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Trump urged to end uranium mining ban near Grand Canyon – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – June 5, 2017)

http://www.mining.com/

Arizona and Utah officials are asking US President Donald Trump to end a 20-year ban on uranium mining near the Grand Canyon, which came into effect in 2012 as part of a set of environmental protection rules passed during the Obama administration.

They are also pushing for the abolishment of national monument designations in Arizona, such as Grand Canyon-Parashant and Vermillion Cliffs. They argue those nominations have limited coal, natural gas and oil production in the area, severely hurting the local economy, Knau Arizona Public Radio reports.

Miners and other groups with a stake in the sector have long argued the US Department of the Interior erred in its decision to ban new attempts to extract uranium from public land near the national park.

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‘State-of-the-art’ caribou protection plans draw broad support for Sabina gold mine – by Sara Minogue (CBC News North – June 05, 2017)

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

Warm feelings for Back River gold project at round 2 of final hearings in Cambridge Bay

An unprecedented second set of final hearings into a proposed gold mine in Nunavut’s Kitikmeot region ended with broad consensus that the Back River project could provide jobs and opportunity — without harming already vulnerable caribou herds.

“I will be returning to my community with very good news,” said Shin Shiga, who travelled to the hearings in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, to represent the N.W.T.’s North Slave Métis Alliance. He arrived wary about the risks the project posed to caribou, and left confident in what he called a “very progressive project.”

Vancouver-based Sabina Gold and Silver wants to build an open-pit and underground gold mine about 150 kilometres south of Bathurst Inlet. The Nunavut Impact Review Board initially rejected its plans after hearings in 2016 left open questions about caribou and climate change.

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Rio Tinto, China’s Minmetals sign deal on exploration (Reuters U.S. – June 6, 2017)

http://www.reuters.com/

Rio Tinto and China Minmetals Corp on Tuesday signed an outline deal on collaboration in mineral exploration, saying the partnership would position it to find the reserves needed for today’s economy.

Major miners have been seeking ways to maximize exploration budgets and they have also been analyzing the sustainability of their portfolios as the needs of China, the world’s biggest commodity consumer, change as its economy matures.

“Minmetals is rapidly becoming an important player in the global mining industry and we look forward to partnering with them,” Rio Tinto Chief Executive J-S Jacques said in a statement.

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Ontario Sault Chamber advocates for steel in Ottawa – by Elaine Della-Mattia (Sault Star – June 5, 2017)

http://www.saultstar.com/

Sault Ste. Marie’s Chamber of Commerce joined their counterparts from Windsor-Essex Regional and Hamilton in Ottawa last week for an all-party Parliamentary steel caucus meeting. The message, said Sault Chamber Rory Ring, is simple.

Canada and the United States should not be fighting each other. Instead, as a joint North American market, they should work jointly to make sure the non-market economies are dealt with without creating blows to their own intertwined economies.

That’s the message the joint Chamber group was sending to the steel caucus, which will be attending an international meeting later this month in Washington. Sault MP Terry Sheehan, co-chair of the all-party Parliamentary steel caucus group said the same message has and will continue to be pushed by the steel caucus and from the Canadian government to its US counterparts.

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New project aims to extract rare earth elements from uranium tailings – by Alex MacPherson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – June 5, 2017)

http://thestarphoenix.com/

New technology under development in Saskatoon could make it profitable for Saskatchewan-based mining companies to extract “significant” quantities of rare earth elements from uranium tailings solution that would otherwise go to waste.

The parallel processes being piloted by Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC), which started work on the project three years ago, involve concentrating the tailings solution and then using “cells” containing mixers to separate out each of the rare earth elements.

“It’s good for our uranium companies and it’s good for the province,” said Bryan Shreiner, who heads SRC’s minerals division. “And in terms of value for Canada and the rest of the world, rare earths are in demand.”

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Alaska’s Quiet Gold Rush – by Mike Coppock (True West Magazine – March 1, 2009)

A history of Alaska’s gold rushes reveals riches found in historic mines today.

He said his name was Tommy. In his 60s, he had driven his compact pickup truck from Mississippi all the way to Alaska. Arriving in Homer, he spent nearly $1,000 having the vehicle transported by the ocean ferry Tustumena for Popof Island, nearly 300 miles west of Kodiak.

Popof can be one of Alaska’s most stunning vistas with its emerald grasslands and powerful mountain backdrops. But, not today. Aleutian-style weather had set it. It was late May, and I was amused that I could see my breath as horizontal rain dug deep into my face and clothes. Only my long johns kept me dry.

Tommy was oblivious to the weather or anything else. With the musical draw that defines a Southern accent, he showed me his equipment he had just lugged down from the cliff above. He had set up a sluice operation along a lonely beach just a few hundred feet from the edge of a runway serving as the town of Sand Point’s airport.

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China says 31 nationals detained in Zambia for illegal mining – by Ben Blanchard and Chris Mfula (Reuters U.S. – June 6, 2017)

https://www.reuters.com/

BEIJING/LUSAKA – Zambia has detained 31 Chinese nationals for illegal mining in the African country’s copper belt but has failed to provide strong proof of their crimes, a senior Chinese diplomat said as he lodged a complaint.

Lin Songtian, the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s director-general for African affairs, told a Zambian diplomat in Beijing that China understood and supported actions to crack down on illegal mining, the ministry said in a statement late on Sunday.

However, Zambia had not only not provided strong proof of the crimes of the 31 detained but had also detained a pregnant woman and two victims of malaria, Lin said.  “China expresses serious concern and resolute opposition to this,” the ministry cited Lin as saying.

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Women in Mining: Judy Baker exploring for gold in Wawa and Red Lake – by Frank Giorno (Timmins Today – June 5, 2017)

https://www.timminstoday.com/

‘For women who have the drive to succeed, the opportunity is there’

Throughout Canada’s mining history, strong women leaders have made their mark in the mining industry beginning with Kathleen Rice and Viola McMillan in the early and mid 20th Century.

In the first decade and a half of the 21st Century, Judy Baker of Argo Gold and Ingrid Hibbard of Pelangio Gold, both spoke at the 2017 Canadian Mining Expo in Timmins, Ont. about their respective companies and the work they are doing to explore and bring into production their properties.

Baker and Hibbard follow the trail blazed by Kathleen Rice, a mining pioneer of the 1920s who explored nickel deposits near Thompson, Man. and set up gold mines in the Snow Lake area of Northern Manitoba; and Viola McMillan, who found several gold mines in the Timmins Porcupine camp of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. McMillan also served as the president of the Prospectors and Developers Association for many years.

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Osisko Gold Royalty stock soars as company signs ‘transformational’ $1.13B deal to buy U.S. assets – by Sunny Freeman (Financial Post – June 6, 2017)

http://business.financialpost.com/

Montreal-based Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. said it is more than doubling its precious metals portfolio with the $1.13 billion acquisition of diamond, gold and silver assets from U.S. private equity firm Orion Mine Finance Group.

Osisko has been seeking out such a “transformational” acquisition since the company formed three years ago, said CEO Sean Roosen. Monday’s announcement positions the company as the “leading growth story” among senior precious metals royalty companies, which also include larger peers such as Franco-Nevada Corp. and Wheaton Precious Metals, he said.

“We have kept our powder dry waiting for a transaction like this, we have deployed and we hope that our shareholders will be very happy with the outcome,” Roosen said on a conference call Monday. The news sent Osisko shares up more than 10 per cent Monday to $15.92 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

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Pipeline debate: We’re forgetting about the sources of our wealth – by Harris Fricker (Globe and Mail – June 6, 2017)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Harris Fricker is president and CEO of GMP Capital Inc.

Canada is the envy of the world in terms of our commitment to refugee rights, education, universal health care and world-class infrastructure. The wealth of the human experience in our country underpins our status as one of the most desired destinations for immigrants the world over.

And yet, increasingly, I find myself asking: “What will be the continuing source of this societal wealth?” Most Canadians, including me, cherish the society we have been able to build; but, as with anything of value, the benefits come with costs.

More and more, the debate about what we want in our future as a society is void of any discussion of the means to fund this future and the inevitable decisions and concessions that this funding entails.

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BHP aims to grow potash mining into a core business – by Kaori Takahashi (Nikkei Asian Review – June 5, 2017)

http://asia.nikkei.com/

Resource giant weighs sell-off of US shale gas assets in restructuring drive

SYDNEY — BHP Billiton is increasing its investment in potash mining and seeking to divest its U.S. shale gas assets. Andrew Mackenzie, CEO of the world’s largest miner, told The Nikkei that “under some circumstances, we might start to grow potash to the size of our iron ore business today.”

Mackenzie said BHP will continue its restructuring effort. It is looking for an opportunity to sell its shale gas business, which has seen its profitability deteriorate, to focus more on potash, potentially bringing it into line with the company’s dominant iron ore business which reaps over $9 billion a year.

“It’s taken us 50 years to create today’s iron ore business. It will be another 50 years to create a potash equivalent. So you have to start somewhere,” Mackenzie said.

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The Hard-to-Believe Steel Shortage That’s Unfolding in China – by Jasmine Ng, Perry Williams and Stephen Engle (Bloomberg News – June 5, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The world’s top steelmaker may have a shortage of steel. China has a lack of rebar, according to iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., which says a shortfall of the key product helps to explain a divergence between the price of the commodity it digs up with the alloy it’s made into.

There’s a shortage of rebar, Fortescue’s Chief Executive Officer Nev Power said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Beijing on Monday, citing closures in China of some steel producers, especially operators of induction furnaces. Rebar, or reinforcement bar, is a basic item used to reinforce concrete.

China makes half of the world’s steel, and in recent years it’s been more associated with excess production, soaring steel exports, and sinking prices.

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Earth observation satellites starting to bring benefits to mining sector – by (MiningWeekly.com – June 2, 2017)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – At last month’s International Symposium on Remote Sensing of the Environment, held at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), in Pretoria, one of the very many topics addressed was the use of remote sensing, particularly from earth observation (EO) satellites, to support the mining sector. This is an emerging endeavour but it is already showing much promise.

“Oil, gas and mineral deposits are the raw materials that drive the global economy,” points out the European Space Agency on its website. “As existing reserves dwindle, ensuring an adequate supply for the future requires the exploration of frontier regions for new supplies.

Hospitable and inaccessible environments such as desert and Arctic regions are increasingly the focus of survey activities, but exploration managers find it demanding to operate in such uncharted territory, often lacking detailed maps and basic geological information about the areas they are interested in.

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Democratic Republic of Congo teeters on edge of ‘catastrophe’ – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – June 5, 2017)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Riven by lawlessness, corruption and economic failure, the beleaguered country could fall back into civil war at any time

When he writes his court rulings, Justice Emile Dhekana buys his own paper, pens, staples and carbon-copy sheets. Then he asks for a cash payment from whichever side will win the ruling.

Justice Dhekana says he cannot support his family on his monthly salary of $600 (U.S.). So, like other judges here, he extracts money from the parties in the cases before him. He tells them he needs the payment for his cellphone costs or office supplies, though he admits it’s mostly for his family expenses. “It’s not legal, but we have to do it,” he said.

The court system in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, like most other state functions, is close to collapse. “It’s a catastrophe,” Justice Dhekana said. “We don’t even have a budget to run our office. To get money, we have to hassle the people in our cases.”

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Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in FN and Goldcorp spar over mine proposal – by Dave Croft (CBC News North – June 5, 2017)

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

Yukon First Nation says mining company is pushing its Coffee Mine project too fast through screening

Goldcorp says the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation in Dawson City has refused to allow the company to speak directly to First Nation citizens about its gold mine proposal south of the Yukon community.

The comment is made in a document filed with the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board and in response to documents filed by the First Nation complaining about consultation by the company. Goldcorp filed its 19,000 page application with the environmental screening agency at the end of March.

The assessment board is currently determining if the proposal contains enough information to allow the board to make recommendations about whether it should be permitted to move forward. There will also be a public comment phase.

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