Glencore – Page 51 – Republic of Mining

Glencore, Xstrata target powerhouse mining merger – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – February 3, 2012)

February 3, 2012February 3, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

ROME—The pending marriage of Xstrata PLC and Glencore International PLC would create a mining powerhouse with both the muscle and the appetite to quickly gobble up smaller rivals.

Xstrata, which owns Canada’s Falconbridge Ltd., is in talks with part-owner Glencore aimed at an all-stock merger that would reshape the industry by uniting what is already a formidable miner with the world’s biggest commodities trader.

Xstrata said Thursday it was approached by Glencore, which already holds 34 per cent of the Anglo-Swiss miner. If a deal is struck, a giant with a market value of about $88-billion (U.S.) would be created overnight.

Both companies are run by forceful chief executive officers, both are deal-making machines on their own, and together would be a formidable takeover force that analysts believe could target companies whose market value is at least $10-billion. In its own right, it would be huge in zinc, thermal coal, nickel and copper.

Glencore in talks to buy Xstrata in blockbuster deal – by Clara Ferreira-Marques and Victoria Howley, Reuters (Sudbury Star – February 3, 2012)

February 3, 2012

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

LONDON — Commodities trader Glencore is in talks to buy mining group Xstrata in an all-share transaction that could create a combined group worth more than 50 billion pounds (US$79 billion), shaking up the industry with its biggest deal to date.

Glencore, the world’s largest diversified commodities trader, already owns 34% of Xstrata and a tie-up between the two — a deal which would trump Rio Tinto’s $38 billion acquisition of Alcan in 2007 — has long been expected, as Glencore aims to add more mines to its trading clout.

“We’ve always had the belief these two companies should be together,” Glencore Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg told a financial conference in Moscow. Xstrata owns Xstrata Nickel, which in Sudbury employs about 1,000 people who work at Nickel Rim South mine, Fraser Mine, a mill and a smelter.

Xstrata confirms Glencore merger of equals talks – by Elisabeth Behrmann and Jesse Riseborough (Mineweb.com – February 2, 2012)

February 2, 2012

This article is from: www.mineweb.com

In a statement issued this morning, and subsequently confirmed by Glencore, Xstrata said the commodities trader has made an approach about an all-share offer for “a merger of equals.”

(Bloomberg) – Glencore International Plc, the world’s largest publicly traded commodities supplier, is in talks to buy the shares in Xstrata Plc that it doesn’t already own to add coal, copper and nickel mines from Africa to Asia.

Glencore made an approach about an all-share offer for “a merger of equals,” Zug, Switzerland-based Xstrata said today in a statement to the London stock exchange. Glencore holds 34 percent and the rest of the company is valued at 21.9 billion pounds ($35 billion) based on yesterday’s closing price. Glencore said in a statement there’s no certainty of an offer.

Joining Xstrata with Glencore, located two miles away in Baar, would reunite two groups that separated a decade ago when Xstrata bought Glencore’s Australian and South African coal mines for $2.5 billion and went public in London. The combined company may be valued at about 52 billion pounds after excluding Glencore’s stake in Xstrata.

Minister points finger at McGuinty [Ontario power rates to high] – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – January 17, 2012)

January 18, 2012

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper

Tony Clement says high energy costs in Ontario forces industry to take processing elsewhere

As the federal minister for Northern Economic Development, Tony Clement says he would like to see processing of minerals from the Ring of Fire done in Northern Ontario.

However, Clement says it is up to the provincial government to make that happen. Officials with Cliffs Natural Resources, a Cleveland-based company looking to develop a chromite mine within the James Bay lowlands, have publicly expressed interest in doing some of the processing in Asia.

“We’d like to see more of the processing here but one of the major impediments are energy costs,” Clement said during a stopover in Timmins on Monday. “That’s Mr. (Dalton) McGuinty’s bailiwick. He’s got to do his job as premier of this province to get energy costs more in line.”

Nickel on a rollercoaster – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – January 3, 2012)

January 3, 2012

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

The European economic malaise and competition from upstart nickel pig iron producers will likely combine to keep the price of nickel fluctuating in 2012, says a metals analyst.

Price volatility is bound to continue next year, says Montreal-based Terry Ortslan of TSO & Associates. From a high of $16.91 a pound in 2007 on the London Metals Exchange to a low of $6.65 a pound in 2009, nickel averaged about $12.25 a pound in 2011, said Ortslan.

“Recently, the prices are struggling at $8 a pound,” Orstlan said last week, after returning from a business trip to China, where nickel continues to be in high demand.

Ortslan says $7 a pound would be a “low target” for 2012, although he would not rule out that possibility because of Europe’s economic woes and China’s ongoing production from non-traditional sources.

[Xstrata Copper’s Kidd Creek] Mine expansion complete – by The Daily Press (Timmins Daily Press – December 15, 2011)

December 15, 2011

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

The major expansion of Xstrata Copper’s Kidd Creek mine is complete. Kidd Operations announced Thursday the $120-million extension to the Kidd Mine in Timmins is on time and on budget.

Approved by Xstrata in 2008, the extension to the mining zone at Mine D from 9,100 feet to 9,600 feet will extend operations by at least two years to the first half of 2018.

Further extensions to the mine life have been identified through the 2020 Vision program to elicit suggestions from employees on how to maximise the value of the operation.

The program, launched in February 2011, has already resulted in significant cost savings and an additional 700,000 tonnes of ore reserves being identified with the objective of extending operations further to 2020.

Xstrata gives [Sudbury] workers a time out – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – November 23, 2011)

November 23, 2011

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

Hundreds of employees at Xstrata Nickel’s Fraser and Nickel Rim South mines were sent home from the job Monday for what the company is calling a “short safety pause” after an increase in safety-related incidents at the two operations. Mine Mill Local 598/CAW president Richard Paquin said about 300 workers at Fraser Mine have been told to think about safety for an “indefinite” period of time while the company devises a plan to make the mine safer.

About 250 employees at Nickel Rim South were sent home Monday after sitting through a four-hour safety talk, he said. While Paquin said he has no problem with Xstrata wanting to draft a plan to make its workplaces safer, the question is whether members will be paid for the unexpected time off. Union and Xstrata officials began talking Monday night and spent all day Tuesday discussing the issue, said Paquin.

He was waiting to hear from Xstrata today about whether it intends to pay members or not. The union has sought legal advice on the matter. Xstrata spokeswoman Yonaniko (Iyo) Grenon issued a brief statement Tuesday afternoon in response to questions from The Sudbury Star prompted by calls to the paper from union members about being sent home.

2020 Vision for the [Timmins] Kidd Mine – by David Hicks (The Global Commodities Report – October, 2011)

November 2, 2011

Published by New Vanguard Media, The Global Commodities Report is a digital magazine about the benefits of resource business.

For a mining town like Timmins Ontario, Xstrata Copper Canada’s announcement that it is extending the mine life of the world-class Kidd Mine is welcome news.

For the second time in the past three years, Xstrata Copper Canada has announced that it is extending the projected mine life of the Kidd Mine. This time to 2020. The previous such announcement in 2008 bumped the closure back to 2017.

Quoted in Timmins’ The Daily Press, the mine’s General Manager, Tom Semadeni said, “We’re seeking to lengthen the life of the mine and the concentrator to 2020. Last year, our (expected) life was 2017, we now think 2018, and we’re working towards 2020.”

The Kidd Creek Mine, as it was first known, was discovered in 1964 and opened in 1966. It was one of the largest and richest volcanic massive sulfide discoveries in the world, bearing copper, zinc, indium, cadmium, silver and sulfuric acid. The mine produces 3.4 million tonnes of ore per year, and rendered 52,000 tonnes of copper and 45,000 tonnes of zinc in 2010.

Quadra FNX Mining and Xstrata team up – by Star Staff (Sudbury Star – October 15, 2011)

October 17, 2011

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

Quadra FNX Mining Ltd. announced Friday it has an agreement to use a mine shaft owned by Xstrata Nickel, saving Quadra millions and helping to increase production at its Levack Mine.

The company said the 1,500- metre shaft at the nearby Craig Mine, owned by Xstrata Nickel, will significantly improve flexibility and provide more access to the ore.

“The access arrangement with Xstrata Nickel provides mutual benefits to both parties going forward,” Quadra FNX president and CEO Paul Blythe said in a release. “We will be advancing the implementation plan in order to shift operations from the Levack number two shaft to the Craig shaft immediately. This will be a significant step forward in the optimization of our (nearby) high-grade Morrison deposit.”

Sudbury ready to cash in [on mining investments] – by Carol Mulligan

September 13, 2018August 26, 2011

The Sudbury Star, the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper. cmulligan@thesudburystar.com

“If we do the right things, mining can literally help
dig Ontario out of its debt.” (Chris Hodgson, President
and CEO Ontario Mining Association)

Sudbury is well-positioned to benefit from that mining
boom because it has the largest integrated mining complex
in the world and one of the largest nickel-copper
sulphide bodies. (Pierre Gratton, President and CEO,
Mining Association of Canada)

Sudbury stands to benefit from investments in mining operations to the tune of about $5.2 billion in the next five years. That’s a healthy percentage of the $136.4 billion in capital expected to be invested in mining projects throughout Canada from 2012 to 2017.

All of those billions will go into mining projects already in existence, says the president and chief executive officer of the Mining Association of Canada.

That doesn’t include private and public money that may be invested in projects to develop, mine, smelt and transport chromite from the Ring of Fire in northwestern Ontario.

Pierre Gratton was one of two guests who spoke to the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce on Thursday about how the city can benefit from the current up cycle in the metals industry.

China will continue to be a mineral price driver as its econo my continues to grow at double-digit rates. That demand is long-term, with expectations its growth will still be in the 6% to 9% range from 2020-2025.

Weak demand saps nickel prices – by Pratima Desai – Reuters (Sudbury Star – August 17, 2011)

August 18, 2011

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

LONDON — Deteriorating demand from stainless steel mills and rising mine production are likely to push the nickel market into surplus in the second half of the year and put modest downward pressure on prices.

The uncertain outlook for global economic growth and demand because of the debt crisis in the euro zone and the United States mean gloomier prospects for nickel demand.

Stainless steel producers use about two-thirds of global nickel output, which is estimated at above 1.5 million tonnes this year.

First-quarter production of stainless steel rose to a record high of 8.390 million tonnes, according to the International Stainless Steel Forum, and expectations for the second quarter are, at best, flat.

Xstrata to expand Canadian operations, sweeten payouts – by Brenda Bouw (Globe and Mail – August 3, 2011)

August 3, 2011

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous impact and influence on Canada’s political and business elite as well as the rest of the country’s print, radio and television media. Brenda Bouw is the Globe’s mining reporter.

Global mining giant Xstrata PLC will use bulging profits to expand its Canadian operations and sweeten shareholder payouts, a sign of the industry’s rosy demand outlook despite global economic uncertainty alongside rising costs and government intervention.

Xstrata, based in Zug, Switzerland, said profits rose by about 30 per cent in the first half of the year, and the diversified miner more than doubled its dividend on the back of record-setting commodity prices.

“Our recovery has been swift and robust and we are now operating with good momentum to deliver a substantially stronger second half,” Xstrata chief executive officer Mick Davis told investors on Tuesday. He cited in particular strong demand from China, the world’s largest consumer of commodities, as the country continues its frenzied infrastructure build.

NEWS RELEASE: XSTRATA NICKEL TO DEVELOP CANADIAN GROWTH PROJECTS AT RAGLAN AND SUDBURY

August 2, 2011

Toronto, Canada – August 2, 2011

Xstrata plc (“Xstrata”) has approved two Xstrata Nickel projects totalling US$649 million as it continues its investment in growth options within its Canadian portfolio.

Xstrata Nickel’s development of the US$530 million Raglan extension project in Northern Quebec and the US$119 million Fraser Morgan project in Sudbury, Ontario, will now move ahead.

At Raglan Mine, Xstrata Nickel will develop the high grade Qakimajurq and Mine 2 Lower Zone deposits and upgrade associated infrastructure to increase annual nickel in concentrate production from 26,000 to 32,000 tonnes per annum by 2014. In addition, Raglan’s concentrator will be upgraded to reach 40,000 tonnes capacity per annum of nickel in concentrate by 2016, a 54% increase over current metal output, to facilitate further mining expansions.

[Timmins] Miners dig deal – by Kristine MacDougall (Timmins Daily Press – July 20, 2011)

July 20, 2011

The Daily Press is the newspaper of record for the city of Timmins

Goldcorp, Xstrata Copper finalize partnership agreement

A new partnership agreement between Xstrata Copper and Goldcorp is providing a sustainable future for both operations in Timmins. “We’ve been working on this agreement for over a year, and to finally see it be signed is a great accomplishment,” said David Yaschyshyn, Xstrata Copper’s superintendent of environment and industrial Hygiene.

“It truly is a win-win for both operations.” The announcement came Tuesday morning at Goldcorp’s Hoyle Pond Mine Site, just east of the met site property in Hoyle Township.

“We’ve secured a long-term supply of tailings for the paste filling operations at the Kidd Mine for its life. As well as being able to secure a supply of rock for our construction activities at the Kidd Concentrator site,” said Yaschyshyn.