Republic of Mining

The diesel emissions scandal helped make palladium more valuable than gold – by Natasha Frost (Quartz.com – January 23, 2019)

January 24, 2019

Palladium prices have never known such glittering heights. The silvery-white precious metal is now $1,351.40 an ounce: more expensive than gold ($1,283.75 an ounce) or platinum ($792.30 an ounce), and just a little cheaper than iridium ($1,460 an ounce) and rhodium ($2,460).

As Bloomberg reports, palladium has surged around 50% in the past four months. A decade ago, it cost less than $200 an ounce.

About 80% of all palladium winds up in the exhaust systems of cars—it helps turn nasty pollutants into more benign water vapor and carbon dioxide. (The metal has also occasionally been used for jewelry, particularly during World War II, where a scarcity of platinum led it to be used in wedding bands.)

Many Toronto-listed miners don’t disclose environmental and social info — report – by Staff (Mining.com – January 23, 2019)

January 24, 2019

http://www.mining.com/

A report issued by the Amsterdam-based Responsible Mining Foundation reveals that many Toronto-listed junior and mid-tier mining companies do not properly disclose environmental, social and governance information related to their mine sites in Australia, Burkina Faso, Canada, the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mexico, Kyrgyz Republic, and Suriname.

The study assessed mine-site-level disclosure by 12 companies and their 31 mine sites located across nine countries and covered 15 key environmental, social and governance issues of public interest, known as ESG.

The average score when it comes to the disclosure of such issues was 11%, with only three of the 31 mine sites surpassing that mean with a score of 25%. “Where companies do publish site-level ESG information, the data is often presented in ways that reduce its usefulness to stakeholders.

Supreme Court to decide whether Canada’s Nevsun can be sued in Canada for actions abroad – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – January 24, 2019)

January 24, 2019

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Supreme Court of Canada heard oral arguments on Wednesday in a historic case that could have broad legal ramifications for any domestic company that operates abroad.

At issue is whether a group of African refugees has the right to sue former Canadian base metals miner Nevsun Resources Ltd. in Canada for alleged human-rights abuses overseas. (Vancouver-based Nevsun was recently acquired by Chinese company, Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. for $1.9-billion.)

The case was launched a number of years ago in the B.C. Supreme Court by three Eritrean refugees who accused Nevsun of violating international law pertaining to forced labour, slavery and torture during the construction of its Bisha mine in Eritrea from 2008 to 2010.

Access to Ring of Fire top priority for Noront; work continues on assessing Sault and Timmins – by Elaine Della-Mattia (Sault Star/Sudbury Star – January 24, 2019)

January 24, 2019

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Without a road, Noront Resources cannot access the minerals found in the Ring of Fire. And that means moving forward too quickly on a processing facility is also not necessary.

So, the silence surrounding any decision by Noront Resources as to whether Sault Ste. Marie or Timmins will be the eventual host of a ferrochrome processing facility is nothing to panic about.

Mayor Christian Provenzano says he, along with Tom Vair, the city’s deputy CEO of community development and enterprise and EDC’s Dan Hollingsworth, met with Noront Resources officials in Toronto last Friday to get an update and offer any assistance.

Ford clears the way for mine development, minister tells Sudbury audience – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – January 24, 2019)

January 24, 2019

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Mining projects in the region will now go forward with fewer hurdles and costs, a provincial cabinet minister assured participants of a resource development conference Wednesday.

“I want the industries in Ontario to know that they have an ally and a partner in this government,” said Greg Rickford, MPP for Kenora-Rainy River and minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines, as well as minister of Indigenous Affairs. “That we’re committed to supporting and protecting and launching mining projects across Ontario.”

That includes expediting development in the Ring of Fire, which Rickford said is long-overdue. “In southern Ontario there are folks who still think there are active mine sites up there,” he said. “But despite the decade of talk and more than $20 million invested in this region, there are still disappointingly no shovels in the ground.”

Respect, transparency are keys to First Nation, mining partnerships – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 23, 2019)

January 23, 2019

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Mining players share best practices at Indigenous procurement conference in Sudbury

Pat Dubreuil was a relative newby to the consultation process. Barely a year and half into his job as president of Manitou Gold, Dubreuil prepared for his first meeting with a First Nation community by taking a step back to research the culture and traditions of the people he wanted to develop a business relationship with.

“I need to learn who I’m dealing with, and that’s the key,” said Dubreuil. In explaining his gold exploration project to chief and council, Dubreuil embedded the Seven Grandfathers Teachings into his power-point presentation, concluding that talk with a ceremonial exchange of tobacco.

His hosts were highly impressed and complimented him afterwards on his respectful approach. That first official contact set the relationship off on the right foot.

Gold Fields Wants to Combine With Rival AngloGold – by Felix Njini (Bloomberg News – January 22, 2019)

January 22, 2019

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Gold Fields Ltd. would like to merge with its larger South African rival AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., as the industry experiences a wave of consolidation, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Gold Fields believes it would be the ideal combination as the two miners operate in similar jurisdictions and have a shared philosophy, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Discussions haven’t taken place yet, the person said.

A merger would bring together two miners with a combined market value of about $8 billion. The enlarged company could produce almost 6 million ounces of gold a year, closing the gap on Newmont Mining Corp. and Barrick Gold Corp., which have both announced mega deals.

Why we are missing the low-carbon economy bonanza – by Nelson Bennett (Business Vancouver – January 22, 2019)

January 22, 2019

https://biv.com/

The world is having a global energy transition party for miners – B.C. isn’t invited

A global energy transition that’s already underway would be good for B.C.’s exploration and mining industry.

The province, after all, is geologically blessed with an abundance of many of the raw materials needed for wind turbines, solar power and electric vehicles.

But the opportunity posed by decarbonization and the low–carbon economy is a boat that B.C. has already missed, according to one metals and mining analyst, because there is one thing missing in B.C.: licence to operate.

How Canada really can pressure Saudi Arabia to clean up its human rights (Hint: export our oil) – by Mike Bowerman (National Post – January 22, 2019)

January 22, 2019

https://nationalpost.com/

Shutting down Canadian oil does not reduce global oil consumption — it only increases the Saudis’ market share

After barricading herself in a Thai hotel room and launching a Twitter campaign as loud as it was effective, Saudi teen Rahaf Mohammed has admirably won the freedom she sought in Canada.

Her plight is the latest in a series of dismal news reports from the Saudi kingdom, and was an obvious diplomatic win for Canada. But if this country really wants to help the millions of Rahaf Mohammeds, Yemeni children and imprisoned or murdered journalists and activists, what we should be doing is putting the corrupt Saudi government out of the oil business.

When crises like Rahaf Mohammed’s arise, a fleeting sense of national pride envelopes Canadians. We temporarily remember that Canada is a country that shines so brightly around the world — it is among the most sought out places to live despite a frozen climate even we complain about. Yet that sense of pride vanishes when we begin making policy that determines our success on the world stage.

BHP second-quarter iron ore output down 9 percent, flags $600 million negative impact (Reuters U.S. – January 21, 2019)

January 22, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Global miner BHP Group said on Tuesday its second-quarter iron ore production fell 9 percent and flagged a $600 million negative impact due to production disruptions at its copper and iron ore operations.

The world’s biggest miner said unplanned production outages at Olympic Dam, Spence and Western Australia Iron Ore are likely to negatively impact productivity and flagged that it would revise guidance at its results on Feb 19.

The miner also raised its 2019 copper production forecast to between about 1.6 million tonne and 1.7 million tonne bolstered by the retention of Cerro Colorado copper mine in Chile, after a sale to private equity house EMR Capital fell through.

[Neskantaga FN] Not a drop to drink – by Kyle Edwards (MACLEAN’S Magazine – January 2019)

January 22, 2019

https://www.macleans.ca/

On a November afternoon, Casey Moonias, a 26-year-old mother of three, places firewood in her stove and soon it gives off the warmth and smell of charred lumber. The inside of her home is small and overcrowded with toys and piles of clothes.

Outside, like many houses on the Neskantaga First Nation, about 450 km northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont., a black-and-white husky is curled up in the snow by the doorsteps. After about an hour, when the house is warm enough, Moonias fills an electric kettle from a nearby jug, eschewing the water from her tap. Her community has had unsafe water for nearly as long as she’s been alive—unsafe not only for drinking but also, many residents say, for bathing. And this is bath time.

The day before, Ashley Sakanee, Moonias’s partner, fetched three plastic jugs of clean water, each holding four litres, from the community’s reverse-osmosis machine, a laborious process that requires him to trudge 10 minutes down an icy road to the local hotel to fill up, then pull the jugs back on a sled.

What did Canadian mining executives know about possible human rights violations in Eritrea? – by Scott Anderson (CBC News Fifth Estate – January 22, 2019)

January 22, 2019

https://www.cbc.ca/

Mine workers suing Nevsun Resources over allegations of forced labour, slavery, torture

For years, Vancouver-based mining firm Nevsun Resources has dismissed allegations that forced labour was used to build its mine in the repressive east African country of Eritrea.

Nevsun executives have denied direct knowledge of human rights violations at their Bisha mine site in a CBC interview and during an appearance before a parliamentary committee.

But company documents filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia last November and reviewed by CBC’s The Fifth Estate show executives at the highest level appear to have been informed of issues of forced labour at their mine site a decade ago.

Is nuclear energy the key to saving the planet? – by Jonathan Thompson (High Country News – December 10, 2018)

January 22, 2019

https://www.hcn.org/

A new generation of environmentalists is learning to stop worrying and love atomic power.

Emma Redfoot stands at a whiteboard in a small conference room, sketching neutrons, protons and nuclei, her voice rising enthusiastically as she explains nuclear fission: A neutron blasted into a uranium-235 atom shatters the atom, releasing energy and yet more neutrons that split other uranium atoms, causing a frenetically energetic chain reaction.

“The crazy thing about nuclear energy is that it turns mass into energy,” she says, her gray-blue eyes opening wider. “It. Destroys. Mass!” On the other side of the thick glass window here at the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) on the outskirts of Idaho Falls, Idaho, the mercury approaches 100 degrees, the sun an angry orange blob behind the thickening gauze of smoke from wildfires across the region — a reminder of the toll fossil fuels are taking on the planet.

But Redfoot says that the situation isn’t hopeless, that we can slash greenhouse gases and still have nice electrified things, including this comfortable climate-controlled room, without making the planet hotter and drier and smokier. To do so, however, we must embrace nuclear power — conquer our irrational fears of radiation and return to “a story that can be told in terms of abundance in the world we live in.”

There’s a Golden Shelter From Recession Risks With These Miners – by By David Stringer, Ranjeetha Pakiam and Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – January 21, 2019)

January 22, 2019

https://www.bloomberg.com/

There’s a better potential haven than gold for investors spooked by the risk of a recession this year — mid-sized producers who’ve outperformed both bullion and the rest of the mining industry.

Companies including Canada’s Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. and Australia’s Northern Star Resources Ltd. have scope to extend gains and should be in focus for investors looking for a safe harbor, according to Joe Foster, New York-based portfolio manager for the $600 million Van Eck International Investors Gold Fund.

Kirkland Lake, Northern Star and two rivals have the best returns in the Bloomberg World Mining Index over the past 12 months — a period during which both the gold price and the equity benchmark have declined.

NEWS RELEASE: LNG Canada approves $937 million in contracts and subcontracts to First Nations and Canadian businesses (January 21, 2019)

January 22, 2019

VANCOUVER, Jan. 21, 2019 /CNW/ – Today, LNG Canada announces the value of contracts and subcontracts approved as of December 2018, following the first three months of the construction phase of the large-scale LNG export project near Kitimat, British Columbia.

LNG Canada has thus far approved over $937 million (CAD) in contracts and subcontracts with First Nations enterprises and other businesses across Canada.

This includes $175 million (CAD) to local First Nations businesses and, with the addition of contracts awarded to local Kitimat area businesses, including First Nations businesses, that total increases to $330 million (CAD) and $530 million (CAD) with the addition of BC businesses outside the local area.