Republic of Mining

Pacific trade deal good for Sudbury, says Slade -by PRESS RELEASE (Sudbury Northern Life – October 05, 2015)

October 6, 2015

http://www.northernlife.ca/

“The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement will benefit all of Canada but, we in Greater Sudbury with our strong resource and manufacturing sectors, will see many more doors opened for products and services produced here in Greater Sudbury with our new trading partners” says Fred Slade, Conservative Party of Canada candidate.

Canada’s Conservative Government has signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement that will protect and create Canadian jobs, and grow every sector of our economy by giving Canadian businesses access to some of the most dynamic markets in the world.

The TPP is a 12-nation market of almost 800-million consumers with GDP of $28 trillion — over 14 times the size of Canada’s economy. Canada will now be the only G7 nation with free trade access to all of the US and Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific continents, that’s over 60 per cent of the world’s economy.

Since 2006, our government has concluded Free Trade Agreements with 44 countries, compared to only five when we took office. “Canada’s mining industry has been a strong advocate for liberalized trade and investment flows for many years,” stated Pierre Gratton, Mining Association of Canada’s (MAC) President and CEO in a release today.

Commodity Collapse Has More to Go as Goldman to Citi See Losses – Luzi-Ann Javier (Bloomberg News – October 5, 2015)

October 6, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Even with commodities mired in the worst slump in a generation, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. are warning bulls that prices may stay lower for years.

Crude oil and copper are unlikely to rebound because of excess supplies, Goldman predicts, and Morgan Stanley forecasts that weaker currencies in producing countries will encourage robust output of raw materials sold for dollars, even during bear markets. Citigroup says the sluggish world economy makes it “hard to argue” that most prices have already bottomed.

The Bloomberg Commodity Index on Sept. 30 capped its worst quarterly loss since the depths of the recession in 2008. The economy in China, the biggest consumer of grains, energy and metals, is expanding at the slowest pace in two decades just as producers struggle to ease surpluses. Alcoa Inc., once a symbol of American industrial might, plans to split itself in two, while Chesapeake Energy Corp. cut its workforce by 15 percent. Caterpillar Inc. may shed 10,000 jobs as demand slows for mining and energy equipment.

“It would take a brave soul to wade in with both feet into commodities,” Brian Barish, who helps oversee about $12.5 billion at Denver-based Cambiar Investors LLC. “There is far more capacity coming on than there is demand physically. And the only way that you fix the problem is to basically shut capacity in, and you do that by starving commodity producers for capital.”

Government of the Northwest Territories’ (GNWT) proposal to alienate industry – by Gary Vivian (October 5, 2015)

October 6, 2015

http://www.nnsl.com/index.php

A Guest Editorial by Gary Vivian, President of Aurora Geosciences Ltd., in Northern News Services.

It’s said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The GNWT’s recent draft conservation plan has “good intentions” but it certainly will take us on a path to economic hell.

The plan – shared predominantly with conservation representatives, not the business community – is misguided, anachronistic and unnecessary. By simply circulating it for discussion, Environment Minister Michael Miltenberger has started that paving job to hell. If allowed to proceed, the plan will further damage our already wounded mining industry’s ability to create the high paying jobs, much needed business spending and royalties and taxes that are much needed by both aboriginal and public governments.

In this post-devolution world, we are expected to be more mature and able to take responsibility for our economic future. Taking such a misguided approach to conservation will alienate our number-one industry from land access and undermine the government’s own economic agenda.

Canadian mining sector cheers TPP signing – by Peter Koven (National Post – October 6, 2015)

October 6, 2015

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

TORONTO – The Canadian mining industry is celebrating Canada’s signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which brings plenty of positives and no serious negatives.

The deal will gradually eliminate tariffs on Canadian mineral exports in TPP nations, some of which are enormous. At the same time, it does not bring any of the risks to Canada’s mining sector that it does to the dairy or auto sectors. It simply enhances the export opportunities.

“We don’t have some of the issues that other sectors face,” Pierre Gratton, president of the Mining Association of Canada, said in an interview. “For us, it’s really an opportunity to see reduced tariffs and to make us more competitive.”

There are huge variations in mineral import tariffs in TPP countries. On the low end, Australia applies tariffs of up to five per cent on Canadian imports, and Japan applies tariffs up to 7.9 per cent, the mining association said. On the high end, Vietnam’s tariffs are as high as 40 per cent, and Malaysia’s go up to 50 per cent.

GLOBE EDITORIAL: TPP-Less than hoped for, less than feared.(Globe and Mail – October 6, 2015)

October 6, 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.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade and investment agreement reached by 12 countries on Monday morning looks like a good deal – good, and not quite as big as promised. Both the positives and negatives in the deal appear to be smaller than hoped, or feared.

The broad strokes of the deal are known, though the precise details won’t be out for a few days. The TPP will open closed sectors of the Canadian economy, such as dairy, poultry and eggs – but by less than expected. In pharmaceutical patents, an area of concern to Canadians, the TPP’s changes to the status quo also appear to be smaller than advertised. And while the agreement, which includes Japan and the United States (but not China), is being sold as the biggest trade deal ever, it is not as revolutionary as all that.

Thanks to three decades of trade liberalization, from the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement to NAFTA to the World Trade Organization, Canada’s trade is already largely free. The remaining old-style tariff barriers are few and generally low. The TPP is mostly about taking one more step down that path.

Canada’s auto industry could lose 20,000 jobs because of TPP trade deal, union says – by Kristine Owram (National Post – October 6, 2015)

October 6, 2015

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

The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal could have major ramifications for Canada’s already struggling auto industry, resulting in cheaper vehicles for consumers, but a more competitive landscape for Canadian manufacturers.

Unifor, the union that represents Canadian workers at the Detroit Three, said the deal would put an estimated 20,000 auto jobs at risk by eliminating tariffs and significantly reducing content rules for vehicles and auto parts.

Under the TPP agreement, Canada will phase out its existing 6.1 per cent tariff on imported passenger vehicles over the next five years — a move that is expected to lower the cost of Japanese-made vehicles for Canadian consumers.

“Certainly it’s good news for consumers and to us that means it’s good news across the board,” said Michael Hatch, chief economist at the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association.

How Suncor Energy Inc hopes to cement its position as oilsands kingpin by purchasing Canadian Oil Sands Ltd – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – October 6, 2015)

October 6, 2015

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

Canada’s oilsands are not high on the list of investor must-haves at a time of depressed oil prices, potentially higher provincial royalties and tougher climate change regulations.

But those are also the reasons oilsands pioneer Suncor Energy Inc. launched a $6.6-billion unsolicited bid Monday for Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. (COS), the largest shareholder in once arch-rival Syncrude Canada Ltd. and lately a challenged, underperforming operator.

In short, Suncor has figured out how to make money in a potentially lower-for-longer downturn (its operating costs are $28 a barrel and heading lower); Syncrude is struggling to adjust (comparable costs are $52.63 a barrel); Suncor believes it can push Syncrude to improve. If oil prices recover, Suncor will have cemented its position as Canada’s oilsands kingpin and will be laughing all the way to the bank.

“If you look at the way reliability and operating costs are going, it’s a very successful business, even at these low oil prices,” Suncor President and CEO Steve Williams said in an interview. “We would be giving the (Syncrude) operator much more support … so we can accelerate the reliability improvement.”

Politics: Ring fires up Nickel Belt debate – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – October 6, 2015)

October 6, 2015

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

The long-stalled chromite project in Northwestern Ontario proved to be a fierce topic of debate on Monday.

Claude Gravelle, the incumbent NDP MP for Nickel Belt, squared off against Aino Laamanen, Stuart McCall and Marc Serre over a number of business-oriented topics at a debate organized by the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce.

“The Ring of Fire has been stalled for the last little while. … It is very important to have a strong MP with a business background and the expertise to work with communities, stakeholders and First Nations,” Serre, the Liberal candidate, began. “The Ring of Fire will create more jobs.”

Gravelle, who has served as the Nickel Belt MP since 2008, relied on his experience in Ottawa, noting he has visited the Ring of Fire twice and laid the groundwork for movement on the project.

Media Release: Federal and Provincial Greens Plan Cooperation on Nuclear Waste, Ring of Fire, Electricity Costs

October 5, 2015

Cooperation between Canada and Ontario that emphasizes northern issues is the pledge that Green MP Bruce Hyer and GPO leader Mike Schreiner made today.

(10/05/2015) Thunder Bay, ON – Hyer and Schreiner are working together on a cross jurisdictional plan to responsibly develop the Ring of Fire, protect Lake Superior from radioactive nuclear waste, and lower electricity prices in northwestern Ontario.

“Thunder Bay needs an independent voice that will speak for northerners,” says Schreiner. “Bruce Hyer has demonstrated repeatedly that he can work with other parties and the province to get things done for Thunder Bay Superior North.”

Hyer will work with all levels of government, including First Nations, to develop a comprehensive land use plan for north of 50; support value-added local processing with affordable renewable electricity from Manitoba for all northern communities; ensure that all aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities benefit from mining developments; and support federal funding for road corridors and rail access to the Ring of Fire.

“Lower electricity prices, federal infrastructure support, environmental protections, and shared benefits to all communities are essential to making the Ring of Fire work for northerners,” says Hyer. “I’m committed to using the Green Party’s leverage in a minority Parliament to influence federal policies.”

Commodities crisis spurs calls for African reform – by Maggie Fick and John Aglionby (Financial Times – October 5, 2015)

October 5, 2015

http://www.ft.com/

London – African nations need to respond to the commodity price crash by overhauling the continent’s regulatory burden and bolstering its energy infrastructure, prominent executives and officials have told a Financial Times summit.

Participants at the London conference were virtually unanimous that reforms delayed when oil and metal prices were rising can be put off no further now that demand from China has slowed and the commodities supercycle is on a downturn.

“It is a call to both regulators and business to ensure they maintain foreign direct investment and encourage local entrepreneurs,” said Wale Tinubu, chief executive of Nigerian oil and gas company Oando, arguing that it was now urgent to diversify countries’ economies across the resource-rich continent.

A chief focus of his and other participants’ attentions was the energy sector, where pricing regulations have often deterred investment. Efforts to industrialise countries’ economies have often been hobbled by inadequate energy supply. Spain produces more electricity than all of sub-Saharan Africa.

Glencore surges as speculation swirls around takeover, Viterra sale – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – October 5, 2015)

October 5, 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.

ROME — Glencore rallied strongly on Monday as CEO Ivan Glasenberg of the world’s biggest commodities trader pleaded for the closure of copper mines in a glutted market, and analysts suggested the company’s shares were oversold last week, when they plunged 30 per cent in one day.

In midafternoon trading in London, the shares were up 18 per cent. In overnight Hong Kong trading, Glencore surged more than 70 per cent on speculation that it is open to takeover offers and is close to selling its Canadian agriculture business.

But analysts dismissed the Hong Kong trading as essentially meaningless since Glencore shares have very little liquidity in that market and are prone to wild swings. Monday’s rise in both markets was so sharp and fast that the Swiss company was forced to put out a statement denying that any deal was imminent. It said “the board confirms that is not aware for any reason for these price and volume movements.”

Speaking on a panel in London at the Financial Times Africa Summit, Mr. Glasenberg made no comment on the extreme volatility in recent weeks in Glencore’s share price.

RPT-COLUMN-A role reversal for the ugly sisters, lead and zinc – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – October 2, 2015)

October 5, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

Oct 2 (Reuters) – The commodities “supercycle”, it is now generally accepted, is over.

Slowdown in China, the lynchpin of the whole concept, is turning out to be a lot harder than anyone expected with industrial metal prices sliding across the board. But for some of them the “supercycle” was arguably over many years ago.

Consider the example of lead and zinc, often called sister metals because they tend to be found in the same deposits and are as often as not mined in tandem.

Zinc’s “supercycle” price peak of $4,580 per tonne, basis three-month metal on the London Metal Exchange (LME), came in November 2006 while lead’s peak of $3,890 followed a year later in October 2007.

Neither made it back to those lofty heights in the Chinese infrastructure-fuelled boom that followed the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-2009. And since then the two sisters have done little more than trudge sideways in well-worn ranges until joining in this year’s broader sell-off.

Defendant testifies in environmental crimes trial over platinum mine – by Lisa Demer (Alaska Dispatch News – October 2, 2015)

October 5, 2015

http://www.adn.com/

A mine operator on trial over pollution at a Southwestern Alaska platinum mine told a federal jury Friday in Anchorage he knew of muddy wastewater that turned the Salmon River dirty brown. But though he was the on-site boss and designed the mine operation, James Slade testified he never alerted regulators of the problems because, he said, that wasn’t within his authority.

Instead, even when the turbidity of the discharges was hundreds of times greater than allowed under Platinum Creek Mine’s general permit in 2011, Slade emailed company executives the mine would “continue to produce 24/7 until the wheels fall off.” That acknowledgement by Slade provided a punch at the end of cross examination by assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Feldis.

Slade, a mining consultant from Calgary, Alberta who became chief operating officer for XS Platinum Inc., is accused of six felony charges including conspiracy, various violations of the federal Clean Water Act, and submission of a false report. His testimony in U.S. District Court took up most of Friday, the 10th day of a trial during which prosecutors have called more than 25 witnesses and presented hundreds of exhibits. Slade, who began working for the mine owners in 2010 and stayed through 2011, was the sole defense witness.

He said he was thrilled when he was recruited to work on resurrecting the old platinum mine in one of Alaska’s historic mining areas.

RPT-UPDATE 2-Potash Corp withdraws $8.9 bln takeover bid for German peer K+S – by Greg Roumeliotis and Arno Schuetze (Reuters U.S. – October 5, 2015)

October 5, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

NEW YORK/FRANKFURT, Oct 5 (Reuters) – Potash Corp of Saskatchewan said on Monday it had withdrawn its 7.9 billion euro ($8.9 bln) offer for German potash producer K+S , citing a decline in global commodity and equity markets and a lack of engagement by K+S management.

K+S shares dropped 24 percent after Potash announced its decision in a statement, wiping almost 1.5 billion euros off the company’s market value.

An acquisition of K+S would have given Potash Corp an opportunity to realize savings from selling potash within North America from its own Western Canada mines and from K+S’s Legacy mine, which is under construction in the region.

However, senior K+S executives dismissed the Canadian company’s 41-euro-per-share cash bid — which represented a 59 percent premium to the volume-weighted average of K+S’s share price during the prior 12 months — as too low and refused to negotiate.

Since Potash Corp made its offer to K+S privately at the end of May, shares of K+S peers have dropped by around 40 percent amid concerns over weakening demand from China, the world’s largest consumer of potash.

Kinross’s clash with contractors over West African gold mines – by Geoffrey York and Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – October 5, 2015)

October 5, 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.

JOHANNESBURG and ROME — Kinross Gold Corp., facing an investigation in the United States over alleged corruption at its West African mines, has portrayed itself as the victim of “noise” by contractors who fail to win bids at its massive gold mine in the Sahara Desert in Mauritania.

In an interview last month, before the U.S. investigation was disclosed, Kinross executives in West Africa insisted their contracting procedures are transparent and fair. They denied local claims that the company faced pressure by the Mauritanian government to hire politically connected contractors, but they acknowledged the losing bidders have sometimes alleged wrongdoing in the contracting process.

“They go to some politicians and then you hear noise about it,” said Mike Sylvestre, regional vice-president for Kinross operations in West Africa. “There does seem to be a lot of noise.”

Kinross said on Friday it had received subpoenas from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Justice Department, seeking information about alleged “improper payments made to government officials and certain internal control deficiencies” at its gold operations in Mauritania and Ghana.