Republic of Mining

Tahoe Goes Into Damage Control After Guatemala Mine Suspension – by Danielle Bochove (July 13, 2017)

July 13, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Tahoe Resources Inc., whose flagship Guatemalan mine has been suspended, is taking steps to cut costs, including possibly slowing an expansion of a project in Peru and trimming exploration.

The Reno, Nevada-based company may also discuss halting its dividend at an August board meeting and might slow down the payment of bills, Chief Executive Officer Ron Clayton said Thursday in a telephone interview.

“We certainly are already cutting back on things that are very discretionary,” Clayton said, adding the company will decide in the next two to three weeks what else it can save on. “Our gold mines, if we clip back a little bit on our exploration and capital spending, can generate cash.”

Pebble mine a step closer to reality as EPA to withdraw restrictions – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – July 13, 2017)

July 13, 2017

http://www.mining.com/

Shares in Canadian miner Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX:NDM) were up Wednesday morning following a decision by the Trump administration that could further pave the way for the company’s vast, but stalled Pebble copper-gold-silver project in Alaska.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed late Tuesday revoking a 2014 ruling that bans large-scale mining in the area over the potential risks to one of the planet’s greatest wild salmon fisheries.

The federal agency noted it would accept public comments on the proposal for the next 90 days before making a final decision.

Germany’s Blood Coal – by Andreas Macho (Handelsblatt Global – July 13, 2017)

July 13, 2017

https://global.handelsblatt.com/

Activists say that demand for cheap Colombian coal from German utilities such as Uniper and RWE is leading to systematic killings and evictions in the country.

It’s not often that the subject of murder is raised at a shareholder meeting. So it’s fair to say that the comments made by Maina van der Zwan at the otherwise uneventful AGM of German energy company Uniper were unexpected.

Holding up a grainy picture of a Colombian man, the activist at Dutch NGO Pax announced: “He was the spokesman for a community which had opposed the expansion plans of a mining company in the Colombian region of Cesar. On September 11, he was murdered in cold blood.”

Years of Gridlock Face South Africa as Rules Paralyze Mining – by Kevin Crowley and Paul Burkhardt (Bloomberg News – July 13, 2017)

July 13, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Executives from Sibanye Gold Ltd., South Africa’s biggest gold miner, were in Los Angeles in the final stages of a roadshow with U.S. bond fund managers last month when a bombshell hit from back home.

The government had introduced shock new rules requiring local mines to be 30 percent black-owned in perpetuity, toughening existing requirements and implying hefty dilution for shareholders. South African stocks tumbled and bond yields rose that day.

The measures, called Mining Charter 3, put at risk funding for Sibanye’s $2.2 billion acquisition of Stillwater Mining Co. of the U.S., the biggest foreign takeover by a South African mining company in 16 years.

Rusal resumes Taishet aluminum project, sees deeper global deficit – by Anastasia Lyrchikova(Reuters U.S. – July 12, 2017)

July 13, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s Rusal has resumed construction of its long-stalled Taishet aluminum smelter project in Siberia in expectation of a widening global aluminum deficit, the company said on Wednesday.

The world’s second-largest aluminum producer behind China’s Hongqiao needs a further $700 million to complete the project, having invested about $800 million in Taishet before it was halted because of falling aluminum prices.

Aluminum prices have jumped by 12 percent to $1,887 a tonne since the start of January and Rusal expects them to climb above $1,900 by the end of the year, said Deputy Chief Executive Oleg Mukhamedshin, citing the company’s belief that the global deficit will reach 1.8 million tonnes in 2018, up 500,000 tonnes this year.

One Billion Tons of Iron Ore Headed for China as Miners Jump – by Jasmine Ng (Bloomberg News – July 13, 2017)

July 13, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Iron ore imports by China this year are on course to exceed 1 billion metric tons by a comfortable margin, breaking 2016’s record, after first-half figures showed another jump in cargoes and highlighted the ability of the top steelmaker to absorb rising supplies. Miners’ shares advanced.

Shipments in June were 94.7 million tons, up from 91.5 million in May, according to customs data on Thursday. In the first six months, imports rose to 539 million tons, 9.3 percent higher than the same period in 2016. Last year, China only just beat the 1 billion ton mark, importing 1.024 billion tons.

Asia’s top economy has been pulling in ever-greater volumes of low-cost ore to meet resilient demand from mills, who’ve benefited from rising steel prices in the second quarter.

We’re living in a world of energy contradictions – by Peter Tertzakian (Financial Post – July 12, 2017)

July 13, 2017

http://business.financialpost.com/

The clutch is completely disengaged between consumer trends and conjectures about the imminent demise of oil, making the future cloudy at best

Last week’s announcement by Volvo that every car, “it launches from 2019 will have an electric motor,” jolted oil investors. Then France amped up the newswire by switching on a ban: No more combustion car sales by 2040. To cap off a trilogy of electric vehicle (EV) proclamations, Elon Musk lit up the twitter feed with a photo of Tesla Motor’s first Model 3 production car.

Oil companies and investors should take note. These announcements are impacting the industry and will increasingly do so. But it’s not because electric cords are going to replace pump hoses anytime soon.

The demand for oil is as robust as it’s ever been, thanks to barrels that are priced 60 per cent lower than they were three years ago; the linkage of petroleum to the world economy is actually strengthening not weakening.

Controversial Alaskan gold mine could be revived under Trump’s EPA – by Brady Dennis (Washington Post – July 11, 2017)

July 12, 2017

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

The Trump administration has taken a key step toward paving the way for a controversial gold, copper and molybdenum mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed, marking a sharp reversal from President Barack Obama’s opposition to the project.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed withdrawing its 2014 determination barring any large-scale mine in the area because it would imperil the region’s valuable sockeye salmon fishery. The agency said it would accept public comments on the proposal for the next 90 days.

“The facts haven’t changed. The science hasn’t changed. The opposition hasn’t changed,” said Taryn Kiekow Heimer, a senior policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council, which has fought the proposed mine. “The fact that it’s the wrong mine in the wrong place hasn’t changed. But the politics have changed.”

South Africa Needs a New Direction – by Editorial Board (Bloomberg News – July 12, 2017)

July 12, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Unless something changes, it’s on the fast track to an economic disaster.

The International Monetary Fund just pointed out that “South Africa’s vulnerabilities have become more pronounced.” That’s one way of putting it. A potentially prosperous and dynamic economy is on the fast track to ruin. Altering its course will take real political reform.

Unemployment has risen five percentage points since 2008, to a hope-crushing 28 percent. The country’s population is expanding faster than its economy, which lately has grown at less than half the rate of sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. And its inequality is among the highest in the world.

These are the fruits of failed economic policy. Yet far from grasping the need for change, at a recent conclave of the ruling African National Congress, President Jacob Zuma championed ideas for entrenching his dominance and enriching his supporters.

Find solutions to support both mining and the environment – by Adam Ulbricht (St. Cloud Times – July 11, 2017)

July 12, 2017

http://www.sctimes.com/

Minnesota has a rich history of industry that has shaped the character of our state. From the Great Northern Railroad to the Minneapolis flour mills to premiere medical facilities, our state has contributed to the progress of the United States. But perhaps no other industry in Minnesota has played a larger role for that progress beginning in the mid-19th Century than that of mining.

I recently had the pleasure of spending time on two of our state’s three iron ranges. Here I got a first-hand look at the past and present of this proud industry. Coming from Central Minnesota, I share a mutual respect for mining given our own tradition of being a supplier of granite.

Minnesota’s commercial iron ore mining history dates back to 1884 with the opening of the Soudan Mine near the town of Tower on the Vermilion Range. The “Cadillac” of mines first started as an open pit but operations moved underground to capture the rich ore. By the time the mine closed in 1962, they had reached 2,341 feet below the surface, marking the deepest point in our state!

Tapping into potential graphite boom no easy task – by Jennifer Wells (Toronto Star – July 12, 2017)

July 12, 2017

https://www.thestar.com/

Any talk of electric vehicles draws intense response from readers, much of it positive, some of it smartly critical.

Here’s one. “Remember a Tesla battery contains about 150 lbs of graphite which is a product so toxic that it is only allowed to be mined in CHINA (where worker safety is of little importance).”

Yes, China produces the lion’s share of the world’s graphite, as key a component in the lithium-ion battery as the lithium itself. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, China produced 66 per cent of the world’s graphite in 2016. India was a distant second at about 14 per cent.

Not all Indigenous peoples oppose pipeline development – by Ken Coates (Globe and Mail – July 10, 2017)

July 12, 2017July 12, 2017

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Broad claims by politicians on behalf of Indigenous peoples reveal how little
public recognition there is of the great efforts Indigenous peoples have made
to secure a fair place for their communities and companies in the resource
sector. Pipeline firms have numerous agreements with Indigenous communities.
So do forestry and mining companies. Indigenous leaders may oppose one
project, but accept another.

The lessons for Canadian politicians should be clear by now. Not all Indigenous
peoples oppose development. Many, if not most, realize their hopes for economic
well-being and independence from the Government of Canada rest on carefully
planned and appropriately structured resource projects.

Ken Coates is a Munk Senior Fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

Federal NDP leadership candidate and current Ontario MPP, Jagmeet Singh, is the latest politician to jump into the critical world of Indigenous affairs by offering quick and simple solutions to complex issues.

He has declared that he will, if elected prime minister, adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, stop the Kinder Morgan pipeline to the B.C. coast and kill the Energy East pipeline for good measure.

These are no doubt popular positions in some NDP circles, and even with significant numbers of Indigenous communities, but it is a mistake to project them uncritically onto Indigenous peoples.

Deep Sea Mining and the Controversial Solwara 1 Project in Papua New Guinea – by Peter Neill (Huff Post – July 11, 2017)

July 12, 2017

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Peter Neill is the Director of the World Ocean Observatory.

It has been some time since we’ve reflected on the issue of deep sea mining — the search for minerals of all types on the ocean floor.

We have seen already how marine resources are being over-exploited — over-fishing by international fisheries being the most egregious example, mining for sand for construction projects and the creation of artificial islands, the exploitation of coral reefs and certain marine species for medical innovations and the next cure for human diseases based on understanding and synthesis of how such organisms function.

The Deep Sea Mining Campaign, an organization based in Australia and Canada, has been following the saga of Solwara 1, proposed by Nautilus Inc. for offshore Papua New Guinea that continues to seek financing year after year since 2011.

Copper-Inflow Chatter Masks Looming Deficit, Top Miner Says – by Laura Millan Lombrana (Bloomberg News – July 11, 2017)

July 12, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

A surge in copper stockpiles isn’t sounding any alarm bells with the world’s biggest producer as supply struggles to match demand.

After tumbling to a four-month low in June, global warehouse inventories have jumped about 15 percent this month, spurring concern that demand for the metal used in wiring and plumbing is waning. Prices have retreated in July.

Codelco Chairman Oscar Landerretche looks at the seesawing of stockpiles and futures contracts as a consequence of increasing financial transactions that can obfuscate longer-term supply and demand factors.

Canada wildfires disrupt industry, force 14,000 from homes – by Ethan Lou (Reuters U.S. – July 11, 2017)

July 11, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

CALGARY, ALBERTA – Rapidly spreading wildfires in Western Canada’s British Columbia on Monday disrupted timber and mining operations, damaged equipment at a regional electric utility and forced thousands from homes in the interior of the province.

Authorities said at least 10 of more than 200 fires burning across the province were close to residential communities. Some 38,000 hectares (93,900 acres) had been ravaged as of midday on Monday. No deaths or serious injuries have been reported, but some 14,000 people have been forced from their homes.

West Fraser Timber Co said it had temporarily suspended operations at 100 Mile House, Williams Lake and Chasm. It said the sites have total annual production capacity of 800 million board feet of lumber and 270 million square feet of plywood.