International Media Resource Articles – Page 740

A mining policy for the future – by Hal Quinn (Milwaukee – Wisconsin Journal Sentinel – March 24, 2014)

March 26, 2014

http://www.jsonline.com/

Hal Quinn is president and CEO of the National Mining Association, the national trade association for America’s mining industry.

Ted Doheny, CEO of Milwaukee-based Joy Global Inc., recently alerted the nation that the minerals of tomorrow will be tougher to obtain than they have been in the past. If anyone would know, it would be the chief executive of a leading manufacturer of mechanized mining equipment used around the world. Doheny’s peers in numerous industries that depend upon those metals and minerals are also listening.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers survey revealed that more than 70% of the chief executives in auto, high-tech and other key industries fear future mineral supply scarcity. Increasing resource nationalism among mineral-rich nations such as China, Indonesia and South Africa — keen to ensure supplies for their own national industries — make these concerns a more imminent reality.

Unstable mineral and metal supply chains could threaten the tremendous economic jolt Wisconsin manufacturers such as Joy Global have provided the state in recent years. Local manufacturing firms are largely responsible for the significant job growth and economic opportunities that have abounded in Wisconsin since the recession and have helped to grow jobs in the state’s private sector at its fastest rate since 1994.

Child miners pay the price in Burkina Faso’s gold rush – by Joris Fioriti (AFP – March 26, 2014)

March 26, 2014

http://za.news.yahoo.com/

Perched on the edge of a mine shaft, Joel Sawadogo, 13, readies the fragile plastic lamp strapped to his forehead with an elastic band as he prepares to lower himself into the darkness.

He is one of hundreds of children and young people working at the Nobsin mines, about an hour’s drive from Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou, who every day risk their lives in the search for gold in the impoverished west African nation.

Child mining has become a growing problem in Burkina Faso, where 60 percent of the population is under 25. A mining boom in recent years has made the country Africa’s fourth-largest gold producer, where exports of the yellow metal account for almost a fifth of economic output.

Joel, who started working at the mines two years ago, makes a meagre income from the backbreaking work. Sometimes it’s 5,000 CFA francs (7.6 euros, $10.5), on a good day twice that, but often nothing at all. “Down there, it’s really damp,” he said, scratching a filthy arm. He hopes one day to find “less painful work” but “mostly, I think about what I could earn”.

Did cutting access to mineral wealth reduce violence in the DRC? – by Laura Seay (Washington Post – March 25, 2014)

March 26, 2014

http://www.washingtonpost.com/

One of the most underreported stories about conflict in Africa of the past few months involves the demise of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s M23 rebel movement. M23 (started by a group of disgruntled Congolese army soldiers who used to be part of another rebel movement called the CNDP) was led by mostly ethnically Tutsi Congolese and had as its stated aim protecting Tutsi interests and civilians in the DRC’s eastern Kivu provinces.

Though Kigali disputes the claim, the U.N. Group of Experts on DRC, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch gathered large bodies of evidence showing that M23 rebels received substantial financial, logistical, and manpower support from the Rwandan government. But in November 2013, the rebels, who just a year before had been powerful enough to take a major eastern city, Goma, collapsed.

Why? What explains the sudden dissolution of a major rebel movement in a country known for its proliferation of armed groups? Why was the notoriously incompetent Congolese national army, the FARDC, able to decisively defeat a rebel movement for the first time since the current regime came into being?

UPDATE 1-India’s Goa should cap iron ore output at 20 mln T/yr -court panel – by Krishna N Das (Reuters India – March 26, 2014)

March 26, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

NEW DELHI, March 26 (Reuters) – Iron ore production in Goa, usually India’s top exporting state of the raw ingredient for steel, should be capped at 20 million tonnes a year when an 18-month old mining ban is lifted, a court-appointed panel said, less than half peak output and curbing potential shipments to key buyer China.

But even with that limit, additional supply from Goa could further pressure iron ore prices in a global market expected to be in surplus this year as top miners boost output and Chinese demand slows.

India’s Supreme Court is likely to implement the recommendation from the panel, which it appointed in November to look at lifting the ban that was imposed to curb illegal mining. The court earlier allowed the sale of about 15 million tonnes of iron ore that had sat in a stockpile.

The panel also said in a report seen by Reuters that Goa should consider setting up a state iron ore mining company to minimise environmental damage by private miners. While analysts expect a gradual recovery in Indian iron ore exports over the next two years, the pace is likely to be modest and far from a record high of more than 117 million tonnes set in the fiscal year through March 2010.

Illinois Residents File Intent to Sue for Federal Takeover of Rogue Coal Mining Agencies – by Jeff Biggers (Huffington Post – March 25, 2014)

March 25, 2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/

What happens when government regulators fail to uphold coal mining laws, in a state of constant violations?

No one knows better than residents in Illinois: Today marks the March 25th anniversary of the tragic Centralia, Illinois coal disaster, when government inaction on a violation-ridden coal mine led to an explosion that needlessly took the lives of 111 miners.

Nor does anyone know better than residents in Clinton County, Illinois, where toxic coal slurry from a nearby mine contaminated the watersheds of unwitting farmers more than a decade ago.

Now, with state mining regulatory agencies mired in scandal, violations and public outcry, and on the heels of the West Virginia and North Carolina coal ash and slurry disasters, Illinois residents embroiled in one of the nation’s most notorious coal slurry cases are appealing for the federal government to revoke approval of the state’s rogue coal mining agencies and allow citizens to lawfully seek environmental compliance in the courts.

Citing a number of violations of the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, the Citizens Opposing Pollution filed a 60-day intent to sue notice on March 17th with the Department of the Interior, unless it takes over the state’s abysmal enforcement program.

COLUMN-Cheaper Asian LNG depends on coal, Japan nuclear – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.K. – March 25, 2014)

March 25, 2014

http://uk.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Asian spot liquefied natural gas prices have started their seasonal downturn after the winter peak, but how far they will fall depends on whether coal remains cheap and if Japan restarts some nuclear capacity.

LNG for May delivery was around $16.50 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), down from levels above $20 per mmBtu last month, reached as utilities re-stocked after peak winter demand. Last year, spot LNG LNG-AS fell 28 percent from the peak of $19.67 per mmBtu on Feb. 18 to a low of $14.13 on May 3.

Prices peaked at $20.50 per mmBtu on Feb. 7 this year, and a drop of a similar magnitude would see them fall to about $14.76 around May. However, much will depend on whether Japan does restart some nuclear generation, and whether it and China are willing to use cheaper coal despite the higher pollution.

None of Japan’s reactors, which used to supply about 20 percent of the nation’s electricity, are currently online, although two are now on a shortlist for a final round of safety checks.

Public scepticism remains high three years after the earthquake and tsunami that caused the destruction of the Fukushima plant, which led to the idling of nuclear generation.

Miners Brave Congo’s Warlord History as Demand for Tin Soars – by Michael J. Kavanagh (Bloomberg News – March 25, 2014)

March 25, 2014

http://www.businessweek.com/

As his chartered Cessna flies above the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Katanga province, Mussadiq Hamid Merican flips through the pages of his Malaysian passport, counting Congolese visas.

“Nine, 10, 11,” he laughs, while the plane passes over villages of thatched-roof huts scattered across sparsely forested savannah. “And these are multiple entry visas so it’s actually more than that.”

The pilot banks and approaches a dirt landing strip rolled in the 1980s by a now-defunct tin company. For the past four years, Merican, 34, has been flying in and out of mines like this in Congo for Malaysia Smelting Corp. (SMELT), the world’s second-largest tin producer. Merican’s company is among those trying to determine if it’s possible to mine in the country profitably — without enriching warlords.

Since the mid-1990s, when war broke out in eastern Congo in the aftermath of the genocide in neighboring Rwanda, Congolese minerals have been linked with corruption, killing and sexual violence. Rebels, unscrupulous traders and members of the army helped themselves to tin ore, of which Congo is Africa’s biggest producer, gold and columbite-tantalite, or coltan, an ore used in smartphones and laptops.

South Africa platinum strike causing ‘irreparable’ damage – producers – by Xola Potelwa (Reuters U.K. – March 25, 2014)

March 25, 2014

http://uk.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG – (Reuters) – Platinum producers Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin said on Tuesday a strike now in its ninth week at their South African mines was causing irreparable damage to the sector and local economy.

Wage talks have broken down between the companies and the striking AMCU union, which is demanding a doubling of basic wages, although the world’s top three platinum producers said they were open to talks “within a reasonable settlement zone”.

In a joint statement, the companies said they had lost nearly 10 billion rand ($921 million) in revenues, but also pointed to the cost to communities around the mines in the platinum belt northwest of Johannesburg.

South Africa’s biggest post-apartheid mine strike, which has hit 40 percent of global production of the precious metal, is also seen denting sluggish economic growth and widening the current account deficit as its effects ripple from the platinum communities throughout the wider economy.

“The financial cost … does not tell the full story,” the companies said. “Mines and shafts are becoming unviable; people are hungry; children are not going to school; businesses are closing and crime in the platinum belt is increasing.”

Rio set for potash push – by Matt Chambers (The Australian – March 24, 2014)

March 25, 2014

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

Rio Tinto could start building a Canadian potash project within three years, according to its joint venture partner, as the big miner chases a fertiliser push by BHP Billiton to position itself at the forefront of a global food boom.

There is also growing speculation Rio will make a bigger plunge into the sector through an acquisition or joint venture of neighbouring junior Western Potash, or even by joining BHP.

Last week, Rio revealed it had made a “tier-one” potash discovery at its KP405 lease near Regina, in Saskatchewan’s Elk Point Basin. This is the basin where BHP is spending $US3.8 billion ($4.2bn) sinking big mine shafts and building associated infrastructure about 200km to the north to be ready for expected growth in global demand for the crop fertiliser.

Rio’s Russian partner, Acron, has called the find “massive” and, based on a Rio report, capable of supporting a long-life, low-cost potash mine. Still, KP405 is lower grade, has been proved up to a fraction of the certainty and is less than a third the size of the resource BHP is targeting. It is also nearly twice as deep, meaning mining methods will be different and probably more expensive.

Miners target funds to spread the message on coal – by Annabel Hepworth (The Australian – March 24, 2014)

March 24, 2014

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

MINING giants are targeting Australia’s most influential superannuation funds to convince them that coal is here to stay in a dramatic escalation of a strike against environmentalists campaigning for the divestment of fossil fuel assets.

The Australian can reveal that the Minerals Council of Australia — whose members include BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Glencore — has been pitching the case for coal to more than 1000 powerbrokers at big investors.

As well as industry funds including Australian Super and Uni Super, the campaign has targeted investment managers Colonial First State, investment bank Goldman Sachs and the Australian arm of the world’s biggest asset manager BlackRock, as well as ratings agencies.

The move is an escalation of the industry’s plans to take on the fossil fuel divestment campaign, where green groups are pushing investors to dump their holdings in coal companies. The approach is modelled heavily on the South African divestment campaign against apartheid. The Greens have been demanding that the $96.6 billion Future Fund get out of coal.

Philippine finance minister says government must get more revenue from mining – by Rosemarie Francisco and Erik dela Cruz (Reuters India – March 24, 2014)

March 24, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

MANILA – (Reuters) – The Philippine finance minister said he will push mining companies to pay bigger shares of their revenue to the government even though the industry maintains that taxes are already too high and higher ones could kill the business.

Taxation of Philippine miners is a thorny issue that has delayed development of the country’s vast mineral resources. President Benigno Aquino, seeking to raise revenue from mining, has met stiff resistance.

Philippine Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima told the Reuters ASEAN Summit on Monday that the government should be getting one-half of gross revenue from mining. Last year, according to a government agency, direct state revenue from mining was worth only 2 percent of total output, though miners also pay corporate income tax of 32 percent and other fees to different agencies.

“Where I start is 50-50,” Purisima told the summit, held at the Reuters office in Manila. “The return of the government must be two-fold — as owner of the mineral, and two, as a taxing authority.”

Still, Purisima said it is the Philippine Congress that will decide the revenue-sharing formula, taking into account the industry’s position.

Investors return to Indonesia, but World Bank warns of challenges – by Peter Alford (The Australian – March 24, 2014)

March 24, 2014

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

WHILE a resumption of strong portfolio flows so far this year suggests the Indonesia story is getting renewed and favourable consideration from foreign investors, the World Bank has warned the country faces a highly challenging 2014.

The bank’s new Indonesian Economic Quarterly, pointedly titled Investment in Flux, appears as investment confidence, domestic and foreign, has got another lift from the confirmation of Jakarta governor Joko Widodo will contest, and most likely win, the 2014 presidential race.

The decision by Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle doyenne Megawati Sukarnoputri that “Jokowi” — not she — would carry the party’s banner in July lifted the Jakarta stockmarket 4 per cent in the final two hours of trade on Friday, while the currency strengthened nearly 2 per cent against the US dollar.

The 52-year-old former small businessman from Jogjakarta is perceived by investors, domestic and foreign, as by far the most market rationalist of the main candidates. A Jokowi administration is expected to promote public-private investment in critically underfunded sectors like transport infrastructure and healthcare.

The Jokowi effect reinforces strengthening sentiment about Indonesia apparent since late January, which in turn reflects significant improvements in current account deficit, government fiscal deficit and inflation outlook since the third quarter of last year.

[Yellowknife] Giant Mine bomber now seeking day parole – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – March 24, 2014)

March 24, 2014

http://www.mineweb.com/

Convicted of the deaths of nine miners during a bitter strike at a Yellowknife gold mine, a former miner has applied for day parole for the first time, despite being eligible since 2010.

RENO (MINEWEB) – A former miner convicted of committing one of Canada’s worst mass murders during one of the most violent mining strikes in the nation’s history is seeking day parole.

Roger Warren, who confessed and was convicted in 1995 of nine counts of second-degree murder in connection to the 1992 bombing at Yellowknife’s Giant Mine, is serving a life sentence.

The September 18, 1992, blast set by Warren exploded when a rail car transporting mining replacement workers hit a trip wire. Between 1948 and 2004, the Giant Mine was a major economic driver for Yellowknife and the Northwest Territories.

Royal Oak bought the Giant Mine in 1990 when the price of gold dropped below mining costs. Then-mining CEO, Margaret Witte, slashed costs and increased production although the union complained that mine safety was comprised. The union went on strike in May 1992 with the strike lasting 18 months.

The next age of mining? – by Cole Latimer (Australian Mining – March 21, 2014)

March 24, 2014

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

Are we entering the last age of the open cut mine? Is the end of open pit mining near? Speaking to a number of sources, the answer is clearly no, but as grades decrease and deposits become deeper, the increase of underground mining will continue apace as older open cut mines are worked out and new, deeper deposits are discovered.

Underground mining will soon count for a much larger proportion of total mining. According to a Rio Tinto seminar in 2010, in 2009 underground operations accounted for 26 per cent of all copper production, however Rio forecast that by 2025 underground operations would account for 40 per cent of global copper production.

This included major copper producers such as Chile and Australia, where massive open cut pits are the norm. But this is not to say open cut mining has been uneconomical. Surface mining has been, for some time, the most economical form of mining in Australia.

Underground contract mining specialist Pybar’s group business development manager David Noort told Australian Mining “open cut mines have been, economically, the most viable, which has been due to relatively near surface expressions”.

With wide open spaces and often remote locations, it has been the more cost effective form of mining, but globally it has already started coming to an end, with Noort explaining that “many of these higher grade expressions close to the surface have already been discovered, so we are left chasing ore down”.

INSIGHT-Russia’s leading role in the Indonesian mining revolution – by Randy Fabi and Fergus Jensen (Reuters U.S. – March 23, 2014)

March 24, 2014

http://www.reuters.com/

JAKARTA, March 24 (Reuters) – Russia’s two metal giants have emerged as big winners from Indonesia’s new mining law, after leading a drive to get Jakarta to stick to its controversial mineral ore export ban in the face of opposition from miners and Asian buyers.

In its six-month lobbying campaign last year, United Company Rusal and Norilsk Nickel delivered a blunt message to Indonesian officials: We will only invest billions of dollars in smelters if you ban bauxite and nickel ore exports.

The effort seemed to have paid off, despite a denial by Indonesia that it was influenced. When the law came into effect this year, Indonesia enforced a water-tight export ban for only two major minerals – nickel ore and bauxite.

The halting of $3 billion of annual nickel ore and bauxite exports has already lifted the price of nickel and helped support aluminium, boosting the fortunes of Rusal and Norilsk, the world’s top aluminium and nickel producers, respectively.

At the same time, it has strengthened the case for the pair to invest billions of dollars in Indonesia to build smelters to replace costly capacity in Russia, a key part of a recovery plan for struggling Rusal and in line with Indonesia’s own aims to earn more from its minerals resources.