Republic of Mining

[Mining reporter] Sudbury column: Saying goodbye to a job I love – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – January 26, 2017)

January 26, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Fifteen years ago, when I was “bumped” from being wire editor at The Sudbury Star back to reporting, I was terrified. Other than writing an occasional column, I had spent two decades behind a desk, assigning stories, telling reporters how to write them and editing the results.

It was grueling but, for the most part, safe work. I didn’t have to ask strangers what they thought about issues. I didn’t have to shove through a gaggle of reporters to get a quote from a politician or pester a family whose loved one had been killed and ask how they felt.

That changed after a four-month lockout at The Star when a shakeup in the newsroom forced me to choose between returning to reporting and unemployment. I chose the former, grudgingly.

Since ice roads won’t stay frozen, we need to get serious about building permanent roads in the far north – by John Michael McGrath (TVO.org – January 24, 2017)

January 25, 2017

http://tvo.org/

OPINION: More than 30 Ontario First Nations communities rely on winter ice roads to truck in everything from fuel to building supplies. Warm winters are jeopardizing that lifeline, and we need an alternative

The one thing that’s supposed to be reliable about Ontario’s far north is cold winters. But increasingly, warm spells in winter have delayed the opening of the ice roads that connect 31 remote First Nations communities spread across the bulk of the province’s north, from the shore of James Bay to the far northwest.

This year, while grading and packing of snow and ice clearing has started in some locations, not a single one of the province’s ice roads has opened to commercial traffic, and only half a dozen have opened for personal vehicle use.

In the province’s northeast, the Wetum Road connecting the Moose Cree First Nation and other communities farther north to the provincial highway system won’t open until next Monday at the earliest.

B.C.’s mining exploration sector has brighter outlook for 2017 – by Derrick Penner (Vancouver Sun – January 23, 2017)

January 25, 2017

http://vancouversun.com/

B.C.’s major mining companies arrived at the Association for Mineral Exploration of B.C.’s annual convention talking about a more immediate need to reinvest in finding new mineral deposits, which comes as a relief to mining exploration companies at the event.

“It’s way more hopeful,” said Gavin Dirom, CEO of AME B.C., about the atmosphere at the event, which kicked off over the weekend in Vancouver. And because commodity markets have begun to recover, leaving mining companies bigger profits to consider reinvesting in finding new mines, that hope “is way more real,” Dirom added.

Exploration companies, the core of Vancouver’s mining industry, were the first to suffer the squeeze of a five-year downturn in mining that saw major companies, such as Teck Resources Ltd. and Goldcorp Inc., cut costs, slash capital spending and jettison joint ventures.

UPDATE 2-Output rise, lower tax estimate drive miner Antofagasta’s shares higher – by Esha Vaish and Zandi Shabalala (Reuters U.K. – January 25, 2017)

January 25, 2017

http://uk.reuters.com/

BENGALURU/LONDON, Jan 25 Chilean copper miner Antofagasta reassured investors with a strong production increase in the final quarter of 2016 and by saying it expected to pay less tax, sending its shares sharply higher.

A 13.8 percent production rise in the fourth quarter helped the London-listed miner reach annual output of 709,400 tonnes of copper in 2016, just short of the 710,000-740,000 tonne guidance it had given at the start of last year.

The company had said in October that full-year copper production would be at the lower end of that guidance. Antofagasta stood by its 2017 copper production target of 685,000-720,000 tonnes.

Former First Nations chief stakes legal claim on mining minister’s property – by Justine Hunter (Globe and Mail – January 24, 2017)

January 25, 2017

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

VICTORIA — A former First Nations chief who has battled the B.C. government over its mining policies says she has legally staked a claim on the private property of Minister of Energy and Mines Bill Bennett.

It took less than an hour for Bev Sellars, a lawyer and former chief of the Xat’sull First Nation at Soda Creek, to file an application with the province to become a free miner and then to use the ministry’s online registry to stake her claim for the right to explore a chunk of land that includes Mr. Bennett’s Cranbrook home.

“I really didn’t believe it was that easy, I was thinking, ‘holy smokes, this is crazy,’” Ms. Sellars said in an interview. Mr. Bennett declined an interview request on Tuesday, while he was attending a mining conference in Vancouver.

Nunavut regulator requests updated FEIS on rejected Nunavut gold project [Sabina Gold] (Nunatsiaq News – January 24, 2017)

January 25, 2017

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

The Nunavut Impact Review Board has launched its re-assessment process for Sabina Gold and Silver Corp.’s Back River gold project with a Jan. 23 request to the mining company for updates to its Final Environmental Impact Statement, or FEIS.

“The NIRB believes that provision of an updated FEIS document or addendum by the proponent would be the most effective means of providing additional information and highlighting existing information regarding the effects assessment for the Back River Project…” the NIRB’s Jan. 23 letter said.

The NIRB confirmed its plans Jan. 24 to schedule a public hearing to consider the updated FEIS document. The letter comes on the heels of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett’s Jan. 12 letter, which sent the NIRB’s final public hearing report on the project back to the review board.

China’s Australia Coal Deal Snags Access to Energy-Hungry World – by Ben Sharples (Bloomberg News – January 25, 2017)

January 25, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

China isn’t just buying Australia’s coal assets, it’s also expanding access to the limited infrastructure needed to ship it globally.

Yancoal Australia Ltd.’s $2.45 billion purchase of the biggest slice of Rio Tinto Group’s coal operations will double the Chinese-owned miner’s output in the country. The deal also includes a 36.5 percent stake in Port Waratah Coal Services Ltd., the owner of two terminals at the port of Newcastle, Australia’s main conduit for thermal coal. The amount Yancoal will be permitted to ship will double.

“The Rio operations are long life, so they have plenty of reserves, and Yancoal will benefit from increased port capacity at Newcastle,” said Matthew Boyle, a Sydney-based industry consultant at CRU Group. “This is a definite game changer and Yancoal suddenly becomes a rather large player.”

DAUDT ASKS TRUMP TO GREEN-LIGHT MINING – by Jerry Burnes (Mesabi Daily News – January 23, 2017)

January 25, 2017

http://www.virginiamn.com/

In the first week of the new administration, Minnesota’s Iron Range could feel the impact of President Donald Trump, who on Monday took executive action to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Later in the day, Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Daudt sent a letter to Trump asking him to reverse the Obama administration decisions to end mineral leases for Twin Metals, and reverse course on a proposed mining moratorium in Superior National Forest.

“We believe very strongly that we can access those natural resources safely,” Daudt said at a news conference Monday. “We know that the economy and jobs are dependent upon us growing the mining industry and the Range. We think we’ve got really good, safe opportunities to do that.”

Murray Energy CEO Says Trump Could Help Rescue Coal in 3 Months – by Tim Loh (Bloomberg News – January 24, 2017)

January 25, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Robert E. Murray, founder of Murray Energy Corp. and an outspoken advocate for coal miners, has a wish list for President Donald Trump — and he expects Trump can get through much of it within three months.

Murray said he spent time with Trump and “virtually all” of his key appointees last week and is convinced that “the very best people” are running the federal government. The new administration is ready to improve coal’s competitiveness and “allow us to survive,” Murray said in a phone interview Monday.

Trump vowed during his campaign to bring back jobs for coal miners as the industry grappled with its worst collapse in decades. Hundreds of mines in the U.S. have shut as cheap natural gas and environmental regulations shrink demand for the power-plant fuel.

Panel calls for policy changes to boost South Africa’s mining industry – by Megan Van Wyngaardt (MiningWeekly.com – January 27, 2017)

January 25, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Governments that have implemented positive policy changes, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, have contributed to exponential growth in the mining production of their countries in the last ten years, but South Africa is lagging far behind, Cadiz Corporate Solutions head of mining Peter Major said on Wednesday.

“We haven’t had a policy change here since 1994, which will keep pushing our production down, which does not make it a good investment destination,” he noted during a panel discussion at Deloitte’s Africa Outlook 2017.

Major further pointed out that investors were looking at cash-generating assets, more than greenfield projects. “Yes, they want existing projects, but most of all they want policy . . . this is more important than anything else by far, more than commodity prices, orebodies and infrastructure.”

Rough deal: Panna’s biggest diamond auction means nothing for its miners – by Neeraj Santoshi (Hindustan Times – January 25, 2017)

January 25, 2017

http://www.hindustantimes.com/

Panna, India – Gond tribal Jaggu ‘Adivasi’ is not losing his sleep over a 2 carat diamond he found in the gravel of Panna in November last year. It is out of his hands and will be among the diamonds that would go for lakhs of rupees at a government auction in the Panna collectorate on January 30. Jaggu, who seems to be in his 30s but looks much older, has been paid his wages. It is unlikely he will ever know how much the 2 carat (1 carat= 0.2 gram) diamond went for.

The January 30 auction is the biggest in the history of Panna’s shallow diamond mines and bids would be made for nearly 594 rough diamonds weighing around 476 carats. “Normally diamonds worth Rs 40 lakh to Rs 60 lakh are sold at each auction (four such auctions are held in a year).

Though we don’t reveal the price of individual diamonds, collectively we are hoping to get Rs 1 crore in the auction on January 30,” said Ratnesh Dixit, the diamond officer of Panna.

Freeport-McMoRan shares slump on earnings miss, Indonesia woes – by Nicole Mordant (Reuters U.S. – January 25, 2016)

January 25, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX.N), the world’s biggest publicly-listed copper miner, warned on Wednesday that it would need to start slashing output and jobs at its Indonesia mine by mid-February if it fails to get an export permit from the government.

The Phoenix, Arizona-based miner also reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and cut its 2017 copper and gold production forecasts because it expects lower output at its massive Grasberg mine in Indonesia, sending its shares tumbling.

Freeport’s exports of copper concentrate from Indonesia have been halted since Jan. 12 when a ban on shipping semi-processed ore out of the Southeast Asian country came into effect to boost the local smelter industry.

Canada needs a free trade deal with China, says Teck Resources CEO – by Michael McCullough (Canadian Business – January 25, 2017)

January 25, 2017

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/

Amid the uncertainty around Canadian companies’ access to the U.S. market, Teck Resources CEO Don Lindsay has added his voice to those calling for a free trade agreement between Canada and China. Speaking at a mining exploration conference in Vancouver this week, he pointed to Australia’s bilateral pact with China, which came into effect a year ago, as a model.

“Australia has successfully completed a trade deal that has eliminated 95% of trade tariffs between the two countries,” Lindsay said. “Meanwhile we have duties on our coal.”

Whereas U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed spending US$1 trillion on infrastructure over 10 years, Lindsay noted, “China spends a trillion on infrastructure in about 11 months.”

Gold ETF Lures Most Money Since ‘12 as Europe Frets on Trump – by Luzi-Ann Javier and Eddie Van Der Walt (Bloomberg News – January 24, 2017)

January 25, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

European investors are leading the race to gold as concerns over growing populism and protectionism embraced by Donald Trump fuel demand for haven assets.

The four exchange-traded funds backed by the metal that have attracted the most money this year are all based in Western Europe. Frankfurt-listed Xetra-Gold tops the list, bringing in about $544 million last week, the biggest weekly inflow since at least 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s more than 10-times the new money added into SPDR Gold Shares, the largest commodity ETF, data show.

European investors are piling into gold, fueling the metal’s rebound, amid concern that Trump’s “America first” rhetoric and plans to scrap regional trade deals will impede global economic growth.