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Guatemalan mine claims against HudBay can be tried in Canada, judge says – by Bertrand Marotte (Globe and Mail – July 23, 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.

Canadian mining company HudBay Minerals Inc. can potentially be held liable for alleged violence at a Guatemalan mine owned by a subsidiary, a Ontario Superior Court judge has ruled in what plaintiffs say is a precedent-setting case.

Madame Justice Carole Brown’s ruling, handed down Monday, means that the claims of 13 Guatemalans can proceed to trial in Canadian courts, according to Murray Klippenstein, lawyer for the plaintiffs.

Mr. Klippenstein had argued that HudBay itself can be held liable for alleged negligence in the case, alleging that HudBay executives made decisions for its subsidiary regarding security at the mine, relations with local indigenous people and the “forced evictions” of Mayan protestors claiming the mine is theirs.

Lawsuits were launched against HudBay after clashes that pitted protestors against security details at the Fenix nickel mine in 2007 and 2009. The allegations have not been proven and HuBay has since sold the mine.

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SA mining and the almost ‘unwinnable’ labour situation – by Jeff Candy (Mineweb.com – July 23, 2013)

http://www.mineweb.com/

Norton Rose Fulbright’s Joe Mothibi discusses the lay of the South African mining labour landscape and looks at the best and worst case outcomes for the current gold wage negotiations

GRONINGEN (MINEWEB) – GEOFF CANDY: Hello and welcome to this edition of Mineweb.com Newsmaker podcast. Joining me on the line is Joe Mothibi – he is a partner with Norton Rose Fulbright. Joe we saw over the course of last week, significant movement on the wage negotiation space within the South African gold sector. We saw the gold companies represented by the Chamber of Mines, putting out their first offer of 4% increases across the board for basic wages and for housing allowances, and on the other end of the spectrum we saw demands from the likes of AMCU of up to 130%, we saw demands from NUM of 61%. Clearly these are very far apart numbers, is this as far apart as you’ve seen it in the South African labour sector?

JOE MOTHIBI: Without a doubt, certainly in recent memory. What concerns me most is this probably is an indication or symptom of the instability which is actually occurring within the federation of COSATU and the weakness that is perceived by unions such as AMCU who then see a weakness and try and go in there and get a piece of the cake in terms of membership. Yes, but certainly it’s been quite stark indeed, the gap between what they each put on the table.

GEOFF CANDY: Now we’ve heard fairly strong words from the likes of AMCU and from NUM, Lesiba Seshoka telling Mineweb earlier last week that these demands or the offer by the companies was an insult, was a cause for provocation, Joseph Mathunjwa telling Mineweb that he probably wasn’t going to take it back to his members because it wasn’t very good.

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Aussie Drop Gives Relief to Iron-Ore Miners – by Rhiannon Hoyle (Wall Street Journal – July 22, 2013)

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

SYDNEY–Slugged by weaker prices, spiraling costs and simmering anxiety over China’s economic slowdown, Australia’s iron-ore producers are finally getting a welcome shot in the arm.

The longest slide in the Australian dollar since the financial crisis is lifting the bottom line of companies from BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) and Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) to smaller players like Atlas Iron Ltd. (AGO.AU) and Mount Gibson Iron Ltd. (MGX.AU) that export the key steelmaking ingredient.

The so-called Aussie has slid 11% in the past three months to around 92 U.S. cents–having soared above parity with the U.S. dollar in 2010 and traded near historic highs for much of the past three years.

The larger iron-ore producers, which tend to report in U.S. dollars, are benefiting from the resulting sharp drop in local costs like wages, while their smaller rivals are getting significantly more income when repatriating their U.S.-denominated earnings into the local currency.

In both cases, the impact of the weaker dollar is likely to feed through into the profits of Australia’s iron-ore producers, many of which are due to report earnings next month.

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Vale may hire foreign workers to solve Long Harbour crunch (CBC News Newfoundland – July 23, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/nl/

Mining giant Vale admits it may have to look outside the country to hire specialized workers to finish its massive nickel processing facility in Newfoundland’s Placentia Bay.

However, Vale says it wants to explore other options first to find such skilled workers as welders and pipefitters for its site at Long Harbour, where the company ultimately intends to process nickel mined at Voisey’s Bay in northern Labrador.

To accomplish that, the company is moving skilled workers from its port site to its main construction site, which the company calls the upper tier. “Because we are short some of those resources, we thought it was best to redirect those resources to the upper tier,” Bob Carter, Vale’s director of corporate affairs, told CBC News.

On Friday, layoff notices were handed out to more than 250 workers with skills that are currently not needed at the main site. Vale, which now plans to finish the port site later, admits it is concerned that it will not be able to find all the workers it needs within Canada.

The company is applying to the federal government for permission to bring in foreign workers.

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Residents question cleanup costs of proposed mine (CBC News New Brunswick – July 22, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/nb/

Northcliff Resources considering large open-pit mine in Nashwaak Valley

Some people living north of Fredericton want to know who will pay for the future clean-up of a proposed tungsten mine in the Nashwaak Valley area. The Sisson Project is being led by Northcliff Resources and, if approved, could turn into one of the world’s largest open-pit mines.

Gary Spencer said he wants to know who is going to foot the bill for cleaning up after the mine closes. “Somebody’s going to have to treat the water and, I start sounding silly when I say this, but, forever,” he said. “Somebody’s going to have to maintain the roads, provide electricity to the pumps that are going to pump the water back, and so on and so forth.”

The mining project is still in the environmental impact assessment stage.

  • Nature vs. economic nurturing divides Nashwaak Valley
  • Mining firm seeks ‘social licence’ with First Nations
  • Northcliff Resources continues tungsten mine review

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Rising China domestic oil output hurts import demand – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – July 22, 2013)

http://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – One of the clouds hanging over the global oil demand outlook is what’s happening to Chinese consumption, with crude imports falling in the first half of 2013.

The 1.4 percent drop in imports contrasts with modest growth in implied oil demand. Such differences are often ascribed to changes in commercial inventories, which are difficult to assess accurately given China doesn’t report stockpile levels. However, another factor has come to the fore, with domestic oil production rising a fairly strong 4.3 percent over the first six months of the year from the same period in 2012.

Domestic output was 103.615 million tonnes in the first half, according to figures released on July 19 by the National Bureau of Statistics. This equates to about 4.179 million barrels per day (bpd), or about 172,000 bpd more than in the first half of last year.

This is quite a substantial jump from the figures for the first five months of the year, which showed domestic oil output rising by a more modest 2.7 percent, or 62,000 bpd. There is a risk the domestic oil figures are subject to statistical noise from month to month, however, there does seem to be a fairly clear trend of rising production in China.

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It’s a long way to Prosperity – by Ezra Levant (Sudbury Star – July 23, 2013)

 http://www.thesudburystar.com/

A company called Taseko Mines wants to build a copper and gold mine in central British Columbia. Hearings began on the proposal Monday in Williams Lake, B.C.

Taseko will invest $1.1 billion in the project and hire 550 people directly, plus 1,280 more indirectly in everything from construction to housing to restaurants.

Over the long life of the mine, it’s expected to generate more than a third of a billion dollars a year in GDP. For comparison, that one mine will produce more wealth than B.C.’s entire commercial fishing industry does. So, of course, Taseko must be stopped.

Taseko’s mine — well named as the New Prosperity project — already received provincial approval. But then Ottawa’s extremist Environmental Assessment Agency balked. You see, there’s a little lake nearby, called Fish Lake, that would have been drained by the original proposal. And those fish are more important to Ottawa’s regulators than nearly 2,000 families having well-paid jobs. To Ottawa, if no one else, those fish are worth more than gold.

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Taseko should expect local opposition at BC mine public hearings – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – July 22, 2013)

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The Tsilhqot’in First Nation on Monday said it was disappointed at being forced to once again oppose base metals producer Taseko Mine’s proposed New Prosperity mine, in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region of British Columbia, imploring the federal government to listen to community members, scientists and the public who were condemning the proposal for what it sees as “an environmental and cultural disaster”.

The Conservative Stephen Harper-led government in November 2010 rejected the mine proposal based on what then-Environment Minister Jim Prentice, described as one of the most “scathing” independent panel reports ever written.

The report documented both significant environmental and cultural impacts, many of which the first panel noted could not be mitigated with an alternative option proposed by the company.

“We look forward to the opportunity to share with this new panel all the reasons that this new proposal is just as unacceptable as the last one, regardless of the name or spin thrown out there by this company,” Xeni Gwet’in First Nation chief Roger William said.

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De Beers, Canadian partner welcome panel’s report on NWT project (Canadian Press/Globe and Mail – July 23, 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.

YELLOWKNIFE — De Beers Canada and its partner Mountain Province Diamonds have received conditional approval from the Northwest Territory’s environmental review panel for their proposed Gahcho Kue open-pit diamond mining project.

The report from the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board says the three-mine project has the potential to harm aquatic life in Kennady Lake, as well as the Bathurst caribou herd – raising concerns about the impact on hunting.

But the board’s panel says the project has economic merit and the environmental impact can be reduced to an acceptable level with appropriate measures.

“De Beers made important commitments to minimize impacts from the Project on the environment including water quality, fish, caribou, other wildlife, air quality, and people,” said the board’s report to Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt, who will make the final decision on whether the project proceeds and under what conditions.

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Canadian energy stocks buoyed by surge in prices for U.S. crude – by Jeffrey Jones (Globe and Mail – July 23, 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.

CALGARY – Canadian energy stocks are finally playing catch-up with sizzling oil markets. In the past four weeks, the S&P/TSX capped energy index, which includes big names such as Cenovus Energy Inc., Suncor Energy Inc. and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., has climbed 9 per cent as U.S. crude prices approached, then rocketed above, $100 (U.S.) a barrel.

The gains come as companies prepare to deliver second-quarter financial results that in many cases will display rich rewards from a steady improvement in heavy crude prices that has accompanied the run-up in the West Texas Intermediate light oil benchmark.

There could even be potential acquirers running the numbers on deals after a long hiatus, to take advantage of still-discounted values.

“I think people with a longer-term view are eyeing this sector, and from a strategic standpoint or a market standpoint, it’s looking pretty attractive,” said John Stephenson, senior vice-president and portfolio manager at First Asset Capital Corp.

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Minor miners face major headache from iron ore giants – by James Regan (Reuters U.S. – July 21, 2013)

http://www.reuters.com/

SYDNEY, July 22 (Reuters) – From Africa to Australia, opportunities to develop small iron mines are fast disappearing, as cash dries up and miners are unable to compete with the crushingly low production costs of the sector’s heavyweights.

In Australia alone, a half a dozen or more projects pegged by prospectors in better times sit stranded in the outback with no timetable for development. Most are running short on money and have stripped payrolls and equipment spending to a bare minimum, awaiting a turnaround that forecasters predict is a long way off at best.

Companies such as Aquila Resources Ltd, Flinders Mines Ltd and Iron Road Ltd, which a year ago were leading a wave of new investment in iron ore, have had their stocks gutted as investors turned cold on their prospects.

“This is not the time to be developing a new iron ore mine, the big boys are making sure of that,” said Keith Goode, an analyst for Eagle Mining Research. Global miners Vale, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are increasing their supply dominance in the world’s second-biggest shipped commodity market after oil.

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Australia’s Waning Boom Saps Mining Area Housing Demand – by Nichola Saminather (Bloomberg News – July 21, 2013)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

After slashing the price of three planned townhouses by a third in the coal-mining town of Moranbah in remote northeastern Australia, agent Ricardo Baggio still can’t find buyers.

“No one’s got confidence,” said Baggio from broker Ray White Group’s Townsville franchise, about 550 kilometers (341 miles) north of Moranbah in Queensland state. “There are a few mines around the town but they’re not hiring or they’re downsizing.”

Home prices in Australia’s isolated mining towns, which outpaced increases in the rest of the nation over the past decade, are falling as companies such as Glencore Xstrata PLC (GLEN) and Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) delay projects and lay off workers amid a slowing resources boom. The percentage of homeowners more than 30 days behind on their mortgage payments in Gladstone, a Queensland coastal town near more than $60 billion of gas projects, was 0.94 percent in March, according to Fitch Ratings, a 71 percent increase in six months.

The Moranbah townhouses, which will be built on a flat, sparsely landscaped street about 1 kilometer from the center of town, are on the market for A$525,000 ($478,485) each, down from an initial price of A$750,000, said Baggio. The median price of a home in Brisbane, the state capital, is A$425,000.

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Conflict mineral policy hurt miners – by Jonathan Cooper (Vancouver Sun – July 22, 2013)

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

‘Cure-all’ legislation that was meant to improve things, cost millions of jobs

Jonathan Cooper is vice-president of Macdonald Realty Group and has written this commentary as a concerned private citizen.

On July 1, 2010, the U.S. Congress passed the Dodd-Frank bill, a massive and complex piece of legislation which was designed to avoid a repeat of the 2008 housing bubble collapse and subsequent financial crisis. Buried in the bill’s 2,000-plus pages was Article 1502, the objective of which was considerably removed from the minutiae of credit-default swaps and mortgage finance.

Dodd-Frank Article 1502 (DF 1502) intended to prevent U.S. companies from being involved in the trade of “conflict minerals” in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). As a result of strident lobbying by Hollywood celebrities and non-government agencies (NGO) like The Enough Project, Congress believed that eastern DRC’s immense mineral wealth was fuelling the civil war in that region, a war which has caused as many as five million deaths since its inception in 1998.

In the three years since its passage, DF 1502 has encouraged increased due diligence on the part of both multinationals and the DRC government. However, it has also become an object lesson in the unforeseen consequences of legislative intervention.

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Aperam is only firm bidder for Outokumpu Italian plant-sources – by Silvia Antonioli (Reuters U.S. – July 22, 2013)

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) – A consortium led by steelmaker Aperam has made the only binding offer so far for Finnish group Outokumpu’s stainless steel plant in Terni, Italy, two sources familiar with the matter said.

This contradicts previous reports of at least two binding offers, and highlights the limited interest so far in one of Europe’s biggest and most modern steel plants in an industry currently dogged by poor demand and weak prices.

Outokumpu has agreed to sell the Acciai Speciali Terni steel mill as a condition for securing the approval of European competition authorities for its purchase of Inoxum, the stainless steel arm of rival ThyssenKrupp.

Outokumpu has twice requested a postponing of the deadline to sell the plant because it thought bids were “unsatisfactory”.

Four parties expressed interest in acquiring the plant in the spring: U.S. private equity funds Apollo and JP Morgan’s One Equity Partners, the consortium led by Luxembourg-based Aperam with Italian steel companies Arvedi and Marcegaglia, and Chinese stainless steelmaker Tsingshan.

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Is the Gold Price Set for an Explosive Rebound? – by By Byron King (July 22, 2013 – The Daily Reckoning Australia)

http://www.dailyreckoning.com.au/

In recent months, the price of gold has tumbled. Along the way, lower gold prices have undermined the share price of many mining plays. The yellow metal is selling for its approximate cost of production at many of the world’s largest mines.

Yet for all the gloom and doom within the gold investment space, there are indications that physical gold is becoming scarce. In fact, gold may be setting up for an explosive rebound, both in its nominal price and in the value of companies that mine it…

Here’s the posted price of gold over the past year. We’ve endured a steady retreat from near $1,800 per ounce to the mid-$1,200s. Clearly, people are selling.

Gold had a decade or so in the doldrums in the 1990s. Then people started buying gold all through the first decade of the 2000s. Gold’s recent price decline comes after a solid decade of strong, steady gains. That’s what the chart indicates.

The back story to gold’s price rise is that in recent years, investors and some central banks accumulated large holdings of gold. This helped drive the gold price up.

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