Copper – Page 83 – Republic of Mining

COLUMN-How vulnerable is copper to supply disruption? – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – February 9, 2017)

February 10, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Feb 9 The copper market is facing the imminent prospect of the simultaneous closure of the world’s two largest copper mines. Strike action is due to start today at the largest, the Escondida mine in Chile.

There seems little prospect of a last-minute settlement between unions and the mine’s majority owner and operator BHP Billiton. The union didn’t even bother attending talks on the fifth day of statutory government mediation and the company has started shutting down operations.

In Indonesia, meanwhile, Freeport McMoRan is threatening to partly suspend operations at its Grasberg mine due to the lack of an export permit, the latest turn in the long-running stand-off between the company and the Indonesian government.

Workers at BHP Billiton Copper Mine In Chile Go On Strike – by Ryan Dube (Wall Street Journal – February 9, 2017)

February 9, 2017

https://www.wsj.com/

Workers at BHP Billiton Ltd.’s majority-owned Minera Escondida copper mine in Chile went on strike Thursday, a union official said, putting pressure on the country’s sluggish economy and copper prices over fears of shortages.

“People didn’t show up to work,” said Carlos Allendes, a spokesman for Escondida’s largest union, Union No.1. “The strike has begun.” The strike at Escondida, the world’s biggest copper mine, follows unsuccessful talks between the union and management for a new collective agreement.

Escondida, which accounts for about 5% of the metal’s global output, said late Wednesday it would halt operations during the strike to ensure safety. It said the local labor regulator gave it permission to allow 80 employees to continue working to perform critical functions, including maintenance.

Enormous global demand on way for copper, platinum, zinc – Friedland – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – February 8, 2017)

February 8, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

CAPE TOWN (miningweekly.com) – Enormous global demand is building up for copper, platinum and zinc, driven by new technology, mitigation of health risks in hospitals and agricultural augmentation, Ivanhoe Mines executive chairperson Robert Friedland said on Wednesday.

In a comprehensive address to the Investing in African Mining Indaba, Friedland used statistics from credible global institutions and well-recorded technological advances to highlight major looming copper shortages, strong upcoming platinum demand for hydrogen fuel cells and the practice of adding zinc to soils to grow food, which promotes good health and renders the metal nonrecyclable.

He flashed on to a big screen graphics of platinum-catalysed fuel cell vehicles needed to do the main job of stopping tiny particles in the air of major urban cities from entering lungs, getting into the blood stream and then going permanently beyond the blood brain barrier.

Disruptions at top two copper mines threaten global supply – by Wilda Asmarini (Reuters U.S. – February 8, 2017)

February 8, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

JAKARTA – Disruptions at the world’s two biggest copper mines by strikes and other issues this week are threatening to reduce global supplies of the metal, pushing benchmark prices back towards their highest levels for the year so far.

BHP Billiton said it would halt output in Chile at its Escondida mine, the biggest copper producer, during a strike to begin on Thursday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc warned it will scale back output at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia, the second-biggest, amid a smelter strike and issues over renewal of its mining permit.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange gained more than 2 percent during trading on Wednesday to $5,925 a ton on the supply threat, with analysts noting they had already been expecting tighter supplies this year. [MET/L]

Workers at Chile’s Escondida copper mine to strike Thursday: union – by Fabian Cambero (Reuters U.S. – February 7, 2017)

February 8, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE – Workers are set to strike on Thursday at BHP Billiton Plc’s Escondida copper mine after contract talks mediated by the Chilean government failed to reach a deal, the main union at the world’s largest copper mine told Reuters.

The union has warned that a strike at the Chilean copper mine could be lengthy, potentially affecting global supplies of a metal used in everything from construction to telecommunications.

BHP Billiton said it planned to halt production during the strike since it could not guarantee the safety of the 80 workers the government had authorized to remain at the mine to perform “critical duties”, such as equipment upkeep and adherence to environmental protocols.

Debate over copper mining near Boundary Waters heats up again – by Dan Kraker (Minnesota Public Radio News – February 2, 2017)

February 3, 2017

https://www.mprnews.org/

More than 50 protesters rallied outside the Duluth office of U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan Thursday, condemning the Democratic congressman’s letter earlier this week calling on the Trump administration to overturn a decision that called for a potential 20-year ban on mining on national forest land within the watershed of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

If the administration follows through on Nolan’s request, it could rekindle the efforts of Twin Metals Minnesota to develop a massive underground copper-nickel mine near Ely and the southern edge of the Boundary Waters.

The project offers the tantalizing prospect of hundreds of good-paying jobs in a region of the state hard hit by a downturn in the iron mining industry recently. But opponents argue potential water pollution, and the creation of a mining district in the national forest, threatens Ely’s tourism-based economy.

China plans to destroy an ancient Buddhist city to get the copper buried there – by Mariam Amini (CNBC News – February 1, 2017)

February 2, 2017

http://www.cnbc.com/

Two Chinese state-owned mining companies plan to destroy an ancient Buddhist city in Afghanistan in order to get the copper underneath it, according to a new documentary

According to the film “Saving Mes Aynak,” Metallurgical Group Corp. (MCC) and Jiangxi Copper are in the initial stages of building an open-pit copper mine 25 miles southeast of Kabul. The location is home to a walled Buddhist city that dates back 5,000 years.

According to the Afghan Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, the site is also home to the world’s second-largest copper deposit. China is an importer of copper and a major global refiner of the industrial metal.

Quebec suspends Copper One claims – by Staff (Mining Journal – January 31, 2017)

January 31, 2017

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

A legal stoush is brewing since the government of Quebec last week suspended Copper One’s (CN:CUO) Rivière Doré claims in the Lac Barrière area near Val-d’Or.

Quebec’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (MERN) issued a statement last week announcing it would suspend Copper One’s claims, prompting the company to “pursue all its legal rights”.

The company said it was “very surprised” by the timing of events, having received MERN’s draft notice of suspension on January 20, granting 15 days to comment. However, MERN announced the official suspension on January 26.

Copper One president and CEO Scott Moore said it appeared MERN’s action was due to a press conference held by members of the Algonquins of Barrière Lake (ABL) denouncing Quebec’s Mining Act as illegal and unconstitutional.

UPDATE 2-Output rise, lower tax estimate drive miner Antofagasta’s shares higher – by Esha Vaish and Zandi Shabalala (Reuters U.K. – January 25, 2017)

January 25, 2017

http://uk.reuters.com/

BENGALURU/LONDON, Jan 25 Chilean copper miner Antofagasta reassured investors with a strong production increase in the final quarter of 2016 and by saying it expected to pay less tax, sending its shares sharply higher.

A 13.8 percent production rise in the fourth quarter helped the London-listed miner reach annual output of 709,400 tonnes of copper in 2016, just short of the 710,000-740,000 tonne guidance it had given at the start of last year.

The company had said in October that full-year copper production would be at the lower end of that guidance. Antofagasta stood by its 2017 copper production target of 685,000-720,000 tonnes.

DAUDT ASKS TRUMP TO GREEN-LIGHT MINING – by Jerry Burnes (Mesabi Daily News – January 23, 2017)

January 25, 2017

http://www.virginiamn.com/

In the first week of the new administration, Minnesota’s Iron Range could feel the impact of President Donald Trump, who on Monday took executive action to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Later in the day, Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Daudt sent a letter to Trump asking him to reverse the Obama administration decisions to end mineral leases for Twin Metals, and reverse course on a proposed mining moratorium in Superior National Forest.

“We believe very strongly that we can access those natural resources safely,” Daudt said at a news conference Monday. “We know that the economy and jobs are dependent upon us growing the mining industry and the Range. We think we’ve got really good, safe opportunities to do that.”

Freeport-McMoRan shares slump on earnings miss, Indonesia woes – by Nicole Mordant (Reuters U.S. – January 25, 2016)

January 25, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX.N), the world’s biggest publicly-listed copper miner, warned on Wednesday that it would need to start slashing output and jobs at its Indonesia mine by mid-February if it fails to get an export permit from the government.

The Phoenix, Arizona-based miner also reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and cut its 2017 copper and gold production forecasts because it expects lower output at its massive Grasberg mine in Indonesia, sending its shares tumbling.

Freeport’s exports of copper concentrate from Indonesia have been halted since Jan. 12 when a ban on shipping semi-processed ore out of the Southeast Asian country came into effect to boost the local smelter industry.

Copper market focus shifts back to unpredictable supply – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – January 23, 2017)

January 23, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON – Last year it was the strength of demand that caught the copper market by surprise. Everyone had braced themselves for an expected hard metallic landing in China, the driver of global copper usage. But that’s not how things played out.

China itself, it seems, was not quite ready for the promised shift from the old model of fixed asset investment to what was touted as the “new normal” of slower, more consumer-oriented growth.

Infrastructure and property investment boomed again, as did the country’s appetite for copper. Imports of both unwrought copper and mined concentrate probably hit record highs last year, judging by the preliminary figures released last week.

WHY JAKARTA NEEDS TO READ UP ON 15TH-CENTURY ENGLAND – by Tom Holland (South China Morning Post – January 23, 2017)

January 23, 2017

http://www.scmp.com/

Indonesia wants to build processing plants to add value to the nation’s copper, nickel and bauxite resources, but mining companies are not cooperating

Earlier this month the Indonesian government announced it would relax its ban on the export of raw mineral ores. Despite appearances to the contrary, officials claim they are not retreating from their hardline policy of resource nationalism.

Restricting the export of unprocessed commodities, they continue to insist, will create high-value jobs and spur Indonesia’s economic growth. Critics of the policy are less sure.

The reasoning behind the export ban, which was proposed in 2009 and came into partial effect three years ago, is simple enough. Indonesia is rich in deposits of minerals including copper, nickel and bauxite, the ore of aluminium.

Mining progress will bring jobs, benefits to Minnesota – by Russell Hess (Post Bulletin – January 19, 2017)

January 19, 2017

http://www.postbulletin.com/

Russell Hess, of Plainview, is political coordinator of the Laborers District Council of Minnesota and North Dakota and a board member of Jobs for Minnesotans.

There is no doubt that we all want to protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It is an undisputed national treasure, and we’re fortunate that it is in our own backyard.

That said, anyone implying that potential mining activities would destroy this pristine area shows a lack of understanding of the strict existing environmental and regulatory protections at the state and federal levels.

Twin Metals Minnesota, the company for which the federal government denied renewal of its mineral leases, has yet to even propose a project. The federal leases in question have been in place for more than 50 years and have been twice renewed by the federal government without controversy and with acknowledgment that the leases pose no adverse environmental impacts.

King Solomon’s mines: Israeli archaeologists say fortified trading post a sign of his wealth, power – by Jamie Seidel (News Corp Australia Network – January 18, 2017)

January 18, 2017

http://www.news.com.au/

ARE these the gates to King Solomon’s mines? Archaeologists in Israel have uncovered a fortified trading post dating to the earliest days of the ancient Jewish state. Researchers from Tel Aviv University have uncovered what they call an ‘advanced’ military fortification in the Timna Valley, in Israel’s south.

It’s a site that’s long been associated with the legend of King Solomon’s mines. Dating techniques indicate the structure, and the cluster of copper smelting camps it protects, is about 3000 years old. That puts it squarely in the era of stories attribute to Solomon’s and King David’s reign.

Biblical archaeologists are elated: “The historical accuracy of the Old Testament accounts is debated, but archeology can no longer be used to contradict them,” says archaeologist Dr Erez Ben-Yosef, one of the research teams’ leaders. “On the contrary, our new discoveries are in complete accordance with the description of military conflicts against a hierarchical and centralised society located south of the Dead Sea.”