International Media Resource Articles – Page 773

Guest post: can China help Kazakhstan to diversify? – by Usen Suleimen and Xiaojiang Yu (Financial Times/Beyond -BRICS – September 9, 2013)

September 10, 2013

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

http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/

Dr Usen Suleimen is ambassador at large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kazakhstan. Dr Xiaojiang Yu is associate professor in the department of geography at the Hong Kong Baptist University.

The visit of Xi Jinping, China’s president, to Kazakhstan last weekend and the signing of $30bn of new agreements is another symbol of the growing closeness between two of the world’s largest countries. It is a relationship built on mutual challenges, geographic proximity and energy, as China increasingly looks to central Asia to power its growing economy.

But these links have also raised alarm bells in the west. Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, the region’s main producers of oil and gas, have been warned against letting China dominate their economies. China has found itself accused of a modern colonialism as part of a new ‘Great Game’ and of plundering the natural resources of poorer, weaker countries.

From Kazakhstan’s perspective, such fears are badly misplaced. Our two countries have had warm relations for more than 20 years, fostered by close links at senior government level. We cooperate on a range of foreign policy issues, including through the Shanghai Co-operation Organization and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia.

Billionaire Battles Native Americans Over Iron Ore Mine – by Christopher Helman (Forbes Magazine – September 9, 2013)

September 10, 2013

http://www.forbes.com/

Chris Cline became a billionaire through his investments in Illinois coal mines. His privately held Foresight Energy is rolling in profits while other coal companies are failing.

Now Cline hopes to repeat his fortune mining a different mineral, a form of iron ore called taconite, from a giant open pit mine in Wisconsin.

Coal has many detractors, so Cline is accustomed to being in the cross hairs of environmentalist groups. But because Cline’s coal mines are underground operations their impact on the immediate environment is obscured.

That wouldn’t be the case with his proposed taconite mine. Proposed by Gogebic Taconite, which Cline bought a few years ago, the mine would be built in the far northern reaches of Wisconsin near the town of Mellen, in an area crossed by rivers and streams that flow north into Lake Superior.

Wisconing Gov. Scott Walker is in favor of the mine, which is expected to generate 8 million tons a year of taconite and support 700 direct jobs. Naturally, the Sierra Club and Native American tribes are against it.

Energizer expects better economics from feasibility at Madagascar project – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – September 9, 2013)

September 10, 2013

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Madagascar-focused Energizer Resources on Monday said a series of milestones at its flagship Molo graphite project, and recently updated mineral resources had led it to expect improved economics from a feasibility study currently under way.

The company’s shares jumped more than 16% in early trade on the TSX on Monday to C$0.185 a share, before falling back to C$0.165 apiece around noon.

The company in February published the results of a preliminary economic study (PEA) for the project, which had found it to hold an after-tax net present value (NPV), using a 10% discount rate, of $341.8-million, and an after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 41%.

The project was expected to cost $162.04-million to construct and would produce about 84 000 t/y of 98% to 98.6% pure flake graphite, which could sell at an average market price of about $1 564/t. The project was expected to have a three-year payback period.

Vladimir Potanin plans Norilsk Nickel overhaul – by Courtney Weaver and Charles Clover (Financial Times – September 9, 2013)

September 10, 2013

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

Moscow – After years of vicious shareholder infighting, lawsuits and mudslinging, Norilsk Nickel’s oligarch shareholders are scrambling to overhaul its investment strategy and management structure following the steep fall in metals prices.

In an interview, Vladimir Potanin, Norilsk Nickel’s single biggest shareholder with 30 per cent and chief executive, said the company had hired western consultants including McKinsey and BCG to advise the nickel, platinum and palladium producer, which has a market capitalisation of $20.6bn.

According to Mr Potanin, Norilsk has never managed to shake off its Soviet legacy and develop into a 21st century multinational, despite being the world’s largest nickel producer with $12bn in annual revenues and close to $5bn in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

“To put it simply, the company should become more modern. It’s still working like a Soviet ministry,” Mr Potanin says. “There is a lot of red tape and other things that need to be done away with, given today’s difficult financial markets.”

China slowdown spells end of big payday for iron ore traders – by Manolo Serapio Jr and Silvia Antonioli (Reuters India – September 10, 2013)

September 10, 2013

http://in.reuters.com/

SINGAPORE/LONDON, Sept 10 (Reuters) – With China’s insatiable appetite for iron ore cooling alongside a slowing economy, once in-demand traders of the steelmaking raw material face a new reality: fewer financial perks and tougher resume requirements.

Anyone without a network of connections in top market China need not apply. And the days of guaranteed bonuses to attract the best talent are largely over. Just two years ago, iron ore traders were the envy of even investment bankers, a famously well-paid breed of financial players.

“Two years ago, banks were all over the market. If you could spell iron ore, they wanted you in their team,” said Paul French, the London-based global head of commodities at recruiting firm Global Sage. Now, with iron ore prices retreating from a record near $200 a tonne in 2011 to $134.80, recruiters say the phones are not ringing like they used to.

“I haven’t had a requirement for an iron ore trader for some time. Eighteen months ago we were regularly asked about it and I don’t think we’ve been asked about it in the last 12 months,” said Charles Crichton, Asia general manager at UK-based Commodity Appointments.

Massive mine proposed at Oak Flat, sacred tribal land – by Emily Bregel (Arizona Daily Star – September 8, 2013)

September 9, 2013

http://azstarnet.com/

The planned Rosemont Copper Mine just south of Tucson isn’t the only mining controversy in Arizona. It isn’t even the biggest.

About 100 miles north of Tucson, Resolution Copper Mining wants to build a mine in Superior, a town of 2,800 people, that could yield 1 billion pounds of copper a year. That’s more than four times the projected output for Rosemont Copper’s planned mine in the Santa Rita Mountains, which would produce an estimated 243 million pounds of copper annually.

Resolution — owned by mining giants U.K.-based Rio Tinto and Australia-based BHP Billiton — says the mine would create 1,400 jobs and generate $61 billion over its 40-year lifespan, plus construction and clean-up time. It would extract enough copper to meet 25 percent of U.S. demand.

“If you can imagine five Super Bowls in Superior every year for 60 years, that’s the level of economic boost and economic activity this mine is going to generate,” said Andrew Taplin, Resolution Copper Mining’s project director since October 2012. But the project would also permanently alter an outdoor destination popular with Southern Arizonans. At the Oak Flat campground, five miles east of Superior, stone picnic tables are shaded by centuries-old oak trees.

The promise of a sunrise industry – by Joel Netshitenzhe (The Sunday Independent – September 8 2013)

September 9, 2013

http://www.iol.co.za/sundayindependent [South Africa]

The 2013 Mining Lekgotla presented a unique opportunity for various stakeholders in the industry – mining companies, trade unions, mining communities and the government – to reflect on the state of the South African mining sector.

Taking place after the adoption of the National Development Plan (NDP) and during the month of the first anniversary of the Marikana tragedy, the lekgotla was an important forum to discuss not only measures required to prevent a recurrence of that tragedy; but also to identify a long-term path for the sector. As is expected across the economy, the time has come to develop Mining Vision 2030, as a contribution to the realisation of NDP objectives.

What are some of the major issues that the industry needs to take into account in this regard?

The NDP economic storyline includes such issues as the infrastructure programme, development of manufacturing, Green Economy opportunities and mass employment in agriculture. Critically, it acknowledges that there is no other sector in South Africa that contains possibilities to spur all these efforts than mining.

Timna copper mines dated to King Solomon era – by Aaron Kalman (The Times of Israel – September 8, 2013)

September 9, 2013

http://www.timesofisrael.com/

Radiocarbon dating of olive pits shows site was active during 10th century BCE, backing up Biblical account

New archaeological finds, including date and olive pits, have backed up the biblical narrative according to which the Timna copper mines in the south of Israel were active during the reign of King Solomon, around the 10th century BCE.

The findings — based on the radiocarbon dating of material unearthed at a new site in Timna Valley in the Arava Desert, and released last week by a team led by Tel Aviv University’s Dr. Erez Ben-Yosef — overturn a consensus that had held sway among archaeologists for several decades.

After the unearthing of an Egyptian temple from the 13th century BCE in 1969, most archaeologists believed that the site had been built and was operated by the ancient Egyptians. Before that find, the area was called “King Solomon’s Mines,” as a result of digs by archaeologist Nelson Glueck who found pottery shards from the 10th century BCE and said the copper mines were active during the time of the ancient Israelite kingdom.

Lights! Camera! Über promoter Friedland launches Ivanhoe Pictures – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – September 9, 2013)

September 9, 2013

http://www.mineweb.com/

Will Ivanhoe Mines’ Robert Friedland match Frank Giustra’s success as a producer/film distributor?

RENO (MINEWEB) – After losing control of his Ivanhoe Mines to Rio Tinto, billionaire Robert Friedland is rebounding with a non-mining venture, Ivanhoe Pictures, a motion picture and television financing and production company.

Announced at Toronto’s Film Festival, Ivanhoe Pictures has been launched by Friedland, Greene Street President and Co-Founder John Penotti, and Ray Chen, founder and chairman of Beijing Premiere Media Company. Initially, the company will bridge production opportunities in America and Asia with a focus on China, India, Korea and Japan. The company will also pursue English and local language films in a number of global markets.

Friedland will serve as chairman of the company, Penotti as CEO, and Chen as executive vice president.

Through Ivanhoe Capital, Friedland was a key investor in Sina.com, the largest Chinese Chinese-language online infotainment web portal. Ivanhoe also provided the founding venture capital for U.S.-based Sirus Satellite Radio, which has evolved into SiriusXM radio.

Uruguay Prepares for Iron Rush – by Inés Acosta (Inter Press Service – August 26, 2013)

September 9, 2013

http://www.ipsnews.net/

The legal framework for large-scale mining is being prepared in Uruguay, a country where mining has never played an important role in the economy but which could become the world’s eighth largest producer of iron ore.

MONTEVIDEO, Aug 26 2013 (IPS) – A bill that would regulate large-scale mining operations is making its way through Uruguay’s two houses of parliament, despite a lack of political consensus and vocal opposition from environmental organisations and other sectors of civil society.

The proposed legislation, submitted by the executive branch and backed by the ruling Frente Amplio (FA) or Broad Front coalition, declares that large-scale mining would serve the “public interest”. But critics charge that the bill was drafted to serve the interests of the Aratirí project planned by the Indian mining group Zamin Ferrous, aimed at the production of 18 million tons of iron ore annually, with a promised investment of three billion dollars.

Opposition to these plans by environmentalists, farmers and other residents of the areas that would be affected by the mining operations is becoming increasingly louder. In the last demonstration against large-scale mining in Uruguay, held on May 10, more than 10,000 participants marched down 18 de Julio Avenue, the main thoroughfare in downtown Montevideo.

Australia’s new government aims to re-boot mining boom – by James Grubel (Reuters U.S. – September 8, 2013)

September 9, 2013

http://www.reuters.com/

CANBERRA – (Reuters) – Australia’s incoming conservative government promised to re-boot a stalled mining boom and revive an appetite for investment on Sunday after leader Tony Abbott swept into office on a platform to scrap a mining tax and run a stable administration.

Abbott’s Liberal-National Party coalition ended six years of often turbulent Labor Party rule and three years of minority government, winning a majority of more than 30 seats in the 150-seat parliament at Saturday’s national elections. It was Labor’s worst result since 1934.

Abbott, a former student boxer, Rhodes scholar and trainee priest, began his first day as prime minister elect with a dawn bike ride with friends around his home on Sydney’s northern beaches, before meeting government and ministry officials. “People expect the day after an election an incoming government will be getting down to business. That’s what I’ll be doing today,” Abbott told reporters.

Abbott, who was backed by media owner Rupert Murdoch and his Australian newspapers, takes office as Australia’s economy adjusts to the end of a mining investment boom, with slowing government revenues and rising unemployment.

Wisconsin governor, Chippewas battle over open pit mine plan – by Carol Pogash (U.S.A. Today – September 8, 2013)

September 9, 2013

http://www.usatoday.com/

ODAHAN, Wis. — While laughing children bob in kayaks along the sandy shores of Lake Superior, their somber parents hunch over picnic tables talking about their wild rice, their water, their fish and their way of life. Members of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians worry about what is to become of their lake, a life source for their people.

Gov. Scott Walker, his fellow Republicans and the governor’s onetime enemies, labor unions, are championing a $1.5 billion open pit mine planned for the Bad River watershed, six miles from the reservation in the pristine Penokee Hills of northern Wisconsin.

On Aug. 30, six Chippewa tribes of Lake Superior sent President Obama a letter requesting the Department of the Interior prepare litigation to protect the wetlands, fisheries, waters and wildlife from mining. The mining area is honeycombed with 70 miles of rivers and streams that flow north into Lake Superior, which the tribes say would be threatened.

This March, Walker signed a bill streamlining the approval process and easing environmental regulations for the proposed open pit iron ore mine, in which wide swaths of earth are removed to extract minerals. The issue playing out in Wisconsin is being repeated elsewhere.

Australia’s glittering investments from China are not all gold – by Sarah Turner (U.S.A. Today – August 20, 2013)

September 9, 2013

http://www.usatoday.com/

SYDNEY, Australia – Massive investment from China in Australian coal, gas and metals was once something the Australian government highlighted as proof of exemplary economic stewardship. No longer.

The money that China and others have poured into the mineral fields of Western Australia and Queensland have made mine owners and miners wealthier. But it has also hurt longtime industries that rely on tourism and exports.

After an amazing 22 consecutive years of stable economic growth, Australians are experiencing a financial downturn. And some of the blame is being leveled on the political class that now runs from the Chinese model it once celebrated.

“The China resources boom is over,” said newly reinstated Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd, whose party forced out their prime minster, Julia Gillard, because polls showed she would be trounced by the conservatives in national elections in September.

“The time has come for us to adjust to the new challenges,” Rudd said. “New challenges in productivity. New challenges also in the diversification of our economy.”

Old Economies Rise as Growing Markets Begin to Falter – by Nathaniel Popper (New York Time – August 14, 2013)

September 9, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/

The balance of world economic growth is tipping in another direction. Just as economists have begun lowering their forecasts for China and many other developing economies, the American economy is bouncing back. Japan appears to have turned a corner and is ending almost two decades of grinding deflation. Economic data out of Europe on Wednesday provided the first solid indication that many countries in the euro zone may be escaping the clutches of recession.

The gross domestic product of the 17-nation euro zone grew at an annualized rate of about 1.2 percent in the second quarter. It is certainly not clear, based on only three months of data, that Europe’s recession has ended. But it is further evidence that the older engines of growth are revving into gear as the most recent sources of growth have been slowing down.

“The general proposition for much of the last generation has been that emerging markets grow faster. That’s what’s changed,” said Neal Soss, the chief economist at Credit Suisse. “The acceleration such as it is happening is in the first-world economy rather than the emerging markets.”

The growth of the BRIC countries — Brazil, Russia, India and China — has raised living standards in those nations and in others in Southeast Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.

BURIED SECRETS: How an Israeli billionaire wrested control of one of Africa’s biggest prizes – by Patrick Radden Keefe (The New Yorker – July 8, 2013)

September 9, 2013

http://www.newyorker.com/

One of the world’s largest known deposits of untapped iron ore is buried inside a great, forested mountain range in the tiny West African republic of Guinea. In the country’s southeast highlands, far from any city or major roads, the Simandou Mountains stretch for seventy miles, looming over the jungle floor like a giant dinosaur spine. Some of the peaks have nicknames that were bestowed by geologists and miners who have worked in the area; one is Iron Maiden, another Metallica.

Iron ore is the raw material that, once smelted, becomes steel, and the ore at Simandou is unusually rich, meaning that it can be fed into blast furnaces with minimal processing. During the past decade, as glittering mega-cities rose across China, the global price of iron soared, and investors began seeking new sources of ore. The red earth that dusts the lush vegetation around Simandou and marbles the mountain rock is worth a fortune.

Mining iron ore is complicated and requires a huge amount of capital. Simandou lies four hundred miles from the coast, in jungle so impassable that the first drill rigs had to be transported to the mountaintops with helicopters. The site has barely been developed—no ore has been excavated. Shipping it to China and other markets will require not only the construction of a mine but the building of a railroad line sturdy enough to support freight cars laden with ore. It will also be necessary to have access to a deepwater port, which Guinea lacks.