July 23, 2012 – Republic of Mining

Ring of Fire court battle on horizon after Neskantaga meets mining minister – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – July 23, 2012)

July 23, 2012

Northern Ontario’s First Nations Voice: http://wawataynews.ca/

Neskantaga First Nation is preparing for an extensive court battle over the Ring of Fire, following the latest failed meeting between the First Nation and the Ontario government.

Neskantaga Chief Peter Moonias and Chief Sonny Gagnon of Aroland First Nation called for a pause of the Ring of Fire during a meeting with Ontario’s mining minister Rick Bartolucci on July 18, but Moonias said the government did not take the suggestion “too seriously.”

“The government is just going ahead with (with development) as if we’re nothing,” Moonias said. “It looks as if ‘yes’ has already been given from the First Nations, but we never did (give consent).”

Moonias and Gagnon argue that development of the Ring of Fire needs to stop in order for First Nations to establish plans for maximizing economic benefits and mitigating environmental risks.

Big Nickel started as Szilva’s dream – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – July 23, 2012)

July 23, 2012

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Ted Szilva has something to say to people with big dreams: don’t give up. And as the creator of the iconic Big Nickel, Szilva knows what he’s talking about.

“What I want to do is throw out a challenge to each and every one of you, especially the children: if you have a dream … all you have to do is go after that dream. It doesn’t matter what anybody says — ‘oh, that’s a stupid idea, crazy idea, nobody will go see a big nickel, an underground mine’ — that’s what they told me.”

Szilva proved the naysayers wrong, and was happy for it, as he stood outside Dynamic Earth on Sunday for the 48th birthday of the Sudbury tourist attraction. He came up with the idea for the Big Nickel in 1963, as part of a newspaper contest for how best to celebrate Canada’s centennial. While his idea did not win, the idea stuck with him, becoming a reality in 1964.

“It’s a great project, and we’ve had people from all over the world come and go underground, learn about mining, learn about the minerals of the Earth found around here.”

Barrick’s new CEO readies for public debut – by Pav Jordan (Globe and Mail – July 23, 2012)

July 24, 2012July 23, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

The market will not be especially interested in the bottom line when Barrick Gold Corp. reports second quarter earnings at the end of the week.

Instead, all eyes will be on the new chief executive officer, Jamie Sokalsky, who makes his public debut at the helm of the world’s largest gold company nearly two months after his predecessor, Aaron Regent, was suddenly ousted from the role as the stock price floundered.

“I think his mandate is pretty open-ended, it’s ‘Get our stock price up,’ ” said Jorge Beristain, managing director for metals and mining research at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc in New York. “How he goes about that, he hasn’t really tipped his hand one way or another. Is he going to come out announcing a big share buyback? Is he going to come out and start shutting down some of the higher cost projects? Is he going to double-down and fast-track others?”

By far the world’s biggest gold producer, spanning the globe with stakes in 26 operating mines, Barrick has been challenged in recent years to find new ways to grow as fewer large gold deposits are discovered. Before losing his job, Mr. Regent is said to have clashed increasingly on the issue with the board and co-chairman Peter Munk, particularly after Barrick’s much-questioned acquisition of Equinox Minerals Ltd., a copper company, in 2011 for $7.3-billion in cash.

Ring of Fire Minister not listening to First Nations – Blogpost by Shane Moffatt (Greenpeace Canada – July 21, 2012)

July 23, 2012

http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/

I recently had the privilege of attending a meeting with the Minister of Northern Development and Mines as an observer with Neskantaga First Nation. You can follow Neskantaga’s campaign to protect their rights here.

Talks were focused on proposed industrial developments in the so-called “Ring of Fire” in Northern Ontario. The “Ring of Fire” refers to a mineral rich area around McFaulds Lake, located over 1,000 kilometres north of Toronto in the heart of the boreal forest and in a one of the largest wetlands in the world. This also is smack in the middle of the traditional territories of Matawa First Nations, a Tribal Council of nine Ontario First Nations.

On May 9th, a giant US mining company (Cliffs Natural Resources) announced that they will go ahead with a $3.3 billion Ring of Fire project, which includes a chromite mine east of Webequie, a transportation route running south from the mine site and a ferrochrome processing plant in Sudbury.

The reaction from First Nations was swift and unequivocal – with Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Deputy Grand Chief Terry Waboose describing the announcement as a “classic example of development going ahead without adequate consultation, input and consent from our First Nations.”

Nuggets of value seen in Canada’s mid-tier gold miners – by Julie Gordon (Reuters/Money.MSM.com – July 23, 2012)

July 23, 2012

http://money.msn.com/

TORONTO (Reuters) – While the world’s top gold miners struggle to contain soaring capital costs at multibillion-dollar mega-projects, their mid-tier counterparts are quietly building output through smaller mines at a fraction of the cost.

That means shares of Canada’s Yamana Gold Inc , Alamos Gold Inc and other mid-tier firms are outperforming the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Global Gold index, which has fallen more than 24 percent this year as gold prices stagnate and costs rise.

“Investors want to see gold companies stop building projects that don’t make sense,” said Darren Lekkerkerker of Pyramis Global Advisors, a Fidelity Investments company. “They do want to see growth, but they want to see it delivered and they want to see it deliver value.”

The portfolio manager, who co-manages the Fidelity Global Natural Resources fund, is bullish on gold. He said mid-tier miners with low cash costs and affordable, near-term development projects offer good value in the current market.

Mining boom to peak, slowdown ahead-Deloitte Access – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – July 23, 2012)

July 23, 2012

www.mineweb.com

Some planned mega-mining projects are at risk of being shelved due to a slowdown in Chinese metals/minerals demand, rising costs, and Australian politics, warns Deloitte Access Economics.

RENO (MINEWEB) – A report by one of Australia’s leading private-sector economic forecasters says the mining investment boom is about to peak and a slowdown is on the horizon within the next two years.

The quarterly Deloitte Access Economics Business Outlook highlighted the broad trend of “the increasing realization that China is no a permanent gravy train. Its future growth is less certain-perhaps particularly so in the short term-and its long term growth may be less resource intensive than some commentators had earlier expected.”

“Costs have risen fast and potential profits are being dialed down as commodity prices deflate and analysts reassess both shorter and longer term commodity demand from emerging Asia. That doesn’t necessarily say that some of the next found of mega mining projects may not get the green light,” said Deloitte Access.

A Gold Rush in the Abyss [mining under the ocean] – by William J. Broad (New York Times – July 9, 2012)

July 23, 2012

http://www.nytimes.com/

Tom Dettweiler makes his living miles down. He helped find the Titanic. After that, his teams located a lost submarine heavy with gold. In all, he has cast light on dozens of vanished ships.

Mr. Dettweiler has now turned from recovering lost treasures to prospecting for natural ones that litter the seabed: craggy deposits rich in gold and silver, copper and cobalt, lead and zinc. A new understanding of marine geology has led to the discovery of hundreds of these unexpected ore bodies, known as massive sulfides because of their sulfurous nature.

These finds are fueling a gold rush as nations, companies and entrepreneurs race to stake claims to the sulfide-rich areas, which dot the volcanic springs of the frigid seabed. The prospectors — motivated by dwindling resources on land as well as record prices for gold and other metals — are busy hauling up samples and assessing deposits valued at trillions of dollars.

“We’ve had extreme success,” Mr. Dettweiler said in a recent interview about the deepwater efforts of his company, Odyssey Marine Exploration of Tampa, Fla.

Skeptics once likened mining the deep to looking for riches on the moon. No more. Progress in marine geology, predictions of metal shortages in the decades ahead and improving access to the abyss are combining to make it real.

Gateway pipeline risks exceed rewards, B.C. Premier says – by Karen Howlett and Bill Curry (Globe and Mail – July 23, 2012)

July 23, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

TORONTO and OTTAWA — British Columbia Premier Christy Clark is warning that the environmental risks associated with a plan to sell Canadian oil to Asia through the Northern Gateway pipeline outweigh the economic benefits, leaving her at odds with the federal and Alberta governments.

Ms. Clark conveyed her concerns about the project during a series of high-level meetings, beginning with a telephone call to Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Thursday. She met face-to-face the same day with Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall in Saskatoon and Alberta Premier Alison Redford in Edmonton.

Ms. Clark gave them a heads-up on changes her government is seeking, before Canada’s 13 provincial and territorial leaders meet this week in Halifax, where the pipeline project will be on the agenda, her press secretary, Michael Morton, told The Globe and Mail.

Until now, Ms. Clark has not taken a stand on the project. The proposed $5.5-billion pipeline plays a key role in Mr. Harper’s ambition to feed Canadian resources to customers in Asia. Mr. Harper has said it is vital for Canada to reassess its reliance on U.S. markets for energy, and look to Asia. Almost all of Canada’s oil exports go to the United States.

Nothing is sacred to Britain’s metal thieves – by Elizabeth Renzetti (Globe and Mail – July 23, 2012)

July 23, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

LONDON — For years the Haworth Parish Church in Yorkshire has withstood every onslaught, from the driving Pennines rain to thousands of tourists wanting to visit the final resting place of Charlotte and Emily Bronte. But one thing it couldn’t survive: The metal thieves who repeatedly stripped its roof in the night.

This week the church is surrounded by scaffolding, as a $2-million renovation begins with workmen removing Westmoreland slate tiles from the roof. They don’t have to remove the lead flashing and gutters, because those were taken by thieves in three daring raids over the past two years. With the lead gone, the rain poured in and the church began to rot from inside.

The Haworth Church, formally called St. Michael and All Angels, is particularly high-profile, but it’s merely an emblem of a much wider problem sweeping Britain during a time of rising metal theft. In a country so rich in heritage, how do you keep robbers from stealing history?

In the case of Haworth Church, the answer is typically Yorkshire (that is, blunt and succinct). “We’re installing a roof alarm,” says rector Peter Mayo-Smith, who has witnessed over the past two years the destruction of paintings and woodwork in his church as the elements took their toll.

China’s CNOOC to buy Nexen for $15.1-billion – by Nathan VanderKlippe (Globe and Mail – July 23, 2012)

July 23, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

CALGARY – Nexen Inc. has agreed to a $15.1-billion (U.S.) takeover by Chinese oil producer CNOOC Ltd., marking the most important acquisition to date by an Asian firm in Canada.

The all-cash deal is worth $27.50 per Nexen share, a 66-per-cent premium to the 20-day volume-weighted average for the company, which has not seen its shares reach that level since before the financial crisis. Nexen closed at $17.06 Friday.

Nexen is Canada’s 12th-largest energy company, producing 213,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. But the company has struggled in recent years as its corporate pillars each faced problems. Its North Sea production was hit by a new U.K. tax scheme. Its Gulf of Mexico drilling was hurt by the BP oil spill. Its West African offshore production was hit by a costly drill well. It was forced to abandon a major project in Yemen after a production sharing contract expired there. Its oil sands ambitions were hampered by problems at Long Lake, where problems with underground geology have so far kept it far from reaching its planned output.

Long Lake, however, served as a springboard to the corporate takeover. Last November, CNOOC completed a $2.1-billion buyout of OPTI Canada Inc., which held a 35-per-cent stake in the project, which is still operating at less than half its design capacity years after it began operation.