Gold mining declining fast in Ghana – Africa's second largest gold producer |
- Gold mining declining fast in Ghana – Africa's second largest gold producer
- Bakken crude may be more flammable than traditional oil – US federal agency says
- Chinese factory data brings copper price surge to end
- Gold miner Avocet struggles to pay back loan
- China’s No.3 coal firm looking into solar power market
- Gold price kicks off 2014 with a bang
| Gold mining declining fast in Ghana – Africa's second largest gold producer Posted: 02 Jan 2014 03:50 PM PST Africa's second-largest gold producer, Ghana, has seen a major drop in gold production. In the third quarter of 2013, Ghana's output of the precious metal declined by 18% as weak prices forced some miners to cut production and costs, the Minerals Commission said, as reported by Bloomberg. "This is to be expected given the current price levels of gold," the CEO of the country's state-run mining regulator told Bloomberg. "There are implications for revenue as well as employment; companies have scaled down operations." In addition to cocoa, gold is one of the biggest contributors to government revenue in Ghana. But with the gold price dropping by an average of 28% last year, many mining companies have had to cut back. In mid-2013, Newmont Mining – a major gold producer employing about 2,500 people in Ghana – announced that it would lay off 300 employees as a result of streamlining measures. AngloGold Ashanti announced last month that it would lay off more than 400 workers at its Obuasi mine. According to the Wall Street Journal, that would make it one of nine companies planning to lay off a total of as many as 4,000 workers in the country." Small-scale operations are also at risk. The BBC recently reported on the plight of Ghana's illegal gold miners, noting that many have given up. But for them it's not just the price drop – a government crackdown on illegal mining has also affected production. "The future for us is uncertain," one miner told the BBC. "We just hope that things will get better. We haven't been to school, so this is what we rely on for a living."  |
| Bakken crude may be more flammable than traditional oil – US federal agency says Posted: 02 Jan 2014 03:09 PM PST Following the derailment of a crude-carrying train in North Dakota earlier this week, US federal officials say Bakken oil may be more flammable than traditional crude. In an alert issued Thursday, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) warned the general public, emergency responders and shippers and carriers that "recent derailments and resulting fires indicate that the type of crude oil being transported from the Bakken region may be more flammable than traditional heavy crude oil." The PHMSA conducted preliminary inspections of derailments in North Dakota, Alabama and Lac-Megantic in Quebec – all involving Bakken crude. Monday's accident caused a series of explosions and the evacuation of a small town. There were no fatalities but a similar incident several months earlier in Quebec killed 47 people. In November the PHMSA issued a safety advisory reminding producers of the importance of properly classifying and describing hazardous materials. As part of an ongoing investigation, the Agency has been conducting unannounced inspections and testing of crude oil samples to ensure proper classification and packing. The agency has also found it necessary to expand the scope of their testing "to measure other factors that would affect the proper characterization and classification of the materials." Final test results are expected in the near future. This isn't the first time a government agency has considered the possibility that Bakken crude may be more flammable than regular oil. In August, following the deadly explosion in Lac-Megantic, Canada's Transportation Safety Board said it was looking into how Bakken crude reacts. "I'm not an expert in this domain, but it seems that the crude oil reacted in an abnormal way," a safety board official said at the time, as reported by the National Post. The Bakken formation has played a big role in the US' emergence as major oil producing country. In North Dakota and Montana, the Bakken produced nearly 1 million barrels of oil per day in Novemeber. |
| Chinese factory data brings copper price surge to end Posted: 02 Jan 2014 01:28 PM PST
 After a 7.5% jump in December the surge in the copper price came to an end on the first trading day of the new year after disappointing manufacturing data in China. In New York trade spot copper changed hands at $3.43 a pound, down half-a-percent on the day after fresh evidence of a slowdown in China – responsible for 42% of total global copper demand of some 21 million tonnes – gave pause to the bulls which have pushed the price to levels last seen in April. China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) released Thursday slipped to a three month low due to slower manufacturing growth due to decreases in both export orders and domestic output. The overall reading of the HSBC/Markit index stayed just above 50 in December, the fifth month in a row, which indicates expansion albeit at a slower rate. However, new export orders fell to 49.1, a four-month low and an indication of contraction. Hongbin Qu, chief economist for HSBC in China said despite the December slowdown, "the recovering momentum since August 2013 is continuing into 2014, in our view. With inflation still benign, we expect the current monetary and fiscal policy to remain in place to support growth." Given its widespread use in transportation, manufacturing and construction copper is sensitive to any economic slowdown, but market specific factors are pulling the price in opposite directions. The copper price was boosted in the second half of last year due to a sustained drawdown of copper inventories on the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange, which have fallen to near one-year lows. When LME stocks reached a decade high in June the price of copper fell to $3.03 a pound, levels last seen in 2010. Dwindling LME stockpiles – from 678,000 tonnes in June to 366,000 on 31 December – were interpreted as an indication of more robust demand than previously thought. Market attention may now shift to the supply side with the red metal coming under pressure as a slew of massive greenfields projects – notably Codelco's 160,000 tonnes-plus Ministro Hales mine in Chile – and a number of expansions including at Collahuasi and BHP Billiton's Escondida – come on stream. For the past seven years annual supply growth has been essentially static falling to as lows as 0.4% a year in 2010 to 2011, but growth in copper mine supply should accelerate further in 2014 topping 6% and average over 4% through 2016. However, the pace of new supply hitting the market could also turn out to be slower than thought as major expansion projects including Teck's Quebrada Blanca and Antofagasta's Los Pelambres are pushed out and financing of Rio Tinto's Oyu Tolgoi underground phase proves elusive. Image of Shanghai cable factory circa 1965 by Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library |
| Gold miner Avocet struggles to pay back loan Posted: 02 Jan 2014 01:21 PM PST London-based Avocet Mining (LON:AVM) has missed the payment date for its $15 million loan. Avocet took the loan from an affiliate of the company's largest shareholder, Elliott Associates, but was unable to pay up as the maturity date passed on December 31, 2013. The company has repaid the accrued interest – about $800,000 – and initiated a business review last month. In a statement issued Thursday, Avocet said it "remains in discussions with the Elliott lender about repayment of the $15 million principal amount." Avocet is an Africa-focused miner with operations in Burkina Faso and Guinea. The company has been struggling with low production and escalating costs and in December announced lower than expected production results, dropping from an anticipated 125,000-130,000 ounces of gold to about 115,000-120,000 ounces. The deterioration in production was attributed largely to breakdowns in mobile and plant equipment. In the December announcement, Avocet noted that group cash balances at year end are expected to come in at approximately $15 million – "less than the $16 million loan repayment," Avocet noted. Avocet's share price plummeted in 2013, going from over 70p to just under 9p upon entering the new year. |
| China’s No.3 coal firm looking into solar power market Posted: 02 Jan 2014 11:51 AM PST China's third largest state-owned coal miner, Datong Coal Mine Group (LON:DTE), has partnered with solar energy firm Yingli Green (NYSE:YGE) to develop and construct sunlight-fuelled power plants in the province of Shanxi, northern China. The news was welcome by the market, as China enters 2014 reeling from one of the worst polluted winters in recent years. Deutsche Bank said the joint venture was an incremental positive, adding it reflects the Yingli's leadership position in China. Last month, Yingli Green also won the contract to develop 233MW of solar plants in Algeria, after creating a partnership with two hydroelectric and windpower firms. China, which accounts for about 50% of the world's coal consumption. is likely to remain as the driving force for the fuel's growth over the coming years. However, the government recently announced it would close at least 2,000 small coal mines over the next two years. China's dependence on coal is well known. The Asian giant gets about 70% of its energy from the fossil fuel, and the government is moving forward with its plans to reduce that figure by at least 5% by 2017. |
| Gold price kicks off 2014 with a bang Posted: 02 Jan 2014 11:31 AM PST The gold price surged more than 2% to a two-week high on Thursday, attempting a comeback on the first day of trading in 2014 after last year's dismal performance. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gold for February delivery added $28 an ounce to $1,230.80 in early afternoon trade. Gold was boosted by a weaker dollar, bargain hunting, investor rotation out of US stocks which after a record setting 2013 suffered a triple digit loss on Thursday. The price of of gold ended 2013 down 28% at a shade over $1,200 an ounce, bringing a 12-year bull run that took it from around $270 an ounce at the end of 2000 to a record high above $1,900 in September 2011 to a decisive end. Investors exited the market in droves last year and selling accelerated again in December, with holdings in exchange traded products backed by gold falling the most since June. Net selling for the year amounted to 869 tonnes with the bulk of the selling – 586 tonnes – occurring in the first half of 2013. Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Denmark's Saxo Bank, in a research note Thursday points out that only six out of 52 weeks saw net buying during 2013: "The behaviour of investors will be watched very close as 2014 begins for any signs of whether the relatively calm price action may attract some fresh investment into yellow metal, either through futures or exchange traded products." Hansen believes most of the outflows from gold ETFs has happened by now and consequently the metal is in a much better position to react to gold-friendly news. During the first half of 2014 gold would remain under pressure, but he is cautiously optimistic looking further into the year. The performance of precious metals is a stark contrast to US stock which enjoyed a bumper 2013. The S&P 500 rose 29.6%, the biggest annual gain since 1997, while the Dow blue chip index climbed 26.5% in 2013, the best performance since 1995. Compared to gold and silver, equities now look overbought. The Financial Post quotes Julian Jessop, chief global economist at Capital Economics, as saying gold could revisit $1,400 this year and could probably go higher: "Overall, then, we see plenty of scope for gold to bounce back in 2014. Indeed, the poor performance in 2013 has left the precious metal looking attractive again compared to other assets, including equities." |
| You are subscribed to email updates from MINING.com To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 Comment for "Gold mining declining fast in Ghana – Africa's second largest gold producer"