Republic of Mining

Copper miners challenged by water supply – by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud (Mining.com – January 18, 2018)

January 18, 2018

http://www.mining.com/

Wood Mackenzie sees copper demand increasing significatively over global supply in the next decade and, together with it, miners’ need for reliable sources of water.

“As constant and high demand for copper leads to resources running out, copper grades will progressively diminish. As a result, water demand will increase because it will be necessary to process more material to obtain the same amount of copper,” the consultancy group wrote in a report made public this week.

Aware of this, some miners with projects in Chile are already taking steps to guarantee the continuity of their operations. In the document titled The awakening of a dormant challenge: water management in the copper-mining industry, Wood Mackenzie says that companies in the world’s top copper producer are starting to minimise their use of underground and surface water, and are gradually increasing their use of seawater and recirculated water.

Ottawa creates office to investigate human rights abuses linked to Canadian companies abroad – by Marco Chown Oved (Toronto Star – January 18, 2018)

January 18, 2018

https://www.thestar.com/

“There’s no other such position in the world,” said Julia Sanchez, president of the Canadian Council for International Co-operation, after Ottawa’s Wednesday announcement.

More than a decade after the federal government created a “toothless” position to police Canada’s oil and mining companies operating overseas, Ottawa has announced there’s a new sheriff in town.

The Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprisse (CORE) will be an independent officer who will investigate allegations of human rights abuses linked to Canadian corporations operating abroad.

Ontario Mine Rescue gathers some history in Elliot Lake – by Kevin McSheffrey (Elliot Lake Standard – January 17, 2018)

January 18, 2018

http://www.elliotlakestandard.ca/

With 2019 being the 90th anniversary of Ontario Mine Rescue, two members of the organization were in Elliot Lake recently to gather some of its history in preparation for next year’s event.

Ted Hanley, Ontario Mine Rescue general manager at its head office in Sudbury, and a student researcher Justin Konrad, were scanning and photographing many of the exhibits in Elliot Lake’s Mine Rescue Collection at the Elliot Lake and Nuclear Mining Museum on Jan. 10.

Ken Pierce, Elliot Lake’s local historian and the former regional mine rescue instructor based in the community when the mines were operating, was assisting them. Hanley says he first came to the Elliot Lake and Nuclear Mining Museum two years ago and viewed the Mine Rescue Collection, on Pierce’s invitation.

Kazakh tycoon wants Petropavlovsk ex-CEO back, sees M&A opportunities – by Olzhas Auyezov (Reuters U.S. – Janaury 18, 2018)

January 18, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

ALMATY (Reuters) – Kazakh businessman Kenges Rakishev, having bought a large stake in Petropavlovsk (POG.L) last month, says he wants to see Pavel Maslovskiy reinstated as chief executive of the Russian mid-sized gold producer.

The unexpected deal, in which Rakishev purchased a 22 percent stake in the London-listed company from Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg for an undisclosed sum, was the latest twist in a row surrounding Petropavlovsk. Petropavlovsk witnessed shareholder conflict over control of the company that culminated in the resignation of Maslovskiy, one of its co-founders, as CEO in mid-2017.

“From my point of view, nobody came out of this (infighting) victorious,” Rakishev said in an interview with Reuters. “Maslovskiy must complete the POX plant,” he added, referring to a major project aimed at boosting the company’s output. “I would like (to see him return).”

Barrick Studies Impact of Chile’s Pascua-Lama Closure Order – by Danielle Bochove and Laura Millan Lombrana (Bloomberg News – January 18, 2018)

January 18, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. is analyzing revised sanctions on its Pascua-Lama project on the Chile-Argentine border after Chile’s environmental agency reduced a fine but imposed new conditions, including the definitive closure of the original project site.

Construction of the open-pit mine was halted by a Chilean court in April 2013. A month later, Chile’s environmental agency, known as SMA, fined the company and ordered it to take steps to safeguard water supplies.

The fine was the maximum the SMA could hand down and Barrick was able to cut it to about $16 million by paying within five days. Activists protested, calling for a higher penalty, and SMA was told to recalculate the fine.

WoodMac urges automakers to ‘get out their chequebooks’, secure energy metal supplies – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – January 17, 2018)

January 18, 2018

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Auto manufacturers are ramping up strategies to cash in on the accelerating worldwide acceptance and demand for electric vehicles (EVs), prompting advice from research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie for automakers to ‘get out their chequebooks’ and take stakes in mines or new mine projects to lock-in future supply.

WoodMac issued a statement on Tuesday, following news that Ford will boost its investment in EVs to $11-billion between 2015 and 2022 – a sharply higher figure than a previously announced target of $4.5-billion by 2020.

Ford also revealed plans to expand its electrified portfolio to include 40 electrified vehicles globally, including 16 full-battery EVs by 2022. It outlined plans to accelerate investment in EVs and sportd utility vehicles (SUVs).

China ramps up aluminum output in Dec amid new capacity launches – by Tom Daly (Reuters U.S. – January 18, 2018)

January 18, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s aluminum production rebounded in December to its highest since June, reversing five months of declines, as state-owned Chinalco launched new capacity even as Beijing curbed its private rivals, lifting 2017 output to a record.

The world’s top aluminum producer churned out 2.71 million tonnes of the metal last month, up 15.3 percent from 2.35 million tonnes in November, although it was down 1.8 percent from a year ago, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported on Thursday.

For the full year, China produced 32.27 million tonnes of aluminum, a rise of 1.6 percent from 2016, the data showed.

Blessing and curse: understanding the social impact of Chinese mining in Africa – by Heidi Vella (Mining Technology – January 18, 2018)

January 18, 2018

https://www.mining-technology.com/

A new report by the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA) attempts to determine the social impacts of Chinese mining operations in Africa.

The study, which found both positives and negatives, once again highlights the need for African nation states to benefit more from their own natural resources. Heidi Vella, speaking to the report co-author and other industry experts, investigates the challenges.

Around half of China’s total out-bound investments from 2005 to 2016 went into the energy and mining sectors of foreign countries. Sub-Saharan countries, such as Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), attracted approximately one-third of these funds.

Top China Nickel Producer Joins BHP in Prepping for EV Boom (Bloomberg News – January 18, 2018)

January 18, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

China’s top nickel supplier aims to boost output of a material used in car batteries by 40 percent this year, joining the ranks of global producers ramping up operations to meet demand from electric vehicles.

Jinchuan Group Co. expects to raise production of nickel sulphate to 70,000 metric tons from 50,000 tons in 2017, Simon Bao, vice general manager of its marketing unit, said in an interview in Shanghai. The country is already the world’s largest automotive market and sales of new-energy vehicles may hit 1 million in 2018 after topping 700,000 last year, according to manufacturers.

“While physical demand hasn’t picked up too significantly yet, it may surge in about two years,” Bao said Tuesday. The company is able to raise sulphate production without any technical barriers, he said, adding that nickel cathode output will be kept at 135,000 tons this year. Cathode is used in stainless steel.

Goldcorp re-submits rejected application to build Yukon mine – by Dave Croft (CBC News North – January 17, 2018)

January 18, 2018

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

Project manager believes company has done everything it can to ensure application makes it through process

Mining giant Goldcorp has re-submitted its massive application for environmental permitting to build a gold mine 130 kilometres south of Dawson City, Yukon. The original proposal was filed last March and rejected by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) a few months later.

YESAB found the application inadequate because Goldcorp had not properly consulted four potentially affected First Nations.

The re-submitted application — a document of more than 20,000 pages — says that since then, the company has been meeting with the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, Selkirk, Na-Cho Nyak Dun and White River First Nations.

MEDIA RELEASE: Alliance Between First Nations, Municipal Leaders, and Industry Formed to Defend a Way of Life

January 18, 2018

Welcomes Nathalie Des Rosiers as Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry

January 18, 2018 – An Alliance of First Nation and non-First Nation leaders representing rights holders, stakeholders, municipal leaders, unions, and Ontario’s forest sector has been formed to defend our way of life, with a mandate to grow the responsible use of natural resources in northern and rural Ontario.

Chief Thomas Johnson Jr., Seine River First Nation, said, “In light of reconciliation and economic sustainability, we as First Nations and non-First Nations must rally in support of one another to defend our shared forestry interests and lands unique to northern and rural Ontario through a working alliance, forged on the principles of unity, strength and prosperity.

Our collective action reaches beyond today by working to secure a sustainable future for the generations to come. As the Chief of Seine River, I stand in solidarity with The Alliance. I am calling all treaty partners to join and support us in moving the reconciliation agenda forward.”

`Disastrous’ Deals Sideline Gold-Mining M&A as Metal Rises – by Luzi-Ann Javier (Bloomberg News – January 17, 2018)

January 18, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Stung by some lousy investments that led to billions of dollars in losses a few years ago, the world’s major gold producers have cut way back on mining deals — even as metal prices posted their biggest rally since 2010.

The value of the industry’s transactions, from acquisitions to venture-capital financing, tumbled by more than a third in 2017 to $8.95 billion, the lowest in at least a dozen years of data compiled by Bloomberg.

The decline reflects the skittishness of an industry that went on a buying spree in 2010 and 2011, when prices surged to records, and then got stuck with too much debt and huge writedowns after bullion tumbled.

Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association celebrates 25 years (Canadian Mining Journal – January 2018)

January 18, 2018

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

An interview with Hans Matthews of the Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association

The Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association was formed in 1992 to give voice to community concerns around mining, and to bring the two parties together. In fact, CAMA cofounder and president Hans Matthews – who is also a geologist with experience in exploration and mining – describes the organization as providing the services of both a “dating game and marriage counsellor.”

While there’s been a lot of progress in the relationship between the mining sector and the Aboriginal community over the past 25 years, with the number of agreements, including IBAs, growing to over 400 from only six, and greater understanding of each other’s objectives on both sides, there’s still a ways to go in the evolving relationship.

Community concerns around water and the environment are increasingly overshadowing the economic benefits that mining can bring – as reflected in CAMA’s recent conference in Toronto. CMJ spoke to Matthews in late November about this and other trends.

North Bay sides with Timmins over Sudbury – by Gord Young (Sudbury Star – January 18, 2018)

January 18, 2018

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Both cities in running for ferrochrome plant

North Bay is lending its support to Timmins in its bid for the Noront ferrochrome facility, although some city politicians are dubious of how much weight it will carry. Council unanimously adopted a motion tabled by Coun. George Maroosis on Tuesday calling for North Bay to back the Timmins plant proposal.

But a couple of members, including Maroosis, suggested the likelihood of the processing facility actually going to that community is questionable. Maroosis said “there’s great suspicion in the North that the fix is already in” with Sudbury considered the preferred location.

He said that’s especially true given the level of “influence” the Nickel City enjoys from the provincial government and the fact that it was previously designated to have the smelter when Cliffs Natural Resources was involved in the Ring of Fire.

Sudbury’s Laurentian University looking at a bright future – by Staff (Sudbury Star – January 18, 2018)

January 18, 2018

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Laurentian University is broadening its horizons and looking toward a bright future.

The university launched its 2018-2023 strategic plan Wednesday, which focuses on its five shared values: the north inspires us, student success is our success, teaching and learning define us, curiosity drives our research, and relationships are our priority.

“Laurentian’s 2018-2023 strategic plan encapsulates our university’s core values,” Pierre Zundel, interim president and vice-chancellor, said Wednesday. “We have embraced our identity as well as our collective strengths to identify 25 desired outcomes.

This strategic plan is a reflection of our students, faculty and staff, their work, and the positive impact Laurentian will continue to make in the world. Together, we will shape the future.”