Asia-Pacific committed to sustainable growth ahead of Rio+20

More than 120 delegates from 20 countries attended the February 22-24 Committee on Environment and Development convened by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to review progress in addressing sustainable development priorities of the region ahead of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) also known as Rio+20, to be held in Brazil in June.  Read more here...

Mining and conservation working together - IUCN

IUCN and the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) have signed a second memorandum of understanding (MOU) which builds on the 2004-2008 ICMM-IUCN Dialogue and marks the start of a new phase in the working relationship.

The two organizations gave a joint presentation and discussed joint efforts for 2012 at the 4th West & Central Africa Mining Summit in September 2011. Other planned activities include: 

• Participation in a panel on collaboration between mining and conservation organizations at Mining Indaba (Cape Town, South Africa, February 2012)
• A workshop at IUCN's World Conservation Congress (Jeju, South Korea, September 2012).

Read more here...

More Implats assaults, Malema makes return-to-work call

(ANC) Youth League presidentJulius Malema

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – More Implats strike assaults took place in Rustenburg where suspended African National Congress (ANC) Youth League presidentJulius Malema on Tuesday urged workers to refrain from violence, return to work and engage with management through the formal structure of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).

Implats welcomed the return-to-work call by Malema, as well as that of ANC deputy secretary general Thandi Modise, and said that the company had worked with NUM and Cosatu to restore the lost benefits and conditions of service of the illegal strikers in a bid to lure them back to work as soon as possible. Read more here...

Ethiopia Plans to Seek Tougher UN Sanctions Against Eritrea

State Minister of Foreign Affairs Berhane Gebre Kristos.

Ethiopia will push for stronger United Nations sanctions on Eritrea’s mining industry in an attempt to pressure its government to stop supporting rebels, said State Minister of Foreign Affairs Berhane Gebre Kristos.

Ethiopia wants tougher sanctions than those passed at the UN Security Council last year that advised mining firms to exercise greater “vigilance” when working in the Horn of Africa nation, he said in an interview in Addis Ababa, the capital, today.

Mining and a tax on remittances “will be the major targets with more teeth,” Berhane said. Further measures to restrict political and military leaders are also sought, he said. Read more here...

Namibia gives Deep Yellow environmental nod

PERTH (miningweekly.com) - The Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism has given environmental clearances to uranium explorer Deep Yellow and its Namibian subsidiary Reptile Uranium for the Inca and TRS project areas.

Standard conditions have been attached to the environmental clearances, which include local and regional consultation and consent required prior to mining, as well as the protection of biodiversity habitats during operations.

“The approvals received are a critical step in the permitting process as a mining licence can only be awarded once this clearance has been received,” said Deep Yellow MD Greg Cochran. Read more here...

Vale says huge iron-ore expansion needed globally to replace old mines

Luiz Meriz, president of Vale Minerals China

BEIJING – A huge expansion of global iron-ore output is needed as older mines become depleted, a senior executive of Brazilian miner Vale SA said, adding that the company's medium-term strategy was to maximise production at its mines.

Luiz Meriz, president of Vale Minerals China, also told at an industry conference in Beijing on Tuesday that the company was in talks with countries around the world, including Japan and South Korea, to dock its fleet of Valemax giant ore carriers, which range from 380 000 to 400 000 t in size.

"Our strategy is to continue maximising output even when supply becomes more balanced in future," Meriz said.

Meriz said Vale had invested $15.1-billion between 2010-2011 to boost production and to raise operational efficiency. It is looking to its Valemax vessels to better compete with Australian rivals Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. Read more here...

Coal miner Exxaro to submit five renewable energy bids

South Africa’s second-largest coal miner Exxaro Resources is moving ahead with plans to generate clean energy, CEO Sipho Nkosi said on Thursday.

Exxaro, which established a joint venture (JV) called Cennergi with an undisclosed third party, is planning five renewable energy projects – two solar and three wind.

The JV would submit tenders under the Department of Energy’s (DoE’s) ‘request for qualification and proposals for new generation capacity’ in the second bidding window, which closes on March 5. Read more here...

Zimbabwe partially rejects Mimosa indigenisation plan

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Platinum miners Impala Platinum (Implats) and Aquarius Platinum said on Friday that Zimbabwe had rejected a portion of the indigenisation plan for the Mimosa mine, which they jointly own.

Implats said it would negotiate with Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere to reach a mutually acceptable solution. However, the Johannesburg-based miner expressed concern that enforcement mechanisms would be activated should no agreement be made to transfer the required shareholding to a National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Fund within 30 days. Read more here...

Rio Tinto steps up Mine of the Future programme

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diversified giant Rio Tinto on Tuesday reported that it would further its Mine of the Future programme by developing and testing new technologies in underground tunneling and mineral recovery.

The miner is expanding trials of new shaft and tunnel boring systems, aimed at significantly reducing the time taken to excavate underground, with the announcement of a second tunnel boring trial. Read more here...

Energy efficient products high priority in mining industry

ICMM President - Tony Hodge

Pumps manufacturer Grundfos has added two energy efficient products to its heavy-duty dewatering pumps range for the mining industry, which is in line with its aim to save natural resources and reduce the impact of climate change.

There is great concern within the mining industry about the sustainability of resources owing to climate change and the ever-increasing demand on energy supplies.

At the seventeenth Conference of the Parties, International Council on Mining and Metals president Tony Hodge conceded that there was a history of bad environmental outcomes in the mining industry. Read more here...

Indian Supreme Court ruling a game changer in resource allocation

KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) - The Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) this week recommended that some 49 iron-ore mining licences be cancelled in the Indian province of Karnataka, while also suggesting that a financial penalty be imposed on 71 companies on claims of illegal mining.

The CEC further recommended the scrapping of mining licence allocations in Karnataka on a “first-come first-serve” basis, and favoured the institution of an auction mechanism for a more efficient price discovery and allotment of iron-ore resources for both captive consumption and merchant sales. Read more here...

S Africa's Zuma quashes mine nationalisation talk

Jacob Zuma

JOHANNESBURG – President Jacob Zuma squashed more than two years of talk on Friday about the nationalisation of South Africa's massive mining sector, saying state control or ownership of the mines in the world's biggest platinum producer could not work.

Asked during a televised breakfast briefing if the government planned to nationalise mines, Zuma said emphatically: "We're very clear. It is not our policy. We've been saying this inside the country, outside the country. It cannot be."

"We have answered this question many times. We are very clear," he added. "Our policy is mixed economy." Read more here...

Mining CEOs put sustainability on the corporate agenda

On Tuesday February 7, ICMM co-hosted its second annual CEO session at Investing in African Mining Indaba to discuss the common sustainability challenges the industry faces.

Three leading CEOs representing ICMM member companies – Mark Cutifani (AngloGold Ashanti), André Wilkens (African Rainbow Minerals) and Nick Holland (Gold Fields) – addressed an audience of over 500 delegates in a session moderated by Byron Kennedy, Director at Brunswick.

The CEOs discussed the complex range of sustainability issues facing their companies from an environmental, social and economic perspective. They placed particular emphasis on the top three sustainability issues their organizations face in Africa over the next 20 years. Read more here...

Queensland mine safety statistics improve

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Queensland’s mining industry continued to rank among the safest in the world, Employment, Skills and Mining Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said on Tuesday, announcing the latest health and safety statistics.

Work-related injuries in the mining industry continued to improve across a number of key performance indicators during 2010/11. Read more here...

Amplats initiates platinum recycling project

Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) CEO Neville Nicolau tells Mining Weekly Online’s Martin Creamer that recycling of platinum-group metals is planned as a company project. Cameraperson: Nicholas Boyd. Video Editing: Shane Williams.

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Platinum mining major Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) has begun to process recycled secondary material.

“It’s a project that we’ve just started,” Amplats CEO Neville Nicolau said in reply to a question by Deutsche Bank precious metals analyst Anna Mulholland. Read more here...

Vale to restart operations at Ontario mines

TORONTO – Brazilian mining giant Vale said on Monday it has begun to restart mining operations at its five nickel-copper mines in Sudbury, in northern Ontario, after suspending output last week following the death of a worker in an underground accident.

The worker, Stephen Perry, was killed in a rock collapse at Vale's Coleman mine.

"The immediate focus in the Sudbury mines remains on safety and health," the company said. "Upon returning to work, mine employees and managers will be working together in the short term on tasks associated with safety and risk management."

Vale said full mine operations would resume once outstanding safety items have been addressed.

With stockpiles of ore available for processing at the company's mill and smelter, the company said it expects no impact on overall production as a result of the suspension of mining operations. Read earlier article -Some Vale workers return underground after Sunday's fatality 

India set to map forest cover and ban mining in restricted areas

KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) - India’s Forest and Environment Ministry would start an initiative to map forest regions across the country in order to identify ‘inviolate areas’ where mining would be banned.

“We are putting together all government notifications and circulars that have been issued over the years on forest and environment clearances into a single document and this along with the forest map will bring clarity and transparency to our clearance policy,” Forest and Environment Minister Jayanti Natarajan said after a meeting with independent power producers whose projects have been stalled by denial of forest and environmental clearances for captive coal mining. Read more here...

Harmony cuts 2012 output target on safety clampdown

Harmony Gold CEO - Graham Briggs

JOHANNESBURG – Harmony Gold, South Africa's third-largest bullion miner, cut its full-year production target by 13% on Monday, as safety stoppages threatened to crimp a surge in profit from record gold prices.

Harmony, which more than doubled its second-quarter earnings compared with the first quarter as it reaped the benefits of a weak rand and a sky-high gold price, said shutdowns because of fatalities could take some lustre off its future output. Read more here...

Water Affairs confirms movement on long-term AMD study

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – South Africa’s Department of Water Affairs (DWA) has confirmed that a feasibility study has been initiated to assess longer-term solutions for South Africa’s acid mine drainage (AMD) problem. The investigation began in December and should be completed over a maximum period of 18 months.

Responding to questions posed by Mining Weekly Online, the department said the study was expected to cost about R17-million and had been included in the DWA’s budget. Read more here...

Conservation opportunities presented to miners

The most significant constraints to the partnership between mining and conservation, as well as implementable mechanisms that can be used to tackle this issue, will be addressed by the 2012 Investing in African Mining Indaba’s Sustain- able Development in Mining segment.

Panellists and policymakers will discuss how multi-stakeholder initiatives can contribute to Africa’s development, as well as the possible challenges and opportunities for collaboration between mining companies and con- servation organisations. Read more here...

Mining-heavy SA industry group issues carbon tax warning

Add ITTCC’s Mike Rossouw  

An industry lobby group comprising large mining groups and mineral processing companies is cautioning against the proposed introduction of a carbon tax in South Africa until South Africa has fully charted its abatement potential and the costs implications of implementing its renewable-energy heavy power generation plans. Read more here...

Oliver stresses streamlined regulatory environment in open letter

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver on Monday struck out at what he called “environmental and other radical groups” threatening to “hijack our regulatory system to achieve their radical ideological agenda”, delaying projects that cost the country jobs and economic growth. Read more here...