to the slave hunters who expanded the boundaries of colonial Brazil.

Such heated words used to be reserved for the United States, which has wielded extraordinary influence across Latin America. But as American dominance in the region recedes and Brazil increasingly flexes its newfound political and economic might, it has begun to experience the pitfalls of the role as well: a pushback against the hemisphere’s rising power.

“Power has shifted from one side of Avenida Arce to the other,” said Fernando Molina, a local newspaper columnist, referring to the street in La Paz where the Brazilian ambassador’s residence sits opposite the towering embassy of the United States.

Brazilian endeavors are being met with wariness in several countries.

A global business perspective on managing for growth in a volatile international environment – by Rio Tinto Chairman – Jan du Plessis (November 4, 2011)

November 6, 2011

Location: Australian Institute of Company Directors – Sydney, Australia

Jan du Plessis – Rio Tinto Chairman

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. It is a real pleasure to be with you today.

I’d like to begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land we have gathered on today, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. I pay my respects to elders past and present.

I first visited Sydney in November 1991 and, over the course of several subsequent visits, fell in love with the place. Twenty years later, having travelled around the world more than I care to remember, I still believe this is the most beautiful city in the world.

Now, before anybody says Sydney is not Australia, let me assure you that over the last two-and-a-half years since becoming Chairman of Rio Tinto, I have seen quite a lot of your country. And my visits have not been confined to stopping over in most of your major cities. I have visited several coal mines and (I confess) vineyards in the Hunter Valley; more coal mines in Queensland; and paid visits to our alumina refineries, aluminium smelters and other facilities in and around Gladstone.

Asian group bids $1-billion for Grande Cache Coal – by Brenda Bouw (Globe and Mail – November 1, 2011)

November 4, 2011

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.

A team of Asian buyers is paying $1-billion for Calgary’s Grande Cache Coal Corp, betting on steady long-term demand for coal used in steel making despite a recent pullback in production amid growing global economic gloom.

China’s Winsway Coking Coal Holdings Ltd. and Japan’s Marubeni Corp. said Monday they will pay $10 a share in cash for the metallurgical coal producer, a 70-per-cent premium to the miner’s Friday closing price of $5.87 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The bid comes just weeks after Grande Cache shares hit a 52-week low of $3.22, around the same time coal prices plummeted nearly 30 per cent to $240 (U.S.) per tonne on uncertainty over slower growth in China, the world’s largest steel maker.

Grande Cache’s stock has been trading below its industry rivals in part because of its higher-cost operations in west-central Alberta. Still, analysts say the bid values the company more in line with its peers.

The West grabbing a growing share of Canada’s investment capital – by Gordon Hamilton (Vancouver Sun – October 29, 2011)

October 30, 2011

The Vancouver Sun, a broadsheet daily paper first published in 1912, has the largest circulation in the province of British Columbia.

Strong commodities markets, especially mining, pulling growing volume of M&A activity to western provinces

The Western provinces are taking a bigger share of Canadian business investment as a result of the global commodities boom, a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report on mergers and acquisitions shows.

Ontario and Quebec continue to be the top investment destination, according to the report Deals Quarterly Special Feature, but the two Central Canada provinces are losing market share to the West. The report looks at merger and acquisition activity province-by-province over the last 10 years.

“There is certainly a shift, a trend,” Kristian Knibutat, PwC Canadian deals leader, said in a teleconference on the report Friday. He said the geographic shift comes as no surprise, given the “super cycle” that commodities have been experiencing over the decade.

Canadian strength leads to push in mining – by Drew Hasselback – (National Post – October 26, 2011)

October 26, 2011

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

How Chambers went to South America and found Canada

Even the most geographically confused individual has to know that Canada is nowhere near South America. So you wouldn’t expect to see any Canadian firms mentioned in a legal directory that lists the best law firms and lawyers in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Yet the 2012 Chambers Latin America and Caribbean directory contains a unique section called Projects, Mining: Leading Canadian Firms. I think it speaks to the growing international recognition that Canadian firms enjoy in the mining world. Here you have a guide that’s supposed to list the leading law firms in Latin America, and yet it goes out of the way to point out that if you’re looking for expertise on mining projects, you should consider approaching the eight Canadian firms profiled on the list — even though only one of them has its own offices in South America.

In fact, if you leaf through the guide or check it out online, you’ll see Chambers even had to invent a special category to reflect this reality.

Falling copper points to global pain – by Carolynne Wheeler (Globe and Mail – October 24, 2011)

October 24, 2011

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.

BEIJING — The answer to where the global economy is headed may well be found in the piles of trash towering above the brick and tin shacks belonging to Beijing’s army of garbage recyclers.

On the northeastern edge of sprawling Beijing, the hardscrabble neighbourhood of Dongxiaokou is some 20 kilometres from the glittering skyscrapers that provide this community’s livelihood. Here, virtually every scrap left over from a modern life – used computers and mobile phones, household appliances, furniture, clothing, even paper and plastic bottles – is collected, sorted, broken down and sold for cash.

Traditionally, copper (HG-FT3.330.113.46%) has been among the most valuable materials for collection. But this week, after a month of sinking prices, no one is in a good mood.

Africa provides a rich seam for resources sector – by Kevin Rudd ( The Australian – October 24, 2011)

October 23, 2011

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

Kevin Rudd is Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs

AFRICA is starting to surprise us. We have known for some time that the continent is changing. After the “lost decade” of the 1980s, many African governments have been democratising and liberalising their economies.

But when we find that, today, six of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world are from Africa, it’s worth taking a much closer look.

When we do, we see not only Africa’s growth, but the remarkable transformation of Australian business in Africa, particularly in the mining sector. Rewind 20 years, and the involvement of Australian resource companies in Africa was almost non-existent.

Now, about 40 per cent of all Australian overseas mining projects are in Africa. At least 230 Australian companies are active in the resource sector on the African continent. Between them, they are pursuing 650 individual projects in 42 countries. Their total investment is estimated at a whopping $24 billion.

Saskatoon is home to Canada’s fastest growing economy – by Jeannie Armstrong (The [Saskatoon] StarPhoenix – October 22, 2011)

October 23, 2011

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/index.html

The country’s top economists are in agreement. Saskatoon will continue to lead economic growth in Canada through 2013.

[SASKATOON] FASTEST GROWING ECONOMY

The Conference Board of Canada, known for its conservative economic forecasts, says that Saskatoon’s economy will expand by 4.1 per cent this year, and will remain at the top of the economic growth leader board through 2013.The gap between Saskatoon and second place Calgary is quite significant, with Calgary’s economy expected to grow by 3.4 per cent.

What factors are contributing to Saskatoon’s sustained economic growth?

According to the Conference Board of Canada announcement, “Saskatoon is benefiting from strong resource development, while healthy population growth is bolstering the housing market.”

Iron ore the latest commodity to slide – by Brenda Bouw (Globe and Mail – October 21, 2011)

October 21, 2011

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.

Iron ore was the one commodity left largely unscathed in the recent market rout, until now. The price of the key industrial commodity, which is used to make steel, has slumped in recent weeks and is expected to keep dropping as demand falls on a weakening Chinese economy and fallout from the European debt crisis.

Steel mills have been cutting iron ore purchases as they curb production, while major iron ore producers such as BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto PLC move forward with plans to ramp up output of the mineral.

The combination of lower demand and increased supply is putting pressure on iron ore prices, which had held steady even as other key industrial metals such as copper and aluminum were in freefall.