Latin America Mining – Page 64

‘New era’: Canadian mining industry closely watching three civil cases alleging human rights abuses – by Douglas Quan (National Post – November 28, 2017)

November 28, 2017

A trio of civil cases winding through the courts signal a breakthrough in efforts to hold Canadian-based mining companies accountable on home turf when they’re accused of violations abroad, human rights and legal observers say.

Historically, Canadian judges have been inclined to send such cases back to the jurisdictions where the alleged abuses occurred. But the three pending cases — two in British Columbia and one in Ontario — show that the legal landscape is shifting.

“Courts are now willing to hear these cases,” says Penelope Simons, a law professor at the University of Ottawa. “They’re not trying to punt them back to other places. That’s an important thing.”

China’s electric-car push sparks gold rush for lithium – by Shunsuke Tabeta and Naoyuki Toyama (Nikkei Asian Review – November 27, 2017)

November 27, 2017

https://asia.nikkei.com/

Companies chase deals with Chilean, Australian miners

GUANGZHOU/SAO PAULO — China’s aggressive promotion of electric vehicles has kicked off a global hunt for lithium, spurring record prices for the material vital to the production of batteries used in such cars.

“We must secure lithium resources to prepare for the era of electric vehicles,” said Heyi Xu, chairman of Beijing Automotive Group. The company, in negotiations with Chilean economic development agency Corfo, proposes industrial development that incorporates lithium mining, battery production and electric vehicle assembly in Chile.

Top Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD is speaking with Chilean lithium producers, with plans for a direct investment, an executive from the company’s regional headquarters told a local media outlet. Chinese lithium supplier Tianqi Group took a 2% stake in Chile’s SQM, one of the world’s largest producer of the light metal.

Deadly mine strike highlights accusations NAFTA used to exploit Mexican workers – by Adrian Morrow (Globe and Mail – November 25, 2017)

November 27, 2017

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

It was a little after 10 p.m. Saturday when a convoy of pickup trucks carrying balaclava-clad men rolled up to a roadblock near Torex Gold’s mine in Mexico’s Guerrero state. As part of a wildcat strike, workers at the Canadian-owned operation had cut its water supply and were barricading a dirt road leading to the wells.

The attackers opened fire with assault rifles and shotguns, miners told The Globe and Mail in interviews at the scene, chased the protesters into the surrounding scrubland and beat them up. When the shooting stopped, two men lay dead: Brothers Victor and Marcelino Sahuanitla Pena. Locals said the pair had worked delivering diesel to the mine and were manning the blockade that night.

What exactly caused the violence is a matter of dispute. The protesters blame their trade union, the Confederacion de Trabajadores de Mexico (CTM), which they accuse of being too close to Torex and dealing with the company behind their backs.

Lawsuit could be precedent-setting for Canadian mining companies operating abroad – by Andrew Topf (Mining.com – November 26, 2017)

November 27, 2017

http://www.mining.com/

Legal proceedings were held last week in Toronto related to a case against a Canadian mining company that formerly was operating through a subsidiary in Guatemala. The outcome of the case could have wider repercussions for Canada-based mining companies who do business overseas.

Base and precious metals miner Hudbay Minerals (TSX,NYSE:HBM) is defending itself against allegations that five women from a remote Guatemalan community were raped by employees of one of Hudbay’s former subsidiaries.

According to the CBC, the five women came to Toronto for pre-trial questioning by Hudbay’s lawyers, in connection with three civil suits filed against the Toronto-based firm. States CBC:

Rio Tinto Isn’t Tesla; It Should Hold Fire On a Lithium Bet – by Nathaniel Taplin (Wall Street Journal – November 24, 2017)

November 24, 2017

https://www.wsj.com/

Mining is an industry of big upfront investments and long periods of pain or gain, depending on whether the digger bets right or wrong.

It’s understandable, therefore, that Rio Tinto’s reported interest in acquiring a big stake in Chilean lithium-miner Sociedad Quimica y Minera is causing butterflies in the stomachs of some investors.

The miner’s interest in lithium makes sense strategically. Rio is more heavily dependent on iron ore than some of its competitors, and slowdown in Chinese demand seems likely. Boosting their exposure to lithium, a battery component and probable linchpin of an increasingly renewable and electric future, isn’t a bad idea. The problem is price.

Latin America’s Star Pupil Needs Some New Ideas – by Mac Margolis (Bloomberg News – November 24, 2017)

November 24, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The first round of Chile’s presidential elections, which saw a near shoo-in billionaire stumble, has roiled the continent’s traditional pacesetter. The day after conservative former president Sebastian Pinera garnered less than 37 percent of the vote, the stock market took a powder.

Now Pinera faces a December runoff against Alejandro Guillier, a relative political newcomer, who’s bidding to unite the bickering but surprisingly resurgent Chilean left.

Yes, Chileans seem as tired of the same old faces in politics as everyone else in Latin America does. So is the continent’s most business-friendly nation about to bank hard left? Nah. Chileans long ago eschewed ideological extremes for a dull but stabilizing centrism. What’s at stake is whether any government can shake off more than a decade of economic inertia.

UPDATE 1-Vale says Brazil iron royalty hike could hurt high-cost mines (Reuters U.S. – November 23, 2017)

November 23, 2017

https://www.reuters.com/

RIO DE JANEIRO/BRASILIA, Nov 23 (Reuters) – Brazil’s Vale SA , the world’s largest iron ore producer, said on Thursday that a hike in the country’s royalty rates for the mineral could compromise its ability to maintain high-cost mines and would hurt its ability to compete.

Congress passed the higher royalties in votes on Wednesday with the bill now moving to President Michel Temer for signature. Vale said in a statement that it hoped Temer would veto some of the changes to the proposal made by Congress.

“Congress has made profound changes to the original text, resulting in a model that affects our competitiveness, especially at a time of depressed prices, as well as compromises the maintenance and operation of high-cost mines,” Vale said in a statement.

Chile’s Escondida workers on strike to protest layoffs – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – November 23, 2017)

November 23, 2017

http://www.mining.com/

Unionized workers at Chile’s Escondida copper mine, the world’s largest, began Thursday a 24-hour strike to protest recent layoffs affecting about 3% of the operation’s workforce.

Majority owner and operator BHP (ASX, NYSE:BHP) (LON:BLT), had said Wednesday the downsizing was part of ongoing adjustments to the mine’s workflow.

But Escondida’s 2,500-member main union said in a statement (in Spanish) it was an act of “retaliation” for the 43-day strike that took place early this year, which translated into roughly $1 billion in lost revenue for BHP.

NEWS RELEASE: TOREX CLARIFIES MEDIA MISINFORMATION

November 23, 2017

TORONTO, Ontario, November 21, 2017 – Torex Gold Resources Inc. (the “Company” or “Torex”) (TSX:TXG) issued a statement today in response to misinformation that is being circulated by labour groups and the media.

The Company was made aware of an incident that happened this past weekend in the town of Atzcala, about twenty five minutes (15Km) from its El Limon Guajes Mine (the “ELG Mine”). During this incident, two men were killed in the course of a dispute. Torex confirms that the two men were not employees of the Company.

With regards to operations at the Company’s ELG Mine, there is no strike. There is an illegal blockade. Operations have been shut down at the ELG Mine site since November 3rd as a result of the illegal blockade, which arose because of a dispute between the union that legally represents the Company’s workers (the “CTM Union”) and the union that wants to represent the workers (the “Miners Union”).

How an Ontario court case could change Canadian mining overseas (CBC – The Current – November 22, 2017)

November 23, 2017

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/

Eleven women from a remote Guatemalan community are seeking damages from a Canadian mining company over allegations they were raped by employees of one of its former subsidiaries.

The women, who have travelled to Toronto as part of an Ontario civil court case launched in 2011, claim they were victims of gang rape in 2007 during forced evictions by security staff of a mining business called Compania Guatemalteca de Niquel, or CGN.

“They feel like they can’t get justice in Guatemala,” CBC’s Lorenda Reddekopp told The Current’s Anna Maria Tremonti. “They feel like this could be their only hope.” Hudbay Minerals purchased CGN’s Fenix nickel project in a corporate takeover of Skye Resources in 2008, but sold it in 2011.

Whoever wins election, Chile state copper giant may get boost – by Dave Sherwood and Fabian Cambero (Reuters U.K. – November 22, 2017)

November 22, 2017

https://uk.reuters.com/

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – The world’s largest copper miner, Codelco, may see a boost in investment cash regardless of who wins next month’s presidential runoff in Chile, as both candidates have vowed to end the state-run firm’s funding of the military.

Conservative front-runner Sebastian Pinera and his center-left rival Alejandro Guillier, set to face off in the Dec. 17 vote, have both pledged to overturn the dictatorship-era law that transfers to the military 10 percent of Codelco’s export sales, worth $866 million last year.

There is no guarantee that Codelco [COBRE.UL], which delivers all its profits to the state, would keep the funds should the law be overturned. That decision would ultimately lie with Congress.

China is winning electric cars ‘arms race’: The global scramble for lithium – by Daniel Shane (NBC Montana – November 20, 2017)

November 21, 2017

http://www.nbcmontana.com/

HONG KONG (CNNMoney) – China is outmaneuvering the U.S. and other countries in the global scramble for a vital element for electric cars.

As demand for the vehicles surges, Chinese companies have been doing deals around the world to secure supplies of lithium, a silvery-white metal mined from rocks in Australia and brine pools in South America.

China is the top market for electric and hybrid cars, accounting for roughly half of global sales, and the government is pushing the development of the industry within its borders. That calls for a lot of lithium, a key component of the vehicles’ batteries.

BHP, Vale inch toward Samarco dam spill settlement – by Peter Ker (Australian Financial Review – November 21, 2017)

November 21, 2017

http://www.afr.com/

BHP Billiton and Brazilian miner Vale have inched closer to a settlement over the multibillion-dollar lawsuits that continue to hang over their Samarco joint venture following 2015’s deadly dam disaster.

While a full settlement appears unlikely to be reached before the end of 2017, the miners have at least agreed with Brazilian prosecutors over the pathway toward a more substantial agreement.

It is now 20 months since federal prosecutors in Brazil lobbed a 155 billion real ($63 billion) claim against the Samarco partners over the damage caused by the collapse of a tailings dam at the iron ore business in November 2015.

Anglo to halt Minas Rio in Brazil if expansion licence delayed further – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – November 20, 2017)

November 21, 2017

http://www.mining.com/

Anglo American (LON:AAL) will have to shut its massive Minas Rio in Brazil next year if authorities for the state of Minas Gerais, where the iron ore operation is located, further delay a licence needed to kick off a final and key expansion.

The miner, which has already been granted permission for a second phase at Minas Rio, has been trying for months to secure the environmental license for the mine’s third and last expansion, but has faced several roadblocks along the way.

Chief executive of Anglo American Brazil, Ruben Fernandes, told local paper Hojeemdia (in Portuguese) the permit was first expected in July this year, but ongoing requests from the state’s public prosecutor and the rescheduling of necessary public hearings have pushed the deadline to December.

United Steelworkers seeks Ottawa’s help for striking Mexican miners at Canadian-operated mine – by Levon Sevunts (Radio Canada International – November 20, 2017)

November 21, 2017

http://www.rcinet.ca/en/

One of the largest Canadian trade unions is calling on the federal government to intervene with Mexican authorities and a Canadian mining company after two people were killed near a Canadian-operated gold mine in the country’s southern Guerrero state on Saturday.

The United Steelworkers (USW) says the murder of two striking workers underscores the widespread repression of basic labour rights in Mexico even as these fundamental rights are a key part of the proposed changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement being renegotiated now.

“On Saturday, November 18 – four days after the Canadian government was warned of the potential for such violence – an armed group murdered two striking workers from the Canadian-owned Media Luna gold mine in the state of Guerrero,” Ken Neumann, the USW’s national director for Canada, said in a statement.