Republic of Mining

Plan may spur ‘environmental fragmentation’: conservationist – by Emily Blake (Whitehorse Daily Star – September 11, 2017)

September 12, 2017

http://www.whitehorsestar.com/

Some environmental groups are expressing concerns about the Yukon Resource Gateway Project

Some environmental groups are expressing concerns about the Yukon Resource Gateway Project following a commitment of more than $360 million in federal and territorial funding. The project will see improved road access in the Dawson Range, located between Carmacks and Dawson City, and the Nahanni Range Road in southeast Yukon, both mineral-rich areas in the territory.

And while members of the mining industry and government are applauding the funding announcement, there are concerns about the lack of information on environmental impacts. “We’re not supportive of these projects until we get more information,” Lewis Rifkind, a mining analyst with the Yukon Conservation Society, told the Star last week.

“We’re opening up vast swaths of the Yukon to environmental fragmentation.” He worries about how the infrastructure project might affect woodland caribou. He said an extreme example of this is logging and oil and gas roads in Alberta, where the woodland caribou population has been reduced to around 7,000.

Coal processing given green light at Cape Breton’s Donkin mine (Halifax Chronicle Herald – September 12, 2017)

September 12, 2017

http://m.thechronicleherald.ca/

Kameron Collieries ULC, the owner of the Donkin Coal Mine in Cape Breton, has started operating its coal handling, preparation and processing plant or washplant.

Morien Resources Corp. of Dartmouth, a former part-owner of the Donkin project, put out a release Monday stating that it received notice from Kameron that its washplant was operational.

Morien owns a gross production royalty of two per cent on the first 500,000 tonnes of coal sales per quarter, excluding the initial 10,000 tonnes of coal produced and sold from Donkin and four per cent on any coal sales from quarterly tonnage above 500,000 tonnes.

Diamonds Are The Latest Industry To Benefit From Blockchain Technology – by Pamela Ambler (Forbes Magazine – September 10, 2017)

September 12, 2017

https://www.forbes.com/

Blood diamonds from the commodity rich country of Central African Republic (CAR) have made their way to the online marketplace of Facebook. This is according to an investigative report by Global Witness, an NGO that works to fight natural resource exploitation.

Illegal digital activities were unveiled through a social media profile for a fictitious buyer. The organization found that messenger platforms such as WhatsApp have also been used as a tool to smuggle conflict stones into the international supply chain.

To stem the flow of conflict diamonds, the United Nations came to a landmark decision in early 2000 called the Kimberley Process. A three-step verification method was introduced wherein mining countries were required to provide a declaration of each stone.

NEWS RELEASE: Coeur Announces Acquisition of the Silvertip Mine in British Columbia

September 12, 2017

Chicago, Illinois – September 11, 2017 – Coeur Mining, Inc. (“Coeur” or the “Company”) (NYSE: CDE) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive agreement (the “Arrangement Agreement”) to acquire privately-owned JDS Silver Holdings, Ltd. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, JDS Silver Inc. (“JDS Silver”), which owns the high-grade silver-zinc-lead Silvertip mine (“Silvertip”) located in northern British Columbia, Canada, adding a sixth producing mine to Coeur’s North American-focused platform.

Under the Arrangement Agreement, the Company will pay initial consideration of US$200 million, consisting of US$146.5 million of cash, US$38.5 million of Coeur shares (approximately 4.3 million new shares), and will assume US$15 million in existing debt. Additional potential payments of up to US$50 million are contingent upon achieving specific future permitting and exploration milestones at Silvertip.

Overview of Silvertip

The Silvertip mine is one of the industry’s newest and highest-grade silver-zinc-lead mines with a silverequivalent1 indicated resource grade of 1,166 grams per tonne (g/t), comprised of 352 g/t silver, 9.4% zinc,and 6.7% lead, and a silver-equivalent1 inferred resource grade of 1,155 g/t, comprised of 343 g/t silver, 9.8% zinc, and 6.2% lead.

Tahoe shares surge after Guatemala ruling – by Frik Els (Mining.com – September 11, 2017)

September 12, 2017

http://www.mining.com/

Shares in Tahoe Resources (TSX:THO)(NYSE:TAHO) surged on Monday after a Guatemalan court reinstated the company’s license to operate its giant Escobal silver mine.

Shares in the Canadian miner gained as much as 49% at the start of trade before closing up 33% for a $1.5 billion market capitalization in the New York Stock Exchange. Escobal is the world’s third largest primary silver mine with production of 21.2 million ounces of silver in concentrate in 2016.

Vancouver-based Tahoe said the Guatemalan Supreme Court decision reverses an earlier ruling that went against its subsidiary Minera San Rafael (MEM), in an action brought by the anti-mining group, CALAS, against the country’s Ministry of Energy and Mines in May.

Canada’s Sherritt eyes nickel products for booming battery market – by Nicole Mordant (Reuters Canada – September 11, 2017)

September 12, 2017

https://ca.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – The rise of electric cars is spurring Sherritt International Corp (S.TO) to consider branching into producing the types of nickel most sought after by battery manufacturers, the chief executive of the Canadian company said on Monday.

David Pathe said Sherritt, which is one of the world’s largest producers of nickel, was studying the economics around building a plant to produce nickel sulphate, a powder-like substance particularly suited for use in batteries.

Sherritt already produces high-grade nickel for use in the stainless steel industry and in sophisticated applications including batteries. The company does not produce nickel sulphate, which consistently fetches a price premium over London Metal Exchange-traded nickel.

Ivanhoe confident of expanding Kamoa-Kakula into a top three global copper deposit – by Natasha Odenaal (MiningWeekly.com – September 11, 2017)

September 12, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – TSX-listed Ivanhoe Mines is confident that the Kamoa-Kakula deposit, ranked the fifth-largest copper deposit in the world, will take one of the top three rankings on the back of the “unprecedented rate of growth” of the high-grade copper resource in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Ivanhoe on Monday announced assay results from another 43 holes as part of the ongoing 2017 drilling campaign at the Kamoa-Kakula copper project.

“The remarkable consistency of the ultra-high-grade copper mineralisation at the Kakula discovery is unlike anything geologists have ever seen in the DRC’s copperbelt. The discovery remains open in virtually all directions, so the real question is, how much bigger and better is Kakula going to get?” Ivanhoe executive chairperson Robert Friedland said.

Canada’s Centerra settles mine dispute with Kyrgyzstan, shares up – by Nicole Mordant and John Benny (Reuters Canada – September 11, 2017)

September 12, 2017

https://ca.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Canadian miner Centerra Gold Inc (CG.TO) said on Monday it has reached an agreement with Kyrgyzstan to settle all outstanding disputes with the Central Asian country over its Kumtor gold mine, the company’s and the country’s biggest.

All Kyrgyz environmental claims, other proceedings and court orders against Kumtor will be dropped and Centerra will be able to transfer funds out of the country that had been frozen by the government, the company said in a statement.Centerra’s shares rose 3 percent to a four-and-a-half year high of C$9.04 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Toronto-based Centerra is the biggest foreign investor and taxpayer in Kyrgyzstan, contributing up to 10 percent of the impoverished nation’s gross domestic product. The two sides had been on a collision course as the country tried to extract more profit from the mine.

Alamos Gold acquiring Wawa gold operation: Richmont’s Island Gold Mine was a prized target of Toronto miner – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – September 11, 2017)

September 12, 2017

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Alamos Gold is proposing a friendly acquisition of Richmont Mines’ flagship Island Gold Mine in a $933-million all-stock deal. The Wawa-area mine is touted by Alamos as a high-grade, low-cost producer with plenty of upside to add ounces over the next few years.

“We’re adding a high-quality asset in a great jurisdiction,” said Alamos Gold president-CEO John McCluskey in a Sept. 11 conference calls with analysts. If the transaction is finalized this fall, he places Island Gold as a top-three operating asset that would propel Alamos among the top 10 North American gold miners, capable of producing more than 500,000 ounces a year.

“The addition of Island Gold elevates Alamos to a new level, solidifying its position as a leading intermediate gold producer,” said McCluskey in his remarks. Shareholder meetings at both companies to approve the transaction will take place in mid-November.

ETF Buyers Snap Up Lithium as China Fuels Electric-Car Race – by Luzi-Ann Javier (Bloomberg News – September 11, 2017)

September 12, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The third-best performing exchange-traded fund tracking material producers got a jolt from China after the country said it will set a deadline for automakers to end sales of fossil-fueled vehicles.

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF climbed as much as 5.1 percent Monday to $36.09, the highest in more than six years, as its biggest holdings FMC Corp., Soc. Quimica & Minera de Chile SA, Samsung SDI Co. and Tesla Inc. rallied.

On Saturday, Xin Guobin, China’s vice minister of industry and information technology, said the government is working with regulators on a timetable to end production and sales of internal-combustion vehicles. The shift to electric vehicles is spurring a surge in demand for lithium batteries and the companies that supply the raw materials.

Canada’s Eldorado suspends Greek investment over regulatory hurdles – by Karolina Tagaris (Reuters U.S. – September 11, 2017)

September 11, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

ATHENS (Reuters) – Canada’s Eldorado Gold Corp said on Monday it would suspend investment at its Greek mines and development projects, blaming regulatory hurdles for halting one of the biggest investments in Greece since the country’s debt crisis.

Citing delays in permits from the Greek government, Eldorado said no additional investment would be made into the Olympias and Skouries projects and the Stratoni mine, which has been operational, in Greece. It will place all its projects on care and maintenance from Sept. 22.

The Skouries mine on the Halkidiki peninsula in northern Greece, a landscape of pristine beaches and lush forests, has long been a flashpoint with the authorities and a test of Greece’s resolve to push ahead with foreign investments.

Electric Cars Reach a Tipping Point – by David Fickling (Bloomberg News – September 10, 2017)

September 11, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Say goodbye to gasoline. The world’s slow drift toward electric cars is about to enter full flood. China, one-third of the world’s car market, is working on a timetable to end sales of fossil-fuel-based vehicles, the country’s vice minister of industry and information technology, Xin Guobin, told an industry forum in Tianjin on Saturday. That would probably see the country join Norway, France and the U.K. in switching to a wholly electric fleet within the lifetime of most current drivers.

The announcement is important because the most influential players in the global auto market have always been not companies, but governments. Diesel cars make up about half of the market in the European Union and less than a percentage point in the U.S., largely because of different fuel-taxation and emissions regimes.

Carburetors have been regulated out of most developed markets because fuel injection — originally a more costly technology — results in less tailpipe pollution. Moves toward electrification of the world’s cars have been tentative.

Roads to Yukon resources: Feds, territory commit C$360 million to modernize Yukon mining roads – by Shane Lasley (North of 60 Mining News – September 10, 2017)

September 11, 2017

http://www.petroleumnews.com/

Roads to some of Yukon’s richest mining districts are getting more than C$360 million in upgrades. Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rolled out the plans to invest in modern transportation infrastructure during a visit to the territory on Sep. 2.

“Modern infrastructure is key to developing and properly managing the incredible natural resources we have at our fingertips,” Trudeau said. The prime minister pledged C$247.8 million to the Yukon Resource Gateway project, a program that will upgrade more than 650 kilometers of roads in the territory, and build or replace numerous bridges, culverts, and stream crossings in two minerals-rich regions of the Yukon.

“The Resource Gateway is one of the most significant projects ever undertaken in this territory and will have an incredibly positive impact on the Yukon economy,” said Yukon Premier Sandy Silver.

Gold hits largest value in a year, sending investors to seek safe haven for portfolios – by Ross Marowits (Toronto Star – September 9, 2017)

September 11, 2017

https://www.thestar.com/

The Canadian Press – MONTREAL—Rising fears of a nuclear skirmish with North Korea and a large U.S. stock market correction have once again sent investors seeking a safe haven for their portfolios, helping to push the price of gold to its highest value in a year.

Amid such looming geopolitical uncertainty, the precious metal closed at its highest value in over a year Thursday — at $1,350.30 (U.S.) an ounce — but is still well short of its 2011 peak of $1,900.

This has left some observers questioning whether gold can maintain its long-standing status as the best hedge against volatility, especially in a time of aggressive monetary policy and a rise in popularity and credibility of alternatives such as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Trudeau’s sad legacy: Billions in energy infrastructure spending, scuttled on his watch – by Claudia Cattaneo (Financial Post – September 9, 2017)

September 11, 2017

http://business.financialpost.com/

The Northern Gateway pipeline ($7.9 billion), the Pacific Northwest LNG project ($36 billion), and now likely the Energy East pipeline ($15.7 billion) are three privately funded infrastructure projects that would have materially strengthened the economy for decades — and all were scuttled under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s watch in the past year.

It’s sad to say, but the last time there was so much heavy handed, poorly thought out federal interference into the energy sector was during the failed National Energy Program in the early 1980s, when Trudeau’s father Pierre was in charge. The first two projects are gone for good, after frustrated proponents moved on to less-intrusive jurisdictions.

The Energy East project remains in play after proponent TransCanada Corp. said Thursday it would suspend its application for 30 days, however the company suggested it may not build it at all. It’s a reaction to the National Energy Board’s unprecedented decision to widen its study of the project to include the upstream and downstream greenhouse gas impacts of the whole oil industry.