Republic of Mining

Iron ore is not like oil – by Jonathan Ratner (National Post – May 14, 2015)

May 14, 2015

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Investors may be tempted to think the recent increase in oil prices foretells similar gains in iron ore, but Ben McEwan at CIBC World Markets says these expectations are based more on hope than anything of substance.

For one thing, the analyst found little historical correlation between the two commodities since it is lower than the correlation between other industrial commodities such as copper, nickel, aluminum and metallurgical coal. Over both 12- and five-year periods, only met coal demonstrates a lower correlation to oil than iron ore.

There is also an argument that large iron ore producers are on the verge of supply-side discipline, which should support prices as it has in the oil sector.

McEwan compared Saudi Arabia’s position in the oil market to China’s in the iron ore sector, noting that both are significant producers that have avoided making material output cuts. “However, this is where the similarities end,” the analyst said.

Chinese iron ore production remains near the top of the cost curve, while Saudi oil production is far more economically even at lower oil prices.

Pacific NorthWest working to keep B.C. LNG export project alive – by Brent Jang (Globe and Mail – May 14, 2015)

May 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.

VANCOUVER — Pacific NorthWest LNG is scrambling to come up with a Plan B after the Lax Kw’alaams First Nation soundly rejected the Malaysian-led project’s $1-billion cash offer aimed at securing its support for a B.C. liquefied natural gas terminal.

The company said project leader Petronas and its five Asian partners are willing to make changes in response. A key option is to relocate a planned suspension bridge and trestle that the native people said was too close to the environmentally sensitive habitat of juvenile salmon in Flora Bank, which is part of the traditional territory of Lax Kw’alaams.

“It’s about doing the right thing,” Pacific NorthWest LNG president Michael Culbert said in an interview on Wednesday. “We have heard there are concerns about Flora Bank and the stability of Flora Bank.”

The overwhelming opposition by Lax Kw’alaams members in three rounds of voting illustrates the many hurdles – from aboriginal criticisms to environmental concerns – that even the most prominent project among 19 B.C. LNG proposals must clear before becoming reality.

With its clean-burning LNG in the unwanted pile, B.C. is suddenly in an uncomfortable situation – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – May 14, 2015)

May 14, 2015

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Having put all its efforts behind homegrown liquefied natural gas, while snubbing not-good-enough-for-us oil pipelines needed by Albertans, British Columbia is now in an uncomfortable situation.

As it turns out, LNG, the clean-burning fuel embraced by the Liberal government of Christy Clark, whose development was promoted up and down Asia and that was supposed to be acceptable to the province’s green/aboriginal/nimby cohort, is not good enough either.

It has landed on the unwanted pile, right next to Enbridge Inc.’s proposed Northern Gateway oil pipeline and Kinder Morgan’s proposed TransMountain oil pipeline expansion.

The boot came this week from the Lax Kw’alaams First Nation near Prince Rupert, population 3,733, which rejected $1.14 billion in benefits over 40 years offered by Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas in exchange for consent to build the Pacific NorthWest LNG project.

For sure, other aboriginal bands are supportive of LNG development, but the Lax Kw’alaams vote and the band’s combative tone can’t inspire confidence among the 20-or-so LNG proponents trying to make the business take off.

UPDATE 3-S.Africa’s AMCU union wants gold mining firms to double minimum pay – by Zandi Shabalala (Reuters India – May 13, 2015)

May 13, 2015

http://in.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG, May 13 (Reuters) – South Africa’s Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) wants the basic pay for entry level workers in the gold mining industry to be more than doubled, setting the stage for tough pay talks at a time when companies are complaining of dwindling profits.

Joseph Mathunjwa told reporters on Wednesday his union, which led a record five-month long strike in the platinum industry last year, would seek a monthly wage of 12,500 rand ($1,045) for workers who currently earn around 6,000 rand.

“The mineworkers are enslaved across the country. Whatever we put forward is to liberate the mining workers from this oppression,” Mathunjwa said.

However, Africa’s top bullion producers AngloGold Ashanti , Sibanye Gold Harmony Gold and Pan African Resource’s Evander Mines say that high pay increases would lead to the decline of a struggling industry.

A spokeswoman for the gold mining companies said the firms would consider job security and the sustainability of the industry in wage talks.

Bathurst Mining Camp construction moves forward in New Brunswick – by DCN NEWS SERVICES (Daily Commerical News – May 13, 2015)

May 13, 2015

http://dailycommercialnews.com/

BATHURST, N.B.—A Vancouver-based company is moving forward with construction and re-start activities at its mine and mill complex located in the Bathurst Mining Camp of northeastern New Brunswick.

“As we are about to begin production at our Caribou Mine here in the Bathurst Mining Camp, we are very appreciative of the support for the new fiber-optic data and communications infrastructure,” said Mark Cruise, president and CEO of Trevali Mining Corp.

“The initiative allowed us to maintain our operational schedule for the mine where about 300 people are currently employed.”

Trevali is a zinc-focused, base metals mining company, which owns the Caribou mine and mill, the Halfmile mine and Stratmat deposit all located in the Bathurst Mining Camp.

The company is currently advancing its 3,000 tonne per day Caribou mill complex and mine, which is located 45 kilometres (km) west of Bathurst, in Restigouche County.

Shell given okay to resume controversial Arctic drilling – by Paul Koring, Jeffrey Jones and Jeff Lewis (Globe and Mail – May 12, 2015)

May 13, 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.

WASHINGTON and CALGARY — In a move that buoyed big oil but enraged environmentalists, the Obama administration has given the green light for Royal Dutch Shell to resume offshore drilling in the remote Arctic waters, off Alaska’s northwestern coast.

Monday’s decision, which is conditional on Shell’s getting approval for remaining drilling permits for the project, is a major win for Shell and other petroleum companies, which have sought for years to drill in the harsh waters of the Chukchi Sea, which is believed to hold vast reserves of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas.

Shell’s Arctic drilling program and the Keystone XL pipeline to funnel Canadian oil sands crude across the United States have been the top two targets for environmental groups seeking to hold U.S. President Barack Obama to his pledge to cut greenhouse-gas emissions causing climate change. Although Mr. Obama has pursued an ambitious environmental agenda, he has also tried to balance that by opening up untouched federal water to new exploration.

Engineering firm focuses on tailings, backfill management – by Jonathan Migneault (Northern Ontario Business – May 12, 2015)

May 13, 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.

To the untrained eye, a visit to Kovit Engineering’s lab in Sudbury looks like a number of adults playing with combinations of sand, silt and water.

On the surface, the lab might have a lot in common with a child’rens playground, and the wide-eyed experimentation that comes with getting one’s hands dirty.

But to Frank Palkovits, one of Kovit Engineering’s four co-owners, what goes on in the 3,500-square-foot laboratory is serious business. Kovit Engineering consults with mines around the world to help them manage their on-surface tailings and backfill.

The company specializes in what it calls “paste technology,” first developed by Inco in Sudbury, and later perfected by Golder Paste Technology in the mid-1990s.

Palkovits worked for both companies, and in June 2011 teamed up with Paul Rantala, Steve Reichle and Mark Wallgren to found Kovit Engineering.

A mug full of diamonds: A reporter’s notebook from the Victor mine – by Rita Celli (CBC News Business – May 13, 2015)

November 3, 2015May 13, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business

Only way to get to Ontario’s only diamond mine, 1,100 km due north of Toronto, is by plane

“It’s one of the most beautiful places up here. You can see rock islands. You can see moose,” says Terry Ternes, environmental manager at Ontario’s only diamond mine, located in the James Bay lowlands.

“The Attawapiskat River is gorgeous in the summer ime. Just majestic,” Ternes adds. We’re overlooking the water, at the company’s treatment plant, and the view is breathtaking, even with the snow falling and a bitter whipping wind.

Ternes is in charge of reclaiming the land when the De Beers mine closes in four years. His work includes collecting seeds and cones from area trees to replant. His team is also tracking caribou that migrate around the region.

“I’m a farm boy from Saskatchewan. I farm. This is no different,” Ternes says. “When we leave here, this land is going to be in the same shape as we found it.” Ontario environmental commissioner Gord Miller says De Beers has the best data on caribou in Northern Ontario. The company has been monitoring the herds for several years and is providing good baseline biological data.

Mining towns in Ontario feel shortchanged on resource riches – by Rita Celli (CBC News Business – May 13, 2015)

May 13, 2015May 13, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business

For Rita Celli’s CBC Radio program on “Ontario’s mining take: Should the Auditor General investigate?” click here: http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Local+Shows/Ontario/Ontario+Today/ID/2667143028/

Province gets mining tax, while northern towns get potholes and a shrinking share of property taxes

Ontario mining towns with rich gold and nickel deposits sit on billions in resources, but they feel poor and ignored.

“You get to a point you’re frustrated. You can only go to the well so often,” says Red Lake Mayor Phil Vinet. “The last couple of times I just felt like I was farting against thunder.”

The northern leaders often appear to be stuck in a perpetual fight to squeeze more money and basic information from mining companies and the provincial government.

Red Lake is built on gold. During the gold rush in 1936, Red Lake claims to have had the busiest airport in the world, surpassing Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Paris, London and Toronto. Except there was no airport — planes landed on the lake in summer and on ice in the winter. The biggest mine is operated today by Goldcorp. The owners have changed over the years, but the same mine is still giving up gold after decades.

Anglo Should Exit Iron Ore for its Shareholders, Investec Says – by Firat Kayakiran (Bloomberg News – May 12, 2015)

May 13, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Anglo American Plc should sell its iron-ore assets and focus on diamond and platinum operations for the benefit of its shareholders, according to Investec Plc. The producer of minerals from Australia to Brazil could raise as much as $4.66 billion selling assets in South Africa and Brazil, analysts Marc Elliott and Hunter Hillcoat said.

“A disposal of the entire iron ore portfolio would be a game changing transaction, strengthening the balance sheet, reducing the risk profile of the group and potentially enabling a substantial re-rating,” the analysts said in a note.

Iron-ore prices reached a decade low of $47 a metric ton on April 2 before rebounding to $59. Investec forecasts prices will average $55 a ton this year before rising to $80 a ton by 2019.

Anglo, which owns about 70 percent of Kumba Iron Ore Ltd., Africa’s largest producer of the steel-making raw material, in October began shipments from its Minas-Rio mine in Brazil as prices slid after the largest producers including BHP Billiton Ltd. expanded capacity amid slowing demand from China.

How Canada’s Heritage Minutes got their swagger back – by Josh O’Kane (Globe and Mail – May 13, 2015)

May 13, 2015May 13, 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.

To date, not one Heritage Minute video, highlights Canada’s vibrant mining history. – Stan Sudol, Owner/Editor RepublicOfMining.com.

https://www.historicacanada.ca/content/heritage-minutes/agnes-macphail

In the beginning, there was Valour Road, Jacques Plante and the Underground Railroad. Then Nellie McClung, Superman and the Halifax Explosion. Soon, dozens more. By 1995, four years after their launch, Heritage Minutes were a Canadian institution: 60-second snapshots of cultural history thrust into TV screens from coast to coast to coast, injecting education into entertainment.

But then they fizzled, trickling out in fewer numbers. For a long time, there were no new vignettes at all. Then, in 2012, the staff at Historica Canada, the Minutes’ chief steward, had an idea as simple as cutting a hole in basketball’s first baskets – their bite-size history lessons were a perfect fit for the high-speed, high-nostalgia digital age.

So Historica made the first new pair in seven years. Then another pair. And another. They launched them in public, to more and more people each time – at an art deco theatre, the Hockey Hall of Fame, a Winnipeg Jets game. Then, in March, they dropped a mashup of 53 Heritage Minutes to recreate Drake’s Started from the Bottom. It got more than 100,000 YouTube views in 48 hours.

[Ontario Northland] Corina Moore, you are ignoring history – by Thomas Blampied (Thomas Blampied’s Railway World – May 9, 2015)

May 13, 2015

http://thomasblampied.blogspot.ca/

This past week saw the interim president of the ONTC, Corina Moore, spoke at the FONOM meeting in Sudbury. Unfortunately, her comments were not helpful and have alienated workers at the 113-year-old transportation commission.

As reported by CBC, Moore explained that the Commission was in a “crisis situation”. I couldn’t agree more. As my research into the ONTC showed, it has been losing money for the past few decades as inadequate subsidies and the precarious economic and demographic situation in the north made for a difficult market to operate in.

However, Moore went a step further, saying that the ONTC needed a “culture shift” away from “entitlement” and towards a more competitive framework. This reflects previous statements she made regarding the need for a more competitive organization, but also suggests that the ONTC has been some sort of spoilt child. I disagree, my experience with the ONTC showed hard-working people who provided essential services connecting, not only northeastern Ontario, but also the north to the south.

My real issue, however, is a comment that the CBC reports Moore made to the effect that “the future will be challenging because the company hasn’t seen much change in 113 years.”

Chinese iron ore mines face ‘annihilation’ as BHP, Rio Tinto, Vale boost output – by Jasmine Ng, Feiwen Rong and Jesse Riseborough (Sydney Morning Herald – May 13, 2015)

May 13, 2015

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

Iron ore production in China is poised to shrink further as cheaper imports and faltering demand threaten to close mines supplying mills in the top steelmaker. Most private mines in China have costs that are too high and produce ore of too low a quality to survive, according to Sanford C Bernstein & Co. Output that fell 20 per cent to 311 million metric tons last year would drop to 271 million tons this year and shrink further next year, Goldman Sachs said.

Iron ore retreated 39 per cent over the past 12 months as Australia’s Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton as well as Brazil’s Vale SA boosted low-cost production to cut costs and protect market share, spurring a glut as China slowed. The outlook for supply, and consequences for miners in China, will be in focus on Thursday as executives from the biggest producers address a conference in Singapore. BHP chief executive officer Andrew Mackenzie warned on Tuesday that lower prices were here to stay.

Georgi Slavov, head of basic resources research at Marex Spectron Group, said in an email: “Mines not part of larger cash or credit line-rich steel groups are facing annihilation. Utilization in China keeps dropping, which means more and more mines are struggling to meet the ends and produce.”

Ontario mining safety review prioritizing proposals (CBC News Sudbury – May 13, 2015)

May 13, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury

After the fanfare of putting out mining safety proposals, they get shortlisted for action

Some members of the Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review are pushing ahead to turn safety recommendations into legislation. The chair of the committee, George Gritziotis is also the province’s Chief Prevention Officer.

He said he will soon be meeting with an advisory group which is prioritizing proposals from the review, as well as a recent inquest in Sudbury. Gritziotis said the 24 recommendations from the inquest into the deaths of Jordan Fram and Jason Chenier at Stobie Mine in Sudbury overlap, or dovetail, with the 18 from the review.

“You know there are recommendations in there that speak to hazards that are present in the workplace today that we want to move on right away,” he said.

“Following our May meeting, we will begin prioritizing which ones we are going to push forward on, and which are priority areas based on a number of things including risk assessment, our data around evidence and discussions we have with our partners. In terms of timeline it’s going to be a busy six to twelve months.”

Alcoa Inc. History (1888 – 2003)

May 13, 2015

For a large selection of corporate histories click: International Directory of Company Histories

Company Perspectives: At Alcoa, our vision is to be the best company in the world in the eyes of our customers, shareholders, communities and people. We expect and demand the best we have to offer by always keeping Alcoa’s values top of mind. Integrity: Alcoa’s foundation is our integrity. We are open, honest and trustworthy in dealing with customers, suppliers, coworkers, shareholders and the communities where we have an impact. Environment, Health and Safety: We work safely in a manner that protects and promotes the health and well being of the individual and the environment.

Customer: We support our customers’ success by creating exceptional value through innovative product and service solutions. Excellence: We relentlessly pursue excellence in everything we do, every day. People: We work in an inclusive environment that embraces change, new ideas, respect for the individual and equal opportunity to succeed. Profitability: We earn sustainable financial results that enable profitable growth and superior shareholder value. Accountability: We are accountable individually and in teams for our behaviors, actions and results. We live our Values and measure our success by the success of our customers, shareholders, communities and people.

Company History:

The largest aluminum manufacturer in the world, Alcoa Inc. produces aluminum and alumina for automotive, aerospace, commercial transportation, construction, packaging, and other markets. Active worldwide in all major elements of the industry, Alcoa’s operations include mining, refining, smelting, fabricating, recycling, and developing technology.