Republic of Mining

As Lonmin fights for survival, miners move to cash in and quit – by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo (Reuters U.S. – November 11, 2015)

November 11, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

MARIKANA, South Africa, Nov 11 (Reuters) – As loss-making platinum producer Lonmin appeals for cash from shareholders and slashes costs, many of its mine workers are eager to grab redundancy deals and leave a company battling to stay afloat.

Battered by strikes, rising costs and weak platinum prices, Lonmin is seeking to raise $407 million in a share issue – priced at a 94 percent discount this week – and another $370 million in loans. It says the money is crucial for its survival.

The company, which operates in South Africa, is also closing or mothballing several mine shafts and cutting 6,000 jobs, or 15 percent of its workforce. The cuts, announced in July, were expected to be a hard sell in a country where the jobless rate is over 25 percent and unions have reacted to lay-offs with wildcat strikes in the past.

But so far more than 3,000 staff have left of their own volition, keen to snap up the voluntary redundancy and early retirement packages on offer, and others are seeking to follow.

10 billionaires and Leonardo DiCaprio just invested in a startup that claims it can grow hundreds of real diamonds in 2 weeks – by Alyson Shontell (Business Insider – November 11, 2015)

November 11, 2015

http://www.businessinsider.com/

Diamond Foundry has spent the last three years quietly working on an ambitious project.

The Santa Clara startup, created by Nanosolar founder Martin Roscheisen, wanted to grow “real” diamonds in a lab. Unlike synthetic diamonds, these would be hatched from a sliver of a natural, mined diamond as the substrate.

After two years of experiments with failed diamond-growing reactors, Roscheisen’s team says it cracked the code. Now the company claims to be able to grow hundreds of diamonds that are up to nine carats in just two weeks in a lab.

The breakthrough was enough to convince ten billionaires and members of Silicon Valley tech royalty to invest.

Borrowing From Solar and Chip Tech to Make Diamonds Faster and Cheaper – by John Markoff (New York Times – November 11, 2015)

November 11, 2015

http://www.nytimes.com/

Just a decade ago, Silicon Valley had high hopes of becoming a vibrant manufacturing center, making solar panels. But price competition from abroad, particularly China, quickly dashed those dreams.

And so the founders of Nanosolar, one of the largest start-ups, began exploring ways to build to apply their expertise to new technologies.

On Wednesday, a group of engineers and scientists, led by a founder of Nanosolar, R. Martin Roscheisen, will announce that it has developed an advanced approach to making diamonds, using technology derived in part from making silicon chips and solar cells.

The first synthetic diamond processes appeared in the early 1950s, and the commercialization of manufacturing diamonds has grown to the point that at least 10 companies now make either commercial or industrial diamonds.

But the Diamond Foundry claims to have made proprietary breakthroughs that will make it possible to manufacture high quality diamonds more quickly and cost effectively than existing technologies.

OPINION PAGE: When Gold Isn’t Worth the Price – by Michael J. Kowalski (New York Times – November 6, 2015)

November 11, 2015

http://www.nytimes.com/

Michael J. Kowalski, the chief executive of Tiffany & Company from 1999 to 2015, is the chairman of its board.

THERE are few places in the world more beautiful than the landscape of salmon-rich rivers that flow into Bristol Bay, Alaska. I arrived there seven years ago not as a sportsman or ecotourist, as most visitors do, but as a chief executive fearful that the company I led would be seen as complicit in the destruction of this remarkable place.

My colleagues and I traveled to Bristol Bay in 2008 to encounter firsthand the land and people put in harm’s way by the proposed Pebble Mine. This vast open-pit gold and copper mine and its toxic waste would obliterate miles of pristine streams and thousands of wilderness acres that sustainthe world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery, which supports thousands of jobs. All in pursuit of the gold from which Tiffany & Company made jewelry.

The conclusion we reached was inescapable: No amount of corporate profit or share price value could justify our participation, however indirectly, in the degradation of such indescribable beauty. Beyond pledging not to use gold produced by the Pebble Mine, we became vocal opponents of mine development there.

Japan’s Metals Producers Cut Targets as China’s Demand Slows – by Masumi Suga (Bloomberg News – November 11, 2015)

November 11, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Japanese metals producers continue to cut profit forecasts, with Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. and Mitsubishi Materials Corp. the latest to warn of the impact of China’s slowdown.

Sumitomo Metal slashed its operating profit forecast by 37 percent for the year through March, according to a statement Tuesday. Its shares fell as much as 9.5 percent, the most in four years. Mitsubishi Materials, which is less reliant on metals for revenues, saw its shares rise as it made a more modest reduction in its forecast of 2.4 percent and gave a rosier outlook on prices.

The companies’ outlooks underscore the challenges facing metals producers as demand slows in China, the world’s biggest consumer. Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., and top steel mills Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. and JFE Holdings Inc., are among the firms to cut their full-year earnings forecasts in recent weeks.

Sumitomo Metal now expects a full year-operating profit of 74 billion yen ($600 million), after posting a 6.9 percent decline in the first half to 51.5 billion yen.

Gold is in meltdown as investors look elsewhere to stash value – by Ray Turchansky (Canadian Business Magazine – November 10, 2015)

November 11, 2015

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/

Global investors looking for an asset class to store value are increasingly turning to other options like real estate or fine art

Back in Roman times, an ounce of gold bought 300 loaves of bread, roughly the same as it does now. Two ounces would buy you an acre of the best farmland in Alberta in the 1930s; incredibly, it could do the same until very recently.

It was this capacity for holding its purchasing power and moving in the opposite direction of other asset classes that long made gold the ultimate safe haven, something investors going back five centuries to Jakob Fugger the Rich have recommended one hold in one’s portfolio.

Only gold has turned out to be a terrible hedge this year. Amid the worst market volatility since the Great Recession, it’s fallen in value along with stocks and bonds. A growing number of prominent investors are concluding the yellow metal has lost its status as a go-to asset in times of trouble—perhaps for good.

Green light for Goldfields to start up Taylor mine – by Alan S. Hale (Timmins Daily Press – November 11, 2015)

November 11, 2015

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

BLACK RIVER-MATHESON – St. Andrew Goldfields has received approval from the provincial government to begin commercial production at the Taylor Mine, located 53 kilometres east of Timmins.

The project’s closure plan received final approval from the mining project from the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines last week.

“We are pleased to declare Taylor the newest mine in Ontario, one which we anticipate will bolster the company’s gold production profile for 2016 by 40,000 to 50,000 ounces and provide much-needed jobs and economic benefits to the communities of the region,” said Duncan Middlemiss, the president and chief executive officer of St. Andrew Goldfields in a statement.

“The mine is expected to be a significant contributor in the future as we are ramping up to full production by the end of this year.”

Anger at burst dams in Brazil focuses on Vale, mining code – by Stephen Eisenhammer and Marta Nogueira (Reuters U.S. – November 10, 2015)

November 11, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

MARIANA, BRAZIL – As despair turns to anger over a deadly dam burst at a Brazilian mine, lawmakers pushed on Tuesday for tougher regulations in a new mining code and iron ore giant Vale SA came under pressure to help mourning families and contain the environmental impact.

In five days of rescue efforts in towns ravaged by the massive mudflow, six bodies have been found and 22 people are still missing, making it one of the worst mining disasters in Brazil’s history.

The tragedy in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais has displaced hundreds of residents, triggered investigations by prosecutors and spurred calls for stricter oversight of the mining industry, a huge provider of jobs and government tax receipts in the mineral-rich state.

The chief sponsor of a new mining code in Congress, Leonardo Quintão, told Reuters on Tuesday that he planned to add measures to tighten regulation of tailings dams like the two that collapsed on Thursday, which hold back waste water from processing iron ore.

Key takeaways from the Keystone rejection – by Jeffrey Simpson (Globe and Mail – November 11, 2015)

November 11, 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 the Republicans win the next presidential election, the Keystone XL pipeline might yet be built. But if Hillary Clinton, the almost-certain Democratic nominee, becomes president, then Keystone will get its last rites, given that she recently opposed the project.

What lessons can we learn from President Barack Obama’s rejection of Keystone XL last week? Here are a few, but by no means all.

U.S. politics will trump Canada-U.S. relations every time. The idea that somehow Canada’s historical relations and friendship with the United States will induce a president to give priority to relations with Canada when domestic U.S. politics are at play fundamentally misunderstands Washington and how little Canada counts there.

The Obama administration strung Canada along for five years over Keystone, hardly the way to treat a “friend.”

Gadget Hungry China to Drive `Lifestyle’ Metal Gains, PwC Says – by David Stringer Bloomberg News – November 10, 2015)

November 10, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

China’s swelling middle class is poised to drive long-term demand gains for metals including copper, zinc and nickel as the world’s second-largest economy transitions to consumer-driven growth, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia.

The urbanization of the world’s most populous nation, which moved about 300 million people to cities in the past 20 years, promises to herald an increased need for metals required to make every kind of consumer product from smartphones to refrigerators, PwC Australia’s Melbourne-based national mining leader Chris Dodd said in an interview.

“We’re heading towards the period in China for the lifestyle metals to really come to the fore,” Dodd said by phone. “If you currently have a mobile phone in your hand you are not going to tolerate a scenario where you don’t have one in the future. If you’ve ever put an air conditioner in your house, you are not going to live without one.”

While metals prices have tumbled this year as the Chinese economy expands at the slowest pace in two decades, copper and nickel are likely to be the first to emerge from the rout in commodities, according to T. Rowe Price Inc.

New Canadian government unlikely to push mining CSR legislation immediately, MP says – by Jax Jacobsen (SNL.com – November 10, 2015)

November 10, 2015

https://www.snl.com/

The new Liberal government under Justin Trudeau likely will not get around to legislation overseeing Canadian mining companies’ overseas projects in the near future, Liberal MP for Scarborough-Guildwood John McKay told SNL Metals & Mining on Nov. 9.

McKay has been on the forefront of this type of legislation, and previously tabled Bill C-300, which was defeated by a Conservative parliament in 2010.

“It was referenced during the election,” McKay said. “I don’t think it’s the highest priority this government has, as it didn’t form any part of the platform.”

The original bill would have required mining firms which operate abroad and which receive support from the Canadian government to uphold human rights and environmental standards. Companies which would be found violating these standards would be reported to Export Development Canada, which provides financial assistance for Canadian firms operating internationally, as well as the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Poland may seek temporary output reduction at some mines – by Agnieszka Barteczko (Reuters Africa – November 10, 2015)

November 10, 2015

http://af.reuters.com/

WARSAW, Nov 10 (Reuters) – Poland could temporarily cut output at several mines over the next four to five years to take surplus coal off the market as the industry deals with record low prices, a member of Poland’s newly elected Law and Justice party said.

Consolidating state-owned power producers could be considered as a next step as the government seeks first to prop up the struggling coal mining sector, Grzegorz Tobiszowski, responsible for coal issues, told Reuters.

The conservative Law and Justice party (PiS), which won parliamentary elections last month, would consider merging the country’s biggest power firms – PGE, Tauron, Enea and Energa, he added.

“Personally I think Poland needs one big power company,” Tobiszowski said, adding this would likely face scrutiny from the EU over anti-monopoly regulations. “If this turns out difficult, we will be working on the formula of two groups”.

[Ring of Fire] Access road priority: MP – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 7, 2015)

November 10, 2015

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

No “trained seal” this guy. Though he didn’t make it into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first cabinet, veteran Liberal MP Bob Nault said he’s confident a promised open style of government will allow him to make the case for pressing Northern issues, including a main access road into the Ring of Fire mining belt.

“You don’t have to be in cabinet to be effective in this job,” Nault (Kenora) said Friday. “We’re moving to a system where the roles of (backbench) MPs and Parliamentary committees are going to be strengthened.”
Chuckling, Nault added: “We don’t have to sit there like trained seals,” a reference to how Justin’s father, Pierre Trudeau, once viewed backbenchers.

Nault, who was Indian Affairs minister when he retired from politics in 2004 after 16 straight years in the House of Commons, said he decided to get back into federal politics because of what he saw as a top-down approach by the former Harper government.

Webequie chief calls for true partnerships at mining summit – by Rick (Wawatay News – November 2015)

November 10, 2015

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

Webequie Chief Cornelius Wabasse called for “true partnerships” at the 4th Annual Mining Ready Summit, held Oct. 28-29 in Thunder Bay.

“That’s the way going forward for us to have a step in the processes and also be part of the processes that are potentially going to happen in our area,” Wabasse said. “We have to have these agreements and they have to be real and they have to be honoured.”

Wabasse said his community does not want to sign agreements where “nothing is happening on our side.”
“We know that we have to work our part as well too to make that agreement become reality,” Wabasse said. “We need to understand as First Nations about that agreement, what we need to do to make that happen as well too.”

Wabasse said his community is not opposed to development. “We want to be able to benefit from our lands and resources,” Wabasse said. “We want to be able to benefit from any development that is happening in our area.

Uranium mining in Northern Arizona has a controversial history – by Andy Alvarado (The Daily Wildcat – November 10, 2015)

November 10, 2015

http://www.wildcat.arizona.edu/

Tensions are high at the Grand Canyon this year after a judge’s ruling in April that denied a request to stop new uranium mining at the canyon.

The neighboring Havasupai tribe and conservation groups like the Grand Canyon Trust work hard to put a permanent end to uranium mining at the canyon. The groups are weary of the potential dangers the mining poses to wildlife, the risks of contaminating freshwater springs, and the religious and cultural concerns of several tribes in the region.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has led the push to re-open uranium mines after the federal government ruled in 2012 to put a stop to mining in the area.

“So much of what’s happening today in the environmental movement is not about science. It’s not about quality of life. It’s not about clean air.