IMAGE GALLERY: How Boart Longyear makes a drill bit

In September 2015 MINING.com toured Boart Longyear's manufacturing facility with Plant Manger Myron Cheesebourough and Chris Lambert, Manager of Diamond Products

The company's drill bit manufacturing facility is located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Last year the company celebrated its 125 year anniversary.

Drill bits start off as powder which are placed in a graphite mould along with a binding agent. The recipe is a secret, but their are common ingredients.

"The key ones are the diamond that provide the cutting action," says Lambert. "There is the tungsten that provides the wear resistance of the bit. There are the binders, which will melt and fuse everything together. We also use graphite as a mould because of its high temperature properties."

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Some elements must be placed by hand. The worker below is placing items within a matrix.

"You press [the ingredients within] a mould. Then you add a binding agent to it," says Lambert. "You run it through a furnace. It all infiltrates to make a unified piece. As for the features of the bits, those are all machined into the mould so they create the shape and water ways and features of the bit."

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Industrial diamonds.

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Once completed the graphite moulds, which contain the drill bits, are baked.

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The drill bits are too hot to handle. A robot in a caged enclosure removes drill bits from the oven to let them cool.

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Drill bits fresh from the oven glow bright in the cage.

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Cooled drill bits are let out of the cage and can now be handled.

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The moulds are removed.

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The bits are lathed and sanded and are now ready for work in the field.

The chief customer request is making drill bits that make the company productive, says Lambert.

"One of the ways of generating productivity is taller crown heights. For a long time we offered crown heights in the standard 12 mm but then we have our stage product, which offer 16 mm and 24 mm. It offers the ability to stay longer in the hole before you have to trip out. We are using larger diamonds, which is a trend in the industry. It allows for higher penetration rates and cutting well is softer ground conditions."

Visit Boart Longyear at booth 101 at PDAC Convention 2016, March 6-9 in Toronto.

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Update: World's top 10 gold producers

Agnico Eagle's Meadowbank open-pit gold mine in the Nunavut Territory of Canada Image Jason Pineau

In 2015, preliminary estimated gold production by the top publicly-traded and non state-owned gold mining companies amounted to 30.78 Moz, a 1% increase compared to 2014 totals (30.39 Moz).

Five out of the 10 miners suffered a decline in their attributable gold output while another five of them achieved growth.

With 6.12 Moz of gold produced in 2015, Canada's Barrick Gold Corp. (TSE:ABX) holds first place in global ranking, well ahead of its competitors.

Compared to 2014's 6.25 Moz, Barrick’s gold output declined by 2%, mainly because of significant drop in output at its South America’s Pueblo Viejo (-14%), Lagunas Norte (-4%) and Veladero (-17%) operations, which was mostly offset with strong results at Barrick’s mines in the United States. Barrick was managed to reduce its all-in sustaining costs* (AISC) by 4%, from $864 in 2014 to $831 in 2015.

Despite a decline in production, AngloGold reduced AISC by 11%

The US-based Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE:NEM) ranks second in the global gold competition and produced 5.04 Moz of the precious metal in 2015, 4% more than in 2014 (4.85 Moz). This growth was mainly due to a nearly nine-fold increase of Newmont’s attributable gold output at Batu Hijau  mine (Indonesia), from 37 Koz in 2014 to 328 Koz in 2015. Newmont reduced AISC by 10%, from $1,002 in 2014 to $898 in 2015. According to some forecasts, Newmont could overtake Barrick as top gold miner in 2016.

Third-ranked AngloGold Ashanti Limited (NYSE:AU), reported 11% decrease in annual production, from 4.44 Moz of gold in 2014 to 3.95 Moz in 2015. Despite a decline in production, AngloGold reduced AISC by 11%, from $1,020 in 2014 to $910 in 2015.

Fourth-ranked Goldcorp Inc. (TSE:G) produced 3.46 Moz of gold in 2015, or 21% more than in 2014 (2.87 Moz). This stunning increase was due to development of production at recently commissioned Cerro Negro (Argentina) and Eleonore (Canada) mines. Goldcorp reduced AISC by 6%, from $949 in 2014 to $894 in 2015.

Another Canadian company Kinross Gold Corporation (TSE:K), fifth in world gold production rankings, produced 2.59 Moz of gold equivalent in 2015. This volume was at the high end of the company's 2015 guidance range and is 4% lower than 2014 production totals (2.71 Moz of gold equivalent). The 4% decrease in full-year production was mainly due to lower production at Paracatu (Brazil), Tasiast (Mauritania), Maricunga (Chile) and Chirano (Ghana) mines, partially offset by higher production at Fort Knox, Round Mountain (both – USA) and Kupol (Russia) mines. Kinross’s AISC in 2015 was in line with 2014 level and amounted to $975.

Sixth in the ratings, Australian Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX:NCM), produced 2.49 Moz of gold in 2015 calendar year, which is 7% higher than 2014 output (2.33 Moz). Newcrest managed to reduce AISC by 11%, from $854 in 2014 to approximately $762 in 2015.

South African Gold Fields Limited (NYSE:GFI), currently ranked seventh, produced 2.16 Moz of gold equivalent in 2015, or 3% lower than in 2014 (2.22 Moz). The company’s Damang mine (Ghana) had another challenging year with production and costs deteriorating quarter on quarter. Despite drawbacks at Damang, Gold Fields reduced its AISC by 4%, from $1,053 in 2014 to $1,007 in 2015.

South Africa's Sibanye Gold Limited, which split from Gold Fields in February 2013, lost its ninth position

In eighth place, Russian origin Polyus Gold International (LON: PGIL) produced 1.76 Moz of gold, a 4% increase from its 2014 tally of 1.70 Moz. According to preliminary estimations made ahead of the company’s financial data set to release in the beginning of March, Polyus Gold is likely has reduced its AISC in the range of 25-30%, mainly due to the significant Russian currency devaluation to the US dollar.

Canadian Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd (TSE:AEM) gold output jumped by 17%, from 1.43 Moz in 2014, to 1.67 Moz in 2015. This allows Agnico Eagle to jump one position up in the world rankings, from tenth to ninth. For the fourth consecutive year, Agnico Eagle has reported annual gold production in excess of annual guidance. Agnico Eagle’s AISC on a by-product basis was $810 in 2015 or 15% lower than AISC in 2014 ($954).

South Africa's Sibanye Gold Limited (JSE: SGL & NYSE: SBGL), which split from Gold Fields in February 2013, lost its ninth position and closing the list of top-10 gold producers in 2015. Sibanye produced 1.54 Moz of gold, or 3% less than in 2014 (1.59 Moz), mainly because of operational disruptions at its Witwatersrand mines. Sibanye was managed to reduce AISC by 5%, from $1,080 in 2014 to $1,030 in 2015. Nine out of ten companies managed to reduce their AISC in 2015. Polyus Gold keeps its record as the lowest cost gold producer among majors.

** AISC’s rough approximation. Polyus Gold to release its final AISC calculation at the beginning of March.

*All-in sustaining cost is a measure that captures direct operating costs, corporate and exploration expenditure and capital investment required to sustain the business.

For more information about abovementioned companies and their assets, please visit the IntelligenceMine database, which provides researchers, investors and suppliers with up to date global mining market intelligence – mining and mineral exploration company reports; mine, project and processing facility reports; securities filings; an interactive mapper and much more. Learn more about IntelligenceMine.

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Consol unloads Virginia coal mine for $420 million

Consol Energy (NYSE:CNX) today shored up its flagging balance sheet with the sale of its Buchanan mine in southwestern Virginia and other assets for close to half a billion US.

Consol, one of the largest coal producers in the United States, sold Buchanan – and other metallurgical coal reserves in West Virginia, Virginia and Pennsylvania – to Coronado IV LLC for US$420 million, which includes $398 million cash at the close of the transaction, the company announced. Around 88 million tons of the 400 million tons included in the sale are from the Buchanan mine, which employs a longwall and continuous mining system. The right to extract and sell gas is not included in the deal, which according to Consol was done to pay down debt.

"This is another significant event in the execution of CONSOL Energy's strategy, as well as a meaningful step in continuing to strengthen our balance sheet," said Nicholas J. DeIuliis, Consol president and CEO. "The Buchanan Mine fits into Coronado's portfolio as a pure play metallurgical coal producer, and, in the end, this transaction bolsters the strategic position of both companies."

After the deal is completed in the first quarter, Consol will only have three mines left in southwestern Pennsylvania and one site, the Miller Creek complex, in southern West Virginia.

Coronado IV is a metallurgical coal company backed by Energy & Minerals Group (EMG), a private equity firm specializing in energy and mining. EMG has $16.8 billion under investment according to its website.

In the same press release, Consol also said it was suspending its quarterly dividend, which currently stands at $0.01 per share, to "further reflect the company's increased emphasis on growth."

Investors appeared to endorse both decisions; by the end of the day, Consol's stock had gained 10 percent in New York.

The news from Consol comes on the same day that China, the world's largest coal consumer, said it plans to lay off 1.8 million coal and steel workers as part of the government’s ongoing efforts to reduce industrial overcapacity. In December, Beijing said it would not approve any new coal mines over the next three years and that it would shut more than 1,000 coal mines in 2016, taking out 60 million metric tons of unneeded capacity.

The bad news keeps piling up for coal. Earlier this month Goldman Sachs published a new report saying that the demand for thermal coal is "irreversible", and last fall, the investment bank made headlines when it predicted that “peak coal” was drawing near. In the United States, 42 coal companies had declared bankruptcy since 2012, as of last June, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

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Endeavour gets bump from $25M Burkina Faso mine sale

Endeavour Mining (TSX:EDV) had a good day on the markets after the company announced a $25 million cash injection from the sale of its mine in Burkina Faso.

In a press release, Endeavour said it sold its Youga mine to privately-held MNG Gold for US$25.3 million, which includes $20 million for the mine and 5.3 million in cash. The company also retains a 1.8 percent net smelter royalty on mine production.

The sale to MNG makes sense considering the proximity of Youga to MNG's Balogo deposit, an advanced exploration play that MNG acquired from Golden Rim Resources (ASX:GMR) just over a year ago. Golden Rim said at the time it needed to make the $10-million sale because it was unable to raise funds for a feasibility study and wanted the cash to continue exploring its Korongou project, also in Burkina Faso.

Youga, an operating gold mine, has around two years of minelife left, after starting production in 2008. The mine up to the end of 2014 had produced just over half a million ounces, according to Endeavour. Last year the mine produced 64,407 ounces and in 2016 it is expecting output of 40,000 to 45,000 ounces.

 

At the close of trading in Toronto on Monday, stock in EDV had climbed 4.13 percent to close at $12.10 a share. The bump puts an exclamation point on a successful three months for the intermediate gold producer, during which time the stock price has doubled. Endeavour's market cap now stands at $722 million with 59 million shared outstanding. Including Youga, Endeavour has five operating gold mines producing around 580,000 ounces a year in Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Ghana and Burkina Faso.

In addition to the Balogo project and now the Youga mine, West Africa and Turkey- focused MNG Gold also owns the Kokoya gold project in Liberia, for which it was awarded a mining license in January 2015.

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Two years after Mexico’s biggest mine spill villagers still don't trust their drinking water

Close to 40,000 cubic meters of wastewater from a copper mine in northern Mexico spilled into rivers in 2014, forcing authorities to restrict water supply to urban areas.

The leak, which is now considered the worst environmental disaster in the country’s history, came from Grupo Mexico’s (BMV:GMEXICOB) Buenavista copper mine, located only about 40 km from the U.S. border, and contaminated the Bacanuchi River, a tributary of the Sonora River.

Understanding and training on the several technical and engineering issues associated with water management in mining is a must

The spill affected seven different municipalities, turning the 420-kilometer-long waterway orange, affecting hundreds of thousands of people. To date, affected communities don’t trust their drinking water and claim the mine was operating without the minimum requirements demanded by the Mexico’s environmental law.

Experts say that water issues and management vary from site to site and must be addressed locally. But before even getting to that point, appropriate understanding and training on the several technical and engineering issues associated with water management in mining is a must, they warn.

From April 5 to 7, leader in professional development and training for the mining industry — EduMine — is presenting a three-day live webcast by Jack Caldwell, consultant with over 35 years of engineering experience on mining, civil, geotechnical and site remediation projects.

Register for “Fundamentals of Mine Water Management” now

 

The course introduces participants to the basic technical and engineering issues, as well as the solutions of managing mine waters. It is intended to benefit both, those new to the topic and those who already have experience in what is considered one of the key issues facing miners in the 21st century.

For more information and to register, please visit: http://ift.tt/1OJ2to0

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Greenfield exploration in Australia picks up

After at least two years of depressed mineral exploration in Australia, the activity is finally picking up, helped by a drop in the cost of searching for minerals amid a global downturn that has hit mining companies and service providers alike.

According to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released Monday, the total area drilled (in metres) climbed by 6.9% during the December quarter, with activity in areas of new deposits increasing by 29.6%.

The country’s total exploration spending, however, continued to fall, dropping 3% or A$12 million, to A$382 million in the December quarter. Exploration on areas of new deposits fell 7.8%, or A$9 million, and expenditure on areas of existing deposits fell by 1.1%, or A$3 million.

“In what is traditionally a negative quarter for mineral exploration, this year we have seen an increase in metres drilled driven by exploration on new deposits, ,” Simon Bennison, chief executive officer at the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, said in an e-mailed statement.

In Bennison’s opinion, the increase in greenfields mineral exploration highlights the Federal Government’s Exploration Development Incentive (EDI), effective since July last year, is having “a positive impact” on greenfields mineral exploration as intended.

“AMEC has been working with the Australian Taxation Office, Treasury and the Department of Industry and Science to review the operation of the EDI to make it more effective for explorers and investors,” he noted.

In terms of oil-related exploration, expenditure decreased 22.5%, or A$132.1 million, to A$455.5 million in the December quarter, with Western Australia reporting the largest fall at 17.6%, or A$70.5 million.

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Des spermatozoïdes créés in vitro fécondent des ovocytes

À partir de cellules souches embryonnaires de souris, des chercheurs ont généré au laboratoire des cellules ressemblant à des spermatozoïdes qu’ils ont utilisées avec succès pour une fécondation in vitro. Ces résultats ouvrent des perspectives pour le traitement de l’infertilité masculine.

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China to axe 1.8 million coal, steel jobs

China plans to lay off 1.8 million coal and steel workers as part of the government’s ongoing efforts to reduce industrial overcapacity.

Yin Weimin, the minister for Human Resources and Social Security, said in a briefing Monday that 1.3 million the job cuts will affect the coal workers, while the steel sector will lose 500,000 positions, Bloomberg reports.

This is the first time China unveils figures that underscore the scale of its task in dealing with slowing growth and bloated state firms.

In December, Beijing said it would not approve any new coal mines over the next three years and that it would shut more than 1,000 coal mines in 2016, taking out 60 million metric tons of unneeded capacity.

A month later, the world’s largest coal consumer announced it would invest $4.6 billion to close another 4,300 coal mines.

The country, however, has committed to allocate $15.3 billion (100 billion Yuan) over two years to compensate the laid-off workers, Yin said. He also told reporters that the government will release its plan to raise the retirement age in 2016 as the world's second largest economy faces increased pressure from an aging population.

Chinese steel companies have been accused of selling unwanted metal on world markets for less than it costs to produce and export, suffocating local rivals.

Data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Last month, the Europe Union imposed of a new range of tariffs on Chinese steel imports, in an attempt to save thousands of jobs.

Coal consumption in a free-fall

At the same time that Chinese authorities close mines, coal consumption keeps falling. On Monday, the government unveiled fresh data that states China’s coal use dropped in 2015 for the second year in a row.

The use of the fossil fuel declined 3.7% last year compared to 2014 levels, a report from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows. The fall follows a 2.9% decrease in 2014.

Despite the decrease in coal use, many Chinese cities are often blanketed with toxic smog, much of it the result of using the fuel in industries like power generation and steel.

Nearly 300 Chinese cities failed to meet national standards for air quality last year, according to a Greenpeace report.

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La fin de l'univers pourrait avoir lieu dans 2,8 milliards d'années

L'étude des supernovae (explosions d'étoiles) et de la répartition des galaxies permet de poser des contraintes sur la nature de l'énergie noire et donc le destin de l'univers observable. Des chercheurs viennent de montrer que l'énergie du vide pourrait devenir si grande qu'elle déchirerait...

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Death toll from Russia's mine disaster climbs to 36 as rescuers killed in new explosion

The death toll from what it is already considered Russia's worst coal mining disaster in recent history rose to 36 on Sunday as six rescuers were killed in a new explosion.

Russian authorities said Monday they are abandoning rescue efforts in the northern town of Vorkuta as they believe the 26 missing workers could not have survived the accident that killed four last week, state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported (in Russian).

The incident happened on Thursday, after a methane explosion ripped through the Severnaya mine in Arctic Russia at a depth of 748 metres (2,450 feet).

Sunday explosion forced officials to admit that no-one could have survived

The bodies of four miners were recovered after the initial disaster, but the remains of the six rescuers who died trying to reach the stranded miners are yet to be found.

Seventy-seven people were in the mine during the rescue operation when the latest explosion hit, the emergencies ministry said.

Of these, 71 were rescued and brought to the surface. Eleven of them were injured.

Three days of mourning have been declared in Komi Republic, the icy region of country's polar north where the mine, owned by Vorkutaugol — a subsidiary of Russian steel maker Severstal— is located.

The nation’s coal mines have suffered multiple accidents in recent decades and are considered among the most dangerous in the world, as many of them lack of up to date safety features.

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À quel endroit de la planète cette photo a été prise ? Google le sait

Une équipe Google spécialisée en apprentissage profond a entraîné PlaNet, un réseau neuronal, à déterminer la localisation d’une photographie en se servant uniquement des pixels qu’elle contient. Cette intelligence artificielle (AI) utilise peu de ressources et pourrait même fonctionner sur...

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L'étrange aventure du 29 février et des années bissextiles

L'année bissextile nous vient de loin. Les Égyptiens, déjà, qui devaient savoir quand planter leurs céréales et bien anticiper la vivifiante crue du Nil, étaient ennuyés par le fait que le nombre de jours dans l'année est un nombre non entier.

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Premiers services en vue pour Galileo, le GPS européen

En plus des quatre satellites déjà prévus cette année, et qui seront lancés par une Ariane 5 spécifique, Arianespace devra en envoyer deux autres, mis en orbite par un lanceur Soyouz. La Commission européenne veut en effet accélérer le déploiement de la constellation Galileo, qui pourra offrir...

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PotashCorp to idle two mines temporarily

PotashCorp (NYSE, TSX:POT) has responded to the ongoing slump in the potash market with more plans to curtail production.

In a press release, the fertilizer giant said it is responding to market conditions by "adjusting inventory" at its Allan and Lanigan operations- meaning the two mines will stop producing for 4 weeks starting March 20. The temporary stoppages, designed to coincide with maintenance shutdowns, will reduce the company's 2016 output by around 400,000 tonnes. No layoffs are expected to result.

The decision is the latest of several taken by PotashCorp in an effort to improve its bottom line. In November the world's largest crop nutrient company by capacity announced it would close its New Brunswick mine, Penobsquis, and take inventory shutdowns at three mines in its home province of Saskatchewan. Then in January, PotashCorp said it is "indefinitely" halting operations at its relatively new Picadilly mine, also in New Brunswick, in response to falling potash demand and weakening prices.

The company, which had more than 5,000 employees worldwide at the end of 2014, said the suspension, effective immediately, would lead to 420-430 job cuts.

And a month ago, the company announced it would cut its dividend by a third in response to weaker sales volumes and lower fertilizer prices, after seeing its fourth-quarter profit cut in half.

Potash prices have fallen to under $300 a tonne from a peak of around $900 a tonne in 2008. The Financial Post quotes analysts at Macquarie as saying that prices could average US$254 a tonne in 2016 due to "ongoing weakness in agricultural commodities and depreciating currencies in emerging markets." The Australian investment bank expects global potash demand to fall by 4.4 million tonnes this year, with the largest declines coming in Southeast Asia, India and Brazil.

Meanwhile, weakness in the potash and oil markets is taking a toll on Saskatchewan's economy, which is heavily dependent on both commodities. An economist at CIBC Capital Markets, told the Globe and Mail on Feb. 1 that he expects the provincial economy to shrink by half-a-percent in 2016, the same as in 2015. Saskatchewan in November projected a $262-million deficit for 2015-16.

The good news for PotashCorp is all the bad news has not significantly impaired its stock price. While POT is down a hair year to date (-0.12%), it has gained 10.5 percent over the last month.

Image of Saskatchewan potash mine by Tony Hisgett

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Le déclin des pollinisateurs menace l’agriculture mondiale

Un groupement de chercheurs internationaux, l'IBPES, vient de boucler une étude de deux ans montrant la dépendance de l'agriculture mondiale aux insectes et autres animaux pollinisateurs. Le rapport montre aussi que ces espèces sont clairement en déclin et que leur protection est de ce fait...

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Sur Mars, Opportunity, malgré son grand âge, fait de l'escalade

La nouvelle escapade du rover martien Opportunity le conduit à gravir une pente assez raide pour atteindre des roches à examiner sur la crête. Un défi qu’il semble relever sans beaucoup de difficultés malgré ses 12 années de mission.

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Première greffe d’utérus aux États-Unis

La Cleveland Clinic, un centre hospitalier de l’Ohio, a effectué une première greffe d’utérus aux États-Unis, sur une jeune femme. C'est la deuxième opération de ce genre après celle, réussie, de l’université médicale de Gothenburg, en Suède, en 2013. D'autres devraient suivre en Europe.

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La dictée vocale arrive en Français dans Google Docs

L’application de traitement de texte Google Docs permet désormais de dicter du texte en langage naturel. Le système de reconnaissance vocale est déjà très performant avec un niveau d’orthographe suffisant pour rédiger des textes courants.

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Dossier : l'inertie thermique de nos maisons

Parent pauvre de la conception de l’habitat conventionnel, l’inertie thermique est pourtant un élément prépondérant de la gestion des ambiances thermiques intérieures. Quelle que soit la saison, elle est source de confort et d’économies d’énergie dans la maison.

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Quidquam ? Un Mooc pour faire la lumière sur la lumière

Un cours en ligne Quidquam sur la lumière, ouvert à tous, et organisé en six thèmes, avec une série de conférences en prime. Cette deuxième session prend la succession du premier Quidquam qui avait rassemblé 12.000 personnes de tous âges : 7 ans pour la plus fraîche et 93 ans pour la moins...

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Les premiers animaux étaient peut-être des éponges

Les éponges de mer sont bien des animaux et elles font partie des plus anciennes formes vivantes multicellulaires. Des études basées sur la génétique et la géochimie laissent maintenant fortement penser que les premiers animaux, donc nos ancêtres, étaient précisément des éponges. Et qu’elles...

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Des vertèbres imprimées en 3D implantées sur un patient

En Australie, le neurochirurgien Ralph Mobbs a réussi à implanter deux vertèbres fabriquées en titane à partir d’un procédé d’impression 3D. Une première mondiale qui a permis de soigner un patient atteint de chordome.

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Le « réseau social planctonique » influence notre climat

L’océan est le plus important puits de carbone de la planète. Des chercheurs viennent de décrire le réseau d’organismes planctoniques impliqué. Le catalogue créé durant l’expédition Tara Oceans livre ainsi peu à peu ses secrets.

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Avalon Rare Metals is now Avalon Advanced Materials

Canada’s Avalon Rare Metals (TSX:AVL) (NYSEMKT:AVL), until recently mostly known for its incursion in the rare earths market, has changed its name to Avalon Advanced Materials.

The move comes as the company decided to freeze its incursion in the rare earth market and focus instead on lithium and tin.

Prices for rare earths — used in high-tech sectors — have continued to drop due to a global glut triggered in part by illegal mining in China, the top producer.

Name change follows the company decision to focus on lithium and tin, instead of rare earths.

Only last year, prices for the coveted materials fell some 30-50%, even though there was a 7% increase in overall demand, Avalon said.

This market downturn has resulted in the bankruptcy of at least two potential new producers outside China and a dramatic decline in investor interest, which has dent the availability of capital for development projects, such as Avalon’s Nechalacho, in the Northwest Territories.

Consequently, the company said in a separate statement that Nechalacho will remain inactive in 2016, while Avalon re-focuses its efforts on its Ontario-based Separation Rapids Lithium Project and the East Kemptville Tin-Indium Project, in Nova Scotia.

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Le salon de l’agriculture fête 70 ans d'une recherche intensive

Pour célébrer des recherches souvent méconnues du grand public, l’Inra, créé en 1946 pour « nourrir » la France vient de publier à l’occasion du Salon de l’agriculture et de ses soixante-dix bougies, Agro-mots, un recueil qui, en 70 définitions, nous rappelle que notre agriculture n’a...

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Zimbabwe diamond firms revolt, to sue Gov’t over mining ban

At least one of the diamond miners that saw their licences revoked and were asked to leave Zimbabwe earlier this week because their licences had expired, is planning to sue the African nation’s government for breach of contract.

Speaking to Reuters, Zimbabwe's Diamond Mining Company’s (DMC) manager Ramzi Malik said the firm’s contract with the State clearly stipulated that renewing licences was the responsibility of the government, through its state mining arm Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC).

DMC is not alone. Industry sources told The Zimbabwean that more affected companies are looking for a way out of the situation, which includes legal actions or even international arbitration to challenge the government’s decision.

"There is not going back" — Mines Minister Walter Chidhakwa.

The government has not replied to the mining companies complains yet, but state-controlled Herald newspaper quoted Mines Minister Walter Chidhakwa Friday saying there were “not going back” on the government’s decision, which he qualified as “not negotiable.”

President Robert Mugabe’s government has been accused of a lack of clarity on the particular issue and the country’s diamond industry in general. A decision to merge miners into the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company has also been controversial, and there is speculation that Rio Tinto’s (LON:RIO) withdrawal from the country last year, was in part due to the increasingly hostile business climate.

Authorities have increased security at the mines in the Marange District after news of looters invading the country’s diamond fields right after operations ceased.

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Univers du X : matière noire, trous noirs et divers phénomènes observés

Hitomi, le nouvel observatoire spatial japonais qui regarde dans le domaine X, vient d'être lancé. Ce satellite de près de trois tonnes embarque des instruments dernier cri, bien plus précis que la génération précédente. Les détails avec deux spécialistes qui y ont contribué.

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Participez à ce projet fou où depuis Internet vous devenez archéologue

Sarah Parcak est une archéologue qui analyse les images satellite pour découvrir des sites encore inconnus et lutter contre les pillages. Elle vient de gagner le prix TED qui lui alloue un million de dollars pour son projet baptisé Global Xplorer. Le but : créer un site Internet grâce auquel...

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Avec le Telecom Infra Project, Facebook prépare l'Internet mobile de demain

Le Telecom Infra Project lancé au Mobile World Congress par Facebook vise à réunir des acteurs des réseaux télécom pour développer la 5G et d’autres réseaux de communication mobile. L’intérêt pour Facebook ? La majorité de ses revenus publicitaires provient des terminaux mobiles…



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Superconductivité : une énigme résolue avec des cristaux liquides ?

Un groupe de physiciens canadiens vient de consolider une découverte faite depuis plusieurs années, celle d’une connexion entre la physique des cristaux liquides et celle de certains supraconducteurs exotiques (les cuprates). Cette connexion pourrait nous aider à révolutionner la technologie en...

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Alrosa’s diamond reserves up to 1.108 billion carats

Russia’s Alrosa (MCX:ALRS), the world's top diamond producer by output in carats, said Friday its reserves have gone up by 43.6 million to 1.108 billion carats, thanks to exploration carried out last year.

The bulk of the exploration work was conducted in the far eastern region of Yakutia, said the miner.

The company also identified major exploration fields in Angola, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

The company added that its geologists carried out exploration at Verkhne-Munskoe deposit, Zarya pipe and deep layers of Internatsionalnaya pipe.

Geologic exploration was completed on Pionerskaya and Pomorskaya pipes in the Arkhangelsk region.

Alrosa highlighted the completion of the process of calculating reserves of its Mayskoe deposit, and the Dalnyaya, Nyurbinskaya and Botuobinskaya pipes.

Last year, Alrosa also proceeded with prospecting and geologic exploration in Africa in the scope of its joint ventures, identifying major fields in Angola, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

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Coal mine explosion in Russia kills 4, 26 missing

Four miners died and twenty-six were still missing Friday after an accident at a coal mine in Russia’s far north Komi region, owned by Vorkutagol, a subsidiary of Severstal.

According to the company, 110 miners were underground at the time of the blasts, which occurred late Thursday at the Severnaya coal mine, Vorkutagol said Friday.

Russian coal mines have suffered multiple accidents in recent decades and are considered among the world's most dangerous.

Vorkutagol said the mine collapse was the result of a methane gas leak that triggered two explosions at the site. It added that fire was still raging inside the mine and that rescue operations have not stopped since the time of the accident.

Russia’s investigative committee is investigating the mine accident and the Kremlin appointed a special commission to deal with it, parent company Severstal added.

Russian coal mines have suffered multiple accidents in recent decades and are considered among the most dangerous in the world, as many of them lack of up to date safety features.

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Piloter un Airbus, c’est possible à la Semaine du vol

L’école d’ingénieurs aéronautiques Ipsa organise sa « Semaine du vol », dédoublée sur les deux campus, à Ivry-sur-Seine, près de Paris, puis à Toulouse, entre le 22 février et le 21 mars, avec une exposition exceptionnelle sur les Femmes de l’espace le 8 mars. Les passionnés de l’air pourront...

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Bientôt des structures gonflables dans l'espace

Pour la station spatiale ou pour vivre sur une autre planète, les structures gonflables sont devenues une alternative crédible aux structures rigides. Moins volumineuses et bien plus légères, elles sont moins coûteuses à lancer. Reste à en maîtriser la fabrication et l'utilisation. Ce qui est en...

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Exoplanète : la vie sur Terre serait un cas très rare

À partir d’une simulation basée sur nos connaissances actuelles de l'univers et de son évolution, une équipe internationale de chercheurs a recensé le nombre de planètes ressemblant à la Terre qui pourraient exister. Surprise, selon leur modèle, la plupart seraient apparues bien avant notre...

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Gold price: Great sucking sound now coming from the West

On Thursday Gold was holding onto recent gains adding a couple of dollars in New York in another day of heavy trading.

At $1,244.40 an ounce, gold is up 17% since the start of the year, boosted in no small part by ETF investors who've been stocking up on the metal.

In fact, physical gold-backed funds have seen net inflows of more than 200 tonnes so far this year.

At the current pace, Q1 2016 could top the torrid June quarter in 2010 when nearly 300 tonnes were added to ETF vaults.

This year has been a reversal of the trend in during the last three years when a staggering 1,198 tonnes left funds.

This outflow was primarily a West to East movement. The process played itself out  like this:

A rupee gold price at a two-and-half year high certainly hasn’t helped

ETF investors in the US and other developed markets offload their gold holdings allocated to them and held in the UK, where most of the world's gold vaults are to be found.

From the UK the bullion is exported to Switzerland where the globe's gold refineries are concentrated, where it's melted down and recast into smaller bars.

Then the bullion is shipped to China and India and other growing gold consuming nations in Asia led by Vietnam and Indonesia.

Buyers in Asia were also willing to pay high premiums for this gold – Shanghai premiums topped out at $37 an ounce above the London fix. Today it hovers around par.

In India it hit highs of $170 above when government import restriction panic coincided with Diwali in 2013. Today it hit another record – a $40 discount. A rupee gold price at a two-and-half year high certainly hasn’t helped.

The lack of demand is also evident in import volumes.

In January this year net imports into mainland China from Hong Kong was the smallest since 2011 at a mere 17.6 tonnes.

Indian bullion imports of 60.7 tonnes in January was 55% below December’s total and the lowest level since October. There’s plentiful local metal available after a surge in doré imports to feed a doubling of refining capacity on the sub-continent last year.

Image by Eric Kim

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Vale posts record loss, to sell core assets

Brazil’s mining giant Vale (NYSE:VALE) reported Thursday its deepest quarterly net loss ever, becoming at the same time the first of the three largest iron ore producers to put some of its core assets up for sale.

The Rio de Janeiro-based company posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $8.57 billion, its fifth drop in the past six quarters, driven by a dramatic and sustained rout of its main profit driver, iron ore.

Vale also blamed its poor results on impairment charges and a 47% depreciation of the Brazilian real against the dollar last year, situation that increased the value of the company’s dollar-denominated debt.

Iron ore prices were particularly hit last year, averaging $55.5 a tonne, 42% than in 2014. The steel-making ingredient dropped as low as $37 a tonne by the end of last year.

Vale posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $8.57 billion, its fifth drop in the past six quarters.

Over the full year, the company slid to a net loss of $12.13 billion from a net profit of $657 million in the previous 12 months.

Vale had to take a few impairment charges, mostly on its coal and nickel assets, totalling $9.37 billion.

The Samarco dam collapse in Nov. last year, which killed at least 17 people and became Brazil’s worst environmental disaster, also forced Vale to book a write-down of $132 million in unpaid dividends and royalties.

Chief executive Murilo Ferreira said in a conference call that Vale wanted to reduce its net debt to $15 billion within 18 months, from $25.23 billion at the end of the fourth quarter. But given the uncertain outlook for prices of iron ore and other commodities, the firm has begun “actively exploring more aggressive actions for this deleveraging, including the sale of core assets,” he said.

Murillo’s comments mark a substantial change of strategy from his prior plan of offering assets only in peripheral assets, such as energy and logistics.

Despite the negative market conditions, Vale said it remains competitive, with iron ore production costs of $11.9 per tonne excluding royalties.

The world’s largest iron ore and nickel producer also announced that the chairman of the board has been replaced. Gueitiro Matsuo Genso will assume Vale’s top board post effective immediately. He replaces Dan Conrado, who will continue to be a member of the company’s board.

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USA, Mexico energy policies a mounting risk for Canada’s oil sector — IEA

Canada’s recent changes to electricity generation, such as reducing coal use and nuclear reactors reaching the end of their economic life, threaten the self-sufficiency of some provinces, a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) warns.

The country, one of the most energy-intensive nations belonging to the IEA, also faces new challenges from an increasing competition between North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) members to export crude oil, the energy watchdog warned in its report, published Thursday.

“This trend is increasingly supported also by the fact that the Keystone XL expansion project did not receive approval by the U.S. Administration President Obama in November 2015,” the IEA said its first in-depth review of Canada’s energy industry and policies since 2009.

Increasing competition means Canada will likely need to find additional export markets outside North America for a growing proportion of its oil exports in future, the IEA warns.

Mexico is also becoming a threat, as the government has decided to boost its oil sector, by opening the industry up to private firms for the first time in more than 80 years.

The heightened competition means Canada will likely need to find additional export markets outside North America for an increasing proportion of its oil exports in future, the IEA warns.

The agency suggests that Canada should develop a federal strategy to help coordinate the work being done by industry and provincial governments. Such a policy would focus on clean energy technologies, carbon capture and storage and environmentally beneficial methods for unconventional oil and gas production.

"This will contribute to reducing the environmental impact of energy use and production, as well as the cost of natural resource development, notably for oil-sands operations," the report states.

Canada's oil heart keeps bleeding

On Wednesday, the province of Alberta — the heart of Canada’s oil sands industry — warned that this year's deficit would be $6.3 billion. That's up $200 million from the October budget projection.

If that sounds bad, wait until you read this: the dramatic and sustained rout in oil prices has doubled Alberta’s deficit projection for next year to more than $10 billion.

“Projections for a quick recovery have proven wrong. There’s no minimizing the impact that low oil prices are having on people’s jobs, on our economy and on the government’s fiscal situation,” Finance Minister Joe Ceci said in a statement.

“This is a once in a generation challenge and we are now faced with stark choices,” Ceci noted.

Since the last provincial budget in October 2015, oil prices have continued to fall. The government was expecting $61 oil for 2016-17, but it is now forecasting around $40 per barrel.

Watch Finance Minister Joe Ceci releasing updated budget numbers amid oil price slump:

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Un mystérieux flash radio éclaire l'énigme des protons perdus

Étoiles de Planck ? Collisions d’astres compacts ? Nul ne sait vraiment ce que sont les sursauts radio rapides, ces flashes mystérieux durant lesquels est libérée, en quelques millièmes de seconde, autant d'énergie que le Soleil en émet en une journée. Mais l’un des derniers détectés a enfin pu...

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Venezuela, Canadian gold miner settle dispute in $5 billion deal

Venezuela will get $5 billion in a settlement deal with Canada's Gold Reserve (TSE:GRZ), ending a sever-year-long dispute over a gold asset in the country’s southeast.

The deal would see Venezuela and Gold Reserve, which locked horns in 2009 over the termination of the company's Las Brisas gold concession, embark on a joint venture, local newspaper El Mundo reported (in Spanish).

Venezuela and Gold Reserve will jointly exploit the Las Brisas and Las Cristinas mines.

The small Canadian miner began work on the Las Brisas gold and copper project in 1992, but defunct President Hugo Chavez revoked the permit in 2009, after the firm had invested more than $300 million on it. Gold Reserve took the case to international arbiters then.

Authorities in Caracas hailed the settlement deal, which includes a $2 billion loan to the country.

"It's the resolution of a conflict," President Nicolas Maduro was quoted as saying. "Now we are partners."

Venezuela will work with Gold Reserve to jointly operate the Las Brisas and Las Cristinas mines.

Several other international companies are still seeking compensation for projects expropriated and halted by the socialist administration in recent years.

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Un Wi-Fi 10.000 fois moins gourmand en énergie

Une équipe de l'université de Washington (États-Unis) a développé un système de Wi-Fi « passif » qui consomme 10.000 fois moins d'énergie que le Wi-Fi actuel. De quoi améliorer sensiblement l'autonomie des mobiles mais surtout celle des objets connectés en se posant comme alternative au Bluetooth.

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South32 looking for assets despite $1.75bn loss, massive layoffs

BHP Billiton’s spin-off South32 (ASX, LON, JSE:S32) confirmed Thursday it is looking for assets, mainly copper ones, despite reporting a significant loss for the half-year and announcing it will cut more than 770 jobs across Australia.

In the six months to the end of December, the Perth-based company lost $1.75 billion due to write-downs of its manganese and coal assets.

The loss represents a dramatic turnaround from the company's $339 million profit registered in the same period of 2014.

The company is decreasing its workforce by 17%, which means that 4,500 jobs will be gone by June 30, 2017.

Underlying earnings, excluding non-cash impairments and the impact of foreign exchange, sank 94% to $26 million.

In terms of impairment charges, South32 took a $916 million hit on its Australian manganese business, and a $518 million one on its South African energy coal unit.

South32 chief executive Graham Kerr said the company is decreasing its workforce by 17%, which means that 4,500 jobs will be gone by June 30, 2017.

Around 390 jobs will be lost from the Worsley Alumina business in WA, while 300 will be lost at Illawarra coal in New South Wales. A further 82 jobs will be lost from the Groote Eylandt manganese mine in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The majority of cuts will be completed before June 30, Kerr said in a presentation.

The company’s international assets will also be affected, with mine production reduced at South African manganese, while the Cerro Matoso nickel mine in Colombia will lose 350 workers.

Copper, lithium assets wanted

Despite the gloomy results, South32 is sitting on nearly $700 million in cash and liquids and net debt of a modest $116 million. This means the company is one of the few out there, including BHP and Rio Tinto, which could take advantage of the severe downturn in the sector to buy assets at sale prices.

Last week, the firm said it was prepared to buy out the manganese assets of joint venture partner Anglo American (LON:AAL) if the mining giant was ready to accept a realistic offer.

The two companies share a manganese mining and smelting business located in Australia and South Africa.

Last month, there were rumours that the Perth-based company also wanted to acquire Anglo’s $1 billion niobium and phosphate business in Brazil.

But Kerr revealed the company sees copper as one of the more attractive sectors to invest in:

"Copper is obviously attractive given the supply-demand fundamentals; I think lithium and graphite have attractions, but they can be quite unique in terms of they are the flavour of the month if the technology moves," he said.

"We will look across the whole commodity spectrum, but more toward the second and third generation of commodities,” Kerr added, referring to metals used for specialty applications.

The diversified miner, the world’s top manganese producer, also has interests in alumina, silver, nickel and coking coal — commodities hard hit in the wake of China's economic pullback.

Investors reacted positively to the news. The company closed up 3.54% in Sydney to A$1.17, which brings the value of South32 up by more than 10% so far this year.

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Falcon 9 : SpaceX reporte son lancement à ce soir

Le lancement du Falcon 9 de SpaceX, prévu mercredi soir, a été remis à aujourd'hui, même heure. Comme souvent, l'entreprise ne donne pas de détails sur la raison de ce report. Le lanceur porte le satellite de télécommunications SES 9 et une nouvelle tentative de récupération de l’étage principal...

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Le tombeau de Toutânkhamon renfermerait un trésor d’archéologie

Une chambre secrète existerait à côté du tombeau de Toutânkhamon, selon les autorités égyptiennes. L'annonce que vient de faire le ministre égyptien du tourisme reprend celle survenue en novembre dernier après des analyses au radar. Pourquoi le gouvernement du pays est-il aussi certain de cette...

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Dutch central bank mulls moving its $7.7bn gold reserve out of Amsterdam

The Dutch Central Bank is considering relocating its gold reserves, worth about $7.7 billion (€7bn) from Amsterdam to a different location.

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) said in a statement (in Dutch) that the main reason for looking for alternative storage is that the Frederiksplein headquarters, built in the sixties, is being renovated.

The new location would need to provide high levels of security for both employees and visitors

DNB said that while the idea of moving its reserves outside of the city seems logic, there are high security standards the location, employees and visitors would need to fulfill. Some of the security measures include scanners, passport controls and armed guards.

According to the latest IMF data, the Netherlands has 612.5 tonnes of gold, representing about 54.6% of its total foreign reserves. Those reserves are spread around the world with 31% held in Amsterdam, 31% held in New York, 20% in Ottawa and 18% in London.

DNB is expected to make a decision on whether to move the vault and its gold by the end of the year.

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Un mystérieux flash radio éclaire l'énigme des protons perdus

Étoiles de Planck ? Collisions d’astres compacts ? Nul ne sait vraiment ce que sont les sursauts radio rapides, ces flashes mystérieux durant lesquels est libérée, en quelques millièmes de seconde, autant d'énergie que le Soleil en émet en une journée. Mais l’un des derniers détectés a enfin pu...

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Propulsion photonique : demain un vaisseau voyagera vers Mars en 3 jours

Imaginez que le voyage vers Mars ne dure plus 6 mois mais un seul, voire 3 jours avec un petit vaisseau sans être humain à bord… En décuplant notre vitesse de croisière, Pluton ne serait plus qu’à quelques mois et le système de l’étoile Proxima du Centaure à quelques années… Le physicien Philip...

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Planète X : des chercheurs Français sur les traces de la neuvième planète

La neuvième planète du système solaire, la Planète X, n'a pas été encore découverte. Nous n'en sommes qu'au stade des prédictions. La nuance est toujours bonne à rappeler. Pour trouver ce nouveau corps, dix fois plus massif que la Terre, des spécialistes français de l'Observatoire de...

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Dossier : comprendre l'anorexie

L’anorexie touche des jeunes filles et des jeunes femmes, plus rarement des hommes. Parce qu'elles ont peur de grossir, les anorexiques vivent les yeux rivés sur leur balance, se réjouissant dès qu’elles perdent du poids. L'amaigrissement extrême, l’isolement, les problèmes psychologiques...

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MWC 2016 : un jour, nous paierons avec un selfie

Mastercard va introduire une option de validation des paiements depuis un mobile en se servant de la reconnaissance faciale. Le service sera disponible à partir de cet été dans une douzaine de pays. L'entreprise réfléchit aussi à utiliser les battements du cœur comme outil biométrique.

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Rio Tinto downgraded, loses A-rating

Rio Tinto, the world's number two miner in terms of revenues, suffered the same fate as many of its peers on Wednesday with a downgrade by Moody's Investor Services.

The credit ratings agency  downgraded the senior unsecured ratings of Melbourne-based Rio and its subsidiaries one notch from to Baa1 from A3 with a negative outlook.

Moody's said the downgrade reflects its view "that there has been a fundamental downward shift in the mining sector with the downturn being deeper and prospects for a recovery extended, resulting in increased credit risk and weaker metrics" for the Anglo-Australian giant and the mining sector as a whole:

"The slowing economic growth rates in China materially impact the demand for base metals while the reducing steel production rates impact demand for iron ore and metallurgical coal – leading to lower prices. Supply imbalances, particularly in iron ore, the major earnings and cash flow driver for Rio Tinto, will maintain pressure on prices for several years.

"While lower oil prices, lower freight costs, and currency depreciation contribute to reduced costs, the drop in prices has and will continue to significantly impact performance. In addition, the strong US dollar is a further factor contributing to weakening demand and driving prices lower since most metals are traded in dollars."

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Gold price: ETF buying surge to 6-year high

Gold was enjoying one of its best days of the year on Wednesday jumping as much as $32 an ounce after surprisingly bad economic data from the US put fear back into equity and fixed income investors.

In heavy volume, April gold futures in New York’s Comex market were last exchanging hands for $1,240.40 an ounce, down from a high of $1,254 shortly after data showed the services sector in the US against expectations plunging into deep contractionary mode and coming in at the lowest reading since October 2013. Services constitute more than three-quarters of the US economy.

Gold is experiencing one of its best starts to a year in decades. The metal is up 18% year to date thanks to safe haven buying as investors seek cover from turmoil on financial markets, worries over the economic outlook and the push by central banks around the world into unprecedented negative interest rate territory.

Since the beginning of February, more gold has flowed into the ETFs than was withdrawn in the whole of last year

Following another year of heavy ETF outflows in 2015 – 133 tonnes of net redemptions – investors in physical gold-backed ETFs came roaring back in January paying more than $2 billion for roughly 57 tonnes.

In February the buying only accelerated and this week gold bulls really stampeded picking up 50 tonnes in just two days.

In a research note Commerzbank points out that it’s “the sharpest two-day inflow since the Greek crisis first flared up in May 2010.”

The purchases equated to roughly six days of global gold mining production, according to the bank and pushed total holdings in the dozens of ETFs listed around the world to 1,665 tonnes, the highest level in nearly a year:

“Since the beginning of February, more gold has flowed into the ETFs than was withdrawn in the whole of last year.

“ETF investors, who are generally regarded as having a longer term horizon, clearly view the current price level as an attractive opportunity to buy. The high ETF purchases should lend further support to the gold price in our opinion.”

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Turkey halts gold project after protests, violence increase

Turkey ordered Cengiz Holding Wednesday to a halt to construction of a gold and copper project in the Artvin region, near the Black Sea, after thousands have kept demonstrating against the proposed mine.

Last week, hundreds put up barricades, set trash cans on fire and made bonfires with tree branches in an attempt to block construction.

The ruling marks an unprecedented victory for Turkey's environmental movement.

On Sunday, Turkish riot police fired tear gas and used sticks to disperse around 2,000 protesters who gathered close to the project site for a demonstration called by a local environmental group.

While the decision means the project may still go ahead, it marks an unprecedented victory for Turkey's environmental movement, AP reports.

The Artvin area, close to the border with Georgia, is seen as one of Turkey’s most environmentally important regions. Opponents claim the mine would ruin the surroundings.

Cengiz Holding’s chief executive, billionaire Mehmet Cengiz, is believed to be a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

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Galway Gold mulls legal escape to Colombia’s mining ban in paramos

Canadian junior miner Galway Gold (TSX-V:GLW) said Wednesday it will study the legal effects of a recent ruling banning all mining activities in Colombia’s paramos, which forces the company to shut down its Reina de Oro operation.

Earlier this month, the country’s Constitutional Court ruled against a controversial legal loophole permitting oil, gas and mining operations in the country’s paramos— high altitude eco-systems that supply more than 70% of Colombia’s population with water.

Galway said the ruling not only forces the company to halt operations, but it blocks it from transferring the project, as the mining permit will no longer be valid.

Galway said the ruling not only forces the company to halt operations, but it blocks it from transferring the project, as the mining permit will no longer be valid.

According to industry sources, there are 36 paramos in Colombia and at least 350 titles in such areas, Galway said in a statement.

“The court appears to be suggesting that mining affects the quantity and quality of water the area produces,” the firm noted.

The ruling has also declared that public interests supersede private interests, which eliminates the ability of the company to sue the Colombian government for damages.

In the past year, Colombia has worked on improving the country’s mining standards. Authorities have adopted a “zero tolerance” stance when it comes to illegal mining and taken steps to expedite permit approvals. They have also tightened regulations to establish a project's area of influence in order to improve mitigation of environmental and social risks.

Other than gold and coal, Colombia holds vast and untapped reserves of emeralds, silver and oil.

Full press release here.

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Falcon 9 : cette nuit, SpaceX ne récupérera probablement pas son lanceur

Le Falcon 9 de SpaceX s’apprête à lancer le satellite de télécommunications SES 9 avec une nouvelle tentative de récupération de l’étage principal sur une barge en pleine mer. Les chances de succès de récupérer en bon état l'étage sont réduites en raison de la trajectoire du lancement convenue...

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Copper prices plummet on China worries, oil collapse

Copper prices fell the most in two weeks in London, as investors’ worries over China’s deepening economic slowdown and collapsing oil prices dampened sentiment across commodities markets.

The London Metal Exchange’s three-month copper contract fell as much as 1.4%, the most since Feb. 10, to $4,580 a metric ton and was at $4,591.50 by 12:11 p.m. on the London Metal Exchange. Other industrial metals were also trading lower.

The drop in prices drag producers of the red metal along. Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), the world’s largest listed copper miner, was down more than 8% to $6.6 Wednesday morning.

BHP Billiton (ASX, NYSE:BHP) sank as much as 9.05% in New York, following its biggest slide since 2008 in Sydney, where it closed 8.22% down to $16.18. The world’s largest miner on Tuesday cut its dividend for the first time in 15 years as first-half profit tumbled 92%.

Glencore (LON:GLEN), another top red metal producer, was one of the most affected. The stock was more than 10% down to 116p in late afternoon European trading.

Antofagasta (LON:AAL), also saw its shares crumble. The Chilean miner was down more than 5% in London midafternoon. And world’s No. 2 miner, Rio Tinto (LON:RIO), was shedding almost 5.6% at 3:30 pm GMT.

Copper is a key component in manufacturing of everything from high tech devices to houses, and it is often looked to as a gauge of economic health. China’s speedy expansion of recent years has been a strong demand driver, but weakening conditions there and robust global production have come to weigh heavily on the market.

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Samarco executives accused of homicide by Brazilian police over dam burst

Six top executives of iron ore miner Samarco, a joint venture between BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) and Vale (NYSE:VALE), and one contractor have been accused of homicide over the deaths of 19 people who were killed in a dam burst last November.

Brazilian police in the state of Minas Gerais recommended "qualified homicide" charges for the chief executive of Samarco at the time, Ricardo Vescovi, and six others, local newspaper Veja reported (in Portuguese).

In Brazil only prosecutors, and not police, can legally bring criminal charges, but accusations from officials often precede formal charges.

People charged with "qualified homicide” — the Brazilian equivalent of involuntary manslaughter — face between 12 to 30 years in prison.

The seven executives, including Samarco's boss at the time of the mine disaster, are being accused of "qualified homicide".

Police have also accused the seven individuals of endangering public health by polluting the region’s drinking water. They warned they would carry out a further criminal investigation over the next month related to the environmental impact of the mining disaster.

According to Brazilian authorities, the accident was caused by a lack of proper monitoring. This caused the reservoir behind the dam to overfill. They have also said that faulty equipment and a failure in the drainage system played a role.

In an e-mailed joint statement, BHP and Vale said the allegations were “serious” and that they needed to be “fully considered.”

The mining giants also said they were awaiting the findings of an independent external investigation, and “until it is completed, we will not speculate about the cause, or causes, or talk about what may or may not have contributed to the failure of the dam”.

The companies are in negotiations with the Brazilian government to reach a settlement, likely to be around $5 billion.

The deadly dam burst is considered the country’s worst environmental disaster, polluting a major river with thick red sludge, which quickly reached the Atlantic Ocean.

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La Grande Barrière de corail de plus en plus menacée

La Grande Barrière de corail australienne, le plus grand récif corallien du monde, est plus menacée qu’on ne le pensait, à cause de l’acidification des océans provoquée par la hausse du taux de gaz carbonique (CO2).

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Chasse à la neuvième planète : des Français en tête grâce à Einstein

En analysant la trajectoire de la sonde Cassini avec le prisme de la relativité générale, un groupe de spécialistes français de la mécanique céleste pense avoir cerné une région du ciel où il faut chercher la mystérieuse Planète X, possible neuvième planète du Système solaire qui existe...

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Chasse à la Planète X : des Français en tête grâce à Einstein

En analysant la trajectoire de la sonde Cassini avec le prisme de la relativité générale, un groupe de spécialistes français de la mécanique pense avoir cerné une région du ciel où il faut chercher la mystérieuse Planète X, possible neuvième planète du Système solaire qui existe peut-être loin...

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Li-Fi : l’Internet haut débit par la lumière, star du salon MWC 2016

C'était en septembre 2015. Lucibel, une entreprise française spécialisée dans l’éclairage Led, testait avec la Sogeprom un prototype de luminaire Li-Fi pour diffuser, via la lumière, une connexion Internet bidirectionnelle à 1 Gb/s. Très prometteuse, cette technologie se...

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Emploi : trouvez un job dans la santé sur Futura-Sciences

À la recherche d'un nouvel emploi dans le secteur de la santé ? Profitez d’une recherche ciblée dans votre domaine grâce au moteur de recherche Futura-Sciences, au service de Job Alert et à la CVthèque en ligne. Mettez dès maintenant Futura-Santé dans vos sites favoris !

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Cosmétiques : pourquoi faudrait-il s'en méfier ?

Pourquoi trouve-t-on des molécules suspectes dans les cosmétiques ? Parce que leurs effets ne sont pas immédiatement visibles, parce qu'elles sont très faibles par rapport aux doses d'utilisation et parce que les allergies ne concernent pas tout le monde. C'est le principe de précaution qui fait...

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BHP: No iron ore supply opportunity for at least a decade

The surprise rally in the price of iron ore continued on Tuesday with the Northern China benchmark import price advancing to a four-month high.

Building on a 7% jump on Monday the steelmaking raw material exchanged hands for $50.50 a tonne on Tuesday according to data supplied by The SteelIndex. Iron ore is now up a stunning 36% from near decade lows hit December 11.

World Steel Association data released on Monday showed a sharper-than-expected drop in global steel output of 7.1% in January compared to last year. Production by Chinese steelmakers, which consume nearly three-quarters of the seaborne iron ore supply and forge nearly half of the global total, plunged 7.8% year on year following a 5.2% contraction in December.

Capital Economics forecasts a 5% fall in China’s steel output for the whole of 2016 but the London-based research company warned on Tuesday "this may have to be revised lower if this pace of output cuts is maintained."

These near term changes have been amplified by disruption in the oil markets and broader global uncertainty

After 30 years of uninterrupted growth in steel output accompanying China's dizzying rates of urbanization it is not surprising that the economy is maturing. But the steel data shows it may be happening faster than expected.

Andrew Mackenzie, CEO of BHP Billiton, confirmed this trend at the world number three iron ore miner’s financial results presentation yesterday. MacKenzie said although China’s headline GDP growth is in line with the company’s projections “the composition of the economy is changing more quickly than anticipated”:

“We see signs of a faster transition from an investment in heavy-industry led economy to one led by services.

“[This allows] for an acceleration in structural reforms including state-owned enterprises. But in the near term as industrial overcapacity is reduced this would further constrain demand for commodities.

“These near term changes have been amplified by disruption in the oil markets and broader global uncertainty. Both have affected sentiment and further increased volatility in commodity prices. We see this continue in the near and medium term."

BHP said the "rate, magnitude and correlation of decline in commodity prices have been a surprise." It believes prices will take some time to recover but "continues to see longer-term upside, particularly in copper and oil." And even steam coal has a brighter future than iron ore according to this graph:

 

 

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Iron ore price holds $50 despite steel shocker

The surprise rally in the price of iron ore continued on Tuesday with the Northern China benchmark import price advancing to a four-month high.

Building on a 7% jump on Monday the steelmaking raw material exchanged hands for $50.50 a tonne on Tuesday according to data supplied by The SteelIndex. Iron ore is now up a stunning 36% from near decade lows hit December 11.

Chinese steel prices pulled back on Tuesday after hitting the highest levels since September yesterday thanks to a seasonal pick-up in demand and on hopes Beijing will do more to stimulate the slowing economy.

Iron ore is dependent on the health of the world’s second largest economy more than any other commodity. China last year consumed nearly three-quarters of the seaborne iron ore supply and its steelmakers forged nearly half of the global total.

And the news on Monday was not good.

China’s steelmakers are trying to export their way out of trouble, but calls rising protectionism in North America, Europe and other parts of Asia will close this opportunity too

World Steel Association data released on Monday showed a sharper-than-expected drop in global steel output of 7.1% in January compared to last year.

Output fell in all major producing regions for the second month in a row – including in India, a country which many iron ore producers had hoped could take up some of China’s slack.

China’s steel production came as a real shocker, plunging 7.8% year on year. January’s contraction also comes on the heels of 5.2% decline in December. The China Iron and Steel Association recently reported that more than half its members didn’t turn a profit in 2015 so output cuts after years of overproduction was certainly inevitable.

Colin Richardson, senior steel price specialist for Platts, says the rise in steel prices in China since the Lunar New Year can be explained by the output decline and is unlikely to continue:

“Combined with unusually lackadaisical pre-holiday demand from distributors, this served to tighten the market. However, the headwinds afflicting China and the global economy remain, so the sustainability of the rally has to be questioned.”

China’s steelmakers are trying to export their way out of trouble, but calls for anti-dumping measures in North America (where January production fell another 9% after a 16% drop in December) and Europe and rising protectionism in other parts of Asia will close this opportunity too.

A worker cleans fallen coke from a battery at Kardemir Karabuk Iron and Steel in Turkey. Image by Kefca | Shutterstock.com

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US uranium production hits lowest in 10 years

Production of uranium in the US dropped in 2015 to the lowest level in ten years, figures released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) show.

In the fourth quarter of the year alone, uranium concentrate output hit 85,048 pounds U3O8 (225 tU), its lowest level since 2002, and 46% less than what the country produced in the same quarter of 2014.

Uranium prices have remained stuck around $35 a pound, or about 40% lower than in March, 2011, right after the Fukushima disaster in Japan.

All of the fourth quarter's production came from four in-situ leach operations, including Wyoming-based Lost Creek (Ur-Energy), Nichols Ranch (Energy Fuels) and Smith Ranch-Highland (Cameco), as well as Crow Butte (Cameco), in Nebraska.

The energy watchdog attributes the output drop to depressed prices for spot uranium, used to make fuel for nuclear power production. The commodity has traded at historical lows since the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan, which led to the shutdown of all reactors in that country, generating burdensome stockpiles globally.

Prices have remained stuck around $35 a pound, or about 40% lower than in March, 2011, right after Fukushima. But experts believe that recovery is just a matter of time, based on supply and demand outlooks.

Canadian uranium producer Cameco (TSX:CCO)(NYSE:CCJ), the world’s second-largest uranium producer, said earlier this month that China is building 24 reactors to produce power from nuclear fuel.

The company forecast an increase in the total number of nuclear reactors operating globally — from 439 in 2015 to 450 this year and to 497 reactors by 2025.

As demand grows, there are few new sources of supply to keep pace, as depressed prices continue to discourage exploration and new mines.

The EIA's annual report of domestic uranium production is due to be published in May.

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Canada’s Ontario the slowest to issue exploration permits — report

Ontario, Canada’s second largest province, has become one of the of the country’s main mining districts where it takes the longest to obtain exploration permits, a new report released Tuesday shows.

According to a survey of mining executives by the Fraser Institute, growing wait times for permits across Canada, and particularly in Ontario, add to the cost of exploration and may ultimately hinder the country's ability to take advantage of its considerable mineral potential.

According to Kenneth Green, Fraser Institute senior director of energy and natural resources and co-author of the study, the problem is widespread. “All Canadian provinces need to understand that […], ultimately, uncompetitive mining policies can discourage exploration and subsequently lower job creation and tax revenue,” he said in a statement.

Growing wait times for permits add to the cost of exploration and may ultimately hinder Canada's ability to take advantage of its considerable mineral potential.

A quarter of industry respondents believed permit approval times had lengthened “considerably” in Ontario in the last 10 years, with an additional 43% answering it had increased “somewhat.”

Saskatchewan continues to be an industry leader and fared well in the survey.

Respondents gave the Prairie province a high approval rating with 87% indicating that they received the necessary permits within six months or less. British Columbia came in at 80%, and Quebec was at 76%. Ontario finished at 64%.

When industry was asked how often government timelines were synchronized with their own company schedules and milestones for permit approval decisions, Saskatchewan came in at 53%. Conversely, British Columbia was at 38 per cent, Quebec at 22% and Ontario was at 22%.

"To maximize exploration investment in the province, Ontario needs to put forth efficient and transparent permitting processes," Taylor Jackson, study co-author and policy analyst at the Fraser Institute, said in a statement.

On the level of transparency in the approvals process: Ontario finished at 57% with British Columbia and Quebec at 60% and 71%, respectively.

Based on the evidence from the survey, the authors believe there is plenty of room for improvement in the country’s exploration permitting process.

They conclude that policy reform in these areas may be necessary to help Canada’s provinces and territories unlock their considerable mineral potential.

Click on graphic to expand.

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Quelle est cette musique étrange entendue par l'équipage d'Apollo 10 ?

En évoquant une « étrange musique » entendue par les astronautes de la mission Apollo 10 alors qu’ils survolaient la face cachée de la Lune, l’émission Les dossiers inexpliqués de la Nasa, de Science Channel, a créé un emballement médiatique où fusent les spéculations sur la nature de ce son....

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Noble Group to post loss on coal price collapse

Commodities trader Noble Group (SGX:N21) warned Tuesday it would post a net loss in the fourth quarter and for the full-year 2015, after issuing a surprise $1.2 billion write-down from adjustments as commodities prices continued to tank.

Noble, Asia's biggest commodities trader by volume, attributed the massive hit to the recent climate-change agreement struck in Paris, which bodes ill for coal use, and the fall in oil prices, which act as a barometer for the energy industry.

"The combination of these factors, combined with a growing concern about weaker economic growth globally and especially in China has had a knock on effect on consensus estimates of future coal prices,” the firm said in a statement, only two days before its scheduled annual results release.

Coal is a pillar of Noble’s energy unit, which accounted for 85% of revenue in 2014.

The Singapore-listed company set its 2020 and beyond estimate for thermal coal contracts at $55 per tonne — a level that it said was 14% below the average market consensus. The World Bank forecasts Australian thermal coal at $58.10 a ton for that year, according to projections made in January.

Coal prices are at near nine-year lows because of slowing demand from China and the global move towards cleaner sources of fuel. The fossil fuel is a pillar of the trader’s energy unit, which accounted for 85% of revenue in 2014.

"There is a potential scenario, where coal prices will remain at these lower levels for an extended period and it is therefore prudent to reflect this view in the assumptions upon which the company's valuations are based," the group said.

The company stock has dropped about 70% over the past year after Iceberg Research alleged Noble was inflating its assets by billions of dollars. The beleaguered commodity trader rejected the claims and board-appointed consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers found it had complied with international accounting rules.

Other companies, including GMT Research, have since come forward to criticize the trader's bookkeeping practices.

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India’s tariffs on gold working: February imports to be lowest since 2013

India's gold imports are expected to drop to 25 tonnes in February, the lowest level since September 2013, as stronger metal prices and a recent import tax hike are keeping buyers away.

According to estimates from five industry participants, compiled by Reuters, banks and traders have scaled down imports and are offering steep discounts to clear inventory.

Discounts in India have hit a record high, while prices in China have also turned cheaper relative to the global benchmark, in a sign of waning demand.

Earlier this month, New Delhi increased the import tariff value on gold and silver in a fresh attempt to curb costly imports and stop precious metals from being used to hide billions of dollars of undeclared "black money".

The move seems to have worked, but at a cost: a drop in demand from the world's second-largest gold consumer could dent the ongoing rally in global prices for the precious metal. However, it would help India’s ongoing attempt to curb gold imports that cost the country $36 billion in 2015.

Indian banks and traders have scaled down imports and are offering steep discounts to clear inventory.

Gold prices have climbed from a little over $1,000 an ounce in late December to above $1,200 last week, through a period when every single major stock index has fallen.

That's part of a widespread flight to safety that has seen investors dump anything perceived as risky — stocks, oil and some currencies — and put their money into investments that are perceived to be safer.

But the metal has given back some of those gains as markets have stabilized. According to HSBC's analyst James Steel, the recent decline in gold prices doesn't mean the rally is over. He told Reuters Tuesday that demand for bullion exchange traded funds and possible weakening of the dollar are likely to support the metal.

Gold for April delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was last up $10.10 at $1,220.20 an ounce. A day earlier, gold prices sank $20.70, or 1.68%, as the metal's safe-haven appeal was dented amid a recovery in oil prices and global equity markets.

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