Republic of Mining

Minnesota mining’s place in American history: Soudan state park showcases mining’s impact on country – by Lisa Kaczke Duluth News Tribune – July 22, 2017)

July 24, 2017

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

SOUDAN — Imagine walking three-quarters of a mile through a mine tunnel in complete darkness to find iron ore, park interpreter James Juip tells the tour group. The lights click off to help people imagine that scenario and the 20 people stand in darkness at level 27 of the Soudan Underground Mine, unable to see each other or Juip at 2,341 feet below the surface of the Earth.

Standing on the last level to be mined before Minnesota’s first iron ore mine closed in 1962, Juip lights a candle in the darkness. Its flame only extends to a few faces near him, leaving the rest of the group still in the dark. He places the candle and sconce on his hard hat, similar to how miners would have placed a candle on their soft leather cap before electricity, freeing their hands to mine the ore.

“By the light of one candle, it would be the job of a crew of three men to find the iron that’s hidden here in the wall, drill it, blast it and get it out of here,” Juip told the tour group on July 13.

Oil Giants Make a Play for Millennial Hires – by Polly Mosendz (Bloomberg News – July 17, 2017)

July 24, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Faced with a retiree tsunami, the industry tries to woo a generation that largely sees it in a negative light. “This ain’t your daddy’s oil,” the commercial proclaims, cutting to shots of spray paint being made and a wall covered in fanciful graffiti. “Oil strikes a pose. Oil taps potential. Oil pumps life.”

Oil, in short, is cool, the industry’s branding braintrust has declared. The 30-second spot rolled out this year is part of a broader American Petroleum Institute campaign to “raise awareness about the role natural gas and oil has in economic growth, job creation, environmental stewardship, and national security.”

Dubbed Power Past Impossible, the ads by the lobbying arm of America’s oil giants are all about millennials, the generation of roughly 21 to 35 year olds which out-sizes any other and makes up the largest chunk of the American workforce.

Acacia Mining pressed over deaths in Tanzania – by David Pilling (Financial Times – July 23, 2017)

July 24, 2017

https://www.ft.com/

Acacia Mining, which is in the midst of a multibillion-dollar dispute with the Tanzanian government over tax and royalties, is facing renewed pressure to address long-running alleged human rights violations at one of its mines in the east African country.

Since 2014, at least 22 people have been killed and 69 injured, many after being shot at or near Acacia’s North Mara gold mine, according to Rights and Accountability in Development, a UK charity, which accuses the London-listed miner of taking a “militarised” approach to guarding its assets in one of Tanzania’s poorest regions.

It was “unfathomable” that Acacia was not addressing human rights concerns as part of high-level discussions with the government to resolve a separate tax dispute, Anneke Van Woudenberg, executive director of RAID, said.

Why IAMGOLD could be the next gold major: CEO Steve Letwin interview – by Jonathan Roth (CEO.CA – July 24, 2017)

July 24, 2017

https://ceo.ca/

Can IAMGOLD make the move from a mid-tier gold producer to a major? The company’s CEO sure thinks so. In an expansive interview recently taped in Nelson, British Columbia, Stephen Letwin touches on everything from IAMGOLD’s recent upward surge and why gold majors are facing serious challenges to his own upbringing and what he’s learned about leadership. For investors in the gold space, there is a lot of red meat.

Originally a senior executive in the oil business, Letwin was headhunted for the IAMGOLD chief executive position in 2010. His family and friends were initially puzzled by his decision to leave an oil career that, by his own admission, had made him “a lot of money.”

“I got a lot of pushback from a lot of friends who said, ‘Why would you take that risk?’” says Letwin. “I said, ‘I’ve got about 10 to 15 years to do something, I’d like to go and try that.’

[Ontario] No business like coal business – by Lorrie Goldstein (Toronto Sun – July 21, 2017)

July 24, 2017

http://www.torontosun.com/

Premier Wynne back in black

Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government is back in black – meaning the coal business. Specifically, the use of coal to generate electricity, a practice it outlawed in Ontario on Nov. 23, 2015, after shutting down the last of the province’s coal-fired power plants in 2014.

As the Wynne Liberals proudly proclaimed back then: “Ontario passed legislation today to permanently ban coal-fired electricity generation in the province – a first in North America and a significant step in the fight against climate change.

“The Ending Coal for Cleaner Air Act prevents new and existing facilities from burning coal for the sole purpose of generating electricity. It sets maximum fines for anyone who violates the ban and enshrines the health and environmental benefits of making coal-fired electricity illegal in law …

Op-Ed Were the raw materials in your iPhone mined by children in inhumane conditions? – by Brian Merchant (Los Angeles Times – July 23, 2017)

July 24, 2017

http://www.latimes.com/

Brian Merchant, an editor at Motherboard, is the author of “The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone.”

Last year, I visited the sprawling mines of Cerro Rico, the “rich hill” that looms over Potosi, Bolivia. Four centuries ago, it supplied the silver that bankrolled the Spanish empire. Today, miners who work in the same tunnels as 16th century conscripted Incan laborers are providing tin for Apple products like the iPhone. It’s a powerful paradox — our most cutting-edge consumer devices are made from raw material obtained by methods barely advanced beyond colonial times.

Cerro Rico couldn’t be farther from Silicon Valley. Cigarette-scarred devil idols mark the mine entrances. Its support beams are split and cracked, and the air in the tunnels is thick with suffocating silica dust. According to a BBC report, the average lifespan of a Cerro Rico miner is 40 years. Worse, a UNICEF report found that children as young as 6 years old have worked in its tunnels.

Tin isn’t the only ingredient in an iPhone that’s obtained in ways that don’t quite match Apple’s “Supplier Code of Conduct,” which states that “all workers in our supply chain deserve a fair and ethical workplace.”

Cuba seeks to revive mining sector with new lead and zinc mine – by Sarah Marsh (Reuters U.S. – July 22, 2017)

July 24, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

MINAS DE MATAHAMBRE, Cuba (Reuters) – A new lead and zinc mine in northwestern Cuba is on track to start production in October as part of the Caribbean island’s attempt to breathe fresh life in its mining sector, the joint venture Emincar overseeing the project said this week.

While nickel exports are already one of Communist-run Cuba’s main foreign currency earners, the cash-strapped country has untapped potential in other mineral deposits, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The $278 million Castellanos mine will produce annually 100,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate and 50,000 tonnes of lead concentrate, said executives at Emincar, the venture between Swiss-based commodities giant Trafigura and Cuban state firm Geominera.

Mining sectors put heads together – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – July 20, 2017)

July 21, 2017

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Pan-Northern Regional Mining Research Alliance in the works to bring different sectors in the field for stronger collaborations

Northern colleges, universities and funding partners with a focus on the mining industry are teaming up to pool their talents and collaborate on more projects that will benefit themselves and the region.

On July 10, Laurentian University hosted the first meeting of the Pan-Northern Regional Mining Research Alliance to bring interested parties together to discuss the format of the group and decide on its priorities.

The meeting included 21 participants from five universities and four colleges – all of whom are in northern Ontario – four funding agencies, several northern government agencies and science partners.

South Africa intends to suspend issuing mining rights – by Tanisha Heiberg and Ed Stoddard (Reuters U.S. – July 21, 2017)

July 21, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa intends to suspend the granting of applications for prospecting and mining rights as well as any renewals pending a court case to review new mining laws, the Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane said on Thursday.

Such a move could seriously hamper growth and investment in South Africa’s mining sector, already beset by policy uncertainty, depressed prices, soaring costs and often violent social and labor strife.

“The moratorium would ensure that any applications … are concluded in terms of the 2017 Mining Charter,” Zwane said in a statement. The Charter is part of a wider empowerment drive in South Africa designed to rectify the disparities of apartheid that persist more than two decades since the end of white minority rule in 1994.

NEWS RELEASE: CMIC and CEMI ensure the future of mining is CLEER with joint submission to the Federal Innovation Supercluster Initiative

July 21, 2017

Canada (July 21, 2017) – The Canada Mining Innovation Council (CMIC) and the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) led a joint Letter of Intent (LOI) submission to the Federal Government’s Innovation Superclusters Initiative. Working on behalf of the mining industry, CEMI and CMIC proposed the creation of a clean resources supercluster called, CLEER (Clean, Low-energy, Effective, Engaged and Remediated). This CLEER supercluster will transform the mining sector’s productivity, performance, and competitiveness.

This will be achieved by tackling global challenges of water, energy, and environmental footprint, with bold targets of 50% reduction in each area by 2027. CLEER will engage the mining services and supply sector (MSS) and anchor mining companies, accelerate collaborative innovation, stimulate investments exceeding $5B, with the objective of growing SMEs, improving industry productivity, initiating export pathways, and creating more than 100,000 jobs.

In May, the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, opened the application process for the Innovation Superclusters Initiative. The 2017 Federal budget has made $950 million available over five years, starting in 2017-18, to support a small number of business-led innovation superclusters that have the greatest potential to accelerate economic growth.

COMMENT: Dominion Diamond accepts sweetened offer from Washington Companies – by Marilyn Scales (Canadian Mining Journal – July 17, 2017)

July 21, 2017

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

YELLOWKNIFE, NWT – The management of Dominion Diamond Corp. has agreed to accept the sweetened takeover offer of the Washington Companies, the private company based in Missoula, Montana.

In March, Washington offered US$13.50 per share, and the Dominion board turned down the deal. Now offering US$14.25 per share, Washington looks to be the new, sole owner of the Ekati diamond mine (Canada’s first) and 40% of the Diavik diamond mine (operated by 60% owner Rio Tinto). The offer is a 44% premium over the March 17, 2017, share price and puts a value of US$1.2 billion on Dominion.

When that news hit my desk this morning, I thought, “There goes another one.” Readers will remember 10 years ago when Vale bought up Inco and Xstrata (now Glencore) scooped up Noranda/Falconbridge. Most of the writers who marked that anniversary recently thought the change in ownership did little to further Canadian mining or our place in the global minerals industry.

‘Proof is in the pudding’ and the iron ore is there, says Tacora on Wabush Mines – by Stephanie Tobin (CBC News Newfoundland and Labrador – July 20, 2017)

July 21, 2017

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/

First employees getting hired, company will be in Lab West to prep for business by next summer

The company that purchased the Scully Mine in Wabush says it has a five-year deal with the world’s largest iron ore trader and hopes to have the operation back up and running by this time next year.

Tacora Resources is currently going through the Companies’ Creditors Agreement Act (CCAA) purchase process for the site, since the mine has been locked in creditor protection since being shuttered by Cliffs Natural Resources in 2014.

Matt Lehtinen, Tacora CEO and president, says his company has been looking at Wabush Mines since January 2016 and working hard these past eight months to buy and reopen the operation. “I really thought that we had found a diamond in the rough,” he said. “We saw a lot of potential.”

To save the planet, we must ignore anti-nuclear ideologues – by Konrad Yakabuski (Globe and Mail – July 21, 2017)

July 21, 2017

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

There might be a way for the world to meet its carbon-reduction targets that does not involve building more nuclear power plants. The problem is, no one has come up with one. Until that happens, politicians need to get real about nuclear energy’s essential role in saving the planet. Unfortunately, most of them still have their heads stuck in their solar panels.

The latest greener-than-thou politician to make the perfect the enemy of the good is France’s awkwardly titled Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition, Nicolas Hulot. This month, Mr. Hulot announced the shutdown of as many as 17 of France’s 58 nuclear reactors over the next eight years as part of President Emmanuel Macron’s promise to cut his country’s reliance on nuclear-generated electricity to 50 per cent from 75 per cent by 2025.

Mr. Hulot says he has “absolute faith” in renewable power sources, mainly wind and solar energy, to fill the gap. But as Germany shows, closing emissions-free nuclear power plants, more often than not, leads to burning more fossil fuels to produce power. That’s because wind and solar remain intermittent power sources, while nuclear, coal and natural gas plants can run full-steam 24/7.

Money from Canadian mining firms vanishes in Congo, report finds – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – July 21, 2017)

July 21, 2017

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Johannesburg — In one of Africa’s poorest countries, more than $750-million (U.S.) in mining revenue disappeared before it could reach the national treasury, an investigation has found.

The money from mining companies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was diverted over a three-year period, with much of it siphoned off by politically connected insiders at opaque tax agencies, according to a report by Global Witness, an independent research group.

The findings are significant for Canadian mining companies, which have been major investors in Congo and have given millions of dollars in payments to official agencies and state enterprises in the country.

Ontario Hydro sticker shock all thanks to Liberals’ mismanagement – by Lorrie Goldstein (Toronto Sun – July 20, 2017)

July 21, 2017

http://www.torontosun.com/

As a new shocking Fraser Institute report on electricity pricing in Ontario reveals, real people suffer when governments are incompetent. The governments in this case are the Liberal ones headed first by Dalton McGuinty and now Kathleen Wynne, who have turned Ontario’s energy sector into a financial train wreck from which there will be no easy or painless escape for generations to come.

The numbers in the Fraser study, titled “Evaluating Electricity Price Growth,” are damning. Torontonians today pay $720 more annually for electricity than the average Canadian. Ontario electricity prices skyrocketed 71% between 2008 and 2016.

That’s more than double the Canadian average of 34%, 2.5 times more than the rise in household incomes, four times the inflation rate, and 4.5 times the growth rate of the economy. In 2015-16 alone, Ontario electricity prices increased 15%, 2.5 times the national average of 6%.