Republic of Mining

Aboriginal relations enter new dynamic with Ring of Fire development – by Simon Rees (MiningWeekly.com – July 18, 2013)

July 18, 2013

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – In Ontario the relationship between the mining sector, the provincial government and the First Nations is changing rapidly. Once often viewed as an afterthought, consultation with aboriginal communities is now critical for the success of a project and entails constant dialogue.

But the process still has hurdles to overcome. This is particularly true for the north of the province, an area that includes the Ring of Fire region, where world-class chromite deposits abound.

THE RING THAT BINDS

On June 11, Cliffs Natural Resources announced that it was freezing work on the feasibility study for its $3.3-billion Black Thor chromite project within the Ring of Fire. One of the issues cited by the company was the need for greater clarity relating to First Nations negotiations and the position of the government. Several commentators argued the outcome was a major setback.

“But Cliffs hasn’t stopped discussions with the First Nations communities and I don’t have a sense that they’ve backed away from their interests,” chief negotiator for the Matawa First Nations Bob Rae told Mining Weekly Online.

Manufacturing Is Knowledge Driven – Hudak – by James Murray (Netnewsledger.com – July 18, 2013)

July 18, 2013

http://www.netnewsledger.com/

QUEENS PARK – Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak and PC Economic Development Critic Monte McNaughton hosted a conference call today following the release of Paths to Prosperity: Advanced Manufacturing for a Better Ontario, the thirteenth in a series of policy white papers. Ontario PC Leader.

“The big picture is our plan is big, bold, and optimistic, and came bring in 300,000 good high paying manufacturing jobs,” stated the PC Leader. Hudak says, “Some think Ontario can’t compete in the global economy, and I have one think to say, they are wrong”.

“Driving manufacturing drives the economy, international trade and research”. “If Ontario can capture six percent of the manufacturing jobs in North America, we will achieve our goal, it is realistic”.

There is a new availability of natural gas near Ontario that will lower costs for manufacturers. We need to move quickly to seize the opportunities. Ontario needs a government that believes in manufacturers. We can be the manufacturing heartland of North America,” states Hudak.

Monty McNaughton says, “ I have seen first hand what happens when government treats manufacturing as an afterthought. Instead of bold new ideas and action, we see studies and commissions, and a huge growth in the size of government”.

Commodity hedge funds suffer longest losing streak on record – by Tommy Wilkes (Reuters U.S. – July 18, 2013)

July 18, 2013

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON – (Reuters) – Funds betting on commodity price moves have lost money every month since January, their joint longest losing streak on record, raising more doubts about their ability to make money at a time when the commodity “supercycle” may be over.

The average fund slid 3.58 percent in the first six months of the year, according to a widely watched Newedge commodity index. Funds have only suffered five consecutive losing months once before, in 2002-2003, the index shows.

Hedge funds market themselves as capable of making money in all markets, yet funds trading commodities as varied as gold, grains and gas, have failed to turn an annual profit in the last three years.

The weak performance will put more pressure on the industry to lower fees and introduce clawbacks, which enable investors to reclaim some performance perks paid to hedge fund managers in boom times if the returns they hope to achieve fail to continue.

Worries about cooling demand in key markets like China, and a huge shift in the supply-side from shortage to glut, has sent prices tumbling in recent years, and left many warning that the end of the commodity “supercycle” – the long period of rising commodity prices – is here.

North Slave Metis happy with Gahcho Kue agreement – by Lyndsay Herman (Northern News Services – July 17, 2013)

November 3, 2015July 18, 2013

http://www.nnsl.com/index.php

Funds vital to standing up for Metis aboriginal rights, says North Slave Metis Alliance president

SOMBA K’E/YELLOWKNIFE – NWT’s newest potential diamond project put its obligations to the North Slave Metis in black and white July 10. The Gahcho Kue Joint Venture, of which 51 per cent is owned by De Beers and 49 per cent is owned by Mountain Province Diamonds, and the North Slave Metis Alliance signed an impact benefit agreement, which outlines annual payments, training programs, scholarships, and business opportunities awarded to the NSMA through the project. The details of this agreement or other impact benefit agreement are not public.

North Slave Metis Alliance president Bill Enge characterized De Beers’ approach to the negotiations as one of goodwill and integrity, adding the process was relatively efficient due to the success of the agreement already in place between the alliance and De Beers in regards to Snap Lake.

“We’re very happy with (the Gahcho Kue) impact benefit agreement,” Enge said. “This (agreement) pretty much mirrors the one we have with De Beers with respect to their Snap Lake diamond mine and using that impact benefit agreement that we already have with De Beers as a template we were able to expedite the negotiations as we had something to work from.”

Donkin mine project receives environmental approval – (Cape Breton Post – July 17, 2013)

July 18, 2013

http://www.capebretonpost.com/

DONKIN — Although residents of Donkin and surrounding areas are happy another aspect of the Donkin mine project has moved forward — the transportation proposal continues to be controversial.

Morien Resources Corp. of Dartmouth announced in a press release that Peter Kent has signed off on the environmental assessment of the Donkin mine project proposed by Xstrata Coal Donkin Management Ltd. Kent’s tenure as the federal environment minister ended this week, but the Donkin project received his approval after his review of a Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency report.

Hugh Kennedy, chair of the Donkin Xstrata community liaison committee, said the approval is good news which will move the project ahead and allow those involved to acquire permits. He believes this approval will help with the sale of the mine. “A company ready to invest hundreds of millions of dollars … into this mine is not going to do that unless they know it has environmental approval.” The province must also approve the environment assessment, explained Kennedy.

“I can’t see any roadblocks as the provincial and federal authorities have been working closely and sharing in the process. “Hopefully now with this out of the way Xstrata will continue with that work, to get approval from the provincial government on how to repair the tunnels and put a plan forward, get it approved and seek a permit for the mine.”

Staying cool? Thank nuclear power – by Margaret Wente (Globe and Mail – July 18, 2013)

July 18, 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.

Hot out, isn’t it? At least for some of us, anyway. Southern Ontario is sweltering in temperatures that have soared into the 30s. Toronto has declared an extreme heat alert, and the air conditioners are running at full blast.

Thank god for air conditioning. Or rather, thank nuclear power – that’s what’s keeping us cool. Wednesday morning at 7 a.m., Ontario’s nuclear plants were generating more than half of the province’s electricity: 11,148 megawatts. Gas, hydro and coal accounted for another 8,608 MW. Wind power, at 97 MW, barely moved the dial. Those mighty turbines (for which we will be paying dearly for many years to come) contributed less than half of 1 per cent of the total power output.

Of course, wind energy is green. But so is nuclear. Unlike coal and natural gas, nuclear power creates zero greenhouse gas emissions.

“Nuclear energy is the most powerful weapon in the war on global warming,” Steve Aplin, an Ottawa-based consultant in energy and the environment, told me in a phone interview. He points out that if Ontario’s environmental lobby had succeeded in having nuclear power replaced by natural gas, the province’s carbon dioxide emissions would have soared.

Poll finds Keystone XL enjoys broad support in U.S. – by Paul Koring (Globe and Mail – July 18, 2013)

July 18, 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.

WASHINGTON — Despite renewed rallying efforts from environmentalists intended to stir broad opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline and extensive media coverage of several serious spills involving Alberta oil sands crude, Americans still solidly back the controversial project to funnel Canadian crude to Texas refineries, according to a new poll.

Even after president Barack Obama defined a new bar for approving Keystone XL — that it not add significantly to carbon emissions driving global warming — more than two-thirds of Americans (67 per cent) want the long-delayed project approved.

Public support is up slightly since January while opposition to TransCanada’s $5.3-billion pipeline from Alberta to sprawling refineries on the Gulf Coast remains stuck below one-quarter, at 24 per cent. While Republicans were more strongly in favour, the poll found a solid majority – 56 per cent – of Democrats also backed Keystone XL, suggesting that even among his base, Mr. Obama faces no serious threat if he gives the project a green light.

The president is expected to decide sometime later this year. Opponents had vowed to create a new groundswell of opposition over the summer, with funding from billionaire turned climate-change activist Tom Steyer.

Mega quarry land north of Toronto bought by burgeoning farm fund Bonnefield – by John Greenwood (National Post – July 18, 2013)

July 18, 2013

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

A controversial plan to build a massive quarry in rolling farmland north of Toronto appears officially dead in the water after a US$20-billion hedge fund in Boston agreed to sell the land on which the project was to be located.

Bonnefield Financial, a farmland investment company based in Ottawa, announced this week that it has acquired about 6,500 acres of lush Dufferin County potato fields in what it called one of the largest farmland transactions in Canadian history.

Financial details were not disclosed however Tom Eisenhauer, the president, acknowledged the price was “more than $50-million, a lot of money.” Speaking in a phone interview, Mr. Eisenhauer insisted Bonnefield is only interested in agriculture. “Our investors want exposure to farming,” he said. “They don’t want exposure to oil and gas, or quarries for that matter.”

Formed in 2010, Bonnefield calls itself Canada’s only national farmland investment management company. Typically that involves buying up farms and leasing them back to farmers. So far it’s raised about $150-million from accredited investors, acquiring about 35,000 acres in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick.

Massive Enbridge U.S. pipeline quietly on fast-track to approval as Keystone remains mired in debate – by Alan Scher Zagier (Associated Press/National Post – July 18, 2013)

July 18, 2013

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

MARSHALL, Mo. — A Canadian company’s plan to build an oil pipeline that will stretch for hundreds of kilometres through the U.S. Midwest, including through many sensitive waterways, is quietly on the fast-track to approval — just not the one you’re thinking of.

As the Keystone XL pipeline remains mired in the national debate over environmental safety and climate change, another company, Enbridge Inc. of Calgary is hoping to begin construction early next month on a 965-kilometre pipeline that would carry oil from Flanagan, Ill., 160 kilometres southwest of Chicago, to the company’s terminal in Cushing, Okla. From there the company could move it through existing pipeline to Gulf Coast refineries.

The company is seeking an expedited permit review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its Flanagan South pipeline, which would run parallel to another Enbridge route already in place. Unlike the Keystone project, which crosses an international border and requires State Department approval, the proposed pipeline has attracted little public attention — including among property owners living near the planned route.

Enbridge says it wants to be a good neighbour to the communities the pipeline would pass through, and it has been touting the hundreds of short-term construction jobs it would create.

Global nickel supplies to remain in large surplus in 2013-2014–Macquarie – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – July 18, 2013)

July 18, 2013

http://www.mineweb.com/

“Nickel remains the worst performer among the base metals this year,” say Macquarie Research commodities analysts.

RENO (MINEWEB) – The nickel market has been in large surplus this year and without significant production cuts will remain in alarge surplus this year, Macquarie Commodities Research advised Wednesday.

“The market is looking to China for further cuts in nickel pig iron production but this is not enough to rebalance the market and cuts outside China may well be a catalyst for a short-covering rally,” said Macquarie.

In their analysis, Macquarie observed, “Nickel remains the worst performer among the base metals this year. A large surplus between supply and demand has opened up and prices have collapsed.

“At current prices more than 40% of the industry is losing cash. Many nickel sellers are struggling to achieve the LME price,” said Macquarie commodities analysts. “In China, nickel pig iron has been selling at large discounts to LME prices this year (up to $2,500/t at one stage although this has been narrowed to under $1,000/t in recent weeks as NPI producers have cut production).” The analysts noted Ferronickel producers outside China have been forced to discount by $500-$700/t off LME.

[Ring of Fire] Jurisdictional juggling – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (July 18, 2013)

July 18, 2013

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

SOMETHING said in the wake of Monday’s federal cabinet shuffle raises concern about jurisdictional squabbling in advance of what is perhaps Northern Ontario’s greatest opportunity.

Greg Rickford, newly installed as minister of state for FedNor, the government’s Northern Ontario development agency, spoke convincingly about what lies ahead for the region economically. He said Ottawa will do what it can to help create the opportunities that will mean jobs.

In particular, he was effusive about the Ring of Fire mineral belt that holds such immense promise. But in the same breath as he pledged federal support Rickford said the province must play its role.

For his part, Ontario mines minister Michael Gravelle qualified his warm welcome for Rickford’s assignment by saying, “There is a very significant role the federal government can and must play with this project.”

That both men, who must work together to ensure this economic bonanza remains on track, felt obliged to place the other on notice in this way suggests that both levels of government are expecting more of the other than has so far been apparent.

Gold price headed north of $2 000/oz, even $5 000/oz – gold bull McEwen – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – July 17, 2013)

July 18, 2013

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – NYSE- and TSX-listed McEwen Mining chief owner Rob McEwen has plenty of faith that the gold price will, within the next two years, head north of $2 000/oz and even cross the $5 000/oz mark in the not too distant future.

In an interview with Mining Weekly Online, McEwen said that while there was a lot of sentiment out there that the gold price would go lower, he believed the price of the yellow metal would go much higher.

McEwen pointed to historical precedents where governments debased their currencies through monetary expansion in excess of their sustainable debt loads, which caused the currency to devalue relative to assets such as gold.

In the past, these happened in isolated cases, but were more commonplace these days, as many countries and regions, including the US and the European Union, were concurrently pumping cash into their economies to keep them buoyant.

In some cases, as in the US, debt was reaching unprecedented levels at around $17-trillion. He said it worked well when interest rates were low, but should rates climb to about 5%, the debt service costs alone would be about a trillion dollars, which would crowd out other essential public services.

Australia’s carbon mess a warning to the world – by Clyde Russell (Reuters India – July 17, 2013)

July 17, 2013

http://in.reuters.com/

Clyde Russell is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own.

LAUNCESTON, Australia, July 17 (Reuters) – Any government thinking of introducing policies to limit carbon emissions should look at Australia for an example of how not to do it.

Australia’s efforts to combat climate change have been poison to politicians from all sides of the debate, contributing so far to the demise of two prime ministers and an opposition leader, and there may be more to come. The latest twist has seen Prime Minister Kevin Rudd decide to switch from a straight tax on carbon emissions to a floating emissions trading scheme (ETS) a year earlier than planned.

This has nothing to do with improving the workings of the scheme or limiting carbon emissions and everything to do with trying to win back voters angered by rising electricity prices and industries that have seen their international competitiveness eroded by the tax.

The theory is that power and other prices will decline as the cost of carbon permits is expected to be around A$6 per tonne – the level at which European permits are currently priced – compared to the tax of A$25.40 ($23.09) per tonne that had been planned from July 2014.

UPDATE 2-ArcelorMittal abandons dormant Indian project – by Krishna N Das (Reuters India – July 17, 2013)

July 17, 2013

http://in.reuters.com/

NEW DELHI, July 17 (Reuters) – ArcelorMittal, the world’s top steelmaker, said it would scrap a planned steel plant in India due to delays in acquiring land and an iron ore mine, obstacles that have also caused South Korea’s POSCO to abandon plans.

The decision to scrap the planned 12 million-tonnes-a-year (MTA) plant in the eastern state of Odisha, comes a day after the world’s fifth biggest steelmaker, POSCO, said it was ditching a 6 MTA plant in the southern Karnataka state because of delays in receiving iron ore mining rights and opposition from residents which had held back land acquisition.

The failed projects will be a blow to India’s federal government, which on Tuesday relaxed foreign investment rules to draw in funds needed to turn around slowing economic growth and support a weak rupee.

ArcelorMittal India and China Chief Executive Vijay Bhatnagar said the company’s other two projects in mineral-rich states of Jharkhand and Karnataka were making “steady progress” and it would continue to pursue them.

The Jharkhand plant is expected to have an annual capacity of 12 million tonnes, while the one in Karnataka is expected to have capacity of 6 million tonnes.