International Media Resource Articles – Page 601

Dayton issues warning to Essar about paying companies working on Nashwauk site – by John Myers (Duluth News Tribune – November 30, 2015)

December 1, 2015

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

Gov. Mark Dayton on Monday pledged to play hardball with Essar Steel Minnesota, saying he’ll call the state’s $67 million loan to the company on Wednesday if Essar doesn’t pay past-due bills from local construction companies.

Essar has essentially been in default on the state money since October because it failed to live up to an agreement to create jobs at an iron and steelmaking facility in Nashwauk by that date.

The company has moved ahead with work building a taconite plant at the Nashwauk site, but has shelved plans to make iron and steel at the site.

That puts the company in violation of the 2007 agreement signed when the economic development money was awarded by the state.

Europe’s Coal Curtain Is Complicating the Climate Fight – by Ladka Mortkowitz Bauerova (Bloomberg News – November 30, 2015)

December 1, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

At the Bilina mine 50 miles north of Prague, excavators the size of 10-story buildings claw at the earth and scoop out 2,700 tons of brown coal a day to feed the smoke-belching power station on the horizon. After the Czech government relaxed environmental regulations this fall, they’ll be able to keep going for another 40 years.

Some 130 miles away, in eastern Germany, Vattenfall AB’s Jaenschwalde coal pit is preparing to scale back production as the country shifts away from coal and the oldest units of the adjacent power station are scheduled to shut down by 2019.

The two mines highlight Europe’s growing divide on cutting greenhouse gases as global leaders descend on Paris for the biggest climate conference in history.

Brazil sues BHP, Vale for $5 billion in damages for mine disaster – by Anthony Boadle (Reuters U.S. – November 30, 2015)

December 1, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

BRASILIA – Brazil filed a lawsuit on Monday against two of the world’s largest mining companies for 20 billion Brazilian reais ($5.2 billion) to clean up what it says was its worst environmental disaster, caused by the collapse of a tailings dam.

The governments of Brazil and those of two states hit by the damburst sued iron ore operator Samarco and its co-owners, the world’s largest miner BHP Billiton Ltd and the biggest iron ore miner Vale SA.

Earlier on Monday, President Dilma Rousseff blamed the disaster on the “irresponsible action of a company” in a speech to the COP21 climate change summit in Paris. “We are severely punishing those responsible for this tragedy,” she said.

Super-Cycle, Citigroup Picks Winners – by Pratish Narayanan (Bloomberg News – November 30, 2015)

December 1, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

There’s still money to be made from investing in commodities, according to Citigroup Inc.

While a rising U.S. dollar, sustained oversupply and slowing growth in emerging markets including China are still hurdles to a recovery, many markets may strengthen in the second half of next year as the collapse in prices shrinks production, the bank said in a report.

Citigroup also forecasts “a more persistent price recovery by 2017 for oil and base metals, and possibly agriculture.”

The bank predicts the start of a recovery in some raw materials as returns from commodities head for a fifth annual drop amid the slowest growth since 1990 in China and the prospect of a stronger dollar if U.S. interest rates increase.

Iran’s Mines Could Bring in Even More Cash Than Crude – by Ladane Nasseri (Bloomberg News – November 29, 2015)

November 30, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Iran, OPEC’s fifth-largest crude producer, has potential to generate more revenue from mining than it does from crude if the government puts more focus on developing the metals sector, according to Mojtaba Khosrowtaj, first deputy minister in charge of trade at Iran’s Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade.

Metals such as copper and lead and higher-priced rare earth elements could be worth “much more” than the nation’s oil industry revenue of about $30 billion, assuming crude at $40 a barrel and exports of 2 million barrels a day, Khosrowtaj said in an interview.

Iran is opening $30 billion of energy projects and $29 billion of mining deals to investors once international sanctions are lifted.

China metal producers have two ideas, one good, one bad – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – November 30, 2015)

November 30, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

Nov 30 – Chinese metal producers have taken two steps to arrest the slide in prices, one that’s both sensible and has a reasonable chance of working, while the other is bad policy that would only provide a temporary boost.

The good idea is moving to lower output of refined copper, zinc and both refined nickel and nickel pig iron.

The not-so-good idea is to try to convince the government to start buying up various metals, including aluminium, in a bid to soak up surplus production and support prices.

Nine large Chinese copper producers have agreed an initial plan to cut output of refined metal by 200,000 tonnes next year, equivalent to about 5 percent of this year’s output, following a meeting of companies on Nov. 28.

Lifton on Kingsnorth and the global rare earth market – by Jack Lifton (InvestorIntel.com – November 30, 2015)

November 30, 2015

http://investorintel.com/

My colleague, Professor Dudley Kingsnorth, now of Curtin University in Perth, Australia, is arguably the world’s most experienced; up-to-date; and knowledgeable expert in the global rare earths’ markets. To me therefore his keynote address to the Roskill Conference on Rare Earths, two weeks ago in Singapore, was a definitive analysis of the current situation in the global rare earths’ markets.

I believe that he and I are very much in agreement on most of the issues in those markets, and on how we got to where we are today. Prof Kingsnorth and I were, I think, both a bit surprised, although he to a lesser extent than I, that we agreed on which non-Chinese rare earth juniors were the best and were most likely to succeed. Both of us heartily agreed that the other had finally come to his senses on that topic.

I think that in order to have a discussion about the global rare earths’ markets we need first to determine exactly what or which problem(s) we are trying to investigate and understand.

An Interview with Sir Mick Davis – by by Adam Treger (Tregernomics.com – November 23, 2015)

November 30, 2015

http://www.tregernomics.com/

Mick Davis was the CEO of mining company Xstrata, which merged with Glencore in 2013. He is now CEO of a new company, X2 Resources. For services to Holocaust Commemoration and Education, he was knighted as part of 2015 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Q: Which emerging markets are you most optimistic about?

A: Well, I think emerging markets are generally not in great shape, for a whole range of reasons. This is partly because they are experiencing a decline of their large export markets, as world growth has not been stellar.

Clearly the most dominant emerging market, China, is going through a very important structural adjustment that is impacting its growth rates and is compounded by the anti-corruption drive, which I think is stultifying economic activity in that country.

Sibanye to forge ahead with platinum acquisitions – by Allan Seccombe (Business Day Live – November 30, 2015)

November 30, 2015

http://www.bdlive.co.za/

SHAREHOLDERS in Sibanye Gold and Aquarius Platinum will early next year decide the fate of two large platinum transactions pursued by SA’s largest domestic gold producer.

Sibanye has launched back-to-back bids for the Rustenburg mines owned by Anglo American Platinum and the whole of Aquarius Platinum, which has the Kroondal mine next to the Rustenburg assets as well as the Mimosa joint venture with Impala Platinum in Zimbabwe.

Sibanye was forging ahead with both deals despite a weaker platinum price since they were unveiled in September and October, said CEO Neal Froneman.

Brazil to File $5.3 Billion Suit Against Dam Owners – by Paul Kiernan (Wall Street Journal – November 27, 2015)

November 30, 2015

http://www.wsj.com/

RIO DE JANEIRO—Brazil’s government said it is preparing to sue mining giants Vale SA, BHP Billiton Ltd. and their joint venture Samarco Mineração SA in response to a catastrophic dam failure earlier this month, as Vale acknowledged the presence of toxic elements in a river downstream for the first time.

The civil suit demanding damages of 20 billion Brazilian reais ($5.3 billion) is expected to be filed on Monday, the Attorney General’s office said on Friday in a news release. The proceeds are intended to create a fund to help recovery efforts in the Rio Doce, a major river that was contaminated with mud and toxic mining waste in the wake of the Nov. 5 collapse of Samarco’s dam in Minas Gerais.

As many as 13 people were killed and hundreds displaced as the mud swallowed up entire villages below the dam. An additional 11 are missing.

PRECIOUS-Gold down on dollar, eyes biggest monthly fall in 2-1/2 years – by Clara Denina (Reuters U.S. – November 30, 2015)

November 30, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Nov 30 Gold edged lower on Monday, heading towards its lowest level in nearly six years as the dollar hit a multi-month high and on track for its steepest monthly slide in 2-1/2 years on prospects of a U.S. interest rate hike this year.

Spot gold slipped 0.1 percent to $1,056.01 an ounce by 1053 GMT, not far off from of Friday’s $1,052.46, the lowest since February 2010. A stronger dollar, up to a fresh eight-month high against a basket of major currencies, weighed on gold and made it more expensive for foreign holders.

Bullion has lost 7.5 percent of its value in November, its biggest monthly dip since June 2013, as investors remained focused on a possibly imminent rate hike in the United States.

The No Breakfast Fallacy: Why the Club of Rome was wrong about us running out of resources – by Tim Worstall (The Adam Smith Institute – 2015)

November 30, 2015

http://www.adamsmith.org/

1. Introduction

The scene is an early morning current affairs radio show. Very important people talk to the nation here. Evan Humphries (for it is he): “Mr. Worstall, why is it that your new report shows that soon all will be dead?”

Worstall: “Evan, it’s 7 am. Currently there is food in the fridges of the nation for breakfast. But in two hours time that will be eaten, gone, there will be no more. Therefore everyone will die because NO BREAKFAST.” Sorry, might I just rerecord that?

Worstall: “Evan, mineral reserves are disappearing at an alarming rate. Official figures show that within 30 years most of them will be used up and there are no more reserves. Industrial civilisation will crash, billions die, because NO MINERALS.”

Rio Tinto And Vale Killed The Commodities Supercycle, Not China Or The Fed – by Tim Worstall (Forbes Magazine – November 29, 2015)

November 30, 2015

http://www.forbes.com/

That the commodities supercycle is over is obvious: we can see that just by looking at the falling values of pretty much all of the commodities. However, there’s a number of implications of this being bandied about which are wrong.

It’s not, for example, slowing growth in China which has killed it, nor will it be the Federal Reserve raising interest rates which gives it the final death blow. It’s much more accurate to say that the producing companies, like say Rio Tinto or Vale in iron ore, which have killed off the cycle.

And as a result of that we can’t quite say that falling commodity prices are symptoms of the global economy about to fall over into depression.

Can India revive the iron ore market? – by Nyshka Chandran (CNBC.com – November 27, 2015)

November 27, 2015

http://www.cnbc.com/

As India embarks on an aggressive drive to become a manufacturing powerhouse and revamp its ailing infrastructure, Asia’s third-largest economy may emerge as bright spot for iron ore demand.

“India comes up as an alternative buyer. It is a country growing in terms of steel and iron ore demand so that might be an area to keep an eye on,” Annalisa Jeffries, associate editorial director for Asia metals at Platts, told CNBC on Friday.

The nation’s potential growth could be the long-awaited catalyst to knock beleaguered iron ore prices out of their bear market. Prices of the commodity, a vital ingredient for steelmaking, tumbled to $43.4 a ton this week, according to the Steel Index—the weakest reading on record.

UPDATE 1-Rio Tinto set to decide on expansion of Mongolia copper mine – by James Regan (Reuters U.S. – November 26, 2015)

November 27, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

SYDNEY, Nov 26 Rio Tinto is lining up project financing for a $4 billion expansion of its long-delayed Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia and will make a final investment decision early next year, a senior executive said on Thursday.

The mine, which started producing from an open pit over two years ago, is the biggest single foreign investment in Mongolia, and resolution of disputes over its second phase in May revived hopes for a string of other stalled mining projects.

“At the end of the day, what we need is consistency and stability and we believe we have the right environment today,” Rio Tinto copper and coal chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques said at a Bloomberg News-sponsored forum.