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Glencore approves further drilling in hopes of extending Kidd mine life – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – June 4, 2021)

https://www.timminspress.com/

$50M feasibility study to be completed by end of 2022

Glencore Canada is investing more than $50 million on a drilling and feasibility program aimed at extending mine life at Kidd Operations. The mine is currently projected to wind down by end of 2023. However, hopes remain alive that operations may extend beyond that.

Last week, the company advised staff that the next phase of drilling and feasibility was approved for what has been dubbed the Mine 5 project, Alexis Segal, Glencore’s head of corporate communications told The Daily Press Thursday night.

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Glencore boss warns of future China dominance in electric vehicles – by Neil Hume (Financial Times – May 12, 2021)

https://www.ft.com/

US and Europe risk being left behind unless they secure cobalt supplies for batteries, says Ivan Glasenberg

The car industry in the US and Europe risks being left behind by their Chinese rivals unless they secure supplies of cobalt, according to the world’s biggest producer of the key battery metal.

Glencore chief executive Ivan Glasenberg told the FT Future of the Car Summit on Wednesday that western carmakers would be naive to think they could always rely on China to supply the batteries for electric vehicle fleets.

Glasenberg said Chinese companies had been quick to realise the vulnerability of their supply chains and “tied up” lots of cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Cobalt is a metal needed in the lithium-ion batteries used in longer-range electric vehicles.

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In Mount Isa, electric cars are driving the economy — but not the people – by Eric Barker (Australian Broadcasting Corporation – April 28, 2021)

https://www.abc.net.au/

Couple some of Australia’s roughest and most remote roads with lucrative mining salaries and you can imagine the size of the cars driving around Mount Isa.

The town’s serenity is often cancelled out by loud diesel engines shifting through the gears, with the noise of Mount Isa Mines in the background.

Ironically, a recent resurgence in the local economy is largely thanks to the burgeoning electric car industry, which is creating some serious demand for copper.

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Sudbury nickel miner’s technology ‘ecosystem’ aims to find safe ultra-deep mining solution – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – April 20, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Glencore Sudbury INO eyeing mechanization for loading, wiring explosives underground

Glencore’s Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations (SINO) has extracted just about everything there is to mine at its Sudbury properties, and so to have a future presence in the city, the company knows it’ll have to mine deeper.

At its Onaping Depth project, north of Sudbury, plans are in the works to get down to 2,700 metres, from about 1,200 metres at the existing Craig Mine, where a new orebody awaits. But the big question remains: how do they do that while navigating the safety challenges posed by ultra-deep mining?

“It’s pretty clear to us that the seismicity that we’ll encounter down there will be a big step change from where we are,” said Michael MacFarlane, Glencore SINO’s innovation consultant, during the April 14 2021 Virtual Mining Health and Safety Conference hosted by Workplace Safety North.

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Glencore faces shareholder dissent on new chief Gary Nagle’s pay – by Neil Hume and Attracta Mooney (Financial Times – April 14, 2021)

https://www.ft.com/

Glencore is facing the threat of investor dissent after an influential proxy adviser urged shareholders to reject new chief executive Gary Nagle’s incentive scheme and abstain from a climate change resolution.

Glass Lewis called on investors to oppose the miner and commodity trader’s pay policy and its plans to introduce a restricted share plan, a type of long-term scheme that pays out a set amount of shares, at the group’s annual meeting this month.

In a report for clients it cited reservations “regarding the maximum opportunity available under the plan when considered in the context of the newly appointed CEO’s base salary level and annual bonus opportunity” as the reason for its recommendation.

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Feds announce $7.1M for new wind turbines at Raglan mine – by Staff (Canadian Mining Journal – March 10, 2021)

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

As part of its climate efforts, the federal government is providing $7.1 million to Tugliq Energy to help fund the installation of two more wind turbines at Glencore‘s (LON: GLEN) remote Raglan nickel mine.

The operation, in the Nunavik region of northern Quebec, already has two 3-MW wind turbines, one constructed in 2014, and the second in 2018. The two turbines currently generate around 10% of mine power, saving over 4 million litres of diesel every year, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 12,000 tonnes.

Two more wind turbines would increase the mine’s renewable energy capacity to 12 MW and its energy storage capacity to 6 MW, and reduce diesel use by 6.6 million litres annually.

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Contract talks ‘long and hard,’ Mine Mill says, but members approve contract – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – February 2, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

The leader of a union representing Glencore workers said he was comfortable with the tentative deal reached over the weekend on a new contract, although it would up to the workers to decide.

And they did Monday, voting in favour of the new contract by a 67.8 per cent again. “The bargaining was very long and hard — many long nights,” said Eric Boulay, vice-president and acting president of Mine Mine Local 598/Unifor. “Our committee is confident they reached the most fair agreement that could be reached at this point.”

One of the sticking points in the talks, which went throughout the weekend, was a concession the company wanted regarding benefits, “but we were able to get that off the table,” said Boulay.

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Underground electric vehicle fire provides teaching moment for Sudbury miner – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – January 22, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Glencore shares investigation findings from summer 2020 electric arcing event and intense fire at Craig Mine

When a battery-electric vehicle (BEV) caught fire underground at Glencore’s Craig Mine in Onaping last July, it was a “big eye-opener” for the company, said Steve Holmik.

“No one’s ever had to deal with an incident like this in the past,” said Holmik, a mobile equipment specialist with Glencore Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations (SINO), who estimated this was the first reported underground BEV fire in Canada, and perhaps globally.

“We’ve had diesel equipment catch on fire, but we’ve never had a battery-electric vehicle catch on fire, so up until that stage, everything we knew about the potential of a fire with a BEV was all theoretical. We’d never had the first-hand experience of having to deal with it.”

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OPINION: Ahead of his exit, Glencore CEO delivers a potential share price salvation plan – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – December 12, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The great white shark of the mining industry is swimming into retirement. Ivan Glasenberg announced last week that he will leave Glencore by mid-2021 after spending 18 years running a company that combined the biggest commodities trader with one of the biggest mining operations.

Along the way, the South African billionaire became famous, and infamous, for his high-risk manoeuvres, straight-talking style and sheer aggression.

The first half of Mr. Glasenberg’s reign, when he rode the China-driven commodities boom for everything it was worth, making fortunes along the way, had greater success than the last half.

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Glencore’s ‘net-zero emissions’ 2050 pathway includes use of BEVs – by Daniel Gleeson (International Mining – December 7, 2020)

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Glencore has become the latest mining major to plot a path to reach “net-zero emissions”, with a plan that includes the use of battery-electric vehicles at one of its underground operations in Canada and renewable power at its South Africa ferroalloy sites.

The company has committed to reducing its total emissions footprint – Scope 1, 2 and 3 – by 40% by 2035 compared with 2019 levels, with an ambition of achieving “net zero” on its total emissions footprint by 2050.

It says it will achieve this by managing its operational (Scope 1 and 2) footprint; reducing Scope 3 emissions through investing in its metals portfolio, reducing its coal production and supporting deployment of low-emission technologies; allocating capital to prioritise “transition metals”;

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Mining Billionaire Leaves a Dirty Task to His Successor – by Chris Bryant and Clara Ferreira Marques (Bloomberg News – December 6, 2020)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

It’s hard to imagine a more daunting task than taking the reins from Ivan Glasenberg, Glencore Plc’s chief executive officer, a man who put his stamp on his company like few other corporate leaders have.

Thankfully, his 45-year-old successor, fellow South African Gary Nagle, has a way to make his own mark: by finding a way for the mining giant to exit coal, the business he currently oversees.

Having spent two decades transforming Glencore from a secretive trading outfit into its present globe-spanning incarnation — most notably via the 2013 takeover of Xstrata — the swashbuckling, outspoken, Glasenberg chose a low key way to reveal his imminent retirement at an investor event on Friday.

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SA chrome industry at odds over Govt. tax ore exporters say only suits Glencore, Samancor – by Brendan Ryan (MiningMX.com – November 5, 2020)

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CHROMESA is at odds with both the South African government and the country’s major integrated producers of chrome ore and ferrochrome – Glencore and Samancor – over the proposed tax on chrome ore exports.

That became clear at a presentation by Chrome SA to financial media on Thursday during which Assore GM, Alistair McAdam, confirmed the integrated producers “believe such a tax will be beneficial to themselves and will not be detrimental to us as exporters”.

This is despite the fact that Glencore and Samancor are also exporters of chrome ore to China which is the prime target of the proposed tax which the South African exporters would have to pay themselves and then claw back in increased prices from their Chinese customers.

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Anglo, Glencore among firms in study said to be meeting Paris Agreement targets – by David McKay (MiningMx.com – October 7, 2020)

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ANGLO American and Glencore were two of only seven companies that a study said were doing enough to meet Paris Agreement targets on climate control.

Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) assessed 59 resources and energy companies finding the fossil fuel industry was failing on its environmental scorecard.

The TPI is a global program based at the London School of Economics, which assesses climate risks and companies’ preparedness for a low-carbon economy, said Bloomberg News which reported on the study.

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The Sudbury model: How one of the world’s major polluters went green – by Sara Miller Llana (The Christian Science Monitor – September 24, 2020)

https://www.csmonitor.com/

When the Superstack was constructed in 1972, it was the tallest structure in Canada – and the tallest smokestack in the world. At 1,250 feet, it’s visible from every vantage point in the area. It can be seen from the bustling streets of downtown to the quiet cul-de-sacs of residential neighborhoods. It looms large in the distance from highways that feed into a city that is home to one of the largest mining complexes in the world.

Built by Canadian company Inco before it was purchased by Vale, the Superstack has long stood as a reminder of the environmental devastation that mining wrought here. But this year the chimney is being fully decommissioned.

Residents of Sudbury harbor mixed feelings about the Superstack. Some see it as a memorial to their rise as a center of nickel and copper mining globally. Others see it simply as a familiar landmark that signals they are home. Gisele Lavigne lives in the Copper Cliff neighborhood at the Superstack’s base.

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Ferrochrome business remains solid, world still requires large amount of it – Glasenberg – by Martin Creamer (Mining Weekly – August 11, 2020)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The ferrochrome business remains solid and there is still a large amount of ferrochrome required in the world.

Unfortunately, most of the production occurs in ferrochrome plants in China, while South Africa continues exporting chrome ore and moving a large amount of it to China owing to South Africa not being competitive in respect of electricity prices.

Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg pointed this out in response to a question put to him by Mining Weekly during a media conference following last week’s presentation of half-year results in which the marketing division of the London- and Johannesburg-listed company outperformed with adjusted earnings before interest and tax of $2-billion, allowing the company to raise full-year guidance to the top end of its long-term range of $2.2-billion to $3.2-billion.

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