Rusal launches US$1.7B smelter; Hindalco to buy Hydro's Indian extrusion ops

TOP NEWS IN METALS & MINING

* UC Rusal IPJSC launched the first phase of the low-carbon Taishet aluminum smelter in Russia's Siberia region, with a total cost pegged at over US$1.69 billion.

* Hindalco Industries Ltd. agreed to acquire Norsk Hydro ASA's general extrusion operations in India, which includes the Kuppam plant, for US$33 million.

➤ Miners urged to follow tech giants' lead in renewable power to meet targets

Miners with net-zero targets need to focus on more localized renewable energy and trading, according to the co-founder of Power Ledger Pty. Ltd., an Australian company that BHP Group commissioned to run a community sustainability initiative in Chile.

➤ Platinum, palladium prices to recover in 2022 as vehicle production rebounds

Platinum may benefit the most as automakers substitute it for more expensive palladium, analysts said.

➤ Lithium and Cobalt CBS December 2021 — Upward price momentums remain strong

The seaborne lithium carbonate price reached a 44-month high in November on severe market tightness. The London Metal Exchange cobalt cash price rallied over fears of deepening logistical delays amid the spread of the omicron variant.

DIVERSIFIED

* Rio Tinto Group named Dominic Barton, Canada's Ambassador to China, as chairman of the world's second biggest mining company by market value, Dow Jones Newswires reported. Barton will succeed Simon Thompson.

BASE METALS

* S&P Global Market Intelligence’s Metals and Mining Research team forecast the global primary nickel market to shift from a 110,000-tonne deficit in 2021 to a 58,000-tonne surplus in 2022 as Indonesian output expands further. Concerns that the omicron variant could lead to the reintroduction of lockdown restrictions in China, and the potential impact of such a development on metals markets, represent a near-term risk to prices.

PRECIOUS METALS

* St Barbara Ltd. will acquire Bardoc Gold Ltd., in an all-scrip scheme of arrangement to be implemented in mid-April 2022. The transaction values Bardoc Gold at about A$157 million.

* Equinox Gold Corp. entered into a definitive agreement to sell the Mercedes gold-silver mine in Mexico to Bear Creek Mining Corp. for US$100 million in cash, about US$25 million in shares and a 2% net smelter royalty.

* Newmont Corp. and its subsidiary Goldcorp Inc. each priced the total consideration for their 3.700% notes due 2023 at US$1,037.27.

* Gascoyne Resources Ltd. secured from Deutsche Balaton AG a A$20 million convertible note facility, which will be used to repay debt, drill at the Dalgaranga and the Yalgoo gold projects in Western Australia, and for general working capital purposes.

BULK COMMODITIES

* Queensland’s Land Court recommended that a mining lease be granted to New Hope Corp. Ltd.'s A$896 million stage 3 project at the New Acland coal mine, The Australian Financial Review reported.

* Despite promises from countries around the world to rein in greenhouse gas emissions, coal power generation is heading for a record year in 2021, according to the International Energy Agency.

* The European Commission formally initiated a periodic review into its steel import safeguard measures, which will also assess how changes to be introduced Jan. 1 to the U.S. Section 232 import tariffs may affect steel trade flows, the EC said in a document published in the Official Journal of the European Union, S&P Global Platts reported.

* U.S. aluminum and steel prices retreated from record highs as ferrous mill margins continued to lose steam with falling spot prices, while mill offers declined to clear inventory ahead of the year end, Platts reported.

* Ternium SA plans to invest US$98 million to expand its facility at the Port of Caddo-Bossier in Shreveport, Louisiana, through the addition of a second coil coating paint line, Platts reported.

* A total of 128 miners were evacuated from SUEK JSC's Ruban coal mine in Russia after sensors detected high carbon monoxide emissions, Reuters reported.

SPECIALTY

* Anglo American PLC unit De Beers SA agreed to extend by six months an existing agreement with Botswana for the sale of rough diamonds from their Debswana Diamond Co. (Pty.) Ltd. joint venture.

* BlackRock Inc. will invest an additional C$64.2 million in Sigma Lithium Corp., upsizing its previously announced non-brokered private placement to about C$136.7 million.

* Sichuan New Energy Power Co. Ltd. is partnering with Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co. Ltd. to produce lithium chemicals, and acquire and develop important mineral resources locally and overseas, Reuters reported, citing a securities filing.

* Greenland’s Department of Minerals Resources and Justice said Greenland Minerals Ltd. can either maintain its existing application for an exploitation license for the Kvanefjeld rare earths project and expect a rejection, or file a new one that shows it can comply with a recently passed law setting the uranium threshold limit. at 100 parts per million.

* Sicona Battery Technologies Pty. Ltd. has executed binding agreements to acquire from the University of Wollongong all intellectual property related to edge functionalized graphene. The two parties are currently working to demonstrate scale-up of production for this form of graphene, the University of Wollongong said.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* The Peruvian government will continue to push for tax reforms, which includes tax hikes for the mining sector, Finance Minister Pedro Francke said in a Twitter post following Congress' rejection of the initial proposal.

S&P Global Platts and S&P Global Market Intelligence are owned by S&P Global Inc.

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