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No Women on Glencore’s Board Marks Mining Imbalance: Commodities – by Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – February 20, 2013)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Glencore International Plc’s $36 billion takeover of Xstrata Plc will unite about 130,000 employees that operate in more than 40 countries. The proposed board of directors doesn’t include a single woman.

Mining lags behind every other industry, including oil and gas, in terms of gender diversity, with women occupying just 5 percent of board positions, according to a January report by Women in Mining U.K. and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Of the seven companies in the U.K.’s benchmark FTSE 100 Index with all-male boards, five are miners. Four of the world’s five biggest mining companies trade in London.

“If I chaired an all-male board I’d set to work immediately getting some women on it,” said Mark Moody-Stuart, a former chairman of both Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Anglo American Plc, whose board appointed Cynthia Carroll as its first woman chief executive officer. “I don’t think they really have much of an excuse. It’s a matter of putting thought and effort into it.”

Mining has long been seen as a male bastion, with women banned from working underground in some countries until recently. That’s being challenged by a growing skills shortage amid unprecedented demand for natural resources.

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Northeast rock salt supply at critical low as more snow hits – by Victoria Cavaliere (Reuters U.S. – February 18, 2014)

http://www.reuters.com/

NEW YORK – (Reuters) – Rock salt was in short supply in the U.S. Northeast on Tuesday after successive winter storms led to critical shortages in Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania, while New Jersey scrambled to secure a huge shipment stuck at a port in Maine.

The shortages come as the East Coast was slammed by a third winter storm system in a single week, leaving many states over-budget for snow removal and running low on critical supplies, like rock salt, which is used to help melt ice and snow packed roads and public areas. The 40,000 tons of rock salt remained in Searsport, Maine, days after New Jersey was denied a waiver of federal shipping rules that would have allowed an available foreign-flagged vessel to bring it into a Newark port.

Instead, efforts to get the ice-melting material to New Jersey remained stymied by the 1920 Maritime Act, also known as the Jones Act, enacted to protect the American shipping industry from foreign competition.

“It’s very frustrating. We could have had that shipment here by this past weekend,” said New Jersey Department of Transportation Spokesman Joe Dee. Salt supplies were running so low in the state that crews were “scraping the bottom of the barrel,” he said.

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Ontario Exploration lull – by Jamie Smith (tbnewswatch.com – February 22, 2014)

 http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

Mining exploration in the province is down more than half from what it was a few years ago, says the head of the Ontario Prospectors Association.

While Ontario announced $1 billion in exploration in 2011, OPA executive director Garry Clark that number included development. True exploration was really closer to $450 million. But today, the province would be lucky if exploration in Ontario is $250 million, the worst Clark has ever seen.

“It’s probably the slowest exploration year we’ve had,” he said. “A lot of people are scared to invest in high risk things right now.”

Typically prospectors would head to other provinces or countries to find work but Clark said lately it’s been slow all over the world. Closer to home, that means a lot of prospectors, drillers and other industry professionals are looking for work.

That also means there’s no one out there making discoveries in the region that could one day turn into mines. “If you don’t have people kicking rocks and drilling diamond drill holes you’ll end up with a glut of time where you don’t have new projects coming on stream,” Clark said.

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Accent: Sudbury’s [Vale] Totten a space-age mine – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – February 22, 2014)

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

In major mining centres, the opening of a new mine is no small feat. Especially when that mine is a company’s first to open in the area in more than four decades – and took seven years to get production-ready.

On Friday, Vale’s Totten Mine, located in the mineral-rich Sudbury Basin, officially opened to great fanfare. The $760-million mine is the company’s sixth in the basin and its first to use the newest, state-of-the-art mining technology.

“It integrates many of the advances that have been developed since the last Vale mine was built 40 years ago. These technical advances will continue to position Sudbury hard rock miners as among the most productive and competitive in the world,” said mining analyst Stan Sudol. “It also ensures that the Totten Mine is at the lower end of the cost curve.

“This is very positive for the Sudbury Basin. Totten confirms that Sudbury is still the richest mining district in North America, bar none. Because so much high-tech innovation has been included in the development of Totten, it also indicates Sudbury’s becoming a global Silicon Valley of underground knowledge, expertise and research and education.”

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Hope burns bright for Toronto miner in Ring of Fire – by Lisa Wright (Toronto Star – February 22, 2014)

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.

Toronto miner Noront ready and raring to go while competitor Cliffs in mothballing mode.

KOPER LAKE—The guys have just finished a Chinese food lunch and are parked in front of the TV, riveted to men’s Olympic hockey, Canada vs Finland, in the Esker Camp recreation room.

Next door, a young chef cleans up the cooking show-worthy kitchen — complete with icemaker in the dry camp — and preps for the usual Friday night feast. This time it’s prime rib, which they alternate with steak and shrimp every other week.

“We don’t mess around here,” says the burly manager on Cliffs Natural Resources’ half of the exploration camp, which sits on land claims owned by Toronto rival Noront Resources.

Only a handful of miners from both companies are left at the remote Northern outpost now that drilling has stopped, so the vibe is collegial — particularly since Cleveland-based Cliffs dropped the bombshell three months ago that it was shelving its massive chromite mining project here in the Ring of Fire mineral belt.

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New Sudbury mine ‘very important’ to Vale – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – February 22, 2014)

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

Vale will continue to invest in Canada despite bad market conditions and low nickel prices because of the strength of its assets, and those assets aren’t just its ore bodies and its operations, said Peter Poppinga.

Vale officially opened its newest Sudbury operation Friday, the $760-million Totten Mine, a nickel and copper producer. Totten is state of the art, fully automated, has an outstanding safety record and excellent environmental standards.

“But Totten for us actually means much more,” said Poppinga, president and chief executive officer of Vale Canada, and executive director of Vale Base Metals and Information Technology for Vale SA.

“When I (say) asset I don’t mean only ore, I don’t only mean mines or surface facilities. I actually also mean the people, the workforce, the motivated workforce, and I also mean the stability of the business environment and the regulatory environment.

“This is very important for us,” Poppinga told more than 100 invited guests in the warm room of Worthington mine, 40 minutes west of Sudbury.

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NEWS RELEASE: Vale opens first new mine in Sudbury in over 40 years

(L to R) Cutting the ceremonial ribbon at the official opening ceremony of Totten Mine on February 21st, 2014 are: Conor Spollen, Vice-President, North Atlantic Projects, Vale; Rick Bertrand, President, United Steelworkers, Local 6500; Bob Booth, Totten Mine Manager, Vale; Hon. Marianne Matichuk, Mayor, City of Greater Sudbury; Kelly Strong, Vice-President, Ontario & UK Operations, Vale; Hon. Kathleen Wynne, Premier of the Province of Ontario, Hon. Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development and Mines; Province of Ontario; Peter Poppinga, CEO of Vale Canada and Executive Director of Vale’s Global Base Metals; Chief Paul Eshkakogan; Rob Assabgui, General Manager, Mines & Mill, Vale.

http://www.vale.com/canada/EN/

Canada NewsWire – SUDBURY, ON, Feb. 21, 2014 /CNW/ – Vale celebrated the official opening of Totten Mine today in a ceremony with the Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario, the Honourable Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development & Mines, members of the Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation and many other community leaders.

“Totten Mine is Vale’s first new mine in the Sudbury Basin in more than 40 years and represents a significant investment in the future of our operations in Ontario and across Canada,” said Peter Poppinga, President & Chief Executive Officer of Vale Canada and Vale’s Executive Director of Base Metals and Information Technology.

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First Nations opposing mining and exploration in Northern Manitoba – by Ian Graham (Thompson Citizen – February 21, 2014)

The Thompson Citizen, which was established in June 1960, covers the City of Thompson and Nickel Belt Region of Northern Manitoba. The city has a population of about 13,500 residents while the regional population is more than 40,000.

Northern Manitoba’s Manto Sipi Cree Nation and Mathias Colomb Cree Nation announced their opposition to mineral exploration in their traditional and ancestral territories this week.

Manto Sipi Cree Nation at Gods River issued a press release Feb. 18 stating that it would block mineral exploration and work permits on its ancestral lands in northeastern Manitoba and will not consult with the provincial government until all land disputes are addressed and settled. The press release said the province had recently sent three work permit applications for Mineral exploration to Manto Sipi Cree Nation.

“I have been given a strong mandate to initiate legal, political and defensive action against outside encroachment,” said Manto Sipi Cree Nation Chief Michael Yellowback in the press release. “Manto Sipi Cree Nation will stop all three work permit applications immediately. One of the main issues is that Manto Sipi Cree Nation has exhausted all avenues in dealing with [Mineral Resources] Minister [Dave] Chomiak on Manto Sipi Cree Nation’s land claim which is on an expired mineral claim purportedly held by Jim Campbell. The minister’s legal position and opinion on this Godslith Claim has been refuted by our lawyers, so we will challenge it in court.”

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Environment takes precedence at Sudbury Vale’s Totten mine – by Lindsay Kelly (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – November 25, 2013)

Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal  is a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. This article is from the December, 2013 issue.

Water, emissions priorities for mine design

More stringent environmental oversight of new mine development means more work. But instead of a challenge, it’s actually made the pro­cess easier at Totten Mine because it allows Vale to meet industry expectations and be creative in its approach, said senior environmental specialist Allison Merla.

“There’s the opportunity here to do it right, right away,” said Merla, who acted as the environmental co-ordinator for the mine, ensuring Vale’s permits and requirements met current industry standards.

“If you’re looking at a legacy site that has always done something a certain way for years, and they’re working on some of the older permits or legislative requirements, it takes a while to instill that change. Here, we’ve built it right and we’re going to do it right.”

Every aspect of Totten was designed with the envi­ronment in mind, starting with its overall footprint. The headframe and main operations have been laid out on top of previous mine workings, while the Victoria Creek pumphouse, from which Vale gets its domestic water, has been retrofitted and upgraded to meet today’s standards.

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Ontario Chamber: Ring of Fire must be “national priority” – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – February 21, 2014)

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. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca.

Interested in buying a Ring of Fire bond? The Ontario Chamber of Commerce suggests that could be one way to expedite the lagging development of the series of high-grade chromite and base metals in the James Bay lowlands.

The chamber has released a comprehensive 36-page report – Beneath the Surface – that said the economic benefits to Ontario across all sectors could generate up to $9.4 billion in economic activity over 10 years and sustain 5,500 jobs annually.

“Ontario’s economy is at a historic crossroads,” wrote Alan O’Dette, president and CEO of the Ontario Chamber, who called the Ring of Fire one of this province’s “greatest economic development opportunities in a generation.”

But the “glacial pace” at which progress is being made, he said, makes it seem that its development is “no closer than it was several years ago.”

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Sudbury Vale’s Totten mine boasts copper, nickel and PGMs – by Lindsay Kelly (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – November 25, 2013)

Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal  is a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. This article is from the December, 2013 issue.

The mineralization at Vale’s Totten Mine is so rich, ribbons of copper, nickel and precious metal can be viewed at surface just by walking through the parking lot.

“It’s pretty interesting for anybody who likes geology,” said Lance Howland, Totten’s chief mine geologist. “They can go out for their lunch break to look at exactly what’s here, and that’s pretty much what you’d see underground.”

Totten Mine is situated along the Worthington Offset, one of the fractures resulting from the creation of the Sudbury Basin 1.8 billion years ago. Offset deposits like Worthington were formed when pressure caused by molten material cooling around the basin pushed its way into a fracture.

“(The molten material) carried with it the copper, nickel and precious metals, and formed multiple deposits along that string. One of them was Totten Mine,” Howland said. “It’s a pretty unique story and we’ve got some very interesting deposits that a lot of people around the world have come here to see given how unique it is.”

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Vale’s Team Totten rises to challenge – by Norm Tollinsky (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – November 25, 2013)

Norm Tollinsky is editor of Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal, a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. This article is from the December, 2013 issue.

Ground conditions, water ingress and a 60-year-old timbered shaft among the challenges overcome

When Bob Booth and Gary Annett of the Totten project team hand over the reins to mine manager Dave Pisaric on December 31st, life won’t be near as exciting.

Few mine development projects go exactly as planned. Mother Nature can frustrate the intentions of the most experienced and skilled engineers and geoscientists, as happened at Totten when unfavourable ground conditions and water ingress began bogging things down.

The team stepped it up a notch, hunkered down…and saw it through. Vale decided against the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) approach and kept the project management in house.

Annett, with the ominous title of Totten execution manager, was assigned to Totten in February 2008. A 15-year Vale and Inco mining engineer and alumnus of Laurentian University, Annett worked his way up through operations and spent eight years at the company’s Coleman Mine.

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Vale officially reopens Totten Mine in Sudbury after 40 years (CBC Sudbury News – February 21, 2014)

http://www.cbc.ca/sudbury/

Dignitaries, including Premier Kathleen Wynne, are in Sudbury today for the opening of the Totten Mine. The project is mining giant Vale’s first new mining operation in the Sudbury area in 40 years.

The Totten Mine was originally closed in 1972, but Vale found advances in mining technology that would make it possible to re-open the site.

Sudbury mining researcher and writer Stan Sudol said this is a good sign for the industry in northeastern Ontario. “Totten is an excellent example of using technology in the globally competitive world of nickel mining,” he said.

“And it also shows that even though we’ve been mining for 130 years in the Sudbury Basin, there’s a lot to be found. We just have to find it, we have to go deeper.”

The mine’s opening has not been without difficulty. The project was originally scheduled to open in 2011, and has cost Vale over $760 million so far. The mine is expected to employ about 150 people.

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Totten Mine re-opens in Sudbury (Morning North Markus Schwabe’s Interview With Stan Sudol – February 21, 2014)

http://www.cbc.ca/morningnorth/ The Totten mine is the first new mining project from Vale in forty years. It was originally closed in 1972. Mining analyst Stan Sudol spoke to us about what this new development means for the Sudbury region. Listen audio (runs 6:38) Click here for the interview: http://www.cbc.ca/morningnorth/past-episodes/2014/02/21/totten-mine-re-opens-in-sudbury/  

UPDATE 2-Eramet delays Indonesia mine, backs ban to help nickel – by Gus Trompiz (Reuters India – February 21, 2014)

http://in.reuters.com/

PARIS, Feb 21 (Reuters) – French mining and metals company Eramet postponed its flagship nickel mine project in Indonesia on Friday citing depressed prices which it said would find support from the country’s ban on unrefined mineral exports.

Benchmark prices of nickel, mainly used in stainless steel, languished at four-year lows for much of 2013 due to global oversupply, leaving many producers operating at a loss.

Indonesia, the world’s largest exporter of nickel ore, last month went ahead with a ban on shipments of unrefined metals, including the ore, boosting international prices on prospects that the global surplus would be curbed.

“We hope that this ban is going to be kept firmly in place,” chairman and chief executive Patrick Buffet said at a presentation of Eramet’s 2013 results.

“This is the factor that could bring a recovery in the nickel market within a reasonable period.” Uncertainty over policy ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections this year had contributed to Eramet’s decision to delay a final investment decision on the Weda Bay mining project, Buffet said.

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