Nickel – Page 75 – Republic of Mining

[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.

Vale says no new jobs to come with $760M Copper Cliff mine expansion (CBC News Sudbury – March 08, 2018)

March 9, 2018

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

$760 million to expand Copper Cliff Mine over next 4 years

Vale announced this week that it’s making a big investment in Sudbury, while at the same looking to trim millions from its global nickel operations. The company is spending $760 million dollars over the next four years to expand Copper Cliff Mine.

The project, which some have called Copper Cliff Deep, will see the area between the north and south shafts mined, while at the same time giving the company future access to an ore body beneath Kelly Lake.

But Vale’s vice-president of corporate affairs and communications Cory McPhee says not to expect a round of new hiring. “It’s not necessarily creating new jobs as much as it is sustaining jobs that are existing today.

Commentary: Why electric vehicles could fracture the nickel market – by Andy Home (Reuters U.K. – March 8, 2018)

March 9, 2018

https://uk.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – China’s Ministry of Finance made some minor but significant tweaks to its nickel import tariffs at the start of this year.

The import duty on melting-grade nickel cathode was doubled from 1 percent to 2 percent, while that on nickel sulphate was cut from 5.5 percent to 2 percent. Why the differentiation?

The reason is that nickel sulphate is a form of the metal highly suited to the production of precursor battery materials. China, already a leader in the electric vehicle (EV) battery sector, is evidently laying the ground for stimulating imports of nickel in the most readily usable composition for lithium-ion battery processing.

UPDATE 2-Russia’s Nornickel sees rising battery demand boosting nickel use – by Polina Devitt (Reuters U.S. – March 6, 2018)

March 7, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

MOSCOW, March 6 (Reuters) – Russian mining firm Norilsk Nickel said on Tuesday rising use of batteries in electric vehicles would create strong demand for nickel from the 2020s.

Nornickel, which vies with Brazil’s Vale SA to be the world’s biggest nickel producer, said the battery industry would use more than 500,000 tonnes a year of the metal by 2025.

It said this “equals almost half of the current consumption of Class 1 nickel”, referring to the highest quality nickel that is now mainly used as an ingredient to produce stainless steel.

The Oligarchs’ Feud That Will Affect Electric Cars – by Yuliya Fedorinova (Bloomberg News – March 5, 2018)

March 6, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Russian billionaires are feuding over control of a giant natural-resource business that dates back to the Soviet era. So far, so Russia.

What makes the battle for MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC more important than typical business maneuvering is that it will affect development of one of the largest deposits of nickel and cobalt, which are used in batteries for goods including iPads and Tesla cars.

1. Who is feuding?

Vladimir Potanin and Oleg Deripaska, the two billionaires battling for control of Nornickel (as the company is known), have opposing strategies for its future. Potanin, the company’s chief executive officer and the second-richest Russian, wants to expand the business and develop new deposits to maintain its position in the industry.

Glencore, Vale approve C1.8 billion in mine development spending for Sudbury – by Norm Tollinsky (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – March 1, 2018)

March 2, 2018March 2, 2018

http://www.sudburyminingsolutions.com/

Copper Cliff and Onaping Depth projects underway

Vale and Glencore’s Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations have received board approval for major mine development projects in the Sudbury Basin.

Following several delays attributable to low commodity prices, Vale is proceeding with a C$760 million phase one development of its Copper Cliff Deep project, while Glencore is moving ahead with a C$900 million development of Onaping Depth.

Both projects are being undertaken to replace declining production from established mines.

“I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone that most of our mines are facing declining production profiles,” said Vale’s Dave Stefanuto, vice-president, capital projects for the North Atlantic. “We need to find replacement volumes of ore, so we’re starting to focus more on what we can do to start supplementing these declining orebodies. In the last few years, we spent a lot of time focusing on our surface plants, including the $1 billion Clean AER project. We’ve invested enough in our surface facilities. Now we have to feed them because they’re no good if they’re running empty.”

What happens when ‘kingmaker’ Eric Sprott backs your penny mining stock – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – March 1, 2018)

March 1, 2018

http://business.financialpost.com/

The billionaire investor has injected $10 million in a company exploring for nickel in B.C.’s Golden Triangle — an area that has been mined for a century without much nickel ever being found

One Friday afternoon not so many months ago, Canadian billionaire Eric Sprott was sitting in a leather wingback chair in a dimly lit room, talking about a junior mining company that he just can’t stop investing in.

The company, Garibaldi Resources Corp., is in the earliest stages of exploring for nickel in British Columbia’s Golden Triangle, an area that has been relentlessly explored and mined for a century without much nickel ever being found.

Nevertheless, Sprott was enamoured: He compared the area to Voisey’s Bay, also a nickel deposit, and likely the largest metal discovery in Canada in the past 40 years. That find has turned out to be worth billions of dollars.
“It just keeps coming together,” Sprott said about Garibaldi, turning to an interviewer on his left during a video that will be posted on YouTube. That Garibaldi has never had any revenue passes without comment.

Vale aims to cut nickel output costs as world glut looms – by Marta Nogueira and Alexandra Alper (Reuters U.S. – February 28, 2018)

March 1, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazil’s Vale, the world’s no. 1 nickel producer, plans to save well over $150 million by reducing costs across its nickel operations, which have notched positive cash flow for the past two months, company executives said on Wednesday.

As the miner strives to diversify away from its massive iron ore presence, it is aiming for base metals to account for at least 30 percent of its financial results by the end of 2019. Last year, base metals stood at about 14 percent of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).

“I hope that the 30 percent estimate turns out to be conservative in terms of the share that base metals have in Vale’s results,” Chief Executive Officer Fabio Schvartsman said in a conference call with analysts, a day after the company reported a 47 percent jump in fourth-quarter earnings.

Vale CEO eyes first quarter results in line with fourth quarter (Reuters U.S. – February 28, 2018)

February 28, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazilian miner Vale should achieve results in the first quarter that are similar to those in the final three months of 2017, the chief executive officer of the world’s top iron ore producer said on Wednesday.

In a conference call after the company reported a nearly 50 percent jump in profit in the fourth quarter, Fabio Schvartsman said the similar financial performance would come despite what is usually a weaker January to March period.

“In terms of Vale’s overall performance for the first quarter of 2018, despite the fact that admittedly the first quarter is seasonally weaker, we still expect to deliver results substantially in line with fourth-quarter results last year,” he said.

‘THIS IS A SIGN OF HOPEFULNESS. WE AREN’T DEAD YET.’ – by Leah Ryan (Mesabi Daily News – February 28, 2018)

February 28, 2018

http://www.virginiamn.com/

AURORA — Headlines seen in the Mesabi Daily News over the years, dating back about two decades, document the sometimes-turbulent progress of PolyMet. As early up and downs of the NorthMet project mirrored the cyclical mining industry, few thought it would take this long to get to this point.

What has never been turbulent is the support PolyMet has received from Iron Rangers who depend on mining jobs to support their families. Now, as the reality of the PolyMet project draws even closer, opinions and fortunes on the East Range are proving to be ever optimistic.

“We are being rewarded for extreme patience,” commented Aurora City Councilor Douglas Gregor. “I would not have been as enthusiastic if the agencies hadn’t done what they have … We have a highly environmentally regulated state which has encouraged the mining companies to become environmentally conscious. With both environmental consciousness and the economic stimulation, this project is incredible.”