Twitter

Saudi Dispute With Qatar Has 22-Year History Rooted in Gas – by Marc Champion (Bloomberg News – June 6, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Saudi Arabia’s isolation of Qatar has been brewing since 1995, and the dispute’s long past and likely lingering future are best explained by natural gas.

Not only was that the year when the father of the current emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, toppled his own pro-Saudi father, it was also when the tiny desert peninsula was about to make its first shipment of liquid natural gas from the world’s largest reservoir. The offshore North Field, which provides virtually all of Qatar’s gas, is shared with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s hated rival.

The wealth that followed turned Qatar into not just the world’s richest nation, with an annual per-capita income of $130,000, but also the world’s largest LNG exporter. The focus on gas set it apart from its oil producing neighbors in the Gulf Cooperation Council and allowed it to break from domination by Saudi Arabia, which in Monday’s statement of complaint described Qataris as an “extension of their brethren in the Kingdom” as it cut off diplomatic relations and closed the border.

Read more

Capital Group’s move into gold could mark turning point for sector – by Andrew Willis (Globe and Mail – June 3, 2017)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

When known gold bug Frank Giustra bangs the drum for a new precious metal play, as he did back in February, no one takes much notice.

When one of the world’s largest money managers, Capital Group Companies Inc., joins the move into gold by discreetly taking stakes in iconic Canadian companies Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. and Barrick Gold Corp., heads turn – and it’s time to ask if the next bullion bull market is just around the corner.

While most of the investing world was ignoring gold stocks this winter, Mr. Giustra got serious about his latest project, as Vancouver-based Leagold Mining Corp. raised approximately $400-million to buy a Mexican property. Mr. Giustra, legendary for his ability to pick promising junior miners, is chairman of Leagold.

Read more

Cobalt ‘moving into a global deficit’ – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – June 7, 2017)

http://www.northernminer.com/

Cobalt prices have nearly doubled in the first quarter of the year as demand for its use in rechargeable batteries and the electric-vehicle market, in particular, is expected to take off. The Northern Miner spoke about the dynamics of the cobalt market with Edward Spencer, a senior consultant and head cobalt market analyst at the CRU Group in London.

Spencer joined CRU in 2015 as a senior consultant to CRU’s nickel, stainless steel and special alloys group, and has also worked on outlooks for molybdenum, nickel and ferrochrome. He has a PhD in economic geology from Imperial College London, where he specialized in the decoupled mineralization of base metals.

The Northern Miner: Where have cobalt prices ranged over the last year or so?

Edward Spencer: The price of 99.8% cobalt metal started at US$10.25 per lb. in January 2016 and ended the year at US$14.15 per lb. The prices have really ramped up in the first quarter of 2017, however, increasing from US$14.15 per lb. at the start of January, to US$27.75 per lb. at the end of March — nearly doubling over the three-month period.

Read more

Supreme Court clears way for lawsuit by mine protesters in Guatemala (CTV News – June 8, 2017)

http://www.ctvnews.ca/

OTTAWA – The Canadian Press – Another roadblock has been lifted for seven protesters hurt outside a Guatemalan mine who want to pursue a lawsuit in British Columbia against a company registered in the province.

The Supreme Court of Canada refused Thursday to hear a challenge from Tahoe Resources Inc. (TSX:THO) about the venue for the civil claim.

The men launched their claim in B.C. Supreme Court against Tahoe Resources after security guards sprayed protesters with rubber bullets outside the Escobal mine in 2013.

Read more

Turmoil at No. 2 Copper Mine Deepens as Freeport Fires Thousands – by Fitri Wulandari(Bloomberg News – June 7, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Turmoil at the world’s second-biggest copper mine intensified on Wednesday as Freeport-McMoRan Inc.’s Indonesia unit said it had fired 3,000 workers amid a strike that has lasted more than five weeks and cut production at the pit.

Freeport Indonesia said the workers at the giant Grasberg mine failed to return after being asked five times and it now considers them to have resigned, spokesman Riza Pratama told reporters in Jakarta on Wednesday.

There are about 30,000 people at the mine, including 11,000 direct employees. Shipments of concentrate aren’t affected, though output’s not at an “optimum level” because of the ongoing strike, Pratama said, without elaborating.

Read more

Miners eye Europe’s largest lithium deposit in Czech Republic – by Robert Muller (Reuters U.S. – June 7, 2017)

https://www.reuters.com/

CINOVEC, CZECH REPUBLIC – Mining for lithium could start in the Czech Republic in two years, exploiting Europe’s largest resource of the metal that is used in batteries for electric vehicles and home power storage.

The deposits lie around Cinovec, a village with a tradition of mining since the 14th century and situated near the border with Germany, the industrial powerhouse at the heart of Europe’s bid to build electric cars and develop battery technology.

The resource, a term used for a deposit whose extent has yet to be proven by exploration, could amount to 1.3 million tonnes, or about 3 percent of the global lithium stock, according to the Czech Geological Survey.

Read more

Mohave County asks feds to review ban on mining uranium near the Grand Canyon – by Ron Dungan (The Arizona Republic – June 7, 2017)

http://www.azcentral.com/

The Mojave County Board of Supervisors asked Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke this week to consider lifting a 20-year uranium mining ban on public lands in northern Arizona.

The supervisors said in letters to Zinke that mining would restore jobs and pump money into the local economy, and asked the Interior Department to consider the status of the ban while he reviews 27 national monuments, including Grand Canyon-Parashant.

“This ban took away much needed growth and jobs from our area,” one of the letters said. “We are requesting that your office look into this ban and if necessary start a process with public comments to withdraw the ban.” The board endorsed the letter Monday on a unanimous vote. The final version of the letter was mailed Wednesday.

Read more

Cost of Elon Musk’s Dream Much Higher Than He and Others Imagine – by Brian Rogers (Real Clear Energy – June 08, 2017)

http://www.realclearenergy.org/

Brian Rogers is the Executive Director of America Rising Squared (AR2) a conservative-based policy organization.

With Elon Musk protesting President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord by quitting a White House advisory council, and the new Model 3 rolling off the assembly line this summer, Tesla fans must be tempted to feel pretty good about themselves these days.

After all, the company’s stock price is hitting all-time highs as thousands join a two-year wait-list not only to drive Tesla’s latest vehicle, but to do something good for the planet!

But Tesla has a dirty little secret with big implications for its future. It’s what Greenpeace International co-founder Rex Weyler calls “The Tesla dream,” the false idea that Mr. Musk’s electric vehicles (EVs) are a true game-changing “clean energy” solution to global climate change.

Read more

The federal government wants to put a national park right where it will cost First Nations mine-workers their jobs – by Joseph Quesnel (Financial Post – June 8, 2017)

A working mine pours royalties into the provincial government and supports
many other industries….A national park on top of rich ore deposits
potentially worth billions will remove a major economic development
opportunity for both indigenous communities and Manitoba.

http://business.financialpost.com/

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

Why is the federal government planning to create a national park on top of potentially lucrative nickel ore deposits in Northern Manitoba? That’s a question that local indigenous communities that stand to benefit are asking.

The Manitoba Lowlands near Grand Rapids between Lake Winnipeg and Lake Winnipegosis are designated to become a national park, according to the recent federal budget. This area includes breathtaking limestone cliffs, an aquamarine lake, very productive wetlands and a region unique in the province where four species — deer, bison, elk and moose — share the habitat.

The region has some things that need protecting. However, it is not clear why Manitoba needs a new 4,400-square-kilometre national park that will cut off economic development for the local indigenous communities.

Read more

Marten Falls’ new best buddies: KWG wants First Nation to be Ring of Fire mining partner – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – June 6, 2017)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Ring of Fire developer KWG Resources and Marten Falls First Nation have agreed to negotiate the terms of a chromite mining partnership agreement in the Ring of Fire.

The two parties are fresh from a May trip to China to meet with KWG’s project partner, China Railway First Survey & Design Institute Group, to hear some encouraging results of a rail corridor feasibility study.

A proposed north-south rail corridor, once staked by KWG, crosses the traditional territory of Marten Falls. A June 6 KWG release proposes an equal profit-sharing partnership “that may be derived from mining activities after provision for fully-absorbed manufacturing costs, including comminution, concentration and transportation, plus reclamation, and the amortization of project-finance borrowings.”

Read more

History of the Carlin Trend (Elko Daily Free Press – May 2, 2015)

http://m.elkodaily.com/

CARLIN — On May 4, 1965, with little fanfare, Newmont poured its first bar of gold from the Carlin Mine. The pomp and circumstance of the official commissioning of the mine would have to wait a few more weeks. That first bar marked the start of one of the largest and longest-lived mining districts in the world.

In summer 1961, geologists John Livermore and Alan Coope arrived in Carlin to visit the Blue Star mine and the Gold Quarry prospect. Livermore had recently heard a talk by U.S. Geological Survey geologist Ralph Roberts about an area in northern Eureka County that had the potential for hosting gold deposits. The type of deposit they were searching for was similar to Getchell, Gold Acres and Bootstrap, deposits in which the gold was dispersed as microscopic particles that could not be found using a gold pan.

After visiting and examining the local deposits, Livermore and Coope began exploring an area approximately 2¾ miles south of Blue Star on Popovich Hill. They postulated that gold would be found in the limestone rocks below a regional fault known as the Roberts Mountains Thrust.

Read more

Anglo American’s New Chairman Has a History of Leading Takeovers – by Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – June 7, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The century-old mining giant Anglo American Plc named Stuart Chambers as its new chairman less than a year after he steered U.K. chipmaker ARM Holdings Plc through a $32 billion takeover.

Chambers, a former chairman at ARM and Rexam Plc, will join Anglo’s board in September and take over the post in November, the company said in a statement Wednesday. The 61-year-old is replacing John Parker, who said he was standing down earlier this year.

The new chairman will join as Anglo seeks to build on a recovery following a raw-materials downturn that hurt most of the mining industry. The company’s shares slumped to a record low in London in early 2016 on concerns about its debt position. Chief Executive Officer Mark Cutifani announced a plan to radically shrink the company through asset sales, but reversed the strategy this year after recovering commodity prices revived profits.

Read more

Caribou again dominate Western Nunavut gold mine project review – by Jane George (Nunatsiaq News – June 8, 2017)

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

Sabina Gold and Silver Corp. pitched its gold mine project again last week in Cambridge Bay with a 72-page exhaustive new plan to mitigate, manage and monitor any impacts to the three caribou herds and other wildlife near its proposed Back River gold mine in western Nunavut.

This was the second round of environmental hearings on Sabina’s Back River project in Cambridge Bay. The first, which took place in 2016, resulted in a negative recommendation from the Nunavut Impact Review Board—and, with the additional mitigation, management and monitoring efforts, Sabina says it’s even, “more confident that there will be no impacts on caribou herds.”

Sabina’s plans for Back River include a chain of open pit and underground mines at its Goose property, located 400 kilometres south of Cambridge Bay and 520 km north of Yellowknife. The pits would operate for at least 10 years and involve filling, damming or draining lakes and streams, and building a 157-km road from the mine to a seasonal port facility and tank farm in Bathurst Inlet.

Read more

Exclusive: Mexico owes Canada miners over $360 million, led by Goldcorp – documents – by Alexandra Alper and Susan Taylor (Reuters U.S. – June 8, 2017)

https://www.reuters.com/

MEXICO CITY/TORONTO – Mexico’s tax agency is holding over $360 million in tax rebates owed to six Canadian miners, including $230 million to Goldcorp Inc, according to sources and official documents seen by Reuters, escalating the situation into a showdown between the Mexican government and Canadian mining firms operating there.

In a string of meetings, Canadian officials have pressed Mexico to fix the problem, which hamstrings mining companies’ ability to invest in operations and is particularly difficult for smaller, cash-strapped miners and explorers, people familiar with the matter said.

Vancouver-based Goldcorp declined to comment on its outstanding refund, which represents 142 percent of its 2016 net profit and 6 percent of its full-year revenue. Goldcorp, the world’s No. 3 gold miner by market value, is owed the largest amount, according to documents seen by Reuters, followed by Torex Gold Resources, a small, Toronto-based miner which began commercial production at its Mexico mine last year and is waiting on a refund of some $66.5 million.

Read more

Nunavut’s Hope Bay mine celebrates commercial production with Inuit landowners – by Kate Kyle (CBC News North – June 7, 2017)

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

50 guest expected on site today to celebrate the ramp up of the Doris North mine at Hope Bay

After decades of exploration, numerous owners and the complex logistics of getting a gold mine up and running in the Arctic, Nunavut’s Hope Bay mine is finally celebrating its ramp up toward full commercial production.

And they’re throwing a party. Fifty people, including Inuit landowners and mining executives, plan to fly to the remote site for a ceremony and tour. “It’s about being thankful for what we have been able to do there… [and to] recognize the people who have come before us, especially the Inuit,” said Catharine Farrow, TMAC Resources CEO.

t’s been more than a decade since there’s been an operating mine in the mineral rich Kitikmeot region. Hope Bay is about 125 kilometres southwest of Cambridge Bay, encompassing about 1,100 square kilometres.

Read more