BRICS mining: the lay of the land – by Chris Lo (Mining Technology.com – January 5, 2012)

http://www.mining-technology.com/

The so-called BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are the world’s emerging powerhouses, in more ways than one. As well as exerting an ever-growing influence on the global political stage, these burgeoning economies are building up an industrial base that is closing the gap with the developed western world – or, in some cases, even surpassing it.

No sector illustrates this process better than mining. Competition from low-cost, large-scale mining projects in the BRICS nations has simply been too much for many European and US operations, which are struggling with higher overhead costs and more complex regulatory regimes. As a consequence, countries such as Brazil and China have become hotbeds for international investment.

BRICS countries look outward

BRICS mining investment, however, isn’t just a one-way street – increasingly, these countries are looking to tap into overseas resources in addition to their own domestic deposits. Indian companies including Adani Mining and Lanco Infratech have been assertively investing in Australian coal mining projects, while Brazilian iron ore giant Vale’s funding of iron ore projects in China proves that there are lucrative opportunities in inter-BRICS investment.

In Africa, BRICS countries, particularly China, are becoming more prevalent as investors in new mining projects, both for profit and to provide materials for massive infrastructure and construction projects.

Read more


NEWS RELEASE: Canada’s mining companies can take steps now to improve their prospects in the longer term: Deloitte Report

 To view the report, please visit: http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-Canada/Local%20Assets/Documents/EandR/Mining/ca_en_energy_Tracking_the_trends_2013_112812.pdf

Toronto, Ontario – 29 November 2012 — Canadian mining companies should be investing now to ensure they can fulfill future global demand for commodities even as they face a series of immediate challenges affecting the global mining sector, according to a new report from Deloitte that was released today. The report, Tracking the trends 2013, provides commentary and analysis of the top 10 issues most likely to impact the mining sector in 2013 and provides a range of responses that companies can adopt to prepare for shifting industry dynamics.

According to the Deloitte report, now in its fifth year of distribution, miners need to set a solid strategic direction and hold the course amidst shifting industry realities in order to prosper when global demand for commodities rebounds in the longer term. Beyond finding ways to control costs and improve their demand forecasts, Canada’s mining companies should be preparing for increased mergers and acquisitions activity in 2013, strengthening their relationships with local governments in order to minimize the impact of growing resource nationalism in various countries and finding innovative ways to cope with a looming skills shortage. They also need to expand their use of information technology and data analytics to enhance safety, improve operations and reduce costs.

“For the second year in a row, mounting costs tops the list of the key issues affecting the mining industry” said Glenn Ives, Americas Mining Leader, Deloitte Canada. “This is expected to worsen in the short term as commodity prices continue to dip, workers demand higher wages and regulatory costs rise. But rather than halting production in the face of shareholder demands for more immediate returns, miners should be making investments today to meet the expected long-term demand for commodities.”

Read more


Miners need to keep investing and be ready when market picks: report – by Craig Wong (The Canadian Press/Vancouver Sun – November 29, 2012)

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

TORONTO – Mining companies facing an uncertain economic outlook and rising costs need to keep investing in their development projects to ensure they are ready to go when the market picks up again, a new report suggests.

The report by audit and consulting firm Deloitte to be released Thursday suggests while miners need to focus on controlling costs that may have risen during the recent boom, they also need to hold the course on their strategic plan for the long term.

Jurgen Beier, national mining leader at Deloitte Canada, said as prices for many key commodities slip, the focus is increasingly on reducing costs that may have been masked in boom times. “The key thing with cost is that when you’re not worried about the revenue line, basically there is less focus on the cost line,” he said.

“Over time, inefficiencies creep into running any business and many of these inefficiencies are based on merger and acquisition transactions where the companies haven’t been completely integrated.”

But Beier noted that cutting costs needs to be balanced with ensuring a miner’s future and that means continuing to develop new projects so they are ready to go in the next boom.

Read more


Wisconsin governor expects $1.2b iron ore project to return to Iron Range – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – November 29, 2012)

http://www.mineweb.com/

In the last session of the Wisconsin Legislature, an iron mining reform bill failed by one vote. However, another pro-mining measure is expected to be introduced in January.

RENO (MINEWEB) – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Wednesday that he is confident that Gogebic Taconite will resurrect an iron ore mining project south of Lake Superior.

In comments made to the Associated Press after a speech to the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, Walker said Florida-based Gogebic Taconite is still interested in mining in Wisconsin.

A special committee of Wisconsin’s State Senate is scheduled to meet today and get a briefing from Tim Sullivan, the former CEO of mining heavy equipment manufacturer Bucyrus. He is chairman of the Wisconsin Mining Association.

The committee will hear testimony from local government representatives and regional economic development officials on the issue of state-local distribution of tax revenue raised by future mining operations.

Read more


Ontario Mining Association education and outreach initiatives build on past efforts

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

The Ontario Mining Association was a major participant in an explore mining and forestry career night held earlier this month at Mohawk College in Hamilton, which attracted more than 100 students. Lesley Hymers, OMA Environment and Education Specialist, and Bryan Wilson from Xstrata Nickel in Sudbury carried the message for the mining side. Representatives from the Canadian Institute of Forestry, Resolute Forest Products and the Forest Products Association of Canada were on hand speaking about their component of Canada’s resource sector at the community college.

The event was organized by Richard Borger, an elementary school teacher and part-time professor in the engineering technology program at Mohawk College. He became acquainted with the OMA, while in the role of student, during the third annual Teachers’ Mining Tour earlier this year. Mr. Wilson has been an active and key participant in all three of these teachers’ tours, which have taken place, so far, through facilitating tours of Xstrata Nickel’s Nickel Rim South Mine in Sudbury.

“It is important for us to establish links with educators across the province and to work to strengthen and build upon those links,” said Ms Hymers. “It is also vital that we take advantage of opportunities to make students more aware of the tremendous variety and scope of career options that our industry offers.”

Read more


Inmet rejects First Quantum takeover bid – by Peter Koven (National Post – November 29, 2012)

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

TORONTO — First Quantum Minerals Ltd. has offered $4.9-billion for Inmet Mining Corp. in a bold attempt to get its hands on Cobre Panama, one of the largest mining development projects underway anywhere in the world.

The move puts Inmet’s immediate future into question, as the company is now in play and senior copper miners are certain to take a closer look at Cobre Panama.

Toronto-based Inmet owns 80% of Cobre Panama, and it is a monster. The project holds 32 billion pounds of copper reserves and nine million ounces of gold reserves (along with huge inferred resources), and has a likely mine life of more than 30 years. It also comes with enormous risk: The current cost estimate is US$6.2-billion, and Panama has no history of large-scale mining.

Construction of Cobre Panama has just started, and analysts suggested that if First Quantum has its own development plan for the mine, it needs to get in quickly. First Quantum is recognized for having a strong technical team.

“I see a fit in the sense that [First Quantum] management has been very experienced in building four grassroots projects on time and within reasonable budgets, and also operating in what I would call politically sensitive areas in Central Africa,” said John Hughes, an analyst at Desjardins Securities.

Read more


Oil sands producers could feel squeeze as pipeline capacity tightens – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – November 29, 2012)

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

Plans are under way to build oil pipelines south, west and east, but even if they are successful they’re not going to alleviate today’s problem: Many of Canada’s oil pipelines are full and it’s only a matter of time before they choke off oil growth.

Already, analysts are warning the next steps will be production shut-ins and the rationalization of oil sands projects so only the less expensive go ahead.

Coping strategies are expected to come into focus as producers announce their investment plans for 2013 over the next few days and weeks, starting with Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. on Thursday. Pipeline capacity has been getting tighter because of surging production from Alberta’s oil sands and from tight oil fields across North America.

Space will be substantially smaller than demand in December, when Enbridge Inc. will “apportion” space on a number of its key pipelines – Line 5, Line 14, Line 6B, Line 6A/62, Line 4/67, Line 4. Kinder Morgan Inc. is apportioning space so that only 30% of producers’ hoped-for volume gets into its regularly oversubscribed TransMountain pipeline in December.

Read more


Enbridge looks east: N.B. pipeline now a Gateway alternative – by John Ivison (National Post – November 29, 2012)

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

Al Monaco puts a brave face on the prospects of Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline becoming a reality.

“We’re in the middle of the regulatory process, so I don’t want to presume anything. But we’re optimistic and committed to it,” the company’s new chief executive said over breakfast in Ottawa Wednesday.

Yet he remarked on more than one occasion, “it’s not just about Gateway,” as if he’s resigned to the idea Enbridge’s plan to build a pipeline to connect Canada’s supply of heavy crude to demand in Asia is doomed to failure, thanks to the opposition.

Enbridge’s strategy is to diversify Canada’s markets, so it is no longer a price taker — a captive supplier selling heavy crude to the U.S. market at a discount that costs the country $60-million a day.

The average discount in the first three quarters of this year was $27 a barrel, which was a major contributor to Canada’s increased deficit. Mr. Monaco, who was in town to talk to politicians in all parties, was more keen to emphasize Enbridge’s other market access initiatives.

Read more


Don’t play it safe, Deloitte tells mining firms – by Bertrand Marotte (Globe and Mail – November 29, 2012)

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.

Faced with rising costs, falling commodity prices and other challenges in these volatile times, mining companies should avoid the urge to retreat and play it safe, says a new Deloitte report.

“For the second year in a row, mounting costs tops the list of the key issues affecting the mining industry,” says Glenn Ives, Americas mining leader at Deloitte Canada.

“This is expected to worsen in the short term as commodity prices continue to dip, workers demand higher wages and regulatory costs rise. But rather than halting production in the face of shareholder demands for more immediate returns, miners should be making investments today to meet the expected long-term demand for commodities.”

The report, Tracking the Trends 2013, lists the top 10 challenges for the mining sector in 2013:

1. Higher costs

Read more


Inmet Mining snubs $4.9-billion takeover bid by First Quantum – by Pav Jordan and Tim Kiladze (Globe and Mail – November 29, 2012)

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.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. offered $4.9-billion to acquire Inmet Mining Corp., a bold declaration from one of Canada’s largest copper miners that the commodities supercycle has room to run.

Inmet rejected the bid, describing it as “highly conditional” and not in shareholders’ interests, but analysts said First Quantum could return with a higher offer for one of the world’s largest copper projects in development.

Toronto-based Inmet is developing the $6.2-billion (U.S.) Cobre Panama project that will produce some 300,000 tonnes of copper a year for 30 years, putting it on a scale with major mines in Chile and Peru, the world’s largest producers of the metal.

Inmet revealed that it was the second offer from First Quantum in a month, underscoring global miners’ convictions that copper demand will remain strong into the future, despite slowing growth in China and other major markets. Copper has been one of the most in-demand commodities of the past decade, driven by breakneck development in China as it built power grids and entire cities in its urbanization drive.

Read more


Fight to keep power plant far from over – by Bryan Meadows (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 29, 2012)

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

Thunder Bay’s Liberal MPPs continue their fight to keep the Thunder Bay Generating Station in the energy mix in Northwestern Ontario. Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Bill Mauro said Wednesday that he believes the plant conversion from coal-fired to natural gas can still happen.

“I think it can be salvaged,” he said. That’s despite an Ontario Power Generation decision to cancel a Union Gas contract, at a cost of more than $5 million, that would have tied the power station to the utility’s pipeline system.

Mauro said “if the conversion goes forward, those costs will not be lost, just included as part of the project. “It’s my belief that this will happen. The money will become part of the project. “I feel this is a cost-effective project, for our future it makes a tonne of sense,” he said.

“The cost of conversion is minimal compare to the value of the asset (of the Thunder Bay Generating Station).” Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP Michael Gravelle agreed, noting that Energy Minister Chris Bentley has made it clear that the suspension of the conversion plan is a pause in the process.

Read more


Ontario’s Power Trip — The gas bungle: $800M? – by Jan Carr(National Post – November 29, 2012)

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

Jan Carr is a director on several electricity-sector boards and former chief executive of the Ontario Power Authority.

Cancellation costs could have paid for five recent hospital projects

Decisions to relocate two Ontario electricity generating stations from the Toronto suburbs of Mississauga and Oakville to locations further afield in Sarnia and Lennox were driven by partisan political attempts to win at the polls. The relocations have a cost, however.

The exact costs are unknown, mainly because the provincial government has released only limited amounts of information, despite the highly publicized production of 56,000 pages of documents. The documents cover a period of time prior to the end of 2011, while the deals to relocate the plants were finalized in 2012. With the Ontario legislature prorogued, there are no legal channels to force publication of the final numbers.

The government has announced a $40-million “cost to taxpayers” for relocating the TransCanada Energy (TCE) plant from Oakville to Lennox and a “total cost” of $180-million for relocating the Eastern Power (EP) Mississauga plant to Sarnia. The credibility of these figures was first undermined by the discovery of an additional $10-million paid to EP related to a 1998 dispute over a different power plant contract. The long settlement delay indicates that the unannounced $10-million was negotiated as part of the current plant relocation agreement, bringing the total Mississauga cost to $190-million.

Read more


Canadian Royalties aims to start shipments from Nunavik Nickel in 2013 – by Jane George (Nunatsiaq News – November 28, 2012)

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

More than 650 people already working on site

A Chinese-owned mine in Nunavik will soon see huge ice-class vessels sailing through Hudson Strait to bring nickel, copper, platinum and palladium to European markets.

After sinking $735 million into infrastructure, Jien Canada Mining Ltd., the owner of Nunavik’s second soon-to-be operating mine, plans to ramp up production in early 2013 and hire more Nunavik workers.

The mine company, which expects to reach full production by 2014, will produce nickel, copper, palladium and platinum for at least 13 years. Located 20 miles from Xstrata Nickel’s Raglan nickel mine, the Nunavik Nickel mine sits in “one of the most inhospitable places in the world,” said its president, John Caldbick in a recent interview.

But the cold, rocky plateau is rich in minerals, and early in 2013 the mine will start processing ore. More than 650 people are now on site, living in its 428-person main camp and other temporary camps. Some workers are excavating ore from the Expo open pit mine, while others complete essential parts of the mine’s infrastructure.

Read more


Vale’s movies are awarded in Cannes (Vale History Through Its People)

www.vale.com For the first time, a Brazilian company was awarded at the Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards, one of the most important corporate film festivals in the world. Our History and Day to Reflect won in the categories of Marketing Communication and Integrated Communication, respectively. The competition was large: Vale’s videos were up against …

Read more


NEWS RELEASE: Canada’s mineral treasures sparkle in new Vale Earth Gallery at Canadian Museum of Nature

(L-R) Vale Canada representatives Cory McPhee, VP, Corporate Affairs; Audrey Leduc, Corporate Affairs Officer; and John Mullally, Director, Corporate Affairs in front of display with rock sample from Sudbury’s Vale mine. (Photo by: Jamie Kronick, Canadian Museum of Nature)

www.vale.com

Ottawa, November 28, 2012─Canada’s mineral treasures and the geological forces that shape the country are featured in a renewed and expanded gallery opening November 30 at the Canadian Museum of Nature.

The Vale Earth Gallery presents a fascinating journey through geological time that relates how the Earth formed, how powerful forces have changed and shaped our planet, and how geology and mineralogy connect with everyday life. The new attraction is the result of two years of planning and three months of renovations to a smaller phase of the Vale Earth Gallery that had opened in 2010.

“This new gallery returns the museum’s best geological and mineral specimens to permanent display in an expanded setting that includes new content and engaging interactives,” says Meg Beckel, President and CEO of the Canadian Museum of Nature. “We are extremely grateful for Vale’s support that has allowed us to complete this project that will inspire and connect visitors with our collections and the mineralogy research of our scientists.”

Instructive panels, interactive games and simulations explore the complexities of geology and the three main types of rock that make up the planet—sedimentary, magmatic and metamorphic.

Read more