Republic of Mining

New Caledonia weighs up impact of nickel mining – by Johnny Blades (Radio New Zealand International – July 12, 2013)

July 12, 2013

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

Nickel mining is being blamed for New Caledonia’s soaring carbon emission rate and a nagging problem with pollution in the capital, Noumea, Nickel represents over 90 percent of New Caledonia’s overall exports and is the bedrock of the economy.

But as Johnny Blades found out, questions are being asked whether the territory’s heavy reliance on nickel mining is hindering its prospects of a sustainable future.

For a first time visitor to Noumea, it hits you as you drive towards the city. It’s different from many capitals in the Pacific region. You’re driving a multi-laned sealed motorway, being overtaken by BMW SUVs and Audis, passing lots of big buildings, housing developments. Signs of money are everywhere, and as you near the city itself, an explanation as it why there’s so much money floating around seems to present itself. The motorway winds around a large industrial complex with several tall chimneys belching dirty smoke into the air. So I pulled off the road to get a better look at it. It’s the power plant and smelter facility of SLN, Societe Le Nickel.

DOMINIQUE NACCI: The state-controlled mining company, SLN. SLN was owning over 70 percent of the tenements of New Caledonia, so it’s very important. And also New Caledonia owns about 25 percent of the world resource of nickel.

South African health minister: Canada should join us to fight TB in mines – by Aaron Motoaledi (Globe and Mail – July 11, 2013)

July 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.

As South Africa’s Minister for Health, it may be surprising that many of the meetings I will have during my visit to Canada this week are not with health officials or medical personnel, but with representatives from mining companies.

Our mining industry has recently been the subject of intense international and national media scrutiny due to industrial unrest. As government, we have placed a high premium on returning stability to the industry and our deputy president has been tasked with managing this process. It is important that we succeed because mining is one of the driving forces of the South African economy, contributing around 20 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product and being a major employer.

What is less well known, and so far has not been subject to the same degree of media attention, is the devastation caused to miners and their families by tuberculosis (TB). The disease, which was the number one killer of Canadians in the early 20th century, remains the leading cause of death in South Africa today. It is an airborne disease, spreading through the air when people who have it cough or sneeze, and is often fatal if left untreated.

North America leads great oil glut – by Yadullah Hussain (National Post – July 12, 2013)

July 12, 2013

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

North American producers may fret about market access, but they are not showing any signs of slowing down their production cycle.

A new report by the International Energy Agency notes American and Canadian oil fields will lead the non-OPEC brigade next year to crank up a record 1.3 million barrels per day of new production — its highest combined effort in 20 years.

“North American production will remain robust in 2014 with U.S. crude production forecast to add 530,000 bpd and oil sands projected to add 140,000 bpd,” the IEA said in its monthly report published Thursday.

Key Canadian projects expected to come on stream over the next 18 months include Brion Energy’s (formerly Dover) 100,000-bpd Mackay River Commercial project, the 45,000-bpd first phase of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd’s Kirby project and Korean National Oil Corp.’s first Canadian oil sands venture of 30,000-bpd.

Other non-OPEC producers are stepping up too, with Brazil expected to add more than 200,000 bpd and Kazakhstan and South Sudan ramping up production in 2014. Even OPEC is resigned to the rise of its rivals, and is expecting a 300,000 bpd decline in demand for its crude in 2014, on top of the 400,00 bpd decline it expects this year.

Oil by rail: Canada’s way out west? – by Yadullah Hussain (National Post – July 12, 2013)

July 12, 2013

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

Even as the town of Lac-Mégantic picks up the pieces after a fatal disaster involving oil-laden trains, there are few signs the crude-by-rail expansion will start to slow. In fact, rail is finding new pockets of opportunities and may even facilitate the transfer of Canadian crude to Asian markets – if regulations allow.

Nearly a dozen plans to accelerate oil shipments via rail to the North West United States are focused on sourcing North Dakota and Alberta oil shipments to a string of refineries dotted along or near the U.S. western coastline, according to a report by Seattle-based Sightline Institute.

“In Oregon and Washington, 11 refineries and port terminals are planning, building, or already operating oil-by-rail shipments,” Eric de Place, an analyst with Sightline Institute, said in an interview. “The projects are designed to transport fuel from the Bakken oil formation in North Dakota, but the infrastructure could also be used to export Canadian tar sands oil.”

The combined oil-by-rail projects could add up to 720,000 barrels per day — that’s more oil capacity than Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway pipeline or Kinder Morgan Inc.’s Trans Mountain expansion, both of which are proposing the West Coast access for Alberta crude.

Aboriginal sessions popular at PDAC convention – by Glenn Nolan (Onotassiniik Magazine – Summer 2013)

July 12, 2013

Onotassiniik, Wawatay’s Mining Quarterly, sets out to provide knowledge and information about the mining industry in northern Ontario to First Nations communities, individuals and leaders throughout the region.

Glenn Nolan is the President of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada

In the last decade, positive relationships have grown between Aboriginal communities and the mineral exploration and development industry. I am a member of the Missanabie Cree First Nation in northern Ontario. My father worked at a nearby mine. I saw first-hand the benefits of this important industry, not only in my own life, but in the lives of my community members.

Since that time, the awareness by industry about what should be done to engage communities in a proactive and respectful way has grown tremendously, and that is very encouraging. We have made progress; more than 200 agreements have been signed between mining companies and Aboriginal communities in Canada. These projects range from grassroots exploration activities to producing mines across the country, with many resulting in employment and business opportunities for local Aboriginal communities. This is an exciting time for our communities, and for this sector.

As president of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), I am pleased to be in this role at such a dynamic time for our industry. I believe there is tremendous opportunity for Aboriginal communities and companies to work together in a respectful and collaborative manner.

Building a skilled First Nations mining workforce – by Shawn Bell (Onotassiniik Magazine – Summer 2013)

July 12, 2013

Trades training, life skills education help Webequie students chase dreams

When the instructor leaves the trailer, the four young men from Webequie First Nation huddle around the heavy diesel engine. They have been instructed to put it back together, after spending the morning taking it apart.

In quick Oji-Cree, mixed with lots of laughter, there is a debate going on. The pile of nuts and bolts on the bench fit somewhere. There is no consensus where.

Eventually Simon Shewaybick grabs a foot-long combination wrench and starts tightening the bolts. The others follow suit.
When the pile of bolts is gone, the four of them pause for a moment. They are still not sure, but there is nothing left to attach. When they flip the engine upright, a single bolt falls to the floor with a crash. Everyone laughs.

The engine is flipped over again, and it is back to work. Later that day Edgar Jacob says this is the sort of hands-on experience he was looking for when he signed up for Oshki-Pimache-O-Win’s Mining Essentials Program.

South African gold output continues to fall – how much further? – by Lawrence Williams (Mineweb.com – July 12, 2013)

July 12, 2013

http://www.mineweb.com/

South Africa’s vitally important minerals sector saw further production falls in May with the once dominant gold sector declining by a further 14.6% year on year.

LONDON (MINEWEB) – How the mighty have fallen! Not so long ago South Africa dominated global gold output with the rest coming nowhere in comparison, but the country’s gold output has been on the decline since the 1970s.

It fell to fifth largest gold producer in 2012 when it was overtaken by Russia and on the latest output figures the country has drifted downwards towards being now only the world’s sixth largest gold producer, having been overtaken by Peru as well – however that is on production so far this year.

In yesterday’s publication of minerals output and revenues, Statistics South Africa noted that the country’s gold output fell again in May commenting that its ‘overall mining production decreased by 0.7% year-on-year in May.The largest negative growth rates were recorded for ‘other’ metallic minerals (-32.3%), diamonds (-19.7%) and gold (-14,6%). The main contributor to the 0.7% decrease was gold (contributing -2.4 percentage points). Manganese ore (contributing 1.5 percentage points) was a significant positive contributor.’

Future Ring of Fire route open to First Nations – by Bryan Phelan (Onotassiniik Magazine – Summer 2013)

July 12, 2013

The provincial government has changed its public position on First Nations access to any future all-weather road to the Ring of Fire. It now asserts that First Nations would have access to such a road.

Last fall, a spokesman for the ministry of Northern Development and Mines told Wawatay News a proposed road linking the Ring of Fire mining development to an existing highway south at Nakina would not connect to First Nations in the region, and residents of those communities would be excluded from using it.

The province would help pay for construction of the 350-kilometre road but it would only be open to industrial users, the MNDM spokesman said, “to go in and get ore and minerals back out.” According to the province’s plan at the time, those companies would use the road on a pay-per-use basis.

First Nations bypassed along the way would include Webequie, Eabametoong, Neskantaga and Marten Falls – all members of Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) and the Matawa First Nations tribal council. “It doesn’t make economic sense, it doesn’t make moral sense and it’s just not going to happen that way,” Les Louttit, NAN deputy grand chief, said in November.

Romania eyes 78 pct of revenues from delayed gold mine project – by Luiza Ilie (Reuters U.S. – July 11, 2013)

July 12, 2013

http://www.reuters.com/

BUCHAREST, July 11 (Reuters) – Romania aims to bank as much as 78 percent of revenues from Europe’s biggest open cast mine being developed by Canada’s Gabriel Resources and will finish renegotiating terms of the long-delayed project by September.

Gabriel controls the project which aims to use cyanide to mine for a total 314 tonnes of gold and 1,600 tonnes of silver among a cluster of villages in the Carpathian mountains, known as Rosia Montana. It owns 80 percent in local unit Rosia Montana Gold Corporation (RMGC) with the Romanian government holding the rest.

The mine has been stuck in limbo for years, waiting for a key environmental permit, but Prime Minister Victor Ponta promised his cabinet will ask parliament to vote on whether to give the 14-year-old plan the green light in the fall.

On Thursday, the government said it aims to secure larger benefits for Romania from its natural resources, including “a bigger stake and higher royalty taxes on gold resources,” according to the national infrastructure ministry. “The government is renegotiating the Rosia Montana project in its entirety to ensure Romania gets maximum and fair benefits,” the ministry said. “We will get … 78 percent of what revenues the project generates.”

Nickel price slide hurting local miners – by Heidi Ulrichsen (Sudbury Northern Life – July 11, 2013)

July 11, 2013

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Slowing Chinese economy partly to blame

While nickel prices are as low as they’ve been since the recession, the founding executive director of Laurentian University’s Goodman School of Mines said he expects mining to “chug along” in this area.

But Bruce Jago expects smaller operators with high production costs may close mines, while larger companies such as Xstrata Nickel or Vale will begin to curtail production. Nickel prices have been something of a rollercoaster ride in recent years.

They’re currently hovering at around $6.10 to $6.20 a pound. That’s down from $8 a pound just six months ago, and $12 a pound two years ago. In 2008, during the recession, nickel prices dipped to as low as $4 a pound, plummeting from historic highs of $24 a pound a year before.

Laurentian University economics professor David Robinson agrees with Jago larger mining companies won’t be as affected by the lower prices. With large, integrated operations, it’s difficult to close mines, because the smelter depends on the ore coming from the mines, he said. “That’s one of the reasons I worry a little less than I would,” Robinson said.

Brazil indigenous protest blocks major iron ore railway (BBC – July 10, 2013)

July 11, 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/

Brazilian indigenous people in the Amazon region have blocked one of the country’s most important railways in a protest for better public services. The railway is owned by mining giant Vale and connects the world’s largest iron ore mine, Carajas, to a port on the northern coast near Sao Luis.

The track transports more than 100m tonnes of the mineral each year. It is the second time this week that the trains have been halted by protesters of neighbouring villages.

Protesters from several tribes burned wood on the railway in the Amazonian region of Alto Alegre do Pindare, demanding better transport, education, health and security.

Last week, they blocked the railway for two days. Earlier this week, residents of another village near Sao Luis, in the state of Maranhao, also stopped the trains in a protest. They want Vale to act on their behalf in negotiations with the authorities.

Because of the protests, the passenger train that transports about 1,500 passengers a day between the city of Parauapebas, in Para, and Sao Luis has not resumed its regular service since last week.

Detour chief confident despite plunging gold price – by Peter Koven (National Post – July 11, 2013)

July 11, 2013

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

Gerald Panneton winces every time he looks at his stock price. But the bottom line is that he is confident his company can thrive in the current gold price environment.

“Leave gold at US$1,250 and it doesn’t bother me,” the chief executive of Detour Gold Corp. said in an interview. “We can get through this no problem. We can adjust to the conditions of the market.”

The company’s Detour Lake mine, expected to be the largest gold mine in Canada, poured first gold in February and is gradually ramping up. This week, Detour reported second-quarter production results that showed good progress. The Ontario-based mine produced nearly 58,000 ounces of gold in Q2, and the mill was operating at more than 80% of planned capacity by the end of the month.

Production ramp-ups are almost always plagued with problems, and while the Q2 results were not as strong as Mr. Panneton hoped, they show the company is on track to reach commercial production in the current quarter. “We would suggest the ramp-up is going well,” TD Securities analyst Daniel Earle wrote in a note.

Danger by rail – by Tasha Kheiriddin (National Post – July 11, 2013)

July 11, 2013

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

In Whitby, Ont., just blocks from our house, the freight trains roll by day and night. Car after cylindrical car ferries unknown liquids past a neighbourhood park, over an old stone bridge and through a new housing development. My preschool daughter calls it the “juice train,” convinced the cylinders are full of apple juice. She often waves to the conductors as the cars trundle by; they wave back, a quintessential slice of ex-urban Canadian life.

But after the horror of Lac Megantic, it is impossible to look at those trains the same way again. For residents of the small Quebec town, Saturday’s devastating derailment truly was the “end of the world,” an inferno that consumed the heart, if not the spirit, of their community. And after the initial shock and sadness, the next thought on many Canadians’ minds was: could it happen here?

The unpleasant truth is that there is something nasty lurking in everyone’s backyard. Canada’s communities grew up around railroads, many of whom have been affected by the transport of dangerous cargo, though none with such horrific consequences as Lac Megantic.

In 1979, a 106-car train loaded with propane and chlorine derailed in Mississauga, Ont.; one car exploded but miraculously no one was killed, though the city’s then population of 200,000 people had to be evacuated.

Shell Jackpine oil sands project approved by regulator, but with slate of environmental warnings – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – July 11, 2013)

July 11, 2013

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

Regulators have approved a giant expansion of an oil sands project proposed by Royal Dutch Shell PLC – but included an unprecedented list of warnings about the negative impacts on the environment and on Aboriginal communities.

While finding the 100,000-barrel a day expansion of Shell’s Jackpine mine is in the public interest based on economic benefits, the panel, representing the Alberta Energy Regulator and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, dedicated large parts of its 405-page ruling to the cumulative environmental costs, some of them irreversible.

The takeaway: With the oil sands industry under growing public scrutiny, the regulators are signalling they are not willing to take responsibility for broader societal choices and want governments to step up and take the heat for them.

“Politicians have used regulators to insulate them from the political aspects of ongoing development, and it would appear that this ruling is saying: ‘This is going to be a political decision and we need direction’,” said David Yager, national leader, oil field services, at MNP LLP, in Calgary.

Feds, province [Newfoundland] mum on Vale charges – by Ashley Fitzpatrick (St. John’s Telegram – July 11, 2013)

July 11, 2013

http://www.thetelegram.com/

The federal government has refused to comment on the charges being pressed against Vale Newfoundland and Labrador for alleged illegal release of liquid waste into Anaktalak Bay, Labrador.

Three charges are being laid against Vale relating to alleged breaches of the federal Fisheries Act over the course of almost a month in October 2011.

In response to questions on the case, Environment Canada issued a response by email, received by The Telegram at 9 p.m. Wednesday: “Thank you for contacting Environment Canada. However, as this case is currently before the courts, it would be inappropriate to comment.” The paper posed questions about the Vale case to communications staff at the provincial and federal level throughout the day Wednesday.

The questions — including whether or not the provincial government was aware of the allegations against Vale — have bounced between the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) representatives, a provincial spokesperson for DFO, the Environment Canada communications office in Ottawa and provincial communications staff from Service NL to Environment and Conservation.