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Capreol chromite smelter ‘very unlikely’ – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – May 27, 2014)

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

Sudbury Star mining columnist Stan Sudol didn’t mince words about what the sale of the Cliffs’ camp
could mean. “I think this is another indication that Cliffs is a ‘dead man walking’ in the Ring of Fire,”
said Sudol. “The possibility of Cliffs building a furnace in Sudbury is also, unfortunately, very unlikely.”

Noront Resources Ltd. has purchased the exploration camp shuttered by Cliffs Chromite Ontario Inc. late last year when it announced it was indefinitely suspending its activities in the Ring of Fire.

Noront has been talking with the subsidiary of Cleveland-based Cliffs Natural Resources since then about purchasing the camp, located 250 metres from Noront’s existing Esker Camp.

The sale of the camp is subject to certain conditions, one of them being the sale price not be revealed, said Noront president and chief executive officer Alan Coutts. If the deal goes through as expected, Noront will take possession of the camp early in the second half of this year.

What the sale means for Cliffs’ holdings in the Ring of Fire isn’t known. An email inquiry to the company about that Monday did not garner a response.

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Rio, Guinea Agree on Terms for $20 Billion Iron-Ore Mine – by Jesse Riseborough (Bloomberg News – May 27, 2014)

http://www.businessweek.com/

Rio Tinto Group (RIO), the world’s second-biggest mining company, agreed financial terms with the government of Guinea for a potential $20 billion iron-ore mine, port and rail project that may start by the end of this decade.

The accord will underpin talks with new investors for the rail and port component of developing the Simandou resource, Rio and its project partners Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., International Finance Corp. and the government of Guinea said yesterday in a joint statement. The parties gave no commitment on when production will start.

Simandou is the world’s largest untapped iron-ore resource and Rio has estimated the mine could produce 100 million tons of the steelmaking ingredient a year. The project could double the West African nation’s current gross domestic product and add 45,000 jobs in the country, according to the statement.

The accord doesn’t commit Rio to building the project and analysts have said a legal dispute over the ownership of adjacent ground at Simandou could delay first production into the next decade. The agreement signed yesterday covers two of four mining permits for an ore-rich area in the southeast of Guinea.

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KWG Resources Moves on Ring of Fire – by James Murray (Netnewsledger.com – May 26, 2014)

 

http://www.netnewsledger.com/

KWG Resources Offers Ring of Fire Action Plan

THUNDER BAY – KWG Resources is taking an pro-active approach to the Ring of Fire. The company is suggesting that the Province of Ontario already has the Development Corporation for the Ring of Fie in place.

Company President and CEO Frank Smeenk discussed the details of the company’s Ring Of Fire – Northern Ontario Job Creation Plan, as outlined in its proposed bill “Northland Development Corporation Act”.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Ontario already has a Northern Development Corporation. It is the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC).
The principal operating asset of the ONTC is the Ontario Northland Railroad (ONR), which has become starved of freight haulage.

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Stainless-Steel Sales Jump as Nickel Costs Spur Stockpile – Maria Kolesnikova (Bloomberg News – May 27, 2014)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Mining companies aren’t the only ones benefiting from this year’s nickel rally. Stainless-steel makers in Europe, who use the metal, are seeing a surge in sales as customers stock up to avoid higher raw-material surcharges.

Finland’s Outokumpu OYJ (OUT1V) reported a 9.1 percent jump in stainless-steel deliveries from the fourth quarter, orders at Madrid-based Acerinox SA are “the highest in at least three years,” and Germany’s ThyssenKrupp AG, says customers are adding to inventories. The sales jolt is reviving prospects for in an industry mired in losses since the financial crisis.

While nickel accounts for half the cost of stainless steel, mills impose surcharges to cover any increase in the expense. Nickel surged 41 percent this year after Indonesia, the largest supplier to China, banned ore exports to spur investment in domestic smelters. The supply halt is boosting profit for mining companies including Glencore Plc and may help create what Credit Suisse Group AG called a “supercycle” in prices.

“The biggest winners are nickel producers, and the second-biggest are the producers of stainless steel,” said Markus Moll, the founder of Reutte, Austria-based Steel & Metals Market Research GmbH who has studied the industry for three decades. “Usually such a surge in nickel prices triggers a strong speculative buying wave. The biggest loser is the end user, who has to pay higher price for stainless.”

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Horwath, Wynne vow $1B for Ring of Fire during feisty debate (CBC News Thunder Bay – May 26, 2014)

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

Tough-talking NDP leader says people fed up with Liberal ‘betrayal and lies’

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath came out swinging at Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne during Monday’s election debate in Thunder Bay — calling the Liberal government corrupt — before the pair addressed the economic needs of northern communities.

Horwath’s sharp tone came in her opening statement of the debate on northern issues, a one-on-one with Wynne in the absence of Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, who said a scheduling conflict kept him from taking part.

Wynne stayed focus on questions about northern communities, asked by local mayors, on what can be done about high energy costs, how to provide skilled workers for the mining sector, how First Nations can reap economic benefits from mining, and how long will it take to have infrastructure in place to mine the massive Ring of Fire region.

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How Canada’s ad hoc approach to social licence is hindering resource development – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – May 27, 2014)

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

Some say social licence is now the most important determinant of successful resource development. Others argue the concept doesn’t belong in a market-based economy and that the national interest is more important.

In a paper for the Canada West Foundation, released Monday, Michael Cleland argues the ad hoc approach used so far is inadequate to meet the challenges ahead and that a new approach is needed.

Some of the things he says need fixing right away include: restoring public confidence in the regulatory system; developing a credible way forward on greenhouse gas management; building capacity so communities can share in the benefits of projects; and doing a better job of compiling and sharing independent information on environmental effects.

First, let’s acknowledge the obvious: like it or not, new forces are influencing resource projects and having a profound impact on industry’s ability to move forward.

Just ask those involved in building pipelines like Enbridge Inc., which is awaiting a response from the federal cabinet in the weeks ahead about whether its controversial Northern Gateway pipeline will get a permit; or those producing gas and oil using hydraulic fracturing techniques; or those building oil sands projects.

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Protesters burn vehicles, buildings at New Caledonia nickel mine – by Cecile Lefort and Melanie Burton (Reuters U.S. – May 26, 2014)

http://www.reuters.com/

SYDNEY – (Reuters) – Dozens of protesters caused tens of millions of dollars in damage to vehicles, equipment and buildings at Vale’s nickel mining site in New Caledonia, as anger boiled over at a chemical spill into a local river.

The $6 billion Vale plant at Goro in southern New Caledonia was closed earlier this month after some 100,000 liters of acid-tainted effluent spilled, killing about 1,000 fish and sparking protests at the mine site.

The Vale plant had been expected to produce about 40,000 metric tons of nickel this year, out of global supply of around 2 million metric tons. But it has been beset by problems in recent years, including several chemical spills and violent protests.

Tensions between the local population and Brazil-based Vale escalated over the weekend with young protesters frustrated at the latest spill by the Brazilian-based giant and a lack of response from indigenous Kanak chiefs, according to local media reports. Television footage showed images of burnt mining vehicles and equipment.

“There was damage at the site, but no damage to the plant. We had burned vehicles, one administration building was damaged, but no damage to the plant itself,” Vale spokesman Corey McPhee told Reuters.

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A Unique Musical Rendition of Ring of Fire – by Ken Adderson

  Since the Ring of Fire has caught the attention of all parties during the current Ontario election, this great rendition of Johnny Cash’s classic song with its unique focus on the province’s mineral rich northwest is timely. – RepublicOfMining.com owner/editor Stan Sudol

Untested new South Africa mines minister faces baptism of fire – Ed Stoddard (Reuters India – May 26, 2014)

http://in.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG, May 26 (Reuters) – South African President Jacob Zuma’s appointment of a new mines minister unfamiliar to the sector but known for his black empowerment views adds uncertainty to prospects for ending a crippling four-month-old platinum strike this is hurting growth.

The stoppage at Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin is already the longest in the country’s history and has damaged Africa’s most advanced economy. It is also showing signs of descending into violence. Five miners have been killed in the past two weeks as some seeking to return to work face strike pickets. The latest round of wage negotiations to try to end the dispute, mediated by a labour court judge, has made little headway.

This will mean a baptism of fire for Mines Minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi, a 58-year-old lawyer and former deputy minister in the prison service, who was named as part of Zuma’s new-look cabinet on Sunday.

By contrast, the promotion to finance minister of Nhlanhla Nene, who takes over from the respected Pravin Gordhan, was taken as a sign of continuity in the reshuffle, which follows the ruling African National Congress’s convincing re-election on May 7.

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Barrick, Newmont share a ‘co-operative spirit’ in Nevada – by Rachele Younglai (Globe and Mail – May 26, 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. and Newmont Mining Corp.’s chief executives still want to find ways to join forces in Nevada after the gold companies’ plans to merge dissolved spectacularly.

“There are opportunities to work together from an operating standpoint, particularly in Nevada, given we are partners there and given we are neighbours,” Barrick’s chief executive, Jamie Sokalsky, said in an interview. “Both myself and [Newmont chief executive] Gary Goldberg are very open to reopening those discussions,” he said.

It’s been a month since Barrick and Newmont’s merger talks imploded with the companies’ chairmen publicly accusing each other of ruining their $13-billion (U.S.) union. Since then, the world’s two largest gold producers have taken a breather from each other and are mending their relationship, with Mr. Sokalsky and Mr. Goldberg as de facto emissaries.

Mr. Sokalsky said there “certainly aren’t any” merger discussions currently taking place. But he said there was a “friendly, co-operative spirit” between the companies after the public spat between Newmont’s chairman, Vincent Calarco, and Barrick founder Peter Munk and chairman John Thornton.

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COLUMN-Tale of two iron ore curves: Which to believe? – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – May 26, 2014)

http://www.reuters.com/

Clyde Russell is a Reuters columnist. The views expressed are his own.

LAUNCESTON, Australia, May 26 (Reuters) – Iron ore swaps traded in Singapore are suggesting that the worst may be over for the steelmaking ingredient, but futures in the Chinese city of Dalian point to further price weakness.

Both can’t be correct, but the divergence of the two contracts does raise the question as to which group of investors has a more accurate gauge on the current balance of risks.

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) iron ore swaps <0#SGXIOS:> tend to be favoured by miners and traders, while the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) futures <0#DCIO:> are mainly used by Chinese steel mills and domestic investors.

The SGX iron ore swaps curve tends to move into backwardation prior to a price decline, reversing the process ahead of a rally by moving into contango.

The shape of the current SGX curve is extremely mild backwardation from the second month onwards, with the second-month contract priced at $97.25 a tonne early on Monday, the six-month at $96.58 and the 12-month at $97.

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Ontario Liberals promise $1-billion for Ring of Fire – by Kaleigh Rogers (Globe and Mail – May 26, 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.

THUNDER BAY, Ont. — Ontario’s Liberal Party has recommitted to spending $1-billion to build a highway to the province’s remote, northern Ring of Fire region, regardless of federal government spending.

The funding was the only deviation from the 2014 budget — which marked the Ring of Fire project as contingent on matched federal funding — in the Liberal platform released by party leader Kathleen Wynne in Thunder Bay on Sunday.

“We are making it a priority for my government,” Ms. Wynne said to cheers from the local crowd. “We will commit $1-billion with or without the federal government involvement.”

The funding, which would start paving roads to spur industry in the area that contains large mineral deposits, was announced earlier this year. When the 2014 budget was released, the Liberal party made the project contingent on matched funding from the federal government. But Ms. Wynne said Prime Minister Stephen Harper has shown little interest in contributing, so her party has re-committed to getting the ball rolling on their own. They pledged to have a development corporation established within 60 days of being re-elected, including First Nations, local communities, private partners, the province and perhaps the federal government.

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Ring of Fire a hot topic in Ontario election – by Jody Porter (CBC News Thunder Bay – May 26, 2014)

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

Chief, candidates at odds over right to say no

First Nations consent is required before the Ring of Fire mining development can go ahead, according to a chief in northern Ontario. “If I’m given a bottle of anti-freeze, I have a right to say no, I don’t want to die,” said Neskantaga Chief Peter Moonias.

“It’s the same thing with all these impacts that are going to come out of the chemicals of the mining company.” Politicians of all stripes tout the chromite and nickel deposits in Treaty 9 territory as the economic opportunity of a century.

All agree that consultation with First Nations is important, but neither the NDP, Liberals or Progressive Conservative candidates in the Thunder Bay Superior North riding will commit to requiring First Nations consent.

“First Nations have done a very good job of saying we have a right to be consulted, [that] doesn’t mean consent,” said PC Derek Parks. “There has to be middle ground and there has to be some negotiations.”

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KWG Resources wants to make ‘Ring’ election issue – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – May 26, 2014)

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

With an election looming, KWG Resources is asking MPP candidates to support its plan for the Ring of Fire. The junior mining company, based out of Toronto, has long pushed for building a rail line to take chromite out of the area, 400 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay. It has staked claims in the area for that purpose.

Cliffs Natural Resources applied for an easement there to build a road. Last fall the application was rejected.

Cliffs’ plans for the Ring included building a chromite smelter in Capreol. It stopped work in the area last spring. On Friday, Noront Resources Ltd., another junior miner, announced it is buying Cliffs’ exploration camp in the mineral belt.

On Saturday, KWG purchased a full-page ad in The Globe and Mail suggesting the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC) be made into a non-share capital (not-for-profit) corporation. That means Northern Ontario residents would be involved in how it’s run.

“Arguably it’s a not-for-profit corporation now, because it doesn’t make any money,” said Frank Smeenk, KWG’s president and CEO.

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Media Advisory: KWG Resources to Hold Press Conference Discussing Ring of Fire-Northern Ontario Job Creation Plan Prior to Northern Leaders’ Debate in Thunder Bay

THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO–(May 26, 2014) – Media are invited to attend a press conference hosted by KWG Resources (TSX VENTURE:KWG) at 11:15 a.m. on the front steps of the Valhalla main lobby entrance, Monday, May 26, 2014. The press conference will discuss the details of the company’s Ring Of Fire – Northern Ontario Job Creation Plan, as outlined in its proposed bill “Northland Development Corporation Act”.

HIGHLIGHTS:

1.Ontario already has a Northern Development Corporation. It is the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC).

2.The principal operating asset of the ONTC is the Ontario Northland Railroad (ONR), which has become starved of freight haulage.

3.The discoveries of chromite and nickel in the Ring of Fire could create the potential for much heavy-haulage freight business with which the ONR might become economically viable.

4.The ONTC could be governed by residents of Northern Ontario, raise project financing via capital markets to add to heritage infrastructure facilities desired by northern residents of Ontario whose communities it serves.

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