Republic of Mining

AUDIO: De Beers Victor mine fails to monitor mercury risk, environmental group says – by Jody Porter (CBC News Sudbury – December 21, 2015)

December 21, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

Wildlands League calls for independent monitoring of diamond mine near Attawapiskat First Nation

Mercury contamination from the De Beers diamond mine in northern Ontario may be much higher than the company — or the provincial government — are reporting, according to a new study by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society’s Wildlands League.

De Beers denies the allegations, saying in a statement that its environmental data is often misrepresented by other parties.

The Wildlands League study, released Monday and titled Nothing to See Here…, is the result of an 18-month investigation done by the environmental group.

Gold’s Wild Ride Leaves Best Forecasters Siding With Fund Bears – by Luzi-Ann Javier (Bloomberg News – December 21 2015)

December 21, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Janet Yellen sent gold prices on a roller-coaster ride. Now, hedge funds and the metal’s best forecasters are predicting there’s only one way prices are heading next: down.

The Federal Reserve Chair on Wednesday raised U.S. interest rates for the first time in almost a decade, sending bullion prices swinging and driving the metal’s 30-day volatility to a six-week high.

While traders couldn’t decide on a direction for gold, Robin Bhar and Barnabas Gan, the most accurate forecasters, are convinced futures will keep falling in 2016. Money managers agree, raising their net-short position to the highest ever.

The dark side of metal streaming deals: Strapped mining companies trade future value for cash – by Peter Koven (National Post – December 21, 2015)

December 21, 2015

http://business.financialpost.com/

In September, Robert Quartermain did something highly unusual for a mining executive — he signed a streaming deal with an early exit strategy.

Quartermain, the CEO of Vancouver-based Pretium Resources Inc., was alarmed at how much value miners are giving away in gold and silver stream sales, in which future output is sold at below-market prices in exchange for an instant cash infusion.

So when he sold a US$150-million stream on Pretium’s Brucejack project in British Columbia, he insisted that the deal include buyback options for Pretium in 2018 and 2019, and that it cap the number of gold and silver ounces that can be sold.

South Africa: More Upstream, Less Downstream Beneficiation – by Ross Harvey (All Africa.com – December 21, 2015)

December 21, 2015

http://allafrica.com/

South African mining data released recently reveals a 4.6% year-on-year production contraction to October. Coal, iron ore and gold were most heavily afflicted, while platinum group metals recovered from their 2014 slump with growth of 26.5%.

The rand continues to take a beating on global markets, presumably ahead of an expected credit rating downgrade by Fitch of South Africa’s sovereign debt. While this should make global exports of raw materials more attractive to consumer markets, the mining sector is hamstrung by rising domestic costs and global secular stagnation. Is the industry likely to recover?

As a mining jurisdiction, South Africa’s score (relative global rank indexed out of a maximum of 100) has fallen from 56.1 in 2011/12 to 52.6 in 2014 on the Fraser Institute’s Investment Attractiveness Index.

BHP awaits court freeze order on Brazil assets over mine disaster – by James Regan (Reuters U.S. – December 21, 2015)

December 21, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

SYDNEY – BHP Billiton BLT.L – has not received formal notification that its assets in Brazil have been frozen, a company spokesman said Monday, three days after a court ruled to hold the assets as compensation for the Samarco mining disaster.

“We have yet to receive any formal notification,” BHP Billiton’s Paul Hutchins said by telephone from the company’s Melbourne headquarters. “We hope to have an update tomorrow.”

A judge in Brazil’s state of Minais Gerais on Friday froze the Brazilian assets of BHP and domestic miner Vale SA after ruling their Samarco joint venture was unable to pay for damages following a dam collapse last month at Samarco’s iron ore mine in the state. The disaster killed 16 people, left hundreds homeless, and polluted a nearby river.

Canada’s challenge is how to make money selling the world’s cheapest oil — but it can be done – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – December 21, 2015)

December 21, 2015

http://business.financialpost.com/

CALGARY — Rock bottom oil prices could be the single biggest challenge facing Canada’s economy in 2016.

But Tim Pickering, president and CIO of Auspice Capital Advisors Ltd., a commodities and alternative investment trading firm based in Calgary, said they also provide the space and the incentive to make long-overdue improvements to the Canadian oil crude market — and along with it there is opportunity to make money.

Efforts are already under way to make the two most talked-about improvements — changing the reputation of Canada’s oil, which for years has been disparaged as ‘dirty’ by the U.S. environmental movement, and building new pipelines so Canadian oil barrels can be sold in markets outside the U.S.

How an Australian Mining Town Became a Solar Power Trailblazer – by James Paton (Bloomberg News – December 20, 2015)

December 21, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Broken Hill spawned the world’s largest mining company and generated more than $75 billion in wealth. Now as its minerals ebb, Australia’s longest-lived mining city is looking to tap a more abundant resource.

On the sun-baked edge of the Outback city, 700 miles west of Sydney, a solar farm the size of London’s Hyde Park shimmers like an oasis — its panels sending enough electricity to the national grid to power 17,000 homes a year. Combined with a sister plant, the AGL Energy Ltd. and First Solar Inc.project is the largest of its type in the southern hemisphere.

Clean energy advocates are counting on the 140-hectare (346-acre) development to make Broken Hill, which at one time boasted the world’s most successful silver mine, a trailblazer once again.

Former Ring of Fire negotiator charged in gas plant scandal – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – December 18, 2015)

December 18, 2015

http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

David Livingston, a one-time provincial Ring of Fire negotiator, is one of two top aides of former Premier Dalton McGuinty facing criminal charges over the destruction of government documents related to the controversial cancellation of the two Toronto-area gas plants.

Livingston and Laura Miller are each charged with breach of trust, mischief in relation to data, and misuse of a computer system to commit the offence of mischief.

The charges stem from an OPP investigation into the deletion of thousands of government emails concerning the Liberal government’s decision to the plants prior to the 2011 election. The provincial auditor general determined cost ratepayers more than $1 billion.

[Molybdenum] This Year’s Worst Commodity Is One You Probably Can’t Pronounce – by Sonja Elmquist and Joe Deaux (Bloomberg News – December 18, 2015)

December 18, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

An obscure metal used to make steel has become this year’s worst-performing commodity, after China’s stumbling economy and a collapse in the energy industry drove outsized losses.

Molybdenum — that’s mo.lyb.de.num for the uninitiated — is used in many steel building materials and to help harden the drills used to extract oil and natural gas from deep underground.

Prices plunged 49 percent, the most among 79 raw materials tracked by Bloomberg, as the white metal was undermined by the flagging demand and oversupply that plagued global commodity markets throughout 2015.

Gold recovers from biggest dip in 5 months after Fed rate rise – by Jan Harvey (Reuters U.S. – December 18, 2015)

December 18, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON – Gold edged higher on Friday, recovering from its biggest daily loss in five months as stocks and the dollar retreated, but remained near multi-year lows after the U.S. Federal Reserve lifted interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.

The metal has recovered some lost ground after bottoming out on Thursday at $1,047.25 an ounce, within a few dollars of a near six-year low reached on Dec. 3.

Spot gold was up 0.3 percent at $1,055.70 an ounce at 1033 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for February delivery were up $5.70 an ounce at $1,055.30.

The rate hike sparked a surge in the dollar and global stocks on Thursday, but led to a 2 percent slide in gold.

Press Release – Ultra -Deep Mining Network gains momentum! Hosts 1st Annual Symposium and launches new Industry focused Call for Proposal

December 18, 2015

https://www.miningexcellence.ca/

Sudbury, ON (December 11, 2015) – Canada’s Ultra-Deep Mining Network (UDMN) continues to make strides in solving the challenges that impact resource extraction in ultra-deep (below 2.5km) environments launching new Call for Proposals and Network Members share the stage highlighting their innovative solutions and commercially viable products.

The $46 million NCE business-led network, now in its 2nd year of operation, has become the leading expert in ultra-deep (below 2.5km) research and innovation.

Under the management of CEMI – Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation, and key involvement from industry leaders, the UDMN currently manage 24 active projects in 4 strategic themes (Rock Stress Risk Reduction, Energy Reduction, Material Transport and Productivity and Improved Human Health and Effectiveness).

Boliden, Lundin Said to Weigh Final Bids for First Quantum Mine – by Dinesh Nair and Brett Foley (Bloomberg News – December 17, 2015)

December 18, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Boliden AB and Lundin Mining Corp. are among companies considering final bids for First Quantum Minerals Ltd.’s Kevitsa mine as the Canadian explorer looks for ways to cut debt, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Kevitsa, one of the largest nickel reserves in Finland, may fetch at least $1 billion in a sale, the people said, asking not to be identified as the negotiations are private. First Quantum expects to receive final bids by early next year, one of the people said.

Mining companies globally are slashing costs and selling assets to counter a drop in commodity prices. First Quantum said in October that it plans to reduce debt by $1 billion through measures such as asset sales, as well as job and capital-spending cuts.

A glimmer of hope for copper bulls in 2016? – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – December 17, 2015)

December 18, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON – It’s been a tough year for copper bulls.

One of the industrial metals most associated with the boom years in China has been hit hard by the country’s lurch away from its previous fixed-asset investment growth model.

Talk of the “new normal” and of a Chinese “slowdown” doesn’t capture the severity of the demand shock experienced by all the metals, copper included.

On the London Metal Exchange the price of three-month copper peaked at $6,481 per tonne in early May, since when it’s ground steadily lower to a current $4,550.

Ontario Mineral Strategy: All flash, no substance, says MiningWatch – by Staff (Sudbury Northern Life – December 17, 2015)

December 17, 2015

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Ontario’s updated Mineral Development Strategy offered a few “glimmers of hope” by addressing abandoned mine rehabilitation, but is short on details, said MiningWatch Canada.

“Over half of the report is just plain marketing facts for the industry,” said Ugo Lapointe, MiningWatch’s Canadian program co-ordinator. “There’s no real substance to what this government will do.”

In fact, the first 17 pages of the 25-page Mineral Development Strategy report consist of overviews of Ontario’s mining sector and a number of profiles on mining companies and non-profit organizations like NORCAT.

Under a section titled “A safe and environmentally responsible industry,” the strategy acknowledges rehabilitating abandoned mine sites on Crown land as a priority, but does not offer additional details.

No charges under B.C.’s mining laws for failure of Mount Polley mine dam – by Gordon Hoekstra (Vancouver Sun – December 17, 2015)

December 17, 2015

http://www.vancouversun.com/

No charges are being issued under the province’s mining laws against Imperial Metals’ over the catastrophic failure of its Mount Polley mine dam.

Following a more than one-year investigation, B.C.’s chief inspector of mines has not recommended charges be forwarded to Crown counsel over the dam failure on Aug. 4, 2014. The failure of the rock-and-earth dam released 21 million cubic metres of water and finely-ground rock containing potentially toxic metals into the Quesnel Lake watershed.

“Although there was poor practices there was no non-compliances we could find,” B.C. chief inspector of mines Al Hoffman said Thursday in releasing the investigation report.

There will also be no fines or penalties issued either, as B.C.’s mining legislation and regulations do not allow for administrative actions.