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Northern Dynasty to share Pebble mine revenue with locals – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – June 17, 2020)

https://www.mining.com/

Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX: NDM), the company behind a proposed massive copper-gold mine in southwest Alaska, has announced a revenue sharing program for full-time residents of Bristol Bay.

The initiative would distribute a 3% of the revenue generated from the Pebble copper-gold-silver mine among adult locals who subscribe as participants of the “Pebble performance dividend” plan.

Northern Dynasty’s subsidiary Pebble Limited Partnership said the dividend would distribute a guaranteed minimum annual payment of $3 million, beginning “at the outset of project construction”.

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ZINC-LEAD: Osisko Metals’ PEA for Pine Point suggests large-scale operation (Canadian Mining Journal – June 16, 2020)

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES – A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for Osisko Metals’ wholly owned Pine Point project outlines an 11,250 t/d open-pit and underground operation, mining 47 small open pits and eight high-grade shallow underground deposits.

The proposed 10-year mine would produce an average of 327 million lb. of zinc and 143 million lb. of lead annually at estimated cash costs of US67¢ per lb. of zinc-equivalent (including smelting, transport and royalties).
With a total initial capital cost of $555.7 million, the after-tax net present value estimate for the project, at an 8% discount rate, stands at $500 million with a 29.6% internal rate of return based on estimated life-of-mine zinc and lead prices of US$1.15 per lb. and US95¢ per lb., respectively.

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Diamonds Snapshot: Six juniors staying in the game – by Alisha Hiyate(Northern Miner – June 13, 2020)

https://www.northernminer.com/

For companies without the size and heft of the big producers De Beers and Alrosa, the diamond space has always been a challenging one – even before the coronavirus pandemic. But with long-term fundamentals that point to a bright future for diamonds, some juniors are finding ways to advance their projects, despite the tough times.

Here’s a look at several active Canadian-based diamond explorers (and one miner), with a focus on the prospective and friendly jurisdictions of Canada and Botswana.

Adia Resources – Adia Resources is a private company held 54% by royalty company and prospect generator Altius Minerals (TSX: ALS; US-OTC: ATUSF). The company is advancing the 1,640-sq.-km Lynx project, near Oxford House, Man., where it has recovered microdiamonds not from kimberlite, but from Archean age volcaniclastic rocks.

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ANALYSIS: Liability: how a new court ruling could put Canadian miners in the dock – by Matthew Hall (Mining Technology – June 17, 2020)

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

In a 5-4 decision back in February 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada gave the green light to Canadian courts to develop new forms of civil liability based on alleged breaches of customary international law.

We speak to McMillan LLP litigation partner and international arbitration co-chair Robert Wisner to find out what the implications of this decision are, and what the landmark case could mean for Canadian mining companies.

Nevsun Resources was a Canadian diversified mining company that was acquired by the Chinese Zijin Mining Group in 2018. One of Nevsun’s principal assets, the Bisha zinc-copper mine in Eritrea, is the subject of the case Nevsun Resources Ltd. v. Araya. Construction began on the Bisha mine in 2008, using workers from the country’s National Service Program.

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Congo mining provinces impose new COVID-19 lockdowns (Reuters U.S. – June 16, 2020)

https://www.reuters.com/

KINSHASA (Reuters) – Authorities in Democratic Republic of Congo’s southeastern mining heartland announced temporary lockdowns on Tuesday in an effort to widen coronavirus testing and prevent a worrying situation from worsening, governors said.

Cases have multiplied in the central African nation despite the imposition of short-term lockdowns in some urban centres and restrictions on movement. A lack of local testing has fanned fears the virus is spreading undetected.

Jacques Kyabula Katwe, governor of the mineral-rich Haut-Katanga province, said a new 48-hour lockdown would come into force in the mining hub of Lubumbashi and the border towns of Kasumbalesa and Kipushi over the coming weekend.

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Gold industry requires $37bn investment to maintain 2019 output (MiningWeekly.com – June 17, 2020)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

he gold industry will need to bring on line eight-million ounces in the next five years to maintain 2019 levels of production, consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie (Woodmac) said on Wednesday, warning that the gold supply summit was in sight.

This equated to about 44 projects and based on the average project capital intensity of $4 610/oz, it would require an investment of about $37-billion in greenfield and restart projects by 2025.

Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, peak gold supply was becoming a real possibility. Now, with exploration programmes paused or cancelled and project disruptions hampering production, the summit is in sight, Woodmac noted.

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Some U.S. aluminum producers are again pushing for tariffs on Canada as others warn of ‘great Canadian distraction’ – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – June 17, 2020)

https://business.financialpost.com/

Tensions around aluminum appear to be rearing their head again even as the new NAFTA is only weeks away from taking effect

Just weeks before Canada’s long-negotiated trade agreement with the U.S. and Mexico is set to take effect, there’s mounting speculation that Washington is preparing to re-introduce tariffs on Canadian aluminum in what’s likely to cause a political uproar with serious economic fallout for the domestic industry.

The U.S. is the primary export destination for Canada’s $13-billion aluminum industry, accounting for 83 per cent of its trade in 2018.

Nonetheless, in recent weeks, aluminum future prices on the Chicago Mercantile Market have risen, which some analysts attribute to behind-the-scenes lobbying efforts by two U.S. aluminum producers, pressure from other aluminum producing countries, and the likelihood that U.S. President Donald Trump will impose new restrictions on Canadian aluminum.

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Biggest Copper Nation Has an Optimistic Take on Hectic News Flow – by Jackie Davalos and James Attwood (Bloomberg News – June 17, 2020)

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

(Bloomberg) — Copper traders are being bombarded with possible price drivers right now — from $1 trillion in U.S. infrastructure spending to a second wave of Covid-19 in China. For Chile’s official forecaster, the upshot is cautiously optimistic.

Prices probably will average more than $2.50 a pound this year, according to Marco Riveros, who heads government agency Cochilco. So far this year, the average has been just below that level.

With demand supported by a recovery in Europe and President Trump’s infrastructure proposal, there’s incentive for Chilean mines to continue operating at near capacity levels, Riveros said in an interview Tuesday.

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UPDATE 1-Peru posts worst-ever drop in GDP as mine output falls sharply – by Marco Aquino (Reuters U.S. – June 15, 2020)

https://www.reuters.com/

LIMA, June 15 (Reuters) – Peru´s economic activity sank 40.49% year-on-year in April, its worst-ever percentage drop in output, as a national lockdown to combat the coronavirus slammed the brakes on industry across the South American nation, the government said on Monday.

Key industries such as mining, fishing, construction and manufacturing all plunged in April, statistics agency INEI said in its monthly economic activity report. Since January, Peru´s economy has shriveled by 13.10%, INEI said.

The drop in output in April was far more severe than anticipated by analysts, who had put the contraction at 33%, a Reuters poll showed.

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Dominion Diamond sues partner in Diavik mine for breach of contract, other allegations – by Sara Minogue (CBC News North – June 16, 2020)

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

Dominion Diamond Mines has filed a lawsuit accusing Diavik Diamond Mines (2012) Inc. — its 60 per cent partner in the Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories — of managing the mine to the benefit of its majority owner, Rio Tinto, and to the detriment of Dominion.

The civil lawsuit, filed Tuesday with the Supreme Court of British Columbia (where Dominion is incorporated), claims Diavik Diamond Mines (DDMI) has continued to make cash calls from Dominion “knowing that Dominion has no ability to pay for such cash calls.”

Cash calls are basically requests from Dominion’s partner in the mine to cover its share of operating costs or other obligations.

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The Oil Spill From Russian Nickel Mine Is Moving Toward The Arctic Ocean (NPR.org – June 16, 2020)

https://www.npr.org/

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

There is an environmental disaster developing in the Arctic. More than 150,000 barrels of diesel oil from a mining complex spewed into a river in northern Russia late last month. It is the biggest oil spill in the Arctic to date. And now the oil slick is moving towards the Arctic Ocean. NPR international affairs correspondent Jackie Northam reports.

JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE: Most Arctic experts agree that the three great concerns for the frozen north are climate change, stranded ships and oil spills.

VICTORIA HERRMANN: To get a response to an oil spill in the Arctic Ocean means that you have to move infrastructure, expertise, ships from more southern ports up to the Arctic.

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Future of Ford’s Oakville assembly plant in danger – by Michael Lewis (Toronto Star – June 17, 2020)

https://www.thestar.com/

The future of Ford Motor Co.’s Oakville Assemby Complex has been thrown into question following reports that one of the primary models assembled there may be discontinued.

Sam Fiorani, vice-president of global vehicle forecasting at Pennsylvania-based AutoForecast Solutions, said the current program for the next generation Edge SUV, which is assembled in Oakville, has been cancelled, to be replaced by more up-to-date products, such as the recently updated Ford Escape and the upcoming new Bronco Sport.

“We have confirmed the information from multiple sources within the industry,” Fiorani, told the Star. “We expect our sources to be correct.”

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[B.C. Gold Mining] THE CARIBOO ROARS AGAIN – by Charles Lugrin Shaw (MACLEAN’S Magazine – May 15, 1933)

https://archive.macleans.ca/

SEVENTY YEARS ago the gold rush to the Cariboo country, in central British Columbia, was the talk of the mining world and the goal of thousands of men who, eager for adventure and the chance of making a quick fortune, answered the alluring call of the gold trail. The creeks of the Cariboo were worked for generations and yielded more than $60,000,000 in placer gold.

Then came the day when mining men regarded the Cariboo with a shrug of indifference and perhaps a sigh of hopelessness. “The Cariboo is through,” they said. “A mining camp never comes back.”

But they spoke too soon. For this year, thousands of miners— some with their wives and children and even their mothers-in-law—have struck out for the glamorous Cariboo to gamble with the capricious goddess of fate that rules all mining camps, just as their predecessors did in the early 1860s. After half a century of peaceful slumber, the historic old goldfield has awakened and is roaring again.

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Western Nunavut gold miner hopes shareholders approve Chinese buyout – by Jane George (Nunatsiaq News – June 16, 2020)

https://nunatsiaq.com/

Only a little more than a week remains before TMAC Resources Inc. shareholders cast their votes on June 26 on whether to support a buyout of the Hope Bay mine in western Nunavut by Shandong Gold Mining Co. Ltd.

If the deal with the Chinese state-owned company, better known as SD Gold, is a go, TMAC president and CEO Jason Neal says the Hope Bay mine will be able to ramp up to full operating levels.

“More importantly, we have acted in the interests of all stakeholders to put Hope Bay on a new trajectory for long-term success,” Neal said in a news release about the deal. He said he hopes TMAC shareholders will approve the buyout at a special meeting in Toronto, on Friday, June 26.

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Pickle Lake to see more gold exploration activity: Argo Gold does a deal with Denison, builds a 7,900-hectare exploration property – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – June 15, 2020)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Argo Gold sees precious metal potential among the banded iron formations near Pickle Lake. The Toronto exploration company picked up 760 hectares of claims in a cash-and-share deal with Denison Mines, then staked some additional claims to create a land package of 7,982 hectares.

The property acquired from Denison Mines, known as the Talbot Lake Gold Project, is 60 kilometres northeast of the town of Pickle Lake.

In a June 11 news release, Argo said Talbot Lake has several unexplored iron formations containing quality gold targets and one partially-explored high grade vein-type gold deposit.

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