Republic of Mining

Iron ore competition runs hot as Vale hits production record – by Amanda Saunders (Sydney Morning Herald – October 20, 2015)

October 20, 2015

http://www.smh.com.au/

Australia’s iron ore wars may have died down but fierce global competition in the commodity has not, with Brazil this week clocking a new production record, and former Rio Tinto chief executive Tom Albanese starting exports from India after a three-year impasse.

Brazil’s Vale posted a quarterly production record of 88.2 million tonnes for the three months to September, despite pulling marginal tonnes out of the market. Productivity campaigns at its lower-cost operations helped offset the production cuts, edging its output 2.9 per cent higher than the period a year earlier.

Australia’s big two, Rio and BHP Billiton, also continue with their expansions, while Fortescue is running at about 165 million tonnes a year after a rapid three-year expansion.
Depressed iron ore prices have stabilised in recent weeks, trading around $US55 a tonne, after months of wild volatility. Iron ore has averaged about $US60 a tonne this year.

Glencore woes cast shadow over coal M&A – by Sarah McFarlane (Reuters U.S. – October 20, 2015)

October 20, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

BARCELONA – Oct 20 Glencore’s efforts to reduce debts to turn around its share price will limit its ability to do deals on coal assets and its absence is expected to slow consolidation in the depressed sector.

As the largest shipper of thermal coal, Glencore has been omnipresent in deals concerning assets in the sector, where a glut of supply has sent prices to multi-year lows, prompting expectations for a wave of consolidation among miners.

This changed in September, however, when Glencore succumbed to shareholder pressure and announced plans to reduce its debt to $20 billion from the current $30 billion, including a share issue and asset sales.

“Glencore, if they had been financially powerful, would have accelerated the consolidation of the thermal coal industry,” a trader at a mining company said.

Glencore declined to comment on its ability to make acquisitions.

Indonesia’s Nationalism – by Neil Chatterjee (Bloomberg News – October 19, 2015)

October 20, 2015

http://www.bloombergview.com/

Indonesia has been plundered since the Dutch collected nutmeg and cloves from the archipelago they called the East Indies 400 years ago. With treasures strung across 17,000 islands, it’s home to the world’s largest gold mine and exports the most power-station coal, palm oil and tin.

Indonesia’s identity was forged by a half-century of sometimes savage dictatorship that sold its riches overseas. Now the country wants to keep more of its wealth at home. The pull of protectionism has characterized the presidency of Joko Widodo, who came to power in October 2014 as the country’s second freely elected leader.

A rising tide of economic nationalism is threatening to undo the formula that for many years brought much-needed investment to the world’s fourth-most-populous nation and its 250 million people.

The Situation

Widodo, better known as Jokowi, represents a new generation of Indonesian politicians: a self-made furniture seller and can-do bureaucrat focused on cutting graft and red tape.

First Nations hope for better relationship with feds under Trudeau – by Graham Slaughter (CTV News – October 20, 2015)

October 20, 2015

http://www.ctvnews.ca/

With Stephen Harper stepping down from his party’s helm in the wake of a Liberal victory, First Nations leaders seem to have accomplished their goal of helping to defeat the Conservatives.

The Tories also lost Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt’s riding of Madawaska-Restigouche in New Brunswick.

According to Perry Bellegarde, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, that’s a telling loss. “I think that’s a strong message in terms of not getting the job done,” Bellegarde told CTV News as the results came in.

In the days after the Liberal sweep, Bellegarde says that First Nations people have a clear mission: “To build a relationship first with the new prime minster.”

First Nations leaders and advocates locked horns with the Conservatives over a wide array of indigenous issues, from treaty rights and Aboriginal education to the ability to get clean water on reserves.

Canadian Oil Sands Ltd CEO says Suncor Energy Inc used ‘insider information’ for ‘opportunistic and exploitive bid’ – by Yadullah Hussain (National Post – October 20, 2015)

October 20, 2015

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

TORONTO — Canadian Oil Sands Ltd.’s CEO Ryan Kubik said Monday his board will fight the sale of the company at what it calls “firesale prices” and he accused Suncor Energy Inc. of taking advantage of insider information to present an “opportunistic and exploitive” bid.

“They are using all of this opportunism to try to capture value for their own shareholders — that’s good for Suncor shareholders in building Suncor’s empire but not good for Canadian Oil Sands shareholders,” Kubik told the Financial Post on a visit to Toronto that involved mustering shareholder opposition to Suncor’s $4.3-billion hostile takeover plan, announced earlier this month. The COS board unanimously recommended Monday that its shareholders reject Suncor’s $4.3 billion bid.

No other offers have been put on the table for Canadian Oil Sands, whose business relies on a 37 per cent stake in the 350,000 barrel per day Syncrude oilsands project, in which Suncor also has a 12 per cent stake. The COS acquisition would raise Suncor’s stake in Syncrude to nearly 49 per cent.

CANADA FEDERAL ELECTION 2015: Trudeau rides national desire for change to majority government – by Eric Andrew-Gee, Steven Chase, Daniel LeBlanc and Les Perreaux (Globe and Mail – October 20, 2015)

October 20, 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.

In a stunning political comeback propelled by a national desire for change, Justin Trudeau and the Liberals won a decisive majority Monday night, bringing an end to the Stephen Harper era and a decade of Conservative rule.

Long derided by opponents as shallow and inexperienced, the Liberal Leader will now be the second Trudeau to take up residence as Prime Minister at 24 Sussex Dr. after leading the Liberals from the political wilderness back into government.

The result signals a vast reversal of fortunes for a party that was all but written off after winning just 34 seats in the past election. Their seat haul on Monday – with huge gains across the country – amounts to the largest increase in seats for a party between elections in Canadian history. The party was elected in 175 ridings and leading in a handful of others late Monday night.

The vote put an end to a long, acrimonious campaign that saw charges of Conservative Islamophobia and a bitter fight between the Liberals and NDP for the “change vote,” a battle the Liberals won.

In his victory speech in Montreal, Mr. Trudeau sent out a message of unity to Canadians, continuing the positive approach he adopted during the campaign. The Liberals operated on the principle that “you can appeal to the better angels of our nature, and you can win doing it,” he said.

Russia may face with shortage of gold and strategic commercial minerals during next 20 years – by Eugene Gerden (InvestorIntel.com – October 19, 2015)

October 19, 2015

http://investorintel.com/

Russia may face with a shortage of gold and some other strategic commercial minerals during the next 20 years, which is mainly due to the decline of the volume of exploration works in the country in recent years.

In the case of gold, the predicted growth of gold production in Russia up to 350 tonnes per year may result in the gradual depletion of gold reserves in Russia already by 2035, taking into account even projected resources.

This will be mainly due to lack of attention to the technological aspects of gold production in Russia, as well as the reduction of exploration works in recent years, because of the economic crisis in the country.

In the case of production methods, due to poor technologies, the losses of gold during ore processing usually reach 27%.

Iran to Seek Bids on 15 Mining Deals as Gold Supply on Rise – by Hashem Kalantari (Bloomberg News – October 19, 2015)

October 19, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Iran will seek bids for 15 mining projects for international investors to develop, with production of zinc to gold and iron ore seen getting a boost with the end of sanctions.

President Hassan Rouhani plans to visit France and Italy in November to sign development agreements on some of the projects, according to Mehdi Karbasian, deputy minister of Iran’s Ministry of Industries, Mines & Trade, said in an interview in Tehran. Tenders to develop the 15 projects should be issued within the next four months, with the first one proposed in October to build the Neekouyeh gold mine west of Tehran, he said.

Iran’s gold production is forecast to triple from 2013 to 10,000 kilograms (321,507 troy ounces) by next year, with iron ore, steel, chromite, aluminum , bauxite, copper and zinc output also growing, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

How technology is going to impact on deep level mining in South Africa – by Dr. Declan Vogt (Mineweb.com – October 18, 2015)

October 19, 2015

http://www.mineweb.com/

A Mineweb Op-Ed exclusive by Dr Declan Vogt from the Wits School of Mining Engineering.

Johannesburg: Our deep level gold and platinum mines are in trouble. At today’s prices, most are not profitable. There are many explanations for the high cost: mines are getting deeper, infrastructure is old, and energy and labour costs exceed inflation. Given that we have little control over the price of the commodities, the only solution is improved productivity.

In many other industries, technology has enabled huge strides in productivity. Even in South Africa, almost all underground coal mining is now mechanised. So what about deep-level hard rock?

Technically, our orebodies present a challenge. Both the Witwatersrand and the Bushveld orebodies are hosted in very hard rock – quartzite and shales, or norites and anorthosites. The ore itself is also hard and abrasive, so rock cutting is not economic at present.

Cliffs CEO: Essar jeopardizes Range facility- by Bill Hanna (Mesabi Daily News – October 17, 2015)

October 19, 2015

http://www.virginiamn.com/

‘If they go online, I will shut down a plant the same day’ Vuppuluri: ‘Very sad and pained to hear such a statement’

CLEVELAND — The Cliffs Natural Resources CEO said he will close one of the company’s operations on the Iron Range if the Essar Steel Minnesota taconite plant in Nashwauk goes into production.

“If they go online, I will shut down a plant up there the same day,” Lourenco Goncalves said in an exclusive interview with the Mesabi Daily News last Thursday. “We have fully planned for the worst case scenario.”

Essar Minnesota CEO Madhu Vuppuluri said in response on Saturday that he is “very saddened to hear that statement that could have such an impact on employees and communities of the Iron Range.”

The $1.9 billion India-based Essar project under construction is scheduled to begin producing taconite pellets in the second half of 2016, most likely the third quarter.

[Saskatchewan Uranium waste] Gunnar cleanup to exceed $250M, 10 times estimate – by Alex MacPherson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – October 17, 2015)

October 19, 2015

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/

The cost of cleaning up an abandoned uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan is expected to exceed $250 million, more than 10 times the original estimate – and the provincial and federal governments are divided on how the burden will be shared.

Located on the northern shore of Lake Athabasca near Uranium City, about 800 kilometres north of Saskatoon, the Gunnar uranium mine was abandoned in 1964. The site remained littered with radioactive tailings, asbestos-laced buildings and other waste for more than half a century.

The original mine operator, Gunnar Mining Limited, no longer exists.

In 2006, the federal and provincial governments signed an agreement to rehabilitate the site and reduce further ground and water contamination. The project was originally estimated to cost no more than $24.6 million and take 17 years, according to Natural Resources Canada documents.

NEWS RELEASE: Nemaska Lithium Receives Notice of Allowance for its Lithium Hydroxide and Lithium Carbonate Process Patent

May 13, 2016October 19, 2015

http://www.nemaskalithium.com/en/

QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC–(Marketwired – Oct. 19, 2015) – October 19, 2015. Nemaska Lithium Inc. (“Nemaska Lithium” or the “Corporation”) (TSX VENTURE:NMX)(OTCQX:NMKEF) is pleased to announce that it has obtained a Notice of Allowance in Canada concerning Canadian Patent Application 2,874,917 that describes its proprietary process of preparing lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate from spodumene sources using membrane electrolysis. Nemaska is also pursuing patent protection on this process in multiple global jurisdictions.

In addition, the Corporation has received very positive feedback from the international examiners in charge of examining Nemaska Lithium’s international applications WO 2015/058288 and WO 2015/123762. These patent applications cover different technologies and processes for preparing lithium hydroxide. Finally the Corporation recently filed a new patent application in the United States (US 62/210,977) which is related to a new electrochemical process for making lithium hydroxide. In total, Nemaska Lithium now owns rights to 13 pending patent applications that are represented by 7 different patent families.

The electrolysis technology developed by Nemaska Lithium to convert lithium sulphate into lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate, has been successfully lab scale tested, pilot plant tested as well as tested at supplier facilities over the past three years. In the past, electrolysis based technologies have been commercially used in multiple industries and have demonstrated that they can be very efficient and very reliable. For example, over the past 50 years, chlor alkaline industry has been using industrial processes for the electrolysis of sodium chloride.

Megafactory trend sparks ‘arms race’ in battery sector – by Simon Rees (MiningWeekly.com – September 29, 2015)

October 26, 2015October 19, 2015

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Tesla Motors’ so-called ‘gigafactory’ has sparked an “arms race” in the battery sector, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence MD Simon Moores told an audience attending the Toronto leg of the company’s World Tour 2015, in which Mining Weekly Online participated.

The gigafactory, now being built in Nevada, was designed to meet Tesla’s future battery requirements, either for electric vehicles (EV) or its Powerwall and Powerpack technologies.

“Battery majors, such as LG Chem or Samsung, have all responded with expansion plans for their new plants. Companies like BYD are also building their own battery plants. Boston Power is looking to expand, while Foxconn said they were going to enter battery manufacturing,” Moores stated.

“The megafactory trend is one the battery industry has not seen before. This is not an industry saying it expects to expand by 10% or 20% over the next three years – it’s at an order of magnitude that’s much bigger,” he added.

Glencore likely to cut back nickel production, says analysts – Paul Ploumis (Scrap Monster.com – October 14, 2015)

October 16, 2015

http://www.scrapmonster.com/

After copper and zinc, Glencore may now announce production cut in Nickel, says analysts.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): According to analysts speculations, Glencore may cut back Nickel production. The company had earlier announced cuts to its copper and zinc production.

Gavin Wendt, analyst at Minelife commodities noted that cut in nickel output is likely to save millions of dollars for the company and lift the prices of the metal in the process. Production cut by Glencore will have immense impact on global nickel market and could lead to a rally in beaten-up nickel prices, he added.

According to UBS analyst Daniel Morgan, not many nickel miners have resorted to production cuts when compared with other commodities. The notable cut in production so far has come from Canadian Sherritt International Corp. which reduced its nickel production targets in July from earlier estimate of 80,000-86,000 tonnes to 78,000-82,000 tonnes. He added that nearly 50% of the world’s nickel production is at loss at today’s price. Moreover, LME warehouses hold excessive nickel inventory levels of 440,000 tonnes as on date.