Latin America Mining – Page 81

Tin mining – Cornish dreams and Myanmar reality – by Andy Home (Reuters/Daily Mail – August 22, 2016)

August 22, 2016

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

LONDON, Aug 22 (Reuters) – Hope springs eternal in Cornwall when it comes to reviving tin mining in this southwestern corner of the United Kingdom. Canada’s Strongbow Exploration is the latest to try to rekindle the dying embers of what once was one of the world’s largest tin-mining hubs.

It has just bought out of administration the South Crofty mine, which was the last Cornish tin mine to close in 1998. Many others have tried and failed to get South Crofty producing again. There is still plenty of tin in the area, albeit submerged beneath the water that has flooded the mine since closure. The real issue is price.

Low prices laid the Cornish tin industry low in the 1990s. And although the current London Metal Exchange (LME) tin price of around $18,500 a tonne is much higher than back then, it is a far cry from the peak of $33,600 recorded in 2011.

Bolivia makes first shipment of lithium to China – by Henry Sanderson and Andres Schipani (Financial Times – August 17, 2016)

August 22, 2016

https://www.ft.com/

Cargo worth $70,000 marks symbolic step in ambition to set global benchmark for lightest metal

London and Bogotá – Bolivia has made progress in its aim to become the world’s biggest exporter of lithium with its first shipment of the world’s lightest metal to China. But the impoverished South American country still faces challenges if it is to set the global benchmark for the raw material used in smartphone and electric car batteries.

With a price tag of $70,000, the shipment of almost 10 tonnes of lithium carbonate has been seen by the market as more symbolic than profitable.

Bolivia’s salt flats hold the world’s largest potential resources of lithium and demand has surged in the past five years, with prices spiking over the past 12 months amid a supply shortage. Almost all electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model S, use lithium-ion batteries because of their light weight and higher energy density.

Copper – a tale of two South American producers – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – August 18, 2016)

August 22, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON – Copper is underperforming every other major base metal so far this year. The London Metal Exchange (LME) three-month price is this morning trading around $4,840 per tonne, translating to a year-to-date gain of just under five percent.

And there are plenty of analysts expecting even lower copper prices over the coming months. Investors are shunning copper, preferring hotter metallic markets such as zinc, currently showing a year-to-date gain of almost 47 percent.

But then zinc has an enticing bull narrative of a pending supply crunch, while copper is struggling to absorb a wave of new mine production, much of it coming from projects that were planned years ago when the price was double current levels and the market was characterized by structural supply deficit.

Exclusive: Kinross to retreat from Chile, puts unit on the block – by John Tilak and Rosalba O’Brien (Reuters U.S. – August 19, 2016)

August 19, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

Canada’s Kinross Gold Corp is looking to retreat from Chile and has put its main assets in that country up for sale, according to people familiar with the process.

The move comes at a time Toronto-based Kinross has suspended operations at Maricunga, its major mine in Chile, because of environmental concerns raised by the Chilean regulator.

The world’s fifth-largest gold miner by output has hired Bank of Nova Scotia to help find buyers for its two main Chilean gold mines, the sources said. They requested anonymity because the matter is not public. Interest has been very strong, with bids coming from mining companies from Canada, Chile and other parts of the world, the sources said.

Bolivia sets high hopes on its lithium industry – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – August 18, 2016)

August 18, 2016

http://www.mining.com/

Bolivia, one of the poorest countries in Latin America, has began shipping lithium to China in what is considered the first step towards fulfilling its ambitions to becoming the world’s No. 1 exporter of the commodity, used in high tech devices such as smart phones and electric cars, as well as in the pharmaceutical industry.

Those first 10 tonnes of lithium carbonate were extracted from a pilot plant at the country’s salt flats, located in the southwestern region of Uyuni, local newspaper EFE News Agency reports (in Spanish).

But with a price tag of barely $70,000, the move is being seen more like a symbolic transaction than a financial breakthrough for the country, which expects to multiply the figure into millions of dollars by 2020.

McEwen Mining CEO bets small miners to reap big gains – by Natalie Obiko Pearson and Eric Lam (Bloomberg/Globe and Mail – August 16, 2016)

August 16, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Rob McEwen is paid $1 a year, doesn’t receive bonuses, yet his financial success is tied more closely to his company than any other mining chief executive in Canada.

Now the largest shareholder in $1.69-billion McEwen Mining Inc. is betting his gold producer and other smaller competitors will reap more gains from the next commodities upswing than debt-laden behemoths dominating the industry.

“The seniors have blown themselves out of the water,” the former CEO and founder of Goldcorp Inc. said in an interview in Vancouver. “They’re just going to be ships rising in the tide. It’s going to be the intermediate and juniors who have the big runs in this cycle, and that’s where I want to be.”

Mining in Latin America: From conflict to co-operation (The Economist – February 6, 2016)

August 15, 2016

http://www.economist.com/

Big miners have a better record than their critics claim. But it is up to governments to balance the interests of diggers, locals and the nation

COCACHACRA, PERU – COUPLE of hours drive south of Arequipa, Peru’s second city, the Pan-American highway drops down from the high desert of the La Joya plain and threads its way through tight defiles patrolled by turkey vultures before reaching the green braid of the valley of the river Tambo.

The river burbles past fields of rice, potatoes and sugar cane. It is a tranquil, bucolic scene. The only hint of anything untoward is the five armed policemen guarding the bridge at the town of Cocachacra.

Last April the valley was the scene of a month-long “strike” that saw pitched battles between the police and hooded protesters hurling stones from catapults (see picture). Two protesters and a policeman were killed; 150 police and 54 civilians were hurt.

Glencore Seeks Bolivia Compensation After Mine Nationalization – by Jesse Riseborough (Bloomberg News – August 12, 2016)

August 12, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Glencore Plc, the Swiss miner and commodities trader headed by billionaire Ivan Glasenberg, has started arbitration proceedings against Bolivia after three of its operations were nationalized by the country, the first in 2007.

The company has tried “to settle the dispute with the government of Bolivia amicably,” it said in an e-mailed statement. “However, after almost nine years of negotiations without receiving any compensation for the nationalization of three of its operations, Glencore had no other option but to initiate arbitration proceedings to enforce its rights under international law.”

Bolivia nationalized the Vinto tin smelter in 2007 and the Colquiri zinc and lead mine was handed to state mining company Comibol in 2012. The government also seized the Vinto antimony operation.

Exclusive: Glencore shelves plan to sell Chilean copper mine – by John Tilak and Barbara Lewis (Reuters U.S. – August 11, 2016)

August 12, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

TORONTO/LONDON – Glencore has shelved plans to sell a copper mine in Chile that was expected to fetch about $500 million, after failing to achieve a high enough price, according to people familiar with the situation.

Along with other big mining companies, Glencore has been seeking to offload a range of assets to reduce debt following a commodities price crash, but a rally on raw materials markets and in the value of share prices of mining companies this year has taken away the need for urgent sales at any price.

Glencore began a process to sell its Lomas Bayas copper mine in Chile late last year, when anxiety about the health of some mining firms’ balance sheets was high.

Gold Reserve reaches arbitration settlement with Venezuela, stock soars – by Peter Koven (Financial Post – August 9, 2016)

August 9, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

TORONTO — On the surface, Gold Reserve Inc.’s US$770-million arbitration settlement with the government of Venezuela appears to be a huge win for the Toronto-listed company. But there is an important caveat: Venezuela has to raise the money and pay it out, even as it deals with a massive economic and humanitarian crisis.

Gold Reserve unveiled a firm settlement agreement with the government on Monday, which follows a signing ceremony late last week. Under the terms of the deal, Venezuela agreed to pay US$600 million to the company by the end of October, and an additional US$170 million by the end of December.

The socialist government will also buy Gold Reserve’s technical mining data for US$240 million, and the two sides will form a joint venture to develop the Brisas-Cristinas gold project, which is expected to cost US$2.1 billion.

Vale vows not to flood iron markets – by Peter Ker (Australian Financial Review – August 7, 2016)

August 8, 2016

http://www.afr.com/

Brazilian miner Vale has played down fears that its new low-cost iron ore expansion program will flood the market later this year, with a top executive revealing that export growth would occur gradually over several years and will not only be aimed as Asia.

Vale is in the final stages of its $US14.5 billion “S11D” iron ore expansion project, which will create a new mine capable of supplying 90 million tonnes per year plus new rail and port facilities in northern Brazil.

The project is the major factor behind analyst forecasts for the iron ore market to move from a balance in 2016 to over-supply in 2017. But Vale’s executive director of ferrous minerals, Peter Poppinga, said the project’s arrival would be more subtle than the market was expecting, because rail capacity would not increase by as much as mine capacity.

On spill’s anniversary, many concerns remain (Mexico News Daily – August 6, 2016)

August 8, 2016

Residents worry about the water quality two years after copper mine’s toxic spill

Two years after what has been described by federal authorities as Mexico’s worst environmental disaster, many residents who live near the Sonora and Bacanuchi rivers fear for the quality of their water and others for their health.

A spill at the Buenavista del Cobre copper mine in Cananea, Sonora, on August 6, 2014 released 40 million liters of copper sulphate solution into the two rivers and affected at least 21,000 residents of the region.

The copper mine, one of the world’s largest, is owned by Arizona-based Southern Copper Corporation, which is part of the Mexican mining company Grupo México. In addition to paying a 23-million-peso fine, the company agreed to put up 2 billion pesos for a trust fund that would repair the damage and pay compensation to victims.

NEWS RELEASE: Horizonte completes acquisition of Glencore project to create one of largest nickel saprolite projects globally

August 4, 2016

LONDON, Aug. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ – Horizonte Minerals Plc, (AIM: HZM, TSX: HZM) (‘Horizonte’ or ‘the Company’) the nickel development company focused in Brazil, is pleased to announce the transfer to a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company of the remaining two licences that make up the Glencore Araguaia nickel project (‘GAP’) in north central Brazil. This completes the licence transfer under the agreement (‘Asset Purchase Agreement’) to acquire GAP from Xstrata Brasil Exploraçâo Mineral Ltda (‘Xstrata’), a wholly owned subsidiary of Glencore, as announced by the Company on 28 September 2015.

Highlights

The closing of the transaction completes the consolidation of GAP and Horizonte’s Araguaia Project creating one of the largest nickel saprolite projects globally
The transfer includes the advanced Serra do Tapa nickel deposit
Combined projects currently the focus for a new Pre-Feasibility Study due for completion in Q3 2016

Exclusive: Vale seeks up to $10 billion with iron ore streaming deal, sources say – by Tatiana Bautzer (Reuters U.s. – August 3, 2016)

August 3, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

SAO PAULO – Brazil’s Vale SA (VALE5.SA) is considering raising as much as $10 billion from the sale of up to 3 percent of future iron ore output to undisclosed Chinese companies, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Under terms of the deal, Vale, the world’s biggest iron ore producer, would receive streaming financing from the companies, said the sources, who asked to remain unidentified because the discussions are still private.

The idea is to sell part of the company’s future output over a 30-year period, the sources said. The Rio de Janeiro-based company has not yet reached a decision to complete the iron ore streaming financing deal, the sources said.

Kinross Gold expects to suspend Chilean mine in fourth quarter – by Nicole Mordant (Reuters U.S. – July 28, 2016)

July 28, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

Kinross Gold Corp said on Wednesday it expected to suspend operations at a Chilean gold mine in the fourth quarter as it posted a second-quarter loss that exceeded forecasts.

The world’s fifth largest gold miner by output said in its earnings report that it expected to halt mining at Maricunga and start rinsing residual gold from the heap leach pads, equipment used to extract the metal.

The decision followed an assessment of the mine’s plan in the context of the Toronto-based company’s global capital priorities, it said.