NEWS RELEASE: Could New Geophysics Technology Spark Exploration?

http://www.ageophysics.com/

Val-d’Or, Quebec, Canada, February 9, 2015

Abitibi Geophysics, a mining exploration services company, reported that its new induced-polarization survey technology recently documented the existence of mineral deposits as deep as 450 metres under the bed of Quebec’s frozen Lake Pusticamica.

Under contract to Cartier Resources Inc., a Quebec junior gold-mining company, Abitibi Geophysics deployed its proprietary OreVision-IP system of electrical probes and sensors to map deposits on Cartier’s Benoist Property between the Bachelor and Langlois Mines.

“CEO says technique’s “convincing clarity” could boost investor confidence in projects where OreVision IP is used”

“Having the ability to detect mineralization to these new depths could be a game changer for the Benoist project” commented Philippe Cloutier, President and CEO, adding “since this new method offers depth of investigation unparalleled by other technologies while keeping optimal resolution from surface to depth, it could help us find more mineralization faster for a reasonable investment”.

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Light at the end of the tunnel – by Kip Keen (Mineweb.com – February 13, 2015)

http://www.mineweb.com/

Mineweb’s Kip Keen speaks at Mexican Roundup, sharing some hopeful thoughts about the junior market.

These are Kip Keen’s prepared remarks as the keynote speaker at Mexican Roundup in Hermosillo, Mexico:

Thank you Jackie Stephens, Mexican Roundup and GlobeXplore for having me. Ok. Buenos dias y lo siento.

I’m going to talk about the state of the mining industry. I promise, at least in the end, this won’t sound like a eulogy, at least as far as juniors are concerned. But first: What a year it’s been.

Just when you thought the mining sector, as a whole, had suffered its worst blows halfway through the year, 2014, it took some more.

By mid last year we had already been through a wave of impairments taken after overpriced boomtime acquisitions – Kinross on Redback Mining and Fruta del Norte; Barrick on Pascua; and so on.

The price of iron ore – the lifeblood of the large diversified miners – already was down by nearly half from close to $200/tonne in 2012 to about $100/tonne in the first half of 2014.

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Diamond profit helps Anglo American amid commodities downturn – by Neil Hume and James Wilson (Financial Times – February 13, 2015)

http://www.ft.com/intl/companies/mining

Surging profit from diamonds last year brought some relief for Anglo American, which reported a $2.5bn net loss for 2014 after taking a large writedown on its flagship iron ore project.

Anglo on Friday reported a robust performance by De Beers, the diamond miner and marketing group that it bought in 2011, because of strong gem demand in the US and Asia.

By contrast the steep drop in the price of iron ore, used in steelmaking, led Anglo to take a $3.8bn pre-tax impairment in the value of Minas-Rio, a Brazilian project blighted by cost overruns and delays. The mine was the subject of $5bn of impairment charges in 2012.

Benchmark iron ore prices have halved over the past year, affecting Anglo’s anticipated earnings from Minas-Rio. The FTSE 100 group spent $5bn to buy the mine and almost $9bn to develop it, before starting to ship ore in October.

The problems at Minas-Rio contributed to a loss of confidence in Cynthia Carroll, Anglo’s previous chief executive. Anglo also wrote down the value of some coal projects within $4.2bn of impairments outlined at its 2014 results. The miner said underlying group earnings came to $4.9bn last year, down 25 per cent compared with 2013.

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Teck Resources Ltd maintains steady course amid commodity volatility – by Peter Koven (National Post – February 13, 2015)

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

Plenty of companies across the resource sector are panicking, but not Teck Resources Ltd. As its rivals slash outputs, cancel projects and suspend dividends, Vancouver-based Teck is maintaining the same steady course that it has throughout the recent bout of commodity price volatility.

As a result, there were no radical changes to be found in the miner’s fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday. Teck did not reduce its $518-million dividend payout, it did not announce any job reductions or sweeping production cuts, and it maintained a commitment to the costly Fort Hills oil sands project.

“We have continued to execute well by controlling the controllable,” chief executive Don Lindsay said on a conference call on Thursday.

Specifically, that means chipping away at operating costs while preserving liquidity. The company has achieved $640-million of savings under its current cost reduction plan, and has reduced unit costs at 10 of its 13 operations. The balance sheet is in good shape with $1.7-billion of cash and an untapped US$3-billion credit facility.

All the same, the stock has been pummelled.

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The end battle? Big iron ore miners tighten grip on market – by Manolo Serapio Jr. and Ruby Lian (Reuters India – February 12, 2015)

http://in.reuters.com/

SINGAPORE/SHANGHAI – (Reuters) – The world’s big three iron ore miners appear to be entering the final phase of a fight to increase market share in China as massive expansions drive more high-cost rivals out of business.

The global giants have met stubborn resistance after many big Chinese miners kept producing despite weaker iron ore prices, helping push prices far lower than Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Vale envisaged when they began to flood the world with ore two years ago.

However, cracks are starting to appear in even China’s resilient state-mining sector, where mines can have production costs 20-50 percent above the market but also employ thousands of workers and are aligned with big steel makers.

One mine in Beijing that produces about 2 million tonnes of iron ore concentrate a year plans to suspend production for one-and-a-half months from this month, the first state-owned mine to do so, industry sources said.

Further price falls would bring more mine closures, said analyst Zhao Chaoyue, with China Merchant Futures in Guangzhou. “That includes some state-owned mines owned by steel mills, which are likely to give up their own iron ore output and turn to cheap imported ore too,” Zhao said.

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Mining magnate Rinehart takes court action against TV series – by Jamie Smyth (Financial Times – February 13, 2015)

http://www.ft.com/intl/companies/mining

Sydney – Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person, has taken a television channel to court in an apparent attempt to block the broadcast of a hit miniseries detailing her colourful family and business history.

Lawyers for Mrs Rinehart told the New South Wales Supreme Court on Friday that the House of Hancock series was potentially defamatory, malicious and full of inaccuracies.

They applied to the court to force Channel Nine to hand over a copy of the second and final instalment of the show, which is due to be broadcast on Sunday, to see if there are grounds to seek an injunction to stop it airing.

Judge Peter Garling granted the application, saying that based on promotional material and interviews there was a prospect the show would air statements that are not entirely accurate or perhaps even falsified.

“I am satisfied the plaintiff is entitled to see it,” he said. The billionaire is now able to view the show before deciding whether to seek an injunction on Saturday.

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Rio Tinto’s aluminum division was mining giant’s best performer in 2014 – by Ross Marowits (Canadian Press/Winnipeg Free Press – February 12, 2015)

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

MONTREAL – After years of challenges, Rio Tinto’s aluminum division proved to be the mining giant’s best performer in 2014.

Underlying profits at the Montreal-based operations soared 124 per cent to US$1.25 billion, dramatically outpacing iron ore, copper, diamonds and energy, the company said Thursday.

Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) attributed the improvement to continuing cost reductions, productivity improvements, higher prices for valued-added products and weaker currency in Canada and Australia.

Aluminum was one of the few metals to see a price increase last year. On the London Metal Exchange, aluminum averaged US$1,867 per tonne in 2014, up one per cent.

Rio Tinto said value-added products, which represent 62 per cent of metal produced, allowed it to realize US$2,395 per tonne. Overall, the company’s underlying profits decreased nine per cent to US$9.3 billion, including a US$4.2-billion hit from lower metal prices, offsetting currency gains.

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Agnico Eagle reports good financial performance in 2014 (Nunatsiaq News – February 13, 2015)

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

Firm optimistic about new Amaruq deposit near Meadowbank

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd., operator of Nunavut’s Meadowbank gold mine near Baker Lake and the Meliadine gold project near Rankin Inlet, posted earnings of $83 million for the year 2014, the company said in financial statements released near the end of the day Feb. 11.

That’s a big improvement over the $686.7 million net loss they reported in 2013. And the company’s president and CEO, Sean Boyd, said reduced fuel costs and favorable currency exchange rates, including a lower Canadian dollar, will help them in 2015.

“With projected year-over-year production growth of 12 per cent, lower fuel costs and weaker local currencies anticipated in Canada, Mexico and Finland, we expect to have another strong year in 2015,” Boyd said in the news release.

Minus certain non-recurring items, the company earned $16.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. That compares favorably with a net loss of $780.3 million reported over the same period of 2013.

Boyd, in an interview with the Business News Network broadcast Feb. 12, said the company holds high hopes for the Amaruq deposit, located north of Meadowbank. After about 18 months of exploration, AEM estimates the site holds 1.5 million ounces of gold.

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Dome still has ‘lots of life’ – by Len Gillis (Timmins Daily Press – February 13, 2015)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Goldcorp’s Dome Mine is the longest continuously operating underground gold mine in North America and it looks like that is easily going to continue for a few more years yet, according to the company’s newest mine general manager

“I think the Dome Mine has still got lots of life left in it,” said Brendan Zuidema, the newly appointed manager of Goldcorp Porcupine Gold Mines (PGM). He was the keynote speaker to the Timmins Chamber of Commerce “Inside Business” luncheon held Thursday.

Zuidema said a lot of the attention in recent months has been directed at the new Hollinger open pit, which observed the first anniversary of its first production blast just two days ago on Wednesday. Zuidema said there are other PGM operations that are just as important in sustaining the company and its 1,100 jobs in Timmins.

“We’ve got right now in reserves five years left at the Dome Mine, for underground,” said Zuidema. “I am not sure what we have in the open pit. The open pit is not done. The Dome Mine is one of those mines that keeps on giving and giving.”

As an example, Zuidema described a bulk stope (a large underground excavation) at the mine that was expected to provide about 400,000 tonnes of muck. He said it produced nearly double at 800,000 tonnes. “We called it the magic stope. The ore just kept coming,” he said.

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Apple Claims Progress on Conflict Minerals – by Daisuke Wakabayashi (Wall Street Journal – February 11, 2015)

http://www.wsj.com/news/technology

In an annual report on labor and environmental practices in its supply chain, Apple said it is making progress eliminating so-called conflict minerals.

The report was less definitive on other issues where Apple has been criticized, including working conditions at some suppliers, or suppliers to its suppliers, highlighting the challenge of policing a global supply chain that extends to hundreds of companies in at least 19 countries.

Apple said it had identified 225 smelters in its supply chain that handle gold, tantalum, tin or tungsten. Sales of those four minerals have been used to fund armed conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo; in Asia, they are sometimes extracted by children or rogue miners in dangerous conditions.

Apple said 135 of those smelters were audited last year to verify that they do not use materials that fund armed groups; that’s more than double the 57 smelters audited in 2013.

The company said 64 other smelters in its supply chain have agreed to participate or are currently participating in an audit, while 26 new smelters have not agreed to participate yet.

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