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Editorial: Making the case for subsidizing Arctic work -Editorial (Northern Miner – May 28, 2015)

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry.

Five industry groups focused on mining and mineral exploration in northern Canada have produced a timely report that quantifies the extra costs of carrying out work in Canada’s remote Arctic and sub-Arctic areas, and makes recommendations on how various levels of government can encourage mining activity in these places.

Called Levelling the playing field: Supporting mineral exploration and mining in remote and northern Canada, the report was produced by the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies Canada, the Mining Association of Canada, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Chamber of Mines, the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada and the Yukon Chamber of Mines.

They describe a “hefty cost premium” associated with working in remote and northern parts of Canada, and the challenges that industries in southern Canada don’t have to face: remoteness, severe weather, undeveloped infrastructure, and in many cases, sparse or no populations for hundreds of kilometres.

The main — and not particularly surprising — finding, backed up by empirical evidence, is that the “cost premium for both exploration and mining is directly linked to the transportation deficit” in remote and northern Canada, and that the “primary driver of cost variation was the distance of a project from the transportation infrastructure required to service the needs of the project.”

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China Dotes on South American Infrastructure – by Tim Maverick (Wall Street Daily – May 28, 2015)

http://www.wallstreetdaily.com/

In April, I told readers about the billions of dollars China was pumping into the New Silk Road, connecting Pakistan to China. But China isn’t stopping there. It seems the economic powerhouse has also set its sights on South America.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang just completed an extensive nine-day tour of Brazil, Peru, Chile, and Colombia. These four countries account for 57% of China’s quickly increasing trade with South America.

In January, Li promised $250 billion in investment into South America over the next decade. As of the end of 2014, China had already invested nearly $100 billion into its favorite countries.

On his current tour, Li is lavishing billions more on a number of deals, most of which center around infrastructure, such as rail.

You see, China is unflinching in its quest for power and security. Meaning the Chinese want to ensure speedy delivery of the precious commodities produced in South America.

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Chinese President’s new Silk Road plan will fail unless ideas are free to travel – by Carl Mortished (Globe and Mail – May 29, 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.

“One Belt, One Road” is China’s slogan for a 21st-century revival of the ancient trading routes that linked Han Dynasty silk merchants with Central Asia and the Mediterranean. President Xi Jinping’s big idea is investment in roads, railways, ports and pipelines that will link China to the world.

However, the ancient Silk Road was more than a caravan of camels loaded with stuff. It was also a convoy of ideas, and this may be where the Chinese Communist Party’s great ambition comes a cropper.

The first question you have to ask is why China needs such a vision of a new Silk Road.

The Chinese President sought to give a romantic gloss to his plan when he first mentioned it in 2013 on a visit to Kazakhstan, noting the thousands of years of trade between the two nations on the Silk Road. Last year, he announced a $40-billion (U.S.) infrastructure fund to build roads, railways, ports and airports across central and south Asia, and this year China reaffirmed its political ties to Pakistan with a promise of $45-billion of infrastructure investment.

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S. Africa Plans $124 Million Payout for Lung-Diseased Miners – by Kevin Crowley (Bloomberg News – May 29, 2015)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

South Africa plans 1.5 billion rand ($124 million) of payouts from a compensation fund for miners suffering from lung diseases that affect about 700,000 people, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said.

Companies including AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., the world’s third-biggest miner of the metal, are participating in the project rolled out by the Department of Health to unblock a backlog of 500,000 claims. Compensation will apply to sufferers of tuberculosis, silicosis, and other illnesses, Motsoaledi said. Workers from other countries are also eligible to apply, he said.

“Our goal is to compensate current and ex-mineworkers who have submitted valid and compensable claims,” he told reporters in Carletonville, a gold-mining town 86 kilometers (53 miles) west of Johannesburg. “I’m here to pay back the money.”

Silicosis, a lung disease caused by inhaling dust from mines, causes scar tissue in the lungs, increasing vulnerability to tuberculosis that can kill more than half of sufferers if not properly treated. South Africa is source of about a third of all gold yet produced globally and the continent’s biggest coal producer.

Separately, lawyers representing sufferers of silicosis say companies including AngloGold and Harmony Gold Mining Co. are to blame for workers catching the disease because they operated without adequate ventilation for the past 60 years.

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Teck Resources to temporarily close six Canadian coal mines – by Rachelle Younglai and Eric Atkins (Globe and Mail – May 29, 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.

Teck Resources Ltd. will temporarily shutter its six Canadian metallurgical coal mines this summer, a move that will have ripple effects in other sectors of the Canadian economy.

The suspensions are Teck’s latest step to deal with weak commodity prices and a glut of supply in the market. The Vancouver-based company already reduced its dividend, cut 600 jobs and shelved plans to restart one of its mines in British Columbia.

But that was not enough to deal with the prolonged slump in metallurgical coal, which is used to make steel and is down 70 per cent over four years.

“Rather than push incremental tonnes into an oversupplied market, we are taking a disciplined approach to managing our mine production in line with market conditions,” Don Lindsay, Teck’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

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 [Howard Hampton Federal NDP Ring of Fire Advisor] Former Ontario NDP leader makes jump into federal politics (tbnewswatch.com – May 29, 2015)

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/default.aspx

Howard Hampton is getting into federal politics.

The former Provincial NDP leader announced Friday morning that he’s seeking the nomination for the federal NDP in Kenora. “The conservatives under Stephen Harper have not been kind to Northwestern Ontario,” he said.

This is a developing story. More will be published soon. You can read the full NDP-issued media release below

Hampton to seek the NDP nomination for Kenora

Thunder Bay – Howard Hampton announced today he will run for the NDP nomination for the federal riding of Kenora in the upcoming election.

“I’m excited to announce today that I will be seeking the NDP candidacy for the Kenora riding in the upcoming federal election,” said Hampton. “Whether it was as a provincial cabinet minister, MPP, NDP Leader, or Special Advisor to Tom Mulcair, I’ve proudly stood up and fought for the people of Northwestern Ontario for over 20 years. I hope to earn the support of the NDP members in the riding to run as their candidate.”

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Japan push into Africa resources sputters, helps China – by Yuka Obayashi (Reuters U.S. – May 29, 2015)

http://www.reuters.com/

TOKYO, May 29 (Reuters) – A Japanese government drive to secure access to resources in Africa has sputtered as some companies shy away from investing due to slumping commodity prices and worries over political stability, helping China as it races to import raw materials from the continent.

Around two years ago, Japan said it would provide about $2 billion mainly to back African commodity projects by its firms as part of a move to secure supplies of materials such as coking coal and copper it needs to churn out steel and electronic components.

But worries over the stability of the investment environment in some African nations, along with falling commodity prices, have sapped momentum from that push, Japanese firms said at a mining conference on Thursday and Friday.

A lack of infrastructure and concerns over resource nationalism were also cited as reasons.

“To invest in mine development, it is necessary to see an improvement in Africa’s investment environment so it is politically, sociologically and economically stable,” Shigeru Oi, president of JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corp, Japan’s top copper refiner, said in a speech.

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Nine Months After Polley Breach, Alaskans Seek Compensation Guarantee from BC – by Jordan Wong (TheTyee.ca – May 29, 2015)

http://thetyee.ca/

Proposed northern BC mines ‘source of great angst in Juneau.’

Earlier this month, Heather Hardcastle, a commercial fisherwoman from Juneau, Alaska met in Williams Lake, B.C. with members of the Tsilhqot’in First Nation. They shared a meal of wild Alaskan salmon that Hardcastle brought as a symbolic gesture: This fish was a reminder of all there was to lose.

After lunch, Hardcastle and her team of Alaska visitors boarded a helicopter and flew 25 minutes away to the site of the Mount Polley accident, the scene of a massive breach last August of its mine waste dam near the town of Likely, B.C.

The breach released millions of cubic metres of contaminated water into Quesnel Lake, which feeds into the Fraser River.

Nine months later, Jacinda Mack, a Xatsull woman from the Soda Creek reserve and one of many residents living near the path of the spill, invited the Alaskans to Williams Lake to see firsthand the main effect of that accident.

On the Fraser River, contamination from the mine breach threatened the run of Sockeye salmon that spawns in Quesnel Lake.

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What the heck’s happening with the Ring of Fire? – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – May 28, 2015)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Iacobucci tight-lipped on progress on North’s massive mineral deposit

The Ring of Fire may appear to be a garden of agony for the mining companies involved, but Ontario’s lead negotiator charged with working out a crucial and historic agreement with affected First Nations assures all that real progress is being made to advance development in the Far North.

Former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci talked at length before a Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce lunch crowd on May 26 about Canada’s evolving relationship with Aboriginal people in righting the wrongdoings of the past with a new partnership based on mutual respect.

But he didn’t reveal much about what progress has been made since a much ballyhooed regional framework agreement was signed by Premier Kathleen Wynne and the Matawa chiefs in 2014, except to confirm that a second round of negotiations is coming up.

“A lot of work has been going on. We don’t work in the public arena. We work behind the scenes.”

In July 2013, Iacobucci was appointed Ontario’s lead negotiator in discussions with the chiefs of the Matawa First Nations, a tribal council of communities closest to the mineral deposits in the James Bay lowlands.

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UPDATE 2-Australia iron ore magnate Rinehart weakened by court ruling – by Jane Wardell and James Regan (Reuters U.S. – May 28, 2015)

http://www.reuters.com/

SYDNEY, May 28 (Reuters) – Australian iron ore magnate Gina Rinehart’s eldest daughter won control of the $3 billion dollar family trust on Thursday in a judgment critical of Rinehart’s former control of the fund and attempts to block the long-running legal dispute.

The Supreme Court of New South Wales judgment loosens Rinehart’s legendary grip on her business empire, with almost 25 percent of Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd held by the trust.

Rinehart owns the remainder of the family firm, which in turn owns 70 percent of Roy Hill, a Pilbara-based iron ore mine due to start shipments later this year.

South Korea’s POSCO, Japan’s Marubeni Corp and Taiwan’s China Steel Corp also have stakes in the mine, which will be Australia’s fourth-largest when it reaches full production.

Three of Rinehart’s four children – eldest Bianca Rinehart, Hope Welker and John Hancock – sued for control of the trust in 2011.

They alleged their mother acted with “gross dishonesty” as trustee, when she pushed out its vesting date until 2068, meaning all four children would not get their shares until they were in their 80s and 90s.

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Can John Thornton save Barrick Gold? – by Racheelle Younglai (Globe and Mail/Report On Business Magazine – May 29, 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.

A floor of empty cubicles is what’s left of Barrick Gold Corp.’s boom years. A lone whiteboard leans against a chair, the last vestige of hundreds of people who worked at the miner’s Toronto headquarters when gold was hurtling toward $1,900 an ounce (all currency in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted).

The world’s biggest gold producer—one of Canada’s few global champions and formerly the envy of the mining industry—is on a desperate mission to recapture its magic after years of dismal results, humiliating missteps and rock-bottom investor confidence. Its share price on the NYSE is not much higher than where it was two decades ago.

The three-year slump in bullion prices to around $1,200 an ounce has devastated the industry. Mines that used to be profitable are now bleeding cash. In these conditions, Barrick’s every blunder—an ill-timed foray into copper, an attempt to build a mountaintop mine in the Andes—is exposed on its balance sheet, particularly in one remarkable number: Debt stands at $13 billion.

The company is vowing to cut that figure by at least $3 billion by the end of this year, even if it has to sell an heirloom or two to get there. A slew of top-rank Barrick veterans are gone and the company’s charismatic founder, Peter Munk, retired as chairman in April, 2014.

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Liberals ‘out of touch’ [Northern Ontario and mining sector] PC leader says in Sudbury – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – May 29, 2015)

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

The Liberals are “out of touch” with Northern Ontario and the mining sector, and that’s why little progress has been made developing the Ring of Fire, Ontario’s new PC leader says.

In an interview with The Star, Patrick Brown referred to a statement made a few years ago by former Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty that Ontario “must stop pulling stuff out of the ground” if it wanted to create new wealth and jobs.

“That shows how out of touch the Liberals are and their comprehension of the mining sector,” said Brown during a visit to Greater Sudbury on Thursday. “This is a $60-billion opportunity.

“Northern Ontario could be an economic driver for the entire country. And the NDP, they have gone along with their (Liberal) policies when it comes to mining and forestry.”

The so-called Ring of Fire is a mineral-rich find in northwestern Ontario containing chromite, nickel, copper and other minerals. At one point, Cliffs Natural Resources planned to ship chromite from a mine in the Ring of Fire to a plant in Capreol. Those plans have since been cancelled and Cliffs has withdrawn from the Ring of Fire.

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The world won’t wait for B.C.’s LNG – by Jeffrey Simpson (Globe and Mail – May 29, 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 window is closing down.” So believes Thierry Bros, one of Europe’s and the world’s leading experts in natural gas, about British Columbia’s ability to build a liquefied natural gas industry.

If Mr. Bros, who was recently in Ottawa, is correct, then British Columbia risks arriving too late for the world’s LNG party. LNG projects are proceeding in Australia, the United States and elsewhere. In B.C., they face regulatory delays, long negotiations with aboriginals that sometimes go nowhere and rising costs.

The world is not waiting on British Columbia. A liquefaction plant will shortly open in Texas, bringing to five the number of LNG export facilities operational or being built in the United States. Federal regulators have received applications for 15 more. Further projects are in the planning stage. This explosion of activity relates partly to increasing world demand and partly to the U.S. shale gas revolution, which has boosted natural gas production by more than eightfold in five years.

Seven LNG facilities have received final investment decision (FID) in Australia, which is set to be the world’s largest LNG exporter by 2018. Aussie gas will arrive in Asia, which is where B.C. would like to send its gas.

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Feds spent $1M on bottled water in First Nation with broken water plant, chief says – by Jody Porter (CBC News Thunder Bay – May 29, 2015)

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

Frustration mounts as Neskantaga First Nation goes more than 20 years without safe drinking water

The chief of Neskantaga First Nation in northwestern Ontario says, after 20 years under a boil water advisory, he can’t understand why his community has slipped down the federal government’s priority list for safe drinking water.

Chief Wayne Moonias met with officials from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada in Thunder Bay on Thursday.

He said department officials told him that Neskantaga is number 19 on the government’s priority list for spending on water plants. Previously, Moonias said the community was told it was fourth on that list.

“We’re over 20 years already where our people haven’t been able to get the water they need to drink from their taps or to bathe themselves without getting any rashes,” Moonias said.

The boil water advisory was issued for Neskantaga in 1995 because the water from the community’s then two-year-old water plant often tested positive for high levels of chlorine and harmful disinfectant products.

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Barrick investors welcome Chinese tie-up, debt reduction moves – by Nicole Mordant and Euan Rocha (Reuters U.S. – May 26, 2015)

http://www.reuters.com/

VANCOUVER/TORONTO – Barrick Gold Corp’s first step to long-promised partnerships with China, as well as progress in reaching an ambitious debt-cutting goal, are turning skeptical investors warmer toward the world’s biggest gold miner.

Barrick said on Tuesday it would sell a stake in its Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea mine to China’s Zijin Mining Group, and form a strategic partnership with Zijin. The moves marked an initial push in Executive Chairman John Thornton’s plan to forge closer ties with China, the world’s biggest producer and consumer of gold.

The former Goldman Sachs executive’s radical overhaul since taking Barrick’s reins a year ago, including eliminating the position of chief executive, had raised eyebrows among investors. Many also complained about his outsized signing bonus, lack of access, and most recently his 36 percent pay rise.

But a clearer strategy unveiled in February to slash Toronto-based Barrick’s mountain of debt, while seeking close links with China, looks to be winning approval.

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