Republic of Mining

NEWS RELEASE: New members enhance OMA environmental expertise

November 13, 2013

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.

At its most recent board of directors meeting, two environmental engineering consultants joined the Ontario Mining Association as members. The addition of both SLR Global Environmental Solutions and Environmental Resources Management (ERM) enhances ecological expertise within the association.

The OMA was founded in 1920 and it is one of the longest serving trade organizations in the country. The OMA represents the mining industry in the province. Its members are involved in various aspects of environmentally responsible exploration, production and processing of mineral resources in Ontario and providing services and supplies to the sector.

SLR Global Environmental is an environmental consultancy specializing in mining and minerals, waste management, energy, infrastructure, planning and development and industrial sectors. It was established in 1994 as a United Kingdom-based operation and it is employee owned.

India Court Allows Restricted Sale of Iron Ore in Goa State – by Biman Mukherji (Wall Street Journal – November 11, 2013)

November 13, 2013

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

Ruling That Limits Sale to Domestic Market Offers Little Relief, Industry Executives Say

NEW DELHI—India’s Supreme Court Monday allowed restricted sale of iron ore in the western state of Goa, a decision that industry executives say would offer little relief to the local mining industry.

The country’s top court allowed the auction of around 11 million metric tons from the ore that had already been mined before the mining ban was imposed in 2012 because of environmental concerns. According to the ruling, the material must be sold on the domestic market.

There aren’t many refineries in India that can process the low-grade iron ore produced in Goa. The state, India’s largest producer of iron ore, therefore exported most of the ore it produced until the ban was imposed—Goa used to account for half of India’s iron-ore exports.

“This is a setback,” Glenn Kalvampara, a spokesman of the Goa Mineral Ore Exporters’ Association, said, referring to the court’s decision allowing only local sales. “Goa’s ore goes only in one direction: exports.”

AUDIO: North Bay mayor hopes ONTC can help Ring of Fire (CBC News Sudbury – November 12, 2013)

November 13, 2013

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

Morning North – Future of ONTC still unclear

The mayor of North Bay is is hoping the conversation about how to get to the Ring of Fire mining region will include the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission.

The ONTC is still in limbo more than a year after the province announced it would be broken up and sold off. Last week, the province announced a new development corporation will help sort out a transportation link to the Ring of Fire in the far north.

North Bay Mayor Al McDonald wants to see the ONTC included in the plan. “It’s interesting that the government wants to set up this corporation,” said McDonald, who sits on a committee advising on the future of the ONTC.

“In the meantime, they are going down the road of divesting another corporation that has served us for 100 years.” Few details have been released on how the new development corporation will decide how to best access the Ring of Fire.

Ontario juniors push innovation to advance projects – by Wendy Parker (In Support Of Mining.com – November 12, 2013)

November 13, 2013

http://insupportofmining.wordpress.com/

Ontario’s mineral developers may be struggling to generate interest in the financial markets — but they’re certainly having no trouble generating interesting research in the lab.

Northern Graphite, developer of the Bissett Creek graphite project east of North Bay, announced this week that it has partnered with Tennessee-based Coulometrics LLC to “manage development of the company’s proprietary technologies for manufacturing spherical graphite and improving the performance of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries.”

Pointing to the industry’s current dependence on supplies from China, Northern CEO Greg Bowes said his company’s objectives are “to provide Li-ion battery manufacturers with a stable, secure source of high quality, advanced graphite materials produced in an environmentally acceptable manner, and to capture additional margin from value added, upgraded products.”

Also on Monday, Thunder Bay’s Zenyatta Ventures, which is working to advance its unusual Albany deposit northwest of Hearst, said it has signed an agreement with the National Research Council that will provide technical advice and financial assistance of up to $350,000 for its metallurgical testing.

Exploration cuts shortsighted move for global mining sector – by Lawrence Williams (Mineweb.com – November 12, 2013)

November 12, 2013

http://www.mineweb.com/

Cutting exploration may be a shortsighted move for major and mid-tier mining companies, but meantime it does look as if the global fall in exploration activity may be flattening out.

LONDON (MINEWEB) – At the Randgold Resources Q3 results presentation in London, the company’s CEO, Mark Bristow, made a scathing comment about the recent moves by a number of major and mid-tier mining companies to cut back on mineral exploration as a part of their new found austerity programmes. While cash strapped juniors are cutting back, or ceasing exploration activity altogether, this is of necessity as they move into cash preservation mode to try and stay alive.

Many juniors have thus ceased exploration drilling altogether, laid off staff, reduced head office costs, and cut executive salaries to the bare minimum, but Bristow sees no reason for companies with good balance sheets and ample cash to do the same, largely as a sop to increasingly active institutional shareholders who look to short term bottom line figures rather than the long term future of the companies. As we noted here a few days ago in reporting on the Randgold results, Bristow commented that shareholders can be ‘brutal’ when the companies in which they are invested are seeing falling profits and cashflow.

Gabriel Resources’ Romanian mining project suffers setback – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – November 12, 2013)

November 12, 2013

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.

Rome – Gabriel Resources Ltd.’s 15-year effort to develop Europe’s biggest gold mine suffered yet another setback when a Romanian parliamentary commission overwhelmingly rejected a draft law that, if passed, would have allowed construction of the $1-billion (U.S.) project.

But Toronto-listed Gabriel said the rejection of the draft bill does not mean that the proposed Rosia Montana mine in Transylvania is dead.

A spokesman noted that the draft law was turned down because Romania wants broader legislation to deal with all gold and silver mines, not just the Rosia Montana project. The draft bill dealt only with Rosia Montana.

“The commission believes the bill under consideration does not entirely meet all the complex requirements on the conduct of business in mineral resources exploitation in Romania and therefore proposes its rejection,” Attila Korody, one of the 19 lawmakers on the commission, told Reuters Monday evening.

Union wants ONTC to play role [in Ring of Fire] – by Gord Young (North Bay Nugget – November 11, 2013)

November 12, 2013

http://www.nugget.ca/

The Ontario Northland Transportation Commission should play an integral role in providing access to the Ring of Fire, says the group representing its unionized workers.

“We are the transportation corporation for Northern Ontario. I don’t see why the government wouldn’t want the ONTC to be involved,” said Brian Kelly, spokesman for the ONTC’s General Chairperson’s Association.

His comments come on the heels of an announcement by the province Friday of plans to create a development corporation for the chromite deposit that will bring together private and public parties to address infrastructure needs.

The province also called on the federal government Friday to help cover the costs of the infrastructure needed to access the remote area in the James Bay Lowlands.

“Ontario is prepared to make a substantial contribution to the infrastructure needed to access the resources,” Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said in a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

50 years ago: Discovery of Kidd Mine – by Len Gillis (Sudbury Star – November 10, 2013)

November 12, 2013

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

It was the most important thing to happen in Timmins since the discovery of gold. And it happened 50 years ago, on Nov. 7, 1963.

It was Thursday November 7th, 1963. Texas Gulf exploration geologist Ken Darke directed a diamond drill crew where to set up for drilling on the mineral anomaly known as Kidd 55. The very first drill hole was K-55-1. The drilling crew was set up in the northeast section of Kidd Township, roughly 24 kilometres from Timmins Town Hall.

Aside from a handful of drillers and geologists, no one would witness the incredible event that would happen the next few days in that drill shack, as core samples from hole no. K-55-1 were being pulled out of the ground and placed in core boxes.

As the story goes, one of the samples displayed a length of solid copper nearly a foot long. Ken Darke knew immediately he was standing on a major discovery. It would become the world-class Kidd Creek orebody; so huge and so rich it was a geological freak of nature. It was a good Friday in Timmins, although no one in Timmins knew it yet.

It would be another six months before Texas Gulf formally announced the discovery on April 16, 1964, causing whoops of joy, kicking off a major staking rush as well as a rush on buying shares in any company anywhere near the Kidd Township discovery.

‘Balance’ required in Ring of Fire development, says B.C. First Nations leader – by Erica Lenti (The Canadian Press/Canadian Business Magazine – November 12, 2013)

November 12, 2013

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/

TORONTO – A First Nations leader from B.C. says aboriginal communities in Ontario’s Ring of Fire could benefit from striking a balance between mining development and land preservation.

Annita McPhee is president of the northwestern B.C. First Nations Tahltan Central Committee and says a balanced approach is required in negotiating how the northern Ontario mineral deposit will be developed.

McPhee says while it is important to sustain the mineral-rich land in the James Bay First Nations territory, opening it up to external industries offers potential monetary and employment benefits. In the Tahltan territory of B.C., mining development created tensions between First Nations and mining corporations from as early as 2005.

Led by McPhee, her group has negotiated $2 billion in resource development since 2011 in non-sacred pockets of Tahltan land, and another $11 billion is being considered. In return, the Tahltan have seen increased employment and funding for health care and cultural programs.

Latin America losing allure for global resource companies – by Marta Lillo (Globe and Mail – November 12, 2013)

November 12, 2013

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.

SANTIAGO — Natural resource companies are growing increasingly skittish about Latin America, a region that until recently was one of the world’s most powerful magnets for foreign investment.

In Brazil, the country’s recent move to sell interests in its vast Libra oilfield highlighted growing friction over national resources. Brazilian social activists say the government of Dilma Rousseff “gave away” the country’s resources in the auction, where international energy giants Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Total SA and two Chinese oil companies joined with Brazil’s Petrobras as owners of Libra.

Protesters clashed violently with police near Rio de Janeiro last month. “The country’s strategic oil reserves should not be auctioned. Petrobras is perfectly capable of developing Libra,” said Ronaldo Leite, president of the Rio de Janeiro chapter of the Central Workers of Brazil (CTB).

Miners partner with colleges to graduate skilled workers – by Simon Avery (Globe and Mail – November 12, 2013)

November 12, 2013

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.

Despite being at the forefront of Canada’s job growth over the past three years, the mining sector will not be able to grow at its full potential in the next decade because of a lack of trained workers, those in the industry say.

The resources industry has begun to work closely with governments, colleges and universities to try to address the looming shortage it fears. The mining industry will need more than 145,000 workers by 2023 to fill new positions and to replace individuals leaving the sector. That is a tall order, given the figure represents more than 60 per cent of today’s work force.

The expected shortfall is based on modest forecasts, says Ryan Montpellier, executive director of the Mining Industry Human Resources Council, which made the calculations.

The problem may have been obscured in the last couple of years as mining companies cut jobs and cancelled multibillion-dollar projects around the world in response to falling commodity prices.

Ontario to create Ring of Fire development corporation – by Marilyn Scales (Canadian Mining Journal – November 11, 2013)

November 12, 2013November 12, 2013

Marilyn Scales is a field editor for the Canadian Mining Journal, Canada’s first mining publication. She is one of Canada’s most senior mining commentators.

Last Friday in Thunder Bay, Ontario’s Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle announced that the province will establish a development corporation to move mining projects forward in the Ring of Fire. The province promises to end the disputes about transportation, provide infrastructure, and ensure that the benefits of development are shared with First Nations.

So far so good. But the idea is drawing criticism from opposition political parties. The government of Premier Kathleen Wynn has been creating dozens of consultation and advisory panels with little to show for them. Missing so far are guidelines about how aboriginal communities will share the revenues.

A thought about this last point: It almost sounds as if the government is supposed to choose a percentage of profits that will go to local communities. If you are an industry insider, it’s chilling to imagine a “First Nations tax” where 10%, or 30% or half of the revenue generated by mining goes to local communities. Anyone who thinks that throwing money at local communities will solve their problems hasn’t been listening for the last 75 years.

Iron ore is hot right now – by Bloomberg News (National Post – November 11, 2013)

November 12, 2013

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

Iron ore is extending a bull market on record sales to China that are spurring forecasters from Morgan Stanley to the World Bank to increase price predictions.

Shipments from Australia’s Port Hedland, the biggest iron- ore export terminal, to China jumped 43 percent to a record last month, port data show. The Asian nation already imported the most ore ever in September, according to customs data. Standard Bank Group Ltd. and the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics, Australia’s state forecaster, also increased price estimates in the past several weeks.

Prices reached a two-month high in China last week after data showed Asia’s largest economy accelerated. While supply expansions led by Australian producers will push the seaborne market into surplus next year for the first time since 2010, it won’t happen until the second half, said Joel Crane, an analyst at Morgan Stanley. Iron ore is the biggest source of revenue for Rio Tinto Group, BHP Billiton Ltd. and Vale SA and the largest seaborne commodity cargo after crude oil.

Ontario must stand ground on pipeline projects, report says – by Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – November 11, 2013)

November 12, 2013

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 — Ontario needs to take a more aggressive stand on new oil pipeline proposals to ensure the province’s interests are being addressed, says a former deputy minister.

In a paper to be released Monday, Matthew Mendelsohn – who served as deputy minister of intergovernmental affairs under former premier Dalton McGuinty – said Ontario is seeing its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions swamped by the booming oil sands while getting little benefit from the economic growth.

“So long as the federal government – and the government of Alberta – support a climate change policy that asks Ontarians – and other Canadians – to carry the largest burden and pay the biggest financial cost for reducing emissions, there are good reasons for Ontario to oppose pipeline development that will only exacerbate climate change,” said the paper co-authored by Mr. Mendelsohn and Richard Carlson, of the University of Toronto’s Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation.

Mongolia gears up for the fight of its mining life – by Frik Els (Mining.com – November 11, 2013)

November 12, 2013

http://www.mining.com/

On November 3 Mongolia’s new, friendlier foreign investment law came into force. Probably not a day too soon. The Asian nation of three million citizens, dependent on the mining sector to fuel growth, is desperate to turn around the slump in its economy and the steep fall-off in foreign investment.

Foreign direct investment in the country dropped 49% to September 2013 compared to last year which already marked a 17% year-on-year decline, the value of the currency, the tugrik, is down 20% this year, inflation has returned to double digits and the Mongolian central bank’s off-balance sheet spending is burning through foreign reserves as foreign debts balloon to 55% of GDP.

The path to prosperity for Mongolia, ranked 155th in the world according to GDP per capita, has always been a rocky one. The country has been bailed out by the IMF no fewer than five times and it suffers a domestic bank failure on average every 18 months.

While the changes to the 2012 Strategic Entities Foreign Investment Law (SEFIL) including greater certainty surrounding mining taxes and royalties and the scrapping of the distinction between private foreign and domestic investors are being universally welcomed as a positive step, a number of issues remain unresolved.