International Media Resource Articles – Page 724

When the Levee Breaks [Mount Polley and Pebble mines] – by Bill Carter (Huffington Post – August 28, 2014)

September 2, 2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-blog/

Bill Carter is the author of Boom, Bust, Boom: A Story About Copper, the Metal That Runs the World and Red Summer: The Danger and Madness of Commercial Salmon Fishing in Alaska. Carter is an assistant professor of practice in documentary studies at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Mother Nature has a way of reminding us that humility is a trait that humans too often lack. Take, for instance, the engineering firm Knight Piesold, which stated that “modern dam design technologies are based on proven scientific/engineering principles and there is no basis for asserting that they will not stand the test of time.”

Until they don’t. Earlier this month a tailings dam designed by Knight Piesold at the Mount Polley copper mine breached, dumping up to 10 million cubic meters of heavily contaminated water into surrounding streams, rivers and lakes in central British Columbia. Since the accident aerial photographs show a massive mudslide attacking the tranquil waters of a nearby salmon stream and dumping into Quesnal Lake. The salmon run will most likely perish, along with the entire ecosystem that the salmon and other species rely on for life.

Even so, the company is probably off the hook. Full disclosure: The quotation at the beginning of this essay is not related to the Mount Polley mine; Knight Piesold offered up the above assurance in defense of the proposed Pebble mine in southwest Alaska.

The Pebble mine would be one of the largest mines ever built. The deposit is huge, with a market value ranging from $350 billion to $500 billion of copper and gold.

Mineral beneficiation, industrialisation key to development – Finance Minister – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – August 29, 2014)

August 29, 2014

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

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The key to the development of South Africa lay in mineral beneficiation and industrialisation in joint development with its regional neighbours, South Africa’s new Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene told the Centre for Education In Economics and Finance (CEEF).

Speaking at a CEEF dinner in Johannesburg on Thursday evening, Nene said value addition, industrialisation and regional integration were linked to rapid, sustained economic growth in modern economic development, which was a critical reason why the South African government was placing greater emphasis on them.

Resource-endowed countries that had failed to move up the value chain had registered short bursts of growth, but never the kind of relentless growth that had persisted over decades and resulted in intergenerational wealth creation and the reduction of poverty, inequality and unemployment.

He suggested that South Africa’s vast $2.5-trillion nonenergy mineral endowment could be more adequately leveraged within South Africa’s Cabinet-approved beneficiation strategy, which targeted adding value to the country’s gold, platinum, diamonds, iron-ore, chromium, manganese, vanadium, nickel and titanium, energy coal and uranium endowments.

Australia avoids commodity ‘Dutch Disease’, for now – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – August 28, 2014)

August 28, 2014

http://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia – (Reuters) – The resource boom is often cast as both villain and hero in Australia, being simultaneously recognized as a major driver of the country’s wealth but also as a destroyer of traditional industries.

Two recent research papers have highlighted this dual nature of investment boom in iron ore, coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG), and taken together show that while Australia has benefited hugely from China-led demand for commodities, the risks seem to be mounting.

First, the good news. Australia has largely avoided the dreaded “Dutch Disease” over the past decade, according to an Aug. 22 research report from the Reserve Bank of Australia.

“Dutch Disease” was coined by The Economist magazine to describe the negative impact of a booming resource sector on other parts of the economy, using the discovery of natural gas off the Netherlands and the subsequent decline of that nation’s manufacturing as the eponymous example.

Over the decade to 2013, the resource boom boosted real per capita household disposable income by 13 percent, raised real wages by 6 percent and lowered the unemployment rate by 1-1/4 percentage points, the Reserve Bank researchers said.

While this was the good news from the investment of hundreds of billions of dollars in boosting commodity output, the central bank also found that the appreciation of the Australian dollar weighed on industries exposed to trade, such as manufacturing and agriculture.

Absolute change needed to mine Wits basin’s stranded 1.1bn gold ounces – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – August 27, 2014)

August 28, 2014

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

CARLETONVILLE (miningweekly.com) – South Africa’s Witwatersrand basin contains another 1.3-billion ounces of gold, almost as much gold as has been mined there since 1886 – but miners can only get to another 200-million ounces of it using today’s mining methods.

If the industry does not come up with a new way of mining, more than a trillion dollars worth of gold will not be mined, because the 1.1-billion ounces in question are either below the cutoff for the current mining method, or they are at depths where there are no technical solutions to get to mine those ounces.

Moreover, safety has reached a plateau and unless significant change is made to what creates this plateau, death and injury in mines will continue, which is totally unacceptable.

There is thus an absolute need to change – and senior VP technology and projects Shaun Newberry is at the forefront of an AngloGold Ashanti move that could result in all three billion Wits basin ounces being mined and not merely 1.9-billion of them.

Individual technologies currently under investigation will make a significant impact on the current mining method, where reverse circulation drilling will ensure enhanced information and better planning.

Glencore Mine in Doubt After Dominican Park Bill Passes – by Bill Faries (Bloomberg News – August 28, 2014)

August 28, 2014

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The future of Glencore Plc’s (GLEN) shuttered ferro-nickel mine in the Dominican Republic was cast into doubt after passage of legislation declaring the region surrounding the mine a national park.

The Senate approved a measure yesterday creating a protected area at Loma Miranda, home to the Falcondo mine. Glencore, led by billionaire Chief Executive Officer Ivan Glasenberg, called for “rationality” in decision-making on the mine’s future, the Baar, Switzerland-based company’s local unit said in a statement today.

The cost of permits to operate the mine will rise if the national park legislation is signed into law by President Danilo Medina. Affected landowners will be compensated, according to the bill. The mine, which Glencore acquired in 1956, contains 19.3 million tons of minerals.

“With operations at Loma Miranda, the Dominican economy would receive some $5.7 billion during the next 20 years,” according to the statement. “Where will those resources come from now?”

The Caribbean nation’s government has clashed with mining companies in recent years over royalties and environmental regulations. Dominican customs agents held up shipments from Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX)’s $4 billion Pueblo Viejo mine last year after Medina called the company’s concession “unacceptable.” Glencore temporarily shuttered the Falcondo mine last year due to low global nickel prices.

UPDATE 1-Australian state to sell around $2 bln in assets as mine boom ends – by James Regan (Reuters India – August 28, 2014)

August 28, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

SYDNEY, Aug 28 (Reuters) – The state of Western Australia on Thursday said it planned to sell government-owned assets, including part of the Port Hedland shipping terminal, for an estimated A$1 billion to A$2 billion ($1.9 billion) as its resource-heavy economy adjusts to the collapse of a decade-long mining boom.

The move will precede other unspecified sales of land and assets that could fetch another A$4 billion to A$5 billion over the next two or three years, said state premier Colin Barnett.

Barnett, said his priority was to reduce debt and regain a triple-A credit rating for Western Australia. He once hailed the state as the economic engine for Australia, but it is now struggling to pay its bills.

“These are the first assets we will open up to the market. They have been identified as priority assets for sale,” Barnett said in a statement.

Moody’s this week downgraded Western Australia’s credit rating to Aa1 from Aaa. “The ratings downgrade reflects the state’s ongoing deficit position, the deterioration in its debt metrics, and a growing risk that this trend may not be reversed soon,” the ratings agency said.

Mining must strengthen community engagement, public confidence – Minister Rickford – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – August 28, 2014)

August 28, 2014

http://www.mineweb.com/

Instead of debating whether Canada should develop its resources, Minister Greg Rickford advises the discussion should focus on responsible resource development.

RENO (MINEWEB) – While Ontario’s Ring of Fire holds great promise for the province’s north, Canadian Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford stressed the importance of engaging with all communities in the region to work effectively with the province and the mining industry.

In a speech to 2014 Energy and Mine Ministers Meeting in Sudbury Tuesday, Rickford said, “I believe the Ring of Fire holds great promise for this region—a legacy resource development that will require substantial investment, new roads and essential infrastructure to ensure that our communities will have road access and electrification at a competitive value point for industry and communities in Northern Ontario to thrive.”

However, he observed, “To build local confidence, communities must trust what governments and industry say and what government and industries do. We must listen and address local concerns.”

“Building trust in public confidence comes from transparency,” said Rickford. “One of the reasons we’re pursuing initiatives like mandatory reporting for the extractive sector … is to get us to a point of some consensus.”

Glencore, Jinchuan frontrunners to buy BHP’s Nickel West – by Sivia Antonioli and Polly Yam (Reuters U.S. – August 27, 2014)

August 28, 2014

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON/HONG KONG – (Reuters) – Commodities trader and miner Glencore (GLEN.L) and Chinese nickel producer Jinchuan Group are the frontrunners to buy BHP Billiton’s (BHP.AX)(BLT.L) Australian Nickel West division, two sources close to the situation said.

BHP, the world’s largest mining company, announced plans last week to spin off businesses worth an estimated $16 billion but said that Nickel West in western Australia would not be part of the demerged group.

Chief Executive Andrew Mackenzie has said the company was in talks with potential buyers for all or part of Nickel West.

Estimates of the value of Nickel West vary greatly, with some analysts and industry sources putting it at anything up to $1 billion and others tagging negative figures to an asset they say is burning cash. “It’s a race between Glencore and Jinchuan now,” the first source said.

Jinchuan is “very interested” in Nickel West and plans to ship about 30,000 tonnes of nickel concentrate to China if it takes over the business, said the China-based second industry source, who had been briefed about the plan but declined to be named because of the sensitive nature of the matter.

ANALYSIS-India’s coal crunch – a chance to revamp, reallocate and revive – by Krishna N Das and Abhishek Vishnoi (Reuters India – August 27, 2014)

August 28, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, Aug 27 (Reuters) – A court ruling this week that India’s decades-old method of granting coal mining concessions is illegal could herald much-needed reforms in a sector long dogged by the inability of state-run Coal India to raise output fast enough.

In declaring scores of coal block allocations made since 1993 unlawful and arbitrary, the Supreme Court has put investments worth billions of dollars at risk.

If it goes the next step and cancels the concessions after a further hearing due to start on Monday, India may have to import vast amounts of coal to keep the lights on.

In the long run, however, the decision could bring clearer rules to a sector that has failed to provide India with enough power because it has been so hamstrung by confusion and scandals over concessions allegedly handed to government cronies.

Coal India has a monopoly over coal that is mined for sale. The scandal, dubbed “Coalgate” by the media, concerns concessions sold to steel, cement and power firms to dig up coal for their own use.

The furore erupted after a federal auditor’s report in 2012 found that underpriced sales had cost the exchequer as much as $33 billion.

COLUMN-China may lose pole position as copper price driver – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – August 27, 2014)

August 28, 2014

http://www.reuters.com/

Clyde Russell is a Reuters columnist. The views expressed are his own.

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Aug 27 (Reuters) – China has in recent years been viewed as the main driver of the global copper market, and while its influence remains strong, it’s possible that the rest of the world will take over in the short term.

Copper is currently one of the more divisive commodities among analysts, with opinions split over whether the industrial metal will continue its recent rally or lose ground over the rest of 2014.

The point is that considerable uncertainty exists over copper’s direction and much of that comes down to whatever view is held about the economic outlook for China, which consumes roughly 45 percent of the world’s copper.

While this is obviously a huge chunk of the market, it still means that the other 55 percent could exert a bigger influence, especially if its demand trend is changing.

London copper prices gained 3.4 percent between Aug. 14 and Tuesday’s close of $7,054 a tonne, although they are still down 4.2 percent since the start of the year.

The recent gains have largely been attributed to an improving outlook for growth in the United States and hopes that Europe may take steps to stimulate its struggling economies.

U.S. needs more domestic mining – by Courtney Young (Montana Standard – August 27, 2014)

August 27, 2014

http://mtstandard.com/

Courtney Young is the department head and Lewis S. Prater professor of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering at Montana Tech.

To get an idea of how dependent America is on imported minerals and metals for modern technology, I pointed out nearly a year ago how important rare-earth elements were to our country and noted that we were 100 percent dependent on imports with China controlling 96 percent of the world market. Now, let’s consider nickel and copper.

Only one U.S. mine produces nickel, a metal that is needed, for example, in the manufacture of stainless steel and batteries. One should not take for granted that the stainless steel is used for pipelines, surgical instruments, and food containers, and batteries are used to power many of our common items. We depend on imports from Russia and, as for good news, friendly countries like Canada and Australia.

To address this domestic supply issue, two companies (Polymet Mining and Twin Metals) are seeking to permit mines in northeast Minnesota where one of the world’s largest deposits exists. Their ores also contain platinum and palladium, two metals that are used to keep our air and land clean. If all goes according to plan, not only will our domestic supply of nickel increase, but so will these “green” precious metals. Their permit applications are moving through the regulatory process, and it’s expected one will begin operating next year. When that happens, U.S. manufacturers will become less vulnerable to supply disruptions and sudden jumps costs.

That will be a relief, because the United States is heavily dependent on foreign sources for many minerals used in defense production and consumer goods like computers, cell phones, and flat-screen TVs.

Gogebic’s formal request for iron ore mine to be delayed – by Lee Bergquist (Milwaukee – Wisconsin Journal Sentinel – August 26, 2014)

August 27, 2014

http://www.jsonline.com/

Company won’t finish all environmental fieldwork this year

Gogebic Taconite’s plans to submit an application to develop a $1.5 billion iron ore mine will be pushed back from the spring of 2015 until at least the fall of next year, the company says.

The company won’t finish all fieldwork this year and will be forced to conduct additional environmental work next year, according to Bob Seitz, a spokesman for the company.

The delay comes after the company and supporters said state regulators needed to be more time-conscious of big capital-intensive projects, and they pushed lawmakers to make changes in state law to speed up the review for the massive mine.

“We were kind of hellbent for leather to get past the research phase this year, but we realize that we are not going to be able get that done,” Seitz said.

Southern Wisconsin may still be in the grips of summer, but leaves are beginning to change in the far north. That’s prompting Gogebic to wrap up some fieldwork already.

On a hillside along Highway 77, the company wants to transform forestland into a mine and processing plant that would produce taconite to make steel. Preliminary core samples show significant deposits of iron ore.

Birch Lake mining venture showcases its El Dorado — and stock price tumbles – by Ron Meador (Minnesota Post – August 26, 2014)

August 27, 2014

http://www.minnpost.com/

Last week we all got our first look at official projections of how the Twin Metals Minnesota copper/nickel mine at the edge of the Boundary Waters might proceed, and the numbers were frankly impressive:

$2.8 billion in capital investments to get TMM’s mines and processing facilities started, and another $2.6 billion in capital outlays over the first 10 years of operation.
A payback period on those expenditures of not quite six and a half years, thanks to a combination of favorably low production costs and a revenue stream estimated to flow at more than $12 billion in that first decade.
Metals production, over the 30 years that this phase might run, of 5.8 billion pounds of copper, 1.2 billion pounds of nickel, 1.5 million ounces of platinum, 4 million ounces of palladium, 1 million ounces of gold, and 25.2 million ounces of silver.

All in all, “one of the most compelling greenfield copper-nickel development projects in the world,” poised to be “one of the world’s great 21st century mines” — fortuitously situated to take advantage of low production costs, a ready work force with mining experience to fill an anticipated 850 jobs, and access to Great Lakes shipping. All in “a state that supports the mining industry.”

Those are the words of Kelly Osborne, CEO of Duluth Metals, the Canadian company that owns a majority of Twin Metals Minnesota, and you might think they would be music to investors’ ears.

Peru to become world’s second-largest copper producer – by Andres Schipani (Financial Times – August 26, 2014)

August 26, 2014

http://www.ft.com/intl/companies/mining

Lima – Peru is set to become the world’s second-largest copper miner, behind neighbouring Chile, thanks to a $20bn pipeline of Chinese mining projects, according to senior officials in Lima.

Last month’s $7bn acquisition of Glencore’s Las Bambas copper project in Peru by China Minmetals’ MMG subsidiary has reinforced the links between the two countries, as Beijing seeks to secure more resources to drive economic growth.

MMG’s Las Bambas deal means Chinese backers are now behind one-third of all Peru’s new mining investments by value, estimated by the country at $61bn.

While US companies – including Newmont Mining and Freeport-McMoRan – have been among the biggest investors in Peruvian mining, Chinese projects in the country are now worth more than those from the US and Canada combined.

Eleodoro Mayorga, Peru’s energy and mining minister, said: “We have excellent relations with the Chinese; China has evolved as a partner. There is more openness, not only at a financial level, [but] also at trade and social responsibility levels.

“It is not the closed, traditional, governmental China, but transnational companies playing the market game,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times.

Cliffs CEO: Non-Core Assets For Sale ‘at Right Price’ – by John W. Miller (Wall Street Journal – August 26, 2014)

August 26, 2014

http://online.wsj.com/home-page

Company Prefers to Sell Assets Rather Than Separate Into Two Firms

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. CLF +1.19% ‘s new chief executive wants to sell less-profitable mining assets at the right price rather than separate into two firms.

“I’ve made it clear, I don’t support splitting up the company,” said Lourenco Goncalves, a steel industry executive recently installed as chairman and chief executive following a boardroom coup orchestrated by hedge fund Casablanca Capital LLC.

One option floated by the fund had been to divide Cleveland-based Cliffs, the U.S.’s largest iron-ore miner, and refocus the company around its most profitable business segment: five iron-ore mines in Minnesota and Michigan. Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton BHP.AU -0.08% and Canton, Ohio’s steel and steel parts maker Timken Co. TKR +0.40% recently carried out similar restructurings.

Iron ore is the main ingredient in the making of steel, and Cliffs’s U.S. mines have benefited from the resurgence of the Detroit auto industry, drill-pipe demand for natural-gas wells and a geographical advantage over iron-ore superpowers Brazil and Australia.

Other Cliffs assets, such as coal mines in the U.S., iron-ore assets in Australia and Canada and a suspended chromite project in Canada, have been less profitable. Cliffs, one of the worst performers on the S&P 500 index in the past two years, has been hurt by declining iron-ore prices, which have fallen 20% in the past year, mostly because of oversupply. Cliffs reported a $1.9 million loss in the second quarter, compared with a $133.1 million profit a year earlier. Revenue dropped 26%.