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Gold drops 2% as Fed reduces monthly bond purchases to $55 billion

The gold price extended its losses on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve announced that it would cut its monthly bond purchases from $65 billion to $55 billion.

By late-afternoon the precious metal was trading at $1,329 per ounce, a 2% drop on the previous day, and its lowest point so far this month.

Following a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on Wednesday, the Fed wrote in a statement that since its last meeting in January "labor market indicators were mixed but on balance showed further improvement."

"The unemployment rate, however, remains elevated. Household spending and business fixed investment continued to advance, while the recovery in the housing sector remained slow. Fiscal policy is restraining economic growth, although the extent of restraint is diminishing. Inflation has been running below the Committee's longer-run objective, but longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable."

The gold price has been dropping over the past three days after the situation in Ukraine simmered, lowering demand for gold as a safe-haven asset.

This week's sharp drop is inconsistent with steady gains seen since the beginning of the year. And the precious metal is still doing much better today than it was at the end of 2013 when it fell below $1,200 an ounce.

Many traders were expecting the Fed to reduce stimulus spending this month, which is probably why the yellow metal didn't drop as much on Wednesday as it did when the Fed was just hinting at a possible tapering of its bond-buying program last summer.

The US government has been buying billions of dollars worth of mortgage-backed securities and longer-term Treasury securities each month since 2008 when the financial crisis hit. Gold soared as investors lost confidence in the US economy and dollar. But ever since the Fed announced last year that it would look at reducing its bond-buying program, the gold market has been unstable, shedding 28% of its value last year.

Unsteady gold prices pushes Goldplat dipper in the red

African miner Goldplat (LON:GDP) revealed Monday a widening of its half-year losses on the back of a steep revenue decline, as sales have been hit by weak gold prices.

The company reported an operating loss of almost US$1.2 million (£694,000) for the six months ended December 31, from a profit of US$3.4 million (£2.05) in the first half of the previous fiscal year.

Goldplat’s chairperson Brian Moritz said even achieving the same volume of gold sales registered in 2012, the firm would have lost income, as bullion traded at about $300 per ounce lower than in the prior fiscal year.

However, the group was more optimistic about the long-term future, revealing that the second half of the fiscal year was already performing more strongly and as such it expects, in line with market expectations, to return to profitability by the year-end.

The miner’s exposure to gold price fluctuations is eased by the fact that it can adjust the price of gold bearing material it buys, which puts it at an advantage compared with a mine reliant on a finite ore body. However, the group explained the effects of this mitigation are not immediate.

The company also said it continues to examine joint venture opportunities to redevelop its Kilimapesa mine in Kenya, subject to proposed legislation that is set to clarify rules for local participation.

The Kilimapesa mine has been operating at reduced levels to limit costs during the period, but Goldplat said it is talking to potential partners to carry certain capital costs for expansion at Kilimapesa.

Kilimapesa has a mineral resource of 8,715,291 tonnes at 2.40 grams per tonne of gold for 671,446 ounces of gold at a cut- off of 1 gram per tonne.

Goldplat shares were up 13% early Monday at 5.65 pence.

Gold scams revisited

Before Bear Stearns and Lehman collapsed, the market for physical gold was limited to a relatively small group of investors who understood the havoc inflation was wreaking on our savings and the US markets. As the financial crisis took hold, a flood of new and inexperienced buyers entered the market, creating an opportunity for unscrupulous metals dealers to swindle their way to massive profits. This is what drove me to launch my very own gold dealer, Euro Pacific Precious Metals, to provide a safe alternative for those who were taking my advice to diversify into sound money. In our first year of business, I released Classic Gold Scams and How to Avoid Getting Ripped Off, a free report that has saved countless investors from losing their shirts.

Fast forward several years and the markets look like a film on repeat. We are once again building toward a massive financial crisis – one that will make 2008 seem like the good old days. Unfortunately, the majority of investors are once again playing the US markets and shunning gold. I encourage my readers to consider diversifying into precious metals now, while the market is still distracted. To this end, and in preparation for the inevitable mad rush when conventional investors again flock to safety, I have updated and re-released my Classic Gold Scams report to help newcomers learn how to buy gold and silver the right way.

The Bait-and-Switch

The majority of precious metals scams revolve around a core tactic: the bait-and-switch.

First, the company lures you in with the promise of a good deal on a product you're genuinely interested in buying. Once they have you on the line, a fast-talking broker will try to convince you that a different product is a better match for your needs. This new product into which they've "switched" you is almost always a rip-off.

In the precious metals world, this usually involves an over-priced numismatic or "collectible" coin. The salesman will explain that the unique qualities of this coin make it even more valuable than its metal content. "Why just buy gold, when you could buy a piece of history?" Or so the argument goes.

The entire bait-and-switch technique is designed to confuse you. The dealer preys on your insecurities by making you feel like you don't have enough knowledge to make a choice for yourself.

Keep Gold Simple

Let me share a secret that these scammers don't want you to know: gold is gold is gold.

The majority of savvy investors like you and I are buying gold and silver as a hedge against inflation and the collapse of the US dollar. It doesn't matter what form our gold takes, as long as it is pure, easily recognized, and authentic.

Sure, there may be rare, historic coins for which well-educated collectors will pay good money. But you need a firm understanding of these coins' unique traits to correctly assess their value. Without this understanding, it is virtually impossible to select the proper coins to add to your collection or get a fair price when it is time to sell. For most of us, such coins are way beyond our expertise and carry far too much risk.

All we need to protect our wealth is pure gold bullion. Fortunately, the market for bullion is very simple and easy to understand. A complete list of common gold products is included in the Classic Gold Scams report.

That's the only secret to beating the bait-and-switch scammers: know exactly which product you're interested in buying ahead of time – and stick to your guns.

The Price Protection Racket

When gold started falling from its highs in 2011, an old-time scam re-emerged: the price protection racket. This tactic is extremely popular with some of the largest gold dealers out there.

In this scam, the dealer guarantees that if the price of gold falls within a certain timeframe, the investor can buy at the lower price. Usually the price protection lasts for about a week after placing your order.

On the surface, price protection sounds great. Who wouldn't want to be able to avoid short-term market fluctuations when buying precious metals?

Of course, there's a catch. These price protection programs rarely apply to the common bullion coins that carry the lowest premiums. Invariably, these schemes are only applied to overpriced numismatics or collectors' edition coins. That's the only way dealers can afford to offer such a sweet deal. The margins are already huge on collectors' coins, so allowing buyers to adjust their purchase price has a negligible effect on the dealer's bottom line.

What's more, the price protection program often includes an additional fee on top of the purchase price. This builds in an additional cushion to make sure the dealer always comes out ahead.

At the end of the day, price protection is just a scare tactic aimed at investors too concerned with short-term volatility. This fear actually reveals that they're buying gold for all the wrong reasons.

Buy Gold for Gold

The right reason for most investors to buy gold is as a long-term hedge against inflation and financial instability.

Gold is humanity's oldest form of money and wealth preservation. A hundred years ago, a gold coin could buy you a custom tailored suit. The same is true today. The purchasing power of gold remains relatively constant over the long-term.

On the other hand, fiat money has historically always failed. The US dollar has not been backed by gold since 1971, which means it has lasted more than four decades as a purely fiat currency. The history of great empires suggests that its time is almost up.

Each of the Federal Reserve's announcements of another program of money-printing brings that crash – which I have termed the "Real Crash" – closer to fruition.

Remember, if the US economy were really recovering, the Fed's manipulative policies would not be necessary. Also, gold wouldn't be seeing the dramatic recovery it has thus far enjoyed in 2014. It's up 13% since its December lows!

There's Still Time

If you missed out on the great gold rush of the '00s, don't let the next opportunity pass you by. I believe gold's bull market has a long way to run, and now is a great time to establish holdings or add to existing holdings.

But be aware that for most investors, the physical gold market is completely new and foreign. That has created an environment in which unscrupulous dealers are thriving. Before you buy, read my recently updated Classic Gold Scams report to learn how to tell a deal from a swindle. There is no need to learn these lessons the hard way, or to let fear of the unknown keep you from safeguarding your family's savings for future generations.

Peter Schiff is Chairman of Euro Pacific Precious Metals, a gold and silver dealer selling reputable, well-known bullion coins and bars at competitive prices.

Click here for a free subscription to Peter Schiff's Gold Letter, a monthly newsletter featuring the latest gold and silver market analysis from Peter Schiff, Casey Research, and other leading experts.

And now, investors can stay up-to-the-minute on precious metals news and Peter's latest thoughts by visiting Peter Schiff's Official Gold Blog.

www.europacmetals.com.

PDAC 2014: Sweden named top mining jurisdiction, while Kyrgyzstan called worst

Sweden has unseated Finland as the best place in the world for mining investment, while former darling Quebec has plummeted right out of the top 20.

That is according to the Fraser Institute’s annual Survey of Mining Companies, which was released Monday during the PDAC conference. The Nordic countries Sweden and Finland finished first and second, largely because they are judged to have very strong political stability and infrastructure. That more than offsets their higher-than-average taxes on mining. Finland finished first last year, while Sweden was second.

Canadian provinces had mixed results in the survey. Alberta (third), New Brunswick (seventh) and Newfoundland and Labrador (ninth) all scored highly.  But the results were much worse for Quebec (21st), Ontario (28th), and British Columbia (32nd).

Quebec and Ontario were both in the top 20 last year, and Quebec in particular has experienced a stunning fall in the ranks. The province finished in first place every year from 2007 to 2010, and fell to 11th last year.

Until Quebec passed its new mining act in December, there had been persistent uncertainty for miners in the province on regulation. They have also faced tax hikes. 

Marine mining: Underwater gold rush sparks fears of ocean catastrophe

This is the last frontier: the ocean floor, 4,000 metres beneath the waters of the central Pacific, where mining companies are now exploring for the rich deposits of ores needed to keep industry humming and smartphones switched on.

The prospectof a race to the bottom of the ocean – a 21st-century high seas version of the Klondike gold rush – has alarmed scientists. The oceans, which make up 45% of the world's surface, are already degraded by overfishing, industrial waste, plastic debris and climate change, which is altering their chemistry. Now comes a new extractive industry – and scientists say governments are not prepared.

"It's like a land grab," said Sylvia Earle, an oceanographer and explorer-in-residence for National Geographic. "It's a handful of individuals who are giving away or letting disproportionate special interests have access to large parts of the planet that just happen to be under water."

The vast expanses of the central Pacific seabed being opened up for mining are still largely an unknown, she said. "What are we sacrificing by looking at the deep sea with dollar signs on the few tangible materials that we know are there? We haven't begun to truly explore the ocean before we have started aiming to exploit it."

But the warnings may arrive too late. The price of metals is rising. The ore content of the nodules of copper, manganese, cobalt and rare earths strewn across the ocean floor promise to be 10 times greater than the richest seams on land, making the cost of their retrieval from the extreme depths more attractive to companies.

Mining the ocean floor of the central Pacific on a commercial scale is five years away, but the beginnings of an underwater gold rush are under way The number of companies seeking to mine beneath international waters has tripled in the last three or four years. "We have already got a gold rush, in a way," said Michael Lodge, deputy secretary general of the International Seabed Authority, which regulates the use of the sea floor in international waters. "The amount of activity has expanded exponentially."

The Jamaica-based agency has granted 26 permits to date to explore an area the size of Mexico beneath the central Pacific that had been set aside for seabed mining – all but eight within the last three or four years.

Britain is leading the way in a project led by Lockheed Martin, but Russia, China, Japan, and South Korea all have projects in play. This year alone, companies from Brazil, Germany and the Cook Islands have obtained permits to explore tracts of up to 75,000 sq km on the ocean floor for copper, cobalt, nickel and manganese, and the rare earth metals that help power smartphones, tablets and other devices.

Other areas of the Pacific – outside international waters – are also opening up for mining. Papua New Guinea has granted permission to a Canadian firm, Nautilus Minerals, to explore a site 30km off its coast for copper, zinc and gold deposit worth potentially hundreds of millions of dollars.

Lodge expects the pace to continue, with rising demand for metals for emerging economies, and for technologies such as hybrid cars and smart phones. Extracting the metals will not require drilling. The ore deposits are in nodules strewn across the rolling plains of sediment that carpet the ocean floor. Oceanographers say they resemble knobbly black potatoes, ranging in size from a couple of centimetres to 30cm. Mining companies say it may be possible to scoop them up with giant tongs and then siphon them up to vessels waiting on the surface.

The problem is much remains unknown – not just about what exists on the ocean floor but how ocean systems operate to keep the planet habitable. The ocean floor was once thought to be a marine desert, but oceanographers say the sediment is rich in marine life, with thousands of species of invertebrates at a single site.

"It's tampering with ecosystems we hardly understand that are really at the frontier of our knowledge base," said Greg Stone, vice-president for Conservation International. "We are starting mining extracting operations in a place where we don't fully understand how it works yet. So that is our concern – disturbing the deep sea habitat."

Most of the models rely on being able to produce 1 million tonnes of ore a year. Stone said the seabed authority was putting systems in place to protect the ocean floor, but other scientists said there still remained enormous risks to the sediment and the creatures that live there.

"It is going to damage vast areas of the sea floor," said Craig Smith, an oceanographer at the University of Hawaii who served as an adviser to the International Seabed Authority. "I just don't see any way [in] mining one of these claims that whole areas won't be heavily damaged."

Earle expressed fears about how mining companies will deal with waste in the high seas. "Mining is possible," she said. "But the 20,000ft question is what do you do with the tailings? All of the proposals involved dumping the tailings at sea with profound impacts on the water column and the sea floor below. The Seabed Authority initially proposed to set aside 1.6m sq km of the ocean floor as protected areas, or about 20% of its territory. But those reserves are under review. As economic pressures rise, there are fears that commercial operations would begin to erode those protected areas.

"I think it is certain that within a year or two there will be more claims covering these areas and there won't be enough room left to develop these scientifically defensible protected areas," Smith said.

Some have argued that with all the unknowns there should be no mining at all – and that the high seas should remain out of bounds for mineral extraction and for shipping.

José María Figueres, a former president of Costa Rica and co-chair with the former British foreign secretary, David Miliband, of the Global Ocean Commission, an independent entity charged with developing ideas for ocean reform, suggested leaving all of the high seas as a no-go area for commercial exploitation (apart from shipping).

"Do we know enough about the seabed to go ahead and mine it?" said Figueres. "Do we understand enough about the interconnection between the seabed, the column of water, the 50% of the oxygen that the ocean produces for the world, the 25% of the carbon that it fixes in order to go in and disrupt the seabed in way that we would if we went in and started mining? I don't think so, not until we have scientific backing to determine whether this is something good or bad for the planet."

World leaders are now mobilising to address concerns, not just about seabed mining, but about how to safeguard ocean systems which are increasingly recognised as critical to global food security and a healthy planet.

US secretary of state John Kerry, in a video address delivered to a high-level ocean summit hosted by the Economist and National Geographic last week, invited leaders to a two-day summit in Washington that will seek ways of protecting fishing stocks from overexploitation and protecting the ocean from industrial pollution, plastic debris and the ravages of climate change.

The stakes have never been higher, scientists said. The oceans are becoming increasingly important to global food security. Each year more than a million commercial fishing vessels extract more than 80m metric tonnes of fish and seafood from the ocean. Up to three billion people rely on the sea for a large share of their protein, especially in the developing world.

Those demands are only projected to grow. "If you look at where food security has to go between now and 2030 we have to start looking at the ocean. We have to start looking at the proteins coming from the sea," said Valerie Hickey, an environmental scientist at the World Bank.

That makes it all the more crucial to crack down on illegal and unregulated fishing, which is sabotaging efforts to build sustainable seafood industries. Two-thirds of the fish taken on the high seas are from stocks that are already dangerous depleted – far more so than in those parts of the ocean that lie within 200 miles of the shore and are under direct national control.

Estimates of the unreported and illegal catch on the high seas range between $10bn and $24bn a year, overwhelming government efforts to track or apprehend the illegal fishing boats. The illegal fishing also hurts responsible fishing crews.

Figueres and Miliband suggested fitting all the vessels operating on the high seas with transponders to track their movements. That would single out rogue fishing vessels, making it easier for authorities to apprehend the vessels and their catch. It's not a perfect solution. A diplomat who has negotiated international agreements to control illegal fishing said captains – already cagey about revealing their favourite fishing routes – would simply flip off the transponders.

United Nations officials were also sceptical of the idea of a high-seas police force. "It sounds a little bit like science fiction for me at this particular moment," said Irina Bokova, the director general of Unesco, which manages 46 marine sites. "What kind of police? Who is going to monitor? How is it founded? It's a very complicated issue."

But the debate was a sign of growing momentum in an international effort to protect the oceans – before it's too late.

When it comes to the ocean floor, that process is at the very early stages. But given the multiple disasters humans have made with the ocean so far, the stakes are high for getting it right.

"There is no doubt there are huge mineral resources to be extracted at some point in the future," Lodge said. "It's also true we don't know enough about the impact on biodiversity and the impact on marine life once the mining takes place."

As the ultimate custodian, said Michael Lodge, the International Seabed Authority had two responsibilities; making sure companies access that vast mineral wealth in an environmentally responsible way, and then sharing it out equitably. "We have a huge challenge to devise a fiscal regime so that humankind as a whole gets a fair share. That's an enormous challenge, he said. "If we end up giving it away to industry, then we have failed in our missions."

And the costs of such a failure are already becoming painfully evident in the greater ocean.

Austin Bitcoin mining company hits milestone

Cointerra Inc., the Austin-based tech startup that makes powerful computers designed to "mine" bitcoins, has sold its 1,000th TerraMiner since launching the product a month ago,  the company said in a news release. 

The TerraMiner units now accounts for more than six percent of Bitcoin mining computers worldwide.

The machines mine for bitcoins by processing other Bitcoin transactions (Bitcoin.org has a good, brief explainer on  what mining actually is). The TerraMiners IV unit that Cointerra produces will set you back about $5,500 in old-fashioned U.S. currency.

Austin has been making waves in the world of digital currency of late. The Austin Bitcoin community will host the  Texas Bitcoin Conference on March 5-6 at the Circuit of The Americas, and the city is also the site of one of the first Bitcoin ATMs in the U.S.

CoinTerra, which launched in August,  raised $1.3 million from investors in October

Goldgroup Mining gets explosives permit for Mexican operation

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Mexico-focused gold producer Goldgroup Mining on Thursday said that it had received an explosives permit from the Mexican military Secretary of National Defense, which was the final permit necessary for full-scale operations at the company's 100%-owned Cerro Prieto openpit, heap leach gold mine in Sonora, Mexico.

The explosives permit would allow Goldgroup, which started pouring gold from the project last month, to order and use explosives for mining purposes under military supervision.

The environmental impact statement and the authorization of change of land use for the project were previously granted.

"In commencing trial mining over the last three months we were restricted to bulldozer ripping. With the granting of the explosives permit, Goldgroup can now ramp up to full-scale mining at our mine,” Goldgroup's chairperson and CEO Keith Piggott said.

He added that the tertiary crusher had been commissioned which, because of a finer crush size, was expected to reduce the leach time for precious metals. “We now expect gold production to increase to a steady state as the heap leach pad builds,” he said.

The company stressed that it was not basing its production decision on a preliminary economic assessment demonstrating the potential viability of mineral resources, or a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability at Cerro Prieto, and as a result there is increased uncertainty and multiple technical and economic risks, which were associated with this production decision.

The Cerro Prieto project encompasses mineral concessions totalling about 7 000 ha and contains about 17.5 km of strike length of the mineralised structure hosting the current resource.

The company acquired the Cerro Prieto project last year through a $18-million deal in which it acquired TSX-V-listed Oroco Resource Corporation.

Coeur's Transition Continues, Even As Mining Industry Struggles -- CEO Krebs

(Kitco News) - Coeur Mining’s (NYSE: CDE, TSX: CDM) transition continues as the company settles into new headquarters and it comes at time with the mining industry struggles with low prices and cost-cutting to survive a low point in the commodities cycle.

The firm started its move to cut costs and refocus its resources about two years ago, ahead of the sharp downturn in metals prices that plagued miners last year. As such, the mining industry is grappling with sharp losses in precious metals prices and some higher costs, such as increased labor costs in some countries or new taxes put on miners.
That’s led to miners taking significant losses on their assets, with many having to write down the value of their reserves. Most miners saw weak fourth-quarter earnings, Coeur included, and it’s unlikely that miners’ fortunes will turn around immediately. The cost-cutting that some miners started to do late last year will probably continue into 2014, with all mining operations seeing some funding reductions.

In some respects, Coeur’s timing to revisit its business plan was fortunate, said Mitchell Krebs, president and chief executive officer of Coeur Mining.

“That was a little bit ahead of the curve for the whole industry, but it gave the whole effort a little bit of a tailwind because we were wrapped up in this larger industry-wide process of evolving and improving how we run these businesses in this industry. And that has helped because it has been a bit of a consistent theme at the company level and the industry, but in some ways, I don’t want people to look at us and say they’re just doing it because everyone else is doing it. We have been on this path for a while I’d like to think we’re further along than most and I think our actions prove that out,” he said.

Krebs sat down with Kitco News late last week in Coeur’s new Chicago offices, overlooking Lake Michigan. Although Chicago is a commodities town, home to the oldest commodities exchanges, Coeur is probably the only miner in the city. Pulling up its roots from its long-time base in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, shortening its name to Coeur Mining and moving to a new city was just part of the physical, economic and mental changes the firm sought as it works to change its identity.

Not surprisingly, the seismic change Coeur experienced “was fairly chaotic,” Krebs said, particularly last year as the firm sought to hire nearly an entirely new staff at headquarters, as only a small percentage of workers moved to Chicago from Idaho. Additionally, Coeur replaced one-third of its board of directors and the leadership at its mines. Most of the new hires were outside of mining, too.

New people mean new ways of thinking. “There has been an overwhelming fresh wave of perspective and faces, that, to a large extent, the legacy mentality that people brought with them from Idaho has sort of been wiped away,” Krebs said.

Aside from the change in personnel and scenery, Coeur made other changes, such as revising how it reports its cash costs. Starting in its fourth-quarter earnings statement, the firm moved to a silver-equivalent cash-cost reporting, rather than cash costs including by-products. Coeur sought to simplify for investors what are its cash costs, he said. Analysts who cover the company said on Coeur’s fourth-quarter conference call they appreciated the new method.

Since Coeur has one mine that produces 100% gold, another than produces 100% silver and two mines that have slightly more silver output than gold, it made sense to use one reporting method across the company, he said.

Cash costs including by-products is confusing for investors not familiar with the mining industry as it takes time to explain what it means, he said.

For instance, he said, the Palmarejo mine receives 60% of its revenue from silver and 40% from gold. Last year, on a by-product basis, Coeur’s costs there were $2.33 an ounce, but that doesn’t mean an investor can just subtract $2.33 from a $20 silver price and get what the firm’s cost was to produce an ounce of silver, he said.

“We have seen too often with investors that are trying to get comfortable with this industry, they look at you like you have two heads after you start going down that path (of trying to explain by-product costs). We’re trying to make it straightforward and make our numbers reconcile with what’s on (the) income statement. That’s why we’re using cost applicable to sales; that’s right off the income statement. (When an investor asks) how many ounces did you sell on a silver-equivalent basis, you can answer the question with one simple number,” he said, adding that the by-product methodology makes more sense for companies that have some revenue from base metals.

Coeur is also focusing on seeking more royalty deals in the $3 million to $30 million range, to build on its purchase of Global Royalty last year. Many miners don’t focus on royalty streams for revenue enhancement, but Krebs said it’s a good fit for the new Coeur.

“It improves our business because it adds higher-margin cash flow, less-volatile cash flow, very low-intensity cash flow. You do your work upfront, you monitor the investment. It’s a great business model. All you have to do is look at the trading model of the Silver Wheatons and the Franco Nevadas and the Royal Golds of the world to see the market loves that business model, too,” he said.

Mexican Tax Issue, Higher Reserves

Like many miners, the Mexican government’s decision to impose higher taxes on miners is hitting Coeur. Krebs said the new tax will cost the firm $3 million a year at its Palmarejo mine. Coeur is still proceeding with its La Preciosa project, but is being more deliberate in its planning on how to mitigate the new tax, such as looking how to lower its taxable earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, he said.

“Regardless, it raises that bar in after-tax returns in projects in Mexico. You combine that with lower prices, and it shrinks the list of new projects even faster,” he said.

Foreign investment in Colombian mining sector up 21 percent

Bogota, feb 21.- Foreign direct investment in colombia´s mining sector grew 21 percent in the first nine months of 2013 from the same period of 2012, President Juan Manuel Santos said.

"We're talking about more than $2.3 billion" in investment between January and September of last year, according to the president, who said the flow of FDI to the sector remained strong despite a drop in global metal prices in recent years.

"Our goal is to keep promoting a reliable climate for responsible and sustainable mining activity," Santos said Thursday at the inauguration of a mining conference in the Caribbean city of Cartagena.

The president also vowed to continue to combat illegal mining outfits, saying they harm the environment, do not pay taxes or royalties, provide no retirement benefits for their workers, and do not invest in the communities where they operate.

Last July, miners staged a nationwide strike to protest government measures to crack down on illegal mining operations.

NUM warns of looming illegal mining disaster

A major tragedy is looming in disused mines if government does not take decisive action to curb thriving illegal mining, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Saturday.

"We have been urging the ministers of police and mines to improve on their intelligence side," said NUM general secretary Frans Baleni in Johannesburg.

"These [illegal miners] are just troopers, the network is really big. There is going to be a big disaster one day, we will not be talking about the death of nine people."

He said government needed to be proactive and eliminate the top people in these networks.

"The illegal miners smoke and do all sorts of things like burning [processing] the gold underground."

Baleni said it was highly dangerous to have open flames underground because of the presence of methane.

Brazen operations
He said the syndicates have become brazen, well organised and armed.

"They now include a number of players from the region. It's a well-organised syndicate. People like geologists are recruited and they operate in a particular command structure, when one crosses them they give a death sentence.

"They are even threatening women working underground now. Sex underground is very expensive – about R3 000 for a session.

Police cannot go underground because their insurance does not cover them there," said Baleni.

He said some union leaders had received death threats for speaking against the illegal mining syndicates.

Baleni was briefing reporters following the conclusion of the union's national executive committee (NEC) meeting this week.

The NEC urged mining companies to set aside funds for the rehabilitation and closure of abandoned mine shafts.

Trapped miners
On Friday, Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu said more needed to be done to prevent illegal miners from reopening disused mines.

This followed the rescue operation to remove illegal miners from the abandoned Gold One mine shaft in Benoni, on the East Rand.

The miners were found when Ekurhuleni metro police on patrol heard screaming from the abandoned mine.

A rival group had thrown boulders down the open mine shaft, trapping them underground, according to paramedics at the time.

The mineral resources department, through the council of geoscience, sealed 130 holes and shafts, and mines operating in the area sealed 51.

Regarding the May 7 elections, Baleni said the NEC reaffirmed its support for the ANC. But he said the ANC should deploy ethical individuals.

Call for integrity
"We are appealing to the ANC to deploy leaders who are people of integrity.

"The ANC must not take support for granted, to an extent that it fails to provide service, he said.

"The ANC must respect South Africans who support it."

The NUM hit out at metalworkers' union Numsa for "attacking and making threats" against trade union federation Cosatu.

"They are suffering from what is called auto-immunity disorder," said Baleni.

He accused the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and its allies of working for the benefit of capital.

"A weakened Cosatu will only benefit capital. Numsa has never rolled out a programme of action against employers but now it has a programme to fight against Cosatu," said Baleni. – Sapa

New look Pan African puts out solid earnings

JOHANNESBURG (MINEWEB) - Pan African Recourses CEO, Ron Holding, called for “cool heads” in order for sustainability to prevail in SA’s mining sector which has been in a turbulent period over the last three years.

In an interview with Mineweb following the release of the company’s interim results for the year ended December 31 2013, Holding said he is confident the sector will rise above its current difficulties with labour relations.

Holding said Pan African had maintained a very good relationship with its employees and trade unions.

The company posted a solid set of interim results which saw headline earnings per share increase to 31 percent. Revenue was up from R70 million the previous year to R1.3 billion, the company said.

The company posted a 65.6% increase in taxed profit to R275.9m for the six months to the end of December, from R166.6m in the same period a year earlier.

Holding added that Pan African was well positioned to take advantage of acquisition opportunities that the current climate is creating after it acquired Evander Mining in Barbeton Mpumalanga province.

Pan African more than doubled its gold production to 100,172oz compared to 44,926oz last year.

Pan African has performed relatively well in a period where the Rand gold price was 8.5% lower than the comparable period in 2012, according to analysts.

According to the group, Evander Gold Mines is now fully assimilated and is performing as projected.

Nicholas Stein, an Equity Analyst at Coronation Fund Managers said PAN have performed very well relative to peers.

This can be seen by the extent to which its share price has comfortably outperformed its listed peers, he said.

“They have done a better job at growing low cost ounces and have some of the lowest cost mines in the country. They have also managed their labour relations very well, as evidenced by the fact that they have not had any material labour incidents to date,” he explained.

“Barberton production was steady with a reasonable cost performance. They did a great job landing the BTRP on time and on budget and it has started producing some very low cost ounces. Evander is facing challenging conditions as it moves into a lower grade section of the mine,” added Stein.

Jobs Report: Can mining recover?

For years, job seekers saw the mining industry as flush with promise. A skills shortage made for plentiful job opportunities, generous salaries and lots of chances to travel. “That’s actually what attracts them: money first and travel second, by a huge proportion,” says Scott Dunbar, the interim head of the University of British Columbia’s mining engineering department, citing frequent inter-program surveys. “The actual interest in the work involved seems not to play a big role,” he adds, laughing.

But in the last year, Canadian mining has gone from riches to, if not rags, then at least extreme restraint. In early December, Potash Corp. laid off 18 per cent of its workforce—more than 1,000 people—with about half of those cuts coming from its home province of Saskatchewan. Earlier in the year, Barrick Gold said it would lay off 30 per cent of its office staff. Other companies are joining in the cuts. At the same time, Statistics Canada data show the job market in resources has become far less favourable over the past two years. The agency’s unemployment-to-job-vacancies ratio for the mining and energy sector—a measure of the number of unemployed people for each available job—reached 3.5 in October, the most recent month for which data are available. That’s slightly higher than the average for all industrial sectors. By contrast, during the same month in 2011, the figure was 1.1, giving mining the tightest job market of any sector at the time. It all portends an increasingly difficult-to-crack marketplace for job seekers.

Greg Dobbelsteyn can speak first-hand of that difficulty. He found a job in mineral exploration right after graduating from McGill University in 2011, and says almost all his classmates found work immediately, too. But when he helped to staff his company’s booth at a major mining convention in March, he saw a stark difference. “The atmosphere was pretty grim,” he says. “Only a handful of companies were actively looking to hire, and many companies that looked healthy just a year earlier were looking desperate. I know a lot of my friends have struggled to find jobs over the past year, though most seem to have landed something eventually.”


The employment drought is due to a number of factors. According to a 2013 report by Ernst & Young, mining investment in Canada flatlined in 2012, with the industry’s eye turning firmly toward developing countries, where the political risks may be higher, but so, too, are potential rewards. Weaker commodity prices have also buffeted the industry. Talan Iscan, a professor of economics at Dalhousie University, says oil, potash, copper and other metals—Canada’s primary resource exports—have a huge exposure to fickle global markets, and commodities are subject to regular boom-or-bust cycles. “We seem to be going through another phase of declining commodity prices, and we’re not exactly sure how long it’s going to last,” he says.

But all is not lost. For his part, Dunbar says he’s seen “a bit of uncertainty” from his UBC students, but believes this is a short-term problem that will correct itself “in a few years, at most.” Mining insiders and analysts agree that the commodities market will eventually recover, making this but a blip in an ongoing narrative of continued and urgent demand for specialized tradespeople. “We might see some shortages,” says Byrne Luft, vice-president of operations at Manpower, a human resources consulting firm. “But rest assured, in the coming months, and certainly coming years, we’re going to see this wound of skill shortages get deeper.”

Most jobs are still occupied by Baby Boomers, but those workers are beginning to retire. Ryan Montpellier, the executive director of the Mining Industry Human Resources Council—which foresaw the commodities slump—says the industry will still need at least 145,000 workers over the next 10 years, just to replace outgoing workers. On top of that, roughly $140 billion worth of new projects is currently awaiting government approval, including developments in northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire mineral belt. “If even a small fraction of those new mines comes on board, it will mean a significant increase in the number of people. If you start overlaying employment growth on top of replacement, we’re going to go right back to the very challenging years in 2007 and 2008, when there was a significant skill shortage and when you had mining engineers graduating with six-figure salaries.”

Still, there are things that can be improved in the meantime. Schools and employers need more information to help them avoid a skill mismatch, experts say, so that graduates can leave school with the talents that are being sought. Industry strategists are looking to countries such as Australia for examples of how to manage the inevitable volatility of mining, because that country uses more temporary foreign workers. And newcomers need to be more willing to relocate, says Luft, suggesting there is still plenty of work available, though it’s in more remote locales.

So, Montpellier and Luft’s advice to recent mining graduates? Be agile, keep an open mind and dig in for the long haul. It will be worth it.

Shareholders shrug Yamana losses and revenue, production miss

Shareholders in Yamana Gold (TSE:YRI) (NYSE:AUY) on Wednesday shrugged off news out yesterday that the Toronto-based miner had swung to a fourth-quarter loss after booking a $672 million impairment charge.

Shares in Yamana Gold, the world's fifth largest dedicated gold company in terms of market capitalization, ended down 1.74% in Toronto on Wednesday, making it one of the better performers on a day when gold mining stocks were hammered across the board.

The $8.5 billion stock is up 23.5% year to date and enjoys a higher valuation than the likes of South Africa's Anglogold Ashanti which produces some 4.5 million ounces per annum range and Gold Fields and Australia's Newcrest Mining which produces in excess of 2 million ounces per year.

Yamana reported a net loss of $584 million, or $0.78 a share, compared with profit of $169 million, or $0.23 a share in the same period a year earlier due to the write-down of certain exploration and operating properties, notably its Ernesto/Pau-a-Pique mine, in Brazil.

Revenue at company which operates eight mines in Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Mexico, also disappointed with turnover coming in almost $60 million below expectations at $421 million which were already down significantly from the year-ago quarter on lower metal prices.

Yamana said the average realized price for gold fell 25% to $1 277/oz, for silver fell 34% to $20.63/oz and for copper fell 5% to $3.37/lb. All-in sustaining cash costs on a co-product basis for the full year were $947 per gold equivalent ounces and $814 per gold equivalent ounces on a by-product basis.

The company said output reached 1.2 million gold equivalent ounces for the full year, below its July forecast of between 1.32 million and 1.37 million gold equivalent ounces.

Yamana declared a first quarter 2014 dividend of 3.75 cents per share, representing an annualized dividend of 15 cents per share, down from the previous annual dividend of 26 cents per share.

South Africa illegal mining: Two bodies found in old Benoni mine

The bodies of two illegal miners have been discovered at a disused mine east of Johannesburg in South Africa.

The abandoned mine is in the same area where more than 20 illegal miners were recently rescued after being trapped underground for several days.

Those miners, who were reportedly trapped by a rival group of illegal miners, were arrested after they emerged from the shaft.

They are due to appear in court on charges related to illegal mining.

The land around the town of Benoni near Johannesburg is dotted with disused mine shafts, which attract men from around the region, including Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, with the promise of remaining gold deposits.

If another group finds you underground they make you work for them at gunpoint, like a slave. So we go underground armed”

The BBC's Nomsa Maseko in Benoni says the two miners who died are believed to have been killed following a rockfall several days ago.

They were discovered by other illegal miners who went underground to search for them after they were missing for about a week, she says.

The illegal miners say the police refused to help bring up the bodies, saying it was too dangerous.

So they brought up one to the surface themselves on Tuesday morning, but the other body - believed to be of a Zimbabwean man - remains underground.

The group of trapped illegal miners was discovered on Sunday morning when police heard cries for help while patrolling the area.

They removed the boulders which had been put over the mine shaft.

A total of 25 men have since been rescued and arrested, David Tshabalala, from the emergency medical care service ER24, said on Tuesday.

It is not clear if more illegal miners, known as "zama zamas" meaning hustlers, are still underground at the site.

Paramedics initially said 200 illegal miners remained trapped but the latest figures put the numbers at much lower, at just over 10.

Notices warning miners that they face arrest and that the mine will be sealed in two weeks' time have been thrown down the shaft.

Our correspondent says there is fierce rivalry underground between the illegal miners, who often work with their fellow countrymen in groups.

"If another group finds you underground they make you work for them at gunpoint, like a slave. So we go underground armed," one illegal miner told the BBC.

Some of the men who resurfaced on Sunday and Monday were leaving their gold underground because they knew they would face a harsher jail term if found in possession of illegally mined gold.

Mining is a vital part of the South African economy and the country is the fourth-biggest gold exporter.

According to South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources, a 2008 study of the gold sector found that an estimated $509m (£309m) in revenue was lost a year as a result of illegal mining.

South Africa has some of the world's deepest gold mines and safety is a major issue.

Mining job cuts push Australian unemployment rate to 10-year high

For the first time in a decade, Australia's unemployment rate has hit 6%.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' latest seasonally adjusted figures, employment fell by 3,700 to 11.46 million in January, adding to December losses.

The mining sector is partly to blame for the labour market's weakness. Over the past year Australia's mining boom has died down, resulting in thousands of job losses.

Major miners including BHP Billiton, Peabody Energy, and Glencore Xstarta have all slashed their workforces.

Looking at the January 2014 labour data shows that some of Australia's biggest mining jurisdictions were hit especially hard, as the Wall Street Journal pointed out.

In Queensland – where just last week 230 coal miners lost their jobs – the unemployment rate rose from 5.9% in December to 6.1% the next month.

Meanwhile, Western Australia's unemployment rate jumped from 4.6% to 5.1% in January. Western Australia produces more than 90% of the country's iron ore, making it one of the world's biggest iron ore exporters.

In New South Wales, where mining is less significant, the jobless rate was unchanged. In South Australia it actually fell by 0.5%.

But in Victoria where car manufacturers recently announced major job cuts, the jobless rate rose by 0.2% to 6.4%.

Tasmania still has the country's highest unemployment rate of 7.6%.

Rescued miners in South Africa face illegal mining charges

Eleven miners who were trapped by debris in an abandoned mine shaft and later rescued face charges of illegal mining, said South African police.

The South African Press Association reported Monday that the miners are in police custody after their rescue a day earlier.

Emergency workers say other miners who were working illegally at the site near Johannesburg refused to come out of the shaft because they feared arrest. Local media say the trapped miners were discovered after police patrolling in the area heard shouting beneath a mine entrance that had been blocked by a large boulder.

Penalties for illegal mining include fines and prison time in some cases. Illegal mining is common in South Africa, a major producer of gold and platinum.

Mining services catch a break

The mining-services sector could finally be catching a break with WDS (WDS) and Imdex (IMD) topping the leader board this morning after posting pleasing results.

WDS wowed the market by upgrading its full-year net profit guidance to between $12 million to $14 million, from $10 million to $12 million, following a review of its first-half performance, which saw better than expected margin growth in the energy division.

Consensus forecast was only tipping a net profit of $11.2 million for the year ending June 30, 2014, and the stock jumped 6.1 per cent to 95.5 cents in late morning trade. That is just half a cent shy of its four-year high that was hit this week. The upgrade is likely to prompt analysts to lift their earnings forecast by around 16 per cent and that would put the stock on a 2013-14 price-earnings multiple of 11 times.

On the flipside, WDS’ mining division is still facing challenging times as clients in the coal sector continue to focus on cost cutting due to the weak outlook for the commodity. But as Tim Treadgold wrote on Friday, sentiment towards the local coal industry could soon be turning. We highlighted WDS as one of the better placed mining services small caps in August last year and the stock has surged over 60 per cent since. The company will release its half-year result on February 26.

Meanwhile, drilling products and services group Imdex has also fired up investors with a better-than-expected result. The stock raced up 9.1 per cent to 60 cents even as the group’s statutory revenue tumbled 28 per cent to $92.2 million for the six months to end December. But net profit slipped a relatively minor 8 per cent to 15.3 cents due to the profit booked on the sale of part of its stake in Sino Gas & Energy Holdings (SHE).

If you reversed out the sale of the shares, net profit would have turned into a $4 million to $5 million loss. This makes it harder to compare the result to market expectations but investors, nonetheless, are encouraged to see first-half sales come in ahead of consensus estimates of $89.8 million. The stock is also looking reasonably valued in light of the uncertain outlook for the sector as it on a current year P/E of around seven times. Management didn’t give any guidance for 2013-14, but said it is looking to increase its exposure to the robust oil & gas sector as the minerals industry continues to struggle.

It’s still too early in the reporting season, but we might just be seeing the start of a re-rating for the embattled mining services sector.

‘Mining kickback’ bar to doctors

A COMPANY owned by the mining union and the NSW Minerals Council has been accused of paying financial “kickbacks” that disadvantage independent doctors wanting to perform compulsory medical examinations on coal workers in the Hunter Valley.

While a two-year state government investigation into complaints about the practice appears to have gone nowhere, occupational physician Maurice Harden said the payment of $220 rebates by Coal Services Health was preventing the delivery of independent medical services on an issue of great community concern.

“When there is so much concern in the Hunter Valley community about the impact of dust, noise vibration and other issues in the coal industry, this practice is stopping us from being able to properly investigate,” Dr Harden said. “It is stopping free access for the medical profession to be able to explore these things.”

A spokesman for Coal Services said a “rebate” was paid to one company to offset money already paid for medical services as part of compulsory workers’ compensation premiums.

He said there were a number of competitive health-service providers in the Hunter Valley.

Coal Services was established in 2001 to replace the Joint Coal Board and is owned equally by the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union and the NSW Minerals Council, which represents mining companies.

In February 2011, Coal Services developed “Order 41”, requiring “employers of a coalmine worker or operators of a coal operation in NSW to ensure that pre-placement and periodic health surveillance medical assessment are completed for their workforce”.

Dr Harden wrote to former NSW resources and energy minister Chris Hartcher in March 2012 to complain about the payment of “rebates” by Coal Services, saying they had disadvantaged his tender to perform periodic medical examinations.

In the letter, Dr Harden said the company had told him that his bid had been “competitive in every aspect other than our inability to provide a rebate for each medical examination conducted”.

“When I inquired further about this ‘rebate’, I was told by the mining company that Coal Services provides the company with a rebate of $220 for every medical that they conduct,” Dr Harden said.

“So in essence, while we charge similar rates to conduct the service, Coal Services has the added advantage of being able to offer a kickback to the company for each examination that they perform.”

Mr Hartcher responded in June 2012 that the matter had been referred to NSW Trade and Investment division of the Department of Minerals and Energy to “examine the significance of any such practice and the potential influence it may have on the market as an approved company under the Coal Industry Act”.

“You will be advised of the outcome of this investigation when it is finished,” the letter said.

Gold Mining Shares May Be Attractive Once More: At Least More Than Gold Itself

Gold mining equities have become attractive to investors once more, after spending years out of fashion as respectable investments, given corporate governance problems and ballooning capital budgets.

Given a volatile financial environment, it makes sense to look at assets that were “absolutely punished and massively sold” in the past, said J2Z Advisory principal Jay Pelosky, who advises clients on more than $3 billion in assets, to IBTimes. “Gold miners fit that bill very well.”

The broad strategy is simple. Gold mining equities have been punished for several months, with steep share depreciation worse than gold’s historic 28 percent prince plunge in 2013. High capital expenditures in boom years, where gold prices rose for 12 straight years, meant miners offered little to shareholders in returns. Shareholders have returned the favor lately.

The NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index, which tracks gold miners’ shares, has fallen more than 60 percent in the past three years, compared to gains of more than 30 percent for the S&P 500. Companies on the index include Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX), the world’s largest gold miner, and other top producers like Goldcorp Inc. (TSE:G) and Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE:NEM).

Now such stocks may have bottomed. In other words, they’re so heavily discounted that they look like an irresistible bargain. To boot, the industry as a whole may be reaching a turning point.    

There’s now an opportunity for gold miners to demonstrate their independent worth as companies, rather than pure investment plays on gold prices, Pelosky told IBTimes. Significant executive shuffles and moves to reduce all-in sustaining costs are encouraging industry reforms on this front.

“Significant corporate action, hostile bids in Canada, the discussions of mergers in Australia: All of these suggest upside for the miners, with limited downside,” he said.

Pelosky owns shares in GDX, an exchange-traded fund based on the gold miners’ index, and also owns gold through SPDR’s GLD fund.

Gold miners’ stocks are trading at their lowest level since 2008, said ETF Securities in a note on Feb. 5.

“We believe they have reached a point where upside potential now far outweighs downside risks, making this a good entry point for investors with medium-term time horizons,” the report read.

ETF Securities estimated that gold miners’ costs, which can cut close to gold’s selling price and squeeze profits, fell 15 percent in the third quarter of 2013, over the previous quarter. Gold mining companies may be seriously reining in costs, a longtime talking point that takes time to show results.

The worst of costly one-time charges, which hit the industry as projects were delayed and gold prices worsened in 2013, may also be over, said ETF Securities.

Pelosky and ETF Securities aren’t the first to make the call, which has seen interest among precious metals investors.

CPM Group said in an early-December report that gold equities would likely rise in prices faster than gold itself in 2014. ETF Securities also said gold miners would likely outperform gold. Many analysts see sluggish gold prices in 2014, with few analysts projecting prices above $1,300 per ounce.

ETF Securities estimated that gold miners’ shares now trade at a 4 percent discount to a company’s total assets minus liabilities. Companies with shares below “book value” are theoretically acquisition targets, since the sum of net assets is more valuable than shares suggest: This indicates that stocks are importantly discounted.

The world’s largest gold miner, Barrick Gold, reports earnings on Feb. 14. Other gold mining companies, like Newmont and AngloGold Ashanti (JSE:ANG), also report in February.

Barrick’s switch from longtime company founder Peter Munk, now 86, to leadership by former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) executive John Thornton, may signal a broader shift in the mining industry, as mining execs start to run their companies better.

UA mining students give tours during Gem Show

University of Arizona students gave tours of a working mine in honor of the Gem Show, in an attempt to give folks a different perspective.

The University if now looking to tap into that huge crowd, trying to educate to folks on the school's mining program. Students gave tours of the San Xavier Mine Laboratory.

Nicholas Carouso comes from a family of miners. He said that most people who take the tour are surprised by how different it is.

"A lot of people have gone on the Bisbee tour and stuff like that but this is a lot more old school and really hands on navigating through the ladders, walking around the track," Carouso told News 4 Tucson.

The mine is primarily used for training and teaching purposes, however, there is a lot of research conducted as well.

"The mine has probably at least a mile of walkable space that we work on and it's three levels. We have a surface level that just goes through the hill. We have 100 foot level and 150 foot level," Carouso said.

Bob Donald heard about the tours through the Gem Show.

"It's really very interesting and very educational," Donald said. "I'd say if you ever wondered what happens in a mine this is a perfect opportunity to look and get into an underground mine... It's easy to take the open pit mines but it's a lot harder to take a tour of the underground mine."

For Carouso, the number one take-away is a lesson in safety.

"Mining is a dangerous profession but safety is always number one. We want to train students and have them comfortable when they actually go to working mines and be able to function efficiently but safely at the same time," Carouso said.

Future tours can be arranged by contacting the University's Mining Department.

5 Killed in Colombia mining accident

At least five people were killed and seven others badly injured Friday in an accident at a gold mine in southwestern Colombia, the Nariño provincial government said.

The accident occurred before noon at the La Profundidad site, which lies in a remote patch of jungle that can only be reached by boat or aircraft.

Initial reports spoke of 10 dead and dozens hurt and missing.

Colombia's air force transported the injured to hospitals in Pasto, the provincial capital.

The cause of the accident remains unknown. EFE