International Media Resource Articles – Page 739

Copper miners eye increase in output – by James Wilson (Financial Times – March 16, 2014)

March 17, 2014

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

Copper producers plan to expand mine capacity and output to record levels again this year, underlining potential additional downward pressures on prices, which have fallen steeply recently.

Prices for the red metal tumbled last week to the lowest level since 2010, amid signs of sluggish demand and the building up of inventories in China, by far the largest market for copper and most other metals. The copper market is closely watched as a gauge of global economic health.

Global copper miners – of which the largest are Codelco of Chile, Freeport-McMoRan, Glencore Xstrata and BHP Billiton – plan expansions of mine capacity that would add between 1.1m tonnes and 1.3m tonnes of copper annually to the market until 2016, according to data provider SNL Financial.

Such increases would be roughly equivalent to the annual output of Escondida, the world’s largest mine, which provides about 5 per cent of world supply.

Johannesburg’s Golden Legacy Includes Radioactive Dump – by Kevin Crowley (Bloomberg News – February 10, 2014)

March 17, 2014

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Johannesburg sits atop the world’s most productive gold reef — a staggering 40,000 tons of the precious metal has been mined from it during a history tracing back 130 years. That legacy of riches has left behind a toxic inheritance: radioactivity from uranium hauled up in the mining process.

Scientists have found uranium quantities in rivers west of the city to be as much as 4,000 times natural levels and in tap water as much as 20 times higher. A soil sample taken by Bloomberg News and tested by government-certified WaterLab Ltd. from pumpkin roots grown a little more than a mile from a recently closed gold mine contained five times more uranium than background levels considered normal by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Residents of Johannesburg and surrounding communities live among an estimated 600,000 metric tons of uranium buried in waste rock and covering an area four times the size of Manhattan, according to university researchers. Another undetermined amount lies below ground, where water has filled abandoned mines and leaks into the environment.

“There’s nowhere in the world where you’ll find so many people living alongside such a vast amount of ore-bearing uranium,” said Carl Albrecht, head of research at the Cancer Association of South Africa, or Cansa.

Half-mln tonne zinc position sparks jitters about hidden stocks – by Eric Onstad (Reuters India – March 14, 2014)

March 14, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) – Metals markets are nervous that nearly half a million tonnes of hidden zinc may be delivered on the London Metal Exchange next week, shaking a market unsure about the extent of further concealed stocks.

Investors who had bought into a bullish story about zinc may be particularly concerned since the appearance of the unforeseen inventories could weigh on prices of zinc, the top LME performer last year.

LME zinc stocks MZNSTX-TOTAL have declined by a third over the past 12 months, encouraging bullish investors, but analysts are uncertain about how much more inventory is stashed away in off-exchange depots in financing deals.

“It’s a very real risk that we do see a very big physical delivery onto the LME at some point over the next week,” said analyst Gayle Berry at Barclays in London. “There has been, we think, a large accumulation of unreported zinc inventories, which could be mobilised to deliver against a large short futures position.”

Building the platinum demand of tomorrow – by David McKay (Miningmx.com – March 14 2014)

March 14, 2014

http://www.miningmx.com/

[miningmx.com] – TRYING to understand just how much platinum metal sits in investor hoards or mining company inventories is something of a dark art. GFMS Thomson Reuters, a UK-based market consultancy, estimated in 2012 platinum stocks at 4.5 million ounces.

The thinking is that there’s been drawn-down on those stocks, but the market is not sufficiently relieved. It also supposes 900,000 of platinum ounces held in Absa Capital’s exchange traded fund (ETF) is not actually an inventory.
Derek Engelbrecht, the outgoing marketing director of Impala Platinum (Implats), says these ounces are unlikely to be liquidated, although the track-record of ETFs shows they can be counted as ‘hot money’; in other words, investors will sell the metal – release it into the market – when there’s a profit to realise.

In any event, the inventories of platinum which have been amassed over the years is dampening the ‘fundamental deficit’ in the platinum market. Platinum producers aren’t mining enough metal to meet market demand such as autocatalysis.

That’s why Engelbrecht is hoping the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) accept his idea for a Mandela platinum coin.

POSCO to revamp non-steel ops, shun major steel investment – new CEO – by Hyunjoo Jin (Reuters India – March 14, 2014)

March 14, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

SEOUL – (Reuters) – POSCO’s (005940.KS) new chief executive said the South Korean steelmaker will restructure non-steel businesses and not make any major investment in increasing steelmaking capacity, in a marked break from the strategy of his predecessor.

Incoming CEO Kwon Oh-joon, a former POSCO chief technology officer, will sell non-core assets and list affiliates after a wave of investment and acquisitions left the world’s fifth-biggest steelmaker with high debt and credit-rating downgrades.

POSCO, once one of the industry’s star performers, posted its third straight year of profit decline last year as it continued to grapple with steel oversupply and reduced customer demand brought about by recent global economic downturn.

“POSCO’s biggest task is to improve its financial structure,” Kwon said at a news briefing after starting a three-year term as chief executive and chairman. “First of all, we have to improve our core competitiveness in steel and generate profit.”

To that end, POSCO will restructure its materials and energy businesses, and focus on lithium, nickel, fuel cells and clean coal, Kwon said.

Rio Tinto unveils its Processing Centre of Excellence – by Cole Latimer (Mining Australia – March 13, 2014)

March 14, 2014

http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/home

Rio Tinto has unveiled the latest component of its Mine of the Future program – the Processing Centre of Excellence.

Based in Brisbane, Rio says this “is a world first, state-of-the-art facility that ehances monitoring and operational performance by examining in real time processing data from several Rio Tinto operations spread across the globe”.

Known by some colloquially as ‘the excellent centre for excellent excellence’, it will be operated by a team in Brisbane, that will provide processing solutions and initiatives to mine sites in Mongolia (at Oyu Tolgoi), the US (at Kennecott), and across Australia (at five different sites).

A massive interactive screen while show, and analyse, technical data in real time, “allowing processing improvements ot be immediately introduced and operational performance to be optimised,” the miner said in a statement.

Early trials have already led to improvements such as adjusting the flotation process for gold and copper recovery at Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia.

ANALYSIS-Eyeing Brazil and Africa, potash juniors defy industry slowdown – by Rod Nickel (Reuters/CNBC – March 13, 2014)

March 14, 2014

http://www.cnbc.com/

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, March 13 (Reuters) – Two junior potash producers working in unusual locations look set to shake off the most bearish industry conditions in five years and open new mines, helped by their proximity to Brazil and Africa, two of the world’s most promising but under-served fertilizer markets.

Tepid global demand for the crop nutrient and sagging prices have crimped profits for producers across the industry and hurt prospects of many of the exploration companies aiming to develop new mines for the already-oversupplied industry.

The world’s biggest fertilizer company, Potash Corp of Saskatchewan , slashed 1,000 jobs in December, while Mosaic Co, a major U.S.-based producer, last year suspended part of its expansion plans.

Yet prospects are bright for Allana Potash Corp and Verde Potash PLC, two small producers developing low-cost potash mines in Ethiopia and Brazil respectively, far from the world’s main potash regions of Western Canada and eastern Europe.

Each promises a shortcut to fertilizer-hungry markets and has attracted strategic or government backing, removing some of the risk.

Canadian securities regulators ease financing rules – by Kip Keen (Mineweb.com – March 13, 2014)

March 14, 2014

http://www.mineweb.com/

Reshaping the financing landscape for Canadian public companies, the CSA outlines a major new exemption.

HALIFAX, NS (MINEWEB) – It is just got a whole lot easier for Canadian companies – juniors most notably – to raise money issuing new shares to existing shareholders.

Today the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) outlined a new exemption – effective immediately in most provinces in Canada – that lets any shareholder, regardless of net worth or professional background, individually commit up to $15,000 a year to a financing.

Prior exemptions that let people take part in financings were more stringent and limited to people, for example, with net worths over a C$1 million. The new exemption was proposed last year by the TSX Venture Exchange largely in response to tight financing markets for smaller junior exploration companies which mostly depend on financings to fund their activities.

The new exemption will widen the pool of potential investors for juniors and other public companies in Canada.

Indeed, in this, the rule, published Thursday, went further than a proposal floated last year which was limited to TSX Venture companies.The CSA said it would open door for all companies on the TSX Venture, TSX and CSE to use the exemption.

‘Future mine’ research [South Africa] needs to begin now – Wits – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – March 13, 2014)

March 14, 2014

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

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Research into South Africa’s ‘mine of the future’ needs to begin immediately, says University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) School of Mining Engineering head Fred Cawood.

The programme for the mine of the future needs to be broken into various phases, with the immediate goal being to mine more for less in order to provide cash flow for more intensive research.

The underground mining environment needs to be better understood and technology already widely used on surface, including satellite technology, needs to be migrated underground.

For that purpose, a digital mine mock-up is being established at the Wits School of Mining Engineering to assure safety and generate the cash for more profound longer-term research. Cawood’s view is that mechanisation should follow optimisation and be accompanied by the introduction of a new mining layout.

Floating hotel draws workers to NW Canada boom town – by Julie Gordon (Reuters U.K. – March 12, 2014)

March 14, 2014

http://uk.reuters.com/

VANCOUVER – (Reuters) – Hundreds of construction workers in booming northern British Columbia will take up residence this week in unique digs on board a cruise ferry revamped into a floating luxury hotel.

The aging ship will help relieve a housing shortage in one busy Canadian port town already bursting ahead of a promised energy boom that could last more than a decade.

The Silja Festival – a Baltic ferry made over as the Delta Spirit Lodge – will spend at least a year docked outside Kitimat, British Columbia, where it will provide housing for about 600 workers in town for Rio Tinto Alcan’s $3.3 billion smelter-upgrade project, which is expected to wrap up in 2015.

After that, the ship’s owners hope more contracts will float their way as major energy companies like Chevron Corp, Petronas and Royal Dutch Shell push ahead with proposed liquefied natural gas export (LNG) projects along Canada’s Pacific coast.

“This kind of investment would never occur without the kind of mega-opportunities that are growing in the Pacific Northwest,” said Andrew Purdy, vice president of Bridgemans Services Ltd, the privately held company behind the hotel.

Intel lead on conflict minerals helps, challenges other firms – by Stella Dawson (Reuters U.K. – March 13, 2014)

March 13, 2014

http://uk.reuters.com/

March 13 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Intel Corp has spent more than five years figuring out how to rid its supply chain of minerals that finance violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo region, and now it is offering to show other companies how they can do the same.

Intel’s offer to “open source” its methods for verifying that none of its products contain minerals from armed groups involved in the DRC conflict could save other companies significant amounts of money and give them a head start in meeting new U.S. regulations that require them to certify their products are conflict free.

“For us, this has always been about doing the right thing,” Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said at a meeting in the U.S. Senate offices on Wednesday with DRC officials where he announced the move.

Its decision to work on stanching a multimillion dollar mineral trade – used by rebel groups to finance one of the world’s longest running and most brutal conflicts – stands in contrast to how leading representatives of corporate America have responded to the tragedy.

Big money is on Sweden, not us – by Peter Delmar (Times Live.com – March 13, 2014)

March 13, 2014

http://www.timeslive.co.za/ [South Africa]

Congratulations. We’re pleased to offer you a position as a rock drill operator at Platneus Platinum Mines Number 11 shaft. You start next Monday. Thank you, Mr van Schalkwyk. Did you say I’d be getting R12 500 a month?

No, I’m afraid I didn’t. We can offer you half that amount. This business of R12 500 is pie in the sky; we have no idea where Amcu got that figure. Let me explain: if you look at the management car park, what do you see?

Erm, three Lexuses, two BMWs and four Mercedes-Benzes. No wait, five Mercedes-Benzes?

Precisely. Do you know what German luxury sedans cost nowadays? And I can tell you our stand at the Mining Indaba this year cost us northwards of half a bar – to say nothing about the sundowner Table Bay cruise and the drinks and snacks we laid on to keep the analysts, shareholders and media happy. Then we had to provide a belly dancer, of all things, to keep guests entertained once they were properly sloshed.

The government has told us to convert our hostels to single-occupancy rooms: that doesn’t come cheap either, you know.

Roping in Canada for food security – by A. Didar Singh, (Deccan Herald – March 1, 2014)

March 13, 2014

http://www.deccanherald.com/ [India]

(The writer is secretary general, FICCI)

Indo-Canadian agriculture and food relationship has to move beyond a mere buyer-seller framework. Recent spurts in food prices suggest that a purely domestic strategy will not suffice for India’s food security, where food security refers to assured supply at stable prices.

There is, thus, clearly a need to find international partners in the agri-food segment, given the sheer volumes required going forward, and the diversity of this sector. Now, while an India-Canada energy relationship seems a natural tie and is much talked about, it is less apparent that the North American country can play an equally significant role in aiding India generate enough food for its populace. In fact, in some ways Canada does already play a real role in helping India increase the availability of food for its population, through its supply of pulses and fertilizer.

Despite Canada being mainly a services economy, the agri-food segment has emerged as a major driver of economic growth in Canada in recent years. Food processing and beverage industries are actually Canada’s largest manufacturing estate and also its greatest industrial employers. Given Canada’s relatively small population compared to the size of its agri-food sector one can imagine that the country has a rather lot of surplus produce that is available for export.

Secretive Chinese funds: a potent force in copper rout – by Polly Yam, Fayen Wong and Melanie Burton (Reuters India – March 13, 2014)

March 13, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI/SYDNEY, March 13 (Reuters) – Chinese funds taking massive short positions played a powerful role in copper’s slide to around four-year lows this week, signalling the growing force of the sector in global commodities markets.

The funds had been building up bets against copper since December, according to sources at funds, futures dealers and analysts, in a market already edgy over slowing Chinese demand and fears that credit upheaval in the world’s second-biggest economy could unwind financing deals using the metal as collateral.

On Friday, funds and other speculators pounced and sold London Metal Exchange and Shanghai copper contracts heavily as they took advantage of worries over the Chinese credit market after a bond default by a solar equipment producer.

The scale of the sell off shows that Chinese funds are gaining greater sway over global commodity markets — influence that is likely to grow given China’s intention to liberalise the yuan and pilot projects for free trade zones.

Alan Coutts, President and CEO, Noront Resources (Global Business Report – March 12, 2014)

March 13, 2014

http://gbroundup.com/

What has changed for Noront Resources since Cliffs Natural Resources’ 20th of November announcement that it will suspend its Black Thor chromite project in the Ring of Fire?

AC: From Noront Resources’ perspective, not much has changed since Cliffs Natural Resources’ announcement. Our Eagle’s Nest project is fundamentally different from what Cliffs had envisaged for their open-pit, bulk-transportation model Black Thor Project: Noront is focusing on a high-grade nickel-copper-platinum group underground mine – from a logistics point of view, this means small volumes of high-grade concentrate.

Consequently, our project economics and infrastructure needs are completely different than those of Cliffs. Furthermore, during our permitting process, we developed our environmental assessment not only for the mine site itself, but also for our transportation corridor and we continue to believe that an East-West route is more appropriate for our needs at this time.

Obviously, having an industry participant leave the region is never a positive development but we are hoping that there is a silver lining to that and this event will underline the need for more timely-decision making regarding key issues such as environmental permitting and infrastructure. These questions cannot remain unresolved forever and we hope that Cliffs’ decision is going to galvanize the process and hopefully bring the federal government to the table as well.