Republic of Mining

Nickel’s hiatus may be brief without output cuts, stronger demand – by Pratima Desai (Reuters U.S. – November 27, 2015)

November 27, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Nov 27 Nickel’s spectacular fall since the middle of last year may have come to a halt, but without significant, enduring output cuts and stronger demand from China’s stainless steel mills the reprieve could be brief.

Benchmark nickel on the London Metal Exchange fell to $8,145 a tonne earlier this week, less than half the level seen in May last year and its lowest since the middle of 2003.

Funds reversing their bets on lower prices on the expectation that Chinese producers may cut output since then pushed prices back up to near $9,000 a tonne.

President says Zambia will not take over struggling copper mines – by Chris Mfula (Reuters U.S. – November 26, 2015)

November 27, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

LUSAKA – Zambia will not take over mining firms that have shed jobs after a sharp fall in copper prices, President Edgar Lungu said on Thursday, backtracking from an earlier warning that the state would run the mines.

Lungu also said the economy would grow at a slower pace than previously estimated due to the struggling copper industry, but outlined austerity measures to cope with the decline in revenue.

Copper accounts for 70 percent of Zambia’s export earnings, which have been further eroded by a power crisis that forced production to be cut.

BHP sees coal price getting worse before it gets better – by Mark Ludlow (Australian Financial Review – November 25, 2015)

November 27, 2015

http://www.afr.com/

A senior BHP Billiton executive has warned the market for Australian resources will get a lot worse before it gets better, saying it would be “dangerous” to invest in a new mine based on the assumption coal prices will recover.

As big miners continue to cut costs following a plunge in international coal prices, BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance asset president Rag Udd painted a bleak picture of the resources sector in Australia.

“I think it’s dangerous to try and align a business around prices improving in metallurgical coal. I personally think it will get worse before it gets better,” Mr Udd told a Queensland Resources Council forum in Brisbane on Wednesday.

China’s Nickel Smelters Agree 20% Production Cut for 2016 (Bloomberg News – November 27, 2015)

November 27, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Nickel smelters in China, the largest producer, plan to cut output next year by at least 20 percent in a bid to shore up prices after the metal plunged to its lowest in 12 years.

Eight producers, including the largest refined metal supplier Jinchuan Group Co. and nickel pig iron maker Tsingshan Holding Group Co., also agreed to cut output next month by 15,000 metric tons, according to a statement circulated by the group on Wechat.

The smelters didn’t say how much of China’s total supply the 20 percent reduction would account for, but their statement suggests cuts of about 120,000 tons next year, according to Celia Wang, general manager at Tianjin Zhongwei Group Co.’s investment department.

Rio Tinto launches $2.6b bauxite push in Queensland – by Peter Kerr (Sydney Morning Herald – November 27, 2015)

November 27, 2015

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

Rio Tinto will spend $US1.9 billion ($2.6 billion) growing its exposure to the increasingly lucrative bauxite trade after announcing a redesigned expansion of a massive project in Queensland on Friday afternoon.

Known as the South of Embley project, the expansion has been expected for three successive years, but had so far been deferred by the Rio board.

Rio Tinto chief executive Sam Walsh told Fairfax Media on Friday that the project would have been difficult to approve if it were still in the scope put before the board in 2013, and praised his team for redesigning the project, which has been renamed “Amrun” in a mark of respect to the local indigenous people.

US staking its rights in space – by Kip Keen (Mineweb.com – November 27, 2015)

November 27, 2015

http://www.mineweb.com/

President Obama signs law giving US citizens rights to resources in space.

US President Barack Obama signed off on a lofty law concerning private rights to resources in space this week. It’s ignited the aspirations of the space exploration crowd in the US – a few of which have designs on mining in space.

Indeed, Obama inspired some first class hyperbole. Planetary Resources, a would-be asteroid explorer, went so far as to peg the law as the “single greatest recognition of property rights in history”.

Well, well. It’s unfortunate the space exploration class chose such climatic words for a moment that is indeed quite interesting if not quite so sexy.

Chinese rail engineering firm scopes out Ring of Fire proposal – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 26, 2015)

November 26, 2015

http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

No sense getting into the chromite business without having China on your radar, according to KWG Resources.

With more than half of the world’s ferrochrome is being consumed by the People’s Republic, Moe Lavigne, vice-president of exploration and development for the Toronto junior miner, said it’s a no-brainer that his exploration firm would strike a deal with a Chinese railroad engineering outfit to investigate the economics of a Ring of Fire railroad.

KWG announced on Nov. 24 a three-year agreement with China Railway First Survey and Design Institute to conduct, what amounts to, a pre-feasibility study of KWG’s long-standing plans for an ore-haul railway from northwestern Ontario to the James Bay region to haul out chromite for processing.

Maximum pain for commodities. Are we there yet? – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – November 26, 2015)

November 26, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

Nov 26 – The dominant theme of commodity markets in recent months, in virtually every article or conversation at events, has been how much lower can prices possibly go. The answer is simple, they will stop falling when the point of maximum pain is reached.

With the prices of many commodities at multi-year lows and the broad Bloomberg Commodity Index close to its weakest in more than 16 years, many commodity producers, investors and traders are becoming desperate for any positive signs.

But any bottoming of prices, or indeed the start of a rally, requires more than desperation, it needs fundamental re-alignment of the existing supply-demand balances.

Rio Tinto says licence to operate will ‘make or break’ miners – by Amanda Saunders (Sydney Morning Herald – November 26, 2015)

November 26, 2015

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

Rio Tinto coal and copper boss Jean-Sebastien Jacques says thermal coal prices are likely to stay depressed for five to seven years but copper could stage a recovery in two years.

Thermal coal is languishing near US$51 ($70) a tonne, down 20 per cent this year, and a huge drop on the $US150 a tonne it was trading at during the peak of the boom in 2011.

Metallurgical coal prices, like thermal coal, also had “a long way to go” before there was any light at the end of the tunnel, Mr Jacques said.

Rio Tinto has been readying to bow out of coal, restructuring its Hunter Valley business and kicking off its staggered exit two months ago with the $US606 million ($867 million) sale of a minority stake in Bengalla, one of its three mines in the New South Wakes region, to New Hope Group.

[British Columnbia] Clark needs to step up on environment – by Stephen Hume (Vancouver Sun – November 25, 2015)

November 26, 2015

http://www.vancouversun.com/

Wednesday’s agreement between Premier Christy Clark and Alaska Gov. Bill Walker promising protection for shared environments from new mining developments on trans-boundary salmon rivers won’t quell the grassroots opposition swelling in the Northern U.S. state.

In fact, it might even make things more difficult for B.C.’s ambitious northwest development plans. Alaskan First Nations, fishing and environmental groups are already signalling a desire to trigger U.S. federal intervention through the International Joint Commission under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty.

What happened to the Northern Gateway and Keystone XL pipelines — once promoted as a sure thing to carry Alberta’s oilsands crude to tidewater — might serve as a cautionary examples.

Mud from Brazil dam burst is toxic, U.N. says – by Stephen Eisenhammer and Sonali Paul (Reuters U.S. – November 26, 2015)

November 26, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

RIO DE JANEIRO – Mud from a dam that burst at an iron ore mine in Brazil earlier this month, killing 12 people and polluting an important river, is toxic, the United Nations’ human rights agency said on Wednesday.

The statement contradicts claims by Samarco, the mine operator at the site of the rupture, and Samarco’s co-owner, BHP Billiton (BHP.AX)(BLT.L), that the water and mineral waste contained by the dam are not toxic.

Citing “new evidence,” the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement the residue “contained high levels of toxic heavy metals and other toxic chemicals”.

Iron-Ore Crash Turns Up Heat on Miners – by Rhiannon Hoyle (Wall Street Journal – November 25, 2015)

November 26, 2015

http://www.wsj.com/

SYDNEY—The slump in iron-ore prices to near a decade low is turning the spotlight back onto the world’s biggest miners and their strategy of churning out ore at record rates.

While prices have been weak for a while, fears of a global glut have deepened in recent days following evidence of slowing steel output in China, the world’s biggest consumer of the steelmaking ingredient by far.

The price tumble comes at a bad time for big producers such as Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton and Brazil’s Vale SA, which are counting up the costs of a deadly dam failure at their jointly owned iron-ore mine in Brazil this month. The two firms are the world’s top shippers of iron ore, along with Rio Tinto.

Keep Cobalt’s History Alive – by Nicole Guertin

November 26, 2015

Click here for crowdfunding campaign: https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/d143Pd

The Cobalt silver rush was more important than the Klondike gold rush but few people know of its existence. By buying a book, you are helping share the incredible history of Cobalt and raise money for the Historic Cobalt Legacy Fund.

My name is Nicole Guertin and I am the co-owner of the Presidents’ Suites with my partner Jocelyn Blais. The Presidents’ Suites consists of historical homes situated on the shores of beautiful Lake Temiskaming. We are passionate about the region’s unique history and would like everyone to share our passion.

Nickel goes below $4: Mining suppliers get hit – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – November 25, 2015)

November 26, 2015

http://www.northernlife.ca/

In a year that has seen two mine closures in Greater Sudbury, the low price of nickel has also resulted in a significant downturn in jobs available for the city’s mining supply and services sector, says the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA).

SAMSSA executive director Dick DeStefano said his members have been mum on the impact low nickel prices has had on their businesses, but said it has definitely resulted in fewer contracts with larger firms like Vale and Glencore.

Nickel hit a multi-year low of US$3.75 a pound Monday, and climbed slightly Tuesday to $3.92 a pound by 3:50 p.m.

[Mining Potential] Shifting Afghan Gears: Build, Don’t Blast – by Edward Corcoran (Huffington Post – November 25, 2015)

November 26, 2015

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Ret. Strategic Analyst, U.S. Army War College.

Afghanistan has enormous economic potential as outlined in a recent US Army review; developing this is the key to stability. Despite fourteen years of US military support, the situation has deteriorated to the point that the senior US officer has stated flatly, “we have to provide our senior leadership options different than the current plan.”

This plan focuses on building up the capacity of the forces; it ignores the underlying reality that security simply cannot be achieved without development. No wonder Americans want out. Over 3,000 US service members and civilians have been killed and more than 20,000 wounded; direct, short-term costs come close to a trillion dollars.