Republic of Mining

Platinum market deficit to expand sharply in 2018: WPIC – by Peter Hobson (Reuters U.S. – November 21, 2017)

November 21, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – The global platinum market deficit will rise sharply next year thanks to resurgent demand from the jewellery and industrial sectors and declining production, an industry report said on Tuesday.

The shortfall will jump to 275,000 ounces from an expected 15,000 ounces this year, the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) said in its latest Platinum Quarterly report.

That would put the industry in deficit for a sixth consecutive year and cut above-ground stocks to 1.605 million ounces by the end of next year, said the WPIC, which is funded by platinum mining companies.

Glencore executives resign from Katanga board amid regulatory probe – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – November 21, 2017)

November 21, 2017

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Three Glencore PLC executives have resigned from the board of its Toronto-listed subsidiary Katanga Mining Ltd. after an internal review found “material weaknesses” in its financial reporting controls, amid a regulatory probe by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).

On Monday, Switzerland-based Katanga announced it is restating a number of financial documents, including its consolidated financial statements for the 2015 and 2016 fiscal years, and its management discussion and analysis (MD&A) for the quarters ending March 31, 2017 and 2016. The company also said its chief financial officer, Jacques Lubbe, was stepping down.

Katanga owns copper and cobalt operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and is majority owned by Glencore, a giant Anglo-Swiss metals and mining conglomerate.

How a young miner living in a small town spends his $92,000 salary – by Anna Sharatt (Globe and Mail – November 20, 2017)

November 21, 2017

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

In Kirkland Lake, Ont., Patrick Adams has found happiness. Seven years ago, after graduating from Mohawk College in Hamilton in TV broadcasting, a friend got a job in one of the town’s local mines. Mr. Adams joined him on his trip north – and never left. He started in a job with Canadian Tire and eventually found entry-level mining jobs.

Now he works underground in a mine and pulls in $92,000 a year. “My work schedule is fantastic,” says Adams, who works less than half the year, while banking a fair bit of overtime.

In the past few years, Mr. Adams has married, had two kids, and bought two properties. His 2,000-square-foot home is a cushy bungalow, flanked by his ATV, boat, snowmobile and two vehicles. “It’s very nice that I have this lifestyle up here,” says Mr. Adams. “I have trails right outside my front door. I take it all in up here.”

RPT-COLUMN-Nickel loses its electric car fizz, realises it’s still a steel play – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – November 20, 2017)

November 21, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Nov 20 (Reuters) – The nickel market is learning that there is a difference in believing you are the next big thing in battery metals and the reality that you are actually still beholden to the Chinese steel sector.

Nickel was one of the darlings at last month’s annual London Metal Exchange Week, with everybody from producers, to traders and consumers talking up its prospects on the back of the expected surge in electric vehicles.

The euphoria helped drive benchmark LME nickel to a more than two-year closing high of $12,920 a tonne on Nov. 6, but since then the price has stumbled.

NEWS RELEASE: Nominations for the 2018 Peter Munk and Eira Thomas Awards are Now Open to the Public

November 21, 2017

https://www.youngminingprofessionals.com/

Toronto, Ontario–(Newsfile Corp. – November 21, 2017) – Young Mining Professionals (“YMP”) is pleased to announce that we will be hosting, in partnership with The Northern Miner, the second annual Young Mining Professional of the Year Awards (“YMP Awards”) on Saturday March 3, 2018 at Toronto’s Shangri-La Hotel. The YMP Awards are named after two iconic entrepreneurs in the mining industry, Peter Munk and Eira Thomas.

YMP is asking the public for its assistance in identifying the best leaders in the mining and metals industry. The YMP Awards recognize two young mining entrepreneurs, a male and a female, who over the past year, and during the course of their careers, have demonstrated exceptional leadership skills and innovative thinking to provide value for their companies and shareholders, as well as for themselves. The criteria for nomination are as follows:

Under the age of 40 as of December 31, 2017;
Currently engaged in the mining and metals industry; and
Domiciled in Canada, the United States or the United Kingdom.

Route for Keystone XL approved, clearing way for Alberta oil – by Shawn McCarthy and Jeff Lewis (Globe and Mail – November 21, 2017)

November 21, 2017

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Nebraska has approved an alternative route for TransCanada Corp.’s $8-billion (U.S.) Keystone XL pipeline, a ruling that removes a key hurdle in the decade long-quest to link Alberta’s oil sands to U.S. refineries on the Gulf Coast – but will create more uncertainty for the controversial project.

The Monday ruling is far from an unqualified victory and would add costs and further delays to the project. Still, the decision was immediately welcomed by the Alberta-based oil industry and governments in Edmonton and Ottawa.

The 3-2 decision is likely to face appeals by landowners and environmentalists, who contend the ruling approves a route with little actual study and invalidates the presidential permit issued by U.S. President Donald Trump last March that was based on the company’s preferred route.

Anglo to halt Minas Rio in Brazil if expansion licence delayed further – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – November 20, 2017)

November 21, 2017

http://www.mining.com/

Anglo American (LON:AAL) will have to shut its massive Minas Rio in Brazil next year if authorities for the state of Minas Gerais, where the iron ore operation is located, further delay a licence needed to kick off a final and key expansion.

The miner, which has already been granted permission for a second phase at Minas Rio, has been trying for months to secure the environmental license for the mine’s third and last expansion, but has faced several roadblocks along the way.

Chief executive of Anglo American Brazil, Ruben Fernandes, told local paper Hojeemdia (in Portuguese) the permit was first expected in July this year, but ongoing requests from the state’s public prosecutor and the rescheduling of necessary public hearings have pushed the deadline to December.

United Steelworkers seeks Ottawa’s help for striking Mexican miners at Canadian-operated mine – by Levon Sevunts (Radio Canada International – November 20, 2017)

November 21, 2017

http://www.rcinet.ca/en/

One of the largest Canadian trade unions is calling on the federal government to intervene with Mexican authorities and a Canadian mining company after two people were killed near a Canadian-operated gold mine in the country’s southern Guerrero state on Saturday.

The United Steelworkers (USW) says the murder of two striking workers underscores the widespread repression of basic labour rights in Mexico even as these fundamental rights are a key part of the proposed changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement being renegotiated now.

“On Saturday, November 18 – four days after the Canadian government was warned of the potential for such violence – an armed group murdered two striking workers from the Canadian-owned Media Luna gold mine in the state of Guerrero,” Ken Neumann, the USW’s national director for Canada, said in a statement.

Rio Tinto’s M&A Madness – by David Fickling (Bloomberg News – November 20, 2017)

November 20, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Some companies are good at takeovers. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman Warren Buffett has used well over a hundred acquisitions over decades to help leverage $1,200 of savings from his newspaper round into one of the world’s largest business empires.

Rio Tinto Group isn’t one of those companies. Indeed, it’s hard to find an acquisition since its 2000 takeover of Australian iron ore miner North Ltd. that’s not been a top-of-the-market catastrophe.

That should make investors nervous about the prospect that a big new lithium deal could be forthcoming. Rio Tinto is working with advisers on a bid for a stake in Soc. Quimica & Minera de Chile SA, people familiar with the matter told Jack Farchy, Dinesh Nair and Thomas Biesheuvel of Bloomberg News on Friday.

Philippines’ Duterte keeps open pit mining ban in policy clash – by Manolo Serapio Jr (Reuters U.S. – November 19, 2017)

November 20, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has not lifted a ban on open pit mining, his spokesman said on Monday, going against the stance of a government panel and the environment minister who are seeking to reverse the policy.

Open pit mining is allowed under the laws of the Southeast Asian country, the world’s top nickel ore exporter. But, the former environment minister Regina Lopez banned it during her 10 months in office, saying the environmental degradation ruined the economic potential of places where it was done.

The Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC), an inter-agency panel that makes recommendations on mining policy, last month asked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to lift the ban. Roy Cimatu, the new Environment and Natural Resources Secretary, supports removing the ban. Cimatu replaced Lopez when she stepped down in May after the Philippine Congress voted not to confirm her.

China’s Quest for Clean Air Is Shaking Up Industry and Inflation (Bloomberg News – November 20, 2017)

November 20, 2017

https://www.bloombergquint.com/

(Bloomberg) — The great Chinese environmental cleanup, now in full swing, is shifting the corporate landscape in unexpected ways and even stoking inflationary pressure that may soon be felt in supply chains worldwide.

As President Xi Jinping’s government intensifies the fight against the country’s world-class pollution problem, companies are scrambling to adapt to tighter regulation while investing in cleaner energy.

In industries from steel to textiles and consumer goods, the resulting shakeout has left the survivors with far more pricing power. That in turn is reinforcing the already-resurgent factory prices that contribute to global inflation.

Diamonds aren’t forever at Victor Mine – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 15, 2017)

November 20, 2017

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Despite 2019 mine closure, De Beers still believes James Bay lowlands hold promise

De Beers Canada is razing and remediating the Victor Mine site beginning in 2019, but it’s not completely abandoning the James Bay region. If there more rich diamond deposits to be unearthed, a company spokesman said they’ll come at it with a different approach.

Tom Ormsby, the company’s head of corporate affairs, said the diamond-bearing ground, 90 kilometres east of Attawapiskat, still remains very prospective but it doesn’t support keeping the current infrastructure intact.

“It all has to go. The minute the process plant has the last ore pushed through then the decommissioning and demolition will begin.” The company announced Nov. 1 that production at the remote fly-in/fly-out mine would finish during the first quarter of 2019, at which time the deposit will be depleted.

[Minalytix] From computers to mountain summits – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – November 17, 2017)

November 20, 2017

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Mining software guru shares inspirational tales from globe-spanning career

One wouldn’t think a computer science degree and a career in technical support would lead to climbing mountains and flying planes over Africa or shooting rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) in Mongolia. For Robert Patterson, it did.

And he was happy to talk about how obtaining a degree from Laurentian University led to all that and the founding of his current business, Minalytix, a mining software company, during a Nov. 16 talk hosted by the Sudbury chapter of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum.

While his lighthearted talk spanned his entire life, peppered with many self-deprecating stories, the message was clear: do a job well, never stop learning and have some fun with your life.

Russia miner Nornickel sees capex rising by 2019-2020 – by Eric Onstad and Polina Devitt (Reuters U.S. – November 20, 2017)

November 20, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s Norilsk Nickel plans to increase capital expenditure to an average of $2.3 billion to $2.5 billion a year in 2019 and 2020 from about $2 billion in 2018 due to an environmental project and infrastructure modernization, it said on Monday.

Nornickel, part-owned by Russian businessman Vladimir Potanin and aluminum giant Rusal, is the world’s top palladium producer and second-largest nickel producer.

“In the next three years, we are budgeting for an increase in capital investments that will allow us not only to maintain metal production volumes, but also put a solid foundation under new perspective projects,” Potanin, also Nornickel’s president, told an Investor Day in London.

BHP to exit shale within two years, sell nickel assets – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – November 17, 2017)

November 20, 2017

http://www.mining.com/

World’s largest miner BHP (ASX, NYSE:BHP) (LON:BLT) expects to fully divest its US oil and gas business, which it acquired in a $20 billion deals spree in 2011, and is also seeking a buyer for its nickel business in Australia.

The announcements, made by chief executive Andrew Mackenzie during a conference call with investors and media on Thursday, come on the heels of global fund manager Aberdeen Standard Investments decision to fully support activist investor Elliott Management’s push for widespread structural changes at BHP.

Aberdeen is the third-biggest shareholder in BHP, with a 4.9% holding, just behind Elliott, which has a 5.04% stake in the group. The Anglo-Australian mining giant has been under pressure from Elliott Management to rethink its investment in oil and boost shareholder returns.