Republic of Mining

Atlantic Nickel extends Santa Rita mine life to 34 years – by Carl A. Williams (Northern Miner – September 15, 2020)

September 16, 2020

https://www.northernminer.com/

Appian Capital Advisory’s Atlantic Nickel has released the results from a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of its wholly owned Santa Rita nickel-copper-cobalt mine in northeastern Brazil.

Santa Rita, one of the largest open-pit nickel sulphide mines in the world, was acquired by the private equity firm from Mirabela Nickel in a bankruptcy process in 2018.

Since open-pit operations restarted in August 2019, the mine has produced 48,000 tonnes of nickel concentrate. (Mirabela put the mine on care and maintenance due to low nickel prices in 2015.)

Igloolik leaders say Inuit face barriers in Nunavut mine environmental review – by Beth Brown (CBC News North – September 15, 2020)

September 16, 2020

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

A day and a half into meetings on a proposed expansion at Mary River Mine in Nunavut, community participants say they face barriers that limit the full participation of Inuit.

“Every intervener in this process has lawyers and advisers. We were the only ones that are lacking,” said Igloolik mayor Merlyn Recinos, adding that federal funding given to communities to help them hire specialists isn’t enough.

In response to Recinos, a representative from Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) said that applications from communities were not “robust” enough to justify the amount of participant funding they requested from the Treasury Board of Canada.

BHP nears completion of Nickel West plant – by Salomae Haselgrove (Australian Mining – September 16, 2020)

September 16, 2020

Home

BHP has confirmed that it will open its Nickel West sulphate plant in Western Australia this financial year after the development was delayed.

The delay means the first product from the plant is now expected in the second half of the 2021 financial year, a year behind the original schedule.

The facility that is located at the Kwinana nickel refinery is expected to produce 100,000 tonnes of nickel sulphate per annum during its stage one development.

U.S. removes tariffs on Canadian aluminum but imposes quotas on future shipments – by Steven Chase (Globe and Mail – September 16, 2020)

September 16, 2020

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The U.S. government has removed tariffs on Canadian aluminum first announced in August but also warned it will reimpose them if shipments to the United States exceed quotas in the months ahead.

The reversal was announced just two hours before Canada was set to unveil $3.6-billion in retaliatory measures on U.S. imports on Tuesday.

Canada and the United States have been locked in a battle over the tariffs for months with the U.S. pushing for an agreement on tariffs triggered when shipments exceed certain volumes. The result of this dispute is the U.S. has unilaterally imposed its own tariff-rate quota on Canadian aluminum.

BHP says traditional owners free to weigh in on cultural heritage inquiry – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – September 16, 2020)

September 16, 2020

https://www.mining.com/

Mining giant BHP (ASX, LON, NYSE: BHP) has told Australian Aboriginal groups to freely speak their mind about the way it manages cultural heritage as the miner readies to appear before a federal inquiry launched following rival Rio Tinto’s (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) destruction of two 46,000-year-old sacred shelters.

Both companies have been criticized for having gag clauses in land agreements preventing traditional owners from publicly objecting to developments.

“BHP has confirmed to traditional owners that it does not regard any term of its agreements with them as preventing them from making public statements about cultural heritage concerns,” it said in the statement.

Top gold miners book higher all-in sustaining costs in Q2’20 – by Kip Keen (SPG Global – September 15, 2020)

September 16, 2020

https://www.spglobal.com/

The top gold miners saw all-in sustaining costs climb in the second quarter amid mine shutdowns related to COVID-19, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis of 15 large gold producers.

Costs rose for nine of the analyzed gold miners in the second quarter, and the weighted-average mean increased 2.5% to US$987 per ounce of gold across the group. The group comprised producers with more than 500,000 ounces of attributable gold production in 2019.

Centerra Gold Inc. saw the biggest increase in all-in sustaining costs, up 12.9% to US$804/oz, according to the analysis. Evolution Mining Ltd. and Yamana Gold Inc. followed, up 9.7% and 9.0%, respectively, to US$716/oz and US$1,125/oz.

Canadian gold miner shrugs off coup to boost output in Mali – by Felix Njini (Bloomberg News – September 2020)

September 16, 2020

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Canada’s B2Gold Corp. is expanding its gold-mining operations in Mali, undeterred by a military coup and a growing Islamist insurgency in the West African nation.

Mali’s military ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita last month in the country’s second coup in less than 10 years. So far, the country’s gold mines — a key source of revenue — haven’t been affected by the political turmoil.

Vancouver-based B2Gold is not only boosting output at its flagship Fekola mine, but is examining other opportunities both in Mali and across the region.

Kirkland Lake Gold expands exploration footprint into western Quebec – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – September 15, 2020)

September 15, 2020

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Wallbridge eyes cross-border joint venture opportunity with Detour East option

Sudbury’s Wallbridge Mining has inked a term sheet to do a joint venture with Kirkland Lake Gold of its Detour East gold property in northwestern Quebec.

Under the agreement, Kirkland Lake Gold can earn a 75 per cent interest in Detour East by spending a total of $35 million on exploration at the property.

Detour East is an early exploration stage property, 11 kilometres east of Kirkland Lake Gold’s Detour Lake gold mine in northeastern Ontario.

Why I support Shandong Mining’s big new investment in Nunavut – by Leona Aglukkaq (Financial Post – September 15, 2020)

September 15, 2020

https://financialpost.com/

The federal government must soon decide whether to approve Shandong Gold’s acquisition of TMAC Resources. The test is whether the purchase is of net benefit to Canada, including economic benefits with no unacceptable risk to national security.

One might think approving a Chinese acquisition of TMAC, which owns the Hope Bay gold mine in Nunavut, might be risky. But as a Nunavut Inuk, as a TMAC director and shareholder, and as a long-time representative of my community in government, I can tell you the benefits are too great to pass up.

The Nunavut government and Jeannie Ehaloak, MLA for Cambridge Bay, the Nunavut constituency that encompasses the mine, agree. Nunavut needs the investment that Shandong will bring. This investment will help move my region toward economic sustainability.

Two new smaller stacks are ready, decommissioning of Sudbury’s Superstack about to begin – by Molly Frommer (CTV News Northern Ontario – September 10, 2020)

September 15, 2020

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

SUDBURY — Two new, 450-foot stacks are now fully installed and ready to replace the famous Superstack that has been in Sudbury for decades.

The $450 million project began in 2014, and managers with Vale say it was a companion effort to the Clean Atmospheric Emissions Reduction Project (AER).

“That Clean AER project was run in parallel to the service facilities upgrade,” said Darryl Cooke, Vale surface project and studies senior manager. “That was a billion-dollar project for atmospheric emissions reduction.”

Motorcycle hitmen kill Philippine reporter who covered mining – by Pacific Media Watch (Asia Pacific Report – September 15, 2020)

September 15, 2020September 15, 2020

News

Paris-based global media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) suspects that a journalist gunned down yesterday in Sorsogon province, in the eastern Philippines, was killed because of his coverage of the mining industry. The watchdog has urged police to work on this hypothesis.

Jobert Bercasio, also known as “Polpog,” was killed instantly at around 8 pm by five shots fired from an F-16 rifle near his home in the Seabreeze Homes district of Sorsogon City.

Witnesses told police he was shot by two men on a motorcycle who immediately made their getaway. The F-16 is an assault rifle used by the US army, reports RSF.

Rare 102-carat Canadian diamond could be among the world’s most expensive – by Pete Evans (CBC News Business – September 15, 2020)

September 15, 2020

https://www.cbc.ca/

Diamond was unearthed at Victor Mine in Northern Ontario in 2018

A rare 102-carat diamond found in Northern Ontario two years ago could be among the most expensive of its kind in an auction that starts online and is set to culminate in person in Hong Kong in early October.

Mined at DeBeers’ now-closed Victor Mine in 2018, the diamond, about the size of a small egg, was cut from a larger 271-carat rough diamond, and then cut and polished for more than a year.

Those in the industry say the stone has a lot of features going for it. The diamond is known as a Type II diamond, which are among the most chemically pure among naturally occurring diamonds.

Canada to unveil retaliatory measures against United States this week in aluminum dispute – by Steven Chase (Globe and Mail – September 15, 2020)

September 15, 2020

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada this week will unveil the retaliatory measures it’s taking against the United States after President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on Canadian aluminum in August.

An announcement could come as soon as Tuesday, or as late as Wednesday, a government source said. The Globe granted anonymity because the source is not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland last month said the measures would amount to $3.6-billion and would go into effect on Sept. 16. They will be tariffs on U.S. imports, many of which contain aluminum.

DRC illegal mining the dangerous first link in gold supply chain – by Bienvenu-Marie Bakumanya and Samir Tounsi (Yahoo Finance/AFP – September 14, 2020)

September 15, 2020September 15, 2020

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/

Illegal small-scale gold miners in DR Congo, such as those who were killed when their makeshift mine collapsed last week, are the often-exploited first link in a supply chain that extends to Dubai, according to experts.

The bodies of 22 artisanal miners have been recovered as of Monday, a resident at the scene told AFP, after torrential rain flooded their mine in the eastern town of Kamituga three days before.

The mining town’s mayor has said 20 local families have reported missing loved ones. Rescue efforts continued on Monday to find any survivors of the mining disaster, which are all to common in the vast central African country’s volatile east.

Tesla ‘In Talks’ To Establish Carbon-Neutral Nickel Mine – by Matthew Broersma (Silicon.co.uk – September 14, 2020)

September 15, 2020

https://www.silicon.co.uk/

Tesla reportedly in talks with Canada’s Giga Metals to establish environmentally friendly nickel mine in British Columbia as it expands battery production.

Tesla is reportedly in talks with Canadian mining company Giga Metals about developing a large mine to give it access to a ready supply of nickel and cobalt for its electric vehicle batteries.

The mine, located in north-central British Columbia, would also offer a way for Tesla to reduce its carbon footprint as it expands battery production, Reuters reported late on Friday.