Republic of Mining

Provinces balk at federal push to accelerate phasing-out of coal power – by Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – September 02, 2016)

September 2, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

OTTAWA — The Liberal government is pushing to accelerate the phase-out of coal-fired power across the country as part of its pan-Canadian climate strategy, sources said on Thursday.

Ottawa made the proposal – which would move up the timeline for eliminating electricity generated at coal-fired plants from the current goal of about 2040 – at talks with the provinces on the climate plan. No new deadline has been set yet.

Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia, which include coal in their power plans beyond 2030, say such a move could leave them with worthless technology and drive up electricity rates. New Brunwick also expects to use coal until 2040, and its utility opposes an earlier deadline, which it also says could increase prices.

Michael Den Tandt: Trudeau’s China strategy fails unless he gets a pipeline built – by Michael Den Tandt (National Post – September 2, 2016)

September 2, 2016

http://news.nationalpost.com/

The Trudeau government’s exquisitely choreographed trade overture to Beijing is timely, necessary and overdue. If only the second linchpin in the strategy, new pipeline capacity to make Canada’s most important export accessible to Pacific markets, weren’t going so completely off the rails.

The debacle in Montreal — National Energy Board hearings into the Energy East pipeline proposal were suspended Tuesday because of violent protests — bodes ill for this and other resource projects. There may yet be a way through, but that’s difficult to see, absent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepping off the fence on which he has been carefully perched and making the case for a national pipeline.

The diplomacy on display in Beijing this week is almost too perfect for words. The Chinese have backed off, for the time being, on canola. Canada will seek membership in the Beijing-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Production at Vale Sudbury Coleman mine shut down – by Carol Muligan (September 2, 2016)

September 2, 2016

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

The Ministry of Labour has issued 12 orders against Vale Ltd., six of them stop-work orders, halting production at the company’s Coleman Mine in Levack until they are met.

The Labour ministry was contacted Wednesday after a night shift of about 85 production and maintenance workers refused to go underground because it had health and safety concerns.

The workers, members of United Steelworkers Local 6500, had complained about the odour of smoke wafting into the mine through a fresh air raise in parts of the main ore body at Coleman.

The odour was first detected Friday of last week and workers were sent home.

Barrick to take smaller, phased approach to Argentina-based Pascua-Lama project – by Henry Lazenby (Mining Weekly.com – September 1, 2016)

September 2, 2016

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Major miner Barrick Gold has appointed former executive George Bee to lead the development of a smaller, phased operation at its stalled Pascua-Lama project, straddling the Chile/Argentina border, the company said Thursday.

Barrick had halted the project in 2013 after investing $5-billion in it. As well as permitting issues, cost overruns and a sharp drop in bullion prices, it faced the strong and organised opposition of the local indigenous communities.

Pascua-Lama was originally expected to cost no more than $3-billion when construction was approved in 2009. However, the cost of the project has since escalated to $8.5-billion.

NEWS RELEASE: Trudeau Must Act to Avert ‘Irreversible Harm’ to Canadian Steel Sector

September 2, 2016

http://www.usw.ca

Steel producers, Steelworkers union call for action from Prime Minister

OTTAWA, Sept. 1, 2016 /CNW/ – Canadian steel producers and the United Steelworkers (USW) are jointly urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, during his official visit to China, to strongly pursue a multinational solution to a steel crisis caused by global overcapacity and unfair trade.

In an open letter to the prime minister, the Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA) and the USW warn of “irreversible harm” to Canada’s steel industry, which supports more than 120,000 jobs.

Meaningful solutions must be adopted internationally and on the domestic front, states the letter, signed by CSPA President Joseph Galimberti and USW National Director Ken Neumann.

Watay Power out to electrify Northwestern FN communities – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – September 1, 2016)

September 1, 2016

http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

A First Nations-owned transmission company is the Ontario government’s developer of choice to hook up remote communities in northwestern Ontario to the provincial power grid.

Wataynikaneyap Power LP (Watay) was selected in late July to be the transmitter to build a 1,800-kilometre network to bring power to more than 10,000 people in 17 remote communities who’ve been reliant for decades on expensive and unreliable local diesel generation.

For the last eight years, Watay and its chair Margaret Kenequanash have been leading the charge to make the $1.35-billion project a reality. They’ve steadily grown their ownership base to 22 First Nation communities and skillfully recruited transmission specialists Fortis Ontario and RES Canada to join their consortium.

“I think it’s exciting that we’re able to bring clean energy to our communities and that we can move forward with the development that’s required to build the line,” said Kenequanash.

Anglo American’s Biggest Shareholder Wants Vote on Sale Plan – by Loni Prinsloo, Paul Burkhardt and Kevin Crowley (Bloomberg News – September 1, 2016)

September 1, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Anglo American Plc’s biggest shareholder, South Africa’s Public Investment Corp., will meet with the company next week to discuss whether its plan to sell more than half of its mines including local coal and iron-ore assets is the best option for the country.

The PIC, which owns about 14.5 percent of Anglo, wants the sale plan put to a shareholder vote because it’s concerned that selling mines after commodity prices plunged wouldn’t realize the full value of the assets, said Deon Botha, the Pretoria-based PIC’s head of corporate affairs. The PIC oversees South African government workers’ pension funds among the $123 billion in assets it holds.

If the disposal plan does go ahead, the PIC would prefer that the coal, iron ore and manganese mines up for sale be bundled with some of Anglo’s platinum mines, Botha said. The PIC doesn’t favor the sale of the assets as single mines, he said.

Hearst, Constance Lake plan joint mining readiness strategy – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – September 1, 2016)

September 1, 2016

http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

The Town of Hearst and Constance Lake First Nation are collaborating on a unique partnership that could see the two communities benefit from mining in the region.

In March, the two communities embarked on the joint development of a mining readiness strategy, which is designed to boost economic development and growth in the region and improve local skills and service delivery geared toward attracting mining companies and investment.

Sylvie Fontaine, general manager of the Hearst Economic Development Corporation, said the idea was modelled on a similar development in the North where communities began preparing for potential mining activity from the Ring of Fire. “In our case, it’s not the Ring of Fire, but it’s any mining activity that might start in the near future,” Fontaine said.

China’s robust August iron ore, coal imports mirrored in prices – by Clyde Russell (Daily Mail/Reuters U.K. – September 1, 2016)

September 1, 2016

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Sept 1 (Reuters) – China’s imports of iron ore and coal remained robust in August, providing a fundamental justification for the ongoing resilience in the price of the two major bulk commodities.

Although there are several more factors driving prices than China demand, it’s also worth noting that crude oil imports likely slipped back somewhat in August, coinciding with a retreat in the price of global benchmark Brent crude.

Imports of iron ore by China, buyer of about two-thirds of global seaborne supplies of the steel-making ingredient, were estimated at 89.26 million tonnes in August by Thomson Reuters Supply Chain and Commodities Research, based on vessel-tracking and port data.

Why a Potash-Agrium merger might end up growing on investors – Joe Chidley (Financial Post – September 1, 2016)

September 1, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

Nothing excites investors like fertilizer, apparently. On Tuesday, two Canadian heavyweights in the business — Calgary-based Agrium Inc. and Saskatoon-based Potash Corp. — confirmed they were in talks to get together, and investors jumped on the haywagon. Since news of this potential “merger of equals” broke, Potash shares have climbed by more than 12 per cent, Agrium’s by nearly eight.

No doubt, there is a lot that makes sense about this deal, should it happen. Potash Corp. is the world’s largest producer of, well, potash (nutrient-form potassium), and also has its hand in nitrogen and phosphorus — the other two elements in the fertilizer triumvirate. Agrium produces its own fair share of P-N-K, too, but also manages a mega-network of North American agricultural stores.

With a merger, both companies would enjoy less competition (and the global fertilizer industry is highly competitive); Potash would diversify its revenue stream; Agrium would get enhanced production capacity. Add in the usual merger-benefit expectations — synergies, efficiencies, cost reductions, etc. — and the markets have got very excited, indeed.

The grandiose — but failed — 1960s plan by an Ontario war hero to settle a ‘second Canada’ below the Arctic – by Tristin Hopper (National Post – September 1, 2016)

September 1, 2016

http://news.nationalpost.com/

If things had gone Richard Rohmer’s way in the 1960s, the Canada of 2016 could have been home to as many as 70 million people. Canada would have had a GDP rivalling that of the United Kingdom and new highways, new railways and new metropolises, all built in the sparsely populated boreal forest region that Rohmer came to call “Mid-Canada.” He would even help to spawn an entirely new type of citizen: The hearty, winter-loving “Mid-Canadian.”

Rohmer — a lawyer and decorated RCAF Wing Commander — was leading a charge to build a “second Canada” on top of the old one. “It was a very simple concept; the country needed long range policies and plans for the future orderly development of this vast land that we have,” said Rohmer, 92, speaking by phone from his home in Collingwood, Ont. This wasn’t just some dashed-off 60s-era flight of fancy, either.

In its heyday, Rohmer’s Mid-Canada plan attracted the attention of a who’s who of powerful Canadians: Captains of industry, bank CEOs, labour leaders, scientists and Aboriginal leaders and the patronage of former Prime Minister Lester Pearson and the Governor General.

Glencore’s interest in Rio Tinto coal assets reignited – by Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Joyce Moullakis (Financial Post – September 1, 2016)

September 1, 2016

http://www.afr.com/

Glencore is once again considering an acquisition of Rio Tinto’s $US 1 billion-plus coal assets, as revealed by Street Talk on Thursday. Deutsche Bank is understood to be in Rio’s corner but it’s unclear whether Glencore is using advisers.

Street Talk understands this time around, Glencore is seeking to buy all of Rio’s Australian coal, including the mining giant’s coking coal assets in Queensland.

The official book value at June 30, 2016, for Rio Tinto Coal Australia was $US1.15 billion. Glencore, which last ran a ruler over the thermal coal assets a year ago, has had its eye on Rio’s Hunter Valley portfolio for the best part of three years.

Samarco dam failed due to poor drainage and design: investigation – by Marta Nogueira and Stephen Eisenhammer (Reuters U.S. – August 30, 2016)

September 1, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

BELO HORIZONTE/RIO DE JANEIRO – The deadly collapse of a tailings dam last November at the Samarco mine, owned by Vale SA and BHP Billiton, was caused by drainage and design flaws, a report into Brazil’s worst-ever environmental disaster showed on Monday.

The 76-page report commissioned by the companies responsible for the spill, which killed 19 people, attributed the dam burst to a chain of events dating back to 2009, but did not assign blame or highlight specific errors in corporate or regulatory practice.

Norbert Morgenstern, a geotechnical engineering professor who headed the investigation, repeatedly told reporters he could not answer their questions when quizzed on whether there was negligence or malpractice on the part of the companies involved.

[Timmins Legendary Hollinger Mine] Burrowing for a Billion – by James A. Cowan (MACLEAN’S – June 15, 1927)

September 1, 2016

http://www.macleans.ca/

Hollinger is more than a billion’dollar gold mine: it is an astonishing augury of what our Canadian brains and courage can accomplish

HOLLINGER, in Northern Ontario, is North America’s greatest gold mine. No one can dispute this, even for the sake of argument, since there can be no argument about it.

In the contest for the title of ‘the greatest gold mine the world has ever seen’, the race has now narrowed down to an all-British affair between Canada and South Africa, and Hollinger, leading the Canadian entries, is the favorite. Working at top speed, it produced during 1926, gold worth $13,342,491—more than a million a month.

Benny Hollinger, novice among prospectors, eighteen years ago, stumbled on the outcroppings of one of the greatest known reserves of gold ore, but for the first twelve years of its history, Fortune presided over the activities of Hollinger with a twisted smile.

Navigating the Ring of Fire road Map: We will lead the regional planning – by Chief Elizabeth Atlookan (NetNewsLedger.com – August 31, 2016)

September 1, 2016

http://www.netnewsledger.com/

Elizabeth Atlookan is Chief of Eabametoong First Nation.

Eabametoong First Nation – VIEWPOINT – Can we offer some clarity? It seems as though each Northern Ontario news service has obtained and shared slightly differing views on, or excerpts from, our recent All Season Community Road Study. This set of news stories emerged last week while KWG was also promoting their work towards a rail corridor study (no bikinis this time).

The reality is that our Community Road Study has always been for the purpose of gathering existing engineering and land use data for enabling informed dialogue among the 4 First Nation communities regarding options and priorities for road connection. It was explicitly intended to consider options for connecting communities together, and to Provincial highways; not industrial use of future corridors.

Most reports emphasize the length of time it has taken for ‘anything to happen’ in the Ring of Fire. Let’s be clear, the only mining project in the ROF currently under Ontario’s regulatory processes is the Noront Eagle’s Nest mine and associated infrastructure. Their Environmental Assessment filings were made in 2012, and the Terms of Reference for the EA were amended and approved by the MOECC in June 2015.