SMR June 2019

2019 JUNE ADVERTORIAL ISSUE

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Vol:108.No:06

1912-2

019

ADD CLEVELAND CLIFFS TO YOUR WISHLIST

P 04

GLOBAL IRON ORE PRICE TO RISE P 18

INSIDE STATISTICS

...From the Editorial Desk

W

JUNE 2019 VOL.108. NO.06

ild tariffs have been thus far levied by

China

on the ore

arriving for processing. of the only

California. Mountain

This tariff has squeezed the lines US mine's Rare Earth owners in Mountain Pass, Pass ships its own ore to China for processing

because there aren't any similar

processing plants in the US. Such a plant is years away from becoming a reality, although an Australian rare-earth minerals company announced last week that it would join a US chemical company to construct a rare-earths processing plant in Texas.

REEACT would spend $23 million each year between 2020 and 2027 to "conduct R&D on the separation of rare-earth elements from coal and coal byproducts." They hope the plant will have the ability to extract certain minerals from sludge created throughout acid drainage. Commentaries warning the United States that escalating trade tensions would result in China cutting off its rare-earth-minerals trade were run by chinese newspapers.

A group of US senators in April reintroduced the Rare Earth Element Advanced Coal Technologies Act (REEACT) to attempt to glean some of these rare-earth minerals from coal-mining sludge. A previous version of this bill died in the Senate in 2018.

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IN THIS ISSUE

ADD CLEVELAND CLIFFS TO YOUR WISHLIST P 04

P 18

P 19

IRON RANGE AGENCY HIRING COMPLAINT PROMPT WALZ TO CHANGE POLICY

GLOBAL IRONORE PRICE TO RISE

COAL

Rio Tinto expects the iron-ore market to

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accepts

stay balanced through 2019......................................17

Andy Barr's invite to 'go underground',

IRON RANGE REGION

meet coal miners.......................................................16

IRR will take time on Radinovich's

COMMENTARY

Replacement................................................................5

The demand for steam coal just isn’t there..............02

Iron Range agency hiring complaint

COPPER

prompt Walz to change policy...................................19

Copper mining dangers: Bold

MINING LAW

leadership is needed from Walz................................18

Minnesota group ramps up

COVERSTORY

court challenge to Trump rulings on

Add Cleveland Cliffs to your Wishlist..........................4

Twin Metals mining leases..........................................6

IRON ORE

A Chilean mining company lays claim to Minnesota’s water.......................................15 Global Iron Ore price to rise.......................................18

Statistics.............................................................. 22/23

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Cleveland - Cliffs to pay $500,000 for Air pollution on Minnesota's Iron Range...................14 Cleveland-Cliffs' lawsuit against Minnesota DNR dropped...........................................20

Mining People............................................................ 21

June 2019 SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW | 3

COVERSTORY

Add Cleveland Cliffs to your Wishlist The industry's capability to send it is seasonal, while consumption of ore pellets isn't. This medium is very right of Cleveland Cliffs, which is based on access to causeways and locks that facilitate deliveries to its clients in the lower Great Lakes. A cold and protracted winter season this year closed down transport in that region for longer than it could generally have been halted.

C

leveland

C liff ' s

inventory

recovered, It's held onto that rebound in the meantime.

detect proof that the iron ore pellet business is indeed on the defensive.

The

stock's still not over key lines in the sand , to be clear , and is far from kick-starting a brand new, full-blown uptrend.

Despite having an assumed lack of global economic advantage, industry insiders have been hard-pressed to

4 | SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW June 2019

AK Steel confirmed the stagnation of hot coiled steel costs using its report that was recently annulled but dialed back its profit perspective that HRC costs will remain suppressed till the year's closed. Bolstering the bullish situation is a forward-looking priceto-earnings ratio of 7.1 - a valuation

that indicates investors have priced in a worst-case scenario, and then a few.

A tariff battle is partly to blame for your pessimism.

Though, there's room and reason for gains if these tariffs remain in place in perpetuity. The trick is just getting dealers to provide the ideal nudge to Cleveland inventory. Breaking above the upper boundary of the channel that's been set since 2016 is the secret, even though there's space for a decent gain between here and there.

CFO Keith Koci explained during the first-quarter conference call: "During the past year's first quarter, because the AMM hot-rolled coil price climbed from $653 to $860 per short ton from the

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start to the end of the quarter."Cleveland Cliffs did not enjoy much of iron's price growth. While volume was down, revenue as well, falling nearly 13 percent from $180 million to $157 million.

kept CLF inventory on the cusp of a rally that has been brewing - but on hold - for weeks. Traders are eager to be the ones to stick their neck out, but there are plenty of dealers.

unfairly high. Cleveland Cliffs was also a victim of time. As you might expect with the partial lack of Vale, iron ore price increased to $93 a ton from $76 a ton before January.

There's a disconnection between polished steel and iron ore. Iron feeding steel mills' source remains tight enough to lay the groundwork for more durability.The first-quarter numbers from Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE: CLF) weren't much to write home about. CLF stock opened higher on Friday of last week, once they were published, to make its way to an intraday loss of 3.5 percent.

Blame Vale for the difficulty in pinning down the potency of current and future iron ore market. The behemoth, that happened in Brazil endured none but two dam bursts near its mines in the past several decades.

Price growth that began to take shape in 2016 though is only extended by the progress, and if the requirement was the driver, one couldn't tell it from Cleveland Cliffs.

It's this backdrop that quelled the knee-jerk selling to Cleveland Cliffs' report. And, it is this undertow that's

The latter one forced a shutdown of a mining operation that has influenced the global supply iron ore pellets, also maintained a couple of dozen lives. The Q1 numbers were not the problem, however. It was the contrast figures in the year-earlier that were

Total volumes of ore pellets sold dropped from 1.61 million tons for the comparable quarter a year before only 1.55 million tons for its three-month stretch end in March.Cleveland-Cliffs' Q1 results, however, don't quite jibe with also the apparent demand for it and the market cost of iron ore.

IRR will take time on Radinovich's Replacement

P

hillips hasn't consented to requests for a meeting, but included in his statement he planned to "fulfill

A rmy ' s expectations concerning openness , transparency , inclusivity , and servant leadership ," in contemplating a replacement for Radinovich's old function. the

Formally a “state program manager supervisor " Soon after the investigative report, a posting interval was embraced by the governor at the surface of the controversy. It is one which could codify the policy and a step. The Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation didn't signify any rush to do when contacted, also hasn't posted the vacancy.

Following a Timberjay report to be a case of hiring demonstrated his stint with the IRRR, Radanovich resigned.

Rep. Rob Ecklund, DFL-International Falls, stated that when Phillips was appointed to the place in 2015 by Gov. Mark Dayton, he introduced the agency into compliance after a legislative auditor's report that had identified a string of state compliance failings. The procedure to fill the vacancy made by the resignation of Joe Radinovich will not take from the state on the same urgency because of the controversial

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hiring of the politician. Phillips was reprimanded in a letter from Gov. Tim Walz a week -- to get fast-tracking the hiring of Radinovich and, in doing this, with the sheriff's office as a justification into the Department of Management and Budget, which accepted a 24-hour posting interval to get a classified managerial occupation reporting straight to Phillips. According to Eveleth, the legislature in 1941 created The IRRR. It comprises about 60 employees and is intended to foster diversity throughout Northeastern Minnesota, in which the mining industry's pros and cons can play havoc on the market and occupants' lives. The IRRR carried a $44.4 million funding into 2019. Both are former state legislators, and critics of this Radinovich hiring claimed it left the door open for the IRRR. Radinovich was advised to earn $100,000 yearly. He combined deputy commissioner Jason Metsa and IRRR appointee as politicians who had joined the bureau in 2019.

From two IRRR Board members of Phillips' leadership, Tribune has discovered the news at the time because of Radinovich's resignation.

June 2019 SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW | 5

Minnesota group ramps up court challenge to Trump rulings on Twin Metals mining leases Local opponents have awakened their court battle to block mineral leases, only a few days after President Donald Trump visited Minnesota, underscoring his support for copper-nickel mining close to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Reps. Tom Emmer and Pete Stauber watch as federal officials renew mineral leases for Twin Metals.

A

coalition of local companies, environmental advocates and outdoor recreation groups on

Wednesday filed a motion for summary judgment in their litigation against

U.S. Department of Interior and Twin Metals Minnesota. They are

the

asking a federal judge to rule without a trail that the

Trump

administra -

wrongly reinstated two mineral leases for Twin Metals Minnesota to construct a copper mine on Birch Lake near Ely. tion last year

It is the recent shot in the state's prolonged conflict over copper-nickel mining in northeastern Minnesota, a prospect that has raised hopes for the area's economy while triggering alarms about serious environmental consequences. The Department of the Interior has until mid-May to respond to the motion. Meanwhile, a spokes-

6 | SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW June 2019

woman for Twin Metals said the firm doesn't comment on ongoing litigation. The Twin Metals proposal for an underground mine is among one of two contested copper mines proposed near the Boundary Waters wilderness.

It was abandoned three years ago after state and federal leases were refused by then-Gov Mark Dayton and President Barack Obama.

Trump's Interior Department quickly reversed course last year, renewing expired mineral leases for Twin Metals and nullifying an environmental evaluation that was to be run from the U.S. Forest Service.

After the Interior Department reacts to the motion, which was registered in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, oral arguments are expected in the fall. A decision could come by

the end of the year. The Twin Metals lease decision is one of many issued faced by the Trump administration in a sweeping effort to overturn previous administration policies on immigration, consumer safety, the environment, and other topics. But many have wound up snarled in the courts.

A new study by investigators at the New York University School of Law found that the Trump government had lost roughly 95% of the cases when it was challenged under the federal Administrative Procedures Act. Previous presidents typically won approximately 70% of such cases, according to the law school’s Institute for Policy Integrity.

Davis Noll said judges have repeatedly faulted the factual and legal grounds of decisions issued rapidly by officials in the Trump administration.

The judge currently assigned to the Twin Metals lease lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, is a Trump appointee. However, Davis Noll stated she does not think that could make him any less inclined to encourage the Administrative Procedure Act. PolyMet is developing a copper-nickel mine and processing plant at an existing taconite site south of Babbitt. It has received all of its necessary state licenses, although it still faces at least seven legal challenges. The Twin Metals project is at the early stages of permitting. The company is expected to submit its mining plan of operation in the coming months.

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June 2019 SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW | 7

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Cleveland - Cliffs to pay $500,000 for Air pollution on Minnesota's Iron Range

T

Iron Range mining firm United Taconite has agreed to pay over $500,000 to settle a federal lawsuit over air pollution from its manufacturing plant in Forbes in Minnesota. The firm was accused by he

furnace, and they have been corrected," said Cleveland-Cliffs spokeswoman Patricia Persico.

federal prosecutors of emitting particulate matter into the atmosphere from

2010

to

2016.

United agreed to pay a $50,000 cash penalty and $489,000 to substitute an existing "wet scrubber" control system for one of its crushers having a more efficient dry cloth control system.

The state of the particulate emissions isn't detailed in the documents, which only signify they are caused by burning gas and coal and handling taconite pellets. But under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), particulates from taconite plants include hazardous metal substances such as lead and mercury.

United Taconite's emissions exceeded the limits allowed under its air-quality per mit at least 13 occasions from January 2012 through June 2015, according to the lawsuit and the consent decree, filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the

14 | SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW June 2019

EPA. The complaint also accused the company of misusing pollution-control equipment for at least 700 days from January 2010 through December 2016. That equipment is used to limit emissions from machines such as ore crushers. Both records were filed on Thursday in federal court in Minnesota.

The consent decree will be open for comment for 30 days.

United Taconite is owned by Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., an Ohio-based iron and steel manufacturer that generated over $1.1 billion in earnings in 2018.

The company called the settlement a “reasonable outcome.”

"These are old alleged violations dating back over five years that were mostly administrative in nature and associated with record keeping for our dust collection equipment and pellet

The equipment has been purchased by the company but hasn’t been installed yet, Persico said. Such Settlements are slow. However, they are the most standard tool for enforcing federal environmental regulations across the country. The EPA officially notified United Taconite of the Clean Air Act violations in February 2014.

Eric Schaeffer, a former director of the EPA's Office of Civil Enforcement who now directs the Environmental Integrity Project said the settlement is inadequate given the serious nature of the offenses. The new air pollution settlement is different from an enforcement action Minnesota pollution regulators took against United Taconite involving the same facility in 2016, in which the firm agreed to pay the state $50,000 for fugitive dust emissions from 2013 to 2015. There were no health effects from those dust emissions, state officials said.

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A Chilean mining company lays claim to Minnesota’s water

A

lthough northeastern

Minnesota's

reserves are

thought to be low - grade , with the desired minerals constituting only .4 percent of the

host rock, considers

Chilean copper conglomerate Antofagasta they're rewarding enough to mine.

A lot of what the firm has in store is closely guarded information. Antofagasta wants to secure federal land leases before publishing plans. In 2014, Canadian authorities forced the project's former owner to disclose information.

Twin Metals has its sights set on mineral deposit outside Ely. A flyover shows the White Iron Chain of Lakes, perforated by Birch Lake, a green expanse of untamed forest, along with the Kawishiwi River. The proposed mine will be an underground operation. It'll require an ore-crushing facility, a waste storage pit upstream of Lake Superior, and a network of pipelines, railroad, and roads to connect them.

the slurry left behind will be disposed of in part while the rest would be pumped through a pipeline to a permanent reservoir. Wielding the best technology, Twin Metals could revitalize the economy and protect the ecosystem, the company claims. Producing copper under its strict protections in the United States is an alternative to relying on developing nations, which have no issue razing rainforests that stand in the way of minerals.

Twin Metals had never experienced a fundamental environmental evaluation. To be able to renew its rents, Antofagasta needed to submit into one. Twin Metals intends to submit its proper plan later this year, and start its quest for state permits.

Raw metals produced here will probably be offered to smelters in Russia, China, and other usual destinations.

Minnesota won't benefit in the transaction of its minerals. But there will be jobs. Antofagasta claims the region will get about 2,000 direct and indirect positions over 30 years. Under the dense and dusky hush of the Superior National Forest is a sprawling fortune of aluminum - and nickel-bearing ores weighing more than 4.4 billion tons.

Twin Metals' appeal to northeastern Minnesota is one of regional pride, culminating in longing for new-found prosperity. According to the firm, copper mining is an evolution of the 130-year taconite heritage, which reached its peak in the 1940s as Minnesota miners extracted the iron ore needed to meet wartime demand for steel. Those were the days when mining companies worked shoulder-to-shoulder with leaders to equip communities that are resilient with schools, hospitals, and parks.

Twin Metals intends to extract copper ores, grind them down and separate the metal with a water-intensive chemical process. By mixing it with cement that is acid-neutralizing, then using it to backfill tunnels blasted underground,

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June 2019 SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW | 15

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accepts Andy Barr's invite to 'go underground', meet coal miners U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of New York, has been spearheading a grand environmental legislative package dubbed the Green New Deal to tackle climate change

D

H ouse F inancial Services Committee hearing T uesday , U.S. R ep . A ndy Barr, a Republican who represents central Kentucky, called on Ocasio-Cortez to see for herself the state's struggling coal market. uring a

Barr said he had visited surface and underground mines operated on several occasions by various companies since taking office, adding that it is crucial for lawmakers who debate energy policies to meet Kentucky miners directly.

The Green New Deal has brought a fierce debate about the earth’s environmental and economic future to Washington. The step would combat climate change by eliminating carbon emissions caused by fossil fuels over

16 | SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW June 2019

the next decade. It would accomplish this by changing to renewable fuels.

The law also prescribes broad justice reforms that concentrate on medical coverage, housing, and higher education for all Americans.

Legislators, experts, and environmental advocates have "spent endless hours poring over" data on the industrial impact on global temperatures and the consequent rising sea levels, Ocasio-Cortez has said in other interviews. Barr said there are no areas of the laws that he supports.

He described the measure as a "dramatic lurch towards socialism" that could result in a "huge growth of government" and "abandon the free enterprise." But the plan has been

mocked by Republicans for some of its high goals and early talking points.

Conservatives swarmed the initial idea for saying it expected to make airplane travel obsolete and targeting methane emissions. McConnell Kentucky Republican who oversees the Senate called the Democrats' bluff on their support for the plan by holding a vote on the proposal.

"The proposal addresses the small matter of removing the use of all fossil fuels nationally in 10 years," McConnell said during a floor speech on Tuesday.

"This may sound like a neat idea in places like San Francisco or New York, the areas the Democratic Party appears entirely focused on these days. But communities practically anyplace else would be completely crushed."

The 53-member GOP caucus, joined by four Democrats, voted against the Green New Deal. The rest 43 Democratic senators all voted "present."

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Rio Tinto expects the iron-ore market to stay balanced through 2019 Rio Tinto expects the global iron ore market to remain balanced through 2019, regardless of the likely moderation in steel demand growth in China, the world's largest steel consumer, a senior executive said on Friday.

R

io , the world ' s second - big gest iron ore miner , antici pates steady demand for its

steel-making ingredient, especially for its high - grade iron ore as

Chinese

steelmakers increasingly concentrate on higher productivity and reduced emissions.

intends to invest $1-billion a year over the next three years for the upkeep of its iron ore mines. It is going to spend an additional $3-billion in total on new iron ore mines, including the Koodaideri mine in the Pilbara area in Australia, Salisbury said. Rio was on course to complete a feasibility study this year for the projected "smart" Koodaideri mine,

which will fully integrate technologies like robotics and driverless trucks and trains on a single site, he explained.

Salisbury downplayed the impact on the steel market of US tariffs for retaliation and the potential for retaliation by other countries.

America is imposing import duties of 10 percent on aluminium and 25 percent on steel from Friday, even though US President Donald Trump on Thursday temporarily ban six countries and the European Union from the duties.

The miner will continue to improve the output of high-grade ore to meet with increasing demand in China.

Higher quality ore produces more steel for each tonne that is processed and can reduce emissions as less coke is used in production.

An increase in China's shares of rebar, a construction steel product, to nearly five-year highs reflected a rebound from shallow stock levels in 2017, he explained. Rio, which supplies to mainly Asian customers of about 330 million tonnes of iron ore annually,

We thrive on challenges golder.com

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June 2019 SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW | 17

IRON RANGE REGION

Copper mining dangers: Bold leadership is needed from Walz

C

PolyMet

Either

way, the process was faulty.

learly, a conclusion was reached that the mining permit was to undergo

unimpeded directive and that had to

come from the governor or the commissioners.

To Landwehr’s credit, he is currently alerting us.

It's safe to presume that as the motion to preserve the BWCA gains support, more will emerge — such as the likelihood that Dayton gave into the Iron Range legislators due to their aid on copper mining in gratitude for their support in the 2010 DFL primary.

Currently, the state employs more than 36,000 people. The DNR has over 2,700 workers. Surely, something along that line could be worked out rather than proceeding to destroy the state’s most precious physical resources.

Apparently, according to Landwehr, this process worked well for the PolyMet copper mining permit.

However, he's currently declaring that might not be the situation for the Twin Metals mine, which may affect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA). On the face of it, this might seem to be a contradiction. And it is. What has changed? The response — Landwehr’s job; he is now the executive director of the Campaign to rescue the Boundary waters from Copper mining.

We are led to believe that mining contaminates flowing into the St. Louis River and Lake Superior are healthy, but when they proceed at the direction of the BWCA, they become highly dangerous.

We are further being advised that the permitting process for the PolyMet mine was "strict," but the same process is inadequate for another mine.

18 | SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW June 2019

Global Iron Ore price to rise As per a new World Bank report on Commodities, iron ore prices registered a sharp rise of 16.2 percent in January-March of 2019, primarily because of supply disruptions in Brazil and Australia. Following the Brumadinho dam rupture, Vale's upstream tailings dams in Brazil all have been decommissioned, and solutions in mines have been stopped.

B

62 percent for grade iron ore rose to $94.53 per ton (according to April 23), consolidating on substantial gains in a previous trading session. Greater enchmark prices of

grade ore

(65

percent fines) inched up

ton, moving nearer to the current

0.3 percent to repay at $108.10 a peak of $109.70 a ton struck earlier

in the month.

Iron ore prices have rebounded, drawing on support. The latest fiscal stimulus of China is also anticipated to prop iron ore requirement and thus encourage rate surge. China will influence iron ore prices since it accounts for half of the world's steel and three-fifths of the planet's iron ore consumption. Back in Australia, BHP and Rio Tinto's manufacturing were affected by cyclone Veronica, and ore imports are disrupted because of a fire at the export terminal of the latter. These provide interruptions that amounts to about six percent of the global iron ore sector that is seaborne. Global iron ore costs are projected to rise 11.4 percent in the calendar year 2019, buoyed by supply disruptions from crucial mines in Brazil and Australia and China's fiscal stimulus seen as reinforcing steel consumption. The prediction is subject to downside risks, in particular.

On the other hand, the forecast for Indian iron ore prices remains subdued, a report by Edelweiss Research implied. There has been an apparent dichotomy in prices driven by a surge in production

by Odisha's merchant miners and costs, as China's steelmakers have demonstrated a propensity for lower grade ore.

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Iron Range agency hiring complaint prompt Walz to change policy

R

ecords show that Iron

Resources

and

Range Rehabilitation

spur economic growth. "This political decision undermines public confidence in the department and strengthens the worst beliefs people hold -- equitably or not -- about the [branch ]."

asked for and got approval

to set the pl ace instead of the

D epartment minimal , for only 24 Tschann revealed that Walz is " committed to hiring the ablest applicants and forming a govern hours.

Gov. Tim Walz's government has declared it will change state hiring policy following a former country DFL legislator who was selected into some six-figure project at the Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation without going through standard hiring procedures.

ment that reflects the diversity of

Minnesota."

Also, Radinovich, as installed in the position, was reported by an organizational plan, introduced five days before the project was posted. Radanovich had served as the assistant commissioner of the department before trying to run for Congress.

"The sheriff's office wasn't connected in any decision-making associated with this expedited hiring process, he also did not direct the Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation or Minnesota Management and Budget to differ from routine hiring procedures," Walz spokesperson Teddy Tschann stated in an announcement on Thursday.

Gov. Tim Walz

NORTH AMERICAN MARKET (LTU) Company

IRON ORE PRICE REPORT

Ore Type

Pellets, FOB Michigan Mines Pellets, FOB Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. Minnesota Upper Lakes Port Source: CLEVELAND-CLIFFS INC. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.

Per Iron Unit

Per Gross Ton at 64%

Per Ton at 64% Reporting Date

$1.28

$81.92

12/31/17

$1.42

$90.88

12/31/17

In regards to this Timberjay's narrative, the Walz government said it would decide on a policy requiring that position to be filed within 21 days.

The agency has come under severe criticism for providing millions of dollars in grants and mortgages.

The department is authorized to broaden the Iron Range's economy. It dispenses tens of thousands of millions of dollars in grants and loans meant to

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June 2019 SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW | 19

IRON ORE

Cleveland-Cliffs' lawsuit against Minnesota DNR dropped Cleveland-Cliffs dropped its lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources this week, closing an eightmonth battle in which the Ohio mining giant claimed it — and not a competitor — should be given mining licenses to a controversial piece of the area in Nashwauk, Minn.

A

lawsuit was terminated by

C liffs

on

M onday

follow -

ing an appellate court ruled

against the company in a second, but related, the litigation it had filed

DNR and the competitor, Metallics.

against the

Mesabi

Cliffs operated Hibbing Taconite, United Taconite and Northshore Mining on the Iron Range and bought a piece of land in Nashwauk after Mesabi failed to fulfill a financing deadline on it. The property is adjacent to where the Essar Steel project is. A second suit was also filed against the DNR and Mesabi demanding that water appropriation permits be reissued to Cliffs instead of Mesabi Metallics. That lawsuit accused Mesabi of trespassing on its land in Nashwauk.

The suit alleged that Cliffs had purchased or leased thousands of acres of land surrounding the Essar Steel Minnesota plant and that Cliffs thus deserved the right to mine the land.

That court filing disregarded Cliffs' claim and stated the company suffered no actual harm. It also said that Mesabi rightly held the right to appropriate water and pump from the mining pits of the Nashwauk site. The court ruling noted various actions Mesabi and the DNR took to ensure that its land was

20 | SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW June 2019

being accessed by Mesabi without venturing onto Cliffs' property. Monday's court order only dealt with Cliffs' water appropriations lawsuit permit problem rather than Cliffs' lawsuit demanding that the country issue it a permit to mine.

However, following Monday's court ruling, Cliffs proceeded to dismiss its mining lawsuit against the DNR. "We were quite confident in the cornerstone of our decisions concerning both the water appropriations licenses along with the permit-to-mine [issue] in denying Cleveland Cliffs' requests on all of those licenses," said Deputy DNR Commissioner Barb Naramore.

Cliffs will continue the case against Mesabi Metallics even though it dropped its mine permit lawsuit against the DNR.Cliffs "will continue to pursue the remainder of its legal action against Mesabi Metallics for trespassing and producing on ongoing nuisance on possessions on which [Cliffs] retains private pursuits," said company spokeswoman Patricia Persico in an email.

future of the Nashwauk project is on an uncomfortable footing.

Making matters more complicated is that Essar Global is demanding that it have a stake in the future of the project and bought $260 million of the debt of Mesabi in January. The company says it needs to again participate in the Nashwauk project, although state officials have moved to bar Essar Global from doing business in the country.

Essar Global is fighting the nation's debarment attempts.

Equipping the mining industry with legal services since 1893. · Mineral purchase agreements, leases and options · Land assembly and mineral rights acquisition · Severed mineral registration and title work · Environmental permitting and compliance ° MINING & MINERALS LAW °

›› Paul Kilgore ›› Paul Loraas

The trespassing issue emerged, Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves contended in public meetings, because Mesabi Metallics' entry point into the construction area was through Cliffs' land. He said he wants the trespassing to cease.The

(800) 496-6789 or fryberger.com

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MINING INDUSTRY PEOPLE GoldMining Inc. announced the appointment of Dr. Ken Wang to its advisory board.

Dr. Wang is a former Managing Director and the Head of Natural Resources for both Royal Bank of Canada's Asia Investment Banking and Bank of China's Global Investment Banking operations based out of Hong Kong and Beijing. Over the past 20 years, he has been at the forefront of the global mining industry, intimately involved in the successful completion of more than $100 billion of investment banking transactions in mining and other sectors.

ADVERTISING INDEX

Azcon .........................................19 Barr Engineering...........................9 CR Meyer....................................11 Global Minerals Engineering.....19 Golder Associates........................9

Titan Mining Corporation announced the closing of a senior secured credit facility with the Bank of Nova Scotia, and the appointment of Naomi Johnson as Vice President, Community Relations. Naomi Johnson joined Titan in April 2018 and is a global community relations executive, international development specialist and lawyer with 15 years of management experience in leadership positions across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. Ms. Johnson brings a broad perspective to the development of sustainable and leading-edge approaches to stakeholder impact and risk management at Titan.

African Gold Group Inc. appointed Malcolm Campbell as President and Chief Operating Officer and Andrew Cheatle as Vice President. Mr. Campbell is a Professional Certified Mining Engineer with over 30 years of extensive exploration and mining project experience across Africa. Mr. Cheatle is a mining industry executive and professional geoscientist with over 25 years of domestic and international experience encompassing both the senior and junior mining sectors. ď Ž

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Hallett Dock................................05 Lake Superior Chapter ISEE.......19 Malton Electric Company..........21 walcot water...............................22 ME Elecmetal.............................09 Mielke Electric Works.................13 Naylor Pipe.................................24 Neo Solutions.............................21 Northern Engine & Supply.........21

June 2019 SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW | 21

STATISTICS

March 2018 Crude Steel Production

By John Edward, Associate Publisher

W

steel, up by 1.0% on March 2017. France produced 1.4 Mt of crude steel, up by 1.5% compared to March 2017. Spain

orld crude steel produc-

quarter of 2017. North America’s crude

produced 1.3 Mt of crude steel, down by

64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 148.3 million tonnes (Mt) in March 2018, a 4.0% increase compared to M arch 2017. W orld crude steel production was 426.6 Mt in the first three months of 2018, up by 4.1%

steel production in the first three months

4.1% on March 2017. Turkey’s crude steel

of 2018 was 29.5 Mt, an increase of 1.9%

production for March 2018 was 3.4 Mt, up

compared to the first quarter of 2017.

by 7.6% on March 2017. The US produced

to the same period in 2017.

tion for the

compared

7.3 Mt of crude steel in March 2018, an China’s crude steel production for

increase of 5.3% compared to March 2017.

March 2018 was 74.0 Mt, an increase

Brazil’s crude steel production for March

of 4.5% compared to March 2017. India

2018 was 3.1 Mt, up by 7.6% on March

produced 9.2 Mt of crude steel in March

2017. The crude steel capacity utilisation

2018, up 5.3% on March 2017. Japan

ratio of the 64 countries in March 2018 was

produced 9.1 Mt of crude steel in March

74.5%. This is 2.2 percentage points higher

Asia produced 294.1 Mt of c rude

2018, an increase of 2.2% compared to

steel, an increase of 4.6% over the first

March 2017. South Korea’s crude steel

than March 2017. Compared to February 2018, it is 0.9 percentage points higher.

quarter of 2017. The EU produced 43.1

production was 6.1 Mt in March 2018,

Mt of crude steel in the first quarter of

an increase of 4.7% on March 2017. In

2018, up by 0.9% compared to the same

the EU, Italy produced 2.3 Mt of crude

Statistics based on World Steel Association Report released on April 25, 2018. 

Preliminary USGS Iron Ore Statistics for November 2017

By John Edward, Associate Publisher

A

U.S. G eological S urvey (USGS) report by Mineral Commodity Specialist Christopher A. Tuck, U.S. mine production and shipments of iron ore in November 2017 were 4.47 million metric tons (Mt) and 4.33 Mt respectively.

Average daily production of iron ore was 149,000 metric tons (t), 7% greater than that of October and ccording to the

27 % greater than that of November 2016.

Average daily shipments of iron ore were 144,000 t, slightly less than those in October and 3% greater than those in November 2016. Mine stocks at the end of November 2017 were slightly greater than those held at the end of October 2017 and slightly less than those held at the end of November 2016. U.S. exports of iron ore totaled 943,000 t in November 2017, 9% less than those in October 2017 and 27% less than those in November 2016. U.S. imports of iron ore totaled 320,000 t in November 2017, 45% greater than those in October and 11% greater than those in November 2016. 

22 | SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW June 2019

www.skillings.net

CRUDE STEEL PRODUCTION, MARCH 2018. Source – World Steel Association MARCH 2017

% CHANGE MARCH – 18/17

1,030 e

1,175

4.7

20 e

15 e

16

25.0

El Salvador

10 e

5e

8

Guatemala

25e

25 e

1,750 e

MARCH 2018

FEB 2018

1,230 e

Cuba

MARCH 2018

% CHANGE MARCH – 18/17

13,354

15,038

0.5

Total - Other Europe

3,645

3,290

3,425

6.4

33.3

Total - C.I.S. (6)

8,101

7,675

8,621

-6.0

22

12.6

Total (64 countries)

148,330 131,791 142,681

4.0

1,535 e

1,701

2.9

-

-

-

-

7,261

6,446

6,894

5.3

e – estimate | r – revised Monthly Crude Steel Production in the 67 Countries included in the report, in thousands of metric tons. The 67 countries included in this table accounted for approximately 99% of total world crude steel production in 2017.

10,296

9,056

9,816

4.9

U.S. RAW STEEL PRODUCTION

474

417

392

20.8

Brazil

3,065

2,714

2,848

7.6

Chile

110 e

85 e

109

0.7

Colombia

125 e

90 e

117

7.0

Capability Utilization Rate

Production

MARCH 2017

15,111

Ecuador

55 e

45 e

46

19.6

April 28, 2017

1,754

-1.9

74.8

29,723

1.6

75.5

Paraguay

1e

2e

1

66.7

Previous Year

1,721

1.9

73.8

29,252

-

74.4

115 e

100 e

104

10.4

April 21, 2017

1,788

0.2

76.3

27,969

5e

5e

4

25.0

1.6

75.6

40 e

25 e

49

-17.9

Previous Year

1,721

3.9

73.8

27,531

-

74.4

Total - South America

3,990

3,483

3,669

8.7

April 14, 2017

1,784

- 1.2

76.1

26,181

1.4

75.5

Egypt

650 e

583

528

23.1

Previous Year

1,721

3.7

73.8

25,810

-

74.4

Libya

30

48

49

-39.3

April 7, 2017

1,805

1.6

77.0

24,397

1.3

75.5

-

-

-

-

Previous Year

1,721

4.9

73.8

24,089

-

74.4

South Africa

527 e

491 e

545

-3.1

Total - Africa

1,207

1,122

1,122

7.6

2,350 e

2,120 e

1,635

43.7

239

152

240

-0.4

Saudi Arabia (HADEED only)

425 e

385

376

13.0

Total - Middle East

3,262

2,859

2,534

28.7

73,980 64,930 e

70,800

4.5

Mexico Trinidad and Tobago United States Total - North America Argentina

Peru Uruguay Venezuela

Morocco

Iran Qatar

China

207

214

213

218

4.7

Great Lakes

657

667

685

683

2,000

0.0

Midwest

163

165

159

166

90,475

97,979

4.3

Southern

652

666

653

660

482

90,475

429

12.3

Western

75

76

74

78

47

52

47

0.5

1,754

1,788

1,784

1,805

529

477

476

11.1

Japan

9,082

8,296

8,888

2.2

South Korea

6,095

5,415

5,823

2,000 e

1,810 e

102,190

www.skillings.net

WEEK ENDING

North East

5.3

Total - Oceania

DISTRICT

4/7

8,764

New Zealand

WEEKLY U.S. RAW STEEL PRODUCTION BY DISTRICT 4/14

8,434

Australia

In thousands of Net Tons – Source - American Iron and Steel Institute * Percent Change is a comparison between a given week and the previous week.

The % change figure in the previous year row refers to the change from a given week compared with the corresponding week of the previous year.

AISI’s estimates are based on reports from companies representing about 50% of the Industry’s Raw Steel Capability and include revisions for previous months.

4/21

9,227

Total - Asia

WEEK ENDING

Year-to-Date Production

4/28

India

Taiwan, China

Weekly Production

Percent Change*

Canada

Total - European Union (28)

FEB 2018

Percent Change*

COUNTRY

Production

COUNTRY

Total

In thousands of Net Tons – Source – American Iron & Steel Institute.

June 2019 SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW | 23

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