Republic of Mining

Feds slam brakes on copper-nickel mine near Boundary Waters – by Jennifer Bjorhus (Minneapolis Star Tribune – December 15, 2016)

December 16, 2016

http://www.startribune.com/

Feds say Twin Metals plan poses too big a risk to BWCA.

In a major victory for environmentalists, the federal government said it will not renew two mineral leases held by Twin Metals Minnesota, saying its proposed copper mine near Ely poses too great a risk of contaminating the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

“The Boundary Waters is a national treasure, special to the 150,000 who canoe, fish and recreate there each year, and is the economic life blood to local businesses that depend on a pristine natural resource,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in announcing the decision Thursday.

The ruling slams the brakes on one of two copper-nickel mines proposed for northern Minnesota, and is likely to intensify an emotional debate that pits the region’s storied mining industry against a rare and much-loved forest wilderness.

Adding to the national value: is beneficiation the answer? – by Terence Corrigan (MineWeb.com – December 16, 2016)

December 16, 2016

http://www.mineweb.com/

Among the many notable passages in Alan Paton’s 1948 novel, Cry the Beloved Country, are the comments of Mr Harrison about South Africa’s economy. The country’s mines – an important motif in the book – are the foundation on which everything is built, he remarks. It generates the wealth that provides jobs and wealth, and underwrites farming and industry. ‘I tell you, there wouldn’t be any South Africa at all if it weren’t for the mines.’

Decades later, do these words still hold true? Since 1980, the contribution of mining to GDP has fallen from around 20% of GDP to around 8% today. Over the same period, employment in mining declined, in round numbers, from 709 000 to 457 000 – or by over a third.

Yet, with our vast mineral endowments, mining remains an asset that we cannot afford to discard. A declining contributor to the economy, it remains an important one – if no longer the foundation, then still a pillar.

Philippines’ No. 2 nickel miner to appeal canceled permit for undeveloped mine – by Enrico Dela Cruz (Reuters U.S. – December 16, 2016)

December 16, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

MANILA – Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc, the Philippines’ second-largest nickel miner, vowed on Friday to appeal an “unlawful” government decision to cancel the environmental permit for its newly acquired Ipilan mining project.

The company said its Ipilan Nickel Corp (INC) unit has not violated any law or condition under the permit, and chided the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for making a decision “without procedural due process”.

Concerned at the environmental impact of mining, the world’s top nickel ore supplier has already halted the operation of 10 mines and another 20 face suspension, stoking supply concerns and spurring a rally in global nickel prices.

Trump Is Causing a Rare Trend in Commodities – by Mark Burton (Bloomberg News -December 16, 2016)

December 16, 2016

https://www.bloomberg.com/

One of the fundamental dynamics of commodities markets has being turned upside down, thanks in part to Donald Trump.

Industrial metals prices and the dollar are rising in tandem on expectations that U.S. economic growth and inflation will accelerate during Trump’s presidency. Usually, they move in the opposite direction as the dollar’s strength makes commodities, which are mostly denominated in the currency, more expensive for buyers outside the U.S.

The trend is so rare that it’s only happened a handful of times in the past decade, and it’s one of the many reasons that mining companies such as Glencore Plc are rebounding. The commodities giant is benefiting from lower costs and higher metal prices at its zinc operations, and is on track to resume paying dividends next year as part of a broader turnaround plan.

Canada’s move to ban asbestos a ‘win for public health’ but long overdue: advocates – by Tavia Grant (Globe and Mail – December 16, 2016)

December 16, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada will ban asbestos use by 2018, in what many health advocates hail as a victory for public health, albeit one that is long overdue. The federal government’s move is aimed at eventually reducing the rate of asbestos-related diseases. The hard work lies ahead, though, as the country deals with the deadly legacy of asbestos that exists in everything from homes and hospitals to elementary schools and universities.

“When it comes to asbestos, the science is … very clear,” Health Minister Jane Philpott said at a news conference Thursday. “We are taking action on this now to protect future generations of Canadians.”

The announcement comes after years of Globe and Mail coverage on the health impact of asbestos exposures, risks which had been played down by previous federal governments. Last week, The Globe reported on new annual numbers showing that asbestos remains the top cause of workplace deaths in Canada.

Congo gold mine innovates to solve illegal mining dilemma – by Aaron Ross (Reuters U.S. – December 16, 2016)

December 16, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

MONGBWALU, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dec 16 (Reuters) – When Guy Robert Lukama looked out at thousands of illegal gold diggers hacking away at the verdant hills in remote northeastern Congo, he glimpsed opportunity where previous owners saw only an intractable problem.

Lukama’s former employer, South Africa’s AngloGold Ashanti , had for years sought to develop the 3,260 square kilometre Mongbwalu concession but pulled out partly due to concern over the sprawling blue-tented camps full of miners.

When he led a buyout of AngloGold’s 86 percent stake in the Mongbwalu Gold Mine (MGM) last year, Lukama knew he couldn’t chase them away if he was to succeed in mining any of the 2.5 million ounces of gold estimated to lie trapped in the earth. Instead, he decided to put them on the payroll. “We cannot avoid the fact that…we (have) to manage the presence of (the diggers),” Lukama told Reuters.

Russian Billionaire Is Cleaning Up in Nation’s Dirtiest City – by Yuliya Fedorinova (Bloomberg News – December 15, 2016)

December 15, 2016

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Vladimir Potanin makes an unlikely environmentalist. The Russian tycoon, worth $17 billion at last count, derives half his wealth from a mine operator that’s the biggest polluter in the nation’s dirtiest city.

The smelting of nickel and other metals from the mines pumped about 2 million metric tons of waste into Norilsk’s air as recently as 2013, eight times the level of Russia’s next most-polluted metropolis.

Yet if Potanin makes good on plans to spend billions of dollars on the largest modernization of MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC since the Soviet era, he’ll have cut annual sulphur-dioxide emissions equal to the entire output of the toxic gas from Europe’s five biggest economies.

Mining Digs Deep for Automation Help – by Aaron Hand (Automation World – December 14, 2016)

December 15, 2016

http://www.automationworld.com/

When it comes to remote operations, process industries have some of the remotest, toughest conditions out there. Take that a step further—or higher or lower—and you’ve got mining. Control engineers are trying to get mining operations up and running high on mountain tops, out in the driest deserts, amid political unrest, or a mile or more below ground, struggling with connectivity or even power lines.

When trying to commission a new mine or upgrade an existing operation, chances are you want to make extra sure you get it right the first time.

Red Chris Mine is an open pit copper and gold mine in northwest British Columbia, Canada, owned by Imperial Metals. It’s a remote location on top of a mountain, near Alaska. Spartan Controls, the integrator that worked to get the mine up and running about a year and a half ago, is based in Vancouver, B.C. To get to the operation from the southern part of the province requires three flights followed by a two-hour bus ride.

Mali’s gold miners could rival industrial producers – by Tiemoko Diallo (Reuters U.S. – December 14, 2016)

December 15, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

BAMAKO – The amount of gold dug up by people working informally in Mali could soon rival official production thanks to demand from domestic refineries, officials in the West African nation say.

The informal sector’s sudden growth, defying opposition from major commercial operators, is a major boost to an economy suffering from years of political instability. Mali’s government derives about a quarter of its revenues from gold.

It is Africa’s third-largest gold miner behind South Africa and Ghana, and artisanal mines contributed a third of the 70.2 tonnes of gold it exported in 2015. Informal sector growth accelerated in 2012, when Islamists hijacked a separatist Tuareg rebellion in the desert north, throwing the country into chaos.

Couillard uses Arctic Circle forum to tout Quebec’s northern ambitions – by Jim Bell (Nunatsiaq News – December 15, 2016)

December 15, 2016

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

“To make sure Quebec is recognized as a Nordic nation”

QUEBEC CITY—At the Arctic Circle forum held in Quebec City earlier this week, Quebec Premier Phillipe Couillard put on his salesman act, using the event to brag about his government’s renewed Plan Nord and to pitch the potential of Quebec’s northern regions to global investors.

With his “good friend,” Iceland’s ex-premier, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, sitting just a few feet away, Couillard promised he’ll use Plan Nord to promote Quebec wherever he goes. “We will take advantage of all forums to make sure Quebec is recognized as a Nordic nation,” Couillard said in a speech that opened the day’s plenary session Dec. 12.

In it, Couillard bragged that his government’s re-worked version of Plan Nord, introduced in April 2015, offers a good balance between environmental protection, social wellbeing and economic development.

Morgan Stanley bearish on iron ore, bullish on base metals (Sydney Morning Herald – December 14, 2016)

December 15, 2016

http://www.smh.com.au/

BLOOMBERG – Base metals win out over bulks as Morgan Stanley’s top picks for next year as President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to spruce up US infrastructure may reinforce demand from China, with the outlook in the US offering potential for what the bank termed as the “American phoenix”.

“Mr Trump’s promise to rebuild US infrastructure is a brand-new upside risk for our commodity outlook,” the bank said in a December 12 report. “Yes, we do believe China is in the mature stage of its 25-year-old materials growth cycle, and that the US may only be at the start of a new one. But the potential exists for a medium-term competitive overlap for selected commodities.”

Metals have rallied 27 per cent in 2016, with the LMEX Index heading for the first annual gain in four years, as consumption in China proved resilient and Trump’s win boosted speculation about the outlook for demand.

The Goose-Killing Lake And The Scientists Who Study It – by Sarah Zhang (The Atlantic/Huffington Post – December 14, 2016)

December 15, 2016

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

In late November, a flock of migrating snow geese landed in a lake in Butte, Montana. Soon, they began to die. Because what they landed in was the Berkeley Pit, a Superfund site filled with acidic and metal-laden toxic waste from copper mining. The lake was “white with birds;” thousands died. Weeks later, as the story has gone viral, officials are still counting.

The Berkeley Pit had killed migrating geese before. “It was a shock to hear it happening again, on a much larger scale,” says Andrea Stierle, who, along with her husband Don, has been studying the Berkeley Pit for more than three decades. In 1995, over 300 migrating geese landed in the pit and died from ingesting the toxic water.

The Stierles were chemists at nearby Montana Tech at the time, and they were in search of microbes living in the toxic waste water that could make antibiotics and other useful substances. That arrival of the first flock of geese changed the microbial makeup of the Berkeley Pit and likely the outcomes of Stierles’ research, too.

Things beginning to look up for Brazilian miner in Mozambique – by Keith Campbell (MiningWeekly.com – December 15, 2016)

December 15, 2016

http://www.miningweekly.com/

In a recent presentation to the NYSE, Brazilian major mining group Vale reported on progress at its Mozambique operations. These comprise the Moatize coal mine and the Nacala Logistics Corridor. Moatize is primarily a metallurgical, or coking, coal mine, while the Nacala Logistics Corridor is composed of new and refurbished railway lines linking Moatize (and the city of Tete) to the port of Nacala, via Malawi, as well as a coal terminal in that port.

Overall, the group’s Mozambique operations saw their costs and expenses, net of depreciation, fall by 14% during the first nine months of this year, compared with the first nine months of last year. Their adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) increased by more 30%, from minus $366-million to minus $247-million over the same periods.

Production Up Again, during the first nine months of this year, Moatize’s production was up 4%, compared with the same period last year.

The mining industry proves executive pay is broken – by Tim Kiladze (Globe and Mail – December 15, 2016)

December 15, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The global mining boom went bust years ago, but somehow, the board of directors at Teck Resources Ltd. missed the news. From 2011 to 2015, the mining giant, which specializes in coal, copper and zinc, paid chief executive officer Don Lindsay roughly $10-million a year on average – among the most of any CEO in the country.

Over the same time frame, Teck’s stock tanked. From their postcrisis peak in January, 2011, to the depths they reached last December, the miner’s shares fell more than 90 per cent. Even after a big rebound this year, they’re still down by more than half.

That the Teck CEO’s pay barely budged as shareholders suffered is bad enough. But the split between long-term shareholders’ fortunes and Mr. Lindsay’s is about to widen: With the shares on a tear, soaring 432 per cent this year on the back of recovering commodity prices and a more manageable debt load, Teck executives will be swimming in money because of the way the company gives out options and other stock-based pay.

[Democratic Republic of Congo] With His Family’s Fortune at Stake, President Kabila Digs In – by Michael Kavanagh, Thomas Wilson and Franz Wild (Bloomberg News – December 15, 2016)

December 15, 2016

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Joseph Kabila and his relatives have built a network of businesses that reaches into every corner of Congo’s economy. Is that why he won’t step down?

In his only public speech this year, Joseph Kabila, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, was defiant about his refusal to hand over power when his final term ends on Dec. 19. “I cannot allow the republic to be taken hostage by a fringe of the political class,” he told parliament last month as members cheered.

His presidency had brought peace and economic growth to Congo, the 45-year-old said, outlining reforms he’d made in telecommunications, mining, energy and banking. What he didn’t say is how some of his own family members are among the biggest beneficiaries of those changes—including his sister Jaynet and brother Zoe, who both listened from the front row as elected members of parliament.