Feds say no to Kiggavik uranium mine, back Nunavut Impact Review Board – by By Sima Sahar Zerehi (CBC News North – July 26, 2016)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister supports the Nunavut Impact Review Board’s decision

The minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs has reviewed the Nunavut Impact Review Board’s final report on the proposed Kiggavik uranium mine and agreed with the board: “the project should not proceed at this time.”

The review board issued its final report on the proposed mine near Baker Lake in the spring of 2015.

The report rejected Areva Resource’s proposed Kiggavik mine on the grounds that it lacks a definite start date and a development schedule. The board concluded that without this information it was impossible to assess the environmental and social impacts of the mine.

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Development without Indigenous input illegal, says Rae – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – July 21, 2016)

http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

The need to consult Indigenous people before development takes place is not a conceit of a particular political party or the whim of the current government, said former parliamentarian Bob Rae. It’s the law, he said, and municipalities would be wise to heed that notion so progress can move forward.

“The idea that you can develop the next big development in Northern Canada or Northern Ontario without the full participation of the First Nations is not only a fanciful idea, it’s also an illegal idea,” Rae said. “There’s no getting around it. I think it’s really important for all of us to take a deep breath and understand that is the case.”

Speaking to municipal representatives during the May Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) conference in Timmins, Rae drew on his experience in politics and law, and especially his current role as Ring of Fire advisor to the Matawa Chiefs Council, to speak about emerging relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.

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Anti-Keystone XL group takes first shot at its new target: Energy East – by Claudia Cattaneo (Financial Post – July 26, 2016)

http://business.financialpost.com/

The big U.S. green group that led the assault against Keystone XL is firing its opening salvo Tuesday against Energy East, joining an already-crowded field of opponents and proving Alberta’s and Canada’s climate change plans are failing to moderate anti-pipeline campaigns.

The New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is holding a telephone press conference to talk about a report it prepared “documenting TransCanada’s plan and discuss the potential harm if it goes forward to communities (including those that depend on fishing), iconic species (among them whales), special places and the climate.”

In a news advisory, the NRDC paints Energy East as even worse than KXL. Both pipelines are proposed by Calgary-based TransCanada Corp.

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Peru Scrambles to Drive Out Illegal Gold Mining and Save Precious Land – by Suzanne Daley (New York Times – July 26, 2016)

http://www.nytimes.com/

A force of marines and rangers is outnumbered as it tries to protect the area anchored by the Tambopata reserve, one of the most biologically diverse places on earth.

ON THE BORDER OF THE TAMBOPATA RESERVE, Peru — The raid began at dawn. In four small wooden boats, the forest rangers and Peruvian marines, checking and rechecking their automatic weapons, headed silently downriver toward the illegal gold miners.

They didn’t have to go far. Around the first bend was a ramshackle mining settlement, tarps stretched over tree poles. Soon, the marines were firing into the air, the miners and their families were on the run, and the rangers were moving in with machetes.

They speared bags of rice and plastic barrels of drinking water, kicked aside toys and smashed tools before setting everything on fire. High above the Amazon rain forest, home to trees that are more than 1,000 years old, heavy plumes of black smoke spiraled toward the clouds.

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Chinese miners call for anti-dumping probe into iron ore imports – by Ruby Lian and David Stanway (Reuters U.S. – Juy 26, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

SHANGHAI – Chinese iron ore miners have called for an anti-dumping investigation into imports of the steelmaking raw material from top suppliers Australia and Brazil.

More than 20 Chinese miners in a statement on the Metallurgical Miners’ Association of China website said “a huge volume of low-priced imported iron ore has had a severe impact on the domestic mining industry and even posed a big challenge for the security of steel production”.

“The capacity of major iron ore miners has continued to grow and requires a massive Chinese market to absorb their great excess,” the statement posted on Tuesday said. Australia’s BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, along with Brazil’s Vale, have embarked on massive expansion programs in recent years to supply the Chinese market.

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This study puts gold price at $1,850 with Trump win – by Frik Els (Mining.com – July 22, 2016)

http://www.mining.com/

On Friday, gold had another rough day as a stronger US dollar and a rise on stock markets already around record highs diminish appetite for the hard asset.

Gold futures in New York for delivery in August, the most active contract, fell to a low of $1,319.40 in early trade before regaining some lost ground at the close. Two weeks ago gold closed at a two-year high of $1,368. Year to date the metal remains higher by 24% or some $270 an ounce, the best annual performance in decades.

Georgette Boele of ABN Amro in a new research note charts gold movements during US presidencies going back to Gerald Ford 1974–1977 term to ascertain the possible impact on the price during a Hillary Clinton or Donal Trump presidency.

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De Beers unlikely to find buyer for Snap Lake mine, says analyst – by Guy Quenneville (CBC News North – July 26, 2016)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

Current diamond prices a deterrent to buyers

Groundwater problems, weakened diamond prices and a thinning crowd of diamond producers mean De Beers is “very unlikely” to find a buyer for the Snap Lake mine before the company floods it later this year, says one diamond industry analyst.

“I don’t see somebody buying it and turning it back on and producing at current prices,” says Paul Zimnisky. He says his data indicates diamond prices are only up about five per cent since De Beers halted production at the N.W.T. mine in December.

If a junior mining company does agree to purchase Snap Lake, it will likely do so under a “call out option” — acquiring and sitting on a mine for the express purpose of reselling it once prices improve.

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AfroCan mine investment in South Africa falls apart amid dispute – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – July 23, 2016)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

JOHANNESBURG — It was a saga that riveted South Africans: rescue workers blasting through tons of rock in a dramatic effort to save three miners who were trapped underground when they plunged into a giant sinkhole.

Despite weeks of struggle by the rescue workers, the miners were never found. And then the mine itself was closed, leaving 900 workers jobless – until a Canadian company emerged as a “white knight” to invest in the gold mine and restore it to operation.

But today the planned $11.3-million (U.S.) investment has fallen apart in a storm of recriminations, and the Vancouver-based company is facing an onslaught of criticism from South African trade unions and the mine owner.

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This U.S. Coal Miner’s Getting Paid to Buy Assets in Appalachia -by Tim Loh (Bloomberg News – July 25, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

James Booth has done it again. In September, his Booth Energy coal group bought a collection of Appalachian mines from a Florida utility company for nothing beyond liabilities. On Monday, it acquired another two sites in West Virginia — this time, from Consol Energy Inc. — for nothing beyond liabilities.

In fact, Consol will pay a Booth Energy unit $27 million at closing and $17 million more over four years, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday. Such is the state of U.S. coal markets that Consol, looking to expedite its transition from mining coal to exclusively producing natural gas, is willing to part with non-core assets for, well, nothing.

For Booth and others, coal’s bust is yielding bargains. Last winter, West Virginia’s Jim Justice paid $5 million — and assumed liabilities — to buy back mines he’d previously sold for $568 million.

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Electric cars no ‘major disrupter’ to platinum business (Business Day TV – July 26, 2016)

http://www.bdlive.co.za/

Chris Griffith is CEO of Anglo American Platinum.

BUSINESS DAY TV: Free cash flow is up and net debt is down, but so too are first half profits. Anglo American Platinum continues to refocus its business in a tough environment. Joining me on News Leader with more is CEO Chris Griffith.

Chris … so interim headline earnings are down 58% to just over R1bn. Profit from lower metal prices though in the previous year did have an extraordinary item and that really skews the end result, doesn’t it?

CHRIS GRIFFITH: That’s correct. Last year, in the first half of the year, we had a massive stock gain which added about R2.2bn to earnings. And if you compare a stock gain that we had in this first half of the year of about R0.6bn, you see a net difference between the two periods of R1.6bn.

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Windsor Salt investing over $60M to expand mining capabilities (CTV Windsor – July 25, 2016)

http://windsor.ctvnews.ca/

K+S Windsor Salt Ltd. announced it is starting a $60-million expansion of its Ojibway salt mine in Windsor. The company says it’s part of its commitment to enhance its salt production footprint and capabilities in Canada.

Over the next five years, the company will invest more than $60 million to expand to the next mining level, approximately 400 feet below the current level.

As part of the expansion, the company is also converting its mining method and equipment to upgrade to the latest mining technology. This investment is expected to help boost production and extend the life of the mine nearly 50 years, enabling the mine to operate until 2063.

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Chinese firms back on the hunt for mining treasure as majors offload assets – by Eric Ng (South China Morning Post – July 25, 2016)

http://www.scmp.com/

Study shows domestic firms snap up US$4.49b worth of overseas mining interests in the first six months, an 18.2pc rise

Resurgent Chinese interest in overseas mining acquisitions is expected to remain strong, amid expectations that metal prices may be bottoming out and as international mining majors look to improve their portfolios by selling assets.

Domestic firms snapped up US$4.49 billion worth of overseas mining assets in the first six months of the year, an 18.2 per cent rise on the US$3.8 billion in the same period last year, according to data collated by Mergermarket which has co-published a report on the findings with international law firm Baker & McKenzie.

“In the past, China’s demand [for overseas assets] has been driven by central [government] policy, [but now] we are seeing more opportunistic buying,” said John Mollard, global head of mining at Baker & McKenzie.

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Millions of orchids grow on former mine site in upstate NY – by Mary Esch (Omaha World Herald – July 23, 2016)

http://www.omaha.com/news/

STAR LAKE, N.Y. (AP) — Millions of orchids are now growing in a hundred-acre wetland in the Adirondack Park that developed on waste from a vast open-pit iron mine, a transformation scientists say is most impressive because it happened naturally.

“It’s a testament to nature’s ability to heal itself,” said Grete Bader, a graduate student who recently wrote her master’s thesis about the plant life at the former Benson Mines, about 35 miles from the Canadian border.

The wetland, which remains privately owned and off limits to the public, formed on part of thousands of acres of coarse sand left over when granite ore was crushed to extract iron from 1900 until 1978. That bare sand eventually gave way to moss, lichen, grasses, sedges and trees, including willows, poplars and tamaracks.

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Philippines’ House Speaker wants Congress to license new miners (Reuters U.K. – July 25, 2016)

http://uk.reuters.com/

The Philippines’ newly elected House Speaker said on Monday he wants new mining companies to get a legislative license before they are allowed to operate in the country as part of efforts to protect the environment.

Pantaleon Alvarez, a close ally of President Rodrigo Duterte, also said he will revive a proposed measure that will require miners to process their ores locally before they are shipped overseas to help create jobs domestically.

“Their activities would be subject to legislative oversight and their franchises can be revoked by the oversight body… if they violate the terms and conditions (of the franchise),” Alvarez said in a speech after he was elected speaker on Monday.

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BHP Billiton gold output hits 14-year high as price surges – by Peter Ker (Sydney Morning Herald – July 25, 2016)

http://www.smh.com.au/

Declining production was the norm across BHP Billiton’s most important divisions during fiscal 2016, but that didn’t stop booming production in some of the company’s lower profile product groups.

The miner’s production of gold, for example, soared 21 per cent higher than the previous year to 226,682 ounces, with about 20 per cent of that owned by joint venture partners.

That was BHP’s biggest haul of the lustrous metal since it produced 286,971 ounces in the 2002 financial year. BHP does not own any gold mines per se, but produces gold as a byproduct at two mines better known for their copper; Escondida in Chile and Olympic Dam in South Australia.

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