As you must well know by now, we have been suggesting investors be wary of mining and mining services companies for over a year and half. Now that the somewhat predictable recession is occurring, most of the commentary centres on the present malaise.
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Adam Scott’s superb victory in the US Masters on Sunday at Augusta National means that Australians have now won a total of 15 major golf championships. It’s incredible to think that one of the greatest golfers of all time, Jack Nicklaus, the ‘Golden Bear’, won 18 career major championships by himself.
Whilst we’re on the subject of Gold(en) Bears, at the moment we’re cautiously noting that after jumping from under US$300/oz to over $1,900/oz in the decade to September 2011, gold appears troubled.
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As you know we have long warned about this. We warned that China’s growth would slow and that even if it didn’t, its appetite for iron ore would. In print, in the press, here on our blog, and on TV and radio we have warned that mining would see its own ‘fiscal cliff’.
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Earlier this week, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Reform Council said that the Commonwealth had now set up the “Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Mining Development” (IESC). This will give governments solid scientific advice on the potential effects of CSG and large mining developments on water resources. In the five years to 2010/11, CSG has increased from 2% to 11% of Australia’s total gas production (read the media release).
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I caught up with a few of my country friends over Easter. One conversation topic that kept coming up was the current approval process for the coal seam gas industry. To say that they are furious about it would be an understatement.
They quoted cases where bore water, which has been running for decades, has suddenly dried up within months of coal seam gas production commencing nearby. So what’s going on?