Republic of Mining

Skeena gains full ownership of past-producing Eskay Creek from Barrick – by Mariaan Webb (MiningWeekly.com – July 7, 2020)

July 8, 2020

https://m.miningweekly.com/

TSX-V-listed Skeena Resources will exercise its option to acquire the Eskay Creek gold/silver project, in the Golden Triangle of north-west British Columbia, from gold major Barrick Gold. Barrick has also agreed to waive its back-in right on Eskay Creek.

As a result of the transaction, Barrick will be a significant shareholder in Skeena, owning about 12.4%. If Barrick were to exercise the warrants, its ownership of Skeena would increase to 17.2% on a partially diluted basis and Skeena would receive cash proceeds of C$30.4-million.

“Skeena is honoured to have Barrick as a significant shareholder as we endeavour to revitalise Eskay Creek, the former highest-grade, past-producing gold mine in the world,” said Skeena CEO Walter Coles in a statement on Monday.

Laying the tracks for future prosperity in the North – by Betsy Kennedy (National Post – July 8, 2020)

July 8, 2020

https://nationalpost.com/

The Bayline railroad has been a part of our Cree family for decades. My grandfather, Adam Dyck, who grew up in Split Lake, Man. (now known as the Tatskweyak Cree Nation) worked the Bayline, the affectionate name for the Hudson Bay Railway, which runs for 1,300 kilometres through northeastern Saskatchewan and northern Manitoba.

My father, uncle and son worked for the railway and I have another uncle who was born on the train. His name? Bayline Dyck. Not to be outdone by my uncle, I was born at a railroad work camp south of Churchill, Man.

We are like many First Nations families who have been tied to the railroad for generations and that is why we cannot stand idly by and watch it die. For us, and for non-Indigenous communities of northern Manitoba, it is a lifeline.

Gold miners glitter as prices near 9-year high — and fund managers expect both to climb higher – by Neil Hume (Financial Post/Financial Times – July 6, 2020)

July 8, 2020

https://business.financialpost.com/

Gold miners’ share prices are soaring with the value of the precious metal, while increased dividends are helping push these stocks higher still.

The spot price of gold has risen 17 per cent so far this year and is closing in on US$1,800 an ounce for the first time in nine years.

The commodity, commonly treated as a reliable store of value by investors, has benefited from nerves over the spread of COVID-19 and the outlook for global trade — and rock-bottom yields available on other haven assets.

Researchers find clues of Ice Age people mining for ochre in Mexican caves – by Ivan Semeniuk (Globe and Mail – July 4, 2020)

July 8, 2020

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

More than 10,000 years ago, the limestone caves near Tulum, Mexico, were an irresistible and occasionally fatal attraction for some of the earliest inhabitants of North America – a past that was preserved for the ages when the caves were inundated with water.

Now, through a series of spectacular finds, an international team of divers and scientists has revealed what drew at least some ancient people into those labyrinthine depths: They were mining for ochre.

The discovery opens a new window into one of the most intriguing archeological sites in the Americas, connecting those who used it to the rust-coloured mineral that has been valued since the dawn of humanity.

When it comes to Canada-China relations, it is time to look North – by Jessica Shadian and Erica Wallis (Policy Options – July 7, 2020)

July 8, 2020

Policy Options – Institute for Research on Public Policy

Canada could chart a new course for its relationship with China, and protect our interests, by thinking more strategically about the North.

If there is one thing that the COVID-19 crisis has not brought to a halt, it is China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a global network of land and maritime infrastructure projects. In fact, while businesses around the world fold or face bankruptcies, China is taking this opportunity to make the most of the global liquidation sale, including in Canada.

During May’s chaotic lockdown, China entered a bid to buy a struggling Northern mining company, TMAC Resources. TMAC operates the Doris North gold mine at its Hope Bay property in Nunavut. The property up until very recently was labelled as “Canada’s next gold mining district,” but TMAC encountered operational challenges.

In late June, TMAC’s shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of the company’s sale to the second-largest gold mine company in China, state-owned Shandong Gold Mining Co. (“SD Gold”). Only five years ago, TMAC had successfully raised several hundred million dollars and began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

North: New Inuit benefit agreement worth $1B over life of Mary River Mine – by Beth Brown (CBC News North – July 7, 2020)

July 7, 2020

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

Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association have a new agreement for Inuit oversight of the Mary River Mine. Officials from both groups say it will be worth more than $1 billion over the life of the iron ore mine.

Announced Monday, the Inuit Certainty Agreement was signed on June 16. It’s been in the works since an environmental review of the mine’s production and rail expansion ended abruptly last fall, says PJ Akeeagok, president of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.

The new, legally binding agreement clears up most technical concerns that previously left the Baffin Inuit organization unable to support the Nunavut Impact Review Board’s hearing for the phase-two expansion, which would increase production at Mary River.

Ivanhoe keeps Kakula copper project ahead of schedule – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – July 6, 2020)

July 7, 2020

https://www.mining.com/

Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN) said on Monday that progress at its Kakula copper project, the first of multiple planned mining areas at Kamoa-Kakula in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues ahead of schedule.

The company, together with its joint venture (JV) partner China’s Zijin Mining Group, has now completed more than 17 km of underground development, of which 5.1 kms is ahead of schedule.

Ivanhoe also said that Kakula’s 2,000-tonne-per-hour ore conveyor system began operations in June, which will further increase the mine’s pace of underground development.

Rio Tinto not interested in any part of Dominion Diamond Mines – by Richard Gleeson (CBC News Canada North – July 6, 2020)

July 7, 2020

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

The company thought to be the most logical to partner with or purchase Dominion Diamond Mines is not interested in the troubled diamond company.

In a recent affidavit, former Dominion CEO and former N.W.T. cabinet minister Brendan Bell says Dominion’s partner in the Diavik diamond mine — Diavik Diamond Mines Inc., a subsidiary of global mining giant Rio Tinto — is the most obvious candidate to purchase Dominion’s 40 per cent stake in the Diavik diamond mine and also to purchase the Ekati mine, which Dominion owns 90 per cent of.

Dominion is in the process of restructuring or being sold, having been granted creditor protection in April.

Glencore’s former Ulan coal mine rehabilitated into natural habitat (Australian Mining – July 7, 2020)

July 7, 2020

Home

Glencore has transformed 52 hectares of the formerly mined land at the Ulan coal operation in New South Wales into a habitat for a diverse range of native plants and animals.

The rehabilitation efforts have been signed off by the New South Wales resources regulator for meeting the agreed completion criteria, having reached an appropriate post-mining state.

Government sign-off means that the Ulan site has reached the completion criteria and that with continued monitoring and maintenance, it will produce a self-sustaining ecosystem.

Revealed: the Sun’s secret plan to become a lithium factory – by Simon Campbell and Yerra Bharat Kumar (The Conversation – July 6, 2020)

July 7, 2020

https://theconversation.com/

Simon Campbell is a senior research fellow and ARC Future Fellow, Monash University and Yerra Bharat Kumar is a postdoctoral fellow, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Lithium is used in everything from medication to mobile phone batteries, but where does it come from? We know it is mined here on Earth, but where it is created in the universe is less well understood.

We studied hundreds of thousands of stars like our own Sun and found they produce huge amounts of lithium late in their lives. This discovery, published today in Nature Astronomy, was not predicted by our best models of stars, indicating that some physical process must be missing from stellar theory.

State, Campbell County pursue rare earth opportunities – by Greg Johnson (Wyoming Tribune Eagle – July 7, 2020)

July 7, 2020

https://www.wyomingnews.com/

GILLETTE — As flagging coal and oil revenues continue to implode the Wyoming budget by hundreds of millions of dollars, momentum is growing for a more down-to-earth solution.

A push to resurrect the nation’s ability to produce and refine rare earth elements has made some people wonder whether that also could be the phoenix that rises from the ashes of the Powder River Basin’s legacy coal mining industry.

More specifically, from the ash produced by area coal-fired power plants. Typically a waste product of burning coal to make electricity, coal ash also contains rare earths, which are elements with unique properties that are essential for many technologies like electronics, health care equipment and national defense.

Lunar gold rush: can Moon mining ever take off? – by Matthew Hall (Mining Technology – July 6, 2020)

July 7, 2020

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

The Moon could harbour more metals than had previously been believed beneath its surface, according to research conducted using NASA data. The new revelations about the Moon’s geological composition may affect theories as to the celestial body’s origin, but the news will also pique the interest of aspiring Moon miners.

The US Government has recently floated the idea of mining the Moon, but what does this new development mean for a lunar gold rush?

New evidence that the Moon may be rich in metals such as iron and titanium was discovered using data from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administrations’ (NASA) Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft.

Uranium: A bull market is under way (Mining Review Africa – July 6, 2020)

July 7, 2020

https://www.miningreview.com/

The growing uranium supply deficit, currently being accelerated by COVID-19 pandemic related production cuts, has seen the price for uranium skyrocket – making it the world’s best-performing major commodity right now.

With the suspension of operations at four notable uranium mines in March and April, the spot price has surged to US$33/lb in May from $24/lb at the start of the year on the back of this tightening global supply.

This situation is unlikely to change in the near future, which could drive the price higher as long-term demand is set to continue, says Toronto-based Red Cloud Securities. CHANTELLE KOTZE reports.

Bringing coal back – by Robson Fletcher, Drew Anderson and Jordan Omstead (CBC News – July 7, 2020)

July 7, 2020

https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/

In a desperate economic moment, Alberta is abruptly reshaping a decades-old balance in the Rockies and Foothills, chasing opportunity in the volatile market of coal exports, at the risk of the very land that defines the province and its people.

Stand atop Mount Erickson in southeastern British Columbia and it feels like you can see forever.

Look north, and peer along the jagged ridgelines of the High Rock Range, which stretch to the horizon. To the south, snow-capped peaks in the Crowsnest Range cut into the blue sky, rising above dense green forests. Across the valley to the west, row upon row of sawtoothed summits fade into the distance, melding into mesmerizing array.

And then you look down. Down the austere slope, in the valley below, is a massive, open-pit coal mine.

Bill Gates-Backed Company to Hunt for Cobalt Near Glencore Mine – by Jack Farchy (Bloomberg News – July 7, 2020)

July 7, 2020

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — A startup backed by a group of tycoons including Bill Gates plans to use data-crunching algorithms to search for cobalt near a Canadian nickel mine owned by Glencore Plc.

Kobold Metals has acquired rights to an area of about 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) — roughly the size of New York City — in northern Quebec, according to Chief Executive Officer Kurt House. It’s the first such foray by the company to become public.

San Francisco Bay Area-based Kobold Metals is hoping to use data analytics to build a “Google Maps for the earth’s crust.”