July 18, 2014 – Republic of Mining

B.C. mines get financial boost, one to open soon – by Ed Schoenfeld (CoastAlaska News – July 17, 2014)

July 18, 2014

http://www.krbd.org/

Canadian investors are putting millions of new dollars into mining projects near the Southeast Alaska border. They include the KSM and Tulsequah Chief prospects, which critics say could damage regional fisheries.

KSM is a multi-metal deposit about 150 miles northeast of Ketchikan. It’s near rivers or their tributaries that drain into the ocean northeast of Ketchikan and just south of the Alaska-B.C. border.

A group of Canadian financial firms are in the process of purchasing a million shares of Seabridge Gold, KSM’s parent company. They have an option to buy more, with the total new investment between $13 million and $15 million.

That’s not a lot for a large mine. So Seabridge, headquartered in Toronto, is negotiating to find much larger investors.

“We continue to seek partners and we have confidentiality agreements with several,” says Brent Murphy, vice president of environmental affairs for Seabridge Gold. Exploration continues at the KSM project, sometimes compared Western Alaska’s Pebble Prospect.

In an interview at a Vancouver, British Columbia, office, Murphy said the company has drilling rigs on site right now.Officials say the more-than-$5-billion project could be built and ready for operations by the end of the decade.

Coal Fuels Brewpubs in Wyoming as Kentucky Mines Misery – by Mark Drajem (Bloomberg News – July 18, 2014)

July 18, 2014

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Trying to find the boom in U.S. coal? Stop in the Gillette Brewing Company in Wyoming, which 38-year-old Tom Gorton opened using some of the $70,000 a year he earns mining coal.

“Things were iffy there for a little bit, but it’s picking up now,” Gorton said at his brewery in the center of town, where customers wash down brie baked in a wood-fired oven with gluten-free blue agave ale. “When people have a little extra money, that changes things.”

In the coal region of eastern Kentucky, about 1,300 miles away, extra money is hard to come by. Brandon Farley lost his job there when the James River Coal Co. (JRCCQ) mine closed. Months of looking turned up only one job lead: a minimum wage opportunity at the local Pizza Hut.

“They want coal to be done with,” Farley said. “I believe it’s coming to an end.”

The experience of these two mining communities reflect the conflicting views of coal itself. Environmentalists see signs of its demise in shrinking production and growing concerns over global warming. Boosters point to a surge in demand by developing countries hungry for cheap and plentiful energy. Germany and Japan, too, are burning more coal as they reconsider the risks of atomic power.

Osisko CEO touts new mining royalty firm with ‘a little extra punch’ – by Peter Koven (National Post – July 18, 2014)

July 18, 2014

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

The mining royalty space already has some serious players for investors to choose from, but Sean Roosen is convinced his new offering stands out from the pack.

“We’ve got a couple of areas where we think we bring a little extra punch to the table,” the chief executive of Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. said in an interview.

The stock started trading last month and was well-received from the start, opening above the implied valuation at launch and remaining there ever since. The company does not even have a website yet (apart from a splash page), but has generated plenty of investor interest.

That is not surprising. The royalty firm was spun out of this year’s $3.7-billlion takeover of Osisko Mining Corp., which was one of the mining sector’s most successful companies of the past decade. The team at Osisko Mining, led by Mr. Roosen, found and built the massive Canadian Malartic mine in Quebec, a world-class gold mine.

Nearly all the key players behind Osisko Mining are working together again at the royalty firm, including Mr. Roosen, John Burzynski (senior vice-president) and Brian Coates (president). They have a dedicated investor following who made money with Osisko Mining and are keen to do it again.

Arianne Phosphate lifts Quebec resource base – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – July 18, 2014)

July 18, 2014

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

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – TSX-V-listed Arianne Phosphate, which is developing the Lac à Paul project, in Quebec, this week reported that its 2014 drilling programme had enabled it to significantly lift its flagship project’s compliant inferred resources.

The Saguenay, Quebec-based firm on Wednesday said it had added 146-million tonnes grading 5.30% phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5), when using a 3.5% P2O5 cutoff grade, from the South TraMan Zone in the inferred category to its mineral resources.

The company also revealed that it had identified a new inferred resource from the Traverse zone totalling 17-million tonnes at 5.98% P2O5, at a 3.5% P2O5 cut-off grade.

Arianne noted that the added 163-million tonnes grading 5.37% P2O5 of inferred resources at the South TraMan and the Traverse Zones, along with the 78-million tonnes grading 5.34% P2O5 of inferred resource at Nicole Zone and a potential mineral target of between 260-million and 390-million tonnes, with grades ranging from 5.34% to 7.13% P2O5, near the Paul Zone, could be of significant benefit to its operations and deserved further investigative work.

The company released a feasibility study for Lac à Paul in October 2013, outlining an openpit operation with a mine life of 25.75 years and a yearly output of three-million tonnes, grading 38.6% P2O5 at an average mill recovery of 90%.

$3-million Mineral Exploration Assistance Program (MEAP) will support 22 new projects – by John Barker (Thompson Citizen – July 18, 2014)

July 18, 2014

The Thompson Citizen, which was established in June 1960, covers the City of Thompson and Nickel Belt Region of Northern Manitoba. The city has a population of about 13,500 residents while the regional population is more than 40,000. editor@thompsoncitizen.net

Manitoba Mineral Resources Minister Dave Chomiak said June 23 the Mineral Exploration Assistance Program (MEAP), which delivers financial assistance to companies carrying out mineral exploration in Manitoba, would invest $3 million in 2014-15 to support 22 new projects, doubling 2013-14 funding levels. MEAP provides assistance in the form of a partial refund of approved exploration expenditures.

“Doubling our investment will have a positive effect on mineral exploration and development in Manitoba,” said Chomiak. “We are attracting new companies exploring here for the first time, creating good jobs for Manitobans, especially in northern communities.”

The companies are exploring for a variety of commodities including a number of projects for gold, copper, zinc and nickel. There is also one project each for graphite and uranium. Base metals and gold represent 92 per cent of the proposed MEAP projects. Twelve of the projects (54.5 per cent) are exploring for gold; five projects (22.7 per cent) are looking for copper and zinc; and three projects (13.6 per cent) are exploring for nickel.

There are 22 companies involved in 23 projects – 22 of them which are new projects – and three of the companies have been attracted in part by MEAP’s financial assistance to explore in Manitoba for the first time, Chomiak said.

Glencore’s Female Director Marks Mining Industry Progress – by Jesse Riseborough (Bloomberg News – July 17, 2014)

July 18, 2014

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Mining companies, long laggards in appointing women to their boards, are starting to catch up under pressure from corporate governance groups and activist shareholders.

The latest is Glencore Plc, the Swiss commodity trader, which on June 26 appointed mining executive Patrice Merrin. Prior to her arrival, Glencore was the last company left on the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index with an all-male board. At the start of last year, five of the seven corporations on the U.K.’s FTSE-100 Index without women board members were mining companies. Now all five have at least one woman director.

“If a board has open spots and open-minded men, finding outstanding women is the easy part,” said Beth Stewart, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. investment banker and founder of executive search company Trewstar Corporate Board Services, which focuses on placing women directors.

Merrin’s appointment to the board of Glencore and her public endorsement of a goal of appointing women to a third of all board seats is a milestone for the $80 billion company run by billionaire Ivan Glasenberg and may open opportunities for more women directors.

Glasenberg’s company had been a lightening rod for criticism from activists, shareholders and U.K. business secretary Vince Cable for its all-male board.

REFILE-Indonesia ends 6-month stoppage of metal concentrate exports – by Wilda Asmarini and Fergus Jensen (Reuters India – July 18, 2014)

July 18, 2014

http://in.reuters.com/

(Corrects company name in 5th paragraph to “Lumbung Mineral Sentosa” from “Lumbung Mineral Stocks”)

(Reuters) – Indonesia has resumed exports of metal ore concentrates, a mining ministy official said, ending a six-month stoppage resulting from a new policy to improve returns on resources shipped out of southeast Asia’s largest economy.

Indonesia in January banned unprocessed ore exports and levied an escalating tax on metal concentrate exports as part of the policy to force miners to build smelters and process minerals domestically.

Disputes and confusion over the rules halted about $500 million worth of monthly mineral ore and concentrate exports. Prior to the ban, Indonesia was the world’s top exporter of nickel or and a major supplier of iron ore and bauxite.

However, last week shipments of iron ore, lead and zinc concentrate left the country, after two firms agreed to pay a 20 percent export tax, coal and minerals director general Sukhyar told reporters late on Friday.

“There are two firms that have started to export; Sebuku Iron Lateritic Ores (SILO), and Lumbung Mineral Sentosa,” Sukhyar said, adding that SILO had sent two shipments or around 100,000 tonnes of iron ore concentrate and Lumbung had shipped around 8,000 tonnes of lead and zinc concentrate already.

From Mining Magnates To Beef Barons, The New Focus For Two Australian Billionaires – by Tim Treadgold (Forbes Magazine – July 17, 2014)

July 18, 2014

http://www.forbes.com/

One billionaire adding beef cattle to their mining interests is a curiosity. Two is a stampede.

In Australia, that’s just what has happened with the country’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, spending an estimate $40 million to buy a half share in two cattle-breeding properties covering 1.1 million acres of the Kimberley region in the country’s north.

Rinehart is following in the footsteps of Andrew Forrest, one of her rivals in the iron ore business, who invested an estimated $30 million in May to buy Harvey Beef which has extensive farming and processing interests in the south of Western Australia.

Both billionaires (Rinehart is worth an estimated $18.2 billion and Forrest $4.4 billion) have most of their fortunes tied up in the production of iron ore, the price of which has been falling thanks to its heavy dependence on demand for steel in China where a construction boom is slowing.

Fading Iron Ore Demand, Rising Food Demand

Neither Rinehart nor Forrest has described their move into farming ventures as a way of trimming their future exposure to iron ore, but that’s a reasonable interpretation thanks to the flattening outlook for iron ore demand.

We trust farmers, new survey says: Mining not as understood – by Dylan Robertson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – July 17, 2014)

July 18, 2014

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

Canadians love farmers, have split opinions on forestry and don’t understand mining, according to a survey of perceptions of resource industries.

“Western Canadian residents recognize the importance of resources to our economy; they broadly support continued growth of resource industries,” said Len Coad, who directs the Canada West Foundation’s Centre for Natural Resources Policy. “But they have some expectations where they feel a need for improvement.”

For a report published Friday, the foundation had Ipsos Reid survey 600 residents each from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario for their perceptions of four natural-resource sectors. “There’s been a growing awareness across the West in the past several years of the challenges of developing resources, of moving them to market and of meeting the expectations of the public,” said Coad, whose group will now dig down on policy suggestions.

The survey looked at perception, trust and willingness to advocate for the four sectors: energy, forestry, mining and agriculture. Responses were weighted by provincial population, while Ontario results were kept separate to compare attitudes with a region far less dependant on natural resources.

“Ontario was just for comparative purposes, and the range of answers was smaller than we had expected,” Coad said. “Ontario responses were mostly in-line with other provinces.”

Rio Tinto Iron-Ore Output, Shipments Surged in First Half – by Rhiannon Hoyle (Wall Street Journal – July 16, 2014)

July 18, 2014

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

Production Rose 10%, While Shipments Increased 20%

SYDNEY— Rio Tinto RIO.LN -0.83% produced record volumes of iron ore in the first half of 2014, after expanding several vast mines in the Australian Outback even as prices of the steelmaking ingredient tumbled.

The results demonstrate how Rio Tinto is deepening its reliance on a commodity used in things as diverse as cars and apartment blocks for profit, despite concerns among some investors that global mining companies are adding new supply too quickly. Several fund managers recently cut their holdings of mining shares, including Rio Tinto’s stock, amid worries about a looming supply glut of iron ore that could take years to clear.

Meanwhile, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. said Wednesday that it expects to ship as much as 29% more iron ore to buyers in countries such as China over the coming year after completing an expansion of its Australian operations.

Fortescue, the world’s No. 4 iron-ore mining company, has grown over the past decade from a tiny explorer, competing against resource titans such as Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. BHP.AU -0.42% It recently reached a long-targeted annual output rate of 155 million tons after building new mines in the resource-rich Pilbara region of Western Australia state.

Rio Tinto said Wednesday that it produced 139.5 million metric tons of iron ore in the first half, up 10% from a year earlier. Its shipments rose 20% to 142.4 million tons.

NEWS RELEASE: Strong Investor Interest and Industrial Usage Lead to Sturdy Silver Demand in 2014

July 18, 2014

(Washington, D.C. – July 17, 2014) – Investor and industrial consumption of silver has advanced at a healthy pace in 2014, reflected in the silver price increasing 5 percent as of July 15 from the beginning of the year.

Building on an impressive 2013, investors continued to boost silver holdings in the first half of 2014. Silver exchange traded funds (ETF) backed by physical silver added 7.0 million ounces (Moz) of silver bullion through June; in contrast, gold ETF holdings dipped by 1.4 Moz ounces over the same time period. Globally, silver bullion coin sales are up 4.5 percent through the 1st quarter of 2014, according to precious metals consultancy Thomson Reuters GFMS. U.S.

Mint sales of American Eagle Silver Bullion coins maintained near record level sales, totaling 24.1 Moz for the first six months of 2014, just shy of the 25.0 Moz sold in the first half of 2013, threatening to overtake the record sales of 42.7 million American Eagle coins acquired by investors last year. Other silver investment products, such as silver bar consumption, appear to be easing so far this year after a strong showing in 2013.

Industrial demand for silver in critical sectors, such as ethylene oxide production, has increased significantly in the first half of the year and is expected to increase 23 percent this year to 8.0 Moz, according to Thomson Reuters GFMS. Ethylene oxide is a vital building block chemical, critical to production of detergents, solvents, plastics and a broad range of organic chemicals, and is an example of the unmatched importance of silver in industry.

Demand for silver in the photovoltaic industry has been driven by a global increase in renewable energy over the past decade, leading to a proliferation of solar module production.

Family discovers abandoned mine shaft in Sudbury backyard – by Darren MacDonald (Northern Ontario Business – July 17, 2014)

July 18, 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.

A Sudbury family got the shock of their lives last month when they discovered what they thought was a sinkhole in their backyard was actually an abandoned mine shaft.

The family has asked their names not be used to ensure no one looks for their home, located in the Sudbury suburb of Hanmer, violating their privacy and potentially putting themselves in danger.

However, the problem has since been addressed under a Ministry of Northern Development and Mines policy dealing with abandoned mines. The province paid the roughly $70,000 it cost to fix the problem. Much of that solution involved pouring concrete — 5 1/2 loads, to be exact – into the hole until the area was safe.

Lesley Cooper, manager of mine rehabilitation and compliance section with the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, said the homeowner contacted the ministry on June 11, and staff were sent out the same day. City crews first secured the area with a fence, which was then reinforced by the ministry.

While the property isn’t in its abandoned mines database, Cooper said it’s likely some sort of exploration work had been done there.

“We don’t have any record of it being a mine, but that’s what we believe it to have been,” she said. “It certainly didn’t appear to be a natural occurrence.”

Australia’s carbon reversal sets new tone for global climate talks – by Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – July 18, 2014)

July 18, 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.

OTTAWA — Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s move to repeal his country’s carbon tax provides an international boost for the Harper government, which has regularly attacked opponents who propose putting a price on emissions in Canada.

Australia’s reversal on carbon pricing comes at a critical time, just two months prior to a United Nations climate summit to be hosted by secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, who is looking for countries to commit to post-2020 emission reductions and new policies to achieve those targets.

And it comes as Prime Minister Stephen Harper faces continued pressure to impose some form of carbon pricing in Canada, particularly in the booming oil sands where rising emissions threaten to swamp the government’s commitment to rein in carbon pollution.

Mr. Abbott visited Canada last month, and Mr. Harper commended him for ending the “job-killing carbon tax” as the Australian had pledged during last year’s general election in which he defeated the Labor Party-led coalition government. With their resource-based economies and relatively small populations occupying large land masses, Australia and Canada are among the world’s top per-capita emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs).

Chinese arrest of former PetroChina Canadian chief casts shadow over Athabasca Oil projects – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – July 17, 2014)

July 18, 2014

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

CALGARY – In a move that adds uncertainty to PetroChina’s plans for Canada, Zhiming Li, the PetroChina executive who built and headed the Chinese company’s operations in this country for the past four years, has been arrested by the Chinese government.

According to a July 16 report in Caixin, a Beijing-based financial media news organization, Mr. Li “was taken in for questioning … directly at the airport” as he returned to China last month from Canada.

As reported in the Financial Post July 10, Mr. Li was unexpectedly replaced last month as CEO of Brion Energy Corp., as PetroChina’s subsidiary in Canada is known, by Shudong Chen.

Mr. Chen is still in China as he has not yet received a permit to work in Canada. The Chinese newspaper, which didn’t cite sources, said Yiwu Song, the deputy manager of overseas exploration and development at China National Petroleum Corp., was also taken away last week. The newspaper said the arrests follow a probe into Qiliang Bo, the former chief of PetroChina’s international business.

Mr. Li’s questioning links PetroChina’s Canadian operation to a corruption probe in China that has targeted the country’s top oil companies, has resulted in many arrests and is expected to slow down decisions.

As Rock Phosphate Runs Out, What is More Important – Food Crops or Fuel Crops? – by Professor Chris Rhodes (Oil Price.com – June 21, 2012)

July 18, 2014

http://oilprice.com/

(Please note that this article was published in June 2012)

World rock phosphate production is set to peak by 2030. Since the material provides fertilizer for agriculture, the consequences are likely to be severe, and worsened by the increased production of biofuels, including those from algae.

Introduction

The depletion of world rock phosphate reserves will restrict the amount of food that can be grown across the world, a situation that can only be compounded by the production of biofuels, including the potential large-scale generation of biodiesel from algae. The world population has risen to its present number of 7 billion in consequence of cheap fertilizers, pesticides and energy sources, particularly oil.

Almost all modern farming has been engineered to depend on phosphate fertilizers, and those made from natural gas, e.g. ammonium nitrate, and on oil to run farm machinery and to distribute the final produce. A peak in worldwide production of rock phosphate is expected by 2030, which lends fears over how much food the world will be able to grow in the future, against a rising number of mouths to feed. Consensus of opinion is that we are close to the peak in world oil production too.

Phosphorus is an essential element in all living things, along with nitrogen and potassium. These are known collectively as, P, N, K, to describe micronutrients that drive growth in all plants and animal species, including humans.