Republic of Mining

Rare-Earth Market – by Lee Simmons (Foreign Policy Magazine – July 12, 2016)

July 12, 2016

By monopolizing the mining of rare-earth metals, China could dictate the future of high-tech.

Most people have no idea what’s in an iPhone. Yttrium and praseodymium don’t exactly roll off the tongue, but they’re part of what make smartphones so small, powerful, and bright. These exotic materials are among the planet’s 17 rare-earth elements, and surprisingly, the soft, silvery metals are not at all rare.

But they’re found in tiny concentrations, all mixed together, and usually embedded in hard rock, which makes them difficult — and messy — to isolate. In China, which mines 89 percent of global output, toxic wastes from rare-earth facilities have poisoned water, ruined farmlands, and made people sick.

Beyond high-tech gadgets, rare earths play a critical role in national defense, enabling radar systems and guided missiles. Ironically, they also power clean-energy technologies, such as wind turbines and electric cars.

Hunting for Diamonds Under Canada’s Frozen Tundra – by Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – July 11, 2016)

July 12, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

A quarter century of digging under ice sees winners, losers, and an Irish billionaire teaming up with De Beers.

On the semi-frozen surface of Faraday Lake in Canada’s subarctic, two diamond rigs are drilling around the clock. It’s spring breakup north of the 63rd parallel, which means the Kennady Diamonds Inc. exploration team is running out of time.

“It’s starting to candle,” says geologist Martina Bezzola, scuffing her rubber boot over the fast-melting ice where vertical tunnels, or “candles,” have recently appeared. The thaw means the team has two weeks to extract kimberlite samples from beneath the lake before they’re banished to drilling onshore. “Basically it’s like sticking a needle into a haystack to determine what’s in the haystack.”

Twenty-five years after the first diamonds were found in Canada’s Northwest Territories, it’s still a game of hurry-up-and-wait. For every thousand grassroots exploration projects, only one becomes a mine. Snap Lake, one of three operating mines in the region, was shuttered by De Beers last year, a casualty of harsh geography and falling diamond prices.

Brexit panic to give way to commodity revival, Citi report suggests – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – July 12, 2016)

July 12, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Commodities from oil to sugar to copper are poised for big gains in 2017, according to analysts at Citigroup Inc. They suggest that investors’ anxiety over Brexit will dissipate quickly, giving way to renewed interest in raw materials.

Since the commodity super-cycle peaked in 2011, prices for metals, energy and agricultural goods have frequently risen from January to June, only to slump during the second half of the year. This year will break that discouraging pattern, the analysts assert.

“Citi expects the strong performance of commodities to resume this quarter and through the end of the year,” Edward Morse and his team wrote in a report published on Monday. The gains will only pick up speed after that, they said. “Citi is especially bullish [on] commodities for 2017.”

UPDATE 1-Israel Chemicals sells potash to India at decade-low price -sources – by Rajendra Jadhav and Tova Cohen (Reuters U.S. – July 1, 2016)

July 12, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

Israel Chemicals (ICL) will ship potash to India at the same decade-low price agreed by another big seller last month, two industry sources said, at a time when global supply of the crop nutrient is exceeding demand.

ICL’s decision could pressure other key producers such as Russia’s Uralkali and North American trading group Canpotex Ltd, owned by Potash Corp of Saskatchewan , Mosaic Co and Agrium Inc, to consider offering potash at similar prices.

Indian Potash Ltd (IPL), one of that country’s biggest fertiliser importers, is buying around 600,000 tonnes of potash at $227 per tonne on a cost and freight (CFR) basis with a credit period of 180 days, said the industry sources, who declined to be named.

Beware of Brexit headlines pushing you to buy gold – by Bernard Condon (Globe and Mail – July 12, 2016)

July 12, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

NEW YORK — The Associated Press – If you thought the Brexit vote was scary, check out the full page newspaper ad that recently appeared in The New York Times recounting all the horrors in the present tense, as if they were still unfolding: The vote “topples” the British government, “crushes” the pound and “wipes away” billions in stock market wealth.

Then came the purpose behind all the panicky prose. “Buy Gold Now!”

Investors have done just that, pushing up the price of the metal to a two-year high. But before joining the rush, experts warn, beware that assets marketed as conservative and safe bought in a panic can sometimes wallop investors with losses they were trying to avoid.

The ad was from a company selling gold coins that is run by is Philip Diehl, a coin expert with an impressive pedigree.

Nickel at 9-month high on Philippine environmental fears – by Neil Hume (Financial Times – July 12, 2016)

July 12, 2016

https://next.ft.com/

Nickel has powered to its highest level since October 2015 as investors become increasingly concerned about an environmental crackdown in the Philippines. The Philippines has emerged as the top supplier of nickel ore to China since Indonesia banned exports of unprocessed raw materials in 2014, writes Neil Hume.

It was the largest producer of mined nickel globally last year, accounting for 465,000 tonnes, or 22 per cent of global output, and 97 per cent of total ore imported in China, according to Standard Chartered. Filipino is used by Chinese mills to produce nickel pig iron, a cheap alternative to refined nickel.

Those supplies could now be in danger after the new president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte ordered a review of the country’s mining industry.

[Minnesota mining] Both sides steeled for Twin Metals hearings – by John Myers (Duluth News Tribune – July 11, 2016)

July 12, 2016

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

The debate over federal mineral leases at the proposed Twin Metals mine near Ely isn’t just a philosophical discussion over copper mining in Northeastern Minnesota. Twin Metals officials say the leases mean life or death for their project and any other future mining in the Rainy River watershed.

The federal leases in question “are really the foundation of our project,” said Bob McFarlin, spokesman for Twin Metals, a Minnesota company wholly owned by Chilean mining conglomerate Antofagasta.

Twin Metals and its predecessor companies already have spent more than $350 million toward the project, McFarlin told the News Tribune, and all of that could be for naught if the U.S. Forest Service withholds the leases.

Sibanye Gold to cut jobs at Cooke 4 mine – by Charlote Mathews (Business Day – July 12, 2016)

July 12, 2016

http://www.bdlive.co.za/

THE blood bath of job losses in the mining industry continued on Monday, with an announcement by Sibanye Gold that about 1,700 jobs were at risk at its Cooke 4 gold and uranium mine near Westonaria.

The mining industry has cut about 47,000 jobs between 2012 and 2015 and analysts believe it could shed another 32,000 in 2016. Most of the job losses have been in the gold, platinum and coal sectors, which have been battered by weak prices and rising costs.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the majority union at Cooke 4, called on Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane to intervene to halt job losses. It said each mine worker supported about 10 other people and the union would fight to ensure its members “are not retrenched cheaply”.

The New Gold Rush: How the Yukon became Canada’s most reality-TVed jurisdiction – by Tristin Hopper (National Post – July 11, 2016)

July 12, 2016

http://news.nationalpost.com/

Two years ago, the National Post wrote about how the Yukon is the last place in Canada still handing out homesteads. In the months since, an incredible four separate production companies asked for contacts to shoot a “Yukon Homesteaders” reality T.V. pilot.

The Yukon might be the country’s most lightly populated jurisdiction, but it’s apparently filled with Canada’s most watchable people. As of this writing, there is one “Yukon” series for every 5,000 Yukoners, and many more movie-length documentaries and special episodes set in the territory. The result is arguably the world’s highest regional per-capita density of documentary camera crews.

In a place renowned for its misfits and recluses, this hasn’t always been the most welcome development. But there is apparently no noun or activity that can’t be made into a hit T.V. show without adding the words “Yukon” or “Klondike.”

Gorillas are being killed and eaten by miners in the Congo – by James Temperton (Wired Magazine – July 12, 2016)

July 12, 2016

http://www.wired.co.uk/

Fewer than 4,000 Grauer’s gorillas remain and the sub-species is being pushed to extinction by hungry miners

An endangered gorilla subspecies is being pushed towards extinction as mineral miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) hunt it for bushmeat. Concerns have now been raised that the global technology supply chain may be accelerating its demise.

The Grauer’s gorilla, the world’s largest primate, is only found in the eastern DRC, but decades of illegal hunting and mining, coupled with civil unrest and habitat loss, have pushed it to the brink.

Conservationists are now calling for ‘bushmeat free’ to be included alongside ‘conflict free’ as a way of ensuring minerals used in the global supply chain are sourced from mines that don’t kill endangered animals. According to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), its numbers have fallen 77 per cent in the last two decades, with fewer than 4,000 now remaining.

Russia Sells Stake in Diamond Miner Alrosa for $815 Million (The Moscow Times – July 11, 2016)

July 12, 2016

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/

The Russian government has sold a stake in Alrosa, the world’s largest diamond miner, for 52.2 billion rubles ($816 million), the RIA Novosti news agency reported Monday.

The sale was the first in a program of partial privatizations designed to help cover a large budget deficit. The government sold 10.9 percent of Alrosa at 65 rubles ($1.01) per share — a 3.7 percent discount to their market price. The government still controls one-third of the company’s shares.

Boris Kvasov, a director at VTB Capital, one of the Russian banks that managed the sale, told the RBC news agency about 35 percent of the shares were bought by the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a state-backed investor. A similar amount was bought by Europeans, with Asian and Middle Eastern buyers purchasing a further 25 percent, he said.

Copper Rises on Prospects for Japanese Stimulus, U.S. Jobs Data – by Thomas Biesheuvel and Joe Deaux (Bloomberg News – July 11, 2016)

July 11, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Copper helped lead a rally of industrial metals as prospects for stimulus in Japan and better-than-estimated U.S. jobs data boosted the outlook for commodities demand. Mining stocks in the Americas rose to the highest in a year.

An election win by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition on Sunday raised speculation the government will spur growth through new spending. Better-than-expected U.S. payrolls figures on Friday also eased concerns about the U.S. economy.

“You have the potential for additional stimulus there in Japan, and the payrolls report was good, which sends a better signal that things aren’t falling apart,” Mike Dragosits, a senior commodity strategist at TD Securities in Toronto, said in a telephone interview. “It’s adding to a bit of a risk-on bid, and that’s impacting base metals.”

Essar Steel Minnesota’s Chapter 11 Bankruptcy – Another Victim Of The Chinese Steel Industry – by Tim Worstall (Forbes Magazine – July 10, 2016)

July 11, 2016

http://www.forbes.com/

Essar Steel Minnesota went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday as the State of Minnesota withdrew the state licences for the taconite the company was preparing to mine. It might seem a little odd that an Indian owned mine in Minnesota will go out of business as a result of the Chinese steel industry slowing down but that is what has happened.

This globalisation thing really does mean that the international markets are connected in this manner. The basic background here is that taconite is a low grade form of iron ore used to make steel. As China’s steel industry has grown less fast than other iron ore miners thought it would the price of high grade ore has fallen. That in turn has knock on effects on the low grade ore. There is a way out of this but not for the current owners, Essar.

The story:

“Essar Steel Minnesota, a sister company to Essar Steel Algoma and an expected future supplier of taconite to the Sault steelmaker, has filed for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Minnesota news media are reporting.

South Africa girding for another platinum strike – by Andrew Topf (Mining.com – July 10, 2016)

July 11, 2016

http://www.mining.com/

In what seems like an annual event, platinum mining companies in South Africa are bracing for what could be another year of labour unrest.

The firms that mine the precious metal and the labour unions that represent their workers are in talks next week, trying to hammer out a deal that could avert a strike of similar magnitude to 2014.

That year, a strike led by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) forced major producers Amplats (LSE:AAL), Implats (OTCMKTS:IMPUY) and Lonmin (LSE:LMI) to shed over 70,000 jobs. The strike lasted 21 weeks, cost the industry R24 billion, and resulted in 1.3 million ounces of lost production – about a third of global output.

Poland’s disappearing lakes fuel battle over coal mining – by Claudia Ciobanu (Reuters U.S. – July 10, 2016)

July 11, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

WILCZYN, Poland (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – In early summer, the Wielkopolska region in western Poland looks like a scene from “The Hobbit” with intense green fields and lakes surrounded by dense forest and pretty cottages.

But there is growing disquiet in this rural idyll with more and more summer houses up for sale and farmers battling arid land and crop losses amid escalating protests about the impact of lignite coal mining in the area.

Residents ranging from fishermen and farmers to mayors and small business owners say water in the region’s lake system is disappearing, drying out farmland and jeopardizing the region’s economic base in agriculture and, more recently, tourism.