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Welcome back to your weekly mining news recap, where we catch you up on some of the news you may have missed. This week’s headlines include Chile’s environmental court definitively closing Barrick Gold’s Pascua-Lama project, the U.S. withdrawing its tariff on Canadian aluminum imports and Yamana Gold partnering with Artemis Project to promote and advance female entrepreneurs in mining.

Two employees working at Glencore’s Kidd operations in Timmins have tested positive for COVID-19 and are self-isolating at home, as reported by Timmins Today. The two cases have been confirmed to be directly related, and according to the Porcupine Health Unit, meets the criteria for an outbreak. The mine remains in operation and the health unit says that Glencore leadership is taking all the necessary precautions to prevent the spread of the virus and that the unit is following up with employees who may have made contact with the infected individuals.

Junior and intermediate miners raised a total of $1.48 billion in financing in August, the highest level since March 2014, according to S&P Global. Gold miners specifically raised $659 million last month, and have raised $3.56 billion since January, a 30-per cent increase over the same period last year. According to BMO Capital Markets, increased financings reflect positive sentiments and improving outlooks in the mining industry, and often signal key inflection points in commodity super-cycles.

Teck Resources announced that its Chilean affiliates have entered into a long-term power purchase agreement to provide 100 per cent renewable power for its Carmen de Andacollo copper mine in Chile. Under the agreement, 72 megawatts of wind, solar and hydroelectric energy will replace fossil fuel sources that have powered the mine, eliminating around 200,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually. The agreement will run through the end of 2031 and follows the company’s announcement that more than 50 per cent of total operating power at its Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 project in Chile will come from renewable resources when operating.

Chile’s Environmental Protection Agency has ordered a total and definitive closure of Barrick Gold’s Pascua-Lama project and dismissed the company’s challenge to a 2018 ruling, as reported by Mining.com. The court upheld three of the five main charges against the project, including failing to properly monitor glaciers surrounding the project and negatively affecting the water quality of the nearby Estrecho river, and fined the company $12 million. The company announced that it accepted the ruling and that it would continue to pursue new opportunities in the region. “Barrick is a very different company since its merger with Randgold and we now have a strong focus on establishing good relations with the communities and authorities,” said Marcelo Álvarez, Barrick’s executive director for Chile and Argentina.

Natural Resources Canada has invested $1.6 million under its Clean Growth Program to develop a technology to analyze clay content in oil sands and mine tailings. The project partners the Saskatchewan Research Council, Suncor Energy and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, will use the funding to develop a technology to analyze clay content in mineral deposits in real time, allowing operators to improve their process control and tailings management practices. According to the partners, the technology would help operators optimize their fluid tailings treatment, save costs and reduce their use of chemicals and land for tailings deposits.

The U.S. has withdrawn its 10-per cent tariff on Canadian aluminum and set new monthly targets for the volume of aluminum imports from Canada without a tariff, as reported by CBC. The decision came right before the Canadian government was to announce retaliatory measures in response to the aluminum tariffs. The U.S. also stated that it will monitor export volumes six weeks after the end of every month, meaning the first review will come after the presidential election in November.

Mining accelerators and research hubs have seen an increased interest in their services and projects since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mining companies are showing an interest in innovation as they seek to stay competitive in the midst of a pandemic by reducing costs through creativity and problem-solving. Canadian organizations are working on dozens of projects for the mining industry, focused on challenges such as gold recovery from refractory ore and continuous mining. 

Yamana Gold has partnered with Artemis Project as its founding industry sponsor to promote and advance female entrepreneurs in mining. Entrepreneurs Heather Gamble and Laura Mottola founded Artemis Project, a collective of female entrepreneurs with highly specialized knowledge and products for the mining industry, as a way to support and advance business outcomes for women in the industry through continuous development and training. Under this sponsorship, Yamana Gold will continue to work and develop relationships with entrepreneurs in the Artemis Project network to diversify its supply chain and advance its innovation and sustainability.

Osisko Gold Royalties has announced that the Renard diamond mine in the James Bay territory of Quebec will restart operations this month. Operated by Stornoway Diamonds, the mine has been in care and maintenance since late March in part due to decreased demand for diamonds, according to the company. The restart plan includes cost reductions to operations of over $30 million over the next 16 months in order to reduce the all-in cost of production, as well as up to $30 million in investment from Stornoway shareholders, including up to $7.5 million from Osisko Gold Royalties.

Administrators at Laurentian University and Northern College say that there is pressure to meet the increasing demand for workers or face a workforce shortage in the mining industry, as reported by CTV News. According to reports from the Far Northeast Training Board, about 40 per cent of mine workers are set to retire by 2030 and the mining industry in northeastern Ontario will require about 2,819 trained workers over the following decade. Mining school administrators often communicate with employers about industry trends in order to adjust their training of students in engineering, geology, sustainability and more.

In “Pulp Densities Within Operating Ball Mills,” E.W. Davis discusses what actually happens on the inside of a continuously-operating, wet-grinding ball mill. R.A. Arterburn breaks down the complex process of cyclone application for grinding circuits and mineral processing in “The Selection and Sizing of Hydrocyclones.” These are some of the publications on Robert E. McIvor’s must-read list for metallurgists, the majority of which can be accessed by CIM National members through CIM.org.

Construction has been completed on two new, 450-foot stacks which will replace Sudbury’s famous Superstack, as reported by CTV News. According to Vale, the two stacks will require much less energy to operate than the Superstack and will reduce the smelter’s greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent. Construction on the $450-million project began in 2014 to complement the Clean Atmospheric Emissions Reduction project. Vale states that the removal of the steel lining within the Superstack will begin soon and take until 2023.

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