Copper-nickel mining divides Ely [Minnesota] residents – by Dan Kraker (Minnesota Public Radio – May 31, 2013)

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/

ELY, Minn. — The polarizing divide over the future of mining around Ely will be on display this weekend, when an anti-mining group opens shop on Sheridan Street, the canoeing mecca’s main drag.

Workers in the new center, dubbed “Sustainable Ely,” will encourage tourists to take action urging President Barack Obama to protect the region’s environment from copper-nickel mining. They also want people to urge Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration to expand a mining protection zone around the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

Down the street from tourist shops like Mostly Moose and Loony’s Northwoods Emporium, the new center houses a shiny Wenonah canoe dotted with several signatures scrawled in black marker. Anti-mining activists aim to gather thousands more.

“We hope to portage this down the mall in Washington, D.C., and present it to President Obama, and ask him to protect the Boundary Waters watershed from sulfide ore mining,” said Becky Rom, a retired attorney who is among nearly 100 contributors to the center.

Although the center’s organizers see mining as a major environmental threat, many in town believe it copper-nickel mining can be done safely and jumpstart the region’s economy.

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Pebble Mine could spark economic transformation in SW Alaska – CEO – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – May 31, 2013)

http://www.mineweb.com/

The Pebble Project’s estimated $1 billion in annual operating costs “could define a new economic engine for Alaska,” says a new report commissioned by the Pebble Limited Partnership.

RENO (MINEWEB) – A study by economic analysis firm IHS Global Insight advises that development of the Pebble copper deposit “could have significant economic impacts” for the state of Alaska including $136 million to $180 million in yearly taxes and royalties, and support more than 16,000 jobs nationwide during construction including nearly 5,000 jobs in Alaska.

The study, which was commissioned by the Pebble Limited Partnership estimates that Pebble-related jobs could pay an average annual wage of $63,500 per year. “Once the mine is constructed, it could provide approximately 2,900 operating jobs, of which 915 will be at the mine,” said IHS Global Insight. Pebble workers on-site could earn approximately $109,500 per year on average with about 75% of the workers expected to be Alaska residents.

“The Pebble Limited Partnership has the potential to develop one of the most significant discoveries of copper, molybdenum, gold and silver in the world,” said the report.

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Minnesota lawmakers raise taconite tax to help pay for Iron Range school construction – by John Myers (Duluth News Tribune – May 24, 2013)

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

Minnesota’s per-ton tax on taconite iron ore produced in the state will increase a dime this year, and the extra money will be dedicated to help rebuild and retool Iron Range schools.

The taconite provision was included in the 2013 Legislature’s final omnibus tax bill, which Gov. Mark Dayton signed into law Thursday.

The per-ton tax on taconite will increase to $2.56. Half the increase is part of an annual inflationary increase — this year, about 5.3 cents per ton produced. But there’s also an additional increase of a nickel per ton.

“We’re capturing that 10.3 cents to build and rebuild facilities for schools within the taconite tax relief area,” said state Rep. Tom Anzelc, DFL-Balsam Township, who served on the House Tax Committee and helped craft the taconite tax changes. “It’s something that’s long overdue and the school districts simply can’t handle on their own.”

That money will be made available for school construction and improvement projects through bonds issued by the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board. The extra money for school construction projects won’t affect other recipients of taconite tax revenue, such as homeowners, counties, towns and city governments and the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board. They all should get about the same amount as last year out of the taconite tax pool.

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Nevada’s economy: Silver dollars (The Economist – May 18, 2013)

http://www.economist.com/

A fast-changing state leaves its mining roots behind

LAS VEGAS AND YERINGTON, NEVADA – TIM DYHR scrambles atop a mound of land in the lonely Nevada desert. “That’s where the pit mine will be,” he says, pointing towards a bland expanse of scrub. Turning his gaze to an area of desert indistinguishable from the first, he identifies the site for waste storage.

A processing facility will occupy a third plot. It is an impressive feat of visualisation. “Of course,” he chuckles, “Las Vegas used to be like this before they screwed it up.”

Mr Dyhr’s firm, Nevada Copper, hopes to build an open-pit mine near Yerington, a depressed town in the north-west of the state, though Congress must first approve the transfer of 10,000 acres of federal land. He bears no animus towards Las Vegas, a six-hour drive away. But the transformation of Nevada, and the dizzying growth of its largest city, helps explain why mining companies are feeling the political heat.

Nevada’s north, where mining is concentrated, was eclipsed by Las Vegas and the south 50 years ago. Today mining is Nevada’s ninth-biggest industry, but it remains at the core of the silver state’s identity and has been singled out for special treatment since its 1864 founding.

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Rio Tinto reports at [Eagle] mine forum – by Stephen Anderson ([Michigan] Daily Mining Gazette – May 16, 2013)

http://www.mininggazette.com/

L’ANSE – Rio Tinto representatives provided an update on the Eagle Mine, collected live electronic survey results through a community scorecard and fielded an array of questions and comments during a mining forum Wednesday night at the L’Anse American Legion Post 144.

Mine update

Matt Johnson, manager of external relations at Rio Tinto Eagle, gave a brief historical recap of the mine, starting with explorations dating back to the 1950s, the discovery of the ore body in 2002, the permit application and finalization in 2008 and 2010, respectively, and the start of underground drilling in 2011.

“We do have a goal of being in production in 2014,” he said. “A few months ago we announced a moderated schedule, so we pushed our schedule back. (Work on the Humboldt Mill) has been postponed for the time being.”

Production was originally slated to start in early 2014; now it’ll likely be toward the end of that year, but that’s not the only reason the life of the mine will extend farther.

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US House Resources Committee approves rare earths/critical minerals bills – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – May 16, 2013)

 http://www.mineweb.com/

The National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act and the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Policy Act are now headed to a vote of the U.S. House of Representations.

RENO (MINEWEB) – The House Natural Resources Committee Wednesday approved two bills aimed at the development of rare earths and critical minerals in the United States.

Approved on a 24-17 committee vote, the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013 (H.R. 761) requires the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture to more efficiently develop domestic resources of the minerals and mineral materials of strategic and critical importance to United States economic and natural security and manufacturing competitiveness.

The chief sponsor of the bill, Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nevada, seeks to limit the length of delays to permit new mining projects. The measure sets time limits for the permit review process, including a maximum of 30 months for the total review process.

The bill also stipulates that the lead agency is not required to address agency or public comments that were not submitted during the public comments period required by law or provided by the lead agency.

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The Canary in the Copper Mine (is dead) – by Laura Paskus (Santa Fe Reporter – May 14, 2013)

http://www.sfreporter.com/santafe/

How New Mexico’s copper industry wrote its own rules

Close your eyes, and picture a radical. Bill Olson is not that guy. With a neat brown beard and a fondness for western shirts and jackets, even the occasional bolo tie, he’s the quintessential water nerd. When asked, over coffee and a blueberry scone, to talk about groundwater, he actually grins. Delightedly.

In short, he’s not exactly the person you’d expect to find at the center of a controversy over New Mexico’s environmental rules. And yet, here he is.

Olson is a former bureau chief at the New Mexico Environment Department, which regulates how industry impacts the state’s natural resources. Specifically, he has worked to keep groundwater—the underground aquifers that provide most of New Mexico’s drinking water—from becoming contaminated.

“I’m passionate about groundwater and protection issues,” he says. “It’s something that’s important to me.” It’s early May, and the state has just wrapped up a few grueling weeks’ worth of hearings about a new water pollution rule for copper mines.

To industry, the new rule represents the chance to profit and create jobs in New Mexico. Others see it as an abdication of the state’s responsibility to protect groundwater—and a move to hand over the public’s water to private companies.

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Acid mine drainage ‘enormous public liability’ in perpetuity—EARTHWORKS – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – May 6, 2013)

http://www.mineweb.com/

A new report by the environmental NGO, Earthworks, proclaims acid mine drainage could generate between $57 billion to $67 billion annually in costs—a debt that future generations may shoulder.

RENO (MINEWEB) – A new study recently released by the Washington, D.C.-based environmental NGO Earthworks asserts an estimated 17 billion to 27 billion gallons of contaminated water will be generated by 40 U.S. hardrock mines annually in perpetuity. Forty-two percent of these mines are located on public lands.

“Another 13 mines are likely to generate water pollution in perpetuity, accounting for an additional 3.4 billion to 4 billion gallons of polluted water per year,” said report authors, Earthworks chief Bonnie Gestring and environmental research and science consultant, Lisa Sumi.

The proposed Pebble Mine Project—opposition of which has become a cause célèbre for environmentalists and sportsmen’s group– is among new mining projects Earthworks suggests will generate substantial water pollution.

“The primary cause of this lasting pollution—acid mine drainage—is well understood,” said the report. Acid rock drainage is mostly associated with sulfide ore deposits. “Yet, no hard rock open pit mines exist today that can demonstrate that acid mine drainage can be stopped once it occurs on a large scale,” according to Earthworks’ research.

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BHP nets $650m on sale of Arizona mine – by Allan Seccombe (Business Day – April 30, 2013)

http://www.bdlive.co.za/

BHP Billiton, the world’s largest resources group, has sold a small, noncore copper mine in Arizona and an associated railway company for $650m, bringing its sale of assets in the past year to $5bn, BHP announced on Monday.

Analysts widely expect further asset sales from Australia-based BHP after Marius Kloppers stepped down as CEO. He was replaced by Andrew Mackenzie who has said he will focus on securing profit margins and cash flows by ensuring optimal performances from the group’s assets.

BHP sold Pinto Valley and the San Manuel Arizona Railroad Company to Canada’s Capstone Mining for $650m in cash in a deal subject to regulatory approval. The transaction should be concluded in the second half of this year.

“The sale of Pinto Valley is an excellent outcome for BHP Billiton shareholders,” Peter Beaven, president of BHP Billiton Copper, said yesterday. “It is consistent with our strategy and it takes the transaction value of divestments announced over the last 12 months to $5bn.”

Analysts said the price was well above what the market was expecting and that it was no surprise BHP was selling the business because of its small size and limited remaining life.

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Copper remains strong part of Ariz. economy – by Tony Davis (Arizona Daily Star – April 28, 2013)

The Legacy of Copper Mining in Arizona Documentary

“Arizona produces more copper than any other state. This brief history shows how Arizona’s copper mining built a state and changed a nation. This documentary was sponsored by ASU, Daniel Buckley, Freeport McMoRan, Intel, Channel 8, and Resolution Copper Company and was presented to the Arizona Mining Alliance and American Copper Council in May of 2012.”

http://azstarnet.com/

Salaries in Arizona’s mines are more than twice those for the average job, says a new mining industry-financed report. When benefits are included, the average worker in the mining industry earned $108,000 a year as of 2011, says the report from Kent Hill, a research professor in economics at Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business.

The average pay and benefits for people working in mining-related jobs not directly in the industry, such as suppliers, is $80,000, he reports. The average for all Arizona workers, including benefits, is about $47,000, he says.

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Utah copper mine landslide will hurt state economy – by Paul Foy (Associated Press/Houston Chronicle – April 26, 2013)

http://www.chron.com/

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The landslide that washed over the terraced steps of a mining pit nearly a mile deep left only the tip of one giant electric-powered shovel poking out of the dirt. The rubble buried three of them, along with 14 enormous haul trucks.

Even more of Kennecott Utah Copper’s equipment lay buried under uneven piles of rubble as high as 300 feet at the bottom of the pit west of Salt Lake City.

It will take months for the major U.S. copper mine to recover from the devastating landslide, even though it had been anticipated by the company. It ran farther out than expected, burying equipment that had been staged there for a dig-out.

Yet company officials tried to sound optimistic Thursday as they opened Bingham Canyon mine to view for the first time since the April 10 slide. “There’s no doubt in my mind that there’s a future in mining here,” Kennecott Utah Copper chief Kelly Sanders said. “We’ll meet this challenge.”

Sanders said the company might be able to resume limited ore digging within days, but a full recovery could take a year. Kennecott, which will work from a stockpile, will run out of copper in months and has cut its production goal for 2013 by half. The company has asked 2,100 workers to take vacation or unpaid leave, but few are doing so yet.

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[Wyoming and Montana] Coal exports in the north-west: Dirty war (The Economist – April 20, 2013)

http://www.economist.com/

A rancorous scrap over plans to send American coal to Asia

BELLINGHAM AND SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – MITT ROMNEY’S charge that America had declared “war on coal” may not have won him last year’s presidential election. Yet this once-mighty industry is struggling, squeezed by the plummeting cost of natural gas and a torrent of tough new environmental rules.

Last year 37.4% of American electricity production came from coal, down from 48.5% in 2007. The Energy Information Administration expects a slight rise this year as gas prices begin to creep up. But further restrictions on power-station emissions are expected, and the shale revolution is marching on. If coal has a future, it is surely elsewhere.

For many, that means Asia. Demand for coal imports is growing in post-Fukushima Japan, as it decreases its reliance on nuclear power; in India, where domestic supplies cannot keep up with the growing economy; and, most tantalisingly, in China, which burns almost half the world’s coal, and which became a net importer of the stuff in 2009.

Such facts make mouths water in the Powder River Basin, straddling Wyoming and Montana (see map), where more than 40% of America’s coal is mined. Some already makes its way to Asia, mainly via Canadian ports. But exporters want to build four new terminals on the western shores of the United States—two apiece in Oregon and Washington—to send up to 130m tonnes more a year.

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Anglo American to spend $80 million advancing proposed Pebble Mine – by Laurel Andrews (Alaska Dispatch – April 22, 2013)

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/

The Pebble Partnership plans to spend $80 million this year on advancing its proposed mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay.

The proposed Pebble Mine, 200 miles southwest of Anchorage, is estimated to hold 81 billion pounds of copper, 107 million ounces of gold and 5 billion pounds of molybdenum, and is said to be one of the largest such deposits in the world. However, the location of the proposed massive open-pit mine — near the breeding grounds of the fertile Bristol Bay salmon fishery — has led to intense scrutiny by opponents of the mine who say it would damage salmon streams that are important both commercially and culturally to the region.

The Pebble Partnership is 50-50 venture between global mining companies Anglo American and Northern Dynasty. Last year, the Pebble Partnership spent $107 million on preparing the permit application for the proposed mine. To date, the partnership has spent $680 million steering the project toward development.

The $80 million spent this year will come from Anglo American, due to the way the joint venture is structured, said Mike Heatwole, Pebble Partnership spokesperson. This year’s funds will be spent with the goal of developing an overall project description and toward initiating the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) permit process.

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New center in Ely will fight copper mining – by John Myers (Duluth News Tribune – April 21, 2013)

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

Just down the road from the offices of the Twin Metals copper mining company, a group of Ely business people are about to open a new “action center” on the city’s main street aimed at persuading those who drop in to take action against copper mining.

Just down the road from the offices of the Twin Metals copper mining company, a group of Ely business people are about to open a new “action center” on the city’s main street aimed at persuading those who drop in to take action against copper mining.

A fundraiser last week for the new “Sustainable Ely” center drew 65 people, mostly area residents and business people who say that the risk of environmental damage caused by copper mining in the Boundary Waters watershed isn’t worth the promised jobs and economic boost.

“We’ve got a good start. We raised $4,500 already for this grass-roots effort,” said Steve Piragis, an Ely canoe outfitter who’s helping organize the effort. “This is an idea we’ve had for a couple years. Now we have the energy and the building to do it.”

The new center underscores the chasm in Ely and across the Northland between residents who support copper mining jobs coming to town and those who want to keep the new kind of mining out of northern Minnesota.

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UPDATE 2-Rio Tinto unit says Bingham Canyon slide worse than expected – by Reuters U.S. (April 12, 2013)

http://www.reuters.com/

April 12 (Reuters) – A landslide at Rio Tinto’s Bingham Canyon mine in Utah extended further into the pit than predicted, and there was greater damage to equipment than previously estimated, Rio’s Kennecott unit said on Friday.

Kennecott Utah Copper, which operates the mine that is near Salt Lake City, said it had not yet determined the impact of the slide, which occurred late on Wednesday, or a time frame for resuming mining operations.

Photos published by Salt Lake City’s Deseret News show debris extending from the top of the massive pit mine to its floor, slicing through terraced roads and burying trucks.

“The size of the slide was significant,” the company said in an emailed statement. “We don’t have information yet regarding the magnitude or impact. We do know that the flow into the pit extended beyond the scenarios we forecasted, having a greater impact on equipment.”

The company said on Thursday that all employees were accounted for and safe. In its latest statement, Kennecott said there had been some damage to equipment and to a building structure in the mine. It said experts had not been granted access to the mine.

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