Samarco unions file restructuring plan; GFG to restart Belgian steel operations

TOP NEWS IN METALS & MINING

* Two unions representing employees of Vale SA and BHP Group Ltd. joint venture Samarco Mineração SA filed a competing restructuring plan for the company, Reuters reported, citing an anonymous source. The unions' plan includes a two-year job stability clause for Samarco workers and the payment of "extraordinary dividends" to creditors of a share of additional cash flow generated if Samarco can boost production ramp-up.

* GFG Alliance Ltd.'s Liberty Steel Group will restart its steel operations in Liege, Belgium, following a court's reversal of an earlier order to place the assets under administration due to negative equity, Reuters reported.

➤ Cobalt prices cool off amid China lockdowns, hiccups at LME

The London Metal Exchange three-month cobalt price plunged 8.6% week over week to US$74,662 per tonne as of May 18, marking the first price drop since March 31.

➤ Bank regulator nominee says Fed authority on climate change is limited

Michael Barr, President Joe Biden's nominee to lead bank supervision at the Federal Reserve, said in his nomination hearing that the central bank's authority on climate change is limited and related to assessing risks.

DIVERSIFIED

* Woodside Petroleum Ltd.'s shareholders approved the planned merger with BHP Group's oil and gas assets.

BASE METALS

* The Peruvian government again failed to broker a deal between MMG Ltd. and members of the local communities to resolve the conflict over the suspended Las Bambas copper mine, Reuters reported.

* ENEOS Holdings Inc. unit JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corp. plans to sell its 49.9% stake in LS-Nikko Copper Inc. to joint venture partner LS Corp. for 930 billion South Korean won, Reuters reported.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Barrick Gold Corp. extended the termination date of its US$3 billion revolving loan by a year to May 2027, and incorporated sustainability-linked metrics that are made up of annual environmental and social performance targets, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

* Perseus Mining Ltd. completed the acquisition of Orca Gold Inc.'s outstanding common shares in a deal worth C$215 million.

BULK COMMODITIES

* En+ Group IPJSC was authorized by Russia's Government Commission on Control of Foreign Investments to continue the circulation of its global depositary receipts until Nov. 7, 2024, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

* Kobe Steel Ltd. is aiming to raise its low-carbon steel sales to 1 million tonnes per year by 2030, parallel to its target of slashing emissions from its production process by up to 40% against 2013 levels, Reuters reported, citing President Mitsugu Yamaguchi.

* Alcoa Corp. secured renewable energy supply from Greenalia to support the planned restart of the San Ciprián aluminum smelter in Spain in 2024, with the deal to last until the end of 2033.

SPECIALTY

* Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA booked a net income of US$796.1 million during the March quarter, surging year over year from US$68.0 million, as revenue increased to US$2.02 billion from US$528.5 million.

* The Kwinana refinery in Western Australia, a 51/49 joint venture between Tianqi Lithium Corp. and IGO Ltd., achieved first production of battery-grade lithium hydroxide.

* Energy Fuels Inc. will acquire around 37,300 acres of land in Brazil's Bahia state, which is believed to hold significant quantities of heavy rare earth minerals, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

* Cameco Corp. closed the transaction that increased its stake in the Cigar Lake uranium project in Saskatchewan by 4.5 percentage points to 54.5%.

* EcoGraf Ltd. started the assessment of expansion options for its TanzGraphite flake graphite business, in response to a growing demand for graphite supplies and an increasingly positive investment environment in Tanzania.

* Lithium-producing South American nations Argentina, Chile and Bolivia are discussing ways to increase their role in the electric vehicle industry's battery supply chain, Bloomberg News reported.

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