Copper – Page 91 – Republic of Mining

World’s Top Copper Miner Says Rally to Fade as Gluts Persist – by Danielle Bochove and David Stringer (Bloomberg News – March 2, 2016)

March 2, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/news

Codelco, the world’s biggest copper producer, said that a global surplus will persist through this year and next, and dismissed suggestions that a recent gain in prices was likely to endure.

The metal will probably fluctuate at around $2 to $2.10 a pound for a couple of years, with extreme volatility, Chairman Oscar Landerretche said in an interview in Florida. After the gluts this year and in 2017, the market may swing to a deficit of 50,000 to 100,000 metric tons in 2018, with the shortfall expanding to 300,000 to 400,000 tons in 2019, he said.

Copper has rebounded from a six-year low in January after sinking 25 percent last year as slowing growth in China hurt demand in the largest user and spurred a global surplus.

BHP Should Buy Freeport – by David Fickling (Bloomberg News – February 22, 2016)

February 23, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

If there’s any big mining deal that should be happening right now, it’s a takeover of Freeport-McMoRan by BHP Billiton.Most large resources companies pick either solids (mining) or liquids (oil and gas). BHP and Freeport are rare in keeping a foot in both camps. They also share an optimistic view of the long-term outlook for Freeport’s key assets, copper and petroleum.

The fact a deal isn’t happening is one of those odd omissions reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes’s dog that didn’t bark:“Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?”“To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.”“The dog did nothing in the night-time.”“That was the curious incident,” remarked Sherlock Holmes.

The attractions of a deal for BHP are obvious. It would easily become the world’s biggest copper miner, leaving current leader Codelco in the dust. The Australian company would end up with control of all three of the world’s biggest copper pits — Escondida, Grasberg and Morenci — and its output of the metal would more than double overnight.

Chile’s small-scale miners battling to stay afloat amid copper rout – by Anthony Esposito (Reuters U.S. – February 22, 2016)

February 23, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

INCA DE ORO, CHILE – Like his father before him, Alberto Carrizo has worked in Chile’s copper mines since he was a teenager, supporting his family as prices for the metal boomed in recent decades.

But as copper prices have slid to a more than six-year low, Carrizo and his colleagues laboring away at the countless smaller mines that pock mark the Atacama desert are finding the buckets of ore they spend all day digging from the ground are fetching less and less money.

Some are responding by turning to gold mining, others are finding work in growing industries like renewable energy, while a dwindling few are hanging on, hoping prices will yet recover.

Northern Dynasty’s Pebble on ‘cusp of resolution’ – by Lesley Stokes (Northern Miner – February 17, 2016)

February 19, 2016

http://www.northernminer.com/

VANCOUVER — There’s more battling ahead for Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX: NDM; NYSE-MKT: NAK) as it prepares to dispute its case to the U.S. Federal court against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to veto development of its world-class Pebble deposit, 321 km southwest of Anchorage, Alaska.

Ron Thiessen, president and CEO of Northern Dynasty, said during a session at Vancouver’s Resource Investment Conference in January that the company is “on the cusp of a resolution,” and expects that a final decision will be reached this year.

The behemoth porphyry copper-gold deposit — which has measured and indicated resources of 57 billion lb. copper and 70 million oz. gold in 6.4 billion tonnes — is located at the headwaters of Bristol Bay, home to the world’s largest wild salmon fishery.

A new conflict brews at Peru’s Las Bambas copper mine (Reuters U.S. – February 16, 2016)

February 17, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

LIMA- Families in Peru that were relocated to make way for MMG Ltd’s huge Las Bambas copper project occupied their former lands inside the mine on Tuesday to press the company for compensation, the country’s ombudsman and a local leader said.

The protest in a remote highland region has not affected operations at the mine, said the community’s vice president, Obispo Huamani, and Artemio Solano, the regional representative of Peru’s ombudsman.

The mine’s vice president of corporate affairs, Domingo Drago, denied anyone had invaded company property.

UPDATE 1-Sumitomo Metal Mining to buy 13 pct stake in Morenci mine for $1 bln (Reuters U.S. – February 15, 2016)

February 16, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

Feb 15 Sumitomo Metal Mining, Japan’s second-biggest copper producer, said on Monday it would raise its stake in southeast Arizona’s Morenci open-pit copper mine by buying 13 percent from majority owner Freeport-McMoRan for $1 billion.

The move comes at a time when copper prices are near six-and-a-half-year lows. Last November, the company’s President Yoshiaki Nakazato said it was looking to acquire stakes in copper and gold mines, taking advantage of its sound finances and a slump in commodity prices to sustain future growth.

The acquisition will take Sumitomo Metal’s share in Morenci to 25 percent from 12 percent, while Sumitomo Corp holds 3 percent, leaving Freeport with the rest.

Freeport Pares U.S. Copper-Mine Stake in $1 Billion Deal – by John W. Miller (Wall Street Journal – February 15, 2016)

February 16, 2016

http://www.wsj.com/

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. on Monday said it reached a deal to sell part of its stake in an Arizona copper mine to one of the mine’s other owners, in an effort to pay down debt.

Phoenix-based Freeport, one of the world’s biggest copper miners, said it would sell a 13% ownership interest in its Morenci mine, located in the desert on the Arizona-New Mexico border, to Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. for $1 billion. The company said it would record a gain of $550 million on the deal, the difference between the sale price and the stake’s book value of $450 million.

Freeport Chief Executive Richard Adkerson said the transaction was part of the company’s plan to reduce what it owes to creditors “while retaining a portfolio of high-quality assets and resources.” Mr. Adkerson pledged last month to cut the company’s $20 billion debt by as much as $10 billion.

Despite sagging demand, officials see shiny future for copper – by Lauren Clark (Tucson Sentinel – February 11, 2016)

February 11, 2016

http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/

Cronkite News – WASHINGTON – It’s a rainy Monday morning at Potomac Metals, a scrap yard just outside of Washington, D.C., as a customer climbs into the bed of his pickup truck and starts sorting odd scraps of metal into piles.

As he sorts, a worker weighs the piles then hands over cash for the metal. But the copper that would have brought $3 per pound three years ago yields just $1 per pound on this day.

Copper is one of the pillars of Arizona’s economy, but steadily falling demand on world markets has depressed prices and caused ripples that are felt in the state and as far away as this East Coast scrap yard.

National view: Slow permitting devastating US mining, manufacturing – by Kevin Kearns (Duluth News Tribune – February 7, 2016)

February 8, 2016

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

Kevin Kearns is president of the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Business and Industry Council, a national business organization that advocates for U.S. manufacturers.

Imagine if significant gold deposits were found in northern Minnesota. That would be a boon for Minnesota mining, since gold is in great demand for use in such diverse products as smartphones and solar panels.

But what if it took 10 years for a mining firm to get the approvals needed to start extracting this gold? Imagine the disappointment in terms of lost job opportunities and lost tax revenue.

It’s not a far-fetched possibility, however, to expect a lengthy process before Minnesota could possibly enjoy any newfound gold wealth.

Murdochville looks to tourism to shake ghosts of mining past (CBC News Montreal – March 29, 2015)

February 1, 2016

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/

Former copper town banking on outdoor recreation to secure its future

Like many small communities that once dotted Quebec’s landscape, Murdochville was born a company town, built on the back of a mining boom.

Rich in copper ore, the mine was in operation for more than 50 years, an exceptionally long run compared to the average life span.

But when the mining company pulled out more than a dozen years ago, the town’s economy crashed.

Now many believe the community’s future lies in another natural resource: the nature that surrounds the Gaspé Peninsula town.

[Historical-Murdochville, Quebec/Noranda Inc.] Death of a company town – by Konrad Yakabuski (Globe and Mail/Report on Business Magazine – December 24, 2004)

February 1, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The signs on fifth street read, “Parking limit 60 min.” No one remembers when the bylaw was last enforced. The street is awash in empty parking spaces. Still, the sign serves a purpose. Like the colourful murals of stuffed shop windows that have been painted over the boarded-up faades of once-prosperous stores, it creates the illusion of commerce–of life.

This is Murdochville, Quebec’s Potemkin village.

At one end of the street rises Mont Copper, a lunar-looking elevation scarred by the Noranda Inc. mine that was the town’s past. At the other end is Mont Miller, a verdant slope that could be the town’s future. Trapped between the two mountains, Murdochville’s citizens wage their little civil war. In a company town that no longer has a company, the battle is between those who want to shut down the place and those who want to rebuild it.

UPDATE 3-Freeport loses right to export from Indonesia copper mine, talks ongoing – by Bernadette Christina Munthe and Fergus Jensen (Reuters India – January 29, 2016)

January 29, 2016

http://in.reuters.com/

JAKARTA, Jan 29 Freeport McMoRan Inc on Friday lost its right to export copper concentrate, valued at more than $1 billion, from one of the world’s biggest mines as talks with Indonesia’s government remained deadlocked over payment for a new metal smelter.

Freeport’s six-month licence to export concentrate expired on Thursday and it was unclear how soon a new one would be issued as the two sides have yet to resolve a government demand that the U.S. firm first pay a $530 million deposit.

“Without an export permit, there can be no exports. The exporter knows that,” Didi Sumedi, Indonesia’s director of mining and industrial products told Reuters via text message.

How First Quantum Minerals Ltd raised $1.44B, the biggest base metals equity offering since 2007 – by Peter Koven (National Post – January 29, 2016)

January 29, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

By any standard, 2015 was a horrendous year for metal prices. Yet First Quantum Minerals Ltd. managed to pull off the biggest base metals equity offering in the world since 2007.

It is hard to overstate how much of an anomaly this transaction was. First Quantum raised $1.44 billion. Canada’s second-largest base metals equity deal of 2015 belonged to Travali Mining Corp. It was worth $30.6 million, or about two per cent of what First Quantum raised.

“This was an exceptional deal,” said Luke Gordon, managing director of investment banking at Goldman Sachs. “It was one our client (First Quantum) was very happy about.”

The deal, which closed in early June, was priced at $16.25 per share.

Copper Slump Seen Opening Door to Debate on Pinochet-Era Law – by Javiera Quiroga (Bloomberg News – January 26, 2016)

January 26, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The end of the commodities super-cycle is creating the conditions for Chile to discuss changes to a four-decades-old law that gives the armed forces 10 percent of copper giant Codelco’s sales, said Mining Minister Aurora Williams.

A bill to scrap the law, which was created in its current form by late dictator Augusto Pinochet, has been languishing in Congress since 2011, when copper traded above $4 a pound amid surging Chinese demand. Now the metal is about $2 with miners including Codelco grappling with cost cutting measures to remain profitable.

While President Michelle Bachelet has focused on education and tax reforms since taking office in March 2014, copper’s collapse could open the door to revising the so-called copper reserve law as government revenue from Codelco shrinks, Williams said in an interview Monday in Santiago.

Chile losing ground as top copper producer as metal price in the pits – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mineweb.com – January 22, 2016)

January 22, 2016

http://www.mining.com/

Resilience in the copper industry, its producers and investors, continues to be tested this year, as the metal price has touched fresh lows, falling last week to $1.95 per pound, a price last seen in May 2009, and analysts don’t see a clear end to China’s slowdown.

Last week, Chile’s state copper commission Cochilco cut again average copper prices for the year to $2.15 and $2.20 per pound in 2017, about 35 cents less than what it predicted in September.

At those prices, companies will likely reduce copper output, said the group. For this year, Cochilco expects an increase in production of only 0.1% more than 2015, which reached 5.76 million tonnes, but for 2017 it expects production to pick up, growing 3.1% to 5.95 million tons.