Gold and Silver – Page 230 – Republic of Mining

Treasuries Collusion Said to Be Hunted in New Wave of Probes – by Keri Geiger and Matthew Leising (Bloomberg News – June 10, 2015)

June 11, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The Justice Department has begun an examination of trading in the U.S. Treasury market, following the outlines of its successful cases against Wall Street’s illegal practices in foreign currencies and other businesses, said three people familiar with the inquiry.

The government is also continuing to look into possible collusion in gold and silver markets and in trading around certain oil benchmarks, the people said.

Though the latest inquiry into Treasury trading is in its earliest stages, investigators are said to be probing whether information is being shared improperly by financial institutions. Some of the world’s biggest banks and their subsidiaries pleaded guilty after traders were shown to be using chat rooms, which functioned as cartels, to coordinate positions on foreign-exchange markets. These practices violated federal antitrust laws. Some of the same banks were among those that settled fraud and antitrust investigations into manipulating key interest rates.

After the most recent flurry of guilty pleas — from firms including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Barclays Plc, Deutsche Bank AG and UBS Group AG — banks are in no position to be anything other than cooperative with investigators.

OPINION: South Africa: The Scandal of South Africa’s Sick Miners – by Pete Lewis (All Africa.com – June 11, 2015)

June 11, 2015

http://allafrica.com/

Human rights lawyers have been engaged for ten years in a bid to secure massive damages for former gold miners who suffer from silicosis and TB. As the case heads for the courts, the mining industry is scrambling to offer its own and much less comprehensive solution.

Too sick to work, cared for by women and families who can barely scratch a living, hundreds of thousands of former gold miners number among the disabled, dying and dead victims of an inadequate compensation system.

This issue, brushed under the carpet during the apartheid era, has become public after 20 years of democracy, against all efforts by the mining companies to keep it buried.

Over the past century, South Africa developed a legislated system for the compensation of workers who are injured at work, or who contract an occupational disease, in line with conventions developed over time by the International Labour Organisation.

Such systems are supposed to provide workers (and their dependent spouses and children) with a lump sum or pension for permanent disability, and lost wages for temporary disability. They are also supposed to cover medical costs of treatment, care, and rehabilitation.

Ghana Urged to Stop Employment of Thousands of Children at Mines – by Pauline Bax (Bloomberg News – June 10, 2015)

June 10, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Ghana should better enforce its laws to prevent thousands of children from working at small-scale mines in Africa’s second-largest producer of gold, Human Rights Watch said.

The children work alongside family members or on their own, often to help pay school fees, the New York-based group said on Wednesday in a report based on interviews with mine workers mostly aged 15 to 17 years old. Many said they had been working since the age of 12.

“Ghana’s unlicensed gold mines are very dangerous places where no child should work,” according to the report. “Companies buying gold in Ghana should exert control over their whole supply chain to make sure they’re not benefiting from child labor.”

Small-scale mines employ about 1 million people and account for about 40 percent of total production of gold in Ghana. A majority of the small mines operate without licenses. The work is especially hazardous for children because it involves heavy lifting, sharp tools like shovels and picks, and exposure to mercury, which is poisonous, according to the report.

BNN Reporter Andrew Bell Interviews Canaccord Analyst Rahul Paul About Detour Gold (June 9, 2015)

November 5, 2015June 10, 2015

http://www.bnn.ca/

(Please Note, Canaccord Analyst Rahul Paul interview starts at 45 second mark!) Toronto-based Business News Network (BNN) is a Canadian cable television specialty channel. BNN airs business and financial programming and analysis. BNN reporter Andrew Bell hosts the Commodities program. From aluminum to zinc and everything in between, BNN highlights the hot world of commodities and the companies that produce them, including interviews with mineral and mining entrepreneurs from Canada and around the globe.

We like to do things on a big scale on our Commodities show and they don’t come much bigger than the Detour Lake mine operated by Detour Gold in northeastern Ontario. Commercial production started in 2013 and the company sees output of around 500,000 ounces this year, making this one of Canada’s biggest gold mines.

Operating problems and balance sheet concerns sent the stock lower in late 2013 but investors are happy that new management have righted the ship. Detour’s shares have jumped almost 60% this year.

BNN Reporter Andrew Bell Interviews Agnico Eagle CEO Sean Boyd (June 10, 2015)

June 10, 2015June 10, 2015

http://www.bnn.ca/ Toronto-based Business News Network (BNN) is a Canadian cable television specialty channel. BNN airs business and financial programming and analysis. BNN reporter Andrew Bell hosts the Commodities program. From aluminum to zinc and everything in between, BNN highlights the hot world of commodities and the companies that produce them, including interviews with mineral and …

Five juniors, one deal, with Canadian heavy-hitters – by Kip Keen (Mineweb.com – June 10, 2015)

June 10, 2015June 10, 2015

http://www.mineweb.com/

Osisko and Dundee factor large in a deal that will see five Canadian juniors join forces.

In a one-stop-shop style merger comprising five Canadian juniors, a group of leading mine developers in Canada hope to replicate past successes in Central Canada.

Five juniors – two struggling to advance existing projects and three with significant cash piles but little by way of exploration assets – are to join forces combining a trio of mid-stage gold projects in Quebec and Ontario and some $50-odd million in cash.

The deal involves Oban Mining taking over four other juniors, Eagle Hill Exploration, Temex Resources, Ryan Gold and Corona Gold.

John Burzynski, who chairs Oban and who also heads up project development for Osisko Royalties, will become the President and CEO of the combined-company, which is tentatively to be called New Oban. Sean Roosen, who heads up Osisko Royalties (formerly Osisko Mining before it was sold to Agnico Eagle and Yamana) and Ned Goodman, behind Dundee, will co-chair New Oban.

The aim of New Oban is “nothing short of creating the next great Canadian mining house,” Burzynski said during a conference call, who evoked Osisko Mining as the future he saw for New Oban.

Oban Mining Corp brings consolidation to junior mining sector with five-way deal – by Peter Koven (National Post – June 9, 2015)

June 10, 2015June 9, 2015

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

The team behind Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. is bringing some much-needed consolidation to Canada’s junior mining sector by arranging a complicated merger of five different companies.

The deal brings the five unloved miners together into one entity that is well financed with $65 million of cash, has a well-regarded management team, and has a host of interesting gold projects in Ontario and Quebec. It is exactly the sort of transaction that investors have been clamouring for, as juniors need more scale, capital and trading liquidity if they hope to get noticed and develop their projects in the current rough market conditions.

“People have been talking about (consolidation). We decided to do it,” Osisko chief executive Sean Roosen said in an interview.

The focal point of the transaction is a junior called Oban Mining Corp., which was founded by members of the Osisko team. Oban will make friendly, all-stock offers to four tiny companies: Temex Resources Corp., Ryan Gold Corp., Eagle Hill Exploration Corp., and Corona Gold Corp. Osisko will invest up to $20 million in the company, and provide some management services.

Kinross partners with Project C.U.R.E. to deliver $7 million in donated medical supplies to Mauritania and Ghana

June 9, 2015

Toronto, Ontario, June 9, 2015 – Kinross Gold Corporation (TSX:K; NYSE:KGC) announced today a new partnership with Project C.U.R.E. to deliver US$7 million in donated medical supplies to Mauritania and Ghana over the next three years.

Project C.U.R.E. is a U.S.-based, not-for-profit organization that provides donated medical supplies from hospitals and clinics around the U.S. to countries in need. Under the partnership, a total of 15 ocean-going cargo containers filled with supplies, including X-ray machines, autoclaves, wheelchairs and operating tables, will be delivered. The partnership also includes support for Project C.U.R.E.’s specialized program in maternal and neonatal care, Helping Babies Breathe, which provides training to local health practitioners and provides basic equipment, such as neonatal resuscitation tools.

Kinross will provide a grant of US$167,000 per year for three years to fund the logistics surrounding the procurement and transport of the donated medical supplies, training costs for the Helping Babies Breathe program, and to support the monitoring and evaluation of the donation’s impact on improving capacity, affordability, accessibility and quality of care at the recipient healthcare facilities.

The donated supplies have already begun arriving, with the first cargo container delivered to Mauritania in May. The supplies are destined for clinics on the border of Mali, where the need is particularly acute. Kinross operates the Tasiast mine in Mauritania and the Chirano mine in Ghana.

UPDATE 2-S.African mining union threatens strike over extension of wage deal – by Tiisetso Motsoeneng (Reuters U.S. – June 7, 2015)

June 8, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

CARLETONVILLE, South Africa, June 7 (Reuters) – South Africa’s Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) will launch a wildcat strike if its rival union and gold mining companies impose a wage deal on its members, its president said on Sunday.

“If NUM (National Union of Mineworkers) and Chamber of Mines want to extend their deal to us, we will sit down, whether it’s legal or not. We will strike,” Joseph Mathunjwa said to cheers from thousands of workers gathered at a stadium in Carletonville, 80 km (50 miles) west of Johannesburg.

Under South African labour laws, wage deals between the majority union and employers can be extended to smaller unions.

The hardline AMCU union is demanding a more than doubling of wages from gold companies AngloGold Ashanti, Sibanye Gold, Harmony Gold and Pan African Resource’s Evander Mines.

About 10,000 AMCU members wearing trademark green t-shirts, waving the union’s flags and carrying placards with slogans such as “A Living Wage For All” streamed into the stadium outside Sibanye Gold’s Driefontein mine.

For risk-wary gold miners, small is beautiful – by Susan Taylor (Reuters U.S. – June 5, 2015)

June 5, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

TORONTO – Bigger isn’t better for the world’s gold miners, who are increasingly making “bite-sized” developments that carry less risk of budget disasters and fewer of the political and environmental disputes that have derailed mega-mines in recent years.

Newmont Mining (NEM.N) is a prime example of how companies are responding to bleak industry conditions by building mines on a smaller scale than in the past, with the price of gold down almost 40 percent from its peak in 2011 and banks avoiding the sector.

The cautious approach will likely persist even if conditions improve, with miners increasingly teaming up on big, complex projects to share costs, expertise and risk, senior mining executives and industry watchers said.

“If there’s going to be something go wrong, you’d rather it go wrong after you’ve spent $1 billion than $3 billion or $4 billion,” said Goldcorp Inc (G.TO) Chief Executive Chuck Jeannes. Goldcorp, the world’s most valuable gold miner by market capitalization, owns stakes in a number of joint-ventured assets such as the Alumbrera gold mine in Argentina and the Pueblo Viejo gold mine in the Dominican Republic.

The price of gold has fallen as concerns about inflation receded and the U.S. dollar rose against most major currencies. Gold is often used as a hedge against inflation, as prices typically rise when the dollar weakens.

New mine in an old pit: Barrick begins mining at Arturo – by Marianne Kobak McKown (Elko Daily Free Press – June 4, 2015)

June 4, 2015

http://elkodaily.com/

CARLIN – An old mine site has been reborn.

Barrick Gold Corp. began mining in its Arturo Mine this year. The new operation is located in the former Dee Pit, which is about 45 miles northwest of Elko. Barrick owns 60 percent of the project and Goldcorp owns the other 40 percent.

The Bureau of Land Management issued the mine’s record of decision May 9, 2014 and construction on the project began the end of 2014.

The mine will be mined in three phases, but it is starting in Phase 2 first, said Jerry Johnson, open pit technical services superintendent. Phase 2 is predominantly refractory ore and it will be sent to Goldstrike’s roaster and autoclave.

“It is about 90 percent refractory and about 10 percent oxide mill,” Johnson said. “It’s a smaller pit. It’s about 107 million total tons. It will be about 800 feet deep when we are done with it and about a half a mile in diameter, so significantly smaller than the Goldstrike Pit.”

He said the phases were named before all the drilling was completed, which is why Phase 2 will be mined before Phase 1. Mining with the 4100 shovel started on March 26. “The active shovel bench is just a wee bit of a highwall,” Johnson said.

Gold’s Peak Doesn’t Mean New Price Heights – by Helen Thomas (Wall Street Journal – June 4, 2015)

June 4, 2015

http://www.wsj.com/

The industry has been in survival mode, companies warn

Announcing that gold production is approaching its limits can be hazardous. In 2009 Aaron Regent, who shortly after became chief executive of Barrick Gold, said the world had reached “peak gold.” Three years later, Mr. Regent was out of a job and mined gold output was still rising. Indeed, it hit a record 3,133 metric tons last year.

Yet predictions of peak gold are again in vogue. It remains doubtful, however, that this heralds much elevation for the gold price.

Gold production may be plateauing: precious metals consultancy Metals Focus expects a slight fall in output this year. A decadelong rise in the gold price from 2001 fueled indiscriminate investment but miners have slashed spending since 2013. Substantial new mines, like Barrick’s Pascua Lama in Chile, have been halted and exploration efforts scaled back.

The industry has been in survival mode, argues Randgold boss Mark Bristow. Companies have tapped higher-grade resources to boost production, service debt and stay in business. But that hurts long-term production, while efforts to cut costs can also reduce the lifespan of mines.

NEWS RELEASE: Agnico Eagle Pledges $1 Million Gift to Historic Cobalt Legacy Fund

June 5, 2015June 4, 2015

(L to R) James D. Nasso, Chairman of Agnico Eagle; Tina Sartoretto, Mayor of Cobalt; Sean Boyd, Vice-Chairman and CEO of Agnico Eagle — (L to R) James D. Nasso, Chairman of Agnico Eagle Mines; Tina Sartoretto, Mayor of Cobalt; Sean Boyd, Vice-Chairman and CEO of Agnico Eagle Mines

http://www.agnicoeagle.com/

Fund to Support the Preservation of Cobalt’s Historical Past and Cultural Heritage

Cobalt, Ontario; June 4, 2015 – Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM; TSX:AEM) (“Agnico Eagle” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has pledged a $1 Million Gift to the Historic Cobalt Legacy Fund. The announcement was made earlier today in the Town of Cobalt at a ceremony honouring former employees of Agnico Eagle’s Cobalt silver division.

Former Agnico Eagle silver division employees gathered in Cobalt, Ontario for a plaque dedication ceremony in honour of all of Agnico’s former silver division employees who helped to transform Agnico Eagle into a leading international gold company.

“We are very pleased to make this contribution in honour of Agnico Eagle’s founder Paul Penna, as well as on behalf of all the men and women whose commitment, perseverance and spirit helped to transform Agnico Eagle into a leading international gold mining company”, said Sean Boyd, Agnico Eagle’s Chief Executive Officer. “Cobalt is the foundation of our Company and as many of our former silver division employees remain in the region, they will continue to benefit from the preservation of these important cultural and community organizations.”

NEWS RELEASE: Gold mining industry contributed over US$171 billion to global economy according to World Gold Council

June 3, 2015

http://www.gold.org/

Click here for the report: http://www.mining.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/The-social-and-economic-impacts-of-gold-mining-june2015.pdf

3rd June 2015 – A new report released today from the World Gold Council, produced in association with Maxwell Stamp, a leading international economics consultancy, reveals that the gold mining industry directly contributed around US$83.1 billion to the global economy in 2013.

Once the indirect economic impact is taken into account, this figure increases to US$171.6 billion. The social and economic impacts of gold mining report builds on previous research, including studies by the World Gold Council, to provide an understanding of the socio-economic impacts of the commercial gold mining industry at both a global, national and host community level.

The report’s analysis of the impacts of large-scale commercial gold mining in 47 gold producing countries (accounting for over 90% of the world’s gold production) shows that gold mining companies in total contributed over US$171 billion to the global economy in 2013 when the value created by support services and indirect employment is taken into consideration.

Globally, gold mining companies directly employed over one million people in 2013, with over three million more people employed as a result of the industry’s suppliers and support services.

Aureus Mining starts gold production in Liberia in shadow of Ebola crisis – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – June 2, 2015)

June 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.

Aureus Mining Inc. has survived the Ebola crisis to produce its first gold in Liberia, the West African country that had no gold mine until the Canadian company arrived.

Aureus, which trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange and on London’s AIM market, poured the first gold from its New Liberty open pit mine in Liberia’s northwest Friday evening. The $172-million (U.S.) mining project will be in full production in the autumn, when it will become one of the desperately poor country’s largest private employers.

David Reading, 59, the company’s Canadian-trained, British chief executive officer, said he was worried at one point that the Ebola crisis would doom the company’s Liberia plans. Liberia was one of the countries hit hardest by Ebola last year, with 10,666 reported cases and 4,806 deaths by the end of February, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

“You go through sleepless nights as management,” Mr. Reading said. “If we stop everything, the company would go bankrupt. But if we keep going and we lose someone, we’d never forgive ourselves.”