Republic of Mining

Rio Tinto Gets Closer to Building Game-Changer African Iron Mine – by David Stringer and Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – July 29, 2020)

July 30, 2020

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/

Rio Tinto Group is accelerating work toward potential development of the giant Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, as half-year earnings showed the steel-making ingredient dominated the second-biggest miner’s profits.

There’s been a longstanding question mark over Rio’s stake in the massive African deposit. For years, a cast of owners including Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz and authorities in the West African nation fought over rights to develop Simandou.

Even with those disputes now settled, Rio must decide whether it’s prepared to spend the large amounts needed to extract and transport the super-rich ore from its part of the project.

Column: Elon Musk should invest in Sudbury – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – July 28, 2020)

July 28, 2020

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Elon Musk is practically begging nickel miners to boost production as potential future shortages would severely impact his ability to manufacture electric vehicles as the metal is a key component for the batteries on which Tesla Inc. depends.

Historically, nickel has always been a boom/bust metal due to the fact the world only produces about 2.1 million metric tonnes of the material a year as opposed to a more commonly used metal like copper at 20 million metric tonnes. And roughly only half of nickel production is of the Class-1 type that is used in batteries that run electric vehicles.

Currently, the cost of nickel is nearing a cyclical bottom, hence the reluctance of nickel miners to invest the possible near billion dollars it takes to bring on a new mine.

Timmins mine developer heeds Elon Musk’s call – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – July 27, 2020)

July 28, 2020

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Elon Musk’s plea for mining companies to “mine more nickel” had an apparent effect on Canada Nickel Company.

The Toronto-based exploration company is pitching its future mine project, north of Timmins, as a zero-emissions operation.

The Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur and electric vehicle maker promised a whopper of a Tesla contract for those producers that mine nickel “efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way” as lithium-ion battery demand starts to pick up.

NEWS RELEASE: VALE COMPLETES TIE-INS OF NEW STACKS (July 28, 2020)

July 28, 2020

Signals Completion of Superstack Being Taken Out of Service

SUDBURY, July 28, 2020 – Vale has completed the final tie-in of the flue systems to the new 450’ (137 metre) Stacks and took its Copper Stack out of service at the Copper Cliff Smelter Complex during its planned maintenance period this month. With these project milestones achieved, Vale can complete the process of taking the Superstack out of service.

“Completing this process of taking the Superstack completely out of service is symbolic of Vale’s evolution towards reducing our environmental footprint with innovative and more sustainable Smelter operations ” said Dino Otranto, Chief Operating Officer for Vale’s North Atlantic Operations and Asian Refineries.

The two smaller and more efficient stacks will require far less energy to operate than the Superstack, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Vale’s Copper Cliff Smelter by approximately 40%. At the same time, Vale’s Clean AER Project will reduce particulate emissions by 40% and dramatically reduce SO2 emissions by 85%.

As gold hits all-time high, Canadian miners step back from its glare – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – July 28, 2020)

July 28, 2020

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Chastened by past missteps, the Canadian gold industry is swapping recklessness for conservatism, and eschewing expensive deal making in favour of dividends, as the price of bullion hits new all-time highs.

On Monday, gold futures traded north of US$1,940 an ounce for the first time, surpassing the previous record of US$1,920 set back in September, 2011. The most-traded August futures settled at US$1,931 an ounce.

The ultimate safe haven investment, gold over the past few months has benefited from unparalleled volatility in financial markets, as the coronavirus has spread around the world and governments attempt to stave off a global depression by injecting trillions in economic stimulus.

New Century, Vale delay nickel mine deal – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – July 28, 2020)

July 28, 2020

https://www.mining.com/

New Century Resources (ASX: NCZ) and Vale (NYSE: VALE) have delayed the deadline for closing the sale of the Brazilian miner’s nickel and cobalt operations on the Pacific island of New Caledonia by 45 days.

The Australian zinc producer entered into a 60-day exclusivity agreement to acquire a 95% stake in Vale Nouvelle Calédonie (VNC), the operator of the troubled Goro nickel-cobalt mine on the French territory, on May 26.

New Century said on Thursday it had made “significant progress” in evaluating the technical and commercial aspects of the transaction, but has not yet finished a definitive binding agreement.

Gold rips up record book as US$2,000 test looms in hunt for haven – by Ranjeetha Pakiam, Justina Vasquez and Elena Mazneva (Bloomberg News – July 27, 2020)

July 28, 2020

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Gold’s unrelenting march higher shows no signs of slowing after a plunge in the U.S. dollar swept prices past the previous high set in 2011 and put the metal on track for even bigger gains.

Bullion’s surge came as a gauge of the U.S. currency sank to the lowest in more than a year, the latest in a long line of bullish factors — including negative real rates in the U.S. and bets the Federal Reserve will keep policy accommodative when it meets this week — that are pushing prices ever higher.

With the world facing an extended period of unprecedented economic and political turmoil, gold’s now got US$2,000 in its sights. Some in the market suggest the haven could rise even beyond that.

Cameco’s uranium production on hold but hopeful for steadying market – by Nykole King (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – July 26, 2020)

July 28, 2020

https://thestarphoenix.com/

Reduced uranium production worldwide has sparked optimism that the market may be steadying.

Mining projects in Saskatchewan will operate to regular capacity this summer, except for Cameco Corp.’s uranium mine.

Cameco’s Cigar Lake uranium mine and SSR Mining Inc.’s Seabee gold operation opted to go into care and maintenance mode in March. A spokesperson for Cameco said the decision was made to protect workers and northern communities against the spread of COVID-19.

“Above all, we would need to have a sufficient degree of comfort that we could restart the mine, maintain production and bring more personnel back to site while still protecting the safety of our workplace, workforce and surrounding communities,” Jeff Hryhoriw said in an email.

Stop the regulatory pancaking – by Robert Lyman (Financial Post – July 28, 2020)

July 28, 2020

https://financialpost.com/

New regulations will only stall billion-dollar energy and transportation projects at precisely the time when economic stimulus is most needed

This month the federal government published new guidelines governing the environmental assessment of the climate effects of certain major projects, including all pipelines, electricity transmission lines, mines and metal mills, nuclear facilities, oil and gas production projects, hydro plants, airports and ports.

The guidelines prescribe how project proponents and the Canadian Impact Assessment Agency are to conduct a “strategic assessment of climate change.”

As a result, proponents will face a daunting set of information and process requirements at each phase of the impact assessment. Projects with a lifetime likely to extend beyond 2050 must provide a plan describing how they will achieve “net-zero emissions” by 2050.

Gold price hits record high as US dollar sinks – by Editor (Mining.com – July 27, 2020)

July 27, 2020

https://www.mining.com/

Gold continued its upward climb on Monday and made history by touching record prices as worries over the coronavirus pandemic and intensifying US-China tensions weighed on investor sentiment.

Spot gold surged 2.0% to $1,940.96 per ounce by 11:15 a.m. EDT. Earlier in the day, the spot price set an all-time high by trading at $1,945.10 per ounce, eclipsing the previous record high set in September 2011.

Gold futures for December delivery, now the most actively traded contract, rose 1.9% to $1,962.40 per ounce on the Comex in New York.

Fort Albany troubled by rapidly approved changes to EA process (Timmins Daily Press – July 25, 2020)

July 27, 2020

https://www.timminspress.com/

Fort Albany Chief Leo Metatawabin says he is troubled by the “rapid and potentially illegal passage” of a bill which he says makes remote Northern communities vulnerable by weakening the environmental assessment process.

“These changes are part of an ongoing effort by this government to overhaul Ontario’s environmental protection regime in support of its promise to ‘cut red tape’ in support of economic interests,” said Metatawabin, in a release issued by the First Nation.

“Too often this has seemed to mean weakening protections for vulnerable species and ecosystems based on the false idea that we can have a healthy economy without a healthy environment.

Sudbury column: Northern mining project an example for all – by Marc Serre (Sudbury Star – July 24, 2020)

July 27, 2020

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Marc Serre is the Liberal MP for Nickel Belt.

The recent confirmation that IAMGOLD received all necessary approvals to start construction at their Côté Gold project site near Gogama was most welcomed news.

This development will greatly benefit Nickel Belt, Greater Sudbury and Northern Ontario socially and economically as we rebuild our economy post-pandemic.

The last few months have certainly been difficult and receiving this positive announcement could not have come at a better time. I’m confident in saying the residents of Gogama are happy this project is moving forward, and I thank them for their patience over the last eight years during the planning period.

Sudbury Accent: Northern Ontario’s mine sector could help Canada out of recession – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – July 25, 2020)

July 27, 2020

(L to R) Antoine Schwartzmann, Stephen Stewart, Charles Beaudry, Keith Benn, Chitrali Sarkar – Kirkland Lake remains a promising place for future gold mines.

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Accent: Junior companies could lead the way

Who says mining is not sustainable? The recent announcement by IAMGOLD to start building a Cda $2 billion Cote Lake open-pit gold mine 140 km north of Sudbury — which will employ 1,000 workers during peak construction and roughly 450 full-time middle-class jobs — is welcome news. The mine life is expected to be around 18 years; however, ongoing exploration may extend the life of mine.

Vale’s Creighton Mine, which started production in 1901, is still going strong 8,000 feet below the surface. The deeper the company goes, the richer the nickel/copper and PGM content of the ore gets.

Kirkland Lake’s Macassa gold mine started production in 1933. With new discoveries at deeper levels and a roughly $320 million investment for a new mine shaft, Kirkland Lake Gold’s CEO Tony Makuch is extending the mine’s life for another 30 to 40 years.

Canada Nickel aims for zero-carbon emissions at Crawford nickel project – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – July 27, 2020)

July 27, 2020

https://www.northernminer.com/

On Tesla’s second quarter conference call last week, Elon Musk entreated the industry to: “Please mine more nickel – Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way.”

Musk’s comments couldn’t have come at a better time for Mark Selby, president and CEO of Canada Nickel (TSXV: CNC), which owns 100% of the Crawford nickel-cobalt sulphide deposit in Ontario.

The company has announced that it is setting up NetZero Metals, a wholly-owned subsidiary that will use existing technologies to produce zero-carbon nickel, cobalt, and iron products.