Republic of Mining

The US is losing the nuclear energy export race to China and Russia. Here’s the Trump team’s plan to turn the tide – by Tom DiChristopher (CNBC.com – March 21, 2019)

August 1, 2019

https://www.cnbc.com/

The Trump administration is preparing a new push to help American companies compete in the race to build the next generation of nuclear power plants around the world — a competition the U.S. is currently losing.

In doing so, the administration also aims to push back on the growing dominance of Russia and China in the space, preventing them from expanding their international influence by forging long-lasting nuclear ties with foreign powers.

The State Department plans to expand cooperation with countries pursuing atomic energy long before those nations ever purchase a nuclear reactor. By facilitating early stage talks, the U.S. intends to put American companies first in line to build tomorrow’s fleet of nuclear power plants overseas.

Factory pain spreads through Asia, Europe; stimulus expected – by Jonathan Cable and Marius Zaharia (Reuters U.S. – August 1, 2019)

August 1, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Factory activity contracted across Asia and Europe in July, fuelling worries a prolonged U.S.-China trade war and an economic slowdown could tilt the world toward recession, which central banks would have to fight with depleted ammunition.

Manufacturing activity in the euro zone fell at its steepest rate since late 2012 last month as demand sank, a survey compiled by IHS Markit showed, puncturing sentiment among factory managers. [ECUR/PMIM]

Forward-looking indicators in Thursday’s survey suggest manufacturing won’t rebound anytime soon and is likely to embolden policymakers at the European Central Bank, who last week all but promised to ease policy further as the bloc’s growth outlook deteriorates.

EDITORIAL: Mining industry has role to play in carbon capture – by Marilyn Scales (Canadian Mining Journal – July 24, 2019)

August 1, 2019

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

The carbon neutral mine is on the horizon. That’s the aim of a collaborative program to test immobilizing carbon dioxide in mine tailings. Lab scale tests are promising, and now the research is moving into the field.

The technology could reduce – if not eliminate – greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at mines and result in the world’s first carbon neutral mining operation.

The research is headed by the University of British Columbia, the University of Alberta, Trent University, and Institut national de la recherches scientifique. The program is financially supported by Geoscience BC, Natural Resources Canada’s Clean Growth Program, De Beers Group, FPX Nickel, Giga Metals, and the governments of British Columbia, Yukon and Northwest Territories.

Former Mine In Missouri’s Old Lead Belt To Be Reopened For Cobalt Mining – by Eli Chen (St. Louis Public Radio – July 31, 2019)

August 1, 2019

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/

Missouri Mining Inc. plans to create up to 700 jobs by reopening a mine at a Superfund site in Fredericktown, Missouri.

The company wants to extract cobalt from the Madison Mine, which it purchased last year. The mine has been inactive since the 1960s and is a part of the Madison County Mines Superfund site, an area contaminated by historic lead mining.

Environmental Operations, a Missouri Mining subsidiary, plans to begin cleaning up the site this winter. Missouri Cobalt, another Missouri Mining subsidiary, could hire as many as 400 temporary workers and 250 permanent workers to rebuild and operate the mine.

NEWS RELEASE: Orefinders Resources Launches ‘Innovation in Mining Scholarship’ (August 1, 2019)

August 1, 2019

http://www.orefinders.ca/

Toronto, Ontario – August 1, 2019 – Orefinders Resources Inc. (“Orefinders” or the “Company”) (TSX.V: ORX) is pleased to announce that, in conjunction with Young Mining Professionals (“YMP”), the Company will provide a $4,000 scholarship to an innovative student that is studying in a mining related field in Canada.

“Our team is a big believer in innovation, whether it’s exploration, operations, data analytics or metallurgical systems there is a yet to be discovered process that will revolutionize the way we locate and extract orebodies. We are proud to support the Young Mining Professionals and the next generation of entrepreneurs they represent,” said Stephen Stewart, Orefinders CEO and the Chairman of the Young Mining Professionals organization.

Full details on Orefinders’ Innovation in Mining Scholarship is available at the link below:

https://www.orefinders.ca/innovation

About YMP Scholarship Fund

The Orefinders Innovation in Mining Scholarship is one of ten scholarships totalling over $44,0000 on offer from the YMP Scholarship Fund in 2019. The Fund’s mandate is to attract young talent to the exploration and mining industry by supporting their academic studies in Canada.

Kinross Gold buys Russian gold development property for US$283-million – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – August 1, 2019)

August 1, 2019

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Kinross Gold Corp. has struck a US$283-million deal to buy a Russian gold development project, its first gold acquisition in four years. In a statement after the close of markets on Wednesday, Toronto-based Kinross said it had reached a friendly arrangement with privately held N-Mining Ltd. to purchase the Chulbatkan project for a combination of cash and stock.

Kinross hopes to eventually develop the property, located in the Khabarovsk region of Russia’s far east, into a low-cost, open-pit gold mine. Cyprus-based N-Mining was founded by a number of former executives of Polyus Gold International Ltd., Russia’s largest gold producer.

Kinross said its own drilling, conducted over the past 16 months, indicates the Chulbatkan property contains a resource of 3.9 million ounces of gold. Over the next three years, Kinross plans to do more drilling to try to prove the project’s economic viability. Kinross’s early study points to a six-year mine life, with an all-in sustaining cost of US$550 an ounce and an initial capital cost commitment of half a billion dollars.

Big win for foreign plaintiffs as Pan American settles Guatemala mine case – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – August 1, 2019)

August 1, 2019

https://business.financialpost.com/

The cost of litigating these cases can make them prohibitively expensive to bring, so there’s unlikely to be a flood of similar litigation in the future

In a case likely to set new accountability standards for Canadian mining companies operating abroad, Vancouver-based Pan American Silver on Tuesday apologized to four Guatemalans who were shot in 2013 while staging a peaceful demonstration at the entrance to one of its mines.

The company also struck legal settlements, though terms remain confidential, with the Guatemalans to end ongoing litigation in British Columbia accusing it of negligence.

It marks one of three cases filed in Canada in recent years, in which a mining company has been sued for negligence because of alleged human rights abuses connected with its operations overseas. The other two cases are still pending in Canada.

Here are a few climate-change head scratchers for Canadian voters to ponder – by Gwyn Morgan (Financial Post – July 30, 2019)

July 31, 2019

https://business.financialpost.com/

An eclectic list of little-known facts, head-scratching paradoxes and utter hypocrisy

With energy and the environment playing an important role in the fall election, Canadians face starkly different policy positions from political parties, together with a bewildering array of information and disinformation. Here is my rather eclectic list of little-known facts, head-scratching paradoxes and utter hypocrisy.

CLIMATE EMERGENCY

On June 17, the House of Commons passed a motion declaring a National Climate Emergency.

Firstly, there is no such thing as a “national” climate emergency. Climate change is global, not national, and Canada’s contribution to global CO2 emissions is a minuscule 1.6 per cent. Here are the answers to some questions that will help you assess whether there’s really a “climate emergency.”

Apocalyptic projections of rapid sea level rises are driving municipal and provincial governments on both our east and west coasts to implement “sea level rise plans” that include sterilizing waterfront from development, building sea barriers and even buying out and destroying homes that are deemed vulnerable.

Mongolia’s Long Road To Mining Wealth – by Emily Kwong (National Public Radio – July 31, 2019)

July 31, 2019

https://www.npr.org/

Gulnara Dariiga has been stuck in traffic for two days in the Gobi Desert in southern Mongolia. The 38-year-old mother of four eats and sleeps in a heavy-duty North Benz truck, assigned to her by her Chinese employer — a coal buyer across the border.

“I think today we will cross,” she says with a grin. She shifts from park to drive, clenching her teeth to fight the stiff steering wheel. Her truck is laden with 90 tons of coal briquettes from Mongolia’s Tavan Tolgoi mine, ready for delivery.

This trade road and the immense gridlock of hissing trucks lined up like dominoes, waiting to cross the Mongolia-China border, are an indication of Mongolia’s future: The nation is shifting away from an economy based on agriculture and herding to one based on mining.

Canadian mining firm apologizes to protesters shot outside Guatemalan mine (AFP/CTV News – July 30, 2019)

July 31, 2019

https://www.ctvnews.ca/

A Canadian mining firm has apologized after reaching an agreement with demonstrators shot and wounded while protesting the company’s Guatemalan gold and silver mine, according to statements Tuesday from both sides.

The agreement marks the first time that foreign complainants have received restitution for a human rights violation by a Canadian company in a Canadian court, the protesters’ lawyers said in a statement.

This “landmark conclusion,” the details of which are confidential, was made between a group of injured protesters, who sued the mining company Tahoe Resources Inc in British Columbia province in 2014, and the Pan American Silver Corp, which bought Tahoe in February.

America is losing the battle of the Arctic – by Hal Brands (American Enterprise Institute – July 30, 2019)

July 31, 2019

http://www.aei.org/

The Pentagon’s new Arctic Strategy is a step forward, but not enough to counter Russia and – yes — China.

The two most important global issues of the coming decades are the return of rivalry between great powers and the intensification of climate change. Squarely at the intersection of these trends sits the Arctic, a region whose growing importance is reshaping the world’s geo-economics and geopolitics alike.

Publicly, the Trump administration is giving greater attention to the Arctic – an indication that the U.S. is mobilizing for the new era. Unfortunately, while Washington is speaking the language of great-power rivalry, its actions have yet to catch up with its words.

Since January, the Navy and Coast Guard have released separate Arctic strategies. Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer has called for new freedom of navigation operations and an increased naval presence in the region.

Glencore feels pain of Africa risk, cobalt price fall – by Barbara Lewis (Reuters U.S. – July 31, 2019)

July 31, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – Glencore said on Wednesday it faced a $350 million hit after cobalt prices halved and has begun an overhaul of its under-performing Africa business, which it will explain next week with output revisions in Democratic Republic of Congo.

First-half copper production was 5% lower than last year, while cobalt output rose 28%. Zinc and coal output rose 8% and 10% respectively and nickel dropped 11% versus the same time last year because of maintenance.

London-listed Glencore’s exposure to risk in Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia has weighed on the company’s share price, which has fallen while those of its diversified mining peers have risen.

First Nations call for stepped-up financial assurance to mitigate mine disaster risk – by Gordon Hoekstra (Vancouver Sun – July 30, 2019)

July 31, 2019

https://vancouversun.com/

The B.C. First Nations Energy and Mining Council is calling on the provincial government to close a policy gap that allows mining companies not to provide financial assurance to pay for the costs of a mine disaster.

The call comes on the eve of the five-year anniversary of Imperial Metals’ catastrophic Mount Polley mine dam spill in the Interior — which has still resulted in no environmental charges — and as the council released a report it commissioned on reducing the risks of mining disasters in B.C.

In 2014, the province ordered Imperial Metals to clean up the massive spill, which the company did, but the council’s report notes that if a company went bankrupt, the public could be on the hook for costs.

Alaska mine developer Northern Dynasty wins U.S. EPA reprieve, shares soar – by Nichola Saminather (Reuters Canada – July 30, 2019)

July 31, 2019

https://ca.reuters.com/

TORONTO (Reuters) – The Trump administration said on Tuesday it would lift an Obama-era restriction on the world’s biggest undeveloped gold and copper resource owned by Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd, sending the Canadian company’s shares soaring.

Under former U.S. President Barack Obama, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2014 proposed limits on large-scale mining in Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed, citing environmental concerns. Under President Donald Trump, the EPA has dismantled scores of environmental rules and Trump rejects mainstream climate science.

Northern Dynasty’s site is near Lake Iliamna in southwestern Alaska between the headwaters of two rivers that drain into Bristol Bay, and is known for its huge salmon runs, wilderness and abundant brown bears.

‘There’s no vision’: Agnico CEO slams feds over Northern resources – by Shane McNeil (BNN Bloomberg – July 30, 2019)

July 31, 2019

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd.’s chief executive is warning the federal government not to miss out on developing resources in Northern Canada.

“We’re not making a lot of headway there,” Agnico Eagle CEO Sean Boyd told BNN Bloomberg in a Tuesday interview. “There’s just easy things that should be done. The federal government is in a situation now where they transfer massive social payments to Nunavut. Why don’t you create industry? … We’ll do our part, but we can’t do everything.”

Agnico () operates three mines in Nunavut, including the Meliadine open pit gold mine, which began production in May. Boyd said that it’s on the mining industry itself to make a better case for the investment possibilities in the Arctic.