Republic of Mining

Indonesia plans to buy out Rio’s share of Grasberg copper mine – by Wilda Asmarini and Fergus Jensen (Reuters U.K. – December 5, 2017)

December 5, 2017

https://uk.reuters.com/

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia plans to acquire Rio Tinto’s 40 percent participating stake in the Grasberg copper mine operated by the local division of Freeport-McMoRan Inc, part of government plans to control more of the country’s resources.

Under a joint venture formed in 1996, Rio has a 40 percent interest in Freeport’s Grasberg contract, entitling it to 40 percent of production above specific levels until 2021 and 40 percent of all production after 2022. Phoenix, Arizona-based Freeport said in August it would divest 51 percent of PT Freeport Indonesia to the Indonesian government, to meet local ownership rules.

Indonesia plans to complete the acquisition of Rio’s interest in the mine in 2018, as part of a purchase of a 51 percent stake in Freeport Indonesia by the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) and other government units, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan said on Tuesday.

Excitement is hard to share, mines chamber says – by Chuck Tobin (Whitehorse Star – December 4, 2017)

December 5, 2017

http://www.whitehorsestar.com/

Yukoners should pay close attention as land use planning goes forward in the future, says the executive director of the Yukon Chamber of Mines. With Friday’s Supreme Court of Canada decision, the amount of land unavailable to pursue mineral exploration in the territory is now up over 50 per cent, he pointed out.

Samson Hartland said today the mining industry is very competitive around the world, and investment dollars are already tight to come by. The Yukon needs to be careful it doesn’t push itself out of that marketplace by closing the door on the industry, he suggested during an interview.

He said with several more regional land use plans still to be hashed out – Dawson City, Mayo, Whitehorse, Teslin – it’s certain there will be more land withdrawals. Land withdrawals, Hartland said, are the number one concern for the mining sector, and the industry pays attention to them.

China coal cities secure $310 mln ADB loan to revitalise economies (Reuters U.K. – December 5, 2017)

December 5, 2017

https://uk.reuters.com/

SHANGHAI, Dec 5 (Reuters) – Four cities in northeast China have secured a loan of $310 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to revitalise their economies, the bank said on Tuesday, two years after mass layoffs at local coal mines triggered unrest in the region.

The cities of Hegang, Jixi, Qitaihe and Shuangyashan – in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province – were the major casualties of a 2015 decision by state-owned Longmay Group to slash coal production, close depleted mines and lay off as many as 100,000 local workers, part of nationwide efforts to tackle overcapacity and shore up prices in the sector.

Thousands of miners marched through Shuangyashan early last year to protest against unpaid wages by the Longmay Group, which had been making losses since 2012.

NEWS RELEASE: VALE WINS CORPORATE CITIZEN AWARD FROM THE ONTARIO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

December 5, 2017

Angie Robson, Manager of Corporate and Aboriginal Affairs for Vale’s Ontario Operations receives the OBAA Corporate Citizen Award from the award sponsor representative, Wade Stayzer, Vice-President of Retail for Meridian Credit Union.

SUDBURY, December 5, 2017 – Vale is proud to announce that its Ontario Operations has received an Ontario Business Achievement Award (OBAA) from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce in the category of Corporate Citizenship.

“We are so thrilled to be recognized by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce with this award,” said Angie Robson, Manager of Corporate and Aboriginal Affairs for Vale’s Ontario Operations as she accepted the award. “It’s wonderful to be acknowledged for the community relationships and investments Vale is making near our operations in Sudbury and Port Colborne.”

The OBAA Corporate Citizen Award recognizes a large business that demonstrates a sustained and long-term commitment to investing in the community in which it operates.

Kazakh supply shock to jolt uranium price – by Frik Els (Mining.com – December 4, 2017)

December 5, 2017

http://www.mining.com/

The announcement made by uranium giant Cameco a month ago that it’s suspending operations at its flagship McArthur River mine in northern Saskatchewan, Canada did little to move to languishing uranium price.
Last week the nuclear fuel was pegged at $23 a pound, a level it has hovered around for long stretches of 2017. On Monday, the world largest producer of uranium, surprised the beleaguered market with a larger than expected cut to production of its own.

Kazakhstan’s state-owned Kazatomprom announced intentions to reduce its output of U3O8 by 20% or 11,000 tonnes (around 28.5m pounds) over the next three years beginning in January 2018.

According to the company roughly 4,000 tonnes will be cut in 2018 alone “representing approximately 7.5% of global uranium production for 2018 as forecast by UxC.”

[Canada’s Stelco] Can This 107-Year-Old Steelmaker Be Brought Back to Life? – by Kristine Owram (Bloomberg News – December 5, 2017)

December 5, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Winter is coming and Stelco Holdings Inc.’s steel plant on the Canadian shore of Lake Erie is stocking up for the stormy months ahead. Iron ore from Minnesota and Appalachian coal are streaming off ships on conveyor belts toward the blast furnace and coke ovens. Behind the docks, 25-ton coils of steel are lined up for shipment, still radiating heat three days after they were produced.

After decades of crisis, a renewed sense of purpose has settled over the 107-year-old company, which just completed the first initial public offering of a North American steelmaker in seven years. The question hanging over the reinvigorated enterprise is whether Stelco is finally on the cusp of sustained profitability, or whether it will wilt in an industry dominated by global giants and cheap Asian producers.

In the pantheon of great Canadian corporate names, Stelco doesn’t exactly scream confidence. The Hamilton, Ontario-based Steel Company of Canada was once the country’s biggest producer, with a workforce of 25,000 in the 1970s.

Change or lose another 100 000 mining jobs – Cutifani – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – December 4, 2017)

December 5, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningwekly.com) – Without change, the South African mining industry would lose another 100 000 jobs, said Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani, who six years ago accurately predicted the recent 100 000 job demise in South African mining.

“I’ll say it again, absent of change, we’ll lose another 100 000 jobs,” the outspoken Australian forecast once more, while calculating that for every 100 000 jobs lost, one million people are adversely affected.

What’s more, he outlined in a year-end address to journalists that South Africa’s future did “not bear thinking about” if the country could not put its 27% unemployed citizens to work.

Opinion: Anti-pipeline B.C. turns its back on Canadian economy – by Clive Cocking (Edmonton Journal – November 30, 2017)

December 5, 2017

http://edmontonjournal.com/

This is now a serious question: do most British Columbians see themselves as Canadians? On current evidence, the answer must be no.

This is demonstrated by the unyielding environmentalist opposition to any pipelines carrying Alberta oil or gas across B.C. to tidewater. The opponents’ only evident concern is in preserving “Beautiful British Columbia.”

Search all the B.C. commentary about this issue and you will not find one comment where the nay-sayers give any consideration to the implications for Canada, let alone for our Alberta neighbours, in their rejection of trans-provincial pipelines. Not even from the government of British Columbia.

Mining labour needs to be assessed in report – by Emma Meldrum (Timmins Daily Press – December 4, 2017)

December 5, 2017

http://www.timminspress.com/

TIMMINS – By next year, Northeastern Ontario will have a better understanding of mining labour force needs. The Far Northeast Training Board (FNETB) has contracted a consulting firm to research the labour force needs of mining operations, advanced exploration sites and mining supply companies.

Julie Joncas, executive director of FNETB, explained Monday that the information collected will help inform planning for training and employment initiatives so that people looking to enter the mining sector can acquire the skills they’d need.

The report will cover the entire districts of Cochrane and Timiskaming as well as the communities of Chapleau and Hornepayne. This will include communities on the James Bay Coast and past Kirkland Lake as far as the Quebec border.

Trump to Shrink Utah Monuments Holding Artifacts, Minerals – by Jennifer A Dlouhy and Justin Sink (Bloomberg News – December 4, 2017)

December 5, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

President Donald Trump said Monday that he’ll shrink two national monuments in Utah that contain stunning red-sandstone vistas, historic relics and energy resources, arguing his predecessor overstepped in protecting the land.

Trump traveled to Salt Lake City for the announcement, and also met with leaders of the Mormon Church. He was accompanied on Air Force One by Utah Senators Mike Lee and Orrin Hatch, who is contemplating whether to run for re-election next year when he’ll turn 84.

“Some people think that the natural resources of Utah should be controlled by a small handful of very distant bureaucrats located in Washington,” Trump said. “They’re wrong. The families and communities of Utah know and love this land the best, and you know the best how to take care of your land.”

Supreme Court’s Yukon land ruling welcomed as new chapter for territory (Victoria Times Colonist – December 1, 2017)

December 5, 2017

http://www.timescolonist.com/

The Canadian Press: OTTAWA — First Nations, environmental groups and Yukon Premier Sandy Silver welcomed a Supreme Court of Canada ruling on wilderness lands Friday as a victory for the northern territory.

The unanimous high court ruling is likely to ensure ecological protection of much of the Peel Watershed, a swath of unspoiled terrain that covers an area the size of Ireland. The Supreme Court said the Yukon government “thwarted” the land-use process by improperly rewriting a plan for the watershed, which features rugged mountains and taiga forests.

Although Yukon lost the case that has been winding through the courts for years, the premier, who became leader only last December, hailed the ruling as an important step toward finalizing a plan that reflects a shared vision.

COLUMN-China trims appetite for coal imports, but prices hold up – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – December 4, 2017)

December 4, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Dec 4 (Reuters) – There are indications that China’s appetite for imported coal may be starting to ease in line with Beijing’s efforts to limit the use of the fuel over winter in a bid to lower air pollution.

China’s seaborne imports were 18.26 million tonnes in November, down from 20 million in October, according to vessel-tracking and port data compiled by Thomson Reuters Supply Chain and Commodity Forecasts.

It’s the fourth consecutive monthly decline for seaborne coal imports, according to the data, and it comes as the authorities impose productions cuts on coal-consuming industries such as steel.

Rio Tinto Will Appoint Simon Thompson as New Chairman – by David Stringer and Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – December 3, 2017)

December 4, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Rio Tinto Group named industry veteran Simon Thompson as chairman after shareholders rejected a plan to install a renowned dealmaker — reinforcing an industry-wide investor drive for higher returns and caution over project spending.

Thompson, 58, a Rio director since 2014 and previously an executive director at Anglo American Plc, will succeed Jan du Plessis from March 5, London-based Rio said Monday in a statement. Du Plessis, who’s held the post since 2009, is stepping down after taking up the same position at BT Group Plc.

The mining sector is under pressure from big investors and hedge funds to keep a tight grip on capital spending and boost shareholder returns as earnings rise, following a failed mergers and acquisitions spree sparked by the commodity boom around the turn of the decade.

Electric vehicle revolution a rare investment opportunity as metals demand spikes – by Henry Lazenby – December 1, 2017)

December 4, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – The rate at which global automotive markets are adopting electric vehicles (EVs) is accelerating at a much faster pace than even some of the keenest market observers estimated at the start of 2017, and is opening up once-in-a-lifetime investment opportunities among the four key ‘energy metals’ – lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite.

Since the beginning of 2017, the market has reached a new peak of lithium-ion battery capacity in the pipeline. An additional 153 GWh has been added to planned capacity build-outs this year alone, taking the total to 372 GWh.

“But when you look at where we need to be by 2025 – 750 GWh, of which 645 GWh is for EVs – we are still way short. What the megafactory trend is doing, however, is creating a new production base that did not exist before.

A tale of tailings: Eagle Mine seeks permit change related to waste dumped in Humboldt pit – by Lisa Bowers (The Mining Journal – December 3, 2017)

December 4, 2017

http://www.miningjournal.net/

ISHPEMING — Area residents were given the opportunity Monday to weigh in on a proposed change in operations at the Eagle Mine’s Humboldt Tailings Disposal Facility.

Lundin Mining Corp., the parent company of the Eagle Mine, requested an amendent to a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality permit issued in 2010 which would allow the company to place tailings, the waste material generated when processing ore, at a higher elevation than what is currently permitted in the Humboldt pit.

The orignal permit required the surface elevation of tailings not to exceed 1,420 feet above sea level in the 350 foot-deep Humboldt pit. The proposed amendment, if approved, would allow tailings to reach 1,515 feet above sea level.