Gold and Silver – Page 167 – Republic of Mining

Nova Scotia gold rush 2.0: Miners seek riches in tiny flecks of precious metal – by Michael Tutton (Metro News.ca/Canadian Press – June 18 2017)

June 19, 2017

http://www.metronews.ca/

MOOSE RIVER GOLD MINES, NOVA SCOTIA, Canada — Amid the dull claystone of a tube-shaped sample of rock, the gleaming, pulse-quickening swirl of gold is unmistakable.

“It’s quite a special specimen of gold — it’s by far the best visible section of gold we’ve ever intersected,” said Tim Bourque, a geologist with Atlantic Gold Corp, cradling the metre-long sample in his arms. The rock was gathered last fall at the firm’s Fifteen Mile Lake property, one of four deposits it owns in Nova Scotia’s old gold districts.

The discovery of the precious metal in such unremarkable hunks of stone is helping to revive a dormant industry — and Bourque hopes it will keep the company’s Moose River Consolidated Project flourishing after its initial Touquoy mine starts up here in September.

Harte Gold’s Sugar Zone just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ analyst says – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – June 16, 2017)

June 19, 2017

http://www.northernminer.com/

Harte Gold Corp’s (TSX: HRT) Sugar zone deposit in northern Ontario will be in commercial production in the second quarter of 2018, chairman and CEO, Stephen Roman, told The Northern Miner’s Canadian Mining Symposium in London.

When Roman took over management of the company at the request of shareholders in 2009, Sugar was known to contain around 200,000 ounces of gold.

But the mining executive, who had sold Gold Eagle Mines the year before to Goldcorp (TSX: G; NYSE:GG) for $1.5 billion, had a hunch that the project, 25 km northeast of White River and 60 km east of the Hemlo area gold mines, held an awful lot more gold than that.

Mining 101: A brief history of the industry in Nevada – by Staff (Las Vegas Sun – February 1, 2016)

June 19, 2017

https://lasvegassun.com/

Less than 1 percent of Nevada’s land houses mining operations.
But the 167,000 acres that are being mined are spread across
almost the entire state. Only Carson City and Douglas County
have no mines. There are 110 mines in the state, and 2,230
companies connected to their operations.

Modern-day mining in Nevada is a high-tech business, not a get-rich-quick dream. Operators use drones to survey, monstrous trucks to haul and T-Rex-sized power shovels to chomp into the ground. Permits and environmental applications take years to approve.

Technology has transformed the business. But the first step remains the same: Stake a claim.

Unlike the old days, mining companies no longer can simply slam a post in the ground and own what’s below the surface dirt. To make a claim, mining companies must inform federal and state agencies that minerals are believed to be underground, pay a slate of fees, then begin a government application process that can last 10 years before a shovel hits the ground. There are two types of mining claims:

ETF rebalancing a bumpy ride for junior gold miners – by Joyita Sengupta (Globe and Mail – June 14, 2017)

June 19, 2017

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

In an unprecedented move, one of the most popular junior gold miner exchange-traded funds is set to rebalance on Friday after growing too large for its market. After months of volatility, miners and investors alike are preparing for even more uncertainty.

Cursed by its own success as a $4-billion (U.S.) ETF in a $30-billion space, VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ-N) began to expand beyond the index it tracks, the MVIS Global Junior Gold Miner’s Index.

Combined with VanEck’s Vectors Gold Miner ETF, (GDX-N), the company is nearing the significant shareholder status point of 20-per-cent ownership in several companies, many of which are Canadian, which means special filing requirements and significant trading restraints.

Measuring labor productivity in the gold mining industry – by Adam Webb S & P Market Intelligence – March 31, 2017)

June 19, 2017

http://marketintelligence.spglobal.com/

Labor productivity in the mining industry is often expressed as tonnes of ore mined per man hour and, as a consequence, open pit mines are often described as being more productive than underground mines. However, looking at productivity in terms of revenue generated per man hour accounts for both primary grade and valuable byproduct metals in the ore and shows a different regional picture compared to that suggested by the more simplistic measure of ore mined per man hour.

This metric shows that underground mining is more competitive in terms of labor productivity when compared with open pit mining than is sometimes suggested by the more conventional metric of ore mined per man hour.

For this study, S&P Global Market Intelligence looked at 137 primary gold open pit and underground mines across 30 countries in 2016. Figure 1 shows the average ore mined per man hour for all 30 countries. Employees in the United States are apparently the most productive, while in some more developed nations, such as New Zealand and Chile, the workforce seems surprisingly unproductive.

China eyes Obor Gold Rush as it seeks to build reserves – by Zi Yang (Asia Times – June 16, 2017)

June 16, 2017

http://www.atimes.com/

The country’s own deposits may be costly to explore but Chinese mining giants are taking advantage of ‘New Silk Road’ connectivity to explore additional sources as Beijing looks to close the gap on US reserves

China’s demand for investment-grade gold is going up. The first quarter of 2017 saw a 60.2% rise in demand for physical gold bars, compared to 22.4% growth for the year-earlier period.

Recovering from a 14.4% decline during the same period last year, demand for gold jewelry rose just 1.4%, which is to be expected when demand for gold bars and bullion is high. This year, total Chinese gold imports through Hong Kong are set to breach 1,000 tonnes, compared to 771 tonnes imported in 2016.

The rise comes as no surprise. China has long been interested in accumulating gold to diversify its assets and reduce its dependency on the US dollar. In addition, a larger gold reserve strengthens the renminbi as an IMF reserve currency. In a time of economic slowdown, renminbi depreciation and concern over equity and property markets, however, citizens and businesses also view gold as a safe haven investment.

KIA signs gold mine benefit deal with Agnico Eagle (CBC News Canada North – June 16, 2017)

June 28, 2017June 16, 2017

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

The KIA and Agnico Eagle have signed an Inuit Impact Benefit Agreement regrading the Whale Tail gold deposit

Officials from the Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA) and Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. signed the Whale Tail Inuit impact benefit agreement (IIBA) in Baker Lake, Nunavut, on Thursday. In 2019, the mining company hopes to begin open pit operations at the Whale Tail gold deposit, approximately 50 kilometres north of the Meadowbank gold mine.

The Whale Tail agreement includes a $6.5 million payment to KIA — including $3 million given on June 15 to a community initiative fund. Other benefits include a 1.4 per cent cut of net gold production, $3.6 million in funding for annual training programs (with an additional $1 million in training investment if Inuit employment goals are not reached), and a preference point system to Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. registered companies.

“KIA has strived to balance the need to protect the environment with the promotion of economic development,” stated David Ningeongan, KIA president, in a press release.

UPDATE 2-Argentina lifts curbs on Barrick mine; full operations lag (Reuters U.K. – June 15, 2017)

June 16, 2017

https://uk.reuters.com/

Authorities in the Argentine province of San Juan lifted restrictions on leaching operations at Barrick Gold Corp’s Veladero mine on Thursday, but the world’s biggest gold producer said it would not immediately resume full operations.

Judge Pablo Oritja told a radio station that he understood Barrick had finished all required work, following its third cyanide spill in 18 months, and had ordered an end to restrictions put in place in late March.

Barrick will not begin adding cyanide until it has completed the ramp up of a new system and verified all elements are ready for normal operations, in keeping with a plan the miner submitted to regulators, said spokesman Andy Lloyd.

UPDATE 4-Barrick Gold to hold talks with Tanzania over export row – by Fumbuka Ng’wanakilala and David Lewis (Reuters U.S. – June 14, 2017)

June 15, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

DAR ES SALAAM/NAIROBI, June 14 Barrick Gold’s chairman and Tanzania’s president met on Wednesday and agreed to hold talks aimed at resolving an escalating dispute over an export ban which has hit Barrick’s Acacia Mining PLC .

Shares in Acacia, which is 63.9 percent owned by Barrick, jumped as much as 11 percent, to 303 pence, after the news and closed 5.5 percent higher, outpacing sector rivals. Tanzania is Africa’s fourth-largest gold producer, and Acacia its largest miner, with three gold mines that also produce copper in the East African country.

Acacia’s market value has nearly halved to about $1.4 billion since Tanzania banned the export of unprocessed ore in March, part of a push for the construction of a local smelter to make the country’s gold exports more valuable.

Sabina finds deeper mineralization at Back River in Nunavut – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – June 14, 2017)

June 28, 2017June 15, 2017

http://www.northernminer.com/

Drilling during Sabina Gold and Silver’s (TSX: SBB) spring exploration program has extended mineralization 300 metres down plunge of the Back River project’s existing resources in southwestern Nunavut.

Drill hole 17GSE513 stepped out about 300 metres down plunge of the existing resource structure at the project’s Llama deposit and intersected 48 metres of altered and mineralized iron formation that included an intercept of 6.52 grams gold over 8.3 metres from a depth of 618.90 metres. Another hole, 17GSE512, cut 6.30 grams gold over 2.65 metres from a depth of 603.5 metres.

“Results bode well for future resource growth,” Andrew Kaip of BMO Capital Markets wrote in a research note. “We continue to believe that the Back River project represents an attractive feasibility study stage project, at an advanced stage of permitting, in a safe jurisdiction, and with a large reserve base containing above-average grade.”

Tanzania’s Acacia Spat Shows Deepening Battle With Business – by Omar Mohammed (Bloomberg News – June 13, 2017)

June 14, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Tanzanian President John Magufuli’s escalating battles with business risk alienating the very investors he needs to drive his multi-billion dollar industrialization policy.

On Monday, the 57-year-old leader ratcheted up his dispute with miners by accusing Acacia Mining Plc of operating illegally in Tanzania and insisting the government is owed billions of shillings of unpaid taxes. It’s the latest in a series of broadsides against private investors who are being unnerved by his administration’s stance and its lack of consultation on policy. Shares in Acacia, which denies any wrongdoing, slumped as much as 16 percent.

“It’s negative that you have these uncertainties playing out in the market, especially at a time when you’re relying on growth and infrastructure development to be supported by private sector activity,” said Lisa Brown, a risk analyst at Rand Merchant Bank in South Africa.

COMMENT: Two committees, twice the bad news for Acacia – by Marilyn Scales (Canadian Mining Journal – June 13, 2017)

June 14, 2017

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Followers of international mining news have read about the Tanzanian government’s beef with Acacia Mining which is headquartered in London, U.K.

Last month we learned that the report of a government committee says Acacia owes tens of billions in unpaid taxes. The committee estimated output from the Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi gold-copper mines is 10 times what the company reported and on which it paid royalties and taxes. The committee checked 277 containers of concentrate ready to ship from the mines, and it said there must be 250,000 oz. of gold in them. Acacia’s number is 26,000 oz.

All told, Tanzania says it has lost US$49 billion in royalties and taxes on gold-bearing concentrate exports from 1998 to 2017. The result is that Tanzania has blocked all exports of concentrate. Acacia has been exporting concentrate from Bulyanhulu since 2001 and from Buzwagi since 2010, and the company insists it has declared all the associated gold, copper and silver revenue.

THE STRANGE SECRET HISTORY OF OPERATION GOLDFINGER – by James Ledbetter (New Yorker Magazine – June 10, 2017)

June 12, 2017

http://www.newyorker.com/

In September of 1965, Joe Barr, a Treasury Department official with a long history in government, agreed to meet with a group of members of Congress from Western states. He knew what to expect. Earlier that year, he had met with the same group, and endured its ire over the Treasury’s reluctance to help the American gold industry.

After the Second World War, world leaders had met at Bretton Woods, in New Hampshire, and, as part of an agreement on an international monetary system, had fixed the price of gold at thirty-five dollars an ounce. This had, predictably, depressed the U.S. mining industry, even as the demand for private gold shot up. The more easily obtained sources of gold had been depleted over the years, while harder-to-reach sources became more difficult to mine profitably, given the static price.

Foreign competition—chiefly from Canada and South Africa, where mines were less depleted and labor costs were lower—was far more intense by 1960 than it had been after the war, when the price of gold was set. The United States was a distant third in gold production. Rather than attempt to compete, many mines simply shut down.

In-depth interview: Barrick’s Dushnisky and Goldcorp’s Garofalo on gold mining’s future (Northern Miner – June 11, 2017)

June 12, 2017

http://www.northernminer.com/

At the Canadian Mining Symposium hosted by The Northern Miner at Canada House in London in early May, session moderator Greg Huffman, managing director and global head of mining sales at Canaccord Genuity, sat down with Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: ABX) president Kelvin Dushnisky and Goldcorp (TSX: G; NYSE: GG) CEO David Garofalo for an in-depth conversation on the strategies they use to guide both companies, plus a wider look at what the future holds for gold mining globally. The following is an edited transcript of the exchange.

Question: Looking at some of Goldcorp’s latest acquisitions such Gold Eagle, Virginia, Probe and Kaminak, is there now a premium on assets in safer jurisdictions, given the current political turmoil worldwide?

DAVID GAROFALO: It’s always been fundamental to Goldcorp’s strategy to stay in low political-risk jurisdictions — generally, investment-grade countries with the notable exception of taking a bit more risk in investing in Argentina prior to the Macri regime. But that was a generational asset in Cerro Negro, and it’s been born out in the changing regime there and the Macri economic model.

Bringing Gold Back to Germany – by Moa Fromm (Handelsblatt Global – June 12, 2017)

June 12, 2017

https://global.handelsblatt.com/

The German central bank is currently repatriating much of its overseas gold, but part of the reserves is going to stay abroad. It was a scare from Germany’s Federal Audit Office that the public actually paid attention to. In 2012 financial controllers said they were unsure whether the gold reserves of Germany’s Bundesbank actually physically existed.

The Federal Audit Office demanded the central bank make regularly spot checks so that gold reserves abroad should be “physically counted and their authenticity and weight” confirmed. We’re not talking peanuts here. Following the United States, Germany has the world’s largest gold reserve, constituting two-thirds of German currency reserves. And in 2012, around 70 percent of the total of 3,378 tons of the precious metal (total value around €119 billion or $132.98 billion) was in the vaults of foreign central banks.

The Bundesbank took the suggestion to heart and discretely transferred 300 tons of gold stored in the vaults of the US Federal Reserve to Frankfurt over the past years. Over 100 tons were brought home in 2016 alone.