Twitter

East Africa: How Cartels Are Smuggling Gold Through East African Countries (All Africa.com – November 29, 2017)

http://allafrica.com/

The Police Nationale Congolaise (Congolese National Police), in conjunction with Interpol are investigating a case of gold theft and smuggling surrounding the disappearance of up to 500kg of gold stolen in a privately-run warehouse in Goma suburbs in North Kivu Province of Congo.

The case started in January 2017 when a warehouse manager working for the Cooperative Miniere d’Ihusi in Goma – North Kivu identified as Mr Mulume Mweze, was arrested and detained in Goma following the disappearance of 30kgs of gold.

Further investigations led the police investigators to the arrest of individuals behind a gold smuggling syndicate operation between DRC, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.

Read more

RPT-COLUMN-Is China’s aluminium sector too relaxed about U.S. dumping moves? – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – November 30, 2017)

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Nov 30 (Reuters) – It will be tempting for China’s aluminium market participants to dismiss as inconsequential the latest move by the U.S. Commerce Department to impose anti-subsidy and anti-dumping duties on imports of aluminium alloy sheet.

The proposed moves would affect only a small amount of China’s aluminium exports, but the main issue isn’t the economic value of the U.S. action, but rather where it ultimately may lead.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, in announcing the move on Nov. 28, said it was “one more step” in fulfilling President Donald Trump’s campaign against what he termed unfair trade practices.

Read more

Can Markets Save the West’s Most Controversial Bird? – by Daniel Rothberg (Bloomberg News – November 30, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Agee Smith’s Cottonwood Ranch is tucked away in rural Nevada, about 450 miles from Las Vegas and not far from the Idaho border. The area is prime habitat for the greater sage grouse, an imperiled bird found in 11 western states. The male grouse is known for his eccentric mating dance—involving strutting, chest puffing and the inflation of two yellow air sacs on his neck.

Over the past two years, Smith worked to improve areas that are crucial habitats for sage grouse. He has planted sagebrush and improved the grass density in his meadows. If a new conservation method works as planned, Smith could make some money off his work.

Nevada, along with Colorado and Wyoming, has been working to create statewide markets for the conservation of the bird. In the simplest terms, these markets let developers—mining and energy companies, mainly—offset their impact on sage grouse by purchasing “credits” from ranchers who conserve an equal amount of habitat.

Read more

Zambia’s state-controlled investment firm wants bigger stake in copper mines – by Zandi Shabalala (Reuters U.S. – November 29, 2017)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Nov 29 (Reuters) – Following the sharp rise in copper prices this year Zambia’s state-controlled firm ZCCM Investments Holdings wants to increase its stakes in the country’s mines and also expects higher dividend payments, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

ZCCM-IH, which was formerly called Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holdings, has assets of about $1 billion with minority stakes held in the local mine operating subsidiaries of foreign miners including Glencore, First Quantum Minerals, Vedanta and Jinchuan Group International Resources.

Zambia is Africa’s second largest copper producer behind the Democratic Republic of Congo and a 22 percent rise in prices this year has boosted profits for the miners.

Read more

Opposition organizes against Sault’s ferrochrome smelter proposal – by David Helwig (Soo Today – November 29, 2017)

https://www.sootoday.com/

Mayor Provenzano has offended some people with his recent description of the Sault’s ferrochrome smelter bid as a “home run.” When the mayor told last week’s City Council meeting: “I think that they are going to hit a home run on the document that we submit,” it seems he single-handedly inspired a grassroots movement opposing the Ring of Fire-related project.

Seventeen citizens attended a meeting last night at Centennial Library advertised under the title ‘Concerned About A Potential Ferrochrome Smelter In SSM?’

The group, which so far has no formal leaders or name, is planning to oppose any ferrochrome processing facility in Sault Ste. Marie. Last night’s meeting was called as a direct response to Mayor Provenzano’s home run assertion.

Read more

Noront hits encouraging VMS mineralisation at McFaulds No 8; requests proposals for plant – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – November 27, 2017)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Ring of Fire (RoF) development champion Noront Resources has intersected encouraging results at the McFaulds No 8 volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposit, hosted on the property where the first discoveries in the RoF were made and which spurred the initial staking rush in 2002 to 2003.

The Toronto-headquartered company reported that follow-up drilling on the recently discovered McFaulds No 8 VMS occurrence was completed in October, comprising a single hole (MCF-17-89) totalling 566 m being drilled up-dip from a previous intersection in hold MCF-17-88.

The Main Zone at hole MCF-17-89 intersected 10.9 m of massive sulphide grading 1.1% copper, 1.7% zinc, 10.9 g/t silver and 0.4 g/t gold. The MCF-17-89 intersection is located about 88 m up-dip from MCF-17-88, and is an early indication of excellent up-dip continuity of the sulphide lens at McFaulds No 8, the company advised in a press release on Monday.

Read more

A fairy tale of Canada doing good for the world has become a nightmare – by Gwyn Morgan (Financial Post – November 29, 2017)

http://business.financialpost.com/

Gwyn Morgan is the retired founding CEO of Encana Corp.

Once upon a time in a northern Dominion called Canada, there was a thriving oil industry

Once upon a time in a northern Dominion called Canada, there was a thriving oil industry that provided fuel for vehicles, trains and airplanes. There was also a large natural gas industry that kept the people warm during the long cold winters and supplied the raw material for plants that manufactured plastics, detergents, fertilizer, synthetic clothing and a great many other items needed and used by people every day.

That oil and natural gas industry employed more than a million people and its exports were the biggest contributor to the county’s international balance of payments. People working in the industry were proud that their operations were among the most technically advanced and environmentally responsible in the world.

Then a report written by a scientific advisory group called the International Panel on Climate Change was published, stating that the earth was warming and carbon-dioxide emissions from burning “fossil fuels” were the likely cause.

Read more

Nickel slides to six-week low on deteriorating fundamentals (Australian Financial Review/Reuters – November 29, 2017)

http://www.afr.com/

Nickel prices hit their lowest level in more than six weeks on Tuesday as the market fretted about weaker demand in top consumer China and rising supplies from major producer Indonesia.

Benchmark nickel on the London Metal Exchange ended down 1.9 per cent at $US11,350 a tonne. In earlier trading the metal used mostly in stainless steel fell to $US11,255, its lowest since October 12.

Copper slipped 2 per cent to $US6805, aluminium fell 1.5 per cent to $US2102.5, zinc lost 0.9 per cent to $US3158, lead ceded 1.5 per cent to $US2427 and tin was down 0.1 per cent at $US19,550.

Read more

Gem Smuggling Thwarts Revival of Central African Republic – by Pauline Bax (Bloomberg News – November 29, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

In the lounge of a luxury hotel in Bangui, the capital of war-torn Central African Republic, soft-spoken diamond dealers cautiously sidle up to guests.

Their whispered offers of gems for sale are a visitor’s first hint of the thriving illegal market for the precious stones in a country that five years ago was ranked as the world’s 10th-biggest diamond producer and is now mostly controlled by armed militias.

The illicit sales are bad news for the Central African Republic as it lobbies for the removal of an international ban on exports of its diamonds. The embargo, which was partially lifted last year, was imposed because of concerns over gem sales funding conflict. Yet while diamond exports offer a potential source of desperately needed government revenue, authorities so far have been powerless to curb the underground trade.

Read more

U.S. repeal of carbon rule criticized in coal country – by Kara Van Pelt (Reuters U.S. – November 28, 2017)

https://www.reuters.com/

CHARLESTON, W. Va. (Reuters) – Health groups, environmentalists and a former coal miner criticized the Trump administration’s proposal to dismantle an Obama-era rule to slash carbon emissions from power plants at a public hearing held in the heart of coal country on Tuesday.

The hearing also heard from many coal supporters who said that the plan would cost utilities billion of dollars, which would likely result in mining job cuts.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hosted the two-day hearing in West Virginia on its proposal to axe the Clean Power Plan (CPP), the centerpiece of former President Barack Obama’s strategy on climate change. It was the only meeting scheduled on the rule, which President Donald Trump has said would devastate the coal industry.

Read more

How scientists unlock secrets of the universe from deep underground – by Erica Caden (The Conversation.com – November 28, 2017)

http://theconversation.com/

What do a big chunk of ice at the South Pole, a mine in northern Ontario and a mountain in Italy have in common? They’re all home to extreme underground environments but they’re connected in another, more unexpected way. All three are host to large physics experiments searching to understand and answer the most basic questions about the world around us.

As a research scientist at SNOLAB in Sudbury, Ont., I get the chance to talk to a lot of different people about the work we do. The question often comes up: Why are we doing astrophysics — the study of space and the cosmos — from deep underground?

In particle physics, we long ago answered all of the questions that could be answered through tabletop experiments run by small groups of scientists in small laboratory spaces. Albert Michelson and Edward Morley showed that “luminiferous aether” didn’t exist, using a light source and mirrors on a bench-top stand. Marie Skłodowska Curie discovered polonium and radium in a shed next to the school of chemistry and physics at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris.

Read more

NEWS RELEASE: Canada’s mining sector unites on clean resources supercluster application

Canada (November 29, 2017) – We are pleased to announce the submission of a full application for a clean resources Supercluster as part of the Government of Canada’s Innovation Superclusters Initiative.

The CLEER (Clean, Low-energy, Effective, Engaged and Remediated) Supercluster – prepared on behalf of the mining sector by CEMI, CIMRE, CMIC, COREM, IMII, and MSTA – represents a $700 million investment ($450M in cash and $244M in-kind from 162 partners across Canada).

CLEER will build on an existing mining innovation ecosystem uniquely positioned to make Canada a global leader in clean resource development and the responsible sourcing of raw materials.

This CLEER Supercluster will transform the mining sector’s productivity, performance, and global competitiveness by harnessing innovation across the ecosystem to tackle global challenges of water, energy, and environmental footprint, with bold targets of 50% reductions in each area by 2027.

Read more

Robots Will Run Mines Within the Next Decade, Anglo Says – by Thomas Wilson (Bloomberg News – November 29, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Some mines in the next decade will run without humans and instead rely on robots, virtual models and sensors, according to Anglo American Plc.

Anglo is betting on technology, such as computerized drills with “chiseling ability as good as a human” to increase productivity, cut costs and reduce environmental impact, Tony O’Neill, technical director at Anglo, said at the Mines and Money conference in London.

“The industry that everybody currently knows will be unrecognizable” in five to seven years, O’Neill said. With mining processes automated, Anglo’s “employee of the future” will only need to focus on managing the company’s relations with governments and communities that live near its mines, he said.

Read more

Staking out a future: Thompson adjusts as mining industry slows – by Brett Purdy (CBC News Manitoba – November 28, 2017)

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

Vale still largest employer in Thompson but other industries helping develop diverse economy

Rajinder Thethy has put almost $750,000 in his carwash business in Thompson, Man., and it’s investments like his the northern city is banking on to help stabilize — and build — the economy as the local mining industry slows.

Thethy, who has lived and worked in Thompson for 22 years, originally built the carwash with some partners back in 2004 as a side gig. He was a professional accountant at the time. But in January 2016, he decided he wanted a major career-and-life change and to be more devoted as a business owner.

“I know what the Thompsonites need so for me to stay here and expand my business just made perfect sense,” he said.

Read more

[Sudbury’s Creighton Mine] The Greatest Nickel Mine in the World (MACLEAN’S MAGAZINE – January 1, 1910)

Creighton Mine, Sudbury Ontario. The mine which started operation in 1901 and is still in production. It is the deepest mine in the Sudbury Basin and among the four deepest in the country. (Wiki Photo)

http://www.macleans.ca/

A description of what is claimed to be the greatest nickel mine in the world appears in East and West. The mine is located at Creighton, about twelve miles west of Sudbury. Creighton Mine is very widely famed, being, indeed, the greatest nickel ore deposit known in the world. It is claimed that about two-thirds of the whole world’s supply of nickel is mined there.

So that, when we consider that by far the greater part of nickel used at the present time is utilized in making armor-plating for the great battleships, we begin to understand how dependent the little population of Creighton is upon the aggressive naval policies of the powers of Europe, and the other ambitious nations of the present day.

Electrical power is used in mining, transmitted from the High Falls, about twenty miles west. The power house, with its motors, powerful apparatus, is an interesting spot for anyone who likes machinery. The warehouse and office building is of red brick and is spacious and well lighted.

Read more