Republic of Mining

Task force commissioned by mining industry recommends tighter dam oversight – by Gordon Hoekstra (Vancouver Sun – December 8, 2015)

January 14, 2016December 9, 2015

http://www.vancouversun.com/

The Mining Association of Canada says it will implement beefed up oversight of earth-and-rock dams that hold back mining waste as recommended in an independent report it commissioned after the Mount Polley mine dam failure last year.

That means its members — which include some of B.C.’s largest mining companies — will have to have independent reviews of all stages of dam development, from site investigation and selection to design, operation and closure.

The 29 recommendations released in the report on Tuesday also call for more transparency and communication with communities on safety risks and monitoring. It also calls for high-risk closed mine facilities to be part of the industry association’s oversight program.

Anglo Australian – by Warren Dick (Mineweb.com – December 8, 2015)

December 9, 2015

http://www.mineweb.com/

Mark Cutifani is stamping his own signature on Anglo – but is it enough?

He’s neither Anglo, nor American. But its taken an Australian, Mark Cutifani – presumably with the assistance of a good old fashioned Kookaburra cricket bat – to to try and beat what was once the world’s premier mining company back into shape.

At the very least, the announcements made at Anglo’s investor day on Tuesday revealed the company – and the executive team driving the change – had realised the cold, hard reality of the situation they found themselves in, and are prepared to do whatever it takes to see out the most brutal of winters in commodity markets.

When will the province take Ring of Fire seriously? – by Editorial (Sudbury Star – December 9, 2015)

December 9, 2015

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Imagine, ifyou will, that it’s 1888, five years after Tom Flanigan discovered nickel ore during the blasting and excavation needed to build the Canadian Pacific Railway through what is now Sudbury.

The McGuinty-Wynne Liberals are in charge, with Michael Gravelle serving as the minister of Northern Development and Mines.

The premier and almost everyone else agrees the find is exceptional, once in a generation. Sudbury could create tens of thousands of new jobs, and billions in profits and taxes.

Copper Meltdown Burning Miners Is Boon to Builders as Costs Sink – by Luzi-Ann Javier (Bloomberg News – December 8, 2015)

December 8, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Copper producers from Glencore Plc to Freeport-McMoRan Inc. spent most of this year getting slammed by the metal’s worst slump since the recession. But there are some folks who are cheering.

With prices heading for a third straight annual decline, the rout is a welcome reprieve for metal buyers like electricians and builders who put about 400 pounds (181 kilograms) of copper into the average U.S. home.

As recently as 2011, copper traded in New York was at all-time-highs, after more than five-fold gains in the previous decade. Now, with demand growth cooling in China, the biggest user, global surpluses have emerged.

HudBay investors drive down shares in wake of CEO departure – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – December 8, 2015)

December 8, 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.

Investors in HudBay Minerals Inc. don’t like the surprise resignation of one of Canada’s best-known mining executives.

Shares in the Toronto-based copper and zinc producer slid more than 11 per cent in early trading as shareholders reacted to the news, announced late Frday, that chief executive David Garofalo would be leaving HudBay at the end of this year to take over the reins at giant gold miner Goldcorp Inc.

Mr. Garofalo was named Mining Person of the Year by Northern Miner in 2012 and is widely praised for having built HudBay into a highly regarded base-metal producer over the past five years. Despite plunging commodity prices and a miserable market for miners in general, 16 of 19 analysts who follow HudBay label the mid-sized miner a “buy.”

Energy and Mining Producers Reeling as Price Collapse Deepens – by Ian Austen and Clifford Krauss (New York Times – December 8, 2015)

December 8, 2015

http://www.nytimes.com/

The pain among energy and mining producers is growing more acute as prices of global commodities continued their collapse on Tuesday.

The newest victim is the London-based mining firm Anglo American. On Tuesday, the company announced a drastic restructuring, which includes expanding job cuts, suspending its dividend, reducing its business unit and cutting its assets.

Anglo American is far from alone, as scores of oil, natural gas, and mining companies are feeling the pain from low prices. A number of commodity-related businesses have either declared bankruptcy or fallen behind in their debt payments.

King Dollar and the end of the commodity supercycle – by Scott Barlow (Globe and Mail – December 8, 2015)

December 8, 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.

The chart showing the history of commodity prices and the U.S. dollar looks simple and I suppose that, on the surface, it is.

But for investors looking to understand the recent swoon in commodity prices, and when the carnage might end, it’s necessary to look deeper at the hundreds of millions of investing decisions, and trillions upon trillions of dollars, that lie behind the relationship.

The often used statement “commodities are priced in U.S. dollars so the value of the greenback moves in the opposite direction of resources” is true but a gross oversimplification.

Mexico retains appeal for mining investment in tough times – by Simon Rees (MiningWeekly.com – December 7, 2015)

December 8, 2015

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Mexico’s appeal for Canadian mining investment has remained rock solid, with almost $290-million in investment a year secured over the last five years via the TSX and TSX-V, an audience at OntheGround’s recent Mine Latin America seminar was told.

However, security issues and a higher rate of royalties were a concern, as was corruption at local municipal and regional levels.

“But the overall story surrounding Mexico remains positive; there’s a general sense that this is a country people want to do business in,” Control Risks Latin America risk analysis Simon Whistler said. “Companies want to be there and see a lot of potential.”

Rio Tinto Now Has a Pair of 60-Year-Old Legal Problems in Canada – by Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – December 7, 2015)

December 8, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Rio Tinto Group has found trouble on both ends of Canada. The global mining giant is being told it can’t skirt a pair of lawsuits that reach back to projects built in the 1950s, a quarter-century before it first set foot in Canada.

On a single day in October, the Supreme Court of Canada cleared the way for separate aboriginal groups to challenge the future operations of a Rio Tinto hydroelectric dam in British Columbia and an iron-ore mine, with accompanying railway and port, in Quebec and Labrador.

The rulings received scant notice during the final days of a dramatic Canadian election that brought Justin Trudeau and his Liberals to power.

UPDATE 2-Mining magnate Palmer seeks government support to save nickel plant – by Sonali Paul (December 8, 2015)

December 8, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

Dec 8 Australian mining magnate Clive Palmer said on Tuesday his Queensland Nickel refinery in Australia was seeking “minimal” government assistance to avert closure of the plant, hit by weak metals prices.

The businessman turned politician warned that the loss of the refinery would have serious consequences for the region around the city of Townsville in Queensland state, placing some 1,600 jobs in jeopardy.

The call for assistance from the Queensland state treasurer’s office comes a day after Palmer lost a bid to secure a $48 million advance from China’s CITIC Ltd in a West Australian court as part of an unrelated dispute over iron ore, having argued the funds were urgently needed for the Queensland business.

Iron Ore in $30s Seen Near Tipping Point for Largest Miners – by Jasmine Ng and David Stringer (Bloomberg News – December 8, 2015)

December 8, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Iron ore’s tumble into the $30s threatens the world’s biggest miners as prices approach break-even costs, according to Capital Economics Ltd. BHP Billiton Ltd. shares slumped to the lowest in 10 years and Rio Tinto Group dropped to the lowest since 2009.

The most expensive operations at the four largest suppliers are on the verge of making losses at rates below $40 a metric ton, said John Kovacs, senior commodities economist at Capital Economics in London, who estimates their break-even levels at $28 to $39, taking into account freight and other costs.

While these producers will keep output strong, they’ll be constrained by low prices, he said by e-mail on Monday.

REFILE-As iron ore boom ends, Australia’s Pilbara targets tourists, farmers, algae – by James Regan (Reuters U.S. – December 8, 2015)

December 8, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

PORT HEDLAND, Australia, Dec 8 Aqua farms growing super foods could soon materialise in the rust-red dust of the Australian outback, alongside wheat fields, haystacks and cattle herds, as tumbling iron prices drive the minerals-rich Pilbara region to transform itself.

On a small patch of desert 250 kms (155 miles) south of the Pilbara’s Port Hedland, InterClinical Laboratories has started Plankton Farms to propagate a type of micro-algae called Dunaliella salina, reknowned for its antioxidant properties.

Work on the algae farms is in its infancy but the green micro-algae, which grows naturally in Australian salt lakes, could one day benefit nutrient-deficient people worldwide, according to InterClinical’s founder Ian Tracton.

World’s largest diamond mine set to open in Canadian Arctic – by Levon Sevunts (Radio Canada International – December 7, 2015)

December 8, 2015

http://www.rcinet.ca/en/

The Gahcho Kué diamond mine in the Northwest Territories is more than 80 percent complete and on track to begin production in 2016, Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. announced Monday.

“Key areas of focus over the next six months are commissioning of the primary crusher and diamond plant, as well as preparation for operational readiness,” Patrick Evans, Mountain Province President and CEO said in a statement.

Mountain Province Diamonds is a 49% participant with De Beers Canada in the mine, located approximately 300 kilometres northeast of territorial capital Yellowknife.

As World Debates Climate, Czechs Embrace Heavy Pollutant (Associated Press/New York Times – December 7, 2015)

December 7, 2015

http://www.nytimes.com/

CSA MINE, Czech Republic — While world leaders try to reach a deal to limit climate change, one of the most polluting fossil fuels, brown coal, is enjoying a revival in the Czech Republic, where entire villages are threatened by new plans for mining.

The Czech Republic is one of a group of countries that is turning to coal, a cheap but dirty energy source, as its economy slows. Neighboring Poland, which has big deposits, is doing so, as is China, the world’s biggest energy consumer.

The Czech variety of the coal, called brown coal or lignite, is a particularly bad source of greenhouse gases and pollutants.

Kellingley colliery: The pit that survived Margaret Thatcher prepares for closure – by Dean Kirby (Independent – December 6, 2015)

December 7, 2015

http://www.independent.co.uk/

The North Yorkshire colliery, Britain’s last deep coal mine, will close on 18 December

The miners look almost otherworldly as they burst from the cage that has carried them from deep under ground – their white eyes shining from faces black with coal dust.

The 40 men are shouting and swearing and appear euphoric at being back in the daylight after eight hours working nearly seven miles from the surface in the dark.

But their only welcome, as they march quickly into the lamp room and remove their lanterns and turn into a cavernous changing room to scrub themselves human again, is a grey December fog that has fallen on the world outside like a shroud.