International Media Resource Articles – Page 723

Mining’s bearish pendulum swinging, in a big way, in other direction – MRG – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – June 17, 2014)

June 17, 2014

http://www.mineweb.com/

“The Silver Tsunami is fast approaching,” says a new MRG survey, bringing an executive brain drain, “the likes of which will shake the industry to its very core.”

RENO (MINEWEB) – “In an unprecedented turn of events, only 14% of mining executives now hold a bearish outlook as to the overall strength of the industry over the next 6-12 months,” reported Mining Recruitment Group’s Mining Executive Outlook, Q3 2014 Monday. “This is down remarkably from the 64% of executives who held the same view at this point of last year and the 52% who were bearish as of Q4 13.”

Vancouver-based MRG’s survey, which was distributed the week of June 9th and completed by 232 mining leaders, found, “Not only are executives not nearly as bearish any more, the pendulum in now swinging in a big way in the other direction with 35% of respondents now holding a bullish outlook for the next 12 months.”

“This is a massive reversal in sentiment from the 9% who held the same view at this point last year and the 11% from our Q4 polling,” said the report. “Though the marketed decrease in bears is promising, 51% of executives hold a neutral view for the industry over the short term.”

Pretenders vie for Chile’s copper crown but can’t replicate boom – by Rosalba O’Brien and Silvia Antonioli (Reuters U.K. – June 16, 2014)

June 16, 2014

http://uk.reuters.com/

SANTIAGO/LONDON – (Reuters) – As top copper producer Chile starts to lose market share, players are betting on fledging suppliers to help feed hunger for the red metal, but no single country is likely to replicate the South American nation’s boom of the last century.

Chile produces about a third of the global supply of copper, a key raw material for construction and power that is vital for industrialisation. With consumption rising 4 percent yearly, the country’s output growth is not enough to meet additional demand.

Its market share is being eroded by spiralling costs at ageing deposits, with neighbouring Peru and Africa’s Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia gaining ground.

While those countries are poised to become large suppliers in a more fragmented market, the emergence of a single, giant challenger to Chile is unlikely in the foreseeable future due to geological, political and infrastructure constraints.

“Is there ever going to be another source of supply as good as Chile? No,” Bernstein Research analyst Paul Gait said.

“Collectively Peru, the DRC and Zambia have half the geological endowment of Chile. They are great copper locations but they won’t be able to do what Chile did to the copper market in the 20th century.”

RPT-New Zealand may kick start race to mine the ocean floor – by Sonali Paul and Gyles Beckford (Reuters India – June 16, 2014)

June 16, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – New Zealand decides this week whether to approve an underwater iron-ore operation that would likely become the world’s first commercial metals mine at the bottom of the sea.

A green light to allow New Zealand’s Trans Tasman Resources Ltd to start iron-ore dredging off the country’s west coast will encourage others looking to mine copper, cobalt, manganese and other metals deeper on the ocean floor but worried about regulatory hurdles.

Along the Pacific Rim of Fire, as deep as 6,000 metres underwater, volcano crusts, “black smoker” chimneys and vast beds of manganese nodules hold promise for economic powers like China and Japan as well as many poor island states busy pegging stakes on the ocean floor.

“A lot of people are watching the Trans Tasman Resources outcome,” said Michael Johnston, chief executive of Nautilus Minerals, which is working on a deep-sea project off Papua New Guinea and is also in talks with New Zealand.

Other countries in the Pacific looking at underwater mining include Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu, which have all issued exploration licenses. Cook Islands in the South Pacific plans to put seabed exploration licenses up for bids later this year.

Iron ore miners brace for hit as commodity price plunges to nearly two-year lows – by Sarah-Jane Tasker (The Australian – June 16, 2014)

June 16, 2014

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business

AUSTRALIA’S iron ore producers are likely to take a hit in the market today after the price of the bulk commodity fell to an almost two-year low over the weekend.

The top producers, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group, all saw their share price take a shave at market close on Friday when the iron ore price hovered at a 21-month low of $US91.50 a tonne.

The price of the steelmaking commodity lost more ground at the weekend and is now sitting at $US90.90. The price of Australia’s top export was down over 3 per cent last week, which was the eighth weekly loss in nine.

The iron ore price has now lost about 32 per cent this year, with the profit hit on producers likely to be seen when the next set of financials are released in August.

Iron ore futures in China also slid to a new record low on Friday, falling to their weakest level since the market started in 2009 as consumption of the commodity slows along with the pace of construction activity during China’s hotter summer months.

PRECIOUS-Gold hits 3-week high on Iraq turmoil; platinum rebounds – by Clara Denina (Reuters U.S. – June 16, 2014)

June 16, 2014

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) – Gold hit its highest in nearly three weeks on Monday, as turmoil in Iraq and Ukraine supported its safe-haven appeal relative to higher-risk assets like equities, while platinum gained ahead of the outcome of talks to end a strike in South African mines.

Investors often turn to gold or other precious metals in times of political or financial trouble, as they can be perceived as an insurance against risk. Spot gold rose 0.3 percent to $1,280.00 an ounce by 1004 GMT, having hit its highest since May 27 at $1,284.85 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures for August delivery gained 0.5 percent to $1,280.90.

“Escalating violence in Iraq is going to be bullish for gold and technically we could see another leg up pushing gold above $1,300,” Societe Generale analyst Robin Bhar said. “But safe-haven buying could only last until you have to sell any profitable positions to make up margins for other markets.”

Sunni insurgents seized a mainly ethnic Turkmen city in northwestern Iraq on Sunday after heavy fighting, solidifying their grip on the north after a lightning offensive that threatens to dismember Iraq.

Anil Agarwal: Vedanta’s bluff billionaire – by James Crabtree (Financial Times – June 15, 2014)

June 16, 2014

http://www.ft.com/home/us

Anil Agarwal, the founder and majority-owner of Vedanta Resources, hired former Rio Tinto boss Tom Albanese as his chief executive earlier this year. The move was a statement of intent: Mr Agarwal, a controversial but ebullient Indian billionaire, had long talked of transforming his London-listed conglomerate into a global natural resources giant to rival Rio or BHP Billiton.

It was an ambition the American mining veteran seemed well-suited to help deliver. Even so, Mr Agarwal leaves little doubt which of the duo is now in charge. “You need a visionary,” he says of his own role as executive chairman. “Tom has come from Rio, we are very fortunate to have him,” he continues, “but I am looking at the vision and strategy . . . He is going to look after the operations.”

The statement is typical of the mining mogul’s blunt style, honed during a remarkable three-decade rise. Characterised by rapid growth and bold dealmaking, the ascent has seen the former scrap-metal dealer become one of India’s most prominent self-made industrialists. With revenues of $15bn last year, his interests now range from iron ore and copper to oil and gas, with operations crossing Australia and Zambia, as well as his home country.

Sitting in his office in Mumbai, Mr Agarwal sports a sober blue suit, although his bulky frame and shaven head are offset by light grey stubble, giving him a more rough-and-ready look. After growing up in the rural Indian state of Bihar, he cheerfully admits his spoken English remains a work in progress as well, although he makes his points clearly enough.

Mining making comeback in Michigan’s UP – by Associated Press (Mesabi Daily News – June 14, 2014)

June 16, 2014

http://www.virginiamn.com/

‘We’ve been kicked in the teeth so much over the years’

WHITE PINE, Mich. — A way of life dating back more than a century appeared over in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula when the last copper mine closed in 1995, idling more than 1,000 employees and turning this once-thriving company town into a forlorn outpost.

Now a Canadian company is planning a new mine at the site a few miles from Lake Superior, where screeching gulls hover over empty buildings and parking lots are littered with broken glass. If Highland Copper Co.’s plans go forward, the area will be astir once more as underground ores are blasted, hauled to the surface and crushed at a mill to extract valuable minerals.

White Pine’s impending rebirth is almost miraculous to local residents who have borne the brunt of its demise, but it’s part of something even bigger: a surprising resurgence of a mining industry that once was an economic pillar in three Upper Midwestern states but has been in serious decline.

In the past few years, at least six open-pit or underground mines have been proposed or started in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, the first such ventures in decades. Additionally, four new Minnesota operations are using refined technology to extract iron from waste rock mined long ago. Other companies are exploring the region’s ample deposits of iron, copper, nickel and other metals, which have become more marketable because of improved technology and rising demand in the U.S. and China.

OPINION: It’s not Obama’s war on coal, it’s geology’s war on coal – by Leslie Glustrom and Zane Selvans (Denver Post – June 13, 2014)

June 16, 2014

http://www.denverpost.com/

Leslie Glustrom is a long-time coal industry watcher. Zane Selvans is director of research and policy at Clean Energy Action.

As the Environmental Protection Agency moves ahead with limits on carbon pollution from the nation’s coal plants, you’ll hear a lot of industry outrage about Obama’s “war on coal.” Don’t believe it.

The truth is, the U.S. coal industry is already in dire straits, including here in Colorado — and it is due primarily to geology, not politics.

Coal is undeniably a non-renewable substance. We have been mining the easily accessible deposits for the last 150 years, and the planet isn’t making any more on a time scale that matters to humans.

As a result, the U.S. coal industry is in serious financial distress — right now — months, and likely years, before any EPA carbon regulations actually go into effect.

Even if the EPA were to be eliminated tomorrow (not something we advocate), the U.S. coal industry would still likely be largely winding down in the next decade or so.

UPDATE 4-Union says wage deal to end South African platinum strike is imminent – by Ed Cropley (Reuters India – June 13, 2014)

June 13, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG, June 13 (Reuters) – The leader of South Africa’s AMCU union said on Friday a wage deal with the top three platinum producers was imminent, signalling a possible end to a crippling five-month strike that has disrupted global output of the metal.

Workers from the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) begged leader Joseph Mathunjwa on Thursday to end the country’s longest mining strike and sign the latest offer – an increase of about 20 percent, or 1,000 rand ($93) a month.

Mathunjwa told Johannesburg radio he would take the offer to more AMCU members at mines on Friday, before meeting with management at Lonmin , Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum later or over the weekend to relay the response of his miners to their offer.

“At least there is light at the end of the tunnel, which is not the light of a goods train,” he told Talk Radio 702. The main outstanding sticking point was whether the wage deal should stretch over three or five years, he said. “We are in quite a sensitive stage of trying to resolve this and reach an agreement. We won’t do things haphazardly,” he said.

Amcu leadership, mines agree on a wage deal [South Africa platinum strike] – by Carol Paton and Paul Vecchiatto (Business Day – June 12, 2014)

June 12, 2014

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

THE five-month platinum strike could end on Friday if workers accept a new offer which would see basic pay increase by R1,000 a month for the lowest paid.

The strongest sign of a deal is that this is the first time in two months that leaders of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) have taken an offer to workers for consideration.

A previous offer of an R800 a month increase was rejected by leaders who chose not to take it back to workers.

Lonmin, Anglo Platinum and Impala Platinum announced that “in principle” undertakings were reached with the leadership of the Amcu in respect of wages and conditions of employment. Amcu would be discussing these with its members to seek a mandate to accept the offers which, if given, would bring to an end the 21-week long strike.

The potential agreement sought to create “a sustainable future for the three platinum companies for the benefit of all stakeholders and to afford employees the best possible increase under the current financial circumstances”.

Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa and treasurer Jimmy Gama began reporting back at mass meetings at noon on Thursday. Workers who took to the podium both criticised and supported the offer.

India spy agency says Greenpeace endangers economic security – by Sanjeev Miglani (Reuters India – June 12, 2014)

June 12, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

NEW DELHI – (Reuters) – India’s domestic spy service has accused Greenpeace and other lobby groups of hurting economic progress by campaigning against power projects, mining and genetically modified food, the most serious charge yet against foreign-funded organizations.

The leak of the Intelligence Bureau’s report comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new administration seeks way to restore economic growth that has fallen to below 5 percent, choking off investment and jobs for millions of youth entering the workforce.

Greenpeace denied it was trying to block economic expansion, saying the allegations were an attempt to silence dissent and that it stood for sustainable growth.

The government report is likely to intensify the debate over whether Asia’s third largest economy will pursue the path of fast growth under the Modi administration or try a more balanced strategy that the previous government sought.

It has also turned the spotlight on the role of foreign funded organizations, some of whom said they feared a crackdown by the new regime, seen as more friendly to business.

“A significant number of Indian NGOs funded by donors based in US, UK, Germany and Netherlands have been noticed to be using people-centric issues to create an environment, which lends itself to stalling development projects,” the Intelligence Bureau said.

Despite conflict minerals regulation success, gold smuggling rages on – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – June 12, 2014)

June 12, 2014

http://www.mineweb.com/

Urgent reforms are needed for conflict gold, says a new study by a Washington D.C.-based human rights group.

RENO (MINEWEB) – A new report by the Enough Project, a Washington D.C.-based human rights group, says the Dodd-Frank conflict minerals legislation is partly responsible for forcing armed groups to cede control of two-thirds of tantalum, tin and tungsten mines surveyed by the Enough Project in the eastern Congo.

“However, artisanally mined gold continues to fund armed commanders,” said the report, The Impact of Dodd-Frank and Conflict Minerals Reforms on Eastern Congo’s Conflict. Gold mining “is still financing armed actors and business and political elites”.

“The U.N. Group of Experts estimated that 98% of artisanal gold (roughly 10-12 tonnes, worth between $380 and 500 million) was smuggled out of Congo in 2013,” said the report. “The army continues to be involved in illicit gold exploitation, with senior officers reaping the majority of profits.”

“The smuggling of gold is also fueled by the sector’s mismanagement and poor enforcement of the Congolese mining legislation. The gold trade must be thoroughly reformed, both through expanded, responsible development and formalization of the artisanal sector,” said Enough Project.

Peru Blows Up Gold Mine Machines in Bid to Legalize Activity – by John Quigley (Bloomberg News – June 12, 2014)

June 12, 2014

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Crisologo Quispe says he halted operations at his gold mine in the Peruvian jungle in April after police used dynamite to blow up $350,000 loaders at a nearby site.

Quispe fired 17 workers and moved machinery elsewhere on concern his concession in 428 hectares (1,057 acres) of jungle bordering the Madre de Dios region of southeast Peru will become embroiled in a government campaign against illegal mining.

“I’m not operating for safety reasons until things become clearer,” Quispe said last month in an interview in Cuzco, where he’s applying for a mining permit. “I’m not illegal but I’m worried that what’s happening to the illegal ones could happen to me. The raids don’t differentiate.”

Quispe owns one of 58,000 small mine operations that the government says have signed up for a process to operate legally and abide by environmental, labor and tax legislation. The crackdown on another 30,000 has fed a slump in gold exports from Latin America’s largest producer. The government needs to streamline the permit process and stop attacking mines operating in areas where previously it encouraged mining, or it will face social conflict, according to Miguel Santillana, an economist at Lima-based Universidad San Martin de Porres.

The Northern Minnesota [mining] political narrative: Real and Imagined – by Aaron Brown (Minneapolis Star Tribune – June 11, 2014)

June 12, 2014

http://www.startribune.com/

It’s an election year. Not just that, it’s another year fraught with continuing statewide debate over mining and environmental issues in northern Minnesota. This brings with it a combustable mix of political speculation, hammer-fisted rhetoric and economic obfuscation in a region populated by trees, deer and people (in that order).

I might not be the only political speculator in this state, but I might be the only one who can see two mines, a lake, a dirt road and the outskirts of a national forest from my roof. So off we go.

In the interest of shaking up the conversation, I’m presenting a contrast today: the real Northern Minnesota as contrasted with the imagined one often found in political speeches and media accounts. It’s not just a Cities vs. Up North thing: perceptions can be just as cloudy “up here” as they are “down there.” As we all should know by now, perception is not always reality.

The Imagined

Northern Minnesota is deeply split over copper and nickel mining, with the Iron Range being for it and Duluth against it. The DFL is split over the issue because of its environmental base, so Republicans’ full-throated support of mining threatens to shift this former DFL stronghold to the Republicans this year. After all, that’s what happened in 2010.

Solomon Islands nickel ore legal fight nears decision – by James Regan (Reuters India – June 12, 2014)

June 12, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

SYDNEY, June 12 (Reuters) – A court ruling in the Solomon Islands may finally unlock a large nickel deposit that geologists have known about for half a century but have been unable to exploit because of ownership changes and legal wrangling.

Japanese giant Sumitomo Metal Mining and tiny Australian explorer Axiom Mining are fighting over the Isabel nickel laterite discovery and will submit final arguments to the Solomon Islands High Court on June 23, following a court case that has already run for 88 days.

A ruling is expected soon after and could lead to development of the deposit, at a time when nickel prices have soared following a ban in January on ore exports by Indonesia, the world’s biggest supplier.

Analysts estimate Isabel compares in size or grade to other large South Pacific nickel mines, such as Vale SA’s Goro mine in New Caledonia and the China-owned Ramu mine in Papua New Guinea.

Axiom, with a market value of just A$55 million ($52 million), would aim initially to ship unprocessed ore within two years to hungry Chinese buyers to make nickel pig iron.