Republic of Mining

Iron Ore Boom Generates 700% Gross Profit Margins For Big Miners – by Tim Treadgold (Forbes Magazine – July 14, 2020)

July 14, 2020

https://www.forbes.com/

The iron ore boom powering the profits of the world’s biggest mining companies is showing no sign of fading thanks to stronger-than-expected Chinese steel demand.

Despite multiple forecasts over the past 12-months that the iron ore price was overdue for a fall it has done exactly the opposite, rising this week to a new 2020 high of $107 a ton, up 30% over the past four months.

Given that the biggest miners produce iron ore at a cash cost of around $13/t that latest price implies a gross profit margin, before accounting and other charges, of close to 700%.

Timmins could be hosting a monster nickel deposit – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – July 14, 2020)

July 14, 2020

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Poised for a nickel rush, Canada Nickel is confident its Crawford nickel-cobalt sulphide project could be a global-scale producer

Does nickel in Timmins have the glamour of gold? There have been significant nickel finds in the rock formations around the famed northeastern Ontario mining camp but the production results always fell short of expectations.

Canada Nickel Company’s Crawford nickel-cobalt sulphide project could quickly be changing that narrative.

Helmed by one of the world’s foremost nickel experts, company chair and CEO Mark Selby believes the 4,900-hectare property, 40 kilometres north of Timmins, has the potential to be a world-class, district-scale deposit.

Revival of North American economy will negate need for aluminum tariffs, Trudeau tells Trump – by James McCarten (Canadian Press/Globe and Mail – July 14, 2020)

July 14, 2020

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged U.S. President Donald Trump to think twice Monday before imposing new tariffs on Canadian aluminum, saying the sector is emerging from the pandemic-induced production stance that prompted the White House to consider such measures in the first place.

Mr. Trudeau, who said in a news conference he had spoken to the U.S. President earlier in the day, told him that with the North American economy getting back up to speed, Canada’s aluminum smelters would soon be back producing value-added specialty products for the U.S. auto sector.

The spectre of new tariffs emerged last month after Canadian producers, unable to shut down production and with their usual customers hamstrung by the impact of COVID-19, were forced to make a more generic form of aluminum and ship it to warehouses in the U.S.

‘Spectacular numbers’: As the price of gold rises above $1,800, miners eye expensive Canadian projects – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – July 14, 2020)

July 14, 2020

https://financialpost.com/

For years, Toronto-based Iamgold Corp. had been studying the cost of building its Côté mine in northeastern Ontario, but many shareholders often pushed back because of the high price tag associated with construction, estimated around $1.1 billion.

Last August, then-chief executive Stephen Letwin said construction costs made it “just a non-starter.” “I would say, the message has been loud and clear from our shareholders,” Letwin said during a conference call at that time. “We want smaller projects, less capital-intensive projects” than Côté.

Less than a year later, the project’s back on the table and looking more likely as the price of gold surges above US$1,800 per ounce — an altitude that has almost never been reached, save for about a roughly month-long period in 2011, when it hit an all-time high of US$1,917.90.

NEWS RELEASE: Save Canadian Mining Encouraged by the Consultation Report Released by Ontario’s Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce

July 13, 2020

Home

Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce Consultation Report: https://bit.ly/3iYMA58

Toronto, Ontario–(Newsfile Corp. – July 13, 2020) – Save Canadian Mining (SCM) today responded to the 47 policy proposals contained within the consultation report released by Ontario’s Capital Markets Modernization taskforce last week. The advocacy group, which includes many junior mining companies as well as mining associations and TSX Venture Exchange, was pleased with the attention paid to predatory short selling, which they claim has disproportionately impacted the junior mining sector for years.

“We commend the work of the taskforce and are encouraged that our message on the need for more regulatory oversight of predatory short selling has been heard. We remain hopeful that the final recommendations will include an endorsement of the “tick test” and that the government decides to reinstate this critical safeguard,” said Terry Lynch, Executive Director of SCM.

SCM has been raising awareness for the importance of the tick test (among other regulatory and structural issues within Canada’s capital markets) since the advocacy group launched in November of last year.

Premier Gold Mines nabs wastewater permit for Geraldton gold mine project – by Staff (Northern Ontario Businss – July 13, 2020)

July 13, 2020

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Open-pit mine could operate for 15 years, provide jobs for 450

Premier Gold Mines has received a federal wastewater permit for its open-pit gold mine project near Geraldton.

The Thunder Bay miner and mineral explorer called receiving approval of a Schedule 2 amendment of the Metal and Diamod Mining Effluent Regulations a significant environmental permitting milestone for its Hardrock mine project.

The Hardrock project is a proposed open-pit gold mine with an on-site processing mill and mine tailings facility, located immediately south of the community and 275 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.

We were first to smelt chromium. And then the fire happened (Soo Today – July 7, 2020)

July 13, 2020

https://www.sootoday.com/

From the archives of the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library:

Sault Ste. Marie’s Chromium Mining and Smelting Corporation plant was located on Queen Street West between Huron and Hudson, in the area of what is now the city’s transit facility.

The plant first began smelting chromium in in the 1930s, when it was the first instance of chromium smelting in the British Empire. From there, the plant quickly expanded to meet demand.

And then, in 1947, a fire roared through part of Sault Ste. Marie, originating from the plant.

Red Lake District: Home to High-Grade Gold Deposits and Great Bear Resources, a Gold Rush Catalyst (The Deep Dive – July 12, 2020)

July 13, 2020

https://thedeepdive.ca/

The Red Lake mining district in Northwestern Ontario is best known for its high-grade gold deposits, with historical production exceeding 30 million ounces of gold, mostly from the iconic Campbell and Red Lake gold mines and ten smaller mines.

A number of factors such as declining gold reserves, global economic instability, and a rise in the price of gold have led to a resurgence in gold exploration. Recent new discoveries in the Red Lake district, with Great Bear Resources (TSXV: GBR) leading the pack, have led to what amounts to another gold rush.

Geology

Commonly referred to as the Campbell-Red Lake gold deposit, the Campbell and Red Lake mines are located in the Red Lake Uchi Subprovince – Superior Province Greenstone Belt, considered to be one of Canada’s largest Archean gold deposits. The bedrock in Red Lake, primarily basalt, was formed 2.85 billion years ago during the early Neoarchean period, and gold has been dated back 2.7 billion years ago during the Uchiyan Phase of the region’s formation.

OPINION: Environmentalists’ new tack signals even more difficult era for pipelines – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – July 10, 2020)

July 13, 2020

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Environmentalists have taken a new, and clever, tack in their war against the hydrocarbon economy. As well as going after the companies that pump oil and natural gas, they are going after the companies that transport those products – the pipelines.

And they’re winning. In the past week, three big pipeline projects have taken severe blows.

On Monday, a U.S. federal judge ruled that the Dakota Access Pipeline, which had been in operation and was taking oil from North Dakota to Illinois, must shut down while a new environmental review is conducted. Construction of the pipeline, which is partly owned by Canada’s Enbridge, was fiercely opposed by Native American groups.

Calls for tariffs on Canadian aluminum come with a Glencore twist – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – July 11, 2020)

July 13, 2020

https://financialpost.com/

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement was supposed to mark a new era in trade relations between Ottawa and Washington. Instead it came into force on July 1 overshadowed by the Trump Administration’s threats to re-impose tariffs on Canadian aluminum.

While political analysts have speculated about whether the tough talk, which began last month, may have had more to do with re-election campaigning than economic policy, inside aluminum industry circles the possibility of new tariffs has raised eyebrows for other reasons.

That’s because one of the world’s largest commodities players, Switzerland-based Glencore Plc — which mines nickel, copper, zinc and thermal coal in Canada and has partnerships worth billions of dollars with some of this country’s largest pension plans — is a major investor in a Chicago-based aluminum producer closely tied to the tariff fight.

IN-DEPTH: The battle for the ‘breathing lands’: Ontario’s Ring of Fire and the fate of its carbon-rich peatlands – by James Wilt (The Narwhal – July 11, 2020)

July 13, 2020

The Narwhal

Northern Ontario’s muskeg serves as home to dozens of First Nations, stores immense amounts of carbon and sits on top of vast mineral deposits. Whose vision for the bogs and fens will win out?

Compared to the Amazon or Great Bear Rainforest, the sprawling peatlands of Ontario’s Far North might seem a bit, well, boring. “People don’t wake up and go ‘oh yeah, woohoo, decomposing organic material is the best!’ says Anna Baggio, the director of conservation planning for Wildlands League, in an interview with The Narwhal. “It’s not sexy. But it’s hugely valuable and we can’t even begin to get our heads around it.”

It’s true: Ontario’s peatlands — or muskeg, as the wetland ecosystem is often called — offer a mind-boggling range of ecological benefits.

Like tropical and temperate rainforests, the peatlands sequester a huge amount of carbon, storing an estimated 35 billion tonnes of carbon in Ontario’s Far North alone (that’s equivalent to annual emissions from seven billion cars). The peatlands also serve as critical habitat for wildlife including caribou, wolverines and many migratory birds.

Red Lake mine developer kicks dirt on the past: Rubicon Minerals finalizes name change to Battle North Gold – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – July 8, 2020)

July 8, 2020

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Management and shareholders of the former Rubicon Minerals want to put a tarnished past firmly in the rear view mirror.

The Toronto mine developer announced July 7 that it has completed its corporate name change to Battle North Gold, a moniker that management believes is better reflective of its new culture of “perseverance, determination, tenacity and resilience.”

Shareholders backed the name change at the company’s June 22 annual general meeting. “This is the dawn of a new era for Battle North Gold, its shareholders and stakeholders,” said company CEO George Ogilvie in a statement.

79North taps into Suriname’s Guiana Shield – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – July 7, 2020)

July 8, 2020

https://www.northernminer.com/

Exploration geologist Jon North was attending Mille Miglia – the annual re-enactment of the classic car race from Brescia in the foothills of the Italian Alps to Rome and back – when he met Oscar Louzada.

Louzada, a Dutch mining investor who had worked in Canaccord Genuity’s London office for several years, bonded with North over their mutual appreciation for “sexy European cars” and the two attended the event as part of a larger group of friends from Holland, Switzerland and Italy for many years.

“I grew up in Windsor so I have gasoline in my veins,” jokes North, who drives a 2007 Ducati S2R 100 and a 2015 Ducati MS 1200, noting that the motorcycles give him “street cred” with his Italian friends.

Electric Vehicles Are Starting to Buoy the Global Metals Market – by Yvonne Yue Li (Bloomberg News – July 7, 2020)

July 8, 2020

https://www.bloombergquint.com/

The market gloom over the metals that will power the cars of the future is starting to lift. Supply overhangs and then the coronavirus pandemic had crushed short-term prospects for the minerals used to make rechargeable batteries.

But new government commitments to green transport in China and Europe, as well as curtailments to mining and future investments, have led to a growing consensus the markets are bottoming out.

Add in the fact that battery technologies are continuing to get cheaper, and there’s reason to be bullish “over the next few years once we get through the current predicament,” said Chris Berry, president of House Mountain Partners, an industry consultant.

Of cars and cans: US aluminum and the pandemic – by Sarah Baltic (SP Global – July 7, 2020)

July 8, 2020

https://www.spglobal.com/en/

The coronavirus pandemic has obliterated global metals demand as one of the main end uses, automotive applications, has seen major disruptions to the supply chain.

The US metals market, in particular, saw the removal of an estimated 33,000 vehicles per day from production as all major auto producers across the country halted operations in response to government mandates and concerns over the welfare of workers.

Because the transportation sector is the largest end user of aluminum, accounting for around 35% of aluminum consumption, it is easy to see why so many market participants expressed concern over the lingering effects coronavirus would have on the health of the industry.