Latin America Mining – Page 59

Strip-Club Promos Vie With Gender Equality at Mining Expo – by Laura Millan Lombrana (Bloomberg News – April 26, 2018)

April 26, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Latin America’s top mining exposition kicked off with a seminar on promoting gender equality. Meanwhile, at the exhibition center a few miles away, women in tight dresses and high heels posed next to mining tool booths and strip-club promoters at the entrance offered two-for-one drink coupons to attendees.

The week-long Expomin event in Chile offered a glimpse at both how far the industry has come — and how far it has to go. The last time the event was held, in 2016, Chile’s then Mining Minister Aurora Williams called for an end to the use of women as a commercial hook and set a 10 percent target of female participation in the sector for 2018. The industry hasn’t yet met that goal.

As a symbol of its commitment, Expomin opened with its “Women and Mining” panel. About half of the speakers at the session were women, a marked contrast with the overall event.

UPDATE 1-Chile’s SQM says lithium industry needs at least $10 bln investment over 10 yrs – by Ton Daly (Reuters U.S. – April 18, 2018)

April 18, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

SHANGHAI, April 18 (Reuters) – The global lithium industry will need $10 billion-$12 billion of investment over the next decade to meet surging demand amid the electric vehicle boom, an executive of Chilean miner SQM said on Wednesday.

Demand for the metal is set to grow by 600,000-800,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent over the next 10 years, Daniel Jimenez, senior commercial vice president at SQM, said. Lithium carbonate is a chemical used to make batteries for electric vehicles.

“So a lot of capital needs to be put on the table for this to materialise, which is a challenge,” Jimenez told the Metal Bulletin Battery Materials Conference in Shanghai.

After setbacks, Anglo American counting on turnaround for Minas-Rio mine – by Alexandra Alper and Barbara Lewis (Reuters U.K. – April 17, 2018)

April 17, 2018

https://uk.reuters.com/

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Two leaks in a month, a 90-day outage and $58 million in fines is not enough to temper Anglo American’s (AAL.L) ambition for its long-delayed, multi-billion dollar Minas-Rio iron ore mine in Brazil.

Purchased at the height of the commodities boom a decade ago for $5.5 billion, Anglo American was once counting on Minas-Rio to produce 26.5 million tons of iron ore by 2016. The mine’s strength is its high-grade iron ore that commands a premium as the world’s biggest commodity consumer China seeks to cut pollution.

Minas-Rio is Anglo American’s biggest development project, and its bet on the future of iron ore, but so far it only accounts for a small percentage of its overall profits as it is still in ramp-up phase.

Eldorado Gold likely to put Brazil project up for sale: fund manager – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – April 14, 2018)

April 16, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Eldorado Gold Corp. may sell its Brazilian gold operations as it seeks to raise capital over the next 18 months, says a precious-metals fund manager.

While the struggling Vancouver-based intermediate gold producer has no urgent cash crunch, its longer-term capital expenditure needs far exceed cash holdings.

In a conference call with analysts following its year-end results last month, chief executive officer George Burns said Eldorado will explore all financing options, including “divestiture at the right price of some of our assets that aren’t top priority.”

Mexico still No. 1 for silver production (Mexico News Daily – April 14, 2018)

April 16, 2018

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/

Eight years in a row as the world’s leading silver producer

Mexico held on to first place in global silver production last year for the eighth year in a row, a situation that shows no sign of changing.

Mining firms operating in Mexico extracted a total of 196.4 million ounces of silver during the year, according to the World Silver Survey 2018, produced for The Silver Institute by Thomson Reuters.

Despite global silver production dropping by 4.1% between 2016 and 2017, “the story was more upbeat in the case of Mexico,” where the volume of production rose by 5%, or 10.1 million ounces, explained the lead metals analyst at Thomson Reuters.

Labour conflict at Torex mine in Mexico cools off – by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud (Mining.com – April 11, 2018)

April 12, 2018

http://www.mining.com/

Canada’s Torex Gold Resources (TSX: TXG) announced that, following last week’s negotiations that put an end to a five-month blockade at its El Limón-Guajes mine, today it received a notification stating that the union in conflict had withdrawn its case before Mexico’s Federal Labour Board.

Los Mineros Union, led by expat in Vancouver Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, had been fighting since November 3, 2017, to be the legally constituted union for the union-eligible ELG Mine Complex employees.

According to its representatives, Torex had unilaterally decided which union would advocate for workers, as opposed to letting them choose for themselves, accusations that the company denies.

Copper supply crunch earlier than predicted — experts – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – April 10, 2018)

April 10, 2018

http://www.mining.com/

Copper demand will surpass supply earlier than expected, with the first clear signs coming as early as next year, experts attending the 17th World’s Copper Conference being held this week in Santiago, Chile, said.

According to Arnaud Soirat, chef executive for copper and diamonds at Rio Tinto, increased consumption from new technologies, including electric vehicles, will drive demand for the metal and its by-products, he said.

“We anticipate global market supply and demand will keep close to balance in 2019 and 2020,” he said, noting that after that the deficit will become increasingly evident.

Colombia’s top court orders government to protect Amazon forest in landmark case – by Anastasia Moloney (Reuters U.S. – April 6, 2018)

April 9, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Colombia’s highest court has told the government it must take urgent action to protect its Amazon rainforest and stem rising deforestation, in what campaigners said was an historic moment that should help conserve forests and counter climate change.

In their ruling on Thursday, the judges said that Colombia – which is home to a swathe of rainforest roughly the size of Germany and England combined – saw deforestation rates in its Amazon region increase by 44 percent from 2015 to 2016.

“It is clear, despite numerous international commitments, regulations … that the Colombian state has not efficiently addressed the problem of deforestation in the Amazon,” the supreme court said.

Relations Sour at Giant Copper Pit With Automation Looming – by Laura Mllan Lombrana (Bloomberg News – April 9, 2018)

April 9, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Just as labor tensions ease at BHP Billiton Ltd.’s giant Escondida mine, the copper industry has another iconic mine to worry about.

Relations between the world’s largest copper producer, Codelco, and unions in its Chuquicamata division have reached the lowest point in years as the mine transitions from open pit to an underground model that will use more automation and employ fewer workers.

The five unions representing more than 5,000 workers at Codelco’s oldest open pit are threatening to dial up protests. They say the Chilean state-owned company is transitioning to underground without a prior agreement with unions on retirement plans, contracts and other benefits.

The Bloody Grab for Gold in Venezuela’s Most Dangerous Town – by Andrew Rosati (Bloomberg News – April 9, 2018)

April 9, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

With free rein from Maduro, the military cuts a violent swath through the failing state. Dispatches from ground zero, El Callao.

In Venezuela’s gold capital, national guardsmen block the roads. Military convoys and motorcycles circle while soldiers keep wary watch behind sandbag checkpoints or patrol with faces covered by balaclavas and rifles in hand.

The military has been fighting for months to master El Callao, the dangerous nation’s most dangerous town, and a beachhead in efforts to develop a mineral-rich region the government calls the Arco Minero del Orinoco. President Nicolas Maduro granted the army the handsome prize, a move that helps ensure the unpopular autocrat’s power.

But the takeover has been punctuated by blood and bullets as soldiers raid neighborhoods and clandestine mines across 70,000 square miles from Colombia to Guyana, asserting themselves over gang lords and claiming revenue both legal and illicit.

As China ties up global lithium, Asian rivals must bet big on South America – by Dave Sherwood and Nicole Mordant (Reuters U.S. – April 6, 2018)

April 9, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

SANTIAGO/VANCOUVER (Reuters) – South America’s lithium triangle is the lowest-cost place to produce the vital battery ingredient, but political hurdles will require Japanese and South Korean companies to make big investments to crack into the region as they chase Chinese rivals who have tied up resources in other parts of the world.

Even China, the leader in the global race for the metal used in batteries for everything from smartphones to electric cars, has had its efforts thwarted in the lithium triangle of Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, home to around two thirds of global reserves.

Because of China’s problems, market experts say the lithium triangle is one place South Korean and Japanese auto and battery makers can play catch-up.

Teck doubles down on Chile copper mine investment with an eye on electric vehicle demand – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – April 6, 2018)

April 6, 2018

http://business.financialpost.com/

Vancouver’s Teck Resources is buying out a minority partner in a major copper project in Chile at a cost that could reach as high as $262.5 million.

The total price tag, however, will depend on copper prices — often considered a barometer for global macroeconomic growth because it is used in so many products — and which at the moment are sliding as the U.S. and China slap tariffs on one another, and fears of a trade war escalate.

“A company’s decision to build or not build (a mine) — these are long term forward-looking decisions,” said Alex Terentiew, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets who monitors Teck.

Tiny Chilean regulator thrust into global lithium battle – by Dave Sherwood (Reuters U.S. – March 20, 2018)

March 20, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – A global battle for lithium has landed in the office of a tiny Chilean regulator, which may decide a winner as it reviews a petition to block Chinese firms from buying a stake in top producer SQM SQM_pb.SN.

The scramble for lithium, used in rechargeable batteries for mobile phones to electric vehicles, is pitting the Chilean government against China and, potentially, the independent regulator against the Latin American country’s new business-friendly government.

The National Economic Prosecutor’s office, known by its Spanish initials FNE, is set to review the sale by Canada’s Nutrien Ltd of a 32 percent stake in Santiago-based SQM for more than $4 billion to Chinese bidder Tianqi Lithium or any state-backed firm. Chile’s development agency Corfo said in a complaint on March 9 that the transaction would “gravely distort market competition.”

Vale seeks new dividend policy as debt falls – by Joe Leahy (Financial Times – March 18, 2018)

March 19, 2018

https://www.ft.com/

A new dividend policy to be announced by Vale should be based on a more sustainable cash flow generation rather than profits or debt, according to the chief executive of the world’s largest iron ore exporter.

“The one who will decide on the new [dividend policy] is the board but my preference is that it be linked in some form to the company’s cash generation, not necessarily the [financial] results,” Fabio Schvartsman told the Financial Times in an interview.

Vale has been struggling with how to deal with an industry cyclical downturn while trying to reduce a massive debt load. Its board is expected to decide on the policy this month as the Brazilian miner aggressively cuts debt, setting the stage for steadier cash returns for shareholders in coming years, analysts say.

New Chile govt undecided on blocking SQM sale to China firms -official – by Antonio De la Jara (Reuters U.S. – March 16, 2018)

March 19, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

SANTIAGO, March 16 (Reuters) – Chile’s new government is evaluating whether to support a petition filed by its predecessor to block the sale of a stake in top lithium miner SQM to a Chinese firm, a senior government official told Reuters on Friday.

Chile development agency Corfo filed a complaint last week to block the sale of a 32 percent stake in SQM to China’s Tianqi Lithium or any related entities or state-backed firms, saying it would “gravely distort market competition.”

The move was the latest in a battle to secure lithium, a major ingredient in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, mobile phones and tablets.