Twitter

Nickel

Accent: Sudbury’s [Vale] Totten a space-age mine – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – February 22, 2014)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

In major mining centres, the opening of a new mine is no small feat. Especially when that mine is a company’s first to open in the area in more than four decades – and took seven years to get production-ready.

On Friday, Vale’s Totten Mine, located in the mineral-rich Sudbury Basin, officially opened to great fanfare. The $760-million mine is the company’s sixth in the basin and its first to use the newest, state-of-the-art mining technology.

“It integrates many of the advances that have been developed since the last Vale mine was built 40 years ago. These technical advances will continue to position Sudbury hard rock miners as among the most productive and competitive in the world,” said mining analyst Stan Sudol. “It also ensures that the Totten Mine is at the lower end of the cost curve.

“This is very positive for the Sudbury Basin. Totten confirms that Sudbury is still the richest mining district in North America, bar none. Because so much high-tech innovation has been included in the development of Totten, it also indicates Sudbury’s becoming a global Silicon Valley of underground knowledge, expertise and research and education.”

Read more

New Sudbury mine ‘very important’ to Vale – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – February 22, 2014)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Vale will continue to invest in Canada despite bad market conditions and low nickel prices because of the strength of its assets, and those assets aren’t just its ore bodies and its operations, said Peter Poppinga.

Vale officially opened its newest Sudbury operation Friday, the $760-million Totten Mine, a nickel and copper producer. Totten is state of the art, fully automated, has an outstanding safety record and excellent environmental standards.

“But Totten for us actually means much more,” said Poppinga, president and chief executive officer of Vale Canada, and executive director of Vale Base Metals and Information Technology for Vale SA.

“When I (say) asset I don’t mean only ore, I don’t only mean mines or surface facilities. I actually also mean the people, the workforce, the motivated workforce, and I also mean the stability of the business environment and the regulatory environment.

“This is very important for us,” Poppinga told more than 100 invited guests in the warm room of Worthington mine, 40 minutes west of Sudbury.

Read more

NEWS RELEASE: Vale opens first new mine in Sudbury in over 40 years

(L to R) Cutting the ceremonial ribbon at the official opening ceremony of Totten Mine on February 21st, 2014 are: Conor Spollen, Vice-President, North Atlantic Projects, Vale; Rick Bertrand, President, United Steelworkers, Local 6500; Bob Booth, Totten Mine Manager, Vale; Hon. Marianne Matichuk, Mayor, City of Greater Sudbury; Kelly Strong, Vice-President, Ontario & UK Operations, Vale; Hon. Kathleen Wynne, Premier of the Province of Ontario, Hon. Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development and Mines; Province of Ontario; Peter Poppinga, CEO of Vale Canada and Executive Director of Vale’s Global Base Metals; Chief Paul Eshkakogan; Rob Assabgui, General Manager, Mines & Mill, Vale.

http://www.vale.com/canada/EN/

Canada NewsWire – SUDBURY, ON, Feb. 21, 2014 /CNW/ – Vale celebrated the official opening of Totten Mine today in a ceremony with the Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario, the Honourable Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development & Mines, members of the Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation and many other community leaders.

“Totten Mine is Vale’s first new mine in the Sudbury Basin in more than 40 years and represents a significant investment in the future of our operations in Ontario and across Canada,” said Peter Poppinga, President & Chief Executive Officer of Vale Canada and Vale’s Executive Director of Base Metals and Information Technology.

Read more

Environment takes precedence at Sudbury Vale’s Totten mine – by Lindsay Kelly (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – November 25, 2013)

Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal  is a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. This article is from the December, 2013 issue.

Water, emissions priorities for mine design

More stringent environmental oversight of new mine development means more work. But instead of a challenge, it’s actually made the pro­cess easier at Totten Mine because it allows Vale to meet industry expectations and be creative in its approach, said senior environmental specialist Allison Merla.

“There’s the opportunity here to do it right, right away,” said Merla, who acted as the environmental co-ordinator for the mine, ensuring Vale’s permits and requirements met current industry standards.

“If you’re looking at a legacy site that has always done something a certain way for years, and they’re working on some of the older permits or legislative requirements, it takes a while to instill that change. Here, we’ve built it right and we’re going to do it right.”

Every aspect of Totten was designed with the envi­ronment in mind, starting with its overall footprint. The headframe and main operations have been laid out on top of previous mine workings, while the Victoria Creek pumphouse, from which Vale gets its domestic water, has been retrofitted and upgraded to meet today’s standards.

Read more

Sudbury Vale’s Totten mine boasts copper, nickel and PGMs – by Lindsay Kelly (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – November 25, 2013)

Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal  is a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. This article is from the December, 2013 issue.

The mineralization at Vale’s Totten Mine is so rich, ribbons of copper, nickel and precious metal can be viewed at surface just by walking through the parking lot.

“It’s pretty interesting for anybody who likes geology,” said Lance Howland, Totten’s chief mine geologist. “They can go out for their lunch break to look at exactly what’s here, and that’s pretty much what you’d see underground.”

Totten Mine is situated along the Worthington Offset, one of the fractures resulting from the creation of the Sudbury Basin 1.8 billion years ago. Offset deposits like Worthington were formed when pressure caused by molten material cooling around the basin pushed its way into a fracture.

“(The molten material) carried with it the copper, nickel and precious metals, and formed multiple deposits along that string. One of them was Totten Mine,” Howland said. “It’s a pretty unique story and we’ve got some very interesting deposits that a lot of people around the world have come here to see given how unique it is.”

Read more

Vale’s Team Totten rises to challenge – by Norm Tollinsky (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – November 25, 2013)

Norm Tollinsky is editor of Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal, a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. This article is from the December, 2013 issue.

Ground conditions, water ingress and a 60-year-old timbered shaft among the challenges overcome

When Bob Booth and Gary Annett of the Totten project team hand over the reins to mine manager Dave Pisaric on December 31st, life won’t be near as exciting.

Few mine development projects go exactly as planned. Mother Nature can frustrate the intentions of the most experienced and skilled engineers and geoscientists, as happened at Totten when unfavourable ground conditions and water ingress began bogging things down.

The team stepped it up a notch, hunkered down…and saw it through. Vale decided against the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) approach and kept the project management in house.

Annett, with the ominous title of Totten execution manager, was assigned to Totten in February 2008. A 15-year Vale and Inco mining engineer and alumnus of Laurentian University, Annett worked his way up through operations and spent eight years at the company’s Coleman Mine.

Read more

Wallbridge tries to understand its ‘enigmatic’ minerals – by Jonathan Migneault (Northern Ontario Business – February 13, 2014)

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business  provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North. 

Around two billion years ago an asteroid or comet approximately 10 to 15 kilometres in diameter collided with what is now the Sudbury basin.

When it entered Earth’s orbit it was travelling at a speed of around 36,000 kilometres per hour. The power of the impact when it hit the planet’s surface was “off the scale,” according to Gordon Osinski, an associate professor of planetary geology at the University of Western Ontario. “It’s an incredible amount of energy deposited almost instantaneously,” he said.

Geological changes can take millions of years, but that impact altered Sudbury’s landscape in a flash. The heat from the impact was so intense it created a pool of molten rock three kilometres thick. Geologists have estimated the crater it created – which is no longer visible today – was around 200 kilometres in diameter.

The Chicxulub crater, underneath Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, is around 180 km in diameter. The asteroid impact that created it 65 million years ago is largely credited for the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.

Read more

Royal Nickel Corp: Indonesian Ore Export Ban Opens Door to the Next Generation of Nickel Mines (The Gold Report – February 11, 2014)

http://www.theaureport.com/

DISCLOSURE: Royal Nickel Corp. paid The Mining Report to conduct, produce and distribute the following interview. 

Nickel prices have been weak, but the recent Indonesian government announcement banning ore shipments outside the country may be the shock that reverses the trend. In this interview with The Mining Report, Mark Selby, senior vice president of business development for Royal Nickel Corp., walks through his analysis that indicates nickel price increases and inventory reductions are imminent, while demand continues to grow and over a quarter of global mine supply is shut in.

He considers nickel in 2014 one of the best commodity trades in a generation. To capitalize on this unique set of circumstances, Royal Nickel’s Dumont Nickel Project follows the path of other large-reserve, large-scale mines in the copper and gold sectors that have changed the mining industry and made early investors fortunes.

The Mining Report: The nickel industry has been through tectonic changes in the last 10 years, including large corporate takeovers and fundamental changes in supply available to the market. Can you summarize where the nickel industry has been and where it is going?

Mark Selby: Over the past five years, we’ve seen continued robust growth in nickel demand. Over that period, global nickel demand grew in the high single-digits, while Chinese nickel demand grew at double-digit rates.

Read more

NEWS RELEASE: Royal Nickel Announces Management Changes

Tyler Mitchelson Resigns as CEO, Remains as a Director

TORONTO, Feb. 11, 2014 /CNW/ – Royal Nickel Corporation (“RNC”) (TSX: RNX) today announced Tyler Mitchelson, President & CEO of RNC, has decided to leave RNC in order to take a position with Anglo American Corporation. Mr. Mitchelson will remain as a Director of RNC.

“We thank Tyler for the four years he has led RNC and the significant work he has done to advance the Dumont Nickel Project. We wish him well in his new position,” said Scott Hand, Executive Chairman of RNC.

Effective today, Mark Selby, SVP Business Development at RNC since 2010, has been appointed Interim CEO. Mr. Selby possesses more than 20 years’ experience in finance and corporate development at resource companies, including Inco Limited and Quadra Mining. Mr. Selby will be able to call on Executive Chairman, Scott Hand as well as Directors Peter Goudie and Peter Jones. Mr. Hand is the former Chairman & CEO of Inco which was a major participant in the nickel industry before it was acquired by Vale in 2007. Mr. Jones was President & COO of Inco and Mr. Goudie was Executive Vice-President for Sales and Marketing for Inco with extensive experience in Asia. Mr. Hand, Mr. Goudie and Mr. Jones have been Directors of RNC since 2008.

“The Dumont Nickel Project is a world-class project that will be needed to meet the growing global demand for nickel,” said Mr. Hand.

Read more

Antam and Vale Receive Green Light on Processed Mineral Exports – by Rangga Prakoso (Jakarta Globe – January 27, 2014)

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/

Antam and Vale Indonesia — two of the biggest nickel producers in the country — have secured a recommendation letter to export their processed mineral products, almost two weeks after the government enforced a ban on ore shipments.

“Vale and Antam don’t have any problems. The others simply have not submitted their respective proposals to the government, which is why I am calling on other miners to do so,” said Susilo Siswoutomo, vice minister at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, on Friday.

Susilo said the government has given Antam approval to export around 17,000 metric tons of ferronickel annually, while Vale is allowed 75,000 tons of nickel matte per year. He did not say whether Antam will be allowed to export its nickel ore.

The vice minister also confirmed the government’s intention to set a “maximum production limit” for minerals to ensure that newly-built smelters in Indonesia can be fed with adequate resources.

Read more

As smelters weigh cost, Indonesia’s ore export ban may backfire – by Fergus Jensen and Melanie Burton (Reuters India – January 27, 2014)

http://in.reuters.com/

JAKARTA/SYDNEY – Jan 27 (Reuters) – Indonesia’s ban on exports of key mineral ores – unless they are processed in the country – risks backfiring as weaker commodity prices mean it is not cost-effective to invest in expensive smelters and refineries.

The ban, which came into effect on Jan. 12, was unveiled in 2009 as a commodities boom began to froth and Jakarta sought to extract more value from its mineral resources. But metals prices and margins have since fallen, leading to oversupply and less need for building more processing capacity.

Worried about the impact on its current account deficit and a sagging rupiah currency, Jakarta tried to ease the ban last month only to be blocked by parliament. This month, it issued exemptions to allow shipments of copper, zinc, lead, manganese and iron ore concentrate, leaving nickel and bauxite – key ingredients in making steel and aluminium – the main targets.

Companies considering building alumina refineries are moving slowly as they weigh the big investments required amid caution over Indonesia’s policy flip-flops.

A 1 million-tonnes-a-year alumina refinery in Indonesia would cost around $1.5 billion to build.

Read more

UPDATE 1-Indonesian mining group challenges ore export ban in court – by Fergus Jensen (Reuters India – January 22, 2014)

http://in.reuters.com/

Jan 22 (Reuters) – Indonesia’s Mineral Entrepreneurs Association (APEMINDO) has filed a legal challenge against a ban on ore exports introduced less than two weeks ago.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed off on the controversial ore export ban on Jan. 12, although last-minute amendments eased the impact of the export ban on mining giants Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold and Newmont Mining Corp which are now subject to an export tax.

Indonesia is the world’s biggest exporter of nickel ore, refined tin and thermal coal and is an important producer of copper and gold. It is seeking to increase added value from its mineral wealth but has been widely criticised for the ore export ban, seen by many as unfeasible.

“If this policy is carried out it will kill mining businesses,” Revly Harun, a lawyer for APEMINDO, told Reuters on Wednesday. “If they want to make smelters they need money for that. We don’t think this ore export ban is realistic.”

Read more

Report: China may use influence to soften Indonesia’s nickel ore ban – Frik Els (Mining.com – January 20, 2014)

http://www.mining.com/

Indonesia surprised the mining world little over a week ago putting into effect an outright ban on nickel ore exports, against expectations of a last-minute climb down by authorities.

Indonesia accounts for around a fifth of global supply at an estimated 400,000 tonnes of contained metal and the ban was seen as a potential game changer in the market for the steelmaking raw material..

Nickel prices have reacted in a fairly subdued manner however with three-month nickel on the LME last trading at $14,650 a tonne. That’s up around 7% since the ban was implemented, but a far cry from 2013’s high of $18,700 struck in February and still near levels last seen in 2009.

Global warehouse levels have risen sharply over the past two years – hitting a record 260,000 tonnes this year according to LME data – keeping prices subdued. Ample available metal and ore combined with a 20% rise in worlwide mining output since 2011 just as the market was moving into surplus.

Read more

Jakarta mired deep in mining mess – by John McBeth (The Straits Times/Jakarta Post – January 20, 2014)

http://www.thejakartapost.com/

Giving with one hand and taking with the other, the Indonesian government has effectively enforced a blanket ban on mineral ore exports in a bizarre, nationalist-driven decision-making process that will cost the country billions and put tens of thousands out of work.

While value-added is an understandable goal for a country blessed with so many natural resources, the implementation of the signature policy has been bedevilled by weak leadership, poor conceptualising, political grandstanding and bureaucratic ineptitude.

Miners are now threatening to head to international arbitration, with copper giants Freeport Indonesia and Newmont Nusa Tenggara facing the prospect of shutting down 65 per cent of their production – a huge chunk of the US$10 billion Indonesia makes each year from mineral exports.

The move to process all mineral ore onshore within five years was foreshadowed in the 2009 Mining Law, but only given clarity – and teeth – in a ministerial regulation issued belatedly in July 2012, which laid out the required purity levels for each individual mineral.

Read more

Canadian nickel producers hope to benefit from Indonesia’s export ban – by Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – January 17, 2014)

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.

Indonesia’s ban on raw mineral exports has the potential to rejuvenate a nickel industry that is suffering from a plunge in metal prices.

The ban, which started on Sunday, has pushed nickel prices up on fears that there will be a shortage of the silvery white metal used to make stainless steel. That would help Canadian producers Sherritt International Corp., Lundin Mining Corp. and First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Toronto-based Sherritt, which runs the Moa nickel mine in Cuba and is developing a giant nickel mine in Madagascar, could see benefits immediately. “Any improvement in the nickel prices will go straight to our revenue,” said Sherritt’s chief executive officer David Pathe.

Shares of Sherritt and other producers gained about 5 per cent on Thursday. Shares of tiny Canadian nickel companies First Nickel Inc. and Royal Nickel Corp. also made gains.

Although nickel is trading at two-month highs of $6.50 (U.S.) a pound, the metal is down 70 per cent from its record high of $24 reached in 2007 when supplies were scarce.

Read more