Republic of Mining

COLUMN-Brave decision! Adani to start Australian coal mine on its own – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – August 29, 2017)

August 30, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Aug 29 (Reuters) – Adani Enterprises’ decision to start building Australia’s biggest coal mine would appear at face value to be a straightforward announcement that a major project is finally getting underway.

The Indian conglomerate said on Aug. 28 that it will start work in October on the Carmichael coal mine in Queensland state, initially using A$400 million ($317 million) of its own funds. There is no reason to doubt Adani intends to do exactly what it said it was planning to do by starting to build the $4 billion mine, with a goal to ship coal by 2020.

But there are several reasons to be sceptical about the timing of the announcement, and perhaps about its motivations. It would be a brave board of company directors that approved spending hundreds of millions of dollars when there is still considerable uncertainty over the future of the overall project.

Sudbury cluster plays key role in health and safety – by David Robinson (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – September 2017)

August 30, 2017

http://www.sudburyminingsolutions.com/

Mining is still one of the most dangerous industries in the world. According to the International Labour Organization, while mining employs around one per cent of the global labour force, it generates eight per cent of fatal accidents. As bad as it seems, there has been an enormous improvement. Safety in mining is now an obsession.

Safety has become a key target for the mining industry in developed countries, and standards are rising around the world. Some countries have a long way to go. China, for example, accounts for 40 per cent of global coal output, but 80 per cent of the world’s mining deaths. The artisanal and small mining sector, which may have as many as 50 million people working in it, is largely unregulated and undocumented. The number of deaths and injuries in the sector are unknown.

What is known at the global level is that health and safety progress in the mining sector has been astonishing. The deadliest year in U.S. coal mining history, for example, was 1907, when an estimated 3,242 deaths occurred. The number fell to 19 in 2002. China is claiming an 80 per cent reduction in deaths in its coal industry.

Laurentian University’s Goodman School of Mines is a Jewel – by Jenny Lamothe (SAMSSA.CA – August 30, 2017)

August 30, 2017

http://samssa.ca/

Special Legacy Series: by Jenny Lamothe on behalf of SAMSSA.CA

Having an employee, CEO or exploration specialist who has the knowledge and expertise to move through the entirety of the mining cycle is an attractive prospect. One that, thanks to Laurentian University’s Goodman School of Mines (GSM), is becoming a reality.

Dr. Bruce Jago, P.Geo, and Founding Executive Director of the school, describes GSM as an administrative unit at Laurentian: “We operate in parallel and in collaboration with the six disciplines that comprise the mining cycle,” he says. These six disciplines: Earth Sciences, Engineering, Indigenous Relations and Studies, Occupational Health and Safety, Environment and Ecology, and Management, make up the key facets of the industry, and in essence, “they’ll get you from one end of the mining cycle – which is discovery – all the way through to closure.”

Their support of these disciplines includes, amongst other funding, financial support for the purchase of new computers and design software for Engineering; access to a new mining equipment simulator at NORCAT for researchers at the Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health (CROSH); “For Earth Science, GSM bought a number of new microscopes for their microscopy lab.

Glencore fined $200,000 In Sudbury man’s death – by Staff (Sudbury Star – August 29, 2017)

August 30, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Glencore Canada Corporation has been fined $200,000 for the death of a Sudbury man almost two years ago.

The man, Richard Pigeau, 54, was killed at Nickel Rim South Mine when he was run over by a vehicle. The incident took place on Oct. 20, 2015, at Glencore’s base metal mine near Sudbury, which produces nickel and copper ore, the Minister of Labour said in a release.

“A worker was operating a machine known as a load haul dump (LHD) used in the underground operation to move broken rock or ore,” the ministry said. “While operating the LHD on a ramp, it appeared the bucket of the vehicle made contact with a wall on the right. “The LHD continued to move; the worker was ejected from the operator’s compartment and was run over by one of the vehicle’s tires. The worker died from the injuries.”

How Hurricane Harvey made Naomi Klein want to shut me up – by Terence Corcoran (Financial Post – August 30, 2017)

August 30, 2017

http://business.financialpost.com/

The winds and rains from Hurricane Harvey were battering Houston, so Klein sensed an opportunity to cash in on a timely disaster

On Monday, in my capacity as a Twitter watchdog over the general ideological health of the planet, I spotted a dispatch from Naomi Klein. As readers may know, when it comes to the ideological health of the planet, my advice would be to steer clear of Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine and other prescriptions for Dr. Green Statism to conduct full head transplants on the body politic and the global economic system.

The winds and rains from Hurricane Harvey were battering Houston, so Klein sensed an opportunity to cash in on a timely disaster. She sent around a tweet to her followers, but directed at one group: “Any journalists looking for climate experts to interview about #Harvey should read this piece, some very clear and credible voices in it.”

Before we get to the details of Klein’s effort, what seems clear about Harvey is this: it’s not the first time Houston has been underwater from hurricane action; Harvey ranks something like fifteenth-worst in the history of hurricane landfalls in the United States; it’s the first Category 4 to strike in 12 years, despite global warming theories;

Iron Ore’s Kings Are Spending Again – by Rebecca Keenan and David Stringer (Bloomberg News – August 29, 2017)

August 29, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The biggest iron ore producers in Australia are spending as much as $10 billion on mines so they can keep pumping out shipments to China as demand in their biggest customer shows little sign of easing.

Led by Rio Tinto Group, the nation’s top three exporters plan to add about 170 million metric tons of new capacity to replace exhausted mines and are studying investments in infrastructure and equipment to boost export capacity to their long-term targeted rates. Output will rise 9 percent to 843 million tons in 2022, according to Deutsche Bank AG estimates.

Forecasts of a slowdown in China’s steel industry are proving to be misplaced with BHP Billiton Ltd. saying production hasn’t yet peaked and likely won’t do so until the middle of next decade, while steel-making raw materials will continue performing well over the coming 12 months. Iron ore prices are trading near a four-month high.

Did Afghan minerals change Trump’s mind about Afghanistan? – by Waslat Hasrat-Nazimi Deutsche Welle (August 28, 2017)

August 29, 2017

http://www.dw.com/en/

While presenting his much-awaited Afghanistan policy last week, US President Donald Trump said he decided against a complete withdrawal of US forces from the war-torn country purely on his “instinct.” The main reason he cited for an indefinite US presence in Afghanistan was, of course, to defeat Islamist terrorists in the country, where the US has been engaged in a bloody war for 16 years. But experts say there is more to his decision than meets the eye.

According to The New York Times, Trump, who was not in favor of sending more American soldiers to Afghanistan, discussed Afghanistan’s mineral deposits with President Ashraf Ghani, who “promoted mining as an economic opportunity in one of their first conversations.”

“… this could be one justification for the United States to stay engaged in the country,” the newspaper reported last month.

Freeport makes compromise to end years of wrangling over Indonesian mining rights – by Wilda Asmarini and Hidayat Setiaji (Reuters India – August 29, 2017)

August 29, 2017

https://in.reuters.com/

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia has reached a deal to let Freeport-McMoRan Inc keep operating its giant Grasberg copper mine, after the U.S. company agreed to sell a majority stake following years of wrangling.

Freeport said on Tuesday it had made a “major concession and compromise” in agreeing to sell a 51 percent stake, and to build a second smelter in Indonesia. The company said the deal would be structured in a way that Freeport would retain control over the operations and governance of its Indonesian business.

“We are committed to completing the documentation as soon as possible during 2017,” Chief Executive Richard Adkerson said in a statement. Freeport’s shares were marginally down at $15.46 in premarket trading. Freeport has been in talks with Indonesia since late 2009 to work out how to shift to a new permit for Grasberg, the world’s second-biggest copper mine, as mandated in a mining law passed that year.

Worries mount over what busy mining road in Nunavut could mean for caribou migration – by Sara Frizzell (CBC News North – August 29, 2017)

August 29, 2017

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

A vehicle could travel every 6 minutes from the Whale Tail pit project to the Meadowbank mine

Agnico Eagle’s proposed expansion of operations near its Meadowbank gold mine near Baker Lake, Nunavut, is facing opposition. The Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA), the Government of Nunavut and the Baker Lake Hunters and Trappers Organization have all expressed concern over how a roadway connecting a new open pit mine to processing facilities at Meadowbank will affect caribou migration.

Their concerns appeared in their final written submissions to the Nunavut Impact Review Board, submitted in advance of the final public hearing on the project, which begins on Sept.19 in Baker Lake. Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. had an Aug. 28 deadline to submit its written response to concerns before the hearing.

The new mining operation — the Whale Tail pit — is about 50 kilometres northwest of Meadowbank. It would operate as an open pit mine for between three and four years, and requires a road connecting it to milling facilities at Meadowbank. Agnico Eagle expects mining could begin as early as 2019.

[Mining] Arctic ambitions: could the opening up of the Arctic become the next South China Sea? – by Nick Whigham (News.com.au – August 28, 2017)

August 29, 2017

http://www.news.com.au/

ONE of the most inhospitable places on the planet is in danger of becoming a flashpoint as global powers fight for control. THE polar regions are the closest thing left to virgin territory in the modern world. But with sea ice melting at a rapid rate due to global warming, the Arctic Sea — and its abundance of valuable minerals and natural resources — is becoming more accessible each year.

The Arctic, including the fabled Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific, is among the last regions on earth to remain largely unexplored. But as new passages open up, the changing conditions in the Arctic are spurring talk of a gold rush for the region’s resources, control of the prized shipping routes, and business opportunities in tourism and fishing.

Russia has steadily been increasing its military presence in recent years while China has found roundabout ways to exert influence in the region. It’s a situation that has led conservationists, industry experts and government officials to raise concerns of increasing geopolitical tension developing in the region. The head of the US Coast Guard even compared the situation to the ongoing dispute over territorial claims of islands in the South China Sea.

BHP Billiton still plans to ‘ultimately’ sell its nickel division – by Marcus Leroux (The Australian – August 29, 2017)

August 29, 2017August 29, 2017

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/

BHP Billiton intends to sell its nickel division despite its decision to invest $US43 million in boosting its capacity to meet demand created by the boom in electric vehicles.

In revealing that in the long term it will probably sell Nickel West, which operates in Western Australia, BHP is signalling that it is content to rely on its copper business for giving exposure to the increased demand for the materials that make batteries for green technologies such as electric vehicles.

BHP appears to be taking a more sober view of the looming battery rush than many of its rivals. Nickel West was stranded as an orphan asset after it was not included in BHP’s spin-off of South32. However, the company subsequently committed to it by boosting its processing capacity to meet the anticipated demand from the take-up of electric vehicles.

Brazil to redo Amazon mining decree after criticism – by Jake Spring (Reuters U.S. – August 28, 2017)

August 29, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s government will revise a decree that opened up a vast mineral reserve in the Amazon rainforest to mining, ministers told journalists on Monday, responding to overwhelming criticism from lawmakers and activists.

Mining and Energy Minister Fernando Coelho Filho said the government would rescind its prior decree and issue a new one that still abolishes the mineral reserve but specifies existing protections for parts of the area that will remain in place.

The changes, as described, will be largely superficial, spelling out protections that would have remained in place anyway, and Coelho Filho largely repeated remarks he made on from Friday defending the move to allow mining.

Under Obama, a gold mining firm was fine with a Mojave Desert monument. Under Trump, an about-face – by Louis Sahagun (Los Angeles Times – August 28, 2017)

August 29, 2017

http://www.latimes.com/

Less than a year ago, President Obama’s designation of a new national monument in the eastern Mojave Desert — featuring a row of jagged peaks rising above native grasslands and Joshua trees — was hailed as a compromise that served the goals of conservationists and the mining industry.

The 20,920-acre monument surrounded, but did not include, an open-pit gold mining operation at the southern end of the Castle Mountains. That allowed Newcastle Gold Ltd. of Canada to proceed with plans to excavate 10 million tons of ore from its 8,300-acre parcel through 2025.

“The company appreciates that it has been consulted throughout this process,” Newcastle said at the time. “The new land designation reflects a compromise position that meets our needs as well as respecting the interests of other stakeholders in the area.”

Ex-PotashCorp CEO says industry lacks leadership, calls Agrium merger ‘sad’ – by Ian Vandaelle (Business Network News – August 28, 2017)

August 29, 2017

http://www.bnn.ca/

Bill Doyle is decrying the state of his former field, arguing the potash industry lacks strong leadership amid persistently weak prices. In an interview on BNN Monday, the former Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan chief executive said the industry has sacrificed prices at the altar of volumes, chasing larger market share instead of seeking to firm up market conditions for the underlying commodity.

“There’s just no one that’s stepped up to the plate that’s taking a leadership role,” he said. “Price is so much more important than volume and producing, according to the market. It’s one thing to pay lip service to it, it’s another thing to actually have the intestinal fortitude to do it.”

Prices of the fertilizer ingredient collapsed after Belarus’s Uralkali broke up the production cartel in 2013, effectively leaving producers to their own devices instead of seeking to balance supply and demand. Under Doyle, PotashCorp was considered the swing producer in the space, and was quick to curtail production when potash demand plummeted in 2009.

Ring of Fire road ‘a huge win for northern Ontario’ – by Angela Gismondi (Daily Commercial News – August 29, 2017)

August 29, 2017

http://dailycommercialnews.com/

“I think it’s a huge win for northern Ontario as a whole,” said Adam Pinder, executive director of the Sault Ste. Marie Construction Association.

“That level of development will certainly impact construction companies either directly or indirectly across the north. A road of that size, an investment of that size, just to get the project underway is a big deal, let alone the potential of the actual Ring of Fire area. We’re happy to hear it and look forward to what the future holds.”

Wynne was joined by Michael Gravelle, minister of northern development and mines, in Thunder Bay Aug. 21 to announce agreements are in place with First Nation communities in northern Ontario to begin constructing an all-season access road to the mineral-rich region.