Russia is getting queasy about Ukraine's shale plans |
- Russia is getting queasy about Ukraine's shale plans
- EMED closer than ever to restart Rio Tinto copper mine in Spain
- Support for Keystone waning among Canadians, poll suggests
- Coeur misses 2013 silver production guidance; reports record year for gold output
- Newmont’s Conga opponents vandalize mine site, kidnap worker
- Kerry tells ‘Canadian friends’ all efforts are put into giving swift answer on Keystone
| Russia is getting queasy about Ukraine's shale plans Posted: 17 Jan 2014 03:46 PM PST Russia – the world's second biggest producer of dry natural gas – is concerned about Ukraine's plans to develop shale gas through hydraulic fracturing. Why? Potential water pollution concerns, Russia's Natural Resources and Environment Ministry said, according to the Moscow Times. Russia said on Friday that the gas drilling technology which Ukraine plans on using "could pollute water supplies for Russians living near the border between the two countries," the Moscow Times wrote. Deputy Environment Minister Rinat Gizatulin said there are "real concerns about contamination because potential drilling sites may be in close proximity to aquifers," UPI reported. Gizatulin has called for a bilateral meeting to address these concerns. Ukraine is extremely important to Russia's natural gas market; nearly every Russian pipeline that transports gas to the rest of Europe passes through Ukraine. Currently, Ukraine's domestic natural gas production accounts for about 30% of demand. Russia makes up the remainder, according data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Highly dependent on Russia for its gas supplies, Ukraine has been looking to diversify its sources. In January 2013, Shell decided to explore the country for shale gas. According to the EIA, Ukraine could start exporting shale gas resources to western Europe as early as 2020. Chevron is also eager to get a piece of the pie. The energy giant signed a $10 billion production-sharing agreement with Ukraine last year. The deals with Chevron and Shell are expected to help the country achieve self-sufficiency in gas an "even enable [it] to export energy," President Viktor Yanukovich said when signing the deal with Chevron, as reported by Reuters. Meanwhile, Russia has its own fracking ambitions. Shell and Gazprom, the country's fourth largest oil producer, have already started drilling the first appraisal well at the Bazhenov formation in western Siberia, one of the world's largest gas deposits.  |
| EMED closer than ever to restart Rio Tinto copper mine in Spain Posted: 17 Jan 2014 12:39 PM PST  This is the original Rio Tinto, meaning "red river" in Spanish, which gave birth (an its name) to EMED's mine and world's No. 2 miner Rio Tinto. EMED Mining (LON:EMED) (TSX:EMD) shares jumped in London and Toronto Friday, 1.3% and almost 3% respectively, after the European copper-gold miner announced it had received an environmental "compatibility report" from Spanish authorities, considered a key part of the permitting process for its Rio Tinto copper mine on the Iberian peninsula. The company, which also has projects in Cyprus and Slovakia, said the Andalucia's Ministry of Environment and Land Planning is in favour of reopening the mine, which modern history dates back to 1871. That year the Spanish government sold most of the mines in the southern region to a British firm, which would eventually morph into what is today the world's second largest miner Rio Tinto (ASX, LON:RIO). EMED's project is located in the Iberian pyrite belt, 65 km northwest of Seville, Spain. The open pit mine and processing facility had been on care and maintenance since mining ceased in 2001, due to low copper prices of less than $1/lb. at the time. The company was granted an option to acquire the operation in May 2007, and it was subsequently acquired in October 2008. According to the European firm, the life of this mine can be easily extended beyond the current expected 14 years, and had potential for higher grades once operations started targeting underground reserves later in the mine plan. EMED has already spent $50 million on the Rio Tinto mine and 100 people are on site at the moment. At full blast the mine would employ 1,200 people. Image of the nearby river, Rio Tinto, by Carol Stoker, NASA/ WikiMedia Commons. |
| Support for Keystone waning among Canadians, poll suggests Posted: 17 Jan 2014 12:13 PM PST In April 2013, a poll by Nanos Research suggested that about 67% of Canadians supported TransCanada's proposed Keystone pipeline. Nanos conducted that same poll again last month and the results show that support for Keystone has declined by more than 10%. The new poll suggests that the majority of Canadians still want to see Keystone XL go forward; about 52% of those surveyed said they support or somewhat support approval of the project. However, only 47.5% of Canadians had a positive or somewhat positive impression of the project, compared to 60% in April 2013. Project awareness has also increased slightly, to about 94%. Opinions vary greatly by region. In British Columbia for example, 62% of respondents in December had negative views of the project. In April this figure was 34%. Meanwhile, only 24% of respondents in the prairies said last month that they had a negative view of the Keystone pipeline. And while BC was Keystone's biggest supporter in April – with 75% wanting approval – in the following survey, only 40% saying they want to see the project approved, making BC Keystone's least supportive region. The results are based on two days of random telephone and online surveys of 1,000 people. The research was commissioned independently by Nanos Research and led by Nik Nanos, a Global Fellow on Energy Policy at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC, and President of Nanos Research. The survey results come in the midst of a heated debate in Canada over Alberta's oil sands. Rockstar Neil Young has been very vocal about his opposition to oil sands development and recently embarked on a benefit tour to support First Nations communities in their fight against the industry's expansion. Young's attack has sparked a war of words, with the Prime Minister's office issuing its own statement and various other rebuttals from academics, industry people and commentators. It's also a critical moment for Keystone approval. The Canadian government has been lobbying intensely in Washington to gain the Obama administration's blessing. US Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday he would like to give his "friends in Canada" a prompt answer but that environmental studies on the pipeline's impacts are not finished yet. |
| Coeur misses 2013 silver production guidance; reports record year for gold output Posted: 17 Jan 2014 10:59 AM PST Coeur Mining (NYSE:CDE), the largest US-based primary silver producer, has missed its silver output guidance for 2013 – as some analysts were predicting. However, the company also exceeded its gold output forecasts, resulting in a record year for gold production. The miner will also take a $770 million non-cash impairment charge to reduce the carrying value of its Palmarejo mine in Mexico and its Kensington mine in Alaska – largely a result of declining gold and silver prices. Full year silver production was 5% lower than the low end of the guidance, due to slower than expected leach recoveries at the Rochester mine in Nevada, the company explained in a news release. At 17 million ounces, 2013 silver output was 6% lower than in 2012. Gold output in 2013 totalled 262,217 ounces – a 16% increase on 2012. In the last three months of 2013, gold production was up 27% quarter-on-quarter, driven by strong results from Kensington. Last week Dundee Capital Market analysts predicted that most silver producers would report production results in-line with guidance, though they singled out Coeur Mining as an exception, Mineweb reported. For 2014, the miner has set a production guidance range of between 17 and 18.2 million ounces of silver and 220,000 and 238,000 ounces of gold. "Our 2014 production guidance reflects a prioritization of `quality' of production ounces versus `quantity' of production ounces," CEO Mitchell J. Krebs said in a statement. "During late 2013, the Company decided to defer development and production from the Guadalupe deposit at the Palmarejo silver and gold mine in Mexico based on this approach. We expect to replace these ounces with higher margin, lower-cost ore sources during the year." In terms of cost cutting, Coeur reduced planned capital expenditures by about 18% and eliminated approximately $6 million worth of early-stage exploration expenses. "In this kind of cyclical commodities business, no matter where prices are, we always need to focus on reducing costs. It's the one thing we have a little bit of control over," Krebs told the International Business Times last week. Krebs said the company was already reducing costs when the precious metals prices began their major decline in April, but that it went even further as a result. "There's nothing like a good price decline to instill some urgency in people," Krebs told the Business Times. Coeur was trading up on Friday at about $11.20 per share after gaining 2.5%. |
| Newmont’s Conga opponents vandalize mine site, kidnap worker Posted: 17 Jan 2014 09:20 AM PST  Protest at Conga mine, October 2013. Newmont Mining's (NYSE:NEM) partner in Peru, Minera Yanacocha, said about 750 protesters entered land owned by the company (in Spanish) Thursday evening, destroying a telephone tower and abducting a contract security guard, who was freed early Friday. Police are still holding four individuals, one of whom was allegedly carrying a revolver, in connection with protests held yesterday in the Conga region of the company property. "Yanacocha reiterates its respect for all types of social expressions, providing they do not affect the integrity of people, private property, or the development of infrastructure that is a common good for all of Cajamarca," the company said. Newmont halted Conga's construction in 2011, saying it would focus on winning the support of local communities. Minera Yanacocha, one of the two local companies working with Newmont in the endeavour, has been holding talks with communities close to the proposed gold and copper mine, hoping to persuade them to support the project. The local company already operates the Yanacocha gold mine in northern Peru, Latin America's largest, located next to the proposed pit. Protests against Conga, the largest ever single private investment in Peru, are nothing new. In 2012, a violent demonstration left a number of people dead and forced President Ollanta Humala to order a suspension of all work at the site, except for the construction of water reservoirs. Located roughly 3,700 meters above sea level, the $5 billion project was approved in 2010 by then-president Alan Garcia's government, and the current administration has continued to support it. The mine, capable of producing up to 350,000 ounces of gold and 120 million pounds of copper per annum with a 19-year life of mine, was supposed to begin production in early 2015. But after years of disruptions, Newmont warned last April that it was willing to reallocate capital to projects in other countries such as Australia, Ghana, Indonesia and the US. All Newmont has officially said about this in the past three months is that a restart at Conga is "not imminent." Peruvian miner Buenaventura is also involved in the project, holding close to 44% ownership in the venture. |
| Kerry tells ‘Canadian friends’ all efforts are put into giving swift answer on Keystone Posted: 17 Jan 2014 07:37 AM PST US Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday he would like to give his "friends in Canada" a prompt answer on TransCanada's (TSX, NYSE: TRP) Keystone but added environmental studies on the pipeline's impacts are not finished yet. "Decisions like this must be made according to our administrative processes,having our national interest in mind," he said in response to a question from a Canadian Press reporter. He added all the "appropriate efforts" are being done to conclude the process effectively and rapidly. Then, looking at Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, added: "He understands that." Kerry addressed the press together with Canada's Baird and Mexico's Foreign Secretary Jose Antonio Meade this morning in Washington. However, Baird gave no indication he understood or accepted the ongoing delays. "Obviously, we want a decision soon," he said, adding that it has been 26 months since Hillary Clinton, Kerry's predecessor, called him to urge changes to the Keystone XL route to protect aquifers in the US. The three politicians were set to discuss "North American prosperity, North America's leadership on energy and climate change, international engagement, and citizen security," according to a statement released Monday. While the politicians did not disclose whether the proposed pipeline extension came up in their talks, it seems inevitable it was one of the main topics, especially following Baird's comments Thursday. The Canadian authority said yesterday it was time for a decision on the pipeline, "even if it's not the right one." "I can promise our friends in Canada that all of the appropriate effort is being put into trying to get this done effectively and rapidly and my hope is that before long (the EIS) will be available," Kerry said, adding: "Then my work begins." The project has been in limbo for several years awaiting approval by the U.S. State Department. Some advocates fear another delay with the US mid-term elections approaching. TransCanada's pipeline would carry 700,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta and the US Bakken across six states to refineries in the Texas Gulf Coast. Image by US Mission Geneva, via Flickr. |
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