September 23, 2013 – Republic of Mining

Hardship a fact of life in platinum belt – by Jana Marais (Business Day – September 22, 1023)

September 23, 2013

http://www.bdlive.co.za/ [South Africa]

DRIVING around Rustenburg’s central business district, one sees them everywhere — men in old mining overalls and women sheltering from the North West sun behind pieces of cardboard reading “Work wanted”.

Surrounded by some of the richest known mineral deposits in the world, Rustenburg — now better known for last year’s violent strikes and the police shootings of miners at Marikana than its platinum wealth — has seen an influx in residents in recent years.

People have been flocking to the area hoping for jobs on its mines. But for most, getting a job will remain a dream.

Those who are lucky enough to have employment are under increasing pressure as companies resort to cutting jobs, while rising prices of basic foodstuffs and paraffin make it more difficult to support their families.

While mineworkers earn relatively high wages in the South African context, they support on average eight to 10 people, often extended family living in other parts of the country.

Does Anglo American’s departure doom the Pebble prospect? – by Alex DeMarban (Alaska Dispatch – September 21, 2013)

September 23, 2013

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/

Anglo American’s pullout from Pebble is hardly a death knell for the promising but beleaguered mineral prospect in Southwest Alaska. But the move increases the chance of an important shift in the project, one that could lead to a less environmentally risky design than the massive, open-pit option that has sparked widespread opposition.

That’s the opinion, anyway, of Paul Metz, a longtime mineral economics expert from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

With Anglo departing, Rio Tinto is now the only major mining company invested in the project. Rio Tinto, headquartered in London, holds 19.8 percent of Northern Dynasty Minerals, the junior mining company from Canada that has long led efforts to develop the prospect.

Rio Tinto has said it would support an underground mine at Pebble, while rejecting the open-pit approach that many believe will play a large part of Northern Dynasty’s eventual plans.

The Pebble Partnership, once owned half by Anglo American and half by Northern Dynasty, is now working on a transition plan as Anglo backs out, as was publicly announced earlier this week, an official with Pebble said.

Biting the hand that feeds it [South Africa mining amendments] – by Chris Barron (Business Day – September 22, 1023)

September 23, 2013

http://www.bdlive.co.za/ [South Africa]

CHAMBER of Mines boss Bheki Sibiya says nobody should be under any illusions about the impact that proposed mining law amendments will have on the industry and South Africa.

Public hearings on the amendments ended this week, leaving an overwhelming sense of approaching disaster. Mr Sibiya, who in three years as CEO of the chamber has impressed with his measured, thoughtful but frank assessments of the challenges facing the industry, says this could be the biggest so far.

The crux of the amendments being pushed through by the government in the teeth of detailed submissions by the mining industry is that they will empower the minister to intervene in all sorts of issues from pricing to ownership rights.

The immediate consequence is that “quite a number” of marginal mines will close, says Mr Sibiya. Projects that are at the prospecting stage will be suspended, thousands of jobs will be lost and investors will not invest.

“Mining is long term. Once one is not so sure about one’s rights in the long term, one would rather say let’s cut our losses now. This is what investors will do.”

Mining labour shortage coming in next 10 years – by CBC News Sudbury (September 23, 2013)

September 23, 2013

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

Mining Industry Human Resource Council, Canadian Institute of Mining looking at options

Canada is poised for a big labour shortfall in the mining field — and Sudbury is not immune. According to the Mining Industry Human Resource Council, there could be a need for 150 to 200 thousand workers by 2023.

The head of the MIHR said the organization is coming up with strategies to make up for the gap. “Based on our forecasting, Sudbury will need about 20,000 new workers between now and the next 10 years,” Ryan Montpellier said.

“So really, we’ll need about 2,000 new people per year for the mining industry — due to some growth, but primarily due to replacement demand, or people leaving towards retirement.”

A recent industry report estimated that 25 per cent of current workers in Canadian mining will be eligible to retire by 2023. Meanwhile, the Canadian Institute of Mining is working on a new campaign to address the threat of a labour shortage in the global mining industry.

The executive director of the CIM said Canada could be short 100,000 workers in the next decade. “Right now, the industry doesn’t have a good enough handle on the global requirements,” Jean Vavrek said.

Barrick Gold’s brave (and scary) new world – by David Milstead (Globe and Mail – September 21, 2013)

September 23, 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 buzzword at Barrick Gold Corp. is governance, as the miner responds to unhappy shareholders by adding new members to its board and revising its pay practices for key executives.

The changes that may make the biggest difference to its survival, however, are occurring at the Toronto-based company’s mines. During the past few months, Barrick has cut its head count and deferred capital spending. It has also slashed its dividend as the price of gold has slumped.

As the most debt-heavy miner in the industry, Barrick has the most to lose as gold prices decline. It also has the most to gain as gold prices rise, which may explain why the shares are now near $20, up about 40 per cent from their weakest points earlier this year, as gold has bounced off its recent lows.

Investors who choose Barrick as a means of playing a gold rebound, however, could be in for a long, painful slog if the metal’s price languishes.

Coal mining protest in B.C. set to erupt – by Margo Harper (Globe and Mail – September 21, 2013)

September 23, 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.

An increasingly tense standoff between a B.C. First Nation and a London, Ont.-based coal company in a remote mountain valley known as Sacred Headwaters is set to erupt as protesters flaunt their month-long presence on a drilling site and taunt the RCMP to arrest them.

For the Tahltan First Nation, which has worked both with and against industry, the stakes are high: It is determined to halt the development of an open-pit coal mine in a spot it views as the land of origin, the birthplace of all waters.

“We dare Fortune to get us arrested. We have cameras here. We will make sure the world knows what’s going on,” said Rhoda Quock, spokeswoman for the protest group Kablona Keepers, in a statement.

Fortune Minerals Ltd., which has invested $100-million to develop what it says may be the world’s biggest undeveloped deposit of high-quality, clean-burning coal, has no intention of giving up on the Arctos Anthracite project.

Staking Claim: Ontario’s Ring Of Fire Brings Opportunity And Fears To First Nations – by Sunny Freeman (Huffington Post – September 23, 2013)

September 23, 2013

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/

Staking Claim is a multi-part series exploring the proposed Ring of Fire mining development in Ontario and how the First Nations communities are preparing for economic activity and the environmental and societal consequences of Canada’s next resource rush.

BETWEEN LONG LAKE No. 58 AND LONGLAC, Ont. — Along this desolate stretch of Northern Ontario highway, an idyllic white chapel is perched on the point of a peninsula next to to a “No Swimming” sign wedged into the poisoned shoreline that juts into glistening Long Lake.

On the opposite side of the Trans-Canada Highway, a downtrodden young man, a filled plastic garbage bag slung over each shoulder, saunters past a long-idle train toward the swampy lowland of the Long Lake No. 58 First Nations reserve.

There are no job opportunities where he is headed and no businesses, save for a single band-owned gas bar. Dilapidated box houses, many boarded and abandoned, line the three roads that form the reserve.

Two kilometres east is Longlac, the self-proclaimed “Gateway to Northwestern Ontario” and last stop for eastbound travellers — 14 hours from Toronto — in search of a coffee shop or motel ahead of a 200-kilometre stretch of uninhabited land.

Province must settle this [Ring of Fire] dispute – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (September 22, 2013)

September 23, 2013

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

A BUSINESS dispute over access to the Ring of Fire mineral belt has escalated to the point where the major player now claims the future of the entire development is threatened. Boardroom machinations are common in business but this goes far beyond a private enterprise spat. Determining how best to bring heavy chromite ore out of a vast tract of muskeg goes to the heart of a mining prospect so rich it stands to transform the moribund Northern Ontario economy and help the province itself recover economically.

So this impasse cannot be allowed to stand. It has to be solved and the province, as governor of mining activity, is the only party that can do it if lengthy court action is to be avoided. So far, however, Ontario has kept its hands off the dispute. That, too, cannot last.

Cliffs Natural Resources and KWG Resources cannot get past a tiff over land control. KWG’s search for diamonds led to the discovery of a mother lode of chromite, essential to stainless steel-making. It and Cliffs, a much bigger company, wound up partners but Cliffs eventually acquired a KWG partner and became the dominant Ring player intent on developing its Black Thor project including a road to bring ore out.

The road, using a desirable ridge of high ground seen as the key transportation corridor out of the Ring, would pass over some KWG claims. KWG remains fixed on its Big Daddy deposit and proposes instead a railroad.

First Nations seek economic partnership with NEOMA – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – September 23, 2013)

September 23, 2013

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – First Nations and municipalities in the North face many of the same challenges in terms of economic development.

Now, it appears two key groups are ready to come together to foster growth. Mushkegowuk Council, which represents eight First Nation communities, has approached the Northeastern Ontario Municipal Association (NEOMA) to develop a growth strategy.

Deputy Grand Chief Les Louttit of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) spoke to NEOMA members on Friday. Mushkegowuk Council is part of NAN, which represents 49 First Nations across Northern Ontario.

“We would like to propose an official entity of some kind to partner with NEOMA and Mushkegowuk Council,” Louttit said. “We would have an organization together, with people from your and our organizations, to foster business development, to take advantage of future business opportunities and economic development from the mining, forestry and tourism sectors.”

At the request of Mushkegowuk Council, NAN helped develop a proposal. This plan is currently being reviewed by Mushkegowuk Council and its member First Nations.

Innovators work to diversify the U.P. economy – by Kathleen Lavey (Detroit Free Press – September 22, 2013)

September 23, 2013

http://www.freep.com/

Gannett Michigan – Seven hundred feet below the surface of the earth, John Mason drives a truck through the heart of Eagle Mine, the tires crunching on irregular pieces of rock at the bottom of the tunnel.

He points to a section of the rock that’s a slightly different color than the rest. It gleams a little in the artificial light from the lamp on his hard hat.

“There,” Mason says, “is the ore body. Right there.” Four percent copper. Five percent nickel. An estimated 550 million pounds of usable metal in a mine near Marquette.

That’s no match for the purity of the copper hewn from the U.P.’s ancient rock formations during its 19th- and 20th- Century mining boom. But these days, getting it out is worth an investment of more than $1 billion and an effort that will keep a crew of up to 220 miners busy for at least eight years.

The new mine, scheduled to begin extracting ore late next year, is the next chapter in the Upper Peninsula’s long history of making a living from natural resources.

Copper mine belt to ring Grampians – by Nick Toscano (The Age – September 22, 2013)

September 23, 2013

http://www.theage.com.au/ (Austrialia)

Mining companies have been permitted to drill at the doorstep of the Grampians National Park, and the area could become ”a new copper belt” in Australia, according to one mining executive.

Since December, the Department of State Development, Business and Innovation has pushed through three exploration licences that allow companies to drill on either side of the Grampians, after geological surveys showed the area was ”highly prospective” for copper.

An application was lodged on May 7 by the Queensland miner Diatreme Resources for a government licence to begin exploratory drilling near the Grampians’ southern border. Last month it was approved after what the company said was the ”quickest turnaround” it had ever experienced.

”The speed at which they’ve granted this tenement, which took about four months, is the fastest we’ve ever had,” chief executive Tony Fawdon said. ”They can often take several years.” Mr Fawdon said the recent departmental surveys had identified substantial copper deposits, which are believed to stretch from the Grampians to the state’s north-west.

Tentative deal in dispute over N.Y. [Copper] heiress’ will – by Jennifer Peltz (Associated Press -September 21, 2013)

September 23, 2013

http://www.boston.com/?mastheadLogo

NEW YORK (AP) — A tentative deal has been reached in a New York court fight over the will of a reclusive Montana copper mining heiress that would give more than $30 million of her $300 million estate to her distant relatives, a person familiar with the case said Saturday.

The breakthrough in the fight over Huguette Clark’s estate comes after jury selection started in a trial pitting nearly two dozen of her half-siblings’ descendants against a goddaughter, a hospital where she spent the last 20 years of her life, a nurse, doctors, a lawyer and others.

An April 2005 will cut out her distant relatives. Another will, six weeks earlier, left them most of her money. The tentative settlement will give the relatives about $34.5 million after taxes under the deal, while her nurse would have to turn over $5 million and a doll collection valued at about $1.6 million, the person told The Associated Press. Her lawyer would get nothing.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the settlement because it hasn’t yet been made public. News of the tentative settlement was first reported by The New York Times and WNBC.

Family has mixed feelings about Vale plea deal – by Heidi Ulrichsen (Sudbury Northern Life – September 21, 2013)

September 23, 2013

http://www.northernlife.ca/

The sister of one of two Vale miners killed on the job in 2011 said in some ways, she’s glad lawyers representing the company and the Crown were able to come to a plea deal agreement for charges laid in the wake of the tragedy.

At least it saved her family the pain and stress of going through the full trial, Briana Fram said. Vale pleaded guilty to three charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and was fined $1,050,000 on Sept. 17 in the deaths of Briana’s brother, Jordan Fram, as well as his co-worker, Jason Chenier.

The company originally faced nine charges, while supervisor Keith Birnie faced six. The remaining charges against Vale were dropped as part of the plea deal. The charges against Birnie were dropped after the Crown received information as part of trial submissions, and felt there was no reasonable chance of conviction.

While in some ways she’s glad not to have to go through a full trial, which was due to start in late October, Briana said she would have liked to see Vale held to account on all the charges. “We are happy they pled guilty, but it’s hard, because those charges were just so easily dropped,” she said. “That’s the way the judicial system is.”

A Bitter ‘Fertilizer War’ Gripping Belarus and Russia Is Helping U.S. Farmers – by Andrew E. Kramer (New York Times – September 16, 2013)

September 23, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/

MOSCOW — American farmers are getting an unexpected windfall from a contentious fight between Russia and Belarus, a former Soviet splinter state.

The subject of the fight is potash, a fertilizer. The score so far: One imprisoned Russian business executive, the disintegration of a once-effective cartel that kept world potash prices high and political tension between the two countries.

What is being called the “fertilizer war” is the latest of numerous trade and economic spats between Russia and Belarus, whose leaders, though presiding over similar autocratic political systems, do not get along personally, Russian political analysts say. Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, president of Belarus, and Vladimir V. Putin, president of Russia, by most accounts detest each another. Their feelings have spilled over into the fertilizer business.

The potash problem reached a peak on July 30, when Uralkali, the Russian potash company, announced it was withdrawing from an international cartel called the Belarusian Potash Company, or B.P.C., which was created to keep prices high.

Conflict Minerals: The Price of Precious – by Jeffrey Gettleman (National Geographic – October 2013)

September 23, 2013

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/

The minerals in our electronic devices have bankrolled unspeakable violence in the Congo.

The first child soldier pops out of the bush clutching an AK-47 assault rifle in one hand and a handful of fresh marijuana buds in the other. The kid, probably 14 or 15, has this big, goofy, mischievous grin on his face, like he’s just stolen something—which he probably has—and he’s wearing a ladies’ wig with fake braids dangling down to his shoulders.

Within seconds his posse materializes from the thick, green leaves all around us, about ten other heavily armed youngsters dressed in ratty camouflage and filthy T-shirts, dropping down from the sides of the jungle and blocking the red dirt road in front of us. Our little Toyota truck is suddenly swarmed and immobilized by a four-and-a-half-foot-tall army.

This is on the road to Bavi, a rebel-controlled gold mine on the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s wild eastern edge. Congo is sub-Saharan Africa’s largest country and one of its richest on paper, with an embarrassment of diamonds, gold, cobalt, copper, tin, tantalum, you name it—trillions’ worth of natural resources. But because of never ending war, it is one of the poorest and most traumatized nations in the world.