Twitter

Latin America Mining

Pacific Rim Mining locked in closely watched fight with El Salvador – by Jeff Gray (Globe and Mail – June 20, 2012)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Tom Shrake, the American mining industry veteran who heads Vancouver-based Pacific Rim Mining Corp., is nothing if not an optimist.

He’s had no end of troubles: His staff in El Salvador have faced intimidation at gunpoint by local opponents of his proposed mine. Anti-mining groups have accused his company of involvement in the killings of local activists, charges he vehemently denies and for which he says there is no evidence. And the government of the tiny, impoverished country has decided to block all mining within El Salvador’s borders out of fear that a mishap could contaminate the country’s water supply.

But Mr. Shrake says he remains committed to digging for gold and, he argues, digging the local population in northern El Salvador out of poverty. This month, he got a green light to keep fighting for that plan from a World Bank investment tribunal in Washington – a fight being watched closely by the mining industry, international trade lawyers and anti-mining activists.

“We don’t want to go to court. We never wanted to go to court … But they left us no choice,” Mr. Shrake said in an interview from Reno, Nevada, where he is based.

Read more

The New Conquistadors [Canadian Miners Conlfict/Image in Panama] – Mellissa Fung, Paul Seeler and Lynn Burgess (CBC National News Documentary – June 18, 2012)

Click here to watch the documentary “The New Conqistadors”: http://www.cbc.ca/thenational/thenewconquistadors/

Starting in the early 16th Century, Spanish explorers arrived in Central and South America in search of gold, silver and spices. While the term “Spanish Conquistadors” references an era of great Spanish power and influence, for the indigenous people living in the lands the Conquistadors reached, it was considered a time of exploitation, disease and oppression.

Five hundred years later, there are some – particularly in the indigenous communities of Latin America – who are seeing this as new era of economic conquest, one with significant environmental and social consequences. This time, the new “conquerors” are Canadian mining companies.

These “new conquistadors” have generated enormous wealth for Canada and the countries in which they do business. Canadian mining companies often have “sustainable development” programs that provide a range of opportunities for locals and attempt to offset the negative environmental effects of mining. However, the economic, environmental and social changes these mines bring to rural communities have generated considerable debate in Latin America. This project is intended as a catalyst for discussion.

Read more

Yamana Gold snaps up Extorre for $395-million – by Pav Jordan (Globe and Mail – June 19, 2012)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Yamana Gold Inc. said Monday it will pay $395-million for Extorre Gold Mines Ltd., the owner of a gold and silver property in Argentina that has run into development difficulties.

Extorre’s stock price has been so battered by global market uncertainty and local politics that the company can no longer develop the property itself with solid returns.

“Extorre’s share price has suffered dramatically over the past few months due to a number of factors including: global political and economic uncertainty impacting credit markets; a broad selloff of all junior non-producing gold companies; concerns with respect to share dilution arising from a decision to develop the Cerro Moro project; and a series of events that have raised the perceived investment risk in Argentina,” Extorre co-chairman Yale Simpson said in announcing the deal with Yamana.

Read more

Anti-mining violence escalates in Peru – by Peter Koven (National Post – May 30, 2012)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

TORONTO — Miners in Peru are operating under another black cloud this week after a wave of anti-mining protests turned violent and prompted the government to declare a state of emergency.
 
At least two people were killed and dozens more injured in protests against Xstrata PLC’s Tintaya mine, which is located in Espinar province in southern Peru. The protesters claim the mine has polluted two rivers, a charge Xstrata denies. Sources said that there are socio-economic factors behind the outbreak of violence as well.
 
There has been significant anti-mining violence in Peru since President Ollanta Humala – a moderate leftist who supports mining — took office last year (it was also an issue under Alan Garcia, his predecessor).
 
In recent months, protesters have successfully disrupted development of Newmont Mining Corp.’s US$4.8-billion Conga project, as well as Southern Copper Corp.’s Tia Maria project and Bear Creek Mining Corp.’s Santa Ana project. At least 10 people died in those actions, according to reports.

Read more

McEwen comments on uncertainty in Argentina – Canadian Mining Journal (May 28, 2012)

The Canadian Mining Journal is Canada’s first mining publication providing information on Canadian mining and exploration trends, technologies, operations, and industry events.

When mining entrepreneur Rob McEwen put US Gold and Minera Andes together to create McEwen Mining he was working on the model that you could take one company that had cash flow and another company that had development projects and create a stronger company.
 
But what he didn’t foresee, he told investors and analysts on a conference call earlier this week, and apologized for not foreseeing, was that there would be changes in Argentina that would create a lot of uncertainty and put that model at a disadvantage.
 
McEwen arranged the May 22 conference call to alert shareholders about potential difficulties and delays in repatriating cash flow from McEwen Mining’s 49% stake in the San Jose mine in Argentina, which has been earmarked to fund development of the company’s El Gallo project in Mexico. ( El Gallo is in Mexico’s Sinaloa state, along the foothills of the Sierra Madres, and includes the El Gallo and Palmarito silver deposits and the Magistral gold deposits, all located within a 13 km radius.)

Read more

Last tango in Argentina? – by Peter Foster (National Post – May 25, 2012)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Its spending and expropriation spree hardly provides a model for Greece

 That Argentina is being hauled before the World Trade Organization by the European Union for its beggar-thy-neighbour trade and investment policies at the same time as it is being hailed as a model for Greek salvation confirms that we live in interesting times. That Argentina’s policies — in particular the recent expropriation of YPF, the local subsidiary of Spanish oil giant Repsol — are ostensibly being guided by an academic with Elvis sideburns who combines Che Guevara with John Maynard Keynes suggests a stranger-than-fiction narrative somewhere between Gabriel García Márquez and Ayn Rand.
 
This bizarre situation is of more than passing interest to Canadian mining companies in Argentina. Might they be next? Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s firm stand at the recent Summit of the Americas against Argentinean sabre-rattling over the Falklands certainly did not endear him to Argentina’s dragon lady, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
 
Greece’s prospective exit from the euro is claimed to be parallel to Argentina’s decision 10 years ago to ditch a link with the U.S. dollar. Argentina, it is claimed, hasn’t done too badly since, which offers some hope for the Grexit. However, while abandoning the euro may allow it to devalue, Greece does not have the abundant natural resources of Argentina. Also, unlike Argentina, it does not have a currency. Finally, Argentina is not a model for any government whose interests go beyond power-hungry populism.

Read more

Argentine policies have Canadian miners rethinking projects – by Pav Jordan (Globe and Mail – May 23, 2012)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Efforts by Argentina to fine-tune its economy are forcing miners to reassess investment plans in the Andean country that is home to massive gold, copper and other resource deposits.

Argentina, Latin America’s third-largest economy, has moved aggressively in recent months to stem capital outflows and bolster the market with measures including forced repatriation of export revenue on local markets and requirements for companies to source equipment locally.

The measures could hinder access to cash flow in one of the world’s most capital-intensive industries, and cause operational delays in terms of getting equipment to remote sites in a timely manner.

Read more

Silver, and gold, lining to Haiti’s geological vulnerability – by Martha Mendoza (Globe and Mail – May 12, 2012)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

TROU DU NORD, HAITI— Its capital is blighted with earthquake rubble. Its countryside is shorn of trees, chopped down for fuel. And yet, Haiti’s land may hold the key to relieving centuries of poverty, disaster and disease: There is gold hidden in its hills – and silver and copper, too.

A flurry of exploratory drilling in the past year has found precious metals worth potentially $20-billion deep below the tropical ridges in the country’s northeastern mountains. Now, a mining company is drilling around the clock to determine how to get those metals out.

“If the mining companies are honest and if Haiti has a good government, then here is a way for this country to move forward,” said Bureau of Mines director Dieuseul Anglade.

Haiti’s geological vulnerability is also its promise. Massive tectonic plates squeeze the island with horrifying consequences, but deep cracks between them form convenient veins for gold, silver and copper pushed up from the hot innards of the planet. Prospectors from California to Chile know earthquake faults often have, quite literally, a golden lining.

Read more

Teck cashes in on Chile’s copper – by Gordon Pitts (Globe and Mail – April 30, 2012)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

ANDACOLLO, CHILE – For centuries, pilgrims have thronged to the Chilean mountain town of Andacollo – to worship at the historic church and to mine the dusty hills for copper.

The Incas built parts of their civilization on the rich copper and gold deposits unearthed here before Spanish conquerors swept in. Since then, church and mines have become intertwined in the culture: The epic rescue of 33 Chilean miners in 2010 is attributed by many here to prayers uttered at Our Lady of Andacollo.

Now a new wave of pilgrims is worshipping at the altar of Andacollo – Canadians, in the form of Teck Resources Ltd., (TCK.B-T36.860.110.30%) the Vancouver-based mining giant that has spent more than $440-million (U.S.) expanding an open-pit copper project on the edge of town.

Read more

Chile $100bn copper push under threat on power scarcity – by Matt Craze (Mineweb.com – April 26, 2012)

www.mineweb.com

President of Chilean mining lobby group Consejo Minero, Joaquin Villarino, says the country will have to shelve many of its mining investments due to the high cost and scarcity of electricity.

(Bloomberg) – The biggest-ever pipeline of copper projects is under threat as Chile, the world’s top producer, struggles to contain rising opposition to new power plants.
 
At least 5,000 megawatts of capacity, including a $5 billion coal-fired plant proposed by Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista, are facing delays or have been shelved as companies including BHP Billiton Ltd. and Anglo American Plc spend as much as $100 billion on copper and metals projects in Chile.
 
The country, struck by a power blackout as recently as this week, needs to boost capacity by 47 percent within 8 years to keep pace with consumption. Protesters from fishermen to university students oppose the plants, prompting miners to consider their own projects to help meet China’s copper demand.

Read more

Argentina’s expropriation of energy company only isolates country – Globe and Mail Editorial (April 19, 2012)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

The decision by Argentina’s President to nationalize the country’s largest energy company may pander to popular sentiment at home, but will only further isolate the country internationally.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner announced the expropriation of 51 per cent of Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales to a cheering audience on live television on Monday.

This is a losing cause – just as is Argentina’s claim for sovereignty of the British-controlled Falkland Islands.

The country already has a weak standing in world financial markets, following its failure to repay all of its loans after defaulting on a $100-billion debt in 2001. The latest move will cause more uncertainty and make it more difficult to attract the kind of foreign investment and expert partners needed to develop Argentina’s reserves of shale hydrocarbons.

Read more

Argentina’s move to take control of YPF could jeopardize foreign investment – by Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – April 17, 2012)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

OTTAWA — Argentina is planning to nationalize control of the country’s largest oil company, a move that could discourage foreign investors in one of the world’s hottest emerging oil and gas plays.
 
President Cristina Fernandez on Monday sent a bill to the country’s Congress to expropriate 51 per cent of the shares of YPF, the Argentine subsidiary of Spain’s Repsol, complaining the company is failing to meet its investment obligations in the country.

The move has heightened concern among investors in companies exploring for oil and gas in the country – including several Canadian plays.
 
In addition to U.S. giants such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Apache Corp., (APA-N94.552.282.47%) Calgary-based companies that have properties in the South American country include Americas Petrogas Inc., (BOE-X2.38-0.46-16.20%) Gran Tierra Energy Inc., (GTE-T6.24-0.05-0.79%) and ArPetrol Ltd. (RPT-X0.05-0.005-9.09%)

Read more

Peru miners rescued six days after being trapped by cave-in – by Mauricio Munoz (Toronto Star – April 12, 2012)

The Toronto Star, has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Associated Press

ICA, PERU—Nine Peruvian miners were rescued Wednesday after six days trapped in an abandoned copper mine.

The nine, ranging in age from 23 to 58, walked out without assistance about an hour after dawn from a reinforced tunnel that rescuers had built as they removed more than 8 metres of dirt and rock.

The miners wore sunglasses and were covered with blankets. President Ollanta Humala greeted them.  Humala had spent the night at the mine 240 kilometres southeast of Lima. The miners were trapped by a cave-in triggered by an explosion they themselves had set.

They had communicated with rescuers through a hose, in place before the collapse, by which they also received food and medicine during their ordeal in a horizontal shaft dug into a mountainside.

“It’s pretty ugly inside,” one of the rescued men, Edwin Bellido, told RPP radio. “We slept on the ground on muddy plastic.”

Read more

HudBay Minerals eyes further growth in Peru – by Euan Rocha (Reuters.com – April 10, 2012)

 http://uk.reuters.com/

HudBay seeks to replicate its Manitoba model in Peru

TORONTO, April 10 (Reuters) – Base metals miner HudBay Minerals is looking at expanding its asset base in Peru as it seeks to create a new hub that will replicate the successes enjoyed at its mines in the Canadian province of Manitoba, the company’s top executive says.

HudBay, which traces its roots back more than 80 years to the Flin Flon mine in northern Manitoba, has used much of the infrastructure developed at Flin Flon for decades, moving gradually from one deposit to the next.

“We are trying to do the same thing in Peru,” said HudBay Chief Executive David Garofalo. “We are building a large 70,000 to 80,000 tonne a day concentrator there and we’ve tied up about 22,000 hectares of real estate along the trend and we’re looking to tie up more.

Read more

Fidel Castro attacks Stephen Harper over environmental damage from oilsands [and Canadian mining] – by Oakland Ross (Toronto Star – April 10, 2012)

The Toronto Star, has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Canada may be Cuba’s leading source of tourists, an important economic partner, and one of just two countries in the region never to have broken off diplomatic ties with the island — the other is Mexico — but Fidel Castro says he doesn’t even know Stephen Harper’s name.
 
In a column that appeared Monday in Granma, official organ of the Cuban Communist Party, the island’s former ruler says he believes the Prime Minister goes by the name Stephen Harper — but it’s hard to be sure. In other words, Stephen Who?
 
Devoting his 1,100-word column almost entirely to Canada and its alleged shortcomings, Castro, 85, finds much to criticize and lament about this “beautiful and extensive country.” Are we a colony, a republic, or a kingdom? According to the man with the famous beard, we apparently don’t know ourselves — and neither does he.

Worst of all, however, is the human and environmental damage that Castro says is being inflicted upon many Latin American countries by rapacious Canadian mining companies.

Read more