Republic of Mining

It’s time for a Better Dialogue about Mineral Exploration and Development – by Gavin Dirom (Vancouver Province – August 31, 2015)

August 31, 2015

http://blogs.theprovince.com/

Gavin Dirom is president and chief executive officer of the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia.

Over the past few months, some observers in Alaska have expressed fears about mineral exploration and mining development in northwestern British Columbia. The concerns primarily relate to water quality in rivers originating in British Columbia and draining into southeastern Alaska. These rivers support important salmon runs and communities in both jurisdictions. As good neighbours and allies, Canadian mineral explorers and developers understand and respect these concerns. We also care about our shared water and salmon.

Northwestern British Columbia is a mountainous area with high mineral development potential. This rugged area, with its world-class deposits can help provide us with the critical metals and minerals that we all use in our everyday lives. By discovering and developing mineral resources, our industry makes a major contribution to modern society. Without it, we would have no bicycles, no boats, no electric cars, no iPhones, no lights and no hospitals. These are just a few of the things that require metals and minerals that we all take for granted.

Finding a balance between environmental, social and economic values is a challenge we all face. But that is nothing new. Responsible mineral explorers acknowledge that there will always be some impacts when developing a mine, and we agree that these need to be soundly assessed and properly mitigated.

Trying to avoid the ‘extinction’ of Canada’s junior mining companies – by Simon Doyle (Globe and Mail – August 31, 2015)

August 31, 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.

Simon Doyle covers lobbying and the intersection of business and politics in Ottawa. He writes for Politics Insider, which is available only to subscribers of Globe Unlimited.

The mining industry is lobbying for government help for junior mining companies and northern infrastructure as more juniors have delisted from the TSX and the commodities rout has deepened.

Minerals continued to fall early last week before a tumultuous few days on the markets. Fears about China’s economy and its metals consumption have refreshed arguments among members of Canada’s mining-industry associations for government measures to support the sector.

“The government appreciates the circumstances,” said Rod Thomas, head of mineral exploration industry group the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, whose group has been calling for an expanded junior mining tax credit, investment in northern infrastructure and relaxed rules for raising capital.

Australian gold output on the rise – by Lawrie Williams (Mineweb.com – August 31, 2015)

August 31, 2015

http://www.mineweb.com/

Surbiton Associates in its latest survey of the Australian gold sector notes rising production during the June quarter.

LONDON – The world’s second largest gold mining nation, Australia, saw gold output rise in the June quarter according to a survey by Melbourne-based consultancy, Surbiton Associates.
Gold production for the period totalled some 72 tonnes (2.31 million ounces), an increase of almost three tonnes or four per cent over the March 2015 quarter. With most Australian miners having June year-ends, Surbiton puts the fiscal year total (to end-June) at 285 tonnes.

In Mineweb’s analysis of global gold output in calendar 2014, derived from figures from London-based consultancy Metals Focus, China was the world’s leading producer that year with annual output of 462 tonnes with Australia second, just ahead of Russia, with a little over 272 tonnes.

So the latest Surbiton figures suggest Australian gold output could well be heading strongly higher in calendar 2015. (See: Gold’s top 20 – mines, miners and countries). China is also believed to be producing more gold this year than last.

Copper slump continues amid waning Chinese demand – by Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – August 31, 2015)

August 31, 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.

Copper used to be considered one of the relatively bright spots in the recent downturn of commodity prices. But now it is becoming yet another victim of China’s slowing economy, and the future looks bleak.

“There was always this belief that the deceleration in the Chinese manufacturing sector was going to not just stabilize, but there was this hope that we would see a modest reacceleration,” said John Mothersole, a research director with consultancy IHS, who specializes in metal price analysis and forecasting. “Markets are coming to realize that those expectations were falsely held,” he said.

Copper, like other commodities, has been on a decline since 2011. This year, the red metal is down 20 per cent.

The metal, used in power generation, cars and construction, has dropped as low as $2.20 (U.S.) a pound – the break-even price for some producers.

The main problem is the surplus of copper in the market along with excess capacity in the Chinese copper industry.

Conservatives response to First Nations water problems ‘a crime’, Howard Hampton says – by Jody Porter (CBC News Thunder Bay – August 28, 2015)

August 31, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/

NDP, Liberals say Grassy Narrows state of emergency highlights Conservative neglect

The state of emergency over water quality concerns at Grassy Narrows First Nation is a “shameful” situation created by Conservative neglect, according to the NDP.

The First Nation, located about 100 kilometres north of Kenora, Ont., declared the emergency this week over potentially cancer-causing chemicals found in its local tap water.

The water treatment plant in Grassy Narrows First Nation is missing basic parts and has not functioned properly since it was built about a decade ago, according to Deputy Chief Randy Fobister.

“It’s a crime that the Department of Aboriginal Affairs Canada sent back almost a billion dollars of funding that could have been used to address these safe, clean drinking water problems,” said Howard Hampton, the NDP candidate in the Kenora riding. “But the Harper Conservatives decided it’s not a priority.”

Sudbury group to build the ‘mine of the future’ – by Staff (Sudbury Star – August 28, 2015)

August 28, 2015

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

NORCAT has announced new strategic partnerships with four local companies to help expedite the agency’s vision of building the “mine of the future” in Northern Ontario.

Equipment World, Fuller Industrial, Spectrum Group and K4 Integration will provide the NORCAT Underground Centre with state-of-the-art technology to not only advance the facility, but also to demonstrate leading innovation available to the global mining industry.

“The NORCAT Underground Centre is a unique facility,” Don Duval, the CEO of NORCAT, said in a release. “We’re the only non-profit organization in the world that has an operating mine that provides both start-up tech ventures and multi-national companies the resources, expertise and equipment to enable them to design, test and ultimately showcase new and innovative products in an operating mine environment.”

Fuller Industrial, which delivers and maintains process piping systems and corrosion, and abrasion resistance, will provide the Underground Centre with best-in-class engineered piping for high compression air and water.

Top miners wrestle with $202b of debt as profits shrink – by Jesse Riseborough and Thomas Biesheuvel (Australian Financial Review – August 28, 2015)

August 28, 2015

http://www.afr.com/business/

As tumbling commodity prices erode earnings for the world’s biggest miners, investors are focusing on how the industry will cope with its near record levels of debt. It’s looking increasingly ugly.

While overall borrowings from the 10-largest mining companies fell slightly last year, it’s still close to an all-time high of $US145 billion ($202 billion). At the same time, profits are expected to drop to a six-year low, according to Bloomberg estimates, hampering their ability the pay down the debt pile.

Against a backdrop of a deteriorating outlook for economic growth in China, the industry’s biggest customer, investors have retreated from the world’s largest producers.

“The debt pigeons are coming home to roost at many heavily indebted mining companies,” analysts at Investec wrote in a note Wednesday. “The heady days of the super-cycle were fuelled by cheap debt, which was eagerly taken on by mining companies in order to buy (overpriced) assets or to build new mines.”

Quebec uranium report muddies science with sociology – by Konrad Yakabuski (Globe and Mail – August 28, 2015)

August 28, 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.

MONTREAL — Brad Wall won’t be happy about this.

The Saskatchewan Premier has recently been complaining about have-not provinces sticking spokes in the wheels of wealth-creating energy projects, all while they clamour for more generous equalization payments paid for out of taxes from wealthier provinces such as his. Now, Quebec has given him one more reason to gripe.

Quebec’s environmental assessment agency has recommended a ban on uranium mining in a 626-page report that one critic lambasted as a “veritable collage of science and mysticism” regarding the mineral, used mainly as fuel for nuclear reactors.

Liberal Premier Philippe Couillard’s government is still “studying” the report. But after saying no to the shale gas industry and its potential jobs and royalties, Quebec appears headed for another de facto moratorium on resource development, despite collecting $9.5-billion in equalization payments this year.

Appalachian coal country wants Republican nod for federal aid – by Valerie Volcovici (Reuters U.S. – August 28, 2015)

August 28, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

WASHINGTON – A small but growing number of Appalachian coal communities are urging Republicans in Congress to support a proposed $1 billion federal aid program from the Obama administration to save local economies ravaged by the decline of the coal industry.

Nearly a dozen Appalachian coal mining communities have passed resolutions over the past few weeks supporting President Barack Obama’s Power + program, which was outlined in his 2016 budget. It will be considered in the fall when Congress returns from recess.

From towns such as Norton, Virginia, to Letcher County, Kentucky, local officials have called on their Washington representatives to back the proposal that would provide public funds for new economic activities around reclaimed coal mines in the Appalachian Mountains.

“This isn’t a partisan issue here,” said Eric Dixon, policy coordinator for the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center in Whitesburg, Kentucky, which has helped push the resolutions across the region. “We have Republicans and Democrats in the mountains who support this plan.”

What does Carl Icahn want with Freeport-McMoran? – by Kip Keen (Mineweb.com – August 28, 2015)

August 28, 2015

http://www.mineweb.com/

The activist investor has taken a big slug of the company’s shares.

HALIFAX – It must have been an interesting exercise for a billionaire that has made a name as an activist shareholder to tackle the mining industry now. To make a list of mining targets in a decimated market with resources meaningful enough to raise the spectre of a serious shake-up at one of the world’s largest mining companies.

It’s fair to simply step back and chuckle for a moment. For a whole lot of miners are so creamed, so loss-making for so many, that an activist raider surveying the field of options must be like the bear that stumbles into a honey factory after a hurricane.

Where to start? Who can I lean on? Which shareholders will treat me sweetest? Would Barrick have been on that list? Teck? Anglo American?

Yee Gads. You wonder if some mining heads might have muttered under their breath Thursday afternoon, Thanks be to Freeport. Icahn leaves us alone.

Oil surges in best day since 2009 – by Jeff Lewis (Globe and Mail – August 28, 2015)

August 28, 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.

CALGARY – Oil prices surged more than 10 per cent as world stock markets recovered from a sharp sell-off, lifting Canadian energy shares despite lingering concerns over wobbly Chinese demand and a worldwide supply glut.

In a sharp reversal, West Texas intermediate oil on Thursday jumped 10.3 per cent after U.S. oil inventories posted a surprise drop of 5.5 million barrels and data showed stronger U.S. economic growth. WTI closed at $42.56 (U.S.) a barrel. Brent, the global benchmark, rose $4.42 to settle at $47.56 a barrel.

The rally capped a string of losses that saw U.S. oil prices touch a 2009 low of $37 a barrel this week as fears over China’s economic health sent global markets into a tailspin.

The S&P/TSX capped energy index, composed of oil producers and service company providers, climbed 6.6 per cent as investors bought into a market that analysts said was oversold.

[Timmins gold mining] 56 laid off as Primero’s open pit mined out – by Len Gillis (Timmins Daily Press – August 28, 2015)

August 28, 2015

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

BLACK RIVER-MATHESON – The gold mining industry in Northeastern Ontario took another hit this week.

Primero Mining Corporation announced Thursday that 56 workers have been laid off as a result of the closure of the open pit operation at the Black Fox mine, located about 10 kilometres east of Matheson. It was formerly the Brigus Gold property.

Primero’s Black Fox underground mine continues to operate, despite the layoffs in the pit, said mine general manager Dan Gagnon at a news conference in Timmins Thursday morning.

Gagnon, a veteran in mine management, was appointed as the new boss at Primero just three months ago. Gagnon made it clear the underground operation at Black Fox is continuing and provides jobs for roughly 310 employees.

It was this time last week that IAMGOLD revealed that 33 employees were to be laid off from the Côtė Lake gold project, located southwest of Gogama.

OPG partners with First Nation for $300M project – by Alan S. Hale (Timmins Daily Press – August 28, 2015)

August 28, 2015

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

SMOOTH ROCK FALLS – Nearly 30 years of work by the members of the Taykwa Tagamou First Nation culminated in a ceremony held along the bank on the New Post Creek north of Smooth Rock Falls on Thursday morning.

The location is the future site of the Peter Sutherland Sr. Generating Station, which is a joint project between Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and a band-owned company, Coral Rapids Power. Although construction began on the $300 million hydroelectric dam months ago, the official announcement of the project was an emotional one for the First Nation members; some of whom have worked for decades to make it a reality.

“It took a big team to put this together. We had to push hard for it, and sometimes it nearly went off the rails. But we had a dream, and it is now a reality,” said band councillor and former chief Peter Archibald, who has worked on the project since 1979. “When this started, I had long hair that was black. Look at me now — falling out and white!”

Once completed, the new dam will produce 28 megawatts of power; enough to power 1,000 to 2,000 homes. The construction of the dam is expected to create 220 construction jobs.

[South Africa] Mining: Thousands of jobs, 10 solutions – by Greg Nicolson (Daily Maverick/South Africa – August 27, 2015)

August 27, 2015

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

As the country’s economy continues to shrink, a report on Wednesday said mining stakeholders have come up with 10 initiatives to save jobs and ensure the industry remains viable. The agreement is likely to be signed on Monday and could include some novel solutions.

A stakeholder agreement could potentially avert some job cuts in the mining sector as the government, unions and mining companies are expected to commit to interventions next week to help the sector, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The potential agreement comes after Mineral Resources Minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi began discussions with industry leaders earlier this month under the auspices of the Mining Industry Growth Development and Employment Task Team to confront plans across the industry to cut jobs and ensure the industry remains sustainable.

“Parties have agreed on the broad framework on interventions to be pursued, and stakeholders have been given an opportunity, over the next few days, to obtain an official mandate from their respective constituencies,” a statement from Ramatlhodi’s spokesperson Mahlodi Muofhe said on Tuesday. The agreement is expected to be signed on Monday.

British Columbia officials try to smooth over mine dispute during Juneau trip – by Pat Forgey (Alaska Dispatch News – August 26, 2015)

August 27, 2015

https://www.adn.com/

JUNEAU — Top British Columbia mining regulators this week have been trying to improve relations with Alaska that have been strained by several controversial mines and are even talking about cleanup of a British Columbia mine that’s been polluting Taku Inlet for decades.

Provincial Minister of Energy and Mines William Bennett said Wednesday in Juneau that could mean an agreement to give Alaska more of a say in what happens over the border, and that Alaska should have a larger role.

The state’s bigger role might include permitting new mines and monitoring operating mines. “I think it’s fair to say that Alaska doesn’t have a lot of access to that information,” Bennett said.

But while the minister was offering to sign a memorandum of agreement or understanding with Alaska, Alaskans in Juneau were demanding more.

John Morris, a member of the Juneau-based Douglas Indian Association’s tribal council, described a memorandum of understanding as “nothing more than a formal handshake” and said it would be better to use the Boundary Waters Treaty to see that Alaska’s interests were protected.