August 12, 2015 – Republic of Mining

Glencore and BHP Fall to Lowest in Years as Miners Shunned – by Jesse Riseborough and Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – August 12, 2015)

August 12, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Glencore Plc and BHP Billiton Ltd. shares fell to the lowest in at least four years as investors continued to shun mining companies on concern Chinese demand for commodities is waning.

The FTSE 350 Mining Index of 14 producers fell for a second day to the lowest since March 2009. BHP, the world’s biggest miner, dropped to a six-year low while Glencore slid as much as 7 percent to the lowest since it started trading in 2011.

Commodity prices are near a 13-year low and this year’s 18 percent plunge in the Bloomberg World Mining Index wiped almost $200 billion off the value of the biggest producers. China, the biggest raw-materials user, this week devalued its currency in a move that supports exports and makes imports more expensive. That further spooked investors already concerned that consumption is falling as the country’s economy expands at the slowest pace in a quarter of a century.

“This is coming at a time when the market is capitulating anyway,” Marc Elliott, an analyst at Investec Plc in London, said by phone, referring to the weakening yuan.

EPA Chief Apologizes as Anger Mounts – by Amy Harder and Dan Frosch (Wall Street Journal – August 11, 2015)

August 12, 2015

http://www.wsj.com/

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy apologized Tuesday for a mine spill in Colorado that her agency caused last week and planned to travel to the area Wednesday, amid increasing criticism from lawmakers about the EPA’s response.

Ms. McCarthy said at a news conference in Washington that she was still learning about what happened, responding to a question about whether the EPA was reviewing changes in how it cleans up old mines. “I don’t have a complete understanding of anything that went on in there,” she said. “If there is something that went wrong, we want to make sure it never goes wrong again.”

Sen. Cory Gardner (R., Colo.) said in an interview Tuesday he doubted the EPA had an adequate network set up in the region to respond to the disaster. “Something did go wrong, and here we are, a week later, and there still remains a lack of understanding not only with what happened, but what’s actually at stake in terms of public health,” Mr. Gardner said.

An EPA cleanup crew on Aug. 5 accidentally triggered a breach in an abandoned gold mine in the southwestern part of Colorado, releasing an estimated three million gallons of toxic, mustard-tinted sludge through a river system that also spans New Mexico and Utah.

IN DEPTH: Nunavut hunters want feds to stay out of uranium mine decision – by Sima Sahar Zerehi (CBC News North – August 11, 2015)

August 12, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

‘This would be a political disaster for Nunavut, and for Canada,’ Kivalliq Wildlife Board

Hunters in Nunavut say if the federal government overrides a recent uranium mining decision from the Nunavut Impact Review Board if will seriously erode the confidence of the Inuit in the regulatory system.

“This would be a political disaster for Nunavut, and for Canada,” states the Kivalliq Wildlife Board in a letter they sent to the minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development yesterday.

“Residents and institutions of Nunavut have spent considerable time and resources participating in the NIRB screening and review of Areva’s proposal,” states the letter, “If you reject the NIRB report and recommendation, residents of Nunavut will question what the point of their participation in this process was.”

This spring, the Nunavut Impact Review Board issued its final report on a proposed uranium mine near Baker Lake. The report rejected Areva’s proposed Kiggavik mine on the grounds that it lacks a definite start date and a development schedule. The review board concluded that without this information it was impossible to assess the environmental and social impacts of the uranium mine.

METALS-Copper, aluminium tumble to six-year lows after China devalues yuan – by Eric Onstad (Reuters U.S. – August 11, 2015)

August 12, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Aug 11 (Reuters) – Copper and aluminium hit six-year lows on Tuesday after China devalued its currency, fuelling worries about a glut of aluminium and boosting the cost of commodities for the world’s top metals consumer.

Zinc spiralled to the weakest in nearly three years as the currency move unleashed a wave of speculative selling across the metals complex on the London Metal Exchange, which has shed about 16 percent so far this year.

It reversed a rally in the previous session as bears got the upper hand again. “It really suggests that these markets are incredibly weak,” said Justin Lennon at Mitsui Bussan Commodities USA in New York.

Three month LME copper closed down 3.5 percent at $5,125 a tonne after sliding to $5,109, the weakest since July 2009.

It more than wiped out the 2.6 percent gains from the previous session. “The devaluation will make commodities more expensive for China to import, so I would imagine that is the main reason for the negative reaction,” said Caroline Bain, senior commodities economist at Capital Economics in London.

Chile Mines Turn to Renewable Energy – by Ryan Dube (Wall Street Journal – August 11, 2015)

August 12, 2015

http://www.wsj.com/

Power-hungry operations save nearly $20 per megawatt hour using the sun and wind

CALAMA, Chile—The three industrial boilers at the state-owned Codelco mine high in the mountains here once consumed 67,000 barrels of diesel a year to turn out shiny copper sheets for export. Now, the job is powered by nearly 3,000 solar panels that take advantage of the Atacama Desert’s cloudless blue sky.

As the cost of solar and wind power declines, renewable energy has become increasingly attractive to power-hungry mining companies. Nowhere, though, is it more prevalent than in resource-rich Chile, where companies have been pioneering alternatives to conventional power after years of shouldering some of the world’s highest energy costs.

Here at the Codelco mine, named after the late Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral, a thermosolar plant run by Chile’s Energia Llaima SpA and Denmark’s Arcon-Sunmark has replaced about 80% of the diesel that Codelco previously trucked up 8,700 feet to the mine. Copper produced by Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile, or Codelco, the world’s biggest producer of the metal, goes to China and other global markets.

“This blue sky makes me happy,” said plant manager Rodrigo Aravena, as he inspected rows of panels, shining in the sun and installed over an area the size of eight football fields. “It means we are generating more, and it is much better for business.”

It’s a double-dose of uncertainty for Labrador’s iron ore industry – by Terry Roberts (CBC News Newfoundland – August 11, 2015)

August 12, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/

Canadian analyst says IOC in danger of closing, while hope fades for Alderon’s Kami Project

here’s more unsettling news for the iron ore industry in Labrador West after a Canadian investment firm suggested IOC is in danger of closing, while hope continues to fade for Alderon’s much-hyped Kami Project.

A report by Raymond James Ltd., suggested that mining giant Rio Tinto, majority owner of the Iron Ore Company of Canada, is losing money at its Labrador City operation, which employs an estimated 2,000 workers.

“Iron ore prices continue to weaken and by our estimates are below the operating cost at the mine,” the firm wrote in an investment overview published in late April.

Analysts at Raymond James estimate IOC will receive an average price of US$62.50 per tonne this year while costs are estimated at $US68.50.

One analyst said the operation is a “drain” on Rio Tinto and “we believe there is a risk IOC may close if its costs and productivity do not improve.”

Ontario and Quebec communities banding together to counter Greenpeace’s messaging – by Alan S. Hale (Timmins Daily Press – August 12, 2015)

August 12, 2015

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

Mayors from the member communities of the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) met with representatives of communities in Northern Quebec, as well as the forestry industry and First Nations in Timmins on Tuesday afternoon.

The diverse group came together to discuss ways to counter the messaging of environmentalist groups about forest industry practices. Much of the discussion revolved around one group in particular: Greenpeace, which the Ontario mayors have already gone so far as to accuse of “eco-terrorism.”

“We decided as communities, industry stakeholders, and First Nations to talk about what the current issues are that affect us in Northern Ontario where we are under attack by environmental groups,” said FONOM president Al Spacek. “We feel strongly that it is a campaign of misinformation about how we conduct forestry in Northern Ontario. We know we adhere to the highest Canadian and provincial standards.

“We want to develop a strategy to get that message out, so we can defend our culture and the lifestyle we’ve been practising up here for generations very sustainably.”

Colorado, New Mexico Free Up State Funds for Gold-Mine Spill – by Dan Frosch (Wall Street Journal – August 10, 2015)

August 12, 2015

http://www.wsj.com/

Governors declare emergencies; EPA criticized for accident that sent contaminants into river system

The governors of Colorado and New Mexico declared emergencies Monday, freeing up state funds to help clean up a mine spill that sent an estimated three million gallons of toxic, mustard-hued sludge surging through the regional river system.

The announcements allocate $500,000 in state money for Colorado and an additional $750,000 for New Mexico, on top of $500,000 disbursed Friday. The spill occurred Wednesday after an Environmental Protection Agency cleanup crew accidentally triggered a breach in an abandoned gold mine, releasing a plume of contaminated water.

“I had the chance to see the spill with my own eyes. It is absolutely devastating, and I am heartbroken by this environmental catastrophe,” said New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, adding she was concerned about the EPA’s “lack of communication.”

The EPA has apologized for the accident, with one official calling it a tragedy. The agency also said it regretted a slow response that has drawn sharp criticism from officials and residents in Colorado and New Mexico.