Republic of Mining

UPDATE 2-Glencore to snatch more benefits from Xstrata acquisition – by Silvia Antonioli (Reuters U.S. – March 5, 2014)

March 5, 2014

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, March 4 (Reuters) – Commodities trader and mining group Glencore Xstrata Plc has raised its estimate of the savings it expects following last year’s Xstrata acquisition, as it focuses on cost-cutting and targets higher returns for shareholders.

After being hammered by billion of dollars in writedowns as falling metal prices dented their assets’ value, miners have worked to trim costs and tidy their balance sheets.

The group, which completed the record-breaking acquisition of Xstrata in May, was also victim of souring sentiment in the mining sector and in August announced a $7.5 billion impairment on the assets it inherited from the miner.

But the company, whose interests range from a 44 percent stake in the Collahuasi mine in Chile, one of the world’s largest copper mines, to a trading hub in its hometown of Baar, Switzerland, has identified cost and efficiency savings from the acquisition of more than $2.4 billion. That compares with guidance of $2 billion given late last year.

FedNor invests in snag-removing robot – by Ben Leeson (Sudbury Star – March 5, 2014)

September 5, 2018March 5, 2014

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

Penguin Automated Systems got a big shot in the robotic arm this week. The Greater Sudbury firm received $1 million from the federal government, via FedNor, to develop and commercialize its new Hang-up Assessment and Removal Robotic System, designed for use in the mining industry both here and abroad.

Greg Rickford, minister of state for science and technology and for FedNor, announced the funding on Monday, much to the delight of Greg Baiden, chief executive at Penguin ASI.

“The funding is really helpful,” said Baiden, reached on Tuesday. “The timing is really great for our business. It’s going to help us create a new product that is in need around the world today, so it’s really quite something.”

Penguin’s remote-controlled hangup assessment and removal system is designed to address safety hazards in managing rock hangups, as the robot will be able to enter confined spaces, measure, drill and load explosives for remote detonation.

More First Nations consultation and accommodation required – Rae – by Simon Rees (MiningWeekly.com – March 5, 2014)

March 5, 2014

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Former Premier of Ontario and chief negotiator for the Matawa First Nations Bob Rae told delegates at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference that greater efforts are needed to embed the practice of consultation and accommodation between the mining sector and Canada’s First Nations communities.

Equally, the First Nations must be able to provide answers when a company approaches to consult. “[The] First Nations have to ask themselves: ‘what shall we say when we‘re asked our opinion? What do we say when we’re consulted?’” Rae said on Tuesday. “It’s not easy, but it is essential.”

Rae acknowledged that the duty to consult and engage still has many imprecisions, often because the foundations of best practice continue to be solidified, frequently through the court system. “People say: ‘what does it mean that there’s a duty to accommodate and consult? How why does it [work]?’ … As frustrating as that is, these issues are still going to be litigated. It’s still a contested area of the law,” he said.

Fitting into this, both federal and provincial governments should work towards strengthening and streamlining the framework that facilitates accommodation.

Harper reassures miners after rejection of Taseko open-pit mine – by Kim Mackrael and Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – March 4, 2014)

March 4, 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.

TORONTO — Prime Minister Stephen Harper sought to reassure the mining industry that his government was on its side after spurning the development of a high-profile gold and copper project in British Columbia.

In a surprise visit to a mining conference in Toronto, Mr. Harper defended his Conservative government’s rejection of Taseko Mines Ltd.’s New Prosperity project in the region of Cariboo-Chilcotin but said that did not mean the door was closed forever.

“The environmental assessment was extremely negative,” Mr. Harper told the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference.

But, he said, “We don’t like to see communities and regions deprived of what are obviously … significant opportunities for people in the region. “They are always in a position to examine the environmental assessment and to propose a new project based on their attempts to address some of the issues.”

‘Ethical gold’ aims to curb mining’s toll in South America – by Lucas Iberico Lozada (Reuters U.S. – March 4, 2014)

March 4, 2014

http://www.reuters.com/

RELAVE, Peru – (Reuters) – Tucked between two desert ridges in southern Peru, Relave looks like any of the hundreds of ramshackle mining towns that blight the landscape in the world’s sixth-largest gold exporter.

Its name in Spanish means “tailings,” a nod to the heaps of mining waste that the town, a sprawling collection of wooden shacks and simple concrete huts, sits upon.

But Relave is also home to Aurelsa, one of the first small-scale mines in the world to produce gold certified and marketed as “ethical” as part of a scheme aimed at reducing the harmful impact of illegal mining in mineral-rich developing countries.

“When we arrived we didn’t have anything … Now we’re exporting internationally,” said Juan Coronado, the chief executive at Aurelsa who came to Relave in the late 1980s to sift through what was left of an abandoned gold mine after leaving his family farm in the Andean highlands.

He used to collect the abandoned mine’s tailings, mix them with mercury, and sell the amalgam to middlemen in a nearby town.

Ring of regulations – by Mark Zastre (National Post – March 4, 2014)

March 4, 2014

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

Mark Zastre is Global Mining Leader, Grant Thornton International.

Mining ventures need infrastructure to proceed yet governments stymie their development through regulations and impediments

Canada’s long-awaited mining powerhouse, the Ring of Fire, promised major economic development and employment opportunities for northern Ontario. Communities rushed to ready themselves for the coming boom in jobs and lobbied hard for the placement of the sought-after chromite smelters and associated infrastructure.

But despite its promises and potential, the Ring of Fire has fallen victim to delays and setbacks, sparking an industry-wide debate of who is to blame. The mining industry has grown increasingly uncertain about investing in Canada and has identified the provincial and federal governments, Aboriginal communities, commodity prices, and the environmental lobby as major contributing factors to this uncertainty.

Beyond the speculation of the causes of the Ring of Fire delays however, new data collected in the Grant Thornton International 2014 Global Mining Survey paints a larger picture of the infrastructure challenges faced by this industry and demonstrates that delays are not unique to the Ring of Fire, but rather threaten the sustainability of the broader Canadian mining industry.

Harper pledges support for mining industry – by Lisa Wright (Toronto Star – March 4, 2014)

March 4, 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.

The annual convention of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada kicks off Monday with Harper making surprise appearance. Prime Minister Stephen Harper paid a surprise visit to a major gathering of miners in Toronto Monday, pledging his ongoing support to the struggling mining industry.

Harper is the first sitting prime minister to attend the 82-year-old conference, a major networking event hosting nearly 30,000 people in the global mining industry through Wednesday at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

About 60 journalists from around the world were invited to the question-and-answer format session between Harper and incoming PDAC president Rod Thomas before 400 convention delegates.

Neither the audience nor media – whose bags and equipment were checked thoroughly before entry to the conference hall by a sniffer dog — were allowed to ask questions.

Feds promote mining prospects at annual PDAC event (CBC News – March 3, 2014)

March 4, 2014

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

Slump in prices has made for a tough climate for those working in the mineral exploration industry

As the world’s mining community meets for the annual Prospectors and Developers Association conference, the federal government is also talking about its role in promoting development.

Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver met with junior mining companies at the conference on Monday and he released the latest information government researchers have gathered on remaining mineral deposits.

Oliver said the data is particularly important at a time when the mining industry is going through a downturn.

“We all know that exploration for these type of deposits, especially deeper ones, impales significant financial risk,” he said. “And yet the discovery of these deposits can ensure the industry’s longer term prosperity.”

Oliver said the goal is to help companies better understand where new mineral deposits are — as well as their potential size — so they are more willing to invest.

Update 1 – Vale back at work on Ontario nickel project – by Allison Martell and Euan Rocha (Reuters U.S. – February 3, 2014)

March 4, 2014

http://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Vale SA’s Canadian unit has resumed work on its Copper Cliff Deep nickel project in the Sudbury basin and expects to complete a feasibility study by the end of the year, a company executive said on Monday.

The project is expected to cost somewhere in the range of a billion dollars to build and could be one of the unit’s lower-cost operations, said Kelly Strong, Vale’s vice president of Ontario and UK operations.

If it goes ahead, the revised project, now dubbed Copper Cliff Mine, would be another boost for the Sudbury basin in northern Ontario, where Vale recently opened Totten, its first new mine in more than 40 years. “It’s going to look a little bit different than the original project – it’s going to be three phases,” said Strong.

The project would merge and expand what are now two separate mines. Its earlier incarnation was put on hold in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. In 2010, Vale Canada said it was re-evaluating the project, though work did not proceed.

The first of the three phases could start producing within the next two to three years, Strong told Reuters. A final go-ahead will depend on the project securing a green light from Vale’s board in Brazil.

Vancouver-based Goldcorp wins reprieve from Osisko Mining on takeover bid (Canadian Press – March 3, 2014)

March 4, 2014

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

MONTREAL – Osisko Mining Corp. said Monday it has settled a lawsuit it filed against Vancouver-based Goldcorp Inc. as part of the Montreal-based company’s fight against a hostile takeover by the senior gold miner.

Under the settlement, the offer from Goldcorp has been extended to April 15, from March 10, while Osisko continues its search for an alternative bid. Osisko has also agreed to waive its shareholder rights plan by April 14 and provide Goldcorp with access to due diligence materials starting April 1, or earlier if Osisko signs a deal with another bidder.

“Given the robustness of our process to pursue value maximizing alternatives, the extension to April 15, 2014 provides a meaningful extension to the anticipated time to complete this work,” Osisko president and chief executive Sean Roosen.

“The April 15, 2014 date also provides certainty of timing for those in the process to complete their work and propose executable arrangements to unlock value for all stakeholders.”

Tallying Quebec’s self-inflicted mining wounds – by David Parkinson (Globe and Mail – March 4, 2014)

March 4, 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.

A few years ago, Quebec was the belle of the ball for prospective mining investors. Now, it seems, its Parti Quebecois government’s policy positions are well on their way to making the province a wallflower.

A new global survey of mining companies, from Canadian economic think tank the Fraser Institute, shows that Canada in general remains highly desirable for mining investment. Seven Canadian jurisdictions rank in the top-16, out of 112 global jurisdictions, in terms of overall mining investment attractiveness, a measure that combines the quality of the mineral potential and the receptiveness of government policy.

(Newfoundland and Labrador, ranked 3rd in the world, is Canada’s highest-ranked jurisdiction.) Also, five provinces rank in the top-20 in a list of jurisdictions with the most investment-friendly government policies (led by Alberta, at Number 3).

In both rankings, Quebec isn’t among them – underlining the province’s rapid fall from grace as a mining-investment destination.

Trade pacts to spur mining investment – by Barrie McKenna (Globe and Mail – March 3, 2014)

March 3, 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.

OTTAWA — Canada is signing an investment protection agreement with Cameroon and launching negotiations with Kenya as it pushes to secure better rights for Canadian mining companies in Africa.

Trade Minister Ed Fast is slated to make the announcements at this week’s Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto, an annual gathering of the global mining industry.

Ottawa has 26 investment treaties in force around the world. Last year, it signed 10 new ones, including seven in Africa. But even as Mr. Fast strikes new deals, the most important Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection (FIPA) agreement that Canada has reached to date – with China – sits on a shelf in Ottawa, signed, but not ratified.

Ron MacIntosh, a former Canadian diplomat and now a research fellow at the University of Alberta’s China Institute, said Ottawa is sensitive to critics who worry the agreement would give China the right to sue the government “any time it’s not happy about something,” particularly in the wake of China-based CNOOC Ltd.’s takeover of Calgary-based oil producer Nexen Inc. in 2012.

Mining sector digs in for growth – by Derek Sankey (Vancouver Province – March 3, 2014)

March 3, 2014

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

Oilsands forecast to remain strong

CALGARY HERALD – Canada’s mining sector is on the cusp of growth in new jobs fuelled by several projects set to move ahead after struggling through broadly weaker commodity prices and a recent “down cycle,” say industry officials.

Oilsands mining has remained strong – and forecast to remain so – while base and precious metals rebound and new mines are coming on stream, following some workforce reductions in the last few years.

“There are a number of new mines currently in the pipeline that have a tremendous opportunity to gain some of those jobs back,” says Ryan Montpellier, executive director of the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR). “We’ve seen new employment in our north, in coal (and) there is some potential for new diamond mines,” he adds.

“There is a lot of potential in the industry today.” Year-over-year job growth increased by 11,000 jobs from 2011 to 2012, while the total number of mining jobs, including drilling and exploration, was 418,000 in 2012, according to Natural Resources Canada data.

Mining convention sees brighter prospects ahead – by Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – March 3, 2014)

March 3, 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.

Thousands of junior mining companies are prospecting for cash so they can keep up the hunt for new deposits amid the downturn in commodity prices. The miners will be doing their best to attract investors at the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference in Toronto this week.

A swarm of 25,000-plus miners, financiers and lawyers from more than 125 countries are expected to attend the four-day conference, the world’s largest mining gathering, which started on Sunday.

Funding for miners was scarce last year and the junior firms, which are responsible for the majority of new discoveries, are down to skeleton crews and desperate for investment.

“I have never been through anything like 2013. There were times when there was almost no hope,” said Richard Spencer, who has more than 20 years of experience exploring for minerals and is the chief executive of Toronto-based uranium miner U3O8 Corp.

Goldcorp-Osisko battle heats up in Quebec as court case begins Monday – by Peter Koven (National Post – March 2, 2014)

March 3, 2014

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

The takeover battle between Goldcorp Inc. and Osisko Mining Corp. is heating up. But not for reasons that have anything to with the terms of the actual bid.

The two sides are set to face off in the Quebec Superior Court this week over Osisko’s claim that Goldcorp misused confidential information when it launched the $2.6-billion hostile offer in January.

The court case, which begins Monday in Montreal, centres on whether the two companies had a verbal standstill agreement in place when Osisko disclosed private data in a meeting last year. The trial is set to last for three days and both sides expressed confidence they will win. Not surprisingly, Goldcorp dismissed the lawsuit as a stalling tactic while Osisko said it will shed light on nefarious actions by Goldcorp.

Outside of court, a more complicated battle is brewing as both sides talk up their Quebec credentials in an attempt to win the hearts and minds of the province. Osisko is the largest Quebec-based mining company and owns the giant Canadian Malartic mine in the province. Goldcorp, based in Vancouver, plans to produce first gold from its US$1.8-billion Eleonore mine in Quebec later this year.