Republic of Mining

Barrick’s Thornton Said to Seek China Deal to Rebuild Min – by Liezel Hill & Matthew Campbell (Bloomberg News – December 2, 2013)

December 2, 2013

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Peter Munk built Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX) into the world’s largest gold producer by expanding into Africa and South America. Now former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. President John Thornton is betting on China to help revive the beleaguered company’s fortunes.

At a Dec. 4 board meeting, Thornton will be confirmed as Barrick’s next chairman, succeeding Munk, 86, who plans to retire at the Toronto-based company’s next annual shareholders meeting after three decades, according to people familiar with the situation.

Thornton, 59, currently co-chairman, already helps to oversee long-term corporate strategy. As part of that remit, he’s trying to establish partnerships with Chinese companies that may include investment in Barrick and future mining projects, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. China Investment Corp., the country’s largest sovereign wealth fund, is among potential partners Barrick has met with, the people said.

The leadership change at Barrick comes at the end of a difficult year for the company. It has lost 41 percent of its market value in 2013 while debt levels have soared after a slump in gold prices, rising operating expenses and a cost blowout at an $8.5 billion mining project in the Andes.

Platinum and copper the metals for the end of the decade – Friedland – by Lawrence Williams (Mineweb.com – December 2, 2013)

December 2, 2013

http://www.mineweb.com/

Robert Friedland’s presentation at MineAfrica in London avows that the supercycle is not dead and sees huge value ahead for his Ivanhoe company’s new Pt, Cu and Zn projects in South Africa and the DRC.

LONDON – There are two mining related events on in London today – Mines and Money’s first day (of three) – and MineAfrica (just today) – luckily they are not being held so far apart as to make attending some of both impossible. So, so far today I have taken in talks from Frank Holmes and John Meyer at the former event – both presenting a relatively optimistic picture for mining over the next few years – Holmes looking at what he terms the E7 countries – for the most part those with the largest populations and enormous growth potential as witnessed by China’s huge urbanisation programmes which have totally transformed the country’s economy – and the feeling that this process could be underway in the others too. Holmes also felt that gold and gold stocks have been hugely oversold and is looking for a turnaround here.

From Mines and Money a quick journey to MineAfrica and to hear Robert Friedland’s take on the industry over the next few years. Obviously Friedland was talking his Ivanhoe book with his very positive views on Africa in general and on his Platreef, Kamoa and Kipushi Projects – the first in South Africa and the next two in the Democratic Republic of Congo – in particular. As expected he was hugely positive on all three – Platreef as a game-changer for the platinum sector, Kamoa as one of THE copper projects of the future as a far higher grade option than most, if not all, other major known new copper projects and Kipushi as having huge high grade zinc mining potential, but with copper, gold and silver also.

Ontario’s Ring of Failure: Our provincial leadership is badly stricken by analysis paralysis – by Gary Laine (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – December 2, 2013)

December 2, 2013

Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

Our governing Liberals have got it bad and that ain’t good. I’m talking about the debilitating case of analysis paralysis infecting our provincial leadership that has turned the much-heralded Ring of Fire into a Ring of Failure.

The online encyclopedia Wikipedia defines analysis paralysis as “the state of over-analyzing (or over-thinking) a situation so that a decision or action is never taken, in effect paralyzing the outcome. A decision can be treated as over-complicated, with too many detailed options, so that a choice is never made, rather than try something and change it if a major problem arises. A person might be seeking the optimal or ‘perfect’ solution upfront, and fear making any decision which could lead to erroneous results.”

Clearly, Kathleen Wynne and Michael Gravelle, who both repeatedly hide behind the phrase “we want to make sure we do things right,” are victims of this progress-preventing condition.

Mineral resources in the Ring of Fire (RoF) were first discovered in 2002. The Liberals took power in 2003. Ten years have gone by, in other words, and still no road and still no development.

Neutral ground for mine talks – by Pete Hollings and Peggy Smith (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – December 2, 2013)

December 2, 2013

Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

Pete Hollings and Peggy Smith are with the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Mining and Exploration at Lakehead University.

Cliffs pulls out of Ring of Fire. First Nations demand full environmental assessment. Communities struggle to build capacity to participate in mining development. Where is provincial support for infrastructure to open new mining sites?

These headlines demonstrate the challenges in pursuing sustainable mining development in Northern Ontario. The competing plans of different companies, a need to address the concerns of First Nations and Metis communities, and a lack of clear government policy all bedevil mining projects in the region.

Lakehead University’s Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Mining and Exploration (CESME) was established to help address these issues and act as an honest broker among all the parties involved in the future development of Northern Ontario’s rich mineral resources.

On Dec. 5-6 CESME will be hosting representatives from all the major players at a conference to discuss The Role of Government Policy in Sustainable Mining Development.

Focus Ontario: Global News – November 29 It Burns [Ring of Fire] (November 30, 2013)

December 2, 2013

http://globalnews.ca/toronto/ On this week’s Focus Ontario, we go down, down, down in a burning ring of fire. A huge mineral deposit in Northern Ontario could mean billions for the province — so why have plans to mine it fallen through?? Note, the program has a brief segment on other news issues at roughly the five …

Silver State, mining go deep – by Jennifer Robison (Las Vegas Review-Journal – December 1, 2013)

December 2, 2013

http://www.reviewjournal.com/

Editor’s Note: Nevada 150 is a yearlong series highlighting the people, places and things that make up the history of the Silver State.

Before there was Nevada, there was mining. In the state’s earliest days, mining wasn’t just our key industry. It was “essentially our only industry,” said Jeremy Aguero, a principal in local research firm Applied Analysis, and author of a September report for the Nevada Mining Association on the role of the sector in our economy.

“The mining industry was instrumental in the formation of the state and the governing laws that we still live with today,” Aguero said. “It was, for the vast majority of the history of the state, its largest single employer, and that’s still true in many rural counties today. We are the Silver State in so many ways. Our mining legacy is everywhere in Nevada, and our economic landscape clearly reflects its long history here.”

Added Tim Crowley, president of the Nevada Mining Association: “We really founded the state.”

That’s tough to argue. Mining’s rich history here traces back to 1859, half a decade before statehood.

Mine to inject $4 billion locally [Michigan Upper Peninsula] – by John Pepin (The Mining Journal – December 1, 2013)

December 2, 2013

http://www.miningjournal.net/

HUMBOLDT – A recent in-house economic report projects the Eagle Mine and Humboldt Mill will directly and indirectly inject a total of $4 billion into the Marquette County economy over a 15-year period.

From 2011 through 2025, the Eagle Mine project -which includes the underground nickel and copper mine in Michigamme Township and the Humboldt Mill processing center in Humboldt Township- is expected to have a total positive economic impact of $4.3 billion on Michigan.

In addition to the $4 billion projected to impact Marquette County, $10 million will benefit Baraga County, $179 million for the rest of the Upper Peninsula and $169 million for the Lower Peninsula. “Marquette County’s economy is expected to be nearly 20 percent greater by 2016 when Eagle Mine’s economic contribution peaks than it otherwise would have been without Eagle Mine,” the report stated.

In addition to the economic forecasting, the “Eagle Mine: Economic Impact Assessment” report -which was produced by former project owner Rio Tinto and released Oct. 17 by new owner, the Toronto-based Lundin Mining Corp.- also provides information on employment, purchase of goods and services, government revenue and risks.

Stop petty squabbles and help Ontario’s Ring of Fire succeed (Toronto Star Editorial – November 30, 2013)

December 2, 2013

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.

Ontario’s Ring of Fire mining development is worth an estimated $60 billion but it’s being delayed by bad political decisions.

Bob Rae is a man of many hats. He’s been the NDP premier of Ontario, the interim federal Liberal leader and is currently the chief negotiator and counsel for the Matawa First Nations.

Now, at least temporarily, he’s playing the role of rational adult, calling on Premier Kathleen Wynne and Prime Minister Stephen Harper to stop their petty squabble over the development of northern Ontario’s massively lucrative Ring of Fire, 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay.

As Rae told Toronto’s Empire Club last week: “It is, to me, deeply troubling that those two governments still can’t agree on who’s responsible for what. This is challenging for the First Nations. It’s also challenging for companies that are trying to do business. We need to create some certainty.” Amen to that.

Free enterprise must fight for its life in the new Cold War – by Diane Francis (National Post – November 30, 2013)

December 2, 2013

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

The new cold war is underway and pits free enterprise against state capitalism. Countries like Canada, the U.S. or Germany have fostered their multinationals and they have acted as de facto instruments to grow their economies through trade success.

But countries like Russia, South Korea, China, Singapore and others operate like gigantic holding companies armed with “soft economic weapons” that include oligarchs, national champions, state-owned enterprises, protectionism, diplomatic initiatives and sovereign wealth funds.

Unfortunately, too few western leaders have a glimmer of understanding about this and are failing to devise policies to counteract and defend their economies.

But there is a glimmer in Canada and this week Ottawa announced what it calls a Global Markets Action Plan. In essence, the scheme will put trade before foreign policy in terms of External Affairs efforts.

North Western Ontario [and Ring of Fire] prime for Manitoba power – by Steven Fletcher (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 30, 2013)

December 2, 2013

Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

Steven Fletcher is the Conservative MP for Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia-Headingley and helped develop the Building Canada Fund.

Manitoba Hydro needs new markets for its electric power to help finance its current and future operations, and Northern Ontario would benefit from low-cost power to develop its mining resources. There is potential for mutual benefit if these two provinces worked to meet each other’s needs.

Northwestern Ontario is undergoing significant growth in mining exploration and development. The area is rich in deposits of chromium, palladium, nickel, gold and other base metals. Much of it is in a mineral-rich area known as the Ring of Fire, which is located northeast of Thunder Bay. It has been conservatively estimated this development could have an economic impact of up to $120 billion. The impact of the Ring of Fire on Ontario’s economy could be similar to the impact the Alberta economy has experienced due to the oil sands.

However, the mining development is far from Hydro One’s main electrical system and there are no transmission lines to that area. In addition, the cost of power throughout the province’s Northwest is so high, it is said the cost is a disincentive for mining developments which utilize large amounts of electricity.

No End to Aluminum Woes Until China Changes Tack – by Laura Clarke (Wall Street Journal – November 28, 2013)

December 2, 2013

http://online.wsj.com/home-page

The price of gold might’ve stolen the spotlight in recent weeks, but aluminum’s own skid to a four month low is worthy of closer attention, not least because there are signs are that the metal’s 30-month downward trend is likely to continue unless China changes plans.

According to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics, the global aluminum market was in oversupply by some 1.23 million tonnes in the first nine months of 2013, following a surplus of 539,000 tonnes for the whole of 2012. With so much metal above ground, prices this week slumped to their lowest value since July 2009, at $1,744 a tonne.

At these levels, it is estimated that close to half of the world’s production is loss-making.

Even amid that astonishing fact, even more aluminum may come on to the market both before and after the April implementation of a London Metal Exchange rule change that will require warehouses with delivery queues longer than 50 days to load out more metal than they load in.

Canada’s Ontario joins global ‘war on coal’ – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – November 28, 2013)

December 2, 2013

http://www.mining.com/

The Canadian province of Ontario may soon become the first place in North America to snuff out coal-fired electricity generation for good, as it is set to introduce next week legislation aimed to ban the burning of coal and the building of new such plants.

If the proposed Ending Coal for Cleaner Air Act is approved, it would means that no Ontario generating station will ever burn coal again, once this kind of facilities stop operating by the end of 2014, the government said in a press release.

The plan has been in the works for quite a while. The Liberals first promised to close the coal plants in 2007, then pushed back the timetable to 2009 and again to 2014.

In January this year, Chris Bentley —who was then Ontario’s minister of energy— vowed he would make coal account for less than 1% of the province energy supply by 2014.

He also said the province’s largest coal-fired electricity plants, Nanticoke and Lambton, would be shut by the end the year. And the province will likely deliver— it is finishing the conversion of Nanticoke to run on biomass.

Mexican drug cartels now involved in mining industry (CTV News – November 29, 2013)

November 29, 2013

http://www.ctvnews.ca/

MEXICO CITY — Mexican drug cartels looking to diversify their businesses long ago moved into oil theft, pirated goods, extortion and kidnapping, consuming an ever larger swath of the country’s economy. This month, federal officials confirmed the cartels have even entered the country’s lucrative mining industry, exporting iron ore to Chinese mills.

Such large-scale illegal mining operations were long thought to be wild rumour, but federal officials confirmed they had known about the cartels’ involvement in mining since 2010, and that the Nov. 4 military takeover of Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico’s second-largest port, was aimed at cutting off the cartels’ export trade.

That news served as a wake-up call to Mexicans that drug traffickers have penetrated the country’s economy at unheard-of levels, becoming true Mafia-style organizations.

The Knights Templar cartel and its predecessor, the La Familia drug gang, have been stealing or extorting shipments of iron ore, or illegally extracting the mineral themselves and selling it through Pacific coast ports, said Michoacan residents, mining companies and current and former federal officials. The cartel had already imposed demands for “protection payments” on many in the state, including shopkeepers, ranchers and farmers.

NEWS RELEASE: Rio Tinto unveils breakthrough pathway for iron ore expansion in Australia

November 29, 2013

28 November 2013

Rio Tinto has set out its breakthrough plan to optimise the growth of its world-class iron ore business in Western Australia. Mine production capacity will rapidly increase towards 360 million tonnes a year (Mt/a) at a significantly lower capital cost per tonne than originally planned.

A series of low-cost brownfield expansions will bring on early tonnes to feed the expanded infrastructure currently being developed. From a base run rate of 290Mt/a by the end of first half 2014, mine production capacity will increase by more than 60 million tonnes a year between 2014 and 2017. The majority of the low-cost growth will be delivered in the next two years with mine production of more than 330 million tonnes in 2015.

This will be achieved primarily through a combination of expanding production at existing mines and securing further low-cost productivity gains, such as those delivered by Rio Tinto’s pioneering Mine of the Future™ programme, together with the proposed future development of the greenfield Silvergrass mine. Work continues on various further expansion options to optimise the next stage of the 360 programme.

UPDATE 1-Rio Tinto to halt production at Gove alumina refinery (Reuters India – November 29, 2013)

November 29, 2013

http://in.reuters.com/

SYDNEY, Nov 29 (Reuters) – Miner Rio Tinto said on Friday it will stop alumina production at its Gove refinery in Australia, as the plant is no longer viable amid difficult market conditions.

Rio said it will start winding down production in the first quarter of 2014 and will continue the phase-out during the year. The process would take “some time”, it said.

The announcement was expected after Rio said earlier this week it had decided not to convert the Gove plant to use gas-fired power. The refinery, which employs 1,400 workers, is part of the Pacific Aluminium business that Rio tried to sell, but then reintegrated into its business in August.

The decision comes a day after the mining giant unveiled plans to increase its iron ore capacity towards 360 million tonnes by 2017, cutting costs by $3 billion by not digging new mines and slowing the expansion by about two years.