Republic of Mining

Attawapiskat diamond mine blockade continues, protesters eye De Beers airport – by Jorge Barrera (APTN National News – February 6, 2013)

November 4, 2015February 7, 2013

http://www.aptn.ca/

An Attawapiskat blockade of a winter road leading to a diamond mine operated by De Beers could last until spring and expand to the company’s airport, says Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence.

Spence said the handful of protestors who launched the blockade on Monday said they won’t end their protest until they get some concrete changes to the impact benefit agreement (IBA) between Attawapiskat and De Beers.

“The people who are blocking have a lot of concerns,” said Spence, who is currently on sick leave and recovering from her six week-long protest fast.

Spence attended a community meeting held Tuesday evening that ran until near midnight. About 60 people attended the meeting which included De Beers officials. Another meeting began Wednesday at about 5 p.m.

Spence said during Tuesday’s meeting one community member discussed giving De Beers 48 hours to vacate the mine before facing a blockade at its airport. The mining company flies out its diamonds via charters with schedules known only to a few key people.

HudBay Sees Buyers’ Market for Mining Projects – by Liezel Hill (Bloomberg.com – February 6, 2013)

February 7, 2013

http://www.bloomberg.com/

HudBay Minerals Inc., the third-best- performing Canadian mining stock this year, is willing to spend about C$400 million ($402 million) on deals to replenish its development pipeline.

The copper and zinc producer, which expects to more than quadruple copper output by 2015, will capitalize on a “buyers’ market” for mining assets as small companies struggle to raise funds and larger competitors consider sales, Chief Executive Officer David Garofalo said yesterday. HudBay would be comfortable spending about 20 percent of its C$1.99 billion market value, he said.

“We’re looking at a lot of things and I’m hoping that we can tuck something in this year,” Garofalo, 47, said in an interview at Bloomberg’s office in Toronto, where HudBay is based. “We’ve never been busier looking at opportunities.”

Exploration and development companies face funding shortfalls after mining-industry equity sales dropped for a third straight year as valuations declined and bank lending fell. At the same time, mining companies including BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group, the two largest, have been looking to sell less-profitable assets.

The majors are very interested in simplifying their balance sheets, said John Hughes, an analyst at Desjardins Securities Inc. in Toronto.

UPDATE 2-Chile’s Collahuasi says mineral resources up 19 pct in 2012 – by Fabian Cambero (Reuters.com – February 6, 2013)

February 7, 2013

http://www.reuters.com/

SANTIAGO, Feb 6 (Reuters) – World No. 3 copper mine Collahuasi said on Wednesday its mineral resources grew by 19 percent to 9 billion tonnes last year compared with 2011 levels, due in part to new drilling campaigns and improvements in mining design.

Average ore grades are 0.81 percent copper, Collahuasi said, an enviable level as grades slip in many of leading copper
producer Chile’s ancient, tired deposits. Mining reserves increased 10 percent to 3.2 billion tonnes, the mine added.

“The notable increase in our base of mineral resources gives a clear indication of the significant future potential of an
expansion at Collahuasi,” new chief executive officer Jorge Gomez said in a statement.

Collahuasi is seeking to turn the corner after a tough 2012. The deposit produced around 284,000 tonnes of red metal last
year, tumbling roughly 37.3 percent from 2011 levels. It hopes to produce more than it did in 2012, Gomez told Reuters late last month.

Global miners Anglo American and Xstrata each own 44 percent of the mine. The remaining 12 percent is owned by a consortium of Japanese companies led by Mitsui & Co. Collahuasi is mulling expansion plans that seek to double annual production. But Xstrata’s head of copper, Charlie Sartain, said last year no progress on ambitious expansion plans would be considered for the operation until the current turnaround was complete.

As Canada phases out penny, U.S. sticks to its cents – by David Olive (Toronto Star – February 4, 2013)

February 7, 2013

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Eliminating coin offers large potential savings.

At no time soon will the U.S. be following Canada’s example of scrapping the penny. That process started Monday, as the Royal Canadian Mint ceased distribution of the nuisance coin to banks and other financial institutions.
The benefits for Americans in following suit are self-evident.

In 2011, the U.S. Mint was spending 2.4 cents to make a penny, which slipped back to the recent norm of 2 cents last year. The loss to the U.S. Mint — to Americans, that is — comes to $58 million a year. For Canada, those figures were 1.6 cents and $11 million.

A century ago, the penny had close to 25 times the buying power it does today. A mere 19 per cent of Canadians still pay cash in retail and hospitality transactions, estimates show. And that 19 per cent, Star reporter Jessica McDiarmid noted Friday, imposes an estimated cost on business of about $150 million a year in handling pennies alone.

About two-thirds of store purchases are non-cash transactions — debit, credit and mobile payments. Then there’s online shopping, poised for exponential growth, where payments are exclusively non-cash. Taking note of Monday’s penny phase-out in the Great White North, Time magazine describes it as a “Canadian experiment.” Oy.

Suncor’s $1.5-billion writedown puts oil sands project in jeopardy – by Nathan Vanderklippe (Globe and Mail – February 7, 2013)

February 7, 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.

Suncor Energy Inc. has taken a writedown of nearly $1.5-billion on its Voyageur project, a massive oil sands plant that is now at serious risk of cancellation. And in an additional potential blow, Suncor faces a $1.2-billion tax bill, which it is disputing.

The $11.6-billion Voyageur upgrader is designed to process 200,000 barrels per day of heavy oil sands bitumen into a lighter oil. The project was 15 per cent built, and Suncor had already spent $3.5-billion, when Suncor halted work in 2009.

Though Voyageur has not yet been abandoned, the writedown was accompanied by pessimistic commentary in Suncor’s fourth-quarter results, which were released Tuesday evening.

“Suncor’s view is that the economic outlook for the Voyageur upgrader project is challenged,” the company said. It added: “The partners have been considering options for the project, including the implications of cancellation or indefinite deferral.”

A decision is expected by the end of March, Suncor said. The company will also, with its partner Total, make a decision on whether to build its Fort Hills oil sands mine in the second half of this year.

Flaherty takes hard line on spending as Ottawa feels the oil-price pinch – by Bill Curry and Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – February 7, 2013)

February 7, 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 — Ottawa’s finances are taking a hit from discounted prices for Canadian oil, and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says this will force him to hold a harder line on spending as he prepares the 2013 budget.

The Finance Minister said lower commodity prices and persistently low inflation are combining to have a negative effect on government revenues. Still, the minister insists he expects to balance the books before the 2015 election without dramatic spending cuts.

“We have to do more on the controlling our own spending side, but we don’t have to slash and burn,” Mr. Flaherty told reporters after a speech to an Ottawa business audience that outlined the focus of the 2013 budget, which is expected in the next several weeks.

Spending cuts are already scheduled to ramp up to $5.2-billion a year over the coming two years as part of a phased-in plan to scale back spending announced in the 2012 budget. The upcoming budget is not expected to include major additional spending cuts. Rather, Mr. Flaherty is signalling that Canadians shouldn’t expect much new spending.

Still, the government has faced continued challenges from Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page, who says Ottawa is not being transparent about its cuts. The PBO has said Ottawa appears to be cutting front-line services in spite of Mr. Flaherty’s assurances that cuts would affect only the “back office” of the federal bureaucracy.

Blockade a ‘symptom’ of ongoing Attawapiskat issues: Wynne – by Antonella Artuso (Toronto Sun – February 6, 2013)

November 4, 2015February 7, 2013

http://www.torontosun.com/home

BRADFORD – A blockade set up by Attawapiskat protesters on a winter road to the De Beers mine on the coast of James Bay is a symptom of unmet social needs in First Nations communities, Ontario premier-designate Kathleen Wynne says.

“The economic development that can come from either the mine on the James Bay coast or from the Ring of Fire has to be seen in the context of the relationship between government and the First Nations communities,” Wynne said Wednesday. “There’s a whole range of social issues that are not necessarily directly related to economic development but as a government, and I would suggest the federal government as well… needs to in, my opinion, tackle that whole range of issues if we want to be able to move ahead and have those economic opportunities be fulfilled.”

Wynne said she’s unaware of the actual trigger for the blockade but knows the Attawapiskat community is concerned about a number of issues including lack of housing and the availability of clean water.

“It’s never okay in my opinion to take violent or obstructive action,” Wynne said. “We have to find resolution to those issues at the same time as … allowing economic development to go ahead because in the end, if there is no economic development, then a lot of those issues are not going to be resolved.”

Canada’s Iamgold keen to stay in troubled Mali – by Reuters (MiningWeekly.com – February 7, 2013)

February 7, 2013

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

MELBOURNE – Canadian gold miner Iamgold is committed to Mali despite the conflict in the African nation and poor production performance of its mining joint ventures there, its chief executive said.

While Mali, where French forces have been bombing sites controlled by Islamist insurgents, may appear unattractive to investors, it is one location in Africa where the company is eager to stay as the mines should be highly profitable, CEO Steve Letwin told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

“I just think as an investment it is a good investment if we can all collectively get our heads around it and the Malians can get some semblance of stability,” Letwin said. The situation in northern Mali has not disrupted operations at Iamgold’s joint ventures — the Sadiola and Yatela mines in the south.

But its partner in the ventures, AngloGold Ashanti, is considering getting out as part of a broader revamp of its operations. Letwin said Iamgold is not big enough to take on AngloGold’s share.

“We have people who are interested, but they need to talk to Anglo, and I’m sure they have,” he said, declining to name who was interested. “I want to make it work, because it makes sense. I want to work with the Malians and whomever partner we have.”

Mills to lose $100 million over caribou plan – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – February 6, 2013)

February 7, 2013

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Caribou conservation efforts for the Abitibi River Forest will cost local forestry companies more than $100 million in reduced annual gross sales. That is collectively a quarter in lost profits for the seven mills and six independent operators that have harvesting rights on the Abitibi River Forest.

Local communities are similarly expected to be impacted by immediate reductions of 20 to 25% in harvest areas, according to the 10-year Abitibi River Forest management plan which comes into effect April 1.

The plan acknowledges, the reduction “will potentially provide less economic benefits … due to direct correlation with available harvest volumes. As a result, the lower volumes translate into reduced manufacture of primary products, less taxes and less employment opportunities.”

The mills that operate on the Abitibi River Forest include the Tembec mill in Cochrane, the AbitibiBowater paper mill in Iroquois Falls, Little John Enterprises in Timmins and EACOM Timber Corporation’s sawmills in both Timmins and Gogama.

It is noted in the plan that local mills may not have “the operational flexibility they have been accustomed to in recent years, nor does it allow for significant increases in primary production capacity.”

De Beers reps meet with protesters – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – February 6, 2013)

November 4, 2015February 7, 2013

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Local management with the De Beers Victor diamond mine have been engaged in a series of community meetings in Attawapiskat in order to bring an end to a blockade which has prevented access to the mine since Monday night.

“There were approximately 16 (protesters involved with the blockade) when we arrived yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon,” Tom Ormsby, director of external and corporate affairs for De Beers Canada told The Daily Press. “Four individuals brought forward issues mainly related to employment, re-employment and training opportunities for them or family members at the mine.

“We have local management from the mine meeting with those involved and we even participated in an open community meeting last night where approximately 60 people attended. Similar to the afternoon discussions, most items centred on employment and training opportunities.”

While the mine has been able to continue operating, the blockade has prevented new supplies from being brought to the mine. These supplies include fuel, oil, tires and other mechanical equipment. Ormsby said there could be an effect on the mine’s operations if the supplies continue to be held up.

Provincial cabinet will meet in North by March 11: Wynne – by Darren MacDonald (Sudbury Northern Life February 5, 2013)

February 7, 2013

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Premier designate vows to have Northern MPPs in cabinet, but won’t commit to retaining current ministers

Northern Ontario will be represented in the next provincial cabinet, but Premier-designate Kathleen Wynne refused to say Feb. 5 whether Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci will be included.

In a conference call with journalists from across Northern Ontario, Wynne said she would unveil her cabinet Feb. 11. But when asked whether current ministers from Northern Ontario would be retained, she made light of the question.

“You want me to make my cabinet announcement right here? Give you guys the scoop?” Wynne joked. “Let me just say the North and the health of the North is very important to me, and my cabinet is going to reflect all of the regions of the province. Without pre-empting my cabinet announcement, I cannot imagine forming a cabinet without having regional and Northern representation.”

Wynne was more definitive in answering a question from a North Bay reporter, who asked if she would do what she and other candidates indicated they would during the Liberal leadership race and reverse “Mr. Bartolucci’s decision” to sell off Ontario Northland. She denied ever committing to reversing the decision.

Attawapiskat members blockade Debeers – by Lenny Carpenter (Wawatay News – February 6, 2013)

November 4, 2015February 6, 2013

http://wawataynews.ca/

A small group of Attawapiskat community members have blockaded a road leading from the Debeers Canada diamond mine site to the community, citing issues with the community’s agreement with the diamond company.

Attawapiskat’s Impact Benefit Agreement (IBA) coordinator Danny Metatawabin said the blockaders’ issues pertain to either employment rates among community members at the site or the use of their traditional territory. The blockade began on Feb. 4.

“It started with four individuals,” Metatawabin said, adding that more community members have since joined. “When I went there this morning, there were not even 20.” Metatawabin said the chief and council do not support the blockade, saying the IBA the community signed with Debeers is a “done deal.”

“The current IBA is a done deal, an endorsed document, which states everything is approved and ratified,” he said. “Including allowing Debeers to set up the Victor Mine, the winter road, and ensure that fuel trucks are transported to the site for fuel purposes.”

However, he said the leadership is not taking action against the members who have blockaded the road. A meeting with the leadership and community members is expected to take place in the evening on Feb. 6 while Chief Theresa Spence called for a band council meeting on Feb. 7 regarding the matter.

Does reality TV’s gold boom suggest an end to soaring prices? – by Colin Campbell (Maclean’s Magazine – February 5, 2013)

February 6, 2013

http://www2.macleans.ca/

Gold Rush fans may not want to change the channel just yet

Reality television’s latest obsession is gold. Jungle Gold, Gold Rush, Bering Sea Gold and Gold Fever are all shows documenting miners’ efforts to dig up flakes of the precious metal worth $1,700 an ounce. The last time TV was so caught up in a trend it was in the house-flipping genre (Flip This House, Flip That House), which seemed to hit its peak just before the U.S. housing market crashed. Is there a similar warning sign in the TV gold boom? Does all the mainstream fascination with gold suggest an overinflated interest and price?

Some analysts on Wall Street, at least, seem to think gold’s wild ride may be nearing its end. This week, Morgan Stanley lowered its gold-price forecast for the year by four per cent, to $1,773. Late last year, Goldman Sachs cut its target price for 2013 to $1,800 an ounce from $1,940, citing an improving U.S. economy. “The risk-reward of holding a long gold position is diminishing,” it said.

Gold is the ultimate safe-haven investment and has enjoyed an incredible rise in recent years. A decade ago, gold was worth little more than $300 an ounce. Since 2000, it has gone up every year for 12 years (a record) and in each of the three years after the 2008 crash, gold prices peaked to hit record highs. That gold might be finally losing some of its shine suggests fear of riskier investments may be ebbing. The S&P 500 index last week, for instance, cracked the 1,500 mark for the first time since 2007.

Not everyone is convinced the gold rush is finished just yet. Morgan Stanley said that despite its price cut, it still remains “bullish on the gold-price outlook,” citing an ongoing commitment in the U.S. to low interest rates and government stimulus spending in the face of “a below-par recovery.” Many central banks are also still buying gold. As Goldman admits, “calling the peak in gold prices is a difficult exercise.”

Live from Mining Indaba 2013: Cynthia Carroll, outgoing Anglo American CEO with Geoff Candy – by Moneyweb.co.za (February 6, 2012)

February 6, 2013

http://www.moneyweb.co.za/moneyweb-home

Carroll talks mining prospects, Anglo projects and the Plat Review.

GEOFF CANDY: Hello and welcome to this Mineweb.com Newsmaker podcast. Joining me here live at the Cape Town Convention Centre is Cynthia Carroll, the outgoing CEO at Anglo American. Cynthia, you took over the reins at Anglo American in March 2007. It’s been an exceptionally eventful five years, not just for Anglo American but for the sector as a whole. What do you think is the most significant change you’ve seen in the mining sector in those five years?

CYNTHIA CARROLL: Well, first of all we have clearly gone through two significant economic downturns that I don’t think anybody anticipated, and at the same time Anglo American had two record years – 2008 and 2011. I think that there has been a developing disconnect between the expectation of investors and what the mining companies have been able to deliver in the short term. And during the peak of the cycle when everything was going gangbusters, everybody was saying you have to invest and you have to spend and we want to see growth and we want to see production.

But we’re in a period right now, again that nobody would have predicted when there has been much more contraction, starting with Europe in terms of demand and then a slowing down in Asia. So some investors are walking away completely from the industry, others are putting greater demands on industry heads to say, we want to be assured of our returns first and foremost before you spend any money, and we want you to cut back significantly.

Rio Tinto drops $4-billion plan for new plant in Bécancour – by Jan Ravensbergen (Montreal Gazette – February 5, 2013)

February 6, 2013

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

Low titanium prices, belt-tightening torpedo 400-job facility

MONTREAL – Rio Tinto Fer et Titane, a wholly owned subsidiary of global giant Rio Tinto Group, has abandoned plans for a large new plant in Bécancour, the company said Tuesday.

Rio Tinto had been developing a plan to double the capacity of its Sorel-Tracy metallurgical plant, between Montreal and Quebec City, with a “greenfields” project in Bécancour Industrial Park.

The project would have cost in the ballpark of $4 billion. Up to 400 jobs would have been created by 2016. A collapse in titanium prices is one of the prime elements of the decision.

In a statement, Jean-François Turgeon, the unit’s managing director, cited two factors: “a background of weaker market conditions for our products and the need to manage and reduce our costs.” The project would have expanded the company’s mining and smelting capacities in Canada, Madagascar, South Africa and Mozambique, Turgeon said.

“We were conducting pre-feasibility studies on this project here in Canada and in Africa and this work has been suspended,” company spokesperson Bryan Tucker said.