Nickel – Page 68 – Republic of Mining

1995 PDAC Bill Dennis Prospector of the Year Award for the Voisey Bay Nickel Deposit – Albert E. Chislett and Chris L. Verbiski – by Stan Sudol

April 9, 2018

Chris Verbiski & Al Chislett (Wiki Source)

This excerpt is from the 2007 PDAC 75th anniversary publication.

Originally looking for diamonds in 1993, Albert Chislett and Chris Verbiski instead discovered one of the world’s major nickel sulphide deposits near Nain, Labrador. The Voisey’s Bay deposit was eventually bought and developed by Inco Limited. Most experts agree that the deposit will be a major source of nickel and regional prosperity for generations to come.

Chislett was born in Islington, Trinity Bay Nfld. in 1949. After studying business administration at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto and working in the accounting department at Swift Premium in Ontario for five years, he established a successful construction company in St. John’s Nfld., and operated it for fifteen years.

His interest in geology and mineral exploration began in the late 1980s, stemming in part from his love of the outdoors. In 1988 he started operating an independent mineral exploration company and began prospecting full time. He was soon one of the most active prospectors in the province and was the first to receive a provincial prospector’s assistant grant.

Al Chislett, co-discoverer of Voisey’s Bay, dies at 69 (CBC News Newfoundland and Labrador – April 9, 2018)

April 9, 2018

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

Originally from Heart’s Delight-Islington, Chislett died of cancer

Al Chislett, the co-discoverer of the massive Voisey’s Bay nickel deposit in northern Labrador, has died in St. John’s at the age of 69.

Chislett, who with Christopher Verbiski discovered Voisey’s Bay in 1993, had been battling cancer. Before he died, he had been receiving care at the Miller Centre in St. John’s. He was originally from Heart’s Content-Islington but later lived in Conception Bay South.

The nickel deposit at Voisey’s Bay proved to be one of Canada’s most substantial mineral discoveries. The two men, who co-owned prospecting company Archean Resources, found the deposit while working for Diamond Fields Resources Ltd., which was later acquired by Inco Ltd.

Prospect of growth intensifies debate about PolyMet tailings dam – by Josephine Marcotty (Minneapolis Star Tribune – April 7, 2018)

April 9, 2018

http://www.startribune.com/

Questions over whether the state is demanding the highest possible environmental and safety standards in the rebirth of a 1950s-era tailings dam are growing more urgent just as Minnesota’s first proposed copper nickel mine is reaching the final stage of regulatory approval.

Throughout the last decade of environmental review and bitter debate, the $1 billion project by PolyMet Mining Co. has always been anchored to a 2.5-square-mile taconite basin near Hoyt Lakes that would eventually hold hundreds of millions of tons of ore processing waste — perhaps for centuries.

Environmental groups, which have long argued that the design is risky, have now made it a primary focus of their request for a legal review of the project that is now awaiting a decision by state officials.

The move to EVs will take time, but the shift in commodity demand will be ‘dramatic’ – Gareth Penny (Metal Bulletin – April 4, 2018)

April 5, 2018

https://www.metalbulletin.com/

In a comprehensive interview with Andrea Hotter in the April 2018 issue of Metal Market Magazine, Norilsk Nickel chairman Gareth Penny gave his predictions for electric and hybrid vehicle growth and how the company will move to maximize the value of its products.

As the electrification of the global economy continues to increase demand for the metals that Norilsk produces, particularly nickel and cobalt, Penny predicts a dramatic shift in commodity demand patterns.

“Like most of these things, the move to EVs will take longer than people think, but when the time arrives, it’ll be even more dramatic,” he says.

‘Deep will be the new norm’ — Glencore spends $1B to find new ore beneath Sudbury – by Erik White (CBC News Sudbury – April 5, 2018)

April 5, 2018

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

First ore expected in about 4 years, with full production by 2025

Glencore is spending nearly $1 billion to mine new ore underneath Sudbury. The Onaping Depth project was announced at the same time as Vale revealed plans to go ahead with its multi-million dollar expansion of Copper Cliff Mine, also known as “Copper Cliff Deep.”

“I think deep will be the new norm and certainly in Sudbury, that’s where the future lies,” said Peter Xavier, Glencore vice-president of Sudbury operations.

The deposit is located 2,500 metres beneath the mothballed Craig Mine in Onaping and was found in the 1990s. Xavier says it’s taken years of planning to figure out how to mine safely and economically at that low level.

Nickel reserves in Murmansk Region’s mine sufficient for decades to go (Tass.com – April 3, 2018)

April 4, 2018

http://tass.com/

MURMANSK, April 3. /TASS./ The Severny mine, the main supplier of raw material to the Kola MMC (part of Norilsk Nickel), will be developed until 2060, the Kola MMC’s Deputy Director General Konstantin Nesterov told TASS.

“The company’s plans focus on – further development of the southern underground section and opening of the next horizon – 740 meters,” he said. “Thus, we shall extend the mine’s work to approximately the 2060s.”

The company did not specify the stock’s amounts. According to the Kola MMC, in 2017, the company’s geologists completed a unique project – they made a large digital model of the Severny mine. The audited all mining operations, installed new software, and all data from paper sections and plans were converted into the digital format.

COLUMN-Is there an electric accelerator to falling nickel stocks? – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – April 3, 2018)

April 3, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) – Stocks of nickel held in London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses MNI-STOCKS fell by 46,344 tonnes, or 12.6 percent, over the first quarter.

The downtrend has been running for seven consecutive months but there has been a marked acceleration since the start of January.

Cancellation activity, metal being taken off warrant in anticipation of physical load-out, has also been elevated. There were 54,294 tonnes of net new cancellations last month, most of them at the Malaysian port of Johor.

Future looks bright for Sudbury mining – by Brian Bigger (Sudbury Star – April 1, 2018)

April 3, 2018

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Brian Bigger is the Mayor of the City of Greater Sudbury.

I would like to provide an update to the community on my very productive and successful trip to Toronto for the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference at the beginning of last month.

PDAC, as always, is an opportunity for companies working in all aspects of mining to come together, showcase what they have been working on to government representatives, stakeholders and investors. This year in particular showed great signs of enthusiasm in the industry and once again Greater Sudbury’s presence was very prominent in the mining world.

In fact, more than 80 companies and organizations from Greater Sudbury were on display and approximately 750 Sudburians were in attendance. Representatives from around the world were amongst the 25,000 attendees.

Demolition of Sudbury iron ore plant to be complete by year’s end, says Vale – by Arron Pickard (Northern Ontario Business – March 26, 2018)

March 26, 2018

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Going green has many benefits, especially when it results in significant cost savings ranging in the millions. Vale will save about $6 million by recycling most of the scrap metal that will be left over once the Copper Cliff iron ore recovery plant is demolished.

The original price tag was just over $8 million, but the contractor who will demolish the facility will take the scrap metal for recycling purposes, cutting the cost down to just over $2 million, said Angie Robson, spokesperson for Vale.

Demolition work began in August 2017 and it will be completed by the end of this year, she said. The plant operated from the mid-1950s until the mid-1980s.

[Ontario] Province sets new pollution targets, but Sudbury smelters not expected to hit them – by Erik White (CBC News Sudbury – March 25, 2018)

March 26, 2018

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

The amount of sulphur dioxide that industries can pump into Ontario’s atmosphere will be dramatically reduced under new regulations set to take effect in 2023, but the environment minister says companies won’t be required to hit those targets.

The province announced last week that it will slash the annual emissions limit from 250 parts per billion to 40 parts per billion. But Environment and Climate Change Minister Chris Ballard says polluting industries, like the mining sector in Sudbury, won’t be punished if it doesn’t follow the new rules.

“We understand there are technological limits in some industries and smelting certainly is one of those where even if they were to double or triple their pollution control investments today, our experts tell us it wouldn’t perceptibly drop the sulphur dioxide emissions,” says Ballard.

Decrepit Vale plant in Sudbury coming down – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – March 20, 2018)

March 20, 2018

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

It’s been a long time coming, but Vale’s long-dormant Iron Ore Recovery Plant off Fielding Road in Copper Cliff is finally going to be taken down. No longer home to peregrine falcons, which had been using the derelict building to raise their young in recent years, the building is expected to be levelled by the end of 2018.

“The demolition actually started last August,” said Vale spokeswoman Angie Robson. “It will be completed by the end of the year.” Built in the mid 1950s to recover iron from waste material that had gone through the smelting process at the nearby Copper Cliff Smelter, the Iron Ore Recovery Plant ceased operating in the late 1980s.

Robson said the contractor doing the demolition work will use fire hoses to control dust control. It will also have air-monitoring devices on site.

London Brawl Between Pro-Putin Tycoons Tests Kremlin’s Patience – by Yuliya Fedorinova, Ilya Arkhipov and Irina Reznik (Bloomberg News – March 19, 2018)

March 20, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

They’re two of Russia’s most powerful tycoons, each with a reach that extends into Vladimir Putin’s inner sanctum, and now they’re fighting over one of the country’s most lucrative assets.

The dispute between the billionaires—Vladimir Potanin and Oleg Deripaska—runs from Arctic mines to the High Court in London. The legal proceedings provide a glimpse into the rules, written and not, that govern the vast fortunes that exist at the pleasure of the newly re-elected president.

As a British judge prepares to rule on small ownership changes that may have a big impact on Siberian metals titan Norilsk Nickel, initial signs from Kremlin insiders suggest one longtime Putin ally may have an edge over the other.

RNC’s Mark Selby dispels myths regarding nickel demand as new EV markets beckon – Henry Lazenby (Mining.com – March 14, 2018)

March 16, 2018

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Tightening long-term fundamentals for nickel are sketching a rosy picture for the stainless steel-making ingredient, as increased dependence from the burgeoning electric vehicle (EV) market adds a growing new demand stream in an already constrained supply scenario.

RNC Minerals president and CEO Mark Selby recently told an audience in Toronto that the nickel market has surprised many commentators with continued strong demand, with the recent market focus shifting to forthcoming demand from EVs in the 2020s expected to support an already robust medium and long-term picture.

According to him, stainless steel underpins an already robust nickel demand scenario. Demand for the metal had grown 5% over the last ten years, intensifying in 2016 and 2017 to more than 7% a year and creating a significant supply deficit in 2017 of more than 150 000 t, or 7% of global supply.

Vale, Glencore approve Sudbury projects – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – March 13, 2018)

March 13, 2018

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Vale and Glencore are digging deep to dig deep. Each company is committing about $700 million to develop new mines and will be using cutting-edge, automated machines to reach the ore located more than two kilometres below the surface.

Vale is going ahead with its Copper Cliff Deep project, which includes refurbishing the south shaft at the Copper Cliff complex and eventual access to an ore body beneath Kelly Lake. The first phase is pegged at $760 million.

Glencore has freed up about $900 million for Onaping Depth, a new project near Craig Mine that will burrow 2.6 km into the earth. Jean-Charles Cachon, a professor in marketing and management at Laurentian University, said the price tags for these projects are typical of the industry.