August 18, 2015 – Republic of Mining

Australia Aims to Shield Mining Projects From Green Groups – by Rob Taylor (Wall Street Journal – August 18, 2015)

August 18, 2015

http://www.wsj.com/

Push to amend environmental laws comes after court decision overturning approval for Adani mine

CANBERRA, Australia—Australia’s conservative government plans to amend environmental laws to prevent green groups from challenging mining projects in which they have no direct involvement.

Opening another front in a long-running battle with the environmental movement, Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane told Parliament on Tuesday that “there is a strategy to destroy jobs” and that activists were blocking resource projects “regardless of the economic impact on the community.”

The push to amend environmental laws comes after a court earlier this month overturned approval for Indian conglomerate Adani Group to build one of the world’s biggest new coal mines on scrubland near the Great Barrier Reef.

Environmental groups went to court to try to stop the Carmichael coal mine project amid concerns the mine and associated infrastructure in the Galilee Basin of tropical Queensland state could endanger a rare lizard known as the yakka skink and another vulnerable species, the ornamental snake.

New Grand Chief stepping back from Ring of Fire – by Alan S. Hale (Timmins Daily Press – August 18, 2015)

August 18, 2015

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

MOOSONEE – The Grand Chief-elect of the Mushkegowuk Council, Jonathan Solomon, is vowing to consult with the people and chiefs of the council’s member communities more than his predecessor did.

That is likely to please those who thought Grand Chief Lawrence Martin made too many promises and announcements on important issues without seeking enough input from the communities. It is not likely to please proponents of the already stalled Ring of Fire development.

Back in February, Martin stated his support for a proposed energy and railway corridor running across Mushkegowuk territory from Moosonee to the chromite mining development located 600 kilometres northwest of Timmins.

According to Solomon, that announcement “blindsided” many people within the Mushkegowuk Council, and that under his leadership, they would be stepping back from that commitment.

“I need to step back and review everything,” said Solomon.

Essar Steel places big bet on US iron ore – by Aaron Stanley (Financial Times – August 18, 2015)

August 18, 2015

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

Hibbing, Minnesota – On an abandoned iron ore deposit just outside of Hibbing, Minnesota — the boyhood home of Bob Dylan — India’s Essar Steel is ramping up construction on a $1.9bn mining and processing facility.

On planned completion in the second quarter of 2016 it hopes to produce 7m tonnes annually of high-grade iron ore pellets for 70-80 years.

After being delayed several times by financing problems during the recession, the project — one of the largest greenfield construction projects in North America by capital expenditure — will be the first new facility in 40 years on Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range. The 150km stretch of the richest iron ore deposits in North America has powered the Great Lakes steel mills and US industrialisation for more than a century.

But the massive construction project comes as other US iron and steel companies cut production in the face of low global iron ore prices and cheap steel imports.

Essar, a $39bn conglomerate whose Canadian steelmaking operation recently emerged from bankruptcy protection, is placing a large bet on a new boom in US manufacturing that will create more demand for high-grade, domestically produced steel.

Can Canada’s Yukon Gold Deposits Surpass Nevada’s Gold Fields? – by Neils Christensen (Kitco News – August 18, 2015)

August 18, 2015

http://www.kitco.com/news/

(Kitco News) – Geologists no longer dispute that the Yukon Territory in Canada’s northwest holds gold deposits that are similar in geology to the gold fields in Nevada, but for many the only question is how far these newly discovered deposits actually spread.

For many years it was believed that Nevada’s gold deposits were unique and specific to that region; however, that theory had to be abandoned after the discovery of Canada’s first Carlin-type gold deposit in 2009.

Since then ATAC Resources (TSX.V: ATC) has been busy exploring the Rackla Gold property which covers an area of 1,700 square kilometers; the company has identified at least five Carline-type clusters, which could only be the start.

“We have lots of [geological] anomalies that we just haven’t had time to assess yet,” said Julia Lane, vice president of exploration for ATAC. “There is a ton of regional potential here.”

Exploration of the Carlin-type deposits started in earnest in 2010 and has been steadily progressing.

Former Centerra CEO ‘shocked’ by lack of Canadian action after controversial arrest in Bulgaria – by Peter Koven (National Post – August 19, 2015)

August 18, 2015

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

TORONTO — The former chief executive of Centerra Gold Inc. is lashing out at Canadian authorities after his arrest last month in Bulgaria on corruption allegations he says are unfounded and simply an attempt to sway current negotiations around a gold mine.

“My situation here is, in my opinion, pretty dire,” Len Homeniuk said in a phone interview.

Homeniuk, 68, was on a cruise on the Danube River with his family when Bulgarian authorities detained him in late July. He spent 11 days in prison, and was then transferred to house arrest. He is confined to a small apartment in Sofia, and is facing a potential extradition to Kyrgyzstan.

Homeniuk was arrested because the Kyrgyz government put him on Interpol’s wanted persons list due to alleged involvement in corruption. This comes as Centerra and the Kyrgyz government try to negotiate a new ownership agreement over the Kumtor gold mine.

“In my opinion, the only reason for this action is to put pressure on Centerra in the ongoing negotiations,” he said. He appealed the Interpol notice months ago, but the case has not yet been reviewed.

Major South African gold producers fly into the danger zone – by Lawrie Williams (Mineweb.com – August 18, 2015)

August 18, 2015

http://www.mineweb.com/

Many of South Africa’s major gold mines will be making losses on an AISC basis at current gold prices and it is hard to see the industry recovering much failing a major bullion price increase.

LONDON -A few months ago, Mineweb published a thought-provoking article suggesting the South African Gold Mining industry as we know it might not survive beyond the end of the decade (See: Could SA’s gold mining industry be gone by 2020?).

In it Patrick Cairns reported on a talk by Peter Major, mining specialist at Cadiz Corporate Solutions, to JSE’s Power Hour in Cape Town, where he laid bare the serious problems facing the industry which have almost brought it to its knees. The current gold price is now around, or below, many of the miners’ latest AISC guidance levels and if the forecasts of most mainstream analysts are to be believed – the future of the industry looks bleak.

Major’s talk pointed to numerous political and union-related changes that have already seen the industry reduce to a fraction of the size it was only a decade or so ago. And unless there is a major pick-up in the gold price there would seem to be little prospect of any recovery.

Nickel woes push South32 shares to fresh low point – by Michael Roddan (The Australian – August 18, 2015)

August 18, 2015

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

BHP Billiton spin-off South32, which launched on the sharemarket with high hopes in May, tumbled to a new low on the ASX today amid a global commodity crunch, with shares down more than 30 per cent from their high point shortly after listing.

The diversified miner (S32), which holds BHP’s former non-core coal and base metal assets, has been hit by weak commodity prices and soft global demand amid a rising US dollar.

The shares, which hit a peak of $2.37 after listing, fell as much as 3.4 per cent to $1.56 in today’s trade, taking the total decline from the posting-listing high to 34 per cent.

South32, a miner of metals such as nickel, coal, silver, aluminium and zinc, has seen commodity prices crash during its short life. Bloomberg’s commodities index slumped to its lowest point in 13 years recently.

The prices of nickel, copper and zinc are all hitting their lowest points since 2009, as concerns about slowing economic growth in China are pushing industrial metals down.

UPDATE 2-Barrick scraps co-president structure in management shuffle – by Euan Rocha (Reuters U.S. – August 18, 2015)

August 18, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

Aug 17 (Reuters) – Barrick Gold Corp said on Monday that Jim Gowans, a veteran miner and one of its co-presidents, was retiring and that he would not be replaced, as the miner moves to thin out its ranks and create a leaner operating structure.

In the latest reshuffle, Kelvin Dushnisky, who has served as co-president with Gowans for a year, has been named as president and will continue to report to Executive Chair John Thornton, a former Goldman Sachs executive.

Toronto-based Barrick said Gowans would step down as co-president immediately, but stay on as an adviser to the chairman until he retires at the end of the year.

Analysts said the exit of Gowans, who has four decades of industry experience, leaves a void of first-hand mining know-how in Barrick’s senior ranks.

“The loss of a senior executive with the mining experience of Jim Gowans does reduce the ‘bench strength’ of the overall management team,” noted Barclays analyst Farooq Hamed in a note to clients on Monday.

Glencore swoops on Sirius’ nickel – by Peter Ker (Sydney Morning Herald – August 18, 2015)

August 18, 2015

http://www.smh.com.au/

Glencore’s financial troubles have not prevented the Swiss giant from swooping on the remaining offtake from Sirius Resources’ Nova mine in WA. In a deal that completes the offtake process for Sirius for the time being, Glencore will buy half of the nickel and copper concentrate produced at Nova for the first three years of the mine.

The agreement comes after BHP Billiton agreed in March to buy half of the first three years’ concentrate from Nova, and Trafigura agreed to buy copper concentrate from the mine.

Both BHP and Glencore have nickel operations within a few hundred kilometres of the Nova mine but while the concentrate bound for BHP will go into its Nickel West smelter at Kalgoorlie, Sirius said the concentrate bought by Glencore would be shipped overseas out of either Esperance or Geraldton ports.

Nova is not expected to come into production until late 2016, and the fact that 100 per cent of production for the first three years has already been sold amid a weak nickel market is a tribute to the expected high quality of the Sirius concentrate.

Canada’s natural-resource wealth must be included on balance sheets – by Lyn Brown and Julie Desjardins (Globe and Mail – August 18, 2015)

August 18, 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.

Lyn Brown is managing director of the Council for Clean Capitalism. Julie Desjardins is director, reporting and capital markets, of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada.

The amount of natural-resource wealth within Canada’s borders is impressive. Natural-resource assets, which include timber, oil, natural gas and other subsoil minerals, have been valued by Statistics Canada at about $1-trillion. This puts Canada in an enviable position relative to other countries.

As with financial and produced or physical assets, natural capital (land, ecosystems and natural-resource stock) generates economic value in various ways. Accounting for Canada’s natural capital enables informed policy and capital-allocation decision making. While Statistics Canada has valued our natural-resource assets, it has not as yet fully incorporated natural capital into its national macroeconomic accounts.

To understand the importance of accounting for and integrating natural capital in public accounts, consider the private sector.

Will a smaller global commodities appetite benefit Canada? – by Jeff Rubin (Globe and Mail – August 18, 2015)

August 18, 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.

Popular opinion suggests any slowdown in resource demand from China, which is becoming more desperate in its attempts to revive its flagging economy, will be especially bad for a commodity-dependent economy such as Canada’s.

That may well be the case, but it does overlook at least one key silver lining. Sharply lower commodity prices are now offering Canada an opportunity to push the reset button on an economy that’s become distorted by an overdependence on resource markets.

Whether you’re talking about oil, coal, or copper, it seems as if all roads have led to China for going on 20 years. With the sun now appearing to set on China’s track record of robust economic growth, questions are now being asked about whether the country might follow the example of Japan’s economy, which set the world on fire decades ago before sliding into a protracted period of stagnation that it’s still struggling to shake off.

Whether it’s stimulus spending, rate cuts or a recent devaluation of the yuan, Beijing’s attempts to prod China’s once seemingly unstoppable manufacturing sector back to its former heights continue to fall short.

Ontario’s Power Trip: How Hydro is walloping Ontario business – by Parker Gallant (National Post – August 19, 2015)

August 18, 2015

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

Over the past several months there has been a constant din of noise from all business segments in Ontario about the high price of electricity and its effects. Electricity prices have risen as they have absorbed the high costs of 20-year contracts for renewable energy in the form of wind and solar as additions to Ontario’s electricity grid. Ontario currently has a huge surplus which results in as much as 20 per cent of our generation exported at fire sale prices.

Couple that with a drop in demand, annual spending of $400 million on conservation messages, smart meters that allow time of use (TOU) pricing and the Hydro One, OPG and other Ministry of Energy employees enjoying wages and benefits that outstrip the private sector means electricity bills for all segments of businesses and households are now a drain on the economy versus an attraction for new business and the jobs they might create.

The foregoing recently manifested itself in a report from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce entitled: “Empowering Ontario: Constraining Costs and Staying Competitive in the Electricity Market.” The report stated soaring electricity prices would cause one (1) in 20 Ontario businesses to shut their doors within the next 5 years.

Decimated Toyota cars, mangled cargo containers: Tianjin blast forces companies to suspend operations – by Erika Kinetz (Associated Press/National Post – August 18, 2015)

August 18, 2015

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

SHANGHAI — Foreign companies have suspended operations around the Tianjin port as officials scramble to contain the toxic fallout of last week’s deadly chemical explosions, which dealt a blow to northern China’s emerging economic hub.

Toyota said over half its China production capacity would be offline at least through Wednesday. The company has operations near the blast evacuation zone and said Monday that it had suspended three production lines, which can produce 530,000 vehicles a year.

Thousands of Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai and Renault cars, mostly pricey imports, parked on lots near the blast were decimated.

The operations of Panasonic, logistics company Singamas Container Holdings and, reportedly, Deere & Co. have also been disrupted.

The list of name-brand companies impacted by the blast is a testament to Tianjin’s rise, but regulatory and safety lapses at the hazardous goods warehouses that exploded have drawn attention to the sometimes shaky infrastructure China has laid down as it pursues ultra-fast growth.