Republic of Mining

Turkey’s mining sector to outperform most European peers, but risks persist – by Mariaan Webb (MiningWeekly.com – May 31, 2017)

May 31, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Turkey’s mining sector is forecast to be one of the fastest growing in Europe, with the country boasting a “healthy” project pipeline of up to ten new projects, but ongoing political and social unrest has been flagged as a threat to the positive outlook.

Research firm BMI is forecasting average growth of 6.8% a year in Turkey’s mining sector over the next five years, with the country set to outperform all other European countries, except for Finland.

In an ‘Industry Trend Analysis’ report, published on Tuesday, BMI identifies gold and copper as the “clear growth bright spots”, forecasting gold production growth of 4.8% year-on-year between 2017 and 2021.

Priorities of coral and coal clash in Aussie Sunshine State (WTOP.com – May 31, 2017)

May 31, 2017

Front Page News

The Associated Press – CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — As many Australians grapple with how to save their Great Barrier Reef from global warming, others are preoccupied with building one of the world’s biggest coal mines nearby. Coal mining and environmental tourism are both cash cows for the state of Queensland, a resource-rich northeast playground that promotes itself as Australia’s “Sunshine State.”

But the Carmichael coal project, a massive 22 billion Australian dollar ($16.5 billion) mine that Indian resource billionaire Gautam Adani hopes to start work on this year in the remote Galilee Basin, has created an extraordinary clash between the resource and environment sectors.

Those concerned by the environmental cost of the colossal development are particularly irked that federal and state governments have considered subsidizing Adani’s entry into an already-crowded Australian coal mining industry.

[Australia mining] Adani’s Carmichael mine is coal’s unintended game-breaker – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – May 31, 2017)

May 31, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, AUSTRALIA – The world’s biggest planned coal mine is once again lurching toward the finish line as India’s Adani Enterprises moves ahead with a final decision on its Carmichael project in Australia. Even if Adani does approve the $4 billion thermal coal and rail project in central Queensland state, the venture is shaping up as a turning point for coal in Australia, with consequences for the industry across Asia.

The first implication of the Carmichael saga is that it shows that major coal projects in Australia need subsidies from governments to be viable, undermining the industry assertion that coal is the cheapest source of energy and has a major competitive advantage in Asia.

While various Australian governments have invested in infrastructure for mining in the past, the Carmichael mine had been touted as proof that profitable ventures could be done entirely by the private sector, with government support limited to ensuring a competitive regulatory framework.

B.C. mining towns bounce back – by Scott Simpson (Western Investor – May 30, 2017)

May 31, 2017

http://www.westerninvestor.com/

Mining companies are proving pundits wrong as Kootenays and Cariboo industries regain their glitter

One year ago, the share price for B.C.’s largest mining company, Teck Resources Ltd., had fallen below $4, and some analysts were predicting it would follow more than a dozen American coal mining companies into bankruptcy. One analyst predicted the company’s stock would drop to $1 per share.

One year later, the company’s stock has moved back above $30, and Teck CEO Don Lindsay stood in front of his industry peers and cheerily dished out some crow for those analysts at the Association for Mineral Exploration BC’s (AME BC) Roundup 2017 conference in Vancouver.

“We had analysts and prognosticators telling us that we would never recover and that the industry was doomed,” Lindsay said. “Next time you see that, buy Teck.” For the first time in four years, there was a sense of optimism at the annual conference that the mining and exploration sectors have survived one of the worst downturns ever and have good prospects ahead.

Miners Frozen Out as South Africa Readies Empowerment Rules – by Kevin Crowley and Paul Burkhardt (Bloomberg News – May 31, 2017)

May 31, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Mining companies in South Africa have been frozen out of consultation over regulatory changes that could dilute shareholders, raise costs and impose new levies to fund community development.

South Africa’s Cabinet last week approved a new draft of the country’s Mining Charter and President Jacob Zuma said Wednesday it will be gazetted within weeks. Yet while labor leaders have been consulted on the long-delayed new rules, the Chamber of Mines, which represents producers, says it “does not have any insight” into the latest version and hasn’t met government officials on the subject since March.

The looming dispute threatens to prolong uncertainty and further slow spending in South Africa’s biggest export industry. Fixed investment in mining dropped in each of the past two years and companies including Sibanye Gold Ltd. have warned that any new investment will be a tough sell in the current environment.

‘Decision has been taken’: Trans Mountain pipeline proponents headed for showdown with B.C. – by Claudia Cattaneo (Financial Post – May 31, 2017)

May 31, 2017

http://business.financialpost.com/

Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd. ignored political turmoil in British Columbia Tuesday and joined the Alberta and federal governments in preparing for a showdown on the expansion of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline that will test Canadian unity. The company proposing the $7.4 billion expansion project said the completion of its IPO means its investment decision is now final and construction will start in September.

“This is an exciting day for our customers, for communities and for the many individuals who are relying on this project to deliver jobs and economic benefits,” president Ian Anderson said in a statement. “This securing of financing for the project demonstrates the need for and interest in the opportunity for Canada to have better access to world markets.”

While the shares slumped on their first day of trading in Toronto as B.C. moved closer to having an anti-pipeline NDP/Green government, it was no small victory lap for Anderson, who’s been spearheading the project for a decade and been the target of a smear campaign in which he’s been called a “liar” by B.C. environmental group Dogwood and a “cowboy” by Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs.

Ontario’s best in mine rescue headed to Goderich for provincials – by Len Gillis (Timmins Daily Press – May 31, 2017)

May 31, 2017

http://www.timminspress.com/

TIMMINS – Ontario’s best mine rescue teams are heading off to Goderich, Ont., next week to strut their stuff for the all-Ontario Mine Rescue competition. While the beachfront community on Lake Huron doesn’t seem to fit the mould as a mining town, it is home to the Compass Minerals’ Goderich salt mine, the largest salt mine in the world.

The miners in Goderich work as deep as 1,800-feet and seven kilometres out beneath Lake Huron to mine the salt that flavours our food, that is spread on icy roads and is even used to soften hard water. The mine rescuers who work at that mine are like mine rescuers throughout Ontario in that they take the same rigorous training and learn the same skills as any mine rescuer would in Red Lake, Sudbury or Timmins.

Next Wednesday and Thursday the best mine rescuers from all seven mining districts across the province will be competing in a mock mine disaster underground at the Compass Mine. Because the event is underground, there will be no room for spectators.

‘Full speed ahead’ for Lundin’s Ecuador gold project after financing deal – by Frik Els (Mining.com – May 30, 2017)

May 31, 2017

http://www.mining.com/

Shares in Lundin Gold (TSE:LUG) declined Tuesday after the company announced a $400–$450 million project financing package for its 100%-owned Fruta Del Norte project in Ecuador.

After a jump at the start of trading, in afternoon dealings on the TSX the Vancouver-based company was exchanging hands for $6.16 down 1%, amid a generally lacklustre day on the gold market. Lundin Gold is worth $736.7 million after a 17% year to date gain.

In a statement Lundin Gold said the project finance package agreed with private equity groups Orion Mine Finance and Blackstone Tactical Opportunities is a sign of “growing support for mining investment in Ecuador.”

Mining services set for a comeback as exploration surges – by Matt Chambers (The Australian – May 31, 2017)

May 31, 2017

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/

The long-suffering mining services sector could be set for a comeback, with S&P Global logging surging Australian exploration spending and drilling in the March quarter, with a focus on lithium and gold, and Perennial Asset Management declaring it is time to buy into the sector.

In its “Australia: Mining by the Numbers” report on non-ferrous metals, S&P said drilling activity had surged to $US634.4 million ($854m) in the March quarter, up 128 per cent from a year earlier.

The number of exploration holes drilled in the March quarter doubled from the previous quarter to about 920, the highest since at least 2014, when the report started and in a year when there were less than 300 holes drilled in the March quarter.

This Is What the Demise of Oil Looks Like – by Jessica Shankleman and Hayley Warren (Bloomberg News – May 31, 2017)

May 31, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

From giant companies like Exxon Mobil Corp. to OPEC members such as Saudi Arabia, oil producers say their industry will enjoy decades of growth as they feed the energy needs of the world’s expanding middle classes. But what if they’re wrong? There’s a host of reasons to think they might be. Here’s what happens when you test their central assumptions.

The International Energy Agency sees oil demand rising more than 10 percent, to 103.5 million barrels a day by 2040, while companies predict even faster growth.

But forecasters don’t always anticipate seismic shifts in technology and policy that could slow demand growth, or even eliminate it altogether in some parts of the economy. Even small changes could add up.

Why iron ore prices and demand should be separated – by Jasmine Ng (Australian Financial Review – May 30, 2017)

May 31, 2017

http://www.afr.com/

Iron ore consumption in China will probably be sustained as Asia’s top economy builds out infrastructure, according to Mark Mobius, who highlighted what he sees as a difference between the industry’s relatively stable supply-demand fundamentals and large swings in prices.

“We’ve got to separate those two things,” the executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group said in an interview in Singapore, without giving a price forecast. “Supply-demand is one thing, price is another thing. Because the price is subject to all kinds of external factors, and the traders who are betting on the price going up or down or so forth,” he said on Monday.

Iron ore prices have been subjected to a wild ride in recent years – plunging in 2015, rebounding last year and sinking again in 2017 – as investors sought to gauge the impact of greater supply and the outlook for steel demand in China.

[Ontario Mining] Sudbury’s Stobie Mine to take well-deserved ‘rest’ – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – May 31, 2017)

May 31, 2017May 31, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Stobie Mine was an important mine in Greater Sudbury’s mining history,
with an estimated 58,000 people working there over the years. During
the Second World War, the mine produced an estimated 40 per cent of the
Allied Forces’ nickel needs late in the war.

The final day of production at a 130-year-old mining complex in Sudbury on Tuesday was both a cause for celebration and a sombre moment to reflect. For 28-and-a-half-year loader /operator Wayne Beckerleg, it was the latter.

“I love this place,” said Beckerleg, who became emotional at times addressing a crowd of more than 350 co-workers, retirees, dignitaries and others at a press conference on the Stobie Mine property in New Sudbury. “We have always put our heads together, found ways to overcome, do a lot of risk analysis, found safer ways for people who came after us.

Frood-Stobie Complex supplied 40% of critical nickel supplies for Allies during World War Two. (1940s Inco Poster)

“Stobie Mine: it’s like no other mine. It’s like my second family home. You’re all like brothers and sisters here. I have enjoyed the friendships over the years … At one time, we were doing 10,000 tons of muck a day. It’d be down now. That’s real estate. That is the hand we are being dealt … You have my respect. I hope we will meet again. We will meet again.”

The commodities lull will pass. It’s the swing of things – by David Fickling (Globe and Mail – May 30, 2017)

May 30, 2017

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

SYDNEY — Bloomberg News – Remember when commodities markets were fun? Just before Christmas 2008, WTI crude futures soared almost 18 per cent in a day. As recently as last November, the contract was able to climb 9.3 per cent on the back of OPEC announcing production cuts. Back in June 2014, soybeans fell 19 per cent in one session; three months later, sugar prices jumped 14 percent.

Those times, at least for the moment, are past. The 90-day volatility of the Bloomberg Commodity Index touched its lowest level since November 2014 this month, driven by declines in energy, crops and precious metals. Volatility in spot gold has been running at levels almost unseen so far this century.

Various reasons could account for this. The sheer volume of information that’s out there about supply and demand — and the range of instruments available for those who want to act on it — means there are fewer surprises these days.

Strike Suspended at Barrick’s Veladero Mine in Argentina – by Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – May 30, 2017)

May 30, 2017

https://www.bloombergquint.com/

(Bloomberg) — Striking miners at Barrick Gold Corp.’s Veladero operation in Argentina will return to work as the two sides negotiate, alleviating the latest challenge facing the world’s largest gold producer.

The Toronto-based company has initiated “a formal dialogue process with the union leadership to address issues of concern,” it said Monday in a statement.

AOMA, one of nine unions at Veladero that’s focused on mine operations, downed tools on Sunday. Under local labor rules, striking employees are required to return to work once formal talks begin, Barrick said.

Glencore threat to quite Mt Isa because of energy woes – by John McCarthy (Brisbane Courier-Mail – May 30, 2017)

May 30, 2017

http://www.couriermail.com.au/

GLENCORE and the State Government are trying to resolve a crippling energy problem which could force the loss of 2000 jobs in north Queensland. The mining giant has again threatened to close its Mt Isa copper operations because of the high energy costs which have combined with high rail and labour costs.

It made the threat in 2016 over the high cost of operating the assets because of environmental conditions and earlier this month said energy costs were at the heart of the latest threat. The company held talks with the State Government on Tuesday as part of ongoing negotiations to resolve the issues.

It said the State Government had made a significant effort to engage on the issue but the company’s focus was on investigating options for secure, affordable and reliable energy and electricity supply at Mt Isa and Townsville to service its operations.