Republic of Mining

Vale’s Clean AER project forges ahead – by Laura Gregorini (Northern Ontario Business – September 2013)

September 17, 2013

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North.

Installation of a converter at Vale’s Copper Cliff smelter in Sudbury, a major component of the company’s Clean AER Project, is nearly complete. The converter is the first of four converters to be replaced as part of the $1-billion project that will see sulphur dioxide, dust and metals emissions reduced by 85 per cent from current levels.

Citing volatile market conditions and cost challenges, Vale announced in January that it was scaling back the cost of its Clean AER (Atmospheric Emissions Reduction) project from $2-billion to $1- million. At the same time, Vale indicated it would move to a single-furnace operation from a two- furnace operation. Although a significantly less investment, Vale said that the environmental impact would be greater, by reducing emissions substantially more than previously anticipated.

“The original Clean AER project’s scope was designed for a two-furnace operation so it meant that when we made the decision, we had to go back and rescope the project to accommodate the one furnace,” said Vale spokesperson Angie Robson.

Vale doesn’t anticipate moving to a single furnace before 2016. A team was formed to study various aspects of the change and revise plans to accommodate the change to a single furnace.

KWG disappointed in rail delays, reaffirms support for union’s ‘New Deal’ – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – September 16, 2013)

September 16, 2013

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Chromite mining hopeful KWG Resources on Monday expressed its disappointment in the near three-year delay of a planned railway into the Ring of Fire and reaffirmed its belief that a 300 km rail track would open up the region for mining.

After staking the right-of-way claims and conducting preliminary railroad engineering design and assessment, the development of the Ring of Fire railroad concept was delayed as a result of the dispute with US iron-ore major and joint-venture (JV) partner Cliffs Natural Resources, before the provincial Mining and Lands Commissioner last week dismissed Cliffs’ request to the Natural Resources Ministry for a road-access easement over KWG’s claims.

“We believe the railway is in the public interest and can be used to benefit the various mines in the Ring of Fire, as well as local communities, and is a much better alternative to a private road; a higher-cost transportation option, which the government is currently considering funding,” KWG president Frank Smeenk said in a statement.

While KWG proposed a rail route connecting at Exton to transport chromite to export markets, Cliffs proposes an all-weather road south towards Capreol, in the Sudbury area, where it has proposed to build a chromite beneficiation facility.

UPDATE 1-Ousted Rio boss Albanese makes comeback at Vedanta – by Clara Ferreira-Marques (Reuters India – September 16, 2013)

September 16, 2013

http://in.reuters.com/

LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Former Rio Tinto boss Tom Albanese has taken on a senior advisory role at Indian mining group Vedanta just eight months after being ousted as chief executive of the world’s No. 3 mining group.

Albanese was one of several top mining chief executives who took the blame for their companies’ relentless pursuit of growth during the boom years that ended in 2011, and for acquisitions that soured and turned into billions of dollars of writedowns.

He is the only one to have returned to a full-time role at a major mining group, albeit a smaller one. Out of the world’s top six miners, only one still has the same chief executive as it did at the beginning of 2011.

Albanese, who held the top job at Rio for almost six years, is now chairman of Vedanta Resources Holdings, a subsidiary wholly owned by the oil and gas and mining group. He will act as adviser to both the operations and the main group board, providing advice on everything from operational troubles and expansion to reputational concerns and relations with investors.

It was unclear what weight Albanese would have in a company almost 65-percent controlled by its founder and chairman, Indian scrap dealer turned metals tycoon Anil Agarwal.

N.Y. trial to examine will of Montana Copper King heiress – by Associated Press (The Missoulian – September 15, 2013)

September 16, 2013

http://missoulian.com/

NEW YORK — She had wealth few could boast and used it to finance a life few would choose — an heiress to the fortune of the founder of Las Vegas spending 20 years voluntarily in New York hospital rooms.

Now Huguette Clark’s reclusive existence is about to be scrutinized in a Manhattan courtroom, where jury selection is due to start Tuesday in a civil trial over her will. With an estimated $300 million at stake, the case broaches questions about aging, caregiving and the line between encouraging gratitude and extracting gifts.

Clark’s distant relatives say hospital executives, a nurse, a lawyer, an accountant and others in her small circle induced a dependent, fragile woman to give them millions of dollars during her lifetime and in her will. The beneficiaries say she was a sharp-minded, strong-willed, munificent person whose decisions were as deliberate as they were unusual.

Signed when the childless Clark was 98, the disputed April 2005 will largely left her estate to arts charities, her nurse and a goddaughter. It provided nothing for her relatives, who were the main beneficiaries of a will she’d signed just six weeks earlier.

“Fundamentally, however, this tragic story presents much more than just a question of whether a particular will is valid or not,” the relatives’ lawyer, John R. Morken, said in a court filing.

ONTARIO PC NEWS RELEASE: WHITE PAPER CHAMPIONS NORTHERN JOBS & RESOURCES

September 16, 2013

Click here for report: http://www.scribd.com/doc/168634042/Paths-to-Prosperity-A-Champion-for-Northern-Jobs-and-Resources

QUEEN’S PARK – Northern Ontario can prosper again, but only by shining a Northern lens on provincial decisions and involving Northerners in the decisions that affect us, Nipissing MPP and PC Finance Critic Vic Fedeli said today upon release of the latest Ontario PC White Paper focused on Northern Ontario.

“It’s my genuine belief our White Paper lays out a plan to do exactly that, and to restore job creation and prosperity to the North,” said Fedeli.

Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak, along with Northern Development Critic Norm Miller and Natural Resources Critic Laurie Scott launched “Paths to Prosperity: A Champion for Northern Jobs and Resources” today in Thunder Bay.

The paper contains 20 specific paths dealing with everything from the Ring of Fire, Ontario Northland, forestry, the use of Crown land, and the need to have decisions that affect the North made by and for the people of Northern Ontario.

“Our White Paper recognizes Ontario Northland as vital economic infrastructure for the North, and recommends keeping the rail freight line in public hands,” Fedeli said.

Little Engine that Could pushes rail solution in Ring of Fire – by Wendy Parker (In Support of Mining.com – September 16, 2013)

September 16, 2013

http://insupportofmining.wordpress.com/

Ontario Mining and Lands Commissioner Report

Boy! Divert your attention for a few days to deal with some pressing business matters, and all heck breaks loose in Ontario’s Ring of Fire mineral zone.

Thanks to a news release from KWG Resources, we learned last week that Ontario’s Mining and Lands Commissioner has rejected a bid from Cliffs Natural Resources for leave to seek an easement that would allow it to build an all-weather access road across a string of mining claims owned by Canada Chrome Corporation, a KWG subsidiary.

Cliffs wanted to dispense with the need to obtain the claimholder’s consent before applying for the easement under the Public Lands Act. The Commissioner’s tribunal, after hearing evidence and arguments in February, found no clear public interest that would outweigh the potential damage such an easement might do to the claimholder’s rights under the Mining Act.

As a result, the Cliffs request failed.

That’s a nutshell version of the decision, of course. The actual September 10 Order is much more nuanced and intricate. It is well worth reading in its 43-page entirety, both for the logic it applies to its deliberations and for the light it casts on a fascinating story behind Ring of Fire development.

Ned Goodman and the ‘Botox Economy’ – (Northern Miner – September 13, 2013)

September 16, 2013

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry.

Ned Goodman, president and CEO of Dundee Corp., spoke about the perils of quantitative easing at the Toronto Resource Investment Conference on Sept. 12. He made the following remarks, as recorded by The Northern Miner:

Ned Goodman: I have a lot to say and I will give you my biases, no problem there. I believe I’m a sensible man and as a sensible man I’ve been told by my mother, actually, that even though you don’t know the hour or the place of your demise, but you do know, that without a doubt, it’s going to come.

So as a sensible investor, I’m ready for the day that the United States Empire crumbles and that’s a hint as to where I’m going … I know that nothing lasts forever and the environment that we’re in could change, but we do not know anything other than nothing lasts forever and right now it looks like whatever is happening is speeding up, not slowing down. But I expect and hope to be here to watch it happen.

The slide that is on there [on the auditorium screen] is nothing more than to show you, that the fixed income market since 1962, which is when I started my career, has had some unbelievable long runs, we’re not talking of short-term things, we’re talking about long-term things.

NEWS RELEASE: KWG Resources Inc.: Business Plan for ONR Development of Ring of Fire

September 16, 2013

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – Sept. 16, 2013) – KWG Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:KWG) has previously advised the Minister of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) that it would support the business plan proposed by the “New Deal” of the General Chairperson’s Association (GCA) representing unionized employees at Ontario Northland.

It is a simple plan:

MNDM would lodge its shares in ONR with a new agency governed by the First Nations and other residents of Northern Ontario, under federal oversight, thus avoiding the very substantial termination and closure liabilities attending the previously proposed liquidation;
KWG would make its railroad engineering and right-of-way claims available for extension of the ONR network to the Ring of Fire; and
The new agency would finance the new construction and continuing operations of the ONR by providing transportation “at cost” to the new Ring of Fire mines, to repay borrowings made at current low interest rates but amortized over the very long life of the new mines and rail line.
Developing the Ring of Fire with a Northern Ontario transportation utility:

Providing egress at cost, will give the Canadian chromium an important advantage that it needs in order to earn a market share.

Billionaire miner Robert Friedland sounds off – by Tommy Humphreys (Mining.com – September 15, 2013)

September 16, 2013

http://www.mining.com/

I was able to catch up with billionaire Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN) Executive Chairman Robert Friedland in Toronto yesterday. The Singapore-based mining legend was in Toronto this week to announce the launch of Ivanhoe Pictures, a new film and TV finance and production company, and to host the first investor presentations for his Ivanhoe Mines after a summer spent relaxing and reflecting on the Italian coast, where Mr. Friedland acquired a hotel property earlier this year.

Friedland says that the Chinese are determined to fight air pollution. “I have a home in Beijing but I’ve been avoiding it in recent years because the air pollution has become absolutely diabolical,” Friedland commented. This alone would be enough to drive the conventional Platinum market crazy, he added, noting that catalytic converters which reduce toxic emissions in automobiles use substantial amounts of platinum and palladium.

There is a revolution coming to the automobile industry via the Japanese, according to Friedland. Senior officials in Japan tell him that the Toyota Motor Company will announce hydrogen fuel cell automobiles later this year with a commercial roll out coming in 2015. “These cars will use ounces, not tenths of ounces of platinum,” Friedland said. This is why the Japanese government bought 10% of Ivanhoe’s Platreef project for $300 million, Friedland believes.

NEWS RELEASE: Anglo American statement re: Pebble project

September 16, 2013

16 September 2013

Anglo American plc (“Anglo American”) announces that its wholly owned US subsidiary Anglo American (US) Pebble LLC (“AA Pebble”) has given notice under the Pebble limited partnership agreement that it is withdrawing from the Pebble copper project in Alaska. The Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP) was created in 2007 between AA Pebble and an affiliate of Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (“Northern Dynasty”), who are equal partners in PLP. Following the withdrawal, PLP will proceed under the sole ownership of Northern Dynasty.

In light of the parties’ shared desire to ensure an orderly exit, the detailed aspects of AA Pebble’s withdrawal from the Pebble project are being developed and implemented.

Anglo American expects to record an impairment charge of $0.3bn at 31 December 2013 on a post-tax basis.

Mark Cutifani, Chief Executive of Anglo American, said: “Despite our belief that Pebble is a deposit of rare magnitude and quality, we have taken the decision to withdraw following a thorough assessment of Anglo American’s extensive pipeline of long-dated project options. Our focus has been to prioritise capital to projects with the highest value and lowest risks within our portfolio, and reduce the capital required to sustain such projects during the pre-approval phases of development as part of a more effective, value-driven capital allocation model. We wish the project well through its forthcoming permitting process and express our thanks to all those who have supported Pebble and who recognise the opportunities and benefits that such an investment may bring to Alaska.”

28 miners die in Afghanistan coal mine blast – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – September 16, 2013)

September 16, 2013

http://www.mineweb.com/

Neighbors of the Abkhorak coal mine were among the rescuers who managed to bring 100 miners to safety after 28 miners perished in a coal mine blast in northern Afghanistan.

RENO (MINEWEB) – When 57 miners were trapped after gas explosion at the Abkhorak mine in the Ruyi Du Ab District of Samangan Province in northern Afghanistan, nearby residents dug through the rubble and debris with their bare hands.

However, 28 miners were killed, while 100 of their coworkers were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

Samangan provincial governor’s spokesman Mohammad Seddiq Azizi told the BBC that four members of the rescue teams were badly injured, while 14 men were overcome with fumes, but were brought out safely. Samangan’s Deputy Security Chief Mosadiqullah Muzafari said four rescue workers were badly injured.

Workplace safety standards are considered poor in Afghanistan and mine accidents are considered common. Javed Noorani of Integrity Watch Afghanistan told Al Jazeera that 90% of mining in the country is illegal. In December, 11 miners were killed in a mine collapse in the northern province of Baghlan.

Northeast eyed for future hydro electric projects – by By Ron Grech – (Timmins Daily Press – September 16, 2013)

September 16, 2013

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – The groundwork is being laid for future waterpower generation projects in Northeastern Ontario. This would include providing power to serve mining operations within the Ring of Fire region as well improving infrastructure for First Nation communities currently dependent on diesel-powered generators.

Ontario Waterpower Association announced last week it has teamed up with the provincial government and the Ontario Power Authority to develop a study that will provide the basis for the province’s energy plan over the next 15 to 20 years.

“Northeastern Ontario has been a pretty critical part of serving the provincial energy needs for decades,” said OWA president Paul Norris. “It is a pretty strategic resource you have in Northeastern Ontario in terms of the overall reliability of our provincial system.

“The question going forward is what other hydro can be built?”

Norris said the announced study, which also involves the ministries of energy and natural resources, will identify opportunities and outline the cost and feasibility for expanding hydroelectric power generation throughout the North.

Geopolitical risks rising to the top of investors’ minds – by David Pett (National Post – September 14, 2013)

September 16, 2013

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

The threat of U.S. military intervention in Syria has held global investors captive this month, resulting in excessive volatility for certain equity and commodity prices. Markets this week rallied on expectations such a military strike may be avoided, but most analysts believe the turmoil surrounding the situation is far from over and could persist for weeks to come.

If so, it will remain the biggest geopolitical risk investors will have to deal with this fall, but, like it or not, it won’t be the only one they will face. “The challenge is a big one,” said Pierre Fournier, a geopolitical analyst at National Bank Financial. “Geopolitics are not always predictable, but neither are company earnings, so you have to take notice.”

In its truest sense, geopolitical risk encompasses both geographic and political factors that could positively or negatively impact capital markets. This includes events such as civil wars, labour strikes and general elections, as well as highly politicized affairs like the upcoming U.S. budget deadlines and Silvio Berlusconi’s possible expulsion in Italy.

Mr. Fournier’s analysis also includes demographic trends, cultural and religious dynamics and structural economic issues that may impact the long-term stability of a nation or region. He spends time, for example, on the impact tribal factions have on Africa’s mining industry, and what kinds of jobs might be created in the U.S. 10 years from now.

Fort McKay oil sands ambassador at odds with industry – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – September 14, 2013)

September 16, 2013

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

With the Fort McKay band seeking leave to appeal the recent Alberta Energy Regulator’s decision to approve the 250,000 barrels-a-day Dover oil sands project, uncertainty is far from over for Athabasca Oil Corp. and the project’s majority Chinese partner, PetroChina.

Similar uncertainty is poised to spread to other oil sands players in the area, who have been summoned by the wealthy band to a meeting on Thursday to discuss the Moose Lake reserve and why it needs a hefty buffer zone from development.

The upshot: The dispute between oil sands neighbours has the makings of a legal runaway train, a public relations mess and an impediment to good relations between the industry and the most productive and so-far supportive aboriginal community in the region.

As Bill Gallagher, a lawyer, aboriginal expert and author put it: “The oil sands, which undeservedly is continuing to garner an international black eye, now has soured the person who could be the most helpful in putting a happy face on it,” he warned. “[Fort McKay chief] Jim Boucher could have been the most important ambassador the oil sands ever had, and instead he’s going to go to the wall on an issue of vital importance” to his band. Mr. Gallagher believes the Fort McKay’s legal case is strong, and if successful could lead to years of litigation as other First Nations start demanding buffer zones between reserves and projects.

Good news of gold in NOW (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – September 16, 2013)

September 16, 2013

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

This is the ninth instalment of a multi-part series looking at the mining sector in Northwestern Ontario and the Ring of Fire development.

“For more than 2,000 years, the natural properties of gold have made it man’s universal medium of exchange. In contrast to political money, gold is honest money that survived the ages . . .’’

Although not everyone might agree with this rather dramatic statement, it is difficult to deny the timeless allure of the yellow metal and its association with wealth, strength and excellence.

References to gold permeate our culture, hence terms like “gold seal of approval,’’ “good as gold” and the awarding of first-place gold medals to the best of the best.

Despite its vulnerability to interest rates and market fluctuation, German-born economist, Hans F. Sennnhotz (1922-2007) demonstrated his complete faith in gold as a universally enduring commodity when he made this statement. Gold remains a powerful economic driver and is still a monetary reference in many of the world’s economies, where the value of a bill still guarantees or is “backed up” by a certain amount of gold.