Republic of Mining

Coal mining in Indian forests is turning local villagers into environmental watchdogs – by Kuwar Singh (Quartz India – October 29, 2019)

October 30, 2019

Every day, Ram Lal Kariyam checks the river stream that flows through Salhi, his village in the Hasdeo Arand forest of Chhattisgarh. He is on the lookout for any brown slurry from the coal-washing facility of the sprawling mine nearby.

“Earlier they would discharge dirty water four times a week,” said the 28-year-old farmer, a member of India’s Gond tribe. “Now it’s rare.” Driving this improvement are forest dwellers like him, who consistently monitor the coal mine for environmental violations.

The central state of Chhattisgarh produced the highest quantity of coal in India in the last financial year. Most of its mines are open-cast—the ground on top has to be destroyed as the coal beneath is too shallow for underground mining. It leads to greater air pollution due to the blasting of land as well as loading and unloading of overburdened soil.

Miners have lost interest in Mexico due to insecurity, over-regulation: Torex Gold (Mexico Daily News – October 28, 2019)

October 30, 2019

International mining companies have lost interest in investing in Mexico due to over-regulation and insecurity among other factors, says the CEO of Canada’s Torex Gold.

“Mining companies don’t feel comfortable in places where governments change the rules of the game,” Fred Stanford told the newspaper El Universal during the International Mining Conference in Acapulco, Guerrero.

He cited excessive regulation, difficulty to obtain permits, higher taxes, mine blockades, weak rule of law and insecurity problems due to the presence of organized crime as factors that have caused Mexico to lose its attraction as an investment destination.

Biggest Private Coal Miner Goes Bust as Trump Rescue Fails – by Jeremy Hill, Will Wade and Steven Church (Yahoo Finance/Bloomberg – October 29, 2019)

October 30, 2019

(Bloomberg) — Robert E. Murray, the U.S. coal baron who pressed the Trump administration to help save America’s struggling miners, placed his company into bankruptcy as demand for the fossil fuel continues to weaken.

Murray Energy Holdings Co. filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Columbus, Ohio, to restructure more than $2.7 billion of debt. The miner — the largest privately owned U.S. coal company — reached a restructuring support agreement with lenders who hold more than 60% of a $1.7 billion loan, the company said in a statement. The deal provides a new $350 million loan to keep operations going during the reorganization.

The bankruptcy comes more than a year after the Trump administration’s efforts to subsidize struggling nuclear and coal-fired power plants failed, shot down by Trump’s own appointed energy regulators. Some of those plants were Murray Energy’s customers. Robert Murray, a big donor to Trump’s campaign, was instrumental in setting his energy agenda and has hosted multiple fundraisers.

IRON RANGE ENDOWED WITH MORE THAN ENOUGH ORE – by Lee Bloomquist (Mesabi Daily News – October 30, 2019)

October 30, 2019

https://www.virginiamn.com/

HIBBING — When Andrew Reed in 2007 was graduating from high school in Orr, students were under the impression that northeastern Minnesota’s taconite industry was on its last legs.

Within two years – hammered by a national and global economic downturn – total iron ore pellet production plummeted to barely more than 18 million tons. With taconite plants idled, production was far below the industry’s annual capacity of about 40 million tons.

“When I went to school, people thought it was dying,” said Reed. “But no, it’s just getting started.” Reed, a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Division of Lands and Minerals mineland reclamation specialist in Hibbing, today earns a living because of iron ore.

Sudbury’s acid-damaged lakes have recovered faster than expected, experts say – by Colleen Romaniuk (Northern Ontario Business – October 30, 2019)

October 30, 2019

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Sudbury’s acid-damaged lakes have made a faster recovery than experts thought possible. According to John Gunn, director of the Vale Living with Lakes Centre at Laurentian University, this is “proof positive that clean air produces clean water.”

Since the U.S. Clean Air Act of 1990, a lot of research has been done on a national and international level on the recovery process of severely damaged lakes. Researchers have done a lot to investigate the different factors that go into that recovery.

This year, the Vale Living with Lakes Centre launched the Community Restoration of Acid Damaged Lakes, or CRADL, with the support of Vale, Laurentian University, and the Ontario ministries of Environment, Conservation and Parks, and Natural Resources and Forestry.

U.S. House to vote on legislation banning mining near Grand Canyon – by Robin Bravender (Arizona Mirror – October 29, 2019)

October 30, 2019

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WASHINGTON — The full U.S. House is slated to vote this week on legislation to permanently ban uranium and other hardrock mining near the Grand Canyon.

The effort is a longtime priority for Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. And while the measure is expected to clear the Democratic-led House, it faces opposition from Republicans and uncertain prospects in the GOP-controlled Senate.

The debate on the House floor will pit Grijalva, the lead sponsor of the bill, against Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar, who will be leading the GOP opposition. Grijalva expects fireworks. “You should probably sell tickets to that one,” he joked in a recent interview with Arizona Mirror.

Europe-led global certification scheme for raw materials expected in 2020 – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – October 30, 2019)

October 30, 2019

https://www.mining.com/

A group of European bodies and companies have joined efforts to create the first global certification scheme ensuring consistent standards of environmental, social and economic impact throughout the entire raw materials value chain, to be launched next year.

CERA (Certification of Raw Materials), conceived in 2015 by German engineering and consulting firm DMT Group, counts with the support of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), EIT RawMaterials, Volkswagen, Fairphone and research institutions from across Europe.

Companies are under pressure from consumers and investors to prove that minerals are sourced without human rights abuses but tracking raw materials throughout their journey is challenging.

The men who would be king of Glencore move into the spotlight – by Jack Farchy (Bloomberg News – October 29, 2019)

October 30, 2019

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Contenders for the biggest job in commodity trading, the head of Glencore, will be on parade this week. Outgoing CEO Ivan Glasenberg wanted his successor to look “like me,” and the main aspirants do.

Glasenberg announced last December his plan to retire in the next few years, firing the starting gun on a closely watched race. The three most likely choices are Gary Nagle, Kenny Ives and Nico Paraskevas. They’re barely known outside Glencore, however, and as the global metals industry descends on London for LME Week, miners, traders and investors will be jostling to find out more.

The passage of the chief executive officer’s baton at Glencore is more than another corporate transition. The firm is the world’s largest commodity trader, dominating transactions in most industrial metals, including copper, zinc and aluminum. The CEO of the Swiss-based, London-listed company has had an outsized role in shaping the world of commodity trading since Glencore was founded by Marc Rich in 1974.

Minnesota Supreme Court won’t take up copper-nickel mining rules – by Jimmy Lovrien (Duluth News Tribune – October 29, 2019)

October 30, 2019

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear a challenge by environmental groups over the state’s copper-nickel mining rules.

Environmental groups argue the Department of Natural Resources’ rules regulating the mining of metals that do not contain iron — such as copper, nickel and other precious metals — were too vague and, therefore, unenforceable. The DNR maintains the rules were strong yet flexible.

But in August, Minnesota Court of Appeals unanimously upheld those rules, and called the DNR’s non-ferrous rules “valid.” Six environment groups had filed the original appeal, but only two groups, the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness and the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, petitioned the Supreme Court to review the case after the Court of Appeals upheld the rules.

Hudbay vows appeal after court affirms Arizona project ruling (Reuters Canada – October 29, 2019)

October 30, 2019

https://ca.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Hudbay Minerals on Tuesday vowed to appeal a court ruling that barred the Canadian miner from building a major copper mine in the United States after losing its bid to have a judge revisit the decision.

U.S. District Judge James Soto late on Monday said there was no basis to reconsider an earlier ruling that overturned approvals for the company’s contentious Rosemont project in southeastern Arizona, delivering a setback for Hudbay as it seeks to revive plans for the stalled $1.9 billion open-pit mine.

Hudbay’s director of investor relations, Candace Brule, said the company was disappointed with the decision and would proceed with an appeal as it studies next steps for the project.

Sibanye Gold CEO Says New York Listing Possible in 2021 – by Felix Njini (Yahoo Finance/Bloomberg – October 29, 2019)

October 30, 2019

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

(Bloomberg) – Sibanye Gold Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Neal Froneman is considering moving the South African miner’s primary listing to New York from 2021, after he curbs the company’s debt.

The surge in palladium and rhodium prices has put Sibanye on track to meet its debt-to-earnings target by the end of 2020, Froneman said in an interview at Bloomberg’s office in Johannesburg on Friday. While the rally has strengthened South Africa’s platinum industry, power and water shortages, rising crime and onerous regulations are deterring investment, the CEO said.

The plan to move Sibanye’s primary listing isn’t immediate and could still be two years out, after the company has sufficiently paid down its debt. The move is driven by commercial considerations and shouldn’t be construed as leaving South Africa, where some of Sibanye’s platinum mines could operate for more than 40 years, Froneman said.

Indigenous: Legal playing field tilted against First Nations in resource development battles, says new report – by Jorge Barrera (CBC News Indigenous – October 29, 2019)

October 30, 2019

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/

Canada’s legal landscape continues to be heavily in favour of corporations when it comes to court injunctions during conflicts with First Nations over resource development, according to a report released Tuesday by an Indigenous-led think-tank.

The report by the Yellowhead Institute, based out of Ryerson University in Toronto, says corporations are vastly more successful than First Nations in obtaining injunctions. The report, called Land Back: a Yellowhead Institute Red Paper, delves into the ongoing struggle between Canada and First Nations over lands and resources.

The most recent conflicts have played out in court cases around the Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion project and the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline project in northern B.C. earlier this year.

RPT-COLUMN-Rio Tinto says miners need to do more on the environment. Here’s how – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – October 29, 2019)

October 30, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Oct 29 (Reuters) – The boss of one of the world’s biggest mining companies wants the industry to do more than talk about winning a social licence in an increasingly carbon constrained world. The problem is that his company and others probably won’t like the solutions.

Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques told the London Metal Exchange (LME) annual forum on Monday that mining needed to do more on the environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) front in order to remain relevant and profitable as the world deals with climate change.

“Lots of people are talking about it, but I’m not sure there is action,” Jacques said. Notwithstanding that Jacques himself was talking about it, he is probably correct that the mining industry, and more broadly the natural resources sector, has yet to fully get to grips with how the industry will look in the next 20-30 years.

BHP’s Colombian coal takes on Australian miners in Asia market switch – by Peter Ker (Australian Financial Review – October 30, 2019)

October 30, 2019

https://www.afr.com/

The Colombian coal business owned by BHP, Glencore and Anglo American will switch focus from Europe to Asia, in a move that would put it head to head with Australian coal exporters.

Cerrejon president Guillermo Fonseca urged the Colombian government to consider cutting its tax take to make Cerrejon more competitive against Australian miners, who enjoy a shorter, and therefore, cheaper route to Asia.

”Europe (demand for coal) is declining and declining much faster than we expected, Asia is still growing and definitely that is where the market is going to be for the medium to long term,” he told The Australian Financial Review at Melbourne’s IMARC conference.

Cobalt market to avoid shortage despite Congo mine closure: Nornickel – by Anastasia Lyrchikova and Polina Devitt (Reuters U.S. – October 29, 2019)

October 29, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Cobalt supply will remain robust despite a price slide that has already led to the closure of a major mine, Russia’s Norilsk Nickel said, as most is produced as a byproduct of more buoyant metals like nickel and copper.

Prices of the battery metal surged in 2017 and 2018 on expectations for an electric vehicle revolution, but have fallen this year due to excessive supply and the impact of the U.S.-China trade war.

They are now down 60% from their spring 2018 peak. In August global mining and trade giant Glencore said it would shutter its Mutanda mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo from year-end for two years due to low cobalt prices.