Republic of Mining

OPINION PAGE: Grand Canyon Waters, at the Abyss – by Mark Udall (New York Times – October 14, 2015)

November 12, 2015

http://www.nytimes.com/

Mark Udall, who represented Colorado as a Democrat in the Senate from 2009 to 2015, is a member of the board of the Grand Canyon Trust.

Eldorado Springs, Colo. — I RECENTLY reunited with an old friend — not a person, but a place in Arizona, the state where I was born. It is a timeless place of great antiquity, a shrine of the ages that President Theodore Roosevelt said “man can only mar.”

Roosevelt proclaimed the Grand Canyon a national monument in 1908. In so doing, he specifically intended to prevent mining and tourist development from harming one of our nation’s most treasured landscapes. “Keep it for your children, your children’s children and all who come after you,” he said, “as the one great sight which every American should see.”

But mar it we have. An abandoned uranium mine on the canyon’s South Rim has cost taxpayers more than $15 million to remove toxic wastes from the surface.

The melting Arctic is like ‘discovering a new Africa’ – by Leslie Shaffer (CNBC – November 12, 2015)

November 12, 2015

http://www.cnbc.com/

Governments and the private sector are positioning to develop the Arctic, where the wealth of resources is akin to a “new Africa,” according to Iceland’s president.

The melting of the Arctic is an ongoing phenomenon: In October, about 7.7 million square kilometers (about 3 million square miles) of Arctic sea ice remained, around 1.2 million square kilometers less than the average from 1981-2010, according to calculations by Arctic Sea Ice News & Analysis that was published by researchers at the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

One effect of the melting ice has been newly opened sea passages and fresh access to resources.

“Until 20 or so years ago, (the Arctic) was completely unknown and unmarked territory,” Iceland’s President Olafur Grimsson told an Arctic Circle Forum in Singapore on Thursday. “It is as if Africa suddenly appeared on our radar screen.”

[Ontario] Open the north; get on with it – Editorial (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 12, 2015)

November 12, 2015

Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

Ontario has just completed the fourth Northern Leaders Dialogue. Provincial, municipal and indigenous leaders gathered in Thunder Bay to discuss issues around development and transportation, part of the province’s growth plan for Northern Ontario.

The advent of exploration around the rich Ring of Fire mineral belt has added urgency to the notion of opening the North. Yet there remains much indecision on whether transportation should be rail or road, east-west or north-south. Who should pay what share of the cost? While Ontario spins its wheels, what are neighbouring provinces and other jurisdictions doing?

In Quebec, 950 kilometres north of Quebec City, Stornoway Diamond Corp. invested $800 million in capital expenditures in the province’s first diamond mine. To provide year-round access, the province and Stornoway split the cost of building a 243-kilometre road serving one of 35 mines that the Quebec government estimates will be operating by 2020.

Lawsuit against B.C. mining company should be heard in Guatemala: judge – Laura Kane (Canadian Press/Vancouver Sun – November 11, 2015)

November 12, 2015

http://www.vancouversun.com/

VANCOUVER – Seven protesters hurt outside a Guatemalan mine owned by a company registered in British Columbia must file their lawsuit in the Central American country, a judge has ruled.

The men launched a civil claim in B.C. Supreme Court against Tahoe Resources Inc. (TSX: THO) after security guards sprayed protesters with rubber bullets outside the Escobal Mine in 2013.

The Guatemalan citizens had argued the case should be heard in B.C. because they had no faith that their country’s legal system would hold the company accountable.

But Tahoe asked the court to decline jurisdiction and stay the lawsuit, and Justice Laura Gerow agreed with the company.

Afghanistan aims to choke Taliban smuggling funds with gemstone bourse (Reuters U.K. – November 12, 2015)

November 12, 2015

http://uk.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE – Afghanistan aims to deprive Taliban militants of funds from smuggled exports of the prized blue gemstone, lapis lazuli, by creating its own bourse to sell the stone, which has been traded for thousands of years in the Hindu Kush mountains.

The Taliban is increasingly financed by criminal enterprises such as smuggling gemstones like lapis, rubies, emeralds, as well as heroin laboratories and kidnapping.

Afghanistan loses roughly $100 million a year through gemstone smuggling, more than the total exports of commodities like coal and industrial minerals like talc, said the country’s mining minister.

“It’s a big issue for the people of Afghanistan, because they are losing their property to groups of terrorists which on one side are stealing our property and on the other side are strengthening their terrorist group.

Commodities keep falling as major mining projects come into production – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – November 12, 2015)

November 12, 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.

If you want to understand the forces behind the global commodity slump, turn your thoughts to the rust-red flatlands of Western Australia, where a mining magnate’s grand ambition is on the verge of becoming reality.

It’s there that Gina Rinehart, chairman of Hancock Prospecting and the richest person in Australia, is putting the final touches on her Roy Hill project, a new iron ore mine that cost $11-billion (U.S.) to develop. It is expected to begin producing any day now and at full capacity will churn out 55 million tonnes of ore a year, using its own railway and a specially built port facility to get its output to buyers.

But here’s the catch: The new mine, the culmination of a 20-year-old dream for Ms. Rinehart, is entering a market already flooded with iron ore. Prices have plunged by two-thirds since their peak in 2012, and even more capacity is being added, notably through Vale SA’s S11D project, a massive new Brazilian mine that is expected to start production next year.

Lithium battery-powered ships tackle pollution on West Coast (CBC News BC – November 11, 2015)

November 12, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/

Corvus Energy CEO says large cargo ships are some of the worst polluters in the world

A Vancouver-based business that works to reduce pollution produced by the shipping industry around the world is bringing the benefits back to Canada. But is that enough to get the industry to use clean energy?

“We’re very pleased to have our product deployed locally for the first time,” said Andrew Morden, the CEO of Corvus Energy, which produces full and hybrid lithium ion battery systems that power large and small vessels.

“We’ve done the same thing [for ships] that Tesla’s done for cars,” said Morden.

The company’s batteries are currently being used in 35 ships across Northern Europe, and it recently received a $1 million investment from Statoil, Norway’s largest offshore oil company.

Brazil vows to make BHP, Vale pay for deadly mine disaster – by Stephen Eisenhammer and Marta Nogueira (Reuters U.S. – November 11, 2015)

November 12, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

MARIANA, BRAZIL – Brazil’s government said on Wednesday it may fine mining giants BHP Billiton Ltd and Vale SA for the “environmental catastrophe” caused by ruptured dams at an iron ore mine jointly owned by the companies in a southeastern state.

The government is increasingly concerned over the rising death toll and contaminated mud flowing through two states as a result of the disaster. It is studying the mine’s permits and will ensure the owners pay for cleanup costs, Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira said in Brasília, the capital.

“If federal fines are applicable, we will apply them,” Teixeira told reporters. “There will be punishment, and under Brazilian law the environment has to be repaired.”

Her remarks are the strongest yet from the government, which was caught off-guard by a disaster that killed at least eight people and left another 21 missing in the mineral-rich state of Minas Gerais nearly a week ago.

Was Billionaire Steinmetz Betrayed by CEO Over Diamond Mine? – by Thomas Biesheuvel and Jesse Riseborough (Bloomberg News – November 12, 2015)

November 12, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The prize is a chunk of African earth that yields some of the most valuable diamonds on the planet for premium jeweler Tiffany & Co.

The fight for the Koidu mine in Sierra Leone pits embattled Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz and his BSG Resources Ltd. against a government struggling to revive an economy crippled by the global commodities slump and Ebola’s deadliest outbreak ever.

But waiting in the wings are two high-profile bankers and a star of “The Hunger Games” movie franchise who are keen to buy the asset. Add to the plot a secret recording of Steinmetz’s now-former point man for the project and what appears is a story of betrayal that offers a rare glimpse into the ways natural resources companies operate in some of the world’s poorest countries.

“I’m taking off my BSGR hat here,” the chief executive officer of Steinmetz’s BSGR, Brett Richards, told an August meeting of officials in Freetown, including Mines and Mineral Resources Minister Minkailu Mansaray.

Canada’s coal industry hoping for rebound despite global demand drop – by Ian Bickis (Canadian Press/Globe and Mail – November 12, 2015)

November 12, 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 — Coal industry watchers say that while their sector is hurting, the picture isn’t as bleak as two reports this week have painted.

Canada’s coal export market, which is made up almost entirely of metallurgical coal used in steel making, has taken a major hit in recent years as prices have dropped from more than $300 (U.S.) a tonne in 2011 to less than $90 a tonne this quarter because of continued oversupply and slowing demand from China.

Grande Cache Coal cited the difficult market conditions when it announced plans this month to temporarily shut its coal mine in northwestern Alberta, starting Christmas Eve. The move means more than 220 people will be laid off, which is in addition to the 250 jobs the company cut earlier this year.

NEWS RELEASE: Barrick Announces Sale of Non-Core Assets for $720 Million (November 12, 2015)

November 12, 2015

http://www.barrick.com/

TORONTO, November 12, 2015 — Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:ABX)(TSX:ABX) (“Barrick” or the “company”) today announced that it has entered into agreements to sell a number of non-core assets in Nevada for $720 million in cash, including 100 percent of the Bald Mountain mine, 100 percent of the Ruby Hill mine, Barrick’s 50 percent interest in the Round Mountain mine and the company’s 70 percent interest in the Spring Valley project.

Including these transactions, Barrick has announced asset sales, joint ventures and partnerships worth $3.2 billion since the start of 2015. The company is on track to meet its stated debt reduction target of $3 billion for 2015, which, when completed, will represent a 23 percent reduction in total debt since the start of the year.

“The sale of these assets is consistent with our strategy to create long-term value for our shareholders by strengthening the balance sheet and further focusing our portfolio on core mines that will drive free cash flow growth,” said Barrick President Kelvin Dushnisky.

EWS RELEASE: Kinross Acquires Strategic Nevada Assets (November 12, 2015)

November 12, 2015

http://www.kinross.com/

Strengthens Portfolio With Two Quality Mines in World-Class Jurisdiction; Large Prospective Land Package Offers Clear Path to Upside Potential

TORONTO, ON, Nov 12, 2015 (Marketwired via COMTEX) — Kinross Gold Corporation (K) KGC, -2.78% announced today that it has entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement to acquire 100% of the Bald Mountain (“Bald Mountain”) gold mine, which includes a large associated land package, and 50% of the Round Mountain (“Round Mountain”) gold mine in Nevada from Barrick Gold Corporation for $610 million in cash.1

(This news release contains forward-looking information about expected future events and financial and operating performance of the Company. We refer to the risks and assumptions set out in our Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information located on page four of this release. All dollar amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise noted.)

REFILE- China’s cashed-up Jinchuan unit seeks copper, nickel assets (Reuters U.S. – November 12, 2015)

November 12, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

Nov 12 (Reuters) – A Hong Kong-based unit of China’s Jinchuan Group is hunting globally for quality copper and nickel assets, leveraging its access to capital at a time when Western rivals are finding it hard to secure finance, its chief executive said.

“People are running out of money. Whether it’s their balance sheets or they just can’t fund their operations, or their projects,” Peter Albert, CEO of Jinchuan Group International Resources, told Reuters on Thursday.

“Companies like ours, who do have access to capital, it’s an opportunity for us.”

Jinchuan International (JCI) is a unit of state-owned Jinchuan Resources, China’s biggest nickel producer and a major copper producer. China has urged its huge SOES to expand overseas for growth to combat struggling activity at home.

Mining skills not keeping up with technology – by Sungula Nkabinde (Mineweb.com – November 10, 2015)

November 12, 2015November 11, 2015

http://www.mineweb.com/

No room for unskilled labour in Nick Holland’s gold mine of the future.

Mining education is not keeping up with technology, says professor Fred Cawood, director of the Wits School of Mining Institute. He was responding to Moneyweb questions relating to Gold Fields’ CEO Nick Holland’s suggestion that in the mine of the future mechanisation was not only necessary for the industry’s survival, but inevitable.

This, Holland said, was particularly true for the gold sector, where the total contribution to geological inflation is driving double-digit cost inflation, and the average grade of gold mined has fallen by 3% per annum, since the year 2000.

Bill confirming property rights for asteroid miners passes the Senate – by Mark Whittington (Houston Space News Examiner – November 11, 2015)

November 11, 2015

http://www.examiner.com/

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee announced on Tuesday the passage of a bill H.R.2262 – SPACE Act of 2015 designed to facilitate commercial space. The bill has a number of provisions for that purpose, including extending the “learning period” during which the government would be restricted from imposing regulations on the commercial launch industry to September 2023.

The most interesting and potentially far-reaching provision concerned property rights for companies proposing to mine asteroids for their resources. In essence, the bill confirms that private companies own what they mine. The bill is a compromise between previous Senate and House versions.

The exact wording of the language reads, “Any asteroid resources obtained in outer space are the property of the entity that obtained them, which shall be entitled to all property rights to them, consistent with applicable federal law and existing international obligations.”