Republic of Mining

How does blockchain root out blood diamonds from the world’s supply market? – by Peter Sabine (South China Morning Post – October 5, 2019)

October 7, 2019

https://www.scmp.com/

From provenance to payment, blockchain has become an attractive option for major diamond companies like De Beers that want to track origin and other information vital to their credibility with buyers

The diamond industry is getting a boost with a distributed ledger treatment, offering crucial advantages for all supply chain parties. For purchasers of diamonds, transactions can be soured by numerous perils such as origin, quality and fakes.

The concept of using blockchain in the industry is nothing new, but has arguably risen to prominence in response to the issue of blood diamonds, also known as conflict diamonds.

These are a major problem for the market due to highly publicised controversies, including a connection to everything from war to child labour. The gems are mined in war zones and sold to fund a range of activities, be it an insurgency or a warlord’s reign.

Polish coal region wants its say on new mines (Reuters Africa – October 7, 2019)

October 7, 2019

https://af.reuters.com/

WARSAW, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Local authorities in Poland’s Silesia coal-mining region urged the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government on Monday to drop proposed legislation that would give it the option to open new mines without their consent.

Facing an election on Sunday, PiS has maintained its strong support for coal mining as a key energy source for Poland, which generates 80% of its electricity from coal.

But there is growing opposition to mining in Silesia, one of the most polluted coal regions in Europe, potentially putting pressure on PiS. Opinion polls show the party is likely to win Sunday’s vote with about 40-44%.

Column: Decide now on ferrochrome plant – by Tom Mills (Sudbury Star – October 5, 2019)

October 7, 2019

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

In this column, I’m not going to get into specifics about the possible health and environmental impacts of Sault Ste. Marie’s planned Noront Resources ferrochrome plant.

That makes me a lot like city council. They won’t discuss those things right now either. Now is not the time, argues Sault Mayor Christian Provenzano. Let the “process” unfold.

Eventually, there will be an environmental assessment, which apparently could take about five years, and public consultation. Provenzano said he has made it clear to Noront that, “There’s no way I’m signing up for something that will hurt anyone in our community.”

UPDATE 1-Indonesia govt appoints Inalum to buy stake in Vale Indonesia -official (Reuters U.K. – October 7, 2019)

October 7, 2019

https://uk.reuters.com/

JAKARTA, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Indonesia’s government has appointed state miner PT Inalum to purchase a stake that PT Vale Indonesia intends to sell, the Director General of Coal and Minerals, Bambang Gatot Ariyono, said on Monday.

Vale, one of Indonesia’s largest nickel miners, is set to divest around 20% of its stake to local investor to meet new regulations aimed at limiting foreign ownership of its mining resources.

The company had said it aims to conduct the stake sale in October.

OPINION: Climate change is the defining issue for Canada, if not yet this federal election – by Adam Radwanski (Globe and Mail – October 10, 2019)

October 7, 2019

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Heading into a pair of leaders’ debates within two weeks of election day, the federal campaign still seems in need of a defining issue. But look past all the candidate controversies, personal attacks and vote-buying “affordability” promises, and that issue is right there in plain sight.

It’s so consequential, with genuine and pronounced differences between parties’ approaches, that it renders wrong-headed and reckless the growing body of weary punditry about this being a low-stakes campaign in which all concerned have failed to distinguish themselves from each other.

On climate-change policy, the world is entering a narrow window in which it may or may not undertake the degree of economic and social upheaval needed to stave off irreversible disaster. When Canadians cast their ballots, they’ll go a long way toward determining what this country’s role in that will be.

New manager of Centre for Smart Mining at Sudbury’s Cambrian College wants to take applied research to the next level – by Colleen Romaniuk (Northern Ontario Business – October 2, 2019)

October 4, 2019

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

The mining industry is notoriously slow to adopt new technologies. Steve Gravel, the new manager of the Centre for Smart Mining (CSM) at Cambrian College in Sudbury, said that this happens for a number of reasons.

“There’s a baked-in risk inherent in the commodities market,” he said. “The economics are not really in favor of trialing new technologies in a very nimble way because of the capital intensive nature of doing it.” That’s why Gravel hopes that the centre will help to demystify new technologies for mining companies and their employees.

As part of the college’s applied research department, the CSM is tied into a larger national network of 30 Technology Access Centres (TAC) across Canada, which help companies access expertise, equipment, funding and provide the facilities to solve innovation challenges.

Investors bought Cobalt 27 for its massive stockpile — now they’re being asked to cash out just as cobalt prices are poised to surge – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – October 4, 2019)

October 4, 2019

https://business.financialpost.com/

Cobalt 27 Capital Corp., which raised hundreds of millions of dollars promoting cobalt — an obscure metal that’s increasingly in demand because of its use in electric vehicle batteries — announced a new proposal this week to ditch cobalt just as its price rises.

On Tuesday, the company said its largest shareholder Pala Investments Ltd. would offer $4 per share for the company’s cobalt assets up from its earlier $3.57 offer, and also give them equity in a new company, Nickel 28.

“We have responded to the concerns expressed by shareholders and believe we have delivered a significantly improved transaction,” Philip Williams, chairman of Cobalt 27’s special committee said in a press release.

Fatal mine accident avoidable, Sudbury inquest hears – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – October 4, 2019)

October 4, 2019

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Development work was carried out on the 6,500-foot level of First Nickel Inc.’s Lockerby Mine in early 2013, wrapping up in March of that year.

That work included blasting out a drift – the 65-2-1-West area – that did not proceed as planned. The entranceway was off-line, so corrective blasting was done to try and straighten it out, and wire mesh, split sets (long metal tubes that help to reinforce a ceiling) and shotcrete (sprayed-on cement) were used to strengthen the ceiling and walls in preparation for production drilling and blasting.

The wider-than-expected entrance created a structural integrity issue, as the arch that was in place to help distribute the stress from the backfilled-area one level above was not large and strong enough.

Centamin’s CEO to leave after challenging year for the company – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – October 3, 2019)

October 3, 2019

https://www.mining.com/

Shares in Egypt-focused gold miner Centamin (LON:CEY) (TSX:CEE) fell on Thursday more than 15% to 105.65 in London after it announced that its chief executive, Andrew Pardey, would leave the company following a year of operational challenges.

Pardey, who joined the company 12 years ago as general manager, will stay at the post for a year, while Centamin looks for a new boss.

The company also warned that production for the first nine months of 2019 is expected to be between 331,000 and 332,000 ounces. While lower than what originally expected, the company said the lower end of its full-year guidance range of 490,000 ounces of gold remains “achievable.”

Newmont’s New CEO Plans to Dispense More Discipline Than Cash – by Vinicy Chan and Steven Frank (Bloomberg News – October 2, 2019)

October 3, 2019

https://www.bloomberg.com/

(Bloomberg) — Tom Palmer took the helm at the world’s largest gold miner shortly after bullion had its longest streak of quarterly gains since 2011. Now investors are looking to partake of that windfall.

But before shareholders get their piece of the pie, the new chief executive officer at Newmont Goldcorp Corp. will have to face the challenge of melding the assets from the recently completed mega-merger with Goldcorp Inc.

Newmont’s shares have trailed its peers, even with gold’s meteoric rise that took the metal to a six-year high of $1,557.11 an ounce last month. The stock’s rally this year is just less than a third of the pace of gains posted by its closest rival Barrick Gold Corp., which also sealed a massive merger deal.

Iamgold makes discovery at Karita project in Guinea (Northern Miner – October 1, 2019)

October 3, 2019

https://www.northernminer.com/

Iamgold (TSX: IMG; NYSE: IAG) has confirmed a new grassroots exploration discovery at its Karita gold project in northeastern Guinea.

The project sits along a portion of West Africa’s Senegal-Mali Shear Zone, 8 km south of the company’s Boto gold project and 3 km north of its Diakha-Siribaya project. The company reported assays from 16 reverse circulation (RC) drill holes totalling 1,839 metres that were completed as part of its 2019 drill program.

Highlights include 13 metres grading 2.8 grams gold per tonne starting from a depth of 37 metres in hole 19-001; 29 metres grading 2.96 grams gold per tonne from nine metres in hole 19-006; 16 metres grading 3.17 grams gold per tonne from 40 metres in hole 19-009; 22 metres grading 2.27 grams gold per tonne from 20 metres in hole 19-010; and 21 metres grading 9.01 grams gold per tonne from 53 metres in hole 19-011.

One of India’s largest coal mines is flooded, spelling more bad news for domestic output – by Kuwar Singh (Quartz India – October 3, 2019)

October 3, 2019

https://qz.com/india/

An unusually rainy stretch towards the end of India’s monsoon season this year has halted production at a major coal mine, worsening the shortfall in the production of the fossil fuel in the country.

On Sept. 29, the Lilagar river in the central state of Chhattisgarh abruptly changed its course, flooding the Dipka coal mine in Korba district.

Chhattisgarh produced the highest quantity of coal in the country in financial year 2018-19. In the past seven days alone, rainfall in the state has been 261% more than its average for this time period over the last 50 years. All workers at the Dipka mine have been rescued, but some heavy machinery has been damaged.

Diamond crisis deepens as De Beers reports plunging sales – by Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – October 3, 2019)

October 3, 2019

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The latest sales data from De Beers reinforces why this is one of the worst years for the diamond industry in a long time.

The Anglo American Plc subsidiary reported sales on Thursday that showed demand for rough diamonds is continuing to plunge as polishers and traders refuse to buy stones when they can’t make a profit.

The mining company holds 10 sales events each year in Botswana, where its chosen buyers — known in the industry as sightholders — are given a box containing plastic bags filled with diamonds. In the past three sales, De Beers made less than $300 million, which is unprecedented in data going back to 2016.

Column: Copper trapped between faltering supply and weak demand – by Andy Home (Reuters U.K. – October 2, 2019)

October 3, 2019

https://uk.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – It’s turning out to be a bad year for copper supply. Both mined and refined production fell in the first half of the year, according to the International Copper Study Group (ICSG). What was always going to be a year of weak supply growth has been made worse by a stream of supply disruptions.

At other times such production woes would have been a red flag for copper bulls, who like nothing more than trading copper’s notoriously volatile supply side. This year, however, falling production is doing no more than preventing the copper price falling further.

At $5,665 per tonne London Metal Exchange (LME) three-month copper is a long way off April’s highs above $6,600 and is now down by 3% on the start of January. The problem is that copper demand is faring just as badly as supply, with manufacturing activity contracting just about everywhere.