Republic of Mining

NEWS RELEASE: Mine safety review launch draws media attention

February 4, 2014

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

The inaugural meeting of the Ministry of Labour’s mine safety review panel attracted pretty well the full slate of Sudbury’s media representatives – print, radio and television; English and French; local and outlets with national affiliations. The Sudbury media had an opportunity to interview Ontario Chief Prevention Officer George Gritziotis, who is leading the review, along with Fergus Kerr, industry co-chair, and John Perquin, labour co-chair.

“It is about outcomes, responsiveness and comprehensiveness,” said Mr. Gritziotis, who was kept very busy by the high level of media interest. “It is about having a positive impact on the workplace as soon as possible, whether through regulation, mandatory training or best practices.”

The comprehensive mining safety review was announced by Ontario Labour Minister Yasir Naqvi just before the end of 2013. It is the next logical step in the ongoing process to improve the health and well-being of mineral industry employees and reach the goal of zero harm. The evidence-based review is to complete its work in 12 months.

COLUMN-Indonesian minerals ban bites as well as barks – by Andy Home (Reuters India – February 3, 2014)

February 3, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.

Feb 3 (Reuters) – Indonesian minerals policy is rarely a straightforward affair and so it proved again in the run-up to the Jan. 12 ban on exports of unprocessed ores.

There was plenty of last-minute drama, particularly concerning the treatment of copper concentrates. These were first unexpectedly included in the ban and then granted an eleventh-hour presidential exemption, but with an equally unexpected caveat of rising export taxes.

And there will surely be more twists and turns in the story in the weeks and months ahead. Both of the major copper producers operating in the country, Freeport McMoRan and Newmont Mining, are challenging the government’s right to change existing contracts of work governing their operations at Grasberg and Batu Hijau respectively.

A local mining association, meanwhile, has wasted no time in filing a legal challenge to the ban. The really big surprise, though, is just how total the ban is.

Coal Baron Digs a Deeper Hole – by Elliot Negin (Huffington Post – February 3, 2014)

February 3, 2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/

Elliott Negin is the director of news and commentary at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Robert E. “Bob” Murray, the pugnacious owner of Ohio-based coal giant Murray Energy Corp., keeps his lawyers busy. Besides appealing safety fines, over the past few years his company has sued two news organizations — the Charleston Gazette and Huffington Post — for defamation and the Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration for levying “unfounded and baseless violation citations.”

More recently, the company turned it up a notch, announcing it will sic its lawyers on the Environmental Protection Agency. Why? The company — the largest producer of underground coal in the country — alleges that the agency has illegally ignored the impact of Clean Air Act enforcement on jobs in the coal industry.

“Over the past five years, EPA has waged what can fairly be described as a war on coal, repeatedly and consistently encouraging sources to switch from coal to other fuels, to shut down coal-fired sources, and to avoid constructing new coal-fired sources, all through EPA’s administration and enforcement of the Clean Air Act,” the company’s law firm, Squire Sanders, stated in a January 21 “notice of intent” letter, which plaintiffs are required to file in advance of suing a federal agency.

Beyond Blackwater: Prince looks to resources in Africa – by Stephen Eisenhammer (Reuters India – February 2, 2014)

February 3, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

LONDON – (Reuters) – After running one of the world’s biggest and most controversial private military groups, Blackwater founder Erik Prince is starting a new venture providing logistics for oil and mining companies in remote and dangerous parts of Africa.

China is increasingly looking to Africa to meet its ever growing demand for natural resources. Trade between the two reached an estimated $200 billion this year. With 85 percent of Chinese imports from the continent being oil or minerals, Prince sees an opportunity.

He wants to use his experience of getting people and equipment in and out of remote places, where there is little or no infrastructure, to help companies looking to exploit abundant natural resources in places like Sudan or Somalia.

The 44-year-old former U.S. Navy Seal became chairman of Frontier Services Group (FSG) (0500.HK) this month, a Hong Kong-listed company of which China’s state-backed investment fund Citic CITIC.UL owns 15 percent. Prince himself has share options in the firm that would convert to a 9 percent stake.

The appointment is a remarkable turn-around for a man vilified by many as a war-profiteer with blood on his hands.

Teck checking domestic piping system after Trail spill – by Sunny Dhilon (Globe and Mail – February 2, 2014)

February 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.

VANCOUVER — Teck Trail Operations says the company’s entire domestic piping system at its plant in Trail, B.C., is now being checked after a chemical spill last week reached the Columbia River.

Up to 25,000 litres of a high pH solution accidentally entered a domestic sewer line on Tuesday. The line, which runs to the regional district’s sewage treatment facility, discharges to the river.

The incident is not expected to have a long-term effect on fish or the environment, said the mining company, which has notified B.C.’s Ministry of Environment and Environment Canada.

“We do take this incident very seriously and we will be conducting a very thorough investigation,” Richard Deane, a Teck spokesman, said in an interview Sunday.

EY forecasts improvement in mining deals in 2014 – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – February 3, 2014)

February 3, 2014

http://www.mineweb.com/

“A steady improvement in market conditions should see a gradual return to deal-making in the mining and metals sector,” says a new EY report.

RENO (MINEWEB) – “The mining and metal sector is entering 2014 with a more positive outlook: confidence in the global economy is improving, companies have taken action to deleverage balance sheets and the industry-wide focus on productivity and efficiency should begin to yield results,” says consultancy EY.

In their report, EY mining analysts advised “…we expect the gradual strengthening of mining and metals equity valuations to continue and the increased availability of capital.”

Nevertheless, the analysts cautioned, “As supply and demand struggle to return to post-supercycle equilibrium, we expect further price volatility to occur for at least the next two years. This will see caution prevail: any uplift in M&A activity and improvement of capital raising conditions will be gradual and will require innovation in pricing to tame volatility.”

Noront Leading Ring of Fire Charge – Rickford – by James Murray (Netnewsledger.com – February 3, 2014)

February 3, 2014

http://www.netnewsledger.com/

Getting it Right in Northern Ontario

THUNDER BAY – Mining – Federal Minister Greg Rickford says “Noront is now leading the charge. They were perhaps a little underestimated. In the wake of Cliff’s very clear announcement, Noront is moving ahead with the environmental assessment process. We’re all very hopeful that that will go live sooner rather than later.”

Rickford is the federal minister responsible for the Ring of Fire. The Kenora MP has been working the file getting the pieces in place to get the Ring of Fire project on a solid footing.

NetNewsLedger has reported that Cliffs Natural Resources is pulling out of the Ring of Fire with camps being emptied in January. Cliffs Natural Resources has denied those reports in an email to Northern Ontario Business. The company has been moving goods out of their camps, and online has completely pulled Northern Ontario off their map of activities in North America.

The Ring of Fire is a massive project, and “Getting it right,” as Ontario Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle has repeatedly put it is key for success.

Timmins History: Dance night a treat for early prospectors – by Karen Bachmann (Timmins Daily Press – February 1, 2014)

February 3, 2014

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – A few years ago, the Auer family donated, to the museum, a selection of the journals of Charles and Mae Auer. The Auers were local pioneers, responsible for the Nighthawk Mine and the development that would become known as Mattagami Heights (today, home to our local Ford Dealership).

The diaries are an exceptional view of what life would have been like for the very early prospectors coming to the area. Today, I offer to you an excerpt that caught my attention because it sounds like something right out of a movie!

To set the stage, Charles Auer and his partner Black Jack Cole (what a name!) started to head for the Nighthawk River system in January 1908. Along with their dog team lead by Nell and Jack, they mushed their way on existing trails, breaking new ones when needed.

The temperatures plunged to -40 F and the snow was about three feet thick. The going was pretty rough. Eventually, they hit smoother ground and stopped for the night at Campbell’s Halfway House, outside of McDougall Chutes. They took care of the dogs and enjoyed a good hot meal.

Women in Mining in Canada: Changing the Mining Industry – by Dick DeStefano (February 3, 2014)

September 5, 2018February 3, 2014

Dick DeStefano is the Executive Director of Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA). destefan@isys.ca

One of most current issues in the mining community is the growing population of professional women who are actively participating in the mining work force globally.

I recently wrote an article entitled, “What Would We Do Without Women in Mining?” describing an organization recently reconstructed and reorganized into an association called Modern Mining & Technology Sudbury. This association introduces a week-long event outlining the importance of mining to over 1000 elementary and high school students.

It has become increasingly obvious as the association grows in size and structure that professional women in mining are not only leading the way in their daily mining responsibilities but specifically the 14 women on the 21 member committee are developing educational awareness on the importance of the industry through multiple interactive activities at this event. The association is hoping to target more young women considering a profession in a growing and important sector. These 14 women brought their daily experience to the Modern Mining & Technology Sudbury event.

Mining’s $8 Billion of Private Equity Seen Reviving M&A – by Jesse Riseborough and Ruth David (Bloomberg News – February 3, 2014)

February 3, 2014

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The world’s mining assets may be the target of mergers and acquisitions as an $8 billion pool of private-equity money that has lain dormant is stirred this year by attractive valuations and predictions of resilient demand for raw materials.

Some of the biggest names in the industry are keen to buy assets at the same time as the world’s largest producers including Rio Tinto Group are shunning unwanted mines. Former chief executive officers Mick Davis of Xstrata Plc and Barrick Gold Corp.’s Aaron Regent are plotting a return to the business by buying mining projects, backed by private funds. Last week two new mining investment ventures were started, one backed by Warburg Pincus LLC, the other founded by two former JPMorgan Chase & Co. bankers.

While buyout firms have increasingly targeted mining since 2012, only about 14 percent of the almost $10 billion raised in the last two years has been deployed, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Industries. That could change if they face pressure from their investors to act, Michael Rawlinson, co-head of mining and metals investment banking at Barclays Plc.

“They’ve all set up, no one’s done anything,” London-based Rawlinson said. “The sand is going through the hourglass and the money is going to get taken away if they don’t start spending.”

Jobs Report: Can mining recover? – by Adrian Lee (Maclean’s Magazine – February 2, 2014)

February 3, 2014

http://www2.macleans.ca/

A close look at what happened to an industry once flush with employment opportunities

For years, job seekers saw the mining industry as flush with promise. A skills shortage made for plentiful job opportunities, generous salaries and lots of chances to travel. “That’s actually what attracts them: money first and travel second, by a huge proportion,” says Scott Dunbar, the interim head of the University of British Columbia’s mining engineering department, citing frequent inter-program surveys. “The actual interest in the work involved seems not to play a big role,” he adds, laughing.

But in the last year, Canadian mining has gone from riches to, if not rags, then at least extreme restraint. In early December, Potash Corp. laid off 18 per cent of its workforce—more than 1,000 people—with about half of those cuts coming from its home province of Saskatchewan. Earlier in the year, Barrick Gold said it would lay off 30 per cent of its office staff. Other companies are joining in the cuts. At the same time, Statistics Canada data show the job market in resources has become far less favourable over the past two years.

The agency’s unemployment-to-job-vacancies ratio for the mining and energy sector—a measure of the number of unemployed people for each available job—reached 3.5 in October, the most recent month for which data are available. That’s slightly higher than the average for all industrial sectors. By contrast, during the same month in 2011, the figure was 1.1, giving mining the tightest job market of any sector at the time. It all portends an increasingly difficult-to-crack marketplace for job seekers.

Stobie Mine inquest in planning stage – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – February 1, 2014)

February 3, 2014

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

The date hasn’t been set for the coroner’s inquest into the June 8, 2011, deaths of two men at Vale’s Stobie Mine, but months of planning for the complicated procedure are under way.

The examination into the deaths of Jason Chenier, 35, and Jordan Fram, 26, who were killed when they were overcome by 350 tons of muck while working at the 3,000-foot level of the century-old mine, is expected to be lengthy and complicated.

Cheryl Mahyr, issues manager with the Office of the Chief Coroner and Ontario Forensic Pathology Service, said Friday she couldn’t make any announcement about the timing of the inquest.

Coroners’ inquests are mandatory in workplace deaths in Ontario, and are not held until after outstanding investigations and charges under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act are dealt with, including appeals.

Both United Steelworkers Local 6500 and Vale conducted exhaustive investigations into the double fatality.

A zero-Carbon Ring of Fire is needed – by Steve May (Sudbury Star – February 1, 2014)

February 3, 2014

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

Steve May is an officer of the federal and provincial Nickel Belt Greens.

Picture this: You’re riding a silent, electrically-powered railway northward into the heart of Ontario’s largest industrial project, the Ring of Fire. Occasionally, the landscape of trees and rocks is interrupted by one or two wind turbines or ground-mounted solar arrays.

As you near the end of the line, you can see that the ore processing facility looks as if it were on fire, thanks to the thousands of solar panels affixed to just about every building surface. Here, chromite and other minerals are being extracted and processed in the world’s first zero-carbon mining project, deep in the heart of the James Bay lowlands.

Impossible? Hardly. Impractical? Not at all. A zero-carbon mining project would be good for the environment and for job creation. Sustainable, net-zero development may be the only option for “getting things right” in the Ring of Fire as we go deeper into the 21st Century, thanks to Canada having taken a back-seat on climate change reduction initiatives.

Cliffs not pulling out of Ring of Fire – by Staff (Sudbury Star – February 1, 2014)

February 3, 2014

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

A Cliffs Natural Resources spokeswoman is denying a report from an online newspaper that the Cleveland-based company is pulling out of its development in the Ring of Fire.

Cliffs officials continue to talk with representatives of the Government of Ontario and First Nations communities in the area, Patricia Persico said Friday. “We are continuing with our plans as previously stated,” Persico said in an email.

In November of last year, Cliffs halted all technical work including its feasibility study, development and exploration activities for an undetermined period of time. It was a crushing blow to many in Ontario, particularly here in Sudbury where hopes were high after the former Moose Mountain Mine was chosen as the site Cliffs planned to build a $1.8-billion ferrochrome processing plant.

Persico said Cliffs remains supportive of the province’s plan to form a development corporation to finance and develop infrastructure for the Ring of Fire, and intends to participate in future discussions.

COLUMN-Critical minerals and mining reform in the U.S.: Kemp – by John Kemp (Reuters U.S. – January 31, 2014)

February 3, 2014

http://www.reuters.com/

Jan 31 (Reuters) – Critical minerals like rare earths, lithium and tellurium are becoming ever more essential to the modern economy, yet production in the United States remains limited, leaving the country relying on imports from just a handful of countries led by China.

For many of these materials, there are few substitutes, raising obvious concerns about supply security. It wasn’t always this way. The United States was once the world’s leading producer of rare earth elements (REEs). However, mining at its Mountain Pass facility was largely suspended between 1998 and 2010 owing to environmental concerns.

China came to dominate production in the 2000s. Beijing’s decision to impose export restrictions on REEs, tungsten and molybdenum in 2011 and 2012 to reserve more of them for domestic manufacturers underscored the supply chain’s vulnerability and drew protests from the United States, the EU, Canada and Japan, as well as a complaint to the WTO.

Since then, Mountain Pass has reopened, following the construction of a new $1.55 billion processing facility by its owners Molycorp. New sources of supply are also becoming available from Mount Weld in Australia.