Republic of Mining

Keep Metal Prices Lower for Much Longer – by David Stringer (Bloomberg News – June 3, 2015)

June 3, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

BHP Billiton Ltd. delivered a sombre warning to global commodity markets that oversupply is very much here to stay. Tumbling prices are creating a testing environment for commodity producers, while demand is slowing to more routine levels amid a transition in China’s economy away from investment-led growth, the world’s biggest mining company’s Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mackenzie said Wednesday.

“In many markets, recently installed low-cost supply can now be stretched to meet growing demand,” Mackenzie said in a speech in Canberra. “Incremental supply, induced during periods of higher prices, will take longer to absorb and this means over-supply may persist for some time.”

Expansion by the biggest iron ore producers, including BHP and Vale SA, will see a global surplus swell to 215 million tons in 2018 from 45 million this year, UBS Group AG estimates. Teck Resources Ltd. plans to idle six Canadian coal operations amid a slump in prices and demand.

“The speed at which prices have returned to long run levels for each commodity has varied as a function of the time taken for low cost supply to come to market,” Mackenzie said.

Canada’s residential schools cultural genocide, Truth and Reconciliation commission says – by Joanna Smith (Toronto Star – June 3, 2015)

June 3, 2015

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

A damning report culminates a six-year examination of Canada’s residential schools that oversaw the ill-treatment of aboriginal children for more than a century.

OTTAWA—The Truth and Reconciliation Commission urges all Canadians to rise to the enormous challenge of righting the wrongs committed by residential schools, even if it takes generations to reverse the ongoing effects of cultural genocide.

“We have described for you a mountain. We have shown you a path to the top. We call upon you to do the climbing,” Justice Murray Sinclair, chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, told a packed ballroom in a downtown Ottawa hotel Tuesday.

The exhortation came on an emotionally charged day that saw the commission release a heart-wrenching and damning 381-page summary of its final report detailing the history and legacy of residential schools — largely operated by churches and funded by the Canadian government — that saw 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children come through their doors for more than a century.

Northern Ontario’s next boom must come from within – by Livio Di Matteo (Waterloo Region Record/Troy Media – June 3, 2015)

June 3, 2015

http://www.therecord.com/waterlooregion/

Livio Di Matteo is professor of economics at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.

Ontario’s north has experienced slower economic growth than the rest of the province for decades. Its shrinking economic role within Ontario — rooted as it was in natural resource extraction and processing — is a constant economic and political issue that has vexed politicians and community economic leaders for nearly 50 years.

The crisis in the forestry sector and its more capital-intensive production methods have also led to reduced northern employment. Whereas in 2003 there were 373,000 jobs in northern Ontario, by 2013 the number had decline five per cent to 355,000. Even the favourable unemployment rates in major northern urban centres are illusory, given that they reflect a shrinking labour force.

Compare that to Ontario as a whole, which saw employment grow 11 per cent over the same period despite the manufacturing malaise.

One response from northern Ontario to the employment decline has been to rely more on government. But public administration, health and social assistance, and education together already make up nearly 30 per cent of employment in northern Ontario, compared to 24 per cent in the province as a whole.

NEWS RELEASE: VALE’S SAMANTHA ESPLEY HONOURED BY ENGINEERS CANADA

June 3, 2015

SUDBURY, June 3, 2015 – Vale is pleased to announce that Samantha Espley, General Manager of Mines & Mill Technical Services (Ontario Operations), received the 2015 Award for Support of Women in the Engineering Profession from Engineers Canada.

This national award was given to Samantha for her achievements as an engineer and significant contributions in supporting women in the industry. The presentation was made at the Engineers Canada Awards Gala on May 21st in Calgary.

“I am humbled and grateful to Engineers Canada for recognizing me in this way,” said Samantha. “I feel blessed to continue to enjoy such a fulfilling career in mining and I will continue my work to promote engineering and mining as an attractive career choice to the next generation of young Canadian women”.

NEWS RELEASE: Excellon Reports on the Passing of Peter Crossgrove, Chairman

June 3, 2015

www.excellonresources.com

TORONTO, ON–(Marketwired – June 03, 2015) – Excellon Resources Inc. (TSX: EXN)(OTC: EXLLF) (“Excellon” or the “Company”), reports with sadness that Peter A. Crossgrove, CPG, O.C., Chairman of the Board of Directors, passed away yesterday afternoon.

“Today we mourn the passing of a great figure in Canadian mining,” commented Brendan Cahill, President and Chief Executive Officer. “He was an entrepreneur who experienced success in many industries worldwide. He was a connector of people and ideas who asked for nothing in return. He was selfless in his work and fundraising for charitable causes. He was an exceptional mentor, for so many as well as myself. Our deepest condolences go to Peter’s family and all of the people he touched over the years.”

Peter Crossgrove served as a Director of Excellon since 2005 and was Chairman of the Board since 2008. He had been in the mining industry for almost his entire career and most recently sat on various boards of directors including, Detour Gold, Lake Shore Gold, Pelangio Exploration, Dundee REIT and Dundee Industrial REIT. He previously served on the Board of Barrick Gold for 22 years; was CEO and Vice Chairman of Placer Dome; and was a founder of Masonite International.

Peter was the recipient of the Order of Canada, Order of Ontario, The Upper Canada Medal, Queens Golden Jubilee Medal and Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal.

NEWS RELEASE: Fasken Martineau wins Global Mining Law Firm of the Year Award

June 3, 2015

http://www.fasken.com/en/home/

Toronto (Canada) – April 28, 2015 – Fasken Martineau, a leading international business law and litigation firm, announced today that it has been awarded Global Mining Law Firm of the Year for 2015 by Who’s Who Legal. This is the seventh time that Fasken Martineau has been recognized by Who’s Who Legal as the leading law firm in the world in the area of mining.

“We are extremely pleased to be named Global Mining Law Firm of the Year. As an international law firm, this win showcases the outstanding work that our mining group members undertake for clients globally. We share this award with our mining clients who continue to call upon us for a broad spectrum of work from regulatory and financing to environmental and government relations,” said partner John Turner, Practice Group Leader for Fasken Martineau’s Global Mining Group.

Said Who’s Who Legal in a press release issued today: “Eight lawyers from the firm from three continents were selected for inclusion in Who’s Who Legal: Mining, and the firm collectively received more votes than any other in the global research.”

“The mining arena is one of the most competitive in the world and one of the most complex from a legal perspective. Being ranked amongst our international law firm peers as leader of the pack is a testament to our group’s strength as a whole,” commented Michael Bourassa, Fasken Martineau partner and Global Mining Group member.

RPT–Peru elections seen fanning flames of mining disputes – by Mitra Taj (Reuters U.S. – June 1, 2015)

June 2, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Mining conflicts in Peru, a top global minerals exporter, will likely heat up ahead of presidential and congressional elections next year as political outsiders whip up anti-mining sentiment, government officials and business leaders said.

Protests from local community groups have derailed three mining projects worth $7 billion in the past five years, and threaten to hold up more.

Carlos Galvez, head of Peru’s main mining association, said opponents of mining projects can win votes in rural areas where poverty rates are high and many eke out a living as farmers.

“Here everyone is anti. If you’re anti-mining then you’re in fashion,” said Galvez, who leads the National Society of Mining, Petroleum and Energy.

Southern Copper Corp’s $1.4 billion Tia Maria project was put on hold last month amid deadly protests.

David Montoya, a cabinet official tasked with conflict prevention, accused protest leaders of feeding fears about pollution from Tia Maria in order to win the dispute and pave a political future for themselves. “They shut down discussion,” he said.

Anger and Grief Simmer in Turkey a Year After Soma Mine Disaster – by Ceylan Yeginsujune (New York Times – June 2, 2015)

June 2, 2015

http://www.nytimes.com/

ELMADERE, Turkey — Through the lace curtains of her window, Beyhan Yilmaz cannot help but see the raw gash of the new coal mine carved through the green hills near her village. She is stung by the sight.

“I used to run away to that hill and have picnics with my husband under the pine trees,” Ms. Yilmaz recalled, with tears trickling down her cheeks. “As if the fact that they destroyed that beauty wasn’t painful enough, now every time I look out the window, I am reminded of the hell where my husband burned to death.”

Ms. Yilmaz, 26, is one of 10 women from Elmadere, in western Turkey, who were widowed by the deadliest industrial disaster in modern Turkish history, the explosion and fire that tore through a coal mine in the nearby town of Soma in May 2014, leaving 301 men dead.

The disaster led to protests in Soma and across Turkey that were broken up by the riot police using rubber bullets and water cannons. The anger here toward the government had barely receded a year later as the widows observed the grim anniversary. Families of victims say that no one has been held accountable and that they have been left to face the future on their own.

India steel mills set US$46 bln plan to expand capacity (Ejinsight.com – June 2, 2015)

June 2, 2015

http://www.ejinsight.com/

Indian steel mills plan to invest 2.94 trillion rupees (US$46.13 billion) in the next 10 years to expand production capacity.

The target is 300 million tons of production capacity by 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing Steel and Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

Falling demand from China has resulted in a global oversupply but India is planning for the longer term, Tomar said.

He expects considerable homegrown demand as the government adds infrastructure such as roads, ports, housing and real estate for which steel will be a key component.

India, the world’s third largest steel producer by volume, has been struggling to add new capacity in recent years, mainly because of delays in securing environmental approvals and opposition by farmers who refuse to make way for plant construction.

In 2013, ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, scrapped plans to build a plant in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, citing delays in acquiring land.

Japan’s nuclear plan is bad news for LNG, coal – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – June 2, 2015)

June 2, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, June 2 (Reuters) – The rise of China and India as energy importers has largely consigned Japan to the sidelines, but the world’s third-largest economy still exerts significant influence in some markets.

That’s why Japan’s long-term energy vision is too important to be ignored, given it is the world’s top importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), number three in coal and four in crude oil.

A consultative committee on Monday endorsed the government’s blueprint for the energy mix it hopes to achieve by 2030, with the proposal now open for public comment for a month ahead of a likely formal approval by the trade ministry mid-July.

While the proposal has attracted controversy over a plan for nuclear energy to generate 20-22 percent of the nation’s electricity, it’s also worth noting how it sees the rest of the generating mix.

Renewables are set at 22-24 percent, LNG at 27 percent and coal at 26 percent. This represents a decline in nuclear’s share of electricity generation from the 30 percent it held before the Fukushima disaster following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Chileans Bet Apple Will Pay a Premium for Clean Rare Earths – by Eduardo Thomson (Bloomberg News – June 2, 2015)

June 2, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The future of rare-earth minerals used in everything from iPhones to Tomahawk missiles lies under the pine plantations of southern Chile, and in a secret formula, according to closely held junior miner Mineria Activa.

Elements such as neodymium and dysprosium are contained in clays near the city of Concepcion in concentrations similar to those found in southern China, which has all but cornered global supply until now. The similarities end there, Arturo Albornoz, who heads Activa’s Biolantanidos project, said in an interview.

While operations in China typically pump ammonium sulfate into the ground and wait for the chemical to seep out with the minerals, at Biolantanidos the plan is to dig out the clay, put it through a tank-leaching process with biodegradable chemicals and return it cleaned to the ground, replanting pine and eucalyptus trees.

It may be laborious, but Albornoz is hoping companies such as ThyssenKrupp AG, Apple Inc. and Tomahawk cruise missile maker Raytheon Co. will end up paying a premium, knowing their suppliers aren’t destroying the planet.

Prof looking for tales of life in Sudbury’s moonscape – by Heidi Ulrichsen (Sudbury Northern Life – June 2, 2015)

June 2, 2015

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Project explores the life of immigrants in Copper Clif, Coniston, Gatchell and the Donovan

Did you walk to school with a handkerchief over your face because the pollution was so bad? Did your mother have to replant the garden five times because of acid rain? Were mine tailings your personal playground?

Stacey Zembrzycki, a Sudbury-born adjunct assistant professor at Concordia University, wants to hear these kinds of stories.

It’s all part of a project called “Mining Immigrant Bodies: A Multi-Ethnic Oral History of Industry, Environment and Health in the Sudbury Region,” supported by Concordia University and a federal government grant.

She’s looking to interview men and women who came to Canada in the postwar period — as well as their children — and lived in Copper Cliff, Coniston, Gatchell or the Donovan, where mining impacted heavily on day-to-day life.

Zembrzycki also hopes to speak to those who worked in the mining industry or their families about the health impacts of these jobs.

NEWS RELEASE: KWG Appeal to Be Heard October 20, 2015

June 2, 2015

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – June 1, 2015) – KWG Resources Inc. (CSE:KWG)

(FRANKFURT:KW6) reports that the Registrar of the Ontario Court of Appeal has notified the parties that October 20th, 2015 has been fixed for the hearing of the appeal of Canada Chrome Corporation (“KWG/CCC”) of the decision of the Divisional Court of the Ontario Superior Court made in July 2014 overturning the decision of the Ontario Mining and Lands Commissioner.

The respondent in the appeal is 2274659 Ontario Inc. and the intervenor is the Minister of Northern Development and Mines. Both parties have until June 29, 2015 to file responding materials if they elect to do so. 2274659 Ontario Inc. was formerly a subsidiary of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (“Cliffs”) and is now wholly-owned by Noront Resources Ltd. (“Noront”).

At a hearing before the Mining and Lands Commissioner (“MLC”) in early 2013, Cliffs sought an order to dispense with the consent of KWG/CCC for the granting of an easement for Cliffs to build a road on top of mining claims staked by KWG/CCC along a 340 kilometer corridor of high ground. KWG/CCC had spent some $15 million to explore the claims and assess their profiles and aggregates to provide a means of egress for the Big Daddy chromite deposit in which KWG/CCC has a 30% joint venture interest, with Cliffs then holding the 70% interest. The MLC declined to grant the order sought by Cliffs and Cliffs then appealed the MLC decision to the Divisional Court of the Ontario Superior Court.

Three key takeaways from the US Geological Report (Mining.com – June 1, 2015)

June 2, 2015

http://www.mining.com/

Click here for the 2015 Mineral Commodity Summaries: http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/mcs/2015/mcs2015.pdf

The 2015 Mineral Commodity Summaries, an annual report from the U.S. Geological Survey, shares information about domestic minerals and their importance to the U.S. economy. Below are some key highlights from this year’s report:

• The estimated value of mineral raw materials produced at U.S. mines in 2014 was $77.6 billion.

The domestic minerals mining industry is a major stimulant of the U.S. economy. The estimated value of minerals produced at U.S. mines increased by $3.3 billion in 2014, and during that year, industries utilized those minerals to add more than $2.5 trillion to the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).

Industries, including technology, manufacturing, construction and automotive all depend on a secure mineral supply chain to produce the products we use each and every day. With the world’s population growing and requiring more access to technology, the global demand for minerals will continue to increase.

NEWS RELEASE: OMA JOINS COALITION URGING GOVERNMENT TO PROTECT THE ECONOMY AND JOBS UNDER NEW PENSION PLAN

June 2, 2015

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

(June 2, 2015) The Ontario Mining Association, and a coalition of major Ontario employers under the leadership of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC), are calling on the provincial government to broaden its definition of a comparable pension plan under the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP).

In a letter addressed to Premier Kathleen Wynne, the coalition of more than 150 organizations is urging the government to expand its definition of pension plan comparability to include capital accumulation plans, including (but not limited to) Defined Contribution plans. This move would ensure that companies in the province that have an existing pension plan for their employees would not be forced to incur this new cost of doing business, thus undermining the province’s economic competitiveness.

Set for introduction in 2017, the ORPP will require employees and employers to contribute 1.9% each (3.8% combined) on an employee’s annual earnings up to $90,000. Employers who offer ‘comparable’ workplace savings plans will be exempt from contributing to the ORPP.