Republic of Mining

Brazil’s Deadly Dam Collapse Could Force the Mining Industry to Change – by Danielle Bochove, Laura Millan Lombrana and David Stringer (Bloomberg News – February 20, 2019)

February 20, 2019

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The mining dam collapse that killed at least 169 in Brazil last month, with 141 still missing, was by no means an isolated incident. There’ve been at least 50 dam failures globally in just the last decade, according to one tally, with 10 considered major.

For years the industry has depended on these dams to contain the sometimes toxic, often dangerous, waste from mining. But the latest failure, which could end up as the deadliest in more than half a century, has the industry struggling to contain the consequences.

On Feb. 19, BHP Group Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mackenzie, citing the need for a “nuclear level of safety,” said his company would welcome an international and independent body to oversee the integrity of all the dams.

The United States’ aluminum tariff wall is crumbling – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – February 19, 2019)

February 20, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – It is almost a year since the United States imposed duties on imports of aluminum and steel on national security grounds. If the aim of the so-called “Section 232” tariffs was to lift domestic production, President Donald Trump’s administration can claim a degree of success.

U.S. output of primary aluminum has started rising sharply thanks to restarts of idled capacity, although not all of them have been directly down to the 10-percent import tariff.

If, however, the aim was also to tackle rising import penetration, particularly by Chinese aluminum producers, tariffs may already have passed peak effectiveness. Ever more gaps are appearing in the aluminum trade wall as the number of exclusions granted for specific products lengthens.

Nevada like Witwatersrand of 1970s – Bristow – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – February 15, 2019)

February 20, 2019

http://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Nevada is like the Witwatersrand of the 1970s, says new Barrick Gold president and CEO Dr Mark Bristow, whose Randgold Resources is now merged into Barrick to form the world’s biggest gold mining company, which is also an extractor of copper, a metal that Bristow sees as “another gold”.

The brand new Goldrush-Fourmile discovery, which extends the footprint within Cortez district in Nevada in the US, is already at 12-million ounces at over 10 g/t.

“I reckon that will go over 20-million ounces and that’s an 8-km-long deposit,” South African-born Bristow tells Mining Weekly Online. And then there is Turquoise Ridge, which is the richest gold mine in the world at 15 g/t.

Brazil Bans Upstream Mining Dams After Vale’s Latest Disaster -by R.T. Watson (Bloomberg News – February 18, 2019)

February 20, 2019

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Brazil is prohibiting a specific type of tailings dam after two of those structures owned by miner Vale SA burst in recent years, causing death and environmental devastation.

All so-called upstream dams need to be decommissioned or removed by August 2021, according to a resolution the National Mining Agency, or ANM, published on Monday in the nation’s official gazette. Dam owners have until Aug. 15 to complete a technical plan for the dams, which at a minimum need to include reinforcing existing structures or building new retention structures.

In the most recent accident, a dam at Vale’s Feijao mine burst on Jan. 25, unleashing a torrent of mining waste that killed at least 169 people and contaminated rivers in Minas Gerais state.

Deep sea mining threatens indigenous culture in Papua New Guinea – by John Childs (The Conservation.com – February 19, 2019)

February 20, 2019

https://theconversation.com/

When they start mining the seabed, they’ll start mining part of me.

These are the words of a clan chief of the Duke of York Islands – a small archipelago in the Bismarck Sea of Papua New Guinea which lies 30km from the world’s first commercial deep sea mine site, known as “Solwara 1”. The project, which has been delayed due to funding difficulties, is operated by Canadian company Nautilus Minerals and is poised to extract copper from the seabed, 1600m below the surface.

Valuable minerals are created as rapidly cooling gases emerge from volcanic vents on the seafloor. Mining the seabed for these minerals could supply the metals and rare earth elements essential to building electric vehicles, solar panels and other green energy infrastructure. But deep sea mining could also damage and contaminate these unique environments, where researchers have only begun to explore.

The industry’s environmental impact isn’t the only concern. It’s been assumed by the corporate sector that there is limited human impact from mining in the deep sea. It is a notion that is persuasive especially when compared with the socio-ecological impacts of land-based mining.

Newcrest Mining CEO in no rush to find partner as gold industry consolidates – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – February 18, 2019)

February 20, 2019

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The head of the world’s third most-valuable gold company says he feels no pressure to do a sizeable mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transaction, despite larger rivals Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Mining Corp. striking multibillion dollar deals of their own in recent months.

“Getting bigger for bigger’s sake, I’ve never been a big fan of that,” Sandeep Biswas, chief executive officer of Melbourne-based Newcrest Mining Ltd., said in an interview. “There’s either got to be real synergies, or real technical or other capabilities, where one can enhance the combined entity.”

After about seven years of deep cost-cutting, write-downs and asset sales, there are signs the tide is turning in the beaten down global gold sector.

Canada lithium mining hopeful takes another big hit – by Frik Els (Mining.com – February 18, 2019)

February 20, 2019

http://www.mining.com/

Nemaska Lithium (TSE: NMX) announced on Monday it has terminated a multi-year supply agreement with Livent Corporation that would cost the Quebec company up to $20m to settle.

The deal with Livent, spun out of US lithium major FMC Corp last year, saw Nemaska provide up to 8,000 tonnes per year (28,000 tonnes in total during the term of the contract) of lithium carbonate starting in April this year.

According to a press released late on Monday, Nemaska told Livent it “might have no option but to terminate” the agreement and repay Livent the USD$10 million the it received in April 2017 “plus a similar amount as a termination fee”.

Tycoons tell Mexico’s president that unions ‘extorting’ businesses – by (Reuters U.K. – February 18, 2019)

February 20, 2019

https://uk.reuters.com/

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A group representing some of Mexico’s biggest companies told left-wing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday that politicians should resist “extortion” by labour unions after strikes and blockades in recent weeks.

Alejandro Ramirez, president of the Mexican Business Council, said strikes at factories in the northern state of Tamaulipas and blockades of railways by a teachers union had caused more than a billion dollars in losses and could cause businesses to close.

Members of the group, including Mexico’s second-richest man, German Larrea, who controls mining and transport conglomerate Grupo Mexico, were critics of Lopez Obrador before his July 1 election, warning voters should be wary of populism.

The Mining Industry’s Waste Problem Will Only Get Worse – by David Fickling (Bloomberg News – February 19, 2019)

February 20, 2019

https://www.bloomberg.com/

To avoid another disaster like Vale’s, companies need to invest in better disposal methods. That’s going to get harder in the coming decades.

It’s taken two tragedies in just over three years, but the mining industry is finally starting to clean up its act. Brazil’s government Monday announced plans to ban upstream tailings dams, a low-cost method of storing mining waste implicated in last month’s Brumadinho disaster and the similar Samarco collapse in 2015.

Something of the sort was already on the cards: State-controlled Vale SA, operator or joint-operator of both facilities, is already decommissioning all of its dams that use the technology. Chile, where earthquakes pose a particular threat to the stability of tailings ponds, banned upstream dams in 1970.

Barrick Gold Faces Challenges to Develop Latin America Mines – by Danielle Bochove and Laura Millan Lombrana (Bloomberg News – February 15, 2019)

February 15, 2019

https://www.bloombergquint.com/

(Bloomberg) — Just seven weeks into the job, Barrick Gold Corp.’s new boss has already discovered, first hand, the challenges of developing and mining giant deposits in Latin America.

Barrick’s main project, the Veladero joint venture with Shandong Gold in Argentina, isn’t performing like a tier one asset, Mark Bristow said on Wednesday.

In 2019, Veladero is expected to have the highest cost per ounce in Barrick’s portfolio. He also cited projects in the El Indio belt straddling the Argentina-Chile border, and Alturas in Chile, as high-cost efforts.

Hate mail and vitriol: Divisions run deep over bill that could reshape our natural resources economy – by Gabriel Friedman and Geoffrey Morgan (Financial Post – February 15, 2019)

February 15, 2019

https://business.financialpost.com/

Tempers flare over Bill C-69, the Liberals’ environmental review overhaul that has pit miners against the oilpatch

TORONTO/CALGARY – It’s a Friday afternoon in January and Pierre Gratton, president of the Mining Association of Canada, is tired of responding to angry emails from people he doesn’t know.

For the second time in as many months, his inbox and phone line were flooded with messages — some polite, some he calls “hate mail” — from people opposed to Bill C-69, the planned overhaul of the federal environmental review process.

Few pieces of legislation stir up raw emotion within the resources sector as much as those connected to environmental reviews, which require companies to study the impacts of their projects, sometimes at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars and sometimes opening them up to legal challenges that can create years-long delays.

Barrick CEO Bristow stands to earn as much as $18-million if targets are met – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – February 15, 2019)

February 15, 2019

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. shareholders sent a message to the company in 2013 by opposing a US$17-million pay package for new recruit John Thornton. Now, the gold miner may end up paying its new chief executive officer even more.

Mark Bristow took over as Barrick’s CEO as it completed its recent acquisition of Randgold Resources Ltd., where he was CEO. He stands to earn as much as US$18-million at Barrick this year, subject to performance measures being met.

In a regulatory document, Barrick disclosed that Mr. Bristow’s compensation will include a salary of US$1.8-million and a cash bonus of up to three times his salary that could be worth US$5.4-million.

Who should fuel the EV revolution? – by Guy Dixon (Globe and Mail – February 15, 2019)

February 15, 2019

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ontario is gearing up to power a population of electric vehicles, but how soon is the populace going to drive them?

As an example of one region’s readiness for electric vehicles, Ontario Power Generation, which produces about half of the province’s electrical generation, said it will be able to provide the extra power needed for an estimated three million or more EVs to hit Ontario’s roads in 20 years.

“The energy is there,” but the infrastructure is lacking – the ability for drivers to conveniently plug in their cars en masse overnight, said Andrea Brown, senior manager of electrification development at Ontario Power Generation.

Quebec lithium developer’s stock craters after cost blowout – by Amanda Stutt (Mining.com – February 13, 2019)

February 15, 2019

http://www.mining.com/

Nemaska Lithium’s (TSE: NMX) stock plummeted Wednesday after disclosing it has been forced to revise the budget for the Whabouchi lithium mine and Shawinigan electrochemical plant upward by C$375 million. The company, with a $300 million market cap on the TSX, clawed back some of the early day’s losses, but still closed the day down 35%.

Nemaska, which has also received funding from the Quebec provincial and Canadian federal governments, is building the Whabouchi hard rock lithium mine in the James Bay region and Shawinigan processing plant north of Montreal, aiming to put Canada on the global lithium production map.

Nemaska has already spent over $138 million on the Whabouchi mine and mill, and another $67.3 million for the plant in Shawinigan. The additional funding is largely related to installation and indirect costs, said the company. Direct purchase package costs – mainly equipment – are in line with the original budget.

Trust in tailings? Vale dam disaster spurs investors into action – by Barbara Lewis, Simon Jessop and Clara Denina (Reuters U.S. – February 15, 2019)

February 15, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – Seeking assurances from Brazilian miner Vale by phone after a second deadly dam disaster in three years is not enough for Sasja Beslik. He plans to fly there himself to get answers.

Beslik, head of sustainable finance at Swedish bank Nordea, blocked the bank’s investment managers from buying any more Vale shares on Jan. 26, the day after a damn filled with mining waste burst its banks, killing hundreds.

He is the latest investor to step back from an industry that is trying to clean up its act. Vale needs to address the risks associated with tailings dams and deal with its waste material safely if it is to prevent an exodus of global funds and stem the recent share price slide.