July 14, 2015 – Republic of Mining

Former Kinross Gold CEO working on potential bid for Anglo assets – by Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – July 14, 2015)

July 14, 2015

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.

Kinross Gold Corp.’s former chief executive Tye Burt is interested in Anglo American PLC’s three copper mines in Chile, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Burt is working with another former Kinross executive, Hugh Agro, to create another mining company after being ousted as Kinross’s CEO for a deal gone awry.

Mr. Burt and Mr. Agro, the former M&A executive at Kinross, are now seeking financing for a potential bid on the Anglo assets, the sources said.

Mr. Burt is one of many people who were given the opportunity to examine Anglo’s Mantoverde, Mantos Blancos and El Soldado mines.

Others include former Xstrata PLC CEO Mick Davis, who now runs a private mining entity called X2 Resources LLP, sources said.

The Latest Sign That Coal Is Getting Killed – by Tom Randall (Bloomberg News – July 13, 2015)

July 14, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Coal is a sick dragon, and the bond market wields a heavy sword

Coal is having a hard time lately. U.S. power plants are switching to natural gas, environmental restrictions are kicking in, and the industry is being derided as the world’s No. 1 climate criminal. Prices have crashed, sure, but for a real sense of coal’s diminishing prospects, check out what’s happening in the bond market.

Bonds are where coal companies turn to raise money for such things as new mines and environmental cleanups. But investors are increasingly reluctant to lend to them. Coal bond prices tumbled 17 percent in the second quarter, according to an analysis by Bloomberg Intelligence. It’s the fourth consecutive quarter of price declines and the worst performance of any industry group by a long shot.

Bonds fluctuate less than stocks, because the payoff is fixed and pretty much guaranteed as long as the borrower remains solvent. A 17 percent decline is huge, and it happened at a time when other energy bonds—oil and gas—were rising. Three of America’s biggest coal producers had the worst-performing bonds for the quarter:

NEWS RELEASE: KWG UPDATES APPEALS STATUS

July 14, 2015

Toronto, Canada, July 14, 2015 – With respect to the appeal of the decision of the Divisional Court of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released July 30, 2014, counsel for the parties have agreed with the Registrar of the Court of Appeal for Ontario to conduct the hearing previously scheduled for October 20th, 2015 on November 25th, 2015 instead.

Factums filed by the Appellant KWG Resources Inc. (CSE: KWG; Frankfurt: KW6) (“KWG”) subsidiary Canada Chrome Corporation, by the Respondent 2274659 Ontario Inc., and by the Intervenor Minister of Northern Development and Mines are posted on KWG’s website: www.kwgresources.com.

In the appeal by Noront Resources Ltd. of the Mining Recorder’s order made June 24, 2014 granting to KWG and Canada Chrome Corporation claims staked and recorded on June 21, 2011, the Mining and Lands Commissioner ordered on June 19, 2015 that the Appellant file its material by no later than July 20, 2015 following which the Respondent must file its material by August 20, 2015. A copy of the Order to File is also posted on the KWG website.

About KWG:

Primero’s precious problem – by Kip Keen (Mineweb.com – July 14, 2015)

July 14, 2015

http://www.mineweb.com/

Primero reports being unable to sell silver or gold from Mexico.

HALIFAX – Primero Mining can’t sell its Mexican silver and gold abroad.

The miner, which owns the San Dimas mine in Mexico and the Black Fox mine in Canada, said Thursday that its import and export licenses in Mexico had been revoked following a mess-up over a change of address. Primero said its Mexican subsidiary changed corporate addresses in Mexico from Mexico City to Durango and that precipitated the revocation of its import and export license.

The revocation happened back in May.

Since at least then Primero silver and gold has piled up. It said $6.5 million in revenue from the sale of 880,000 ounces silver had been delayed and that it could not deliver some 630,000 ounces silver as part of a silver streaming agreement with Silver Wheaton.

“Senior customs officials have confirmed that the company’s registry status is being reviewed, but the company has not been given a definitive date for reinstatement of the licenses,” Primerso stated.

Vale’s Cut Is No Panacea for Iron Ore, Morgan Stanley Says – by David Stringer (Bloomberg News – July 13, 2015)

July 14, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Iron ore prices trading near the lowest level since at least 2009 will probably remain under pressure and may even extend declines after Brazil’s Vale SA announced changes to production plans, according to Morgan Stanley.

The world’s biggest producer said on Monday that it would cut about 25 million metric tons of higher-cost supply from this month, while sticking to a full-year output target of 340 million tons.

The decisions are a recognition that the market is oversupplied this year and will probably remain in surplus in 2016, according to Executive Director Peter Poppinga.

“This will not lead to higher iron ore prices in the short term — it could even have the opposite effect,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in an e-mailed report. The changes by Vale won’t reduce supply, rather they will add more lower-cost material into the export market, the analysts said.

Benchmark prices are mired in a bear market as Vale and its main Australian competitors — Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd. — increase low-cost production even as demand stagnates in China, spurring a glut.

NEWS RELEASE: Harper Government Invests in British Columbia’s Kootenay Region Mining and Metals Industry

July 14, 2015

TRAIL, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwired – July 13, 2015) – Western Economic Diversification Canada

Today, David Wilks, Member of Parliament for Kootenay-Columbia, on behalf of the Honourable Michelle Rempel, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification, announced a $748,601 investment to the Kootenay Association for Science and Technology (KAST) to establish a metallurgical industry development accelerator in the West Kootenay.

Funding, provided through the Western Diversification Program, will allow KAST to establish and operate a centre for Metallurgical Industrial Development Acceleration and Studies (MIDAS). This sector-targeted applied research and commercialization centre will provide downstream metallurgical expertise, a digital fabrication laboratory, and business development support for the region.

MIDAS will assist with the establishment and growth of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by strengthening the direct-to-market deployment of mineral/metal by-products; supporting applied research and development of commercial applications; providing technical training in metallurgical science and digital fabrication; and offering business mentoring.

Transforming SA’s macho mining culture – by AFP (Business Report – July 13, 2015)

July 14, 2015

http://www.iol.co.za/business

Female miners are battling to make their mark in the mining sector, and face a daily war for their rights underground.

Deep underground, where huge conveyer belts haul rocks to the surface, 33-year-old mother of two Bernice Motsieloa represents the quiet revolution transforming the macho culture of South African mining.

Motsieloa is a shift supervisor at Anglo American’s Bathopele platinum mine – one of several thousand female miners employed in a difficult and often dangerous environment traditionally dominated by men.

Despite an apartheid-era ban on women working underground only being lifted in 1996, 15 percent of all employees in the mining sector are now female, exceeding the government’s own target of 10 percent. But reports of sexual harassment are common, and some retired miners say female miners face pressure to offer sexual favours to their male colleagues.

Motsieloa said she has never suffered physical violence since first going down the pits in 2002 doing manual labour in a gold mine, though she vividly recalls the verbal abuse she endured. “It was hard. We were openly called names by our male colleagues who told us ‘this is not your place’,” she told AFP.

COLUMN-China Shenhua’s Australian coal mine on troubled path – by Clyde Russell (Reuters India – July 14, 2015)

July 14, 2015

http://in.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, July 14 (Reuters) – A planned Chinese-owned coal mine in Australia has become the latest example in a long line of mud-slinging trumping sensible debate.

While it makes for great headlines, there are few things less edifying than seeing politicians, business and community leaders flinging gratuitous insults at each other.

The stoush is over the Australian federal government’s approval of a A$1 billion ($746 million) coal mine being developed by China Shenhua Energy Co in the Liverpool Plains region of New South Wales state.

It would be something of an understatement to say the 10-million tonne a year project has been controversial, with its approval showing splits in the ruling Liberal National coalition, while prompting threats of civil disobedience from farmers and legal action from a variety of opponents.

The main issue is that the proposed mine, known as Watermark, is in prime agricultural land and there is concern that not only will it take up land that could be used for farming, but also that the mine will deplete or degrade the region’s underground water table.

Zimbabwe’s desperate gold rush poisons children with mercury – by Andrew Mambondiyani (Reuters U.S. – July 13, 2015)

July 14, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

MUTARE, Zimbabwe, (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Cynthia Dzimbati was exhausted. Her three-month-old baby strapped to her back and panning dish in hand, she had spent the whole day working the Mutare River for not one single ounce of gold.

“This is now my life. I lost my job,” said the 31-year old single mother, looking so worn out she could easily have passed for 50. “I have three children to feed.”

Dzimbati poured a few drops of mercury into a bowl of dirty water and stirred it with her bare hands.

The gold in the river is growing more scarce these days, she said, so the illegal artisanal miners are relying on mercury, a highly toxic substance supplied by the smugglers who buy their product, to trap the precious metal from the muddy river waters in the eastern borders of Zimbabwe.

Public health and environmental experts say the consequences are disastrous. Mercury is contaminating drinking water for miles around and causing neurological damage, especially to children.

To talk transboundary mining, Taku Tlingit put folks in the same boat – by Katie Moritz (Juneau Empire – July 13, 2015)

July 14, 2015

http://juneauempire.com/

Taku Tlingit reinforce cultural ties to land in discussion on transboundary mines

Lillian Petershoare’s family fishes the Taku River and has done so for decades. A new generation is now learning the tradition. John Morris “grew up on the Taku until I was 15 years old; I knew no other place.”

Barbara Cadiente-Nelson read a passage by Elizabeth Nyman: “This river, this watershed … know who you are and, if you permit it, it will tell you.”

Tlingit men and women whose lineage can be traced to the Taku River area spoke on their connection to the water and the land during a daylong boat trip down the Taku River on Sunday. The cruise was organized by the Douglas Indian Association.

The trip was meant to “put us on the same boat” — drawing a link between Tlingit connection to the land and the need for mainstream awareness and protection of its resources, said the DIA’s Morris, addressing the diverse group of passengers on the catamaran.

Iron ore miners unprepared for challenges, warns BHP – by Paul Garvey (The Australian – July 14, 2015)

July 14, 2015

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/

Australia’s iron ore miners are unprepared for the massive exploration challenges ahead of them, BHP Billiton’s head of iron ore exploration has warned.

Speaking at the AusIMM iron ore conference in Perth on yesterday, BHP’s Joe Knight said current exploration methods would be unable to discover and define the quantity of new ore bodies needed to sustain the Pilbara’s soaring iron ore output.

The Pilbara is home to three of the world’s four largest iron ore miners — BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group — and exports almost 800 million tonnes of ore a year.

That figure is set to grow to about 965 million tonnes a year by 2017, Mr Knight said, based on the current publicly announced plans of the region’s miners and explorers.

At that rate, Mr Knight said, companies would struggle to replace their mined resources unless they evolved their approach to exploration, given the forecast annual production was the equivalent of more than three so-called “tier one” iron ore deposits.

New study quantifies how much mine permit delays can discourage investment [U.S.A.] – by Hal Quinn (The Hill – July 13, 2015)

July 14, 2015

http://thehill.com/

Quinn is the president and CEO of the National Mining Association.

Lawmakers pushing for mine permitting reform found support recently in a new study showing that U.S. mineral mines can lose up to half of their value waiting a decade or longer for permits. The study by SNL Metals & Mining was unveiled at a House Natural Resources Committee hearing last month on a bill to make the U.S. permitting process more efficient.

The study, “Permitting, Economic Value and Mining in the United States,” quantifies how protracted permitting delays impair and discourage investments in domestic mineral development projects. The study suggests that an average mine can lose a third of its value due to permit delays, and in some cases, a mine’s value can be cut in half as a result of increasing costs and investment risk. After years of delays, a project can even become economically unviable.

Currently, it takes a mine in the U.S. about seven to 10 years to get the necessary permits to operate; whereas, in countries like Canada and Australia, which have similarly stringent environmental standards, it takes an average of two to three years. Luke Russell, vice president of Hecla Mining Company, told the committee that “The U.S. process is fraught with duplication [and] inefficiencies. … It is by far the most arduous and tortuous process in the world.”

Iran Nuclear Deal Is Reached With World Powers – by David E. Sanger and Michael R. Gordon (New York Times – July 14, 2015)

July 14, 2015

http://www.nytimes.com/

VIENNA — Iran and a group of six nations led by the United States said they had reached a historic accord on Tuesday to significantly limit Tehran’s nuclear ability for more than a decade in return for lifting international oil and financial sanctions.

The deal culminates 20 months of negotiations on an agreement that President Obama had long sought as the biggest diplomatic achievement of his presidency. Whether it portends a new relationship between the United States and Iran — after decades of coups, hostage-taking, terrorism and sanctions — remains a bigger question.

President Obama, in an early morning appearance at the White House that was broadcast live in Iran, began what promised to be an arduous effort to sell the deal to Congress and the American public, saying the agreement was “not built on trust, it is built on verification.”

ut Mr. Obama made it abundantly clear that he would fight to preserve the deal in its entirety, saying, “I will veto any legislation that prevents the successful implementation of this deal.”