Vale – Page 61 – Republic of Mining

First Nation takes proactive approach with mining companies – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – February 11, 2014)

February 11, 2014

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Wahnapitae First Nation has taken a proactive approach to promote environmental sustainability in its dealings with mining companies like Vale, Glencore and KGHM. Since the early 1990s, the First Nation, located northeast of Sudbury, has worked to develop relationships with mining industry partners.

Cheryl Recollet, Wahnapitae First Nation’s environmental co-ordinator, said her department has developed in-house capacity over the past 15 years to conduct environmental assessments for mining companies who work near their reserve boundaries.

In 2012, Wahnapitae First Nation’s sustainable development department founded Tahgaiwinini Technical and Environmental Services Group. The company has four technicians and two advisers on staff, who provide mining companies with a variety of environmental management services.

The technicians are trained to use geographical information systems to map the flow of groundwater, plumes of air pollution, and provide information on the First Nation’s territory, species at risk, and traditional hunting territory.

Brazil’s Vale $2 Billion Potash Project Threatened by Local Dispute – by Paul Kiernan (Wall Street Journal – February 3, 2014)

February 4, 2014

http://online.wsj.com/home-page

RIO DE JANEIRO—A feud over tax revenues in two small towns is threatening one of Brazil’s best chances to reduce its dependence on imported potassium fertilizers in the near future.

Mining company Vale SA VALE5.BR +1.41% hopes to invest $2 billion in the first phase of a project to produce 1.2 million metric tons a year of potassium chloride in the impoverished northeastern state of Sergipe starting 2017. Production would amount to nearly 20% of Brazilian farmers’ annual needs, 93% of which is imported from distant countries such as Canada and Belarus.

But Vale’s management hasn’t formally sought approval for the project, known as Carnalita, from its board of directors. Sergipe officials say that is because the two towns where Vale plans to mine most of the potash are in disagreement over the distribution of future tax revenues from the venture.

“It’s a very delicate situation,” Jeferson Passos, Sergipe’s state finance secretary, said in an interview. “The state government is extremely worried about the possibility that Vale might delay or temporarily give up on implementing this project.”

Antam and Vale Receive Green Light on Processed Mineral Exports – by Rangga Prakoso (Jakarta Globe – January 27, 2014)

January 27, 2014

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/

Antam and Vale Indonesia — two of the biggest nickel producers in the country — have secured a recommendation letter to export their processed mineral products, almost two weeks after the government enforced a ban on ore shipments.

“Vale and Antam don’t have any problems. The others simply have not submitted their respective proposals to the government, which is why I am calling on other miners to do so,” said Susilo Siswoutomo, vice minister at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, on Friday.

Susilo said the government has given Antam approval to export around 17,000 metric tons of ferronickel annually, while Vale is allowed 75,000 tons of nickel matte per year. He did not say whether Antam will be allowed to export its nickel ore.

The vice minister also confirmed the government’s intention to set a “maximum production limit” for minerals to ensure that newly-built smelters in Indonesia can be fed with adequate resources.

NEWS RELEASE: Employees and OMA member Vale join forces for fundraising success

January 10, 2014

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

Ontario Mining Association member Vale and United Steelworkers Local 6500 worked together to reach the fundraising goal of three-quarters of a million dollars for United Way/Centraide Sudbury and Nipissing Districts. The company and the union jointly announced this $750,000 charity-supporting success earlier this week.

“Achieving this fundraising goal speaks to the incredible generosity of our employees and their ongoing commitment to our community,” said Kelly Strong, Vice President of Vale’s Ontario and U.K. Operations. “It is an accomplishment we can all be proud of.” Mr. Strong is also serving as the 78th chairman of the Ontario Mining Association, which will be celebrating its 94 anniversary later this year.

Mr. Strong kept his promise to employees when the fundraising target was reached to acknowledge the achievement with a ceremonial head shaving. Patricia Mills, Publisher of Northern Ontario Business and Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal, who is United Way chair, performed the tonsorial manoeuvre at a public event.

Vale uncertainty set to end in 2014 – Thompson Citizen Editorial (January 8, 2014)

January 9, 2014

The Thompson Citizen, which was established in June 1960, covers the City of Thompson and Nickel Belt Region of Northern Manitoba. The city has a population of about 13,500 residents while the regional population is more than 40,000.

More than three years of uncertainty about the near-term future of Vale’s Manitoba Operations are about to end and that in and of itself is very good news for Thompson residents.

Whether it will be good news or bad news in an objective economic sense remains to be seen, but it will be substantive news, and given the uncertainty that followed the announcement on Nov. 17, 2010 that the smelter and refinery would close in 2015 – followed by even more uncertainty, as the Sword of Damocles hung over Birchtree Mine for 6½ months from Oct. 18, 2012 until last May 6, while the company considered returning it to care and maintenance – and you can perhaps better appreciate why any real and conclusive news out of Vale in relation to Thompson would be welcome at this point.

If you wonder what the effects of more than three years of uncertainty surrounding Thompson’s largest and most important employer have been, try putting your house up for sale right now or look around and see how many new investors have arrived in town since 2010. While houses have sold and investors have come, Thompson has been in something of a state of suspended animation – a city on hold – since that fateful November Wednesday more than three years ago now.

Glencore, Vale slow to offer Sudbury mining plan details (CBC News Sudbury – January 7, 2014)

January 8, 2014

http://www.cbc.ca/sudbury/

Rumours continue to swirl about what the future looks like for Vale and Glencore in Sudbury. The two mining giants still aren’t talking publicly about plans to combine some operations.

Comments just before Christmas from Vale’s CEO indicated the two rivals are now in serious discussions about how to work more closely in Sudbury.

But one industry expert says details will be slow in coming. “I think we are going to see very little information come out that is public that we can actually evaluate,” said Bruce Jago, head of the Goodman School of Mines at Laurentian University.

“They are going to keep this really close to their chest.” Jago said he doesn’t think any new found co-operation between Vale and Glencore’s Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations will result in any major job losses.

The Future of Coal: Despite Gas Boom, Coal Isn’t Dead – by John W. Miller and Rebecca Smith (Wall Street Journal – January 7, 2014)

January 7, 2014

http://online.wsj.com/home-page

Production Is Booming in Western U.S. to Feed Power Plants at Home and Abroad

Last year was a tough one for the coal industry. James River Coal Co. JRCC +0.71% laid off a quarter of its workers.

Consol Energy Inc., CNX -2.03% which has mined coal since the Civil War, sold five Appalachian mines, representing nearly half its coal output. And more than a half-dozen U.S. coal-mining companies went under, beset by new environmental rules and competition from low-cost natural gas.

But coal isn’t going away. Coal remains the biggest source of fuel for generating electricity in the U.S. and coal exports are growing fast. Even as coal production plunges in the green hills of Appalachia, it is booming in the open-pit mines of Wyoming and under the plains of Illinois and Indiana.

Overall, U.S. coal production is projected to remain relatively constant over the next three decades, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

[Vale, Glencore Sudbury] Merger wouldn’t result in plant closures, mine analysts say – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – January 6, 2014)

January 6, 2014

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

If ongoing Vale and Glencore Xstrata discussions produce an agreement in 2014 on how to mine nickel and copper in the Greater Sudbury area more cost-effectively, there might be some short-term job cuts, but no big plant closures, says a man who runs a website devoted to mining.

“Absolutely not,” said former Greater Sudbury resident Stan Sudol, who now works in Toronto and operates The Republic of Mining website. “The two operations – the Clarabelle Mill and the Strathcona Mill – process different types of ore. On the north slope (of the Sudbury Basin), the ore is heavy in copper and PGMs (platinum-group metals). The Clarabelle Mill, meanwhile, deals with ore from the south side which is more nickel heavy. I would be very surprised if either of the mills gets closed.”

Sudol added that the Falconbridge Smelter, which he understands is operating under capacity, is processing ore from Australia and the Raglan project in Quebec, in addition to local ore. “The operation is a part of a global industry,” he noted.

On. Dec. 18, Reuters reported Vale’s chief executive officer Murilo Ferreira said he expects Vale’s “consortium” with Glencore Xsrata in Greater Sudbury nickel projects to be defined by the first quarter of 2014 and for the venture to operate as a single unit.

2013 News Story: Bittersweet victory for mine safety – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – December 31, 2013)

January 3, 2014

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

The $1-million fine against Vale the largest occupational health and safety related fine issued by an Ontario court and the province’s decision to conduct a mining review together constitute The Sudbury Star’s top news story of 2013. Both stand to have a significant impact on the city’s defining industry.

On June 8, 2011, Jason Chenier, 35, and Jordan Fram, 26, were working on the 3,000-foot level of Stobie Mine when they were overcome by a 350-tonne run of muck consisting of rock and water.

Vale pleaded guilty to three charges admitting to failure to take reasonable precautions to prevent water accumulation in the mine, which was determined to have played a role in the run of muck.

“The fine and the announcement of a review are the most significant legal developments relating to mine safety we’ve seen in this province for decades,” said Sudbury Star Managing Editor Brian MacLeod. “The persistent efforts of people in the community undoubtedly played a role in forcing the labour ministry to proceed with a review of mining practices.”

In the wake of 2011 Vale deaths, Ontario launches full mine safety review – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – December 19, 2013)

December 19, 2013

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The Ontario provincial government of Wednesday launched a comprehensive mining safety review to improve the health and well-being of workers in the sector, heeding calls for reform after two miners died at Brazilian diversified mining group Vale’s Sudbury operations in 2011.

Starting early in the New Year, the province’s chief prevention officer would lead an advisory group of industry, labour, health and safety representatives to begin a sweeping review on a wide range of areas within the sector.

The review followed months of intense persuasion by several unions, families and friends of the two men – Jason Chenier (35) and Jordan Fram (26) – killed in a June 8, 2011 accident at Vale’s Stobie underground mine, near Sudbury.

Toronto-based Vale Canada, which owns and operates the operation, was in September fined a record C$1.05-million for the death of the men after Vale Canada pleaded guilty to three charges in a plea bargain, which some had billed as a betrayal of workers and their families by the provincial government.

UPDATE 1-Vale seeks fertilizer partner; potash to top 4 mln T/yr – by Jeb Blount and Sabrina Lorenzi (Reuters U.S. – December 18, 2013)

December 19, 2013

http://www.reuters.com/

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec 18 (Reuters) – Brazilian miner Vale SA expects to more than replace the 4 million tonnes a year of potash it stands to lose from the cancellation of its Rio Colorado project in Argentina as it opens mines in Brazil and Canada, its top executive said on Wednesday.

At least 2 million tonnes a year of potash output is expected from its Carnalita project in Brazil’s northeastern state of Sergipe and 3 million to 5 million tonnes a year could be mined from its Kronau project in Canada’s Province of Saskatchewan, Chief Executive Officer Murilo Ferreira told reporters on Wednesday.

Vale canceled plans to build the $6 billion Rio Colorado project in Argentina in March on concerns the country’s currency-exchange policies made the mine, rail and port project unprofitable and after being denied legal tax breaks. It is now trying to sell shares of its fertilizer unit or stakes in specific fertilizer projects, Ferreria said.

“We are looking for partners in our fertilizer business,” he said at an annual holiday lunch with reporters. “But if the partner takes a stake in our fertilizer unit, we don’t want someone who is just a financial partner, we want someone who has their own production already.”

Vale CEO talks ‘consortium’ with Glencore – by Staff (Sudbury Star – December 19, 2013)

December 19, 2013

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

A comment by Vale chief executive officer Murilo Ferrira, reported by Reuters on Wednesday, will have people talking again about a potential merger, or partial merger, between Vale and Glencore Xstrata operations in Sudbury.

Reuters reported Ferreira as saying he expects Vale’s “consortium” with Glencore in Sudbury nickel projects to be defined by the first quarter of 2014 and for the venture to operate as a single unit.

Vale spokesman Cory McPhee said Ferreira’s statement was made at an end-of-the-year luncheon with reporters in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday at which Ferreira answered several questions.

His answer to the one about a Sudbury merger was a repetition of what he said during Vale Days at the New York and London Stock Exchanges a few weeks ago when he told reporters he expected to conclude the discussions in the first quarter of 2014, said McPhee.

“He’s speaking very broadly to potential outcomes,” said McPhee.

Ontario to review mine safety after Vale deaths in 2011 (Reuters U.S. – December 18, 2013)

December 18, 2013

http://www.reuters.com/

TORONTO – Dec 18 (Reuters) – The Ontario government will launch a review of mining safety, looking at the effectiveness of health and safety rules, enforcement and prevention in the Canadian province after the 2011 deaths of two men at a Vale SA mine prompted calls for reform.

The review, announced on Wednesday and to commence in early 2014, comes after more than a year of lobbying by the families and friends of the men, Jason Chenier and Jordan Fram.

The two were killed at one of Vale’s Sudbury, Ontario, nickel mines, and the Brazilian miner’s Canadian unit was hit with a record C$1.05 million ($984,900) fine for the incident in September. It had pleaded guilty to three counts of violating the province’s workplace safety law.

Mining has long been a major industry in Ontario, and miners, including big international players such as Glencore and Goldcorp Inc, produced some C$10.7 billion worth of minerals in 2011, according provincial government figures.