Republic of Mining

‘Radical’ Foes, Red Tape Hinder Ecuador’s Quest to Become a Mining Superpower – by Laura Millan Lombrana and Stephan Kueffner (Bloomberg News – March 19, 2019)

March 19, 2019

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Ecuador has tethered its economic fortunes to a burgeoning mining industry. Now it just needs to get bureaucrats and community leaders on board.

Local opposition and red tape are hindering plans to become a mining superpower that can rival other South American nations. Less than two years ago the government hoped mining would become 4 percent of Ecuador’s gross domestic product by the end of President Lenin Moreno’s term in 2021. That’s now under question, according to Deputy Mining Minister Fernando Benalcazar.

“That 4 percent is aggressive, given the conditions of radical social and environmental opposition that we have been seeing,” Benalcazar said in an interview in Quito. “Mining belongs to all 17 million Ecuadorians and large projects can’t be decided by groups of people that don’t represent even one per thousand of the country.”

Tanzania sets up mineral trading centers to curb illegal gold exports – by Fumbuka Ng’wanakilala (Reuters U.S. – March 18, 2019)

March 19, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – Tanzania has ordered all mineral-producing regions in the East African nation to set up government-controlled trading centers by the end of June, accelerating efforts to curb illegal exports of gold and other precious minerals.

The trading centers will give small-scale miners direct access to a formal, regulated market where they can go and directly trade their gold. They currently struggle to access formal gold dealers who mostly based in the capital Dar es Salam and major towns.

A statement from the prime minister’s office said the first mineral trading center was inaugurated in the northwestern town of Geita on Sunday, close to the country’s biggest gold mine owned by South Africa’s AngloGold Ashanti.

THE DRIFT: The King of Cobalt: Gino Chitaroni is the go-to pathfinder in the Cobalt exploration camp – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 14, 2019)

March 18, 2019

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Like generations of his family before him, Gino Chitaroni is a jack-of-all-trades. He’s a prospector, developer, business owner, tourist camp operator, and staunch advocate for the mineral exploration industry.

The third-generation resident of Cobalt (population 1,100) comes from a proud and tough stock of miners, mechanics, contractors and equipment suppliers on both sides of his family dating back to the Silver Rush days of the early 1900s.

During the 2016-2017 cobalt-staking rush in northeastern Ontario, Chitaroni became the to-go guy for industry and media types who trekked up Highway 11 and stopped at in PolyMet Labs to talk to the colourful and outspoken president of what was happening on the ground.

THE DRIFT: Shooting the globe, one mine at a time: Sudbury photographer specializes in mining industrial photography – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – March 18, 2019)

March 18, 2019

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Mining is a dirty, distinctly unsexy business. It’s hot and uncomfortable underground, and everything is coated in a fine layer of grime. Yet, with the right lens, an adjustment in lighting, and an eye for detail, James Hodgins makes the industry and its people look downright badass.

Over the last six years, the Sudbury-based photographer has travelled around the world under his professional moniker, International Mining Industrial Photographer, capturing on film every facet of the sector, from machinery to equipment to the personnel who make it all happen.

His clients include global mining giants and small, Northern Ontario service suppliers. As companies aim to secure a foothold in a competitive, often volatile industry, Hodgins helps them stand apart from the crowd by creating distinctive, high-impact images used to market their products and services.

Mining Companies Polluted Western Waters. Now Taxpayers Have to Pay for the Clean Up. – by Mark Olalde (Mother Jones – March 18, 2019)

March 18, 2019

https://www.motherjones.com/

“They took the heart of the mountains away from us.”

This story was originally published by the Center for Public Integrity.

The remnants of an abandoned gold and silver mine scar the Little Rocky Mountains just south of the Fort Belknap Indian Community in Montana, bleeding polluted orange water into streams that meander through the reservation. Warren Morin remembers drinking the once-pristine water while he was growing up in the 1970s. Now it’s so acidic it makes his skin burn and turn red on contact.

Pegasus Gold Corp., a Canadian company that owned that mine and several others in the state, went bankrupt and folded 20 years ago. That left a legacy of water pollution and a cleanup bill nearing $100 million—with no end in sight. “They took the heart of the mountains away from us,” said Morin, chair of the tribal council’s natural resources committee.

Pegasus isn’t an isolated case. Especially in the drought-prone West, the outdated and opaque regulatory system meant to ensure money is available to restore water and land at gold, copper and other hardrock mines often falls short.

COLUMN-Chinese go-slow on Australian coal imports may be starting to show – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – March 16, 2019)

March 18, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, March 18 (Reuters) – China’s unofficial go-slow on clearing Australian coal through customs didn’t show up in the first two months of this year, but it may now be starting to have an impact.

Chinese coal traders are reported to have cut back on buying from Australia, the world’s largest exporter of the fuel, after the length of time taken by customs to clear cargoes reportedly doubled to at least 40 days.

The Chinese customs administration said earlier this month that it has made no changes to coal import policies nor its inspection of foreign cargoes, although a foreign ministry spokesman said environmental and safety checks have been stepped up.

Chile’s GDP Gets a Jolt From Rising Mining and Investments – by Daniela Guzman (Bloomberg News – March 18, 2019)

March 18, 2019

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Chile’s economy surged in the fourth quarter as increases in mining output and investments set the stage for continued growth going forward.

Gross domestic product grew 1.3 percent in the fourth quarter, up from a revised 0.2 percent expansion in the three months through September. The economy expanded 3.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2017 and 4 percent for the full year of 2018, the central bank said in a report published on its website Monday.

The numbers indicate Chile’s economy is shaking off a slowdown marked by weak consumer demand and stubbornly high unemployment. Chilean policy makers have also had to contend with a trade feud between their largest trade partners, the U.S. and China, which has held down prices of copper, the country’s main export.

Alrosa’s resources estimated in over 1 billion carats – by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud (Mining.com – March 17, 2019)

March 18, 2019

http://www.mining.com/

The world’s top diamond producer by output, Alrosa (MCX:ALRS), published this week an updated estimate of its Joint Ore Reserves Committee or JORC reserves and resources.

“The JORC Code-compliant report from Micon’s independent experts estimated Alrosa’s diamond resources and reserves as of 1 July 2018 at 1,064 million carats and 628 million carats, respectively,” the miner said in a press release.

With offices both in the United Kingdom and in Canada, Micon is an independent firm of geologists, mining engineers, metallurgists, and environmental consultants.

OPINION:Indigenous-Canadians are upset with the Liberal government’s Bill C-69, too – by Joseph Quesnel (Financial Post – March 2, 2019)

March 18, 2019

https://business.financialpost.com/

Indigenous communities are still upset with the government’s Bill C-69, legislation intended to speed up and streamline the large project assessment process in Canada but which may end up frustrating the process further.

A few weeks ago, a convoy of more than 30 trucks met in northern Alberta to support pipelines and oppose Bill C-69. The event was billed by CBC News as the first Indigenous-led rally in support of energy resources. The event was organized by the Region One Aboriginal Business Association (ROABA), a group that promotes the interests of Indigenous-owned businesses in northern Alberta.

The Senate energy committee studying the bill has decided to take the bill on the road for more public consultations. That is likely the best decision for First Nations and indeed all Canadians, as these major projects — especially critical oil pipelines to get Alberta oil to foreign markets — are in the national interests of Canada.

Sorry Liberals – the ‘jobs’ excuse for the SNC-Lavalin debacle won’t fly – by Rex Murphy (National Post – March 16, 2019)

March 18, 2019

https://nationalpost.com/

Whoever is masterminding the Liberal response to this scandal appears to be confusing the anchor with the life jacket

Whoever is masterminding the Liberal response to the SNC-Lavalin scandal is confusing the anchor and the life jacket. To be clear, the life jacket is the one that keeps you afloat … the anchor is the heavy thing.

The justice committee Liberals — who are obviously not mariners — met Wednesday only to shut the committee down for a week, to stall on allowing Jody Wilson-Raybould back to complete her testimony, giving every indication possible that they weren’t really very interested in hearing from her at all anymore.

There is nothing opposition MPs could have done more effectively to juice up an already highly-charged saga than the five Liberals’ blatant and televised amputation of what a committee named justice ought to be doing.

Bristow’s masterstroke gives Barrick control of Newmont’s Nevada assets — but now he must deliver – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – March 16, 2019)

March 18, 2019

https://business.financialpost.com/

Barrick CEO Mark Bristow says investor’s poor reaction to the Newmont-Goldcorp merger created an opportunity and he pounced

One day after announcing a deal to effectively create the world’s third largest gold company, Mark Bristow, chief executive of Barrick Gold Corp., stayed in Elko, Nevada — a dry, rugged city situated near the Carlin Trend, one of the world’s richest gold mining districts — to assemble the team responsible for executing his promises.

For decades, Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corp. and its archrival Colorado-based Newmont Mining Corp., the two biggest gold mining companies in the world, have fuelled a large part of their growth through discoveries along the Carlin Trend, and tried numerous times to reach an accord to work together there.

Now, Bristow, 12 weeks into his tenure at the helm of Barrick, is holding up a joint venture agreement with Newmont to share assets in Nevada, which he claims will save both companies US$500 million per year, and billions of dollars over the long run. What’s more the deal was ramrodded through in a matter of days while Bristow proposed a $17.8 billion hostile offer to takeover all of Newmont.

New Mexican ambassador offers warning to Canadian companies in Mexico – by Stephanie Nolen (Globe and Mail – March 16, 2019)

March 18, 2019

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canadian mining companies operating in Mexico should be on notice that the sector is going to face increased scrutiny on its environmental practices and treatment of Indigenous people, according to the the country’s new ambassador to Ottawa.

“President [Andres Manuel] Lopez Obrador has been very public about this, that we really want a strong, profitable mining sector – and Canadian mining companies are large investors in Mexico – but we expect them to operate in this country with exactly the same standards as they do in Canada,” Juan Jose Gomez Camacho, who was ratified as the new ambassador on Thursday, said in an interview at the foreign affairs ministry in the Mexican capital.

Some 70 per cent of foreign-owned mining companies operating in Mexico are based in Canada, according to Global Affairs Canada. In 2015, Canadian firms held assets in Mexico totalling nearly US$20-billion.

Inuit hope fresh deals with mining companies boost employment at new projects – by Bob Weber (Canadian Press/CTV News – March 16, 2019)

March 18, 2019

https://www.ctvnews.ca/

Inuit leaders are hoping a new cycle of mine expansion in Nunavut brings with it a motherlode of jobs and economic spinoffs. “Inuit are very eager and wanting to participate in the economy,” said P.J. Akeeagok of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.

His group recently signed an agreement with a mining company that has a billion-dollar expansion proposal before northern regulators. Baffinland’s Mary River mine on the northern end of Baffin Island is considered one of the richest iron deposits in the world.

That’s not the only mining news out of Nunavut. Quebec-based Agnico-Eagle has begun to pour gold at its new mine near Rankin Inlet and is developing another nearby deposit. The two projects represent $1.6 billion in investment since 2017. Agnico-Eagle, which already has about 800 employees and 300 contractors at its Meadowbank mine, expects to hire more for the new ones.

U.S. and Brazil may partner on small nuclear reactors – by Lisandra Paraguassu (Reuters U.S. – March 15, 2019)

March 18, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Brazil and the United States could work together to build small nuclear reactors, Brazil’s mines and energy minister told Reuters on Friday, adding that the South American nation is also ready to open uranium mining to foreigners.

Brazil is preparing legislation that would clear the way for both private and foreign investment in prospecting and mining for uranium in the country, Minister Bento Albuquerque said in an interview. There is a draft of the legislation, but a final version must be negotiated with Congress, he said.

“We have to resolve internally the issue of uranium exploration that today is a monopoly of the state and is in the hands of Nuclear Industries of Brazil,” Albuquerque said, referring to the state firm running the country’s uranium mines.

How new investments will drive a rebound in Papua New Guinea’s mining sector (Borneo Post – March 17, 2019)

March 18, 2019

Borneo Post

A raft of foreign capital investments across new and existing mines in Papua New Guinea are set to boost production and lead to a rebound in government revenues; however, there are concerns proposed legislative changes could hinder activity moving forward.

In December Australian company Newcrest Mining and its partner, South Africa’s Harmony Gold, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with PNG’s government over a potential 9.1 billion kinas (US$2.8 billion) investment to develop the Wafi-Golpu mine, a copper-gold asset in Morobe Province.

While the MOU will not immediately lead to progress on the mine, it paves the way for further talks and a possible final agreement that will delineate benefit and revenue-sharing arrangements between developers and local communities.