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Iron Ore

The City of Kiruna Is Being Relocated So It Doesn’t Get Swallowed By A Mine – by Laura Paddison (HuffPost US – December 5, 2018)

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/

KIRUNA, Sweden ― Near the top of the world, more than 90 miles into the Arctic Circle, lies Kiruna. Nestled between two mountains, it’s a small but sprawling city of 18,000 people with views over two mountains. To the north, Luossavaara is cleaved open, a legacy from its former life as an open pit mine, to the southwest is Kiirunavaara, a working mine, belching out columns of smoke.

This is the century-old mine on which Kiruna’s fortunes are made and broken. Workers toil nearly 1 mile below ground, sending out 6,800 tons of iron ore a day on trains destined for the Norwegian port of Narvik and then to the rest of the world. Refined into steel, it’s enough ore to produce 40,000 cars a day.

“We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have the mine,” says Gun-Britt Landin, who leads guided mine tours with the local tourist center and was born in Kiruna. “The city and the mine have been living in symbiosis all these years, and when things happen in the mine, well, it has an effect on the city.”

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Labrador West buzzing with interest as Scully mine returns from the dead (CBC News Newfoundland and Labrador – November 28, 2018)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/

Hundreds of eager people flooded the Arts and Cultures Centre in Labrador City on Tuesday night to hear what Tacora Resources had to say about job prospects. The seats filled up and people spilled into the aisles as the iron ore company hosted its first information session on the reboot of the Scully mine.

They were told hiring would start small with a few jobs as early as January, with the majority of positions being filled in March. “We’re very excited to see the interest and it says a lot about what we’re about to take on and what it means to the community,” said Tacora general manager Bob Gagne.

In the crowd were people desperate to get back to work after some tough economic times in Labrador West. The mine shut down in 2014, as iron ore prices slumped and costs increased.
More than 400 people were put out of work then, and about 260 people are expected to be hired before the mine reopens in June 2019.

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Rio Tinto approves $3.5b iron ore mine in the Pilbara – by Cole Latimer, Hamish Hastie & Nathan Hondros (Sydney Morning Herald – November 29, 2018)

https://www.smh.com.au/

Mining giant Rio Tinto has approved a $US2.6 billion ($3.5 billion) investment in its futuristic Koodaideri iron ore mine in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

The mine will be one of Rio Tinto’s most heavily automated operations, featuring robotic trains and advanced analytics as well as 3D reconstructions of the operation to help train new miners in simulated conditions.

“Koodaideri is a game-changer for Rio Tinto. It will be the most technologically advanced mine we have ever built and sets a new benchmark for the industry in terms of the adoption of automation and the use of data to enhance safety productivity,” Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques said.

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COLUMN-Iron ore’s plunge is about finally catching up to steel’s slump – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – November 27, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Nov 27 (Reuters) – The 15 percent plunge in iron ore prices in the past week certainly looks dramatic, but is more a case of the raw material finally catching up to a more established trend of weakness in Chinese steel prices.

However, the drop in iron ore is more than just a cause for concern for miners in Australia, Brazil and South Africa, as it may alter the dynamics of what quality of ore Chinese mills prefer. The spot price of ore with 62 percent iron content MT-IO-QIN62=ARG, as assessed by Argus Media, dropped to $64.60 a tonne on Monday, down 6.9 percent from its previous close.

Since its recent peak of $77.80 a tonne on Nov. 9, it has shed 17 percent, a relatively steep decline in a short time period. Shanghai steel rebar futures have dropped by more than iron ore, but over a longer time span.

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Now hiring: Scully mine to restart summer 2019 in Lab West (CBC News Newfoundland and Labrador – November 27, 2018)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/

New life is about to be breathed into an old pit, as Tacora Resources Inc. announced today the Scully Mine will restart operations next summer. The company is expecting to create 260 jobs, and will start looking for those workers right away. A hiring information session is expected to take place Tuesday night, 6:30 p.m. at the Arts and Cultures Centre in Labrador City.

“It’s the life breathed back into our community again,” said Wabush Mayor Ron Barron. “Let’s get the show going and get people working.” Premier Dwight Ball was in Labrador West on Tuesday to make the announcement alongside Tacora CEO Larry Lehtinen.

“The work starts today, the hiring process starts today,” Ball said. “The next step and the way forward for Wabush starts today.” Lehtinen said the Scully mine has a future “decades and decades” long, with an expected annual production between 6 and 6.5 million tonnes of iron ore, which will be 65.9 per cent iron content.

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BHP prepares for UK legal battle over 2015 Brazil dam failure – by Kirstin Ridley and Barbara Lewis (Reuters U.S. – November 22, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – Mining giant BHP says it will fight an unprecedented English lawsuit filed by hundreds of thousands of Brazilians for multi-billion pound damages over Brazil’s worst environmental disaster.

SPG Law, a British offshoot of a U.S. litigator, represents 240,000 individuals in Brazil, 24 municipal governments, a Roman Catholic Archdiocese and members of the Krenak indigenous community and has filed three legal claims for unlimited damages over the failure of the Fundao dam in 2015. It looks set to be the largest group action heard in England.

London and Australian-listed BHP, the world’s largest mining company by market value, said it had received correspondence from the law firm but also noted it had so far committed $780 million to the Renova Foundation, an entity created by the miner and its partners to manage reparations and repairs.

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Brazil, India to defy global slowdown of iron-ore production up to 2027 – by Marleny Arnoldi (MiningWeekly.com – November 21, 2018)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

The global iron-ore market will stay well supplied up to 2027, supported by expanding output in Brazil and India, says Fitch Solutions’ Macro Research unit.

Global iron-ore production will grow modestly from 3.36-billion tonnes to 3.41-billion tonnes by 2027, representing a yearly growth rate of 0.5%, which is a significant slowdown compared with the 5% a year growth that was recorded between 2008 and 2017.

Fitch reported that, on the one hand, supply growth will be primarily driven by India and Brazil, where major miner Vale is set to expand output with its new mine. On the other hand, miners in China that operate at the higher end of the iron-ore cost curve, will be forced to cut output, owing to lower ore grades. Brazil’s ore grade averages 65% while China’s ore grades hover around 21.5%.

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Supreme Court to hear latest challenge in dispute between Innu and Rio Tinto (Canadian Press/CBC News – November 15, 2018)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/

Innu launched the lawsuit in 2013, seeking $900 million in compensation

The Supreme Court of Canada says it will hear an appeal over jurisdiction in the latest stage of a long-running effort by Innu First Nations to sue mining giant Rio Tinto.

The government of Newfoundland and Labrador launched the appeal after Quebec’s highest court ruled that the Innu of Uashat and of Mani-Utenam and others could sue the company and its Iron Ore Co. of Canada subsidiary through Quebec courts.

The attorney general of Newfoundland and Labrador has argued that Quebec courts are without jurisdiction in the matter because the mining operations are in Labrador.

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Baffinland sets new iron ore shipping record this year (Nunatsiaq News – November 15, 2018)

http://nunatsiaq.com/

Company ships 5.1 million tonnes to Europe, the U.K, Taiwan, Japan

After receiving regulatory permission to do so, the Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. shipped a record-breaking 5.1 million tonnes of iron ore from the Mary River mine this year, the company said last week in a news release.

Ore-carrying vessels contracted by Baffinland made 71 voyages between July 24 and Oct. 17, carrying Mary River’s high-grade iron ore to markets in continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Taiwan and Japan.

And the company’s carriers also did two transits to Asia through the Northern Sea Route, or “northeast passage,” a route running through Arctic waters north of Russia that connects northern Europe and northern Asia.

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BHP to meet iron ore commitments despite train derailment: CEO – by Melanie Burton (Reuters U.S. – November 8, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Global miner BHP Billiton will meet its iron ore commitments to customers despite a supply disruption after it had to derail a runaway ore train in Western Australia, Chief Executive Andrew Mackenzie said on Thursday.

The miner suspended its rail operations after the incident on Monday that wrecked track and left a locomotive and wagons upturned nearly 120 km (75 miles) south of Australia’s iron ore export hub of Port Hedland.

Asked whether BHP would invoke force majeure, Mackenzie told media after the company’s annual general meeting in South Australia that he did not expect the miner would let down any of its customers.

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Brazilian Official: Mining Projects Are ‘National Priorities’ – by Neils Christensen (Kitco News – November 5, 2018)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – While the world continues to react to the election of Brazilian populist president Jair Bolsonaro, some government officials don’t expect this to have much impact on the nation’s plan to develop its national resource.

In an exclusive interview with Kitco News ahead of the October runoff election, Pedro Bruno Barros De Souza, secretary of public policy coordination, said that the government’s Investment Partnership Program (IPP) is bigger than any one political leader. He added that the government, no matter who is in charge, is committed to developing the nation’s natural resources responsibly.

“Brazil has a lot of mineral potential and there are many opportunities for investors and companies who want to work with the government to develop those resources,” he said. “The Brazilian government has been working diligently on its governance to create a stable legal, regulatory framework, so investors will find a positive business environment.”

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BHP derails 268-car Pilbara iron ore train which travelled 92km without driver – by Peter Milne (The West Australian – November 5, 2018)

https://thewest.com.au/

BHP deliberately derailed a runaway Pilbara iron train carrying 268 wagons early today after it travelled 92km across the Pilbara without a driver. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said about 4am the driver of a loaded ore train travelling from Newman to Port Hedland alighted to inspect a wagon.

The bureau said the train, consisting of four locomotives and 268 wagons, started to run away without the driver and with no one on board, travelling for 92km. BHP then stopped the train by deliberately derailing it at a set of points about 120 km from Port Hedland.

A BHP spokeswoman said no one was injured and the Pilbara miner has suspended all train operations. “We are working with the appropriate authorities to investigate the situation,” she said.

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China iron ore has worst week since May as demand stutters – by Tom Daly (Reuters U.S. – November 2, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s iron ore prices fell for a fourth day on Friday amid expectations that the oncoming winter season will see reduced demand for the steelmaking raw material and as Sino-U.S. trade tensions eased.

The most traded iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for January delivery, tumbled as much as 4.8 percent to a three-week low of 501.50 yuan ($72.76) a tonne in its biggest intra-day dip since June 19.

The contract closed down 3.5 percent at 508.50 yuan, notching a 4 percent loss for the week, its biggest weekly drop since the week ended May 25.

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Breakingviews – China’s Guinea snub sends bearish iron ore signal – by Clara Ferreira-Marques (Reuters U.K. – October 29, 2018)

https://uk.reuters.com/

SINGAPORE (Reuters Breakingviews) – A rare mining snub from China sends a bearish signal on iron ore. State-run giant Chinalco has stepped back from a 2016 deal to take control of the $23 billion-plus Simandou project in Guinea from partner Rio Tinto.

That’s a headache for the Anglo-Australian heavyweight and a blow to West Africa’s mining ambitions. It’s also a hint that even Beijing sees cooler long-term demand ahead for the steel ingredient.

Simandou is perhaps the world’s largest untapped deposit of iron ore. Rio’s portion alone could potentially satisfy nearly 10 percent of Chinese import demand, and it is top-quality material to boot. But it is also the most troubled. The Guinean government confiscated part of the reserve in 2008.

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COLUMN-China’s winter pollution cuts may boost high-grade iron ore – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – October 22, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Oct 22 (Reuters) – With China’s anti-pollution restrictions starting to take effect, one of the conventional market wisdoms is that this will boost demand for high-grade iron ore.

The logic is sound: If steel mills are restricted as to how much they can pollute, they will use the best possible quality iron ore in order to maximise the amount of steel produced relative to the energy consumed.

This means that ore with an iron content of 62 percent or higher should command a greater period during the winter restriction period than those poorer quality grades, such as 58 percent ore.

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