Republic of Mining

Major mining assets change hands after commodity rout (Reuters U.s. – November 8, 2016)

November 8, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

Major miners are selling assets after a global commodities rout last year left them with high levels of debt. A recovery in raw materials prices has taken away some of the pressure to sell, however, and deals have slowed.

China, whose stimulus package spurred this year’s commodities rally, is the biggest potential buyer. Following is a list of the main mining companies, some of the biggest sales so far and what assets are on offer:

BHP BILLITON LIMITED

Market capitalization: 72.7 billion pounds ($90.3 billion)(Reuters data)

Net debt: $26.1 billion (company reported in August)

Trudeau’s marine safety plan paves the way for OK of Trans Mountain pipeline expansion – by Claudia Cattaneo (Financial Post – November 8, 2016)

November 8, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

With his announcement Monday of a $1.5 billion marine protection plan, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau created the conditions to approve Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

If he does, Trudeau will have broken the paralysis on pipeline approvals orchestrated by the environmental lobby that culminated with last year’s refusal by U.S. President Barack Obama to permit TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline.

Though Trudeau didn’t tip his hand about his plans for tripling the capacity of the Edmonton to Vancouver pipeline, he said the oceans’ protection plan meets the highest global marine safety standards. His cabinet is due to decide by Dec. 19 whether the Kinder Morgan project is in the national interest.

Even Trudeau knows the road to Marrakech is paved with carbon – by Terence Corcoran (Financial Post – November 8, 2016)

November 8, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

The Institute for Energy Research last year reported that “China is building
one coal-fired power plant every 7 to 10 days, while Japan plans to build 43
coal-fired power projects to replace its shuttered nuclear units.”

Seems a little odd that Prime Minister Trudeau should show up in Vancouver Monday to outline plans to make the harbour safe for oil- and gas-tanker traffic on the same day the world’s climate community gathers in Marrakech to outline their plans to shut down such traffic.

Welcome to the wonky world of carbon contradiction, in which the backers of the 2015 Paris climate agreement go about the earnest business of global carbon reduction while the same nations — including Canada — join hands with big business to keep the carbon economy humming.

About 10,000 politicians, bureaucrats, corporate PR weasels, green activists, NGOs, rent-seekers, UN officials and other members of the carbon-control movement have descended on the Moroccan city for the 22nd meeting of the Congress of the Parties (COP) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Illegal mining, weak government help Taliban expand in Afghan north – by Jawad Kakar (Reuters India – November 7, 2016)

November 7, 2016

http://in.reuters.com/

FAIZABAD, AFGHANISTAN – Afghan Taliban militants have strengthened their grip on lucrative illegal mining operations in the north of the country, as security forces focus most of their efforts on battling the insurgency in the volatile south, officials said.

Abuses by local commanders with private militias and beyond the purview of central government have also driven people into the hands of Islamist fighters, the officials added, making it easier for them to profit from small-scale mines in the region.

“The Taliban provide protection for the villagers to mine and the people are happy to do it despite the fact that there’s a presidential decree banning any uncontrolled mining,” said Gul Mohammad Bedar, deputy governor of Badakhshan province. He estimated that the militant group, fighting to overthrow the Western-backed government in Kabul, raised about a third of its funding needs in Badakhshan from deposits of minerals, including semi-precious lapis lazuli, found in its mountains.

Green dreams: Duterte and the Philippine mining industry – by by Robert Veldhuizen (Global Risk Insights – November 7, 2016)

November 7, 2016

Throughout its history, the Philippine mining industry has been defined by its diverse set of political risks relating to governance, inequality, elitism, foreign export and absent contribution towards the country’s overall economic growth. President Duterte’s nomination spells a radically different future for the industry; unprecedented opportunities may lie ahead for foreign investors, however they are not without risk.

Pervading problems

Since the 1500s, mining has played a critical part in the economic development of the Philippines. Despite the abundance of chromite, copper, gold and nickel deposits, the industry has been marred, since the 1980s, by issues of volatility, and defined to a realm of ‘potential’—rather than direct opportunity.

Issues that have and continue to plague the industry range from matters of foreign ownership, corruption, obdurate and unforced regulatory laws, environmental incidents, murky issues of land rights, militant attacks, as well as disastrous weather conditions.

The world’s hardest working gold mines – by Frik Els (Mining.com – November 3, 2016)

November 7, 2016

http://www.mining.com/

Gold’s stellar run this year has not only breathed new life into the exploration sector, but prompted producing mines to maximize output to make the most of higher prices.

It takes years to get a new mine into operation, expansion projects are not completed in a few months and reviving mines under care and maintenance is not a quick task. But confidence in gold’s prospects, planning, timing (and a healthy dose of luck) meant that the mines on our list hit their stride just as gold was entering an upswing.

The list below is based on a compilation from the GFMS team at Thomson Reuters plus data provided by MINING.com’s sister company IntelligenceMine. The ranking compares gold ounces produced (not gold-equivalent ounces) by existing and new mines during the first six months of 2016 with the same period last year (Q3 production figures were not available for all the mines).

Nickel Prices Surge as FBI Comments Boost Risk Appetite – by Biman Mukherji (Wall Street Journal – November 7, 2016)

November 7, 2016

http://www.wsj.com/

Nickel prices soared in Asian trading on Monday, leading broad gains in base metals as risk appetite improved after the Federal Bureau of Investigation said no new evidence has been found to warrant charges against U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Three-month nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange were up 4.5% at $10,930 per ton, while copper futures rose 1.5% to $5,067 per ton Monday. Unlike on Chinese exchanges, it is unusual to see such a large movement in one day on the London Metal Exchange. Nickel prices have risen about 45% from the start of the year on the London Metal Exchange.

Metal prices tend to trade in line with equities, particularly among Chinese investors who often use them as a proxy for trading stocks. Investors had sold both metals and equities when FBI Director James Comey told Congress late last month that the agency had uncovered new evidence believed related to Mrs. Clinton’s private email server on a laptop belonging to the estranged husband of aide Huma Abedin.

Coal communities rocked by industry slump stand for Trump – by Heather Richard (Casper Star Tribune – November 7, 2016)

November 7, 2016

http://trib.com/

In the Eastside Liquors bar in Gillette, the old saying holds true: Politics and religion should be left at the door. It’s been that way for the 18 years Kori Koester has managed her father’s bar.

From early in the morning until late at night, coal miners and industry guys from nearby mines find their way to Eastside in their heavy work boots for a beer, a meal or a game of pool. In the past, conversation rarely centered on politics.

But this presidential election is different for the town where coal layoffs stripped hundreds of workers of their jobs. There is no taboo about talking politics in the Eastside bar anymore. “Right now it’s kind of unanimous,” Koester said. “Everywhere you go, everybody wants Trump.”

Asbestos Mining Town in Canada Searches for New Identity – by Matt Mauney (Asbestos.com – November 7, 2016)

November 7, 2016

https://www.asbestos.com/

Asbestos wasn’t always an ugly word. Once hailed as a miracle fiber in manufacturing and construction, it is now scorned for its toxicity and link to mesothelioma and other deadly respiratory diseases.

Perhaps no place knows that fall from grace better than the small town of Asbestos in southeast Quebec. Not only did the asbestos industry give the Canadian mining town its name, but it also shaped its identity, economy and legacy.

The now defunct Jeffery Mine, which occupies nearly one-sixth of the town’s 12 square miles, was Canada’s largest asbestos mine and served as the town’s main employer when it shut down in 2011.At its peak, the open-pit asbestos mine employed more than 2,000 of the town’s 7,000 residents. Now, five years later, Asbestos is searching for a new identity and a way to rewrite its legacy.

Brazil’s president delays pushing for new Vale CEO until next year: report (Reuters U.S. – November 6, 2016)

November 7, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

Brazilian President Michel Temer will not push to replace the head of the nation’s largest mining company, Vale SA (VALE5.SA), until the current executive’s mandate expires in May, a local newspaper reported.

Temer has been seeking a replacement for Chief Executive Murilo Ferreira, who was the preferred choice of impeached former President Dilma Rousseff and is considered by Temer’s camp to be too close to the previous administration.

But the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported at the weekend, without citing sources, that Temer will not try to force Ferreira’s early exit after coming up against resistance from state pension funds that have seats on Vale’s board. Temer’s office did immediately responded to requests for comment and Vale said it would not comment on the report.

The Clinton [mining] connection: How Bill and Hillary raised and earned millions from Canada’s corporate elite – by Karen Howlett, Jeffrey Jones and Andrew Willis (Globe and Mail – November 4, 2016)

November 7, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

It was the plane ride that launched a thousand good deeds, and one lingering controversy.

One day in June, 2005, Bill Clinton clambered aboard the private jet of Frank Giustra, the Vancouver mining financier. Mr. Clinton needed to get to Mexico City to begin a speaking tour of Latin America and oversee the work of his sprawling charitable enterprise. The two men didn’t know each other well. But Mr. Giustra happened to have a luxury MD-87 aircraft to get him there. And he was curious about the former U.S. president and his philanthropic work.

The trip and the conversation marked the beginning of a long and mutually beneficial relationship. Soon after, Mr. Giustra became one of the largest single donors to the Clinton Foundation and rallied an entire industry to raise millions of dollars for its fight against global poverty. He, in turn, gained entrée to Mr. Clinton’s inner circle – and became Corporate Canada’s most famous “Friend of Bill.”

For more than a decade, both men have burnished their reputations by travelling the globe and collaborating on big ideas in far-flung places. Mr. Giustra’s Twitter profile is a veritable photo gallery of the two men.

A Closer Look Into Florida’s Phosphate Mining Industry – by Avinash Pudota (TechFeatured.com – November 6, 2016)

November 7, 2016

A Short History

Phosphate is a natural, non-renewable resource that is obtained by mining phosphate-containing minerals. Florida’s phosphate rock deposits are believed to have originated when conditions in the seawater caused dissolved phosphorus to solidify and form the sediment that is mined today (1). Sea life also played a big part in forming the sediment deposits.

Ahttps://techfeatured.com/n Army Corps of Engineers’ (5) captain first discovered River Pebble Phosphate along the Peace River, Florida in the late nineteenth century. Mining the phosphate began soon after. The Florida miners had no mechanized excavation equipment. That means early mining was by hand using wheelbarrows, wagons, picks and shovels.

The chore of mining was slow and labor intensive, but the phosphate pebble did show promise. Interest in this pebble increases and the phosphate industry was born. The early twentieth century brought mechanized excavation equipment like steam shovels to the Florida phosphate mines, but steam shovels didn’t last long.

Robotics and automation will reduce mining employment by about 50% by 2030 (Next Big Future.com – November 4, 2016)

November 7, 2016

http://www.nextbigfuture.com/

Economist, lawyers and sustainable investment studies at the International Institute for Sustainable Development have a paper that looks at the mining industry. They look at how automation will effect mining jobs.

Given the fundamental uncertainty and longterm nature of automation technologies, we do not focus on them in this study, instead assessing new technologies that arebeing piloted today, which will be carried forward in the near-to-medium term. These technologies include:

1. Autonomous haul trucks and loaders: One person alone can already remotely operate a small fleet of these autonomous trucks. Improvements in software are likely to allow this to be performed even more efficiently by algorithm-driven computer programs. Driverless technology can lead to a 15 to 20 per cent increase in output, a 10 to 15 per cent decrease in fuel consumption and an 8 per cent decrease in maintenance costs.

Half the jobs are going – by Gwynne Dyer (The Telegram – November 05, 2016)

November 7, 2016

http://www.thetelegram.com/

“The notion that Uber in London is a mosaic of 30,000 small businesses linked by a common ‘platform’ is, to our minds, faintly ridiculous,” said one of the judges on the employment tribunal.

So, the tribunal ruled that Uber’s 30,000 drivers in London were actually employees, and therefore entitled to be paid the minimum wage, to be given sick pay, even to have paid holidays.

Uber promptly appealed the ruling, because it would wreck its business model in the United Kingdom and, if the example spreads, worldwide. But it was only a temporary victory for workers’ rights, because just as the real jobs have been replaced by fake “freelance” jobs like Uber that strip people of their old legal protections, so the “freelance” driving gigs will soon be replaced by — no jobs at all.

COLUMN-London Metal Exchange tensions surface during gala week – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – November 4, 2016)

November 7, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

Nov 4 In the end it turned out all right on the night. There was no booing and no slow handclapping when Garry Jones, chief executive of the London Metal Exchange (LME), rose to address the exchange’s annual black-tie dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

There had been considerable speculation as to what sort of reception he would get after a year of falling exchange volumes and a protracted dispute with brokers over trading fees. But decorum was maintained and Jones was in conciliatory mood, accepting with “some humility” that things hadn’t gone “as well as we hoped”.

He and his boss, Charles Li of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx), then had to humbly listen as Michael Farmer, guest speaker and copper market legend, spelt out exactly why the exchange’s traditional users are so unhappy.