Nickel – Page 112 – Republic of Mining

Vale may hire foreign workers to solve Long Harbour crunch (CBC News Newfoundland – July 23, 2013)

July 23, 2013

http://www.cbc.ca/nl/

Mining giant Vale admits it may have to look outside the country to hire specialized workers to finish its massive nickel processing facility in Newfoundland’s Placentia Bay.

However, Vale says it wants to explore other options first to find such skilled workers as welders and pipefitters for its site at Long Harbour, where the company ultimately intends to process nickel mined at Voisey’s Bay in northern Labrador.

To accomplish that, the company is moving skilled workers from its port site to its main construction site, which the company calls the upper tier. “Because we are short some of those resources, we thought it was best to redirect those resources to the upper tier,” Bob Carter, Vale’s director of corporate affairs, told CBC News.

On Friday, layoff notices were handed out to more than 250 workers with skills that are currently not needed at the main site. Vale, which now plans to finish the port site later, admits it is concerned that it will not be able to find all the workers it needs within Canada.

The company is applying to the federal government for permission to bring in foreign workers.

NEWS RELEASE: Duluth Metals Provides Metallurgical Update on Twin Metals Minnesota Project

July 18, 2013

Positive results from various metallurgical options considered for the Twin Metals Minnesota Project
Good metal recoveries to both a bulk concentrate and to separate copper (~25% Cu, <1% Ni) and nickel (~10% Ni, <5% Cu) concentrates were achieved during recent pilot plant programs;
Good metal extraction from bulk concentrate using the CESLTM process;
Good recoveries of gold and platinum group elements from CESLTM residues by sulfur flotation.

TORONTO, Ontario, July 18, 2013 – Duluth Metals Limited (“Duluth Metals”) (TSX: DM) (TSX: DM.U) is pleased to announce significant progress on various metallurgical options being considered during pre-feasibility on the Twin Metals Minnesota Project (“Twin Metals”). Some of the most recent test results from an ongoing comprehensive metallurgical testwork program aimed at defining the optimal process flowsheet for the recovery of copper, nickel, gold, platinum, and palladium to payable products are summarized below. This metallurgical testwork program involved mineralogical assessments, laboratory bench scale testing, and pilot plant testing with independent laboratories.

The metallurgical testwork included flotation programs to develop and prove two separate flotation options: the first being the option to produce a bulk copper-nickel concentrate; and the second option being to produce a marketable copper concentrate and a marketable nickel concentrate.

Sulfide mining’s jobs are temporary, but its pollution will stay in our waterways – by JT Haines, Lee Markell, Dylan Nau and Ijaz Osman (Minn Post – July 18, 2013)

July 18, 2013

http://www.minnpost.com/

Like many Minnesotans, we’ve been camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) every summer for years, several of us for a quarter century or more. Some of us used to live in the Arrowhead, but all of us share a certain unspoken feeling heading north, when deciduous turns to boreal. We appreciate that our great state can still offer us a place where you can catch a fish, and drink the water – right out of the side of a canoe! (A lotta guys don’t favor the exclamation point. Or sarcasm. But it hasn’t escaped our attention that we can no longer do either of these things in the Twin Cities, which we think merits an exception.)

Without exaggeration, we feel that the Boundary Waters enhances our humanness. The question that challenges us today is: How many places like it do we need? How many are left?

In their excellent July 7 letter to the International Joint Commission regarding sulfide mines, the Minnesota Backcountry Hunters and Anglers express their opposition to proposed sulfide mine projects in Northern Minnesota, which would leach sulfuric acid into waterways, the lifeblood of Northern Minnesota’s economy, for up to 2,000 years. The group points out, correctly, that the jobs are temporary, the bulk of the profits will flow elsewhere, and the “toxic legacy of damaged waterways” will remain with us here, in Minnesota.

We thank the Hunters and Anglers for their letter, and couldn’t agree more. It passes our understanding that we would threaten this environment at all – let alone at the demand and benefit of foreign companies and mostly non-local investors.

Global nickel supplies to remain in large surplus in 2013-2014–Macquarie – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – July 18, 2013)

July 18, 2013

http://www.mineweb.com/

“Nickel remains the worst performer among the base metals this year,” say Macquarie Research commodities analysts.

RENO (MINEWEB) – The nickel market has been in large surplus this year and without significant production cuts will remain in alarge surplus this year, Macquarie Commodities Research advised Wednesday.

“The market is looking to China for further cuts in nickel pig iron production but this is not enough to rebalance the market and cuts outside China may well be a catalyst for a short-covering rally,” said Macquarie.

In their analysis, Macquarie observed, “Nickel remains the worst performer among the base metals this year. A large surplus between supply and demand has opened up and prices have collapsed.

“At current prices more than 40% of the industry is losing cash. Many nickel sellers are struggling to achieve the LME price,” said Macquarie commodities analysts. “In China, nickel pig iron has been selling at large discounts to LME prices this year (up to $2,500/t at one stage although this has been narrowed to under $1,000/t in recent weeks as NPI producers have cut production).” The analysts noted Ferronickel producers outside China have been forced to discount by $500-$700/t off LME.

Nickel Leads Drop in Industrial Metals for 2013 as Supplies Grow – by Agnieszka Troszkiewicz (Bloomberg News – July 10, 2013)

July 12, 2013

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Nickel is leading declines of the main industrial metals on the London Metal Exchange this year, with surpluses dragging down copper to aluminum and zinc.

Nickel production will exceed demand by 68,000 metric tons this year, and copper will have its first surplus since 2009, according to Standard Bank Group Ltd. Inventories of nickel in warehouses monitored by the LME rose 85 percent in the past year to a record, according to bourse data today. Aluminum and nickel are near four-year lows and copper last month was the cheapest in three years.

“2013 has been a tough year for global commodity markets,” UBS AG in London said in a report dated yesterday. “While demand growth for key markets such as iron ore, the coals and copper is actually positive and robust, they continue to be overwhelmed by even stronger supply growth.”

Industrial metals have slumped this year amid signs of economic slowdown in top user China and on speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve will taper bond purchases. Nickel, along with aluminum, zinc and copper, will be in surplus this year, according to Barclays Plc. Aluminum will have a seventh consecutive surplus, Morgan Stanley estimates show.

The History of KGHM International Ltd.

July 21, 2013July 12, 2013

This historical overview is from the 2013 KGHM International Corporate Social Responsibility Report, click here: http://www.kghm.com/files/doc_downloads/WEB_KGHM%20CSR%202013%20English.pdf

KGHM International Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A., the 7th largest copper producer and the largest silver producer in the world based in Lubin, Poland. The KGHM International story is one of rapid growth, from a junior mining company to a global industry player.

The Early Years

KGHM International, formerly known as Quadra FNX Mining Ltd. (“Quadra FNX”), was formed as the result of a merger between two equals: Quadra Mining Ltd. (“Quadra”) and FNX Mining Company Inc. (“FNX”). Both were incorporated in 2002, and later listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with the goal of becoming mid-tier base-metal producers.

The Quadra strategy: to grow through acquisitions

Quadra acquired its first asset, the Robinson Mine located near Ely, Nevada, in April 2004 and restarted production in December 2004. Quadra continued to grow through a series of acquisitions; in 2004, the company acquired the Sierra Gorda property in Chile through option agreements, and in 2005, added the Carlota Project near Globe, Arizona to its portfolio of assets.

Nickel price slide hurting local miners – by Heidi Ulrichsen (Sudbury Northern Life – July 11, 2013)

July 11, 2013

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Slowing Chinese economy partly to blame

While nickel prices are as low as they’ve been since the recession, the founding executive director of Laurentian University’s Goodman School of Mines said he expects mining to “chug along” in this area.

But Bruce Jago expects smaller operators with high production costs may close mines, while larger companies such as Xstrata Nickel or Vale will begin to curtail production. Nickel prices have been something of a rollercoaster ride in recent years.

They’re currently hovering at around $6.10 to $6.20 a pound. That’s down from $8 a pound just six months ago, and $12 a pound two years ago. In 2008, during the recession, nickel prices dipped to as low as $4 a pound, plummeting from historic highs of $24 a pound a year before.

Laurentian University economics professor David Robinson agrees with Jago larger mining companies won’t be as affected by the lower prices. With large, integrated operations, it’s difficult to close mines, because the smelter depends on the ore coming from the mines, he said. “That’s one of the reasons I worry a little less than I would,” Robinson said.

Wave of sackings at nickel mine swamps Forrest’s Poseidon adventure – by Andrew Burrell (The Australian – July 11, 2013)

July 11, 2013

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business

POSEIDON Nickel chairman Andrew Forrest’s bid to revive the historic Windarra project in the face of worsening nickel prices appears to have suffered a blow after more than 40 contractors were sacked amid speculation the company is attempting to preserve cash.

The suspension of drilling at the Windarra nickel site this week comes after Mr Forrest, the 32 per cent owner of Poseidon, and chief executive David Singleton returned empty-handed from New York last month following a bid to secure about $200 million in debt financing for the project. The job losses at Poseidon follow a wave of redundancies at other mining companies and contractors in the wake of weaker commodity prices.

Sources close to contracting firms at the Windarra site in Western Australia’s Goldfields told The Australian yesterday that about 45 workers were “completely shocked” to be told they had been sacked on Tuesday. They said the move was sudden and contracting firms working at the site had not been previously advised of any shutdown. “They even woke up people who were on night shift to tell them they’d been sacked,” said one worker.

Those made redundant include geologists, geotechnicians, drillers, field assistants, shift bosses, cleaners and caterers. At the meeting on Tuesday, the workers were told that technical problems involving dewatering at the site had forced the shutdown, but that Poseidon Nickel would work to fix the issue.

Mine Mill, First Nickel settle on 4-yr. deal – by Star Staff (Sudbury Star – July 10, 2013)

July 10, 2013

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

First Nickel Inc. and the union representing about 105 production and maintenance workers at the company’s Lockerby Mine have settled a new four-year contract.

Members of Mine Mill Local 598/CAW voted 94% Tuesday to accept a collective agreement, which their bargaining committee recommended they accept.

Mark Isto, vice-president of operations with First Nickel, said ratifying a four-year contract is an important milestone for the mine, which reached full production earlier this year.

“The operation faces considerable economic pressures from low nickel prices and we feel the agreement strikes a balance between the needs of both parties,” said Isto. Nickel has been selling for about $6.10 a pound.

Lockerby Mine manager Cliff Lafleur said negotiations with the union were “constructive and progressed well, leading to a fair deal for both sides.”

Slowdown in China Dents Nickel – by Rhiannon Hoyle and Clementine Wallop (Wall Street Journal – July 10, 2013)

July 10, 2013

http://online.wsj.com/home-page

Metal’s Price Reaches Four-Year Low as Demand Wanes and Output Increases

Nickel prices fell to a four-year low, in the latest fallout from slowing economic growth in China, the metal’s biggest user. China’s growing pains have translated into less demand for nickel, which is mixed with iron ore to give stainless steel its rustproof property in everything from table forks to kitchen sinks to skyscrapers.

While the fortunes of many industrial metals are tied to the world’s fastest-expanding major economy, nickel is particularly vulnerable, investors and analysts said. China accounts for more of the world demand for nickel than it does for other metals. In 2012, the country absorbed 46% of global nickel output, including both recycled and mined nickel, according to the International Nickel Study Group, an industry organization. By comparison, China used about 40% of the world’s copper, according to Barclays PLC. BARC.LN +0.38%

Nickel prices are bearing the brunt of a steep decline in metals markets this year. Nickel futures fell as low as $13,205 a metric ton Tuesday on the London Metal Exchange, its lowest price since May 2009, and ended the day down 0.8%, at $13,325. Prices have dropped 22% since the start of the year. In the same period, an index of the metals traded on the LME, which excludes steel, is down 15%. Those are the largest declines for any six-month period since the second half of 2011, when worries about the debt crisis in Europe depressed demand prospects for industrial metals.

Local view: Investment proves merit of Northland copper mines – by Frank Ongaro (Duluth News Tribune – June 30, 2013)

July 3, 2013

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

Frank Ongaro is the executive director of MiningMinnesota.

Minnesota’s business climate received a significant boost recently when two of the state’s proposed copper, nickel and precious metals mining projects secured more than $50 million in long-term financing. Investors throughout the world are recognizing that the strategic metals deposits found in Northeastern Minnesota represent a world-class economic opportunity for our state.

PolyMet Mining, the developer of the Northmet Project near Hoyt Lakes, received a $20 million bridge loan from Glencore International PLC, based in Switzerland, to pay for operations while a $60 million stock offering is completed. Duluth Metals, the majority partner in the development of the Twin Metals Project

in the Babbitt/Ely area, received a $30 million investment from CEF (Capital Markets) Limited, a subsidiary of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd.

These investments provide more than important capital; they provide independent validation of the quality of the projects proposed. Smart investors will invest only in projects that are likely to succeed, and that means projects that will meet and exceed all state and federal environmental standards and regulations.

Norilsk to Focus on Arctic Circle Mines as CEO Builds Team (2) – by Yuliya Fedorinova (Bloomberg News – June 28, 2013)

June 28, 2013

http://www.businessweek.com/

OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel (GMKN), the largest nickel and palladium producer, plans to focus on developing its operations in northern Russia over international assets after installing a new chief executive officer and management team.

“We will be looking at opportunities to optimize our portfolio of assets, including our international operations, with a key strategic focus on the sustainable increase of the firm’s return on capital,” Norilsk Deputy CEO Pavel Fedorov, head of strategy and business development, said in an interview in Moscow. “Enhancing the efficiency and capitalization of our key Polar Division would be at the heart of the new strategy.”

The division has seven mines north of the Arctic Circle, producing nickel, copper, platinum, palladium, cobalt and gold above the 69th parallel. Plants processing ore from these mines achieve an extraction rate of 83 percent of nickel from each ton of ore after the first phase of enrichment, compared with 70 percent and below for Norilsk’s assets in Africa and Australia, according to its annual report.

Billionaire Vladimir Potanin replaced Vladimir Strzhalkovsky as CEO at the end of 2012 as part of a truce to end a conflict between Norilsk shareholders Interros and United Co. Rusal over how the company was run. In April, Potanin hired Fedorov, a former mergers-and-acquisitions banker, for the 12-member management board among nine newly appointed executives.

Cossacks Ramp Up Pressure on [nickel] Mining Firm After Riot – (RIA Novosti – June 25, 2013)

June 25, 2013

http://en.ria.ru/

MOSCOW, June 25 (RIA Novosti) – A representative of a Cossack organization said that a mining company whose allegedly environmentally disastrous operations incited hundreds of locals to riot in central Russia has a month to stop the project or face the consequences, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reported Tuesday.

“We reserve the right to campaign against nickel exploration by any legal means,” Valery Davydov was cited as saying.
“And let them keep in mind that if they so much as insert a shovel into the ground, the entire region will explode,” he said, adding that the decision was endorsed by eight Cossack organizations.

The Cossacks, an ethno-social group in Eastern Europe known for their social conservatism and pre-revolutionary military exploits, were repressed under the Soviets for their loyalty to the tsar. Today the group is showing a revival, regaining prominence in Russian public life and sometimes performing vigilante police duties.

The 13-month-long standoff over a prospective nickel mine in the Voronezh Region exploded last weekend, when a crowd of several hundred stormed the premises of a geological exploration party and torched cars, construction trailers and drilling rigs.

NEWS RELEASE: DRILLING COMMENCES ON NORTH AMERICAN NICKEL’S MANIITSOQ NI-CU-CO & PGE SULPHIDE PROJECT, SOUTHWEST GREENLAND

June 25, 2013

06/24/2013

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwired – June 24, 2013) – North American Nickel Inc. (TSX VENTURE:NAN)(OTCBB:WSCRF) (CUSIP: 65704T 108) (the “Company”) is pleased to announce that diamond drilling has begun on its 100% owned Maniitsoq project. A minimum of 3,000 meters is planned and it will focus on testing high priority VTEM electromagnetic (EM) anomalies defined within the 70 km-long Greenland Norite Belt and on following up the multiple high-grade nickel sulphide intersections drilled by NAN last year at Imiak Hill and the Spotty Hill discovery.

NAN CEO Rick Mark states: “The full team is now in Greenland and helicopter supported fieldwork, including channel sampling and ground truthing of anomalies is underway. The drill team has also begun its work and is supported by a second helicopter. The plan is flexible allowing us to stay in areas that produce core of interest to the geologists on site. COO Neil Richardson is leading the crew. We are planning to ship core samples weekly out of Maniitsoq. It will be an exciting summer for all of us.”

The drilling will be done with a helicopter-portable drill contracted from Westcore Drilling Ltd. A borehole pulse EM (BHEM) system, supplied and operated by Crone Geophysics & Exploration Ltd., is on site. It is anticipated that most holes will be surveyed with the BHEM system, which greatly increases the search radius of the holes, allowing geologists to target follow-up holes more precisely. The system can also be used for surface surveying in the event that an EM anomaly requires more detailing prior to drilling.

Mining in Minnesota — regulation needed – by Rolf Westgard (Minneapolis Star Tribune – June 21, 2013)

June 21, 2013

http://www.startribune.com/

Rolf Westgard is a professional member of the Geological Society of America and is adjunct faculty on energy subjects for the University of Minnesota’s Lifelong Learning program.

This is a potentially significant industry for the northeastern part of the state. Regulation is needed, and can succeed.

Josephine Marcotty’s June 16 article “Minnesota’s next mining boom” focused on the environment-vs.-economics dispute that hangs over Minnesota’s world-class deposits of copper, nickel, cobalt, gold and platinum group elements.

They lie in a band, meandering from southwest to northeast, adjacent to the Archean granite of Minnesota’s Iron Range. They arrived more than a billion years ago in the magma that featured northern Minnesota’s active volcanic history. They are concentrated out of the magma by liquid sulfur, which acts as a “collector,” because these elements prefer the sulphide liquid to the magma by a factor of 1,000 times more. This process is responsible for forming the world’s economically mineable magmatic nickel-copper sulphide deposits, like those found in Canada, Russia and the United States.

Demand for these elements is soaring. One reason is their use in renewable energy systems that provide transmission, rechargeable batteries and wind turbine technology.