Republic of Mining

Exclusive: Sudan militia leader grew rich by selling gold – by Khalid Abdelaziz, Michael Georgy and Maha El Dahan (Reuters U.S. – November 26, 2019)

November 27, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Late last year, as President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s hold on power weakened, one of Sudan’s most feared militia leaders lashed out against the government of his long-time ally and benefactor.

In a speech to cheering troops, militia chief Mohamed “Hemedti” Hamdan Dagalo sympathised with the thousands of protesters who had poured onto the streets in December demanding food, fuel and an end to corruption. He hit out at officials “who take what isn’t theirs.” “There are some people who are doing great harm, and they are the officials, not the poor,” he raged.

After years of loyally supporting Bashir, Hemedti took part in the military coup that toppled the leader in April and is now a senior figure in the transitional government that is preparing the ground for elections in three years’ time. Under the constitution, members of the transitional government aren’t allowed to engage in private business activity.

Matawa Chiefs – “Matawa member First Nations will lead and deliver the next economic boom of this province” – by Staff (NetNewsLedger.com – November 26, 2019)

November 27, 2019

http://www.netnewsledger.com/

THUNDER BAY – “Matawa member First Nations will lead and deliver the next economic boom of this province. Equitable partnerships between Matawa First Nations-Government-Industry will result in investment opportunities on a national and international scale. Matawa First Nations are the partners and investors of certainty required for economic and social prosperity,” says Chief Harvey Yesno, Eabametoong First Nation.

“Matawa First Nations are fully aware of the potential impacts to our Inherent Aboriginal and Treaty Rights with the anticipated significant developments that will occur on our homelands. In today’s environment, it would be absurd and negligent for our communities not to call on the Ontario government to develop a new Crown-Inherent Aboriginal Rights-Treaty approach to develop the North,” states Chief Celia Echum, Ginoogaming First Nation.

The Chiefs of the Matawa First Nations (MFN) presented to the Ontario Standing Committee on General Government (SC-GG) regarding Bill 132, also known as ‘An Act to reduce burdens on people and businesses by enacting, amending and repealing various Act and revoking various Regulations’ tabled on Monday, October 28, 2019 by the Hon. Prabmeet Sarkaria, Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction.

Aurania finds evidence of highly sought-after lost gold city in Ecuador – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – November 27, 2019)

November 27, 2019

https://www.mining.com/

Canadian junior Aurania Resources (TSX-V: ARU) said on Wednesday it had found vestiges of an old road at the very centre of its flagship asset, The Lost Cities – Cutucu project, which it believes provides solid field evidence of its project being at one of Ecuador’s lost gold mining centres.

The road, the company said, was discovered by its field teams while searching for “Sevilla de Oro,” which was one of two gold producing cities described in historic manuscripts from Ecuador, Peru, Spain and the Vatican.

Those records talk about Spanish settlers operating two gold mines between about 1565 and 1606. The path discovered by Aurania’s exploration teams is thought to be the one that linked “Sevilla de Oro” to the other gold mining centre — “Logroño de los Caballeros” — described in the historic manuscripts.

Portugal’s Lusorecursos in talks to fund 400 mln euro lithium project – by Sergio Goncalves (Reuters U.S. – November 27, 2019)

November 27, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

LISBON, Nov 27 (Reuters) – Portuguese mining company Lusorecursos said on Wednesday it was negotiating a 400 million euro funding deal with several international players as it gears up to explore for lithium in the country’s northern region.

Portugal is Europe’s biggest lithium producer, but its miners sell almost exclusively to the ceramics industry and are only now preparing to produce the higher-grade lithium that is used in electric cars and to power electronic appliances.

Lusorecursos was awarded a concession to explore a mine in Montalegre, near the Portugal-Spain border, in March this year but final approval depends on the outcome of an environmental impact study.

Next up for precious metals: An IPO for a company that funds mining projects – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – November 27, 2019)

November 27, 2019

https://business.financialpost.com/

It’s the latest sign that rising gold prices are giving Canada’s mining market a shot in the arm

In the latest sign that rising gold prices are giving Canada’s mining market a shot in the arm, Toronto-based Triple Flag Precious Metals Corp. has announced plans to raise $360 million through an initial public offering scheduled for next year.

The company, which finances mining projects for a cut of the revenue produced by the mine, known as royalties or streams depending on the details, was founded in 2016 by former Barrick Gold Corp. executive Shaun Usmar with backing from Elliott Management, a U.S. hedge fund known for its activism.

Now, with gold prices rising and the equity financings still slow for mining companies, Triple Flag said it plans to open up a 17 per cent stake in the company to public investment, by issuing 20 million shares, priced between $15 and $18. Elliot Management would retain control of 83 per cent of the company, or about 97 million shares.

UPDATE 1-Bougainville mining expectations rise amid peaceful referendum – by Jonathan Barrett (Reuters U.S. – November 26, 2019)

November 27, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

SYDNEY, Nov 26 (Reuters) – An independence referendum in Bougainville has reignited interest in copper mining in the South Pacific island, causing a surge in the shares of the former operator of the mine that sparked the region’s war to secede from Papua New Guinea.

Shares in Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL), the former operator of the giant Panguna gold and copper mine, have more than tripled since early last week to trade at above A$0.40 late on Tuesday. This coincides with the start of a non-binding independence referendum in Papua New Guinea’s region of Bougainville that has begun peacefully and will run until Dec. 7.

The vote is a key part of a peace agreement reached in the aftermath of a decade-long war between Bougainville’s rebel fighters and Papua New Guinea forces that ended in 1998 and killed 20,000.

Editorial: Thompson mining’s future looking brighter, but when? (Thompson Citizen – November 27, 2019)

November 27, 2019

https://www.thompsoncitizen.net/

Although it wasn’t really that long ago that the mining industry was booming in Thompson – if you’ve lived here longer than 10 years, you experienced at least part of it – it might feel like it’s mostly been gloom and doom for a long time because, for the most part, it has.

The 2008 global recession, which was a bit delayed in arriving in Thompson, although eventually it did, was only first starting to be felt when Vale announced nine years ago this month that it had plans to shut down the smelter and refinery in Thompson for good.

At the time that it was first announced, the proposed shutdown date was 2015, though that was later pushed back three years, with operations ceasing about midway through 2018. A bit more than a year before that, Birchtree Mine was placed on care and maintenance status, resulting in the loss of more than 100 jobs.

OPINION: Shining a little light on the Mary River process – by Ken Armstrong (Nunatsiaq News – November 26, 2019)

November 27, 2019

https://nunatsiaq.com/

Ken Armstrong is the President of the NWT-Nunavut Chamber of Mines.

The current impasse that phase two of the Mary River project finds itself in is of great interest and also concern to investors and industry watchers. We’d like to shine some light on three aspects of this process.

First, there has been recent criticism of Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. for positioning several buildings and construction materials, needed for the phase two railway expansion, before approvals for the railway are in place.

Operating in the North is challenging, with remote projects relying on limited transportation infrastructure and seasonal shipping windows. For northern resource projects, it is not uncommon to pre-position equipment at or near a project site in advance of receiving required permits.

CN Rail strike ends with tentative deal with union, but fallout continues for farmers, miners – by Emily Jackson and Naomi Powell (Financial Post – November 26, 2019)

November 27, 2019

https://business.financialpost.com/

Canadian National Railway and Teamsters Canada reached a tentative agreement to renew the collective agreement for 3,200 conductors and yard crews, ending a week-long strike that choked the country’s rail capacity at a critical shipping time for farmers.

Employees can return to work as early as Tuesday at 2 p.m., with normal operations resuming Wednesday at 6 a.m., according to statements from CN and the union. The parties have agreed to no further job action during the ratification process, which is expected to take eight weeks.

Details of the agreement will not be revealed until members vote on the deal by secret ballot, but the union previously said the dispute was over long hours and fatigue that led to what it characterized as dangerous working conditions.

Ecuador to tighten rules for mining waste dams to avoid repeat of Brazil disaster – by Alexandra Valencia (Reuters U.S. – November 26, 2019)

November 27, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuador’s government plans to tighten rules regulating the construction and operation of mining waste dams to avoid disasters like one in Brazil in January when a dam owned by Vale SA collapsed, killing hundreds.

Vice Minister of Mining Fernando Benalcazar told Reuters the new rules will take effect in December and will prohibit the building of so-called tailings dams close to populated areas and ban certain designs that are considered less stable.

Public trust in the mining industry has plunged since the disaster in Brazil, spurring calls to bolster safety at tailings dams, which are used to store the muddy detritus of the mining process and can be dozens of meters high.

The World’s Biggest Battery Recycler Is Helping Fuel The Future of Cars (Bloomberg News – November 26, 2019)

November 26, 2019

https://www.bloombergquint.com/

(Bloomberg) — The former university professor leading one of the firms most crucial to the future of transport has a warning for anyone eyeing his patch.

“I want to tell everyone who wants to enter this market: don’t do it, you are wasting your money,” said Xu Kaihua, chairman of Chinese battery metals maker GEM Co. “Only the top five will survive.”

The firm Xu founded in Shenzhen in 2001 has adopted an expansive business model that’s made it central to supply chains stretching from the cobalt and nickel mines of Africa and Southeast Asia to the motors of Volkswagen and BMW cars. GEM’s diverse footprint includes a plant in Indonesia that will allow it to avoid that nation’s export ban on nickel, a key raw material. And, the company is already the world’s biggest recycler of metals from used batteries.

Chile urges copper mining companies to stay calm amid unrest – by Fabian Cambero (Reuters U.S. – November 25, 2019)

November 26, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Chile, the world’s top copper producer, reassured jittery mining companies on Monday, saying it would do everything possible to provide a business-friendly environment even as a month of riots across the country have left more than 20 dead and billions in damages.

Chile’s copper mines have mostly maintained production and kept operations running normally in the face of the unrest, with only scattered incidents reported.

But top miners, including Poland’s KGHM Polska Miedz SA, have recently expressed concern about longer-term prospects as the country assesses rewriting its constitution and overhauling tax laws to quell protests. Mining Minister Baldo Prokurica acknowledged their concerns.

Government of Nunavut looks to mines for housing help – by Derek Neary (Nunavut News – November 24, 2019)

November 26, 2019

https://nunavutnews.com/

Should mining companies be constructing residences for their employees living in the North? Nunavut’s housing minister is turning to industry for assistance.

“We have no choice but to work in partnership with industry to resolve our housing challenges,” Patterk Netser said in the legislative assembly in February after Rankin Inlet North-Chesterfield Inlet MLA Cathy Towtongie pointed out that the Government of Nunavut’s 2017 memorandum of understanding with Agnico Eagle makes reference to housing as one of 10 priority areas for collaboration.

Netser told NWT and Nunavut Mining that a team from the Nunavut Housing Corporation met with representatives from Agnico Eagle and Baffinland Iron Mines to discuss Nunavut’s housing crisis earlier this year.

OPINION: Does urban Canada hate us? – by Charles Cirtwill (Northern Ontario Business – November 26, 2019)

November 26, 2019

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Reading national headlines, and, yes, social media, one can find very little sincere interest in understanding why rural Canada is gravely concerned.

The urban-rural divide is deeper than ever in Canada. My question is simple: why is this? Do “they” (urban dwellers) hate “us” (rural and small-town Canadians)?

I think the question needs to be posed in this way due to the venom that is being directed at rural communities, especially those involved in natural resource extraction. Reading national headlines, and social media, one can find very little sincere interest in understanding why rural Canada is gravely concerned. This has been the case for some time and it is getting worse, not better.

Albertans are depicted as knuckle-dragging rednecks tied to a dying industry and determined to sacrifice the health of the planet on the altar of profit, and bigger cowboy hats. The people of Northern Ontario are described as having their hands perpetually out while scarring the earth and clearcutting the forests.