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Digging into the Copper Coast’s past – by Paddy Woodworth (Irish Times – December 21, 2013)

http://www.irishtimes.com/

http://www.coppercoastgeopark.com/

Waterford’s geopark reveals what lies beneath our landscape, the long history of how it got there and how its minerals moulded our history

Everything we do, everywhere we stand and, ultimately, everything we eat is based on rocks, but most of us know very little about them. Very few of us could tell a visitor much about what lies beneath our local landscape, much less the long history of how it got there or how its minerals moulded our history and determined our vegetation.

The Global Geoparks Network aims to change all that. Geology, with its mind-boggling timescales and unfamiliar language, can seem a rather daunting subject, but the network wants to steer it into our cultural mainstream.

“Is a geopark just about geology?” Patrick J McKeever, vice-co-ordinator of this Unesco initiative, asked during his presentation at the opening of Waterford’s Copper Coast Geopark visitors’ centre by the Taoiseach last month.

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PolyMet mining project tears at DFL unity – by Baird Helgeson (Minneapolis Star Tribune – December 15, 2013)

http://www.startribune.com/

A copper mine that could provide hundreds of high-paying jobs on the Iron Range also is threatening to crack the fragile alliance of blue-collar Democrats up north and the environmentalists that are an influential part of Minnesota DFL’s base.

Iron Range Democrats are looking to the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine as a way to rejuvenate an area rocked by years of declining mining employment. But such mines also have a long history of pollution in other states and countries, and some have warned that a mine expected to last 20 years could result in centuries of cleanup.

All sides are closely watching as Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration faces a crucial decision on the project that could come near the election.

At risk is a political coalition that has made good on a string of high-profile DFL priorities like same-sex marriage, higher taxes for the rich and expanded union influence around the state. Dayton is depending on that same coalition to help him press for a second term and keep the state House in DFL hands.

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Florence [Arizona] scoffs at mining company’s claim – by Christina Sampson (Casa Grande Dispatch – December 13, 2013)

http://www.trivalleycentral.com/casa_grande_dispatch/

Town manager calls Florence Copper’s filing ‘grandstanding’

FLORENCE — A claim for $403 million by Florence Copper, the company that wants to build an in-situ copper mine on 1,182 acres it owns off Hunt Highway, was termed “grandstanding” by Assistant Town Manager Jess Knudson in a Tuesday press release.

“The only reason to file a $403 million notice of claim to say you have a right to compensation in that amount is to grab a headline,” Knudson said in the statement.

In October, Florence filed a lawsuit in Pinal County Superior Court seeking a declaratory judgment that Florence Copper has no historic right to mine the land. Florence Copper responded to the town’s action by filing a compensation claim for the fair market value of the land based on an appraisal by Deloitte LLP, a third-party accounting and financial firm.

If the court rules that a historic right to mine does exist on the land, the town plans to condemn the land and take it by eminent domain. However, should that occur the town would have to pay just compensation for the land as determined in court.

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Tech could change face of mining jobs at Resolution Copper – by Jack Fitzpatrick (Tucson Sentinel – December 12, 2013)

http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/

Cronkite News Service – The small town of Superior has pinned its livelihood to copper, silver and gold mines for more than a century, but never has it had a prospect like this.

The proposed Resolution Copper mine near this struggling town could be the most productive copper mine in North America, promising $61.4 billion in economic activity over its nearly 60-year life and 1,400 mining jobs at the peak of production.

But those jobs are not likely to be the jobs that built Superior and other towns in Arizona’s historic Copper Corridor, where culture and economies are closely tied to the copper-mining industry. The generations of traditional mining experience in Superior may not be of much use as Resolution, like mines around the world, turns to robotics.

“We’ve reached a new world when it comes to mining,” said Thomas Power, an economics professor at the University of Montana who wrote a report for opponents of the mine.

Arizona is part of that new world, with the copper industry becoming markedly less labor-intensive in recent decades.

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Coppercorp remains viable for Superior Copper – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – December 9, 2013)

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North.

Like the legend of the big fish that got away, the giant slab of native copper once witnessed in the depths of the Coppercorp Mine near Sault Ste. Marie is feeding dreams and hopes of a major find for Superior Copper.

Bruce Staines, a registered professional mining engineer sitting on Superior Copper’s board of directors, once saw that slab of copper firsthand. It was difficult to mine back then, but the company believes Coppercorp remains a promising find that could become a producing mine with the right technology.

“We believe there’s potential for a very significant copper discovery,” said Morgan Quinn, vice- president of corporate development. “It’s been underexplored, and we’re fully permitted, and we have agreements with the First Nations. We’re ready to go with our exploration.”

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State releases long-awaited impact statement for PolyMet mine, opens public comment period – by Josephine Marcotty (Minneapolis Star Tribune – December 7, 2013)

http://www.startribune.com/

State regulators unveiled their forecast Friday of the way Minnesota’s first copper mine would affect the air, water and lives of people in northeastern Minnesota, a document that is expected to escalate an already polarizing debate about what could be a new era of mining in the most beautiful and untouched part of the state.

The release of the environmental impact statement, a dense, 2,200-page document that took five years and cost $22 million, sets the stage for a 90-day public comment period starting Dec. 14 and, potentially, for a much larger debate over Minnesota’s future.

PolyMet Mining Corp., which promises a $650 million investment and 300 to 360 jobs over 20 years, is only the first of many companies lining up to tap one of the world’s largest untouched deposits of copper, nickel and other precious metals lying beneath the forests and lakes of northeast Minnesota. Many on both sides of the issue say the debate in the coming months, which is expected to generate tens of thousands of public comments, will influence how and whether copper mining in the state becomes a reality.

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Platinum and copper the metals for the end of the decade – Friedland – by Lawrence Williams (Mineweb.com – December 2, 2013)

http://www.mineweb.com/

Robert Friedland’s presentation at MineAfrica in London avows that the supercycle is not dead and sees huge value ahead for his Ivanhoe company’s new Pt, Cu and Zn projects in South Africa and the DRC.

LONDON – There are two mining related events on in London today – Mines and Money’s first day (of three) – and MineAfrica (just today) – luckily they are not being held so far apart as to make attending some of both impossible. So, so far today I have taken in talks from Frank Holmes and John Meyer at the former event – both presenting a relatively optimistic picture for mining over the next few years – Holmes looking at what he terms the E7 countries – for the most part those with the largest populations and enormous growth potential as witnessed by China’s huge urbanisation programmes which have totally transformed the country’s economy – and the feeling that this process could be underway in the others too. Holmes also felt that gold and gold stocks have been hugely oversold and is looking for a turnaround here.

From Mines and Money a quick journey to MineAfrica and to hear Robert Friedland’s take on the industry over the next few years. Obviously Friedland was talking his Ivanhoe book with his very positive views on Africa in general and on his Platreef, Kamoa and Kipushi Projects – the first in South Africa and the next two in the Democratic Republic of Congo – in particular. As expected he was hugely positive on all three – Platreef as a game-changer for the platinum sector, Kamoa as one of THE copper projects of the future as a far higher grade option than most, if not all, other major known new copper projects and Kipushi as having huge high grade zinc mining potential, but with copper, gold and silver also.

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Copper-Rich Congo Province Sees More Cash After Rebel Defeat – by Michael J. Kavanagh (Bloomberg News – November 18, 2013)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s provincial governments expect a windfall of reconstruction and development funds after an insurgency by M23 rebels ended, said Moise Katumbi, governor of the copper-rich Katanga province.

Congo’s government diverted cash meant for the provinces to pay for its fight against the M23 insurgents in the east of the country, Katumbi, 48, said in an interview in Lubumbashi, Katanga’s capital. The rebels ended their 20-month rebellion on Nov. 5 after Congo’s army seized key positions, including the rebel stronghold of Bunagana.

“Our budget for reconstruction has been blocked by the central government because of the war,” Katumbi said on Nov. 11. “Without this war, there will be more money.” Congo’s provinces have complained that the central government in Kinshasa keeps too much of their revenue. The state is required by law to send 40 percent of a province’s revenue back to the provincial government in a process called retrocession.

Last year, when M23 began its rebellion, the government provided only 43 percent of $1.06 billion it budgeted for retrocession to Congo’s 11 provinces, according to documents on the Budget Ministry’s website.

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Anaconda Co. dominated state economy: With top industrial wages, workers could buy homes, pay for children’s college – by Peter Johnson (Great Falls Tribune – November 16, 2013)

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/ [Montana]

It would be hard to overestimate the economic importance that the Anaconda Co. played in Montana for decades, says retired University of Montana history professor David Emmons.

“It was the fourth-largest corporation in America, and it employed probably 25,000 to 30,000 Montanans at its peak” in copper mining, smelting and refining, railroad operations, logging and wood products and even operating four of the state’s five largest newspapers, he said.

“At one time probably one-third of the paychecks that went out in the state were written on Anaconda Co. accounts,” he said. “The company’s significance in Montana was enormous. I don’t know of any other state where a single company was that dominate economically.”

The Anaconda Co. and its predecessor, Amalgamated Copper Mining Co., produced a huge amount of copper in Montana — 3 billion pounds between 1880 and 1980, Emmons said.

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Is copper really in surplus? – by Geoff Candy (Mineweb.com – October 21, 2013)

http://www.mineweb.com/

While many assume the red metal either to be already in surplus or very nearly there, French bank Natixis believes the level of Chinese stocks tells a different story.

GRONINGEN (MINEWEB) – In a note out late last week, French bank, Natixis, queries the assumption that the copper market is already in surplus. While it doesn’t dispute that the copper market could move into surplus over the next few years, the bank maintains that saying it is already in surplus could be premature.

The reason for the dispute is the level of stocking or destocking in China that has taken place over the last few months – an issue that caused problems for copper price predictions previously.

According to Natixis, if one goes only by the level of copper stocks held in exchange warehouses, which it defines as those belonging to the LME, SHFE and Comex, then it does look decidedly like the market is in surplus, as these stocks have risen by about 110,000 tonnes since the beginning of the year.

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Shipments of Rio Tinto’s Mongolia copper stalled by China import snags (Globe and Mail – October 16, 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.

SYDNEY — Reuters – Global miner Rio Tinto Ltd. could be forced to amass a mountain of copper concentrate at its new $6-billion (U.S.) Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia while Chinese buyers resolve a lengthy customs impasse with their government.

The Oyu Tolgoi concentrator continued to ramp up production in the third quarter and is now operating at maximum processing capacity of 100,000 tonnes of ore a day, said Toronto-listed Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. of Vancouver, which runs Oyu Tolgoi and is 66 per cent owned by Rio Tinto.

Oyu Tolgoi was supposed to start shipping copper concentrate to China shortly after the mine opened in July. But instead has been forced to stockpile the material while buyers negotiate with Chinese customs officials over import approvals.

“Oyu Tolgoi’s customers are making good progress with Chinese customs officials to resolve matters with purchased concentrate at the border,” Turquoise Hill chief executive officer Kay Priestly said in a statement.

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Copper Supply Glut Seen Tripling as Prices Sink 10%: Commodities – by Nicholas Larkin, Agnieszka Troszkiewicz & Maria Kolesnikova (Bloomberg News – October 14, 2013)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The worldwide glut of copper supply is poised to almost triple in 2014, driving prices to the lowest in at least three years at a time when the International Monetary Fund says economic growth will be weaker than forecast.

The surplus will reach a 13-year high of 272,000 metric tons, according to data from Barclays Plc and the International Copper Study Group in Lisbon. Codelco and Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) Copper & Gold Inc., the biggest producers, are among those scheduled to add supply next year. The metal will drop as low as $6,450 a ton in 2014, or 10 percent less than last week’s close, the median of 22 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg shows.

New mines or expansions to existing pits from Mongolia to Indonesia to Chile will boost output as producers respond to prices that more than tripled in the past decade. Shortages occurred in seven of the past 10 years as the Chinese economy expanded almost sixfold. Mining companies are finally catching up just as growth in China, the world’s second-largest economy and consumer of two in every five tons, is projected to be the lowest in almost a quarter century.

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NEWS RELEASE: Super Pit Push: B.C.’s Copper Mountain Mine Lifts Neighbouring Property

Oct 11, 2013 (ACCESSWIRE via COMTEX) — SOURCE: VantageWire.com — The copper scene in British Columbia took on a major change when the Copper Mountain Mine started production in June of 2011. Five billion pounds of copper reserves and over 20 years of mine life left will do that.

Today, the project owned by Copper Mountain Mining [TSX: CUM] and Mitsubishi Materials Corporation is producing at 36,000 tpd at a cut-off grade of 0.12% copper. To get to this point, Copper Mountain has drilled more than 1000 holes. As part of the deal, partner Mitsubishi (that owns 25%) now buys all of the concentrate that comes from the operation.

The Copper Mountain Mine and the work that went into it have proven that BC’s grades are capable of international levels of production. The province can handle more output, and the Princeton region that is host to the operation has plenty left to offer. Given the prospects in development in the areas near the mine, a bird’s eye view of the projects on the horizon highlight the potential the province truly has.

Directly adjacent to Copper Mountain’s “super pit” is junior Anglo-Canadian Mining Corp. [TSX.V: URA]. With it’s fully owned and highly prospective Princeton copper-gold property, Anglo-Canadian is in the land of the giants in striking distance from a future takeover bid. The 2200-hectare property is in good standing for Anglo-Canadian until 2023.

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Manitoba Reed Mine approval a ‘step back,’ says Wilderness Committee – by Ian Graham (Thompson Citizen – October 4, 2013)

The Thompson Citizen, which was established in June 1960, covers the City of Thompson and Nickel Belt Region of Northern Manitoba. The city has a population of about 13,500 residents while the regional population is more than 40,000.  IAN@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

The province’s approval of Hudbay’s Reed Mine copper project in Grass River Provincial Park, which was granted on Sept. 24, is not going over well with the Wilderness Committee, which opposed the mine because of its proximity to the habitat of woodland caribou, a provincially and federally protected species.

“It is hard news to take,” said Eric Reder, the Wilderness Committee’s Manitoba campaign director in a Sept 25 press release. “Canada stopped mining national parks in 1930. Eight decades later and Manitoba still can’t join the party?”

The Reed Mine, which is 70 per cent owned by Hudbay, is projected to produce 1,300 tonnes of copper per day and is located about 80 kilometres west-southwest of Snow Lake on the southern side of Highway 39. The mine is expected to be in production for approximately five years, during which time 2.16 million tones of copper ore will be extracted and then trucked to and processed in Flin Flon, according to a project overview prepared by AECOM on behalf of Hudbay. At full production, the mine will provide 88 jobs, the company says.

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Newmont bids for Las Bambas to beef up copper assets – CEO Goldberg – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – October 1, 2013)

http://www.mineweb.com/

Newmont, which began as a copper-gold miner in the early 1900s, is seeking to increase its copper mining operations as “pure gold plays” appear to be losing favor with investors.

RENO (MINEWEB) – In seeking to increase its copper holdings, Newmont Mining is apparently returning to its historic copper roots under the leadership of new CEO Gary Goldberg, a former copper mining executive for Kennecott Utah and Rio Tinto.

In an interview with the Financial Times published Monday, Goldberg said the company had expressed interest in the hotly sought after Las Bambas copper project in Peru. Mineweb was told of Newmont’s potential Las Bambas acquisition by a former top Newmont executive at last week’s Denver Gold Forum in Denver.

Newmont Founder, William Boyce Thompson, accumulated a large fortune by buying undervalued copper and gold claims through Newmont Mining. By the 1940s Newmont would become one of the world’s largest copper producers, eventually becoming a major shareholder in Magma Copper, which would be acquired by Australian uber miner BHP in the mid-1990s. By the 1960s, the company’s Carlin Trend discovered in northeastern Nevada would issue a new era for Newmont as a gold producer.

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