Republic of Mining

In its third year, North American Nickel’s Maniitsoq drill campaign casts a wider net – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – August 30, 2017)

August 31, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Drilling productivity at base metals explorer North American Nickel’s (NAN’s) Maniitsoq project, in south-west Greenland, has been lower than expected, prompting the company to add another drill rig and extend the drilling programme by two weeks to late September, to achieve as many metres as possible.

The TSX-V-listed junior is entering its third year of a strategic drilling campaign at its flagship nickel/copper/cobalt/platinum group metals project, focusing on step-out drilling at the Imiak Hill Complex (IHC), Fossilik and P-013SE.

The programme makes use of borehole electromagnetic surveys, surface induced polarisation geophysical surveys, mapping, structural geological studies and three-dimensional modelling.

The gilded South: OceanaGold writes the latest chapter in the long history of South Carolina’s Haile mine – by Ryan Bergen (CIM Magazine – August 25, 2017)

August 31, 2017

http://magazine.cim.org/en/

Located a few minutes from the small town of Kershaw, South Carolina, Haile has the distinction of being the only gold mine in the United States east of the Mississippi River. More to the point, unlike many new operations it is, if traffic cooperates, just an hour and a half from both an international airport and a domestic hub for air cargo.

It also has the advantage of a deep labour pool nearby and easy access to power and roads, which helped OceanaGold build the 6,300- tonnes-per-day operation for an estimated US$400 million.

Past to present

Gold was first discovered in the area in the 1820s by tenants clearing the land owned by Benjamin Haile. The first placer operations evolved to include a stamp mill, and the gold extracted helped fund the losing Confederate effort in the American Civil War. Legendary Union General William Sherman made a point of destroying Haile’s mine facilities as he and his troops returned north and operations only resumed in the 1880s when New York investors brought it back into production.

Romania wants former mining city of Rosia Montana to be pulled from UNESCO list – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – August 30, 2017)

August 31, 2017

http://www.mining.com/

Move could mean good news for Gabriel Resources’ long-stalled namesake gold project.

Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Tudose plans to ask UNESCO to revoke the status of World Heritage site for the former mining town of Rosia Montana, as the nomination means important gold reserves can no longer be exploited.

The application, submitted to UNESCO by the former government, was the last nail in the coffin for Canadian Gabriel Resources’ (TSX:GBU) namesake project, which faced relentless local opposition and several attempts to block the proposed mine by the government.

In 2014, parliament yielded to pressure from environmentalists, worried about the potential use of cyanide to mine about 314 tonnes of gold and 1,500 tonnes of silver, and halted the project.

Editorial: Ontario gov’t to fund road to Ring of Fire, nearby First Nations – by John Cumming (Northern Miner – August 30, 2017)

August 31, 2017

It’s the first bit of genuinely good news about Ontario’s Ring of Fire mineral district in five years: the Ontario government has pledged “support” and provincial funding to build two roads into the fledgling mining camp in the James Bay lowlands that would also link previously isolated First Nations communities in the area to the province’s all-season road network.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne made the statement on Aug. 21 in Thunder Bay, Ont., flanked by three of her ministers: Indigenous Relations Minister David Zimmer; Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle; and Minister of Municipal Affairs Bill Mauro.

The announcement was made with the chiefs of the Marten Falls, Webequie and Nibinamik First Nations, which would be most affected by the roads. Marten Falls Chief Bruce Achneepineskum and Webequie Chief Cornelius Wabasse attended the announcement, as did Noront Resources president and CEO Alan Coutts.

NEWS RELEASE: Canadian Mining Eye – Q2 2017 – Q&A with Anthony Makuch: President and CEO, Kirkland Lake Gold (August 2017)

August 30, 2017

http://www.ey.com/ca/en/

Q.What is your view of the mining sector?

A.Mining is a cyclical business, so we always seem to be running into the same roadblocks. Overall, gold prices are doing fairly well, especially in Canadian and AUS dollar terms. When you look at the industry as a whole, 2017 is turning out to be a positive year.

With that said, the industry does have to deal with cost pressures as it relates to capital costs. Thinking about some large joint venture projects in the market, it’s natural to understand that the size, cost, technical and market risks command a delicate balance.

On the investment side, attracting new investors to our industry continues to be challenging. We need to build the infrastructure at our mines during the downturns so that we reap the rewards during the price upswing.

NEWS RELEASE: EY’s Canadian Mining Eye Index sees struggles in Q2

August 30, 2017

http://www.ey.com/ca/en/industries/mining—metals/

Sources available to discuss slow start to Q2 2017

TORONTO, Aug. 29, 2017 /CNW/ – EY’s Canadian Mining Eye index lost 7% during Q2 2017, following an increase of 11% in Q1 2017. The loss was in part due to weakness in the price of nickel, with zinc remaining flat and copper seeing a slight increase.

“Right now companies continue to focus on reducing their debt,” says Jim MacLean, EY’s Canadian Mining & Metals Leader. “But we’re seeing a shift in how they’re doing it. They’ve moved from selling non-core assets to generating capital through enhanced cashflow, overall reducing their debt load at a good pace.”

Due to its use in electric vehicles and global demand for stainless steel (contains 8-10% nickel), nickel prices are expected to remain constant – offset by surplus mine supply. At the same time, the slowing economic growth rate in China is expected to keep copper prices constant in the near term with a positive outlook in the medium to long term.

Revisiting Rare Earths: The Ongoing Efforts to Challenge China’s Monopoly – by Mayuko Yatsu (The Diplomat – August 29, 2017)

August 30, 2017

https://thediplomat.com/

Despite current cost-effectiveness, it is not sustainable for the United States to rely on Chinese rare earth elements.

At the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing held in May 2017, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and the acting Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Mike Pompeo expressed their strong concern over the United States’ excessive dependence on foreign-produced rare earth elements and its potential impact on national security.

According to the United States Geological Survey, the United States relied 100 percent on imported rare earth elements in 2016, and more than 70 percent of those were from China. The Department of Defense is estimated to require 800 tons of such elements each year, and Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) addresses a vulnerability in the Department’s acquisition system in a recent bill.

Despite concern from Congress and the CIA, it was only one and half months after the hearing that a U.S. court ruled in favor of allowing a consortium of rare earths suppliers (including a Chinese mining company) to purchase the Mountain Pass mine in California — the only ready-to-be-operated rare earths mine in the United States.

Advancing technology signals imminent opening of undersea mineral treasure chest – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – August 29, 2017)

August 30, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – In a new era of ever-advancing technology and increased legal certainty, ocean floor mining is set to take off in the next decade as several juniors jostle to be first to exploit the wealth hidden on the deep ocean floor.

DeepGreen Resources chief development officer Anthony O’Sullivan believes it is in the running to reach the ocean depths, with access to a prime base metals tenure in a prospective region of the Pacific ocean floor.

The company’s flagship Nori project is part of the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ) of the Central Pacific, which was first discovered in 1873 – an area believed to hold an abundance of the polymetallic nodules, with metal concentrations occurring on the vast abyssal plains at a depth of about 4 000 m to 6 000 m in international waters, O’Sullivan told an audience attending the fifty-sixth Annual Conference of Metallurgists, in Vancouver.

Coal push may be disaster insurance the grid doesn’t need – by Tim Loh and Mark Chediak(Washington Post – August 25, 2017)

August 30, 2017

http://business.financialpost.com/

‘The U.S. ought not to mortgage itself up to the hilt by making rash decisions that could very well harm the economy of the U.S. in 10 years’

If all hell breaks loose on the U.S. power grid — a terrorist blows up a key natural gas pipeline, say, in the midst of a frigid winter — how will Americans keep the lights on?

The answer is coal, according to a growing collection of the industry’s leaders and lobbyists. Their pitch conveys an image of a nation plunged into darkness as solar farms, wind turbines and plants fueled by gas fail to make up for the loss of coal-fired generation. Though it’s a view at least partly supported by a Department of Energy study released late Wednesday, the reality isn’t so dire.

Coal companies’ pleas for protection come as President Donald Trump vows to make good on campaign promises to support an industry hit by low-cost renewable energy and abundant gas from shale reservoirs. Energy Secretary Rick Perry called in April for his department to investigate whether rising supplies of wind and solar energy are threatening the grid’s reliability.

[Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario] City continues ferrochrome plant pitch – by Elaine Della-Mattia (Sault Star – August 30, 2017)

August 30, 2017

http://www.saultstar.com/

Mayor Christian Provenzano said he’s met twice with representatives of NorOnt to push Sault Ste. Marie’s attributes to house a ferrochrome plant. “Both times NorOnt came to the Sault they told me their priority was the road,” Provenzano said. “I asked how to help and they told me to lobby for the road so I did that.”

The Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp. has also been keeping in close contact with NorOnt Resources and has been gathering the data and information it believes will be required for its request for proposal submission. In addition, NOLAN also lobbied collectively for the importance of the road, considering the vast impact the development could have on the region’s economy.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne announced on Aug. 21 that an agreement has been reached with three First Nation communities closest to the mineral deposit site and that environmental work would begin with road construction expected to begin in 2019. The road will allow year-round access to the remote mineral deposit, believed to be the largest of its kind.

Despite Risks, Trump Administration Moves Forward With Afghanistan Mining Plan – by Elias Groll (Foreign Policy – August 29, 2017)

August 30, 2017

http://foreignpolicy.com/

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says the mining industry is key to Kabul’s future.

The United States has already spent almost half a billion dollars on Afghanistan’s mining industry with little to show, but the Trump administration still appears determined to move forward with plans to tap the country’s buried wealth.

Describing the country’s mineral deposits as potentially transformative for a country its size, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Foreign Policy that he has delivered a plan to President Donald Trump to get the Afghan economy back on its feet. “The whole idea of it is to try to figure out how to make Afghanistan a self-sufficient country that can provide jobs for its people and its own budget,” Ross said in an interview.

Trump, who last week announced that he would be sending more troops to Afghanistan, believes the country’s estimated $1 trillion in mineral resources can be used to repay the United States for what it has spent there. “As the prime minister of Afghanistan has promised, we are going to participate in economic development to help defray the cost of this war to us,” Trump said in an Aug. 21 speech at Fort Myer in Virginia.

Makeover for world’s oldest city drives India steel recovery – by Swansy Afonso (Hamilton Spectator – August 30, 2017)

August 30, 2017

https://www.thespec.com

The world’s oldest living city is getting a makeover. Varanasi, Hinduism’s holiest site on the Ganges River in northern India, is one of 100 places earmarked to receive trillions of rupees to transform their aging infrastructure and become ‘Smart Cities,’ replete with affordable housing, improved sanitation, and better transportation.

To build it all, India plans to triple its steel-making capacity, making it the world’s second-biggest producer, trumping Japan, and reviving an industry that a year ago was on its knees.

“India is one of the bright spots for the global steel industry,” said Bijoy Thomas, a senior analyst at India Ratings & Research, the local unit of Fitch Ratings, by phone from New Delhi. “We have a very low base of per-capita consumption and the nation is on the path to development.”

Resource-rich NWT begins rewriting its mining rules in an effort to attract investment – by Ashley Renders (Financial Post – August 30, 2017)

August 30, 2017

http://business.financialpost.com/

Miners are one of the biggest private employers in the territory, but existing projects are close to the end of their lives and exploration interest has declined

Residents of the resource-rich Northwest Territories began consulting on a new Mineral Resource Act on Monday, a made-in-the-North piece of legislation aimed at making the territory more attractive for mining investment.

As one of the largest private employers in the territory, mining is an important part of the economy and makes up one quarter of the region’s GDP. But existing projects are moving closer to the end of their lives and interest from exploration companies dropped, and then stagnated, years ago.

Part of the reason is that mining laws and unsettled land claims have created uncertainty for investors. The government hopes to “redefine” its relationship with the industry through a modern piece of legislation that clearly explains how mining is supposed to be done in the territory.

Chinese Coal, Global Tremors – by David Fickling (Bloomberg News – August 29, 2017)

August 30, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

It’s tempting to view a merger between giant state-owned Chinese companies as a strictly internal affair. But make no mistake: The combination of the country’s largest coal miner with one of its top five power generators will have ramifications around the world.

To see why, it’s worth looking at how the integration with electricity producer China Guodian Corp. will change miner Shenhua Group Corp.Shenhua’s size and reach give it a crucial position in China’s internal power market.

It sold almost 400 million metric tons of coal last year, equivalent to about two-thirds of the amount used in power generation in the U.S. It owns a rail network that could reach from New York to Miami, stretching from the Mongolian border, through the Shaanxi coal belt, to Huanghua port on the Yellow Sea.

How big shifts in U.S.-Canada oil trade erased the ‘geopolitical premium’ on oil prices – by Peter Tertzakian (Financial Post – August 30, 2017)

August 30, 2017

http://business.financialpost.com/

NAFTA talks continue. Goods like milk, lumber and auto parts are all under the negotiators’ microscopes. Oil is clearly visible, too. Last year, the bilateral trade of energy (including natural gas, oil and power) between the U.S. and Canada was about US$55 billion, with oil being 80 per cent of the total. It’s dollar amount dwarfs other industries, but negotiators may need to view this vital commodity using a different lens.

Beyond size, the upstream oil business between America and Canada reveals big shifts in dollar and volume trade over the past few years.

The United States has long been its northern neighbour’s biggest oil customer. Yet since 2014, it’s reciprocally grown to become Canada’s biggest supplier too. As a result of this bilateral exchange of barrels, the growth in the oil trade deficit (from the American perspective) has slowed down somewhat. That’s notable for negotiations. But of more interest is that both countries have pushed out a large portion of their “foreign oil” suppliers.