Republic of Mining

Pure Gold revives a past producer in the Red Lake camp – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – April 25, 2019)

April 25, 2019

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Mine developer aiming for commercial production at Madsen Mine project in 2020

Six years ago, as board members at Pure Gold Mining were going through a checklist spelling out the ideal attributes of a potential exploration property, they quickly realized the past-producing Red Lake Madsen Mine had it all.

“We wanted to be in a good, stable jurisdiction, we wanted a project that was high-grade, and we wanted access to infrastructure,” said Darin Labrenz, president, CEO and director at Pure Gold. “So, something that we could not only explore, but ultimately build.”

In operation between 1938 and 1974, Madsen is the second largest producer in the Red Lake camp, consecutively producing 2.5 million ounces of gold over 36 years.

Sudbury lithium miner aims to take its place on battery production stage – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – April 24, 2019)

April 25, 2019

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Frontier Lithium teams with Queen’s University, Glencore on developing refining process

A Sudbury lithium exploration company has struck a partnership with Queen’s University and Glencore to devise a way to produce lithium hydroxide for the North American battery industry.

Frontier Lithium has inked a strategic partnership agreement to work with XPS Expert Process Solutions, a Glencore spinoff company, and Queen’s University professor Ahmad Ghahreman to develop a process to refine spodumene concentrate into lithium hydroxide.

The collaborative testing project is built around Frontier Lithium’s PAK project, 175 kilometres north of Red Lake in northwestern Ontario. The company claims its 6,976-hectare property is the highest grade lithium deposit in North America.

More than 40 million people work in artisanal mining: report – by Peter Hobson (Reuters U.S. – April 24, 2019)

April 25, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – More than 40 million people around the world work in artisanal and small-scale mining where minerals including gold, diamonds and cobalt are dug up often by hand, a report by the World Bank and development organization Pact said on Wednesday.

Increasing demand for metals and rising prices have triggered a boom in small-scale mining in recent years, mainly in poorer countries in South America, Africa and Asia.

These mines are a vital source of income for communities, but many operate outside the law and leak chemicals into rocks, soil and rivers. Working conditions can be appalling, and the metal and stones dug up are often smuggled across borders on a vast scale, sometimes by criminal operations.

Teck shifts more coal sales to India as uncertainty looms over Chinese imports – by Ian Bickis (Globe and Mail/Canadian Press – April 23, 2019)

April 25, 2019

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Teck Resources Ltd. says it is less exposed to uncertainties on Chinese coal imports after shifting more sales to India.

Last year was the first time India surpassed China as a market for the company’s steelmaking coal, Real Foley, vice-president of coal marketing at Teck, told a conference call with financial analysts Tuesday.

The reduced reliance means the company is less exposed to potential disruptions to imports, as has been reported to be happening with Australian shipments to China.

Agnico bets on high grade gold as it digs in Canada’s remote north – by Nichola Saminather (Reuters U.S. – April 23, 2019)

April 25, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

TORONTO (Reuters) – Agnico Eagle Mines is doubling down this year on Nunavut, Canada’s least developed territory, betting that the high-grade gold ores and slim competition there will offset the risks of digging in the remote location in the far north.

For miners desperate to shore up reserves, the choice is often between safer jurisdictions with inhospitable geographies and easier-to-reach ores in politically challenging locations. Investors have been rewarded for backing Agnico’s strategy.

The company’s shares have surged 71 percent over the past five years, trouncing the 0.3 percent gain in the benchmark S&P/TSX Global Gold Index. They believe the company is making the right move again, thanks to high-grade ores in Nunavut and Agnico’s 12 years’ experience in the Arctic territory.

How Bill C-69 will end up punishing Indigenous Canadians most of all – by Brian Schmidt (Financial Post – April 25, 2019)

April 25, 2019

https://business.financialpost.com/

Opinion: The misconception that Indigenous communities are victims of the resource industry is paternalistic and out-dated

Across our country, workers, communities and businesses have been telling senators that Bill C-69, the proposed legislation on impact assessment, threatens to destroy the resource industry. Investment is fleeing, projects are being cancelled and jobs are being lost.

Often lost in the noise are the negative impacts C-69 will have on Indigenous peoples. I see those impacts firsthand as an energy CEO who works closely with First Nations. While the bill was drafted in part, as a response to Canada’s commitment to nation-to-nation partnership and reconciliation, it is First Nations who are being hurt first and foremost by C-69. Let me tell you how.

First, you need to understand that Indian Oil and Gas Canada, which regulates oil production on First Nations lands, has a policy of charging a higher royalty for oil produced on reserve lands than the royalties charged on Crown land in B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan.

OPINION: Carbon taxes are great in theory. If only they worked – by Margaret Wente (Globe and Mail – April 20, 2019)

April 25, 2019

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Thanks to politicians, carbon taxes are now a moral cause. If you want to save the planet you’ll sign on. Otherwise, catastrophe will ensue, warns our radiant Environment Minister, Catherine McKenna.

Ridiculous, argues Ontario’s portly, populist Premier, Doug Ford. Carbon taxes will create a “carbon tax recession” inflicted on us by our evil central government. Both are blasting their message at the electorate to persuade us that their side is right.

Neither statement is remotely true, of course. At 4.4 cents more per litre of gas, the new federal carbon tax is big enough to notice, but much too small to pry people from their cars. Even so, a lot of people like it. It shows that Canada is serious about climate policy. They figure that even if a carbon tax doesn’t buy us the solution to climate change, it seems like a good first step.

Finding yourself among the slag heaps of Sudbury (Sudbury Star – April 25, 2019)

April 25, 2019

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Acclaimed Greater Sudbury writer Tom Leduc is set to launch Slagflower: Poems Unearthed from a Mining Town, his debut collection of poetry, during an event at the Sudbury Theatre centre on Friday. The event runs from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Admission is free.

More than just a collection of poems, Slagflower is the story of a fourth-generation son of miners and his journey beyond the world underground, as well as the tale of a city struggling to grow beyond its past and become more than just a mining town.

Inspired in part by Leduc’s family history, the book invites readers to reflect on what it means to grow up in a mining town and “find yourself — and beauty — among the slag heaps.” Slagflower will be available for sale for $20, at the launch event and then through Latitude 46 Publishing, Chapters/Indigo, Amazon.ca and other independent book stores.

What could Newmont Mining’s $14b merger with Goldcorp mean for Australian gold mines? – by Matt Brann (Australian Broadcasting Corporation – April 24, 2019)

April 24, 2019

https://www.abc.net.au/

Two of the world’s biggest gold mining companies have merged in a $US10 billion ($14.2 billion) deal, which some analysts are tipping will have ramifications for gold mines in Australia.

Newmont Mining has finalised its merger with the Canadian based Goldcorp to become, it said, the world’s leading gold business with an unmatched portfolio of assets, prospects and talent. In a video statement from the company now known as Newmont Goldcorp, it said, “we’re not looking to be the biggest, we’re determined to be the best”.

Newmont Goldcorp is on track to become the world’s biggest gold producer, but the ABC understands the title is currently held by Barrick-Randgold, another mega gold-mining merger which occurred earlier this year.

COLUMN-Australia’s pro-coal lobby should heed South Korea warning – by Clyde Russell (Reuters India – April 24, 2019)

April 24, 2019

https://in.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, April 24 (Reuters) – A change in South Korea’s energy policy should have absolutely no bearing on the current Australian election campaign, but it should, as it’s a stark warning to politicians who still see a rosy future for coal mines and exports.

Australia is the world’s largest exporter of coal and South Korea has been a reliable customer for decades, taking 43.4 million tonnes of the polluting fuel from Australia in 2018, according to vessel-tracking data compiled by Refinitiv.

However, South Korea is now shifting its energy policy to effectively punish coal and promote both renewable energies and the use of cleaner-burning liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Exclusive: Gold worth billions smuggled out of Africa – by David Lewis, Ryan McNeill and Zandi Shabalala (Reuters Canada – April 24, 2019)

April 24, 2019

https://ca.reuters.com/

NAIROBI, (Reuters) – Billions of dollars’ worth of gold is being smuggled out of Africa every year through the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East – a gateway to markets in Europe, the United States and beyond – a Reuters analysis has found.

Customs data shows that the UAE imported $15.1 billion worth of gold from Africa in 2016, more than any other country and up from $1.3 billion in 2006. The total weight was 446 tonnes, in varying degrees of purity – up from 67 tonnes in 2006.

Much of the gold was not recorded in the exports of African states. Five trade economists interviewed by Reuters said this indicates large amounts of gold are leaving Africa with no taxes being paid to the states that produce them.

‘The gold was never there’: A miner’s reserves evaporate amid battle with former CEO – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – April 24, 2019)

April 24, 2019

https://business.financialpost.com/

Even in an industry known to be high-risk, the sudden evaporation of more than a million ounces of gold raised eyebrows

When geologists speak about how deposits of precious metal form in the earth, they reference changes that can take place over hundreds of millions of years.

This spring, investors in Toronto-based Guyana Goldfields Inc. experienced geologic time at a significantly faster pace: One morning in March, they held shares in a company sitting on nearly four million ounces of contained gold at its Aurora mine; and, by the end of the day, that number had declined by about 1.5 million ounces.

The sudden evaporation of more than one million ounces of contained gold from the company’s “proven and probable mineral reserve estimate” garnered immediate attention, and the company’s share price has declined 30 per cent since then.

Citi Says U.S. and China Will Nail Deal, Aiding Commodities (Bloomberg News – April 23, 2019)

April 24, 2019

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The outlook for commodities is bullish, according to Citigroup Inc., which expects raw materials to be supported by a confluence of positive factors including the agreement of a trade deal between Washington and Beijing, improved demand from China, and a weaker dollar.

The bank’s base case is that the U.S. and China will agree to end their protracted trade fight by end-June, paving the way for tariffs to be lifted, analysts including Ed Morse said in a report. A deal between the two economies is now “on course” for the end of the second quarter, the bank said.

Raw materials have advanced in 2019 aided by gains in energy and metals, with the latest leg up this week driven by the U.S. decision not to extend sanctions waivers for buyers of Iranian crude.

Paris to decide fate of Russia-Canada gold mine in French Guiana – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – April 22, 2019)

April 24, 2019

http://www.mining.com/

France’s environment minister, François de Rugy, is expected to announce in June the government’s official position on a proposed open-pit gold mine and precious metals industry in French Guiana, potentially the department’s largest, and it has locals divided.

The Montagne d’Or gold project, a joint venture between Russian billionaire Alexey Mordashov’s mining company, Nordgold, and Canadian junior Columbus Gold (TSX: CGT), was originally planned over an 800-hectare site between two protected natural reserves.

But after complaints from opponents to the mine, worried mainly about pollution and biodiversity loss, the French government formed a special committee to evaluate in detail the social and economic benefits, as well as the impacts of a gold mining industry in the French department, wedged between Brazil and Suriname.

Federal carbon tax favours coal-fired plants, could “diminish” renewables investment, new report says – by Jesse Snyder (National Post – April 24, 2019)

April 24, 2019

https://nationalpost.com/

OTTAWA — The federal carbon tax could favour coal-fired power plants over clean sources like wind and solar in its approach to industrial emissions, a new report says, potentially undermining a central aim of the Liberal government’s policy.

Environment Minister Catherine McKenna released a regulatory proposal in December 2018 that provided details on the heavy emitters portion of the carbon tax, including how levies would be applied to electricity generators.

Independent think-tank The C.D. Howe Institute reviewed the proposal and found it would actually give a leg up to higher-intensity emissions like coal and “diminish” investment in renewables, due to a decision to raise a critical threshold on certain producers.