Republic of Mining

World Gold Council unveils new principles of responsible mining – by Gabriel Friedman (Ottawa Citizen – September 12, 2019)

September 12, 2019

As gold mining executives gather in Colorado for back-to-back conferences this month, the World Gold Council is hoping to polish the sector’s image with the release of a new responsible mining framework.

Released on Thursday, and nearly two years in the making, the Responsible Gold Mining Principles aim to create a set of global standards certifying that bullion has been extracted, processed and refined with a nod to environmental, social and governance issues.

The principles come at a time when all corporations are facing increasing scrutiny of their operations and supply chains from investors, consumers and activists. The gold mining sector in particular has been trying to clean up its reputation in the wake of environmental disasters, such as the Mount Polley Mine tailings dam failure in British Columbia in 2014, as well as reports of human rights abuses at mines abroad.

Boom and gloom in British Columbia’s north – by Nelson Bennet (Business In Vancouver – September 12, 2019)

September 12, 2019

https://biv.com/

As of May this year, an estimated 4,385 workers were employed on the $8.8 billion Site C dam construction project near Fort St. John. Kitimat and Terrace are humming with activity, thanks to the $40 billion LNG Canada-Coastal GasLink pipeline project.

Port expansion in Prince Rupert has created an additional 1,000 jobs since 2016. Employment is strong in the Dawson Creek-Tumbler Ridge-Chetwynd triangle, thanks in part to Conuma Coal Resources reopening a third mine – Willow Creek – last year.

And in the Golden Triangle of northwest B.C., mining exploration spending was up by about $165 million in 2018, according to EY. Economic growth in B.C.’s north is reflected in housing starts and construction permits.

City mining for gov’t funds to repair headframe – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – September 12, 2019)

September 12, 2019

https://www.timminspress.com/

The city’s iconic McIntyre headframe is in dire need of repairs. The total cost could exceed half-a-million dollars. But the money isn’t in this year’s budget.

Timmins council on Tuesday approved some repairs to the external layer of the structure — a job which is expected to cost about $15,000 — with the plan is to complete the full repairs next year.

Mark Jensen, the city’s director of community and development services, told council there is a chance the project could qualify for government funding covering up to 75% of the cost. However, there is no guarantee the city will receive financial support from upper-tier governments.

Chilean lithium producer SQM bullish on white gold demand; shares rise – by Fabian Cambero (Reuters U.S. – September 11, 2019)

September 12, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Shares in Chilean lithium producer SQM jumped on Wednesday after it announced plans to invest about $2.1 billion in the next five years to strengthen its production amid an expected increase in demand for the ultralight battery metal.

About $1.332 billion of this investment would be in lithium operations, with further amounts going toward growing its nitrates and iodine capacity and maintenance between 2019 to 2023, Chief Executive Ricardo Ramos said in a presentation to investors in New York on Tuesday.

B-Series shares in SQM were up more than 5% in trading on Santiago’s blue-chip stock exchange following the promise of beefed-up investment.

Ontario to work with First Nations to unlock Ring of Fire – by Jean Lian (Northern Miner – September 2019)

September 11, 2019

https://www.northernminer.com/

Rick Gregford, Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines, and Minister of Indigenous Affairs, announced in August that the province would work directly with First Nation communities to develop infrastructure that unlocks the mineral-rich region in northern Ontario.

Establishing bilateral agreements with individual First Nation communities to replace the previous Liberal government’s collective-negotiations approach under a 2014 framework agreement with nine Matawa First Nation communities will expedite the building of a north–south corridor to the Ring of Fire.

Noront Resources (TSXV: NOT) — which says it holds 85% of all claims staked in the Ring of Fire — and Marten Falls First Nation released a statement in late August applauding the provincial government’s move.

Philippine regulator recommends lifting suspension on nickel miner (Reuters U.S. – September 11, 2019)

September 11, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines’ mining watchdog has recommended lifting the suspension of a small-sized nickel miner, one of several ore producers ordered in 2016 to halt operations in an industry-wide crackdown, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) recommended that Zambales Diversified Metals Corp – one of two nickel subsidiaries of DMCI Mining Corp – be allowed to resume mining operations, Environment Undersecretary Analiza Teh said.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) lifted the suspension order on DMCI Mining’s other nickel subsidiary, Berong Nickel Corp, in November last year.

Pre-election goodies for First Nation bridges, clean water projects – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – September 10, 2019)

September 11, 2019

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Ahead of a federal election, Ottawa was rolling out funding and breaking ground on First Nation community infrastructure projects across Northern Ontario. Nipissing First Nation, west of North Bay, received $3.3 million to build a new road between the on-reserve communities of Yellek and Duchesnay.

The construction involves building a 2.1-kilometre paved road with shoulders, walkways and culverts. Local MP Anthony Rota said on Sept.6 that the road gives members “better access to critical services” and will improve community safety.

The province is chipping in $808,650 for the project while Nipissing First Nation is contributing $294,225. “In 2015, our citizens identified this linkage as a priority to address safety concerns stemming from both communities having only one access point,” said Chief Scott McLeod in a press release. “This critical new infrastructure will also open up land for development and lead to more centralized services to improve quality of life for our citizens.”

A Forgotten Gold-Rush Hub Is Producing More Than It Has in a Century – by David Stringer (Bloomberg News – September 10, 2019)

September 11, 2019

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Deep under gum-tree lined paddocks in southern Australia that delivered a bullion bonanza in the 19th Century, the unexpected promise of a second gold rush is luring a new generation of prospectors from billionaires to global miners and weekend panhandlers.

As prices soar, production in the goldfields of Victoria state is rising again and has already climbed to the highest since 1914 as mining companies dig deeper and new technology helps to uncover once hidden and richer deposits in a region that almost rivaled the Californian gold rush and was thought to have petered out decades ago.

“I’ve never seen anything like it in all my life — it’s like finding a safe underground,” David Baker, managing partner of gold investor Baker Steel Capital Managers LLP, and a visitor to mines for more than 30 years, said following a tour last month of Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd.’s Fosterville mine, the flagship for the region’s revival. “You don’t get better than that unless you can dig into Fort Knox.”

Column: Copper finely poised between negative macro and robust micro – by Andy Home (Reuters U.K. – September 9, 2019)

September 10, 2019

https://uk.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – Copper last week hit a year-to-date low of $5,518 per tonne in the London market as the macroeconomic picture becomes ever gloomier. Funds remain heavily short, betting that copper demand is set to worsen amid what is looking like a synchronised downturn in the global manufacturing sector.

The copper price is starting to buckle under the weight of speculative selling pressure but it’s not yet ready to collapse. London Metal Exchange three-month copper could easily have imploded on last Tuesday’s lurch lower but instead clawed its way back to close the week at $5,833.

Market sentiment was helped by the prospect of renewed trade talks between the United States and China but also by copper’s still robust internal supply-demand dynamics, not least China’s continued appetite for imported metal.

How Old Nukes Can Help Green New Dealers – by Liam Denning (Bloomberg News/Washington Post – September 10, 2019)

September 10, 2019

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

This is a time of burn-it-all-down politics, and climate change is right in there. Several decades of delay in facing the challenge, and denialism on the part of primarily Republican politicians, have spawned a backlash. Last week’s Democratic climate town halls were notable chiefly for the absence of old debates about carbon cap-and-trade, replaced with more prescriptive proposals (see this).

One issue that causes division within the ranks of climate-change activists is nuclear power. Though it doesn’t emit greenhouse gases, it does produce radioactive waste and carries the potential for rare but potentially catastrophic accidents.

Two candidates, Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have different plans for nuclear that encapsulate the debate. Sanders not only rules out building new plants, but also wants existing ones to close. Warren’s position, somewhat garbled in her town hall appearance, is similarly down on new plants.

McEwen Mining grows Black Fox complex in Ontario – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – September 6, 2019)

September 10, 2019

https://www.northernminer.com/

Two years ago, McEwen Mining (TSX: MUX; NYSE: MUX) purchased the Black Fox mine complex in northeastern Ontario for US$35 million. The complex, 70 km from Timmins and about 9 km from Matheson, included the Black Fox underground gold mine, a 2,400-tonne-per-day mill, a tailings facility, the past-producing Stock gold mine, and two development projects — Grey Fox and Froome.

The acquisition from Primero Mining also came with US$150 million in tax pools the company could use to shelter future income. (Those tax pools are currently worth about US$197 million.) The Toronto-based mining company thinks the deal was a steal.

Primero had purchased the property from Brigus Gold in 2014 for more than $300 million and assumed liabilities of about $140 million. It then spent another $120 million on capex and exploration, McEwen Mining says.

WHERE WAS THE WORLD’S FIRST OIL WELL? POLAND! – by Karsten Eig (Adventures in Geology – November 3, 2017)

September 10, 2019

Home

The first oil well in the world was drilled by Colonel Edwin Drake in Pennsylvania, Cowboyland, in 1859. Everyone in the oil industry, and probably every American child, know the story of how Colonel Drake knocked the well 21 meters down, hit pay and changed the world.

But, no, it wasn’t. The first oil wells in the world were dug a few years earlier in the Old World, in southern Poland. The hill landscape of southern Poland lies at the toe of the Carpathian Mountains. With rolling hills, forests and farm land, it reminds of Tuscany, moved north.

But in the 1850s, this land was not a part of Poland, because there was no Poland. Through the late half of the 18th century, the grand Polish-Lithuanian kingdom, which had covered large parts of the Baltics, Poland, Belarus and Ukraine, was cut and shared like a cake by the mighty powers around it.

Lithium bulls need to chill out – by Neil Hume (Financial Times – September 10, 2019)

September 10, 2019

https://www.ft.com/

Quick to develop supply will keep a lid on prices

Battery metal bulls suddenly have more to cheer about. This week saw the flashy launch of VW’s ID. 3, a mass-market hatchback that symbolises the potential market for the lithium that powers its battery. Last week, China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) bought an 8.5 per cent stake in Australian lithium miner Pilbara Minerals.

The investment by China’s biggest battery producer — and supplier to carmakers including VW, Toyota and Volvo — was seen as a vote of confidence for the sector, which supporters say will be a big beneficiary from decarbonisation and the mass adoption of electric vehicles.

“While there has been commentary talking down the current state of lithium markets, it has belied the significant interest we have continued to see from the strategic players,” said Ken Brinsden, managing director of Pilbara.

Canada’s highest grade gold development launched (Resource World Magazine – September 9, 2019)

September 10, 2019

https://resourceworld.com/

Pure Gold Mining Inc. [PGM-TSXV; LRTNF-OTC] said Monday September 9 that it has started construction at its flagship Madsen Red Lake Mine in northwestern Ontario.

“Today we hit yet another milestone on our road to near term cash flow,” said Pure Gold President and CEO Darin Labrenz. “I am incredibly proud of our team for what they have accomplished over the last five years.”

The announcement comes after Pure Gold recently completed a US$90 million project financing package with Sprott Resource Lending Corp. That followed an equity raise of $47.5 million that was backed by Eric Sprott and AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. [AU-NYSE; AGG-ASX; ANG-JSE]. AngloGold currently owns approximately 14.3% of Pure Gold on a non-diluted basis.

Ten mining stocks to watch in Canada’s materials sector – by Noor Hussain (Globe and Mail – September 9, 2019)

September 10, 2019

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

When markets are unstable and volatility is on the rise, investors tend to investigate alternative defensive products in order to protect their wealth. The materials sector can be seen as defensive insofar as gold (its production being a key part of this sector) is negatively correlated to the market.

Last month, because of the strong rally of gold and silver, materials was one of the best performing sectors in Canada. The sector rose 5.7 per cent in August compared with the S&P/TSX Composite Index, which gained 0.2 per cent. Year to date, the sector has advanced 22.9 per cent compared with 14.8 per cent for the S&P/TSX.

Today, we will take a deeper dive into this sector and analyze some companies that have benefited from this trend.

THE SCREEN