Brazil state seeks 28B reais from Vale; top Tianqi owners plan $400M stake sale

TOP NEWS IN METALS & MINING

* Brazil's Minas Gerais state is seeking at least 28 billion reais as part of a compensation agreement with Vale SA tied to the fatal tailings dam burst at the Feijao iron ore mine, Reuters reported, citing Mateus Simões, the state's secretary general.

* Tianqi Lithium Corp.'s two top shareholders, Chengdu Tianqi Industry Group Co. Ltd. and Zhang Jing, wife of Tianqi chairman Jiang Weiping, intend to sell a total of 4% of their stakes over a six-month period this year to raise about US$400 million to aid the debt-laden company, Reuters reported.

➤ Metals, mining companies gain another 9.6% in market value in December

Despite a pandemic rocking the global economy, the 25 largest metals and mining companies in the world finished the year with a median market value that was 85.9% higher than a year ago.

➤ Geopolitics takes back seat to trade needs in Sichuan Yahua, Tesla lithium deal

Sichuan Yahua Industrial Group Co. Ltd.'s main spodumene supplier, Galaxy Resources Ltd., said the Chinese group's recent lithium deal with Tesla Inc. shows that trade necessities can trump political anxieties, particularly with demand rising.

➤ Uncertainties that drove gold to new highs to remain in 2021 – strategist

Many of the factors that drove gold markets to record highs could continue to push the price higher in 2021, said George Milling-Stanley, the chief gold strategist at State Street Global Advisors, told S&P Global Market Intelligence.

DIVERSIFIED

* BHP Group CEO Mike Henry said female representation at the company has increased to a new high of 26.5%, as part of the mining giant's goal to improve diversity and achieve gender balance across its workforce by 2025, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

BASE METALS

* A Zambian court ruled that a state-appointed liquidator will not be discharged despite a November 2020 ruling that ordered a stop to the liquidation process for Vedanta Resources Ltd. unit Konkola Copper Mines PLC in order to give way for arbitration, Reuters reported.

* Copper prices hit the highest in nearly eight years amid hopes for more U.S. stimulus as Democrats win control of the Senate, Reuters reported.

* Codelco accepted a principal amount of US$397.5 million for purchase of its 4.500% notes due 2025 and a principal amount of US$232.2 million for purchase of its 3.625% notes due 2027 in its recent tender offers.

* The former security chief of the Fenix nickel mine in Guatemala once owned by Hudbay Minerals Inc. pleaded guilty to charges of killing and assaulting Indigenous activists, a development that may impact Hudbay's civil litigation in Canada related to the case, the Financial Post reported.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Endeavour Silver Corp. reported a 25% yearly increase in silver equivalent production to 2.1 million ounces in the fourth quarter of 2020 although full-year output declined 9% to 6.5 million ounces.

* Viscount Mining Corp. granted Centerra Gold Inc. an option to acquire a 70% stake in the Cherry Creek silver project in Nevada over a four-year period.

* Torex Gold Resources Inc. produced 130,640 ounces of gold in the fourth quarter of 2020 to bring its full-year 2020 gold output to 430,480 ounces.

* Two people died while three others were safely rescued after a rockfall occurred at the Vein 25 in the east zone of Trans-Siberian Gold PLC's Asacha gold mine in Russia.

BULK COMMODITIES

* The European Commission imposed provisional anti-dumping duties ranging from 4.8% to 7.6% on imports of certain hot-rolled flat products of iron, non-alloy or other alloy steel from Turkey.

* Market analysis revealed that no coal-laden ships bound for China left Australia's ports in Queensland and New South Wales in December, leaving a bleak possibility of the two countries resuming trade for the commodity in the near term, The Guardian reported.

* Gerdau SA was selected to be part of Brazilian bourse B3's Carbon Efficient Index composed of companies in the Brazil 100 Index committed to efficiency and transparency in managing their greenhouse gas emissions.

SPECIALTY

* Albemarle Corp. plans to invest US$30 million to US$50 million starting 2021 to double the capacity of its Silver Peak lithium operation in Nevada by 2025.

* U.K.'s Crown Estate granted Cornish Lithium Ltd. rights to explore for lithium within geothermal waters off the coast of Cornwall county.

* Indian state-run miner NMDC Ltd. secured clearance to restart its Panna diamond mine after the company's environmental permit expired on Dec. 31, 2020, Hindustan Times reported.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* The Quebec Mining Association welcomed the provincial government's decision to exempt the mining sector from a four-week lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19, Mining Weekly reported.

* Democrats retook the U.S. Senate following Georgia's Jan. 5 runoff election, positioning the party to potentially advance more aggressive climate and clean energy legislation in the 117th Congress.

MARKETS

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