May 17, 2013 – Republic of Mining

Julia Gillard dismisses Gina Rinehart warning of Europe-style collapse (APP-The Australian – May 17, 2013)

May 17, 2013

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business

JULIA Gillard has dismissed claims by Gina Rinehart that Australia’s economy is heading for a collapse like those seen in European nations.

In a recorded video speech delivered at the Australian Mines and Metals Association conference in Melbourne today, Ms Rinehart warned that Australia had to take action to avoid following Europe into economic misery. “It is as if Spain, Greece, Britain, Italy and Portugal had no warnings to give us about the similar path we are now taking,” Australa’s richest person said.

Critical alternative rare earths sources still not secured since China’s 2010 export restrictions – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – May 17, 2013)

May 17, 2013

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Following the global economic downturn of 2008/9 and a series of events and press reports in 2010 that coined what some referred to as the “rare-earths crisis”, there has been a glut of new rare earths projects starting out, yet few have progressed up the value curve, and rare earths supplies in the West still largely depend on Chinese production.

During 2010, there was global concern when China cut its rare earths exports and appeared to be restricting the world’s access to rare earths, sending the rare earths market into a flurry of action and rare earths prices sky high. This led to a growing realisation that an almost total US dependence on China for rare-earths elements, including oxides, phosphors, metals, alloys and magnets, was a matter of national security.

Some policymakers also expressed concern that the US had lost its domestic capacity to produce strategic and critical materials, and queried what implications this had for US national security.

Strategic management consultancy Cansource International president and CEO Ron MacDonald recently told Mining Weekly that solving rare earths supply security still remained an issue.

Ecuador pushing ahead with reforms to lure mining investors (Reuters India – May 17, 2013)

May 17, 2013

http://in.reuters.com/

May 16 (Reuters) – Ecuador’s government on Thursday presented a mining bill to Congress that should pave the way for the signing of contracts with several investors, including Canada’s Kinross Gold Corp.

Ecuador does not have a large-scale mining industry, but the country is largely unexplored and could potentially have big copper, gold and silver deposits. Socialist President Rafael Correa, who won a sweeping re-election victory in February, is eager to attract investment to reduce the economy’s dependence on oil exports.

“We’ve sent a bill labeled as urgent … it contains the reforms to the mining law. Our mining law is very good, but we made some mistakes and it was too strong in some aspects and there were not as many investments as we expected,” Correa told reporters.

Negotiations with Kinross Gold over its $1.3 billion Fruta del Norte gold project are well behind schedule, in part because OPEC-member Ecuador is trying to reap high benefits from the nascent sector.

“Investors asked for some reasonable things and that’s why we’re changing the law,” said Correa. Lawmakers are likely to pass the bill promptly, since the ruling Alianza Pais political party has nearly three-quarters of the seats in Congress.

Glencore Xstrata shareholders sweep the deck clean – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – May 17, 2013)

May 17, 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.

ROME — A vicious boardroom cull at Glencore Xstrata PLC, the world’s fourth-largest mining company, simultaneously ended the career of one of Britain’s most famous directors and revived the career of one of its most infamous.

At the newly formed company’s first annual general meeting, in Switzerland, a shareholder vote sent chairman Sir John Bond packing.

He was replaced on an interim basis by Tony Hayward, the deputy chairman whose career as chief executive officer of BP PLC was wrecked in 2010, when he took the fall for the disastrous Macondo oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, also known as the Deepwater Horizon spill.

Sir John’s ouster was the result of his support for an extraordinarily lavish executive pay package for the senior executives of Xstrata, among them former CEO Mick Davis. The Anglo-Swiss mining company officially merged with Glencore only last week to create a mining and trading giant with a market value of £44-billion ($68.4-billion) and deep links to Canada, where it owns grain handler Viterra Inc. and nickel miner Falconbridge Ltd.

Alcoa and Alcan postpone Quebec smelter upgrades – by Sophie Cousineau (Globe and Mail – May 17, 2013)

May 17, 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.

MONTREAL — With an aluminum market weighed down by surpluses, Alcoa Inc. and Rio Tinto Alcan are postponing billions in upgrade and expansion plans to their smelters in Quebec.

While some 750 Rio Tinto Alcan employees will get to keep their jobs longer, 500 Alcoa workers will be pushed into early retirement.

Alcoa is deferring by three years the $1.2-billion modernization of its Baie-Comeau smelter. But the aluminum producer is still going ahead with plans to shut down two of the plant’s old potlines. The dismantling of those Soderberg potlines, which will take place over the next two years, will eliminate 500 positions, or about a third of the smelter’s 1,400-employee work force.

This is the second time the American producer has reviewed its plans for the upgrade of the Baie-Comeau smelter, which was built in 1957. The Pittsburgh-based company first unveiled plans to modernize the smelter in 2008, but gave the final go-ahead on Nov. 7, 2011, after securing a 25-year electricity procurement deal with the Quebec government.

For its part, Rio Tinto Alcan is also pushing back, by three years to 2019, completion of the $2.1-billion investment plan it unveiled in 2006.

‘All the facts’ support Keystone pipeline, Harper tells U.S. audience – by Joanna Slater (Globe and Mail – May 17, 2013)

May 17, 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.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a stark case for the Keystone XL pipeline to an influential New York audience, saying no further debate is necessary and an increasing supply of oil from Canada is inevitable.

“This absolutely needs to go ahead,” Mr. Harper said during a packed session at the Council on Foreign Relations in Manhattan. “All the facts are overwhelmingly on the side of approval.”

The only “real immediate environmental issue here,” he added, “is do we want to increase the flow of oil from Canada via pipeline or via rail.”

Mr. Harper’s trip marks a new tactic in an all-out effort by the Canadian government to counteract the project’s opponents and ensure that the pipeline moves forward. The push includes an ad campaign launched this week and rotating visits to the U.S. by a parade of cabinet ministers.

On Thursday, however, Mr. Harper did the selling himself. His destination is a stronghold of Democratic voters, some of whom oppose the Keystone project.

OMA member Vale steps up environmental community communications efforts

May 17, 2013

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

Ontario Mining Association member Vale has recently launched a new sustainability website to share environmental information on its operations with citizens of Sudbury. The website www.valegreatersudburysustainability.com provides greater access to detailed and current information on Vale’s environmental initiatives in the Sudbury region.

The nickel producer has bumped up the level of disclosure and transparency with this website and provided the community with new channels to communicate questions, concerns and ideas to the company. This is an innovative approach to sharing information with employees, the local community and the broader public. Go ahead take a look at the site.

“Vale is committed to the long term sustainability of our operations in Sudbury, the local environment and our community,” said Angie Robson, Manager of Corporate Affairs for Vale’s Ontario Operations. “As part of that commitment, we have developed this resource for sharing information with the public about Vale’s environmental initiatives.”

The website has four main components dealing with air quality, water quality and treatment, reclamation activities and a community section. The air chapter contains information on the Clean AER (Atmospheric Emission Reduction) project and particulate control and monitoring programs.

Gold’s dichotomy: Investment demand plunges, but consumers keep buying (National Post – May 17, 2013)

May 17, 2013

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Today’s gold market is being defined by two trends: aggressive selling by investors in North America through exchange-traded funds, and aggressive buying by consumers in Asia. But for now, the ETF investors are overwhelming everyone else.

Gold prices settled below US$1,390 an ounce on Thursday, and after five rough trading days in a row, they are approaching the lows that were reached during last month’s dramatic collapse.

Amid that turmoil, the World Gold Council (WGC) issued a report that shines a light on how rapidly investors are dumping their holdings.

The report shows that overall gold demand fell 13% in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same period a year ago. While that is not too bad on the surface, investment demand fell an astounding 49%. Investors sold a net 176.9 tonnes of gold through ETFs in the quarter, or roughly US$9.3-billion worth of the yellow metal.

The gold market is very small, with total demand of about 1,000 tonnes per quarter, according to the council. That means fluctuations in ETF holdings can have an outsized effect on the paper price.

Can Big Oil handle the Arctic? – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – May 17, 2013)

May 17, 2013

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

CALGARY – With the public increasingly worried about oil spills, some aboriginal groups calling for an Arctic drilling moratorium, and the oil industry as keen as ever to tap Northern deposits, oil spill response preparedness was a big topic of discussion at the Arctic Council meeting in Sweden this week.

As Canada, which has large untapped deposits under the Beaufort Sea, assumed its chairmanship on Wednesday, the group of the eight nations that surround the North Pole signed a pact on oil spill prevention in Kiruna, Sweden’s most northern city.

Coinciding with the meeting, the London-based International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (OGP), whose member companies produce more than half of the world’s oil, was eager to talk about industry efforts to improve handling of oil spills in Arctic environments, which it says have advanced significantly in recent years.

Non-governmental organizations such as the OGP and Greenpeace requested observer status at the council but their requests were denied. The OGP, which had hoped to use the platform to engage and collaborate with those with an interest in Arctic oil-spill response, said much progress was made in the past year as a result of the establishment of a joint industry program (JIP) focusing on key areas of research.

Thunder Bay releases mining strategy to capitalize on new economy – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – May 2013)

May 17, 2013

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North.

The municipality, its economic development commission and Fort William First Nation released their mining readiness strategy to serve as their game plan to prepare the communities for the monumental economic spinoffs expected to come their way.

A 398-page document, entitled Advantage Northwest, takes a wide angle view in forecasting the opportunities and challenges coming from mining development in northwestern Ontario and the Far North Ring of Fire exploration camp.

Prepared by SNC-Lavalin and Edward Hoshizaki Development Consulting, a final draft was circulated at two public meetings in April before a final document was released at month’s end with a list of recommendations and priorities to tackle.

Among the issues addressed are the transportation and electricity shortcomings in the region, business development to service the industry, labour issues, partnerships with First Nations, future land supply for incoming companies and people, and research and development opportunities.

Mineral Exploration Tax Credit extended for another year – by Star Staff (Sudbury Star – May 17, 2013)

May 17, 2013

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

In a bid to boost mine exploration, the federal government has extended the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit for another year as part of its Economic Action Plan 2013.

Joe Oliver, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, confirmed the announcement Thursday, while visiting a former mine site on the Podolsky property just north of Capreol.

“Mining workers and communities across Canada can count on our government’s support of this vital engine of economic growth,” Oliver said in a release. “That is why, in our latest federal budget, we extended the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit to continue to provide junior mining companies access to the venture capital they need to finance their exploration activities.”

Oliver’s announcement was not new; the federal government, as part of Economic Action Plan 2013, said it would extend the credit until March 31, 2014.

The 15% Mineral Exploration Tax Credit helps junior mineral exploration companies raise capital by providing an incentive to investors in flow-through shares issued to finance mineral exploration.

Northern Ontario is a [political] fossil with a future – by David Robinson (Northern Ontario Business – May 2013)

May 17, 2013

Once upon a time Britain had a colony. And this unusual colony had a colony of its own. Then the colony-with-a-colony joined with other colonies and got some more colonies. And Canada was born!

That isn’t quite the history we were taught, but it is technically correct. And this version actually provides a clue about the economic future of Northern Ontario.

The colony originally called Canada was the most valuable of Britain’s North American possessions (after the Americans jumped ship). Britain was such an empire builder that even the British colonies wanted colonies. Upper Canada grabbed what we now call Northern Ontario. Then Upper Canada and Lower Canada got together to grab all the British territory east of the Rocky Mountains and south of the North Pole.

Personally, I’m happy that they did this. If they hadn’t, those nasty Americans would have gobbled most of what we now call Canada.

But Canada is coming to the end of its Colonial Era. For more than 100 years the federal government has been transferring its decision-making powers to the territories it grabbed.

Neskantaga First Nation finds hope after suicide crisis – by Jody Porter (CBC News Thunder Bay – May 17, 2013)

May 17, 2013

http://www.cbc.ca/thunderbay/

North-South Partnership helps Neskantaga youth express themselves through art

Artwork created by young people in Neskantaga First Nation will soon be on display in Toronto as part of an effort to help the community recover from a suicide crisis.

The fly-in community, located about 480 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, declared a state of emergency April 17 after two young men killed themselves in less than a week. “In our community it was very devastating. It still is,” said First Nation counsellor Kelvin Moonias. “The tremendous loss we had.”

Moonias said he had felt overwhelmed by the grief in the tiny First Nation, home to about 300 people, and was grateful to see a team of helpers arrive from Toronto. “After seeing first-hand what these people can do and that they truly care, it really touched my heart,” he said.

The North-South Partnership for Children sent 17 people into the community, partly in response to the crisis. The agency brings together philanthropists in southern Ontario with northern First Nations. When the southerners arrived, young people in Neskantaga asked them to help organize an art and music festival.

Meeting focused on ONTC studies, finances – by Gord Young (North Bay Nugget – May 16, 2013)

May 17, 2013

http://www.nugget.ca/

North Bay Mayor Al McDonald was upbeat Thursday as he emerged from an ONTC advisory committee meeting in Toronto involving Northern Development Minister Michael Gravelle.

It was the first meeting of the advisory group, involving Northern Ontario municipal politicians and stakeholders, since Gravelle’s announcement last week that divestment should not be the only option for the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission.

And McDonald said the meeting was in “stark contrast” to those that previously took place with former Northern Development Minister Rick Bartolucci. “It was a great meeting,” he said, unable to disclose specific details because the group is working under an agreement of confidentiality.

McDonald, however, was able to say that much of the meeting focused on studies and financial information regarding the Crown agency. And he said the conversation during the last portion of the three-hour meeting centred on divestment not being the only option.

He said the entire group is working in the same direction and wants what’s best for Northern Ontario. McDonald said the group also recognizes that time is of the essence and “something needs to be done quickly.”

Conflict minerals: what can the mining industry do? – by Sue George (The Guardian – May 16, 2013)

May 17, 2013

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

Too many countries that are rich in natural resources are blighted by armed conflict, poverty and poor governance. How can mining companies guarantee they are not funding conflicts?

This content is brought to you by Guardian Sustainable Business in association with the World Gold Council. Produced by Guardian Professional to a brief agreed and paid for by the World Gold Council. All editorial controlled and overseen by the Guardian.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has vast mineral resources, such as gold, diamonds, tin, tantalum, cobalt and copper, that could, in theory, provide the nation with great wealth. Instead, much of the DRC is remote, dangerous and extremely poor; its decades-long civil unrest funded in part by the theft and misuse of part of this mineral wealth.

This is part of what economist Paul Collier, in his book The Bottom Billion, called “the resources trap”. According to this theory, poor countries with substantial natural resources often do not benefit from them. On the contrary, a range of negative consequences – for instance various types of armed conflict erupting as groups battle to gain control of those resources – arise as a result, making those countries poorer than ever.

But an increasing number of organisations now believe industry has a significant role to play in helping governments and civil society break the link between natural resources and unlawful armed combat.