Sudbury mine rescuers taking on the world in Poland – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – September 04, 2014)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Vale, KGHM sending teams to International Mine Rescue Competition

For the first time, Vale will have a team compete in the International Mine Rescue Competition. Vale’s East Mines Rescue Team will fly to Poland Saturday to compete in the ninth International Mine Rescue Competition, which takes place in the city of Katowice.

“We’re just happy that we’re going and that they’re giving us that opportunity,” said Lorne Plouffe, the team’s captain. “It’s great to show off the Vale mine rescue teams to the rest of the world.”

In June, Plouffe and his team of seven experienced mine rescue professionals won the provincial championships. It was his third time winning that honour, but this year will be his first chance to compete on the world stage.

Read more

Potash miners face over-supply threat of their own making – by Rod Nickel (Reuters U.S. – September 4, 2014)

http://www.reuters.com/

WINNIPEG Manitoba – (Reuters) – A pickup in fertilizer demand has brightened the outlook for North American potash companies who suffered through plunging prices and profits after a European trading consortium collapsed in 2013.

But any celebration among investors may be premature.

A surplus of potash mining capacity is set to grow even larger in coming years, weighing down the global industry while favoring low-cost eastern European producers over North American miners, who are sticking to a marketing strategy that risks falling behind the times.

And the times are changing. Belarusian Potash Company (BPC), the counterpart to North America’s potash trading consortium Canpotex Ltd, collapsed a year ago, with one partner looking to increase volumes rather than limit output and hope for higher prices.

The first new mines in Western Canada in four decades are also under construction and would be fierce rivals to Canpotex partners Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, Mosaic Co and Agrium Inc.

This year, global capacity will hit 82 million tonnes, but demand will fall well short, even at a record-high level of 57 million tonnes, according to London-based commodity research firm CRU. That gap is set to widen slightly by 2020, when capacity looks to reach 99 million tonnes, far more than is needed to meet demand of only 73 million.

CRU’s demand forecast is based on an assumption that demand will grow faster than it has in the last seven years. If it does not, the supply-demand gulf will grow even wider.

Read more

[South African] Smelters need support to survive – by Mark Allix (Business Day Live – September 4, 2014)

http://www.bdlive.co.za/

SMELTERS and foundries need support if they are to survive. As a start, Eskom has to sort out its electricity supply problems, and government’s R4-trillion infrastructure plan needs to get under way soon.

Better still, the private sector should be encouraged to provide more traditionally sourced energy. BHP Billiton has turned off its Bayside aluminium smelter in KwaZulu-Natal. Smelting costs too much, even though the company has a hugely preferential electricity pricing agreement with Eskom.

Bayside, BHP Billiton’s Hillside aluminium smelter and the Mozal smelter near Maputo in Mozambique together used about 9% of South Africa’s total electricity output.

A chunk of state infrastructure funding is being spent on building new energy capacity — mainly the delayed Medupi and Kusile coal-fired power stations, but also the Ingula hydropower project in KwaZulu-Natal.

The manufacturing sector is under pressure from strikes, above-inflation wage and increases in administered price, as well as poor maintenance and development of infrastructure.

Read more

Tough conditions for cleanup 50 years later of former Saskatchewan uranium mill – by Rob Drinkwater (Lethbridge Herald – August 31, 2014)

http://lethbridgeherald.com/

Edmonton – CANADIAN PRESS – More than 50 years after a Saskatchewan uranium mill that is a key part of Canada’s nuclear history closed, heavy machinery is once again rumbling across the remote northern corner of the province.

But this time workers at the former Lorado mill are cleaning up a massive pile of radioactive, acidic tailings that has poisoned a lake and threatened the health of wildlife and hunters for decades.

“I think we’re a lot more environmentally aware than we were 40 or 50 years ago,” said Ian Wilson with the Saskatchewan Research Council, which is the Crown-owned company that’s carrying out the cleanup.

The Lorado mill is near Uranium City, less than 50 kilometres from the Northwest Territories boundary. It’s where uranium mining once supported a community of up to 5,000 people.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission says the town was one of several in Canada to rise following the Second World War and during a boom in uranium demand that was driven by military needs.

Read more

Energy constraints biggest threat to SA ferrochrome industry – by Leandi Kolver (MiningWeekly.com – September 4, 2014)

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

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The biggest challenge facing South Africa’s ferrochrome industry was no longer China, but local energy supply constraints, chrome producer Afarak executive chairperson Dr Alistair Ruiters said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the seventh South African Ferro-Alloys conference, convened by MetalBulletin Events, he said power supply would remain a problem for the foreseeable future.

Industrial users would likely face further electricity price increases, more blackouts and further buy-back requests, undermining the competitiveness of the local ferrochrome industry, he noted. South Africa was also at risk of losing market share, not only to China, but also to the rest of the world, as other countries, such as Finland, had seen a reduction in energy costs.

Ruiters highlighted the energy supply constraints as a significant concern, stating that the industry was becoming increasingly “debeneficiated” as it exported more raw ore instead of value-added products.

He pointed out that South Africa’s chrome ore exports to China had grown significantly from 100 000 t/y in 2004 to 6-million tons a year in 2013.

“South Africa today supplies more than 50% of China’s ore requirements,” he added.

Read more

Japan loosens China’s grip on rare earths supplies – by Sonali Paul and Yuka Obayashi (Reuters U.S. – September 4, 2014)

http://www.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE/TOKYO – (Reuters) – Japan is pushing to secure at least 60 percent of its rare earth needs from outside China within four years, as it bolsters efforts to curb its dependence on the world’s biggest producer of elements crucial in smart phones, computers and cars.

Japan aims to sign a deal as early as this month that would give it four types of light rare earths from India, and has helped fund an Australian rare earths mine and Malaysian processing plant built by Australia’s Lynas Corp.

Its search for supply security has also led to a joint venture in Kazakhstan, recycling rare earths from batteries and motor magnets, and even exploring for rare earths in the Pacific Ocean seabed. China currently produces about 90 percent of the world’s rare earths.

Japan, which sources virtually all its rare earths from China, either directly or indirectly, has been trying to find new sources of supply since its neighbor held back shipments in 2010 during a row over disputed islands and then curbed global exports to preserve its own resources.

“It is critically important for Japan to secure sources of rare earths outside of China,” said Akira Terakawa, deputy director at mineral and natural resources division of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

The Indian deal would provide 15 percent of Japan’s needs. If Lynas is able to ramp up production as agreed, Japan could be sourcing more than 60 percent of its expected rare earths demand from outside China by 2018, based on Reuters calculations from Japanese demand data and growth figures provided by a trading house which deals with rare earths.

Read more

VIEW FROM QUEEN’S PARK: Ring of Fire – by Chris Ballard, MPP Newmarket-Aurora (The Auroran – September 5, 2014)

http://www.newspapers-online.com/auroran/

One of the most exciting economic development opportunities we have in Ontario is the mineral rich Ring of Fire, located about 1,000 kilometers north-west of Newmarket-Aurora, in northern Ontario.

Experts put the mineral potential of the area at upwards of $60 billion. It includes the largest known deposit of chromite in North America. Chromite is a key ingredient in stainless steel. The area also holds the potential for significant production of nickel, copper and platinum.

A study by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce reports Ontario’s Ring of Fire has the potential to generate up to $9.4 billion in Gross Domestic Product; generate up to $6.2 billion for Ontario’s mining industry; sustain up to 5,500 full-time jobs annually; and generate nearly $2 billion in government revenue for federal, provincial and municipal coffers. And that’s just in the first 10 years.

In the first 32 years of its development, the Ring of Fire will “generate more than $25 billion in economic activity across numerous sectors in Ontario, of which mining is just one,” the Chamber report says.

Other beneficiaries of the development of the Ring of Fire include $2.7 billion in revenues for the financial services sector; $1.2 billion for the wholesale and retail trade sectors; $600 million for the manufacturing sector; and $500 million for the utilities sector, the report concludes.

The Chamber says the Ring of Fire will also generate an estimated $6.7 billion in government tax revenues over the first 32 years of its development, “providing compelling incentive for governments to invest in this economic opportunity.”

Read more

Naicatchewenin and Rainy River join First Nations Mining Corporation – by Bryan Phelan (Onotassiniik Magazine – Fall 2014)

http://onotassiniik.com/

A new model for including First Nations in mining projects

Two First Nations from the Fort Frances area have committed to joining the fledgling First Nations Mining Corporation (FNMC), which has a long-term goal of becoming a mine developer and owner.

Six First Nations are now on board as partners in FNMC along with three non-Aboriginal companies, including SNC-Lavalin, one of the leading construction and engineering groups in the world. First Nations will control the majority of shares in the corporation – 51 per cent.

Among those First Nations are the latest additions, Rainy River and Naicatchewenin, both located in Treaty 3 territory near Fort Frances. Stephen Lindley, vice-president of Aboriginal and northern affairs for SNC-Lavalin Group, noted the involvement of the new partners June 19 during a presentation about FNMC at the Ontario Mining Forum in Thunder Bay.

The proposed corporation was first announced in January by its founding partners, which include Lac Seul First Nation in northwestern Ontario and three First Nations belonging to the Wabun tribal council in the northeast – Flying Post, Mattagami and Wahgoshig. Other private sector partners are Cementation Canada, known for underground mine construction and contract mining, and the Morris Group, a smaller company based near Sudbury that provides camp services to mines and resource industry training to First Nations.

FNMC will form joint venture partnerships with local Aboriginal communities to carry out engineering, construction, environmental and other services for mining companies in Ontario.

Read more

Cost-cuts put gold miners between rock and a hard place – by Nicole Mordant (Reuters U.S. – September 4, 2014)

http://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Deep cost cuts have helped to restore profits at gold miners pummeled by a one-third slide in bullion prices in the past three years, but the fix may only be short term and could be setting the industry up for even more long-term pain.

The all-in cost of producing an ounce of gold dropped by 23 percent to $1,331 an ounce in the year to end-March, according to data from Citigroup. The data, published on Aug. 13, covers miners producing about half of the world’s gold.

Data from five of the world’s biggest gold producers, including Canada’s Barrick Gold Corp, South Africa’s AngloGold Ashanti Ltd and Australia’s Newcrest Mining Ltd, show this trend continuing to the end of the latest quarter.

A closer look at the numbers reveal, however, that almost all of the cost reduction is due to miners pulling easy levers: slashing capital and exploration spending, cutting head office costs and shrinking mine plans to focus on extracting higher-grade gold.

“Even though this is a good short-term thing for the gold sector it is exactly the worst thing that they can do from a long-term value perspective,” said Johann Steyn, an analyst with Citigroup in Johannesburg.

As the gold price tanked and miners were forced to write down billions on underperforming assets, once growth-hungry investors demanded a new era of austerity. The subsequent cuts to exploration and capital spending threaten to shrink current output and future growth.

Read more

‘It’s a bit disconcerting’: Mount Polley mine tailings spill nearly 70% bigger than first estimated – by Gordon Hoekstra (National Post – September 4, 2014)

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

Imperial Metals’ estimate of the size of the spill from its Mount Polley mine tailings dam collapse is nearly 70 per cent greater than the initial estimate.

The B.C. government has estimated that 10 million cubic metres of water and 4.5 million cubic meters of finely ground rock containing potentially-toxic metals was released by the collapse of the dam on Aug. 4.

But Imperial Metals has estimated the size of the spill at 10.6 million cubic metres of water, 7.3 million cubic metres of tailings and 6.5 million cubic metres of “interstitial” water. That’s enough water and material to fill nearly 9,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Interstitial water is the water suspended in the spaces between the finely ground rock of the tailings.

“It’s a bit disconcerting — its speaks to the crudeness of the initial estimate,” said Mining Watch Canada program director Ramsey Hart of the increased spill estimate.

Imperial Metals did not respond to a request Wednesday for comment. Hart said there will need to be a better accounting of the spill’s size, including the volume of tailings deposited in the lake and in the Hazeltine Creek watershed.

Read more

Call out for James Bay sea port – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – September 5, 2014)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – A council representing eight Northern First Nations is proposing a sea port be established on the James Bay Coast to facilitate development within the Ring of Fire.

“Our plan is to establish a transportation corridor from the Ring of Fire to the James Bay area with a sea port because we know that the products that are going to come out of there are going to be shipped worldwide,” Vern Cheechoo, director of lands and resources of Mushkegowuk Council, told The Daily Press Thursday. “We feel we are best situated in the James Bay region for something like that to take place.”

Past studies have shown that James Bay could be considered a prospect for a seasonal sea port.If rail option were to be developed from the eastern corridor of the Ring of Fire to a seasonal sea port, Cheechoo said this could bring investment and positive economic benefits to many resource-related projects in Northern Ontario.

Mushkegowuk Council has announced it is developing a business plan in support of a rail, sea port, fibre optic and energy transportation corridor in the Ring of Fire through an Aboriginal-led alliance.

Cheechoo explained the goal from the Mushkegowuk communities’ standpoint is two-fold. One is that they would like to get the ball rolling and enable mining development to occur in that region.

Read more

Interim mine safety report out next week – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – September 4, 2014)

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

An interim report on how to make mining safer in Ontario — pulling together information and recommendations from experienced miners, mining experts and family members of miners killed on the job — will be made public next week.

The advisory group for the Ontario Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review will present a preliminary report Sept. 10 to George Gritziotis, the province’s chief prevention officer and the head of the review, when the group meets in Sudbury.

The report will then be presented to Ontario Labour Minister Kevin Flynn and its recommendations made public. The review was launched in December by then Labour Minister Yasir Naqvi after a campaign by United Steelworkers and a lobby group called MINES (Mining Inquiry Needs Everyone’s Support) for a full-fledged inquiry into mining safety in Ontario.

That call came after three deaths at two Vale mines in less than a year — the June 2011 deaths of Jason Chenier and Jordan Fram at Stobie Mine and the January 2012 death of Stephen Perry at Coleman Mine.

Naqvi established the review instead, describing it as a thorough, evidence-based review of mining safety in Ontario that would get meaningful results for miners and their families.

Read more

Arctic route for Alberta oil could trump stalled B.C. pipeline projects – by Justin Ling (National Post – September 5, 2014)

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

Alberta’s plan to get its landlocked oil to overseas markets by way of Arctic shores might just become a reality — and sooner than the stalled Northern Gateway or Keystone XL projects.

The plan, until recently dismissed as dubious by some skeptics, may have finally found the right combination of winning conditions: a hunger for resource development in Yellowknife, a desperate need to find new markets for oil-sands bitumen, an aggressive push from the federal government to reduce environmental oversight in the territory, and the changing northern climate.

One of the biggest barriers for the so-called Arctic Gateway plan has long been the sheer logistical nightmare of moving the oil to a port along the Beaufort Sea.

But a technical report commissioned by the Alberta government last year, which has just been released, suggests a few novel ideas on how to transport the bitumen. The report’s authors — of Arctic petroleum consultants Canatec Associates International Ltd. — propose three potential options, all of which the report deems technically feasible. A pilot project using small test shipments could be started as early as next year, it said.

At its most ambitious, a northern pipeline project could make 35 million barrels of diluted bitumen a year available for trans-ocean export. Northern Gateway, by comparison, proposes to ship 190 million barrels a year.

Read more

Miners step up safeguards in mineral-rich Africa amid Ebola crisis – by James Regan (Reuters India – September 5, 2014)

http://in.reuters.com/

SYDNEY, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Mining companies are beefing up protection against the spreading Ebola virus in West Africa while maintaining investment in new projects in a region with vast untapped mineral wealth.

Attempts to keep the deadly virus out of work sites range from turning away anyone who has come from countries where Ebola is present to installing infrared heat monitors to measure body temperatures of employees as they pass through mine gates.

Similar devices have been deployed in airports to identify carriers during outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), bird flu and swine flu.

In iron ore-rich Guinea, where the first deaths from Ebola were confirmed in March – the outbreak has since spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal – the government anticipates $50 billion of mining investments over the next decade, Minister for Mines Kerfalla Yansane said this week..

David Heymann, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, is calling on companies to consider installing sonar bat repellant technology at mine sites.

Some medical experts believe that bats and other animals are the natural hosts of the Ebola virus, which has led Guinea to ban consumption of bat soup, grilled bat and other such items.

Read more

Mining’s hi-tech nature on display in Sudbury – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – September 5, 2014)

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

A mining trade show featuring more than 300 exhibitors will be an opportunity to demonstrate that the industry has moved beyond the pickaxe and the ore shute to a world of innovative technology and software development.

It will also serve as a reminder to Sudburians about the importance of mining to the city and the role Sudbury plays in the mining world, says Ian Wood.

Wood, director of economic development for the City of Greater Sudbury, was one of several speakers at a news conference Thursday to promote the North America Mining Expo, to be held Wednesday and Thursday at Hanmer Centennial Arena.

The trade show is being organized by Canadian Trade-Ex, which has run similar shows in Timmins. The company has partnered with the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce and other Sudbury organizations to stage a Sudbury version of the show.

Sudbury is one of the top three to five mining jurisdictions in the world, with more than a dozen mines, two smelters, two mills and a refinery within its municipal boundaries, said Wood.

From 40 to 45% of the mining activity in Ontario occurs here, said Wood. The city is also home to a thriving mining supply and services sector that employs 12,000 to 14,000 people and generates $4 billion in activity annually.

Read more