Republic of Mining

Top Gold Producer Says Mining Needs More Activist Investors – by David Stringer (Bloomberg News – August 8, 2017)

August 8, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Mining companies could benefit from more investor activism in the wake of Elliott Management Corp.’s campaign for improved performance at BHP Billiton Ltd., according to Australia’s second-largest gold producer.

The sector’s record of returns warrants closer scrutiny from shareholders, Evolution Mining Ltd. Executive Chairman Jake Klein said in an interview in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. “I’d like to see it,” he said. “Investors are almost too tolerant, and too accepting.”

Activism campaigns are accelerating in traditional mining hubs including Australia and Canada, according to FTI Consulting Inc. All 19 members of a Bloomberg Intelligence index of mid-sized gold producers, which includes Evolution, have had a negative return in the past 12 months, with only seven advancing this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Electric Car Boom Drives Rush to Mining’s $90 Billion Hub – by David Stringer (Bloomberg News – August 7, 2017)

August 8, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

A scramble by the lithium market’s biggest players to tie up supply of the high-tech metal is gathering pace in the 170-year-old heartland of Australia’s $90 billion mining industry.

Rising Chinese demand for lithium-ion batteries needed for electric vehicles and energy storage is driving significant price gains and an asset boom in Australia, already the world’s largest lithium producer. The fast-developing hub is drawing investment and deals from global producers as well as chemical-to-battery manufacturers in China, the top consumer.

Western Australia has four operations in production and three more major projects being advanced to begin output. Major players are likely to continue to scope for deals in the state to secure supply for the next 20 or 30 years, according to consultant Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

NEP 2.0: ‘Another Trudeau’s’ environmental rules sow seeds of unity crisis, critics say – by John Ivison (National Post – August 8, 2017)

August 8, 2017

http://nationalpost.com/

Brad Wall is worried the environmental rules Ottawa is set to introduce later this year will strain national unity in the resource-dependent West.

“The cumulative effect of this and the carbon tax mean we are heading toward an unhealthy debate, just as we did when another Trudeau introduced his energy policy. How is this different from a National Energy Program, in terms of the reality of what it will do to jobs and pipelines and so on? That is starting to sink in,” the Saskatchewan premier said in an interview.

The Liberals are putting the finishing touches to what will be one of their most controversial policies going into the next election – the environmental assessment regulations that will govern natural resource development. Stephen Harper’s intended legacy was to keep government from growing much bigger. Justin Trudeau’s bequest to the nation will be government that is not only bigger but, he hopes, better.

Natural resources are a win for rural communities – by Sean Speer (Toronto Sun – August 5, 2017)

August 8, 2017

http://www.torontosun.com/

Some 500 communities across Canada are dependent on mining, forestry and
energy for their livelihood. Public policies that delay or block the
development of these natural resources undermine these communities and
their citizens. It amounts to an anti-regional development policy.

Sean Speer is a Munk senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

Expanding economic opportunity in rural and remote communities has bedeviled Canadian governments for decades. Various schemes have been tried and failed. Many of the same challenges persist.

Regional development agencies such as the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Western Economic Diversification are emblematic. Both are marking their 30-year anniversary this year. But it’s hard to find much to celebrate. A considerable body of research casts doubt on their basic usefulness.

Promoting regional economic development isn’t easy. Different regions and cities have pre-existing advantages. There are limits to what public policy can do to change this.

[Alaska] Tribes hire coordinator to battle B.C. mines – by Kevin Gullufsen (Juneau Empire – August 7, 2017)

August 8, 2017

http://juneauempire.com/

Banding together, 16 Southeast tribes will push for a seat at the table in talks with Canada about mining issues on shared waters. The United Tribal Transboundary Mining Work Group hired its first full-time employee, they announced in an Aug. 1 press release.

One of her first tasks will be to secure the tribes a stronger voice in inter-governmental talks about a series of large Canadian mining projects upriver from salmon habitat on the Stikine, Unuk and Taku River watersheds.

Based out of Wrangell, coordinator Tis Peterman will head up efforts to raise the tribes’ voice in ongoing discussions over the mines. Peterman is working on a Memorandum of Understanding, which would give the tribes a position alongside the state of Alaska and British Columbia in meetings about the controversial mining projects.

Buoyant mood as miners dig for deals – by Paul Garvey (The Australian – August 7, 2017)

August 8, 2017

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

Diggers and Dealers, the mining sector’s annual get-together in the middle of the West Australian desert, doesn’t formally start until this morning but already the deals are flowing.

There has been a flurry of announcements in recent days as companies position themselves to fight for attention at what is shaping up as the biggest and most buoyant Diggers since the height of the mining boom. While former World Bank president and one-time US president trade adviser Robert Zoellick is scheduled to deliver this morning’s keynote address, the focus is on the backroom dealmaking.

Late on Thursday came the signing of a three-way transaction that will see one-time Philippine goldminer Red 5 snap up the Darlot mine from Gold Fields and the nearby King of the Hill deposit from the Kerry Stokes-backed Saracen Mineral Holdings for a combined total of $34.5 million in cash and shares.

Ontario Liberals’ plan for two new ridings could violate the Charter and cost PCs the election – by Josh Dehaas (National Post – August 8, 2017)

August 8, 2017

http://nationalpost.com/

Josh Dehaas is a Toronto-based freelance writer.

Ontario’s Liberal government will soon consider a proposal to add two new seats in northern Ontario. If you live in the south of the province, that should worry you. Your vote would count for less and your Charter rights might be violated. If you’re a Progressive Conservative, it could cost your party the election.

The Liberals set up the Far North Electoral Boundaries Commission in May and asked them to fly around the north consulting on whether to add one or two seats to the electoral map in northern Ontario. The stated goal is to create what Attorney General Yasir Naqvi called “predominantly Indigenous” ridings.

The commission came back with their interim report last month and it states—surprise, surprise—that northerners would prefer adding two new ridings, instead of just one. While the public won’t see the final report until Naqvi makes it public, the plan put forward in the interim report is to chop two huge, far north districts into four, creating four new seats. Two of the seats (Mushkegowuk and Kiiwetinong) would be majority-Indigenous, and one (Timmins) would be about 40 per cent Francophone.

[Mining/Clean Resources Supercluster] Sudbury, mining must be part of debate – by Dick DeStefano (Sudbury Star – August 5, 2017)

August 5, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Dick DeStefano is the executive director of the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association.

If you were asked to identify five major sectors that will create sustainable jobs and wealth in the next 150 years in Canada, would mining and related industries be on the list?

If I offered you a major chunk of $950 million over five years and you built a consortium that was willing to match the request dollar for dollar, would you be interested in helping to create a Canadian national mining cluster that will reflect the innovation and commercialization of applications that will improve safety and increase sustainability in this sector?

There is a new promise from Canada’s federal government that is calling on Industry leaders from select sectors to propose “superclusters” of technological innovation that promise to create jobs and spur economic growth. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains said in May 2017: “We are in a global innovation race. This is about creating a high value economy.”

Where do mining companies, supply chain companies, mining research institutions and Northern Ontario fit into this plan?

South African Gold Mine Job Cuts Widen With 16,000 at Risk – by Kevin Crowley and Paul Burkhardt (Bloomberg News – August 3, 2017)

August 4, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

More than one in 10 gold mining jobs in South Africa may disappear after Sibanye Gold Ltd. announced it’s joining AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. in looking to close unprofitable shafts to stem losses.

Sibanye may cut 7,400 jobs as it prepares to close its Cooke and Beatrix West operations, which account for about 16 percent of its planned gold production, the Westonaria, South Africa-based company said Thursday in a statement. Added to AngloGold’s planned 8,500 job cuts, that means about 14 percent of the country’s gold-mine workers are at risk.

South Africa produced more gold than any other country for a century until 2007, but depleted reserves and rising costs have meant production and jobs have tumbled since the industry’s heydays of the 1970s and 1980s. The country’s aging gold mines are the deepest in the world and generally rely on labor-intensive, low-tech extraction methods.

Greece to kick off arbitration process over Eldorado Gold’s project – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – August 3, 2017)

August 4, 2017

http://www.mining.com/

Eldorado Gold (TSX:ELD)(NYSE:EGO) will face Greek officials in an arbitration court later this month as the country’s government sees the move as the preferred way to settle its differences with the Canadian miner.

The country’s Energy Minister George Stathakis met representatives from Eldorado’s local unit Hellas Gold in Athens on Wednesday to discuss the process and issues related to the miner’s projects in northern Greece.

According to the ministry’s statement (in Greek), the process is scheduled to begin at the end of August, though the company noted it has yet to receive formal notice of the looming mediation.

Global demand for gold drops 14 percent in first half of 2017: WGC (Reuters U.S. – August 3, 2017)

August 4, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – Global demand for gold fell 14 percent in the first half of this year due mainly to a sharp decline in purchases by exchange traded funds, the World Gold Council said in a report on Thursday.

Central bank buying also fell slightly in the first half but purchases of bars, coins and jewelry grew thanks to strong demand in India and Turkey, the industry-funded WGC said in its latest Gold Demand Trends report.

Gold-backed ETFs saw record inflows last year to match a 30 percent rise in gold prices between January and June. But with prices rising only around 8 percent in the same period this year, funds added only 56 tonnes in the second quarter, down 76 percent from last year, bringing first half inflows to 167.9 tonnes.

Cashed-Up Australian Gold Miners Set to Take Deals Global – by David Stringer (Bloomberg News – August 4, 2017)

August 4, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Australia’s top gold producers are set to take their $5 billion acquisition spree global to secure growth as domestic opportunities fade and bullion’s gains swell their cash piles.

Companies including Evolution Mining Ltd. and Northern Star Resources Ltd., Australia’s No. 2 and No. 3 producers, may be required to look to the U.S. and Canada for acquisitions to add operations of sufficient scale and quality, according to Global Mining Research Ltd.

“You have to improve your portfolio and there’s not a lot here that’s left,” Sydney-based Global Mining executive director David Cotterell said by phone. “If you want to go a bit further afield and want to keep the risk profile similar, then you need to target North America.”

Alaska, Canada must safeguard fisheries from B.C. mining operations – by Dale Kelley and Louise Stutes (Alaska Dispatch News – August 3, 2017)

August 4, 2017

https://www.adn.com/

Rep. Louise Stutes serves Alaska House District 32, which includes Kodiak, Cordova and Yakutat. Dale Kelley has been executive director of the Alaska Trollers Association for nearly 30 years. She serves on the boards of several state and national fisheries organizations and federal advisory groups.

Legislators and fishing representatives may appear to have very different jobs, but the reality is that we are both charged with looking out for the best interests of the hard-working people we represent.

One issue of mutual concern is making sure Alaska communities do not suffer harm from Canadian mines under development in our shared watersheds. And, should the unthinkable occur, we want the responsible parties to clean up the mess and reimburse any losses. Currently, Alaska has no binding agreement with Canada to ensure that happens.

BHP presses for cheaper power ahead of Olympic Dam mine expansion (Reuters U.S. – August 4, 2017)

August 4, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – BHP Billiton is looking for ways to shore up power supply and bring down power costs at its Olympic Dam copper mine in Australia, as it plans to expand following a string of electrical outages, the mine’s head said on Friday.

The mine has been badly hit by an energy crisis in Australia stoked by the rapid rise of wind power and closure of coal-fired power plants. This has destabilized the national grid and soaring natural gas prices have driven up power tariffs.

A blackout last year forced Olympic Dam to shut for two weeks, costing the company $105 million. Over the past year, rising power bills have added around $30 million to its costs. Olympic Dam President Jacqui McGill said security of supply, price and system reliability are all challenges for the mine.

CBC INVESTIGATES: Donkin coal mine racks up dozens of safety violations in first few months – by Frances Willick (CBC News Nova Scotia – August 4, 2017)

August 4, 2017

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/

The first underground coal mine to operate in Cape Breton in a generation has been plagued by safety violations that one industry observer says has left some miners feeling afraid. Documents obtained by CBC News under freedom of information laws show a history of repeated infractions at the Donkin coal mine, some of which could endanger the lives of workers.

“I’m worried about the safety of the miners in Cape Breton,” said Gary Taje, the international staff representative of the United Mine Workers of America, which does not represent the Donkin workers. “It makes me scared, and I do know there are some scared miners there.”

Inspectors with the province’s Labour Department carried out six inspections between the first day of production at Donkin on Feb. 27 and June 15. During the mine’s first 3½ months of operation, the department issued 10 compliance orders and 29 warnings for violations of workplace safety and underground mining regulations.