Nickel – Page 84 – Republic of Mining

In the age of fake news, making up facts is now part of the anti-mining rhetoric (The Ely Echo – July 16, 2017)

July 17, 2017

http://www.elyecho.com/

The anti-mining crowd must be getting nervous. Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN) has put together legislation to help get the PolyMet land exchange with the Forest Service completed soon. And, he’s still pushing for the feds to renew the leases for Twin Metals Minnesota.

In Ely on a barnstorming tour, Nolan accompanied Republican Representatives Gosar, Emmer and Westerman to get a first-hand look at what Twin Metals is proposing for a copper-nickel mine south of Ely.

Back in DC, the four congressmen sent a letter signed by a total of 26 members of Congress to urge the secretaries of the Department of Interior and the Department of Agriculture to rescind the federal land withdrawal proposal and renew Twin Metals’ federal leases.

U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan tries to balance mining support with work on climate change – by Maya Rao (Minneapolis Star Tribune – July 13, 2017)

July 14, 2017

http://www.startribune.com/

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan is embracing the fight against climate change in Congress even as he faces criticism from environmentalists back home for his support of local mining interests.

In a congressional hearing on Friday, the northeastern Minnesota DFLer will tout his bill to complete a land swap that would benefit the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine. Nolan also recently joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers called the Climate Solutions Caucus, and he maintains that there’s no contradiction between reducing carbon emissions and championing a mining project that has drawn opposition from a range of environmental groups.

“I am convinced beyond any doubt whatsoever that 21st-century state-of-the-art mining which is compliant with strong environmental rules and regulations, unlike the mining of the past, is part of a foundation to address global warming and reduce the carbon footprint,” Nolan said in an interview.

Life In Norilsk, A Frozen Gulag Turned Mining Town – by Emmanuel Grynszpan (World Crunch.com – January 11, 2017)

July 11, 2017

https://www.worldcrunch.com/

NORILSK — The belly of Mother Russia is most fertile 1,000 meters underground and 300 kilometers north of the polar circle. Outside, the temperature can drop as low as -60 degrees Fahrenheit. But down below, it’s warm and moist. And the walls shine. The blocks that detach themselves as bulldozers strike the stone are loaded with precious and semi-precious metals: nickel, copper, palladium and platinum.

In the “Skalista” mine, in Norilsk, monstrous machines stride along a maze of tunnels that will soon reach 2,000 meters below ground level. The sound of the machines shaving off the walls is terrible. Danger is omnipresent. “The worst thing is the fires,” explains Ivan Grinchuk, lead engineer at the mining group Komsomolsky, an affiliate of Norilsk Nickel.

This year, at least four miners have lost their lives in accidents. “What can I say? That’s how mining is. It’s the same all over the world,” says Grinchuk, who’s been working in Norilsk for 20 years. “It was a lot worse in the 1960s,” he adds. Grinchuk says the accidents are often caused by drunk workers. “When that’s the case,” he explains, “their families don’t get any compensation payments.”

Electric car growth sparks environmental concerns – by Henry Sanderson (Financial Times – July 7, 2017)

July 7, 2017

https://www.ft.com/

Tesla Motors and now Volvo may have big plans to end the addiction of drivers to fossil fuels via electric vehicles, however the environmental footprint of mining raw materials used in car batteries and their eventual disposal are emerging as a flash point.

As the mining sector presents a green face and extracts raw materials from lithium to cobalt and nickel that constitute electric batteries, so the focus on their environmental standards and energy efficient production methods will intensify. At the tail-end of the electric vehicle boom is the matter of improving the recycling of lithium-ion batteries and making sure the environmental impact is also contained.

“There will be more scrutiny over the supply chain for electric vehicles than there is from the consumer electronics industry due to the green credentials of EVs,” says Robert Baylis, an analyst at consultancy Roskill. “And recycling is probably not going to have an impact for 10 years, and may not reach significant volume for 15-30 years.”

Russia’s Nornickel in talks to supply materials for BASF’s battery plans (Reuters U.S. – June 27, 2017)

June 28, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

Russia’s mining giant Norilsk Nickel (Nornickel) (GMKN.MM) is in talks with German chemicals firm BASF (BASFn.DE) to supply raw materials needed in the process for making lithium-ion batteries in Europe in the future, they said on Tuesday.

The talks between BASF and Nornickel, the world’s second largest nickel producer and a major cobalt producer, highlight the burgeoning market for metals needed for lithium-ion batteries production as the car industry’s push towards electric vehicles gathers pace.

Nornickel and BASF said in a joint statement the talks covered “cooperation to set the foundation to supply battery cell producers for electric vehicles in Europe with regionally produced cathode materials.”

Zinc, tin, nickel, platinum evoke most optimism at Junior Indaba – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – June 8, 2017)

June 9, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – UK market intelligence firm CRU is most optimistic about the prospects for zinc, tin, nickel and, to a certain extent, platinum over a 12-month time horizon and named copper, bauxite, nickel and gold as good commodities to be in over the longer term.

CRU principal consultant Ben Jones told the Junior Indaba in Johannesburg on Thursday that he expected a divergence across bulk commodities and base metals. Jones formed part of a panel discussion led by Standard Bank mining head Sandra du Toit and participated in by Regarding Capital Management chairperson Piet Viljoen and Standard Bank mining research head Tim Clark.

Clark said heart had to be taken from the mining industry finding the bottom, after a period of cost cutting, and experiencing a rebound and a restart because the waning of supply had brought it into the present healthier state.

The federal government wants to put a national park right where it will cost First Nations mine-workers their jobs – by Joseph Quesnel (Financial Post – June 8, 2017)

June 8, 2017

A working mine pours royalties into the provincial government and supports
many other industries….A national park on top of rich ore deposits
potentially worth billions will remove a major economic development
opportunity for both indigenous communities and Manitoba.

http://business.financialpost.com/

Joseph Quesnel is a research associate with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. www.fcpp.org

Why is the federal government planning to create a national park on top of potentially lucrative nickel ore deposits in Northern Manitoba? That’s a question that local indigenous communities that stand to benefit are asking.

The Manitoba Lowlands near Grand Rapids between Lake Winnipeg and Lake Winnipegosis are designated to become a national park, according to the recent federal budget. This area includes breathtaking limestone cliffs, an aquamarine lake, very productive wetlands and a region unique in the province where four species — deer, bison, elk and moose — share the habitat.

The region has some things that need protecting. However, it is not clear why Manitoba needs a new 4,400-square-kilometre national park that will cut off economic development for the local indigenous communities.

[Ontario Mining] Sudbury’s Stobie Mine to take well-deserved ‘rest’ – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – May 31, 2017)

May 31, 2017May 31, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Stobie Mine was an important mine in Greater Sudbury’s mining history,
with an estimated 58,000 people working there over the years. During
the Second World War, the mine produced an estimated 40 per cent of the
Allied Forces’ nickel needs late in the war.

The final day of production at a 130-year-old mining complex in Sudbury on Tuesday was both a cause for celebration and a sombre moment to reflect. For 28-and-a-half-year loader /operator Wayne Beckerleg, it was the latter.

“I love this place,” said Beckerleg, who became emotional at times addressing a crowd of more than 350 co-workers, retirees, dignitaries and others at a press conference on the Stobie Mine property in New Sudbury. “We have always put our heads together, found ways to overcome, do a lot of risk analysis, found safer ways for people who came after us.

Frood-Stobie Complex supplied 40% of critical nickel supplies for Allies during World War Two. (1940s Inco Poster)

“Stobie Mine: it’s like no other mine. It’s like my second family home. You’re all like brothers and sisters here. I have enjoyed the friendships over the years … At one time, we were doing 10,000 tons of muck a day. It’d be down now. That’s real estate. That is the hand we are being dealt … You have my respect. I hope we will meet again. We will meet again.”

Vale to close nickel mine in Manitoba – by Staff (Sudbury Star – May 17, 2017)

May 17, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Vale has announced plans to close another nickel mine in Canada. In an email to employees, Vale Manitoba Operations announced that the Birchtree Mine will shift to “care and maintenance” and no longer produce nickel starting Oct. 1, resulting in 150 unionized employees and staff being laid off and another 50 jobs also being affected.

According to union officials, moving to ‘care and maintenance’ means the power and water at the mine will not be shut down but production will cease. “As you know, the nickel market continues to be challenging as inventories remain high and the price remains at an historic low, with little sign of significant recovery in the near term,” said Mark Scott, head of the company’s Manitoba Operations in an email to employees on Monday.

“This reality has caused us to review every aspect of our business. As a result we have made the difficult decision to suspend operations at our Birchtree Mine and place it on care and maintenance in the fourth quarter of 2017.”

Thompson, Manitoba mine to close in October, will put at least 150 out of work (CBC News Manitoba – May 16, 2017)

May 16, 2017

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

Falling nickel prices forced Vale to close mine, company says

A nickel mine in Thompson, Man. will be closing this fall, a representative with the United Steelworkers confirmed Tuesday. The closure of the Birchtree mine will put between 150 and 200 people out of work, USW 6166 president Les Ellsworth said.

“I certainly wasn’t expecting to hear this week that we would actually be closing the mine,” he said. “It came as a shock.” Ellsworth expected the mine to be open until at least 2020 but falling nickel prices forced mine owner Vale’s hand, he said.

Ryan Land, manager of corporate affairs for Vale in Thompson, said the company has been in a “prolonged down cycle” for some time. He added the mine was approaching the end of its life cycle as well. “We happen to be in a business where we are price takers, not price makers,” he said, referring to nickel prices.

Glencore Says Electric Car Boom Is Coming Faster Than Expected – by Jesse Riseborough (Bloomberg News – May 16, 2017)

May 16, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Glencore Plc Chief Executive Officer Ivan Glasenberg said the rise of electric cars will significantly boost demand for minerals including copper and lithium in the coming decades.

“The electric vehicle revolution is happening and its impact is likely to be felt faster than expected,” Glasenberg told investors at an industry conference in Barcelona on Tuesday. Almost all carmakers are increasing investment in electric vehicles as governments adopt tighter emissions targets, he added.

Electric vehicles require more copper wiring than standard internal combustion engines. For example, the battery in an electric car contains about 38 kilograms of copper, 11 kilograms of cobalt and 11 kilograms of nickel, according to Glencore.

Algonquins say pact with mining company vital for community’s future – by Christopher Curtis (Montreal Gazette – May 2, 2017)

May 3, 2017

http://montrealgazette.com/

For as far back as he can remember, Chief David Kistabish says there were mines on Algonquin territory. Workers came and went, companies plundered gold from the earth and, in the very worst cases, dumped their waste into the rivers that had sustained life on the territory for millennia. At no point, throughout this process, did they consult with the people whose livelihood still depended on the land, Kistabish says.

“Elders in our community tell us that, historically, the gold mine up river dumped its tailings into the water,” said Kistabish, Chief of the Abitibiwinni First Nation — a community about 600 kilometres northwest of Montreal. “They spoke about seeing beavers and other animal corpses floating along the river. It poisoned an important food source for us. That’s what mining means to them.”

Despite the history of distrust between his community and the mining industry, Kistabish announced an agreement Tuesday with RNC Minerals (formerly called Royal Nickel Corporation). Under the deal, the Algonquins of Abitibiwinni will oversee a study about the impact a nickel mine could have on their hunting and fishing grounds.

[Norilsk, Russia] Global Lenses: Diverse political films tackle war, energy and the impact of history – by Daniel Glassman (Point Of View Magazine – April 26, 2017)

May 3, 2017

http://povmagazine.com/

Three new Canadian films take on contemporary global issues through radically different lenses. Stopping off in an Arctic Russian mining city, the ruins of Basra, Iraq and a massive thermonuclear reactor in Southern France, François Jacob’s A Moon of Nickel and Ice, Ann Shin’s My Enemy, My Brother and Mila Aung-Thwin and Van Royko’s Let There Be Light investigate the entangled issues of history, war, energy and ecology from the bottom up, through intense focuses on individuals and their stories.

Quebecois director Jacob makes his feature debut with A Moon of Nickel and Ice, a multi-faceted portrait of the Siberian nickelmining city of Norilsk. Three facts about Norilsk: It’s the world’s northernmost city with over 100,000 inhabitants; it’s one of the most polluted places in the world; and it’s a “closed city”—foreigners have been banned since 2001, and it was closed to most Russians as well during the Soviet era. Norilsk Nickel’s on-site smelting facility gives the gifts of acid rain, smog and fully 1% of the world’s sulfur dioxide emissions.

You may be wondering how they got 100,000 people to move there. Answer: they forced them. Yes, Norilsk was the site of a Soviet Gulag.

NORILSK NICKEL WANTS BOTSWANA TO FORK OUT P2,5BN FOR DISHONOURED DEAL – by Staff (Sunday Standard – May 2, 2017)

May 2, 2017

http://www.sundaystandard.info/

Norilsk Nickel is seeking its “pound of flesh” to the tune of US$270 million (about P2,5 million) from the Botswana government over a botched deal by BCL to buy a 50-percent stake of its Nkomati Mine in South Africa last year.

The Russian mining giant on Thursday served notice to sue on the Minister of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security, Sadique Kebonang, and the Minister of Finance and Development Planning Kenneth Matambo and the Attorney General.

Norilsk Nickel announced on its website on Friday that it intends to sue the government of Botswana “in respect of its involvement in the reckless trading of BCL Limited and BCL Investments Proprietary Limited (together “BCL”), with a view of recovering $271 million plus damages and other costs that are owed to Norilsk Nickel in relation to the sale of a 50 percent interest in the Nkomati Mine in South Africa and $6.4 million that are owed to Norilsk Nickel in relation to the sale of the Tati Mine in Botswana.