Fortescue plans renewable energy hub; Anglo American starts Aquila coal mine ops

TOP NEWS IN METALS & MINING

* Fortescue Future Industries Pty. Ltd. plans to construct a renewable energy hub on the Uaroo and Emu Creek pastoral stations in Western Australia to power the Pilbara iron ore operations of its parent company, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. The proposed hub will generate up to 5.4 GW of electricity from up to 340 wind turbine generators and a solar farm, as well as a battery energy storage system.

* Anglo American PLC started longwall mining operations at the new Aquila mine that forms part of its Capcoal metallurgical coal joint venture with Mitsui & Co. Ltd. in Queensland, Australia. Aquila will extend the mine life of the underground Capcoal operations by seven years, and will produce about 5 million tonnes per year of hard coking coal.

➤ US steelmakers applaud narrow approach to backing off tariffs

Replacing a 25% levy on steel imports from Japan in favor of a tariff-rate quota system based on historical volumes of Japanese steel imports was well-received by the industry.

➤ Cameco to reopen Canadian mine, mill amid uranium price gains

Cameco Corp. plans to produce 15 million pounds per year at its McArthur River mine and Key Lake mill in Saskatchewan beginning in 2024, bringing the operation to about 60% of its licensed annual capacity.

➤ Zinc CBS February 2022 – Supply squeeze drives zinc prices higher

The average zinc price was up 31.2% year over year in January as tight supply countered subdued Chinese demand, and inflation concerns elsewhere fueled expectations for interest rate rises, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence's Metals and Mining Research team.

EARNINGS SPOTLIGHT

* Cameco Corp.'s net income in the fourth quarter of 2021 plunged year over year to C$11 million from C$80 million as revenue fell to C$465 million from C$550 million, but the uranium mining company increased its quarterly dividend to 12 Canadian cents per share from 8 cents per share, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

* Northern Star Resources Ltd.'s net profit for the first half of its fiscal 2022 jumped 43% yearly to A$261 million from A$183 million, with revenue up 63% to A$1.81 billion, on the back of higher gold sales following its acquisition of Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd., Dow Jones Newswires reported.

* Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. booked a consolidated net profit after tax of 16.22 billion Indian rupees in the third quarter of its fiscal 2022, down 34% from 24.40 billion rupees a year ago due to lower operating profit and higher tax expense.

* ICL Group Ltd.'s attributable income in the fourth quarter of 2021 rose to US$283 million from US$65 million in the same period of 2020. The company's full-year 2021 attributable income surged to US$783 million from US$11 million.

BASE METALS

* Glencore PLC entered a global marketing relationship with United States Strategic Metals LLC, formerly known as Missouri Cobalt, that includes a long-term off-take agreement for the latter's products.

* Copper and nickel-focused WA1 Resources Ltd. began trading on the Australian Securities Exchange after raising A$4.5 million in its IPO.

* Indonesia's domestic demand for nickel ore is projected to surge 30% to 100 million tonnes in 2022, with four smelters scheduled to operate this year, Bisnis Indonesia reported, citing the Indonesian Nickel Miner Association's secretary-general for media, Katrin Lengkey.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. outlined a commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, which includes reduction targets for attributable Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions in line with the recommendations of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

* OceanaGold Corp. expects to log a noncash, posttax impairment totaling US$102 million, while gold output should rise and operating costs should fall in the next few years, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

* Gold Fields Ltd. expects full-year 2021 all-in sustaining costs to hit US$1,063 per ounce, exceeding guidance of between US$1,020/oz and US$1,060/oz, and up from US$977/oz in 2020, Dow Jones Newswires reported. Gold equivalent production for the year is expected at 2.34 million ounces, within guidance of between 2.3 Moz and 2.35 Moz, up from 2.24 Moz in 2020.

* A pre-feasibility study for Integra Resources Corp.'s DeLamar gold project in Idaho outlined a posttax net present value, discounted at 5%, of US$412 million, a 27% internal rate of return and a payback period of 3.3 years.

BULK COMMODITIES

* En+ Group IPJSC's majority-owned UC Rusal IPJSC produced 953,000 tonnes of aluminum in the fourth quarter of 2021, inching up from 950,000 tonnes in the prior-year quarter. The company's full-year aluminum production in 2021 came in at 3.8 million tonnes, similar to output for full year 2020.

* China's National Development and Reform Commission summoned coal producers in a bid to stabilize coal prices, Shanghai-based Jiemian News reported. Participants in the virtual meeting include the energy bureaus of Shanxi province and Inner Mongolia, the Shanxi Development and Reform Commission, China Energy Investment Corp. Ltd., China Coal Energy Co. Ltd. and Hebei Port Co. Ltd.

* China’s National Development and Reform Commission warned iron ore price information providers against fabricating and disseminating information on price increases, its latest move to stabilize iron ore prices.

* U.S. Steel Corp. broke ground at its US$3 billion steel mill in Arkansas, located adjacent to its Big River Steel LLC unit. The facility is scheduled to be completed and in full operation by 2024.

SPECIALTY

* Long-time customers of PJSC Alrosa may now adjust supply schedules between trading sessions, allowing holders of long-term contracts to buy rough diamonds from their allocations ahead of schedule by shifting booked volumes to an earlier date.

* Ioneer Ltd. awarded ABB Inc. a major engineering and equipment supply contract for the development of its proposed Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project in Nevada.

* Russian diamond miner Almar plans to offer 15% of its issued share capital, valued at US$10 million, in an IPO to list on Russia's SPB Exchange, Bloomberg News reported.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* Exploration activity increased across all metrics in January, data gathered by S&P Global Market Intelligence's Metals and Mining Research team showed, with copper reaching a new record of 54 projects reporting.

* Inflation and supply chains are topics of increasing attention, from both central banks and companies, as expectations move away from the thought that rising prices would be transitory, according to Panjiva.

Panjiva is a business line of S&P Global Market Intelligence, a division of S&P Global Inc.

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