Republic of Mining

New bid to get at the Kimberley’s rare fancy yellow diamond deposits – by Courtney Fowler (Australian Broadcasting Corporation – October 18, 2017)

October 18, 2017

http://www.abc.net.au/

The Kimberley is believed to be home to the world’s largest deposits of rare, yellow diamonds and some of the biggest mining companies have tried and failed to profit from them.

Now a Perth-based company is about to have another go and thinks there may be a ”bonanza of hidden diamonds” waiting to be extracted and sold on the world’s diamond markets. The company is convinced it has what it takes to get at the “fantastic stones” known as fancy yellows which are coveted by wealthy dealers and buyers.

POZ Minerals and the Bunuba Dawangarri Aboriginal Corporation signed a Mining Agreement this week for the Blina diamond project, about 100 kilometres east of Derby.

After racist note, Marc Faber resigns from Sprott, Ivanhoe, NovaGold – by Nial McGee (Globe and Mail – October 18, 2017)

October 18, 2017

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/

Marc Faber, the markets prognosticator known as “Dr. Doom,” has resigned his board seats at Sprott Inc., Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. and NovaGold Resources Inc. on Tuesday after his latest newsletter ignited international outrage, with the publication of a litany of inflammatory and racist comments.

“Thank God white people populated America and not the blacks,” wrote Mr. Faber, who is managing director with investment advisory and fund management firm Marc Faber Ltd., in his latest monthly newsletter.

“Otherwise the U.S. would look like Zimbabwe, which it might look like one day anyway, but at least America enjoyed 200 years in the economic and political sun under a white majority.”

Global Warming Aids Gold Miners’ Pursuit Of Cold, Hard Cash In Northern Canada – by Nate Trela (Forbes Magazine – October 16, 2017)

October 18, 2017

https://www.forbes.com/

The Mitchell gold deposit in northern British Columbia is the largest ever found in Canada, but “you couldn’t see it until the glacier receded,” said Rudi Fronk, CEO of gold explorer Seabridge Gold. He said it took three decades and three kilometers of melting until it “revealed what was underneath.”

It’s an uncomfortable topic for some in the mining industry, but global warming is helping to make some of the multimillion-ounce gold deposits once trapped under glaciers and permafrost in or near northern Canada into some of the most attractive mining M&A targets in North America.

According to industry executives and bankers, gold majors are facing production cliffs that many think will require acquisitions of large deposits. And increasingly, they seem willing to chase frozen assets in northwestern British Columbia, the Yukon and Nunavut that were once considered unreachable or undesirable instead of similarly-sized deposits in politically riskier jurisdictions.

Vale searches for partner to invest in world’s largest nickel mine – by Neil Hume and Henry Sanderson (Financial Times – October 17, 2017)

October 18, 2017

https://www.ft.com/

Sale of stake in New Caledonian unit part of push to tackle underperforming assets

LONDON: Vale is searching for a partner to invest in one of the world’s biggest nickel mines as part of a push by its new chief executive Fabio Schvartsman to reduce debt and get to grips with underperforming assets.

The Brazilian miner is working with Scotiabank to sell a stake in Vale New Caledonia (VNC) on the remote South Pacific island of New Caledonia, according to people familiar with the process.

It has held discussions with a number of Chinese groups including Gem Co, a Shenzhen-based company that recycles and refines nickel cobalt for use in batteries, the people said.

Dictator-Era Rules Stand Between Carmakers and Lithium Riches – by Laura Millan Lombrana (Bloomberg News – October 17, 2017)

October 18, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

A little-known nuclear agency, designated as Chile’s lithium watchdog 38 years ago during the military dictatorship, holds the keys to unlocking the country’s massive reserves amid a nascent electric-car boom.

The Chilean Nuclear Energy Commission, or CCHEN by its Spanish initials, authorizes lithium quotas and exports in a throwback to a 1979 decision to declare lithium “strategic” because it was thought to be a key element in nuclear processes.

While that’s no longer the case, the government has no plans to remove CCHEN from lithium permitting even as authorities work on a new code for an industry struggling to keep up with growing demand from rechargeable batteries. More investor-friendly rules in Argentina have lured some interest away from Chile.

ON THE ARTICLE ON MINING PUBLISHED THIS PAST WEEK IN THE NEW YORK TIMES – by U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Mesabi Daily News – October 16, 2017)

October 18, 2017

http://www.virginiamn.com/

My family is from Ely, and my grandpa spent most of his life working 1,500 feet underground in the iron ore mines. My dad and his brother also spent some time working in the mines. The way several people quoted in the article described the miners is just not accurate and I think it is important for people to know that.

Mining is a critical part of the economy in northern Minnesota. There have been and will always be disagreements on mining issues, and people are free to express their opinions. But no one should be making disrespectful comments. If they do that, they haven’t met Dan Hill. And they haven’t met my grandpa. Here are their stories:

I met Dan Hill in December of 2015 when we brought together miners and mining company executives to meet with the President’s Chief of Staff Denis McDonough about steel dumping from China and the negative effect it was having on the Range. In front of a long table of at least 50 people, Dan — a long time Range resident who was then laid off — was one of the last to speak.

RPT-COLUMN-China’s Sept iron ore aberration boosts smaller exporters – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – October 17, 2017)

October 18, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Oct 17 (Reuters) – The detail of China’s record iron ore imports in September is likely to prove more interesting than the headline-grabbing surge above 100 million tonnes for the first time.

Preliminary customs data released on Oct. 13 showed China imported 103 million tonnes of the steel-making ingredient in September, a 16 percent jump on August’s figure and shattering the previous monthly record of 96.6 million from March.

The prevailing market view is that the sharp jump in September is most likely a last hurrah ahead of some slower months as winter restrictions on steel output come into force.

Investors pile into Peru’s $2 billion Michiquillay copper project – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – October 16, 2017)

October 16, 2017

http://www.mining.com/

More than 20 companies are hoping to grab one of Peru’s hottest copper assets, as the country readies to auction off the rights to develop it in December, authorities said Monday.

The $2 billion Michiquillay copper project, located in the country’s northern Cajamarca region, was originally scheduled to be auctioned off next month, but state bidding agency Proinversión decided to push back the date so that interested companies have more time to submit offers, it said in a statement (in Spanish).

Companies have until Nov. 2 to sign up for the auction. A contract for the project, said the agency, will be awarded on Dec. 20.

No One Wants To Talk About Ontario’s Disappearing Blue-Collar Communities – by Robert Waite (Huffington Post – October 16, 2017)

October 16, 2017

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/

A lot can happen to a city or town in 35 years. Take Toronto — in 1982 the city still sported nicknames like “Toronto the Good” and “Hog Town.” Visitors from New York and Montreal had another word for it: “Boring.”

Several decades (and several million more people) later, Toronto has transformed into one of the world’s most vibrant and diverse cities.

But this story isn’t about Toronto. It is about a town in Northern Ontario, Kapuskasing, located a good 10-hour drive (about 800 kilometres) away. It is about the fact that even in an age of global warming, life in Canada north of 45 degrees latitude (49.4, to be exact) can be precarious.

As race for energy metals heats up, nickel expected to benefit most from EV revolution – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – October 13, 2017)

October 16, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Nickel prices stand most to gain from the advent of electric vehicles (EVs), Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML) said on Friday in its latest ‘Global Metals Weekly’ report.

According to the research team, despite China remaining an important driver of market demand, following on from being the secular demand driver for metals in the past decade, a push to make economies greener has given rise to structural demand increases from a range of sectors.

“EVs have been a focal point of late and copper (batteries, wiring, charging infrastructure), lithium (batteries), cobalt (batteries) and nickel (batteries) should all benefit. While we are bullish copper in the medium term, EVs are unlikely to be sufficient, on their own, to drive a sustained bull market.

Robert Friedland-backed cobalt company considering Canadian listing: sources – by Niall McGee and Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – October 14, 2017)

October 16, 2017

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/

An Australian cobalt company backed by mining financier Robert Friedland is considering a listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange, sources familiar with the matter said, as demand for the battery-making metal soars amid supply shortages.

The company, called Clean TeQ Holdings Ltd., is already public in Australia and has seen its stock hit a record high thanks in part to a spike in cobalt prices this year.

Clean TeQ is talking to investment banks Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd. and BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. about a number of options, including raising additional funds through a Canadian offering, or a straight listing on the TSX, without raising new money right away, sources said.

New uranium mines: no simple answers – by Emery Cowan (Arizona Daily Sun – October 15, 2017)

October 16, 2017

http://azdailysun.com/

A town on the edge of the Navajo Nation that unknowingly drank uranium-tainted water for at least 12 years. Navajo babies showing increasing uranium concentrations during their first year of life.

Children swimming in natural pools near Cameron they later learned had been filled with water from abandoned uranium mines. The stories about the impacts of Cold War-era uranium mining on the Navajo Nation became highly personal during a forum hosted at the Museum of Northern Arizona Wednesday night.

Four decades later, the subject has come to the fore again as a grandfathered uranium mine moves forward with operations south of Tusayan and a new president stokes fears about the reopening of 1 million acres of the Grand Canyon watershed outside the national park to new mining.

Faded Yukon Gold Rush Town, Population 20, Mines Its Weirdness – by Dan Levin (New York Times – October 15, 2017)

October 16, 2017

https://www.nytimes.com/

Mr. Tremblay began placer mining a few years ago, a passion he
admitted is stoked more by the thrill of discovery than the
prospect of striking it rich. “When you see gold rimmed along
the bottom of a pan,” he said, “it’s better than sex.”

KENO CITY, Yukon Territory — The journey to the heart of Yukon’s historic mineral wealth started with a question posed to a waitress at the aptly titled Gold Rush hotel in the territorial capital of Whitehorse: What’s the weirdest place in Yukon?

Her answer was a patch of pay dirt around 290 miles north, past endless forests of spruce and golden-leafed aspen, at the end of a gravel road known as the Silver Trail. There lies Keno City, a gold-rush-era relic with about a dozen full-time residents, tap water not fit for human consumption and two bars whose owners haven’t been on speaking terms for more than a decade.

Perched among hills rich in silver, zinc and lead, Keno City began as a Swedish prospector’s staked claim in 1919, its name inspired by a popular gambling game and intended to lure hearty fortune-seekers with the promise of an ore-laden metropolis in Canada’s frigid northern reaches.

VW fails to secure long-term cobalt supply for electric vehicles – by Henry Sanderson and Neil Hume (Financial Times – October 15, 2017)

October 16, 2017

https://www.ft.com/

An attempt by one of the world’s biggest carmakers to secure long-term supplies of cobalt for its push into electric vehicles has been shunned by leading producers of the metal.

Volkswagen issued a tender last month seeking a minimum of five years of supply at a fixed price, according to people familiar with the process, but struggled to find any takers.

The carmaker put off miners by suggesting a price that was well below current market prices, which have jumped by more than 80 per cent this year, the people said. “They’re being arrogant because they’re automotive and they’re used to doing it,” one trader said. “They completely misjudged the contents of the tender. There’s no point negotiating — it’s not even a discussion point.”

Advice from the cutting edge: Expert panel on innovation highlight of CEMI 10th annual general meeting – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – October 16, 2017)

October 16, 2017

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

The reasons for mining innovation are many, so it made sense to hear from many voices who have made a living from offering it as a service.

The Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) held its 10th annual general meeting at Dynamic Earth Sept. 27 to a packed house eager to hear what the consortium had planned for the coming months. Along with board business and updates on new projects and products, the highlight was the panel discussion at the end featuring four people who have made a living offering cutting edge products and services to the industry at home and across the world.

Christine Haas, president of Renix; Chris Novak, president and CEO of Centric Mining Systems; Walter Siggelkow, founder and president of Hard-Line Solutions; and Michael Gribbons, vice-president of sales and marketing at Maestro Digital Mine comprised the panel, offering their insight to questions from moderator Dick DeStefano, executive director of Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA), as well as from the audience.