Republic of Mining

BC’s NDP-led govt talks up exploration, mining as basis for building burgeoning communities – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – September 26, 2017)

September 27, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – British Columbia is ‘ground zero’ for mining in Canada, as technological advances require an ever-increasing volume of metals to satisfy improving standards of living and produce environment-friendly technologies.

This was the key message to attendees at the fourth yearly Resource Breakfast Series held in Vancouver on Tuesday.

“Mining builds communities,” Mining Association of BC president and CEO Bryan Cox stressed, pointing out that it was thanks to the gold rush and burgeoning mining industry more than a century ago that a provincial government was established to oversee the unprecedented influx of miners – all in search of personal fortunes in the harsh, but prospective mountain territory.

Everyone wants cobalt, but few want to get tangled up in the world’s largest producing nation – by Lynsey Chutel (Quartz.com – September 27, 2017)

September 27, 2017

https://qz.com/

For too long, the Democratic Republic of Congo has known no competition in the cobalt market, to its detriment. The metal, which used to be just a byproduct of nickel and copper mining, is fast becoming one of the core ingredients of our technology-driven lifestyles. The instability in the DR Congo, however, is driving some investors to look to much smaller but more reliable cobalt sources.

Earlier this year, Canada began to notice the makings of a cobalt rush, starting in the town of Cobalt, Ontario—named for the mineral that was discovered there. More than a century ago, the region was the site of an old-fashioned silver rush, but its resources were soon eclipsed by Africa’s offering.

Prospectors are again returning to the town of Cobalt: By May this year, more than a dozen mining companies had staked their claim in the Canadian town, the Northern Prospectors Association told Canada’s CBC.

Indonesia’s Freeport victory sets tone for foreign miners – by Fergus Jensen and Ed Davies (Reuters U.S. – September 26, 2017)

September 27, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

JAKARTA (Reuters) – For many Indonesians, investment banker-turned-minister Ignasius Jonan is the man who made trains run on time.

Months after being handed the mining portfolio, the minister notched up a bigger victory; securing majority local ownership of Grasberg – one of the world’s biggest gold and copper mines – following months of difficult negotiations with U.S. giant Freeport-McMoRan Inc.

Foreign control of mines has been sore point for many Indonesians, who view it as a legacy of an authoritarian past when a ruling elite cut sweetheart deals to carve up precious resources.

The framework agreement with Freeport on Aug 29 was seen as a victory for Indonesia and a political win for President Joko Widodo as the U.S.-based company agreed, among other measures, to cut its mine ownership from more than 90 percent to below 50 percent in favor of Indonesian owners.

Billionaire John Paulson Targets Gold CEOs Over Pay – by Anders Melin, Danielle Bochove and Luzi-Ann Javier (Bloomberg News – September 26, 2017)

September 27, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Billionaire John Paulson is building a coalition of major investors in some of the world’s top gold producers to curb years of “value destruction” and excessive executive compensation in the industry.

“The days of CEOs getting rich while shareholders lose has got to end,” Paulson said Tuesday in an emailed statement ahead of a presentation by Paulson & Co. at the Denver Gold Forum. “Management must be accountable.”

The group, to be named the Shareholder’s Gold Council, aims to unify and amplify the voices of institutional investors on matters including board appointments, pay plans and merger activity, said Marcelo Kim, a partner at the hedge fund firm who oversees investments in natural resources.

Unfair Trade, Uncertainty Killing American Aluminum And Steel – by Leo W. Gerard (Huffington Post – September 26, 2017)

September 27, 2017

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Kameen Thompson started his workday Sept. 15 thinking that his employer, ArcelorMittal in Conshohocken, Pa., the largest supplier of armored plate to the U.S. military, might hire some workers to reduce a recent spate of overtime.

Just hours later, though, he discovered the absolute opposite was true.

ArcelorMittal announced that, within a year, it would idle the mill that stretches half a mile along the Schuylkill River. Company officials broke the bad news to Kameen, president of the United Steelworkers (USW) local union at Conshohocken, and Ron Davis, the grievance chair, at a meeting where the two union officers had hoped to hear about hiring.

ArcelorMittal wouldn’t say when it would begin the layoffs or how many workers would lose their jobs or which mill departments would go dark. The worst part for everyone now is the uncertainty, Kameen told me last week.

Franco-Nevada CEO David Harquail Appointed New WGC Chair – by Sarah Benali (Kitco News – September 26, 2017)

September 27, 2017

http://www.kitco.com/news/

(Kitco News) – The World Gold Council has tabbed another well-known mining executive as its chair, appointing Franco-Nevada’s David Harquail.

The gold-focused market development organization said Harquail, president and chief executive officer of Franco-Nevada, would succeed New Gold Inc. director Randall Oliphant, who served as chair for four years. Harquail is joining the ranks of industry veterans like Ian Tefler and Pierre Lassonde, who also served as WGC chairmen in the past.

“The industry landscape has changed significantly over the past four years, and I would like to thank Randall for his leadership in guiding the work of the World Gold Council on the most important policy issues the industry faces,” Aram Shishmanian, the WGC’s chief executive, said in a press release.

Plans for Yukon’s biggest mine delayed – by Chuck Tobin (Whitehorse Daily Star – September 25, 2017)

September 26, 2017

http://www.whitehorsestar.com/

Western Copper and Gold Corp. has indicated it will take a year longer to advance the proposal for its mammoth Casino mine project.

Western Copper and Gold Corp. has indicated it will take a year longer to advance the proposal for its mammoth Casino mine project. The company indicated Friday in a press release it is delaying the submission of the environmental and socio-economic statement until the end of 2018.

Western Copper and Gold was originally scheduled to submit the statement to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board by the end of this year.

Continuing work on the design of its tailings dam and pond, along with the time it will take the Yukon government to secure permits for improvements to the access road, are cited as the two factors behind the decision to delay the submission of the statement.

Australia Just Ramped Up Super-Pit Fight Between Top Gold Miners – by Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – September 25, 2017)

September 26, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

A tax hike in Western Australia stands to lower the value of a massive gold deposit and further drive apart its owners: the world’s biggest producers of the metal who have spent the last two years debating what the mine is worth.

Newmont Mining Corp., the second-largest gold miner, has been interested in buying Barrick Gold Corp.’s 50 percent stake in the Kalgoorlie Super Pit since at least 2015. Newmont already owns the other half and operates the mine for Barrick, the No. 1 producer of the metal. The only reason a deal hasn’t been done, the two sides say, is price.

Now, the royalty increase could further the gap between how much the companies think the operation is worth. The higher tax “adversely” affects the value of Kalgoorlie, said Gary Goldberg, Newmont’s chief executive officer.

Treasures beneath the sea – by Chu Daye (Global Times – September 26, 2017)

September 26, 2017

http://www.globaltimes.cn/

China set to make breakthrough in deep-ocean mining of rare, hotly-demanded metals

Before mankind’s first commercial deep-sea mining endeavor begins in 2019, China’s Xiang Yang Hong 06 survey vessel is currently examining the seabed of the East Pacific for precious metals in a three-month-long voyage.

A leading expert in China’s seabed mining quest says of the voyage that the country is sailing toward a program that will see the extraction of 30 tons of minerals per hour from 1,700 meters beneath the sea by 2020, minerals that are much-needed in the country.

In August, the Xiang Yang Hong 06 vessel left Qingdao in East China’s Shandong Province for the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone in the East Pacific, south of the Hawaiian Islands, to search for polymetallic nodules. Aboard the survey vessel are experts from China Minmetals Corp (CMC), in the company’s first voyage to search for mining opportunities for deep-sea rare metals.

Brazil abandons controversial bid to mine Amazon natural reserve after vehement criticism from conservationists (South China Morning Post – September 26, 2017)

September 26, 2017

http://www.scmp.com/

Agence France-Presse – The Brazilian government backed off a controversial proposal to authorise private companies to mine a sprawling Amazon reserve Monday after blistering domestic and international criticism.

President Michel Temer’s office will issue a new decree on Tuesday that “restores the conditions of the area, according to the document that instituted the reserve in 1984”, the Ministry of Mines and Energy said in a statement.

Last week, environmental activist group Greenpeace said at least 14 illegal mines and eight clandestine landing strips were already being used by miners in the Denmark-sized reserve known as Renca in the eastern Amazon.

Barrick Is ‘Nicely on Track’ to Meet Its Debt Target for 2017 – by Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – September 26, 2017)

September 26, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest producer of the precious metal, isn’t ruling out asset sales as it works on meeting its debt-reduction goal for 2018, according to President Kelvin Dushnisky.

The company is “nicely on track” to meet its debt-reduction target for 2017 and is planning to use some “combination of cash on the balance sheet, cash flow, potential divestments if they make sense” to meet its 2018 goal, Dushnisky said. Asked if next year’s target is achievable without selling another asset, he said: “We’ll see.”

Barrick has reduced debt by about $1.23 billion so far this year, and is on track for $1.45 billion in total by the end of 2017, Dushnisky said Monday in an interview on Bloomberg Television at the Denver Gold Forum, an annual industry conference being held in Colorado Springs.

Iron Ore Succumbs to Bear Market and May Extend Slump Into $50s – by Jasmine Ng (Bloomberg News – September 25, 2017)

September 26, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Iron ore has slumped back into a bear market after posting the biggest weekly loss in 16 months amid concern that record demand in China may ease off as mills enact winter output cuts just as data from the top user signals that the economy may be cooling.

Losses have probably been driven by “the realization that if, as planned, large amounts of steel capacity are taken offline during the winter months, this will mean lower demand for iron ore,” Caroline Bain, chief commodities economist at Capital Economics Ltd., said by email. “August activity and spending data suggested that the Chinese economy is starting to slow.”

Spot ore with 62 percent content in Qingdao slipped 0.8 percent to $63.06 a dry metric ton on Monday, after retreating 12 percent last week, according to Metal Bulletin Ltd. Prices have lost more than 20 percent since peaking near $80 in August, meeting the common definition of a bear market. Lower-grade 58 percent ore, which trades at a discount, has sunk into the $30s.

BHP, world’s largest miner, says 2017 is ‘tipping point’ for electric cars – by Clara Ferreira-Marques and Gavin Maguire (Reuters U.S. – September 26, 2017)

September 26, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – This year looks set to be the “tipping point” for electric cars, Arnoud Balhuizen, chief commercial officer at global miner BHP (BLT.L) said on Tuesday, with the impact for raw materials producers to be felt first in the metals market, and only later in oil.

“In September 2016 we published a blog and we set the question – could 2017 be the year of the electric vehicle revolution?” said Balhuizen, a company veteran who runs BHP’s commercial strategy, procurement and marketing from Singapore. “The answer is yes…2017 is the revolution year we have been speaking about. And copper is the metal of the future.”

Europe has begun a dramatic shift away from the internal combustion engine, although, globally, there are only roughly 1 million electric cars out of a global fleet of closer to 1.1 billion. BHP forecasts that could rise to 140 million vehicles by 2035, a forecast it says is on ‘the greener’ end.

PotashCorp hires banks to lead sale of stake in Chilean lithium producer – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – September 24, 2017)

September 26, 2017

http://www.mining.com/

Canada’s Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (TSX, NYSE:POT), the world’s largest producer of the fertilizer by capacity, is said to have hired Goldman Sachs and BofA Merrill Lynch to explore selling its stake in a Chilean lithium producer.

PotashCorp, which holds 32% of Chile’s Sociedad Quimica y Minera (SQM) and has three of eight board seats, is evaluating selling its part in the company to secure approval for its friendly merger with smaller rival Agrium (TSX, NYSE:AGU).

PotashCorp and Agrium said earlier this month their link-up would close several months later than previously anticipated as regulators in China and India put as a condition the divestment of certain minority interests the Canadian potash giant owns.

Tucson lawsuit seeks to protect jaguars from Rosemont Mine – by Curt Prendergast (Arizona Daily Star – September 25, 2017)

September 26, 2017

http://tucson.com/

A Tucson environmental group sued two federal agencies Monday in an effort to protect the habitat of jaguars in Southern Arizona from the proposed Rosemont Mine.

The Center for Biological Diversity asked a federal judge to rule the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated federal law in their analysis of the environmental impacts of the proposed copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains.

The center alleges Fish and Wildlife violated the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative Procedure Act by issuing new regulations defining damage to habitat and by revising the critical habitat designation for the jaguar, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Tucson.