A new study by McKinsey & Company found that 45% of work activities could be automated using already demonstrated technology. According to the researchthese activities represent about $2 trillion in annual wages in the US. What's more automation does not only affect low-skill, low-wage roles - McKinsey discovered that "even the highest-paid occupations in the economy, such as financial managers, p...Read More
Undoubtedly, 2015 will go down in the history books as one of the worst years on record for mining companies, hit by record-low commodities prices that forced them to axe jobs, dividends, production and sell assets.The main question for next year is whether miners will see the beginning of a recovery phase or they will have to get used to what some describe as the "new normal", characterized by o...Read More
China Gold International Resources Corp. Ltd. (TSX: CGG; HKEx: 2099) (the "Company" or "China Gold International Resources") provides an update on the expansion of the Jiama Copper-Gold Polymetallic Mine (the "Jiama Mine" or "Jiama") and revises its 2015 copper production guidance.The original schedule of commissioning Stage One of Phase II expansion at the Jiama Mine by the fourth quarter of 2015...Read More
It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that most of the world's wettest mines are located in a country that's highly vulnerable to typhoons. The Philippines is home to seven of the mines on this list, where close to 5,000 millimetres of rain can fall in a single year.But the world's wettest mine is Papua New Guinea's Ok Tedi. This open-pit copper, gold, and silver mine gets an average of 6,636 mi...Read More
Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), the world's No.1 heavy machinery maker, will have to pay $74 million to one of its suppliers after a U.S. court found it guilty of stealing trade secrets from that company.Following an eight-week trial in Chicago, the jury in a U.S. District Court voted in favour of Miller UK Ltd., an England-based supplier that in 2010 accused Caterpillar of misusing classified information...Read More
Angela Harmantas | SmallCapPower | December 21, 2015: "What's that old saying? I'm not a geologist, I just play one on TV," laughs Eric Coffin, co-founder and editor of commodities newsletter Hard Rock Advisories. Growing up in a mining town and running a consulting firm with his late brother David (who is HRA's co-founder), Coffin approaches his analyses with a slightly different viewpoint to oth...Read More
Debswana's Orapa Mine.Botswana's diamond mining giant, Debswana, is closing its Damtshaa mine, and will scale down production at Orapa No.1 operation for the next three years as it battles a continued downturn in the global diamond market, local paper Southern Times reports.The company - a 50/50 joint venture between De Beers and the Botswana Government - had forecast production of 22 million c...Read More
Los Pelambres remains Antofagasta's flagship mine, producing over 55% of the total group output.(Image courtesy of Antofagasta PLC)A Chilean court evaluating an appeal from London-listed Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) to a March decision that forces the company to demolish the dam wall for Los Pelambres copper mine, could soon make a final decision, local paper Diario Financiero reports (in Spanish).The c...Read More
No charges will be laid by the provincial government due to the failure of the Mount Polley tailings dam, said the B.C. chief mines inspector."The chief inspector found that the mine and its engineers employed weak practices on the mine site and many recommendations go to new standards and guidelines to improve these practices," said the Ministry of Energy and Mines in a news release."Weak practic...Read More
A look back at mining and metals in 2015 through MINING.com's most popular stories of the year. Click on the arrow on the right to scroll through the timeline of events.Read More
Transporting workers and heavy machinery can be a challenge for any mine, but there's one part of the world where mining has a whole other level of complexity: an elevation of more than 4,000 metres.Here's where the world's 10 highest mines are located.Visit IntelligenceMine and learn how you can run your own analysis to uncover service, supply, investment and business opportunities. Contact us t...Read More
Image by Bennyartist |Shutterstock.comMining giant Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) wants to be one of the first major miners to get a grip on the lithium market, one of the very few commodities, if not the only one, that has remained unaffected by the ongoing rout in metals and fuel prices.According to the company's chief executive of diamonds and minerals, Alan Davies, Rio is already seeking strategic allia...Read More
U.S. maker of mining equipment Joy Global (NYSE:JOY) logged Wednesday an unexpected and sharp loss in its fourth quarter and announced it was cutting its dividend as it struggles to survive long-dragged drop in demand triggered mostly by low commodity prices.Announcing a loss of $1.32 billion for the fiscal fourth quarter ended Oct. 30, the Milwaukee-based maker of giant shovels, conveyor belts an...Read More
After the Voisey's Bay deposit had been sold to the highest bidder in 1996 for $4.3 billion, it took some years to come into production.The last part of this series highlights the richness of the deposit itself - and we also profile the world's largest icebreaking cargo ship that is used to transport the ore for a cool $100 million per load.Presented by: Equitas Resources, "Nickel exploration in L...Read More
A more than twenty-five fold jump in investment in fewer than 10 years. That's how fast China is gaining control over Africa's mining industry. And Beijing's push is not ending any time soon. China General Nuclear Power Corporation's Husab uranium mine in Namibia. Source: Contractor's camp by Namspace.netChina's growing economy is thirsty for sustainable supplies of mineral resources. Despite bei...Read More
Co-President Kelvin Dushnisky (right) took over as president of the company in August, as the world's largest gold producer restructured management to boost efficiencies. (Image: Screenshot of a Barrick video, via YouTube)Canadian Barrick Gold (TSX, NYSE:ABX) announced Tuesday early results of its plan to buy back up to $1.15 billion of its own debt, as the Toronto-based miner continues to deleve...Read More
Oyu Tolgoi, a copper-gold mine in the South Gobi region of Mongolia, approximately 550 km south of the capital Ulaanbaatar, holds one of the largest undeveloped high-grade copper deposits in the world. (Image courtesy of Oyu Tolgoi LLC)Rio Tinto (ASX, LON:RIO) secured Tuesday a multi-billion agreement to finance a huge expansion of its giant Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold open pit mine in Mongolia and sa...Read More
The Canadian Mining Eye index declined 17% during Q3 2015, compared to a 4% gain in Q2 2015. The Canadian Mining Eye index underperformed the S&P/TSX Composite index which slipped 9% during the quarter. The London Metal Exchange index (LMEX) declined 9% over the quarter.The S&P/TSX Composite Metals and Mining index witnessed a significant plunge of 26% due to extremely bearish sentiment during the...Read More
A $4 billion finance package for the expansion of Rio Tinto's (LON:RIO) Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia is likely to be approved this week in Ulan Bator, the capital.Operator Turquoise Hills (TSE, NYSE:TRQ), which owns 66% of the massive project in the Gobi Desert, has long forecast that the deal will be signed before the end of 2015. But, according to the Australian Financial Review...Read More
Sudbury, ON (December ?EUR< 14, 2015) - Canada's Ultra-Deep Mining Network (UDMN) continues to make strides in solving the challenges that impact resource extraction in ultra-deep (below 2.5km) environments launching new Call for Proposals and Network Members share the stage highlighting their innovative solutions and commercially viable products.The $46 million NCE business-led network, now in it...Read More