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Copper

Zambian Royalty Spat Halts $2 Billion of Copper Mine Investment – by Felix Njini, Taonga Clifford Mitimingi and Matthew Hill (Bloomberg News – September 30, 2020)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Copper miners in Zambia have halted $2 billion of planned investments because a royalty tax introduced last year makes the projects unviable, according to an industry lobby group.

A plan by First Quantum Minerals Ltd. to invest $1 billion extending the life of its Kansanshi operation won’t proceed until the royalty is scrapped, said Sokwani Chilembo, chief executive officer of the Zambia Chamber of Mines. The same goes for EMR Capital-backed Lubambe Copper Mine’s project to invest a similar amount in a new mining operation, he said.

“We need this royalty payment regime removed for progress to begin,” Chilembo said in an interview. “If the government thinking is otherwise, good luck.”

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Rio Tinto hit with human rights claims over Bougainville mine (Agence France-Presse/Jakarta Post – September 29, 2020)

https://www.thejakartapost.com/

Rio Tinto is facing accusations it “side-stepped” responsibility to clean up poisonous waste from a closed mine on Papua New Guinea’s Bougainville island in a complaint filed Tuesday in Australia.

The complaint, lodged with Australian authorities by the Melbourne-based Human Rights Law Centre on behalf of more than 150 Bougainvilleans, heaps more pressure on the mining giant already under public attack for blowing up sacred Aboriginal sites.

It alleges the former Panguna copper and gold mine, which was at the center of a decade-long civil war in PNG, continues to leak waste into rivers more than three decades after it was shuttered.

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Pebble Partnership CEO resigns over leaked tape – by Editor (Mining.com – September 23, 2020)

https://www.mining.com/

Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX: NDM, NYSE: NAK) announced Wednesday that Tom Collier, CEO of its US-based subsidiary Pebble Limited Partnership, has submitted his resignation in light of comments made about elected and regulatory officials in Alaska in private conversations videotaped by an environmental activist group.

The announcement comes as doubts about the proposed Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum mine have steadily risen over recent months.

In September, short seller J Capital Research accused Northern Dynasty management of “gaslighting investors” and said the mine plan “is on its face absurd.”

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An Alaska Mine Project Might Be Bigger Than Acknowledged – by Henry Fountain (New York Times – September 21, 2020)

https://www.nytimes.com/

Executives overseeing the development of a long-disputed copper and gold mine in Alaska were recorded saying they expected the project to become much bigger, and operate for much longer, than outlined in the proposal that is awaiting final approval by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The executives, who were recorded in remote meetings by members of an environmental advocacy group posing as potential investors, said the project, Pebble Mine, could potentially operate for 160 years or more beyond the current proposal of 20 years. And it could quickly double its output after the initial two decades, they said.

“Once you have something like this in production why would you want to stop?” Ronald W. Thiessen, chief executive of Northern Dynasty Minerals, the parent company of Pebble Limited Partnership, said in one of the recordings.

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Definitive feasibility study for Kakula confirms giant mine – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – September 8, 2020)

https://www.mining.com/

Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN) published on Tuesday the results of an independent definitive feasibility study (DFS) for its Kakula project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which confirms the asset could become the world’s second largest copper mining complex.

Kakula, the first underground mine planned at the Kamoa-Kakula concession, is forecast to generate 6 million tonnes of ore a year at an average feed grade of 6.6% copper over the first five years of operation, the study shows.

Ivanhoe said the document is an independent verification by nine of the world’s top engineering firms of Kakula’s robust economics.

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KGHM hires new superintendent as bid to revive Ajax mine ramps up (Kamloops This Week – September 2, 2020)

https://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/

Investors in the former Ajax mine have hired a superintendent as they look to revive the controversial mining project.

Michal Wypych joins KGHM International as the company and partner Abacus Mining & Exploration Corporation intend to resubmit an environmental application to restart the mine.

In a Sept. 1 newsletter to investors, Abacus president and CEO Paul Anderson said that as the Ajax superintendent, Wypych’s duties will initially be focused on First Nations, community and governmental engagement in order to advance the project toward resubmitting the application to government.

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BHP maps out priorities in quest for ‘future-facing’ commodities – by Nick Toscano (Brisbane Times – August 31, 2020)

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/

The head of Australian mining giant BHP says new plans to boost exposure to the “future-facing” commodities nickel and copper will focus first on exploring for new deposits and finding ways to extract more from existing assets, rather than looking for acquisitions.

As BHP embarks on a clean-up of its portfolio by seeking to sell several coal mines, quit thermal coal and exit the Bass Strait oil and gas fields, it has also laid out plans to lift exposure to commodities that chief executive Mike Henry believes will be increasingly required to meet the world’s evolving needs, such as the manufacture of clean energy technologies.

Asked whether BHP would seek acquisitions to secure more options in commodities like nickel, copper and potash, Mr Henry said “maybe”, but only if the right opportunities presented.

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Doctor Copper: this Canadian mining company explains how the red metal fights COVID-19 – by Don Lindsay (World Economic Forum – August 28, 2020)

https://www.weforum.org/

Don Lindsay is the President and Chief Executive Officer, Teck Resources.

For more than 10,000 years, copper has played numerous critical roles in human civilization. The red metal’s pliability, conductivity and durability have seen it used in everything from early tools to plumbing to modern electronics.

In fact, copper is now so ubiquitous that the health of the copper market is often a predictor of the health of the economy overall – a fact that’s earned it the nickname “Doctor Copper”.

Today, as the world grapples with a pandemic, it turns out that the Doctor has an important part to play in healthcare, thanks to an unusual property that makes the metal a coronavirus killer.

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Copper price to extend rally on “signs of Chinese panic buying” – by Frik Els (Mining.com – August 27, 2020)

https://www.mining.com/

Copper once again cleared the psychologically important $3 a pound level on Thursday on the back of falling inventories, booming Chinese demand and pandemic hit supply from South America, the US and Africa.

Copper for delivery in December trading on the Comex in New York exchanged hands for $3.0120 a pound ($6,605 a tonne) in morning trade, bringing gains for 2020 to more than 8% and a mouthwatering 52% since the covid-19 lows struck in March.

A new report from Roskill suggests the rally in copper – which has surprised many with its speed – has further to go.

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Copper Belt exploration enables diversification – by Cameron Mackay(MiningWeekly.com – May 22, 2020)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

Renewed exploration interest in the Kalahari Copper Belt, in Botswana, can help the country diversify its mining economy and industrialise, says mining consulting services provider MSA Group principal consultant Mike Robertson.

He emphasises that diamond mining has been the mainstay of Botswana’s economy since the first diamonds were discovered there in 1966, averaging 75% of the country’s exports. Botswana is second only to Russia, globally in terms of rough diamond production.

The country’s diamond industry is also characterised by high diamond quality, high production volumes and, particularly in the past few years, large diamond sizes.

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Native Americans: Rio’s copper plan belies gorge vows – by Peter Ker (Australian Financial Review – August 21, 2020)

https://www.afr.com/

Native American groups say Rio Tinto’s plan to build a big copper mine on one of their sacred sites contradicts the company’s vow to improve management of cultural heritage in the wake of this year’s Juukan Gorge debacle in Western Australia.

The comments from Apache and environmental groups in the US highlight the global ramifications of Rio’s decision to blast through the culturally sensitive gorge in May, and how inconvenient the timing could be for the company’s plan to build a big new copper mine in Arizona.

US regulators were scheduled to file their final environmental impact study into the Resolution Copper project in July, ending eight years of approval processes and triggering a controversial land swap within 60 days.

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‘Hot’ copper is attracting plenty of deal buzz, executive says – by James Attwood (Bloomberg News – August 19, 2020)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

The pandemic hasn’t damped deal-making enthusiasm in copper. In fact, interest — if not actual deals — is on the rise, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. investment banker-turned-mining executive Hayden Locke.

“I feel like there’s more going on because corporate development teams can’t travel — they have more time on their hands to review what’s going on in the market,” Locke, the recently appointed president of explorer Marimaca Copper Corp., said in an interview. “I don’t know if that will translate into execution, but copper is very hot.”

Prices of the metal used in wiring have surged to two-year highs as producers struggle to keep up with strong demand in China.

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Arctic mine signs giant copper contract with a green touch – by Thomas Nilsen (The Barents Observer – August 12, 2020)

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en

Nussir aims at becoming the world’s first fully electrified underground mine, with zero emission of CO2.

Preparing for production could start later this year and the first shipments of concentrate by 2022 as the mining company this week announced the deal with the German smelter.

“It emphasizes the importance of moving towards the green economy, with a clean production cycle and encourages recycling of copper,” Nussir writes in a press release explaining why Aurubis won the fierce competition.

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Hudbay Minerals posts $51.9m loss, cuts Peru guidance – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – August 12, 2020)

https://www.mining.com/

Canadian miner Hudbay Minerals (TSX, NYSE: HBM) posted a $51.9 million loss in the three months to June 30, as an eight-week suspension of its Constancia copper mine in Peru weighed on the results.

The Toronto-based company revised down its production targets for its Peruvian operations to 65,000-75,000 tonnes of copper and 25,000-35,000 ounces of precious metals. Hudbay had earlier forecast 80,000-95,000 tonnes of copper and 45,000-55,000 ounces of gold for 2020.

The new guidance also reflects the change in Pampacancha production start date to early 2021 from the second half of this year.

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Giant Alaska copper-gold mine gets final environment nod after 15-year fight – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – July 24, 2020)

https://www.mining.com/

Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX: NDM) has cleared the last environmental hurdle for its proposed Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum mine in Alaska, almost two decades after developers first started considering the project.

The US Army Corps of Engineers issued on Friday a final environmental impact statement (EIS), backing the controversial mine in the Bristol Bay region.

The decision opens the door for Northern Dynasty to obtain the federal go-ahead as soon as late August.

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