Republic of Mining

Optimism returns to Grande Cache as coal mine plans to reopen – by Reid Southwick (CBC News Calgary – January 5, 2018)

January 5, 2018

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

There is renewed optimism in the small resource community of Grande Cache after a foreign company agreed to buy the steelmaking coal mine that has been shuttered for two years and helped drain the town’s population.

Hundreds of jobs were wiped out in the community northwest of Edmonton after metallurgical coal prices tanked, forcing the local operator to shut the surface and underground mines in 2015.

Facing almost $500 million in debt, Grande Cache Coal was forced into receivership a year ago. Since then, steelmaking coal prices have bounced back, and the court-appointed receiver has found a buyer.

Cobalt price bulls’ worst fears may just have been confirmed – by Frik Els (Mining.com – January 4, 2018)

January 5, 2018

http://www.mining.com/

Cobalt prices went ballistic in 2017 with the metal quoted on the LME ending the year at $75,500, a 129% annual surge sparked by intensifying supply fears and an expected demand spike from battery markets. Measured from its record low hit in February 2016, the metal is more than $50,000 more expensive.

Given these lofty levels – and considering that the volatile commodity topped $100,000 a tonne a decade ago – battery makers and energy storage researchers have been working hard to find a substitute for cobalt, or at least reduce the required loading.

Now that breakthrough may just have been made.

Backed by the US Department of Energy, researchers at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering led by professor of materials science and engineering Christopher Wolverton, have developed a lithium battery which replaces cobalt with iron (iron ore was priced at $76 a tonne on Thursday).

Seven Canadian resource stocks best positioned to rally – by Peter Ashton (Globe and Mail – January 5, 2018)

January 5, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

What are we looking for?

Canadian resource stocks poised to benefit from the continuing rally in commodity prices.

After several years of lacklustre performance, commodity prices saw a significant rebound in 2017, especially toward the end of the year. The forest product sub-index was up approximately 30 per cent for the year, while West Texas intermediate (WTI) crude oil hit a 2 1/2-year high.

Gold was up 12 per cent on the year while copper prices in December saw their best run in 30 years. Commodity prices look to continue their advance in 2018 on the back of strong global economic growth, thereby pulling many Canadian resource stocks higher.

China aims to supersize coal sector through mergers – by Muyu Xu and Josephine Mason (Reuters U.S. – January 5, 2018)

January 5, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Friday it plans to create several “super-large” coal mining companies by the end of 2020 as the world’s biggest producer of the fuel ramps up years of efforts to streamline the fragmented sector and slash outdated capacity.

The country’s National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement that by the end of 2020, China plans to form a number of mega-miners, each with the capacity to produce 100 million tonnes per year of coal, which will compete on the global market and help to modernize the sector.

Last year, China had more than 4,000 coal mines with a total capacity of 3.41 billion tonnes a year, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said in November.

Welcome Back, Indian Billionaires – by Andy Mukherjee (Bloomberg News – January 5, 2018)

January 5, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

It’s hard to believe it now, but once upon a time Indians had a far bigger appetite for outbound M&A than their Chinese rivals.That was just before the 2008 financial crisis, which dealt a body blow to India Inc.’s global ambitions.

Then, in quick succession, came the credit-fueled growth of China’s state-owned enterprises; the yuan’s appreciation; a string of corruption scandals in India that bred a climate of distrust in 2013 and 2014; and the subsequent meltdown in commodity markets, which hurt the more internationally active Indian buyers. The tables have now turned so comprehensively it will be difficult, if not impossible, for the rankings to reverse.

Even last year, when Beijing was clamping down on Chinese firms’ shopping for trophy assets — like Anbang Insurance Group Co.’s purchase of the Waldorf Astoria or Dalian Wanda Group Co.’s takeover of Legendary Entertainment LLC — mainland buyers still ended up committing $144 billion to assets outside of China or Hong Kong.

Illegal prospectors’ amber ‘Klondikes’ create moonscapes in Ukraine amid China demand (Japan Times – December 25, 2017)

January 5, 2018

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/

AFP-JIJI – KRYVYTSYA, UKRAINE – Volodymyr Korkosh steps on the accelerator and his jeep lurches forward, jumping through deep water-filled ditches. “We often come too late by just two to three minutes,” the police officer shouts in disappointment.

His unit carries out daily raids on the outskirts of the village of Kryvytsya and nearby settlements in northwestern Ukraine’s Rivne region, aimed at catching locals red-handed mining amber illegally.

Once a scenic forest area, the site has been turned into a moonscape with wet marshy sand on the surface and man-made, funnel-like pits scattered for hundreds of meters around, evidence of work by hundreds of illicit prospectors.

[Philippine Mining] ‘Responsible mining’ key to industry’s survival – by Karl Ocampo (Inquirer.net – December 28, 2017)

January 5, 2018

http://business.inquirer.net/

n 2016, the mining industry was greeted with the appointment of Regina Paz Lopez as the country’s environment secretary, a staunch environment advocate who had President Duterte as one of her earnest backers.

According to the President, appointing Lopez as environment secretary was a no-brainer. He recalled a passionate woman entering his office in Davao who flew all the way from Manila to show him pictures of environmental destruction caused by mining. He needed no convincing that this woman was right for the job.

It was no surprise then that Lopez’s 11-month tenure, which carried over until the early part of 2017, became the precedent of a tumultuous year for the mining industry.

Miners Wager on a Charge in Demand for Canadian Cobalt – by David George-Cosh (Fox Business – January 1, 2018)

January 5, 2018

http://www.foxbusiness.com/

Dow Jones Newswires: TORONTO – A handful of Canadian miners are ramping up operations to mine cobalt, betting on demand for a socially responsible source of the metal that is in high demand as a key component of electric cars.

Most cobalt currently comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where supply is threatened by political, legal and labor issues. That means car makers and battery suppliers are increasingly looking elsewhere for the mineral.

Miners in Canada such as Vale SA, which has a cobalt-producing mine in Sudbury, Ontario, Sherritt International Corp., and smaller firms such as Royal Nickel Corp., First Cobalt Corp. and Fortune Minerals Ltd. are raising funds and engaging in exploratory drilling.

Coal Pros And Cons: The True Advantage Of Coal Energy – by Juan Ramos (Science Trends – December 30, 2017)

January 5, 2018

https://sciencetrends.com/

Coal continues to be a popular energy source in many countries around the world. There are two main reasons for this: one is that there is plenty of coal still available and the second reason is that, at least among fossil fuels, it is the cheapest available.

Because other fossil fuels are not as plentiful as coal they also tend to be a lot more expensive by comparison. This is already one of the main advantages of using coal energy but there also plenty of others. Having said all that, there are also quite a few disadvantages to the use of coal energy.

Human beings have relied on coal energy for hundreds of years. Historians and archaeologists have found plenty of evidence to suggest that coal has been used as an energy source since the time of ancient civilizations. For example, it is well known that the Romans used it but also ancient Chinese civilizations.

Elon Musk: The Architect of Tomorrow – by Neil Strauss (Rolling Stone – November 15, 2017)

January 5, 2018

https://www.rollingstone.com/

Inside the inventor’s world-changing plans to inhabit outer space, revolutionize high-speed transportation, reinvent cars – and hopefully find love along the way

It’s mid-afternoon on a Friday at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, and three of Elon Musk’s children are gathered around him – one of his triplets, both of his twins.

Musk is wearing a gray T-shirt and sitting in a swivel chair at his desk, which is not in a private office behind a closed door, but in an accessible corner cubicle festooned with outer-space novelty items, photos of his rockets, and mementos from Tesla and his other companies.

Most tellingly, there’s a framed poster of a shooting star with a caption underneath it that reads, “When you wish upon a falling star, your dreams can come true. Unless it’s really a meteor hurtling to the Earth which will destroy all life. Then you’re pretty much hosed, no matter what you wish for. Unless it’s death by meteorite.”

The Uranium Film Festival & The Perils of Nuclear Power – by Carolyn Fortuna (Clean Technica – December 27, 2017)

January 5, 2018

https://cleantechnica.com/

White block letters flash in over a stark black background. “You can’t smell it. You can’t see it. But if Tschernobyl” — a gray industrial landscape of towers and high walled enclosures appears. “Fukushima. You can hear it.” A Geiger counter eerily, constantly clicks in the background. “This is uranium.” uranium film festivalA disembodied hand wrapped in a purple latex glove lifts a wedge of rock.

Then cartoon characters scream and run haphazardly across the screen. They tear at their helmet-covered heads while a warning horn punctuates the chaos. A spokesperson with a wry smile then says, “Uranium changes everything.”

Two sets of clips from mid-20th century black-and-white horror films are next, followed by a blinding yellow ball of light with a golden halo and violet rays around it. The light dissolves into an atomic bomb detonation with accompanying screams of terror.

Electric vehicles: Toyota could become Tesla’s next big headache – by Jon LeSage (Oilprice.com/U.S.A. Today – December 23, 2018)

January 5, 2018

https://www.usatoday.com/

Toyota Motor Corp. is making a serious commitment to bringing electrified vehicles into its fleet. The move goes against the widely held perception that the Japanese automaker was taking a very different path than other global automakers striving to become “Tesla-competitive.”

Toyota announced on December 18 that it will be offering electric versions of every model of its vehicles by 2025, and hitting a target of selling 5.5 million electrified vehicles by 2030. That will include 1 million zero-emission vehicles — battery electric vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles similar to the Toyota Mirai.

By 2025, the automaker will have every Toyota and Lexus model available as a dedicated electrified vehicle, or it will have an electrified option available. Electrified options include all-electric, plug-in hybrid, fuel cell, or hybrid.

‘Eco-colonialism’: Rift grows between Indigenous leaders and green activists – by Claudia Cattaneo (Financial Post – January 4, 2018)

January 4, 2018

http://business.financialpost.com/

With flowing long hair, stoic expression and tribal garb, Martin Louie, the hereditary chief of the Nadleh Whut’en First Nation in north-central British Columbia, more than looked and acted the part of an aggrieved leader in the epic fight against the Northern Gateway oilsands pipeline.

He was quoted in the campaign’s news releases, filed complaints to the United Nations and spoke defiantly to investors. Environmental group Stand.earth even described him as the “poster boy” for Indigenous opposition to Enbridge Inc.’s pipeline.

The $7-billion pipeline was eventually cancelled last year, but Louie didn’t actually want to sink the project. Lost in the heat of the public battle was that he really just wanted to win more money for his impoverished community than the “ridiculous” $70,000 a year being offered by the company.

Commodities Are on Their Longest Winning Streak in History – by Mark Burton and Jake Lloyd-Smith (Bloomberg News – January 4, 2018)

January 4, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Commodities are forging a record-setting run of gains that straddles the end of 2017 and the start of the new year as crude oil notches multiyear highs and investors bet that booming global manufacturing output will help to sustain rising demand for raw materials.

The Bloomberg Commodity Index, which tracks returns on 22 raw materials, posted an unprecedented 14 days of gains to Wednesday, closing at the highest since February.

The index is poised for further gains as metals and oil climb higher, supported by supply disruptions, a weaker dollar and improving demand. Palladium, a metal used in car exhaust systems, is approaching an all-time high.

Company sues Washington state for blocking coal exports to Asia – by Valerie Volcovici (Reuters U.S. – January 3, 2018)

January 4, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A company that plans to build a coal export terminal in the Pacific Northwest to ship western U.S. coal to Asian markets sued the state of Washington on Wednesday for blocking construction last year.

Lighthouse Resources Inc filed a lawsuit in federal court against Washington Governor Jay Inslee and two state regulators for allegedly violating the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause by denying permits to allow the company to ship coal mined in Wyoming, Montana and other western states through its proposed Millennium Bulk Terminal to clients in Japan and South Korea.

Lighthouse Resources’ complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, claims that state regulators “unreasonably” refused to process permits to develop a site on the Columbia River where an existing Washington state lease allows coal exports.