Republic of Mining

Species at Risk policy fires up Northern leaders: Municipalities, industry, First Nations fear habitat protection rules could devastate forestry – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – October 4, 2017)

October 6, 2017

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Queen’s Park can expect fierce resistance from Northerners if the province attempts to finalize controversial Species at Risk policy without proper consultation, said Kenora’s mayor.

“If they want to rush it through, they’re going to have a backlash like they’ve never seen before,” said Dave Canfield, past president of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA). “There’s going to be a lot of us standing shoulder-to-shoulder.”

At issue are the new Species at Risk rules, designed to protect 28 species in Northern Ontario, which will be woven into the fabric of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The ESA has raised the hackles of Northern leaders since it was passed in 2007.

Canada needs a frank discussion about resources – by Ken Hughes (Globe and Mail – October 6, 2017)

October 6, 2017

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/

Ken Hughes is a former Alberta minister of energy, the founding chair of Alberta Health Services, and was recognized as an Honourary Chief within the Blackfoot Confederacy

As Canadians, let’s be honest with each other. After TransCanada announced Thursday that the Energy East Pipeline is dead, we need – now more than ever – to honestly address this fundamental question: How does Canada work? We can’t build a country without building something. We will not maintain our standard of living if we continue to lose our edge.

First, the wealth of a country is created by the sweat, toil and creativity of Canadians. They turn assets into something of value that can be sold to create wealth. Sometimes these are assets such as oil, natural gas or lumber. Sometimes these are virtual assets, such as insurance, banking or software. Success leads to taxes paid to local, provincial and federal governments.

Taxes are used by governments to pay for our much valued, quality public services: health care, education, roads, etc. Taxes only get paid when there is successful enterprise first. Taxes are paid by employed Canadians and by successful companies. Period.

Zinc Prices Have Rallied So Much Even Miners Are Complaining – by Kevin Crowley (Bloomberg News – October 5, 2017)

October 6, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Zinc’s dramatic surge to the highest in a decade might boost profits in the short term but isn’t all good news for producers, according to Vedanta Resources Plc.

Buyers are struggling to make money at current levels after prices more than doubled since the start of 2016, Deshnee Naidoo, the chief executive officer of the company’s Vedanta Zinc International unit, said in an interview.

“The whole market is out of whack,” Naidoo said in Johannesburg on Thursday. “In the short term it’s a good price, but it’s not a sustainable price. There needs to be an incentive price for galvanizers, alloy producers, smelters.”

Plans to restart giant Bougainville mine stall as operating rights battle rages – by Jonathan Barrett (Reuters U.S. – October 5, 2017)

October 6, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

SYDNEY, October 6 (Reuters) – Plans to reopen one of the world’s biggest copper mines, shut by a civil war on the Pacific Island of Bougainville in 1989, have run into trouble.

The quarter of a million people of Bougainville are tentatively scheduled to vote on independence from Papua New Guinea in June 2019, and revenue from the reopening of the Panguna mine is essential for the otherwise impoverished island to have any chance of flourishing if it becomes the world’s newest nation.

But there is now a struggle over who will run the mine between Bougainville Copper Ltd – the previous operator now backed by the Autonomous Bougainville Government and the Papua New Guinea government – and a consortium of Australian investors supported by the head of the landowners who own the mineral rights.

NEWS RELEASE: New Gold Announces First Gold Pour at Rainy River Mine

October 6, 2017

TORONTO, Oct. 6, 2017 /CNW/ – New Gold Inc. (“New Gold”) (TSX:NGD) (NYSE American:NGD) is pleased to report that it has completed its first gold pour at the Rainy River mine, and the company’s commissioning plans remain on schedule. The first pour yielded approximately 500 ounces of gold and 600 ounces of silver.

“Our team is proud to have delivered on all of the key project milestones since the beginning of 2017, however, the first gold pour is a particularly special one for New Gold and its stakeholders,” stated Hannes Portmann, President and Chief Executive Officer. “This achievement is reflective of a true team effort as it would not have been possible without the commitment and resilience of our workforce as well as the strong support of our local communities and Indigenous partners – thank you.”

As previously announced, the Rainy River mine began processing ore on schedule on September 14, 2017. Since that date, the company has successfully processed approximately 290,000 tonnes of ore. Inclusive of four days of intentional downtime as part of the commissioning plan, this translates to an average processing rate of almost 14,000 tonnes per day, or 67% of the 21,000 tonne per day nameplate capacity.

Romano visits Ring of Fire – by Elaine Della-Mattia (Sault Star – October 5, 2017)

October 6, 2017

http://www.saultstar.com/

As Sault MPP Ross Romano is headed to the far north to visit the Ring of Fire area and meet with First Nation communities, the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp. is keeping its line of communication open Noront Resources.

Romano left Thursday for the far north and is expected to return home Oct. 15. His plan, which he had talked about during the provincial byelection campaign, was to visit the region, tour the area and learn more about issues facing First Nation communities in the area.

His goals are to tour the area to get a full appreciation of the challenges the provincial government faces to develop the road and how to properly address the relationship with Indigenous communities.

Why Energy-Rich Australia Suffers the World’s Priciest Power – by Perry Williams (Bloomberg News – October 6, 2017)

October 6, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

A bungled transition from coal to clean energy has left resource-rich Australia with an unwanted crown: the highest power prices in the world.

New Yorkers pay half as much as Sydneysiders to keep the lights on, despite Australia boasting among the world’s largest coal and natural gas reserves, as well as ideal conditions for clean power generation. A decade of political dithering and climate policy missteps have set its patchwork power system adrift, ratcheting up manufacturing costs and hurting consumers with a doubling in electricity prices since last year and rising risks of blackouts.

“It is not a bit of a mess, it is a major mess,” said Sanjeev Gupta, 46, the British billionaire owner of Liberty House Group, who saw firsthand the effects of policy neglect after buying an ailing steel-making business in blackout-beleaguered South Australia in July.

No Plan B for Liberals on pipelines – by Claudia Cattaneo (Financial Post – October 6, 2017)

October 6, 2017

http://business.financialpost.com/

The cancellation of Energy East is the last of the big, nation-building pipeline decisions that resulted from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s forced transition to greener energy.

It’s another area of the economy that Ottawa has badly mishandled. It’s based on an energy model for Canada that is a lousy fit for its geology, history, economy, and the competencies and desires of its people, particularly in Western Canada. It’s the reason Calgary’s economy is dead when it should be humming with new activity amid rebounding oil prices, and that unemployment in Alberta is so high it’s a national political embarrassment.

Energy East died Thursday after Ottawa expanded its regulatory review to include climate change impacts of the whole upstream and downstream oil industry. Proponent TransCanada Corp. said it took the decision after “a careful review of changed circumstances.” It expects to take an estimated $1 billion after-tax non-cash charge in its fourth quarter results. The decision was made after a five-year application process.

Economic reality killed the Energy East pipe dream — and that’s good – by Terence Corcoran (Financial Post – October 6, 2017)

October 6, 2017

http://business.financialpost.com/

Dreams and fantasies die hard, especially ones that have little or no basis in reality. Many of us may imagine ourselves as sports stars or corporate CEOs or Nobel scientists, but we all must come to terms with who we really are and the circumstances of our lives. Few of us are the next Jose Bautista or tomorrow’s Angelina Jolie.

So it is with nations whose people must at times learn that their national destiny is not as they once imagined. Canada is one such nation and Energy East is one of those times.

TransCanada Corporation’s decision to terminate the Energy East pipeline to ship oil from Alberta to the East coast and beyond means that Canada must now seriously begin to give up on what may always have been an impossible dream. Canada is not and may never become a global energy superpower.

Ontario Mining History: The Elliot Lake story – by Dit Holt (Northern Miner – January 8, 2001)

October 6, 2017

http://www.northernminer.com/

The evolution of Elliot Lake, Ont. — from a logging and fur-trapping centre in the early 1900s to the uranium capital of the world in the 1950s and 1960s, and then to its present status as one of most successful retirement communities in Canada — is unique. And few people know that history better than M.E. (Dit) Holt, a mining engineer who began his career by taking part in the staking rush that transformed a remote wilderness north of Lake Huron into a mining boom town.

In the next few months, Holt will bring that history back to life through a series of columns featuring the men (in those days, mining was a man’s game) who found, financed and developed a total of 11 mines in the district.

To set the stage, we’ll go back to 1948, when Aim Breton and Karl Gunterman discovered radioactive rock in Long Twp., east of Blind River. However, significant deposits of the radioactive element were not found, and Breton and Gunterman let their claims lapse. In 1952, prospector Franc Joubin (1911-1997), backed by financier Joseph Hirshhorn (1900-1981), restaked the lapsed claims and set out to determine exactly what was exciting his geiger counter.

ANALYSIS: Gold industry leaves no stone unturned in battle over West Australia Government mining royalty hike – by Jacob Kagi (Australian Broadcasting News – October 5, 2017)

October 5, 2017

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

The gold industry is pulling out all stops in its fight to defeat what it claims will be a job-crippling royalty increase, while division simmers in the Liberal Party over whether to give the bid crucial support in Parliament.

From taking out large newspaper advertisements to inviting key media figures to dinner at fancy restaurants, the mining lobby is leaving no stone unturned in its battle against the McGowan Government’s gold royalty hike.

But with the vote in State Parliament to determine the fate of the 50 per cent rise in the royalty rate potentially less than a week away, the industry stepped its campaign up a notch yesterday. In a rare show of unity, senior executives from some of the state’s biggest gold miners, and top figures from other companies linked to the industry, lined up yesterday to warn jobs would be lost en masse if the royalty hike remained.

Robots under Swedish forest breathe life into ancient mines – by Eric Onstad (Reuters U.S. – October 4, 2017)

October 5, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

GARPENBERG MINE, Sweden (Reuters) – Hundreds of meters below the lush forests of rural Sweden, one of the world’s most ancient mines has been transformed into one of the most modern.Sensors linked to robotic equipment in Boliden’s Garpenberg zinc mine – which has been in operation since the 13th century – feed data to operators above ground as screens blink and flash in a nearby control room.

Boliden is at the forefront of a global transformation in which mining companies are exploiting huge amounts of data being crunched by computers to dramatically boost productivity and cut costs.

The advances at Garpenberg, however, have only scratched the surface in exploiting the new technology. Fully automated mines are on the horizon. “We have a way to go. There’s a big possibility of working 24 hours a day with more automation,” said Jenny Gotthardsson, general manager at Garpenberg.

Nova Scotia miners offer more than $8,000 cash to students who can prove industry ‘rocks’ – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – October 5, 2017)

October 5, 2017

http://www.mining.com/

As a way of rising awareness and interest in mining awareness among junior high and high school students in Nova Scotia, Canada, a provincial industry group is offering over $8000 in cash prizes to kids with some basic video skills.

The Mining ROCKS! contest, now in its fourth year, hopes to inspire children to learn about the industry, get creative and win big, Sean Kirby, executive director of the Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS) said in a statement.

Now in its fourth year, the popular competition is offering $1,000 to each winner in five different categories, with $500 going to the runner-up.

INTERVIEW: How an Activist Minister in Philippines Took on the Mining Barons – by Fred Pearce (YaleEnvironment360 – October 5, 2017)

October 5, 2017

http://e360.yale.edu/

In an interview with Yale Environment 360, Gina Lopez, who served as the Philippines’ environment chief, talks about her embattled, short-lived tenure and explains why it’s so difficult to rein in the country’s powerful and environmentally destructive mining industry.

Gina Lopez is the scion of a wealthy Filipino family that owns the nation’s largest media conglomerate. Yet despite her privileged background, she has followed an unconventional path — living in an Indian ashram, working anonymously as a missionary in Africa for 11 years, and ultimately becoming an environmental activist in her native land.

That work, especially her campaign against the Philippines’ corrupt and highly destructive mining industry, brought her to the attention of President Rodrigo Duterte, a controversial figure best known for ordering the extrajudicial killings of drug dealers when he was mayor of Davao City. In June 2016, Duterte appointed Lopez as Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources.

COLUMN-Russia takes advantage of China’s North Korea coal ban – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – October 3, 2017)

October 4, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Oct 3 (Reuters) – China’s coal import data for August flung up an interesting anomaly in the form of renewed imports from North Korea, but of far more interest is the surge in cargoes from Russia.

Customs data showed that China imported 1.6 million tonnes from North Korea in August, the first allowed since February when Beijing tightened sanctions against its neighbour as part of international efforts to restrict the isolated dictatorship’s nuclear weapons programme.

While this generated media headlines, it’s likely nothing more than a blip as Beijing had already said it would allow North Korean cargoes stranded at Chinese ports by the sanctions to be cleared. What is more interesting is how Russia has effectively supplanted North Korea as a supplier of relatively good quality coal to China.