Copper – Page 125 – Republic of Mining

B.C.’s controversial former Britannia mine now serves as museum – by Scott Simpson, Postmedia News (Canada.com – May 13, 2012)

May 14, 2012

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

VANCOUVER — Marshall Tichauer was still in his teens when his father decided it was time for him to make his own way in the world. “I turned 18. My father said, ‘Get a job’ and kicked me out,” Tichauer recalled.

Jobs weren’t difficult to find in the early 1960s. Tichauer lived in West Vancouver. He landed a job just up the highway at Britannia mine, which was still very much the Howe Sound company town it had been in its heyday in the 1920s and ’30s as the largest copper mine in the then-British Empire.

Like many of British Columbia’s major early industrial mines, Britannia got its start after a series of gold rushes that began in the Fraser River system in 1858 before spreading east and north to Rossland and Barkerville.

Those early prospecting opportunities threw open the door to waves of European and Asian adventurers across the British Columbia mainland — mining, not fish, furs or timber, was the catalyst for the settlement of the province.

Mine revitalization [Superior Copper] – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – May 2012)

May 2, 2012

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.

Superior Copper developing former Sault-area mine

Eyeing up the Batchawana area north of Sault Ste. Marie, Superior Copper Corp. has identified the former Coppercorp Mine as a promising area for exploration, not because of what’s been found there, but because of what hasn’t.

“It was closed to staking for 30 years because they hadn’t covered the old shaft,” said Judy Baker, Superior’s president and CEO. “So there’s been a significant lack of exploration activity out there as a result of that.”

Minimal exploration efforts were carried out by a handful of companies when the property became available for staking in 2002. The copper exploration company, formerly operating as Cenit Corp., sees the lack of activity as a promising opportunity to find significant mineral deposits in the area.

Located 85 km north of Sault Ste. Marie, Coppercorp operated as an underground copper mine from 1965 to 1972, milling 1,021,358 tons of ore and producing 24 million pounds of copper, 2,000 ounces of gold and 228,000 ounces of silver. The mine is characterized by Keweenawan rock and Kincaid breccia just north of the site, Baker noted.

Teck cashes in on Chile’s copper – by Gordon Pitts (Globe and Mail – April 30, 2012)

April 30, 2012

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.

ANDACOLLO, CHILE – For centuries, pilgrims have thronged to the Chilean mountain town of Andacollo – to worship at the historic church and to mine the dusty hills for copper.

The Incas built parts of their civilization on the rich copper and gold deposits unearthed here before Spanish conquerors swept in. Since then, church and mines have become intertwined in the culture: The epic rescue of 33 Chilean miners in 2010 is attributed by many here to prayers uttered at Our Lady of Andacollo.

Now a new wave of pilgrims is worshipping at the altar of Andacollo – Canadians, in the form of Teck Resources Ltd., (TCK.B-T36.860.110.30%) the Vancouver-based mining giant that has spent more than $440-million (U.S.) expanding an open-pit copper project on the edge of town.

Chile $100bn copper push under threat on power scarcity – by Matt Craze (Mineweb.com – April 26, 2012)

April 26, 2012

www.mineweb.com

President of Chilean mining lobby group Consejo Minero, Joaquin Villarino, says the country will have to shelve many of its mining investments due to the high cost and scarcity of electricity.

(Bloomberg) – The biggest-ever pipeline of copper projects is under threat as Chile, the world’s top producer, struggles to contain rising opposition to new power plants.

At least 5,000 megawatts of capacity, including a $5 billion coal-fired plant proposed by Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista, are facing delays or have been shelved as companies including BHP Billiton Ltd. and Anglo American Plc spend as much as $100 billion on copper and metals projects in Chile.

The country, struck by a power blackout as recently as this week, needs to boost capacity by 47 percent within 8 years to keep pace with consumption. Protesters from fishermen to university students oppose the plants, prompting miners to consider their own projects to help meet China’s copper demand.

Copper miner has golden touch – by Peter Koven (National Post – March 6, 2012)

March 6, 2012

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

Ross Beaty is the first to admit it – he is an incredibly lucky guy. Thanks to an epic financial crisis and the hard work of an outside company, Mr. Beaty’s Lumina Copper Corp. has stumbled into the biggest new copper discovery in years. The Taca Taca project in Argentina seems to add more pounds of copper by the week, and Mr. Beaty’s favourite hobby these days is just keeping track of it.

He keeps a giant wall map of Taca Taca in his office. Each day, he receives a report from the property and plots it out on the map. Despite being a veteran of many copper discoveries, the results from this project continue to amaze him.

“Just this morning, today, we had a hole that could add 800 million pounds to the size of this project,” the famed Vancouver mining entrepreneur and founder of Pan American Silver Corp. said in an interview in February. “It’s just ridiculous.”

Arizona town bitterly split over copper mine – by Paul Waldie (Globe and Mail – January 19, 2012)

January 19, 2012

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.

Florence, Ariz., isn’t the kind of place that usually gets a lot of attention. After all, its main claim to fame is being home to nine prisons.

But these days Florence is up in arms over plans by a Canadian company to build a copper mine right in the middle of town. The proposed mine, by Vancouver-based Curis Resources Ltd., has garnered national attention and brought out some heavy hitters, including Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and developer Robert Sarver, who owns the Phoenix Suns basketball team.

Ms. Brewer has expressed support for the project, saying it will spark badly needed economic development in the area. Mr. Sarver, whose company has a housing project in town, is backing a campaign to stop the mine, arguing it will ruin the water supply.

The city’s 10,000 residents are bitterly divided over the proposed mine. A recent survey by city officials found 39 per cent of locals support the mine, 32 per cent don’t and 28 per cent aren’t sure.

Quadra boosts ore estimate at Victoria mine – by Star Staff (Sudbury Star – January 17, 2012)

January 17, 2012

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

Quadra FNX Mining announced Monday it has increased the resource estimate of its Victoria project in Sudbury by 16%.

The results from the company’s 2011 drill program at Victoria led Quadra FNX to boost resource tonnage to 14.5 million tonnes. When operating, the mine will produce nickel, copper and precious metals.

In addition, geophysical surveys show possible extensions of Victoria. Diamond drilling in 2012 will test these areas, Quadra FNX said in a release.

Even before the latest drill results became known, Quadra FNX had said the Victoria deposit was an exciting find. Its goal is to begin production in 2017, creating hundreds of new jobs.

The Vancouver, B.C.-based company also said that during 2011, it produced 220 million pounds of copper, 103,000 ounces of precious metals and 10 million pounds of nickel.

First Quantum exits DRC with $1.25-billion settlement – by Brenda Bouw (Globe and Mail – January 6, 2012)

January 6, 2012

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.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM-T22.220.241.09%) is closing a painful chapter of its history in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by selling its mines and settling all legal claims for $1.25-billion (U.S.), years after its operations were nationalized by the government.

Vancouver-based First Quantum will sell the controversial Kolwezi copper-cobalt project, as well as its Frontier and Lonshi mines, to Kazakh miner Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. PLC, also known as ENRC, the same company it has been battling in international courts over its properties in DRC, one of the world’s most attractive copper regions.

The settlement comes as copper prices (HG-FT3.40-0.03-0.80%) are struggling to rebound from a 20-per-cent drop last year, amid worries that debt concerns in Europe and a slowdown in China’s rapidly growing economy could curb demand for the metal used in everything from cars to construction.

Nickel on a rollercoaster – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – January 3, 2012)

January 3, 2012

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

The European economic malaise and competition from upstart nickel pig iron producers will likely combine to keep the price of nickel fluctuating in 2012, says a metals analyst.

Price volatility is bound to continue next year, says Montreal-based Terry Ortslan of TSO & Associates. From a high of $16.91 a pound in 2007 on the London Metals Exchange to a low of $6.65 a pound in 2009, nickel averaged about $12.25 a pound in 2011, said Ortslan.

“Recently, the prices are struggling at $8 a pound,” Orstlan said last week, after returning from a business trip to China, where nickel continues to be in high demand.

Ortslan says $7 a pound would be a “low target” for 2012, although he would not rule out that possibility because of Europe’s economic woes and China’s ongoing production from non-traditional sources.

Mining firms in Arizona seek riches – by Ryan Randazzo (The Arizona Republic – December 24, 2011)

December 27, 2011

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/azrepdex.html

Investors face long odds in quest for mineral profits

Arizona is the top copper producer in the U.S., but several small-time geologists and entrepreneurs combing the rocky desert in hopes of finding the next bonanza don’t produce any minerals at all.

Many exploration companies prospecting in Arizona hope to raise money through the stock markets to take investors along on their risky hunt for mineral profits.

They might have historical maps of their mines, ore samples, assay reports and other data, but almost none have a shovel in the ground.

Exploration companies face extremely long odds of finding minerals that big firms have overlooked and raising the money to dig for them, but they persist on the small chance they could strike it rich.

“It is definitely a risky form of investment,” said Daniel Bleak of Mesa, who has been involved in several exploration ventures, most recently Silver Horn Mining Ltd., which has stock traded on the over-the-counter market. “It is a long shot. It is just like the old oil fields.”