Republic of Mining

What is the Ring of Fire? – Moving towards the sustainable development of this vital resource (Society Notes – November 17, 2015)

November 20, 2015

https://blog.ospe.on.ca/

The official blog of the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers.

The Ring of Fire refers to a 5,000 km2 area in the James Bay Lowlands (550 km north of Thunder Bay) considered to be one of the largest potential mineral reserves in Ontario. Containing chromite, nickel, copper, zinc, and gold, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce estimates that this region in the James Bay Lowlands could generate $25 billion in economic activity, creating thousands of new jobs across the province for 30 years.
Did You Know?

The Ring of Fire has been called a “once-in-a generation economic opportunity” and the “most promising mineral development opportunity in Ontario since the discovery of the Sudbury Basin in 1883 and the Timmins gold camp in 1909.

China’s unloved steel industry is starting down painful road – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – November 18, 2015)

November 20, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

Nov 18 – Nobody is happy with China’s steel sector, certainly not producers in the rest of the world complaining about dumping and not even the Chinese, who are battling increasing losses amid a supply glut.

But the question remains as to whether enough is being done, or is likely to be done, to resolve the situation. Record low prices, increasing calls from the rest of the world’s steelmakers for measures to halt the flow of cheap Chinese exports are adding to China’s steel woes.

And this pressure is only likely to increase in coming months, as shown by claims in Australia that not only are Chinese steel imports killing the local industry, they may end up killing locals by being of inferior quality.

Fed hike could knock gold price down to $1 000/oz – Gold Fields – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – November 19, 2015)

November 19, 2015

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A raising of US interest rates in December could knock gold back to a level of $1 000/oz, Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland said on Thursday.

The US Federal Reserve sent out new signals on Wednesday that officials would raise interest rates in December as long as job growth and inflation trends did not take a turn for the worse, and on Thursday the South African Reserve Bank lifted South Africa’s interest rates by 25 basis points to 6.25%.

At a media roundtable attended by Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online on Gold Fields’ results for the three months to September 30, Holland was answering journalists questions against the background of gold tumbling to a near six-year low of $1 064/oz this week. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video).

End of Russian palladium exports may result in world market shortage – by Eugene Gerden (InvestorIntel.com – November 18, 2015)

November 19, 2015

http://investorintel.com/

Russia may significantly reduce exports of strategic rare earth elements to foreign markets during the next several years, despite the recently announced state plans for a significant expansion of their domestic production.

It is planned that at the initial stage such restrictions will apply to palladium, huge reserves of which were accumulated by the country during the Soviet era, which allowed Russia to become one of its world’s largest exporters of the metal in recent years.

In recent years exports of palladium from the reserves of Russian State Precious Metals and Gems Repository (Gokhran) has been varied in the range of 14-15 tonnes, however there is possibility that they might be completely stopped already starting from 2016.

Sealing off New Zealand’s Pike River Coal mine tragedy – by Ean Higgins (The Australian – November 19, 2015)

November 19, 2015

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/

It consumed $NZ290 million in investment, huge amounts of sweat and tears, and five years ago today, the lives of 29 men, including two Australians. Now the Pike River Coal mine is starting to disappear back into the primordial forest of the moody Paparoa Ranges, having produced hardly any coal in commercial quantities.

The bodies of the Pike 29, as they are known locally, and the secrets of how they met their end are in the process of being locked away forever.

But for many of the families of those who died, and the New Zealand union movement, there’s no closure. Many who lost loved ones feel betrayed by the government of John Key, who committed to “getting the boys out”.

Vale to shut Manitoba nickel smelting, refining in 2018 – by Rod Nickel (Reuters U.S. – November 19, 2015)

November 19, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

Nov 19 Brazilian miner Vale SA will close its nickel smelting and refining operations in the western Canadian province of Manitoba in 2018, but will continue mining and milling despite the plunge in the price of nickel, a company official said on Thursday.

Vale, the world’s biggest nickel producer, will cease smelting and refining in Thompson, Manitoba, once work is complete to allow it to produce and ship nickel concentrate from its mill, said Mark Scott, Vale’s director of mining and milling in Thompson.

Smelting and refining operations were originally scheduled for closure this year, until the company struck an agreement with workers and Canada’s environment department to keep them running until as late as 2019.

Rio Director Copper Bullishness Sparked by Cisco Boffin’s Remark – by David Stringer and James Paton (Bloomberg News – November 17, 2015)

November 19, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

An engineer at Cisco Systems Inc. once told Rio Tinto Group director Megan Clark that electrons travel faster through copper than the air. That observation helps explain why she’s bullish on the red metal.

“It’s not going to be substituted any time soon — it’s still one of our best materials,” Clark, also a former chief executive officer of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, said Wednesday at the Bloomberg Summit in Sydney. “I like copper from every which way I look at it over the next 10 years.’’

Electricity Industry Is Being “Uber’d” By Battery Storage Tech – by Giles Parkinson (CleanTechnica.com – November 18th, 2015)

November 19, 2015

http://cleantechnica.com/

West Australian energy minister Mike Nahan said the electricity industry is in the process of being “Uber’d” by battery storage technology, which would fundamentally change the nature of the system.

Nahan also announced that battery storage installations in the state would be allowed to export back into the WA grid from December 1, reversing what he had described as a major error from the state-owned electricity utilities.

Speaking at a battery storage conference in Perth, Nahan said it was up to authorities to allow technology to challenge “the existing paradigm” of investment.

“In other words, the electricity industry, like the taxi industry, is getting Uber’d,” Nahan said.

Bottled water returning to Marten Falls, but MP says problems remain unsolved – by Jon Thompson (tbnewswatch.com – November 16, 2015)

November 19, 2015

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

MARTEN FALLS FIRST NATION – Pallets of bottled water have resumed their flow to Marten Falls First Nation but its MP says the conditions that caused the remote community to run dry throughout October persist.

Marten Falls has been under a boil-water advisory since Health Canada deemed its water treatment plant obsolete in 2005.

For the last decade, the band has been paying for bottled water to be flown in and then reimbursed by Indigenous and Northern Affairs.

Stung by weak prices, potash miners look to specialty products – by Rod Nickel (Reuters U.S. – Novmeber 18, 2015)

November 19, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA – Nov 18 Potash miners, facing another round of tough negotiations with big buyers in China and India, are looking to support sinking profits by boosting sales of higher-margin specialty products, according to top executives.

The pink fertilizer’s price has fallen sharply this year, under pressure from bloated capacity, soft grain prices and weak currencies in Brazil and India, spurring Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, Mosaic Co and Belaruskali to slice output.

Miners face further pressure as they start talks in coming weeks with China’s Sinofert Holdings Ltd for a 2016 supply contract, which generally sets a global price floor.

Teck enduring worst financial squeeze since the recession – by Brent Jang (Globe and Mail – November 19, 2015)

November 19, 2015

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

VANCOUVER — Teck Resources Ltd. is facing its worst financial squeeze since the recession, forcing the company to retrench during a mining industry slump that has hammered coal exports from Canada.

Vancouver-based Teck is cutting 1,000 jobs and lowering its semi-annual dividend to only 5 cents a share as it seeks to corral expenses amid depressed commodity prices.

The diversified mining company will eliminate the jobs at its offices and operations worldwide through layoffs and attrition, representing almost 10 per cent of its current work force.

Canadian miner Lucara finds 1,111-carat diamond — believed to be second-largest ever – by Peter Koven (National Post – November 19, 2015)

November 19, 2015

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

A Canadian mining company has recovered a diamond for the ages. The astounding stone has no precedent in the past century and will command a massive price at auction. The only question is how high it will go.

Lucara Diamond Corp. said it recovered a gigantic 1,111-carat, gem-quality diamond from its Karowe mine in Botswana this week. To put that in perspective, it is believed to be the second-largest gem-quality stone ever found. The only one known to be bigger is the legendary Cullinan diamond, which was recovered in South Africa in 1905 and weighed 3,106.75 carats.

Oil sector girds for harsh winter as energy slump continues – by Jeff Lewis (Globe and Mail – November 19, 2015)

November 19, 2015

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

CALGARY — The oil patch is getting ready to hibernate.

A darkening commodity outlook for 2016, combined with uncertainties over major pipeline proposals and the looming threat of more stringent environmental rules imposed by governments in Edmonton and Ottawa, is undermining confidence in the sector, setting the stage for deeper cutbacks as companies map out spending plans for next year.

Suncor Energy Inc. late on Tuesday unveiled a bigger budget for 2016, but the company trimmed its production forecast and warned it could chop spending if oil prices continue to sink.

UPDATE 1-Nickel smelter developers shelve Indonesia projects amid credit squeeze – by Fergus Jensen (Reuters U.S. – November 18, 2015)

November 19, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

JAKARTA, Nov 18 Nickel smelter developers are putting projects on hold as they struggle to get financing with metal prices near their lowest in more than a decade, industry and government stakeholders said on Wednesday.

Indonesia was the world’s top exporter of nickel ore until 2014 when it banned shipments in an effort to push miners to develop downstream, or mineral processing, industries.

With abundant reserves of relatively high quality ore investors say there is potential for developing nickel smelters in Indonesia, but the current market is challenging.

The Commodity Roller Coaster – by Carmen Reinhart (Project Syndicate – Novemeber 19, 2015)

November 19, 2015

https://www.project-syndicate.org/

CAMBRIDGE – The global commodity super-cycle is hardly a new phenomenon. Though the details vary, primary commodity exporters tend to act out the same story, and economic outcomes tend to follow recognizable patterns.

But the element of predictability in the path of the commodity-price cycle, like that in the course of a roller coaster, does not make its twists and turns any easier to stomach.

Since the late eighteenth century, there have been seven or eight booms in non-oil commodity prices, relative to the price of manufactured goods. (The exact number depends on how peaks and troughs are defined.) The booms typically lasted 7-8 years, though the one that began in 1933 spanned almost two decades.