Republic of Mining

What China’s surprise currency devaluation means for its economy and the world – by Ana Swanson (Washington Post – August 11, 2015)

August 11, 2015

http://www.washingtonpost.com/

China surprised the world on Tuesday by devaluing its currency, in a move likely to boost Chinese exports and support the country’s flagging economic growth. The change to the currency’s value was the most dramatic one-day change in two decades.

The move is likely to stir intense concern, as political leaders, especially in the United States, have long complained that China leaves its currency at a lower value to boost its domestic industries.

Over the past decade, China has let the value of the currency, known as the yuan or renminbi, rise, but the announcement by China’s central bank Tuesday is sure to reignite debate over whether the country is giving an unfair advantage to its businesses.

Stephen Roach, a fellow at Yale University who formerly served as a non-executive chairman for Morgan Stanley in Asia, told Bloomberg that the move raised the “possibility of a new and increasingly destabilizing skirmish in the ever-widening global currency war.”

Asteroid Mining May Be a Reality by 2025 – by Mike Wall (Space.com – August 11, 2015)

August 11, 2015

http://www.space.com/

Asteroid mining could shift from sci-fi dream to world-changing reality a lot faster than you think.

Planetary Resources deployed its first spacecraft from the International Space Station last month, and the Washington-based asteroid-mining company aims to launch a series of increasingly ambitious and capable probes over the next few years.

The goal is to begin transforming asteroid water into rocket fuel within a decade, and eventually to harvest valuable and useful platinum-group metals from space rocks.

“We have every expectation that delivering water from asteroids and creating an in-space refueling economy is something that we’ll see in the next 10 years — even in the first half of the 2020s,” said Chris Lewicki, Planetary Resources president and chief engineer Chris Lewicki.

“After that, I think it’s going to be how the market develops,” Lewicki told Space.com, referring to the timeline for going after asteroid metals.

COLUMN-China commodity imports will have to do more than just “hold up” – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – August 11, 2015)

August 11, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Aug 11 (Reuters) – China’s imports of major commodities are holding up well, according to market consensus, but that in itself is quite concerning for the overall state of the world’s second-biggest economy.

Commodities are often viewed as the canary in the coal mine, with falling demand a sign of economic troubles ahead. Likewise, consumption of natural resources should pick up ahead of a more general recovery.

The fact commodity imports haven’t weakened does allow some of the more alarmist views of China’s economy to be discounted.

But equally, the absence of a resurgence in imports means any significant, infrastructure-led recovery is not yet on the horizon, even if it is coming, as is the widely-held conviction.

“July commodity imports held up,” was how Barclays headlined a report on China’s trade data, while London-based consultancy Capital Economics said, “Commodity imports hold up well.”

Critical Metals: The West is sleepwalking to its economic decline – by Robin Bromby (Investor Intel.com – August 4, 2015)

August 11, 2015

http://investorintel.com/

Anne-Marie Brady, professor at the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Canterbury in the New Zealand city of Christchurch, specializes in China, and has since 2008 been researching Chinese interests in the polar regions. Some time ago she saw on a Chinese website a map of Antarctica’s mineral resources. After she revealed her find, the map was swiftly removed.

She will in October be delivering a lecture on the subject of “China as Polar Great Power”, which is also the title of her forthcoming book. She says Chinese literature is “very, very clear about China’s interests in Antarctic minerals”. And everyone else’s.

Reading Jack Lifton’s incisive summation of the global rare earth situation posted on InvestorIntel yesterday, and the West’s continuing weakness in that sector, it occurred to me that this is part of a much wider problem. As Jack wrote, the strategy being followed by Chinalco involves a concerted, well-planned consolidation of Chinese interests.

And he added: “While American, European, Brazilian, South African, and Australian rare earth producers and juniors squabble with each other and promote their share prices as their only hope of raising new capital in a market dominated by China’s use … of the majority of the world’s rare earths as well as the majority of all metals, Chinalco is methodically planning to diversify its sources of raw materials and to seek out technology sales or purchases to improve its efficiencies.”

“They’re Getting Away with It”: Locals Say No Blame Means No Compensation for Mount Polley Mine Spill Victims – by Carol Linnitt (Desmog Canada.com – August 9, 2015)

August 11, 2015

http://www.desmog.ca/

Whether it was an act of God or the fault of negligent mine operators, the cause of Mount Polley mine spill — the worst mining disaster in Canadian history — remains officially undetermined, leaving local residents in a frustrated state of limbo.

One year ago this week the Mount Polley mine tailings impoundment collapsed, sending a catastrophic 24 million cubic metres of contaminated mining waste down the Hazeltine Creek and into Quesnel Lake, a local source of drinking water and in peak years can host up to 60 per cent of the province’s sockeye salmon run.

The province of B.C. says the Mount Polley Mining Corporation, owned by Imperial Metals, is still under investigation although some fear a January report that found glacial silt responsible for the instability of the collapsed tailings pond may take culpability away from the company.

Kanahus Manuel, a local indigenous activist and member of the Secwepemc First Nation, said the province’s decision to approve a partial re-opening of the Mount Polley mine last month signals to the media and the public that the company is without blame.

Clinton strays from her roots as coal miner’s great granddaughter – by Valerie Volcovici and Amanda Becker (Reuters U.S. – August 10, 2015)

August 10, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

WASHINGTON – In her 2008 bid for the White House, Hillary Clinton cast herself as a blue-collar Democrat who was unabashedly pro-coal, a stance that helped her beat opponent Barack Obama easily in primaries in states that produced or were reliant on coal.

Eight years later, a Reuters review of her recent campaign speeches and policy announcements shows that the great-granddaughter of a Welsh coal miner is now talking about the coal industry in the past tense.

The little-noticed shift in rhetoric speaks volumes about how the United States’ energy landscape has changed since Clinton last campaigned in 2008: oil and gas fracking have exploded and cheap natural gas has taken a huge bite out of coal.

In the intervening years the Obama administration has also proposed aggressive measures to tamp down greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels like coal, while once-powerful coal companies like Alpha Natural Resources, which declared bankruptcy last week, have lost their political clout.

How Rio Tinto plans to cut costs by $US1 billion – by Amanda Saunders (Sydney Morning Herald – August 10, 2015)

August 10, 2015

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

You might not think vending machines would feature in Andrew Harding’s cost cutting drive. But for the Rio iron ore boss, cost-cutting is coming down to micro detail, which can save millions for a business that will ship 340 million tonnes of iron ore this year.

Rio has started putting safety glasses and gloves in a vending machine that requires a staff access card to withdraw them. Previously, the equipment was left in boxes for workers to take, with no way of monitoring use.

“It’s tracking and about feeling accountable for the use of the product,” Mr Harding told Fairfax Media after the miner last week posted a 43 per cent fall in underlying earnings to $US2.9 billion for the June half.

“There is no restriction on them – it’s safety equipment. But instead of someone going ‘this is unlimited, what the hell’ kind of thinking, it reminds people that it’s an important item, contributing to cost reductions. People know that they need to be thoughtful about the use of them, they are not taking more than they need.”

Zimbabwe: Reprieve for Platinum Miners – by Golden Sibanda (All Africa.com – August 10, 2015)

August 10, 2015

http://allafrica.com/

CABINET last week suspended the 15 percent tax on raw exports of platinum for a period of two years to allow mining companies more time to set up platinum beneficiation facilities.

This allows the country’s mines to continue exporting raw platinum group metals without being subjected to the contentious tax.

The Ministry of Finance had early this year gazetted a statutory instrument effecting Government’s decision to subject raw PGMs to the export levy.

As such, the platinum mining companies had been lobbying for the removal of the tax arguing it rendered operations unviable in the wake of falling PGM prices.

In fact, the companies briefly suspended exports in April this year arguing that they could not continue due to the impact of tax on gross proceeds of sales.

COLUMN-No breaks for coal miners from China, India imports – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.K. – August 10, 2015)

August 10, 2015

http://uk.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Aug 10 (Reuters) – It seems coal miners and traders just can’t catch a break, with a rebound in China’s imports being tempered by early signs of a turning point in India’s import growth.

The main problem for coal exporters such as Australia, Indonesia and South Africa is that China’s surge in imports in July is unlikely to be sustained, while India’s decline may well be the start of a longer-lasting trend.

China, the world’s biggest producer and importer of coal, brought in 21.26 million tonnes in July, up 28.1 percent from June’s 16.6 million and the highest in eight months, according to customs data released Aug. 8.

However, imports are down 7.7 percent on a year earlier and down 33.7 percent for the first seven months of 2015, making July’s month-on-month result an outlier in a overall weakening trend.

It’s also likely that July’s strength will remain an exception, rather than herald the reversal of the existing trend.

Glencore’s Trading Profit at Risk From Rout in Commodities – by Jesse Riseborough and Javier Blas (Bloomberg News – August 10, 2015)

August 10, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Glencore Plc’s trading business is at risk of missing its earnings target for this year, if analyst estimates and historical precedent are any guide.

The division may report adjusted earnings before interest and tax of $1.28 billion for the first six months of the year, according to the average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. That’s less than half the company’s full-year target of $2.7 billion to $3.7 billion. For the past three years, second-half trading profit has never beat first-half.

The trading operation, which handles everything from cotton to copper to oil, is under pressure as a glut of global metal supply reduces the premiums that Glencore can charge to clients.

Agriculture traders have also struggled, with Cargill Inc. reporting its first quarterly loss since 2001 and Bunge Ltd. missing analysts’ estimates. Glencore shares hit a record low last week and have slumped 62 percent since 2011.

“While everyone has been quick to call the end of the commodities super-cycle, the more important shift for Glencore is the end of the era of super-profits in trading,” said Ben Davis, analyst at Liberum Capital Ltd. in London. “What made Glencore rich in the past is unlikely to happen again.”

The dangerous search for emeralds in Colombia – by Joshua Partlow and Julia Symmes Cobb(Washington Post – August 9, 2015)

September 3, 2015August 10, 2015

http://www.washingtonpost.com/

After taking over a major mine, a U.S. company has been met with violence

Muzo, Columbia – The chopper touched down on the hillside helipad and Charles Burgess, a cigar-chomping former U.S. government employee, stepped out to survey the full sweep of his Andean domain.

Since before the conquistadors, men have dug for emeralds in the soil of this steep-walled jungle valley. The gemstone bounty found here fueled the empire of Victor Carranza, the feared billionaire “emerald czar” who vanquished his rivals in bloody battles that left some 6,000 dead.

Now all that Burgess could see — from the green peaks where the vultures circled to the valley floor where grimy campesinos shoveled dirt in the black river — belongs to his American mining company, which has taken control of the world’s largest and most valuable emerald mine.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Burgess said. By purchasing Carranza’s share of the mine two years ago, the Houston-based company, Minería Texas Colombia, known as MTC, is now the only foreign mining company in the treacherous world of Colombia’s emerald trade — once responsible for about two-thirds of the world supply.

As storms batter Chile’s coast, some copper mines suspend work – by Rosalba O’Brien (Reuters U.S. – August 9, 2015)

August 10, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

SANTIAGO – Heavy rain and winds hit the southern cone of South America over the weekend, battering the Chilean coastline and leading to the precautionary suspension of work at some mines in the top copper exporter.

Over 1,000 people from Antofagasta in the far north to Los Rios in the south of Chile were affected, with some being housed in shelters after being evacuated or losing their homes to floods, and over 120,000 were left without electricity, the emergency service Onemi said on Sunday.

Mud landslides wiped out roads in and around the city of Tocopilla in the Antofagasta region, leading to three deaths, while another three were killed in accidents along the coast, local media reported.

Over 15 millimeters (0.6 inch) of rain had fallen in six hours in normally bone-dry Antofagasta, the interior ministry said.

After months of drought, the rains that began early last week in central Chile and have since spread north have brought some relief to farmers and ski resort owners, but spelled more potential bad news for Chile’s key copper mining industry, mostly based in the north of the country and already hit by floods once this year.

UPDATED: Vale sanctions underground mine at Voisey’s Bay (CBC News Newfoundland – August 10, 2015)

August 10, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/

Will extend mine life to 2035 and nearbly double workforce to 850

Mining giant Vale has approved construction of an underground mine at Voisey’s Bay that will extend the life of the northern Labrador mine by about 15 years and provide hundreds more jobs.

A company spokesman said construction will begin next year, and is timed to ensure a continuity of supply for the new multi-billion-dollar nickel processing plant in Long Harbour.

“For us it’s a natural evolution of the mine there,” said Cory McPhee, vice-president of corporate affairs for Vale’s base metals business.

“We’ve always known that the open pit was going to be exhausted at some point. And going underground was the next natural step. And that’s the key to exploiting the resource that’s available to us.”

It will take about five years to complete the underground mine, which is about the same time the surface mine is expected to reach the end of its lifespan.

Screamers (Mining Themed Science Fiction Movie – 1995) (Toronto Film Scene: Online Film Magazine – November 2014))

August 10, 2015

http://thetfs.ca/

For our science fiction issue, it seemed obvious to address and Cronenberg or Vincenzo Natali film, so we decided to go a little off the beaten path and choose Screamers, a 1995 Canadian co-production (with the US and Japan) starring Peter Weller, Roy Dupuis and directed by Christian Duguay.

The film takes place in the the year 2078 on a planet called Sirius 6B, on which miners are at war with the corporation who employs them to mine a very potent energy source. Unfortunately, the side effect of the mining is severe radiation, creating horribly unsafe working conditions.

To combat the corporation, the miners create weapons called “screamers”, spinning blade weapons that follow heartbeats and come up from the ground to slice their enemies into pieces. The war seems close to an end, but now the miners face a new enemy: screamers who can think and replicate themselves.