Republic of Mining

Now Oppenheimer properties edge out of De Beers’ Diamond Route – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – October 20, 2015)

November 3, 2015October 21, 2015

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

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Oppenheimer family, which three years ago sold out of diamond company De Beers, announced on Tuesday that it was delinking the properties of E Oppenheimer & Son from the Diamond Route, which takes in the 250 000 ha of cross-regional land that originally kept potential diamond thieves far away from diamond diggings, but which is today geared to conservation and ecotourism, incorporating new and largely undiscovered natural wonders, as well as historical and cultural elements.

In an opening address to the sixth Diamond Route research conference in Johannesburg, Nicky Oppenheimer, who launched the initiative at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 while chairperson of De Beers, said that long and hard thought had been put into separating “and it seems to me that this is the right time for the Oppenheimer properties to separate themselves from the Diamond Route”.

Oppenheimer emphasised that the decision was not being taken with any sense of conflict or anger but was the result of the “inevitable drifting apart that takes place when entities are no longer rubbing shoulders, joined at the hip”.

Editorial: What to expect from a Liberal government in Canada – by John Cumming (Northern Miner – October 20, 2015)

October 21, 2015

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry.

The stunning return of the Liberal Party of Canada to majority status in the federal election held Oct. 19 surprised most people in Canada, who had expected at best a surge to minority government from third place behind the ruling Conservative Party of Canada and the New Democratic Party of Canada.

Instead, Canadians woke up to a new political landscape, with voters having taken the middle ground by rebuking the worn-out, pro-big-business Tories but not wanting to roll the dice on the more left-leaning, inexperienced NDP.

Shown the door were the two most recent ministers of natural resources: Conservative Greg Rickford lost his seat in Kenora, Ont., to Liberal Bob Nault, who had a close race with the former provincial NDP leader Howard Hampton; and previous Minister of Natural Resources and current Finance Minister Joe Oliver lost his seat in Toronto. Nault was quick to give some credit for his victory to First Nations communities in the the Kenora region, who mobilized to support him.

[Ivanhoe Mines] Despite commodity slump, Canadian firm seeks to launch major copper project in DR Congo (Mail and Guardian Afric – October 21, 2015)

October 21, 2015

http://mgafrica.com/

“Even if China is running out of steam or slowing down today, other countries are still asking for copper.”

COPPER prices have fallen 20% in the past 12 months, but Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines is taking the long view as it invests in a new giant deposit in the Democratic Republic of Congo, eyeing a future deficit in the market and rising global demand.

The discovery at Kamoa in the southeast of the vast mineral-rich country has been presented as one of the biggest finds in copper mining in many years, though DR Congo is already Africa’s top copper producer and one of the world leaders.

“We think we can begin production at the end of 2018,” Louis Watum, the head of Ivanhoe DRC, told a recent mining conference in Kinshasa.

But in the commodities market, mining companies have been struck by a sharp fall in prices, affected by the economic slowdown in top consumer China.

[Justin Trudeau] Not his father’s Liberal? Don’t be so sure – by Peter Foster (National Post – October 21, 2015)

October 21, 2015

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

Pierre Trudeau’s infamous 1980 National Energy Program sought to demonize American oil companies, promote local champions, direct corporate activity, and grab oil revenue. It was an economic disaster.

Since the days of Pierre, the urge to regulate, redistribute and centrally plan has not disappeared, despite the intervening collapse of the Berlin Wall. Indeed, the urge has swelled to global proportions on the back of projected catastrophic man-made climate change.

The climate issue – whose existential seriousness Trudeau claims to believe, and which dominates his government’s immediate future – seeks to demonize all oil companies, promote local green champions, direct corporate activity towards “technologies of the future,” and load on carbon taxes. More than that, the climate agenda seeks to put all economic activity under global control.

Pierre never seemed to take that much interest in the NEP or economic nationalism, which bubbled up from the popularity of Petrocan with a naïve electorate, and out of the Liberal backrooms via men such as Maurice Strong, “the most important man of whom most people have never heard.”

The Taliban Is Capturing Afghanistan’s $1 Trillion in Mining Wealth – by Eltaf Najafizada (Bloomberg News – October 21, 2015)

October 21, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Taliban fighters aren’t just making gains on the battlefield: They’re also bleeding away a revenue source that is crucial for Afghanistan to pay for its military without U.S. help.

The Afghan government will earn about $30 million in 2015 from its mineral sector for the third straight year, far short of a previous projection of $1.5 billion, according to Mines and Petroleum Minister Daud Shah Saba. That’s also a quarter of what smugglers — mostly linked to the Taliban and local warlords — earn annually selling rubies and emeralds, he said.

“Unfortunately we have failed to well manage and well control our mining sector,” Saba said in an interview. “With the current fragile and messy situation, it’s really hard to say when Afghanistan should expect any profits from it.”

Afghanistan’s struggles to generate cash signal that it could be decades before Kabul’s leaders wean themselves off funds from the U.S. and its allies. U.S. President Barack Obama last week decided to keep 5,500 troops in the country indefinitely after 2016, underscoring the Taliban’s strength after 14 years of war.

The illegal gold fuelling gang battles in South Africa – by Nomsa Maseko (BBC News – October 21, 2015)

October 21, 2015October 21, 2015

http://www.bbc.com/news The South African city of Johannesburg was built on enormous gold reef. Today, many of the mines have closed, but criminal gangs continue to work the disused and abandoned tunnels. It is dangerous and often deadly, and as well as digging in the disused mines, heavily armed gangs also steal gold from the remaining …

China’s miners ‘must learn’ from bungled foreign acquisitions – by Eric Ng (South China Morning Post – October 21, 2015)

October 21, 2015

http://www.scmp.com/

Industry observers say Chinese companies must learn from their bungled foreign acquisitions

Tianjin – China’s mining firms have a mixed record on overseas acquisitions, but they can learn valuable lessons from missteps made in the past few years and adjust their strategies, say mining-sector executives.

“Chinese firms are still climbing the learning curve, many failures have dotted the path in the past few years,” said Wang Side, vice-president of Chinalco Resources – a unit of Aluminium Corp of China, the No 2 producer of the metal.

According to Dealogic, Chinese firms made US$4.25 billion in overseas mining acquisitions in the year’s first nine months, from US$8.8 billion in the year-earlier period, when the volume was boosted by a US$7 billion acquisition by state-backed MMG in Peru. The deal volume in the first nine months of 2014 was US$4.4 billion, and US$3.3 billion in the same period of 2013.

Wang told an annual mining conference that he considered the three main reasons for Chinese outbound-investment failures to be poor timing, poor selection of investment targets and poor deal pricing.

Mining town Kambalda looks to 50th anniversary despite nickel turmoil – by Sam Tomlin (Australian Broadcasting Corporation – October 21, 2015)

October 21, 2015

http://www.abc.net.au/

Amid the toughest downturn the nickel town has ever seen, Kambalda residents say it is only a matter of time before the tide turns.

With an unprecedented slump in the nickel price leading to more than 100 job losses over the past 18 months, and the future of much of its infrastructure called into question, the mining town in Western Australia has faced a recent crisis of confidence.

But as the community looks at ways to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the area’s first nickel mines, locals say the town has plenty of life left in it.

And with the nickel industry starting to show some long-term optimism amid the gloom, they say the turnaround they have been hoping for is not too far away.

While mining has always been a fixture of the landscape, modern Kambalda had its genesis in a chance discovery by two prospectors in 1954.

Platinum fails to fill breach left by gold in South Africa – by Ed Stoddard (Reuters U.K. – October 21, 2015)

October 21, 2015

http://uk.reuters.com/

BRITS, South Africa, Oct 21 (Reuters) – When South African miner Papi Soke went from gold to platinum, he thought he was trading a sunset industry for one with a brighter future.

This month, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) shop steward was one of over 800 workers laid off at the Eland platinum mine, closed by Glencore.

“I don’t know what to do now. I am thinking of maybe going to a diamond mine,” the 34-year-old father of two, whose wife is expecting in December, told Reuters as he sipped juice in a mall in the mining town of Brits north of Johannesburg.

Glencore is not alone. Platinum producers Lonmin and Anglo American Platinum are also planning to cut jobs and the government has held meetings with companies and unions to try and prevent widespread lay-offs.

Impala Platinum is closing operations that will affect 1,600 jobs but it has said it hopes to absorb many of those workers elsewhere in its business.

Editorial: Gold reigns over a menagerie of minerals (Elko Daily News – October 21, 2015)

October 21, 2015

http://elkodaily.com/

They say all that glitters is not gold, but here in Nevada that amounts to only about 15 percent.

Gold mining accounts for 85 percent of mineral revenue in the state, Nevada Division of Minerals Administrator Rich Perry recently explained. Still, there are a couple dozen other minerals that are regularly mined here – in addition to resources such as geothermal, oil and gas — and some of them have significant economic potential.

Northeastern Nevada’s quest for diversification beyond gold may include some of these marginal minerals. So far, it’s been a mixed bag.

Elko County’s fracking “boom” seems to have stalled out as quickly as it started. Noble Energy has drilled several exploration wells but whether they go into production depends on test results and oil prices – which have been at rock bottom.

The drilling activity has boosted production of barite, including a grinding mill constructed by NOV Minerals at Elko’s railport.

GroundUp: Anglo American joins the silicosis fray – by Pete Lewis (Daily Maverick South Africa – October 21, 2015)

October 21, 2015

http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/

Lawyers for gold mining companies ERPM, DRD and Anglo American added their voices on Tuesday to those of their colleagues fighting the silicosis action in the South Gauteng High Court.

Lawyers for the miners are asking the three judges in the court to certify a class action which would enable them to claim damages from the mining companies as a class, instead of each sick former miner having to do so individually.

The application includes a request that 59 mineworkers who have silicosis and/or TB should be accepted as representatives of the wider class of miners affected by the disease and the dependents of deceased miners.

Lawyers for the mining companies are arguing that the class action should not be certified by the court.

Counsel for ERPM and DRD, Advocate Bruce Leech, said the Constitution acknowledged the right of people to join together in class actions in order to get access to the courts if they could not take action individually.

The bright side of a majority Liberal government for Alberta’s energy sector – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – October 21, 2015)

October 21, 2015

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

Justin Trudeau’s Liberals’ powerful election victory shows that the environmental left’s message remains on the political fringe — even if it does mean a more cautious federal approach to energy development in Canada.

The anti-energy movement’s failure to translate opposition to oil pipelines, tankers and oilsands development into political support is apparent in British Columbia, where the Liberals dominated Metro Vancouver, the Green party failed to build on Elizabeth May’s single seat in Saanich-Gulf Islands, and the NDP’s early lead collapsed despite efforts by politically active groups like Dogwood Initiative to turn the election into a referendum on oil pipelines and tankers.

The Liberals even scooped the new riding of Burnaby North-Seymour, a closely watched race where political newcomer Terry Beech, a small-business owner, defeated by a wide margin the NDP’s star candidate, Carol Baird Ellan, a former chief judge of the Provincial Court of British Columbia who was endorsed by activists opposed to the expansion of the TransMountain pipeline.

The Greens scraped out just five per cent support for Simon Fraser University professor Lynne Quarmby, who was involved in the Burnaby Mountain protests against the Kinder Morgan project.

BHP First-Quarter Iron Ore Output Jumps 7% to Meet Estimates – by David Stringer (Bloomberg News – October 21, 2015)

October 21, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, said first-quarter iron ore output rose 7 percent, joining rivals Vale SA and Rio Tinto Group in reporting increased supply amid falling prices and a global glut.

Production was 61.3 million metric tons in the three months ended Sept. 30, Melbourne-based BHP said Wednesday in a statement. That compares with 57.1 million tons in the same period a year earlier and with a median of 61.9 million tons of three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Benchmark iron ore prices have fallen more than 70 percent from a 2011 peak amid slowing economic growth in China and as the largest suppliers raise output to boost savings and squeeze out higher-cost rivals. BHP reported a 4 percent drop in petroleum output and flagged a 6 percent decline in the unit’s capital spending this fiscal year.

“The iron ore result is as expected and is a good result, though we’d expected petroleum to be higher,” said David Lennox, a resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney.

Miners proving stubborn on output cuts despite price slide – by Eric Onstad (Reuters U.K. – October 21, 2015)

October 21, 2015

http://uk.reuters.com/

LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) – Base metal mines dipping into the red are proving unexpectedly resilient against output cuts, which is likely to prolong and deepen already weak prices.

Some mines are resisting cuts in production by hedging when prices pop higher, others are absorbing losses because shutdown costs are even steeper, while fear of painful job losses is keeping still other loss-making operations alive.

The London Metal Exchange index of its six main base metals has shed a fifth of its value over the past 12 months.

In some metals, such as nickel, about half of capacity is loss making after the rout on commodity markets, largely due to fears about slower growth in top metals consumer China.

“Given that so many nickel mines are out-of-the-money, we should reasonably expect to see a large supply-side response,” said analyst Joel Crane at Morgan Stanley.

Ford’s F-150: Lots of Aluminum, Plenty of Awesome – by Kyle Stock (Bloomberg News – October 19, 2015)

October 20, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The gutsiest decision in the auto industry is beginning to pay off.

Three people, two dogs, a pile of gear, and a 3,000-pound boat. That’s how we tested the all-new aluminum Ford F-150. The result? Mileage ticked down from 21 miles per gallon to 13, as you’d expect, and the floor mats collected a layer of Labrador fur.

Ford’s famous pickup, the best-selling vehicle in America since the Reagan administration, has still got it. Even after Ford swapped out almost every steel body panel for a lightweight aluminum alloy. Even after it added a cute, sedan-size 2.7-liter engine.

Even after Chevrolet and a legion of gravel-throated truck fans deemed it wimpy and precious and expensive to fix. “It seems like a big change initially, but when people see the difference, they’ll ask ‘Why didn’t they do this sooner?’” said Michael Levine, the company’s truck talker.