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International Media Resource Articles

End of boom? Not for Australia’s iron ore miners – by James Regan (Reuters U.K. – December 18, 2013)

http://uk.reuters.com/

VALLEY OF THE KINGS, Australia – (Reuters) – A fleet of charter flights ferry thousands of workers to and from this outback mine site. The resort-like housing offers gourmet food, cheap alcohol, swimming and well-equipped gymnasiums.

Australian iron ore mining seems immune from the spending crunch afflicting other commodities as a slowdown in Chinese growth cools a decade-long mining boom.

Rio Tinto (RIO.AX), BHP Billiton (BHP.AX) and Fortescue Metals Group (FMG.AX) are bulking up in Western Australia’s iron-rich Pilbara desert as if the mining boom had never ended. A place where capital expenditure is still measured in the billions.

The miners are speeding up transformation of an area the size of Peru into a moonscape of rust-red pits linked via thousands of kilometres (miles) of rail lines to giant iron ore ports perched on the easternmost edge of the Indian Ocean.

“All this discussion about the end of the mining boom, we don’t see it,” said Fortescue Chief Executive Nev Power, before leading uniformed workers through dawn exercises at the company’s King’s mine. “We sell all we mine.”

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UPDATE 1-Vale seeks fertilizer partner; potash to top 4 mln T/yr – by Jeb Blount and Sabrina Lorenzi (Reuters U.S. – December 18, 2013)

http://www.reuters.com/

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec 18 (Reuters) – Brazilian miner Vale SA expects to more than replace the 4 million tonnes a year of potash it stands to lose from the cancellation of its Rio Colorado project in Argentina as it opens mines in Brazil and Canada, its top executive said on Wednesday.

At least 2 million tonnes a year of potash output is expected from its Carnalita project in Brazil’s northeastern state of Sergipe and 3 million to 5 million tonnes a year could be mined from its Kronau project in Canada’s Province of Saskatchewan, Chief Executive Officer Murilo Ferreira told reporters on Wednesday.

Vale canceled plans to build the $6 billion Rio Colorado project in Argentina in March on concerns the country’s currency-exchange policies made the mine, rail and port project unprofitable and after being denied legal tax breaks. It is now trying to sell shares of its fertilizer unit or stakes in specific fertilizer projects, Ferreria said.

“We are looking for partners in our fertilizer business,” he said at an annual holiday lunch with reporters. “But if the partner takes a stake in our fertilizer unit, we don’t want someone who is just a financial partner, we want someone who has their own production already.”

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Decline Shutters [South African] Mines – by Paul Burkhardt (Bloomberg News – December 17, 2013)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

A half-dozen unemployed workers from the Blyvooruitzicht gold mine southwest of Johannesburg finish off the last scraps of a slaughtered cow in the searing October heat. Since losing their jobs in August, meals have become much less predictable.

The men stand near a small wood fire as the sun shines off a hill of extracted earth, in sight of a housing block that was supposed to be vacated. One holds a jaw bone over the flame, nibbles the meat off, and tosses the rest into a rusty barrel. What’s left of the carcass with its entrails spilling out is starting to dry at their feet.

The scene, resembling something from an apocalypse film out of Hollywood, is an extreme example of the impact gold’s 25 percent drop this year may have on towns around the world that are dependent on the precious metal. Mining companies have announced plans to shutter mines or reduce operations from Nevada and Peru to Papua New Guinea in the Pacific Ocean, as gold heads toward its first annual loss in 13 years.

Blyvooruitzicht’s name means “happy prospect” in Afrikaans. These days that’s not such a sure thing. The mine’s most recent operator, Johannesburg-based Village Main Reef Ltd., cut funding and closed it last summer, letting go the remaining 1,700 workers. Plunging prices made it difficult to profitably extract gold, especially with electricity prices soaring and workers demanding higher wages.

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Fed cuts bond-buying but stresses easy policy – by Jonathan Spicer and Jason Lange (Reuters U.S. – December 18, 2013)

http://www.reuters.com/

WASHINGTON – (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Reserve announced plans to trim its aggressive bond-buying program on Wednesday but sought to temper the long-awaited move by suggesting its key interest rate would stay lower for even longer than previously promised.

In what amounts to the beginning of the end of its unprecedented support for the U.S. economy, the central bank said it would reduce its monthly asset purchases by $10 billion to total $75 billion. It trimmed equally from mortgage and Treasury bonds.

The move, which could come as a surprise to many investors, was a nod to better prospects for the economy and labor market and marks a historic turning point for the largest monetary policy experiment ever.

The Fed’s asset purchase program, a centerpiece of its crisis-era policy, has left it holding roughly $4 trillion of bonds, and the path it must follow in dialing it down is rife with numerous risks, including the possibility of higher-than-targeted interest rates and a loss of investor confidence.

The Fed “modestly” reduced the pace of bond buying in light of better labor market conditions, it said in a statement following a two-day policy meeting.

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UPDATE 2-Australia to ship more iron ore as miners shrug off China risks by James Regan (Reuters India – December 18, 2013)

http://in.reuters.com/

SYDNEY, Dec 18 (Reuters) – Australia raised its forecasts for exports of iron ore and metallurgical coal — its two top export revenue earners — reflecting massive expansion work underway to meet demand for raw materials to make steel in China.

Despite moves to curb industrial growth rates and close some ageing steel works, China continues to produce more than 2 million tonnes of crude steel daily, almost 10 times the rate in the United States.

Australia, the world’s biggest producer of iron ore, forecast a 23.3 percent rise in exports to 650 million tonnes in the 2013/14 fiscal year, data from Australia’s Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE) showed on Wednesday.

The forecast was raised from an estimate of 615 million tonnes just three months ago.

“The super cycle is not over yet,” said Keith Goode, an analyst for Eagle Mining Research in Sydney, referring to unprecedented commodity demand driven by Chinese demand. “In China, the main demand still appears to be for iron ore.”

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Iron ore, chrome rates under pressure on poor demand – by Sadananda Mohapatra (Business Standard – December 17, 2013)

http://www.business-standard.com/ [India]

Prices of iron ore and chrome ore are witnessing downward pressure on poor demand from within the country, precipitated by stagnated consumption growth of finished steel products, traders and analysts said.

In Odisha, the major iron ore producing state, the rates have been hovering around Rs 5000 to Rs 6000 per tonne for 62 to 65 grade mineral for last one month. “The rates will stay at current levels for next one month or so. Actually it should be coming down as demand for the mineral is not so strong. But supply problems are supporting the rates,” said an official of Altrade Group, which has five iron ore mines in the state.

Major miners such as Essar and Rungta have rolled over the rates of iron ore lumps from November levels in anticipation of weak demand from sponge iron makers, a major user of the raw material.

“The iron ore rates have been trading at similar levels for past one month due to sluggish demand from sponge iron makers as steelmakers are preferring to use imported scrap instead of sponge iron.

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Zimbabwe: Mugabe Uses Zanu-PF Conference to Rage and Threaten [miners] – by Alex Bell (All Africa.com – December 16, 2013)

http://allafrica.com/

ZANU PF’s ageing leader used the party’s conference this weekend to rage against the West, his old partners in government, the country’s economic position, the mining sector and more.

The 89 year old also moved to threaten some players in the country’s platinum and gold sectors, repeating calls to ban raw mineral exports. “We should not continue to send our minerals out in their raw form,” Mugabe told delegates at the party’s annual conference in Chinoyi.

He singled out Zimplats, a subsidiary of platinum-mining multinational Implats, for “externalising” raw platinum ore. “Zimplats has been exporting platinum but we have very little by way of earnings. We don’t know where the money is going. We must have our money back.”

Mugabe also said the government was considering slashing the number of diamond miners operating in the country. “We should be looking at the possibility of rationalising the mining of diamonds,” he said. “We have six companies mining diamonds, but of these six only three are really worth talking about. We would also want greater transparency.”

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Taconite future looking bright in 2014, 2015 – by John Myers (Duluth News Tribune – December 17, 2013)

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

Minnesota’s taconite iron ore producers will make less product in 2013 than they did in 2012, but the downturn looks to be brief.

It appears 2013 will end up with about 38.9 million tons produced and shipped from the Iron Range, according to state estimates. That’s down about 2 percent from 39.7 million tons produced in 2012, said Bob Wagstrom, who tracks taconite production for the Minnesota Department of Revenue.

Most of the difference was spurred by a million-ton drop in production at Cliffs Natural Resources’ Northshore Mining, which idled two production lines for most of 2013 after losing a customer. Some of that loss was buffered by an increase at U.S. Steel’s Minntac plant in Mountain Iron, Wagstrom said, and by continued increasing production by Magnetation, which has several small plants that recover useable ore from old mine waste sites.

“With the exception of Northshore, everybody was right at last year or even a little up for this year,” Wagstrom said. Northshore officials already have announced that they will restart their idled lines in 2014, boosting production. And Wagstrom said that with continued incremental increases by Magnetation and Mesabi Nugget — the state’s first iron nugget plant near Hoyt Lakes — taxable production could total about 40 million tons in 2014, a level not seen since 2000.

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Minnesota’s grandfather of copper mining Lehmann dies at 84 – by John Myers (Duluth News Tribune – December 17, 2013)

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

Ernie Lehmann, sometimes called the grandfather of copper mining in Minnesota and a tireless promoter of the region’s vast mineral wealth, has died. Jim Kiehne, a business associate, said Lehmann died peacefully in his home Friday from congestive heart failure. He was 84.

Lehmann has been prospecting for, researching and promoting Northeastern Minnesota’s mineral wealth for more than a half-century, especially focusing on the Duluth Complex and its deposits of copper, nickel, gold, platinum and other valuable metals.

“For those of you in the industry who knew his incredible drive and passion for his work, you will not be surprised to know that he was following the recent developments in northern MN and active in helping with business decisions up until the last few days of his life,” said Kate Lehmann, Ernie’s daughter and business partner, in a statement. “This is a great loss to the industry as well as our family. We will send you information about a memorial service after plans are finalized. We expect to wait until after the holidays.”

Lehmann was born in Germany, but came to the U.S. with his parents at the outset of World War II. He earned a geology degree from Williams College and has worked out of an office in Minneapolis since 1958.

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Chinese investors warned about African mining risks – by Toh Han Shih (South China Post – December 16, 2013)

http://www.scmp.com/business/commodities

Resource-rich continent attractive to China, but potential investors are told to proceed cautiously

Chinese companies are keen to pour money into mining projects in Africa, but investors have received a fresh warning about the risks in the continent’s mining sector. Speakers at the recent Global Resource Investment Conference in Shenzhen told of some of the problems that can beset projects in resource-rich Africa.

“There are many potential Chinese clients who are interested in investing in mines in Africa, but there are lots of challenges,” said Cindy Pan, a lawyer at international law firm Dentons.

Pan cited poor infrastructure, political instability, corruption, cultural differences, as well as other political and legal risks. She cited the case of a Chinese company that invested in a mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where officials made repeated demands for bribes.

One Chinese company bought a mine in Mozambique, where the acquisition contract included a clause that allowed the government to buy 15 per cent of the mine, Pan said.

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Wyoming uranium miners look to capitalize on end of Russian exchange program – by Benjamin Storrow (Casper Star-Tribune – December 15, 2013)

http://trib.com/

It is hard to imagine, staring out into the expanse of the Great Divide Basin, how events in Russia could shape the future of the Lost Creek uranium mine.

The closest town, Bairoil (pop. 106), is some 30 miles of bumpy dirt road away. The Wind River Mountains to the west and Green Mountain to the east offer the only break on the horizon, an otherwise unabated sea of rolling sagebrush. And the sole inhabitants, besides the bands of roving wild horses, are the Lost Creek miners themselves, though to call them miners is slightly disingenuous. Lost Creek is more oil field than it is mine, and those that work here are far more likely to tap a keyboard than wield a pickax.

But as unlikely as it may seem, this isolated facility in south-central Wyoming is inextricably linked to the land of Catherine the Great, Lenin and, more recently, Vladimir Putin.

Lost Creek began production in June. On Dec. 3 the mine made its first shipment of yellowcake uranium to a conversion facility in Illinois. A few weeks prior, on the other end of the globe, the final shipment of weapons-grade uranium was packed into a shipping container in St. Petersburg and sent via boat to Baltimore.

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PolyMet mining project tears at DFL unity – by Baird Helgeson (Minneapolis Star Tribune – December 15, 2013)

http://www.startribune.com/

A copper mine that could provide hundreds of high-paying jobs on the Iron Range also is threatening to crack the fragile alliance of blue-collar Democrats up north and the environmentalists that are an influential part of Minnesota DFL’s base.

Iron Range Democrats are looking to the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine as a way to rejuvenate an area rocked by years of declining mining employment. But such mines also have a long history of pollution in other states and countries, and some have warned that a mine expected to last 20 years could result in centuries of cleanup.

All sides are closely watching as Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration faces a crucial decision on the project that could come near the election.

At risk is a political coalition that has made good on a string of high-profile DFL priorities like same-sex marriage, higher taxes for the rich and expanded union influence around the state. Dayton is depending on that same coalition to help him press for a second term and keep the state House in DFL hands.

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Chinese investors looking beyond slump in mine sector – by Toh Han Shih (South China Post – December 13, 2013)

http://www.scmp.com/business/commodities

Despite falling prices, those with a long view and deep pockets on the mainland and in HK are buying projects worldwide, especially for gold

Despite the bearish mood in the global mining sector, participants at a conference in Shenzhen this week said mainland and Hong Kong investors are snapping up mines around the world.

One of them is Samuel Chan Wing-sun, vice-chairman of YGM Trading, a Hong Kong-listed garment firm, who acquired 59 per cent of Crater Gold Mining about 12 months ago and was appointed Crater Gold chairman in February, John Hung, an adviser to Crater Gold, said at the Global Resource Investment Conference. Crater Gold is an Australian-listed firm with gold mines in Papua New Guinea and a metals mine in Australia.

Stewart Cheng Kam-chiu, a nephew of Hong Kong tycoon Cheng Yu-tung, had agreed to co-underwrite a continuing rights issue of A$2.1 million (HK$14.8 million) for Crater Gold, Hung said.

“Before Sam came in, the company suffered from a lack of funds,” he said. “At the moment, it is very difficult to raise funding in Australia because market sentiment is very soft for gold mining companies.

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Israeli billionaire Steinmetz sues campaigners Global Witness (Reuters India – December 16, 2013)

http://in.reuters.com/

LONDON – Dec 16 (Reuters) – Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz and three others working with the mining arm of his business empire, BSG Resources, have sued campaign group Global Witness, claiming damages for what they say are breaches of their human and data protection rights.

BSG Resources (BSGR) is battling for the right to develop half of the Simandou deposit in Guinea, one of the world’s largest untapped iron ore resources.

The government of Guinea, which is running a review of mining contracts allocated by previous administrations, says BSGR bribed officials to win a 2008 licence to develop the promising deposit. Global Witness, which campaigns for transparency in the resources industry, has on several occasions linked BSGR to corruption allegations.

BSGR denies it paid bribes for its Simandou concession and has criticised the contract review, which it says is designed to allow Guinea to renege on its obligations. It has also accused international advisers working directly and indirectly with the Guinean government, including financier and philanthropist George Soros, of orchestrating a smear campaign against it.

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Mining exploration not adequate, new law could bring in more funding – by Mansi Taneja (Business Standard – December 16, 2013)

http://www.business-standard.com/ [India]

 Canada and Australia spend maximum on mineral exploration with 19% and 12% respectively of global share

Despite being a mineral rich country, India’s share in global exploration budget has been less than 0.5% which might explain the fact the country’s proven reserves are only 5-10% of the total resources.

Canada and Australia are the top countries who spend maximum on mineral exploration with 19% and 12% respectively of the global share.

Exploration of minerals, except petroleum, has been primarily constrained by funding crunch, which is why unproven resources in India are more than twice the proven reserves.

For instance, India has gold resources of 490 million tonnes but only 17% of it has been explored and marked as reserves. Similarly for coal, out of total resources of 280 billion tonne, 40% are available as reserves and for iron ore with 25 billion resources, 28% are reserves. India produces about 87 minerals.

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