Gold and Silver – Page 245 – Republic of Mining

OBITUARY: Nelson Bunker Hunt, Texas tycoon who lost billions in silver gamble, dies at 88 – by Robert D. McFadden (Globe and Mail – October 22, 2014)

October 22, 2014

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.

The New York Times News Service – Nelson Bunker Hunt, the down-home Texas oil tycoon who owned a thousand race horses, drove an old Cadillac and once tried to corner the world’s silver market only to lose most of his fortune when the price collapsed, died Tuesday. He was 88.

Hunt died after a long battle with cancer and dementia, according to The Dallas Morning News.

“A billion dollars ain’t what it used to be,” he said in 1980 after silver stakes he amassed with two brothers, Herbert and Lamar, fell to $10.80 from $50.35 an ounce. In barely two months, their holdings and contracts for purchases – corralling a third to half the world’s deliverable silver – had plunged from a $7-billion value in January to a $1.7-billion loss in March.

With the Hunts unable to cover enormous margin calls, the debacle endangered financial markets and brokerage houses, forcing federal regulators and the nation’s banks to step in with a $1-billion line of credit, a bailout that saved the system from a stampede and the Hunts from an immediate meltdown.

But for Bunker Hunt, who used his middle name, and his brothers – scions of one of the world’s richest clans – the boom and bust led to years of lawsuits, civil charges, fines, damage claims and bankruptcy proceedings that gobbled up vast holdings in real estate, oil, gas, cattle, coal, thoroughbred stables and other assets. Still, they managed to salvage millions and were not subjected to criminal charges.

News Release: Golden rule: Every new mine would improve Ontario’s finances

October 21, 2014

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

Just one new gold mine in Ontario could provide more than 2,200 direct and indirect jobs and pay more than $102 million in tax revenue for all levels of government annually, according to a new study “An Au-thentic Opportunity: The Economic Impacts of a New Gold Mine in Ontario.” University of Toronto economists Peter Dungan and Steve Murphy presented the key findings of their report, which was completed for the Ontario Mining Association with assistance from the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, today.

“With the increased value and relative importance of gold mining production in the province in recent years, as well as the number of announced projects currently the pipeline, it was decided that the impact of a gold mine would be the subject of our analysis,” said Mr. Dungan. “This study also recognizes the scope for the possible benefits that can be realized by Aboriginal groups.”

The four-pronged study demonstrates the positive economic impacts on an annual basis for both an underground and an open pit gold mine and for both types of operations during an estimated three-year construction phase of a new mine and the production phase of these mines, which could last for decades. The economists have used broad sources of public data, mining company disclosure documents and economic models from the Input-Output Division at Statistics Canada.

For example, an underground gold mine with about $300 million in sales annually with 620 direct employees, would create 894 jobs from mine supply companies and a further 690 induced jobs largely in the retail and service sector.

[Nevada] State needs to extract more taxes from mining – by Bob Fulkerson (Las Vegas Review-Journal – October 12, 2014)

October 14, 2014

http://www.reviewjournal.com/

On Nov. 4, Nevada voters will decide whether to remove mining’s unique, 150-year-old tax protections from the state constitution and allow the Legislature to update the mining tax system to reflect modern times. Passage of Question 2 won’t raise or lower the taxes that mining pays. But it will remove the special protection that no other industry in our state enjoys.

Nevada’s mining taxes are nearly nonexistent compared with the rest of the world, and we are one of three states with no corporate profits tax to help pay for the services that benefit those corporations. Billions of dollars of mineral wealth has been extracted here; the vast majority has been exported. It’s been that way since statehood, when gold and silver from the Comstock built San Francisco and the Pacific Stock Exchange.

Nevada is the No. 1 gold producer in the United States and one of the top five gold producers in the world. Mining corporations account for 98 percent of toxic chemicals released in Nevada, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, and a single gold ring leaves in its wake, on average, 20 tons of mine waste. The average gold mine uses enough water to provide the basic water needs for a population equivalent to that of a large American city for a year.

In 2011, the laundry list of deductions, coupled with the fact that the mining companies had rarely, if ever, been audited by the state, came to light during hearings.

UPDATE 1-Goldcorp’s El Morro mine halted by Chile Supreme Court (Reuters India – October 7, 2014)

October 7, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

Oct 7 (Reuters) – Chile’s Supreme Court has halted the development of the El Morro gold and copper mine owned by Canada’s Goldcorp, saying that local indigenous groups who oppose the $3.9 billion project need to be better consulted.

The court said on Tuesday that an environmental permit awarded last year should be stopped until a fresh consultation, based on an International Labor Organization convention, has taken place with the local Diaguita community.

Goldcorp has just received the ruling and is reviewing it, spokeswoman Christine Marks said. “Goldcorp remains committed to open and transparent dialogue with its stakeholders.”

The decision is the latest in a string of rulings that have found against mining companies looking to invest in the top copper exporter. Like many of its resource-intensive Latin American peers, Chile is struggling to find a balance between mining-led growth and environmental protection.

Billions of dollars worth of projects have been put on ice or delayed in recent years, snarled up in red tape and opposed by local communities.

Gold’s Faces Big Chart Test After This Week’s Weakness – by Debbie Carlson (Kitco News – October 03, 2014)

October 3, 2014

http://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Gold prices fell under $1,200 an ounce this week for the first time in 2014, and several market watchers said it’s likely that the yellow metal will seek to take out the 2013 lows, possibly as soon as next week.

Looking at technical price charts, a nearby continuation chart shows the December 2013 low of $1,180, which is just above the June low of $1,179.40. Market watchers said with gold falling as low as $1,190.30 Friday, there’s a good chance bearish traders will try to test the strength of those support levels.

“It’s a matter of when, not if,” said Dave Toth, director of technical research at RJ O’Brien.

December gold futures fell Friday, settling at $1,192.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 1.9% on the week. December silver fell Friday, settling at $16.826 an ounce, down 5.7% on the week.

In the Kitco News gold survey, out of 37 participants, 26 responded this week. Of those, seven see higher prices, 16 see lower prices and three see prices trading sideways or are neutral. Market participants include bullion dealers, investment banks, futures traders and technical-chart analysts.

Agnico has room to grow in Quebec (Northern Miner – October 1, 2014)

October 2, 2014

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry.

Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX: AEM; NYSE: AEM) has grown over the past two decades from a single asset producer to a mid-tier gold miner, with mines spread across Quebec, Nunavut, Finland and Mexico. But its four gold mines strung out along a 50 km stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway in Quebec’s Abitibi region remain the heart of the Agnico beast, and show significant upside.

The biggest shakeup for Agnico this year has been its joint acquisition with Yamana Gold (TSX: YRI; NYSE: AUY) of Osisko Mining and its Canadian Malartic gold mine in Malartic, halfway between Rouyn-Noranda and Val-d’Or. The deal gave Agnico 50% of the mine, which ranks as one of the largest gold mines in Canada, and produced 475,000 oz. gold and 422,000 oz. silver in 2013.

Canadian Malartic yielded 11,878 oz. gold attributable to Agnico in the first half of 2014 (representing only 15 days of ownership at the end of June), at a total cash cost of US$614 per oz.

A new reserve estimate was recently calculated, and the partners expect to update mine-optimization plans this month.

Speaking at the Denver Gold Forum in September, Agnico president and CEO Sean Boyd said the transition has “gone well,” and that the acquisition “gives us big reserves, big production and good net free cash flow in a part of the world we know really well.”

Environmental Disturbance and the Emergence of Tropical Disease: Lessons From the Gold Fields of Ghana – by Mario Machado (Huffington Post – September 29, 2014)

September 30, 2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theworldpost/

Mario Machado is a recently returned Peace Corps volunteer (RPCV) and Independent Scholar.

This forest feels like an eternity as our four-wheel drive vehicle plods down yet another washed-out dirt road. This is the Central Region of Ghana and the lack of infrastructure only adds the ambiance as groups of women pass by with their loads of firewood balanced effortlessly on their head, their babies dozing comfortably in tow.

Abruptly, the trees stop and a barren dirt-scape throws the equatorial sun back into our faces. Compared to the shade of the canopy, this feels like the surface of the sun. And yet, despite the devastating heat, I can easily make out the distant silhouettes of people shoveling and sifting and working through this terrible hole in the earth.

As we get closer, the figures assume the faces and nuances of the tired men and women that they are. Holes in boots; tattered, stained clothing; knee deep in stagnant water with shovels or pick-axes or buckets of mud in hand. All for a paltry daily bounty of gold and the eternal promise to strike it rich someday. It’s enough to keep them busy and fed for now, but at a terrible cost to their bodies and the land. This is the face of unregistered small-scale mining in Ghana, called “galamsey” by the locals.

Ghana, the proverbial “Gold Coast”, has furnished the world with the gold for hundreds of years and although the mechanisms have changed — a colonial administration has been replaced by economic structures that are equally exploitative — the fundamental ethos remains the same: the wealth contained within this land does not belong to those that live and work it, but to those with the might to control it.

Ethical jewelry shop provides alternative to conflict minerals – by Marco Chown Oved (Toronto Star – September 29, 2014)

September 30, 2014

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Pioneers have shop in Cabbagetown that sources fair-trade gold from Latin America and custom makes engagement rings.

Peek into the window of the Fair Trade Jewellery Company on Parliament St. and you’ll see display cases filled with gleaming engagement rings.

It’s a view not unlike one you’d find at other jewelry shops in town, but the gold and diamonds here have an invisible but ethical difference — they’re traced all the way from mine to finger.

“We’re purpose-built to eliminate all the worst abuses that occur in mining, from gold that fuels conflicts to the mines that use child labour,” said the shop’s co-founder and lead designer Ryan Taylor. “We work directly with mining communities to improve their practices. We want to lead by example in this industry.”

Not everyone is preoccupied by the origins of their engagement rings, but as awareness of the dangerous conditions and toxic chemicals in mining grows, ethical jewelry is emerging as an alternative.

“We knew a bit about mining,” said Carleen McGuinty, who went to the Fair Trade Jewellery Company with her husband Eric for their wedding bands.

For Miners, Increasing Risk on a Mountain at the Heart of Bolivia’s Identity – by William Neumansept (New York Times – September 16, 2014)

September 29, 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/

POTOSÍ, Bolivia — The silver in this mountain helped finance the Spanish empire. It created vast fortunes for some and misery for many more. It fueled the early growth of European capitalism, setting the stage for the modern era.

But now, after centuries of hauling out its riches, miners working near the peak have clawed away so much of the interior of the mountain that it is caving in from the top down.

At the peak of this historic mountain — known as Cerro Rico, or Rich Hill, standing at more than 15,600 feet — a giant sinkhole has opened, a jagged mouth in the blood-red rock. In June, Unesco warned that the mountain, depicted at the center of Bolivia’s flag, faced a critical risk of collapse at its summit.

“Since the internal structure of the upper part of the Cerro Rico is severely weakened due to continuous exploitation,” it said, “there is a significant risk that miners could die from collapses inside the tunnels.”

In July, the government said that it planned to shut down mines above 14,435 feet, where about 1,500 miners work in conditions that can range from rudimentary to brutal. Many thousands of miners work in mines farther down the mountain.

[Mining Documentary] The golden people of Baker Lake (2012) – produced by Ivor Barr (Copyright IDNR-TV)

April 5, 2015September 28, 2014

IDNR-TV Natural Resources television

http://www.agnicoeagle.com/en/

The Meadowbank mine is located in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut, about 2,600 kilometres northwest of Toronto. It is 300 kilometres west of Hudson Bay and 110 kilometres by road north of Baker Lake, the nearest community. Meadowbank was Agnico Eagle’s largest gold producer in 2014, with 1.8 million ounces of gold in proven and probable reserves* (17 million tonnes at 3.2 g/t). The mine is located on a very large property that has exploration potential for gold.

Meadowbank depends on the annual, warm-weather sealift by barge from Hudson Bay to Baker Lake for transportation of bulk supplies and heavy equipment. An all-weather road links Baker Lake to the site. An on-site airstrip is used for shipping food and goods and for transporting employees, who work on a fly-in, fly-out basis.

AngloGold sets about ‘new’ old strategy – by David McKay (MiningMx.com – September 25, 2014)

September 26, 2014

http://www.miningmx.com/

[miningmx.com] – THE flight from gold amid expectations of rising rates and a stronger dollar have to some extent masked the impact of AngloGold Ashanti’s aborted rights issue and de-merger strategy on the gold firm’s share price.

The share was already under pressure from September 1 losing about 7% over seven days as the dollar gold price sank – now down to its lowest levels for the calendar year . On September 9, however, it shed 15% as investors took a dim view of the $2.1bn rights issue proposal.

It regained ground by September 15 when the de-merger was formally rejected by management, but has since fallen another 4% as the pressure on it and all other South African gold stocks has intensified.

Not even Harmony Gold or Sibanye Gold, which have seen the rand gold price strengthen whilst the dollar gold price has fallen 6% this month, have been immune from the selling.

“I don’t anyone thinks the gold sector has been over-bought, there is just negativity about the outlook with most people expecting a stronger dollar, with rising interest rates but with no real inflationary pressures,” an analyst said. “Investors are obviously concerned about cash flows and future impairments. And there are quite a lot of redemptions from funds,” he said.

Gold teetering on $1,200 brink – by Lawrence Williams (Mineweb.com – September 26, 2014)

September 26, 2014

http://www.mineweb.com/

The gold price got close to $1,200 yesterday before recovering a little to the low $1,220s, but the pressure still seems to be downwards with bank analysts predicting it will fall yet further.

LONDON (MINEWEB) – As I write the gold price is sitting at around $1,225, but it fell at one time yesterday to around $1,206 and it may not take much to drive it down below the key $1,200 psychological support level. If it breaches this level the price could well fall sharply further with computer based stop loss sales coming in strongly. The fall could then become something of a rout.

And with gold bears like Jeffrey Currie at Goldman Sachs getting in there keen to generate further downwards momentum so his end- year $1,050 gold price might actually come about, then who’s to say it won’t freefall to $1,100 or below. Currie and Goldman Sachs will doubtless have their avid followers, particularly within the financial community – after all Goldman could be perhaps described as the most successful investment bank of the past generation. True, some of its tactics for achieving this may not be seen as without moral flaws, but then this is something which could be applied to almost any investment bank – not specifically to Goldman.

To many the dark art of using and manipulating money (real or imaginary) just to make more money and the wealthy even wealthier, may well be part of the capitalist ethos but it is not one which sits well with the silent majority, even though they may express allegiance to capitalism.

Gold price seen near tipping point for mine cuts, closures – by Nicole Mordant (Reuters U.K. – September 25, 2014)

September 26, 2014

http://uk.reuters.com/

VANCOUVER – (Reuters) – The price of gold, down more than a third in three years, is approaching the tipping point where the mining industry would see a spike in the number of producers reducing output or even shutting down operations.

Several mines globally have already suspended output in the past 18 months, but not as many as industry watchers expected as producers focused on slashing costs and reworking mine plans to extract more profitable, higher-grade ounces.

But with bullion’s slide this week to a nine-month low of $1,208.36 an ounce, those defenses may not be enough. “$1,200 is a critical level. The industry has geared itself around $1,200,” said Joseph Foster, portfolio manager at institutional investor Van Eck Global. “If it falls below that level, then there are a lot of mines around the world that are really going to struggle.”

Van Eck is a major investor in Barrick Gold Corp and Goldcorp Inc and a top shareholder in most other large gold producers. Production cutbacks and mine closures would spell more financial pain for producers and investors, who have watched gold mining stocks slump 67 percent since September 2011.

And cuts and closures could be swifter and deeper than in the last gold bear market as most miners this time around have not offset the risk of potential losses by hedging – the practice of selling gold forward at a fixed price.