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NEWS RELEASE: Pact Report Sheds New Light on Conflict-Free Mining in Africa’s Great Lakes

Download the report, Unconflicted, on Pact’s website.

For more information about Pact’s work in mining globally, visit http://www.pactworld.org/mining.

WASHINGTON, D.C., Jul. 14 /CSRwire/ – Today, Pact released a report detailing the state of conflict-free minerals in The Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi. The report provides an in-depth look at traceability and due diligence, as well as on-the-ground progress and challenges.

Throughout Africa’s Great Lakes region, the international community has closely watched, and regulated, the extraction and sale of conflict minerals – tin, tungsten tantalum (3Ts) and gold – in the hopes of curtailing ongoing violence.

In 2010, Pact, an international development nonprofit, along with regional governments, companies and other partners, began implementing the joint industry traceability and due diligence system developed by ITRI (the nonprofit global tin industry association) known as iTSCi (ITRI Tin Supply Chain Initiative).

“In the five years since the partnership began, iTSCi has protected and improved the lives of tens of thousands of miners across hundreds of mines,” said Yves Bawa, regional director for Congo, Rwanda and Burundi and iTSCi program manager at Pact.

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Anglo American Seen Cutting Dividend as Commodity Prices Retreat – by Kevin Crowley and Jesse Riseborough (Bloomberg News – July 15, 2015)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Anglo American Plc could cut its dividend for the first time since 2009 as tumbling commodity prices reduce the cash available to pay investors.

Analysts at Barclays Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Investec Ltd. have all said the company may make a cut when it reports first-half results next week, without specifying the scale of any reduction. Anglo, which spent $1 billion on dividends in 2014, hasn’t reduced the payout since it was halted during the global financial crisis.

The speculation underscores the challenge faced by Chief Executive Officer Mark Cutifani, who is seeking to almost double the company’s return on capital by improving mines and selling assets. He’s doing that at a time when prices for copper, iron ore, thermal coal and platinum, representing half of Anglo’s revenue last year, are trading in or close to bear markets.

Cutifani “has been dealt a very rough hand,” said Gavin Wood, the chief investment officer of Kagiso Asset Management in Cape Town, which manages $6 billion of assets, including Anglo shares. “They need to cut back on costs, on capital expenditure, preserve cash and weather it out.”

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Filmmaker goes home to document Red Lake mining life – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – June 30, 2015)

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca.

Abudding Toronto filmmaker has paid an artistic and captivating tribute to his hometown of Red Lake with the release of his first feature-length documentary.

Cliff Caines’ 78-minute film, “A Rock and a Hard Place,” is a nostalgic and critical portrait of a resource-dependent town built upon some of the world’s richest gold deposits.

Under the umbrella of his production company, Headframe Films, the documentary received an honourable mention at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival in Vancouver this past May.

The catalyst for the project was in 2010 when he got wind of rumours that Goldcorp was evaluating the possibility of digging up entire subdivisions of Balmertown, a small community within Red Lake where he grew up, to convert the land into a huge open pit.

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Miners’ M&A sinks in sea of dud deals – by James Thomson (Australian Financial Review – June 23, 2015)

http://www.afr.com/

Think long term. Show some vision. Be bold. Don’t mortgage your company’s future prospects by simply handing back capital to shareholders. Do something!

If like me you’ve had these thoughts about the current state of corporate psyches, then this might make you think again – big miners are apparently terrible at mergers and acquisitions.

According to research from Citi, the world’s biggest miners have now written off about 90 per cent of the value of the assets they have acquired via M&A since 2007.

Ninety per cent! This suggests the bulk of deals done by our big miners have been pretty much worthless for shareholders. A sea of dud deals. Billions in wasted capital.

According to Citi’s numbers, miners have written down the value of assets by $US85 billion in the past seven years, representing about 18 per cent of their assets base.

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Newmont’s C.U.R.E. commitment belies mining’s rapacious image – by Lawrie Williams (Lawrieongold.com – July 15, 2015)

http://lawrieongold.com/

Mining has a very poor media image, largely prompted by often untrue or exaggerated examples of supposed bad practice by axe-to-grind sometimes less scrupulous environmental NGOs and the invariable depiction of mining companies as the bad guys in many Hollywood movies – particularly Westerns.

The media has an inbuilt predilection for only publishing news of inevitable occasional (actually very rare) environmental breaches and to totally ignore the good that many, indeed most, mining companies do for the communities in which they operate as part of their social contract. It was not ever thus, but today’s miners are a very different breed, but still could be said to be suffering from the sins of the past in terms of perception.

Mining thus has a huge amount of ground to make up in perhaps better disseminating knowledge of the huge amount of positive work being undertaken in education, housing, health and safety and wellbeing in the often extremely remote areas of the world in which they operate.

Go to a presentation by virtually any modern-day mining company operating in the less developed parts of the world and it will highlight what is being done in this respect – building schools, hospitals, decent housing and implementing sustainability programmes to be in place when the deposit is worked out – and, of course, providing decently paid employment, in areas where frequently there was absolutely nothing but subsistence living.

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Mine Games: Clash of the Commodity Kingpins – by Jeremy Kahn (Bloomberg News – July 14 2015)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Glencore boss Ivan Glasenberg takes on Rio Tinto’s Sam Walsh—and an entire industry.

Sam Walsh, the mild-mannered Australian CEO of London-based mining giant Rio Tinto Group, insists he remains on cordial terms with Ivan Glasenberg, the brash South African who leads the global mining and commodities trading firm Glencore. Sure, Glasenberg approached Walsh’s boss—Rio Tinto Chairman Jandu Plessis—in July 2014 and proposed a merger that would likely have cost Walsh his job.

Sure, Glasenberg doesn’t miss a chance to tell the world that Walsh and his fellow Big Mining executives don’t comprehend the basic economics of supply and demand. Still, Walsh told the Times of London in December, “We’re big boys, and this is business. It’s not personal.”

Except it kind of is. Glasenberg’s argument is that Walsh and his fellow global mining executives “screwed up”—the phrase the commodities tycoon used in 2013—by flooding the world with minerals. Take iron ore, which is responsible for almost half of Rio Tinto’s revenue and more than two-thirds of its pretax profit.

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Former Kinross Gold CEO working on potential bid for Anglo assets – by Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – July 14, 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.

Kinross Gold Corp.’s former chief executive Tye Burt is interested in Anglo American PLC’s three copper mines in Chile, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Burt is working with another former Kinross executive, Hugh Agro, to create another mining company after being ousted as Kinross’s CEO for a deal gone awry.

Mr. Burt and Mr. Agro, the former M&A executive at Kinross, are now seeking financing for a potential bid on the Anglo assets, the sources said.

Mr. Burt is one of many people who were given the opportunity to examine Anglo’s Mantoverde, Mantos Blancos and El Soldado mines.

Others include former Xstrata PLC CEO Mick Davis, who now runs a private mining entity called X2 Resources LLP, sources said.

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The Latest Sign That Coal Is Getting Killed – by Tom Randall (Bloomberg News – July 13, 2015)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Coal is a sick dragon, and the bond market wields a heavy sword

Coal is having a hard time lately. U.S. power plants are switching to natural gas, environmental restrictions are kicking in, and the industry is being derided as the world’s No. 1 climate criminal. Prices have crashed, sure, but for a real sense of coal’s diminishing prospects, check out what’s happening in the bond market.

Bonds are where coal companies turn to raise money for such things as new mines and environmental cleanups. But investors are increasingly reluctant to lend to them. Coal bond prices tumbled 17 percent in the second quarter, according to an analysis by Bloomberg Intelligence. It’s the fourth consecutive quarter of price declines and the worst performance of any industry group by a long shot.

Bonds fluctuate less than stocks, because the payoff is fixed and pretty much guaranteed as long as the borrower remains solvent. A 17 percent decline is huge, and it happened at a time when other energy bonds—oil and gas—were rising. Three of America’s biggest coal producers had the worst-performing bonds for the quarter:

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NEWS RELEASE: KWG UPDATES APPEALS STATUS

Toronto, Canada, July 14, 2015 – With respect to the appeal of the decision of the Divisional Court of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released July 30, 2014, counsel for the parties have agreed with the Registrar of the Court of Appeal for Ontario to conduct the hearing previously scheduled for October 20th, 2015 on November 25th, 2015 instead.

Factums filed by the Appellant KWG Resources Inc. (CSE: KWG; Frankfurt: KW6) (“KWG”) subsidiary Canada Chrome Corporation, by the Respondent 2274659 Ontario Inc., and by the Intervenor Minister of Northern Development and Mines are posted on KWG’s website: www.kwgresources.com.

In the appeal by Noront Resources Ltd. of the Mining Recorder’s order made June 24, 2014 granting to KWG and Canada Chrome Corporation claims staked and recorded on June 21, 2011, the Mining and Lands Commissioner ordered on June 19, 2015 that the Appellant file its material by no later than July 20, 2015 following which the Respondent must file its material by August 20, 2015. A copy of the Order to File is also posted on the KWG website.

About KWG:

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Primero’s precious problem – by Kip Keen (Mineweb.com – July 14, 2015)

http://www.mineweb.com/

Primero reports being unable to sell silver or gold from Mexico.

HALIFAX – Primero Mining can’t sell its Mexican silver and gold abroad.

The miner, which owns the San Dimas mine in Mexico and the Black Fox mine in Canada, said Thursday that its import and export licenses in Mexico had been revoked following a mess-up over a change of address. Primero said its Mexican subsidiary changed corporate addresses in Mexico from Mexico City to Durango and that precipitated the revocation of its import and export license.

The revocation happened back in May.

Since at least then Primero silver and gold has piled up. It said $6.5 million in revenue from the sale of 880,000 ounces silver had been delayed and that it could not deliver some 630,000 ounces silver as part of a silver streaming agreement with Silver Wheaton.

“Senior customs officials have confirmed that the company’s registry status is being reviewed, but the company has not been given a definitive date for reinstatement of the licenses,” Primerso stated.

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Vale’s Cut Is No Panacea for Iron Ore, Morgan Stanley Says – by David Stringer (Bloomberg News – July 13, 2015)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Iron ore prices trading near the lowest level since at least 2009 will probably remain under pressure and may even extend declines after Brazil’s Vale SA announced changes to production plans, according to Morgan Stanley.

The world’s biggest producer said on Monday that it would cut about 25 million metric tons of higher-cost supply from this month, while sticking to a full-year output target of 340 million tons.

The decisions are a recognition that the market is oversupplied this year and will probably remain in surplus in 2016, according to Executive Director Peter Poppinga.

“This will not lead to higher iron ore prices in the short term — it could even have the opposite effect,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in an e-mailed report. The changes by Vale won’t reduce supply, rather they will add more lower-cost material into the export market, the analysts said.

Benchmark prices are mired in a bear market as Vale and its main Australian competitors — Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd. — increase low-cost production even as demand stagnates in China, spurring a glut.

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NEWS RELEASE: Harper Government Invests in British Columbia’s Kootenay Region Mining and Metals Industry

TRAIL, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwired – July 13, 2015) – Western Economic Diversification Canada

Today, David Wilks, Member of Parliament for Kootenay-Columbia, on behalf of the Honourable Michelle Rempel, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification, announced a $748,601 investment to the Kootenay Association for Science and Technology (KAST) to establish a metallurgical industry development accelerator in the West Kootenay.

Funding, provided through the Western Diversification Program, will allow KAST to establish and operate a centre for Metallurgical Industrial Development Acceleration and Studies (MIDAS). This sector-targeted applied research and commercialization centre will provide downstream metallurgical expertise, a digital fabrication laboratory, and business development support for the region.

MIDAS will assist with the establishment and growth of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by strengthening the direct-to-market deployment of mineral/metal by-products; supporting applied research and development of commercial applications; providing technical training in metallurgical science and digital fabrication; and offering business mentoring.

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Transforming SA’s macho mining culture – by AFP (Business Report – July 13, 2015)

http://www.iol.co.za/business

Female miners are battling to make their mark in the mining sector, and face a daily war for their rights underground.

Deep underground, where huge conveyer belts haul rocks to the surface, 33-year-old mother of two Bernice Motsieloa represents the quiet revolution transforming the macho culture of South African mining.

Motsieloa is a shift supervisor at Anglo American’s Bathopele platinum mine – one of several thousand female miners employed in a difficult and often dangerous environment traditionally dominated by men.

Despite an apartheid-era ban on women working underground only being lifted in 1996, 15 percent of all employees in the mining sector are now female, exceeding the government’s own target of 10 percent. But reports of sexual harassment are common, and some retired miners say female miners face pressure to offer sexual favours to their male colleagues.

Motsieloa said she has never suffered physical violence since first going down the pits in 2002 doing manual labour in a gold mine, though she vividly recalls the verbal abuse she endured. “It was hard. We were openly called names by our male colleagues who told us ‘this is not your place’,” she told AFP.

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COLUMN-China Shenhua’s Australian coal mine on troubled path – by Clyde Russell (Reuters India – July 14, 2015)

http://in.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, July 14 (Reuters) – A planned Chinese-owned coal mine in Australia has become the latest example in a long line of mud-slinging trumping sensible debate.

While it makes for great headlines, there are few things less edifying than seeing politicians, business and community leaders flinging gratuitous insults at each other.

The stoush is over the Australian federal government’s approval of a A$1 billion ($746 million) coal mine being developed by China Shenhua Energy Co in the Liverpool Plains region of New South Wales state.

It would be something of an understatement to say the 10-million tonne a year project has been controversial, with its approval showing splits in the ruling Liberal National coalition, while prompting threats of civil disobedience from farmers and legal action from a variety of opponents.

The main issue is that the proposed mine, known as Watermark, is in prime agricultural land and there is concern that not only will it take up land that could be used for farming, but also that the mine will deplete or degrade the region’s underground water table.

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Zimbabwe’s desperate gold rush poisons children with mercury – by Andrew Mambondiyani (Reuters U.S. – July 13, 2015)

http://www.reuters.com/

MUTARE, Zimbabwe, (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Cynthia Dzimbati was exhausted. Her three-month-old baby strapped to her back and panning dish in hand, she had spent the whole day working the Mutare River for not one single ounce of gold.

“This is now my life. I lost my job,” said the 31-year old single mother, looking so worn out she could easily have passed for 50. “I have three children to feed.”

Dzimbati poured a few drops of mercury into a bowl of dirty water and stirred it with her bare hands.

The gold in the river is growing more scarce these days, she said, so the illegal artisanal miners are relying on mercury, a highly toxic substance supplied by the smugglers who buy their product, to trap the precious metal from the muddy river waters in the eastern borders of Zimbabwe.

Public health and environmental experts say the consequences are disastrous. Mercury is contaminating drinking water for miles around and causing neurological damage, especially to children.

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