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Aluminum Markets Flash a Warning for the Economy – by Mark Burton (Bloomberg News – September 30, 2019)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

(Bloomberg) — When aluminum demand last contracted during the financial crisis and unwanted metal started flooding into warehouses, it took more than a decade to work through the glut. Now, the market is bracing for another sharp increase in inventories as demand growth grinds to a halt.

Aluminum has tumbled to a two-and-a-half-year low as slowing global growth and the U.S.-China trade war hurt demand for the metal used in airplanes, automobiles and beer cans.

While stockpiles tracked by the London Metal Exchange fell to their lowest since 2007 last week, traders say inventories are building in the physical market as weaker order books leave consumers with more metal than they need.

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Rio Tinto sees rosy future for diamonds despite end of Argyle – by Barbara Lewis (Reuters U.S. – September 26, 2019)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – Rio Tinto (RIO.AX)(RIO.L) is exploring for diamonds in Canada as part of its plans to stay in the sector despite the looming closure of its Argyle mine in Australia, known for extremely rare pink diamonds, the firm’s head of copper and diamonds said.

Demand and prices for the wider market have fallen as concerns mount about the world economy, and laboratory-grown gems have added to supply. Colored or particularly large diamonds, however, have held value, especially pink diamonds, 90% of which are produced by Argyle. That mine, the world’s biggest in carat terms, is expected to cease production by the end of next year.

Arnaud Soirat, Rio’s chief executive for copper and diamonds, said pink diamonds had risen in price by 500% since 2000. He gave no figures for the overall market, but producers have reported lower overall demand and prices.

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[Noront/Sault Ste. Marie] Ferrochrome facility must first pass rigorous tests: City – by Elaine Della-Mattia (Sault Star – September 27, 2019)

https://www.saultstar.com/

Group of Sault MDs objects to development

The City of Sault Ste. Marie will not provide support for a ferrochrome plant in the city if due diligence shows that it will be harmful to its residents.

But any environmental assessment will take about five years to complete, along with a complete community engagement process that will outline processes to residents and answer their questions, says Mayor Christian Provenzano. And the process hasn’t even begun yet, he said.

Provenzano is concerned that there is much misinformation being spread across the community about the process that hasn’t even begun. He suggests that residents let the process unfold and the information be disseminated about what a ferrochrome plant would look like in Sault Ste. Marie, the technologies it will employ and any risks that may or may not exist.

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ArcelorMittal said to review Canada, Brazil iron assets – by Dinesh Nair, Thomas Biesheuvel and Vinicy Chan (Bloomberg News – September 27, 2019)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

ArcelorMittal is evaluating a potential sale of some of its iron ore operations, as the world’s biggest steelmaker seeks to cut debt by divesting non-core businesses, people familiar with the matter said.

The company is reviewing its iron ore assets in Canada, Brazil and Liberia, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. ArcelorMittal is speaking with financial advisers about options including selling partial or full stakes in at least some of the assets, according to the people. The Canadian business is the largest and more profitable of the three and could be valued at about US$2 billion in any transaction, the people said.

ArcelorMittal hasn’t kicked off a formal sale process, and it could decide to keep the operations, the people said. A representative for ArcelorMittal declined to comment. The shares climbed 2.1 per cent to 12.94 euros as of 9:52 a.m. in Amsterdam.

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Mining generates $3 billion in business for suppliers – by Nelson Bennett (Business In Vancouver – September 24, 2019)

https://biv.com/

If you live in Chetwynd or Tumbler Ridge, you are probably attuned to just how important mining is to B.C.’s economy. After all, three metallurgical coal mines operating in the region are a major employer for those communities.

The importance of mining to the rest of B.C.’s economy is not as well understood. But a new study has now put a number to mining’s spinoff impacts for other businesses throughout the province.

There are 17 operating mines and two smelters in B.C. that generate more than $12 billion in economic activity, according to a new study by the Mining Association of BC (MABC) and Mining Suppliers Association of BC (MSABC).

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Sibanye plans to cut over 5,000 jobs in Marikana restructuring (Reuters U.S. – September 25, 2019)

https://www.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African miner Sibanye-Stillwater (SGLJ.J) said on Wednesday it planned to cut around 5,270 jobs, or about 6% of its workforce, as it restructures its loss-making Marikana operations that it acquired this year.

Sibanye said the restructuring was aimed at returning the mine to profit and protecting its remaining shafts, driving its share price up 6% to 21.28 rand.

Sibanye took over the mine as part of a deal to buy out struggling platinum miner Lonmin. It first proposed buying Lonmin in 2017, in a deal touted as the only way to save its 29,000-strong workforce. Lonmin had previously planned to close shafts and cut around 12,600 jobs.

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Canadian lithium-tech companies find traction amid rise of electric cars – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – September 26, 2019)

https://business.financialpost.com/

Canada’s mainstream lithium miners continue to struggle suggesting the next wave of growth will come from technology — not geology

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelled to Burnaby, British Columbia to announce his latest climate change initiative at the pilot plant of an upstart company that’s tinkering with lithium-ion battery technology.

His choice of venue revealed much about the opportunities in Canada as a new supply chain takes shape around the growing electric vehicle industry, which relies on lithium-ion batteries, not oil.

Although mining has been a historical strength in Canada, the latest rush around battery metals may end up providing more opportunities to this country’s fledgling technology sector.

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How Cartier’s Parent Is Losing Some of Its Sparkle – by Rupert Steiner (Barron’s – September 27, 2019)

https://www.barrons.com/

Luxury-goods company Compagnie Financiere Richemont could be overvalued due to political uncertainty in Hong Kong and slowing momentum for its star Cartier brand.

The stock of the Swiss-listed watch and jewelry maker, which also owns high-end Van Cleef & Arpels, Dunhill, and Montblanc, has had a good run in the past three years, up 31.4%. Richemont (ticker: CFR.Switzerland), along with other big players, has shrugged off concerns of a consumer slowdown and trade tensions, with rivals LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (MC.France) gaining 147%, and Tiffany (TIF), 29%, over the same period.

But due to its product mix and exposure to Asia, Richemont is likely to suffer more than most from disruption in Hong Kong, depreciation of the Chinese yuan, and macro issues engulfing the region.

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Autumn Peltier, 14, to address United Nations about water issues in First Nations communities across Canada – by Ben Cohen (Globe and Mail – September 27, 2019)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

There are things about Canada that Autumn Peltier can’t accept. Children growing up without access to drinkable tap water. Seventy-year-olds having to walk every day to claim water rations. Entire communities unable to shower without risking possible exposure to a carcinogen.

These are stories she hears from across the country. At 14, Autumn, the Anishinabek Nation chief water commissioner, has spent nearly half her life fighting against these injustices.

“There are people living in third-world conditions in our first-world country,” she says. “It’s insane. Canada is wealthy. There shouldn’t be places that can’t drink their water.”

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Rankin Inlet mine ramps up production, putting strain on local housing – by Emma Tranter (Nunatsiaq News – September 26, 2019)

https://nunatsiaq.com/

Meliadine gold mine set to enter phase two of production in 2023

MELIADINE MINE—A 25-kilometre road winds through the brilliant yellow tundra surrounding Rankin Inlet leading to Agnico Eagle’s newest gold mine. From a distance, the site looks like a small town, with new buildings stacked beside rows of living quarters.

The long-awaited mine, which cost more than $900 million to build, officially began commercial operations in May 2019. Agnico bought the property in 2010, but the area has been explored for its mineral potential since the 1980s, said Martin Plante, Meliadine’s general manager.

Although there were some “bumps along the way” to production, things are now going smoothly, Plante said. “Right now we are in production mode. We started to hire our permanent employees in 2017 at the mine and as the new department is getting in line, we’re starting to hire people in the other sectors too,” he said.

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BNC finalising takeover bids amid Tagwirei shadow – by Alois Vinga (New Zimbabwe – September 27, 2019)

https://www.newzimbabwe.com/

AFRICA’s only integrated nickel mining company Bindura Nickel Corporation (BNC) is in the final stages of evaluating a takeover bids process which is set for finality in the next two weeks.

This comes amid reports that a firm linked to under-fire oil mogul Kudakwashe Tagwirei is set to acquire the mining giant. Speaking to shareholders Thursday, BNC chairman Muchadeyi Masunda said the process is going on smoothly.

“Joint administrators are evaluating various bids that have been submitted while the prospective investors are carrying out due diligence in respect of the assets owned by ASA Resources,” he said.

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How a salmon scientist got hooked into a battle over the world’s largest gold mine – by Warren Cornwall (Science Magazine – September 26, 2019)

https://www.sciencemag.org/

It’s hard to think small in Alaska. The largest of the United States is home to North America’s highest mountain range. It’s a place where undammed rivers run more than 1000 kilometers, glaciers collapse into the ocean, and polar bears roam.

Daniel Schindler, however, is here hunting for something the size of a grain of rice. Crouching in tiny Allah Creek, hemmed in by alders and smeared in blood, he grasps a rotting sockeye salmon carcass and nearly decapitates the fish with a stroke of a carving knife.

With tweezers, he delves into a cavity of creamy goo tucked behind the brain and plucks out a sliver of what looks like bone. It is an otolith, a bit of calcium carbonate that sits within the inner ear and acts like an internal gyroscope, helping the fish orient its movements.

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Greta Thunberg joins thousands of Canadians in climate strike today – by Mia Rabson (Globe and Mail – September 27, 2019)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

CANADIAN PRESS: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg says it’s moving to see so many people united “for one common cause.” Thunberg spoke at a rally in Montreal and is expected to take part in a march there at noon.

Thousands of Canadians are hitting the streets Friday demanding “widespread, systemic change” to halt the scary impact of a warming planet.

The massive national protest will see students and climate activists and everyday Canadians who want a swifter government response to climate change marching on legislatures and municipal buildings, schools and parks, from St. John’s to Tofino, B.C., and as far north as Inuvik in the Northwest Territories.

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OPINION: On climate change, humanity is not ‘evil’ – by Bjorn Lomborg (Globe and Mail – September 27, 2019)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Bjorn Lomborg is president of the Copenhagen Consensus Center and a visiting professor at the Copenhagen Business School.

Speaking at the United Nations, 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg said that if humanity really understands the science of climate change and still fails to act, we’re “evil.”

This is because climate change means “people are dying.” Helpfully, she also told us what we must do to act correctly: In a bit more than eight years, we will have exhausted our remaining allowance for carbon emissions, so we must shut down everything running on fossil fuels by 2028.

While this claim is not uncommon, it is fundamentally misguided. Yes, global warming is real and human-caused, but her vision of climate change as the end of the world is unsupported. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that by the 2070s, the total effects of climate change, including on ecosystems, will be equivalent to a reduction in average income of 0.2 to 2 per cent.

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Vale’s digital evolution takes shape: Sudbury nickel miner moving to world’s largest underground wireless network – by Len Gillis (Northern Ontario Business – September 19, 2019)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Vale Canada Ltd. is charging forward to provide LTE communications in its Canadian underground mining operations. In some cases, this will be an all new level of wireless communication, while in other cases it will mean switching away from existing Wi-Fi.

Vale said this means the company will soon be operating the largest privately owned underground LTE network in the world. LTE, or long-term evolution, is a higher form of wireless communications that most people associate with their cellular phones. In the mines, LTE will support a host of wireless devices and live connections to people and mobile equipment.

Vale described their new LTE system as an enabler, something that will allow the company to carry out significant changes for integrated operations scheduling, autonomous and tele-remote mining machines and huge efficiencies and cost savings for underground mine ventilation systems.

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