Republic of Mining

Iron ore market can absorb supply loss from BHP fire: traders – by James Regan (Reuters U.S. – June 1, 2017)

June 1, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

SYDNEY – A well-supplied global iron ore market will easily absorb lost production due to a fire at BHP’s big Mt Whaleback iron ore mine in Australia, traders in the commodity said on Thursday.

A fire earlier on Thursday broke out at the mine, the largest of seven operated by BHP in the Pilbara iron ore belt of Western Australia state. BHP said all staff were safe but that operations had been suspended as an investigation got underway.

Images in local media showed fire and smoke billowing out of the processing facilities at the mine. “All personnel at site have been accounted for and we are working to ensure the site is safe,” a company spokeswoman said.

The Paris Accord Withdrawal Is a Win For the Coal Industry. But It Probably Won’t Bring Back Jobs – by Alana Abramson (Fortune Magazine – June 1, 2017)

June 1, 2017

http://fortune.com/

In May of 2016, Donald Trump stood before a cheering crowd in Charleston, West Virginia, and “I am thinking about the miners all over this country,” he said at the time. He had just effectively clinched the Republican nomination, and signs of “Trump digs coal” were peppered throughout the crowd. “We’re going to put the miners back to work. We are going to get those mines open.”

Trump’s message clearly resonated; he won nine of the ten states with the highest coal production in the United States last November, easily sweeping Wyoming, West Virginia and Kentucky, the top three spots on the list.

President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change, which he will announce at the White House Rose Garden Thursday, is being billed as a way to turn those words into action.

Trump Will Withdraw U.S. From Paris Climate Agreement – by Michael D. Shear (New York Times – June 1, 2017)

June 1, 2017

https://www.nytimes.com/

WASHINGTON — President Trump announced Thursday that he will withdraw the United States from participation in the Paris climate accord, weakening global efforts to combat climate change and siding with conservatives who argued that the landmark 2015 agreement was harming the economy.

But he will stick to the withdrawal process laid out in the Paris agreement, which President Barack Obama joined and most of the world has already ratified. That could take nearly four years to complete, meaning a final decision would be up to the American voters in the next presidential election.

Still, Mr. Trump’s decision is a remarkable rebuke to fellow heads-of-state, climate activists, corporate executives and members of the president’s own staff, all of whom failed this week to change Mr. Trump’s mind with an intense, last-minute lobbying blitz.

Vedanta, Vale Lead Base-Metals Mining Drop as Iron Ore Plunges – by Mark Burton and Susanne Walker Barton (Bloomberg News – May 31, 2017)

June 1, 2017

https://www.bloombergquint.com/

(Bloomberg) — Vedanta Resources Plc and Vale SA led declines in industrial-mining companies as Chinese investors returning from a public holiday drove iron ore to a seven-month low. Nickel traded near its lowest in a year after Indonesia’s largest producer started shipping ore to China.

An index of 18 producers tracked by Bloomberg Intelligence headed for a third straight loss, with Vedanta dropping 5.7 percent and Rio de Janeiro-based Vale sliding 5 percent. Earlier, a 6.5 percent slump took iron ore to 424.5 yuan ($62.3) a metric ton on the Dalian Commodity Exchange amid signs of ample supply. The September contract finished May down 19 percent, in the longest run of monthly declines since November 2015.

“The fundamentals in iron ore are relatively weak but the selloff is more to do with speculative traders’ positions,” Xiao Fu, an analyst at Bank of China International Global Commodities, said by email. “The bears are winning at the moment.”

Miner Lonmin confident it can turn around troubled business – by Zandi Shabalala (Reuters U.K. – May 31, 2017)

June 1, 2017

http://uk.reuters.com/

LONDON – South Africa-focused platinum producer Lonmin (LMI.L) is pulling every lever to try to restore confidence in its ailing business, including reopening a major shaft and expanding its biggest operation, its chief executive said.

Lonmin, one of the world’s top platinum producers, has been in the doldrums for years due to low prices and soaring costs, leading the company to tap investors for cash three times in the last eight years.

Analysts have said Lonmin will probably come to the market soon for more cash as its liquidity shrank, bringing it closer to breaching debt covenants following a $146 million (£113.26 million) writedown in May. As of end-March, Lonmin had net cash of $75 million, down 34 percent from a year ago.

Canadian miner doomed without huge gold rally, Muddy Waters says – by Danielle Bochove (Globe and Mail – June 1, 2017)

June 1, 2017

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Bloomberg News – Carson Block, the founder of activist short seller Muddy Waters LLC, says nothing shy of a massive rally in gold will save Asanko Gold Inc. “At this point Asanko has backed itself into a corner and short of gold ripping to $1,700 an ounce, we don’t see how this company gets out of it,” Block said Wednesday in a telephone interview from San Francisco.

Asanko shares fell 13 percent to C$2.19 before trading was halted in Toronto on Wednesday. The Vancouver-based company, which mines gold in West Africa, had tumbled after Muddy Waters said it was shorting the stock, believing it “highly likely to end up a zero.”

Shares remained halted all day. In a statement just before the broader market closed, the company refuted the report and reaffirmed its production guidance for 2017.

Bright future in Timmins mining presented at Expo – by Len Gillis (Timmins Daily Press – June 1, 2017)

June 1, 2017

http://www.timminspress.com/

TIMMINS – Community leaders said Wednesday they’re confident that Timmins will be bouncing back with an upswing in mining exploration, mining supply activity and perhaps even more mining employment. The comments were made at the opening ceremony for the Big Event Canadian Mining Expo, which is on at the McIntyre Community Building property.

Hundreds of exhibitors are showcasing their products and services for mining heavy equipment, mining supply, mining exploration and mining education. Mayor Steve Black called out a welcome to the exhibitors to the City with a Heart of Gold and the city that he said is still ranked as the No. 1 district for mining exploration in Ontario.

“We’ve got a lot of good things going on,” said Black. “A lot of exciting projects are on the go, whether it’s the Borden project out in Chapleau with Goldcorp, the Dome’s century project, Gowest’s new operation, the list goes on.” Black said Timmins was built on the natural resources industry and that many of the city’s businesses thrive and survive because of the resources.

Billionaire Leviev Adds Zambia Emeralds to Diamond Portfolio – by Matthew Hill, Thomas Biesheuvel, Denver Kisting and Taonga Clifford Mitimingi (Bloomberg News – June 1, 2017)

June 1, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Billionaire Lev Leviev, who made his fortune undercutting De Beers’ former diamond monopoly, has bought half of one of Africa’s biggest emerald mines.

Leviev bought into the Grizzly emerald mine in Zambia’s Copperbelt province, which borders the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kombadayedu Kapwanga, managing director Leviev’s Namibian unit, said by phone. The operation has been renamed Gemcanton Investments Holdings.

A spokesperson for Africa Israel Investments Ltd., a listed company controlled in which Leviev is the biggest shareholder, didn’t return phone calls and emails seeking comment. A spokesperson at LLD Diamonds, Leviev’s jewelry business, didn’t return calls either. Leviev used his Israel-based diamond unit to purchase half of Grizzly, Kapwanga said, without providing further details.

Gold and Canada offer safe havens for investors – by Len Gillis (Timmins Daily Press – June 1, 2017)

June 1, 2017

http://www.timminspress.com/

TIMMINS – Mining companies are looking to invest in Canada because it is a safe place to be, along with having with some of the best-qualified mining people in the world. And that’s all good news right now for gold mining.

That was part of the message this week from Judy Baker, the president and CEO of Argo Gold. She will be one the speakers at the Investor’s Forum, which is part of the Big Event Canadian Mining Expo on at the McIntyre Community Building this week. Baker spoke briefly Wednesday at the opening ceremonies of the Big Event and encouraged those in the crowd to take an interest in the forum.

“The junior mining companies need your support and your interest,” she said. “Without exploration activities we wouldn’t have mining development.” Argo Gold is an exploration company active in the Red Lake area and the Wawa camp.

TV Ontario’s The Agenda – Steve Paikin Interviews With Mining Industry and NGO Critics (TV Ontario – May 31, 2017)

June 1, 2017June 1, 2017

Toronto: Mining Capital of the World

Ask yourself: what’s the most important mining city in Ontario? Sudbury? Timmins? You could argue, it’s Toronto, where almost 60 per cent of all publicly-traded mining companies in the world are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX-Venture Exchange. And while all that may be well known to those in the business world, it’s far from widely appreciated beyond that. The Agenda discusses how Toronto rose to be a mining capital.

The U.S. challenges China on aluminum — and catches Canada in its dragnet – Editorial (Washington Post – May 31, 2017)

June 1, 2017

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

THE UNITED STATES should stand for free trade and, consistent with that policy, exercise its right of redress when other nations try to gain unfair advantage. Fighting back can be tricky, though; Washington has to be careful not to create new problems in the process of dealing with existing ones.

Case in point: The Trump administration recently began an investigation into the national security threat allegedly posed by imports of two metals, steel and aluminum, that are undeniably crucial to the manufacture of military hardware. The chief target here is China, whose vast, bloated government-backed industries are flooding the world market with cheap product, threatening the viability of U.S. producers.

That, in turn, could create not only economic woes for those companies, but also a dangerous level of dependency for U.S. war-fighters. The basic complaint against China — that it is pumping out exports from money-losing plants and propping them up with cheap loans — is sound. Indeed, one of the last acts of the Obama administration was to file a complaint about this at the World Trade Organization.

Migrants Find Poverty, Exclusion in South America’s Copper Capital (Voice of America – May 31, 2017)

June 1, 2017

https://www.voanews.com/

ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE — Immigrants from around South America hoping to seek their fortunes in the continent’s copper mining capital of Antofagasta, Chile, are instead finding poverty, exclusion and a precarious home in the city’s growing temporary slums.

Chile, one of Latin America’s most developed countries, has become a magnet in recent years for immigrants from poorer and less stable parts of the region, especially Haiti, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador.

Many are attracted to this northern Chile city, close to where the majority of mines are located in the world’s biggest copper exporter. Not all seek work in the mines themselves, but rather in providing the ancillary services that mushroomed during the previous decade’s commodity boom.

2016’s Top Hedge Fund Manager Relives History’s Greatest Gold Scam: I Know Where Michael de Guzman Is! – by Warren Irwin (CEO.ca – May 31, 2017)

June 1, 2017

https://ceo.ca/

Bre-X – Of Course I Know Where Michael de Guzman Is!

A firsthand account of the $6 billion 1997 Bre-X Minerals gold fraud by Warren Irwin, Founder and Chief Investment Officer at Rosseau Asset Management Ltd. Rosseau was the top ranked hedge fund in the world in 2016 of 4,099 hedge funds tracked by BarclayHedge. Irwin made $millions long and short Bre-X, and was one of a few investors to attend a site visit to Bre-X’s Indonesian property before the biggest scam in the history of the gold sector unravelled…

The story of Bre-X was reborn after 20 years with the release of the movie “Gold” starring Matthew McConaughey in February 2017. The Bre-X fraud was brought to an end by a mining consultant, Graham Farquharson of Strathcona Mineral Services, who released on May 4, 1997 that its independent audit concluded a massive campaign of tampering and fraud without precedent in the history of mining.

The question remains to this day, what really happened to geologist Michael de Guzman, who reportedly fell from a helicopter on his way to Bre-X’s Busang gold property. By the end of this article, you will finally know the answer.

My story begins in 1991 with a trip to Indonesia following graduation from MBA school. Contrary to my classmates and professors at the time who were convinced the future growth engine of the world would be Russia, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, I headed to Southeast Asia where I believed the future of business activity was going to be.

Shipwreck Casts Shadow Over Fleet of Vale Iron-Ore Carriers – by R.T. Watson (Bloomberg News – May 30, 2017)

May 31, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

A second vessel contracted to haul iron ore for Brazilian miner Vale SA was delayed for repairs following the loss of a similar ship that mysteriously sank en route to China leaving 22 people presumed dead.

The Stellar Queen departed Vale’s port terminal in northeastern Brazil on May 7 carrying almost 300,000 metric tons of ore, according to the Rio de Janeiro-based company’s website.

However, the ship then stayed anchored in a nearby bay for nearly three weeks after the commandant discovered cracking on the main deck and decided to delay the voyage until repairs could be made, the Maranhao state port authority said last week by email. The port authority finally authorized the ship’s departure on May 26.

UK takes step closer to national electric battery hub – by Costas Pitas (Reuters U.S. – May 31, 2017)

May 31, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

COVENTRY, ENGLAND – Britain is moving towards creating a new national development hub for electric car batteries with officials setting out plans for companies to work together to improve the technology, possibly paving the way for large-scale local production.

Representatives from politics, academia and business in the central English city of Coventry, the historic heart of the British car industry, have pitched plans for a “National Battery Prototyping Centre” which would focus on research and development and testing.

Local government officials set out their plans to create the center, with state help, at an event on Tuesday attended by the business minister and by Ralf Speth, the chief executive of Britain’s biggest carmaker, Jaguar Land Rover, who has said he wants to build electric models in the country.