Republic of Mining

Goldcorp prepared to extend Timmins’ 100-year gold rush – by Frank Giorno (Northern Ontario Business – December 6, 2016)

December 7, 2016

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Area west of Timmins ‘underexplored and underdeveloped for gold mining’

Marc Lauzier, the general manager of Porcupine Gold Mines and Goldcorp’s operations in the Timmins gold camp, provided a vision for growth at two locations that could extend mining will into the 2030 and beyond.

Speaking at a Timmins Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Dec. 2, Lauzier detailed the present and future gold mining projects like Probe Mine at Borden Lake, near Chapleau, and the potential for developing the Project Century open pit at site of the current Dome open pit and Dome underground mine, which would engulf an area almost four times the current operation in South Porcupine.

With the eventual projected operations at Probe Mine and with Project Century fully on stream, an expansion of the Dome Mill’s capacity of 12,000 tonnes per day will also be required. Lauzier kicked off his talk by pointing out the importance of Goldcorp and its predecessor companies — Placer Dome, Hollinger and McIntyre Mine — to Timmins’ economic and culture. Goldcorp inherited a 106 years of tradition.

De Beers invests $5m to expand Surat diamond grading unit (Times of India – December 6, 2016)

December 7, 2016

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

SURAT: De Beers, a member of the Anglo American group, today said it has invested US $5 million in expansion of its diamond grading and testing centre at Surat in Gujarat.

The move follows the Group’s initial investment of US $10 million in 2015, to establish the facility, which has the capacity to process over US $500 million of diamonds annually.

The facility represents a world-leading resource for India’s diamond cutting and polishing sector, providing polished diamond grading services, diamond verification services and melee (small diamond) testing and screening, International Institute of Diamond Grading & Research (IIDGR) President Jonathan Kendall told reporters here.

China’s Virtue Dragon joins Indonesian nickel rush – by Jack Hewson (Asia Nikkei.com – December 7, 2016)

December 7, 2016

http://asia.nikkei.com/

Top executive confident policy will continue to support investment

JAKARTA — Andrew Zhu admits that when he arrived in Indonesia in 2014, he was a little headstrong. He had come in a hurry to set up local operations for Chinese metals producer Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry, founded by Dai Guofang, his father-in-law.

At 29, Zhu is notably young to be president director of Virtue Dragon Nickel Industries, a company managing a $1 billion dollar investment. He is also refreshingly candid.

“You know it was brave for our company to come here, and slightly reckless,” he told Nikkei Asian Review in his office in downtown Jakarta. “We just didn’t have time to conduct thorough due diligence.”

7 dead in latest China mine blast; 60 miners killed in week (Victoria Times Colonist – December 6, 2016)

December 7, 2016

http://www.timescolonist.com/

The Associated Press – BEIJING, China – Seven coal miners are dead and another four still missing after a gas explosion in a central province in the latest deadly accident to strike China’s mining industry, authorities said Wednesday.

Rescuers were still trying to reach miners trapped underground after the Monday night blast in Hubei province, according to a statement from the local propaganda department. Rescue workers are pumping air into the mine shaft to aid the rescue effort.

Five miners were able to escape immediately after the blast. It was the third major mining accident in one week, causing a total of 60 deaths. China is the world’s top producer and consumer of coal. Deadly workplace events occur frequently despite a stated public commitment to improving worker safety.

Why Canada’s resource wealth should fuel the new economy – by Scott VAughan and Robert Smith (Globe and Mail – December 7, 2016)

December 7, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The federal government’s decision to approve two pipelines last week raises a number of issues, but there is one we haven’t really heard in the debate so far: How should revenues earned from resource extraction be used? For us, this is a central question and one that touches directly on Canada’s well-being.

We believe a greater portion of resource revenues needs to be re-invested in creating the new economy Canada will need going forward. There are several ways we could do this, all of them well-tested.

Canada could start by following Norway’s lead and using a portion of resource revenues to create national or provincial wealth funds. Such funds could then be used to invest in the innovative Canadian companies that will create the jobs of the future. Norway’s wealth fund is worth about $860-billion (U.S.). That money will come in handy when its North Sea resources are depleted.

Ottawa urged to ban asbestos immediately amid new data – by Tavia Grant (Globe and Mail – December 7, 2016)

December 7, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The federal government should take immediate action to ban asbestos in Canada and establish an expert panel to review how the deadly substance is managed and disposed of in the country, a group of prominent organizations is urging, at a time when new annual numbers show asbestos is again – by far – the top on-the-job killer in Canada.

New data highlight the deadly toll of asbestos exposures on Canadian workers. Asbestos was the cause of death in 367 accepted claims in 2015, according to figures compiled by the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada, making it the No. 1 workplace killer in the country. Since 1996, there have been 5,614 recorded work-related fatalities from asbestos.

An open letter, submitted to the Prime Minister Wednesday and released exclusively to The Globe and Mail, calls for a comprehensive asbestos ban and says Canada should follow the lead of Australia in establishing an asbestos management review process.

Environment group takes De Beers Canada to court over mercury – by Nicole Mordant (Reuters Canada Reuters – December 6, 2016)

December 7, 2016

http://ca.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – An environmental group said on Tuesday it filed a lawsuit against De Beers Canada, accusing the diamond producer of failing to report toxic levels of mercury and methylmercury at its Victor diamond mine in northern Ontario.

The Wildlands League alleged that De Beers Canada failed to report mercury levels from five of nine surface water monitoring stations for the creeks next to its open pit mine between 2009 and 2016.

This was an offense under the Ontario Water Resources Act, the group said in a statement. It said it had alerted the province of Ontario and De Beers Canada to the failures more than 18 months ago.

Governments can’t find the ‘secret sauce’ of Silicon Valley – by Alex Whalley and Trevor Tombe (Financial Post – November 30, 2016)

December 7, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

“We should not be known for our resources,” said Prime Minister Trudeau at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, “but for our resourcefulness.” With that in mind, the government has put innovation policy near the top of its agenda and recently announced $800 million for a “cluster networks strategy” where Ottawa will focus innovation subsidies on particular industries and locations. Though it is receiving much attention, it may not be smart policy.

First, innovation is but a means to the end of higher living standards and productivity. Based on the most recent data from the Penn World Table (the leading source for international comparisons), Canada is about 20 per cent less productive than the United States — equivalent to a staggering $15,000 in lost economic output per person per year. Ottawa is right to focus on closing this gap.

But to improve productivity, developing new technologies ourselves is not the only way. Adopting better technologies from elsewhere has value too, but this is often neglected or explicitly inhibited. Consider municipal restrictions on Uber or Airbnb, or federal restrictions on foreign activity in telecom or airlines.

ICMM commits to new tailings dam measures – by Esmarie Swanepoel (MiningWeekly.com – December 6, 2016)

December 6, 2016

http://www.miningweekly.com/

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) has adopted a range of new measures to manage tailing dams, following the Samarco disaster in 2015, which claimed the lives of 19 people in Brazil.

The ICMM in December last year launched a review of the global tailings management of its member companies, which include majors BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Newmont and South32.

The review report focused on surface tailings management across the ICMM membership, including a review of standards and governance. The review, which was published on Tuesday, concluded that an increased emphasis on governance was needed to ensure that extensive existing technical and management guidance was more effectively applied.

[B.C. Mining History] Interest Returns to northeastern coalfields – by Ed Kimura (Mineral Exploration – Spring 2011)

December 6, 2016

http://www.amebc.ca/

Rising Prices Fuel Regional Revitalization Hopes

A major milestone in the development of British Columbia’s northeast coal resources was achieved on Jan. 23, 1981 with the announcement of agreements whereby a consortium of 12 Japanese companies would purchase 94 million tons(short) of metallurgical coal and 16 million tons of thermal coal over a 15-year period commencing in October 1983.

The announcement triggered the co-ordination of the largest industrial development and construction project in B.C. history. The project would involve the construction of Denison Mines’ Quintette and Teck Corporation’s Bullmoose open-pit coal mines.

The federal and B.C. governments committed to fund the construction and development of various phases of the project, including construction of Tumbler Ridge townsite to accommodate the projected workforce, constructing a 127-km power line and highway system to the mines and Tumbler Ridge, constructing and upgrading the railway and related infrastructure to transport coal from the mine sites to tidewater, and developing the proposed Ridley Island coal-handling facilities at Prince Rupert.

Mexico Overtakes Canada as No. 2 U.S. Exporter Ahead of Trump – by Greg Quinn and Nacha Cattan (Bloomberg News – December 6, 2016)

December 6, 2016

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Mexico is overtaking Canada as the No. 2 exporter of goods to the U.S. this year, in a sign of how economic ties have deepened between the two countries even as the relationship is being questioned by President-elect Donald Trump.

Shipments from Mexico totaled $245 billion in the first 10 months of the year, according to Commerce Department figures released Tuesday, ahead of Canada’s $230 billion. If the trend continues, it would be the first time ever the U.S. bought more imports from its neighbor to the south. The two countries ended 2015 tied in exports to the U.S.

The trend of catching up to Canada puts China and Mexico as the top two exporters to the U.S. just as Trump prepares to take office in January, reflecting the strong pull of lower cost jurisdictions for the U.S. economy. Canada, which has one of the highest cost bases in the Americas, has seen its share of U.S. imports fall to about 13 percent from around 20 percent two decades ago.

Citi Makes a Clarion Call for Commodity Bulls With 2017 View – by Ranjeetha Pakiam (Bloomberg News – December 5, 2016)

December 6, 2016

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Citigroup Inc. has given a clarion call for commodity bulls, predicting that most raw materials are expected to perform strongly next year as global economic growth picks up, the oversupply that’s dogged markets finally dissipates and investors plow in more funds.

The bank is bullish on oil, copper, zinc, and wheat on a six to 12-month horizon, with global growth seen at 2.7 percent from 2.5 percent in 2016, according to an e-mailed report. It’s bearish on coal and iron ore — describing this year’s out-performance in bulks as a fluke — and gold and soybeans.

Commodities have made a comeback this year after sinking to a quarter-century low in January as the oil market shows signs of rebalancing after a glut, and base metals rally on prospects for rising demand.

Another bank upgrades Teck Resources outlook on stronger coking coal prices – by Sunny Freeman (Financial Post – December 5, 2016)

December 6, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

Citi is the latest to join a spate of analysts upgrading Teck Resources Ltd. stock recently, based on significantly improved outlooks for the price of metallurgical coal in 2017.

Citi upgraded shares in the Vancouver-based miner Monday to buy from neutral and raised its target price from $30 to $40. Its shares were trading up 2.5 per cent at $34.47 at midday Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Citi also raised its free cash flow projection to 22 per cent if spot prices can hold out longer than expected.

Prices of met coal — one of Teck’s most significant resources — have risen about 160 per cent this year, largely due to supply shortages in China, which is also one the biggest customers for the coal used in steel-making.

Amid all the financial turmoil, why are gold prices getting crushed? – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – December 6, 2016)

December 6, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Gold, the traditional haven from financial turmoil, is now being crushed by a market for which it seems ideally suited. Over the past month, a triple helping of chaos – including Donald Trump’s election in the United States, Indian currency reform and an Italian referendum – has surprised investors in three large economies.

Yet gold has only sunk lower and lower. Instead of seeking shelter from uncertainty, investors have chosen to place their bets on renewed prospects for economic growth.

That trend continued Monday as the suddenly not-so-precious metal hit its lowest point since February, falling as low as $1,158.13 (U.S.) an ounce, despite the unexpectedly lopsided defeat of Italy’s establishment in a referendum on the weekend. A month ago, gold was above $1,280 an ounce.

Environmentalists allege De Beers failed to report on mercury in water – by Tanya Talaga (Toronto Star – December 6, 2016)

December 6, 2016

https://www.thestar.com/

A Canadian environmental group is taking DeBeers Canada to court, claiming the company failed to report toxic levels of mercury and methylmercury in the waters surrounding a northern Ontario diamond mine.

The Wildlands League, a chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, represented by Ecojustice lawyers, says De Beers has failed to consistently report the levels of methylmercury in the creeks surrounding the Victor Diamond Mine, located 90 kilometres west of Attawapiskat First Nation.

De Beers Group denies the allegations, saying, “To suggest that we have not been reporting per our legal requirements for seven years is grossly misleading. That is simply not true.”