Republic of Mining

Commodity shock knocks Africa’s growth prospects – World Bank – by Terence Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – April 11, 2016)

April 12, 2016

http://www.miningweekly.com/

The World Bank has lowered its 2016 growth forecast for Africa to 3.3%, from 4.2% previously, after the continent expanded by only 3% in 2015; the slowest pace of growth since the 2009 global financial crisis and well below the 6.8% levels experienced by the continent between 2003 and 2008.

The bank’s latest Africa’s Pulse publication, released on Monday, indicated that the weak 2015 performance, as well as the 2016 downward revision, could be attributed largely to the plunge in commodity prices, which had dramatically lowered the terms of trade for the continent’s oil and minerals exporters.

“The fall in commodity prices represented a significant shock for the region, because of the large share of commodities in exports: fuels, ores and metals account for more than 60% of the region’s exports compared with 16% for manufactured goods and 10% for agricultural products,” the bank outlined.

Copper Collapses As China Prepares To Dump Surplus Metal In A Repeat Of Its Steel Export Flood – by Tim Treadgold (Forbes Magazine – April 8, 2016)

April 12, 2016

http://www.forbes.com/

Dr Copper is ill, again.

The metal which acts as a barometer of global industrial production thanks to its use in everything from household appliances to cars, power generation and construction has hit another speed bump on what was thought to be at the start of a long-term price recovery.

From a multi-year price low of around $1.97 a pound in late January copper rose by 16% to $2.30/lb on March 21. Since then it’s been one-way traffic with the price dipping to $2.11 and looking weak.

Whether copper, which earned its Dr Copper nickname because of its celebrated ability to reflect the underlying health of the economy, will re-test the $2/lb mark is a question worrying producers of the red metal.

The Undoing of a Coal Baron – by the Editorial Board (New York Times – April 7, 2016)

April 12, 2016

http://www.nytimes.com/

It was the rarest of news in the coal mining hollows of Appalachia: A once powerful executive, Donald Blankenship, was sentenced Wednesday to a year in prison for conspiring to violate federal mine safety laws at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, where 29 workers died in an explosion six years ago.

The very idea that a dominant baron of the industry called King Coal could be brought to justice and put behind bars shook the region, where miners have long complained that they face dangerous and illegal working conditions that routinely result in no punishment.

Mr. Blankenship, who served as chief executive of the Massey Energy Company, was not accused of causing the explosion, but his management methods, so notoriously focused on profitability, came under investigation after the disaster and led to his federal conviction on a misdemeanor charge in December in a Charleston courthouse.

NEWS RELEASE: LIBERAL SPIN WON’T GET THE RING OF FIRE OFF THE GROUND (April 1st, 2016)

April 12, 2016

The Liberal government needs to come clean with northerners on whether or not infrastructure money is being set aside to develop the Ring of Fire project. The multi-billion project was overlooked in the Liberal platform and now the recent Liberal budget. Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus says statements by Liberal MPs that the government is doing its part through investments in clean water, education and Indigenous infrastructure just doesn’t cut it.

“Let’s not kid anyone here. Dealing with the crisis in education and lack of clean water is a constitutional and moral obligation of the federal government. They have to do this work. It should not be spun as the federal Liberals getting a multi-billion dollar mining project off the ground. That would be like pretending that fixing schools in Toronto is the federal role in building subways.”

Angus says the Liberals need to explain what money will be put into the infrastructure of the Ring of Fire. There is a clear role for the federal government in infrastructure.

India launches space technology to tackle illegal mining – by Sharon Masige (Australian Mining – April 12, 2016)

April 12, 2016

https://australianmining.com.au/

Rising levels of illegal mining in India is seeing the government implement space technologies in an effort combat the issue. Each state was also asked to gather information on past illegal mining activities and methods used to check them.

According to the Economic Times, Balvinder Kumar, India’s mines secretary, said mapping of mines by satellite will begin with major metals such as gold and iron ore, gradually expanding to include sand and limestone – where the problem is more prevalent.

In September 2015 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed the use of space technology to prevent illegal mining activities. “Once fully implemented, the move will bring about transformation in the Indian mining industry. We have identified large chunks of illegal mining in many areas,” Kumar said.

Fortune Hunters Endanger Africa’s Abandoned Mines – by Nicholas Bariyo and Alexandra Wexler (Wall Street Journal – April 11, 2016)

April 12, 2016

http://www.wsj.com/

Fights break out as the commodities rout forces mining companies to close shafts

Kampala/Johannesburg – Fortune seekers across Africa are clambering down gold shafts closed by some of the world’s biggest miners, fueling dystopian conflicts between companies waiting out a commodity rout and poor villagers with little to lose.

The result is a chaotic and often deadly tableau playing out deep underground across the mineral-rich continent. Dozens of miners have been killed in subterranean gunfights over turf ceded by mining companies, many of whom fear the collateral damage to shaft walls and winches could make it impossible to open them again.

In Ghana, AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., the world’s No. 3 gold producer, closed shafts at its Obuasi mine in late 2014, as the mine hemorrhaged cash amid sinking metals prices. Early this year, hundreds of men broke through the 13-mile fence around Obuasi and started hunting for gold there on their own.

Decline and fall: the broken dreams of a Chinese coal-mining city struggling to address industrial overcapacity – by Zhou Xin (South China Morning Post – April 12, 2016)

April 12, 2016

http://www.scmp.com/

A grim, uncertain future hangs over the 1.7 million residents of Datong in the heart of China’s dusty, windswept coal-mining country about 350km west of Beijing. Amid the imminent threat of massive lay-offs, the city’s coal workers are battling for back-pay and timely salaries just so they can feed their families.

In another area of the city the local government’s boom-and-bust redevelopment plans lie unfinished. A multimillion-dollar “white elephant” sports stadium is slowly being reclaimed by the dust.

Elsewhere, the ruins of the partially built replica ancient walled city are a monument to the failed plans of the city’s former mayor – nicknamed “Demolition Geng” – who dreamed of remaking an “ancient walled city” in the urban centre, but who is long gone.

NEWS RELEASE: Fasken Martineau Wins Global Mining Law Firm of the Year Award (April 12, 2016)

April 12, 2016

Toronto (Canada) – Fasken Martineau, a leading international business law and litigation firm, announces today that it has been awarded Global Mining Law Firm of the Year for 2016 by Who’s Who Legal. This is the eighth time that Fasken Martineau has been recognized by Who’s Who Legal as the leading law firm for mining worldwide.

Fasken Martineau has received this award more than any other law firm in the world.
“We are extremely proud to once again be named Global Mining Law Firm of the Year. This win showcases the comprehensive range of legal services the Global Mining Group provides our clients globally and we are pleased to share this award with them,” said partner John Turner, Practice Group Leader for Fasken Martineau’s Global Mining Group.

Providing full-service mining and business law expertise with over 150 years of experience, Fasken Martineau’s Global Mining Group has earned an unparalleled reputation in the industry, manoeuvering the dynamics and cycles of international mining, structuring transactions to promote cross-border efficiencies, reducing clients’ exposure to commercial, regulatory and political risk and facilitating financings.

The Canadian First Nation suicide epidemic has been generations in the making – by Julian Brave NoiseCat (The Guardian – April 12, 2016)

April 12, 2016

http://www.theguardian.com/

The Attawapiskat First Nation, or the people of the parting rocks, as they are known in their indigenous Swampy Cree language, number roughly 2,000 souls. They live on a small Indian reserve 600 miles north of the Canadian capital of Ottawa, at the mouth of James Bay’s Attawapiskat River. This subarctic First Nation declared a state of emergency after 11 community members tried to take their own lives Saturday night.

Since last September, more than 100 Attawapiskat people have attempted suicide in what local MP Charlie Angus has described as a “rolling nightmare” of a winter. The ghastly toll reveals a grim reality with which a nation in the midst of a process of truth and reconciliation now must reckon.

Suicide does not merely roll in like a hurricane to uproot homes and families, and drown out neighborhoods before receding from where it came. No, this has been an emergency generations in the making, tacitly supported by a Canada fully willing to mine natural resources, proselytize and brutalize generations of children in residential schools, and then leave with basic housing, education systems and healthcare in a state of disrepair.

New Caledonia fears civil unrest after collapse of Clive Palmer’s nickel refinery – by Joshua Robertson (The Guardian – January 19, 2016)

April 12, 2016

http://www.theguardian.com/

Nearly all of South Pacific territory’s income comes from nickel exports and authorities say job losses and economic downturn could cause political unrest

The collapse of Clive Palmer’s Queensland Nickel business has compounded fears of civil strife in New Caledonia should the French territory’s key mining customer go under completely.

The perilous position of the Townsville-based metals producer, which puts nearly all of New Caledonia’s export income from laterite nickel ore at risk, has heightened concerns among business operators and government officials that the fallout could spill over from major job and revenue losses into violent industrial clashes.

Clive Palmer under fire in damning Queensland Nickel report – by Michael Smith (Australian Financial Review – April 12, 2016)

April 12, 2016

http://www.afr.com/

Do not underestimate Clive Palmer’s ability to survive the damning allegations now facing the larger-than-life mining entrepreneur turned politician and the way his failed Queensland Nickel business was run.

Administrator John Park told journalists that Palmer and his nephew and fellow director Clive Mensink behaved “recklessly” and used Queensland Nickel as a “piggy bank” to dissipate funds throughout his business empire when required.

Palmer’s political career looks short-lived if media reports of the rising tide of resentment towards him in his own state are correct, and he potentially faces further action over the way the company operated.

You can now be positive on commodities, and that’s a big change – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – April 12, 2016)

April 12, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

SINGAPORE – – It would be easy to dismiss the assertion by BHP Billiton Chief Executive Andrew Mackenzie that commodity prices have bottomed as the wishful thinking of a mining executive keen to see some improvement in profit margins.

While it’s likely that the boss of the world’s biggest mining company is hoping for an end to five years of a declining price trend for many of the commodities his company produces, there is enough price evidence to suggest he may be right.

It’s probably a little too early to call for a rebound in commodity prices, and Mackenzie was suitably cautious in his comments published last weekend in The Australian newspaper. But the fact that it is now possible to construct a narrative, with supporting price data, for even a mild recovery in commodities is something of a sea change.

Monday mad rush for gold stocks – by Frik Els (Mining.com – April 11, 2016)

April 12, 2016

http://www.mining.com/

Ranks of gold shares doubling in value in 2016 continues to grow

Swirling speculation about the possible outcome of a special gathering of the US Federal Reserve and chair Janet Yellen’s meeting with the President Barack Obama helped to lift gold to a three-week high on Monday.

Traders in gold futures in New York pushed gold for delivery in June, the most active contract, to above $1,260 an ounce in morning dealings before settling back $1,258 an ounce, up 1.2% or $15 from Friday’s close. Gold hit a 13-month high of $1,274 an ounce March 10 and is up 18.7% in 2016.

Renewed optimism about the outlook for gold saw investors pile back into gold stocks, pushing many stock to 52-week highs in heavy volumes. Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:ABX, TSE:ABX), which produced 6.1 million ounces of gold in 2015, jumped 7.5% with more 20 million shares changing hands in afternoon dealings pushing the shares to 18-month highs.

Environmentalist questions Yukon gov’t charter with mining company – by Dave Croft(CBC News North – April 11, 2016)

April 12, 2016

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

The Yukon government’s special relationship with a mining company should concern Yukoners, said Whitehorse-based environmental activist Lewis Rifkind of the Yukon Conservation Society (YCS).

The government released a charter on Thursday that it signed in early January with the Western Copper and Gold Corporation.

The document says the charter is meant to ensure the environmental permitting process for the company’s massive Casino Mine proposal is done in a “timely and efficient manner.” Rifkind questions why the company appears to be getting extra assistance from the government.

Mining sector eyes treetop needles, bark for help with hitting pay dirt – by Geordon Omand (Canadian Press – April 11 2016)

April 12, 2016

http://www.metronews.ca/

VANCOUVER — British Columbia’s trees could hold the key to unearthing the whereabouts of promising new mineral deposits hidden in remote and inaccessible regions of the province.

A provincial science group has released the results of an innovative pilot project that collects and studies samples from the tops of spruce trees for trace amounts of precious minerals in order to help mining companies hit pay dirt.

“It’s a bit of a holy grail,” said Bruce Madu, vice-president for minerals and mining with Geoscience BC, an independent public agency. “Imagine if you can only sample the vegetation to learn about what’s in the soil, as opposed to actually having to dig holes.”