Twitter

U.S. mining lobby in push to preserve tax break repealed by Democrats – by Pete Schroeder and Michelle Price (Reuters U.S. – June 24, 2020)

https://www.reuters.com/

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. mining industry is spearheading a lobbying effort to protect a $160 billion pandemic tax break after congressional Democrats largely repealed the provisions in their recent stimulus bill, according to emails and a letter seen by Reuters.

The tax provision folded into the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March has been criticized by Democrats and public advocacy groups as a stealth giveaway for the wealthy. Its exact provenance in the legislation and which interested parties advocated for it remain unclear.

On Monday, more than 70 industry associations wrote to Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Republican-led Senate finance committee on taxation and his Democratic counterpart Ron Wyden, raising concerns that “some in Congress are seeking to reverse these changes” and urging the senators to leave them in place.

Read more

‘Yes’ to commodities, ‘no’ to real estate as investors brace for the rest of 2020 – Wells Fargo – by Anna Golubova (Kitco News – June 23, 2020)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) When considering investment choices for the rest of 2020, look at commodities and not real estate, stated Wells Fargo’s 2020 Midyear Outlook Spotlight report.

The coronavirus crisis has turned the investment world upside down. And as economies begin to recover, Wells Fargo is making significant changes to its investment outlook — saying “yes” to commodities and “no” to real estate.

“As 2020 has unfolded, much has changed, and many investment strategies had to be retooled. In the real assets space, we made two important tactical tweaks. We downgraded real-estate investment trusts (REITs) to unfavorable, and we upgraded commodities to favorable,” said Wells Fargo head of real asset strategy John LaForge.

Read more

ArcelorMittal considers sale of Canadian assets – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – June 22, 2020)

https://www.mining.com/

ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steelmaker, is evaluating the potential sale of its infrastructure assets in Canada, where it has the largest and most profitable iron ore operation, as it seeks to cut debt by divesting non-core businesses.

The facilities the company may put on the chopping block include a 420km-long railway servicing the 24 million tonnes-per-year Mont-Wright iron ore mine in Quebec, FT.com reports.

Selling either the entire ArcelorMittal Infrastructure Canada (AMIC) unit, or a stake in it, would help the Luxembourg-based firm achieve its target of reducing net debt to $7 billion from $9.5 billion currently.

Read more

‘Gushing cash’: iron ore miners a yield favourite – by William McInnes (Australian Financial Review – June 23, 2020)

https://www.afr.com/

A soaring iron ore price has made the major iron ore miners an attractive option for yield-hungry investors, with alternatives scarce in the Australian sharemarket.

The investment case for Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals Group and BHP Group is hard for investors to overlook as dividend cuts and earnings downgrades dominate the rest of the market.

“The major mining companies are in a really strong position,” said Yarra Capital Management’s head of Australian equities, Dion Hershan. “These businesses are literally gushing cash and they have very attractive valuations in a market where it’s really hard to find value.

Read more

Congo officials vow to tackle child labour at mines as virus threatens spike – by Malaicka Adihe (Reuters U.K. – June 23, 2020)

https://uk.reuters.com/

KINSHASA, June 23 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Authorities in Democratic Republic of Congo’s southeastern mining heartland are boosting efforts to tackle child labour amid concerns that the coronavirus pandemic could drive more families to put their children to work in mines, officials said.

Congo is Africa’s main producer of copper and the top global source of cobalt, accounting for two-thirds of global supplies of the metal used in smartphones and electric car batteries.

Mining accounts for 32% of Congo’s national output and the economy has been hard hit by the pandemic, which has slowed demand for metals and other raw materials.

Read more

Gold Drives Toward Highest Since 2012 on Virus Resurgence Concern – by Justina Vasquez and Elena Mazneva (Bloomberg News – June 22, 2020)

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

(Bloomberg) — Spot gold settled at the highest since 2012, supported by concerns over a second wave of coronavirus infections and ongoing expectations of a flood of stimulus measures.

There are increasing signs that the virus is continuing to spread as governments work to reopen their economies. The metal also was boosted by stimulus measures, including the Bank of England adding to its bond buying program last week and the Federal Reserve signaling rates will remain low.

Increased amounts of monetary stimulus tend to support zero-yield gold as a hedge against declining interest rates.

Read more

Eira Thomas Confident Lucara Can Navigate Crisis – by Avi Krawitz (Rapaport Diamond Podcast – June 22, 2020)

https://www.diamonds.net/

RAPAPORT… The diamond mining sector has been hard hit by the coronavirus crisis. There has been a significant drop in demand — when rough sales could even take place — forcing miners to reconsider their production programs for 2020.

However, Lucara Diamond Corp. appears cautiously confident that it has the balance sheet, the sales platform, and the right product mix at its high-value Karowe mine in Botswana, to manage through the crisis.

In a June 16 interview as part of Rapaport’s ‘Recovery Webinar Series’, CEO Eira Thomas outlined her assessment of the diamond market and the company’s plans.

Read more

Europe Targets U.S. Coal, Farms in Election-Year Trade Staredown – by Bryce Baschuk (Bloomberg News – June 23, 2020)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Transatlantic relations could reach a new low next month as the European Union readies tariffs on billions of dollars of American exports aimed at politically important industries for President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress.

The EU has asked the World Trade Organization to give it the green light to place levies on $11.2 billion of U.S. products over a long-running aircraft subsidies dispute. A ruling is expected as soon as July and the EU is planning to target coal producers, farmers and fisheries, in addition to the makers of aircrafts and parts.

The potential flashpoint comes at a sensitive time, with companies struggling under historic virus-induced recessions and as the November presidential election draws sensitive industries, especially in the American heartland, into ongoing trade conflicts.

Read more

The flaw in relying on worst-case-scenario climate model – by Ross McKitrick (Financial Post – June 23, 2020)

https://business.financialpost.com/

Whenever you read a media story about how we’re heading toward catastrophe if we continue operating “business as usual” — i.e., if we don’t slash carbon emissions — the reports are almost always referring to a model simulation using RCP8.5.

And you can bet that nowhere in the story will they explain that RCP8.5 is an implausible worst-case scenario that was never meant to represent a likely base case outcome, or that scientists have begun castigating its usage as a prediction of a doomed business-as-usual future.

The term RCP8.5 refers to a greenhouse gas emissions scenario often used by scientists for climate model projections. You might never have heard of RCP8.5 but you have definitely heard of forecasts based on it.

Read more

Column: Tesla’s reluctant commitment to cobalt a warning to others – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – June 23, 2020)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – The unpredictable Elon Musk strikes again. Just when his electric vehicle (EV) company Tesla seemed to be pivoting away from using cobalt in its batteries, it signs a long-term supply deal for the controversial metal with Glencore.

This from the man who has vowed to eliminate cobalt from the Tesla product mix because of its financial cost and the reputational cost of a metal associated with child labour and poor safety conditions at artisanal mining operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world’s dominant producer.

Tesla’s not the first auto company to lock in future cobalt supplies with a miner. BMW did the same last year, also with Glencore as well as with the Bou-Azzer mine in Morocco.

Read more

The masters of the diamond world are losing control of their tightly held market – by Thomas Biesheuvel and Yuliya Fedorinova (Bloomberg/Financial Post – June 22, 2020)

https://business.financialpost.com/

For decades, shopping for uncut diamonds was a tightly scripted affair: First, persuade De Beers to add you to its list of handpicked customers. Then, 10 times a year, attend a week-long sale to buy exactly the amount De Beers offers you at whatever price it chooses.

The system, which works more or less the same at Russian rival Alrosa PJSC, gave the two miners a tight grip on their market. With the coronavirus wreaking havoc through the industry, that control is now disintegrating.

De Beers struggled to generate much interest from its customers to even look at this month’s diamond sale, despite bending over backward to attract purchases, according to people familiar with the matter.

Read more

Glencore faces Swiss probe over alleged Congo corruption (Swiss Info – June 20, 2020)

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has opened a criminal probe into Swiss-based commodity trader and miner Glencore over alleged corruption in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it mines copper and cobalt.

Glencore said in a statement on June 19 that the Swiss criminal investigation was for the multinational’s “failure to have the organizational measures in place to prevent alleged corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo currently under investigation by the OAG”.

The Zug-based firm, which is subject to various international inquiries, said it would cooperate with the probe, but declined to comment further.

Read more

Trump considering reinstating tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel imports – by Adrian Morrow (Globe and Mail – June 19, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Trump administration is floating the possibility of reimposing tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports amid lobbying from American producers, and has been in talks with Ottawa.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lightizer told congressional hearings Wednesday that rising metals imports are “a problem with Canada that we’re working on.”

“There have been surges on steel and aluminum,” he said. “It’s something that’s of genuine concern.”

Read more

Monarch Gold compiles data on Barrick original asset – by Staff (Mining.com – June 19, 2020)

https://www.mining.com/

Monarch Gold (TSX: MQR) announced that it will be undertaking a vast, detailed compilation and 3D modelling program on its Camflo property in Quebec, Canada.

Camflo is known for being Barrick Gold’s original asset. The property, located 15 kilometres northwest of Val-d’Or and 6 kilometres northeast of Malartic, includes the old Camflo mine and fully permitted mill and consists of 38 mining claims and one mining concession covering a total area of 948 hectares.

Camflo Mines discovered the deposit in 1962 while drilling distinct magnetic features. In 1984, Barrick Resources (later renamed American Barrick) merged with Camflo Mines and the deposit became Barrick’s first substantial asset.

Read more

World’s ultra-wealthy go for gold amid stimulus bonanza – by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi and Simon Jessop (Reuters U.S. – June 18, 2020)

https://www.reuters.com/

ZURICH/LONDON (Reuters) – As stock markets roar back from the coronavirus-led rout, advisers to the world’s wealthy are urging them to hold more gold, questioning the strength of the rally and the long-term impact of global central banks’ cash splurge.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, most private banks recommended their clients hold none or just a tiny amount of gold.

Now some are channelling up to 10% of their clients’ portfolios into the yellow metal as the massive central bank stimulus reduces bond yields – making non-yielding gold more attractive – and raises the risk of inflation that would devalue other assets and currencies.

Read more