Gold and Silver – Page 228 – Republic of Mining

Iamgold’s troublesome mine – by Kip Keen (Mineweb.com – July 6, 2015)

July 6, 2015

http://www.mineweb.com/

The downward revision of production guidance at Westwood will dampen the share price.

Unstable ground conditions are proving to be a major hindrance for Iamgold at the Westwood gold mine, in the Doyon-Bousquet – LaRonde mining camp in Quebec.

Seismic issues – mostly mining-related – at underground mines in the region are nothing new and can require extensive monitoring and management.

But, after a couple sizeable rock bursts, Iamgold is now having to peddle back on projections and reconsider how much gold it can produce at the mine.

Back in January four Iamgold workers were stuck, briefly, underground after a rock fall blocked access. Then, in a similar incident in May, nine workers were again blocked by a rock fall.

[South Africa] Govt, private sector working constructively to tackle acid mine drainage in Wits basin – by Ilan Solomons (MiningWeekly.com – July 3, 2015)

July 3, 2015

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Although acid mine drainage (AMD) in the Witwatersrand basin is the result of a legacy of environmental mismanagement of water resources by mines and lax enforcement of regulations by government, these role-players are working to constructively address this problem, says Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) senior manager Marius Keet.

Keet was a speaker during the first day of black-owned training and conferencing company Intelligence Transfer Centre’s two-day EnviroMining conference, held in Johannesburg, in March.

The Witwatersrand basin, a largely underground geological formation that surfaces in the Witwatersrand region of Johannesburg, comprises the Western, Central and Eastern basins.

A current key focus for government is to prevent further decanting of AMD from the basins by pumping underground water to protect the environmental critical level (ECL). The ECL is the level above which the water in the mine voids at critical locations, which is where environmental features that need to be protected are at the lowest elevations.

NEWS RELEASE: McEwen Mining Addresses New York Stock Exchange Listing Requirements

July 3, 2015

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – July 2, 2015) – McEwen Mining Inc. (NYSE:MUX) (TSX:MUX) announced today that it has fallen below the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) continued listing requirement related to the price of its common stock. The NYSE requires that the average closing price of a listed company’s common stock be above US$1.00 per share, calculated over a period of 30 consecutive trading days. The Company was advised by the NYSE on July 1, 2015 that the average price of our common stock for the previous 30 trading days was below US$1.00 per share

Under the NYSE’s rules, McEwen Mining has a period of six months from July 1, 2015, the date of the Company’s acknowledgement, to bring its share price and 30 day average closing share price back above US$1.00. During this period, McEwen Mining’s common stock will continue to trade on the NYSE, subject to all other continued listing requirements. The Company’s listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) is unaffected by any actions of the NYSE.

“We do not believe that McEwen Mining’s current share price is reflective of the true value of the Company’s assets. Our share price has been under pressure as a result of the decline in gold and silver prices and a general reduction in financing options that have affected many companies in the mining space. The Company values its NYSE listing and will evaluate measures to bring our share price into compliance with listing requirements.” said Rob McEwen, Chairman and Chief Owner.

Barrick Gold makes big changes to become a smaller company – by Joe Castaldo (Canadian Business Magazine – July 3, 2015)

July 3, 2015

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/

Long-suffering shareholders see potential as the company focuses on shedding debt and getting back to gold

It’s quiet at the headquarters of Barrick Gold in Toronto. On a Wednesday afternoon in May, all that can be heard is the soft hum of the ventilation system. A few years ago, around 500 people filled the office, overseeing mining operations that spanned the globe. Today, there are just 140 employees responsible for a much smaller geographical footprint. And that footprint might shrink over the coming year.

For long-suffering Barrick shareholders, this is welcome news. “We’re taking Barrick back to the way it was 15 years ago,” says Kelvin Dushnisky, the company’s co-president. Back then, Barrick was not a bloated organization that had lost investor confidence, nor was it facing a mountainous $13-billion debt in a depressed gold market. Since 2012, Barrick’s share price has fallen by roughly 70%.

While gold prices are a long way from where they were at the height of the 2000s commodities boom—a reality that’s hurt many miners—Barrick’s wounds are mostly self-inflicted. In 2011, founder and chairman Peter Munk pushed the company to spend billions on an underperforming copper mine in Zambia. Barrick also botched the development of what was to be a monster gold mine on the border of Chile and Argentina called Pascua-Lama. These two headaches have cost Barrick about $15.9 billion over the past few years, according to an analyst at Macquarie Group.

NEWS RELEASE: ALAMOS AND AURICO METALS ANNOUNCE COMPLETION OF MERGER

July 2, 2015

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – July 2, 2015) – Alamos Gold Inc. (“Alamos”) (TSX:AGI)(NYSE:AGI) and AuRico Metals Inc. (“AuRico Metals”) (TSX:AMI) are pleased to announce the completion of the previously announced arrangement (“Arrangement”) involving Alamos Gold Inc. (a predecessor to Alamos) (“Former Alamos”) (TSX:AGI)(NYSE:AGI) and AuRico Gold Inc. (a predecessor to Alamos) (“Former AuRico”) (TSX:AUQ)(NYSE:AUQ).

Pursuant to the Arrangement, Former Alamos and Former AuRico amalgamated to form Alamos, and certain assets of Former AuRico, including the Kemess project, certain royalties and cash, were transferred to AuRico Metals. Approximately 95.1% of the common shares of AuRico Metals (“AuRico Metals Shares”) were distributed to Former Alamos and Former AuRico shareholders. Following completion of the Arrangement, Alamos holds an equity interest of approximately 4.9% in AuRico Metals.

Under the terms of the Arrangement, each Former Alamos share held was ultimately exchanged for 1 Class A common share of Alamos (“Class A Shares”), US$0.0001 in cash, and 0.4397 AuRico Metals Shares, and each Former AuRico share held was ultimately exchanged for 0.5046 Class A Shares and 0.2219 AuRico Metals Shares. Upon closing, Alamos has approximately 255,505,000 Class A Shares outstanding with Former Alamos and Former AuRico shareholders each owning approximately 50% and AuRico Metals has approximately 118,120,000 shares outstanding with Former Alamos and Former AuRico shareholders each owning approximately 50% of the shares not held by Alamos.

World’s best gold forecaster is solidly bearish on bullion – by Debarati Roy and Eddie Van Der Walt (Bloomberg News/Globe and Mail – July 1, 2015)

July 2, 2015

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.

There will be no relief any time soon from gold’s worst losing streak in almost two decades, according to the most accurate forecaster for precious metals.

After sliding about 1 per cent since December, prices will drop an additional 10 per cent by the end of 2015, reaching $1,050 (U.S.) an ounce – a five-year low – predicts Barnabas Gan, an economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. in Singapore.

Mr. Gan topped 19 of his peers from banks including Standard Chartered PLC and ABN Amro Bank NV to become the most accurate analyst over the past two years, Bloomberg Rankings show.

Gold has fallen for four straight quarters, the longest stretch since 1997. It has been more than two years of disappointment for bulls who had been piling into exchange-traded products (ETPs) backed by the metal, accumulating a record hoard by the end of 2012. Since then, more than $81.8-billion has been wiped from the value of the ETPs backed by bullion.

Thousands of children rescued from dangerous work in Tanzania gold mines – by Kizito Makoye (Reuters U.S. – June 30, 2015)

July 2, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

DAR ES SALAAM (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – More than 12,000 children have been rescued in the past three years from gold mines in northern Tanzania, according to children’s rights groups who fear thousands more youngsters are being forced to work in hazardous conditions for a pittance.

Plan International said the children from Geita region in northern Tanzania are being identified and reintegrated back into school as part of a donor-funded initiative to clamp down on child labor involving children as young as eight.

Police, government social welfare officers and NGO workers were all involved in the mission to rescue the children.

The children’s charity Plan said thousands of boys and girls are lured to work in gold mines in northern and western Tanzania every year in the hope of a better life – but many find themselves stuck in a cycle of poverty and despair.

Their health is also put at risk by direct exposure to mercury used to process gold ore and girls often end up selling sex which exposes them to the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.

Iamgold cuts gold production forecast after ‘seismic event’ at Quebec mine (CBC News Business – June 29, 2015)

June 30, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business

Rockfall in May that trapped 9 miners has company reassessing practices in area prone to tremors

Canadian miner Iamgold Corp. has cut its gold production forecast for the year, after a probe of what it calls a “localized seismic event” in a Quebec mine.

On May 26, the company halted production at its Westwood mine, one of its newest mines, after a rockfall that trapped nine miners for about 18 hours.

The Westwood mine, which is located near the Cadillac fault, experience two seismic events, with magnitudes of 1.2 and 1.7.

The Westwood event will “have a more significant impact on 2015 production than originally indicated,” Iamgold said a statement on Monday.

CEO Steve Letwin said mining companies working in the region ‘know that this district is prone to seismic activity and we are taking the necessary measures to keep our excellent safety record intact.”

Gold miner opts for desalination to water planned Mexican mine (International Desalination & Water Reuse Quarterly – June 29, 2015)

June 30, 2015

http://www.desalination.biz/index.asp?channel=0

The gold mining arm of energy firm, Chesapeake, has opted to use desalinated seawater to supply water for its proposed Metates gold and silver mining project, in Durango state, Mexico. It has tendered for proposals to build and operate a 55Ml/d desalination facility to supply the mine with fresh water.

Chesaspeake Gold concluded that seawater desalination was the best source of water for the 30-year lifespan of the mine. This decision followed its review of a 2013 prefeasibilty study after Mexico’s water agency, Conagua, doubled the price of water this year. “Seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) water is projected to have lower overall capital and operating costs compared with conventionally sourced surface water.” the company said in a statement.

Chesaspeake Gold found that desalination of water from the Pacific offered a cost effective, reliable and sustainable water supply compared to taking water from Conagua. “Besides the economic benefits, desalination decouples the water supply and demand for Metates,” said Chesapeake president Randy Reifel in a release.

The proposed SWRO plant would be located within the same hydrologic basin and irrigation district as current users of surface water. Chesapeake said this would simplify water transfer and trade.

PRECIOUS-Gold slips as Greek crisis knocks euro – by Jan Harvey (Reuters U.S. – June 30, 2015)

June 30, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) – Gold prices fell on Tuesday as the prospect that Greece will default on a repayment to the International Monetary Fund knocked the euro against the dollar, and as investors remained wary over the metal’s longer-term prospects.

Greece is just hours away from defaulting on a 1.6 billion euro ($1.8 billion) loan from the IMF. Talks with creditors broke down over the weekend, with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras calling for a bailout referendum on July 5.

Spot gold fell one percent at $1,168.65 an ounce. It was trading $1,170.11 at 1310 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for August delivery were down $8.60 an ounce at $1,170.30.

“The gold price is telling you the market is not concerned about Greece. It isn’t as systemically important as it used to be,” said Michael Widmer, metals strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “The dollar is the bigger force at the moment.”

Gold, which often benefits in times of financial market turmoil, has found little support from safe-haven bids.

Miners create community with food – by Maureen Arges Nadin (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – June 29, 2015)

June 29, 2015

Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

‘Food is one of the only comforts that people have when they are away from home,” says Allan Bedard, manager of Windigo Ventures and Catering.

And he is someone who knows, as his company supplies, plans and prepares nutritious and tasty food to feed and comfort FIFO (fly in fly out) workers at mining camps like Goldcorp’s camp at Musselwhite.

FIFO lifestyle is an occupational reality for many workers in the mining industry who are flown in on a rotational basis from various parts of Northwestern Ontario and other parts of Canada.

And attracting and retaining workers who are facing being away from their families for two weeks at a time can be a challenge. Many FIFO workers will say that when they are away, their co-workers and the people who provide support services at the mine, become their second family. And families generally eat together. This is a dynamic that Bedard understands well.

“It fosters a sense of community when we live with people and share food,” he says.

COLUMN-Greece a sideshow to China’s main game for commodities – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.K. – June 29, 2015)

June 29, 2015

http://uk.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, June 29 (Reuters) – With the focus on whether Greece will or won’t default on its debts or even stay within the euro zone, the important news of China easing its monetary policy again has been largely sidelined.

As fascinating as the Greek machinations are, ultimately they will have little impact on commodity markets, other than the potential to boost some safe-haven demand for gold and possibly other commodities, such as agriculture, which have little correlation to equities and bonds.

The real news is that the world’s largest commodity producer, consumer and importer appears to be taking more determined steps to boost its flagging growth rate.

China’s central bank cut lending rates for the fourth time since November, while also trimming the amount of cash that certain banks have to hold as reserves.

In a possible sign as to how serious the authorities are in getting money to flow faster through the economy, this was the first time since the global financial crisis in 2008 that both interest rates and the reserve ratio were cut at the same time.

Coal worth more to SA than gold – by Sungula Nkabinde (Moneyweb.com – June 26, 2015)

June 26, 2015

http://www.moneyweb.co.za/

A coal sector strike would hurt the economy more.

The gold sector wage negotiations have taken centre stage in mining circles this week, detracting attention from the upcoming coal sector talks scheduled to start on July 2.

According to this StatsSA article, coal has leapfrogged gold as South Africa’s most important resource, contributing more to GDP. As the resource has become critical for electricity generation in SA, a protracted coal mining strike could leave the economy in a worse off state than if the gold sector negotiations had to turn sour.

Xavier Prévost, senior coal analyst at XMP Consulting, shares this sentiment saying that coal was the top contributor to GDP in 2014 with R101.5 billion in revenue. Gold was at R46.8 billion, behind Platinum Group Metals (PGM) and iron ore, which generated R77.5 billion and R58.7 billion in revenue respectively.

“Coal [is the most important commodity for the future of South Africa’s economy] because it is our source of energy. Without it the whole country will be paralysed, including the gold, iron ore and PGM mines,” says Prévost.

TMAC Resources Inc boosts IPO to $135 million on strong demand – by Peter Koven (National Post – June 25, 2015)

June 26, 2015

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

TORONTO — The mining sector’s first initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange since 2012 is shaping up to be a big success.

The IPO of TMAC Resources Inc. has been upsized by $30 million because of overwhelming investor demand, according to sources familiar with the transaction. TMAC is now planning to raise $135 million, and as much as $155 million if the banks sell the entire over-allotment. One source said it is a “safe assumption” that will happen.

TMAC plans to use the money to develop the Hope Bay gold project in Nunavut. The IPO values the Toronto-based company at between $446 million and $466 million.

It is a very impressive debut given the rough state of the mining sector, and the junior mining sector in particular. Metal prices have been weak, and smaller companies like TMAC have struggled to raise money. IPOs have been non-existent in mining because of poor demand, even though they have been very popular in other sectors of the Canadian economy this year.

The success of the TMAC offering will be interpreted as proof that market conditions are turning around. But sources said it is largely about the track record of the TMAC team.

Junior mining firms turn to creativity in order to get ahead in sector – by Peter Koven (National Post – June 25, 2015)

June 25, 2015

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

A pair of junior mining firms are turning to innovation to try to thrive in a rough bear market. And everyone seems to think it’s about time.

“The mining industry is really prehistoric in the way we do business,” said George Salamis, chairman of Integra Gold Corp.

Indeed. As the junior resource market collapsed over the past several years, many companies have hoarded their cash and done almost nothing to create value for investors. Predictably, stock prices have languished.

But over the last few weeks, a couple of creative ideas have been put into action in this sector. If successful, they will likely inspire more.

Vancouver-based Integra announced a “crowd-sourcing gold rush challenge” this week to try to find gold on its Sigma-Lamaque project in northwest Quebec.

Integra’s management acquired the past-producing mine out of bankruptcy last year. When they went through the old mine office, they found hard drives holding an astounding six terabytes of mining records dating back to 1933. That included data from about 30,000 old drill holes on the property.