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United Taconite opens new iron pellet plant on Iron Range – by Dee DePass (Minneapolis Star Tribune – May 17, 2017)

http://www.startribune.com/

The $75 million investment in Forbes, Minn., signals another economic bump for Iron Range.

In another positive sign for Minnesota’s Iron Range, the parent company of United Taconite has started production at its new $75 million Mustang “superflux” pellet plant in Forbes, Minn.

Ohio-based Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. said the project “was flawlessly executed,” on budget and on schedule after nine months of construction. And firing up the plant equipment had no hiccups on its first day.

“Building a new facility on budget, without any lost-time accidents, and in only nine months through the Minnesota winter is no small undertaking,” said Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves.

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Missed Opportunities, Glimmers of Hope: How to move forward with the Ring of Fire (CBC News Sudbury – May 18, 2017)

 

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

A new report out today is taking a closer look at the relationships between mining companies, the government and First Nations communities when it comes to development of the Ring of Fire.

The report, called Missed Opportunities, Glimmers of Hope was written by Heather Hall and Ken Coates. Coates is a senior fellow with the MacDonald-Laurier Institute and Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation.

He calls the project one of Canada’s most remarkable mineral deposits. The Ring of Fire is a huge mineral deposit of chromite, nickel, gold, copper and platinum discovered in 2007. It’s located in a remote area in northern Ontario with limited access. Even though it was discovered a decade ago, Coates says not much has happened so far in developing the project, beyond talks between First Nations communities and mining companies.

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Platinum output grinds lower, but not fast enough to boost prices – by Jan Harvey and Zandi Shabalala (Reuters U.S. – May 17, 2017)

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON – South Africa’s platinum output is grinding lower as producers cut capital expenditure and shutter unprofitable areas, but it is not happening fast enough to tackle the industry’s bigger problem – rock-bottom prices for the metal itself.

Platinum prices in dollar terms are up just 4 percent this year in the face of a much bigger rally in other precious metals like palladium and gold, and are 32 percent below their 10-year average of $1,375 an ounce. In rand terms, they have fared even worse this year, pushing into the red as the rand strengthens versus the dollar, eroding what little support the miners had.

That is not making the sector particularly attractive for investors, with the Johannesburg platinum index underperforming the main stock index this year. That reflects the failure of the sector to respond more dramatically to the economic realities of falling prices while also battling a strengthening rand and regulatory uncertainty.

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Paulson Keeps SPDR Gold as Druckenmiller, Templeton Buy Barrick – by Luzi-Ann Javier (Bloomberg News – May 15, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Gold and the companies that produce it were back in favor with fund managers last quarter, when the metal posted the best quarterly performance in a year.

Billionaire hedge-fund manager John Paulson maintained his position in SPDR Gold Shares, the world’s biggest exchange-traded product backed by the metal, a regulatory filing showed Monday. Stan Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Family Office LLC bought 2.85 million shares in Barrick Gold Corp., adding the company to its holdings in the period ended March 31, while Templeton Global Advisors Ltd. more than tripled its stake in the Toronto-based miner.

Investors poured $460 million into SPDR Gold in the first quarter, rebuilding their stake after the biggest redemption since June 2013. Investors returned to bullion and gold miners as they dialed back expectations of faster U.S. economic growth amid concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump’s ability to push his pro-growth policies through Congress.

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New workplan developed to fix flagging Inuit job numbers at iron mine – by Steve Ducharme (Nunatsiaq News – May 17, 2017)

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

Inuit employment rate at Baffinland’s Mary River mine dwindles to 12 per cent

As the Inuit employment rate continues to fall at the Mary River iron mine, the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. say an annual work plan approved this week promises better resources for training and hiring local workers.

The plan, mentioned in a May 14 QIA media release, addresses employment goals that have never materialized since the partners signed their original Inuit Impact and Benefits Agreement in 2013, which has since funnelled more than $40 million dollars into QIA coffers.

But as the money has rolled in, Inuit employment rates have declined steadily—falling far short of the 25 per cent minimum Inuit employment target promised in 2016. Currently, that number sits at 12 per cent, down from 16.7 per cent reported in the first half of 2016 and 20.3 per cent reported in 2014.

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B.C. mining industry ‘cautiously optimistic’ about outlook: PwC – by Emma Crawford Hampel (Business Vancouver – May 16, 2017)

https://www.biv.com/

The mining industry in British Columbia recorded its highest net revenue since 2012 last year, according to a PwC Canada report released May 16, and this has led the industry to feel cautiously optimistic about the future.

n 2016, net mining revenue was $7.3 billion, up 16% from $6.3 billion in 2015; the increase was due to both an increase in gross revenue and a decrease in costs for refining, freight and smelting. Gross mining revenue jumped almost 13% between 2015 and 2016, growing from $7.7 billion to $8.7 billion.

Mark Platt, PwC Canada’s B.C. mining leader and partner, said last year was still challenging because of volatility in global metal and mineral prices, but this seems to be changing. “Since the end of 2016, we’ve seen an upward trend in prices of the commodities that are key to B.C.’s mining results,” Platt said.

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Vale to close nickel mine in Manitoba – by Staff (Sudbury Star – May 17, 2017)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Vale has announced plans to close another nickel mine in Canada. In an email to employees, Vale Manitoba Operations announced that the Birchtree Mine will shift to “care and maintenance” and no longer produce nickel starting Oct. 1, resulting in 150 unionized employees and staff being laid off and another 50 jobs also being affected.

According to union officials, moving to ‘care and maintenance’ means the power and water at the mine will not be shut down but production will cease. “As you know, the nickel market continues to be challenging as inventories remain high and the price remains at an historic low, with little sign of significant recovery in the near term,” said Mark Scott, head of the company’s Manitoba Operations in an email to employees on Monday.

“This reality has caused us to review every aspect of our business. As a result we have made the difficult decision to suspend operations at our Birchtree Mine and place it on care and maintenance in the fourth quarter of 2017.”

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Exclusive – Chinese company confirms huge UK fertiliser deal – by Alasdair Pal and Adam Jourdan (Reuters U.K. – May 17, 2017)

http://uk.reuters.com/

LONDON/SHANGHAI – A small Chinese company that is key to plans by Sirius Minerals to build a huge fertilizer mine under a national park in the north of England has confirmed it has a binding agreement with the UK firm.

DianHuang CEO Wang Xiaotian reiterated the agreement in a letter to Reuters on May 15, saying it had been signed on May 27 last year. DianHuang would buy 150,000 tonnes of the mineral polyhalite a year from first extraction in 2021, scaling up to a million tonnes a year over five years as part of plans to grow peony flowers and extract edible oil from their seeds, he said.

The reassurance from Wang followed a May 8 telephone interview with Reuters in which he said the two firms were still negotiating. The DianHuang deal is the biggest take-or-pay agreement Sirius has inked so far with a named customer. By demonstrating confirmed demand for its product, it helped Sirius raise $1.2 billion in financing for the mine and win planning permission from the North York Moors national park.

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EPA uranium hearings: A tale of two cities – by John D. Taylor (Rapid City Journal – May 16, 2017)

http://rapidcityjournal.com/

HOT SPRINGS – On a gray Wednesday when a little mni wichoni (Lakota for life-giving water) was falling from the skies, a group of about 40 protesters marched from Centennial Park to the Mueller Center shouting “Mni Wichoni, water is life,” and “No uranium mining in the Black Hills,” along the way.

The protesters – including Sarah Peterson and Mary Helen Pederson, from the local group, It’s All About the Water, as well as a contingent of Oglala Lakota elders, children and adults from Pine Ridge, Rapid City and other locations, along with a veterans group, all part of the Clean Water Alliance of the Black Hills – were concerned about the threats they believe AzaragaUranium/Powertech’s plans for the Dewey Burdock in situ leaching uranium mining project will bring to the area, particularly the dry region’s water resources.

After praying, the contingent descended on the Mueller Center to share their concerns about the project with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), at the fourth of five scheduled public hearings EPA would hold on the company’s plans and the two draft permits the agency has issued to Azarga/Powertech, along with the Clean Water Act exemption the one permit will require.

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Philippines struggles to balance environment, mining (Deutsche Welle – May 17, 2017)

http://www.dw.com/en/

The fight for environmental protection in the Philippines has faced a setback with the recent downfall of the Southeast Asian nation’s outspoken environment chief, Regina Lopez, who earned the ire of the mining industry after accusing it of corruption.

Even President Rodrigo Duterte, who enjoys widespread popularity, said he was helpless to save Lopez from being dismissed by a panel of lawmakers – the Commission on Appointments (CA) – scrutinizing her appointment. Duterte suggested “lobby money” influenced the decision.

Lopez was handpicked by the president to head the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), claiming that her passion for the environment made her a natural choice for the post. The president’s pick was widely applauded by environmental groups, but less by the business sector.

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Energy storage and the UK industrial strategy: what’s next? – by Ian Larive (Energy Storage News – May 17, 2017)

https://www.energy-storage.news/

When UK prime minister Theresa May announced there would be a general election on 8 June, you could forgive the public a weary sigh at the thought of a third trip to the ballot box in as many years. And you could forgive those of us in the battery storage sector for wondering whether an election campaign might slow the industry’s momentum.

After all, the ink has barely dried on an industrial strategy that, amongst its numerous pillars, set lofty goals for the development of battery storage capacity in the UK, committing the country to innovation and becoming a world leader.

Could the election campaign mean that impetus was lost ahead of Brexit negotiations that would dominate the political space, while possibly reducing access to electricity from the continent, making storage capacity with the UK grid more vital?

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Hookers and Blow: The Only Real Metric in the Junior Mining Industry – by Peter Clausi (InvestorIntel.com – May 3, 2017)

https://investorintel.com/

Peter M. Clausi is an experienced investment banker, executive and director and CEO for CBLT Inc., formerly known as Green Swan Capital.

We have suffered through at least four years of soul-sucking mining markets. The pain has shot through the juniors, the intermediates, even the mighty senior producers.Many in the industry this year have been quick /eager/ desperate to call a recovery. “It’s over!” we shout, with fingers crossed, hoping that saying it makes it true.

PDAC 2012: ah, the good ole days. Every booth in the trade show and the investor side was spending marketing money. The parties were huge. Treasuries were full. Scotch tastings, a banquet of food and 35,000 people wedged into downtown Toronto for The Mining Show. Companies were on undisciplined buying sprees, spraying capital like water from a hose. That’s what the smell of gold near $1,800 an ounce will do.

Fast forward to PDAC2014. Think Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, the great Irish potato famine, Mad Max, Fort McMurray after the fire, the dark side of the moon. That year, attendance fell to about 25,000, with empty booths artfully draped to cover up the holes.

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Ontario snapshot: 4 gold projects nearing production – by Salma Tarikh (Northern Miner – May 16, 2017)

http://www.northernminer.com/

Ontario is a hot spot for gold exploration in Canada, as it hosts several of the country’s large historic gold camps. According to Fraser Institute’s annual Survey of Mining Companies 2016, Ontario ranked as the sixth best jurisdiction for investment attractiveness in Canada and globally came in 18th place. Here’s a review of four gold projects in Ontario set to start production within the next two years:

1. Clavos

Sage Gold (TSXV: SGX) is eyeing pouring first gold at its 100%-owned Clavos gold deposit in Timmins, Ont., by the end of 2017. Last November, Sage completed an $11.5 million financing package with Cartesian Royalty Holdings (CRH) to further explore and develop the past-producing deposit with an aim of entering commercial production by early 2018.

That financing package included a $1.85 million equity injection and a $9.65 million gold prepayment facility, where CRH could buy 15% of Clavos’ future gold output.

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Eldorado to acquire Integra as gold miners play it safe – by Nicole Mordant (Reuters U.S. – May 15, 2017)

http://www.reuters.com/

Eldorado Gold Corp agreed on Monday to purchase fellow Canadian mining company Integra Gold Corp for C$590 million ($432.4 million) in the latest move by gold miners to opt for less risky geopolitical regions in a lackluster gold market.

Canada’s stable legal and taxation system, clear way of getting mining permits and government support for the industry are drawing cards for miners as bullion stays rangebound between $1,100 and $1,300 an ounce, analysts and mining executives said.

The Eldorado cash-and-stock deal values Integra at C$1.21 a share, a 52 percent premium to Friday’s closing price. The deal sent Integra’s shares soaring 39 percent to C$1.12 on the TSX Venture Exchange on Monday. Eldorado’s stock dropped 7.8 percent to C$4.61.

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Thompson, Manitoba mine to close in October, will put at least 150 out of work (CBC News Manitoba – May 16, 2017)

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

Falling nickel prices forced Vale to close mine, company says

A nickel mine in Thompson, Man. will be closing this fall, a representative with the United Steelworkers confirmed Tuesday. The closure of the Birchtree mine will put between 150 and 200 people out of work, USW 6166 president Les Ellsworth said.

“I certainly wasn’t expecting to hear this week that we would actually be closing the mine,” he said. “It came as a shock.” Ellsworth expected the mine to be open until at least 2020 but falling nickel prices forced mine owner Vale’s hand, he said.

Ryan Land, manager of corporate affairs for Vale in Thompson, said the company has been in a “prolonged down cycle” for some time. He added the mine was approaching the end of its life cycle as well. “We happen to be in a business where we are price takers, not price makers,” he said, referring to nickel prices.

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