Republic of Mining

Rio Executive Firing Linked to Internal CEO Feud, Says Conde – by Jesse Riseborough and Franz Wild (Bloomberg News – January 20, 2017)

January 23, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The President of Guinea is disputing public statements made by Rio Tinto Group regarding the firing of a senior executive for a $10.5 million payment made to the president’s friend Francois de Combret.

President Alpha Conde said the firing of Alan Davies, who headed Rio’s $20 billion Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, was the result of an internal feud. Rio has said it was because of improper payments to de Combret in 2011 for assisting the company’s negotiations with Conde on the mine.

Davies had been seen as a challenger to Jean Sebastien Jacques prior to the Frenchman becoming chief executive officer in July. “In reality, it was a settling of scores because the new CEO wanted to get rid of Alan Davies,” the 78-year-old Conde, who’s been president since 2010, said in an interview on Wednesday in Davos, Switzerland.

Automated vent system saving millions for Kidd Mine – by Sarah Moore (Timmins Daily Press – January 21, 2017)

January 23, 2017

http://www.timminspress.com/

TIMMINS – Glencore’s Kidd Operations was recognized by the province for its energy conservation efforts on Friday morning at a presentation at the Timmins Museum.

Representatives from the mine joined Timmins Mayor Steve Black, Terry Young, vice-president of conservation and corporate relations with the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) and Ontario Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault that morning to showcase Kidd’s new ventilation-on-demand system as an example of how utilizing government funding programs will reduce energy consumption and cut energy costs.

Kidd tapped into the government’s Industrial Accelerator Program in order to offset $5.6 million of the total $9 million required to transition to the fully automated underground ventilation system it now has today.

NZ’s Todd family confident Pilbara iron project will go ahead – by Paul Garvey (The Australian – January 23, 2017)

January 23, 2017

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

The billionaire New Zealand family behind an ambitions $5 billion proposed iron ore development in Western Australia’s Pilbara are confident the project can start construction next year, despite not yet having its foot on enough iron ore to support the plan.

Todd Corp, the private conglomerate owned by NZ’s Todd family, on Monday signed a state agreement with the WA government spelling out the framework for its proposed Balla Balla infrastructure project.

The $5bn development will include a 160km railway network and a so-called trans-shipping port, with the entire operation capable of exporting about 50 million tonnes of iron ore a year.

World’s 10 Top Producing Gold Mines – by Paul Ausick (247 Wallst.com – January 22, 2017)

January 23, 2017

http://247wallst.com/

From a peak of more than $1,900 in mid-2011, gold prices dropped below $1,100 in 2015 before rising to around $1,400 last summer. On Friday, the February delivery price settled at $1,210.20, up about $100 since mid-December. The price of gold generally rises in periods of inflation and periods of economic uncertainty.

This is certainly one of the latter and may be the beginning of one of the former. The consumer price index topped 2% last week, and November’s election of Donald Trump as the 45th U.S.

President has presented investors with plenty of uncertainty. A strong dollar also tends to weigh on the price of gold, and Trump has made clear his belief that the dollar is overvalued compared with the Chinese yuan. If the dollar sinks, interest in gold rises.

WHY JAKARTA NEEDS TO READ UP ON 15TH-CENTURY ENGLAND – by Tom Holland (South China Morning Post – January 23, 2017)

January 23, 2017

http://www.scmp.com/

Indonesia wants to build processing plants to add value to the nation’s copper, nickel and bauxite resources, but mining companies are not cooperating

Earlier this month the Indonesian government announced it would relax its ban on the export of raw mineral ores. Despite appearances to the contrary, officials claim they are not retreating from their hardline policy of resource nationalism.

Restricting the export of unprocessed commodities, they continue to insist, will create high-value jobs and spur Indonesia’s economic growth. Critics of the policy are less sure.

The reasoning behind the export ban, which was proposed in 2009 and came into partial effect three years ago, is simple enough. Indonesia is rich in deposits of minerals including copper, nickel and bauxite, the ore of aluminium.

Canada’s mining ombudsman: oversight at last but is it too little too late? – by Nnamdi Anyadike (Mining Technology – January 23, 2017)

January 23, 2017

http://www.mining-technology.com/

Canada looks set to appoint an independent ombudsman to monitor alleged human rights abuses carried out overseas by its mining companies. But will it stop the rot?

Sometime early next year, the Canadian Government led by liberal Premier Justin Trudeau may finally honour its 2015 election pledge and appoint an independent human rights ombudsman to oversee the country’s international mining operations.

A decade ago, support for the office faced stiff opposition from much of Canada’s mining industry and the country’s then conservative government, under the premiership of Stephen Harper.

In 2009, Harper’s Government opted instead for an alternative corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy together with a series of national contact points (NCPs) which would operate without an ombudsman.

Anglo sees incremental gains as trading unit hits cruising speed – by Clara Ferreira-Marques (Reuters U.S. – Janaury 23, 2017)

January 23, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

Anglo American Plc (AAL.L), which broke with tradition when it set up a focused commercial unit, sees modest improvements ahead after an early boost to profits, as it gets closer to clients, even offering shelter from volatile markets with fixed-price contracts.

Anglo, like many miners, shied away from directly trading its own material for decades, selling instead largely through intermediaries such as established trading houses.

That changed in 2013 under Chief Executive Mark Cutifani, as Anglo sought a direct connection with customers to get more value from every tonne of material sold, a move which added more than $400 million to underlying operating profit in two years.

[First Nickel mining deaths] ‘Waiting for justice’ (Part 2 of 2) – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – January 23, 2017)

January 23, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Accent: Union, families feel criminal charges warranted through Westray provision

The silence was gut-wrenching in a Sudbury courtroom last year for the families of two men attending preliminary proceedings into charges in the deaths of their loved ones May 6, 2014 at Lockerby Mine.

The families of Norm Bisaillon and Marc Methe attended court after eight charges were laid against mine owner First Nickel Inc. and five were laid against Taurus Drilling Services by the Ministry of Labour.

Bisaillon, 49, and Methe, 34, were killed by a fall of ground at FNI’s Lockerby Mine, just hours after they contacted an FNI employee to discuss a concern about the area in which they were working, their families say.

[First Nickel mining deaths] Sudbury Accent: Grieving families wait for answers (Part 1 of 2) – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – January 21, 2017)

January 23, 2017

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

On Sunday, May 4, 2014, Norm Bisaillon was considering his options. Bisaillon, 49, was employed by Taurus Drilling Services, but was thinking about leaving Sudbury for another job. He told partner, Romeena Kozoriz, “I’m going to be going to the Yukon.”

Bisaillon was working for Taurus at First Nickel Inc.’s Lockerby Mine. He had 23 years’ experience at several companies.

“He never, ever was afraid to work in a place, OK, and he worked in South Africa where there’s no safety, there’s nothing,” said Kozoriz of Bisaillon’s 18-month stint there. “He wasn’t as concerned (there) for his safety as Lockerby.”

China Moly to help BHR acquire stake in Congo’s Tenke copper mine (Reuters U.S. – January 22, 2017)

January 23, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

China Molybdenum Co Ltd (CMOC) said on Sunday it had signed an agreement with Chinese private equity firm BHR to support BHR’s acquisition of a 24 percent stake in Democratic Republic of Congo’s massive Tenke copper mine.

Congo’s mining minister Martin Kabwelulu, meanwhile, confirmed CMOC had become the majority owner of Tenke after state miner Gecamines dropped its objections to CMOC’s purchase in May of a 56 percent stake from Freeport McMoRan Inc for $2.65 billion.

Gecamines, which holds a 20 percent stake in Tenke, one of the world’s largest copper mines, also dropped its objections to BHR’s purchase of a minority stake from Canada’s Lundin Mining in November for about $1.14 billion, Kabwelulu told Reuters.

Gold: The movie about the Bre-X mining scandal that ‘isn’t about Bre-X’ – by Sunny Freeman (Financial Post – January 20, 2017)

January 20, 2017

http://business.financialpost.com/

It has all of the elements befitting a classic Hollywood tale: mystery, adventure, treasure, greed, corruption, betrayal, exotic locales, plot twists and … gold.

Gold, opening in theatres across Canada on Jan. 27, is the story of a brash, chain-smoking, pot-bellied mine prospector whose dream of finding the motherlode is all-consuming. Down and out, he meets a rugged geologist, a fabled “river walker,” who convinces him to visit Borneo, Indonesia, and ultimately buy a property deep in the jungle.

They strike gold, big-time investment bankers and multinational miners come calling, their fortunes soar and suddenly they are the kings of the industry.

Agnico Eagle invests in the future of Canada’s North – by Jane Werniuk and Olivier Cote-Mantha (Canadian Mining Journal – January 1, 2017)

January 20, 2017

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Jane Werniuk, senior geologist, technical reporting, Agnico Eagle Mines Limited. Olivier Côté-Mantha, principal evaluation geologist, Agnico Eagle Mines Limited.

An ambitious exploration program in a relatively unexplored area in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut, has resulted in an exciting discovery for Toronto-based gold producer Agnico Eagle Mines. In just over three years, the exploration team has advanced the Amaruq project from a new grassroots discovery to a major high grade gold deposit.

Its growing gold resource, currently estimated at 3.7 million oz of gold (19.4 million tonnes grading 5.97 g/t), technical studies and permitting efforts place the project on a trajectory to potentially be ready to go into production by 2019 as a satellite deposit to the Meadowbank mine located 50 km to the south.

New Vale pact seeks dispersed share ownership in six years: sources – by Tatiana Bautzer and Guillermo Parra-Bernal (Reuters U.S. – Janaury 19, 2017)

January 20, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

SAO PAULO – Leading shareholders of Vale SA are close to endorsing a plan to turn the world’s No. 1 iron ore producer into a company with dispersed share ownership within six years, two people familiar with the talks said.

Bradespar SA, Mitsui & Co and several Brazilian pension funds are negotiating a new shareholder accord that would give Vale dispersed share ownership – where no major shareholder controls decision making at the company – once the agreement expired in six years time, according to the people, who asked for anonymity since talks are underway. Negotiations could be concluded by late February or early March, these people said.

The current 20-year shareholder accord expires in April. Holding company Bradespar (BRAP4.SA) and pension fund Previ [PREVI.UL] proposed the conversion of Vale’s different types of stock into a single common one as the first step towards transforming the mining giant into a company with dispersed share ownership, the first person said.

Resource jobs back in demand as miners’ regain confidence – by Matt Chambers (The Australian – January 20, 2017)

January 20, 2017

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

Demand for resource jobs jumped last year as confidence grew that the worst was over for the sector, with further gains tipped this year from growing investment and Adani’s Carmichael coal project planned in Queensland.

DFP Recruitment’s mining and resources job index rose 21 per cent in 2016, led by a resurgence in Queensland coalmining, with that state experiencing a 40 per cent increase in job vacancies.

DFP chief executive Robert van Stokrom said the broader trend was for more improvement this year.

The cult of the anti-scientific climate model – by John Robson (National Post – January 20, 2017)

January 20, 2017

http://news.nationalpost.com/

To say it’s unpleasantly cold might be dismissed as banal small talk. Of course it’s cold. It’s a Canadian winter. And we all saw it coming. Except we didn’t.

For decades alarmists have said man-made global warming is about to end winter as we know it. They claimed to know all about climatic patterns and be able to predict with mathematical precision what 2050 will be like if we do, or don’t do, certain things. And after anything happened they said their theory had predicted it whether it had or not.

They even switched, after long insisting that man-made warming was incontrovertible and only boobs and hacks denied it, to touting nebulous “anthropogenic climate change” that calls all weather proof of a coming apocalypse. But a theory that predicts everything predicts nothing because no outcome can constitute evidence for or against it. Which is not how science works.