Republic of Mining

Innovation, First Nations key to resource development – by Ben Leeson (Sudbury Star – May 26, 2017)

May 26, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

The Ontario government’s goals of fostering a culture of innovation and enhancing relationships with Indigenous people and communities are key to its mineral development strategy, including development of the Ring of Fire in Northern Ontario, Christine Kaszycki said on Thursday.

Kaszycki, the assistant deputy minister for the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines mines and minerals division, also spoke about opportunities for the Sudbury region during a Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Copper Cliff Italian Club.

“I think most folks would agree that innovation to improve productivity, decrease costs, will be key to the long-term sustainability of the mining sector,” Kaszycki said. “In order to foster the innovation that’s required, requires an environment of collaboration.”

Dawson City miners wary of UNESCO World Heritage bid – by Dave Croft (CBC News North – May 23, 2017)

May 26, 2017

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

Desigination would see Klondike area recognised by the United Nations for its history and culture

Some Dawson City placer miners are opposed to World Heritage status for parts of the Klondike, despite a letter from three levels of government pledging mineral exploration and development will not be affected by the designation. The miners raised their objections at a public meeting in Dawson City over the weekend.

An application for World Heritage status was made in January to the United Nations Educational Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), by a committee that includes representatives of the Yukon Chamber of Mines and the Klondike Placer Miners’ Association.

If granted, it would make the Klondike an area officially recognized by the United Nations for the history of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation, the 1898 Gold Rush, and the activities of the people currently living there. A decision is expected before July 2018.

Adani’s $16.5 Billion Aussie Mine Rattled by Tax Deal Delay – by Perry Williams (Bloomberg News – May 24, 2017)

May 26, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

India’s Adani Group could walk away from its $16.5 billion Carmichael coal project in Australia unless a royalties deal can be reached with the state government, according to federal Resources Minister Matthew Canavan.

The Queensland government’s failure to agree the terms of the royalty regime for the mine may jeopardize the development in the state’s Galilee Basin, Canavan said in a phone interview on Wednesday. Adani was due to make a final investment decision on May 29 for the Carmichael mine, but delayed that on Monday citing uncertainty over royalty payments.

Adani’s approval for the project “is contingent on the Queensland government coming to a decision on their royalties policy,” Canavan said. “You can’t expect Adani to make a multi-billion dollar decision if they don’t know what tax they will pay. The ball is now in the Queensland government’s court.”

People and Wildlife Are Both Casualties of Illicit Mining – by Richard Ruggiero (National Geographic – May 24, 2017)

May 26, 2017

http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/

Central Africa’s natural treasures are a blessing. They are also a curse.

A Voice for Elephants – The vast Congo Basin — spanning six Central African countries – supports more than 10,000 animal and 600 tree species, many of which are unique to this area. The region represents the second largest contiguous moist tropical forest in the world and provides critical habitat to the last populations of several globally important species, including African forest elephants and three of the world’s four species of great apes.

Despite its vast size and relative intactness, Congo’s forest area and wildlife are under severe threat. Between 2002 and 2011, forest elephants experienced a devastating 62 percent population decline and a 30-percent loss of range. The Grauer’s gorilla — the world’s largest primate — which is only found in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), suffered staggering declines.

In the span of one generation, their numbers dropped by 77 percent across their range. In Kahuzi-Biega National Park, they fared even worse — plummeting by 87 percent.

Nevada gold production increases in 2016 – by Adella Harding (Elko Daily Free Press – May 18, 2017)

May 26, 2017

http://elkodaily.com/

Gold production in Nevada rose 2.4 percent in 2016 to nearly 5.47 million ounces, while silver production was down 6.4 percent to a nearly 8.89 million ounces, show new figures from the Nevada Division of Minerals. Total gold production in 2015 was nearly 5.34 million ounces, and 2015 silver production totaled a little less than 9.5 million ounces.

“The value of production won’t be available until the Department of Taxation releases their Net Proceeds of Minerals bulletin,” however, said Michael Visher, deputy administrator for the minerals division, in an email in May.

The two largest gold producers were Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Mining Corp. Barrick produced nearly 2.64 million ounces of the total gold production and 200,757 ounces of silver from operations on the Carlin Trend, the Cortez operations near Crescent Valley and Turquoise Ridge in Humboldt County.

Australia’s Mining Bust Town Reawakens – by James Thornhill (Bloomberg News – May 23, 2017)

May 24, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

House-buyers seeking a bargain amid the wreckage of Australia’s mining boom might want to get in quick.

Port Hedland, a shipping hub for the Pilbara iron ore region in Western Australia, saw house prices collapse nearly 70 percent in the past four years as workers lost their jobs and left amid the end of a resources investment boom. But prices there have reached a bottom and are now even rising.

“We’re starting to get multiple offers on properties,” said Peter Dunning, a real estate agent at Ray White Group in Port Hedland, who says local values have risen about A$50,000 ($37,470) in the past six months. “People realized that prices had got so cheap, they probably weren’t going to get any cheaper. So they started buying.” Brighter spots in housing is one of three chunks of evidence adding to a growing sense that Australia’s resource-based economies are improving.

Miners ready for new Mongolia boom with one-fifth of the country to be opened for digging – by Blanche Lim (CNBC.com – May 23, 2017)

May 24, 2017

http://www.cnbc.com/

A new mining boom may be just around the corner in Mongolia, mining industry executives said, as it moves to open nearly 21 percent, a bit more than one-fifth, of the country for exploration to shore up its finances following an IMF-led bailout.

This month Mongolia’s government removed the main obstacle to its $5.5 billion IMF-led bailout. It annulled a controversial banking law that would have required companies like Rio Tinto to funnel all sales revenues from foreign investment projects through Mongolian banks and proposed the wider exploration area.

Andrew Stewart, managing director and CEO of Xanadu Mines, told CNBC’s “Street Signs” that the reform along with other steps to opening the mining sector should see investment grow.

Innovation upping safety game underground – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – May 23, 2017)

May 24, 2017

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Northern Ontario gold mines using technology to keep workers safe

“Safe. Simple. Green. Silent. Invisible.” It’s a tagline Goldcorp has adopted for its developing Borden gold project, located near Chapleau, and it’s no coincidence that “safe” is the leading word in the statement.

Located in a pristine area on the shores of Borden Lake, the proposed mine is in the early stages of advanced exploration, but already several decisions have been made about the mine in keeping with Goldcorp’s efforts to minimize the impact on the environment and its workers.

“We intend to leave next to nothing for a footprint there,” said Peter Calnan, Goldcorp’s director of operational support and change management, during the 2017 Workplace Safety North mining conference in Sudbury. “You will hardly know there’s a mine there as you drive by.” Yet within its depths, the mine will be home to some sophisticated equipment and tools designed to make work safer for the 200 or so employees that will toil underground.

Mining industry looks towards a new wave of automation – by Eric Barker (Australain Broadcasting Corporation Rural – May 23, 2017)

May 24, 2017

http://www.abc.net.au/

Australia’s mining industry continues to push the boundaries of automation with the use of robots and remote-controlled equipment expanding in the industry. Automation in mining has a long history as companies look to extract minerals more efficiently and more safely.

However, the new wave of automation has been tipped to change the employment landscape of the industry. James Cook University professor Ian Atkinson said it was likely some jobs would be lost but expected it to happen over a long period of time.

“It’s not just taking workers out and putting a machine in, it’s going to happen really quite gradually for a long time yet.” Professor Atkinson said although automation had the potential to take some jobs it could also provide new employment opportunities. “You’re not going to be using machines to build new mines, people will still be doing that because that’s very non-routine,” he said.

Ottawa to kick off $950-million innovation ‘supercluster’ competition – by Sean Silcoff (Globe and Mail – May 24, 2017)

May 24, 2017

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

OTTAWA — The federal government will kick off the centrepiece of its innovation agenda Wednesday by officially launching a program that will disburse $950-million to as many as five “supercluster” initiatives geared toward creating high-paying jobs in fast-growing sectors.

Initial applications for the funds will be due July 21 from industry-led consortiums in eight high-potential sectors: advanced manufacturing, agri-food, clean technology, digital technology, health-bioscience, clean resources, infrastructure and transportation. Shortlisted applicants will have until Oct. 20 to submit detailed proposals, and the government plans to select the winners by year’s end.

“This initiative is about government partnering with industry, academia and communities to build on our strengths to develop the economy and the jobs of the future,” Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains said in an interview.

[Australia Coal] Adani takes brinkmanship to new levels – by Matthew Stevens (Australian Financial Review – May 23, 2017)

May 24, 2017

http://www.afr.com/

The circumstances of Adani Group’s very public decision to delay boardroom debate on a final investment decision for the opening stanza of its $16.5 billion, 60-year Carmichael coal campaign would suggest the economics Queensland’s much-vaunted new coal horizon are far more fragile than the potential miner wants us to appreciate.

Either that or we are seeing a very rare level of brinkmanship between Adani and its host governments over the financial mechanics by which the Indian conglomerate might invest in building a massive new mining complex in Queensland’s Galilee Basin and in constructing the railway need to carry Carmichael coal to an Adani-owned export terminal at Abbot Point.

I mean, here we have a coal project proponent that has spent seven years driving through jungles of red and green tape, and more recently through a brutal wilderness of anti-coal resistance, only to belatedly find itself in desperate need for about $1.2 billion of government assistance if the project is to happen.

Miner thinks small to resurrect big Canadian iron ore mine – by Susan Taylor (Reuters U.S. – May 24, 2017)

May 24, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

TORONTO – Champion Iron Ltd is thinking small with its plans to bring Quebec’s giant Bloom Lake iron ore mine back to life. Chief Executive Michael O’Keeffe intends to slash costs while cutting millions of tonnes from a planned production expansion. The strategy runs counter to the traditional economy of scale formula, which bumps up production for proportional cost savings.

It may prove a prescient approach as iron ore prices pull back from 30-month highs in February. The recovery sparked signs of life for a handful of hibernating miners in Canada’s metal-rich Labrador Trough, straddling the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, including Champion, Alderon Iron Ore and Tata Steel Minerals Canada.

Champion is taking a different tack with Bloom Lake than its previous owner and North America’s biggest iron ore producer, Cliffs Natural Resources, beginning with the price tag.

Premier expects Ring of Fire progress ‘within weeks’ – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – May 24, 2017)

May 24, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Movement on a Ring of Fire infrastructure plan should come “within weeks, not months,” Premier Kathleen Wynne told a gathering hosted by the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday. “I think we’ll find a way to move forward,” she said. “Nobody in the province wants a shovel in the ground more than I do.”

The premier was responding to a question from a Laurentian Mining Innovation and Technology representative, who pointed out promising times lie ahead for the industry.

“Mining is a very cyclical sector and we’re heading into a boom now,” he said. “But mining does need some support and there’s an amazing opportunity for us, with $60 billion in the Ring of Fire that’s locked up.”

Exclusive: Barrick’s Argentina mine may be allowed full operations in June – by Maximiliano Rizzi (Reuters U.S. – May 22, 2017)

May 23, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

BUENOS AIRES – The government of Argentina’s San Juan province has approved a plan for improving Barrick Gold Corp’s Veladero mine following its third spill of cyanide solution in 18 months and could allow full operations to resume in early June, a government official said.

Eduardo Machuca, the province’s secretary of environmental management and mining control, told Reuters in a phone interview that local authorities had reviewed and discussed Barrick’s improvement plan and improvements to the mine were well under way.

“I think that around June 10 there will be conditions to enable the mine, once the pneumatic, hydraulic and all engineering tests are done,” Machuca said on Monday.

Canadian gold majors eye home-field exploration advantage – by Matthew Keevil (Northern Miner – May 23, 2017)

May 23, 2017

http://www.northernminer.com/

VANCOUVER — Canada’s gold miners are naturally interested in discovery back home, but the push for more so-called homegrown ounces appears to be on the rise following the recent down cycle, with oft-cited reasons including: geopolitical risk, operational synergies, and favourable infrastructure.

The Northern Miner reviewed exploration reports from three marquee Canadian gold producers to find where these major miners are most active in Canada.

Barrick Gold

The world’s largest gold producer had its start near Wawa, Ont., but it’s subsequently developed major production centres in Nevada and abroad. Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: ABX) operates the historic Hemlo gold mine 35 km east of Marathon, Ont., however, where it drilled nearly 20,000 metres last year.