International Media Resource Articles – Page 747

UPDATE 1-Australia’s Rinehart nears $7.8 bln mine finance deal – sources – by Sharon Klyne, Joyce Lee and Prakash Chakravarti (Reuters India – February 26, 2014)

February 26, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

Feb 26 (Reuters) – Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill iron ore project is close to finalising a $7.8 billion financing deal, sources said, a vital step towards an end-2015 start for the giant mine in Western Australia’s iron-rich Pilbara district.

The 55-million tonnes-a-year project, which would make Roy Hill Australia’s fourth-largest iron ore producer, will add to hefty new supplies coming on line from Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group.

It could also add to the wealth of mining magnate Rinehart, already Australia’s richest person with a $17.7 billion fortune, according to Forbes. Roy Hill is likely, however, to be the last new project of this scale to get off the ground, given worries over shaky underlying demand for iron ore in China, the world’s biggest consumer of the steel-making raw material.

Other miners are rethinking expansion and cutting costs as iron ore prices drop. At just below $120 a tonne .IO62-CNI=SI on Wednesday, prices have fallen more than 11 percent so far this year and are down almost 40 percent from a record high of $200 reached in February 2011.

Catholic Church opposition to mining a myth – Cedron – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – February 26, 2014)

February 26, 2014

http://www.mineweb.com/

“The industry needs a new and better approach to the Church,” says Professor Mario Cedron, ‘The visit of a delegation of mining executives to the Vatican last September is a start.”

SALT LAKE CITY (MINEWEB) – In a presentation to the Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration Wednesday, Professor Mario Cedron of the Catholic University of Peru said the supposition that the Catholic Church opposes mining is based in myth and has no substance.

Some members of the clergy may express personal positions that are opposed to mining, Cedron advised, but no popes in modern memory have expressed anti-mining sentiments.

In fact, Pope John Paul II, a former coal miner, condemned the Liberation Theology political movement, which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in relation to liberation from unjust economic, political or social conditions. Cedron observed, “Many people call it Christianized Marxism.”

First cartels, now vigilantes target Mexico mines – by Agence France-Presse (Global Post – February 25, 2014)

February 26, 2014

http://www.globalpost.com/

Dozens of trucks carry iron ore out of a mine in western Mexico, spinning dust into the air as they barrel past a guard booth peppered with scores of bullet holes.

The pockmarks are the scars of darker days, when the mine in the town of Aguililla, Michoacan state, was under the yoke of the Knights Templar drug cartel, which extorted the business.

The gang was chased out of town, but the mine still has to pay outsiders. The mine now forks out “compensation” to a vigilante movement which celebrated on Monday the first anniversary of a revolt that has driven the gang out of Aguililla and around 20 other towns in Michoacan.

The civilian militias say the mines are helping to finance their cause against the cult-like cartel which was deeply entrenched in Michoacan’s economy and terrorized the community through extortion, kidnappings and murder. Farmers and ranchers are also making donations to the militias that have liberated their towns.

EXCLUSIVE-Small miners size up mergers, deals may be elusive -Reuters survey – by Allison Martell and Euan Rocha (Reuters India – February 25, 2014)

February 25, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

Feb 25 (Reuters) – Many of the small Canadian-listed mineral explorers that supply global major miners with new projects are considering merging with peers, according to a Reuters survey, but for most it may be tough to close deals.

Just over half the Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture-listed miners and explorers that participated in the Reuters survey said they are at least somewhat likely to announce a “merger of equals” over the coming 12 months, but only a handful said such a deal is “very likely.”

Out of favor with investors, most explorers – or junior miners – badly need cash. And the few with strong balance sheets figure there must be some great deals around. Several industry leaders have argued that consolidation could fix the sector.

But such discussions often come to a halt when executives at target companies realize that they will have to sell cheap. Some stocks have dropped more than 90 percent over the last two years, and bids reflect the low valuations.

“The guys running these small companies are promoters. They’re dreamers, and they’ll hang in until the cows come home,” said Tom Caldwell, head of brokerage and wealth manager Caldwell Securities. “Most would rather hang in there and end up with $10 in the treasury and start the game all over again in two years.”

Illegal mining getting out of control – Shabangu – by Leandi Kolver (MiningWeekly.com – February 21, 2014)

February 25, 2014

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

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Illegal mining in South Africa was getting out of control with about 6 000 people estimated to be involved in the practice of illegal underground mining and another 8 000 in illegal surface mining, Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu said on Friday.

She pointed out that it was estimated that, in 2011, illegal mining subtracted about R6-billion from the country’s fiscus, adding that as the practice grew this figure would also grow and, therefore, it was something that had to be dealt with.

Shabangu on Friday met with local stakeholders, aiming to establish a local Ekurhuleni illegal mining forum, including unions, mining industry players, the Metro Police, the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Department of Home Affairs.

After the meeting, she told media that while there was a Gauteng provincial forum on illegal mining, it was “not really moving in a way that helps us to take this process [forward] and deal with the matter decisively” and, therefore, the decision to set up the Ekurhuleni forum was made.

MINT: The Next Economic Giants – by Jim O’Neill (BBC Radio 4 – January 2014)

February 25, 2014

http://www.bbc.co.uk/

Economist Jim O’Neill was the first to spot the huge potential of the BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India, and China, and predict how the world would change. In this landmark series, Jim travels to four countries which could one day stand alongside them and join the world’s economic elite. Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey – MINT – could become the new name on people’s lips, and further overturn the old world order.

For the four-part radio espisodes, click here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03pn2h6/episodes/guide

Mexico

Mexico’s hope of becoming the workshop of North America was shattered by China’s domination of cheap exports, but recently, the Mexican dream is in sight again. As Beijing opts for “quality not quantity” of growth, companies are returning, drawn by competitive labour and proximity to the US market. In the first part of a landmark series, the economist Jim O’Neill travels across Mexico to investigate. He discovers that its ambitions now go far beyond cheap manufacturing. But can Mexico’s youthful, reforming government overcome the challenges of widespread poverty, crime and a huge number of people living outside the formal economy?

Jim O’Neill interview: Why the Mints come after the Brics – by Sophie McBain (NewStatesman – January 23, 2914)

February 25, 2014

http://www.newstatesman.com/

The economist Jim O’Neill, who coined the term “Bric countries” (referring to Brazil, Russia, India, China), now says that the term is now tired, and argues that immigration should be widely accepted as a good thing.

Thirteen years ago, Jim O’Neill, a chief economist at Goldman Sachs, coined the term “Brics” to describe the four countries he predicted would be among the next global economic giants: Brazil, Russia, India and China. The acronym caught on, to an extent that O’Neill describes as “flattering” – but he also feels “irritated” by having to defend his theory.

“Someone has just written a book called Broken Brics, and I’m just like, yawn,” he says, collapsing into his seat with feigned exhaustion. “If I dreamt it up again today, I’d probably just call it ‘C’,” he adds, perking up. “China’s one and a half times bigger than the rest of them put together.”

But O’Neill, now 56, is moving on, from both banking and the Brics. He left his role as chairman of Goldman Sachs in April 2013 after 18 years of working at the investment bank. Deciding that he couldn’t better his former role, he resolved to do something different. I’m meeting him at a private members’ club in central London to discuss his newest acronym, Mint, and the accompanying Radio 4 series.

BRICs Creator O’Neill Wowed by New Lula’s Success: Mexico Credit – by Nacha Cattan (Bloomberg News – December 18, 2013)

February 25, 2014

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Jim O’Neill has been tracking economic reform initiatives in countries across the world during his 33-year career on Wall Street. Only a few of them, he said, rank higher than what Mexico achieved this year.

“I can’t think of many other countries that have had a period of such deep reforms,” said O’Neill, who coined the term BRICs while serving as a top Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economist in 2001, correctly predicting a surge in growth for Brazil, Russia, India and China. “Markets are only just really starting to give Mexico any credibility now that the energy reform is going through.”

President Enrique Pena Nieto shepherded through at least 10 constitutional amendments in his first year in office, including measures to open Mexico’s oil industry to private investment for the first time in 75 years. He is slated to enact as soon as this week the new drilling rules, which are aimed at luring oil majors from Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) to Chevron Corp. (CVX), after a majority of states ratified the changes adopted by the national congress.

O’Neill estimates the reforms will boost Mexico’s long-term economic growth to 5 percent from the current 3 percent, helping trigger a bond rally that will top gains in other emerging markets next year. Barclays Plc predicts the reforms will spark investor demand for bonds in coming weeks, with yields on longer-term securities falling about 0.25 percentage point by year-end.

UPDATE 2-Indonesia to ease export tax, 1st rollback of mining rules – by Wilda Asmarini and Yayat Supriatna (Reuters India – February 24, 2014)

February 24, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

JAKARTA, Feb 24 (Reuters) – Indonesia will ease a controversial tax on mineral concentrate exports for firms that build smelters in the country, in the first rollback of new rules that have caused its mining industry to grind to a halt.

The move is a potential victory for U.S. mining giants Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold and Newmont Mining Corp . A senior government official said Freeport would resume exports of copper concentrate in the “near future”.

Around $500 million a month in ore and concentrate exports have stopped since President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in January imposed mining rules, which included the progressive tax and a mineral ore export ban, to force companies to build smelters and process raw materials in Indonesia.

“The export tax can be changed. For those who have seriously committed to building smelters, we will ease it,” said Sukhyar, director general of coal and minerals for the mines ministry. “The export tax can be lowered or maybe eliminated to zero percent.”

By contrast, Indonesian government officials have said over the last few weeks that Jakarta would not back down from the export tax or any of the mining regulations passed last month.

BHP Billiton CEO Andrew Mackenzie: Economy is sound – by Peter Ker (The Age – February 24, 2014)

February 24, 2014

http://www.theage.com.au/

BHP Billiton boss Andrew Mackenzie says he is optimistic about Australia’s economic prospects, despite the departure of the car makers and last week’s closure of the Alcoa smelter at Point Henry.

But Mr Mackenzie told Channel Nine’s Financial Review Sunday program the swath of job losses in manufacturing highlighted the importance of the nation uniting behind a single productivity agenda.

Mr Mackenzie has been particularly upbeat about the future of the Australian economy since taking over as chief executive in May, and his mantra that Australia still has ”everything to play for” has often been at odds with the gloomy prognoses of federal governments.

Mr Mackenzie has regularly urged Australia to help itself by reforming industrial relations, taxes and its productivity performance, and said the high-profile corporate closures were a reminder of that.

”To be pro-Australia for a moment I wish they hadn’t happened … but I have a global perspective, I see what happens elsewhere in the world and I still think Australia has an awful lot going for it,” he said.

Robert Redford: National ecological treasure in danger – by Robert Redford (U.S.A. Today – February 20, 2014)

February 24, 2014

http://www.usatoday.com/

I, along with many others, have been working for years to protect Bristol Bay, Alaska, from large-scale mining. This spectacular, unspoiled landscape is home to the largest wild salmon fishery in the world. Every year tens of millions of salmon return to Bristol Bay to feed thriving commercial and sports fishing industries, as well as brown bears, whales, bald eagles and wolves. And they’re the centerpiece of sustenance and culture for Alaska Natives who have lived there for thousands of years.

Incredibly, a Canadian-based mining company wants to build a vast open-pit gold and copper mine, one of the largest in the world, in the heart of this national treasure. The operation, known as Pebble Mine, would threaten the ecosystem and salmon – the entire lifeblood of the region.

That’s why it has been crystal clear to so many of us that this misguided scheme must be stopped. And now the federal Environmental Protection Agency has provided what should be the definitive evidence that the Pebble Mine would be a disaster.

In a final assessment of the Bristol Bay watershed that took three years of extensive scientific research, peer review and public comment to produce, the agency last month found the following:

Reader’s view: Copper-nickel mining devastated Sudbury and its surroundings – by Roberta Plewa (Duluth News Tribune – February 23, 2013)

February 24, 2014

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

Regarding the copper-nickel mining issue, I want to mention a bit of history I have witnessed.

In the 1940s, my father worked for the railroad, entitling families free train travel. My aunt’s family lived in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. Trains traveled circuitous routes then so we passed through Sudbury, Ontario. We were aware of mining there but unconcerned. In 1965 my family and I traveled that route to visit. On the way we decided to see the “big nickel.” When we reached the hilltop I looked around and observed a nightmare. It was black as far as one could see. Nothing but black. That was the legacy of copper-nickel mining.

The publicity for and against the Range project set me to thinking. My husband Googled the words “Earth/Sudbury” and retrieved significant information. Today “Greater Sudbury,” as it is called because of its expansion, has grown and prospered due to diversification. However, the original Sudbury, in spite of 50 years of reclamation efforts, still remains devastated.

The Chamber of Commerce of Sudbury acknowledges the devastation of the past but promotes the positive surrounding area. There is no mention of outcome for the watersheds that ultimately go to Lake Huron by way of the rivers and streams. There is no mention of health issues from breathing the black dust or birth defects.

No Women on Glencore’s Board Marks Mining Imbalance: Commodities – by Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – February 20, 2013)

February 24, 2014

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Glencore International Plc’s $36 billion takeover of Xstrata Plc will unite about 130,000 employees that operate in more than 40 countries. The proposed board of directors doesn’t include a single woman.

Mining lags behind every other industry, including oil and gas, in terms of gender diversity, with women occupying just 5 percent of board positions, according to a January report by Women in Mining U.K. and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Of the seven companies in the U.K.’s benchmark FTSE 100 Index with all-male boards, five are miners. Four of the world’s five biggest mining companies trade in London.

“If I chaired an all-male board I’d set to work immediately getting some women on it,” said Mark Moody-Stuart, a former chairman of both Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Anglo American Plc, whose board appointed Cynthia Carroll as its first woman chief executive officer. “I don’t think they really have much of an excuse. It’s a matter of putting thought and effort into it.”

Mining has long been seen as a male bastion, with women banned from working underground in some countries until recently. That’s being challenged by a growing skills shortage amid unprecedented demand for natural resources.

Northeast rock salt supply at critical low as more snow hits – by Victoria Cavaliere (Reuters U.S. – February 18, 2014)

February 24, 2014

http://www.reuters.com/

NEW YORK – (Reuters) – Rock salt was in short supply in the U.S. Northeast on Tuesday after successive winter storms led to critical shortages in Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania, while New Jersey scrambled to secure a huge shipment stuck at a port in Maine.

The shortages come as the East Coast was slammed by a third winter storm system in a single week, leaving many states over-budget for snow removal and running low on critical supplies, like rock salt, which is used to help melt ice and snow packed roads and public areas. The 40,000 tons of rock salt remained in Searsport, Maine, days after New Jersey was denied a waiver of federal shipping rules that would have allowed an available foreign-flagged vessel to bring it into a Newark port.

Instead, efforts to get the ice-melting material to New Jersey remained stymied by the 1920 Maritime Act, also known as the Jones Act, enacted to protect the American shipping industry from foreign competition.

“It’s very frustrating. We could have had that shipment here by this past weekend,” said New Jersey Department of Transportation Spokesman Joe Dee. Salt supplies were running so low in the state that crews were “scraping the bottom of the barrel,” he said.

UPDATE 2-Eramet delays Indonesia mine, backs ban to help nickel – by Gus Trompiz (Reuters India – February 21, 2014)

February 21, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

PARIS, Feb 21 (Reuters) – French mining and metals company Eramet postponed its flagship nickel mine project in Indonesia on Friday citing depressed prices which it said would find support from the country’s ban on unrefined mineral exports.

Benchmark prices of nickel, mainly used in stainless steel, languished at four-year lows for much of 2013 due to global oversupply, leaving many producers operating at a loss.

Indonesia, the world’s largest exporter of nickel ore, last month went ahead with a ban on shipments of unrefined metals, including the ore, boosting international prices on prospects that the global surplus would be curbed.

“We hope that this ban is going to be kept firmly in place,” chairman and chief executive Patrick Buffet said at a presentation of Eramet’s 2013 results.

“This is the factor that could bring a recovery in the nickel market within a reasonable period.” Uncertainty over policy ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections this year had contributed to Eramet’s decision to delay a final investment decision on the Weda Bay mining project, Buffet said.