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International Media Resource Articles

Iran to invest over 8 billion euros in aluminium sector – by Emma Farge (Reuters India – September 20, 2013)

http://in.reuters.com/

GENEVA – (Reuters) – Iran plans to invest around 8.5 billion euros ($11.4 billion) in its aluminium industry as part of plans to nearly quadruple production by 2025, an official at mining group Imidro said on Thursday.

Iran is the 20th largest producer of aluminium in the world, according to the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organisation (Imidro), and needs the extra supplies to meet demand which is growing by 10 percent a year.

Aluminium is a lightweight metal used widely in transport, packaging and construction. It can also be used to make tubes for uranium enrichment gas centrifuges.

Iran’s economy has been hobbled by western sanctions aimed at pressuring Tehran to stop efforts to enrich uranium to levels that could be used in weapons.

Iran produced 338,000 tonnes of aluminium last year and is aiming for 770,000 tonnes in 2016 and 1.5 million tonnes by 2025, Panthea Geramishoar, senior expert in Imidro’s non-ferrous department said at a Metal Bulletin conference in Geneva.

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Afghanistan’s plan to jumpstart economy with Chinese mining investment under threat – by Lynne O’Donnell (South China Morning Post – September 20, 2013)

http://www.scmp.com/news/asia

Plan to base country’s future growth on mining may have struck a dead-end as China moves to renegotiate multi billion-dollar deal

Kabul – Afghanistan’s dream of using profits from its vast mineral resources to fund post-war development is fading after China signalled its intention to undo a multi billion-dollar agreement that had been underpinning Kabul’s plans for creating a mining industry.

Fifteen months before the international presence in Afghanistan is reduced, Kabul may have to scale back plans for attracting mining companies to exploit its mineral reserves, including copper, gold, iron ore and rare earths, worth US$1 trillion.

A combination of related factors are working against Afghanistan. As the commodities cycle turns, prices drop, mining firms scale back on new projects, and China’s economy slows, experts said that Afghanistan appears to have missed out on the resources boom for now.

And the country has yet to pass its new Mining Law, which some say could be delayed further by concerns about such issues as community compensation and environment protection, industry sources said. Ministry officials, however, are confident it will pass within weeks.

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Tribes critical of PolyMet’s draft on mining impact – by Marshall Helmberger (Timberjay – September 18, 2013)

http://www.timberjay.com/ [Northeast Minnesota]

REGIONAL – Tribal authorities cooperating in the preparation of PolyMet Mining’s supplemental environmental impact statement are expressing fundamental disagreements with key science and conclusions in the 1,800-page preliminary draft document. In addition, they are challenging the longstanding claim by lead agencies and mining supporters that Minnesota has and maintains strict enforcement of environmental rules pertaining to operating mines in the state.

The lengthy tribal comments, provided by the Fond du Lac Band as well as the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, or GLIFWC, appear to have played a role in the latest delay in the expected release of the draft EIS. The report had been scheduled for release in early September, but officials overseeing the project now say the draft version will be released in late November.

The report also faced significant critique by some officials within the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for a large number of errors. Those DNR comments will likely lead to changes before the draft report is issued in November. Some of the tribal comments may lead to changes, but in other cases, those comments will be incorporated into a dissenting view that’s expected to be included in an appendix to the study.

The extensive comment provided by a number of agencies was not unexpected, according to Steve Colvin, the DNR’s Deputy Director for Ecological and Water Resources.

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Aluminium industry at odds over supply deals, warehouse reforms – by Emma Farge (Reuters U.S. – September 18, 2013)

http://www.reuters.com/

GENEVA, Sept 18 (Reuters) – The world’s top aluminium producers and consumers are at loggerheads over the thorny issue of what price, or premium, should be paid to secure metal deliveries, and will conclude fewer fixed term supply deals this year, industry sources said.

Producers Rusal , Alcoa and Rio Tinto are descending on Geneva for an industry gathering that marks the start of annual supply negotiations with aluminium product makers.

But unlike in recent years, top consumers like Novelis and Rexam have a strong hand to play thanks to U.S. regulatory scrutiny into claims big banks and trade houses artificially inflated aluminium premiums by building backlogs at London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses. The scrutiny comes alongside a proposed overhaul of warehouse practices on the LME, which has already helped knock European spot premiums down some 20 percent off a June record high near $300 a tonne.

“I’m sure term premiums will be lower than $230-250 a tonne,” said a source who represents consumers. “Producers are getting nervous about the implementation of LME warehouse rules (and) I think most consumers are going to continue to live hand to mouth because they think the premiums are going to come down further.”

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THE PRESIDENT AND THE PIPELINE – by Ryan Lizza (New Yorker Magazine – September 16, 2013)

http://www.newyorker.com/

The campaign to make the Keystone XL the test of Obama’s resolve on climate change.

On the day of his second Inauguration, in January, Barack Obama delivered an address of unabashed liberal ambition and promise. As recently as early April, before the realities of the world and the House of Representatives made themselves painfully evident, the President retained the confidence of a leader on the brink of enormous achievements. It seemed possible, even probable, that he would win modest gun-control legislation, an immigration-reform law, and the elusive grand bargain with Republicans to resolve the serial crises over the federal budget.

And he seemed determined to take on even the most complicated and ominous problem of all: climate change. The President, who had a mixed environmental record after his first term, vowed that he would commit his Administration to combatting global warming, saying that “failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.”

The President flew to San Francisco on April 3rd for a series of fund-raisers. He stopped in first at a cocktail reception hosted by Tom Steyer, a fifty-six-year-old billionaire, former hedge-fund manager, and major donor to the Democratic Party. Steyer lives in the city’s Sea Cliff neighborhood, in a house overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. As the President’s motorcade headed to the party, several hundred activists were assembling along the route to his second event—a dinner hosted by Ann and Gordon Getty, in Pacific Heights, on a street known as Billionaires’ Row.

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U.S. House passes National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – September 19, 2013)

http://www.mineweb.com/

H.R. 761 faces an uphill battle in a Democratically-controlled U.S. Senate even if the measure manages to survive in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

RENO (MINEWEB) – As the Republicans of the U.S. House of Representatives once again voted Wednesday to streamline mining permit approvals, the question remains as to whether the proposed National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act will again die in the Democratically-controlled U.S. Senate.

The House passed H.R. 761, the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act, in a 246-178 vote with only 15 Democrats voting in favor.

This time around even House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) issued a public statement applauding passage of the measure, introduced by Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nevada, the former president of the Nevada Mining Association.

“The United States has abundant natural resources, including critical and strategic materials that are vital to our manufacturers, medical providers and military personnel; and that provides the basis for common household products.

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UPDATE 1-Koba Tin to seek arbitration if Indonesia scraps mining permit – by Niluksi Koswanage (Reuters India – September 19, 2013)

http://in.reuters.com/

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 (Reuters) – PT Koba Tin, a subsidiary of the world’s second-biggest tin producer, will seek international arbitration if Indonesia’s government refuses to extend its permit to operate a mine, the chief executive of the Malaysian parent company said.

It is the latest corporate wrangle to raise questions over Indonesia’s openness to foreign investment. Southeast Asia’s biggest economy had pushed for more control over its natural resources, ranging from coal to gold, in the past few years but is rethinking the policy after a recent slide in its currency.

The dispute has been brewing since last year when Indonesian government officials said Koba Tin’s permit would not be renewed and that state-run PT Timah should take over the concession in the Bangka-Belitung islands off the east coast of Sumatra island. PT Timah is a minority shareholder in Koba Tin.

The government has since softened its stance, launching a review of the concession, which is eight times the size of New York’s Manhattan island. It was due to announce a decision this week.

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Pressure on Barrick Board Centers on Long-Time Directors – by Liezel Hill & Katia Dmitrieva (Bloomberg News – September 18, 2013)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Investor pressure to change the board at Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX), the world’s biggest producer of the metal, is centering on long-serving directors, including former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

Canada’s biggest pension funds want new independent board members and say the miner should consider replacing directors who have been there longer than 20 years and are close to Co-chairman and founder Peter Munk, according to two investors briefed on the matter who asked not to be identified because the information hasn’t been made public.

Barrick said yesterday it will add new independent directors and strengthen its executive pay policies after investors criticized governance at the company. The gold miner took $8.7 billion of writedowns in the second quarter and cut its dividend 75 percent after gold prices fell the most in three decades.

“The tenure on the board is far too long and there are far too many non-independent directors,” said Robert Gill, a Toronto-based fund manager at Aston Hill Financial Inc. (AHF), which manages C$7.8 billion ($7.6 billion), including Barrick shares. “It’s time to change the board and we need to bring in more independence into the board,” he said by phone Sept. 11.

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Nolan, U.S. House vote for quicker mining permits – by John Myers (Duluth News Tribune – September 19, 2013)

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan joined with other mining supporters Wednesday when the U.S. House passed legislation to streamline federal environmental permitting for mining projects.

U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan joined with other mining supporters Wednesday when the U.S. House passed legislation to streamline environmental permitting for mining projects on federal lands.

The Bill, HF 761, called the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013, passed the Republican-controlled House by a 246 to 178 vote.

The bill declares most new mining projects as strategic for the nation, speeds up the federal agency review process and restricts efforts to file lawsuits to stop such projects. The bill essentially sets a 30-month limit for environmental review and a 60-day limit for any challenges.

Nolan, D-Crosby, was one of only 15 Democrats to vote in favor of the bill. He had said in recent weeks that he was undecided on the bill, and opponents of faster-paced mining projects in Minnesota bombarded Nolan with calls to vote no.

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Guest Post: Wisconsin Needs Iron Ore Mining to Grow the Economy and For a Better Tomorrow For All – by Brett Healy (Minerals Make Life.org – September 18, 2013)

http://mineralsmakelife.org/

Brett Healy is president of the MacIver Institute for Public Policy—Wisconsin’s free market voice.

Across a 22-mile-long stretch of Northern Wisconsin, lies more than 2 billion tons of iron ore— a key material in the production of American made steel. Wisconsin’s resources account for an estimated 15 percent of all recoverable iron ore in the United States, representing a deposit critical to U.S. economic competitiveness.

Much progress has been made in recent months to develop Wisconsin’s robust mineral wealth and provide the far-reaching economic benefits that come along with this development. After the passage of Wisconsin’s iron ore mining reform in March 2013, the industry worked swiftly to respond to the updated environmental regulation, which sets a 420-day limit for the state’s Department of Natural Resources to approve or deny a permit. Gogebic Taconite, the owner of the proposed mine in Ashland and Iron counties, spent the summer exploring the deposit and sharing with the public its plans for the project.

If progress continues, the proposed mine could provide more than 700 direct, well-paying jobs that will change the fortune of families in the area for generations to come. It will also indirectly support an additional 2,100 jobs— all in an economically depressed part of Wisconsin that needs help. The mine could also contribute more than $600 million to the state’s GDP, a boost that would positively affect all Wisconsinites.

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Japan’s JX to develop its mines, eyes stake buys in upstream copper push – by Yuka Obayashi (Reuters India – September 19, 2013)

http://in.reuters.com/

TOKYO, Sept 19 (Reuters) – JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corp will focus on development of its own copper mines in South America but may also look at buying stakes in other projects as Japan’s top smelter aims to cut its dependency on major miners for ore, a senior executive said.

Japanese copper smelters are stepping up acquisitions of upstream metal assets and development of copper mines to hedge against any increase in ore prices as their profit margins on smelting declines.

JX Nippon Mining is aiming to raise the volume of copper content coming from its own mine interests for refining to an annual 250,000 tonnes in 2015 and then to 350,000 tonnes by around 2020, its parent JX Holdings Inc had said in March. Around 100,000 tonnes of in-house copper content in concentrate was used to refine metal in 2012.

“We want to achieve our 350,000 tonnes goal first, then move further into upstream where we expect higher profit return,” Keiichi Goto, deputy chief executive officer of JX Nippon Mining, told Reuters in an interview earlier this week.

JX’s rival Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd also plans to boost annual volume of copper content procured from its own mining interests to 300,000 tonnes by the 2021 business year from 120,000 tonnes now.

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Lundin Sees Growth in Rio’s Michigan Cast-Off: Corporate Canada – by Gerrit De Vynck (Bloomberg News – September 18, 2013)

http://www.businessweek.com/

Lundin Mining Corp., the best performer among Canadian base-metal companies, is betting that a cast-off from the world’s second-biggest miner will help double output.

Lundin agreed to buy the Eagle nickel and copper mine from Rio Tinto Group for $315 million in June and plans to bring it into production by the end of next year, Chief Executive Officer Paul Conibear said. Eagle is the company’s first new mine after emerging from two aborted takeovers in 2011. Conibear said he wants to boost companywide annual output to about 500,000 metric tons within five years.

“We’re back to basics to re-grow our company,” he said Sept. 13 in a telephone interview. “We’re looking at trying to increase our cash flow through producing facilities.”

Lundin plans to expand while mining companies including Rio and BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), the world’s largest, sell assets and reduce spending amid lower prices. Copper has slumped 11 percent this year, nickel dropped 19 percent and zinc is down 11 percent on the London Metal Exchange after growth slowed in China, the world’s largest consumer of metals.

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COLUMN-China’s pollution steps need bite, will cost money – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – September 18, 2013)

http://www.reuters.com/

Clyde Russell is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own.

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Sept 18 (Reuters) – China’s new plans to cut coal use and tackle pollution have a sense of deja vu about them, being the latest in a series of measures aimed at improving air quality in the world’s second-largest economy.

But the key question, as always with environmental moves in China, is will they be enforced this time or whether once again regulation will be soft and easily side-stepped by provincial and local governments, or polluting companies.

On the face of it, the measures announced last week on the government’s website seem sensible and achievable, with the key aim to reduce consumption of fossil fuels, which in China is mainly coal, to below 65 percent of total primary energy use by 2017.

This is a relatively modest decline from the 66.8 percent share fossil fuels held in 2012, but once again the devil will be in the detail.

The announced plans include cutting coal consumption, mainly by closing polluting steel mills, factories and smelters, with a target being Hebei province, the largest steel-producing region.

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New business venture aims to transform global ferrochrome business – by Brendan Ryan (Business Day – September 18, 2013)

http://www.bdlive.co.za/ (South Africa)

DUBAI-based Russian businessman Alibek Issaev has teamed up with South African businessman Abbas Moti to develop a low- and medium-carbon ferrochrome smelter near Rustenburg that they claim will transform the ferrochrome business.

Mr Issaev is taking a 50% stake in private South African company FerroChrome Furnaces (FCF), which is controlled by the Moti family for an undisclosed amount.

The plant is at the commissioning stage and the aim is to boost production of low- and medium-carbon ferrochrome to 420,000 tonnes a year over the next 24 months, targeting a business that is dominated by ferrochrome producers located in Kazakhstan and Russia, in particular Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation.

Also involved in the deal is former Sentula Coal chairman Sir Sam Jonah. According to FCF spokesman Ashruf Kaka, Sir Sam is the nonexecutive chairman of FCF but has no business stake in the transaction and is only involved because of his long-standing friendship with the Moti family.

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Juniors cull approaches as alternative gold narrative takes effect – by Simon Rees (MiningWeekly.com – September 17, 2013)

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Head of Kaiser Research Online, John Kaiser, delivered his keynote speech at the Toronto Resource Investment Conference on September 13, telling delegates the gold narrative is changing and that hundreds of juniors were about to be culled.

Kaiser started by considering the resource supercycle’s effect on the metals markets over the past ten years, noting the current retrenchment as China and other Asian economies witnessed a fall back in growth.

The economic performance of the US and Europe would become the driving force for the next few years, he said. “But we’re not going to see demand ratchet up because these economies aren’t going to grow at huge rates. There’s also lot of new supply for metal coming on stream over the next few years.”

Kaiser predicted it will take four or five years before demand starts outstripping supply at a noteworthy rate. “This means we’ll have to live with sideways metal prices that won’t go up in a big way except under extreme circumstances.”

Kaiser had analysed merger and acquisition (M&A) activity through the TSX-V over the previous decade. “There was $129-billion-worth of takeover bids that involved juniors,” he said.

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