Republic of Mining

Vale’s iron ore output just hit another record – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – April 20, 2017)

April 21, 2017

http://www.mining.com/

Brazil’s Vale (NYSE:VALE), the world’s No.1 iron ore miner, said output of the steelmaking material hit a fresh record high in the first quarter as its massive S11D mine in the Amazon continued to ramp up.

The Rio de Janeiro-based company said iron ore production jumped 11% to 86.2 million tonnes in the January-March period, compared to the same quarter a year earlier.

The figure however, was 6.7% lower than total iron ore output of 92.386 million tonnes in the prior three months, and the company said it might restrain supply even further in coming months to support prices if necessary. For now, however, the mining giant reiterated its output guidance for the year of between 360 million and 380 million tonnes of seaborne.

NEWS RELEASE: Poll Shows Mining’s Environmental Accomplishments Unknown to American Voters (U.S.A. National Mining Association – April 20, 2017)

April 21, 2017

http://nma.org/

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The vast majority of American voters are unaware of the environmental and technological advancements of today’s mining industry according to new polling, suggesting mining’s legacy skews perceptions.

A new poll by Morning Consult for the National Mining Association (NMA) shows less than 10 percent of voters could assess the scale of emissions reductions that have been achieved in coal-powered plants, the acreage reclaimed and restored from mined lands, and other benchmarks of mining’s progress. Just one in five voters correctly identified clean coal technologies that have dramatically reduced power plant emissions since the first Earth Day in 1970.

“This poll appears to underscore the stubborn impressions that remain from turn-of-the-century mining before the advent of the environmental era,” said Hal Quinn, NMA President and CEO. “The message here is that we need to do a better job of educating the public about the accomplishments of our industry—which like all basic industries is vastly different today than it was before the first Earth Day.”

Indigenous law banishes a giant B.C. mine – by Elizabeth McSheffrey (National Observer – April 21, 2017)

April 21, 2017

http://www.nationalobserver.com/

The moment you step onto Stk’emlúpsemc te Secwépemc land in southern British Columbia, according to Chief Ron Ignace, you are a beggar. As an outsider, you have no rights and you’ve strayed away from your home and family. You are considered a poor person, he tells National Observer, and you are beholden to the First Nations on whose territory you stand.

His message takes aim at anyone who wants to do business or travel on his nation’s land, be they tourists, government, companies, fishers, or boaters.

“The days of colonial authoritarianism are over,” he says. “It’s time for Canada to recognize that we are nations, as nations we have rights to our land, and if we are approached honourably, we can sit down and come to a fair and just conclusion.”

Tanzanian gold miner Acacia to review operations if export ban persists (Reuters Africa – April 20, 2017)

April 21, 2017

http://af.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – Tanzanian gold producer Acacia Mining will have to review its mining operations if the government’s ban on gold and copper ore exports remains in place, a senior executive said on Thursday.

Shares in Acacia, which is majority owned by Barrick Gold, briefly touched a six-week low, paring losses by 0900 GMT to trade down 3.7 percent after it said first-quarter core profits rose 25 percent to $82 million but cashflow was reduced by $36 million in part due to the ban.

The government halted the export of unprocessed ore on March 3, following President John Magufuli’s call for the construction of more gold smelters in the country, Africa’s fourth-largest gold producer.

STUDY: MINING INDUSTRY JOBS WORTH MORE THAN TOURISM – by John Myers (Hibbing Daily Tribune – April 20, 2017)

April 20, 2017

http://www.hibbingmn.com/

DULUTH — With claims by some mining critics that tourism is a more sustainable option than copper mining for northern Minnesota, and with the federal government mulling a moratorium on new mining near the Boundary Waters, industry officials have fired back with a new study that claims mining jobs still drive the regional economy.

Mining supporters say the study offers proof that mining and tourism can co-exist but that tourism doesn’t stand up to mining in terms of economic impact. Mining Minnesota, the copper-nickel industry trade group in Duluth, paid for and released a report Tuesday, April 18, by the Praxis Strategy Group that covered Cook,

Lake, St. Louis, Carlton, Koochiching and Itasca counties in northeastern Minnesota and Douglas County in Wisconsin. The study found current iron ore mining and directly related industries such as railroads and shipping employ 5,140 people earning $419 million annually, when all of the region’s operations are open and running.

Alcoa Swaps New York for the City of Steel – by Joe Deaux (Bloomberg News – April 20, 2017)

April 20, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Alcoa Corp. is giving up the glamour of New York City and going back to Pittsburgh, as new Chief Executive Officer Roy Harvey steps up efforts to streamline the aluminum maker.

Changing headquarters and closing seven locations across the U.S., Europe and Asia is part of a push to lower costs after the producer of the light-weight metal split from its jets- and auto-parts business last year. Alcoa called Pittsburgh, known as the steel city, home for decades until it moved to New York in 2006.

At an industry conference in February, Harvey said his key priorities for the company moving forward would sound like “apple pie and ice cream” to Americans in the audience: “simplify, simplify, simplify.”

Quebec govt approves Canadian Malartic openpit expansion – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – April 20, 2017)

April 20, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VAANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – The Quebec provincial government, under the leadership of Quebec Liberal Party premier Philippe Couillard, has approved the proposed $200-million expansion of the Canadian Malartic mine, owned and operated in a 50:50 joint venture by Agnico Eagle Mines and Yamana Gold. The expansion will see the diversion of Highway 117 at a cost of $53-million.

Preliminary work will start in the coming weeks after obtaining the required authorisations, including the relocation of public services. Deforestation and the construction of a temporary bridge over Highway 117 are among the first steps.

The highway diversion will allow the mine to access the Barnat zone, which has softer ore and could allow for higher throughputs. The 203-million tonnes, on a 100% basis, of reported reserves as at December 31, include the Barnat zone and could allow the mine to continue production for a further six years to 2027.

BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto at risk in Donald Trump’s steel crackdown – by John Kehoe (Australian Financil Review – April 21, 2017)

April 20, 2017

http://www.afr.com/

Australian iron ore producers BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are at risk of becoming collateral damage in US President Donald Trump’s move to stamp out the “dumping” of cheap steel by foreign producers such as China.

President Trump ordered the Commerce Secretary to prioritise an investigation into whether steel imports into the US “threaten to impair national security”, by drawing on an obscure provision in a 1962 trade law.

The move opens up a path for the Trump administration to potentially impose tariffs on subsidised steel from a broad range of countries that Australia exports the steel-making ingredient iron ore to.

Timmins leads Ontario for mining exploration – by Len Gillis (Timmins Daily Press – April 19, 2017)

April 20, 2017

http://www.timminspress.com/

The value of mining exploration across the North is down, but exploration in the Porcupine Camp continues to be the busiest and most lucrative in all of Ontario. Mining exploration in the Porcupine Mining District alone showed a value of more than $19-million worth of exploration work that was carried out on 6,709 claims during 2016.

That was part of the report tabled this week by Ed van Hees, Ph.D.; the regional resident geologist for the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines in Timmins.

His report also showed that the $19-million exceeded the level of exploration work when compared to the other individual mining districts in Ontario. Work in the Thunder Bay area was just over $18-million. Next in line was exploration work in the Larder Lake area which was listed at a value of nearly $12-million. The Red Lake mining district was listed at only $8.6-million.

Conservative leadership hopeful calls for federal support for Ring of Fire – by Matt Vis (tbnewswatch.com – April 20, 2017)

April 20, 2017

https://www.tbnewswatch.com/

Federal leadership candidate Erin O’Toole visits Thunder Bay, calls on Ottawa to make development of Ring of Fire a priority.

THUNDER BAY – Erin O’Toole views the Ring of Fire as a project of national significance that needs to receive more attention from Ottawa.

Visiting Thunder Bay on Wednesday, the federal Conservative leadership candidate said developing the potentially lucrative Northern Ontario mineral deposits would be a priority if he were to lead the country. “Infrastructure should not just be subways in a couple of cities in the country,” O’Toole said.

“This is what the federal government should do with infrastructure funding. It’s not just about transit in a few parts of the country. If we can help access jobs, resources, opportunity, that’s where the federal government has a role in roads, access to resources and intertie of electricity transmission. There’s a whole range of things we can do to make this possible.”

Cliffs CEO headlines Duluth mining conference – by John Myers (Duluth News Tribune – April 19, 2017)

April 20, 2017

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

Lourenco Goncalves had engineers and company executives laughing in their chairs at a mining conference Wednesday with his one-liners and brutally honest opinions of his competitors, but he said he’s deadly serious about trying to gain control of the former Essar Steel project in Nashwauk.

Goncalves, CEO of Cleveland-based Cliffs Natural Resources, says his company’s is the only serious offer for the former Essar Steel Minnesota project that may go up for auction in a Delaware bankruptcy court next week.

Goncalves was speaking to the annual conference of the Minnesota chapter of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Inc. at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.

Shandong No Longer Pursuing Barrick’s Super Pit Stake – by by Scott Deveau and Linly Lin (Bloomberg News – April 19, 2017)

April 20, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Shandong Tyan Home Co. said it has ended talks to acquire Barrick Gold Corp.’s stake in its Kalgoorlie Super Pit mine in Australia because of recent tightened controls in China on outbound investment.

Toronto-based Barrick began the process to sell its stake in the mine, a 50-50 joint venture with Newmont Mining Corp., last year. Talks between Barrick and Minjar Gold Pty, a Shandong Tyan subsidiary, stalled in February after the buyer faced delays securing financing for a $1.3 billion bid, people with knowledge of the matter said at the time.

“The company is no longer pursuing this project,” Shandong Tyan said in an exchange filing, citing both the tightened controls on outbound investment and foreign exchange.

Charity files suit against Environment Minister over lack of reports on endangered caribou – by Gloria Galloway (Globe and Mail – April 20, 2017)

April 20, 2017

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

OTTAWA — A national charity created to safeguard Canada’s lands and water is taking the federal Environment Minister to court for allegedly failing in her responsibility to monitor the protection of the endangered boreal woodland caribou.

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is asking the Federal Court to find that Environment Minister Catherine McKenna is acting illegally by ignoring the section of the Species At Risk Act that requires her department to report regularly on the condition of the caribou’s habitat.

According to the Act, once a critical habitat for a species has been identified, the federal Environment Minister has 180 days to determine whether any portion of that habitat anywhere in Canada remains unprotected. The Minister must then report every six months on what steps are being taken to protect that habitat until full protection has been achieved.

Philippine minister wants to work with Maoist rebels in mine rehab – by Enrico Dela Cruz and Manolo Serapio Jr (Reuters U.S. – April 20, 2017)

April 20, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

MANILA – The Philippine environment minister said she has been given the greenlight by President Rodrigo Duterte to explore an unorthodox strategy to rehabilitate and develop the country’s mining areas: recruit communist rebel fighters to help.

The plan of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Regina Lopez, who has ordered the closure of more than half of mines in the world’s top nickel ore supplier, may be tough to carry out given the decades-long conflict between the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels and the Philippine government that has killed more than 40,000 people.

Lopez, an environmentalist-turned-regulator, believes it can work though. “What I’ve seen with the NPA, they just really want to get people out of poverty, they’re really not bad people,” Lopez told reporters on Thursday. “We might have a situation where miners work with the NPA. We must come from the same page.”

[Industrial Disease] Tracking a toxic powder – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – April 20, 2017)

April 20, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Administered as an antidote to silicosis, McIntyre Powder has become anything but the miracle cure it was touted to be in its early days.

As part of the Workplace Safety North conference on health and safety in mining, the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers presented findings from clinics they conducted, during which they interviewed current and former miners. They registered 325 miners, all male, all born between 1876 and 1963. They looked at instances of respiratory and neurologic symptoms. Their findings were telling.

“There are a number of important findings related to existing literature,” Dave Wilken, chief operating officer of OHCOW, told the audience. “Those are mainly neurological, respiratory and cardiovascular.”