United States Mining – Page 123

Last U.S. Lead Smelter Closes Toxic History in Ore-Rich Missouri – by Tim Jones (Bloomberg News – December 23, 2013)

January 3, 2014

http://www.bloomberg.com/

When the St. Joseph Lead Co. finished work on its 350-foot smoke stack in 1892, the mining company’s pact with tiny Herculaneum, Missouri, was sealed. The town would enjoy more than a century of good-paying jobs while the plant belched sulfur-laced emissions.

Three decades after discovering the town’s blessing was life-threatening, its toxic partnership ends next week when the largest and last lead smelter in the U.S. shuts down.

The Dec. 31 closing of the smelter on the west bank of the Mississippi River, south of St. Louis, marks the end of an era in a region that has supplied most of the nation’s lead since the 1700s. Almost always, the roads and rails from the mines in southeast Missouri’s lead belt ran to Herculaneum.

“Never thought it would go away,” said Herculaneum Mayor Bill Haggard, nodding toward the smelter whose stack is now 550 feet tall, about the height of the Washington Monument. While lead mining continues in Missouri, the halt of smelting echoes the economics that contributed to the decline of high-sulfur coal excavation in the Midwest.

Americans’ appetite for bling on fire as gold prices sink – by Frank Tang (Reuters U.S. – December 23, 2013)

December 24, 2013

http://www.reuters.com/

NEW YORK – (Reuters) – Tumbling gold prices, growing consumer confidence and aggressive discounting by retailers have Americans flocking to jewelers’ counters this holiday shopping season.

The U.S. gold jewelry industry is on track for its highest sales for the fourth quarter since 2010 and its first annual increase in gold sales in more than a decade, precious metal consultant Thomson Reuters GFMS has estimated.

“I always look for the price of gold in the news and pay attention to discounts and deals,” John Mora Gonzalez, a 31-year-old mechanic in New York, said after purchasing a necklace for his wife for Christmas. Mora had spotted J.C. Penney Co Inc’s 20-percent discount on fine jewelry, and paid $40 for a 10-karat gold necklace.

Gold prices have plunged almost a third this year, halting a 12-year run of gains. Bullion lost favor with institutional and retail investors as they braced for the U.S. Federal Reserve to reduce its monthly $85 billion bond-buying program, moving funds to equities and other riskier assets.

Renewed consumer appetite for gold is unlikely to counteract the lack of investment dollars and reverse the downward trend for prices.

Lawsuit filed in Washington state claims B.C. [Teck] smelter’s toxins caused disease – by Dene Moore (Canadian Press/Vancouver Sun – December 21, 2013)

December 23, 2013

http://www.vancouversun.com/index.html

A Washington state woman has filed a class-action lawsuit against Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B), claiming toxic pollutants from the company’s smelter in southeastern British Columbia are to blame for her breast cancer diagnosis and other health ailments.

Barbara Anderson is a longtime resident of Northport, Wash., a small community about 30 kilometres south of Teck’s lead and zinc smelter in Trail.

The lawsuit filed in the Eastern District Court says Anderson was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 and inflammatory bowel disease in 2010.

“Teck negligently, carelessly and recklessly generated, handled, stored, treated, disposed of and failed to control and contain the metals and other toxic substances at the Trail smelter, resulting in the release of toxic substances and exposure of plaintiff and the proposed class,” says the claim, filed Thursday.

US mining giant faces fight with Indonesia – by Olivia Rondonuwu (The West Australian – December 23, 2013)

December 23, 2013

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/

High in the snow-capped mountains, the sight of tribesmen roaming in loincloths contrasts sharply with that of miners using hi-tech machinery to extract gold and copper ore at a huge US-owned facility in remote Indonesia.

The heavily-guarded complex is the resource-rich Indonesia’s biggest mine and has been a controversial presence for more than five decades — accused of environmental devastation and extracting huge wealth while giving too little back to a poverty-wracked area.

On a rare visit by the foreign media to Freeport McMoRan’s Grasberg complex in Papua province, AFP saw first-hand the challenge of mining at one of the world’s biggest gold and copper mines, where thin oxygen makes it difficult for workers to breathe.

Now, the company faces a fight with the state as it looks to extend its contract at a time when emboldened politicians are taking aim at foreign miners with measures forcing them to leave more of their profits in the country.

Indonesia is transforming into a freewheeling democracy and booming economy, with mining firms among foreign companies under scrutiny in what critics say is a climate of rising economic nationalism.

Taconite future looking bright in 2014, 2015 – by John Myers (Duluth News Tribune – December 17, 2013)

December 17, 2013

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

Minnesota’s taconite iron ore producers will make less product in 2013 than they did in 2012, but the downturn looks to be brief.

It appears 2013 will end up with about 38.9 million tons produced and shipped from the Iron Range, according to state estimates. That’s down about 2 percent from 39.7 million tons produced in 2012, said Bob Wagstrom, who tracks taconite production for the Minnesota Department of Revenue.

Most of the difference was spurred by a million-ton drop in production at Cliffs Natural Resources’ Northshore Mining, which idled two production lines for most of 2013 after losing a customer. Some of that loss was buffered by an increase at U.S. Steel’s Minntac plant in Mountain Iron, Wagstrom said, and by continued increasing production by Magnetation, which has several small plants that recover useable ore from old mine waste sites.

“With the exception of Northshore, everybody was right at last year or even a little up for this year,” Wagstrom said. Northshore officials already have announced that they will restart their idled lines in 2014, boosting production. And Wagstrom said that with continued incremental increases by Magnetation and Mesabi Nugget — the state’s first iron nugget plant near Hoyt Lakes — taxable production could total about 40 million tons in 2014, a level not seen since 2000.

Minnesota’s grandfather of copper mining Lehmann dies at 84 – by John Myers (Duluth News Tribune – December 17, 2013)

December 17, 2013

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

Ernie Lehmann, sometimes called the grandfather of copper mining in Minnesota and a tireless promoter of the region’s vast mineral wealth, has died. Jim Kiehne, a business associate, said Lehmann died peacefully in his home Friday from congestive heart failure. He was 84.

Lehmann has been prospecting for, researching and promoting Northeastern Minnesota’s mineral wealth for more than a half-century, especially focusing on the Duluth Complex and its deposits of copper, nickel, gold, platinum and other valuable metals.

“For those of you in the industry who knew his incredible drive and passion for his work, you will not be surprised to know that he was following the recent developments in northern MN and active in helping with business decisions up until the last few days of his life,” said Kate Lehmann, Ernie’s daughter and business partner, in a statement. “This is a great loss to the industry as well as our family. We will send you information about a memorial service after plans are finalized. We expect to wait until after the holidays.”

Lehmann was born in Germany, but came to the U.S. with his parents at the outset of World War II. He earned a geology degree from Williams College and has worked out of an office in Minneapolis since 1958.

Wyoming uranium miners look to capitalize on end of Russian exchange program – by Benjamin Storrow (Casper Star-Tribune – December 15, 2013)

December 16, 2013

http://trib.com/

It is hard to imagine, staring out into the expanse of the Great Divide Basin, how events in Russia could shape the future of the Lost Creek uranium mine.

The closest town, Bairoil (pop. 106), is some 30 miles of bumpy dirt road away. The Wind River Mountains to the west and Green Mountain to the east offer the only break on the horizon, an otherwise unabated sea of rolling sagebrush. And the sole inhabitants, besides the bands of roving wild horses, are the Lost Creek miners themselves, though to call them miners is slightly disingenuous. Lost Creek is more oil field than it is mine, and those that work here are far more likely to tap a keyboard than wield a pickax.

But as unlikely as it may seem, this isolated facility in south-central Wyoming is inextricably linked to the land of Catherine the Great, Lenin and, more recently, Vladimir Putin.

Lost Creek began production in June. On Dec. 3 the mine made its first shipment of yellowcake uranium to a conversion facility in Illinois. A few weeks prior, on the other end of the globe, the final shipment of weapons-grade uranium was packed into a shipping container in St. Petersburg and sent via boat to Baltimore.

PolyMet mining project tears at DFL unity – by Baird Helgeson (Minneapolis Star Tribune – December 15, 2013)

December 16, 2013

http://www.startribune.com/

A copper mine that could provide hundreds of high-paying jobs on the Iron Range also is threatening to crack the fragile alliance of blue-collar Democrats up north and the environmentalists that are an influential part of Minnesota DFL’s base.

Iron Range Democrats are looking to the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine as a way to rejuvenate an area rocked by years of declining mining employment. But such mines also have a long history of pollution in other states and countries, and some have warned that a mine expected to last 20 years could result in centuries of cleanup.

All sides are closely watching as Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration faces a crucial decision on the project that could come near the election.

At risk is a political coalition that has made good on a string of high-profile DFL priorities like same-sex marriage, higher taxes for the rich and expanded union influence around the state. Dayton is depending on that same coalition to help him press for a second term and keep the state House in DFL hands.

Florence [Arizona] scoffs at mining company’s claim – by Christina Sampson (Casa Grande Dispatch – December 13, 2013)

December 13, 2013

http://www.trivalleycentral.com/casa_grande_dispatch/

Town manager calls Florence Copper’s filing ‘grandstanding’

FLORENCE — A claim for $403 million by Florence Copper, the company that wants to build an in-situ copper mine on 1,182 acres it owns off Hunt Highway, was termed “grandstanding” by Assistant Town Manager Jess Knudson in a Tuesday press release.

“The only reason to file a $403 million notice of claim to say you have a right to compensation in that amount is to grab a headline,” Knudson said in the statement.

In October, Florence filed a lawsuit in Pinal County Superior Court seeking a declaratory judgment that Florence Copper has no historic right to mine the land. Florence Copper responded to the town’s action by filing a compensation claim for the fair market value of the land based on an appraisal by Deloitte LLP, a third-party accounting and financial firm.

If the court rules that a historic right to mine does exist on the land, the town plans to condemn the land and take it by eminent domain. However, should that occur the town would have to pay just compensation for the land as determined in court.

Black Hills are lined with gold – by Russell Noble (Canadian Mining Journal – December 2013)

December 12, 2013

Russell Noble is the editor for the Canadian Mining Journal, Canada’s first mining publication.

Historic U.S. gold belt offers new opportunities for Canadian miners

With a name like “Holy Terror,” one can only speculate what the founders of this mine in The Black Hills of South Dakota were thinking when they named it in the late 1890s?

Even to this day, visitors to the Keystone area of the historic mining communities in the famed Black Hills still wonder where the name came from and why was the mine tagged with such a menacing monicker?

Sketchy historical documents and old wives’ tales* spell out some of the myths behind the name but nevertheless, the mine is real and the name lives on as a legally registered claim with the U.S. Bureau of Mines.

The Holy Terror Mine is located in the Keystone Mining District of the Black Hills, about 35 km southwest of Rapid City and is one of no fewer than a dozen high-grade mines that formed a chain along the historical Keystone gold belt. Mining in the Keystone district dates back to 1874, with the most notable deposit being the famous Homestake Mine which produced nearly 40 million ounces of gold, making it the richest, deepest and most successful gold mine in U.S. history.

Cross-border miners are great neighbours – by Russell Noble (Canadian Mining Journal – December 2013)

December 12, 2013

Russell Noble is the editor for the Canadian Mining Journal, Canada’s first mining publication.

Canada and U.S. relations is a topic that’s usual pretty boring because rarely does anything of interest come from this long and humdrum relationship. In fact, not since the War of 1812 and the Americans’ failed invasion of our country has there been anything remotely close to either country being a real ‘threat’ to the other.

Sure there’s the proposed Keystone pipeline that is viewed by some Americans as a potential threat to their lands along its route, and then there’s our gasoline that some major retailers have boycotted because of its ‘mis-perceived’ high lead content, but overall, nothing done or produced on either side of the border is seriously worth worrying about.

Unlike too many other parts of the world where neighbours are blowing each other to bits, the relationship between Canada and the United States is friendly with an “open-for-business” attitude. Sure, both countries have their own peculiari¬ties when it comes to people, permits and properties but for the most part, mining is mining on both sides of the border.

Canada and the U.S. contain some of the more prolific mines found anywhere on earth and thanks to both countries practicing open-door policies, mining companies are pretty much free to come and go as they please.

Tech could change face of mining jobs at Resolution Copper – by Jack Fitzpatrick (Tucson Sentinel – December 12, 2013)

December 12, 2013

http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/

Cronkite News Service – The small town of Superior has pinned its livelihood to copper, silver and gold mines for more than a century, but never has it had a prospect like this.

The proposed Resolution Copper mine near this struggling town could be the most productive copper mine in North America, promising $61.4 billion in economic activity over its nearly 60-year life and 1,400 mining jobs at the peak of production.

But those jobs are not likely to be the jobs that built Superior and other towns in Arizona’s historic Copper Corridor, where culture and economies are closely tied to the copper-mining industry. The generations of traditional mining experience in Superior may not be of much use as Resolution, like mines around the world, turns to robotics.

“We’ve reached a new world when it comes to mining,” said Thomas Power, an economics professor at the University of Montana who wrote a report for opponents of the mine.

Arizona is part of that new world, with the copper industry becoming markedly less labor-intensive in recent decades.

Our view: Input critical to ensure safe mining – Duluth News Tribune Editorial (December 10, 2013)

December 11, 2013

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

The last time a massive report dropped to detail just how copper-nickel mining could be done on the Iron Range in accordance with strict state and federal environmental laws and standards, it got blasted. The largest environmental agency in the land, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, led the way, saying PolyMet’s plans for a type of mining with a less-than-stellar track record could lead to “adverse environmental impacts” on Northeastern Minnesota. Others weren’t as kind with their language or criticism.

So what was called a “Draft Environmental Impact Statement,” or DEIS, went back for more work, more thought, and better, safer plans — just as it should have. The lengthy environmental-review process was working and working well, helping to ensure, in the end, a project that’s safe, lawful and sensitive to the environment and an industry with hundreds of good-paying jobs and a multibillion-dollar boon for our region.

Nearly three years later, another massive report has dropped, an updated report, this one called a “Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement, or SDEIS.

At summit, Eastern Kentucky leaders look to Minnesota for ideas to renew economy – by Bill Estep and John Cheves (Lexington Herald-Leader – December 9, 2013)

December 10, 2013

http://www.kentucky.com/

PIKEVILLE — Leaders grappling with a painful downturn in coal jobs in Eastern Kentucky got a primer Monday on how another state dealt with a similar collapse in its mining region.

The situation 30 years ago in the iron-ore belt in northeastern Minnesota was dire. Mining jobs dropped by more than 60 percent in 18 months and people started moving out, at times stopping by the bank on the way out of town to drop off keys to houses and cars they couldn’t pay for, said Joe Sertich, a former community-college president in the region known as the Iron Range.

The Eastern Kentucky coalfield has been similarly battered by layoffs. The coal industry has cut 6,000 jobs since mid-2011, with some counties losing more than half the jobs that were once the bulwark of their economy.

Sertich spoke Monday at a daylong summit in Pikeville called Shaping Our Appalachia Region, or SOAR. U.S. Rep Hal Rogers, R-Somerset, and Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, set up the summit to generate ideas to diversify the economy of Eastern Kentucky.

State releases long-awaited impact statement for PolyMet mine, opens public comment period – by Josephine Marcotty (Minneapolis Star Tribune – December 7, 2013)

December 10, 2013

http://www.startribune.com/

State regulators unveiled their forecast Friday of the way Minnesota’s first copper mine would affect the air, water and lives of people in northeastern Minnesota, a document that is expected to escalate an already polarizing debate about what could be a new era of mining in the most beautiful and untouched part of the state.

The release of the environmental impact statement, a dense, 2,200-page document that took five years and cost $22 million, sets the stage for a 90-day public comment period starting Dec. 14 and, potentially, for a much larger debate over Minnesota’s future.

PolyMet Mining Corp., which promises a $650 million investment and 300 to 360 jobs over 20 years, is only the first of many companies lining up to tap one of the world’s largest untouched deposits of copper, nickel and other precious metals lying beneath the forests and lakes of northeast Minnesota. Many on both sides of the issue say the debate in the coming months, which is expected to generate tens of thousands of public comments, will influence how and whether copper mining in the state becomes a reality.