Republic of Mining

Newmont CEO Sees Gold ‘Elevated,’ But Will Keep Plans Grounded – by Steven Frank (Bloomberg News – September 16, 2020)

September 18, 2020

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The world’s biggest gold producer sees the price of the precious metal remaining “elevated” as governments continue pandemic stimulus spending, but don’t expect that to change Newmont Corp.’s focus on fiscal “discipline” any time soon.

Gold skyrocketed to record heights above $2,000 an ounce in August, helping lift miners’ cash flow, stock prices and likely the hopes of shareholders expecting higher returns. Spot gold has since dipped a bit, but the haven metal is still trading in record territory above $1,900.

“There are a lot of signals that point to gold staying at these elevated levels — with I think a lot of volatility around it — for some time to come,” Newmont Chief Executive Officer Tom Palmer said by phone.

NEWS RELEASE: AME Responds to BC Economic Recovery Plan (September 17, 2020)

September 18, 2020

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AME welcomes the Economic Recovery Plan released today by Premier John Horgan and Finance Minister Carole James. AME recognizes the importance of the short-term measures put in place to stimulate economic recovery in all regions of the province.

In particular, AME applauds the $20 million to be invested in short-term jobs training for in-demand jobs. Mineral exploration and mining will play an important role in the strong economic recovery of British Columbia. With strengthening commodity prices and efforts by the provincial government to expedite permitting, it is expected that the mineral exploration industry will require trained workers in all areas of the province.

The small and medium sized business recovery grant of up to $30,000 for companies and a PST rebate on machinery and equipment are also expected to help service and supply companies for the industry hard hit by the pandemic. A tax credit to support businesses that continue hiring employees is also welcome.

Africa’s Diamond Capital Invests in a Futuristic Innovation Hub – by Paul Burkhardt (Bloomberg News – September 18, 2020)

September 18, 2020

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The Icon Building, a $60-million anchor for a Silicon Valley-style technology incubator in Botswana, reflects the nation’s mineral wealth — and its need to think beyond it.

Africa has seen the ruin that resource riches can bring. In cities like Luanda in Angola and the South African metropolis of Johannesburg, glimmering corporate headquarters are often surrounded by shantytowns; sometimes the office towers themselves are abandoned once the commodities run out.

The nation of Botswana is trying not to fall deeply into that trap. Its economy relies heavily on diamond mining — it’s the home of the Jwaneng open-pit mine, the world’s richest, which is run jointly with the U.K.-based De Beers Group.

But the government is acutely aware that diamond mining is not forever. Unemployment and income inequality are a growing concern in this country of about 2.3 million people.

Millions in mine and forest revenues coming back to northern Ontario and the province promising more to come – by Erik White (CBC News Sudbury – September 18, 2020)

September 18, 2020

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

Deal for cities and towns in the works, while First Nations received $24M in resource revenue last year

At the groundbreaking for a new gold mine near Gogama, Premier Doug Ford didn’t say very much about his promise to give northern Ontario a bigger cut of the money the province makes from its natural resources.

He pledged to share mine and forest revenues with northern communities in the 2018 election and says his “all-star” minister of Northern Development and Mines Greg Rickford is working on it.

“He has a strong plan moving forward to have resources shared among Indigenous communities,” Ford says.

Missed the gold bounce? Some observers believe the rally has legs – by David Berman (Globe and Mail – September 17, 2020)

September 18, 2020

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Gold producers have been among the biggest winners during the pandemic, as investors bet that ultralow interest rates, massive government debt loads and an uncertain global economic recovery will keep the price of gold buoyant.

Missed the rally? Some observers expect that precious metals producers will continue to perform well in the year ahead.

Chile Court Shuts Gold Mine Over Environmental Fears – by Miguel Sanchez (Barron’s/AFP News – September 17, 2020)

September 18, 2020

https://www.barrons.com/

Chile’s environmental court confirmed Thursday a final order to close Canadian company Barrick Gold’s huge Pascua Lama mining project, on hold since 2013 over environmental concerns.

The court dismissed a legal challenge from the company and confirmed a 2018 environmental authority ruling, ordering the “total and definitive closure” of the mine project. It also imposed a $9 million fine on the Canadian miner.

“The magnitude of the danger to people’s health makes it necessary to close the Pascua Lama mining project, as other alternatives for safe operation for the environment and population health do not appear to be viable,” the court said.

Canada ranked 4th, US 6th in lithium-ion battery supply chain (Mining.com – September 16, 2020)

September 18, 2020

https://www.mining.com/

A new ranking for 2020 by Bloomberg’s clean energy, new materials and commodity research arm (BloombergNEF) shows China dominating the global lithium-ion battery supply chain, quickly surpassing Japan and Korea, leaders for most of the previous decade.

China’s dominance is based on its large domestic battery demand, 72GWh, and control of 80% of the world’s raw material refining, 77% of the world’s cell capacity and 60% of the world’s component manufacturing, according to data from BNEF.

Kwasi Ampofo, BNEF’s lead analyst covering battery raw materials, says China’s large scale investments into mining and refining has given it the advantage over Japan and Korea:

OPINION: Score one for Canada: On aluminum tariffs, the U.S. bully blinks – by Lawrence Martin (Globe and Mail – September 17, 2020)

September 18, 2020

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The situation was rife with potential conflict. In the throes of a U.S. election campaign, Canada was preparing to announce major retaliation against President Donald Trump’s administration for the levies it proposed last month against Canadian aluminum imports.

The countermeasures could have affected votes in battleground states, and the likelihood was that Mr. Trump would strike back, escalating tensions as he fought for his political livelihood and drawing Canada into election hostilities.

But unless Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is out-and-out lying, the bully has backed off, having run away with its tail between its legs. Just a couple of hours before Ottawa’s retaliatory tariffs were to be imposed, Mr. Trump withdrew his aluminum levies, thus ending the dispute.

Ontario Regional Chief addresses Timmins Chamber – by Andrew Autio (Timmins Daily Press – September 17, 2020)

September 18, 2020

https://www.timminspress.com/

Archibald spoke of benefits to businesses building stronger relationships with First Nations

The next step for the reconciliation of First Nations people is business ownership, including mines, according to Ontario Regional Chief RoseAnne Archibald of the Taykwa Tagamou Nation near Cochrane.

At Wednesday’s 71st-annual general meeting of the Timmins Chamber of Commerce, Archibald was the keynote speaker, and was introduced via Zoom by Mark Selby, chairman and CEO of Canada Nickel Company, one of the region’s newest mining companies.

With the complications surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s AGM was streamed online, with participation coming from all across Ontario.

EDITORIAL: We can’t afford more green energy failures (Toronto Sun – September 17, 2020)

September 18, 2020

https://torontosun.com/

We don’t know how much Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is going to earmark for so-called “green” energy when Parliament resumes on Sept. 23.

It’s unlikely the amount will be in the Throne Speech because typically that’s when governments announce their “big ideas” for the coming parliamentary session.

We do know many of the people Trudeau listens to are advocating spending tens of billions of dollars we don’t have to finance a so-called green and resilient economic recovery from the COVID-19 recession.

Ending China’s chokehold on rare-earth minerals – by James Mattis, James O. Ellis Jr., Joe Felter, and Kori Schake (AEI.org/Bloomberg Opinion – September 18, 2020)

September 18, 2020September 18, 2020

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China dominates the global market in rare-earth minerals, producing 70% of the world’s exports. But this isn’t a gift of nature — it’s the result of 15 years of industrial policy.

The Chinese government identified a critical economic chokehold, invested in building companies, subsidized production to underprice and ultimately destroy competition, and then constructed a monopoly.

U.S. supply chains — both military and commercial — are almost wholly dependent on China for processed rare earths for our advanced weaponry and microelectronics.

Chinese gold miner’s Arctic ambitions face chill in Canada – by SHUJI NAKAYAMA and SHUNSUKE TABETA (Nikkei Asian Review – September 17, 2020)

September 17, 2020

https://asia.nikkei.com/

NEW YORK/BEIJING — As global competition for the Arctic’s rich resources grows, the proposed acquisition of a Canadian mining company by China’s Shandong Gold Group has emerged as a flashpoint in the countries’ deteriorating ties.

“We plan to become one of the world’s top five producers of gold by 2025,” Shandong Gold Chairman Chen Yumin said in August as he signed a strategic partnership with Bank of China. The deal provided the mining giant with a 30 billion yuan ($4.44 billion) credit line to help finance overseas acquisitions.

The state-owned miner supervised by Shandong Province has ties with the Chinese Communist Party dating to the Japanese occupation. It operates a large gold mine in Shandong and became China’s top producer of the metal in 2017.

Innovation acceleration: COVID-19 and today’s new business realities spark activity at mining innovation hubs – by Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco (CIM Magazine – September 14, 2020)

September 16, 2020

https://magazine.cim.org/en/

As Canada went into lockdown to fight the spread of COVID-19, mining accelerators and research hubs – the organizations created to support and foster innovation in the industry – expected their activities to come to a grinding halt.

At first, these predictions appeared to come true, but after a few weeks, the exact opposite began to happen. Interest in their services and projects boomed as mining and technology companies began reaching out looking for new partners and opportunities.

Sudbury’s NORCAT, for example, which runs the world’s only operational underground mine devoted to training and technology innovation as part of its mission to become a global one-stop shop that connects start-ups and creators of new technologies with mining companies, saw a 500 per cent increase in the number of enterprises wanting to showcase their products and technologies.

Concerns raised over open-pit mining in Crowsnest Pass – by Tyler Barrow (CTV News – September 15, 2020)

September 16, 2020

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/

CROWSNEST PASS, ALTA. — After the UCP government announced in May it was rescinding the 1976 Coal Mining Policy that prohibits open-pit operations in the Rocky Mountains and foothills, several proposals have been put forward, which officials say could lead to the creation of hundreds of jobs in the Crowsnest Pass area.

“As long as we follow the environmental policies, I absolutely, fully support industry because it’s creating jobs, it’s giving out kids a future,” said Garett Schmidt who uses the area to quad. “We can’t have people jobless and homeless, we’re resource-rich.”

An Australian company has bid to build the Grassy Mountain Coal project — a 2,800-hectare coal mine north of Blairmore, Alta.

EU deal could forge shiny future for Canada’s low-carbon metals – by Chris Turner (Corporate Knights – September 16, 2020)

September 16, 2020

https://www.corporateknights.com/

he Canada Nickel Company is a fledgling Ontario mining firm with a handful of leases in mineral-rich northern Ontario and ambitious plans to dig for nickel, cobalt and iron.

So it represents a particularly audacious move that the company recently announced the creation of a wholly owned subsidiary called NetZero Metals, charged with the task of mining those metals without a carbon footprint.

Green boasts can be a little suspect, especially since the net-zero goal is one that established players in industries like steel and oil have placed at the far end of a 30-year ramp.