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BHP’s Tyro Chairman Seen Driving Deeper Shakeup at Biggest Miner – by David Stringer (Bloomberg News – June 16, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

BHP Billiton Ltd.’s decision to look past boardroom veterans and name its youngest director Ken MacKenzie as chairman is raising expectations of further changes in leadership and its portfolio as the mining giant grapples with smoldering shareholder unrest.

While BHP’s most restive investor Elliott Management Corp. welcomed the appointment Friday, billionaire Paul Singer’s hedge fund also called on MacKenzie, 53, to address the No. 1 miner’s performance, review the executive team and nominate new directors. Under the new chairman, there may be management changes and there’s increased potential for the sale of U.S. shale assets, Citigroup Inc. said in a note.

MacKenzie plans to meet investors over the coming weeks before taking up his post from Sept. 1, and aims to “understand their perspectives,” he said in a statement. His plan will be seen as an “olive branch” after more than two months of public skirmishes over strategy and spending between BHP and critics including Elliott, according to Shaw and Partners Ltd. BHP declined to confirm whether MacKenzie will meet with Elliott.

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KIA signs gold mine benefit deal with Agnico Eagle (CBC News Canada North – June 16, 2017)

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

The KIA and Agnico Eagle have signed an Inuit Impact Benefit Agreement regrading the Whale Tail gold deposit

Officials from the Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA) and Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. signed the Whale Tail Inuit impact benefit agreement (IIBA) in Baker Lake, Nunavut, on Thursday. In 2019, the mining company hopes to begin open pit operations at the Whale Tail gold deposit, approximately 50 kilometres north of the Meadowbank gold mine.

The Whale Tail agreement includes a $6.5 million payment to KIA — including $3 million given on June 15 to a community initiative fund. Other benefits include a 1.4 per cent cut of net gold production, $3.6 million in funding for annual training programs (with an additional $1 million in training investment if Inuit employment goals are not reached), and a preference point system to Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. registered companies.

“KIA has strived to balance the need to protect the environment with the promotion of economic development,” stated David Ningeongan, KIA president, in a press release.

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UPDATE 2-Argentina lifts curbs on Barrick mine; full operations lag (Reuters U.K. – June 15, 2017)

https://uk.reuters.com/

Authorities in the Argentine province of San Juan lifted restrictions on leaching operations at Barrick Gold Corp’s Veladero mine on Thursday, but the world’s biggest gold producer said it would not immediately resume full operations.

Judge Pablo Oritja told a radio station that he understood Barrick had finished all required work, following its third cyanide spill in 18 months, and had ordered an end to restrictions put in place in late March.

Barrick will not begin adding cyanide until it has completed the ramp up of a new system and verified all elements are ready for normal operations, in keeping with a plan the miner submitted to regulators, said spokesman Andy Lloyd.

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De Beers Launches World’s Largest And Most Advanced Diamonds Exploration Ship – by Anthony DeMarco (Forbes Magazine – June 16, 2017)

https://www.forbes.com/

De Beers has officially launched the mv SS Nujoma, what the diamond mining giant calls the “world’s largest and most advanced diamond exploration and sampling vessel” to explore diamond deposits in the waters off the coast of Namibia.

The $157 million vessel is under the ownership of Debmarine Namibia, a 50/50 joint venture between the Government of the Republic of Namibia and De Beers Group. It is the only company in the world to mine diamonds offshore, having started in 2002. It produced around 1.2 million carats in 2016.

An inauguration ceremony was held Thursday in Walvis Bay, Namibia, attended by Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila and Founding President Dr Sam Shafiishuna Nujoma, who the vessel was named after, as well as Obeth Kandjoze, Namibia’s Minister of Mines and Energy.

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New mining rules in South Africa would require 30-per-cent black ownership – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – June 15, 2017)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa has announced a “revolutionary” new mining code to force companies to give a 30-per-cent ownership stake to black partners, triggering a plunge in mining stocks and a swift threat of legal action by the industry.

Canadian companies such as Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., which is developing one of the world’s biggest platinum mines in South Africa, would be among those potentially affected by the new ownership rules. The new code would increase the minimum black ownership from 26 per cent to 30 per cent for mine owners, while also requiring companies to be majority black-owned if they want a prospecting licence.

Mining companies would have to give 1 per cent of their annual revenue to their black shareholders before paying dividends to any other shareholders. The new code would take effect in 12 months.

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A drone’s-eye view of mining safety at Rio Tinto’s Kennecott – by Amy Joi O’Donoghue (KSL.com – June 14, 2017)

https://www.ksl.com/

BINGHAM CANYON — At about $2,000 apiece, drones have become an invaluable set of eyes for the mining operations at Rio Tinto Kennecott, providing real-time 3-D mapping, equipment inspections and surveillance of slopes, crests and walls.

The five drones at the Bingham Canyon mining operation are the result of a four-year effort by the company to boost employee safety and provide enhanced capabilities of surveying one of the world’s largest open-pit mines. “The potential we can unlock with these is only limited by the imagination,” said David van Hees, drone programs lead for Rio Tinto Kennecott.

Drone pilots go through rigorous certification offered by an aviation company, and each pilot conducts preflight safety checks. Multiple flights lasting about 18 minutes happen daily, and each pilot works with two spotters who measure wind speed and look for potential aerial hazards.

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Search for Trapped Chile Miners Intensifies as Deadline Looms – by Laura Millan Lombrana (Bloomberg News – June 15, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The search for two men buried in a Patagonian gold mine may not be attracting the kind of global attention as the miraculous rescue of 33 miners in Chile seven years ago, but it’s no less dramatic. To begin with, time is running out.

Enrique Ojeda and Jorge Sanchez, trapped in the Mandalay Resources Corp.-owned mine since June 9, have an estimated three days of air left. And while the depths are less than the San Jose mine, technically the rescue is more difficult, said Felipe Matthews, a geologist who advised the Chilean Mining Ministry in 2010 and is also working on this search.

The hope is that the two found their way into a refuge after a section of the mine collapsed and tunnels flooded with water from a nearby lagoon. “If I’m here it’s because I have faith that we can achieve a similar miracle than the one we had in San Jose,” Matthews said Thursday in a telephone interview.

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We’re confident a bid for Rio Tinto will clear hurdles: Glencore – by Bridget Carter and Scott Murdoch (The Australian – Jun 15, 2017)

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

Rio Tinto’s preferred bidder is expected to be revealed next week and Glencore is lobbying that its offer is unlikely to be hamstrung by onerous legislative hurdles.

The Switzerland-based trading house’s global coal boss, Peter Freyberg, briefed the Rio Tinto board in Montreal overnight and reportedly emphasised it was confident regulators would not pose an insurmountable hurdle.

Glencore’s critics have highlighted that China’s Ministry of Commerce took six months to approve the company’s purchase of a 50 per cent stake in Rio Tinto’s Clermont mine. But the six months was based on the fact that the Mofcom, arguably the country’s second most powerful arm of government, was examining the broader Glencore and Xstrata transactions.

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UPDATE 4-Barrick Gold to hold talks with Tanzania over export row – by Fumbuka Ng’wanakilala and David Lewis (Reuters U.S. – June 14, 2017)

https://www.reuters.com/

DAR ES SALAAM/NAIROBI, June 14 Barrick Gold’s chairman and Tanzania’s president met on Wednesday and agreed to hold talks aimed at resolving an escalating dispute over an export ban which has hit Barrick’s Acacia Mining PLC .

Shares in Acacia, which is 63.9 percent owned by Barrick, jumped as much as 11 percent, to 303 pence, after the news and closed 5.5 percent higher, outpacing sector rivals. Tanzania is Africa’s fourth-largest gold producer, and Acacia its largest miner, with three gold mines that also produce copper in the East African country.

Acacia’s market value has nearly halved to about $1.4 billion since Tanzania banned the export of unprocessed ore in March, part of a push for the construction of a local smelter to make the country’s gold exports more valuable.

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Sabina finds deeper mineralization at Back River in Nunavut – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – June 14, 2017)

http://www.northernminer.com/

Drilling during Sabina Gold and Silver’s (TSX: SBB) spring exploration program has extended mineralization 300 metres down plunge of the Back River project’s existing resources in southwestern Nunavut.

Drill hole 17GSE513 stepped out about 300 metres down plunge of the existing resource structure at the project’s Llama deposit and intersected 48 metres of altered and mineralized iron formation that included an intercept of 6.52 grams gold over 8.3 metres from a depth of 618.90 metres. Another hole, 17GSE512, cut 6.30 grams gold over 2.65 metres from a depth of 603.5 metres.

“Results bode well for future resource growth,” Andrew Kaip of BMO Capital Markets wrote in a research note. “We continue to believe that the Back River project represents an attractive feasibility study stage project, at an advanced stage of permitting, in a safe jurisdiction, and with a large reserve base containing above-average grade.”

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RENEWED DIGGING: The US coal industry’s future could be to mine rare-earth metals for wind turbines – by Akshat Rathi (Quartz.com – June 15, 2017)

https://qz.com/

In an era where every country in the world—apart from the US, Syria, and Nicaragua—is bound by commitments to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, it should be little surprise that the demand for coal is falling fast. Despite these global trends, US coal is looking for ways to revive its dying industry.

One idea is to change its product: instead of mining coal to burn as a source of fuel, it could mine coal for crucial metals found in it.Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel. Not only does it produce the most amount of carbon dioxide pollution for each unit of energy, it contains non-hydrocarbon chemicals that, when burned, release dangerous toxins into the air. These include a strategically important group called “rare-earth metals.”

These metals, such as neodymium and scandium, are used in everything from smartphones to wind turbines. They’re also used in guided missiles and other defense applications. That is what makes them a strategically important resource, and for the last decade or more, China is responsible for the production of over 90% of global rare-earth metals.

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Analysis: A diamond of an opportunity for northern Manitoba – by Joseph Quesnel (Winnipeg Free Press – June 15, 2017)

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

Joseph Quesnel is a research associate with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

In early March, the Manitoba Geological Survey and its industry partner, Lynx Consortium, made an important diamond discovery southeast of Thompson. While there is no guarantee the find will lead to a significant mining project, the province should move quickly to enhance the potential by involving industry partners, First Nations and municipalities in the region.

If this development works out, Manitoba would join Ontario, Quebec and the Northwest Territories in profiting from diamond mining. Royalties, employment opportunities and tax revenue may lie ahead from, and in, places where they are sorely needed. Mining is a long-term venture relying on good economic policies, political stability and the prospect of decent returns on investment. The provincial government should be careful, but also reasonably venturesome.

To move forward, the province will have to involve northern First Nations. Indigenous communities would best become true partners in the venture to avoid problems that have plagued some other ventures and communities, such as Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario.

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World Coal Production Just Had Its Biggest Drop on Record – by Rakteem Katakey (Bloomberg News – June 13, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

It’s the end of an era for coal. Production of the fossil fuel dropped by a record amount in 2016, according to BP Plc’s annual review of global energy trends. China, the world’s biggest energy consumer, burned the least coal in six years and use dropped in the U.S to a level last seen in the 1970s, the company’s data show.

Coal, the most polluting fuel that was once the world’s fastest growing energy source, has been a target of countries and companies alike as the world begins to work toward the goals of the Paris climate agreement.

Consumption is falling as the world’s biggest energy companies promote cleaner-burning natural gas, China’s economy evolves to focus more on services than heavy manufacturing and renewable energy like wind and solar becomes cheaper.

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[Dr. Peter Warrian] U of T expert says future is bright for Canadian steel – by Elaine Della-Mattia (Sault Star -June 12, 2017)

http://www.saultstar.com/

But if Canada wants to retain a manufacturing industry, then the steel
industry will need to be a part of it, he said, because steel is the
materials backbone of manufacturing.

Dr. Peter Warrian, a University of Toronto professor and Canada’s leading academic expert on the Canadian steel industry, told city council that the industry will always have a volatile market but the need for steel in the future could certainly increase.

While prices rose substantially – 40 per cent – between October 2016 and March 2017, allowing cash flow improvements for steelmakers like Algoma, the problem remains that the cyclical nature of the industry will not see those high prices be sustained for long periods of time. And that means, investments into pension plans, injections of capital improvements and maintenance plans will not get the long-term attention they need, he said.

And while this has been a problem experienced to Algoma, the local steelmaker found itself in a serious cash crunch because of the long-term contacts it had inked that found itself paying for raw materials at exceptionally high prices – much higher prices than actual market values, Warrian said.

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Is coal really dead? Why Australia is clinging to a dying industry – by Charis Chang (News.com.au – June 15, 2017)

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

AS THE world turns away from coal, Australia seems to be holding on more tightly than ever and one figure may reveal why. Australia is already the fourth-largest coal producer in the world and contains the fourth-largest coal resources, after the United States, Russia and China.

With so much wealth in the ground, it’s something that’s not easy to give up. Just ask the dozens of companies which have coal mining projects in the works. While Indian giant Adani’s Carmichael mine has been in the spotlight in recent years, the International Energy Agency’s Medium-Term Coal Market Report 2016 released in December highlighted just how many projects are in the pipeline.

In fact, the IEA found a staggering 63 proposed coal mining projects in Australia, according to publicly available information. This compares with 22 projects in South Africa, 12 in Russia, 11 in Canada, seven in Indonesia, six in Mozambique and five in Colombia.

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