Vale – Page 66 – Republic of Mining

Plan aims to spur cleanup of old mine sites – by Darren MacDonald (Sudbury Northern Life – June 04, 2013)

June 5, 2013

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Staff report recommends extending brownfield strategy to include hundreds of abandoned mines

The city is considering a plan to extend its award-winning brownfield strategy to encourage the rehabilitation of hundreds of former mine sites in Greater Sudbury.

A brownfield is the term used to describe land that has been used for industrial or commercial purposes and needs to be rehabilitated before it can be used again.

They present a unique challenge for cities, particularly when landowners fall into tax arrears. Municipalities are reluctant to take ownership of the land, because they could be on the hook for cleanup costs.

“Tax arrears, absentee property owners, real or perceived contamination and capital-intensive remediation costs can deter interest and investment in brownfields,” a staff report on the issue says.

The strategy, passed in 2011, offers a series of incentives for landowners to rehabilitate the properties. For example, the city could forgo property taxes for up to three years to help offset cleanup costs.

Argentines hope Lula will pull off miracle on Vale potash mine – by By Samantha Pearson (Financial Times – June 2, 2013)

June 4, 2013

http://www.ft.com/home/us

It was an unnerving sight for Vale’s investors. Dressed in a traditional Andean poncho, Brazil’s former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was pictured in Argentina in May discussing the future of the miner’s suspended potash project.

“We are trying to make the venture viable and he seemed open to the idea,” Francisco Pérez, the governor of Argentina’s Mendoza province where the mine is based, said after their meeting.

The visit came less than a month after President Dilma Rousseff also flew to Argentina to discuss the matter, raising concerns that Vale, the world’s second-biggest miner by volumes, is facing growing political pressure to maintain the cash-draining project.

Vale’s Rio Colorado venture was set to be one of the biggest foreign capital investments in Argentina, turning Brazil’s neighbour into a top supplier of potash – the potassium compounds that Brazilian farms so desperately need as fertiliser.

However, after spending $2.5bn completing more than 40 per cent of the project, which includes a port terminal as well as 790km of railway, Vale officially suspended it in March. Rampant inflation and exchange rate controls in Argentina have made the venture commercially unviable, Vale says, almost doubling its cost to $11bn from initial estimates.

Vale’s vale of tears in Mozambique (MSN Money Canada – May 22, 2013)

May 23, 2013

http://ca.msn.com/?rd=1&ucc=CA&dcc=CA&opt=0

Labor disruptions, flooding and infrastructure problems will mean a substantial reduction in coal exports.

Vale has announced a 30% reduction in its 2013 target for coal exports out of its Moatize mine in Mozambique. The target has been reduced from 4.9 million tonnes planned earlier to 3.4 million tonnes. The revision follows incidents of labor disruptions and heavy flooding, which rendered its railway line temporarily unusable. Infrastructural limitations in Mozambique continue to pose a challenge to Vale, hampering its ability to get the coal produced from pit to port.

The reduction in export volumes, combined with falling coking coal prices in the international market, will impact revenues negatively. However, since the coal division constitutes just 2% to 2.5% of the company’s total gross operating revenues, the overall impact is expected to be muted. On the other hand, the news exposes the fragility of Vale’s Mozambican business and the significant challenges it faces to diversify away from its iron ore business.

Infrastructure bottlenecks are the topmost concern of coal miners operating in Mozambique. Both the government and the private sector have been executing various projects to expand and build new railway lines and ports, but infrastructure will take time to reach satisfactory levels. In 2012, Vale had to cut down its initial export targets by half due to infrastructure issues.

Birchtree Mine dodges a bullet: Vale says ‘care and maintenance’ no longer scheduled for August – by John Barker (Thompson Citizen – May 9, 2013)

May 13, 2013

The Thompson Citizen, which was established in June 1960, covers the City of Thompson and Nickel Belt Region of Northern Manitoba. The city has a population of about 13,500 residents while the regional population is more than 40,000. editor@thompsoncitizen.net

Reprieve comes less than four months before mine faced being mothballed

Birchtree Mine, which opened in 1968, is “no longer scheduled to be placed on care and maintenance in August,” Lovro Paulic, vice-president for Vale’s Manitoba Operations, told employees in an internal Manitoba Operations update circulated Monday. The company had announced last Oct. 18 care and maintenance was being considered for Birchtree Mine in 10 months time, leaving Thompson in a state of suspended animation of sorts over the last seven months. The mine was previously on care and maintenance from 1977 to 1989. The current life of mine plan anticipates closure of Birchtree Mine at some point in the next 10 years.

Vale, which is trying to find $100 million in cost savings at its Manitoba Operations in Thompson to help bring its cost per metric tonne for finished nickel to under US$10,000, says they have achieved 90 per cent of that goal over the last eight months – a cost savings of $90 million with $10 million still to go. The reprieve for Birchtree Mine is “as a direct result of our collective efforts” to achieve that cost savings, Paulic wrote to employees.

Vale is also looking to “secure a strategic investor” to more quickly develop its 1-D Lower ore body, a project first announced almost eight years ago on Aug. 19, 2005, and studied for close to a decade before that to determine if it could be mined profitably.

2013 Vale Medal Awarded to Jon Baird – Advocate for a united state of mining – by Elise Dyck

May 8, 2013

http://www.cim.org/en.aspx

The Vale Medal is presented as a mark of distinction and recognition to the person who has made a meritorious and practical contribution of outstanding importance to the mining and metallurgical industry of Canada.

“In recognition of his many years of service in the Canadian mining industry, of his long-time leadership of CAMESE, and of his volunteer work with CIM and other leading mining associations.”

Jon Baird, managing director of the Canadian Association of Mining Equipment and Services for Export (CAMESE), started his career in the mining industry in Canada’s North, working as a field geophysicist. He transferred to the business side of the industry and, almost 50 years later, has worked all around the world, marketing and developing supply chains. Baird’s travel experience has allowed him to see diverse places and people and to face various issues in the mining industry. It also enabled him to understand the vital role collaboration and communication play in the industry’s success.

“It is important how the Canadian mining industry collectively tackles problems that affect everyone,” says Baird. “The mining industry in Canada is very balkanized, due to factors such as geography, natural resources falling under different provincial jurisdictions, and distinct professional associations and advocacy groups working separately on different issues.” Baird saw value in encouraging cooperation among Canada’s mining industry players – companies and associations — and started to play a leadership role in making it happen.

Antam, Vale back on their feet due to increased sales volume – by Raras Cahyafitri (Jakarta Post – May 01 2013)

May 1, 2013

http://www.thejakartapost.com/

Listed nickel miners PT Aneka Tambang and PT Vale Indonesia are reporting increased net profits in the first quarter of the year due to higher sales volumes offsetting price pressure.

Aneka Tambang (Antam) reported booking Rp 462.43 billion (US$47 million) in net profits in the first three months of the year, up from Rp 379.19 billion in the same period last year, while Vale recorded $31.5 million in net profits, up 728 percent from $3.8 million.

“In the first quarter, our export volume of nickel ore increased and gold sales also rose, although their prices were almost similar to last year,” outgoing Antam president director Alwinsyah Lubis said after the company’s annual general meeting of shareholders on Tuesday.

Antam also reported that its sales volume for gold in the first quarter was up 63 percent to 93,526 troy ounces. Meanwhile, the firm’s gold sales were Rp 1.55 trillion, up 71 percent year-on-year, contributing 46.5 percent to Antam’s total revenues of Rp 3.34 trillion during the January-to-March period, up 35.5 percent from Rp 2.46 trillion in the same period last year.

Antam’s sales of nickel ore contributed about 33 percent of toal revenues, or Rp 1.12 trillion in the first three months of the year, up 67 percent compared to Rp 662 billion year-on-year, according to the company’s financial report.

Labour legend [Homer Seguin] laid to rest – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 30, 2013)

April 30, 2013

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

United Steelworkers international president Leo Gerard won’t speak of Homer Seguin in the past tense. Seguin, 79, died last week suffering from diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for years, and a short battle with lung cancer.

His work and his memory won’t be forgotten any time soon. “Homer is my friend, not was my friend,” Gerard told family and friends at Seguin’s funeral Monday at St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church in Azilda.

“Homer is the friend of working men and women all over Canada,” not just today, but into the future. The pioneering work Seguin did with United Steelworkers in health and safety in the workplace and occupational disease will one day save the lives of people who haven’t even been born yet, Gerard told the congregation.

Gerard worked all of his union career with Seguin, who started with Inco at 15 in its notorious sintering plant. While he only worked there seven months, fellow USW occupational disease activist, Johnny Gagnon, 85, said it was exposure to nickel oxide and asbestos there that eventually led to his friend’s death.

Seguin moved up through the union movement, serving as president of USW Local 6500 and director, and Gerard recalled working with his friend in contract negotiations with Vale.

‘One death one too many’ – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Star – April 29, 2013)

April 30, 2013

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

The NDP will throw its support behind a push from community organizations for Ontario to have an inquiry on mining deaths in the province, said provincial NDP leader Andrea Horwath during the Workers Day of Mourning in Subury.

“There hasn’t been a review or change to legislation in over 30 years,” said Horwath to a large crowd gathered at the Tom Davies Square council chambers to pay homage to people who have died on the job.

“That’s why we continue to see people’s lives be put at risk in mines, and that’s not acceptable.”

An organization called Mining Inquiry Needs Everyone’s Support (MINES) has lobbied the government to call an inquiry into Ontario mine safety after two miners were killed in Sudbury’s Stobie Mine on June 8, 2011. Since 2007, 11 workers have died on the job in Ontario mines.

“It’s frustrating and damning on all of us that we still have a situation in the province of Ontario where people are not sure they can go to work in the morning and are going to come home in the evening,” Horwath told media after her speech Sunday morning.

Sunday’s ceremony was the 29th International Workers Day of Mourning.

Vale Gains as Cost Cuts End Two Years of Profit Disappointment – by Juan Pablo Spinetto – (Bloomberg.com – April 25, 2013)

April 25, 2013

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Vale SA (VALE) rose the most among major iron-ore producers after profit beat analysts’ estimates for the first time in two years on cost reductions and higher copper sales that offset lower prices for the steel ingredient.

Shares in the world’s third-largest mining company rose for a fifth straight day, gaining 2.2 percent to 32.82 reais at 10:41 a.m. in Sao Paulo. BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group, the largest miners, both rose 0.7 percent in London.

First-quarter net income of $3.11 billion, or 60 cents a share, compared with a loss of $2.7 billion, or 52 cents, in the previous three-month period, according to a statement after the close of trading yesterday. Vale was expected to post per-share profit excluding items of 55.8 cents, the average of 13 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Vale, the worst- performing major mining stock this year, is seeking to bolster investor confidence by putting lower-return projects on hold, selling assets and cutting costs.

“Vale reported a much stronger-than-expected 1Q13, driven by lower costs and expenses and a stronger performance from the base metals business,” Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts Marcelo Aguiar and Diogo Miura wrote in a note to clients. “These drivers should provide a strong catalyst to consensus earnings upgrades and reduce the bearish sentiment towards Vale.”

Vale Says Some Progress Made on Contract Talks – by Muhamad Al Azhari (Jakarta Globe – April 24, 2013)

April 25, 2013

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/

Vale Indonesia, the local unit of the global nickel giant, says it has made progress in mining contract renegotiations with the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.

“There are four items that we continue to discuss,” Vale president director Nico Kanter told reporters after a shareholders meeting in South Jakarta on Tuesday, declining to reveal more specific details on the talks. “We are optimistic. … If the government has good intentions, we also have good intentions.”

Nico said the company’s $2 billion nickel smelter plan will depend on the outcome of the renegotiations. “We have plans to boost the capacity of the smelter that we already have. Our target is to produce 120,000 tons of nickel in 2017,” Nico said.

Several miners are currently renegotiating their contracts after the passage of a 2009 mining law designed to elicit more local benefits from the sector, by increasing the royalties paid by miners and adding value to mineral commodities exports.

The 2009 law included an obligation for miners to submit plans to process raw materials domestically before 2014, limits on concession areas, higher royalties for the government and an obligation for foreign miners to gradually divest their shares to local entities five years after production commences.

UPDATE 2-Vale Q1 profit falls despite big cost cuts – by Jeb Blount (Reuters U.K. – April 25, 2013)

April 25, 2013

http://uk.reuters.com/

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 24 (Reuters) – Brazil’s Vale SA , the world’s second-largest mining company, reported an 18 percent slide in first-quarter net profit as bigger-than-expected cuts in operating costs failed to offset lower sales and a hit from taxes and foreign exchange.

Despite the drop, the result beat analysts expectations and may help boost Vale’s stock as the company responds to investor calls for a tighter reign on spending amid concerns over weaker metals prices as growth in China slows.

Net income of $3.11 billion in the three months ending March 31 beat the $2.71 billion average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Reuters and reversed a fourth-quarter loss, Vale’s first quarterly loss in a decade.

The result was still down on $3.79 billion a year earlier, and 25 percent below the average $4 billion quarterly profit the world’s largest producer of iron ore has recorded for the previous 11 quarters.

The lackluster outcome may add to nervousness that a decade-long mining boom led by ravenous Chinese demand for steel and other metals is ending, despite a rebound in iron ore prices after a steep drop last year. Like rivals BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto , who have been cutting costs and shunning expensive acquisitions, Vale slashed planned 2013 investment 24 percent in December.

Vale’s former iron man sets sights on Africa – by Silvia Antonioli and Clara Ferreira-Marques (Reuters U.K. – April 23, 2013)

April 23, 2013

http://uk.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – At the helm of Brazil’s Vale for a decade, Roger Agnelli turned the conservative iron ore producer into a global heavyweight. Now, he is back in the game.

The 53-year-old, ousted from Vale two years ago, is betting on the world’s hunger for resources, Africa’s potential and his team’s ability to operate where others fear to tread.

“You have a lot of financial guys looking to invest, looking for opportunities,” said the former banker, sitting back in the library of a smart central London hotel. “But guys who go into the middle of the forest, into the middle of the desert to implement a project, those are still scarce.”

Agnelli set up AGN Participacoes, a holding company, shortly after leaving Vale, to invest in biofuel. Last July, he teamed up with billionaire Andre Esteves’ investment bank BTG Pactual to set up B&A Mineracao, a mining group focused on fertiliser, iron ore and copper, in Latin America and Africa.

That $520 million venture – one of a handful of investment ventures set up by an outgoing generation of mining executives – has already put its cash to use, investing $160 million in fertiliser projects and copper.

Nickel prices a huge challenge: Vale VP – Staff (Sudbury Northern Life – April 16, 2013)

April 18, 2013

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Strong says $7 nickel today equals $2.50 a decade ago

Current nickel prices of a little more than $7 a pound are comparable to $2.50 a pound a decade ago, creating huge challenges for Sudbury’s largest nickel miner.

Kelly Strong, Vale’s vice-president of Ontario and UK operations, made the comparison Tuesday at a packed luncheon at the Howard Johnson in Sudbury, hosted by the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce.

Strong said several factors have substantially increased mining costs, including oil prices that have increased by 350 per cent, and the Canadian dollar, which has increased in value by 60 per cent compared to the U.S. dollar.

“Today’s prices are actually as low as historical recessionary prices,” Strong said. “And those of us who lived through those price cycles know how challenging they were.”

He also paid tribute to three miners who were killed on the job at Vale – Jordan Fram, Jason Chenier and Stephen Perry. Strong said the company has gone through a dark period and has put a renewed emphasis on safety.