Republic of Mining

Residents deserve answers about Vale runoff – by Naomi Grant and Lilly Noble (Sudbury Star – November 13, 2015)

November 13, 2015

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

What’s your reaction when you see your neighbourhood playground in the news in relation to contaminated runoff?

“We just moved in August from three houses down from the site. Kids played there all the time. A little pissed off right now that nobody alerted us to the problem.”

“I lived near there for 20 years … They knew all that time and didn’t inform any-one. Our kids played at that park since it was built.”

“Who is going to test my soil? Who is going to give us answers?” These are a few of the comments posted by residents in response to the news that Vale runoff saturated a school board property in the west end, the site of Travers playground, for years.

Residents have received no information from regulatory agencies, authorities or Vale. Let’s look at the information available so far.

Chile’s Women of the Mines – by Margot Bigg (Slate.com – Novmeber 13, 2015)

November 13, 2015

http://www.slate.com/

Working the famed copper reserves of the Atacama Desert has forever been a man’s domain. But that’s changing.

The arid plateau of the Atacama Desert blankets the northernmost stretches of Chile, hemmed in only by the Andes Mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Its vast expanse is nearly devoid of life, save for the occasional roadside alpaca pack or slow-growing cardon cactus.

But the Atacama’s bareness is deceptive, for just below the desert’s silky dunes and its moonscapes of salt and hardened lava sit Chile’s lifeblood—millions of tons of copper reserves.

I’ve come to the Atacama to visit Chile’s most important mine: Chuquicamata, known locally as Chuqui, run by the state-owned copper mining company Codelco. Though this century-old open pit copper mine—the largest on Earth—is still responsible for about one-fifth of the company’s total output, its resources have been largely depleted.

Dwindling production and the discovery of additional subterranean copper reserves spurred Codelco to start digging deeper, and the company is currently in the throes of a $4.2 billion underground mine development project.

Virtual reality technologies gaining traction in South African mining sector – by Ilan Solomons (MiningWeekly.com – November 13, 2015)

November 13, 2015

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

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The use of virtual reality (VR) technologies in the South African mining industry has grown considerably over the last year, particularly on the back of the University of Pretoria (UP) opening its R50-million Kumba Iron Ore Virtual Reality Centre for Mine Design.

Local software developer NxGN CEO Gary Lane is hopeful that VR will become more widely used in South Africa over the next three years, suggesting that UP’s VR centre, which opened in August, is “undoubtedly [the] catalyst for VR in the country”.

UP Mining Engineering Department head Professor Ronny Webber-Youngman postulates that, although people might be tempted to think that immersive VR technology is a bit superficial or simply a “cool” way of displaying information, “VR can, through either three-dimensional (3D) stereoscopic and/or immersive applications, provide first-hand experience of mining scenarios without any of the associated negative consequences”.

Mexican drug gangs, an Argentinian tycoon and the illicit trade of uranium to China – by Gardenia Mendoza (Fox News Latino – November 13, 2015)

November 13, 2015

http://latino.foxnews.com/index.html

MEXICO CITY – A gang-related arrest in Mexico took a surprising twist last week when a portion of the suspect’s testimony was leaked, revealing that the criminal organization La Familia Michoacana is also involved in the illegal trade of uranium to China.

Sidronio Casarrubias – the head of the Guerreros Unidos crime gang who was arrested last year and interrogated about his alleged involvement in the disappearance of 43 college students from Iguala, in the state of Guerrero in September 2014 – said the uranium operation in Mexico is being carried out under the orders of mogul Carlos Ahumada, a prominent Argentinian-born businessman who spent a couple of years in jail in a bribery scandal.

Casarrubias said Ahumada, who holds a dual Mexican-Argentinian citizenship, owns two uranium mines in Guerrero.

“The cargo is moved by small boats,” said Casarrubias shortly after he was arrested, but whose testimony was released only recently and published by Milenio newspaper.

UPDATE 1- Falling copper forces Poland’s KGHM to scale back – by Adrian Krajewski (Reuters U.S. – November 13, 2015)

November 13, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

Nov 13 Europe’s No. 2 copper producer, Poland’s KGHM, cut 2015 production targets for its main overseas mine and flagged lower spending as well as mining asset write-downs on Friday, as copper prices hit a six-year low.

“The situation on the commodity market is getting worse and there are reasons to presume the possibility of testing our mining assets for value loss,” KGHM’s Chief Financial Officer Jaroslaw Romanowski said.

“We see 2016 as a turnaround year, but we presume that this crisis may continue into next year,” he added. “Our capital expenditures will surely go down or be postponed.”

Worries over growth in China, which consumes half of global copper production, have pushed copper prices below $5,000 a tonne, seen as a stress-test level for KGHM.

In The 33, ‘living under a rock’ describes both the characters and the filmmakers – by Chris Knight (National Post – November 13, 2015)

November 13, 2015

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

Even if you don’t remember news reports from 2010 about the Chilean miners trapped by a cave-in, it’s clear The 33 is based on actual events. Take that title; Hollywood screenwriters working from a blank page would have made it The Seven, or The Nine tops.

The 33 is so crowded with Chileans, casting executives had to call in Spaniards (Antonio Banderas), French women (Juliette Binoche), Brazilians (Rodrigo Santoro), Cubans (Oscar Nuñez) and whatever nationality Lou Diamond Phillips is. In fact, The 33 is remarkably Chilean-free, although local boy Diego Noguera plays “man in suit.”

It’s a cycle, not a crisis, say fundies as bear market in commodities worsens – by Vesna Poljak (Australian Financial Review – November 13, 2015)

November 13, 2015

http://www.afr.com/

The prospect of further monetary stimulus from the European Central Bank has added to mounting bad news for commodity prices which already face the threat of a rising United States dollar if the Federal Reserve lifts interest rates next month.

All things being equal, a higher US dollar – if it is not already priced-in – makes oil, copper and iron ore less affordable for buyers funding their purchases in other currencies, especially those in vulnerable emerging markets prone to currency depreciation and foreign capital flight.

Commodity prices have been decimated in 2015 but it has taken a long time since the commodity cycle peaked for the big producers to become ensnared in a bear market.

This year markets finally responded because of higher production volumes, slowing investment in China hurting demand, the devaluation of the yuan and the US dollar’s stop-start rally.

Gold to Copper Bulls Left Heartbroken as Price Collapse Deepens – by Millie Munshi (Bloomberg News – November 12, 2015)

November 13, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Metal markets took a pounding on Thursday, sending gold to a five-year low and copper to the cheapest since 2009. Falling prices are dragging down producer shares, pushing the Bloomberg World Mining Index to a five-week low.

Investors are fleeing — withdrawing more than a $1 billion from exchange-traded funds tracking industrial and precious metals just this month, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Platinum dropped Thursday in the worst losing streak since 2002, while silver posted its longest slump since March 2014.

While China’s slowing growth has pressured prices, the country’s not all to blame for an acceleration of the metals meltdown. The latest catalyst for the collapse is the rapid shift in investors expectations for higher U.S. interest rates.

Traders are pricing in a 66 percent chance that Federal Reserve officials will start tightening monetary policy next month, up from 39 percent a month earlier.

Hong Kong tycoon buys record $48.5 million ‘blue moon’ diamond for 7-year-old daughter – by Kelvin Chan and Jamey Keaten (Associated Press/Toronto Star – November 13, 2015)

November 13, 2015

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Convicted billionaire property developer Joseph Lau spent a total of $77 million on two rare diamonds for his 7-year-old daughter Josephine at Geneva auctions.

GENEVA—A Hong Kong billionaire tycoon paid a total of $77 million (U.S.) at auctions in Geneva for two large and rare coloured diamonds for his 7-year-old daughter Josephine — and renamed them after her, his office said Thursday.

Joseph Lau was the top bidder for the 12.03-carat “Blue Moon” diamond that sold Wednesday night for a record-setting 48.6 million Swiss francs ($48.5 million U.S.), said a spokeswoman for Lau, who declined to give her name. Sotheby’s said the buyer promptly renamed the pricier gem “The Blue Moon of Josephine.”

Return of the Green Shaft – by Peter Foster (National Post – November 13, 2015)

November 13, 2015

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

According to a front page splash in another newspaper on Thursday, the Liberal cabinet is “going all in on climate change agenda.”

It would be advisable for us all to look before the cabinet leaps into the grand Paris conference that starts in two weeks. This is especially important if scientific input is coming from the government’s new Minister of State for Science, Kirsty Duncan.

Even more caution is called for since Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion, who also heads a key cabinet committee on climate, is the man calling for the full court press reported in the Globe and Mail.

As a piece by Tom Blackwell in the National Post on Thursday noted, Duncan is a controversial figure who has supported the debunked Zamboni treatment for Multiple Sclerosis, and clashed with eminent scientists outside her specialization (she is a geographer who has taught about the health impacts of climate change).

Barrick sells $720-million of Nevada assets as it copes with low gold prices – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – November 13, 2015)

November 13, 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.

Barrick Gold Corp. has sold several Nevada properties for $720-million (U.S.) in a flurry of transactions that underline how the gold industry is reshaping itself to deal with falling prices for the precious metal.

Kinross Gold Corp. of Toronto is the major purchaser of the assets. It will pay Barrick $610-million for its Bald Mountain mine and for its half interest in the Round Mountain mine. Kinross already owns the other half of the Round Mountain property.

In addition, Waterton Precious Metals Fund II of Toronto will pay $110-million to Barrick for its Ruby Hill mine and for a 70-per-cent interest in the Spring Valley project.

The deals demonstrate the impact of falling gold prices. Over the past four years, the metal has tumbled from $1,900 an ounce to below $1,100 an ounce.

Iron Ore Crisis Could Be Followed By A Nickel Crisis For BHP Billiton And Vale – by Tim Treadgold (Forbes Magazine – November 13, 2015)

November 13, 2015

http://www.forbes.com/

The last thing two of the world’s biggest mining companies, BHP Billiton and Vale , need today is speculation that after the disaster at their jointly owned Samarco iron ore mine in Brazil they might also have to close big nickel-mining operations to stem a tide of heavy losses.

That, however, is precisely what has been suggested by research analysts at the investment bank Credit Suisse who have painted a depressing picture of demand for the metal which is largely used to make stainless steel.

Vale, as well as being the world’s biggest iron ore miner is the world’s biggest nickel producer thanks largely to its 2006 takeover of Canada’s Inco.

BHP Billiton is also a big nickel producer via its Australian business unit, Nickel West. The attraction of nickel to both is that buyers are essentially the same, with companies that buy iron ore also buyers of nickel to make stainless steel.

True or False: ‘The 33’s cinematic treatment of the 2010 Chilean mine disaster – by Jennifer Yang (Toronto Star – November 13, 2015)

November 13, 2015

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

What do the filmmakers get right and wrong bringing the harrowing rescue attempts to the big screen?

On Aug. 5, 2010, a gold and copper mine near Copiapo, Chile, collapsed and trapped 33 miners underground. Sixty-nine days later, they were brought back to the surface in a spectacular rescue televised around the world.

It was an event so momentous that some have compared it to the moon landing. And I was lucky enough to be there.

My three weeks covering the rescue of “los 33” were among the most memorable of my life and I often wish I could revisit that inspiring moment in time. Well, now I can — sort of. And you can, too. Today, the movie version of the rescue, The 33, hits the big screen.

Brazil levies initial fines of $66 million against mine for burst dams – by Stephen Eisenhammer and Marta Mogueira (Reuters U.S. – November 12, 2015)

November 13, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

MARIANA, BRAZIL – Brazil’s president slapped preliminary fines of 250 million reais ($66.2 million) against a mine in the country’s southeast where two dams burst, killing nine people and coating a two-state area with mud and mine waste.

The fines, announced after President Dilma Rousseff flew over the affected area, come as federal prosecutors announced plans to work with state prosecutors to investigate possible crimes that could have contributed to the disaster at the mine, jointly owned by two of the world’s biggest mining companies, BHP Billiton Ltd (BHP.AX)(BLT.L) and Vale SA (VALE5.SA).

Rousseff said the fines, imposed by Brazil’s environmental regulator IBAMA for violations that include river pollution and damages to urban areas where water service has been suspended, could be followed by penalties from other federal or state agencies.

The top government lawyer is working with IBAMA to sue the mine owners for up to $1 billion in environmental damages in civil court, a senior administration official told Reuters.

Deadly Brazil dam collapse puts spotlight on mining safety – by Gordon Hoekstra (Vancouver Sun – November 12, 2015)

November 13, 2015

http://www.vancouversun.com/

Similar tailings dam failure took place last year at Mount Polley mine in B.C. Interior

A deadly mine tailings dam collapse in Brazil has reignited concerns about safety in British Columbia where a similar collapse at Mount Polley mine last year caused environmental damage but no fatalities.

The catastrophic collapse of a dam at the Samarco iron ore mine, a joint venture of Vale SA and BHP Billiton, has left eight confirmed dead, another 21 people missing and hundreds of Brazilians displaced.

In the aftermath of the Brazil dam failure last week, both First Nations and environmentalists in B.C. are pointing to research released last summer by U.S.-based conservation groups, including the Center for Science in Public Participation, that predicted there would be more mine dam failures around the world as companies pursue lower-grade ore bodies that require bigger operations to make them economical and produce larger amounts of mine waste.