Republic of Mining

Sudbury letter: Liberals fail to deliver – by Ryan Minor (Sudbury Star – January 16, 2015)

January 16, 2015

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

It is election time in Sudbury. The governing Liberals will be out making new promises and restating old promises. There is a saying that ‘words whisper, actions scream.’ We need to look past the rhetoric and ask: where are the results?

On the Highway 69 file, the minister of Transportation wants us to believe that the government is still committed to finishing the highway by 2017.

There are several troubling facts that cast doubt on this claim. The last contracts for construction of the highway were tendered in 2012. As of now, the MTO has not concluded a single deal with any of the three First Nations to acquire reserve lands. The remaining 82 km have been in federal environmental assessment since at least 2011. The MTO has no federal permits.

The 2014 budget included funding for 11 km of Highway 69 near Nobel and indicated that construction would start this fiscal year (by March 31). According to an email dated Jan. 8, 2015, from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, information to complete the environmental assessment has been outstanding for years, which is surprising since the engineering is done, the project is entirely on Crown land, the project involves adding two more lanes to the existing highway and First Nations legally cannot withhold consultation.

Sudburians need to ask: what is the true construction timetable for the highway? What sort of issues are holding up agreements with the First Nations?

COMMENT: Is BC becoming mining friendly? – by Marilyn Scales (Canadian Mining Journal – January 15, 2015)

January 16, 2015

Marilyn Scales is a field editor for the Canadian Mining Journal, Canada’s first mining publication. She is one of Canada’s most senior mining commentators.

Two recent news releases point toward removing roadblocks from the Prosperity and Tulsequah Chief projects. With two rulings by the BC Minister of Environment, the province appears to move closer to being a mining friendly place to find a deposit.

First, the Tulsequah Chief base and precious metals project belonging to Chieftain Metals of Toronto was deemed to be “substantially started.” That designation means that the environmental assessment certificate remains in effect for the life of the project.

Second, the government granted a five-year extension to the environmental certificate for developing the Prosperity gold-copper project that belongs to Vancouver-based Taseko Mines.

Both projects have had their share of detractors, primarily First Nations who feel they mines will be environmentally unsound.

The Tulsequah Chief project ran up against a lawsuit filed in December 2013 seeking to void the environmental permit originally granted in 2002 and renewable every five years. When Chieftain purchased the Tulsequah property in 2010, the sale included a valid environmental certificate. With the latest determination that the project is substantially started, there is no basis for revoking the environmental permit.

The Prosperity project was complicated first by environmental concerns and then by aboriginal title to the property.

Penguin ASI Takes Mining Automation to the Next Level – by Robert Spence (Mining Global – November 04, 2014)

May 4, 2015January 16, 2015

http://www.miningglobal.com/

Penguin Automated Systems Inc. is a leading research, development and prototyping company in the field of robotic & Automation solutions. The Company specializes in full service telecommunication enabling the transmission of video, data and voice for control of single or multiple robots and equipment in underground, underwater and space solutions.

First initiated in 2001, Penguin ASI offers a wide range of options in the mining, construction and exploration industries, providing wireless optical networking to underground GPS systems and inertial navigation for positioning. Penguin ASI uses a comprehensive approach to software development, systems integration and field testing to ensure leading edge technologies are supplied to manage all of their client’s needs.

By applying existing technology and inventing new ones, Penguin ASI is able to enable the creation of innovative solutions for challenging projects, allowing the Company to be a leading force in the Telerobotics field.

Copper joins commodity slump amid worries over global economy – by Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – January 15, 2015)

January 15, 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 commodities rout has spread to copper, sending the industrial metal into a tailspin on growing fears of a weakening global economy. The red metal plunged 5.2 per cent to $2.55 (U.S.) a pound, a price not seen since 2009, when financial markets were in the grip of a global economic crisis.

Copper has been sliding for a few years amid a slowing Chinese economy and an increasing surplus of the metal. But the sudden and sharp drop on Wednesday – copper lost as much as 8 per cent before recovering slightly – shocked markets already reeling from oil’s free fall.

“It’s difficult to find any fundamental reason for the dramatic slump except fears about demand have been underlined by the growth outlook lowered by the World Bank this morning,” said Robin Bhar, head of metals research at Société Générale.

The World Bank cut its economic forecast for this year and said the stronger U.S. economy would not be enough to boost global growth.

Copper, used in all sectors from construction and power generation to cars and electronics, has long been viewed as a bellwether for the world’s economic health.

World’s optimism drained as U.S. economy shows signs of weakness – by David Berman (Globe and Mail – January 15, 2015)

January 15, 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 U.S. economy has been hailed by market strategists as a humming engine that can lead the rest of the world. Investors aren’t so sure.

Stocks are taking a beating as troubling indicators start to pile up, sending U.S. and Canadian benchmark indexes deeper under water in 2015. Markets have been volatile for several months over concerns about the euro zone economy, falling commodity prices and shifting U.S. monetary policy.

But things turned particularly rough on Wednesday following a batch of unsettling developments, including weak U.S. retail sales and falling copper prices, rattling confidence even in the U.S. economy.

The S&P 500 fell 11.76 points or 0.6 per cent, closing at 2,011.27 and marking its fourth straight decline. For the year, it is down 2.3 per cent.

In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index fell 102.7 points or 0.7 per cent, to 14,084.43. The index is down 3.8 per cent in 2015. Stocks fell hard in Europe and Asia as well, as investors rushed to the safety of government bonds, driving down yields.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond fell as low as 1.8 per cent during the day, to its lowest level in more than 18 months. The yield on the 30-year bond fell to a record low.

Real-time communications to allow deep mining – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – January 15, 2015)

January 15, 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.

It may sound like something straight from science fiction, but for miners of the future, suits and helmets that monitor their vital signs, regulate their body temperature and communicate to aboveground operators isn’t so far from reality.

Sudbury company Jannatec Technologies is working to develop fully connected, wearable gear that would do all these things to help miners go deeper underground.

“We’re very good at mining, but our communications and how we move ore and how we move things is still back 30, 40 years, so we have to catch up, and we need higher speed data under there,” Jannatec president Wayne Ablitt said. “We have to give the same working tools underground that are above ground, and that’s our goal.”

Jannatec is one of the partners in the Ultra-Deep Mining Network — established by Sudbury’s Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) — focused on four areas of innovation: rock-stress risk reduction, energy reduction, material transport and productivity, and human health. The network defines ultra-deep mining as mining taking place up to 2.5 kilometres underground.

Economic uncertainty clouds Premier’s Natural Resources Forum – by Derrick Penner (Vancouver Sun – January 14, 2015)

January 15, 2015

http://www.vancouversun.com/index.html

Coal, copper prices have stalled, but forestry is rebounding and LNG potential remains

The provincial government’s 12th annual Premier’s Natural Resources Forum will convene next week in Prince George with a cloud shading some of the sunny optimism that has shone on British Columbia’s resource industries in recent years.

“The big story is the overall global setting and global backdrop, and for commodities, that’s relatively weak,” said Ken Peacock, vice-president and chief economist for the Business Council of B.C.

Peacock added that it is not all gloom though. While slower growth in Asia has curbed prices for commodities such as steelmaking coal and copper — dulling the prospects for B.C. mining — forestry is experiencing more of a rebound due to recovery of the American economy.

However, the province’s central interior is still buoyed by existing activity in the resource sectors, according to Mike Morris, MLA for Prince George Mackenzie, and resource-sector businesses remain pragmatic about planning for the future in cyclical industries.

“We’re still very optimistic that (liquefied natural gas) is going to move ahead,” Morris said. Morris, whose office played a big role in organizing the event, is expecting up to 600 delegates for the forum, mostly people involved in industry service businesses.

Deloitte Top 10 Mining Trends for 2015: More Agile Thinking Required to Keep Pace With Industry Change

January 15, 2015

http://www2.deloitte.com/global/en.html

Mining companies need different approaches to decision-making

For the PDF report, click here: http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/Energy-and-Resources/gx-er-tracking-the-trends-2015.pdf

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – Jan. 15, 2015) – Mining companies continue to grapple with challenging market conditions including price volatility, geopolitical turmoil, rising costs, declining grades and a general lack of financing. To remain viable into the future, companies must get more adept at balancing short-term investor expectations with long-term business imperatives. This is according to Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited’s (DTTL) Tracking the Trends 2015: The top 10 issues mining companies will face this year, report released today.

The report highlights that in order to embrace the need for longer-term thinking, mining companies are getting back to the basics to clarify what they stand for, what they believe and what they plan to achieve long term.

“There is no doubt that mining companies operate in complex geographies where they face increasing challenges in responding to regulatory and compliance requirements,” said Philip Hopwood, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited’s Canadian and Global Mining Leader. “At the same time, they have an imperative to adapt to changing market conditions adopting new innovations as they seek to produce more for less cost, in a world where volatility market conditions are the new normal, and geopolitical conditions are increasingly impacting economic decision-making.”

Saving American Industry by Disrupting It – by Pat Choate (Huffington Post – January 14, 2015)

January 15, 2015

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/business/

The U.S. economy has lost more than a third of its industrial base over the past 20 years and with it more than six million good-paying jobs. This loss is the real cause of the rising economic inequality that now plagues our nation.

While most of the corporate CEOs who are facilitating this outsourcing of national wealth are indifferent to what is happening, there are a few old-fashioned, true capitalists who are not. One of those is Texas entrepreneur Rob Wendt. He is a man on a mission: He’s fighting to rebuild the American steel industry with American workers in America.

His is a lofty goal, to say the least. Once at the heart of the U.S. economy, the steel business now stands with the automobile industry as a stark symbol of American decline. Our nation led the world in steel production for decades — it was used to build the cars and appliances that fueled domestic job creation and economic growth over much of the 20th century — but U.S. producers have been in freefall since the recession of the 1970s.

At one time its biggest exporter, America is today the world’s number-one steel importer. We have been outrun by China, Europe, and Japan — and now India is hot on our heels.

Wendt wants to reverse that trend. To do so, he is using what the industry has lacked for nearly 100 years: truly disruptive technology. His startup, Origami Steel, has developed a patent-pending process that could radically change the ways in which steel is both made and sold.

Vale’s nickel unit a good target for X2 but higher price needed – by STEPHEN EISENHAMMER AND SILVIA ANTONIOLI (Reuters – January 14, 2015)

January 15, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

RIO DE JANEIRO/LONDON – Jan 14 (Reuters) – Vale’s nickel business is a good target for former Xstrata CEO Mick Davis, but his reported offer price is probably too low, considering the Brazilian miner’s stated interest in only selling a minority stake, analysts and banking sources said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Davis, who runs London-based mining startup X2 Resources, is considering a $5 billion to $7 billion offer for Vale’s nickel assets. A spokesperson for Vale, the world’s second-largest producer of nickel, told Reuters on Tuesday no offer had been received and no talks held.

A spokesman for X2 also declined to comment. “Any offer at this level… would be far too low for Vale to consider, in our view,” Citigroup analyst Alex Hacking said in a client note.

Hacking valued the business at around $20-25 billion, given an average expected EBITDA, a measure of profit from operations, of as much as $4 billion.

Vale valued its base metals business (nickel and copper) at $30-35 billion in December when it said it was considering listing 30 to 40 percent of the division in Toronto as a separate company.

Mackenzie Iles Watson (Born 1935) – 2015 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee

March 9, 2018January 15, 2015

The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame was conceived by the late Maurice R. Brown, former editor and publisher of The Northern Miner, as a way to recognize and honour the legendary mine finders and builders of a great Canadian industry. The Hall was established in 1988. For more information about the extraordinary individuals who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, please go to their home website: http://mininghalloffame.ca/

Geological acumen, entrepreneurial instincts, and an engaging personality are some of the qualities that contributed to the extraordinary success achieved by Mackenzie Watson during his 50-year career in the Canadian mining industry. His impressive track record of discovery includes involvement in the Holloway gold project in Ontario, chromite deposits in the Ring of Fire district, and the Strange Lake rare earths project in Quebec. He also built flagship Freewest Resources into a respected project generator and provided leadership and support to junior companies and industry associations.

Watson graduated with a BSc in geology from the University of New Brunswick in 1959, and soon after participated in the discovery of the Icon Sullivan copper mine near Chibougamau, Quebec. His 1970s successes included Lynx Canada’s Long Lake zinc mine in southeast Ontario, the Hebecourt massive sulphide deposit in Quebec, and the Ellison gold deposit in Quebec, and a thermal coal deposit in New Brunswick. He later became a technical advisor to Q-Vest, which raised $60 million to invest in junior companies during the 1980s.

http://www.pendaproductions.com/ This video was produced by PENDA Productions, a full service production company specializing in Corporate Communications with a focus on Corporate Responsibility.

Watson came into his own after becoming president of Freewest Resources in 1986. The company’s first major triumph was the Holloway gold project east of Timmins. Its discovery led to Freewest being absorbed by Hemlo Gold Mines and development of the deposit as a 1,350-tons-per-day mine.

Ian Telfer (Born 1946) – 2015 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee

March 9, 2018January 15, 2015

Ian Telfer earned his reputation as a financially astute and visionary mining entrepreneur by building a series of companies through timely acquisitions and value-driven mergers.

The companies that he founded or led — TVX Gold, Wheaton River (later merged with Goldcorp), Silver Wheaton, Terrane Minerals and Uranium One, among others — reached a combined market capitalization of more than $50 billion at their peak. Telfer’s greatest accomplishment began modestly in 2001, when he saw low gold prices as an opportunity to acquire Wheaton River Minerals and leverage its treasury to buy producing gold mines at bargain prices.

The strategy was so successful that Wheaton River was soon able to execute a friendly merger with established miner Goldcorp. With Telfer at the helm, Goldcorp grew through subsequent mergers and acquisitions to become a world-class gold mining company.

http://www.pendaproductions.com/ This video was produced by PENDA Productions, a full service production company specializing in Corporate Communications with a focus on Corporate Responsibility.

Born in Oxford, England, Telfer was raised in Canada, and holds a BA from the University of Toronto and an MBA from the University of Ottawa. He worked as an accountant for Hudson’s Bay Mining and Smelting before becoming a founding partner of TVX in 1983. Telfer’s talents came to industry attention as TXV grew into a global gold-miner from an initial base in Brazil.

Ronald K. Netolitzky (Born 1943) – 2015 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee

March 9, 2018January 15, 2015

Ronald Netolitzky is an accomplished Canadian geologist who has always remained an independent-minded prospector at heart. He recognized and helped realize the potential of the Snip and Eskay Creek properties in northwest British Columbia, which became two of Canada’s most successful, high-grade precious metal mines. He also contributed to the growth of many junior companies and, at last count, was involved in 12 significant merger-and-acquisition events.

Netolitzky graduated from the University of Alberta with a B.Sc. in geology in 1964 and a M.Sc. from University of Calgary in 1967. He joined the Saskatchewan uranium rush as a consultant before venturing into junior mining. By 1985, Netolitzky was president of Delaware Resources and seeking a project of merit.

http://www.pendaproductions.com/ This video was produced by PENDA Productions, a full service production company specializing in Corporate Communications with a focus on Corporate Responsibility.

The Snip property optioned from Cominco fit the bill and the first drill program led to a gold discovery. But the 1987 market crash hindered financing and Delaware was ultimately taken over by Murray Pezim and re-named Prime Resources. Undaunted, Netolitzky turned his attention to a nearby prospect with a fruitless exploration history dating back to the 1930s.

Peter M.D. Bradshaw (Born 1938) – 2015 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee

March 9, 2018January 15, 2015

Peter Bradshaw has served the mining industry with distinction for more than forty years as a mine-finder, company builder, an advocate of collaborative research and science and by working effectively with local and indigenous people. His early career with renowned Barringer Research gave him a global perspective on mineral exploration and the opportunity to develop and publish details of ground-breaking geochemical processes and exploration methods.

In 1979, he joined Placer Development, a predecessor of Placer Dome, and helped advance several successful projects, most notably the discovery of the very high-grade zone VII at Porgera in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Bradshaw was also the driving force behind the formation of the very successful Minerals Deposit Research Unit (MDRU) at the University of British Columbia (UBC).

http://www.pendaproductions.com/ This video was produced by PENDA Productions, a full service production company specializing in Corporate Communications with a focus on Corporate Responsibility.

Among his other achievements Bradshaw brought expertise, integrity and energy to the junior sector, first with Orvana Minerals, which developed the Don Mario gold-silver-copper deposit in Bolivia. Later, as co-founder and president of First Point Minerals, he helped discover and identify the commercial importance of a new type of nickel deposit in BC and Yukon, in which nickel occurs as the nickel-iron alloy, awaruite.