SA’s GoldStone says pursuing number of exploration projects

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Minerals exploration company GoldStone Resources was pursuing a number of projects, in various stages of development, in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania, in addition to its potential mining prospects in West Africa and India, it said on Monday.

Reporting on its financial results for the year ended February 28, 2009, the Aim-listed company noted that it was planning to negotiate with one of its largest shareholders, GeoQuest, regarding the potential divestment of its interest in GoldStone.

GoldStone had, in June 2008, announced that it planned to acquire a 100% stake in the DR3-East Uranium project, in South Africa’s Western Cape province, from Hymrai Properties.

This was, however, subject to the exploration company getting approval from South Africa’s former Department of Minerals and Energy (DME), as well as a listing on the AltX.

The transaction was only approved by the DME in April this year, which made it necessary for GoldStone to make additional representations to the advisory committee of the JSE, it explained.

As there was no certainty that the AltX would grant the company the required approvals, it had decided not to pursue the listing, which meant that the acquisition agreement with Hymrai would lapse.

Any future acquisition by GoldStone of an interest in the project, or any other project in the Southern African Development Community, would require GeoQuest to divest its interest in the company or require GoldStone to list on the JSE, the company stated.

Meanwhile, the company reported that it had applied for eleven prospecting licences that formed part of its bauxite exploration project, in Guyana, in South America.

The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission had already approved the granting of eight of the prospecting licences, it added.

The company had also continued its exploration work on a number of potential gold prospects in Mali, Senegal and India.

It was expecting a prospecting permit for the Sangola licence, in Senegal, to be granted shortly, while a licence application was also under way in India.

China iron-ore prices fall to $95/t on demand drop

SHANGHAI – Benchmark iron-ore prices in China fell to $95/t on Monday, easing 17% from its nearly one-year peak of $115 in early August, as traders said many Chinese steel mills stopped buying ore for future delivery.

Indian ore of 63/63,5 percent iron content for future delivery was quoted at $95-98 a ton, including freight costs, while ores for immediate delivery were bid at about 780 yuan ($114) a ton, industry consultancy Mysteel said on Monday.

Many steel mills in the largest producing country had been purchasing only ores for immediate delivery for at least one week due to the rising uncertainties in the steel market, which has weakened since early August, iron-ore traders said.

“Everybody knows the Chinese market is a volatile market, so steel mills bought a lot when the steel market was booming and suspended purchasing as the market is fading,” a Shanghai-based steel trader said on Monday.

“We should not underestimate the momentum. India iron ore prices are likely to fall to $90 tomorrow as some sellers are impatient now,” said the trader, who works for a major private-sector iron ore trading firm.

Another trader predicted that iron ore prices in China would fall further, since many merchants had built up stockpiles when prices were hovering near $80/t.

Iron ore prices in Chinese domestic markets have been following steel prices closely for months, partly because Chinese steel mills are setting up the volumes of iron-ore purchases with their production schemes and cash positions, which are correlated with steel prices.

The surge of the iron ore prices in the Chinese market, which started in early July, was also triggered by the Chinese government’s detention of four Shanghai-based employees of Australian miner Rio Tinto on allegations of illegally obtaining commercial secrets and bribery.

China claimed a small victory after it reached a slightly cheaper iron ore price with Australian miner Fortescue this week, but talks with major iron-ore suppliers Rio, BHP Billiton and Vale are still deadlocked.

The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), the industry group and the de facto negotiator represents Chinese steel mills in the price talks, have said excess imports was a hindrance in talks. However, a report by the China Business Journal said on Saturday that some industry experts and steel mill officials had urged the central government to replace some CISA’s executives who are leading the iron ore negotiations.

They criticised CISA for its “foolhardiness” and lack of wisdom in the negotiations, and for missing several chances to settle the price due to its insistence on a 40% price cut, according to the Chinese-language newspaper.

GOP’s Jindal calls Obama’s plan irresponsible

WASHINGTON – Republican leaders are calling President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy irresponsible and wrongheaded, saying it will increase taxes and government debt.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who may challenge Obama in 2012, said Tuesday that the Obama-backed stimulus package will “grow the government, increase our taxes down the line, and saddle future generations with debt.”

Although he said Republicans are willing to work with Obama and congressional Democrats, his remarks continued the generally harsh GOP reactions to Obama’s bid to boost the economy with billions of dollars in spending. The Republican Party chose Jindal to give its official response to the president’s speech to Congress on Tuesday night.

In excerpts released early, Jindal suggested that Obama would raise taxes, although the Democratic-backed stimulus bill includes hefty tax cuts.

“The way to lead is not to raise taxes and put more money and power in hands of Washington politicians,” Jindal said. The plan will “grow the government, increase our taxes down the line, and saddle future generations with debt.”

“It’s irresponsible,” Jindal said.

Taking advantage of his moment in the national spotlight, Jindal publicized a Web link Tuesday allowing respondents to receive early excerpts of his planned response, and to donate to his political organization. Jindal also collected their e-mail and postal addresses, which could prove handy in a presidential race.

Other Republicans also criticized Obama and congressional Democrats’ response to the economic crisis.

In light of the $787 billion stimulus bill and Congress’s plans to vote on a large budget bill this week, struggling families and small businesses wonder if Obama’s calls for fiscal responsibility is “all talk and no action,” said House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio.

Global warming danger threat increased

WASHINGTON – The Earth won’t have to warm up as much as had been thought to cause serious consequences of global warming, including more extreme weather and increasing threats to plants and animals, says an international team of climate experts.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated that the risk of increased severe weather would rise with a global average temperature increase of between 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit and 3.6 degrees above 1990 levels. The National Climatic Data Center currently reports that global temperatures have risen 0.22 degree since 1990.

Now, researchers report that “increases in drought, heat waves and floods are projected in many regions and would have adverse impacts, including increased water stress, wildfire frequency and flood risks starting at less than (1.8 degrees) of additional warming above 1990 levels.”

Indeed, “it is now more likely than not that human activity has contributed to observed increases in heat waves, intense precipitation events, and the intensity of tropical cyclones,” concluded the researchers led by Joel B. Smith of Stratus Consulting Inc., in Boulder, Colo.

Other researchers, they noted, have suggested that “the likelihood of the 2003 heat wave in Europe, which led to the death of tens of thousands of people, was substantially increased by increased greenhouse gas concentrations.”

The new report, in this week’s online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, comes just a week after Christopher Field of the Carnegie Institution for Science told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that humans are now adding carbon to the atmosphere even faster than in the 1990s.

Carbon dioxide and other gases added to the air by industrial and other activities have been blamed for rising temperatures, increasing worries about possible major changes in weather and climate. Carbon emissions have been growing at 3.5 percent per year since 2000, up sharply from the 0.9 percent per year in the 1990s, Field said.

The new study found evidence of greater vulnerability to climate change for specific populations, such as the poor and elderly, in not only developing but also developed countries.

“For example, events such as Hurricane Katrina and the 2003 European heat wave have shown that the capacity to adapt to climate-related extreme events is lower than expected and, as a result, their consequences and associated vulnerabilities are higher than previously thought,” the scientists report.

Co-authors of the report include Stephen H. Schnieder of Stanford University, Michael Oppenheimer of Princeton University and researchers in India, Germany, Canada, Zimbabwe, Australia, Bangladesh, Cuba and Belgium.

Oil “Hot Spot” – Ghana Urged to Proceed With Caution

The government of Ghana has been urged to implement pragmatic measures and proceed with caution to ensure a transparent, accountable and efficient development of the oil and gas industry and the revenue it will generate for the social good of the citizenry.

A statement jointly issued by the Integrated Social Development Center and Oxfam America and Ghana, indicate that whiles Ghana’s oil discovery has generated enormous interest in the country’s oil production potential, a sad story is told of how the exploitation of natural resources in Africa has led to the increase in poverty and conflicts on the continent.

It said in too many countries oil booms have bred corruption, underdevelopment, social conflict and environmental damages. “Ghana’s challenge as an “oil hot spot” will be to ensure that the right institutions and transparent policies are in place before production even begins”.

The group said it was important that the government of Ghana enacts a moratorium on signing new licenses, so they can organize an open bidding and allow the country’s legal and institutional frame work to catch up on the pace of oil development, whiles it strives to ensure a transparent revenue payment practice. “Whiles these steps are not by themselves a simple recipe for overcoming the threats posed by the oil boom, it is difficult to see Ghana succeed without them.” the group reiterated.

The group recounted that last year Africa produced 12.5 percent of the world’s oil with great investment and exploration throughout the continent, but noted that this has yet to translate into tangible benefits for the continent’s poor.

It indicated further that as estimated, Ghana will be producing approximately 120,000 barrels of oil per day, along with significant quantities of gas.

The Jubilee field has 600 million barrels of proven reserves and 1.2 billion barrels of probable reserves and the International Monetary Fund has also predicted that government’s revenue from oil and gas could reach a cumulative $20 billion over a production period of 2012-2030 in the jubilee field alone.

The group further contended that although mining law reforms and changes to investment rules in the last 20 years has led to a significant boom in mining investment in the country, gold mining has ironically led to small government revenues, increased conflict between companies and local communities, the removal of families from their lands, and increased environmental degradation. The group thus urged that while some progress has been made in the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, government should be fully committed to extend this work to the petroleum sector.

Miner participates in Indaba for fifth consecutive year

South African gold and uranium metal asset company Simmer & Jack Mines (Simmers) will be participating in the Mining Indaba for the fifth consecutive year in 2009.

Simmers’ communications 
officer Gail Strauss says that the Mining Indaba provides the opportunity of networking with other industry players, as well as analysts, the media and 
investors. The Indaba also allows companies and mines to showcase their growth potential and to provide a yardstick in terms of their achievements over the past 12 months.

Strauss says that currently the resource industry is particularly 
vulnerable to a volatile share market. 
She adds that two of the greatest challenges facing developmental mining companies are access to capital for expansion projects and controlling costs.

Simmers foresees that access to capital for development and growth projects may be a challenge across the industry, as well as cost pressures, safety issues, and market sentiment cooling towards junior and midcapital miners in favour of exchange-traded funds.

 Strauss says that, in the future, mining industry challenges may include keeping costs under control, as well as meeting production targets. 
Retaining skilled individuals 
and ensuring liquidity during ramp-up and development phases 
are also challenges that may be faced.

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