Petropavlovsk files for administration; Anglo's Quellaveco produces 1st copper

TOP NEWS IN METALS & MINING

* The board of Russia-focused gold miner Petropavlovsk PLC asked the London Stock Exchange to suspend trading of its shares after filing for administration. It has yet to repay a US$201.0 million loan from sanctioned Russian bank Gazprombank.

* Anglo American PLC's majority owned Quellaveco copper operation in Peru produced its first copper concentrate, less than four years after the project was approved.

➤ 1st meeting of White House mining law reform group provides hope for industry

The convening of the U.S. Interior Department's working group on mining reform generated hopes for upcoming changes to the nation's mine permitting and royalty laws, although it is unclear when the group will meet again.

➤ IM July 2022 — Drilling up, although in fewer projects

Drilling was mixed in June, with decreases in projects drilling and companies reporting, while distinct drillholes increased, data gathered by S&P Global Commodity Insights' Metals and Mining Research team showed.

DIVERSIFIED

* The Metals Co.'s The Metals Co. Australia Pty. Ltd. will fund research by a consortium led by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organization that will set a framework for a management and monitoring plan for its proposed deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection operations in the Pacific Ocean.

BASE METALS

* BaseCore Metals LP, a 50/50 joint venture between Glencore PLC and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, sold a royalty package to Sandstorm Gold Ltd. for a total consideration of US$525 million.

* South32 Ltd. agreed to sell a package of four base metals royalties to London-listed Anglo Pacific Group PLC for up to US$200 million in cash and shares, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

* Zambia's mines minister, Paul Kabuswe, ordered state-owned miner ZCCM Investments Holdings PLC to negotiate an out-of-court settlement with Vedanta Resources Ltd. to their longstanding dispute over Konkola Copper Mines PLC, Reuters reported.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Triple Flag Precious Metals Corp. generated second-quarter revenue of US$36.5 million via the sale of 19,507 gold equivalent ounces, down from a year ago. It lowered its full-year sales guidance to between 88,000 gold equivalent ounces and 92,000 gold equivalent ounces.

* Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. earned a record 22,240 attributable gold equivalent ounces in the second quarter, based on preliminary figures, compared to 20,178 gold equivalent ounces in the year-ago quarter.

* Pure Gold Mining Inc. has renegotiated debt obligations with its lending partner and has started to consider selling the company or its gold mine in Ontario, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

* Tharisa PLC's platinum group metals output for the third quarter of fiscal 2022 fell to 42,100 ounces from 44,100 ounces in the previous quarter, while chrome output rose to 389,700 tonnes from 374,900 tonnes, Dow Jones Newswires reported. Tharisa cut its chrome production guidance for the year by 10% to between 1.55 million tonnes and 1.65 Mt.

* Calibre Mining Corp.'s second-quarter gold production grew 37% year over year to 59,723 ounces from 43,506 ounces.

* Hecla Mining Co.'s preliminary silver production in the second quarter rose to 3.6 million ounces from 3.5 Moz in the year-ago quarter, while gold output declined year over year to 45,718 ounces from 59,139 ounces.

* Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. reached fiscal 2022 production of between 1.48 million ounces and 1.56 Moz, meeting its production guidance for the year, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

BULK COMMODITIES

* Outokumpu Oyj agreed to sell the majority of its long products business operations to Italy's Marcegaglia SpA for €228 million. Outokumpu said the sale will allow it to focus on its core business of flat stainless steel products.

* Holcim Ltd. has acquired Serbia-based Teko Mining d.o.o. Beograd for an undisclosed sum. Teko has estimated 2022 net sales of over €20 million and sells 2.4 million tons of aggregates per year, according to Holcim.

* China Coal Energy Co. Ltd. expects its first-half net profit to rise by between 57.1% and 73.4% to between 13.42 billion Chinese yuan and 14.82 billion yuan, thanks to high selling prices of coal products.

SPECIALTY

* China Northern Rare Earth (Group) High-Tech Co. Ltd.'s net profit for the first half is projected to grow by 45% to 55% from a year ago to 2.96 billion yuan to 3.16 billion yuan amid increasing demand for rare earth magnets, which has driven up praseodymium-neodymium prices, and improved sales after China hiked its rare earth output quotas.

* Atlantic Lithium Ltd. is seeking to list on the Australian Securities Exchange to complement its existing listing in London, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

* Primobius GmbH, a 50/50 joint venture of Neometals Ltd. and SMS group GmbH, executed a purchase order from Mercedes-Benz Group AG subsidiary Licular GmbH to complete front-end engineering for the shredding section of Licular's integrated lithium-ion battery recycling plant.

READ MORE about the market reaction and industry impact of the evolving situation in Russia and Ukraine in our Issue in Focus.

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