TORONTO Aug 12, 2020 (Thomson StreetEvents) -- Edited Transcript of Hudbay Minerals Inc earnings conference call or presentation Wednesday, August 12, 2020 at 12:30:00pm GMT

Hudbay Minerals Inc. - Director of IR

Hudbay Minerals Inc. - Senior VP & COO

Hudbay Minerals Inc. - Senior VP of Corporate Development & Strategy

Hudbay Minerals Inc. - President, CEO & Director

Hudbay Minerals Inc. - Senior VP & CFO

Scotiabank Global Banking and Markets, Research Division - Senior Equity Research Analyst of Base Metals

* Oscar M. Cabrera

Cormark Securities Inc., Research Division - Analyst of Institutional Equity Research

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Hudbay Mineral's Second Quarter 2020 Results Conference Call.

I would like to remind everyone that this conference call is being recorded today, August 12, 2020, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Candace Brl, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Candace Brl, Hudbay Minerals Inc. - Director of IR [2]

Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome to Hudbay's 2020 Second Quarter Results Conference Call. Hudbay's financial results were issued yesterday and are available on our website at http://www.hudbay.com. A corresponding PowerPoint presentation is available, and we encourage you to refer to it during this call.

Our presenter today is Peter Kukielski, Hudbay's President and Chief Executive Officer. Accompanying Peter for the Q&A portion of the call will be Steve Douglas, our recently appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Cashel Marr, our Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; and Eugene Lei, our Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy.

Please note that comments made on today's call may contain forward-looking information and this information by its nature is subject to risks and uncertainties, and as such, actual results may differ materially from the views expressed today. For further information on these risks and uncertainties, please consult the company's relevant filings on SEDAR and EDGAR. These documents are also available on our website. As a reminder, all amounts discussed on today's call are in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise noted.

And now I'll pass the call over to Peter Kukielski. Peter?

Thank you, Candace. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I'd like to start off by saying that I hope everyone has been able to stay safe and healthy as this public health crisis has evolved over the past several months. We, too, have been closely monitoring the rapidly changing environment while continuing to execute on our business response plan to minimize the overall impact of the pandemic on our operations. We remain focused on the health and safety of our employees, their families and the communities in which we are closely tied while engaging with local stakeholders and public health authorities to ensure the effective implementation of our response to pandemic.

Today, I will touch on the highlights of our second quarter financial and operating results, along with updated guidance for our Peru operations. I will also explain how the recent 1901 upgraded resource estimate fits into our plans for advancing the third phase of our Snow Lake gold strategy and I will provide an update on the progress of the New Britannia mill refurbishment and the time lines to first production expected in 12 months.

But before we jump into all of that, I'd like to take a moment to thank Eugene for stepping into the role of interim CFO, while we advanced our search for a permanent CFO. And I'm pleased to introduce Steve Douglas, who was appointed to the role effective June 30. For those who have not met or spoken to Steve before, he is highly regarded by the Street and brings over 25 years of resource industry and senior finance leadership experience to our team. Over the last several weeks, Eugene and Steve have worked closely together to continue to execute our financial objectives, and I have been impressed with how smoothly the transition has been. I've said it many times before, Hudbay has a disproportionately talented team for a company of our size, and I have no doubt that Steve will bolster our team. Welcome, Steve.

Now beginning on Slide 3. Hudbay's second quarter results were boosted from another solid operating quarter in Manitoba, even with strict adherence to COVID protocols that have been implemented. I would like to thank the Manitoba team for their strong efforts in achieving these outstanding milestones while adapting to this challenging external environment. We saw strong production and cost performance in Manitoba, with an increase in production of precious metals and zinc over the first quarter, driven by record gold production from increasing Lalor gold grades and record gold recoveries at Stall. Copper production declined by 27% from the first quarter due to the temporary suspension of Constancia until mid-May. However, consolidated copper equivalent production only declined by 12%, as a result of higher precious metals and zinc production in the quarter. Consolidated cash cost, net of by-product credits, was $0.64 per pound of copper, a 47% improvement over the first quarter. Given the significant reduction in Constancia production in the second quarter, this measure is more heavily impacted by Manitoba production which contains meaningful zinc and gold by-product revenue components. Consolidated all-in sustaining cash costs also improved from the first quarter to $2.26 per pound of copper driven by the same factors affecting cash costs, along with reduced sustaining CapEx in Peru from the temporary suspension.

Operating cash flow before change in noncash working capital was $30 million in the quarter, reflecting a decrease of $12 million compared to the first quarter. The decrease in operating cash flow is primarily the result of lower Constancia production and sales due to the temporary suspension. However, this decrease was partially offset by higher gold production and sales in Manitoba as well as higher realized gold prices. We have been planning for the introduction of adjusted metrics for several months, and we are pleased to have Steve support this change shortly after he joined. We believe these metrics will provide further transparency for readers into our financial performance after normalizing for one-off or noncash adjustments.

During the second quarter, we've adjusted for temporary suspension costs in Peru and the reversal of a portion of the Peru inventory write-down from the first quarter, amongst other items. Adjusted net loss was $0.15 per share, and adjusted EBITDA was $49 million. The strong performance from the Manitoba operations during the quarter helped offset the reduced contribution from the Peru operations, resulting in minimal change in the quarter-over-quarter adjusted earnings and only a slight decrease in adjusted EBITDA.

We exited the quarter with $391 million in cash and equivalents and continue to take prudent steps to manage our balance sheet. In the second quarter, we entered into discussions with the syndicate of banks in our revolving credit facilities to restructure the facilities in order to provide enhanced financial flexibility during the development of the New Britannia and Pampacancha projects. Each of the banks in the syndicate received credit approval to amend the facilities on the proposed terms and the transaction is expected to close shortly. As a result of the amendment, total available borrowings under the credit facilities were rightsized to $400 million to reflect Hudbay's anticipated business requirements until June 2022 when the credit facilities mature. However, it is important to note that we do not intend to draw down these facilities for the purposes of achieving our business plans. We also revised the maintenance covenants to a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of less than 5.25% and an interest coverage ratio of greater than 2.50 until the end of 2021, which provides additional financial flexibility.

The Manitoba business unit had solid operating performance across the mines, mills and zinc plant during the second quarter, as shown on Slide 4. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hudbay has worked collaboratively with its health and safety committees and the local health authorities to continue to keep employees and communities safe by implementing a number of layered workplace controls. As a result, the second quarter Manitoba operating results were largely unaffected by the pandemic, and we are on track to achieve annual production and cost guidance. Manitoba achieved higher production results in all metals quarter-over-quarter. The enhanced precious metal production was driven by higher gold and silver grade at Lalor as a result of prioritizing resources within the higher value portions of the base metal lenses. Development in the gold rich Lens 25 and 27 advanced ahead of schedule, and production from these areas is expected ahead of the New Britannia mill restart as Lalor transitions to a gold mine. The 777 mines saw higher ore grades during the second quarter, which were expected and consistent with stope sequencing outlined in the mine plan, including the mining of higher grade copper stopes during the quarter. Combined mine, mill and G&A unit operating costs in Manitoba were slightly higher than the first quarter, but in line with expected annual guidance ranges.

Slide 5 outlines the enhanced performance we've seen at the Stall mill as a result of our focus on continuous improvement. The throughput of the mill has steadily increased over the last several years, and in the first half of 2020, we've seen an 11% increase in throughput to average 3,900 tonnes per day. This is a result of improved maintenance programs, which have increased plant availability run time to an impressive 95%, up from 91% in 2019. The Stall mill also have achieved record gold productions in the second quarter, increasing to 62.3% compared to 52.5% in the same period last year. This is due to improved maintenance programs, higher gold head grades, improved plant stability due to grade control and the processing of ore with intrinsically higher recoverable gold content.

Turning to our Peru operations on Slide 6. After an 8-week temporary mine suspension, we successfully achieved the efficient restart of operations at Constancia in mid-May with increased government supported COVID-19 health and safety protocols in place. The mine achieved normal mill throughput levels on May 18, within 48 hours after restart, and continued at these levels for the remainder of the second quarter. The initial 6 weeks following the restart focused on milling activities while processing stockpile ore. This was followed by a ramp-up of mining activities commencing in the last week of June with a full ramp-up to normal levels in early July. Production results from Constancia were lower than the first quarter as a result of the temporary suspension and processing of stockpile ore following the restart of operations during the quarter.

Despite milling activities being suspended for 8 weeks, the care and maintenance activities performed and the proactive mine restart planning during the shutdown facilitated an efficient ramp up and steady performance of the mill after ramp up. Over the period when the mill was fully operational during the quarter, average daily throughput was above 95,000 tonnes per day. Milled copper grades in the second quarter were flat compared to the first quarter, but the characteristics of the stockpile ore that was processed negatively impacted copper recoveries. Combined unit operating costs in the second quarter was 17% lower than the first quarter, primarily due to lower operating costs as a result of constrained activity during the temporary suspension and significantly reduced mining costs during the quarter. We also deferred a second quarter plant maintenance shutdown from May to the third quarter as a result of proactive plant maintenance completed during the 8-week temporary suspension.

I would like to commend our Constancia team who have done a tremendous job ramping up operations while adhering to enhanced health and safety protocols in an extremely challenging COVID-19 environment in Peru. As you are aware, in response to the uncertainty around the ongoing pandemic and the resulting temporary suspension of operations at Constancia earlier this year, we suspended our previously issued 2020 guidance for Peru operations.

Following the full resumption of Constancia mining and milling operations, we are now in a position to be able to issue updated 2020 guidance for Peru. The situation in Peru, however, remains fluid. The state of emergency first declared by the government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 15 has since been extended to August 31, and there remains a risk of further disruptions to mining operations. We are actively monitoring the situation and any potential future impact on Constancia's operations. The updated annual production and operating cost guidance, along with capital and exploration expenditure forecasts are presented in the table on Slide 7.

The updated Peru guidance assumes we are able to continue to safely operate for the remainder of the year while adhering to all existing health protocols required by the Peruvian government. Our Manitoba operations are on track to achieve the guidance ranges, and therefore, the guidance remains unchanged from previously disclosed expectations. The revised production guidance for Peru reflects a reduction of approximately 15,000 to 20,000 tonnes of copper and 20,000 ounces of precious metals compared to the original guidance. This reduction reflects the lost production during the 8-week temporary suspension at Constancia in addition to revised mine plans for the remainder of the year and the resulting deferral of some higher-grade ore into 2021. Precious Metals production also reflects the revised expected Pampacancha production start date of early 2021 compared to the second half of 2020 previously. This is due to the COVID-19 related government declared state of emergency in Peru and the resulting impact on the Consulta Previa consultation process. Peru's sustaining capital of $80 million reflects the deferral of approximately $20 million into 2021 due to the resequencing of capital activities such as tailings and capitalized stripping. The revised unit cost guidance for Peru reflect lower mining costs during the gradual ramp-up of mining activities in the quarter. There was no change to exploration guidance. Peru's growth capital of $70 million includes initial expenditures for developing the Pampacancha deposit and acquiring surface rights from the local community, but excludes the costs associated with recognizing the current uses of the land by certain community members. We have made significant progress with these individual land user agreements and have approximately 2/3 completed to date with the remaining agreements expected to be completed during the third quarter of 2020. Similarly, we have also made progress with the land clearing activities, and approximately 1/3 of the land has been vacated and turned over to Hudbay.

As discussed last quarter, we have demonstrated significant value in our Snow Lake gold business through executing Phase I and Phase 2 of our Snow Lake gold strategy, as highlighted on Slide 8. Phase I was announced in February of 2019 after several years of detailed drilling and economic trade-off studies, which resulted in a 65% increase in gold reserves at Lalor and determined that the refurbishment of the New Britannia gold mill was the optimal processing solution for Lalor's gold ore. It was through this first phase that we repositioned Lalor as a gold mine with previous -- with Precious Metals contributing a majority of the life of mine revenues. We then spent the next 12 months optimizing Lalor's mine plan, drilling the in mine exploration targets and conducting advanced engineering studies on the regional deposits, WIM and 3 Zone. And in March of 2020, we unveiled the second phase of our Snow Lake gold strategy, which further increased the gold reserves by 35% to 2.2 million ounces, increased Lalor's life of mine gold production by 41% and extended the mine life of the Snow Lake operations to 18 years.

Slide 8 also highlights the third phase of our Snow Lake gold strategy focused on further expansion potential, and I'll touch on this in a few moments.

Slide 9 demonstrates that 2020 has been the year of executing our Snow Lake gold strategy. After releasing the enhanced second phase of our plan, we were able to unlock the value of future gold ounces through the recent gold prepaid transaction. This transaction fully funded the New Britannia refurbishment costs and positioned us well for continuing to execute on our plan. In preparation for the restart of the New Britannia mills, in the first half of 2020, we commenced underground development and early mining of the gold zone. Gold production from Lalor is expected to be 74,000 ounces in 2020 and 102,000 ounces in 2021. In 2022, upon completion of the New Britannia mill refurbishment, average annual gold production from Lalor is expected to increase to over 150,000 ounces at cash costs and sustaining cash costs net of by-product credits of approximately $480 and $655 per ounce, respectively, during the first 8 years. We believe there is potential to further increase the annual production and extend mine life through several upside opportunities, as summarized on Slide 9.

We are examining the potential to further optimize both the Stall and New Britannia mills, which could create additional value for the regional deposits we have in Snow Lake, such as the 1901 Deposit. At the Stall mill, we are initiating studies to examine the potential to increase gold and copper recoveries and will also be completing studies to potentially expand the New Britannia mill capacity beyond the current planned 1,500 tonnes per day. We expect to complete these economic studies in the first half of 2021 as we execute the third phase of our Snow Lake gold strategy.

Slide 10 highlights the progress we've made at the New Britannia mill over the last few months. Detailed engineering is currently approximately 90% complete, procurement is 65% complete, and construction activities are approximately 25% complete to date. On the procurement side, we have placed orders for 100% of the long lead items and we are pleased to say that there hasn't been any impact on the supply chain due to COVID-19. Construction of the pipeline between the New Britannia and Stall mills continues as planned. We broke ground at the New Britannia site with the start of construction for the new copper flotation building in May. Also, repairs to the New Britannia mill building are underway and this includes items such as repairs to the carbon in leach tanks, demolition of stairs and cladding and placement of the grounding grid for the electric building. Refurbishment activities are on track to be completed within 12 months, in August 2021 with plant commissioning and ramp up expected during the second half of 2021.

We are also pleased to report that through our expertise in project development and the advancement of the detailed engineering work, we have identified the potential to produce gold from the New Britannia mill earlier than expected in 2021. The team is exploring this early gold opportunity, and we expect to provide an update in the third quarter. The significant gold exposure from Hudbay's Snow Lake gold build business offers investors an attractive balance between growing gold cash flows and a stable low-cost copper business through the other key assets in our portfolio.

On Slide 11, we sensitized the expected annual cash flows or gross margin from Snow Lake gold at various gold prices. For example, at a gold price of $1,600, Snow Lake gold is expected to generate approximately $200 million in annual gross margin, and this would increase to over $240 million at the current spot gold price of approximately $1,900. Given that Lalor is located in one of the best mining jurisdictions and there's a high-quality, low-cost asset already in production, there remains a significant opportunity to unlock further value for Snow Lake gold within Hudbay. Lalor is not unlike other polymetallic mines in Canada, where the BMS deposit is characterized by base metal zones that are mined in the early years, followed by higher value gold zones that transform the mine into a primary gold asset. We are excited about this value potential, and we believe as we continue to execute our Snow Lake gold strategy, we will create value for all of our stakeholders. This quarter, we also announced an updated resource estimate for the 1901 Deposit, which was discovered in February of 2019 and is located near the Lalor mine in Snow Lake. This resource update was planned as part of Phase III of our Snow Lake gold strategy. This past winter, we completed a drill program to upgrade the classification of a significant portion of the previously reported 2019 inferred resources and to define an initial inferred resource estimate for the gold mineralization that had been intersected near the 2 zinc rich lenses. You will recall that 1901 is located halfway between the former Chisel North mine and the Lalor mine, and it is less than 1,000 meters away from an active underground ramp as outlined on Slide 12.

It is within 15 kilometers trucking distance of both the Stall and New Britannia processing facilities, and the property is 100% owned by us, free of any royalties or streams. The mineralization is similar to Lalor with zinc rich VMS lenses containing high-grade gold lenses and indication of a copper-gold rich feeder zone. The updated measured and indicated resources for the base metal zone are shown in the table on Slide 12 and are equivalent to 100% of initial tonnage in the 2019 inferred resource estimate. The zinc grade is 12% lower, but the gold grade in base metal zone has more than doubled.

The 2020 drilling program was successful in defining an initial inferred resource estimate for the gold zone of 500,000 tonnes at 6.8 grams per tonne gold. Total gold resources have significantly increased with 120,000 -- 122,000 ounces in measured and indicated and 137,000 ounces in inferred compared to a total of 58,000 ounces previously, which continues to demonstrate the gold potential of the Snow Lake camp. The methodology we use to estimate the 1901 mineral resources is identical to the approach we use for the Lalor mine, which constrains the resource within a stope optimization envelope. This conservative approach to resource estimation is expected to lead to a higher mineral resource to reserve conversion factor. There remain opportunities for extension and additional conversion of mineral resource estimates at the 1901 Deposit. We are actively pursuing engineering activities to develop a robust economic mine plan for 1901 that could supplement the production from Lalor to take advantage of the future full processing capabilities of our mills in the Snow Lake region. We expect to complete a pre-feasibility study on 1901 in the first half of 2021.

The northern and eastern part of the deposit remain open. As shown on Slide 13, we have also identified additional exploration drill targets located between the 1901 and Lalor deposits that remain to be tested. In addition, recent drilling has identified several high-grade copper gold zones that have not been included in the current resource estimates due to limited drilling density.

Looking at the many mines we've discovered and operated in the Flin Flon and Snow Lake camps, we have a strong track record of significantly expanding the reserves of these VMS deposits, as shown on Slide 14. The 1901 Deposit is exhibiting the same characteristics as Lalor, and we will continue exploring this deposit with another drill program planned for early next year. And as our history suggests, this should translate to increased production and increased mine life for the Snow Lake operations.

I'll conclude today's presentation with an overview of the low risk, high-return strategic priorities we expect to deliver in the next 12 to 18 months as summarized on Slides 15 and 16. We've touched on a number of these catalysts today, such as the New Britannia mill refurbishment milestones, a new gold zone and upgraded resource estimates at the 1901 Deposit, the Stall mill recovery improvement program and the potential to expand the New Britannia mill beyond 1,500 tonnes per day. As mentioned earlier, we are making significant progress on Pampacancha and anticipate mining early in the new year, which is expected to significantly increase cash flow from Constancia due to higher copper and gold grades. We also expect to advance exploration activities on our regional properties near Constancia. After reaching an exploration agreement with the Quehuincha community in early 2019 and subsequently completing the Consulta Previa process, we are on track to commence our planned drill program in the fall of 2020 to test a high-grade skarn target on the Quehuincha North property. The follow-up drilling program on the previously disclosed Constancia North intersections continues to test a possible extension of copper porphyry and high-grade skarn mineralization occurring within 300 meters of the edge of the current Constancia pit. We expect to have the results from this drilling program in the third quarter of 2020. The Rosemont appeal process continues to move forward. In June, we filed our initial brief alongside the U.S. government with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in relation to the July 2019 district court decision. Both Hudbay and the U.S. government emphasized that current law broadly authorizes mining-related activities such as ore processing and tailing storage to be conducted on open forest service lands. The district court's determination that the forest services mining regulations do not apply to mining activities unless those activities are conducted entirely on valid mining trains is contrary to plain language reading of the general mining law. It also contradicts forest service regulations, which explicitly allow for mining-related activity to occur on land, not covered by any mining claim. It is expected that a decision at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will be made before the end of 2021.

And lastly, we continue our infill exploration program at Lalor to convert additional resources to reserves in addition to testing areas of potential extension at Lalor. We expect to provide an updated mineral reserve and resource statement for Lalor with our annual plan -- with our annual update in March of 2021. We have made significant progress advancing our various organic growth initiatives and we believe we are well positioned to deliver on a number of near-term and longer-term catalysts. We knew 2020 was a year of investment at Hudbay, and these high-return investments will pay off next year as we increase cash flows and create value for all of our shareholders.

And with that, I'm now happy to take your questions.

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Questions and Answers

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Operator [1]

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(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Fahad Tariq of Crdit Suisse.

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Fahad Tariq, Crdit Suisse AG, Research Division - Research Analyst [2]

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Maybe first on Manitoba. You mentioned that there is potential to produce gold from New Britannia before 2021. I'm just trying to figure out what's the upside from the 100,000 ounces base case next year? Like how much more could it be versus that?

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Peter Gerald Jan Kukielski, Hudbay Minerals Inc. - President, CEO & Director [3]

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Tariq, thanks very much for the question. It's a good question. So we're not really yet to provide numbers on that. We are advancing the work pretty significantly, and we expect to have a lot more information on this next quarter. But Cashel, do you want to provide any other insight?

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Cashel Aran Meagher, Hudbay Minerals Inc. - Senior VP & COO [4]

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Yes. So I think the way to look at it is the New Britannia mill itself is a refurbishment, whereas the copper flotation building is a new build, and we saw the opportunity to advance in the schedule, the completing of the refurbishment, which would allow us to mill some of our higher grade gold zone 25 in advance of the completion of the copper floatation building. And so as you can imagine, with that opportunity, we need to change the sequencing of what we might be mining next year to be able to deliver zone 25 earlier. While it's pretty developed, the stope sequencing would be that. So in the next quarter, we hope to be able to give a more direct answer of what we had previously disclosed as 2021 ounces produced at Manitoba. It will be increased, and we'll be able to give you that in the next quarter the amount it will increase.

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Fahad Tariq, Crdit Suisse AG, Research Division - Research Analyst [5]

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Okay. And maybe just switching gears to Peru. At Constancia, my understanding is there's no positive COVID indicators right now, but Peru, unfortunately, seems to be a bit of a hotspot for COVID. And even among some of your mining peers, there's been some outbreaks. So I'm wondering if you -- if the government were to impose further restrictions that -- and Constancia have to shut down again, what are levels of stockpiles? And how do the stockpile grades compared to the fresh ore?

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Peter Gerald Jan Kukielski, Hudbay Minerals Inc. - President, CEO & Director [6]

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Tariq, I'm not sure how much worse it's going to get in Peru. Peru, as you know, is pretty bad right now. And we have very, very, very strong proportions in place in order to prevent the pandemic from coming to the mine. I think you're aware that we hotel all of our personnel in either Cusco and Arequipa and we tested for COVID during a period of quarantine so that it doesn't get up to the mine. And this is quite consistent with the requirements of the Peruvian government. We feel that it is likely that we will not -- we will not experience another shutdown. If we do, it will likely be in similar form to the previous one because we would stop milling at that stage if we are required to shut down. But the stockpiles are a little bit higher in zinc and lead, which is effectively what constraints or reduces the recoveries that we experienced. But of course, those stockpiles are limited. Cashel, do you want to cover further on that?

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Cashel Aran Meagher, Hudbay Minerals Inc. - Senior VP & COO [7]

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I think that covers most of it, Peter. Maybe I'd add that those precautions we have with COVID to date have worked extremely well. In fact, we increased our workforce over the last couple of weeks to accommodate some shutdown maintenance work, and that was completed successfully. And we now sort of have a system whereby the workers themselves are on-site for longer shift rotations. And so we've mitigated a lot of this. A lot of our peers too also have done this. It took a while to be able to manage to this current sort of new normal. We call it a new normal, and we're operating under those parameters.

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Operator [8]

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Our next question comes from Orest Wowkodaw of Scotiabank.

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Orest Wowkodaw, Scotiabank Global Banking and Markets, Research Division - Senior Equity Research Analyst of Base Metals [9]

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In February, you issued multiyear guidance, and I'm just curious, at the time you had issued 2021 production guidance for Constancia of 80,000 to 100,000 tonnes copper and 85,000 to 100,000 ounces of total Precious Metals. I'm just wondering how that may have changed with some of the delays at Pampacancha pushing to the first quarter of '21, I guess, partially offset by some of the higher-grade material from this year being pushed from the main pit into '21. Are those guidance ranges still valid?

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Peter Gerald Jan Kukielski, Hudbay Minerals Inc. - President, CEO & Director [10]

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Orest, thanks for the question. I would suggest that they still are because -- so effectively, what we're doing is we're just pushing out the plan by a couple of months. We did mine -- we did use a bunch of stockpiled material which is why you've seen lower recoveries during the quarter. But I would suggest that because the Pampacancha ore is of lower-grade initially, we should essentially just be pushing it out a couple of months.

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Orest Wowkodaw, Scotiabank Global Banking and Markets, Research Division - Senior Equity Research Analyst of Base Metals [11]

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Okay. That's great. And then just curious on Manitoba. I mean with gold continuing to run up, maybe except for yesterday, does that in any way change your thinking strategically in terms of potentially monetizing Manitoba, whether just perhaps some thought of advancing that strategic move?

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Peter Gerald Jan Kukielski, Hudbay Minerals Inc. - President, CEO & Director [12]

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Orest, always a good question. Look, we're very much a business in transition, and we're in execution mode right now. And our focus is 100% on executing our Snow Lake gold strategy by delivering New Britannia on time and on budget, which we think generates significant value for us and for our shareholders. The investments in the [New Brit] generates a 25% after tax IRR at 1,500 gold. So we just think that's the right thing to do, stay focused on that, absolutely focused on that and then deliver on it and we will maximize value by doing that and we'll worry about what we do with the (inaudible) at a later point.

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Orest Wowkodaw, Scotiabank Global Banking and Markets, Research Division - Senior Equity Research Analyst of Base Metals [13]

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Okay. And then just finally, I've noticed your environmental provisions in terms of liability on the balance sheet has increased materially again this quarter. Is that -- the year-to-date increase, is that purely a function of just lower discount rates? I'm just curious what's going on there and how much of that is Manitoba?

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Link:
Edited Transcript of HBM.TO earnings conference call or presentation 12-Aug-20 12:30pm GMT - Yahoo Finance

The Public Service Association (PSA) says that any increase in hazard reduction or land clearing targets, must be managed by a paid and permanent workforce.

The PSA is calling on the NSW government to end its over-reliance on volunteers to prepare for and fight bushfires.

General secretary fo the PSA Stewart Little says that NSW will face another Black Summer climate change guarantees this. Is it fair to keep relying on a temporary, unpaid workforce to be preparing and responding to these future catastrophes?

This Black Summer we saw the consequence of staffing cuts and a lack of investment in our bushfire preparedness.

The RFS went into a catastrophic bushfire season with a fifth of its permanent roles unfilled, because of budgetary pressures. NPWS is responsible for 75% of the states hazard reduction, but its firefighting workforce has shrunk by a third in less than a decade.

The reduction to National Parks firefighting staff include remote area firefighters, who play the vital role of chasing remote lightning strikes before they spread out of control.

The union, which represents the professional staff of the Rural Fire Service, as well as park rangers and Forestry Corp staff, says the state urgently needs 1000 permanent firefighting staff to reverse a decade worth of cuts and to begin properly preparing NSW for future bushfire risks.

These would be paid, secure regional jobs which would keep communities safe. If the government is serious about keeping regional NSW safe they must demand permanent firefighting skilled staff, rather than try and shift more responsibility onto farmers and private landowners to clear land and manage hazard reduction.

In its submission to theNSW Independent Bushfire Inquiry, the union also called for more aircraft and better equipment for those on the front line of bushfires.

Keeping the community together and the community voice loud and clear is what The Echo is about. More than ever we need your help to keep this voice alive and thriving in the community.

Like all businesses we are struggling to keep food on the table of all our local and hard working journalists, artists, sales, delivery and drudges who keep the news coming out to you both in the newspaper and online. If you can spare a few dollars a week or maybe more we would appreciate all the support you are able to give to keep the voice of independent, local journalism alive.

More here:
NSW needs 1000 new firefighting workers to avoid another Black Summer - Echonetdaily

Goats Cleaning Out Overgrowth in Asbury Farm

These goats here have been working hard munching down this grass along the edge of the Asbury farm neighborhood on the east side of mason city.

Way to clear brush and overgrowth - having goats munch on it to clear it out.

And currently - that's going on in one mason city neighborhood.

Live kimt news 3's alex jirgens is with the goats now.

Alex - how are they panning out?xxx goats-live vo-2 amy - these goats here have been working hard - munching down this grass along the edge of the asbury farm neighborhood on the east side of mason city.

Goats-live vo-1 lowerthird2line:goats clearing out overgrowth in asbury farm mason city, ia these goats have had a busy season so far - and are typically chewing on grass from end of april through september.

Recently - the asbury farm homeowners association got in touch with get your goat overgrowth specialists to clear out invasive shrubs and grass in their prairie areas along birch drive.

Deb paschal with get your goat says they serve as a great way to clear out this old overgrowth.

.xxx goats-live sot-1 "it gives people a chance to see what they need to cut.

A lot of times it's so overgrown you don't even know what you have in there.

The goats go in there and clean it up, and there's tree trunks left so they can go in and cut those down."

Goats-live sot-3 if you're wondering where you might have seen these goats - they've cleaned up areas along clear lake - and the pebble creek reservoir.

Live in mason city-alex jirgens kimt news 3 thank you alex.

Paschal notes that it is cost effective to use goats for land clearing - and is environmentall y friendly / coronavirus

Read more here:
Goats Cleaning Out Overgrowth in Asbury Farm - One News Page

A Lanarkshire farmer has had to pay 2,000 to clean up two tonnes of raw meat waste which was dumped on his land.

Davy Shanks stumbled across the disgusting discovery in one of the worst fly tipping incidents to hit Scotland recently.

NFU Scotland and Scottish Land & Estates (SLE) said the incident was 'frustrating and heart-breaking'.

The waste was dumped from a public road, over the side of a bridge - creating both a health risk and an environmental incident.

Despite repeated calls to North Lanarkshire Council for assistance, Mr Shanks was left with organising and paying for the clean-up costs.

North Lanarkshire Council agreed to a 24-hour road closure which allowed Mr Shanks to shovel the rotting butchery waste into plastic tubs to be lifted and disposed of by a local waste disposal firm.

Mr Shanks used his own staff and local environmental cleaning company Greenerleaf to clear up, but because the process took place at the weekend, overtime pay was also incurred.

The clear up operation lasted four hours, and no compensation for Mr Shanks is available.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) are investigating the incident just off the A73 Stirling Road near Brackenhirst Farm. An appeal for information has been issued.

Mr Shanks said it was 'ridiculous' that he was held responsible for someone elses waste simply because it was dumped on his land.

Other than agreeing to the road closure, I received little support from my local authority and, disappointingly, despite the seriousness of the incident they failed to return my calls," he said.

This is a fly-tipping hotspot on a public road. We have had couches, beds and pallets tipped over the side of the bridge on numerous occasions, but this was the first time we have seen food waste dumped, creating an environmental hazard."

Mr Shanks said that until the local authority fenced the bridge or introduced CCTV, these incidents would continue to happen.

He added there was a case for some of the costs of clearing up to be covered by local authorities rather than farmers and landowners.

And since lockdown, fly-tipping has increased 'ten-fold': "We now use a phone app which sends an alert to the relevant council of any new incident," he said.

"We have seen numerous different episodes of fly tipping, more so during lockdown, these have been logged and photographs sent to the app of which only a few have ever been lifted.

"We have a burnt-out pick-up sitting in a gateway since March which we have reported but the council response is that they have no resources available to lift it.

Here is the original post:
Farmer pays 2000 to clean up two tonnes of raw meat waste - FarmingUK

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) The impact of a wind storm that tore through the Midwest continued to grow Wednesday, as widespread power outages kept businesses closed, limited communication, spoiled food and caused long lines at gas stations.

The rare storm known as a derecho hit Monday, devastating parts of the power grid, flattening valuable corn fields and killing at least two people. It produced winds of up to 112 mph near Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and toppled trees, snapped poles, downed power lines and tore off roofs from eastern Nebraska to Indiana.

It feels like we got kicked in the teeth pretty good, said Dale Todd, a member of Cedar Rapids' city council. Recovery will be methodical, and slow. But right now, everybody is working to ensure the critical services are restored.

Todd said the city's response has been complicated by the challenge of communicating with people who have no power, which means they have limited access to internet, TV and phone service.

Across the city of 133,000 people, residents emptied their refrigerators and freezers as their food spoiled, waited at gas stations for an hour or longer to fill up their cars and gas cans, and worked to clear up fallen trees.

Cedar Rapids spokesman Greg Buelow said several patients reported to hospitals with chainsaw injuries acquired while removing tree debris. Scores of others who are on oxygen tanks and need nebulizer treatments have gone to hospitals for help, he said.

In addition, firefighters responded to two fires Wednesday morning that were started by power generators that were too close to homes, he said.

Crews throughout the region have been working around the clock to restore electricity, but theyve been hindered by downed trees blocking roads or on top of power lines. Those trees must be removed before power can be restored.

The derecho produced seven tornadoes in the Chicago metropolitan area, including an EF-1 tornado with 110 mph winds that hit the Rogers Park neighborhood on the citys north side before moving onto Lake Michigan as a waterspout, the National Weather Service said.

That storm left damage along a 3-mile-long (4.8-kilometer-long) path and was the first tornado of at least EF-1 strength to strike Chicago since May 1983, the weather service said.

Another EF-1 tornado knocked over the iconic white steeple atop College Church in the Chicago suburb of Wheaton. A crew used a crane to remove the steeple Tuesday and on Wednesday workers started repairs to the 1935 church buildings roof.

The weather service also confirmed two tornadoes in southern Wisconsin and two in northern Indiana, including an EF-1 that swept the rural community of Wakarusa, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of South Bend.

Alliant Energy said about 176,000 of its customers are without power, and half of those are in the Cedar Rapids area. MidAmerican Energy said about 139,000 of its Iowa and Illinois customers remain without power, half them in the Des Moines area.

As of late Wednesday morning, ComEd reported that about 200,000 of its Chicago-area customers remained without power. Northern Indiana Public Service Co. reported about 18,500 of its Indiana customers were still in the dark.

Mediacom said Wednesday that it has restored internet service to about half of the 340,000 customers that were offline a day earlier in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. But many others may be without service until their power is restored, a process that could still take days.

Some fuel terminals were also knocked offline and many gas stations have been closed due to power outages. Meanwhile, demand for gas to fuel generators, chainsaws and vehicles has spiked, leading to long lines at stores that sell gas.

The storm caused extensive crop damage in the nation's No. 1 corn-producing state as it tore across Iowa's center from west to east.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said Tuesday that about 10 million acres of Iowas nearly 31 million acres of agricultural land sustained damage. About 24 million acres of that is typically planted primarily with corn and soybeans.

In addition, tens of millions of bushels of grain that were stored at co-ops and on farms were damaged or destroyed when bins blew away.

The only known death in Iowa was a 63-year-old bicyclist who was hit by one of several large trees that fell on a bike path outside Cedar Rapids. In Fort Wayne, Indiana, the storm killed a 73-year-old woman who was found clutching a young boy in her storm-battered mobile home.

Many businesses, including banks, restaurants and a major corn processing plant in Cedar Rapids, remained closed Wednesday due to power outages.

The Cedar Rapids school district said it was considering pushing back this month's start date after over 20 of its buildings suffered roof and other structural damage.

State Sen. Liz Mathis said she took cover in the basement of her suburban Cedar Rapids home Monday as the storm battered her neighborhood for 45 minutes. She said pictures fell off the wall, water seeped in through windows and she worried the glass would blow in and injure her.

Mathis said the devastation is widespread across her district, and the tree damage is unreal. A local utility official told Mathis on Wednesday that it could be a week before everyone has power restored.

The cities are going to look much different without the trees and its going to take a while to recover from this, she said.

___

Associated Press reporters Dave Pitt in Des Moines and Rick Callahan in Indianapolis contributed to this report.

See original here:
Hundreds of thousands without power days after Midwest storm - Albany Times Union

Tropical rainforests have an outsized role in the world. Of the Earths ecosystems, rainforests support the largest variety of plants and animal species, house the majority of indigenous groups still living in isolation from the rest of humanity, and power the mightiest rivers. Rainforests lock up vast amounts of carbon, moderate local temperature, and influence rainfall and weather patterns at regional and planetary scales.

Despite their importance however, deforestation in the worlds tropical forests has remained persistently high since the 1980s due to rising human demand for food, fiber, and fuel and the failure to recognize the value of forests as healthy and productive ecosystems. Since 2002, an average of 3.2 million hectares of primary tropical foreststhe most biodiverse and carbon-dense type of foresthave been destroyed per year. An even larger area of secondary forest is cleared or degraded.

In recognition of World Rainforest Day 2020, which was launched in 2017 by Rainforest Partnership, below is a brief look at the state of the worlds largest remaining tropical rainforests.

Note: All figures below are based on 2020 data from the University of Maryland (UMD) and World Resources Institute (WRI) using a 30% canopy cover threshold. Tree cover loss does not account for regrowth, reforestation, or afforestation.

The Amazon is the worlds largest and best known tropical rainforest. As measured by primary forest extent, the Amazon rainforest is more than three times larger than that of the Congo Basin, the worlds second largest rainforest. The Amazon rainforest accounts for just over a third of tree cover across the tropics.

The Amazon River, which drains an area nearly the size of the forty-eight contiguous United States, is the worlds biggest river. It carries more than five times the volume of the Congo or twelve times that of the Mississippi. By one estimate, 70% of South Americas GDP is produced in areas that receive rainfall generated by the Amazon rainforest. This includes South Americas agricultural breadbasket and some of its largest cities.

Due to its size, the Amazon leads all tropical forest areas in terms of its annual area of forest loss. Between 2002 and 2019, more than 30 million hectares of primary forest was cleared in the region, or about half the worlds total tropical primary forest loss during that period.

The Amazon is thought to house more than half the worlds uncontacted tribes living in voluntary isolation from the rest of humanity. However the vast majority of indigenous peoples in the Amazon live in cities, towns, and villages.

Extent: 628 million hectares of tree cover, including 526 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: About 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest lies within the borders of Brazil; the balance is found in parts of Peru (13%), Colombia (8%), Venezuela (6%), Bolivia (6%), Guyana (3%), Ecuador (2%), and Suriname (2%), as well as French Guiana (1%), a department of France.

Most famous species: Jaguar; tapir; capybara; river dolphins; various monkeys and parrots. Bulk numbers: more than 40,000 plant species, including 16,000 tree species; 3,000 fish; 1,300 birds, 1,000 amphibians; 430 mammals, and 400 reptiles.

Deforestation trend: Rising in most countries, led by Brazil. The Amazon lost over 30 million hectares of primary forest (5.5% of the 2001 extent) and 44.5 million hectares of tree cover (6.6%) between 2002 and 2019.

The second largest block of tropical rainforest is found in the Congo Basin, which drains an area of 3.7 million square kilometers. The majority of the Congo rainforest lies within the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which accounts for 60 percent of Central Africas lowland primary forest. Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Equatorial Guinea account for nearly all the rest of the Congo Basin rainforest.

Until the early 2010s, deforestation in the Congo Basin was relatively low. War and chronic political instability, poor infrastructure, and lack of large-scale industrial agriculture help limit forest loss in the region. Most deforestation was driven by subsistence activities, though degradation due to logging was substantial. The situation is changing however: deforestation has been trending sharply upward in recent years.

Extent: 288 million hectares of tree cover, including 168 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (60% of the Congos primary forest), Gabon (13%), Republic of the Congo (12%), Cameroon (10%), Central African Republic (3%), and Equatorial Guinea (1%).

Most famous species: Forest elephants; okapi; great apes including gorillas, bonobos, and chimps.

Deforestation trend: Deforestation is rising rapidly though it remains lower on a percentage basis than other major forest regions. The Congo lost over 6 million hectares of primary forest (3.5% of the 2001 extent) and 13.5 million hectares of tree cover (4.5%) between 2002 and 2019.

The Australiasian rainforest includes tropical forests on the island of New Guinea and northeastern Australia as well as scattered islands that were connected when sea levels dropped during that last ice age. As a consequence of this linkage, both land masses have common assemblages of plants and animals, while conspicuously lacking groups found on islands further west. For example, cats, monkeys, and civets are absent from New Guinea and Australia, but both have an unusually high diversity of marsupials like kangaroos, wallabies, cuscuses, and opossums.

Virtually all this regions primary tropical rainforest is on the island of New Guinea, which is roughly split between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

New Guinea is the most linguistically diverse island on the planet with some 800 languages. There are believed to be a few uncontacted groups in remote parts of New Guinea.

Among major forest areas, Australiasia had the second lowest rate of primary forest loss since 2001, but deforestation is trending upward due to logging and conversion for plantations.

Extent: 89 million hectares of tree cover, including 64 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua (51% of the regions primary forest), Papua New Guinea (49%), and Australia (under 1%).

Most famous species: Tree kangaroos; cassowaries; giant ground pigeons; saltwater crocodiles.

Deforestation trend: Deforestation is rising rapidly due to plantation agriculture, especially oil palm. The Indonesian part of New Guinea lost 605,000 hectares of primary forest since 2002 (1.8% of its 2001 cover), while PNG lost 732,000 hectares (2.2%). New Guinea is seen as the last frontier for large-scale agroindustrial expansion in Indonesia.

Sundaland includes the islands of Borneo, Sumatra, and Java, among others as well as Peninsular Malaysia. Most of the regions remaining forest is on the island of Borneo, which is divided politically between Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.

Sundaland lost the worlds largest share of primary forest cover between 2002 and 2019. Borneo lost 15% of such forests, while Sumatra lost 25%. Deforestation for oil palm and timber plantations, as well as fires set for land-clearing, are the biggest drivers of deforestation. However deforestation has been slowing since the mid-2010s.

Extent: 103 million hectares of tree cover, including 51 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: Indonesia (73% of the regions primary forest cover) and Malaysia (26%). Brunei and Singapore have less than 1% of the regions forests.

Most famous species: Elephants; orangutans; two species of rhino; tigers; various hornbill and monkey species.

Deforestation trend: Deforestation is the highest of any major forest region, but trending downward. Between 2002 and 2019, Borneo lost 5.8 million hectares of primary forest (15% of 2001 cover), Sumatra 3.8 million hectares (25%), and Peninsular Malaysia 726,000 hectares (14%). Indonesia accounted for 75% of primary forest loss in the region, compared with 25% for Malaysia.

The Indo-Burma region includes a mix of tropical forest types, from mangroves to lowland rainforests to seasonal forests. Historical large-scale forest loss due to human population pressure means that surviving forests in this region are more fragmented than other regions mentioned so far. Most of the regions tree cover consists of plantations, crops, and secondary forests.

The largest extent of primary forests in this region are in Myanmar, which has about one-third of the total area.

Indo-Burma lost about 8% of its primary forests and 12% of its tree cover since 2001. Cambodia accounted for more than a third of the regions primary forest loss during this period.

Extent: 139 million hectares of tree cover, including 40 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: Myanmar (34% of the regions primary forest cover), Laos (19%), Vietnam (15%), Thailand (14%), Cambodia (8%), far eastern India (6%), and parts of southern China (4%).

Most famous species: Elephants; two species of rhino; tigers; gibbons; leopards.

Deforestation trend: The rate of primary forest loss was roughly flat over the past 20 years, while tree cover loss is accelerating. Cambodia accounted for 34% of primary forest loss, followed by Laos (21%), Vietnam (18%), and Myanmar (16%). Cambodia lost over 28% of its 2001 primary forest cover over the period as natural forests were increasingly converted to plantations and industrial projects.

Mesoamerican rainforests extend from southern Mexico to southern Panama. Costa Ricas rainforests are arguably the best known in the region thanks to its world-famous ecotourism industry, but the country ranks fifth in terms of primary forest cover.

Extent: 51 million hectares of tree cover, including 16 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: Mexico (39% of Mesoamericas primary forest cover), Guatemala (13%), Honduras (11%), Panama (11%), Nicaragua (10%), and Costa Rica (9%).

Most famous species: Jaguar; puma; tapir; peccary.

Deforestation trend: The rate of primary forest loss and tree cover loss accelerated toward the end of the 2010s driven by increasing incidence of fire, coupled with conversion of forests for cattle pasture, plantations, and smallholder agriculture. Mexico (534,000 hectares of primary forest loss), Guatemala (480,000), and Nicaragua (460,000) lost the greatest area of primary forest between 2002 and 2019. Costa Rica lost less than 2% of its primary forest during the period. In contrast, Nicaragua lost nearly 30%.

Wallacea represents a biogeographic oddity. When sea levels fell during the last ice age, islands to the west of this area joined continental Asia, while islands to the east got connected to land mass formed from Australia and New Guinea. As a result, Wallacea today has an unusual mix of species, drawing plant and animal groups from both regions, but also having high levels of endemism.

Extent: 24.4 million hectares of tree cover, including 14.6 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: Indonesia. More than 60% of Wallaceas primary forest cover is on the island of Sulawesi. The Maluku islands account for 34%.

Most famous species: Babirusa; tarsiers and various monkeys; hornbills; cuscuses.

Deforestation trend: The rate of primary forest loss and tree cover loss jumped in 2015 and 2016 following a particularly bad fire season. Deforestation for industrial plantations, including oil palm and coconut, increased in the 2010s.

The Guinean Forests of West Africa consists of the lowland tropical forests that extend from Liberia and Sierra Leone to the Nigeria-Cameroon border. These forests have been greatly diminished by agriculture, including subsistence farming by small-holders and commercial cacao, timber, and oil palm plantations.

Extent: 42 million hectares of tree cover, including 10.2 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: Liberia (41% of the regions primary forest cover), Cameroon (17%), Nigeria (17%), Cte dIvoire (10%), and Ghana (10%).

Most famous species: Gorillas and chimps; pygmy hippo; various monkey species.

Deforestation trend: The rate of primary forest loss has been rising since the mid 2000s. Tree cover loss sharply accelerated in the 2010s. While Cte dIvoire accounted for only an eighth of the regions primary forest cover in 2001, it had nearly 40% of total primary forest loss between 2002 and 2019. The country lost about a third of its total primary forests in less than 20 years.

The Atlantic Forest once extended from northeastern Brazil into the hinterlands of Argentina and Paraguay. Today it has been greatly reduced by agriculture and urbanization. Most of the tree cover in this region is crops, plantations, or secondary forests.

Extent: 89 million hectares of tree cover, including 9.3 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: Brazil (86% of the regions primary forest cover), Argentina (9.5%), and Paraguay (4%).

Most famous species: Jaguar; Puma; Golden Lion Tamarin; Howler monkeys.

Deforestation trend: The rate of primary forest loss in the Atlantic Forestknown as the Mata Atlntica in Brazilhas slowed since the 20th century, with annual deforestation remaining relatively flat.

The Choc rainforest extends from southern Panama and along the Pacific Coast of South America through Colombia and Ecuador. It is the worlds wettest rainforest and has the lowest deforestation rate of any of the regions covered in this post. The Choc is home to both Amerindian tribes and Afroindigenous or maroon communities.

Extent: 15.6 million hectares of tree cover, including 8.4 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: Colombia (79% of the regions primary forest cover), Panama (13%), and Ecuador (8%).

Most famous species: Jaguar; Puma; various monkeys.

Deforestation trend: Primary forest loss in the Choc amounted to 1.4% of its 2001 extent between 2002 and 2019. Ecuador and Panama accounted for a disproportionately large share of this loss.

This list is limited to the ten largest rainforests. Missing the cut are the forests of the Eastern Himalayas; East Melanesian Islands; the Philippines; Indian Ocean islands, including Madagascar; Eastern Afromontane; the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka; the Caribbean; and Polynesia-Micronesia.

The learn more about rainforests, please see the rainforests section of Mongabay, Mongabay-Kids, our rainforests news feed, or our Rainforests decade in review.

Read more:
The world's great rainforests - Mongabay.com

Australian Greens

The NSW Environment Minister must act upon alarming new evidence by WWF that estimates that 90 percent of some native species were wiped out by bushfires by immediately protecting more threatened species habitat, says Cate Faehrmann, Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment.

The report by Eco-Logical consultants, prepared for WWF Australia, comprises the results of extensive fauna surveys of Gibraltar Range and Torrington State Conservation Area in North-East NSW.

Even before the bushfires, NSW was in the grips of an extinction crisis, but the massive loss of native animals over the summer has pushed our wildlife to the brink, says Ms Faehrmann.

Despite this the Government continues to allow logging of native forests and clearing of threatened species habitat for development, while land clearing on farmland continues virtually unchecked.

The numbers in this report are clear: unless destruction of unburnt threatened species habitat stops, the Premier and Environment Minister are signing death warrants for our precious native animals like the koala.

The Government needs to introduce watertight protections for threatened species habitat now including expanding the national park estate and increasing protection for native vegetation on private land.

We also need to see a massive government stimulus package to restore habitat and create thousands of jobs by employing people to plant trees, restore forests and rehabilitate the land.

The only way to stop some of our most precious native animals becoming extinct is by taking strong action now. Sitting on your hands doing nothing to save our wildlife and their remaining habitat after the bushfires is as good as giving a green light to their extinction, said Ms Faehrmann.

Excerpt from:
Protect More Land After Fires or Face Mass Extinction in NSW - Mirage News

Our system, most specifically members of Congress, have been handed an opportunity to finally get this right. All of us should insist that they do just that, and with all deliberate speed.

Dreamers, by the policy definition of President Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, are people who were brought illegally to the United States from another nation, mostly in Central and South America, when they were children.

They are, by definition, innocent bystanders in our nations bitter and often cruel immigration policy disputes. In general, they are as American as any of us, in many cases speaking only English, fully steeped in American culture. They are students at, or graduates of, our schools and universities, members or veterans of our armed forces, and have no memory of or connections with the land of their birth.

The sitting president has, at times, exhibited sympathy for the plight of the Dreamers and, at other times, shown brutal disdain for their hopes and humanity. His Department of Homeland Security issued a policy order aimed overturning DACA and clearing the way for deporting hundreds of thousands of them to nations where they would be lost and alone.

In its 5-4 ruling Thursday, the court made a point of saying that it was offering no opinion on whether DACA or its reversal was the better policy. The opinion from Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by the four members of the courts liberal wing, was based on the letter of a law requiring such decisions to hew to a set of procedural requirements which, the chief found, the administration failed to do.

The administration did not even consider the fact that many thousands of people living in the United States had made serious life plans -- going to college, launching businesses, starting families -- based on the promise of DACA. Many of them are the essential workers who have powered us through the COVID-19 pandemic, and suffered a disproportionate share of its damage.

Taking away that lifeboat without at least going through the required steps made the removal of DACA, in lawyer-speak, arbitrary and capricious, and therefore void.

The bad news is that the court has provided the administration with a road map to cancel DACA again, and this time make it stick, by laying out the whys and wherefores of its move in a way that will be no less cruel but much better able to stand up to judicial review.

Unless Congress moves quickly to pass a bill making DACA, or policy very much like it, not just an executive pronouncement but the law of the land. Such a bill passed the House of Representatives on a vote of 237-187, but has yet to be taken up by the Senate.

Rep. Ben McAdams, the lone Democrat in the Utah delegation, rightly voted for that measure. Rep. John Curtis joined the two other Republican House members from Utah in opposing it, yet he spoke Thursday of an opportunity to finally resolve the issue.

Utahs senators, Mitt Romney and Mike Lee, have offered little that is hopeful on the matter. Romney has yet to walk back any of his remarks about being more of an immigration hard-liner even than the president. And Lee, as is his wont, is droning on about Obamas executive overreach.

But offering DACA protection, and adding a legal path to citizenship, is an idea supported by the public, by long-time champions of immigration reform such as Utahs former Sen. Orrin Hatch, as well as politicians at all levels and of all ideological stripes and business interests that include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and top management at Apple and Microsoft.

It could be said that the Supreme Court punted on this issue, kicking it back to the democratic process where it belongs. Good.

Now, let us show the wisdom and humanity that democracy is capable of, and welcome the Dreamers, once and for all time.

View post:
Tribune Editorial: Make DACA the law of the land - Salt Lake Tribune

In 11-plus years covering the Yankees, Ive been lucky to chronicle my share of incredible performances, memorable games for reasons good and bad and, yes, the bizarre involving baseballs winningest franchise.

But one entry immediately comes to mind when it comes to craziest of all, and the Yankees were not a part of it.

Instead, we go north of the border for the Jose Bautista bat-flip game, a wild free-for-all of a playoff series-deciding game between the Blue Jays and Rangers at Torontos cacophonous Rogers Centre.

It included a near-riot by the hometown fans, a game protest by the home-team manager, three consecutive errors by the visiting team and a pair of bench-clearing incidents and all of the above occurred in a 53-minute seventh inning that remains difficult to fully or adequately describe.

In October 2015, with the Yankees having been eliminated in the AL wild-card game by Dallas Keuchel and the Astros, I was assigned the ALDS between the AL East-winning Blue Jays and the AL West-winning Rangers.

It was a series for the most part contested in anonymity at least as far as New York was concerned. Appropriately so, as the Mets were about to embark on an impressive postseason run that would land them in the World Series for the first time since 2000.

Rangers-Blue Jays already had a bit of everything before Game 5, including the road team winning each of the first four games.

Torontos reputation as a friendly city is well-earned, but its no secret among visiting teams that all that pleasantness does not extend inside Rogers Centre.

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Certainly not on this Wednesday afternoon, with most of the sellout crowd of 49,742 already in their seats well before the 4:07 p.m. first pitch and creating a din.

The Rangers were not intimidated, and the score was tied at 2 entering the top of the seventh.

Blue Jays righty Aaron Sanchez relieved former Patchogue-Medford High School star Marcus Stroman, who allowed two runs and six hits in six innings, and the Rangers Rougned Odor led off with a single before reaching third with two outs.

With Shin-Soo Choo at bat, Sanchezs 1-and-2 pitch was a ball.

Then, chaos.

Catcher Russell Martins return throw to the mound clipped Choos bat and skipped away. Odor sprinted home and initially was sent back by plate umpire and crew chief Dale Scott.

Rangers manager Jeff Banister, a former minor-league catcher, calmly argued that the ball was live, and, according to little-known Rule 6.03 (a) (3), indeed it was. Scott correctly changed the call and the Rangers led 3-2, prompting an 18-minute on-field argument, accompanied by a torrent of garbage, including water bottles and beer cans, raining down.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons protested the game. More debris from above.

Perhaps impacted by the palpable hostility of the crowd in real time, one couldnt help but wonder just how ugly it might end up being if the Blue Jays lost by that 3-2 score the Rangers shockingly committed three straight errors to load the bases to start the bottom of the seventh.

Toronto pushed the tying run across and righty Sam Dyson came on to face Bautista, who obliterated a 97-mph fastball to leftfield to give the Blue Jays a 6-3 lead. Bautista accentuated the blow with what still is considered the gold standard of bat flips. Rogers Centre resembled the inside of a jet engine, and another hailstorm of refuse, this time in celebration, came from the upper levels.

Dyson and the next batter, Edwin Encarnacion, began jawing, causing a bench-clearing incident. Another followed when, after fouling out to end the inning, Troy Tulowitzki and catcher Chris Gimenez startedyelling at each other.

Somehow, the final two innings were without incident and Toronto was in the ALCS.

Insane was just one of the words used in the victorsclubhouse afterward.

Absolutely crazy, Tulowitzki said.

The craziest.

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.

Read more:
From the Press Box: The Bautista bat-flip game - Newsday

Between Busselton and Bunbury stands Ludlow Tuart Forest, the largest remaining forest of its kind in the world with trees soaring more than 33m into the sky.

But while tall and mighty, the tuarts are facing a conservation crisis, last year listed as critically endangered following decades of land clearing, the timber industry, farming and urban sprawl restricting the population to ever smaller pockets.

Despite the pouring rain last week, volunteers from across the region came out in droves to plant some 50,000 seedlings to restore stands of the iconic South West species.

Organised by the passionate volunteers behind the Ludlow Tuart Forest Restoration Group who last year planted 17,000 seedlings with the help of 400 school children and 100 community members they hope one day the forest will return to its former glory.

Its very significant that this section is protected, president Evelyn Taylor said.

Its the only tuart forest in the world and were down to 3,000ha it was 110,000ha originally so weve used 97 per cent of this forest.

But due to the coronavirus pandemic and associated restrictions, Mrs said they were unable to use school groups and were calling on the community to donate their time over the next couple of weeks to help out.

Vice president Des Donnelly who first came to Ludlow in 1972 as the district forester has been a driving force behind the project and hoped within 10-15 years, tuarts would dominate once more and the weeds that had invaded over the years would take a back seat.

Its going to take 100 years but if we dont start we wont get there.

If we can get the tuarts established all of the other plants that go along with the tuart forest will start to come back. Theres a lot of native plants still here, they just need space to grow and some cover.

Anyone wanting to get involved can contact the Ludlow Tuart Forest Restoration Group on Facebook.

Read more from the original source:
Volunteers called to help plant 50,000 seedlings in fight to conserve Ludlow Tuart Forest - The West Australian