TOP NEWS
's second-quarter ironore production dropped 2.8% year over year to 86.8 million tonnes asgood performance at the Northern System was offset by the company's focus onmargin optimization and the halt in run-of-mine production from the mine in Brazil.
's net profitjumped 125.2% toUS$608 million, or 75 cents per share, in the second quarter from US$270million, or 33 cents per share, in the first quarter, boosted by a foreignexchange gain of US$181 million and a 44.0% quarter-over-quarter increase inrevenue.
Japanesemining equipment maker KomatsuLtd. agreed toacquire smaller rival Joy Global Inc. for about US$3.7 billion, includingdebt. In a separate transaction, U.S. steelmaker agreed to purchase JoyGlobal's steel plate mill in Longview, Texas, for about US$29 million.
BASE METALS
*OZ Minerals Ltd.produced about 27,350 tonnes of copper from its Prominent Hill mine in South Australia in thesecond quarter of its fiscal 2016, downfrom 31,018 tonnes recorded in the previous quarter. Gold output totaled 30,099ounces, up from 27,563 ounces in the previous three-month period. Productionfigures remain in line with the company's annual guidance.
* PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel solda 13.3% interest in its Bystrinsky copper-gold-iron ore-silver project in Russiato Chinese Highland Fund for US$100 million, Vedomosti reported.
PRECIOUS METALS
*Hochschild Mining Plcraised its full-yearsilver equivalent productionguidance by 6% to 34 million ounces from 32 million ounces afterposting an 86% year-over-year jump in second-quarter production, to 9.5 millionsilver equivalent ounces.
*The heads of Australia's Evolution Mining Ltd. and believethe recent slip in gold price is just a hiccup and the precious metal will soon resume itsupward trend since the U.K. voted to leave the EU. However, Foster Stockbrokinganalysts disagree that the gold price will continue to rise post-Brexit, notingthat the market realized that Brexit will not completely derail the economy nortotally disrupt the European Union.
*Newmont Mining Corp. willreassess the dividend payout later this year to reflect a 25% jump inbullion prices for the year, Reuters reported.
*Havilah ResourcesLtd. pouredA$2 million worth of gold in one day from its Portia mine in South Australia. The minepoured four gold bars totaling about 40 kilograms, with site analystsindicating the bars' purity at more than 90%, Mining Weekly reported.
*The Kelantan State Lands and Mines Office of Malaysia issued a stop-workorder on CNMC GoldmineHoldings Ltd.'s Sokor gold mine following the company's request to thelocal government to review its application for Large Scale Operation status,Malaysia's The Edge reported. Shouldit be granted to the company, the status would allow CNMC to mine unlimitedamounts of ore from the site.
*Matsa Resources Ltd.is acquiring the LakeCarey gold project in Western Australia for a total consideration of A$1.8million, excluding goods and services tax.
BULK COMMODITIES
*POSCO said itssecond-quarter net profit jumped to 221 billion South Korean won from 117 billionwon a year ago, while operating profit fell to 679 billion won from 686 billionwon a year ago. Revenue for the quarter came in at about 12.857 trillion won,down from 15.190 trillion won booked a year ago.
*Norsk Hydro ASA's netincome in the second quarter remained stable year over year with only a 1% increaseto 2.08 billion Norwegian kroner, or 95 øre per share, while revenues totaled20.39 billion kroner in the quarter, dropping 9% from on a yearly basis.
*Cancana ResourcesCorp. signed a nonbinding letter of intent to with Ferrometals HoldingsCooperatief UA in a bid to combine and streamline the ownership structure ofthe companies' joint venture BrazilManganese Corp.
*The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands granted an order to Simon Conway of PwC CorporateFinance Recovery (Cayman) Ltd. and Christopher So Man Chun ofPricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd. as liquidators of to assist withthe company's proposed restructuring of US$600.0 million worth of debt.
*Mechel OAO's foreignlenders are requesting furthercollateral before agreeing to a restructuring of US$1 billion in companydebt, Bloomberg News wrote, citing Mechel CFO Sergey Rezontov.
*Murray Energy Corp.produced 11.1 milliontons of coal in the second quarter of the year, down from 11.7 million tons inthe year-ago period and 11.2 million tons in the first quarter of the year.
*Strategic MineralsPlc willreceive US$675,000 after it accepted a settlement offer related toits claim pertaining to rail works for the Cobre magnetite tailings mine in New Mexico.
*BlueScope Steel Ltd.is cuttingup to 30 more jobs in slab-making at its Port Kembla steelworks in New SouthWales, Australia, ABC reported.
*Union members at ArriumLtd.'s Whyalla steelworks rejecteda 12% pay cut offer from administrators, ABC News reported.
*Polish firm Katowicki HoldingWeglowy SA is in need of about 700 million zlotys in financialsupport as part of its planned restructuring, Puls Biznesu wrote,citing an energy official.
*About 2,800 employees of Polish coal miner Jastrzebska Spólka Weglowa SA are prepared to voluntarilytransfer to the Mine Restructuring Company (SRK) to take advantage ofvoluntary transfer protection and one-time severance payments, Puls Biznesu reported.
*Avenira Ltd.'sSenegalese unit Gadde Bissik Phosphates Operations SUARL signed its withinternational fertilizer companies for the supply of rock phosphate from itsBaobab projectin Senegal.
SPECIALTY
*PJSC ALROSA'ssecond-quarter diamond output fell to 8.7 million carats from 9.6 million caratsproduced a year ago. First-half production, meanwhile, slipped 6% year over yearto 16.9 million carats, which the company attributed to an increase in oreprocessing at the Mir underground mine and a decrease in ore processing at theInternational Underground mine — both part of the .
*Uranium miner Paladin EnergyLtd. signed adeal to sell a 24% stake in its flagship uranium mine inNamibia for US$175 million. The deal, which also includes long-termarrangements for uranium off-take, is expected to close in the fourth quarter.The company also signed a binding terms sheet with for the sale of a75% stake in the Manyingee uranium property, excluding the Carley Boredeposit, in two stages.
*Sayona Mining Ltd.has completed theAuthier lithiumproject acquisition in Quebec from Glen Eagle Resources Inc. for C$4 million.
*Following due diligence, CapitalMining Ltd. decidedto withdraw from its acquisition of Shaw River Lithium Pty. Ltd., which holds13 prospecting license applications in Western Australia's Pilbara region.
*UEX Corp. signed ajoint ventureagreement with JCU(Canada) Exploration Co. Ltd. over the uranium projectin Saskatchewan. The venture will be overseen by a management committeecomprising a representative from each company, with votes equal to the equity stakeof the company they represent.
INDUSTRY
*Thailand's Ministry of Commerce officials urged authorities in Mozambique to supportThai investors seeking opportunities in various industries in the southernAfrican country such as energy and mining, Thailand's Manager Daily reported.
The Daily Dose is updated asof 7 a.m. Hong Kong time, and scans news sources published in Chinese, English,Indonesian, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Ukrainian. Someexternal links may require a subscription.