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Nickel’s 56% Rally Spurs Mine Restarts Amid Ore Ban – by Phoebe Sedgman and Ben Sharples (Bloomberg News – August 12, 2014)

http://www.businessweek.com/

Indonesia’s ban on nickel ore exports is resonating globally as prices climb to the highest since 2012, prompting companies from Avebury Nickel Mines Ltd. to Poseidon Nickel Ltd. to restart operations at idled mines.

Avebury, based in Perth, plans to reopen a deposit in Tasmania six years after it was mothballed. Poseidon is preparing to resume production at a mine in Western Australia, while Panoramic Resources Ltd. may restart mining at its Copernicus deposit in the same state. More producers globally may reactivate facilities as prices extend gains, according to OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest supplier.

Nickel, used to make stainless steel, rallied as much as 56 percent this year to $21,625 a metric ton after Indonesia halted ore exports in January to compel investment in local processing plants. While the restarted mines such as Avebury’s will add to supplies, the additional production won’t be enough to prevent the global market from dropping into a deficit, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to BNP Paribas SA forecasting higher prices.

“Australia is certainly at the forefront of the potential for restarts,” said Stephen Briggs, a metal strategist at BNP Paribas in London, the second most-accurate nickel price forecaster in the eight quarters to June, according to rankings compiled by Bloomberg. “Nickel is one of my top picks,” he said in an Aug. 4 interview, describing $25,000 as plausible.

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Steel consortium undecided on size of Afghan iron ore investment – by Krishna N Das (Reuters India – August 11, 2014)

http://in.reuters.com/

NEW DELHI – (Reuters) – A consortium led by the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) (SAIL.NS) has yet to decide how much it will commit to an iron ore project in Afghanistan that was originally supposed to be a $10.8 billion investment, SAIL’s chairman said on Monday.

The steel ministry said in December that the group had proposed new terms and planned to invest about $2 billion in three iron ore mines and a steel plant.

But SAIL Chairman C.S. Verma said the consortium had not signed a final deal and total investments could only be decided after having a detailed project report.

“Conditions are quite difficult,” he said, referring to security problems and a lack of infrastructure in the area. “We are keeping all our options open.” “Only time will tell how we are able to take up this proposal,” he said after announcing SAIL’s April-June quarter results.

The consortium also includes Indian companies such as NMDC (NMDC.NS), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam, JSW Steel (JSTL.NS), Jindal Steel & Power (JNSP.NS) and Monnet Ispat & Energy (MNET.NS). As part of its investment, it could spend $75 million to $100 million on the initial exploration of the mines, Verma said.

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Mount Polley Mine — Maybe if we tried putting red tape on the breach – by Pete McMartin (Vancouver Sun – August 11, 2014)

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

It’s quiet out there. Perhaps it’s chagrin. Perhaps it’s the nausea caused by the prospect of a stock plummet. But in the muddy wake of Mount Polley, you don’t hear much noise emanating from the mining industry and its government acolytes.

Yes, Mines Minister Bill Bennett assured us the disaster has caused him to lose sleep. (Poor man! Would that he was awake earlier on his watch.)

And the Mining Association of B.C., in response to Mount Polley, has affected an air of scientific curiosity, as coroners might at an autopsy. It is waiting, as was explained to the public, to see what caused the containment pond breach. Meanwhile, Angela Waterman, the association’s vice-president of environment and technical affairs, endeavoured to dampen the disaster’s impact by referring to it as “an anomaly.” (As in, “Hey, the tsunami was just an anomaly.”)

In the past, the mining industry wasn’t so shy about making noise. For years, it complained loudly and often about government interference. It’s what Jessica Clogg, the executive director and senior counsel of West Coast Environmental Law, called “the steady drumbeat for deregulation.”

Both federal and provincial governments got the message. New regimes of deregulation followed. So, eventually, did “an anomaly.”

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Vanadium: The metal that may soon be powering your neighbourhood – by Laurence Knight (BBC World Service – June 13, 2014)

http://www.bbc.com/news/

Hawaii has a problem, one that the whole world is likely to face in the next 10 years. And the solution could be a metal that you’ve probably never heard of – vanadium.

Hawaii’s problem is too much sunshine – or rather, too much solar power feeding into its electricity grid. Generating electricity in the remote US state has always been painful. With no fossil fuel deposits of its own, it has to get oil and coal shipped half-way across the Pacific.

That makes electricity in Hawaii very, very expensive – more than three times the US average – and it is the reason why 10% and counting of the islands’ residents have decided to stick solar panels on their roof.

The problem is that all this new sun-powered electricity is coming at the wrong place and at the wrong time of day.

Hawaii’s electricity monopoly, Heco, fears parts of the grid could become dangerously swamped by a glut of mid-day power, and so last year it began refusing to hook up the newly-purchased panels of residents in some areas.

And it isn’t just Hawaii.

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Mining industry at a crossroads – by Bernard von Schulmann (Mining.com – August 10, 2014)

http://www.mining.com/

There was a time not long ago in BC when the main environmental pariah in the province was the forest industry, but that is no longer so. Over the last 15 years the forest industry changed how it worked and forged serious partnerships with First Nations. It saw it had to change and it did. The sub-surface industries are now at a similar crossroads: they have to change or close up shop.

For the mining and fossil fuel energy sectors it is not a good situation to have become the number one environmental enemy, but this is made worse with how the industries deal with the public, rural communities and First Nations.

The industries could be doing a lot to improve their situation but they are acting like the BC forest industry did in the 1980s and early 90s. On top of this we have the recent Tsilhqot’in decision and the Mount Polley mine tailings pond breach.

The Tsilhqot’in decision indicates that a significant part of BC is likely to have aboriginal title and for companies to operate on that land they will need First Nations consent. That consent is much easier to achieve when there is a positive relationship. Overall the mining industry, especially mineral exploration juniors, has not worked hard to build these sorts of relationships.

The New Prosperity gold mine project in the Chilcotin has had a tough time getting approvals to be built. Taseko Mines’s relationship with the Tsilhqot’in is at best awful and this was made no better when on June 26 the company issued a press release that denied the mine site had any aboriginal title issues.

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UPDATE 1-Protesters disrupt “massacre” evidence by South Africa’s Ramaphosa – by Joe Brock (Reuters India – August 11, 2014)

http://in.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 11 (Reuters) – Protesters chanting “Blood on his hands” briefly halted South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa’s evidence on Monday at an inquiry into the police shooting of 34 striking mine workers two years ago.

Ramaphosa was a non-executive director at Lonmin when negotiations to halt a violent wildcat strike at its Marikana platinum mine ended in police shooting the strikers dead on Aug. 16, 2012. The killings, the deadliest security action since the end of apartheid in 1994, have become known as the “Marikana massacre”.

Trade unionist-turned-billionaire Ramaphosa, seen as the likely eventual successor to President Jacob Zuma, is the most prominent witness to be called by the investigation that began in October 2012 and was supposed to last four months.

As well as investigating the shootings, the commission of inquiry has a remit to look into labour relations, pay and accommodation in South Africa’s mines – issues seen as spurring the strike that preceded the killings and that have lingered through months of strikes again this year.

Ramaphosa, who led a historic strike for fairer pay for black miners under apartheid in 1987, has faced accusations of putting political pressure on the police to use force against striking miners before the shooting.

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First Nations youth mining camp expands – by Scott Larson (Saskatoon Star Phoenix – August 8, 2014)

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

When Reneya Lemaigre arrived last year at the inaugural Mining Matters Mining Rocks Earth Sciences Camp she didn’t know anyone and didn’t know what to expect.

But it didn’t take long for the teenager from Clearwater River Dene Nation to shrug off her fears and have a great time at Christopher Lake’s The Quest camp.

“The staff were really nice and comforted me,” Reneya said. “After the first day I was fine for the rest of the week.” “She started meeting new friends and when the day came for her to go home, she didn’t want to go,” added her mother, Rana Janvier.

The pair are once again making the six-hour drive this weekend from Clearwater River to Christopher Lake to attend the mining camp that will have about 30 teens attend this year.

The camp is put on with the sponsorship of six junior mining companies – Foran Mining Corp., Masuparia Gold Corp., NexGen Energy Inc., Alpha Exploration Inc., Fission Uranium Corp. and North Arrow Minerals – and PDAC Mining Matters. “The program is expanding,” said Barbara Green Parker, PDAC’s manager of Aboriginal Education and Outreach Programs.

They had 18 kids attend last year and expect about 30 this year – from Amisk (Denare Beach), Pelican Narrows, Buffalo Narrows, Clearwater River Dene Nation and Deschambault.

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What the Mount Polley Disaster Means for Mining Companies – by Steve Todoruk (Sprott Global.com – August 11, 2014)

http://sprottglobal.com/

The mining industry can’t give guarantees just as airlines can’t. Over the years we have seen several airplane crashes due to mechanical error that have resulted in many unfortunate deaths and injuries.

Prior to those accidents all of those passengers and all of their extended families knew that once those people boarded those planes that there was a slight chance of an air disaster but because flight travel is considered a necessity, all concerned accepted the chance they were taking.

Similar to the exhaustive engineering that goes into building airplanes to make them as safe as humanly possible, a great deal of engineering goes into designing mines to make them as safe as possible to prevent accidents that may harm people and the environment.

The mining engineering that goes into designing mines is supposed to make them as resistant as possible to accidents that may cost lives or destroy wildlife. But things don’t always go as planned.

Just days ago, a Canadian mining company, Imperial Metals Corp. (III-T), announced that their tailings pond wall had been breached in one area at their Mount Polley copper-gold mine in central British Columbia, Canada.

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Check your optimism at the door – by Robin Bromby (The Australian – August 11, 2014)

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business

WALL Street finished the week on a surge of optimism that Ukraine was looking more benign.

Yeah, sure. But, even in the unlikely event that Vladimir Putin will now pull back, there are the small matters of Gaza, Iraq and, for our miners in West Africa, the Ebola breakout. Add to that headlines wondering whether the bull run is exhausted and signs of increasing volatility among mineral commodities, and perhaps we might conclude that Wall St is clutching at straws.

Deutsche Bank doesn’t see Russia backing down, noting that even with sanctions Moscow continued to build troop numbers near the border, has signed a big oil co-operation deal with Iran and has ordered retaliatory measures against the West.

In addition, says Deutsche, there has been excessive leverage during the recent equities run-up. Weak hands have been driving prices, and now these have been forced to sell.

Zinc, the supposed star at present, has shed 5 per cent since late July and copper is down 4.9 per cent on the year. BNP Paribas reports that mine capacity growth for copper is expected to rise by 31 per cent by 2017.

Goldman Sachs weighed in with a forecast of iron ore averaging $US80 a tonne in 2015, Bloomberg describing it as a potential “rout”.

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[India]‘Madhya Pradesh copper mine threatens local communities’ – by Shuriah Niazi (Vancouver Desi.com – August 9, 2014)

http://www.vancouverdesi.com/

Malajkhand (Madhya Pradesh), Aug 10 (IANS) — What is said to be Asia’s largest copper mine in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has become a threat for the tribals and the indigenous communities living in the area, environmentalists charge.

People in the Malajkhand area of the Balaghat district, some 370 km from state capital Bhopal, are suffering from the loss of farmland and the degradation brought about by the mining activities, environmentalists say. Now, the state-owned Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) plans to more than double its production from two million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to five MTPA after it receives the necessary clearances from the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Environmentalists fear this will accelerate the destruction of forests and lead to further contamination of the surrounding environment.

The Malajkhand area, 20 km from the Kanha National Park, contains 70 percent of India’s copper reserves and accounts for 80 percent of HCL’s production.

The Centre of Environmental Science and Engineering at the Bhilai Institute of Technology had pointed out that the mineral processing plant in the area is causing serious damage to the environment and harming the health of both humans and animals.

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Indonesia ban on nickel ore, bauxite exports to stay – officials – by Fergus Jensen (Reuters India – August 11, 2014)

http://in.reuters.com/

JAKARTA, Aug 11 (Reuters) – Indonesia has no plans to wind back a seven-month old ban on exports of unprocessed nickel ore and bauxite that has led to billions of dollars in planned investments in smelters, top government officials said.

Indonesia – previously the world’s top exporter of nickel ore and a major bauxite producer – effectively halted all but processed metal shipments in January in an effort to force miners to build smelters, winning the country bigger returns from exports of its mineral resources.

Last month the government allowed a handful of firms producing partially processed minerals such as copper concentrate, including Freeport McMoRan Inc, to resume exports.

However, Indonesia’s chief economic minister Chairul Tanjung said the same rationale does not apply to unprocessed exports of nickel ore and bauxite.

“Nickel is different because if you are smelting in Indonesia the added value is much higher than copper,” Tanjung
told Reuters in a recent interview. “Because of that it’s a separate issue.”

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Lesson for BC: Mining Politics Can Be Terribly Corrosive – by Kristian Secher (The Tyee.ca – August 11, 2014)

http://thetyee.ca/

Consider Greece, where mistrust of Canadian mine safety helped spark massive revolt.

Friday’s blockade of the Imperial Metals’ Red Chris Mine site by members of the Tahltan Nation brings to mind scenes from another place, where plummeting faith in government safeguards after a rush to profit from resource extraction has fueled not just isolated protests but a full-scale political revolt tinged with violence.

That place is Greece, where two years ago I visited to report on the situation. My destination was the northernmost region of Greece, Halkidiki, the birthplace of Aristotle, embroiled in conflict after Vancouver-based Eldorado Gold scooped up most of the local mining industry and unveiled their billion dollar development plan in the austerity stricken region of Europe’s poorest country.

The gold grab made the empty state coffers in Athens rattle with joy but the people of Halkidiki were not as pleased. They had not forgotten the mess left behind by the previous Canadian owner TVX, (later Kinross Gold), nine years earlier and the prospect of renewed mining operations was not encouraging to the inhabitants of the tourism dependent region known for its pristine forests and sandy beaches.

TVX abandoned their properties in 2002 when Greece’s state council ruled that the potential risks of redeveloping the mines would exceed any benefits from the project. In 2003 ownership of the mining area was transferred to the state for a net sum of 11 million euros (C$16 million).

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We need to refine our oil sands ambitions – by Konrad Yakabuski (Globe and Mail – August 11, 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.

Click here for the Canadian Academy of Engineering’s policy document: http://www.cae-acg.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/CANADA-July9.pdf

In June, a ship carrying about 600,000 barrels of crude from Alberta’s oil sands arrived in Bilbao, Spain, by way of Houston, Tex. The circuitous journey by rail and tanker to Spanish oil giant Repsol’s Bilbao refinery made economic sense, given the price discount on Canadian crude.

Despite European hostility toward “dirty” oil from Canada, refiners there may look more to Alberta for supply as price differentials and sanctions on Russia whet their appetite for cheaper grades from across the pond. But what looks like just another market opportunity for Alberta producers is also a telling example of Canada’s failure to maximize the value of its resources.

The promoters of pipeline projects in various stages of development insist the completion of these conduits is the key to eliminating transportation bottlenecks that have depressed the price of so-called Western Canadian Select oil. And while that is partly true, the “success” of these projects would still mean the export of unprocessed Alberta bitumen beyond our borders.

The skilled jobs, technological development and economic activity involved in upgrading our oil resources into value-added petroleum products would still occur outside Canada.

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Tailings pond spill: What happens to effluent over time – by By Matt Kwong (CBC News British Columbia – August 08, 2014)

 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia

Toxic slurry from mining operations often buried, revegetated after mines close, experts say after B.C. breach

Tailings — the slurry of water, finely ground rock, ore and chemical byproducts washed away during the mining process — never quite go away. The same goes for the risk of failure for even the best-engineered “tailings impoundment” dams, environmental experts say.

A sobering reminder came in the form of an environmental catastrophe this week in B.C. when the tailings pond overseen by Imperial Metals breached, spilling five million cubic metres of effluent into the Quesnel-Cariboo river system.

Asked by CBC’s Chris Hall how long it might take to eventually restore affected areas to their natural state, Ramsey Hart of MiningWatch Canada gave a grim assessment.

“I don’t think it will ever entirely be cleaned up,” said Hart, who researches mining issues, including waste management, the impacts of mining on aquatic ecosystems, and mining and indigenous rights.

Manmade tailings ponds, or reservoirs that use natural geologic features such as valleys or lakes to contain the mine waste, store the tailings solids in water to prevent their exposure to oxygen.

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More than manure stinks here [Fertilizer minerals] – by Trent Loos (High Plains Journal – August 11, 2014)

http://www.hpj.com/

In the past two weeks I have been fortunate to be a part of two different meetings on the subject of soil health. One of them was on the East Coast and the other was a celebration of manure in Nebraska at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s (UNL) Manure Demonstration Day. They both made me think that we need to do a much better job of singing the praises of that plant food excreted by the 9 billion animals we produce every year.

On the eastern shore of Maryland at the Maryland Commodity Classic, Dean Cowherd with the National Resources Conservation Service of Maryland made a statement that truly sticks with me: “There are more microbes in one teaspoon of healthy soil than there are people on the planet.”

Wow! I think that is a mouthful when you think about healthy living things and how we manage them. Far too often we allow people to fall prey to the notion that “sterile” is better, and nothing could be further than the truth.

Then I headed to Lexington, Nebraska, where the folks at UNL put on a tremendous display of the benefits of applying the greatest source of plant food on the planet: animal manure. In a radio conversation with Amy Schmidt and Charles Shapiro, the comment was made, “And where would plants be without animal manure?”

That is a true story. Let’s just take quick look at the plant food requirements of U.S. agriculture.

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