Republic of Mining

Obama signs mining land swap measures into law – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – December 22, 2014)

December 22, 2014

http://www.mineweb.com/

Two copper projects in Arizona and Nevada will now advance to the next stage as the National Defense Authorization Act has now become law.

The NDAA includes land swaps that benefit the Resolution Copper Project in Arizona. Rio Tinto Copper’s CEO says the passage of the land exchange at Resolution will help it establish the full potential of the resource and provides a clear road map to commercial development.

President Barak Obama has signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law, which includes riders containing the largest public lands package since 2009, which includes land swaps that benefit the Resolution Copper Project in Arizona and the Pumpkin Hollow Copper Project in Nevada.

A joint venture of Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton allows for the exchange of 2,400 acres of federal land at Oak Flat around the deposit for 5,400 privately owned acres of land held by Resolution Copper including riparian habitat on the lower San Pedro River.

The high-value conservations land were identified through the input from the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Audubon Society and others. The swap consolidates ownership of the land where the mine will be developed and operated.

Turning point for coal? Japanese trading firms snap up coal assets – by Yuka Obayashi and Sonali Paul (Reuters India – December 22, 2014)

December 22, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

TOKYO/MELBOURNE, Dec 22 (Reuters) – Only a few months ago, a potential buyer said Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp was prepared to sell a costly stake in a Canadian coal mine for as little as $1.

But a flurry of acquisitions of high-quality coal assets by Japanese firms in recent weeks signals that some trading houses at least are betting a depressed coal market where prices have halved in three years may be bottoming out.

This vote of confidence comes amid signs that coal demand in Japan and emerging markets such as India is holding up well despite weaker demand in markets such as China, where coal imports in the first 11 months fell nearly a tenth.

Japan is the world’s second-biggest coal importer behind China, importing almost 200 million tonnes a year.

Recent acquisitions include the first coal investment by Mitsui & Co in 10 years. It is purchasing a stake in a Mozambique mine operated by Brazil’s Vale, in which the trading firm has an indirect stake.

“The biggest reason for participating in the Moatize project is to retain excellent quality metallurgical coal that is scarce globally,” Tetsuya Fukuda, general manager of Mitsui’s coal division, said. “With the resource supercycle, we had been not able to buy any assets.”

Nickel Shortage Propels Philippines Mining Boom: Southeast Asia – by Ian Sayson (Bloomberg News – December 21, 2014)

December 22, 2014

http://www.businessweek.com/

Michael Defensor is racing to mine and ship nickel from projects across the Philippines to plug the gap in global supplies left by Indonesia’s ore-export curbs.

“Indonesia’s ban affected us positively,” said Defensor, chairman of Pax Libera Mining Inc. and the nation’s environment secretary from 2004 to 2006. He’s preparing four new sites for next year after opening two in the past two years. “We will maximize this window and ship as much as we can.”

The Indonesian curbs, designed to promote local processing, started in January and were upheld in court this month. The ban initially drove prices to a two-year high in May, before larger-than expected Philippine exports and slowing Chinese growth reversed the rally. Citigroup Inc. says it’s still bullish on nickel because the country won’t be able to expand supply much more and a global shortage will emerge.

Futures on the London Metal Exchange, the global benchmark for the metal used to make stainless steel, traded at $15,550 a metric ton on Dec. 19, from this year’s high of $21,625 in May. The price is still 12 percent higher for the year, making nickel the best performing industrial metal on the LME.

“Everyone will try to max out their permit,” said Ramon Adviento, a mining analyst at Maybank ATR Kim Eng Securities in Manila. “The low-hanging fruit has already been harvested even before the ban, so there is probability that the Philippines won’t meet the gap” left by Indonesia, he said.

Mining company says it’s committed to Superior’s success – by Emily Bregel (Arizona Daily Star – December 21, 2014)

December 22, 2014

http://tucson.com/

The mining company seeking to acquire a copper deposit just outside Superior wants to help the town prepare for life after the ore body is depleted and the mine shuts down.

“We want to help them be sustainable and self-sustaining,” said Vicky Peacey, Resolution Copper Mining’s senior manager for environment, permitting and community. She notes that the mine has contributed to the town’s efforts to revitalize and has supported the chamber of commerce, local schools and recreation groups. “It’s not just about mining. It’s about diversifying.”

Leaders in the mining town of Superior — who voted last year to revoke the town’s written support for the Resolution mine — agree with the company on that point, at least.

Town attorney Steve Cooper said Superior could become a tourist destination, based in part on the outdoor recreation and natural beauty surrounding the mining town.

“The area in and around Superior is beautiful,” he said, describing a plan to build a trail along Queen Creek from the Oak Flat campground to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum to the west. “We want to basically try to make the town a multi-business community, versus having a one-employer town.”

‘No hope for Harlan’: Deep in coal country, pondering future without it – by Allen G. Breed (The Associated Press – December 20, 2014)

December 22, 2014

http://www.middletownpress.com/

HARLAN, Ky. – The rest of the house is just waking as Scottie Sizemore plops down in a rocking chair on his front porch with a cup of coffee. The sun has yet to crest the ridge above, where mist clings like clouds that couldn’t quite make it over.

Sizemore is the fourth generation of his family to mine coal in Harlan County. He knows he’ll probably be the last.

For over a century, life in Central Appalachia has been largely defined by the ups and downs of the coal industry. Through all the bust years, there was always the promise of another boom. Until now.

There is a growing sense in these mountains that this downturn is different, deeper. That for a variety of reasons — economic, environmental, political — coal mining will not rebound this time.

State and federal initiatives are exploring everything from ecotourism and small farmer loans to regional tax incentives for job creators. Some here pray for a regulatory climate change that would breathe new life into the region’s mines. For Sizemore and his wife, Madonna, the answer is simple, if painful. They’re leaving.

Good environment, good jobs: We can have both – by Frank Ongaro (Mesabi Daily News – December 20, 2014)

December 22, 2014

http://www.virginiamn.com/

Frank Ongaro is executive director of Mining Minnesota, which is a group working with local citizens, businesses and other organizations to bring growth and job creation to the state through responsible development of natural resources.

But this simply isn’t a fair or accurate portrayal of the issues at hand. We are all environmentalists and we all enjoy the beauty and serenity of Minnesota’s wilderness. Our state has a lot to offer outdoor enthusiasts, and with a population above 3.5 million, there are many people who call Minnesota home who have an interest in protecting the outdoors for future generations.

A majority of these 3.5 million individuals also need jobs — jobs that support their families and provide opportunities for future generations of Minnesotans. Thankfully, we can have both — the environment and mining have coexisted for more than 130 years and with modern technologies, will continue to do so as we expand the state’s rich mining tradition.

Mining copper, nickel, platinum and palladium from one of the world’s largest, untapped source of these strategic metals in Minnesota’s Duluth Complex will provide thousands of high-quality jobs in a range of sectors, as well as the metals we all need for the growing green economy. Wind turbines and solar equipment require copper. Electric cars and rechargeable batteries use nickel and copper. The autocatalysts in cars require platinum and palladium.

OBITUARY: Entrepreneur Terry Howes made a fortune through once-dormant mining stocks – by Tom Hawthorn (Globe and Mail – December 22, 2014)

December 22, 2014

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.

Terry Howes was a prospector who made a fortune from mining, though he never stuck an axe in the ground, or swished a pan of gravel in a Klondike river. Instead, he surveyed dusty documents in archives, seeking nuggets of information in which could be found unclaimed treasure.

Mr. Howes had several eureka moments by locating shareholders of once-dormant mining stock that had become valuable. Mr. Howes took a percentage of his findings as a reward.

“I don’t know of anyone else who does what I do,” he told the Toronto Star in 1989. “I got the idea when the price of gold went up eight or nine years ago. I was aware there were a good many gold-mining companies that had lost all their value. … Now suddenly they were valuable again. I thought it might be a good idea to track down shareholders and tell them what they had.”

The laborious and painstaking search along a paper trail might be described as a get-rich-slow scheme. Mr. Howes, who has died at 85, also operated a company called Locator of Missing Heirs Inc. As the name promised, he tracked down those owed money from an estate, negotiating a fee with the heirs for the service.

Massive B.C. gold mine near Alaska border gets environmental approval – by Terri Theodore (Canadian Press/Vancouver Province – December 20, 2014)

December 22, 2014

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

VANCOUVER — The federal government approved the environmental assessment application on Friday for the massive KSM gold and copper mine in northwestern British Columbia near the Alaska border.

The mine, which is owned by Seabridge Gold Inc. (TSX:SEA), is considered the largest undeveloped gold reserve in the world and also has copper, silver and molybdenum deposits.

The project would be just 35 kilometres from the Alaska border, and in August the state took the rare step of asking the Canadian government for involvement in the approval process over concerns for its rivers and fish.

But the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency concluded in its report that the KSM project isn’t likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

Seabridge CEO Rudi Fronk said the company was confident it would receive the approval because it has spent six years and $200 million working with government, local First Nations and the state of Alaska. The company conducted 40 working group sessions with federal and provincial regulators, First Nations and American regulators, he said.

Israeli billionaire fails to silence critic over mine deal – by Henry Mance (Financial Times – December 21, 2014)

December 22, 2014

http://www.ft.com/home/us

An Israeli diamond billionaire is facing defeat in an audacious attempt to use data protection laws to stifle one of his loudest critics.

Beny Steinmetz is engaged in a long-running legal battle with Global Witness, a campaign group that has raised “corruption concerns” about how BSG Resources, the mining arm of his family conglomerate, acquired rights to Africa’s largest iron ore project. Both Mr Steinmetz and BSG Resources deny wrongdoing in relation to the Simandou concession in Guinea.

Lawyers for Mr Steinmetz and three BSGR directors had tried to invoke the UK’s Data Protection Act to force Global Witness to reveal what data it held in relation to them and, if necessary, to destroy it. That move, which Global Witness said would compromise its confidential sources, was the first time privacy laws had been used in such a manner.

Last week, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) rejected Mr Steinmetz’s request, saying Global Witness’s activities were exempt from data protection requirements because they were “for the purposes of journalism”. Global Witness says on its website that it campaigns “to stop elites getting away with looting entire states . . . and for an end to the exploitation of our environment”.

The case has been keenly watched by lawyers at news organisations, who foresaw a significant impact on investigative journalism had the lawsuit succeeded.

BC chief inspector of mines amends Mt Polley Act to enable repairs to start – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – December 19, 2014)

December 22, 2014

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The chief inspector of mines for British Columbia, Al Hoffman, has approved an amendment to the Mount Polley Mine Corporation Mines Act permit to allow the company to start repairs of the breach in its tailings storage facility dam.

The repair work was part of the long-term remediation plan for the area impacted by the August Mount Polley breach, the provincial Ministry of Energy and Mines said. The work at the tailings storage facility would help ensure that the increased water flow from melting snow (also known as spring freshet or spring breakup) will not result in further environmental or human health impacts.

The amendment to the mine’s permit only authorises the company to undertake the approved breach repair work and set out a number of conditions that would have to be followed by Imperial Metals subsidiary Mount Polley Mining Corporation. The amendment does not allow the mine to restart its ore-processing operations.

The Cariboo Mine Development Review Committee, which included technical representatives from the provincial government, Williams Lake Indian Band, Xat’sull First Nation, Cariboo Regional District, Community of Likely, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada had reviewed the Mines Act permit amendment application and geotechnical design for the breach repair.

Noront Sixth Annual Ring of Fire Christmas Fund – Please Donate Now!

December 20, 2014

It is that time of year again! Noront Resources’ employees are running our Sixth Annual Ring of Fire Christmas Fund. Over the past 5 years Noront has raised over $75,000 in donations, and has ensured that each child under the age of 13 living both on and off reserve in the communities of Marten Falls …

Tax hike, copper prices force Barrick to shutter Zambian mine – by Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – December 19, 2014)

December 19, 2014

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.

Barrick Gold Corp. said it will suspend operations at its Zambian copper mine and record an impairment charge after the African country’s government more than tripled its mining royalties.

The suspension is the latest setback for Barrick, which borrowed heavily to acquire the Lumwana mine in 2011, when copper prices were soaring.

The royalty on open pit mining in Zambia will jump to 20 per cent from the current 6 per cent, under a new law that will go into effect Jan.1.

“The introduction of this royalty has left us with no choice but to initiate the process of suspending operations at Lumwana,” Barrick’s co-president Kelvin Dushnisky said in a statement.

Barrick, which employs 4,000 workers at Lumwana, said it would start cutting jobs in March after giving the Zambian government the mandatory two-months notice. The mine will be idled by the middle of the year.

It is unknown whether Barrick will be able to renegotiate rates with the government before it shutters the mine.

Uralkali Gains Most in 5 Years on Output Goal, Share-Deal Delay – by Yuliya Fedorinova (Bloomberg News – December 18, 2014)

December 19, 2014

http://www.businessweek.com/

OAO Uralkali jumped the most more than five years in Moscow as the largest potash company raised its output goal even after one mine was halted by flooding and it delayed a share deal that would have left it less room to pay dividends.

“With increased capacity utilization at other mines, we intend to produce 12 million tons of potash this year to meet strong demand from our customers,” Chief Executive Officer Dmitry Osipov said in a statement. In August, Uralkali estimated annual output of the fertilizer of 11.5 million metric tons.

The potash producer advanced 14 percent, the biggest gain since May 2009, to 141.50 rubles by the close in Moscow trading, paring its loss for the year to 18 percent.

Uralkali is monitoring the Solikamsk-2 mine in Russia’s Perm region after water poured into the site last month. A sinkhole that has widened to 54 meters (177 feet) by 83 meters opened near the mine, swallowing up summer homes. Uralkali sees a high risk the mine will be completely flooded, forcing it to abandon a site contributing almost 18 percent of its capacity.

“We expect the accident to have an insignificant impact on our 2014 full-year output target,” Osipov said today.

Vale SA: Overview of the world’s largest iron ore company – by Annie Gilroy (Market Realist – December 17, 2014)

December 19, 2014

http://marketrealist.com/

Operations

Vale SA (VALE) is a Brazilian multinational diversified metals and mining company. It is the world’s largest producer of iron ore and iron ore pellets and the world’s second-largest producer of nickel. It also produces manganese ore, ferroalloys, coal, copper, PGMs (platinum group metals), gold, silver, cobalt, potash, phosphates, and other fertilizer nutrients.

Vale has mineral exploration operations in 11 countries around the globe. It operates infrastructure systems in Brazil and other regions of the world, including railroads, maritime terminals, and ports that are integrated with its mining operations.

Its main operations are divided into four main lines of business:

Bulk materials – iron ore and pellets, manganese, ferroalloys, and coal
Base metals – nickel, cobalt, copper, PGMs and other precious metals
Fertilizer nutrients – potash, phosphate, and nitrogen fertilizers
Logistics infrastructure – railroads, maritime terminals, distribution centers, and ports
We’ll discuss these in detail in subsequent parts of this series.