Republic of Mining

Goldman’s Most Bullish on Commodities Since Supercycle Ended – by Mark Burton (Bloomberg News – February 1, 2018)

February 2, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is more bullish on commodities than any time since the end of the supercycle in 2008. As economies around the world pick up, factories are humming, eating into stockpiles of raw materials and driving demand at miners and oil producers already facing limits on output.

Copper, iron ore and crude prices will extend gains this year, Goldman analysts Jeffrey Currie and Michael Hinds said. “The environment for investing in commodities is the best since 2004-2008,” they wrote in a research note.

Rising commodity prices will create a virtuous circle, improving the balance sheets of producers and lenders, and expanding credit in emerging markets that will, in turn, reinforce global economic growth, according to the bank.

Sault Mayor to present ferrochrome bid in Toronto – by Elaine Della-Mattia (Sault Star – February 2, 2018)

February 2, 2018

http://www.saultstar.com/

Mayor Christian Provenzano and the ferrochrome bid team will make their presentation to Noront Resources officials in Toronto today. The presentation is expected to conclude by noon.

The bid package, Provenzano said in a recent interview, came together nicely and should surpass Noront’s expectations and requirements. Sault Ste. Marie is one of four Northern Ontario cities competing to host the ferrochrome plant in the community.

The facility isn’t expected to be built for many years. Ontario’s stringent environmental regulations and obtaining proper permits for the plant will undergo an arduous process in whatever city Noront decides to build. It’s expected an environmental assessment could take five years after a site is chosen. If a permit is issued, building the plant would take several more years.

In the shadow of oil, coal markets rise from the ashes – by Henning Gloystein and Sonali Paul (Reuters U.K. – February 1, 2018)

February 2, 2018

https://uk.reuters.com/

SINGAPORE/MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Far from entering the death throes predicted by some environmentalists and analysts, thermal coal miners are enjoying their best returns in years as strong Asian demand and tight supplies send prices soaring.

Chinese thermal coal futures hit a record of 687 yuan ($108.49) this week, up five-fold from their 2016 lows. Coal cargo prices from Australia’s Newcastle terminal, meanwhile, have roughly doubled since 2016 lows to over $100 per tonne, not far off 2011/2012 levels.

“The coal price improvement has thrown into stark relief the robustness of underlying demand in Asia,” Paul Flynn, chief executive of Australian miner Whitehaven Coal, told Reuters. “This had been masked until recent times by the surplus of capacity constructed during the last cycle. This period has now passed.”

Sudbury finalizes bid for ferrochrome smelter – by Staff (Sudbury Star – February 2, 2018)

February 2, 2018

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

The former Inco Coniston smelter site would be the best location if Noront Resources picks Sudbury as home for its new ferrochrome production facility, city officials say.

“We have the talent, we have a strategic location, we have a strong industrial base and we have a demonstrated commitment to environmental sustainability,” Mayor Brian Bigger said in release. “This is the winning combination that we will put before Noront and I am proud to be working in concert with Wahnapitae First Nation Chief Ted Roque and Atikameksheng Anishnawbek Chief Steve Miller as we pursue this opportunity for our community.”

On Thursday, the City of Greater Sudbury said it will file its bid Friday for the $1-billon facility that would process ore from the so-called mineral-rich Ring of Fire area in northwestern Ontario.

From Alcoa to Freeport, Metal Producers See Cost Creep Set In – by Joe Deaux and Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – February 2, 2018)

February 2, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Mining and metal companies are rediscovering the downside of rallying prices: higher costs. A sharp rebound in commodity markets in the past two years put producers in a profitability sweet spot after years of cost-cutting to cope with low prices.

Now, as the upturn matures and the higher cost of energy and other materials starts to bite, some companies are beginning to struggle to maintain margins.

As the quarterly earnings season unfolds, companies from Alcoa Corp. to AK Steel Holding Corp. have seen their shares slump amid signs that cost creep is eating into profit.

Mining in the digital age a challenge – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – February 2, 2018)

February 2, 2018

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

The mine sector may be lagging behind others in its embrace of digital technologies, but companies need to catch up to be sustainable, an industry leader said Thursday. “It’s clearly a different world we’re heading into,” said Rick Howes, CEO of Dundee Precious Metals, at a one-day conference on digital transformation. “We were focussing on the blue collar work; now we’re focussing on white collar work and how we use data.”

Howes was named an outstanding innovator in 2016 by the Mining Technology Hall of Fame for an operational performance project at his company’s Chelopech mine that uses new technologies to provide real-time production management.

If mines haven’t made as fast a leap into the digital future as manufacturers and other sectors, it’s largely because they are limited in their “strategic agility,” Howes told the conference audience. “Our ability to respond to change is very slow compared to other industries; it’s the nature of our business because of the way we invest in mines and mining technology, develop mines, build and operate them, and then shut them down.”

Miners’ protest raises political temperature in Morocco – by Zakia Abdennebi and Ulf Laessing (Reuters U.S. – February 2, 2018)

February 2, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

RABAT/MARRAKECH, Morocco (Reuters) – Moroccans risking their lives scraping coal from abandoned mines have listened to local officials, the mining ministry and a close royal ally since they began protesting five weeks ago. Now some of them want the king himself to intervene.

“When they closed the mines they offered us new jobs and compensation but nothing has happened,” said one former miner in the northern town of Jerada who declined to be named, fearing reprisal. “We will keep protesting until our lives improve.”

The miners have been left behind by the economic liberalization that won plaudits from the International Monetary Fund at a regional conference in Marrakech this week headlined “Opportunity for all”.

Electric Cars and Niche Metals Lure Cash to Africa’s Mines – by Thomas Wilson and Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – February 2, 2018)

February 2, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Rising commodity prices may have revived enthusiasm for African resources, but it’s unlikely to be the old mainstays of coal and iron ore pulling crowds next week as the mining industry meets in Cape Town.

The electric-vehicle boom and shifting industrial demand have transformed formerly niche metals — from lithium and cobalt to praseodymium and neodymium — into the hot new drawcards of African mining.

Far smaller and cheaper than the gargantuan mine, port and rail developments pursued by the likes of BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group during the last boom, these next-generation mines may stand a better chance of success.

Here are five metals grabbing attention across the continent.

There’s no punch to Trudeau’s pipeline pledge. He needs to put the gloves on – by Claudia Cattaneo (Financial Post – February 2, 2018)

February 2, 2018

http://business.financialpost.com/

If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was serious about supporting the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, he’d act with the urgency Canada’s pipeline crisis deserves, not parrot promises no one believes he will keep.

During a stop in Edmonton Thursday, amid rising tensions between Alberta and British Columbia over the long-delayed project, Trudeau said the $7.4 billion expansion would get built and that the federal government would stand by its decision to approve it.

“It’s important to get our oil resources to markets other than the United States for the Alberta economy, for the Canadian economy to continue to grow and we need to do that safely,” the Prime Minister said on an Edmonton radio station.

How America went from a grateful oil importer to global energy powerhouse – by Yaduliah Hussain (Financial Post – February 2, 2018)

February 2, 2018

http://business.financialpost.com/

The implications of this breathtaking transformation go far beyond oil markets and are reshaping the world’s economic order

The United States’ transformation from an imports-dependent energy consumer to an oil and gas powerhouse in around half a decade is nothing short of breathtaking. And it’s just getting started.

The implications of this transformation go far beyond global oil markets and are reshaping the global economic order. The three-year oil price downturn starting in 2014 was induced by U.S. shale and has already rocked many nations in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that have to scramble to find new sources of revenues and appease their citizens.

Growing liquefied natural gas exports from the U.S. to Europe can, over time, start diminishing Russia’s dominance in European energy markets. America’s oil renaissance also has huge implications for Canadian oil producers and the wider economy, which has manifested itself in many direct and indirect ways.

Workers trapped underground in South Africa gold mine rescued – by Staff (Reuters U.S. – February 2, 2018)

February 2, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – All the miners who were trapped underground for more than 24 hours after a storm knocked out powerlines supplying electricity to the Beatrix gold mine in South Africa have been rescued, operator Sibanye-Stillwater said on Friday.

In a painstaking rescue mission, the exhausted miners were hoisted up one by one after temporary power pylons were installed. None sustained major injuries.

Although the company had said the more than 1,000 mineworkers stuck underground were never in danger, the incident highlights safety concerns in an industry that is home to the world’s deepest mines, with workers at some sites operating at depths of up to 4 km.

Exploration agreement aims to help junior mining companies in northern Sask. and Man. – by Bridget Yard (CBC News Saskatoon – January 31, 2018)

February 1, 2018

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

Future of Creighton, Sask.’s main industry ‘up in the air,’ according to longtime Mayor Bruce Fidler

An agreement between the Saskatchewan and federal governments worth approximately $2 million will aim to help junior mining companies in their exploration of northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The agreement was signed in December 2017.

The future of the mining camps near Creighton, Sask., which is approximately 430 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, is “up in the air,” according to the town’s mayor.

“The forecast put out a year ago by Hudbay [Minerals] was that the 777 mine, the one in operation right now where they’re producing ore, is going to run out and shut down in three or four years,” said Bruce Fidler.

Glencore flags sharp rise in cobalt production – by Neil Hume (Financial Times -January 31, 2018)

February 1, 2018

https://www.ft.com/

Cobalt prices have soared amid rising demand for batteries to power electric vehicles

Glencore, the Swiss miner and commodity trader, has flagged a big increase in cobalt production as one of its biggest copper mines restarts production.

The London-listed group said it expected to produce around 39,000 tonnes of the metal this year, up from 27,400 tonnes last year, as its Katanga mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo come back on stream following a big investment programme.

The mine was closed in 2015 so that Glencore could upgrade its processing facilities. The company estimates it could produce as much as 20,000 tonnes of cobalt a year by 2019.

US Officials Consider New Tool to Combat Mine Spills: Robots (New York Times – January 31, 2018)

February 1, 2018

https://www.nytimes.com/

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS – DENVER — Crumbling mine tunnels awash with polluted waters perforate the Colorado mountains, and scientists may one day send robots creeping through the pitch-black passages to study the mysterious currents that sometimes burst to the surface with devastating effects.

One such disaster happened at the inactive Gold King Mine in southwestern Colorado in 2015, when the Environmental Protection Agency accidentally triggered the release of 3 million gallons (11 million liters) of mustard-colored water laden with arsenic, lead and other contaminants. The spill tainted rivers in three states.

Now, the EPA is considering using robots and other sophisticated technology to help prevent these types of “blowouts” or clean them up if they happen. But first the agency has to find out what’s inside the mines, some of which date to Colorado’s gold rush in the 1860s.

Plight of Canadian gold company Banro a study in frontier-market risk – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – February 1, 2018)

February 1, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

In the fall of 2012, investors in junior Canadian gold company Banro Corp. had a lot to feel good about. After about a decade and a half of toil, its first gold mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) began commercial production.

Banro had the backing of Blackrock Inc., one of the biggest institutional investors in the world. The company had also started construction on a second mine, which was due to come on-stream about a year later.

Meantime, gold bullion was trading around US$1,700 an ounce, only about US$200 shy of its record high. Banro’s own shares were on a roll too, with the company trading at a market value of around $900-million.