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Ring of Fire: Ontario has ‘gun to our head’ First Nation chief says – by Jody Porter (CBC News Thunder Bay – March 24, 2015)

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

Neskantaga Chief Peter Moonias says Ontario has a ‘hidden agenda’ to support Noront Resources

The Ontario government has put ‘a gun to the head’ of First Nations leaders trying to negotiate a fair deal in the Ring of Fire mining area in the James Bay lowlands, Neskantaga Chief Peter Moonias says. His comments came within hours of Noront Resources announcement on Monday that it had struck a deal to buy Cliffs Natural Resources assets in the area.

Chiefs were informed of the deal at the same time as being told that the province has set an April 1 deadline for a decision on the next step in Noront’s environmental assessment for a proposed nickel mine in the Ring of Fire, Moonias said.

“There’s a hidden agenda,” he said. “We are being targeted with a gun to our head. We have no more opportunity to study the process.” The deadline doesn’t allow enough time for community members in the nine First Nations closest to the Ring of Fire mineral deposits to be informed, Moonias said.

The Matawa First Nations are engaged in a negotiation process about the mining project under a framework agreement with Ontario. Moonias said the sudden announcement of the tight timeline left him disillusioned about the talks.

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The Mining Industry’s surprising turn to Solar and Wind Energy – by Joseph Kirschke (Informed Comment – March 23, 2015)

http://www.juancole.com/

When mining professionals the world over descended on Toronto’s 2015 Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Convention (PDAC) at the beginning of March, the investment outlook at one of the industry’s most important events was dim . A global economic slowdown and a glut of metals and minerals for construction, infrastructure and energy on the Chinese mainland also cast a long shadow over budgets for sustainability – an increasingly core element of mineral extraction in the 21st Century.

Still, an embryonic CSR narrative is glimmering more quietly within the business – one with seismic possibilities for international investment to turn the tide against global climate change. As glaciers ebb and crops wither , miners in the Americas, Australia and Africa are beginning to economize with solar, wind and geothermal power where grid electricity is expensive – or non-existent.

Chile, the world’s great copper producer, is Latin America’s green pioneer thanks to its top industry – with 18,000 megawatts of clean energy now in the pipeline. Its greatest alternative energy source is reflected by a 69.5-megawatt solar photovoltaic project and a 115-megawatt wind farm, both powering Antafogasta Minerals S.A.’s Los Pembales copper mine – in a nation that traditionally imports 70 percent of its energy.

Elsewhere in South America, Toronto’s Iamgold uses a 5-megawatt solar farm for its open-pit Rosebel mine deep inside Suriname; the $12 million project, augmenting existing hydropower, was completed under budget in July with a government agreement.

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What 60 Minutes Got Wrong About Rare Earths And China – by Tim Worstall (Forbes Magazine – March 23, 2015)

 

http://www.forbes.com/

Last night 60 Minutes ran a segment on how American industry, and more importantly, the American defense industry, is prostrate before a Chinese monopoly of rare earths production. This is of course very worrying for all sorts of Very Serious People and something no doubt should be done.

There is a slight problem with the analysis 60 Minutes presented though: that problem being that their analysis was wrong. And I say this as someone who works in that rare earth industry, someone who has, at times, been a near monopoly supplier of one of the rare earths and, even, a supplier to the US defense industry of non-Chinese rare earths.

Here are the most important lines in the 60 Minutes report:

But trouble is once again looming for the U.S. rare earth industry. Since restarting operations two years ago, Molycorp’s mountain pass mine has yet to turn a profit, and so deeply in debt that just last week, its own auditor warned it may not be able to stay in business.

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Crummy chromite investment – by Kip Keen (Mineweb.com – March 24, 2015)

http://www.mineweb.com/

Cliffs exits the Ring of Fire.

So ends Cliffs Natural Resources’ adventure in Northern Ontario with the miner announcing that it has a buyer for its Canadian chromite projects. It was an expensive one.

A half-decade ago Cliffs paid some C$350 million in cash and shares to buy majority control of a series of then newly discovered chromite deposits. They were heralded as world-class with potential to supply the North American steel markets especially.

In 2009 and 2010 Cliffs struck deals to buy the juniors involved in the discoveries. It bought Freewest Resources for about C$240 million (in shares at the time). Then it bought up Spider Resources in 2010 for C$125 million (cash).

These were the juniors that put the region on the map – the so-called Ring of Fire. The potential was often billed as huge – a nebulous ~$60 billion or so in deposit value.

The region garnered promises from the Ontario government especially for major spending on infrastructure. For it was remote and would require new road access hundreds of kilometres long through bush and First Nations territory.

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UPDATED: Ring of Fire deal ‘game-changer’ – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – March 24, 2015)

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

Noront Resources Ltd. announced Monday it plans to buy Cleveland-based Cliffs Natural Resources’ chromite assets in the Ring of Fire for $20 million.

International companies have touted the region’s mining potential for years, but have yet to take any projects to construction, largely due to transportation and access issues.

“We’re all in with respect to the Ring of Fire. This is where we want to be committed to,” Alan Coutts, Noront’s president and CEO, told The Star on Monday. “We think the region is very prospective, from a geological and exploration point of view.”

Coutts likened the Ring of Fire “to another Sudbury,” predicting “there’ll be multiple mines discovered over time, like in Timmins or Red Lake. We think it’s another one of these emerging mining camps.”

Coutts said the Toronto-based company has been involved in the Ring of Fire since 2007 with the Eagle’s Nest nickel-copper-platinum group deposit.

The chromite deposits are part of Coutts’ longer-term vision. While not an immediate priority, he said he would like to begin extracting nickel within three years and chromite within five years.

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Noront president doesn’t rule out ferrachrome smelter for Thunder Bay – by Leith Dunick (tbnewswatch.com – March 23, 2015)

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

The president and CEO of Noront Resources is not ruling out a ferrachrome smelter landing in Thunder Bay. Alan Coutts on Monday said Monday nothing is written in stone, after his company spent $20 million to acquire more than 100 claims previously owned by a pair of Cliffs Natural Resources subsidiaries.

Cliffs had originally said Sudbury was its preferred location for the processing plant. “We haven’t settled on anything yet,” Coutts said in an interview with CKPR Radio, adding there is no guarantee the facility will even be built in the province.

“We would like to see that upgrading of the chrome wars happen in Ontario, but a smelter is a big investment. It’s a very energy-intensive process and you’d need to see some really good electricity rates as well.” Coutts said he plans to speak to the province about energy cost, but it’s far too soon in the process for nay firm decisions.

“But we’re looking at this from a fresh viewpoint and all options are open, essentially.” Noront is on record favouring an east-west corridor being built into the Ring of Fire, which would link to the project via Pickle Lake.

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Noront Resources buys Ring of Fire claims for $20 million (U.S.) – by Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew (Toronto Star – March 23, 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.

Shares of Noront surged nearly 37 per cent on the deal, announced Monday. The stock gained 13 cents to close at 48.5 cents on the TSX Venture Exchange.

Toronto-based junior mining firm Noront Resources has agreed to pay $20 million (U.S.) to Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. to purchase the U.S. mining giant’s chromite properties in the Ring of Fire.

Shares of Noront surged nearly 37 per cent on news of the deal, announced Monday. The stock gained 13 cents to close at 48.5 cents on the TSX Venture Exchange.

“We are convinced that the Ring of Fire region is going to be the next major mining camp in Ontario. We’ve been looking at acquiring more land there and getting more deals done,” Noront president and chief executive officer Alan Coutts said in an interview.

“When Cliffs announced they were going to pull out of the area, we thought, ‘This is a natural fit for us.’ ” The miner said it will buy the shares of two Cliffs subsidiaries that own 103 claims, adding to its own holdings in the Ring of Fire area, about 500 km northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont.

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Yellen Gives Gold Bulls Biggest Rally on Rates Since January – by Lydia Mulvany (Bloombeg News – March 22, 2015)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

(Bloomberg) — Janet Yellen gave gold bulls a gift when she signaled policy makers aren’t rushing to raise interest rates. Gold had its biggest weekly gain in two months on the prospect that U.S. rates will stay lower for longer. The value of assets in exchange-traded funds backed by bullion rose by $736 million, also the most since January.

The dollar had the steepest weekly slide since 2011 after Federal Reserve Chair Yellen and her colleagues cut their forecast on U.S. rates March 18. That revived interest in gold, which generally offers returns only through price gains. Some money managers misjudged the move, cutting their net-long position in gold futures to the lowest level since 2013 the day before the Fed statement.

“The market sentiment is that the Fed is going to take it easy, and that’s why the dollar has stopped gaining and gold moved up,” Donald Selkin, who helps manage about $3 billion as chief market strategist at National Securities Corp. in New York, said by phone March 20. “All of the experts got bearish right at the bottom.”

Gold futures, which jumped 2.8 percent to $1,184.60 an ounce last week, traded 0.1 percent lower at $1,183 on Monday. The Bloomberg Commodity Index of 22 raw materials rose 2 percent last week, as the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 2.2 percent. The MSCI All-Country World Index climbed 3.2 percent.

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China, Russia and the Tussle for Influence in Kazakhstan – by Arthur Guschin (The Diplomat – March 23, 2015)

http://thediplomat.com/

The two powers are pursuing competing interests in Central Asia.

Until recently, Central Asia played only a modest role in world politics, a reflection of its economic weakness, domestic problems, and distrust of integration. Russia’s presence in the region as the primary political mediator and economic partner was incontestable. In the last few years, though, China’s growing economic interest in Central Asia has come to be seen in Moscow as a threat to its influence. Russia is watching closely the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative, which would give Beijing the dominant role and could supplant the Eurasian Economic Union. With Kazakhstan the core state in any integration project in the region, it looks set to become the frontlines of the tussle between China and Russia for regional influence.

Russian Interests

Driving Russian policy in Kazakhstan are the activities of four major Russian energy companies: Gazprom, Lukoil, Transneft and Rosneft. These companies allow Moscow to keep Astana within the sphere of Russian interests and help prevent Beijing from dominating Kazakhstan’s economy. Their participation in local energy projects gives Russia access to oil and gas reserves, while binding the two countries in the energy, transport, space and agriculture sectors.

The basis of the partnership rests on agreements covering petroleum contracts and energy supplies transiting through Kazakhstani and Russian territory to European or Chinese markets. Currently, the leading Russian investor in Kazakhstan is Lukoil, which operates seven projects and has a stake in the cross-country pipeline Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). In 2013, 32.7 million tons of oil was pumped through the pipeline, 28.7 million tons of it exported from Kazakhstan.

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Ontario slammed by Northern Prospectors Association – by Andrew Topf (Mining.com – March 20, 2015)

http://www.mining.com/

Dotted with lucrative gold mines like Red Lake, Hemlo, Musselwhite and Timmins, along with the nickel belt of Sudbury, Ontario with its storied mining history should be a prospector’s dream. In fact the province’s allure as a mining jurisdiction has never been duller, despite the promise of the Ring of Fire and a number of prospective gold properties.

Participants at a consultation forum earlier this week took the opportunity to blame the Ontario government for concentrating its efforts on the Ring of Fire – a chromite-rich development project in the James Bay lowlands of Northern Ontario – and neglecting other mining projects that would be easier to access than the remote Ring of Fire, which lacks key infrastructure for mining.

“There’s no tacit recognition by this provincial government that it believes in mining,” said Gino Chitaroni, president of the Northern Prospectors Association, in an article posted Friday in Northern Ontario Business. “All we hear about is the Ring of Fire. Let me explain something about the Ring of Fire, it’s not the only thing going on in this province. I’m sick to death of it.”

Chitaroni told industry players at the session, hosted by the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, that “he could think of eight to 10 mining projects in eastern Ontario alone, that would be viable with some investment, and much easier to access than the remote Ring of Fire,” according to Northern Ontario Business.

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UPDATE 1- Indonesia may ease bauxite export ban to help fund refineries – by Wilda Asmarini (Reuters Africa – March 23, 2015)

http://af.reuters.com/

JAKARTA, March 23 (Reuters) – Indonesia is looking at easing its mineral export ban for bauxite producers to help promote the building of domestic processing capacity, a mines ministry official said on Monday.

Early last year Indonesia put in place export restrictions aimed at forcing miners to develop smelting and processing facilities so that it can increase the value of the minerals it produces and create jobs.

“We need a breakthrough in the law to accelerate bauxite smelter development,” Said Didu, head of the national smelter development team at the energy and mineral resources ministry, told reporters. “To accelerate bauxite smelter development, they should pay a guarantee bond to develop smelters to the government.”

The government has already offered a similar deal to copper miners, allowing them to export concentrates again after paying an export tax and a bond as a sign of good faith that they intend to build smelting capacity.

If bauxite miners have at least 30 percent of their smelter or refinery construction completed, they can apply for a government licence to resume some exports in order to get funding for the rest of their facility, Didu said.

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Montana mning proposes environmental safeguards – by Mark Thompson (Montana Standard – March 21, 2015)

http://mtstandard.com/

Mark Thompson is the Montana Mining Association president and manager of environmental affairs for Montana Resources in Butte.

On Friday, legislation was introduced in the state Senate that would ensure Montana’s environmental protections are amongst the most rigorous in the world. Senate Bill 409 carried by Sen. Chas Vincent, R-Libby, is the advent of a new era of mining in Montana, where industry proposes standards progressive in concept, comprehensive in scope and definitive in responsible management of tailings storage facilities.

Following a tailings area breach in British Columbia, the Montana Mining Association took a long, hard look at what the Treasure State had on the books to prevent a similar disaster from occurring in Montana.

Mine tailings are the uneconomic remains that result from the milling process, and are conventionally stored in large impoundments similar to the one which breached in British Columbia last year. No such occurrence with a large impoundment has ever happened in Montana’s more than 100 years of mining, yet the Montana Mining Association had the foresight to facilitate a bill which would add a laundry list of new requirements in law and would implement measures to ensure that Montana’s impoundments remain safe.

Through an exhaustive investigative process, the association pooled together resources and information from the industry’s foremost experts in mining and engineering and has proposed a process with significant engineering and review requirements ahead of any new mine tailings storage facilities or expansions.

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Sudbury Accent: The prodigal ling returns to Ramsey – by Bruce Heidman (Sudbury Star – March 21, 2015)

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

They aren’t even close to pretty and their song is not nearly as sweet, but the return of ling to Sudbury’s Ramsey Lake after a 100-year absence is serving as a veritable canary in a coal mine.

Local fish biologists were stunned when it came to their attention that ling, an environmentally sensitive cold-water fish also commonly known as burbot, have returned to Ramsey, where the last recorded catch came in 1912. The discovery is significant because it shows the lake has bounced back even better than scientists thought from decades of environmental degradation, mostly due to sewage, mining and acid rain.

Local biologist John Gunn, one of a handful of scientists who have done extensive research on Ramsey Lake, Sudbury’s crown jewel, for the better part of 30 years, didn’t believe the news when he first heard it.

“We were shocked,” he said. “We didn’t think for all the work and time we have spent around that lake that something like that would slip by us. They are not a species people move around and they are a very clean water fish that has been lost in Killarney and Temagami, and the ling disappeared before the lake trout, so when we saw a pollution-sensitive species disappear and then start swimming around in front of the (Living With Lakes Centre) building, we were surprised.

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Poles Steel for Battle, Fearing Russia Will March on Them Next – by Rick Lyman (New York Times – March 14, 2015)

http://www.nytimes.com/

KALISZ, Poland — For evidence of how much President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has jangled nerves and provoked anxiety across Eastern Europe, look no farther than the drill held the other day by the Shooters Association.

The paramilitary group, like more than 100 others in Poland, has experienced a sharp spike in membership since Mr. Putin’s forces began meddling in neighboring Ukraine last year.

Thirty students took an oath to defend Poland at all costs, joining nearly 200 other regional members of the association — young men and women, boys and girls — marching in formation around the perimeter of the dusty high school courtyard here. They crossed Polish Army Boulevard and marched into the center of town, sprawling in four long lines along the edge of St. Joseph’s Square.

Gen. Boguslaw Pacek, an adviser to the Polish defense minister and the government’s chief liaison with these paramilitary groups, marched with them. He has been making the rounds in recent months of such gatherings: student chapters like this one, as well as groups of veterans, even battle re-enactors.

One of those who took the oath in Kalisz was Bartosz Walesiak, 16, who said he had been interested in the military since playing with toy soldiers as a little boy, but had been motivated to join the Shooters Association after Russia moved into Crimea.

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