Luxembourg aims to be a global leader in asteroid mining

Artist’s impression of an asteroid near Earth.

Luxembourg has declared its intention to blaze a trail in asteroid mining in the hope that it will reap lucrative returns.

The small country’s government said on Wednesday it would invest in space mining companies and establish a legal framework to assure those engaging in the activity that they can keep the fruit of their toils.

The 1967 outer space treaty appeared to designate space as public property, meaning no one could claim sovereignty over asteroids. But companies have recently challenged that interpretation, and in November Barack Obama signed a law enabling US citizens to obtain their own asteroids, mine them and keep what they find.

Now Luxembourg has staked its claim, hoping it can become a European hub for the futurist activity. Its declared aims are to stimulate economic growth on Earth and offer new horizons in space exploration.

The country’s deputy prime minister, Étienne Schneider, said: “Our aim is to open access to a wealth of previously unexplored mineral resources, on lifeless rocks hurtling through space, without damaging natural habitats.

“We will support the long-term economic development of new, innovative activities in the space and satellite industries as a key high-tech sector for Luxembourg. At first, our aim is to carry out research in this area, which at a later stage can lead to more concrete activities in space.”

Asteroids vary in their composition, but some are rich in platinum-group materials and other highly valued metals.

Luxembourg, with a population of just over 540,000, punches above its weight in the space sector as home to the satellite operator SES.

Two US companies, Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources, are in a race to be the first to commercially mine an asteroid. They both welcomed Luxembourg’s announcement.

Jean-Jacques Dordain, former director general of the European Space Agency (ESA) and adviser to Luxembourg’s government on the project, said: “This initiative is a clear demonstration that Europeans are innovative and able to take risks when the stakes are high.

“While futuristic, the project is based on solid grounds, ie technical prowess that already exists in Europe and around the world.”

Credits: The Guardian

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The biggest issues facing Africa's largest mining gathering – Indaba 2016

On Monday more than 7,000 delegates from 100 countries and territories across six continents will descend on Cape Town for the biggest mining gathering on the planet in one of arguably the toughest years in the history of African mining.

The continent is facing economic uncertainty, doubts over mining legislation and regulation, power cuts and looming strikes. Even the optimists, that is the government of South Africa, admit there could be as many as 32,000 jobs under threat in the country’s mines.

This would be a severe blow to an industry, that despite several setbacks in the last five years, is still top dog in Africa employing 400,000 people. Pay talks are expected in the platinum industry later this year, with the dominant union AMCU, that could lead to a strike costing billions and thousands of jobs. The union led a five-month strike in platinum two years ago.

AMCU will make its debut at this year’s indaba and is likely to arrive with characteristic uncompromising views on mining that could unsettle one or two foreign investors. 

“We feel it is not ok for corporations to come into our country make decisions about what is happening in our country and then leave,” says Manzini Zungu, the spokesman for AMCU.  

One of the highlights of this year’s gathering is that South Africa’s new mining minister Mosebenzi Zwane will open proceedings and give the mining world a hint of how his government plans to stem the flow of capital out.

For years a pall of gloom has formed over the Mining Indaba in Cape Town with analysts and industry insiders tutting about how pessimistic foreign investors are and how there are more supply companies and fewer mining companies every year.

“The problem is South Africa is sending out messages that it is closed for business,” one delegate and former mine boss said to me in Cape Town last year.

Infrastructure is also a worry. From  Zambia to Mpumalanga mines are suffering power cuts and a lack of roads, water and rails.

On the other side of the coin, infrastructure, along with the support for new mining projects, is the focus of the Mining Indaba with the aim of prising billions out of foreign investors.

The organizers are upbeat even if the mining industry is not. They claim billions of dollars in investment have been channelled in to African mining, through the indaba, creating 5,000 jobs since 2007.It claims 2,300 international companies will have delegates at this year’s gathering.

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange, clearly caught up in the sustained enthusiasm of the organizers, will be there in force in the hope of recruiting new listings. Of the 391 companies listed on the JSE, 68 are from metals mining and resources. The fact that the JSE wants more, at the very least, is a vote of confidence for a very battered industry that has seen billions in value of resources companies wiped off the board in the last few years.

When the talking starts in Cape Town there are likely to be more than a few sparks. One of the first speakers on Monday will be the former Nigerian Reserve Bank governor Lamido Sanusi, the man whose unflinching stance against corruption and his own government in 2011 earned him Forbes Africa Person of the Year award. The Emir of Kano, who rarely minces his words, will speak as chairman of Black Rhino Group , an energy infrastructure company with investments across Africa.

Other vociferous mining bigwigs expected as speakers will be Ben Magara, the CEO of Lonmin, Mark Cutifani, the CEO of Anglo American, Tom Albanese, the head of Vendanta Group, Robert Friedland, the founder of Ivanhoe Resources and Mark Bristow, the CEO of Randgold Resources.

There will be plenty of talk at the Mining Indaba, in Cape Town’s vast International Trade Centre, but talk can be cheap. If mining is to remain a major industry on this continent serious investment and hard work is needed this year.

More than 20 years ago the Mining Indaba was launched in one room at a Cape Town hotel. The industry must be careful not to allow the industry to shrink back into one hotel room in 20 years’ time.

Credits: Chris Bishop, CNBCAfrica

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New technique to discover copper deposits

Magmatic rock which formed large porphyry deposit in Chile.

A geologist at the University of Exeter has developed a new and relatively inexpensive way to establish whether certain types of magmatic rocks are more likely to contain valuable metal deposits.

In a study published in Nature Geoscience, Dr Ben Williamson, of the University’s Camborne School of Mines, together with Dr Richard Herrington from the Natural History Museum, London, have proposed a new method to explore for porphyry-type copper deposits. These deposits provide around 75 per cent of the world’s copper and a significant amount of molybdenum and gold which makes them extremely important to the world economy. The deposits, which originally form at several kilometres depth below the Earth’s surface, above large magma chambers, are relatively rare, particularly the largest deposits which are most economic to mine. In addition, most near-surface deposits have already been discovered. Any new method to locate deeper deposits is therefore of great interest to the mining industry.

The project, funded by Anglo American, a major global mining company, compared the chemical compositions of minerals from magmatic rocks that host porphyry deposits against those which are barren. A case study was then undertaken of a major new porphyry discovery in Chile, to test their theory. Minerals from magmatic rocks which host porphyry deposits have distinctive chemical characteristics which can be used as one of a suite of indicators to home-in on porphyry deposits. Unravelling the causes of the distinctive chemical signatures has also brought new insights into the formation of porphyry copper deposits, and more generally the generation of the magmatic rocks from which they form, which are an important component of the Earth’s crust. The main finding in this regard is that the magma chamber below the porphyry undergoes discrete injections of water-rich melts or watery fluids which enhance the magma’s ability to transfer copper and other metals upwards to form a porphyry copper deposit.

Dr Ben Williamson, of the University of Exeter’s Camborne School of Mines, said: “This new method will add to the range of tools available to exploration companies to discover new porphyry copper deposits. Our findings also provide important insights into why some magmas are more likely to produce porphyry copper deposits than others, and add to our understanding of how their parent magmatic rocks evolve.”

Source: University of Exeter

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6th Asian Mining Congress and Exhibition - 2016

AMC 2016

Asia, the world's biggest continent, is also the world's largest raw material producer, to the tune of 10 billion tonnes per year, accounting for 56% of world total mineral production. With its huge area and geological diversity, it is likely and virtually every kind of deposit is present somewhere. The outlook for development of the mineral industry is promising and it will play a major role in the global economy to achieve its full potential.

The Asian Mining Congress and International Mining Exhibition, a biennial event organized by the Mining, Geological & Metallurgical Institute of India (MGMI) provides a forum for the miners, machinery manufacturers, planners and policy makers to discuss the various issues affecting the mining industry in the Asian region in particular, and also in the rest of the world. The event provides an unrivalled opportunity for the manufacturers of mining machinery in the world to showcase their products and do business. 

The Congress will provide forum for promotion and support of techno-scientific cooperation towards national and international progress in the areas of mineral production, in addition to the development of new opportunities of sustainable business that will benefit both Asian and world societies.

Lead Topics

• Status of Mineral Industry in Asian Countries: Resources and Exploitation.
• New Mineral Development Projects in Asian Countries.
• Oil and Gas: Petroleum, Natural Gas, Coal Bed Methane (CBM), Coal Mine Methane (CMM), Shale Gas, Underground Gasification of Coal (UGC), Coal Liquefaction, etc.
• Advances in Technology: Exploration & Mining in Opencast & Underground Modern Mining Techniques: Opencast and underground Mining.
• Mineral Processing and Coal Beneficiation.
• Environment, Safety and Health issues.
• Investment opportunities in Mining Industry.
• Green Mining for sustainable future.
• Import, Export Trading scenario.
• Logistics & Infrastructure Development.

Highlights of International Mining Exhibition

• Participation of leading Mining Equipment & Machinery Manufacturers from Asia, Africa, America and Europe.
• Group Participation from Mineral Rich Countries and States of India.
• Participation of Industry Giants and SMEs'.
• Structured Visitor Promotion and Publicity to Invite High Purchase Buyers.
• Buyer Seller Meet.
• Participation expected from 30+ Countries, 300+ Stalls, 800+ Delegates, 20,000+                Trade Visitors.

Conference Date: 23^rd – 27^th February, 2016.

Conference Venue: Hotel Hyatt Regency, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Exhibition Venue: Eco Park (Gate No.1), New Town, Rajarhat, Kolkata, WB, India.

Contact: The Mining, Geological & Metallurgical Institute of India, GN - 38/4, Salt lake, Sector – V, Kolkata – 700 091, India.

Website: AsianMining Congress  ; MGMI             

Email: mgmikolkata@gmail.com; info@asianminingcongress.com Tel: 91 33 2357 3482/3987/6518

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Kumba Iron Ore Ltd begins workforce reduction process

Sishen Iron ore Mine

Kumba Iron Ore, South Africa’s largest producer of the crucial steel ingredient, is slashing the workforce at its flagship Sishen mine by nearly half to cope with weak iron ore prices.

The Sishen mine, the largest source of iron ore in South Africa for decades, has undergone a major change because of the enormous amount of waste that had to be moved to expose ore.

The change has not been quick enough and majority shareholder Anglo American told investors last month a decision had been taken to shift focus away from volumes and instead focus on cutting costs, reducing capital expenditure and boosting cash generation.

The production forecast was lowered to 26-million tonnes a year at a unit cash cost delivered on board ships in Saldanha port of less than $30 a tonne this year, giving a break-even price of landing ore in China at below $40 a tonne.

As part of this new plan, the workforce would have to be cut, Kumba said yesterday. Of the 5,840 employees at Sishen, Kumba aims to reduce the number by cutting 2,633 direct employees and 1,300 contractor jobs.

Kumba issued the unions a section 189 notice on Thursday, starting a 60-day process to reduce the workforce.

“This has been an extremely difficult decision but, after exhausting all other avenues and doing all we could have done to reduce costs, we have no choice but to take more significant steps to preserve the viability of the mine,” CEO Norman Mbazima said.

Sishen is the largest single source of jobs in Kumba, which employs 7,434 people after it stopped mining the Thabazimbi mine last year, removing 1,160 jobs. In July last year, Kumba told the unions it wanted to cut 175 jobs at its Northern Cape mines — Sishen and Kolomela.

“It cannot be correct that as and when the mining industry is under distress the first casualties are ordinary employees,” said Lucas Phiri, National Union of Mineworkers chief negotiator at Kumba.

The dramatic fall in the iron-ore price, which Bloomberg pegged at less than a quarter of its peak in 2011 — hovering at the $41 a tonne mark — has put pressure on the iron ore producer’s balance sheet.

Kumba on Thursday reported a 12% drop in its fourth-quarter output to 10.04-million tonnes, dragged down by poor performance at Sishen. For the year, its output was down 7% at 44.88-million tonnes.

The Sishen mine was moving to a lower-cost pit layout and there was not enough exposed ore as the transition was being made.

Sishen’s output in the fourth quarter fell 17% to 7.7-million tonnes.

Kumba’s exports sales fell 10% to 10.5-million tonnes in the quarter and the company had a 4.7-million tonne stockpile, down from 6.5-million tonnes at the end of 2014.

Source: bdlive

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Canadian Mining Journal January 2016

Canadian Mining Journal is the leading exploration and mining journal in Canada. Covers mineral exploration trends, Corporate Trends,  metal prices and new geological models, underground mine developments and operating performances, unique challenges of open pit operations and more. It is Canada's First Mining Publication.

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