International Media Resource Articles – Page 761

Is the tide turning for junior gold stocks? – by Lawrence Williams (Mineweb.com – November 6, 2013)

November 7, 2013

http://www.mineweb.com/

The AIM and TSXV junior mining indices appear to be flattening, or even beginning to pick up. Is this the time for investors to move in again, or is it another false dawn?

LONDON (MINEWEB) – Junior gold stocks remain close to rock bottom, although the scare stories of the demise of perhaps half the juniors on the TSX Venture exchange for example remain unfulfilled. According to Graham Dallas, Head of Business Development EMEA for the Toronto Stock Exchange, speaking at the Global Mining Finance conference in London yesterday, so far this year only six companies have delisted from the TSXV at their own request, and some of these are dual listed stocks which have reverted to their primary exchange as a cost-cutting measure.

Furthermore none so far have been delisted for failure to meet continued listing requirements. While the remainder of the year may indeed see more delistings it seems to this observer that the predicted junior gold stock Armageddon will not come about. Small juniors have the capability of reducing activities to an almost dormant state, cutting fieldwork, staff and executive salaries to a minimal level and conserving enough cash to pay for their listings and just hang in there until things improve.

Foreign investors cry foul as Mongolia revokes mine licenses (Reuters India – November 7, 2013)

November 7, 2013

http://in.reuters.com/

ULAN BATOR – Nov 7 (Reuters) – Mongolia has annulled more than 100 exploration licenses as part of an investigation into mining sector corruption, raising further concerns among foreign investors about the risks of doing business in there.

Mongolia-focused Kincora Copper said on Thursday that it had received a letter from the Mineral Resources Authority saying that two of its licenses had been revoked following a criminal investigation into former government officials accused of illegally issuing a total of 106 exploration licenses between 2008 and 2009. All of the 106 licenses have been cancelled.

Kincora Copper said the move, which will affect the licenses of an estimated 11 foreign and 67 domestic firms hoping to explore for a range of minerals, highlighted the uncertainty facing a growing legion of foreign investors.

“Security of tenure and a transparent legal system are key cornerstones for both domestic and foreign private sector investment,” said Sam Spring, president and chief executive of Kincora Copper, in an email.

UPDATE 3-Vale Q3 profit doubles on higher iron ore sales, prices – by Jeb Blount and Sabrina Lorenzi (Reuters India – November 7, 2013)

November 7, 2013

http://in.reuters.com/

Nov 6 (Reuters) – Brazil’s Vale SA , the world’s second-largest mining company, reported on Wednesday that its third-quarter net income more than doubled from a year earlier, beating analysts’ expectations as iron ore prices and sales volumes rose.

Net income for the three months ended Sept. 30 soared 114 percent to $3.50 billion from $1.64 billion in the same period a year earlier, the company said. The result was 6 percent higher than the $3.3 billion average profit estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Reuters.

Iron ore prices averaged about a fifth higher in the third quarter of this year than in the same quarter of 2012, according to Thomson Reuters. Net sales, or total sales minus sales taxes, rose 11 percent from a year earlier to $12.7 billion, beating the average analyst estimate of $12.5 billion. The volume of iron ore sales rose 11 percent to 73.4 million tonnes.

“We expected strong volumes, given the robust Brazilian iron ore export figures for July-September, but shipments still exceeded our expectations,” mining analysts Garrett S. Nelson, Mark A. Levin and Nathan P. Martin of BB&T capital markets in Richmond, Virginia said in a report to investors.

Difficult year for junior miners – Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – November 05, 2013)

November 6, 2013

http://www.northernlife.ca/

But some glimmers of hope exist

Uncertainty surrounding world markets and a lack of investor confidence clouded the 2013 Ontario Exploration and Geoscience Symposium Tuesday.

“This is probably the hardest year I’ve ever seen,” said Gary Clark, the executive director of the Ontario Prospectors Association, which organized the event. “I’ve been in the business since 1983.”

Clark said junior mining companies have had difficulty securing funding due to declining investor confidence tied to mining exploration. “This year the amount of exploration dollars being spent worldwide, let alone in the province, is way down,” he told Northern Life.

That slump, Clark said, has been due primarily to shrinking demand for raw materials from China. Despite a poor year for mining exploration Clark said there are glimmers of hope things will improve.

Vale Delivering More Profits on Reduced Costs: Corporate Brazil – by Juan Pablo Spinetto (Business Week – November 04, 2013)

November 6, 2013

http://www.businessweek.com/

Vale SA (VALE5) is poised to deliver its first quarterly profit increase in more than two years after costs declined and iron-ore prices beat analysts’ forecasts.

The world’s largest iron-ore producer on Nov. 6 will post third-quarter net income of $2.8 billion, data (VALE:US) compiled by Bloomberg show. That would be 70 percent more than a year earlier and the first increase since the second quarter of 2011. Vale’s 96 percent estimated increase in year-on-year earnings per share is the most among 14 global peers, according to Bloomberg Industries.

Vale, a supplier of iron-ore for steelmakers from ArcelorMittal to China Steel Corp., cut $1.65 billion of costs in the first half and is benefiting from rising demand from steel mills in Asia. Iron-ore prices averaged $132.5 a ton in the third quarter, 18 percent more than last year and above the $121 a ton forecast expected by analysts when 2013 started.

“There are better realized prices and an improved performance in terms of costs,” Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analyst Marcelo Aguiar said by telephone from Sao Paulo. “We expect an increase in the production of the company’s three main businesses: iron-ore, nickel and copper.”

Platinum Giants Ready to Stare Down Union Over Pay Demand – by Andre Janse van Vuuren (Bloomberg News – November 6, 2013)

November 6, 2013

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Rising costs and falling prices may prompt South Africa’s largest platinum mines to stare down a union threat to halt 70 percent of global production over pay demands, pushing the industry toward a prolonged strike.

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, the largest at the platinum mines, has rejected pay offers exceeding South Africa’s 6 percent inflation rate. An AMCU-led strike would halt operations at Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (AMS), Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. and Lonmin Plc, which together employ about 150,000 workers and contractors on the world’s richest deposits of the precious metal.

“The health of the industry is already in question,” Tyler Broda, an analyst at Nomura International Plc in London, said by phone. “It is going to be very difficult to give much more. The companies are unfortunately heading toward a path where they will take their chances with a protracted strike.”

The three companies have all in the last year either turned to investors for funds, set plans to shut mines or cut production and scaled back on capital spending to confront a slump in the price of platinum, down 16 percent from its highest level in 2013.

Mining benefits 8 in 10 South Africans ‘directly, literally’ – Cutifani – by Martin Creamer (November 5, 2013)

November 6, 2013

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

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Eight out of every ten South Africans benefited “directly and literally” from mining, outgoing Chamber of Mines of South Africa president Mark Cutifani said on Tuesday.

Cutifani, who is also Anglo American CEO, told the chamber’s 123rd annual general meeting (AGM) in Johannesburg that the mining industry was South Africa’s best chance of eradicating poverty. “In the end, we are an industry for the people,” he said.

The National Development Plan (NDP), which was endorsed by most constituencies, clearly reasserted the conviction that the mining sector was at the epicentre of the economic growth strategy and it was critical that all South Africans understood that they were actually the owners of the South African mining industry.

For example, more than 60% of Anglo American’s operating South Africa assets in coal, platinum, iron-ore, diamonds and manganese were held by the historically disadvantaged – “a massive transformation of ownership”.

Mine Tales: Copper isn’t the only mineral common in Arizona – by William Ascarza (Arizona Daily Star – November 4, 2013)

November 5, 2013

http://azstarnet.com/

In 2012, Arizona produced more than $2 billion in nonfuel mineral commodities. While Arizona leads the nation in copper production, additional minerals ranked according to value include molybdenum concentrates, sand and gravel (construction), cement (portland) and silver.

Industrial minerals found in Arizona include sand, gravel, limestone, clay, marble, gypsum, asbestos, perlite, talc, zeolites and landscape rock.

Industrial minerals mined in Arizona such as sand and gravel produced from flood plains, washes and alluvial fans are used in the construction of highways, airports, buildings, dams and bridges.

Gravel and aggregate (a combination of rocks and sand used in the manufacture of concrete) are the most common industrial minerals in Arizona. One hundred tons of sand and gravel are needed in the construction of a standard 1,600-square-foot house.

Iron ore rally boosts miners – by Peter Ker and Brian Robins (Sydney Morning Herald – November 6, 2013)

November 5, 2013

http://www.smh.com.au/

The four-month rally in iron ore stocks shows no sign of abating, with some miners hitting their highest share prices in more than a year this week.

Shares in BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were on Monday fetching their highest prices since February and March respectively, while Fortescue Metals Group has not been this valuable since May 2012.

The strong rally in the sector has come after a four-month period that was supposed to be its weakest of 2013, yet saw the benchmark iron ore price refuse to slip below $US130 per tonne.

A further rise in the benchmark price to $US135 per tonne over the past 48 hours fuelled further buying on Tuesday, and pushed Fortescue shares to $5.53 for the first time in 18 months.

Fortescue shares have rallied so strongly since they were below $3 in late June that Deutsche analyst Paul Young downgraded the stock to a sell last week on the basis that it had become over-valued, particularly when compared with BHP and Rio.

China to further open its mining industry – by Du Juan (Xinhuanet – November 4, 2013)

November 5, 2013

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/

BEIJING, Nov. 4 (Xinhuanet) — China will further open its mining sector to overseas investors and encourage them to participate in resource exploration and utilization and the development of shale gas, said a senior official on Sunday.

“The Chinese government has attached great importance to the mining industry’s contribution to the country’s economic growth,” said Jiang Daming, minister for land and resources, at the 2013 China Mining Expo in Tianjin.

He said the establishment of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone signifies that China has stepped into a new stage of openness.

The government will simplify the approval process and management of mining resources, with the aim of improving the convenience and efficiency of investment in the sector, according to Jiang.

At present, social capital accounts for up to 70 percent of mining exploration investments in China, as investors have grown increasingly diversified.

Betting on end to glut, miners hunt for new zinc deposits – by James Regan (Reuters U.S. – November 4, 2013)

November 5, 2013

http://www.reuters.com/

SYDNEY – (Reuters) – A global hunt is on to find new deposits of zinc as China buys more of the metal to rust-proof new cars and coat steel used to build bridges and skyscrapers.

Multinationals such as Swiss-based Glencore Xstrata (GLEN.L), Belgium’s Nyrstar (NYR.BR) and China’s MMG (1208.HK) are funding new mines from Africa to the Yukon on expectations that an oversupply of zinc will turn into a deficit.

Along with mining veterans such as former Newmont (NEM.N) head Pierre Lassonde, who holds a stake in Canada’s Foran Mining (FOM.V), they are also investing just as ageing mines accounting for a tenth of world consumption start to shut.

Even old workings are being rehabilitated, including silver-zinc mines built by Hunt brothers Nelson and William in Canada in the 1970s. The Texan duo famously hoarded silver to corner the market and control global prices, only to go bust when silver prices crashed in 1980.

UPDATE 1-China’s gold consumption to cool after surge this year -producer – by Judy Hua and David Stanway (Reuters India – November 4, 2013)

November 4, 2013

http://in.reuters.com/

TIANJIN, China, Nov 4 (Reuters) – China’s gold consumption is expected to climb to more than 1,000 tonnes this year, though the trend is not sustainable and could drop below this level from 2014, the country’s biggest gold producer said on Monday.

Meanwhile, gold output this year from China, the world’s top producer, is set to climb about 7 percent to another record high of 430 tonnes, Du Haiqing, vice general manager at China Gold Group Corp, said at an industry conference held in the northern city of Tianjin.

Gold demand from China has surged by more than half in the first six months of the year as sliding prices of the precious metal lured buyers, reinforcing expectations that China will overtake India as the top consumer this year.

Gold consumption in 2012 was 832.18 tonnes, according to data from the China Gold Association. Demand growth has dramatically outpaced production, causing imports from Hong Kong to surge and hover at more than 100 tonnes for five straight months up to September.

But this year’s consumption was “abnormal”, as a sharp drop in prices in April has sparked a buying frenzy, said Du.

Poland, Wedded to Coal, Spurns Europe on Clean Energy Targets – by Danny Hakim and Mateusz (New York Times – October 31, 2013)

November 4, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/

BELCHATOW, Poland — They call it Poland’s biggest hole in the ground. The coal mine here is more than eight-and-a-half miles long, nearly two miles wide and as deep in parts as three football fields. Enough coal comes out of it to fuel Europe’s largest coal-fired utility plant, whose chimneys loom in the distance.

“The entire world population could fit in this hole,” Tomasz Tarnowski, an administrator here, said in a bit of proud hyperbole as he led a group of reporters on a walk near a towering mound of brown coal about halfway into the mine.

Poland is Europe’s coal colossus. More than 88 percent of its electricity comes from coal. Belchatow is one of its huge sources and the largest carbon emitter in Europe. (There’s no “belch” in Belchatow — it is pronounced bel-HOT-oof.)

This month, a United Nations conference on climate change will be held in Poland, a location many environmental activists consider the least appropriate choice they could imagine. And while the European Union has mapped out ambitious clean-energy goals intended to reduce the greenhouse gases linked to global warming, Poland has been its fossil-fuels holdout.

Rio Tinto in Mozambique withdraws expatriate families over safety – by Manuel Mucari (Reuters U.K. – November 1, 2013)

November 4, 2013

http://uk.reuters.com/

MAPUTO – (Reuters) – Mining company Rio Tinto is withdrawing expatriate employees’ families from Mozambique for their safety in a sign that an upsurge in kidnappings and violence is worrying investors.

Other major companies developing big coal and gas reserves in the former Portuguese colony, Brazil’s Vale, U.S. oil company Anadarko and Italian oil and gas group Eni, said they were closely following political developments there, after clashes between the government army and opposition Renamo guerrillas.

London-listed Rio Tinto, which mines and exports coal from northwest Tete province, said in a statement it was arranging to send home the families of foreign employees.

It announced the move a day after tens of thousands of Mozambicans marched in the capital Maputo and two other cities to protest against the threat of armed conflict and a recent spate of kidnappings by criminals.

Vale’s Earnings Surge on Output – by Francezka Nangoy (Jakarta Globe – November 1, 2013)

November 1, 2013

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/

Vale Indonesia, the country’s biggest nickel miner, posted a 64 percent increase in profit in the first nine months of this year on the back of rising production and improving operations.

In a statement released on Thursday, the company said that its net income jumped to $47.28 million in the January-September period from $28.94 million in the corresponding period last year. Revenue rose to $721.07 million from $693.69 million.

Vale said in the statement that its success in improving its cost competitiveness helped its financial performance “even in these challenging market conditions.”

The company, controlled by Brazilian iron ore giant Vale, is currently shifting to fueling its dryers with coal rather than the more expensive high-sulphur fuel oil. The conversion began in the middle of the third quarter. Vale consumed 608,058 barrels of HSFO at an average cost of $99.65 per barrel throughout the quarter.

That compares with 679,306 barrels of consumption in the second quarter at $100.76 average cost per barrel.