September 13, 2013 – Republic of Mining

Ontario’s Mining Albatross: Ring of Fire on life-support for years to come – by Bill Gallagher LL.B. Strategist (September 13, 2013)

September 13, 2013

www.billgallagher.ca

The opening sentence of the latest legal ruling emanating from the James Bay lowlands says it all: “The north is not a quiet place”. That’s because throughout this 43-page ruling it’s the lawyers who are profiled in full court press in what is a tour de force of no-holds-barred resource sector litigating. They’re the sole reason the north is not a quiet place; because when the dust settles, this ruling will make the Ring of Fire quieter than a subarctic winter’s night for years to come.

To cut to the chase, Cliff’s Natural Resources has failed in its drive to force KWG Resources to accommodate its proposed all-season road (intending to run along the latter’s proposed rail line). Both proposals centered on KWGs ‘corridor’ of mining claims that likewise run along the only elevated / esker route into the Ring of Fire. What this means is that KWG Resources has 100% maintained its priority of mining claims integrity – as the only route into the Ring of Fire. Cliffs has been denied access.

As in The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, this ruling will now hang over the Ring of Fire like a dead albatross. The only question is who gets to have it hung around their neck; because this ruling puts all the players in the same boat in terms of project doldrums. As limericks go (with apologies to Coleridge):

Water, water every where … nor any drop to drink

Lawyers, lawyers everywhere … nor any shaft to sink.

Coal industry predicts bright future – by Derrick Penner (Vancouver Sun – September 13, 2013)

September 13, 2013

http://www.vancouversun.com/index.html

Exports from Western Canada likely to double over next decade, conference hears

Coal, unloved by environmentalists and battered by a global market glut that has ravaged corporate profits, is still likely to see its production and exports double from Western Canada over the next decade.

“Western Canada produces mainly metallurgical coal for the steel industry and it’s got a lot of things going for it,” said Gerard McCloskey, moderator for the Coal Association of Canada’s annual conference that is in Vancouver this week.

McCloskey, a U.K.-based industry consultant, said Western Canada remains attractive because of its good quality and untapped reserves, and he said while markets are oversupplied now, there is still considerable room for growth, particularly in the Pacific.

“I would think there will be, in my own forecast, a doubling of exports from Western Canada over the next 10 years,” McCloskey said. The coal association conference gathered more than 300 industry participants from all levels of the mining sector and its supply chain, from equipment dealers to consultants and transportation specialists.

Zambia’s economy set to grow by 8.1% in the next few years – by Zandile Mavuso (MiningWeekly.com – September 13, 2013)

September 13, 2013

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

The completion of major copper mining projects in Zambia next year is expected to contribute to economic growth of 8.1% from 2014 to 2016, advisory firm KPMG states.

“Copper production in the country peaked in the 1970s at 700 000 t and gradually declined to 255 000 t by 1998, as a result of depressed prices and under- investment in the then State-owned industry. However, as copper production soars on the back of the completion of major projects and also because of the development of the new Trident mine, operated by Canada-based mining company First Quantum Minerals (FQM), Zambia is set to be at the peak of copper production once again,” says KPMG senior partner in Zambia Jason Kazilimani, Jr.

FQM reports that one of its major projects, the Kansanshi mine, has under- gone several significant expansions – the most recent being a smelter that is currently being built. It is estimated that the smelter will produce 300 000 t/y of treated copper concentrate. Before this new development, the mine’s initial production capacity was 110 000 t/y of copper.

By 2015, the yearly production should reach about 400 000 t of copper, which is a major achievement that will ensure the mine reaches it one-million tons of total copper production by 2017.

How Ontario plans to deal with tonnes of nuclear waste: Bury the problem – by Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – September 13, 2013)

September 13, 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.

INVERHURON, ONT. — On a clear day, Marti McFadzean can see the Bruce nuclear plant from her home in this cottage town on the sandy shores of Lake Huron, where she had summered since childhood and has now retired.

Ms. McFadzean was never too concerned about the proximity of a nuclear plant to her family’s tranquil summer retreat, where five generations have gathered since 1928. But this summer, the former school administrator interrupted her retirement to become a full-time NIMBY activist.

She and many of her neighbours along Lake Huron’s eastern shore are campaigning against a $1-billion plan by Ontario Power Generation (OPG) to bury low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste in a deep geologic repository (DGR) at the Bruce site, a facility that would be built just two kilometres from her home and only a kilometre from the lake itself.

For nuclear power producers, the Bruce DGR represents part of a long-term answer to a thorny problem that has dogged the industry since its postwar inception: what to do with the radioactive waste that will remain dangerous long after the reactors are gone, in some cases for hundreds of thousands of years.

Ring of Fire in jeopardy, says Cliffs – by Jamie Monastyrski (Wawatay News – September 13, 2013)

September 13, 2013

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

It’s one step ahead and two steps behind lately for the future development of the Ring of Fire. The controversial proposal by Cliffs Natural Resources for an easement to build an all-weather road that would connect to the Ring of Fire was rejected Sept. 10 by the Ontario’s Mining and Lands Commissioner in a 43-page ruling.

“The decision by the commission was very disappointing,” said Jason Aagenes, director of environmental affairs for Cliffs Natural Resources in an interview.

“We view the north-south corridor as critical to the Ring of Fire development as well as a key component of our project. This does jeopardize the viability of the project going forward unless it is resolved.”

The ruling found the easement breaches rival company KWG Resources Inc.’s rights under Ontario’s Mining Act and that Cliffs did not demonstrate the 350-km road is in the public interest. The proposed road would cross over mining claims owned by KWG, an exploration stage company, which staked the ground in 2009 for a future railroad.

Mines minister hasn’t seen business plan for Ring of Fire railway – by Jamie Smith (tbnewswatch.com – September 13, 2013)

September 13, 2013

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

Ontario’s mines minister says the province has never seen a business plan for a proposed railway to the Ring of Fire.

Earlier this week the Mining and Lands Commissioner dismissed applications from Cliffs Natural Resources for easements to build a road to mineral deposits in the North. The narrow corridor needed for the road is already staked by KWG Resources for a proposed railway instead.

On Friday Northern Development and Mines minister Michael Gravelle said while Cliffs has shown its $3.3 billion plan for the area, he’s never seen one from KWG.

But the province wants to see any plan put forward for the Ring of Fire, he added. As for the decision, Gravelle said his ministry and the Ministry of Natural Resources didn’t want to be a part of the commissioner hearings out of respect for the independent process.

UPDATE 1-Russia’s Norilsk to slim down, focus on top assets – by Polina Devitt (Reuters India – September 12, 2013)

September 13, 2013

http://in.reuters.com/

MOSCOW, Sept 12 (Reuters) – Russia’s Norilsk Nickel , the world’s biggest nickel producer, said it plans to slim down and focus on its top assets, joining other big mining companies in shedding businesses in the face of weak metals prices.

The company, partially owned by Russian tycoon Vladimir Potanin and aluminium giant Rusal, is having to cope with a more than 20 percent plunge in nickel prices this year, although it has remained profitable. Weak metals demand however is making it difficult to sell businesses.

Under its new strategy announced on Thursday Norilsk stuck to its plan to sell off assets in Africa and Australia, despite the failure to close any deals in recent months.

Deputy chief executive Pavel Fedorov said the company would focus on so-called “Tier 1” assets – high quality projects with large scale – with current or potential annual revenue of more than $1 billion, EBITDA margins of more than 40 percent and 20 years of viable reserves.

Mining M&A standoff tests bankers’ patience and skills – by Sonali Paul and Clara Ferreira-Marques (Reuters India – September 12, 2013)

September 13, 2013

http://in.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE/LONDON – (Reuters) – Bankers trying to move a mountain of mining assets for sale are being tested to the limit by unreliable buyers, stubborn sellers and a widening gap between them that has already caused billions of dollars’ worth of deals to be shelved.

Global mining firms are under pressure from investors to slim down after boom-year expansion ended badly for many of them. However, with demand from China’s steel mills holding up the iron ore price, big miners are unwilling to sell assets cheap – unwanted or no – while potential buyers want a bargain.

The result has been a sharp dip in the value of deals announced in the metals and mining sector so far this year – just over $64 billion, roughly half the value of announced deals at the same time last year, according to Thomson Reuters data. The number of deals is down by more than a quarter.

“There is some pressure to put assets into the market, but those that have been coming down the pipe so far have been more difficult for buyers to get comfortable with,” Julian Vickers, co-head of the global natural resources group at Barclays said.

Billionaire Steinmetz Said to Agree to Prosecutor Meeting – by Jesse Riseborough & Andy Hoffman (Bloomberg News – September 12, 2013)

September 13, 2013

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Beny Steinmetz, Israel’s richest person, agreed to be interviewed by Swiss authorities as part of an investigation relating to ownership of a Guinean iron-ore project, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Steinmetz is expected to meet with the office of Geneva’s public prosecutor in the city within the next four weeks, said the person, who was briefed on the matter and asked not to be identified as the investigation is confidential. Henri Della Casa, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, declined to comment on the planned interview.

Steinmetz has a net worth of $7.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and his BSG Resources Ltd. owns a 49 percent stake in a venture that controls half of the giant Simandou iron ore deposit in Guinea. Steinmetz has offered to collaborate with Swiss authorities and is co-operating fully, his lawyer Marc Bonnant said yesterday in an e-mailed statement.

Steinmetz’s Geneva home was raided two weeks ago by Swiss Police following a request by the government of Guinea, a person familiar with the matter said Sept. 11, asking not to be identified as the probe isn’t public. No documents were taken away, that person said.

Rail best option for Ring of Fire, union says – by Staff (North Bay Nugget – September 13,2013)

September 13, 2013

http://www.nugget.ca/

The best, most cost-efficient and environmentally responsible manner to provide transportation into and out of the Ring of Fire development is a railway, according to Ontario Northland’s General Chairperson’s Association.

Brian Kelly issued the statement Thursday in response to this week’s decision by the Ontario Mining and Lands Commissioner to dismiss the application by Cliffs Natural Resources for an easement to allow that company to build an all-weather road over mining claims staked by KWG Resources.

“A private, provincially funded $700 million-plus road is in no one’s best interest, least of all taxpayers,” the GCA spokesperson said.

“This Mining and Land Commissioner decision finally quashes this ill-conceived scheme to sink millions upon millions of taxpayers’ dollars into a private road built through muskeg that would require millions upon millions of more tax dollars to maintain the road on a yearly basis. This single purpose road would do nothing to improve the social and economic development for First Nation’s communities in the region.”

Space mining the new frontier – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – September 13, 2013)

September 13, 2013

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

Known worldwide as a mining town, Sudbury is poised to launch into the vast universe of space mining and intergalactic resource extraction.

Deltion Innovations Ltd., a local firm, started working under its new banner earlier this month. Previously a department within NORC AT (the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology Inc.), Sherry Schmidt, Deltion’s chief administrative officer, says she and seven of her colleagues decided to go independent and for-profit when NORCAT opted out of aerospace work.

“If we’re going to have any long-term existence on the moon, whether for manufacturing or habitat, we need to be able to create items and use the resources that are actually there,” Schmidt says. “It’s very, very expensive to take anything from the Earth to the moon.”

Because fuel is so expensive, Schmidt explains it will eventually be cheaper to develop moon-based sources. Deltion’s current work focuses on the extraction of hydrogen and water from the moon for the manufacture of fuel.

“For us, the end goal is to produce hardware that can be taken to the moon and Mars,” Schmidt says.

Ring of Fire is little known, understood – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – September 13, 2013)

September 13, 2013

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

Much of Ontario’s future prosperity depends upon the success of developing the Ring of Fire, but many people in the province don’t know it. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce is conducting a study to measure the economic benefit of mining the ring’s rich chromite deposits and to raise awareness outside the North about their tremendous potential.

In fact, some observers believe the Ring of Fire could be worth as much as $50 billion to Ontario and be mined for as long as a century.

In Sudbury, Cliffs Natural Resources has plans to open a chromite mine in the Ring of Fire area and ship the ore to a plant in Capreol for processing, creating up to 500 jobs. However, those plans are on hold as the company sorts through a number of political, infrastructure and environmental issues.

To get people talking about the Ring of Fire, the Ontario chamber, in conjunction with the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce, will hold a by-invitation-only round table in the city Oct. 9.

There it will seek business and community leaders “prescriptions” for how to move the project forward, says the senior policy adviser for the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

Ring of Fire logjam broken – by Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (September 12, 2013)

September 13, 2013

Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

A CO-ORDINATED effort by Northwest First Nations to delay the Ring of Fire mining development appears to have fallen apart. And that’s a good thing. Now First Nations in the zone of the Ring’s major player, Cliffs Natural Resources, can each get on with arrangements to share in the opportunities that can flow from such a large project.

Matawa Tribal Council’s initial concerns were understandable. Told the federal government and Cliffs were jointly pursuing an environmental review, the nine Matawa First Nations in the area worried it would not be sufficient to allay their concerns about potential pollution or include them in the process.

Matawa launched a judicial review of the environmental assessment process and in June Cliffs put a hold on its own environmental impact statement (EIS) citing issues with First Nations, the province and other matters. The sheer enormity of the Ring of Fire meant all parties had to be sure it was done properly. None more than First Nations who have watched resource developments around them come and go with little to show for it.

The Matawa challenge and Cliffs’ shift to neutral seemed to signal an uncomfortable lull in the most exciting economic news the Northwest had heard in many years.

At Encana, days of living large are finally over – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – September 13, 2013)

September 13, 2013

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

Encana Corp.’s new CEO is promising bold action to revive what was once Canada’s largest energy producer. Doug Suttles said Thursday the company will be involved in fewer plays, bring in a new corporate structure and realign employee incentives to better match today’s low natural gas prices.

The changes signal a new era of restraint in a company whose past was all about living large, growing production and dominating its business, but that seems to be finally responding to what market is looking for from the country’s largest natural gas producer.

The stock bounced nearly 4% to close at $18.61 in Toronto, on anticipation of major asset sales, after falling 20% in the past year.

“We need to change in a big way, in a bold way,” the former BP PLC executive from Texas said at a New York conference. “Encana will be back to winning. We will get back to the Encana we have known for many years.”

Suttles, who joined Encana in June, promised to announce the strategy’s details in the coming weeks so they can be incorporated in next year’s budget.

Theirs to recover: Why Ontario’s fiscal ‘time bomb’ is still not defused – by Scott Stinson and Armina Ligaya (National Post – September 13, 2013)

September 13, 2013

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

The Chestnut Conference Centre, once a hotel but now part of a non-descript student residence in downtown Toronto, is only a short walk from Queen’s Park but worlds apart from the stately brass and wood fittings of the seat of the provincial government.

As such, it was a suitable neutral ground for the first skirmishes of The Great Ontario Labour War of 2012. It was at the Chestnut that representatives of the McGuinty government met with officials of the province’s teachers’ unions to begin what all sides knew were going to be brutal contract negotiations.

The government’s objective was simple. They were to tell the unions that there was no money — none — for salary or benefit increases. The province’s fiscal picture was bleak. These were the financial parameters that had to be met.

On the afternoon of Feb. 22, the leadership of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, along with more than a dozen regional chairs, took their seats across from a small group representing the government side. A scripted statement outlining the province’s dire position was delivered. There was no new money.