Republic of Mining

NORILSK NICKEL WANTS BOTSWANA TO FORK OUT P2,5BN FOR DISHONOURED DEAL – by Staff (Sunday Standard – May 2, 2017)

May 2, 2017

http://www.sundaystandard.info/

Norilsk Nickel is seeking its “pound of flesh” to the tune of US$270 million (about P2,5 million) from the Botswana government over a botched deal by BCL to buy a 50-percent stake of its Nkomati Mine in South Africa last year.

The Russian mining giant on Thursday served notice to sue on the Minister of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security, Sadique Kebonang, and the Minister of Finance and Development Planning Kenneth Matambo and the Attorney General.

Norilsk Nickel announced on its website on Friday that it intends to sue the government of Botswana “in respect of its involvement in the reckless trading of BCL Limited and BCL Investments Proprietary Limited (together “BCL”), with a view of recovering $271 million plus damages and other costs that are owed to Norilsk Nickel in relation to the sale of a 50 percent interest in the Nkomati Mine in South Africa and $6.4 million that are owed to Norilsk Nickel in relation to the sale of the Tati Mine in Botswana.

Homecoming History: Roots of a mining town – by Jonathon Naylor (Flin Flon Reminder – May 2, 2017)

May 2, 2017

http://www.thereminder.ca/

Accounts of local history often begin in 1927, the year Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co., Limited (HBM&S) and Flin Flon were founded courtesy of the Flin Flon ore body. In actual fact, the area’s history – and the events necessary for the eventual formation of Flin Flon, Creighton and Denare Beach – date back further.

Amisk Lake, situated along present-day Denare Beach, has at least two important historical stories to tell. The serene lake has been utilized since the days of the Canadian fur trade. In the 1950s, explorers Harry Moody and Tom Welsh journeyed to the north side of Amisk Lake, where they found artifacts such as steel-bladed scissors and metal utensils.

Moody saw this as evidence that the famed fur-trading Frobisher brothers had set up a winter camp there in 1774-75. He later helped discover the actual site of Fort Henry Frobisher, an independent British post. Saskatchewan’s first gold-rush mining town was located on the southern shore of Amisk Lake, within driving distance of present-day Denare Beach.

Coal Country Is Back, Along With Signing Bonuses and Pay Raises – by Tim Loh (Bloomberg News – May 2, 2017)

May 2, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Before dawn, a coal miner named Cameron Justice stopped at a gas station in Mingo County, West Virginia, grabbing two cans of Monster Energy drink before heading into the pits. He could use the jolt. The barrel-chested 37-year-old works six shifts a week at the Ruby Energy mine in the heart of U.S. coal country. Last year, he was lucky to get four.

“We’re booming,” Justice said. “This is the biggest upswing I’ve seen in five years. Everyone’s excited.” Like a mountain stream reviving after a drought, money is trickling into Appalachia again — at least, for now.

It begins with a trio of global forces: Chinese production curbs, President Donald Trump’s anti-regulatory policies and investor bets that have, over the last year, doubled the market value of publicly traded U.S. coal companies, to $15 billion.

NEWS RELEASE: Vale Canada Renews Sponsorship Support for Skills/Compétences Canada (SCC)

May 2, 2017

Vale Canada Limited, in Partnership with SCC and its Member Organizations in Manitoba, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador, Work Together to Promote Careers in Skilled Trades and Technologies

OTTAWA, May 2, 2017 /CNW/ – SCC is pleased to announce that Vale Canada has renewed their support as a multi-year sponsor up to and including 2019! The Vale partnership includes SCC’s national office, and Skills Canada member organizations in Manitoba, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador.

As a new initiative this year, we’re working with Vale’s Manitoba office on transporting more than 40 students from Northern Manitoba to visit the Skills Canada National Competition (SCNC) for an unforgettable experience! This partnership has continued to grow since its initial inception in 2015.

“Skills/Compétences Canada is proud to continue our partnership with Vale in which we profile the dynamic, interesting and valuable careers in the Canadian mining industry,” said Shaun Thorson, Chief Executive Officer of Skills/Compétences Canada.

BHP Billiton’s stalker Elliott lands in Australia – by John Kehoe (Australian Financial Review – May 2, 2017)

May 2, 2017

http://www.afr.com/

Elliott Management executives have jetted to Australia to lobby BHP Billiton shareholders on the activist hedge fund’s campaign for the miner to shake up its business structure and return billions of dollars more in cash to shareholders.

Elliott’s investment director from Hong Kong, James Smith, arrived in Sydney on Monday to begin the charm offensive with Australian owners of the dual-listed miner. He will travel to BHP’s home city of Melbourne later this week to speak with shareholders about the hedge fund’s proposals, a source close to the New York headquartered firm said.

Mr Smith – an Englishman who splits his time between Hong Kong and London – was offering shareholders any clarity being sought on Elliott’s three main proposals for BHP and “listening for feedback”, the person said.

Storage wars: New U.S. potash player K+S faces warehouse squeeze – by Rod Nickel (Reuters U.S. – May 1, 2017)

May 1, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA – May 1 Germany’s K+S AG will crack into the U.S. fertilizer market this spring when it opens the first new western Canadian potash mine in nearly five decades. But the fifth-largest global potash seller faces a stiff challenge before it makes a single delivery: where to store the pink granular nutrient until farmers need it.

The U.S. market for potash – a key type of fertilizer used to grow corn and wheat – is already dominated by Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, Agrium Inc and Mosaic. It’s also saturated: potash prices are near nine-year lows.

Not only do these market leaders have an ample supply of potash, they also boast a string of warehouses built strategically across the Midwest where they can quickly distribute their product to U.S. farmers, who have a narrow window every spring to fertilize.

Ontario Grits have ‘abandoned’ Ring of Fire, opposition says – by Darren MacDonald (Sudbury Northern Life – May 1, 2017)

May 1, 2017

https://www.sudbury.com/

But Thibeault says nothing has changed, despite omission from budget

At one time it was almost in the news every week, but when the provincial Liberals released their budget April 27, there was nary a word about the Ring of Fire. Touted five years ago as a $60 billion asset that would create jobs across the North, the Liberals promised to commit $1 billion for infrastructure for the project during the 2014 election campaign.

Since then, there hasn’t been much news on the massive chromite project, and even less mention in the budget. “Not one word in 294 (budget) pages about the Ring of Fire,” is how NDP Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas put it this week.

She also pointed to budget cuts at the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, as did Nipissing PC MP Vic Fedeli. “After three years of promises, the Wynne government has completely abandoned this critical mining project,” Fedeli said about the budget.

[Australian] Miners face ‘rich vein’ of hostility: McGowan – by Anthony Barich (Mining Monthly.com – May 1, 2017)

May 1, 2017

http://www.miningmonthly.com/insight/

WESTERN Australian Premier Mark McGowan has warned miners to pay more attention to local content and apprenticeships to assuage the “rich vein” of hostility the Nationals’ proposed mining tax unearthed in regional areas.

McGowan, who is also State Development Minister, told the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA’s annual business lunch in Perth’s CBD that although he believed the proposal was “unwise” for three key reasons, miners should not dismiss the negativity it revealed.

Former WA Nationals leader Brendon Grylls claimed last month that miners spent up to $5 million to defeat his party’s proposed mining tax during the election campaign. While Grylls ended up losing his seat to Labor’s Kevin Michael, McGowan said the $7 billion in benefits the former Nationals leader had claimed the tax would bring were “real”.

Canadian Orebodies: Back to Hemlo – by Jay Currie (Resources Wire/Financial Post – April 30, 2017)

May 1, 2017

http://business.financialpost.com/

Gordon McKinnon, CEO of Canadian Orebodies (V.CORE), has gold mining, specifically gold mining at the famous Hemlo gold camp, in his blood. After all, his father, Don McKinnon co-discovered Hemlo back in the 1980’s. “I swore I’d never go into the business,” says McKinnon. But here he is helming a company which is exploring for gold at, well, Hemlo.

“We voluntarily delisted the company back in 2015. There was no money available for gold exploration and we wanted to save all costs possible to ensure the company could continue,” said McKinnon. “We joke that we called the bottom of the market when we delisted. Then, in January 2016, Rob Cudney (of FNX and Gold Eagle fame) came into the lunchroom at Northfield Capital, where we have our offices, and said, “This is the turn. We need another Hemlo.”

“Hemlo itself had a bit of a stigma that it had been picked over,” said McKinnon. “But the fact is that greenstone belts that produce mega ounce deposits, like that at Hemlo, almost always produce other systems. And, at the time, near Hemlo you could stake what you wanted.”

First Nation Chief plans China trip to discuss Ring of Fire rail line – by Bill Curry (Globe and Mail – April 29, 2017)

May 1, 2017

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

OTTAWA — Bruce Achneepineskum is heading to China next month to hear about a $4-billion plan that includes building a rail line to the Ring of Fire through his community’s traditional territory.

The Chief of Marten Falls First Nation, a remote fly-in community of 770 registered people of which only about half live on the remote Northern Ontario reserve, says he’s interested in the latest overture from a small mining company with big plans.

KWG Resources Inc. announced this week that it is working with Marten Falls First Nation on an equal partnership to develop the Ring of Fire’s chromite deposits, which are used to make stainless steel. China is the world’s leading producer of stainless steel and the company hopes that Chinese investors will be willing to finance the $4-billion rail line and mining project in order to secure a long-term, reliable source of chromite.

Emotional appeals on Day of Mourning – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – April 29, 2017)

May 1, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

With two local industrial deaths in recent months still fresh on the minds of many in attendance, the 2017 Greater Sudbury Day of Mourning ceremonies on Friday took on a sombre mood. Despite that dark cloud, several speakers said educating the next generation of workers is crucial to maintain all of the workplace safety gains that were won over the years.

“Occupational health and safety activists, if you go in to a workplace and clean it up, 90 per cent of the time, the next person who goes in doesn’t know you did it,” United Steelworkers International President Leo Gerard, a Greater Sudbury native, told more than 300 people gathered in Laurentian University’s Fraser auditorium. “The world would be a much different place if it wasn’t for people like Janice (Martell-project founder of the McIntyre Powder Project, who spoke earlier) and you.

The work you do saves lives. We have made the workplace better, but as France (Gelinas, Nickel Belt New Democrat MPP) says, we haven’t made them safer. We have an obligation, those of us in the workplace, to pass on our skills and education and core values for a safer workplace, to pass that on to the next generation. The best way to do that is educate them before they enter the workforce.”

Mining expansion leaves Florence community uneasy – by Kaly Nasiff (Cronkite News – April 28, 2017)

May 1, 2017

https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/

FLORENCE – Arizona’s economy has been built historically on the 5 c’s: cotton, citrus, cattle, climate and copper.The state’s mining industry – Arizona makes up 65 percent of copper production in the United States – employs about 11,000 people and generates thousands of jobs in connected industries.

But the industry has been battling permitting issues and environmental concerns, especially in Florence, where residents have been working for eight years to block a copper mine.

The Florence Copper Project is an underground copper recovery site that is in development in Florence. The in-situ copper recovery (ISCR) process occurs between 400 to 1,200 feet underground, where a mixture of 99.5 percent water and 0.5 percent sulfuric acid dissolves copper into the bedrock. Then the copper solution is pumped to the surface and processed into copper cathode sheets.

[Quebec Mining] Inuit engagement critical to Nunavik’s expanded mine project: KRG (Nunatsiaq News – April 28, 2017)

May 1, 2017

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

Glencore hopes to extend Raglan’s life to 2040 and beyond

The mining sector might be key to the health of Nunavik’s economy, but Makivik Corp. says Glencore’s Raglan mine has yet to deliver its full potential of benefits to the region.

The Kativik Regional Government has other concerns; the KRG says it wants better communication and access to documentation from the region’s environmental and social impacts review body, which evaluates development projects in the regions.

Nunavik’s regional organizations made their comments in written briefs submitted to recent hearings into the Sivumut project, plans to expand Glencore’s Raglan nickel mine operations past 2020. The Kativik Environmental Quality Commission hosted public hearings on the proposed project in Salluit and Kangiqsujuaq between April 3 and April 6.

COLUMN-China still hungry for copper, but not in refined form – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – April 27, 2017)

May 1, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, April 27 China’s imports of refined copper slumped by 28 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017. Factoring in exports, now a regular feature of the country’s trade picture, the slide in net metal imports was an even more dramatic 35 percent.

The net draw on units from the rest of the world was 699,000 tonnes in the first three months of the year, a decline of 368,000 tonnes on the same period of 2016. Look no further to understand why copper’s early-year bull run to over $6,200-per tonne, basis three-month metal on the London Metal Exchange, has stalled. The price is today trading around $5,720.

Even while production disruptions have accumulated, any impact on refined metal availability has been muted, witness the near 185,000-tonne build in global exchange stocks in the first quarter. However, it’s not as if China has lost its appetite for imported copper. It’s just that it has shifted to other forms of the metal.

Asbestos, spying and the Canadian connection – by Michelle Lalonde (Montreal Gazette – April 29, 2017)

May 1, 2017

http://montrealgazette.com/

This week in Geneva, delegates to a conference of the parties to the Rotterdam Convention are again discussing whether chrysotile asbestos should be put on the list of hazardous substances.

One hot topic is sure to be Canada, which until 2012 was a major exporter of chrysotile — the most common form of asbestos — and opposed its inclusion on the hazardous list. However, Ottawa has recently and dramatically changed its tune.

“When it comes to asbestos, the scientific evidence is clear,” Science Minister Kirsty Duncan said in an April 21 statement, just days before the conference got underway. “Irrefutable evidence has led us to take concrete action to swiftly ban asbestos and to support the listing of chrysotile asbestos to the Rotterdam Convention.”