Republic of Mining

Trans Mountain pipeline construction to restart, but prospective buyers stay on sidelines – by Geoffrey Morgan (Financial Post – August 21, 2019)

August 22, 2019

https://business.financialpost.com/

CALGARY – Construction is poised to restart on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion but even as activity ramps up, at least one prospective buyer — Pembina Pipeline Corp., fresh off its purchase of Kinder Morgan Inc.’s remaining Canadian business — said it’s not interested for now in “the noise” of the controversial pipeline.

Trans Mountain Corp. announced Wednesday that construction would re-start imminently in multiple communities along the pipeline route and the project would be in service, delivering 590,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta to the West Coast, by the middle of 2022.

The company said that by the end of the year, 4,200 people would be working on the pipeline project. “Clearly this project has been subjected to numerous delays and setbacks over the past several years,” Trans Mountain president and CEO Ian Anderson said in a release.

Singapore Says Musk’s Electric Cars Are About ‘Lifestyle,’ Not Climate – by Dan Murtaugh, Yongchang Chin and Haslinda Amin (Bloomberg News – August 21, 2019)

August 22, 2019

https://www.msn.com/en-us/

(Bloomberg) — Singapore has a message for Elon Musk: Taking mass transit is a better climate-change solution than tooling around in one of his Tesla Inc.’s electric vehicles.

The city-state, which has said its efforts to cope with climate change are as crucial as military defense, has prioritized greater use of its trains and buses, Masagos Zulkifli, minister for environment and water resources, said in an interview Wednesday. Musk has criticized the country for being slow to adopt EVs and said in a January tweet the government “has been unwelcome.”

“What Elon Musk wants to produce is a lifestyle,” Zulkifli said Wednesday when asked about the entrepreneur’s comments. “We are not interested in a lifestyle. We are interested in proper solutions that will address climate problems.”

Trump calls Danish PM’s rebuff of Greenland idea ‘nasty’ as trip cancellation stuns Danes – by Jeff Mason and Nikolaj Skydsgaard (Reuters U.S. – August 21, 2019)

August 22, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

WASHINGTON/COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – President Donald Trump declared Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s dismissal of his idea to buy Greenland “nasty” and an affront to the United States on Wednesday, a day after shocking Danes by canceling a Copenhagen visit over the rebuff.

Danes voiced disbelief at Trump’s decision to forgo the trip, although Frederiksen said she believed relations with the United States, a NATO ally, would not be affected.

Trump, who built his career as a businessman dealing in real estate, had mused openly in recent days about a U.S. purchase of Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory rich in natural resources, raising eyebrows in Europe and in the United States.

NGS coal train operators will miss ‘best job in the world’ – by Krista Allen (Navajo Times – August 22, 2019)

August 22, 2019

https://navajotimes.com/

DA’DEESTL’IN HÓTSAA and DZILYÍJIIN, Ariz. – When Thomas Long Jr.’s family asks him what he does for a living, he tells them, “I drive the train.”

“They think I drive a little train,” Long said, “but it’s a big train! It’s the best job in the world and it’s the best job I’ve ever had. That’s what I always say. That’s what we (employees at the Navajo Generating Station) say.”

Long, along with an assistant, operates locomotives on the Black Mesa and Lake Powell Railroad that hauls coal in hopper cars from Peabody Western Coal Company’s Kayenta Mine 78 miles to NGS near Page, Arizona. He works 10-hour shifts.

It’s time to permanently protect 1.3M hectares of ‘breathing lands’ – by Tanya Talaga (Toronto Star – August 22, 2019)

August 22, 2019

https://www.thestar.com/

I’m willing to bet most of those living in southern cities are completely oblivious to how the land protectors of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation have been working hard to keep the planet healthy.

Well, now it is time to take notice, give a bit of thanks to the Oji-Cree community and help protect the northern land — for the health of all of us.

Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug — KI for short, and also known as the Big Trout Lake First Nation — is about 600 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay, high in the boreal forest region of northwestern Ontario. It is one of the largest intact examples of what scientists call “carbon storehouses” left on the planet. The people of KI call it the “breathing lands.”

COLUMN-BHP is sailing between China stimulus breeze and trade war storm: Russell – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – August 20, 2019)

August 22, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Aug 20 (Reuters) – Spot the problem. The world’s biggest mining company, BHP Group, reports its highest profits in five years even as its top customer is engaged in a now protracted trade dispute with the world’s largest economy.

BHP on Tuesday posted an annual profit of $9.12 billion, a bumper figure built largely on selling iron ore, coal and copper to China, the world’s largest importer of commodities.

BHP’s results show it has so far managed steer a safe course, with its sails filled with the wind of Chinese stimulus spending, but the stormy seas of the trade war threaten to blow it off course. The underlying profit was slightly below the $9.4 billion forecast by analysts, but was up from the $8.93 billion a year earlier.

Canada’s Iamgold lays off 325 Suriname contractors after illegal miner’s death (Reuters Canada – August 20, 2019)

August 21, 2019

https://ca.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Canadian miner Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO) has dismissed 325 contractors from its Rosebel gold mine in Suriname while it works to restore security after a clash between illegal miners and police, a company spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

The mining industry is grappling with a rising number of illegal miners, also known as artisanal miners, who break into sites in search of metals. At least 43 illegal miners died at a Glencore (GLEN.L) facility last month in Congo after a landslide.

Toronto-based Iamgold said earlier this month it had suspended mining operations at Rosebel after 25-year-old Furgill Aloeboetoe gained access to the site and died following an incident with police. Police later confirmed he was shot.

The rising cost of ‘social license’? Liberals give away $40M stake in coal terminal to two First Nations – by Jesse Snyder (National Post – August 20, 2019)

August 21, 2019

https://nationalpost.com/

OTTAWA — In a highly unusual move, the federal government gifted a $39-million stake in a B.C. coal terminal to two First Nations communities, perhaps signaling the rising cost of winning Indigenous support for natural resource projects.

The Canada Development Investment Corporation (CDEV) announced in July that it had transferred a 10 per cent stake in the publicly-owned Ridley Terminals facility to the Lax Kw’alaams Band and the Metlakatla First Nation, whose people reside near Prince Rupert on the northern B.C. coast. Finance officials confirmed there was “no payment associated with that transfer.”

The transfer comes after the two Indigenous groups were set to be major beneficiaries of a liquefied natural gas project that has since been scrapped.

Glencore’s closure of Congolese cobalt mine ‘could backfire’ – by Nik Martin (Deutsche Welle – August 20, 2019)

August 21, 2019

https://www.dw.com/en/

The plummeting price of cobalt has been blamed for the closure of the giant Mutanda mine, but other factors are at play. Owner Glencore is struggling to get the DRC’s new president to overturn a 50% super-profits tax.

Cobalt — a byproduct of copper and nickel in mining activities — is an essential component in electric car and mobile phone batteries. The metal was supposed to help Glencore, the world’s largest miner, to ride the electro-mobility and smartphone boom.

But a sudden 40% collapse in the price of cobalt prompted the British-Swiss multinational to announce earlier this month the temporary closure of its massive Mutanda mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mining giant BHP pays record dividend, but flags global growth headwinds – by Melanie Burton (Reuters U.K. – August 19, 2019)

August 21, 2019

https://uk.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – BHP Group posted its largest annual profit in five years and record full-year dividends, but its share price eased as the world’s biggest miner flagged global economic headwinds that could hit demand for its key commodities, iron ore and copper.

Both profit and dividends slightly undershot expectations as BHP (BHP.AX) kept cash in its coffers in the face of risks to global economic growth such as the Sino-U.S. trade war and as costs rise at some of its operations.

BHP shares edged down 0.4 cents to A$36.10 (20.16 pounds) on Tuesday, while the broader Australian market was up slightly .

A modest proposal for the Trump administration to buy Canada – by Daniel W. Drezner (National Post/Washington Post – August 19, 2019)

August 20, 2019

https://nationalpost.com/

Greenland is for small-timers. Trump should make an offer for an even bigger, richer, more strategic and more passive-aggressive Arctic ally

In recent days, the mainstream media reported on President Donald Trump’s interest in acquiring Greenland, which is a “constituent country” within the kingdom of Denmark.

The Wall Street Journal broke this story Thursday, with follow-up reporting from The Washington Post and the New York Times. Greenland has responded with an emphatic, public and polite refusal. This has been manna from heaven for political scientists, who have proffered many useful takes.

If there has been a dominant theme in the mainstream media coverage, it has been that not even Trump’s staff can take him seriously on this point. The Journal’s story noted that “the few current and former White House officials who had heard of the notion described it with a mix of anticipation and apprehension,” and that was one of the more positive responses.

Tiffany & Co. launches men’s line, hoping diamonds are a dude’s best friend – by Rachel Siegel (Washington Post – August 15, 2019)

August 20, 2019

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

Tiffany & Co. hasn’t had any trouble getting men to come shop for the ladies in their lives. Now the jeweler behind those iconic blue boxes wants them to stay and peruse … for themselves.

Tiffany is rolling out its first comprehensive jewelry line for men, the company announced Thursday, in a bid to attract younger shoppers and reverse declining sales. Come October, the collection will include nearly 100 designs, some of which will fetch prices as high as $15,000. Tiffany also plans to add home furnishings and accessories, such as ice tongs and beer mugs, with male customers in mind.

But retail experts say it could be a tough sell. The glitz and glamour of Tiffany has long been tied to feminine jewelry (along with Audrey Hepburn’s soft smile and bejeweled neck).

BHP weighs pullout from coal mining as investors grow greener – by Fumi Matsumoto (Nikkei Asian Review – August 21, 2019)

August 20, 2019

https://asia.nikkei.com/

SYDNEY — BHP Group might sell off coal assets, the mining giant’s chief hinted Tuesday, joining global peers in the move toward environmentally sustainable businesses as retail and institutional investors grow more sensitive to such issues.

“We increasingly have concluded that this is not a business that is going to offer the prospects for growth and would compete for capital … compared to our other businesses,” CEO Andrew Mackenzie said on an earnings call.

And while coal is not going away quickly, “the plentiful supply of energy coal, combined with a somewhat dampening in demand, as it’s going to form a smaller part of the market share going forward, means that this is a less interesting asset than others for us to invest in,” Mackenzie said.

Western Areas sees strong competition for its nickel – by Brad Thompson (Australian Financial Review – August 20, 2019)

August 20, 2019

https://www.afr.com/

Western Areas has flagged hot competition for its nickel when off-take agreements with BHP expire early next year and says the mining giant has only a small window to make premiums from its new battery-focused nickel sulphate plant.

Dan Lougher-led Western Areas said on Tuesday that the rise in electric vehicles was driving keen interest in nickel concentrate from its operations in Western Australia in the countdown to off-take agreements with BHP Nickel West and China’s largest stainless steel maker, Tsingshan, expiring early in 2020.

The company has invited 19 parties to tender for new off-take agreements and says it favours short-term deals based on optimism that nickel prices will continue to strengthen on the back of demand from makers of batteries and battery precursors.

Dryden-area gold mine gets environmental green light – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – August 20, 2019)

August 20, 2019

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Treasury Metals’ Goliath gold mine project won’t cause any adverse impact to the environment and can proceed to development.

The federal government has wrapped up its environmental assessment (EA) of the proposed open-pit and underground mine and mill project, located 20 kilometres east of Dryden in northwestern Ontario. Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna made the announcement, Aug.19.

In a news release, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency concluded “that the project is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects when mitigation measures are taken into account.”