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Deaths spike in South Africa’s deep and dangerous mines, reversing trend – by Ed Stoddart (Reuters U.S. – November 7, 2017)

https://www.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 7 (Reuters) – The 2017 death toll in South Africa’s mines has already surpassed the 2016 figure, ending nine straight years of falling fatalities in the world’s deepest mines and raising red flags for the industry, government and labour groups.

The trend reversal is likely to reignite investor concern over mine safety and could prompt regulators to step up shaft inspections, which often result in costly production stoppages.

“Fatal accidents last week raised the number of fatalities in 2017 to 76, above the 73 reported in 2016. This is particularly disappointing given the consistent improvement the industry has seen over the past two decades,” South Africa’s Chamber of Mines said in a statement.

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Terry MacGibbon: Mining legend tells all – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – November 6, 2017)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Terry MacGibbon has had a long and successful career in mining all over the world, to put it simply. The executive chairman at TMAC Resources was happy to share his story and thoughts on how he became a major player in the global mining industry at Laurentian University’s Goodman Lecture Series in Sudbury on Nov. 2.

The presentation looked at how the companies were acquired, financed, managed, the sites built and how the markets influenced their success. The overarching message, he said, is that to be successful, one has to have passion, persistence and be willing to do some hard work.

“I tell anyone getting involved with junior companies to only get involved with really great assets,” MacGibbon said. “Without great assets, you have nothing. All four of the companies I talk about had really good transformative acquisitions. You need a great management team as well. If you have great assets, they are nothing without a great management team to move ahead.”

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Turkey to make full use of domestic coal to minimize imports (Daily Sabah – November 6, 2017)

https://www.dailysabah.com/

To decrease the share of imports, public and private actors in the energy industry have been working to diversify the energy basket and increase the utilization of domestic sources. To that end, the country has launched a road map to transform and modernize thermal plants and increase coal efficiency led by Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak.

Thus, the energy basket will be diversified with renewables, maximizing the utilization of domestic coal resources in the most efficient way and boosting employment, Minister Albayrak pointed out.

Speaking at a signing ceremony for the Zetes-Hattat Transformation into Domestic Coal Protocol between Hattat Holding and Eren Holding, two Turkish conglomerates with investments in coal and thermal power plants, Albayrak discussed the current figures concerning Turkish coal mining and the goals for the next couple of years, with emphasis on increasing domestic coal production.

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Nunavut mining company takes icebreaking off the table – by Lisa Gregoire (Nunatsiaq News – November 6, 2017)

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

Baffinland Iron Mines, which operates the Mary River mine in North Baffin, has scrapped its plans for winter icebreaking in Eclipse Sound.

The mining company had been seeking an amendment to the North Baffin Regional Land Use Plan to permit limited icebreaking so they could bring in a maximum of two winter sea lifts of freight from December to February.

“Baffinland has reviewed the comments submitted by the parties and has considered the concerns expressed by the community of Pond Inlet,” wrote Todd Burlingame, vice-president sustainable development for Baffinland, in a letter to the Nunavut Planning Commission.

“Baffinland has reconsidered the need for seeking an amendment to the [land use plan] to allow for annual winter sea lifts and is formally withdrawing the proposed winter sea lift from the proposed amendment application.”

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Congo mining output rises, central bank warns of inflation risk – by Aaron Ross (Reuters U.S. – November 6, 2017)

https://www.reuters.com/

DAKAR (Reuters) – Copper production in Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa’s top producer of the metal, rose by 9.3 percent in the first nine months of this year, but soaring inflation remains a risk to the economy, the central bank warned on Monday.

Rising mining production should help ease some of the economic problems in Congo where inflation is expected to hit 48 percent this year and the Congolese franc has fallen by 22 percent against the dollar, largely due to lingering effects from two years of low commodity prices.

Copper production in the first nine months of the year stood at 831,000 tonnes, the central bank said in a monthly report, while cobalt production increased by 18 percent to 59,000 tonnes and gold production rose 5.7 percent to 23,000 kg.

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Dream of Ontario diamond industry ‘never really took off’ says NDP MPP – by Erik White (CBC News Sudbury – November 06, 2017)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

Polishing operation had 45 employees at point, most brought in from Vietnam.

It’s still unclear how the closure of the DeBeers mine near Attawapiskat will affect a diamond polishing operation in downtown Sudbury. There are also questions about whether requiring the company to process 10 per cent of its diamonds in the province had much of an impact.

“DeBeers and Crossworks and the Ontario government working together have created a real success story here,” Premier Kathleen Wynne said in 2013, when touring Crossworks Manufacturing in Sudbury.

The secret location was a popular stop for politicians, showing off the new value-added industry and talking about big plans for college programs to train polishers. There were also hopes that the first few dozen workers brought in from Vietnam would give way to locals.

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Movers, shakers, even rock-breakers meet for mining conference in St. John’s – by Stephanie Kinsella (CBC News Newfoundland and Labrador – November 5, 2017)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/

Old meets new at the Mineral Resources Review in St. John’s — billed as the largest event of its kind in Atlantic Canada, with more than 700 delegates and exhibitors.

The four-day conference, which started Thursday, has courses, technical sessions and a trade show — and it’s a chance for participants to network and show their strengths.

CBC caught up with a couple of them: prospectors who are keeping it in the family, and the creator of a new app for rock enthusiasts or the curious types. Prospecting might seem like a trade of the past, but it’s still very much alive. Just ask Mark Stockley who, with his brother Stephen and cousin Troy, “go out in the woods, cracking open rocks” in Gambo.

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NEWS RELEASE: Increased Investment, Rising Consumer Technology Demands Responsible for Renewed Confidence in Junior Mining Sector

Click here to read the full report. https://www.pwc.com/ca/en/mining/publications/p386537_jr_mine_report_en_v5-04.pdf

• Market capitalization of the top 100 junior mining companies on the TSX Venture Exchange hit CA$12.2-billion, up 7% from CA$11.4-billion for the twelve-month period ended June 30, 2017
• Combined valuation returned to 2010 levels, but underperformed the TSX-V market overall, which gained 33%
• Mining remains the dominant industry on the exchange, accounting for 47% of the total value in 2017

TORONTO, Nov. 6, 2017 /CNW/ – Canada’s junior mining sector is seeing renewed confidence as valuations rose for the second year in a row, according to PwC Canada’s Junior mine 2017 report released today.

According to the report, upward trends in cash balances and deal activity were key indicators that the sector has moved into a delicate recovery period of cautious optimism. Investors in the top 100 mining companies on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V) are pouring money into the sector, showing their willingness to embrace additional risk.

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COLUMN-London Metal Exchange Week galvanised by electric dreams – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – November 3, 2017)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Nov 3 (Reuters) – The future is bright. The future is electric. The green technology revolution lit up this year’s London Metals Exchange (LME) Week. “Electric vehicles are a great long-term story” for industrial metals, according to Colin Hamilton, head of commodities research at BMO Capital Markets.

And this is a sector that has been looking for exactly that since the abrupt demise of the “super-cycle” story that accompanied the last big bull rally. Copper has traditionally been the talk of the LME Week cocktail parties and dinners because this is the time Chilean producer Codelco announces its premiums for the coming year.

But this year copper was rudely shoved out of the London limelight by new hot metals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel. Particularly nickel, another core metallic component of the lithium-ion batteries that are going to power all those electric vehicles (EVs).

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Electric cars could give nickel a jolt (Bloomberg News/Sudbury Star – November 5, 2017)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Glencore and Trafigura Group Pte are often at loggerheads, but one thing they agree on: The nickel market will be transformed by the rise of electric cars.

Nickel sulphate, a key ingredient in lithium-ion batteries, will see demand increase 50 per cent to three million metric tonnes by 2030, Saad Rahim, chief economist at Trafigura, said in an interview. While other battery metals like cobalt and lithium have more than doubled since the start of last year, nickel prices have been subdued because of large inventories.

“When you look structurally, we should start to get bullish now,” Rahim said. “Are you going to be able to meet that demand when the time comes, given underinvestment in the supply side?”

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New chief of Brazil’s Vale aims to halve debt – by Neil Hume (Financial Times – November 5, 2017)

https://www.ft.com/

Fabio Schvartsman says he wants miner to become ‘results orientated’

The new head of Brazil’s biggest private company Vale has said the miner must halve net debt to less than $10bn if it wants to become a “results-orientated” company.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Fabio Schvartsman said reducing debt was his number one priority and that there was a better chance of restarting the Samarco iron ore mine — the site of Brazil’s biggest environmental catastrophe and which it owns 50:50 with BHP Billiton — if Vale were able to take control.

“If we are at the $10bn level, it doesn’t matter what happens with commodity prices,” said Mr Schvartsman. “Vale will be in a very sound position to do everything that is necessary.” The company’s current market capitalisation is $53bn.

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Lonmin to showcase social projects after share price meltdown – by Ed Stoddard (Reuters U.S. – November 5, 2017)

https://www.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 5 (Reuters) – Embattled London and Johannesburg-listed platinum producer Lonmin will unveil new health and road projects in South Africa on Monday in a ceremony that will be overshadowed by its latest share price collapse.

Lonmin, not for the first time, is facing an uncertain future after its shares lost 30 percent on Friday when it delayed annual financial results due this month pending the conclusion of a business review.

The company said it had adequate liquidity to fund it through a review that could include the sale of assets, job cuts and the renegotiation of loan agreements. There has also been speculation about a deal to combine with fellow South African miner Sibanye-Stillwater

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Excerpt from ‘Miner Indiscretions’ – by Jon Ardeman

To order a copy of “Miner Indiscretions”: http://amzn.to/2hMreNl

Since graduating Jon Ardeman’s geological career has been in many guises; in exploration, mining, consultancy, conservation and research. He has worked as a National Park guide, a nature warden looking after tadpoles and orchids, as a researcher digging up cow shed floors looking for Ordovician brachiopods and preparing dinosaur bones for a museum display. Enthused by these experiences, Jon sought further adventures, and headed to Africa where he worked as a geologist on various mines for more than a decade.

He returned to university and after a few years of academic research and consultancy, Jon went back to mining and precious metal exploration. His travels have taken him from the Arctic to the Equator, from North America and Siberia, to Europe, Australia, Asia and back to Africa.

During this time, Jon wrote several “mystery and imagination” short stories for magazines and competitions, but his inspiration for a first novel ‘Miner Indiscretions’ came from get-togethers with fellow prospectors and miners; with the story embellished by imagination, cold beer, a hint of the supernatural and – of course – dreams of African gold! The author is married with several children and now resides in Hertfordshire, England.

Overview

A hilarious, action-packed story following Timothy, who starts his career as a junior geologist on a modern deep gold mine in South Africa. Unexpectedly and ignominiously dismissed from this post; he manages to get a new job exploring for gold on the dilapidated Yellow Snake Mine in rural KwaZulu-Natal.

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Penny Stock That Surged 1,000% Says Canada Mining Deal May Fail – by Natalie Obiko Pearson and Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – November 3, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

West High Yield (W.H.Y.) Resources Ltd., the tiny Canadian miner that last month announced it was selling its main assets for $750 million, said the deal may fall through because the buyer doesn’t yet have financing.

West High Yield surged almost 1,000 percent last month, after the company — which has no revenue — announced it had sold a magnesium deposit in British Columbia for 46 times its market value. The shares have been halted since Oct. 6 and the Alberta Securities Commission launched an inquiry, citing “the magnitude of this transaction.”

“There is substantial risk that the purchaser may not be able to obtain financing necessary to complete the proposed transaction,” the Calgary-based company said Friday in a statement. “The purchaser does not have the financial resources” to complete the deal without third-party funding.

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LMEWEEK-Rio Tinto throws its weight behind Africa as mining central – by Barbara Lewis (Reuters U.S. – November 1, 2017)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Africa, as the largest untapped source of growth in the mining sector, is pivotal in helping Rio Tinto and other resources companies to supply the changing needs of the huge Asian market, a senior company official said on Wednesday.

The comments, delivered at a Bloomberg forum as part of LME Week, is a vote of confidence in Africa, which has suffered from investor caution over political risk and corruption scandals.

“From a mining perspective, Africa is the largest untapped source of growth for our industry,” Bold Baatar, Rio Tinto’s chief executive of energy and minerals, said, according to a copy of his speech.

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