May 9, 2013 – Republic of Mining

Chromite project delays may jeopardize miner’s plans – CBC News Sudbury (May 9, 2013)

May 9, 2013

http://www.cbc.ca/sudbury/

Cliffs Natural Resources president remains optimistic, but has reasons for ‘concern’

A year after it was announced that a chromite smelter and hundreds of jobs were coming to Sudbury, there is still no deal in place. And the mining company behind the project, Cliffs Natural Resources, now says the delays could put the whole thing in jeopardy.

The province and the mining company have yet to sign an agreement that lays out the specifics of the mine access road, how much of the ore will be processed in Sudbury and how much Cliffs will pay for electricity.

After being in daily contact last year, the two sides haven’t met since January. But the new mines minister, Michael Gravelle, said there’s no reason to worry. “It’s not a question of apportioning blame at all, I think this is just a complex project,” he said.

Cliffs’ vice-president Bill Boor said he remains optimistic, however long delays could mean no mine and no smelter. “The project does have risk when it’s stopped like this,” he noted. “And that causes me concern.”

No meetings planned

While the chromite isn’t going anywhere, the market conditions have to be right for a complicated plan like this to work, Boor said.

Illegal mining Colombia’s new bane – by Paul Harris (Globe and Mail – May 9, 2013)

May 9, 2013

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.

Canadian junior miners on front lines as criminal gangs, demobilized paramilitaries and guerrilla groups mine gold outside the law

MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA — In Segovia, a prosperous Colombian town of 50,000 people in northeastern Antioquia, the shops are closed by 6:30 p.m. and the streets empty. Segovia is a boom town, one of the country’s richest gold production centres, but tension is in the air as criminal gangs, demobilized paramilitaries and guerrilla groups flock to the area to mine gold illegally.

In Colombia, gold is the new cocaine as outlaw groups increasingly move into mineral-rich parts of the country on their own terms to take advantage of the metal’s strong price.

“The relatively high price of gold, the fact that the final product is legal and its production sources cannot easily be traced, means that illegal groups can operate large, profitable operations without the risks involved in the drug trade,” said Daniel Linsker, vice-president of global services for Latin America, at Control Risks, an international business risk consulting firm.

It’s estimated that illegal mining accounts for most of Colombia’s gold production. Production was an estimated 66 tonnes in 2012, according to the country’s National Mining Agency. About 10 tonnes comes from legal mines and about 10 tonnes from scrap such as old jewellery, meaning more than 40 tonnes is produced illegally, estimates CIIGSA, one of Medellin’s gold refineries.

Oliver threatens trade fight if EU taxes oil-sands crude – by Steven Chase (Globe and Mail – May 9, 2013)

May 9, 2013

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.

Ottawa — Canada’s Natural Resources Minister is raising the prospect of a trade fight with the European Union over its proposal to label oil-sands crude as dirty even as both sides try to seal a major deal to liberalize two-way.

In Brussels on Wednesday, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said Ottawa would consider launching a complaint with the World Trade Organization, the global referee for commercial disputes, if the EU proceeds with a fuel-quality directive that singles out crude from Canada’s oil sands as the most harmful to the planet’s climate.

The directive would effectively slap an import tax on oil-sands crude because refiners who use it would face extra costs. EU refiners are required to cut carbon content in fuels by 6 per cent or pay a penalty.

Ottawa fears the directive would hurt Canada’s ability to open new markets for its oil and depress prices for North American crude. “This fuel-quality directive is discriminatory towards Canadian oil and not supported by scientific facts,” Mr. Oliver said.

A spokesman for International Trade Minister Ed Fast said that Ottawa believes Canada’s campaign for better treatment for the oil sands will not affect trade talks with Brussels.

Webequie celebrates Mining Essentials graduates – by Rick Garrick (Wawatay News – May 8, 2013)

May 9, 2013

http://wawataynews.ca/

Webequie’s Angeline Shewaybick is looking forward to a career in mining after graduating with the highest marks in Oshki-Pimache-O-Win’s Mining Essentials program.

“I tried really hard to study because I really wanted to do well,” said Shewaybick, who was awarded a laptop computer for her high marks during the May 2 graduation ceremony in Webequie. “My goal after this is finishing my education and hopefully getting into the mining industry. That’s where I want to work — it’s so close to home.”

Although Shewaybick was the only woman in the 12-week pre-employment training program, she encouraged other women to consider mining as a career. “It was a great experience for me,” Shewaybick said. “All I can say is take it — it was a great experience and I’ve learned a lot and you don’t have to be a guy to do it.”

Shewaybick enjoyed the hands-on pre-trades training activities in the Cambrian College mobile trades training trailer and the week-long job shadowing placement at the Cliffs Esker Camp in the Ring of Fire. “It was more hands on and I really enjoyed that part,” Shewaybick said.

Alec Wabasse, Amos Jacob, Brandon Shewaybick, Cody Mekanak, Corey Neshinapaise, Dylan Jacob, Edgar Jacob, Lewis Sofea, Leroy Troutlake, Luke Meekis, Robert Jacob, Rudy Mekanak and Simon Shewaybick, all from Webequie, also graduated from the program.

What On Earth Are “Commodity Super-cycles” And Why Do They Matter? – by Marcelo GiugaleWorld (Huffingotn Post – May 9, 2013)

May 9, 2013

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/

Marcelo GiugaleWorld is the World Bank’s Director of Economic Policy and Poverty Reduction Programs for Africa

The average developing country lives off exporting commodities like oil, gas, copper, cocoa or soybeans. The sale of these resources brings both revenue to the government and foreign currency to import what is not produced at home–which, in these places, tends to be most things. So whatever happens to the price of those commodities matters a great deal for development and, even more, for the war on poverty. The problem is that those prices are famously volatile.

They can jump up and down seemingly at random, from year to year, month to month, even within a single minute. This makes life miserable for those who have to plan public investments in schools, hospitals or roads. Statisticians and investors have studied the problem to death, not least because there is a lot of money to be made if you can find a predictable pattern. And despite all their efforts, they have come up mostly empty-handed.

Mostly. There has always been suspicion that, if you took a really long view–we are talking centuries here–you might uncover periods of about forty years when commodity prices steadily climb for a decade or two, only to fall slowly back to where they were. That is, you might uncover “super-cycles”. It may sound crazy but, before anyone could actually find one, plenty of theories were put forward to explain why super-cycles happened and what to do about them.

NEWS RELEASE: Royal Nickel Announces $15 Million Royalty Financing from Leading Global Mining Investor

May 9, 2013

(All amounts expressed in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated)

TORONTO, May 9, 2013 /CNW/ – Royal Nickel Corporation (“RNC”) (TSX: RNX) is pleased to announce that it has signed a royalty purchase agreement with RK Mine Finance (“Red Kite”). Under the terms of the agreement, Red Kite will acquire a 1% Net Smelter Return (“NSR”) Royalty in the Dumont Nickel Project for a purchase price of $15 million.

“This commitment by Red Kite is a significant endorsement of the Dumont project by a recognized global mine finance firm. This royalty sale provides an attractive form of financing, particularly in current capital market conditions. The additional capital will allow us to continue to aggressively advance the project once the feasibility study is completed by mid-year. We look forward to working further with Red Kite as we advance the project,” said Tyler Mitchelson, President and CEO of RNC.

Pursuant to the agreement between RNC and Red Kite, on closing RNC will receive $15 million and Red Kite will be entitled to receive 1% of the net smelter return from the sale of minerals produced from the Dumont Nickel Project. Closing is expected to occur on May 10, 2013.

RNC’s Dumont project contains the third largest nickel reserve in the world1 and is expected to be among the largest 5 nickel sulphide operations in the world. RNC is on track to release the results of a feasibility study for the Dumont project by mid-2013 and the permitting process is well underway with necessary permits expected to be received by the second quarter of 2014.