The Fraser Institute has released its latest Survey of Mining Companies last week. This international survey is conducted annually by the Toronto based institute. It assesses the attractiveness of a particular region to mine investors and operators. The ranking of South Africa fell this year amongst the 79 major mining regions to position 67.
By Joel Scanlon
8 Mar 2011
The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) brought together the who’s who of the mining fraternity at the world’s largest mining convention as over 22,000 delegates attended the event. PDAC executive director Tony Andrews said that mining was a cyclic business and that it was currently on a major upswing thanks to the rise in commodity prices.
By Joel Scanlon
7 Mar 2011
The Premier of New South Wales Kristina Keneally is on a road trip in Hunter Valley gathering votes in what was once a Labor stronghold. In Newcastle she said that the new state based tax on mining profits being proposed by the Shadow Treasurer Mike Baird would result in a loss of jobs.
By Joel Scanlon
7 Mar 2011
The Australian Treasury Secretary Ken Henry gave his final speech on March 4 in which he said that the main obstacle to economic reforms was complacency. He added that the hardest part of his job had been to encourage the nation to make tough decisions.
By Joel Scanlon
7 Mar 2011
The African National Congress Youth League President hopes to gain 60% of the Anglo American mining company in South Africa. Julius Malema said that what Anglo American did with the other 40% was their own business at a gala dinner on Friday in Nelspruit. He also responded to the query about nationalization of mines in the nation by saying that it would happen in his lifetime.
A $600 million coal mine has been rejected by the New South Wales government. The South Korean state owned mining firm Kores hoped to get the permits for a mine in a key Central Coast electorate. However their plans of extracting 5 million tonnes of coal annually from Wallarah mine near Wyong may now come to nothing.
By Joel Scanlon
7 Mar 2011
David Peever, the managing director of Rio Tinto in Australia, has decried the proposed carbon tax as potentially disastrous. He said that the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) of Kevin Rudd was not an appropriate starting point for discussions in 2011 as he apprised the Julia Gillard government on the demand for more generous compensation and industry protection.
A decision of a South African court to allow miners suffering from lung disease to sue their employers may spell millions of dollars in damages to the mining industry. A recent ruling of the Supreme Court ordered a mining firm in Johannesburg to pay compensation to the family of a dead miner. This overturns a law which prohibited mine workers with lung diseases from claiming compensation.
By Joel Scanlon
7 Mar 2011
De Beers has spent $43.4 million in 2010 exploring for diamonds. The company, of which Anglo American owns 45%, produces more than one third of the world’s rough diamonds is looking for new resources to expand output and replace old mines. It had spent $44.8 million on exploration purposes in 2009.
The role of China in global mergers and acquisitions in the mining sector has been overstated as per a new report. A PricewaterhouseCoopers report by Tim Goldsmith said that the US and Canada were far ahead of China when it came to global mergers and acquisitions in the mining sector.
By Joel Scanlon
6 Mar 2011
The Copper output for Zambia in January went up 60% compared to the production in January in 2010. The country is busy increasing its copper production so as to be able to benefit from the strong global price for copper as per the Central Bank of Zambia.
By Joel Scanlon
6 Mar 2011
The shares in Fortescue Metals Group went up after it said that it had discovered a 1 billion metric ton iron ore deposit near its existing mining operations. The shares in the Perth based Australian company were trading at $6.60, 7th Mar 10:48am AEST, on the Australian stock exchange. This is its largest gain since February 14 this year.
The Parkes Shire Council said that it was happy with the announcement of an elected New South Wales Coalition government committing to a policy of returning financial resources to the mining affected regions. This would translate into thousands of dollars over the next four years in terms of infrastructure projects.
By Joel Scanlon
6 Mar 2011
In a report published by the Fraser Institute, British Columbia is placed at the 39th on international mining jurisdictions. Only Nunavut and Northwest Territories ranked below B.C.
By Joel Scanlon
6 Mar 2011
Australia is near the top of the global mining merger and acquisition deals that took place last year as per a PricewaterhouseCoopers report. It is second only to Canada in the number of transactions that it made in the mining industry as a number of Australian firms tried to benefit from the surging minerals market.
By Joel Scanlon
6 Mar 2011