International Media Resource Articles – Page 423

UPDATE 1-Eramet plans more nickel cost cuts, to target lower grades – by Gus Trompiz (Reuters U.S. – July 27, 2017)

July 28, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

PARIS, July 27 (Reuters) – Eramet pledged further cost cuts after its nickel division suffered more losses in the first half of the year and said it would shift strategy by entering the lower-grade nickel pig iron market via a mining project in Indonesia.

Like other nickel miners, Eramet has been grappling with persistent weakness in market prices, partly due to moves by Indonesia and the Philippines to go back on restrictions targetting the mining sector.

In an interim results statement on Thursday, Eramet reported an operating loss of 104 million euros for its nickel branch, against an 89 million euro loss a year earlier, although a strong performance at its manganese unit helped it post group current operating profit of 256 million euros.

Trump’s Already Spooking Buyers of Foreign Steel, Cliffs Says – by Joe Deaux (Bloomberg News – July 27, 2017)

July 28, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

President Donald Trump’s pledge to safeguard U.S. steelmakers from cheap overseas shipments is already working even as hopes fade of an imminent announcement of measures.

At least that’s what Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lourenco Goncalves says is happening as buyers shy away from imported steel in case the White House hands down restrictions that would invoke retroactive penalties. The ensuing increase in demand for domestic metal is allowing U.S. producers to push up prices, he said in a telephone interview.

“We are seeing that happening right now,” said Goncalves, whose company sells iron ore to U.S. mills. “Right now there’s a lot of people who are scared.”

Brazil Miner Vale Grows Weary of Nickel – by Paul Kiernan (Wall Street Journal – July 27, 2017)

July 27, 2017

http://www.foxbusiness.com/

RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazilian mining giant Vale SA, the world’s largest producer of nickel, signaled Thursday that it will stop betting on a recovery in prices for the metal after such hopes failed to materialize in recent years.

Chief Executive Fabio Schvartsman, who took the helm of the company in May, said Vale’s nickel investments in recent years haven’t paid off because they were based on unrealistic price expectations.

“Every one of Vale’s nickel production facilities will have to work on the assumption that current prices will remain for a long period of time, ” Mr. Schvartsman said in a conference call with analysts. “In other words, Vale will stop making investments thinking that the price of nickel in the future will be much higher than at present.”

ANC’s Mining Charter response ‘very constructive’ – Anglo – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – July 27, 2017)

July 27, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The response of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) party at its recent policy conference, that further discussion is required on the controversial Mining Charter Three, to ensure that investment and employment levels are not negatively affected, has been described as “very constructive” by Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani.

Responding to journalists’ questions following Anglo’s posting of strong half-year earnings that hit the $1.5-billion mark and cash flow that soared to $2.7-billion, Cutifani said Anglo was supportive of the legal course of action being followed by the Chamber of Mines, with the ultimate objective being arriving at a solution that was practically implementable and that preserved and enhanced investment in what is a critically important South African industry.

Cutifani cautioned that in the absence of new investment, South Africa would fail to deliver the economic growth required to create greater levels of employment and socioeconomic upliftment for the benefit of all South Africans and reiterated Anglo’s commitment to meeting South Africa’s transformation objectives.

[Rio Tinto] How Much for That Fancy Red Diamond? It’s Kind of a Secret – by Micah Maidenberg – New York Times – July 26, 2017)

July 27, 2017

https://www.nytimes.com/

When the mining company Rio Tinto shows its latest batch of rare naturally colored diamonds — stones with hues of pink, red and even “deep-gray violet” — executives are delighted to go on about their beauty and scarcity.

But details about pricing? That is when the lips draw shut. “It’s quite confidential,” said a laughing Arnaud Soirat, the chief executive of Rio Tinto’s copper and diamond group. Welcome to the exclusive world of the colored diamond trade, a market where the buyer pool is slim, the supply is constricted and a carat can fetch $1 million or more.

On Wednesday, Rio Tinto came to Manhattan to introduce its latest and best colored diamonds, in the start of a tour that will include a stop in Hong Kong and another one in New York. The company’s latest cache, 58 stones, sparkled in glass cases on the 21st floor of a Chelsea skyscraper. With names like the Argyle Liberte and Argyle Isla, the total weight of all the stones was 49.39 carats, suggesting a collective value in the tens of millions — even though they all could fit in a pants pocket.

Glencore snaps up 49pc of Hunter Valley Operations in $US1bn deal – by Matt Chambers (The Australian – July 27, 2017)

July 27, 2017

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

UPDATE: Glencore has confirmed it had struck a $US1.139 billion deal to buy 49 per cent of the Hunter Valley Operations coal mines from Yancoal Australia and Mitsubishi.

The deal, which is conditional on approvals and the completion of Yancoal’s acquisition of Rio Tinto’s operating stake in HVO as part of a $US2.69bn deal struck last month to buy all of Rio’s Australian thermal coal, is expected to be completed within six months.

Under the deal, revealed by The Australian this afternoon, Glencore has also agreed to subscribe for $US300 million of Yancoal shares in an equity raising to fund Yancoal’s Rio purchase.

Dear President Trump, Afghanistan’s Minerals Aren’t Very Valuable, They’re Really Not – by Tim Worstall (Forbes Magazine – July 27, 2017)

July 27, 2017

https://www.forbes.com/

This is almost amusing actually, Donald Trump is reported, in the New York Times, as thinking that Afghanistan’s valuable mineral deposits might be a good reason for the US to stay in that country. The humour here coming from the role of the New York Times in misreporting the value of the minerals in Afghanistan some 7 years ago. True, they weren’t the original source but they certainly propagated the mistake enthusiastically.

The point being that there are a lot of rocks in Afghanistan, those rocks contain metals and if the metals were out of the rocks and out of Afghanistan then they’d be valuable. But they’re not out and out, the metals are still in the rocks in Afghanistan and thus aren’t valuable. As we can tell from the fact that no one is lining up to pay for them.

Thus the idea that the US should stay there in order to aid in exploiting this value doesn’t really work out, there’s no value to be exploiting. This is the bit the NY Times just doesn’t get:

Brazil mining reforms seen passing Congress despite opposition – by Jake Spring and Alexandra Alper (Reuters U.S. – July 26, 2017)

July 27, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

BRASILIA/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Mining reforms decreed by Brazilian President Michel Temer are likely to pass Congress, a legislative leader told Reuters on Wednesday, despite opposition from an industry trade group.

The revisions to the mining code, announced on Tuesday, would raise government mining royalties. But officials said they would also cut industry red tape by creating a new regulatory agency and speeding up approvals.

Temer, who is under investigation for corruption, has argued that changes across many sectors of the economy are necessary to shore up government finances as Brazil emerges from its worst recession on record.

Tanzania’s President Urges Increased Control of Mineral Wealth – by Omar Mohammed (Bloomberg News – July 26, 2017)

July 27, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Tanzanians are being cheated out of the country’s mineral wealth and should take more control of their natural resources, President John Magufuli said.

Investors in Tanzania’s mining industry have “stolen” from the country by failing to distribute a fair share of the revenue they generate from gold and other minerals, Magufuli said in a speech in the central region of Singida on Tuesday.

“We are surrounded by wealth; we have to stand up and protect it,” he said. “It shouldn’t happen that we have all this wealth, sit on it, while others come and benefit from it by cheating us.”

Millions of Orchids Are Blooming in an Abandoned Iron Mine – by Michelle Z. Donahue (National Geographic – May 12, 2016)

July 27, 2017

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

The plants are thriving in a wetland that sprang up after the mine was shuttered in the 1970s.

A vacationer heading to Lake Placid on State Route 3 could be forgiven for barely glancing at a group of dilapidated buildings on the way through Star Lake, New York. Those structures are all that remain of what was once the world’s largest open-pit iron mine.

But hidden in a wooded marsh directly across the street, curious road trippers would find an even more startling deposit: Millions of orchids have been thriving for over 60 years on the blighted industrial waste site.

The colorful flowers are growing atop a wetland that formed at the base of a pile of tailings—crushed rock left over when iron ore is extracted from its surroundings. As part of her research, graduate student Grete Bader tallied up the plants within 20 predefined plots, and her work suggests wildflowers now cover the hundred-acre wetland.

Clean electric cars are built on pollution in Congo – by David Pilling (Financial Times – July 26, 2017)

July 26, 2017

https://www.ft.com/

Behind every clean electric car there is cobalt. And behind cobalt is the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Cobalt is a critical element in lithium-ion batteries used in electric cars. Such batteries already consume 42 per cent of the metal and demand will soar as the world switches from petrol and diesel cars to electric ones.

This week, Britain followed France in declaring a ban on such vehicles from 2040. Soon, almost anyone in the rich world will be able to drive safe in the knowledge that they’re being kinder and gentler to the planet.

Did I mention the Democratic Republic of Congo? Some 60 per cent of the world’s cobalt comes from this central African country, one the size of western Europe and with gargantuan problems to match. Some industry analysts are predicting a 30-fold increase in cobalt demand by 2030, much of which will come from Congo.

No one has done more for indigenous Australians than the mining industry – by Marcia Langton (The Australian – July 26, 2017)

July 26, 2017

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

Marcia Langton is foundation chair of Australian indigenous studies at the University of Melbourne.

Australians concerned about the “Uluru Statement from the Heart” and the subsequent Referendum Council call for constitutional reform and a Makarrata Commission should look to the mining industry as an example of what such change might bring.

The definition of the Makarrata Commission in the Uluru Statement is “the culmination of our agenda: the coming together after a struggle. It captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination”.

Across the public, private and community sectors, no one has done more to advance a better future and self-determination for indigenous Australians than the mining industry, and to lead the transition from highly adversarial relationships to one of mutual respect, common goals, and partnerships through agreement.

Trump Finds Reason for the U.S. to Remain in Afghanistan: Minerals – by Mark Landler and James Risen (New York Times – July 25, 2017)

July 26, 2017

https://www.nytimes.com/

WASHINGTON — President Trump, searching for a reason to keep the United States in Afghanistan after 16 years of war, has latched on to a prospect that tantalized previous administrations: Afghanistan’s vast mineral wealth, which his advisers and Afghan officials have told him could be profitably extracted by Western companies.

Mr. Trump has discussed the country’s mineral deposits with President Ashraf Ghani, who promoted mining as an economic opportunity in one of their first conversations. Mr. Trump, who is deeply skeptical about sending more American troops to Afghanistan, has suggested that this could be one justification for the United States to stay engaged in the country.

To explore the possibilities, the White House is considering sending an envoy to Afghanistan to meet with mining officials. Last week, as the White House fell into an increasingly fractious debate over Afghanistan policy, three of Mr. Trump’s senior aides met with a chemical executive, Michael N. Silver, to discuss the potential for extracting rare-earth minerals. Mr. Silver’s firm, American Elements, specializes in these minerals, which are used in a range of high-tech products.

UK Serious Fraud Office launches probe into Rio Tinto over Simandou – by Frik Els (Mining.com – July 24, 2017)

July 25, 2017

http://www.mining.com/

The UK’s anti-fraud investigating body said Monday it is probing Rio Tinto’s dealings in Guinea involving the giant Simandou iron ore project.

“The Serious Fraud Office has opened an investigation into suspected corruption in the conduct of business in the Republic of Guinea by the Rio Tinto group, its employees and others associated with it,” the SFO said in a statement on Monday.

In November last year Melbourne-based Rio fired two executives involved in the project after an internal investigation uncovered a $10.5m payment in 2011 to a French national acting as a go-between with the West African nation’s government.

After China-induced price spike, coal set to resume long-term decline – by Nina Chestney and Henning Gloystein (Reuters U.S. – July 24, 2017)

July 25, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Coal prices’ march to eight-month highs, driven by China’s huge appetite for power consumption, looks like an interlude in a longer-term decline and is seen losing traction later this year.

Investors widely anticipate a slow demise for coal use due to policies encouraging cleaner natural gas and renewable energy generation, but the shorter-term outlook for the industry has seen a sharp reversal of fortunes.

Asia’s benchmark physical coal prices GCLNWCPFBMc1 have gained more than a third from lows seen in May to nearly $98 per ton, while European benchmark API2 2018 coal futures are at eight-month highs of around $74 a ton. Recent gains are largely due to high demand in China, where power consumption has jumped more than 6 percent since the beginning of the year.