July 15, 2014 – Republic of Mining

Ring of Fire is test case on gov’t rail policy – by Greg Gormick (Northern Ontario Business – July 15, 2014)

July 15, 2014

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.

Greg Gormick is a Toronto transportation writer and policy adviser. His clients have included CN, CP, VIA and numerous elected officials and government transportation agencies.

Trains or trucks? That is the burning question in the debate over the Ring of Fire’s transportation options.

In a bygone era, the overwhelming choice would have been rail. As generations of Canadian schoolchildren once learned, it was the railways that opened up Northern Ontario and most of the country, economically and socially. Even in the subsequent era when rail lost its monopoly, trains remained the winners when it came to serving large, long-term resource developments. The construction of the CP and CN branch lines to Manitouwadge’s copper mines in the 1950s is a prime example.

But trains haven’t fared well in these competitions in Canada in recent years, even as they are growing in importance in other developed and developing nations.

Consequently, many rail proponents regard the Ring of Fire’s modal choice as a litmus test for the direction of federal and provincial transportation policies. Will rail solutions once again be part of the Canadian planning and decision-making processes?

India’s coal shortage a boon for Australian miners – by Vicky Validakis (Australian Mining – July 15, 2014)

July 15, 2014

http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/home

In what could be good news for Australia’s coal industry, India’s power plants are running out of stock, forcing the country to increase its import levels.

India already imports 20 per cent of its coal requirements and shipped in 152 million tonnes of coal last year.

However rising electricity demands are putting an increasing strain on local production, with state-run Coal India Limited (CIL) asked to up its output by importing more of the commodity to mix with domestic supply.

A source told The Economic Times that India’s power plants were not running at optimum levels, with more coal required to help in a ramp-up.

There are currently 65,000 MW of power generation projects out of action. Although pooling will raise the cost of coal, it is seen as a way to help underperforming plants generate more electricity.

The demand for coal in India is expected to come in at 551.60 million mt in 2015, however supplies are predicted to amount to just 466.89 million mt, leaving an 84.71 million mt shortfall.

‘The Ring of Fire is a national project’ says Kathleen Wynne (Business Network News – July 15, 2014)

July 15, 2014

http://www.bnn.ca/ The federal government needs to see the Ring of Fire as a national project that will benefit Canadians, says Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne in an exclusive interview with BNN’s Greg Bonnell. The so-called Ring of Fire is the region located in Northern Ontario believed to be rich with minerals. The provincial government is …

UPDATE 1-Iron ore at 7-week high, closes in on $100 as steel strengthens – by Manolo Serapio Jr (Reuters India – July 15, 2014)

July 15, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

SINGAPORE, July 15 (Reuters) – Iron ore climbed to its highest level in almost seven weeks, moving closer to $100 a tonne, as firmer steel prices in top market China spurred buying interest in the raw material.

China’s bid to push infrastructure spending to boost its economy lifted steel futures in Shanghai on Tuesday to their highest since late May. That has helped increase purchases of spot iron ore cargoes, raising chances that prices will bounce back to $100 per tonne after falling nearly 30 percent this year.

Iron ore has risen 10 percent since dropping to a 21-month low of $89 in mid-June, so far the trough this year for prices that dropped below the $100 support level in May.

Benchmark 62-percent grade iron ore for immediate delivery to China .IO62-CNI=SI rose 1 percent to $97.90 a tonne on Monday, the highest since May 27, based on data compiled by Steel Index.

“There’s a chance that the momentum can be sustained because steel prices are moving up. Definitely the government is going to help infrastructure spending and that should lend more support to steel prices, and also iron ore,” said a trader in Shanghai.

Arctic mine gives Dominion Diamond more stones – by Liezel Hill (Montreal Gazette/Bloomberg News – July 15, 2014)

July 15, 2014

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

Dominion Diamond Corp. is proving it can operate a diamond mine in the harsh Arctic conditions of Canada’s remote Northwest Territories after selling the luxury Harry Winston jewelry brand last year.

The Ekati mine, acquired last year from BHP Billiton Ltd., is Toronto-based Dominion’s first attempt at running an excavation. With a promise of higher returns for unpolished stones, Ekati, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) below the Arctic Circle, offers the challenge of improving results in tough conditions.

“Inevitably when you buy something that you’ve only really been able to see on paper you hold your breath a little bit,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert Gannicott said in a phone interview last week. “It’s worked pretty well for us.”

Dominion is increasing recovery at Ekati by capturing more smaller diamonds from crushed ore, Gannicott said. The company plans to make those adjustments permanent and Gannicott believes more improvements can be achieved.

Last week, Dominion said it agreed to buy out one of Ekati’s minority partners, Chuck Fipke, for about $67 million. Fipke and Stewart Blusson, who still has an interest in Ekati, discovered the deposit in 1991.

Initial results have been encouraging, according to Edward Sterck, an analyst at Bank of Montreal.

Pickle Lake’s future dependent on Ring of Fire routing – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – July 15, 2014)

July 15, 2014

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. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca.

Mine development in the Ring of Fire could make or break Pickle Lake. When Queen’s Park finally decides on how best to spend its $1 billion of infrastructure money to open up the Far North, Mayor Roy Hoffman hopes his community of 400 will still be in the picture to reap some of the spinoff benefits.

It’s for pure self-preservation purposes that Hoffman favours more than one route to reach the mineral riches of the James Bay lowlands rather than just one single, newly created transportation corridor.

“If they create a whole new route to the Ring of Fire and to access the Far North, that cuts us out.” Located 530 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Pickle Lake’s entire economy depends on the movement of goods to as many as 20 remote First Nation communities, including the four closest to the Ring.

Hoffman supports the east-west road proposal by Noront Resources, one of the area’s prominent junior mining companies, which follows the winter road supply route now in existence.

Nickel Miners Emerge From Slump – by Rhiannon Hoyle (Wall Street Journal – July 15, 2014)

July 15, 2014

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

Nickel Prices Up 40% This Year

SYDNEY—Nickel miners are ramping up spending on exploration for deposits of a metal used to make stainless steel and readying new investments, as the industry emerges from a prolonged slump in prices.

The change in sentiment is being driven by Indonesia’s ban on exports of unprocessed ore, which has helped push up nickel prices by 40% this year. Russia’s ongoing tensions with Ukraine have also played a part in the turnaround in nickel’s fortunes, as metals traders bet on the potential for trade sanctions that could disrupt global supply.

For years, nickel was one of the worst-performing commodities as supply outpaced demand from industries such as auto manufacturing and construction.

A report by U.K. consultancy Wood Mackenzie last year estimated that two-fifths of the world’s nickel was being produced at a loss. To protect profits, producers of the metal including Australia’s Western Areas Ltd. WSA.AU +1.81% and Russia’s Norilsk Nickel GMKN.MZ +0.44% cut spending, laid off workers and even closed pits.

“Last year wasn’t a very good time for us,” says Dan Lougher, Western Areas’s managing director. “But suddenly the planets all aligned and we’ve got this rise in the nickel price, and it’s gathering momentum.”

‘The doorway has been kicked open’: Why oil patch juniors are growing again – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – July 14, 2014)

July 15, 2014

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

After years of tough slugging, Canada’s junior oils are back in the spotlight, riding the low Canadian dollar, higher oil and gas prices and an influx of new capital — a lot of it American.

IPOs, brisk merger and acquisition activity, soaring share prices are signs the entrepreneurial ranks of Canada’s oil patch are growing again, said Gary Leach, president of the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada.

“You have to have the right profile, the right management team and the right story, but definitely the doorway has been kicked open in the equity markets,” Mr. Leach said. “There is an appetite for Canadian juniors and intermediate companies, and that is great to see because this industry has been waiting for quite some time.”

If the trend holds, it could mean a new round of industry renewal led by juniors focused on producing oil and gas using horizontal multi-stage fracturing of tight rock.

“There is quite a better mood since the start of the year, than at any time in the past three,” said Kevin Adair, president and CEO of Petrus Resources Ltd., a private oil and gas junior company that produces about 5,000 barrels a day. “It seems capital is willing to take a chance on new teams and I think there will be a resurgence of teams starting up again, and new names — not just the same guys cycling for another round.”

New company buys into proposed copper mine in northeast Minnesota – by John Myers (Twincities.com – July 14, 2014)

July 15, 2014

http://www.twincities.com/

TAMARACK, Minn. — A proposed copper mine in northeast Minnesota appears to have fresh legs with a new company buying into the project.

Talon Metals Corp. is buying at least 30 percent of the Tamarack project from Kennecott Mining to develop the copper-nickel-platinum mine near the small town of Tamarack along the Aitkin-Carlton county line.

Talon said it also has a “potential pathway” to take over 100 percent of the project if Kennecott chooses not to develop the mine. Talon will pay $7.5 million for the initial 30 percent stake in the Tamarack project and has agreed to spend another $30 million for additional exploration during the next three years.

Utah-based Kennecott has spent the past 14 years obtaining mineral rights and drilling test borings across the boggy terrain located about 45 miles west of Duluth, but the project had been on the back burner for several years with little or no activity.

It’s not clear what Talon’s entry will mean for the project, which is still in the exploratory stage, but additional test drilling is set to start later this month.

Officials with British Virgin Island-based Talon recently said some 124,700 feet, or 23.7 miles, of drill core samples from the area have been analyzed with geologists estimating more than 10 million tons of mineable ore below.

Ivanhoe Mines reports ‘exceptional’ grades from first Kipushi assays – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – July 14, 2014)

July 15, 2014

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Africa-focused project developer Ivanhoe Mines on Monday reported that the first batch of assay results from the company’s underground diamond-drilling programme at the Kipushi copper/zinc/germanium/lead and precious-metals mine, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, had confirmed initial visual estimates of high-grade zinc and copper mineralisation in both the Big Zinc and copper-rich Serie Recurrente zones.

Among the first significant results were three holes drilled to validate historical models of the down-plunge continuity of Big Zinc mineralisation, which returned zinc grades of 40.9% over 348.5 m, 44.8% over 339.4 m and 33.3% over 305.8 m.

The Canadian firm said the down-plunge geometry of the holes did not allow it to estimate the true widths of the deposits.

The exploration programme found that internal zones of exceptionally rich mineralisation in the first two holes, KPU001 and KPU002, returned zinc grades of 60.4% over 35.1 m, 56.3% over 18 m and 56.6% over 71 m. These internal zones also returned germanium grades of 87.2 g/t, 120.4 g/t and 111.9 g/t respectively.

An internal copper/silver/germanium-rich zone in the third hole, KPU003, graded 6.1% copper, 44.5% zinc, 144 g/t silver and 66.9 g/t germanium over 31 m from 197 m. Historical resource estimates at Kipushi excluded silver and germanium.

KPU003 also discovered a zone grading 58.6% zinc and 293.8 g/t germanium over 22.3 m, about 180 m below the historical measured and indicated resources.

B.C. claims privilege on Kitimat report – Wendy Stueck (Globe and Mail – July 13, 2014)

July 15, 2014

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.

VANCOUVER — In an ongoing tussle over the Kitimat Airshed Study, lawyers representing two women in an Environmental Appeal Board case have asked that agency to force the province to turn over the study or explain its claim of cabinet privilege.

The study, which the province commissioned last year to weigh the impact of industrial emissions on the Kitimat Airshed, has yet to be publicly released, even though some groups interested in its conclusions – including the District of Kitimat – had expected to see it before the end of June.

Now, the report is the subject of a tug-of-war between the province and appellants in the EAB case, which concerns sulphur dioxide emissions from the Rio Tinto Alcan smelter in Kitimat. The province says it received a draft of the Kitimat Airshed Report in March and that it is “now part of discussions around cleanest LNG requirements” and will be released later this year. For now, however, the government says the report is being discussed by cabinet and subject to Crown privilege.

Emily Toews and Elisabeth Stannus – the appellants in the EAB case – would like to see the report now, maintaining it would provide the most up-to-date information about industrial emissions in Kitimat.