Miners worry about environmental survey (CBC News Thunder Bay – July 31, 2013)

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

Mining industry stakeholders concerned the Lake Superior Binational Forum survey could hinder their plans

A group interested in preventing pollution in Lake Superior is asking the public what it thinks about mining activities — and some supporters of a proposed new mine in the area are worried about the impact the results of that survey might have.

Sponsored by the Lake Superior Binational Forum, the survey asks respondents to think about the environmental impact of mining activity around the lake. CBC News obtained an e-mail exchange among mining industry stakeholders that showed there is concern the survey could hinder their plans.

“Can you blast a new email out to your network, asking anyone with an interest in mining to complete the survey so that a balanced result occurs?” the email said. “We are reasonably certain this is a move by the bi-national forum to enter the results against Stillwater’s project in the panel proceedings this fall, in an overall effort to kill mining around Lake Superior.”

The general manager of a mining company with plans to build a mine north of Marathon, said he filled out the questionnaire because he wants the results to be balanced.

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Toward less of a potash oligopoly – Editorial (Globe and Mail – July 31, 2013)

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 breakup of Belarus Potash Co., one of two international potash cartels, is good news for consumers and farmers across the world, which carries a promise of less expensive fertilizer and (as a result) cheaper food. It is hard to see how BPC’s North American equivalent, Canpotex International Pte. Ltd., the marketing organization shared by Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., Agrium Inc. and The Mosaic Co., will be able to maintain potash prices at their previous levels. The raison d’être of Canpotex is likely to be in question. Without the quasi-duopoly of Canpotex and BPC, the potash market will be substantially more competitive.

OAO Uralkali, the Russian member of BPC, has accused its former Belarussian partner, Belaruskali, of selling potash outside BPC. Indeed, last December, the dictatorial President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, issued a decree cancelling BPC’s exclusive right to market and export Belarussian potash; maybe Belaruskali was just being obedient.

But Uralkali may have another motive, too; it has the advantage of being able to ship potash directly by rail to China, a country with a great appetite for fertilizer. Uralkali appears to have decided to seek buyers by offering attractive prices, rather than by restricting supply.

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Russia’s potash breakup a ‘game-changer’ for Canadian industry – by Brenda Bouw (Globe and Mail – July 31, 2013)

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 dramatic breakup of the world’s largest potash oligopoly promises to reshape the industry and send prices tumbling, threatening the profit-making power of the marketing group that sells Saskatchewan potash to global customers.

Russia’s Uralkali said it is walking away from its Belarus Potash Company (BPC) joint venture with partner Belaruskali in order to sell potash on its own to hungry markets in China and India. The move is expected to shatter the industry’s supply-demand picture and spur a global potash price war.

It’s also a serious blow for Canpotex Ltd., the potash marketing group made up of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., Mosaic Co. and Agrium Inc. The shares of all three companies were hit hard; combined, they lost nearly $9-billion in stock-market value. Potash Corp., one of Canada’s biggest mining companies, fell 16 per cent to $32.66. Analysts warn Canpotex’s pricing leverage could soon disappear, clobbering profits for each public company.

“This is a game-changer,” said John Chu, an analyst at Alta-Corp. Capital Inc.

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Kitco’s Commentator’s Corner: Signs of a Bottom – by Eric Coffin (Kitco.com – July 30, 2013)

http://www.kitco.com/

As things go from bad to worse for so much of the mining and exploration sector I thought it was time to collect up some anecdotal evidence of bottoming. This won’t be based on charts or tables (though I might toss in a couple later) but from empirical observation.

I’ve spent most of my life in and around the mining sector either as an analyst, exploration or financing consultant or child of a mining executive who bounced around a few mining camps in his youth. I have seen a lot of cycles come and go.

I’m the first to admit this is one of the strangest cycles I’ve seen but there are some predictable behaviors near cycle bottoms that are beginning to appear.

As was noted in these pages about 10 years ago, the dominant theme of this cycle was the rise of emerging economies that had exponentially growing demand for raw materials— the “BRICS”. China in particular can be thanked (or blamed) for extending the current part of this cycle. Unlike every other major economy China went Keynesian—big time—in 2009. It chose to buy stuff rather than buy collapsed mortgage bonds and kept up demand for metals and energy. Prices, especially base metals, would have gone soft much faster without this intervention.

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English hamlet becomes unlikely hub for global fracking debate – by Paul Waldie (Globe and Mail – July 31, 2013)

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.

BALCOMBE, ENGLAND — With its million-pound homes and leafy estates, the village of Balcombe hardly looks like a hotbed of environmental activism. But this community of fewer than 2,000 has suddenly become the latest epicentre of the global debate over fracking.

For the past week, Balcombe villagers have been waging war with Cuadrilla Resources Ltd., Britain’s largest shale player, which is about to start test drilling in the area, hoping to extract oil from shale rock. Houses have been plastered with “Frack Off” signs, and dozens of people have lined the gates to the site, chanting, singing and trying to stop trucks from going in. Nearly two dozen people have been arrested.

The “Battle for Balcombe” has become a rallying cry for opponents of fracking everywhere as activists, celebrities and media have descended on the village, a short train ride south of London. Arrivals of serial, experienced veterans of the G20 demonstrations and the Occupy camp outside St. Paul’s have turned this town into an eco-cause celebre.

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Shale Threatens Saudi Economy, Warns Prince Alwaleed – by Summer Said and Benoit Faucon (Wall Street Journal – July 30, 2013)

http://online.wsj.com/home-page

Investor Says Kingdom’s Economy Increasingly Vulnerable

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has warned that the kingdom’s oil-dependent economy is increasingly vulnerable to rising U.S. energy production, breaking ranks with oil officials in Riyadh who have played down its impact.

In an open letter dated May 13 addressed to Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi and several other ministers, a link to which was published Sunday on Prince Alwaleed’s Twitter account, he warned that the boom in U.S. shale oil and gas will reduce demand for crude from members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. A Saudi official confirmed that ministers received the letter in May.

Not long after the prince issued his warning, a report from OPEC published Monday showed the group’s oil export revenue hit a record high of $1.26 trillion in 2012. However, forecasts from the group raise questions over whether that level of earnings can be sustained amid the competition from shale oil.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, is now pumping at less than its production capacity because consumers are limiting their oil imports, Prince Alwaleed said in the letter. This means the kingdom is “facing a threat with the continuation of its near-complete reliance on oil, especially as 92% of the budget for this year depends on oil,” said the prince.

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Women coal miners to gather in Jonesborough this weekend Archives of Appalachia to document their stories – by Sue Guinn Legg (Johnson City Press – July 30, 2013)

http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/

Women coal miners from across the United States, Canada and England will gather in Jonesborough this weekend for a reunion at which their stories will be documented by the Archives of Appalachia at East Tennessee State University.

The first international gathering of women coal miners conducted in nearly 15 years, the Saturday and Sunday reunion will include guests from former underground miners’ organizations that pioneered gender integration in the coal industry in the 1970s as well as representatives from Women Against Pit Closures in England.

On Saturday, representatives of the Archives of Appalachia and ETSU’s Office of University Relations will film interviews of women miners to add to the archives’ existing coal mining collections, to strengthen the public understanding of the histories of mining and labor and to foster a greater appreciation for women miners.

Amy Collins, director of the Archives of Appalachia, said interest in the history of women coal miners draws researchers from across the country and abroad to archived collections at ETSU that document women miners’ efforts in the areas of mine health and safety, pregnancy research, parental leave and pay equity.

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Canadian mining industry embraces transparency initiative – by Drew Hasselback (National Post – July31, 2013)

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

A new form of transparency is coming to the Canadian mining industry, and it will be compulsory. The industry is offering broad support to an initiative called Publish What You Pay, and it’s bound to become mandatory now that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has stated that Canada will align its mining rules with similar transparency initiatives that have been passed in the United States and the European Union.

The concept is simple. Canadian companies will be required to disclose the amounts resource companies pay to any level of government, anywhere in the world. Industry broadly supports the idea in the hope that it will level the playing field in dealing with different governments around the world. There’s also a belief that transparency will reduce or eliminate opportunities for corruption, and enable local communities to see whether mining is benefiting them.

“What the Canadian government is attempting to do is encourage good disclosure globally of what is paid to governments,” says Sander Grieve, head of the mining practice at Bennett Jones LLP in Toronto.

“The driving theory behind it is to ensure that where ever you have material expenditures, there’s transparency so citizens can see where this money is going,” adds Sarah Powell, a partner with Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP in Toronto.

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Twin Metals Minnesota: Building the state’s Mining Future – by Bob McFarin (Mesabi Daily News – July 31, 2013)

http://www.virginiamn.com/

Bob McFarin is vice president of public and government affairs of Twin Metals Minnesota.

Just over 150 years ago, people came to northern Minnesota in search of gold. Instead, they found a more enduring, but no less valuable resource — iron ore. The rest, of course, is history — Minnesota history shaped by generations of entrepreneurial, daring and hard-working “Iron Rangers.”

Good paying jobs, the ability to raise a family, vibrant communities, quality education and stewardship of the wilderness and environment — these are the past and present values and aspirations that define more than a century of mining throughout Minnesota’s Iron Range.

Twin Metals Minnesota (TMM) is excited to be joining Minnesota’s proud mining heritage. Working in partnership with local communities and state and federal regulators, TMM is pursuing the development and operation of an underground mining project that will be one of the world’s largest sources of copper, nickel, platinum, palladium and gold.

These critical metals are necessary components of myriad products, from simple to complex, that support a modern quality of life —

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Will three be the charm? Quebec makes third attempt to amend mining law – by Drew Hasselback (National Post – July 31, 2013)

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

This fall, Quebec’s legislature will consider several proposed amendments to the province’s Mining Act. The question is whether these changes will permanently impact the province’s reputation as a mining friendly jurisdiction.

That stature is already wavering. Each year the Fraser Institute ranks global mining jurisdictions based on their friendliness to investors. This year the province ranked 11th — a fairly strong showing, given that the 2013 survey covers 96 jurisdictions. But for the first time in years, the province didn’t make the top 10. Back in 2010 and 2009, it was even in first place.

“La Belle Province is no longer the belle of the ball it once was among mining jurisdictions,” says Tom Provost, a lawyer in the Montreal office of McMillan LLP.

“Even if it’s trying to do the right thing, the government is unfortunately sending mixed signals about whether Quebec is a mining friendly jurisdiction,” adds Frank Mariage, a lawyer in the Montreal office of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. “Quebec’s ranking on the Fraser Institute list of mining friendly jurisdictions has gone down.”

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Saskatchewan economy can weather potash storm – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – July 31, 2013)

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

CALGARY – Saskatchewan will feel the impact of a global potash price war triggered by Russia, but the blow will be lessened by industry efficiencies and continuing growth in other sectors such as oil and uranium. “We remain extraordinarily bullish,” Kent Windsor-Smith, executive director of the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce, said Tuesday.

“We don’t foresee anything slowing us in 2013. We are expecting to see a modest slowdown in the growth rate in 2014, but that was probably in the cards already and it related to the fact that a number of these capital projects are winding down and moving toward completion.”

Saskatchewan’s potash sector, which produces about a third of the world’s supply of the crop nutrient, spent heavily in recent years to modernize operations and reduce costs, making it well-positioned to weather pricing pressures, he said, while “producers in other parts of the planet may not be as cost competitive.”

Meanwhile, the province’s diversified economy, which has been growing at a blistering pace, will continue to be supported by spending in oil and uranium, and a stable agriculture base.

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‘The end of the potash world as we know it’ is no exaggeration – by Peter Koven (National Post – July 31, 2013)

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

For the potash industry, this would change everything.

If Russian producer OAO Uralkali follows through on its plan to max out production and collapse one of the sector’s two trading arms, the industry’s oligopoly-like business model is thrown out the window.

The days in which the potash producers withheld production to maintain pricing influence could break down completely. Instead, experts said the stage would be set for a dramatic battle for market share, with the companies running at much higher production capacity and selling far more product. Higher supply would mean lower prices, greater competition and a culling of higher-cost producers and eager new entrants.

In short, the potash business would start to resemble a normal commodity business. BMO analyst Joel Jackson called it “the end of the potash world as we know it,” which is no exaggeration.

Markets were rattled at that prospect. Shares of every potash producer in the world plunged on Tuesday as investors absorbed the idea of global prices falling by US$100 a tonne or more.

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Steelworkers attack Wynne over mine inquiry – by staff (Sudbury Star – July 31, 2013)

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

Leaders of Ontario’s largest mining union are accusing Premier Kathleen Wynne of “callously” rejecting their calls for what they say is a long-overdue inquiry into mine safety.

“Premier Wynne appears unfazed by the fact that our mining communities have suffered scores of deaths and thousands of injuries since the government last examined mine safety in this province,” Marty Warren, United Steelworkers’ Ontario director, said in a release.

“We hoped the new premier would take this issue more seriously than her predecessor, but that is not the case,” Warren said. The Steelworkers have been calling for an inquiry since the deaths of two Sudbury miners, Jason Chenier, 35, and Jordan Fram, 26, at Vale’s Stobie Mine, in 2011.

“It’s disgraceful that the prem ier has no interest in discussing the pleas of the grieving families and co-workers of deceased miners, who know only too well that a mine safety inquiry in Ontario is long-overdue,” said Rick Bertrand, president of USW Local 6500, representing 2,600 mine workers in Sudbury. Bertrand and Warren said they sent a joint request to Wynne on May 16, asking to meet with the premier to make the case for a mine safety inquiry.

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NEWS RELEASE: Kathleen Wynne Dismisses Public’s Pleas for Mine Safety Inquiry: Steelworkers

TORONTO, July 30, 2013 /CNW/ – Premier Kathleen Wynne has callously rejected an appeal from Ontario’s largest mining union to discuss a long-overdue inquiry into mine safety, waiting two months to even acknowledge the request.

“Premier Wynne appears unfazed by the fact that our mining communities have suffered scores of deaths and thousands of injuries since the government last examined mine safety in this province,” said Marty Warren, United Steelworkers’ (USW) Ontario Director.

“We hoped the new premier would take this issue more seriously than her predecessor, but that is not the case,” Warren said.

“It’s disgraceful that the Premier has no interest in discussing the pleas of the grieving families and co-workers of deceased miners, who know only too well that a mine safety inquiry in Ontario is long overdue,” said Rick Bertrand, President of USW Local 6500, representing 2,600 mine workers in Sudbury.

Bertrand and Warren sent a joint request to Wynne on May 16, asking to meet with the premier to make the case for a mine safety inquiry. Wynne waited more than two months to respond, sending a letter dated July 24 that rejects a meeting and refers the matter back to the labour minister.

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ONTC solution must be built collaboratively – by Peter Politis (Timmins Daily Press – July 30, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

Peter Politis is the Mayor of the Town of Cochrane.

TIMMINS – In the latest CTV news piece around the Minister’s Advisory Committee on the ONTC, I again found myself feeling less than inspired about the future of this critical northern asset.

While the employees and families of the operation continue to express their desire to work with the province and the committee, the province strangely continues to be less than receptive.

Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle’s response to the employees, who are basically saying they understand that unusual changes are needed to the role employees play in the future of the ONTC, is to say thanks but you need to speak directly to the employer about that not me, or the committee.

Curiously though, Gravelle’s own ministry keeps telling the employees and the ONTC, their direction from the minister is to keep divesting and until that changes there is nothing to talk about.

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