TOP NEWS
TataSteel halts U.K. business sale after bidders back out
People with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News thatTata Steel Ltd.temporarily halted the sale of its U.K. assets after at least four of the short-listedbidders backedout of the sale process due to uncertainties raised by recent events.Meanwhile, an industry source told Reuters that Liberty House Group is planningto bid for two Tata Steel units in the U.K. that are independent of thePort Talbot plant and its related assets.
DeutscheBank withdrawing from coal
According to The NewYork Times, Deutsche Bank is steering away from the coal sector, followingother financial institutions' moves to support environmental causes and avoidexposure to losses in the industry.
Centerra GoldInc. major shareholder, Kyrgyzaltyn JSC, voted against the company's planned US$1.1 billiontakeover of Thompson Creek MetalsCo. Inc., arguing the move would dilute its 33% holdings inCenterra.
BASE METALS
* According to TheSydney Morning Herald, BHPBilliton Group is stepping up efforts to expand the productioncapacity of its OlympicDam copper mine in South Australia and willstart testing a cheaper mining method at a specialized plant in Finlandusing Olympic Dam concentrate in September.
* VedantaResources Plc Chairman Anil Agarwal said the company willsign two memoranda of understanding with South African companies during hisupcoming visit to the African country. The deals aim to improve safety andproductivity at the mines owned by Vedanta's Hindustan Zinc Ltd. unit.
* MMGLtd.'s LasBambas copper mine in Peru achieved July 1, in linewith schedule, confirming that the plant ramp up was also achieved on time.
* Codelco is looking at possiblyforming joint ventures with the private sector or even downsizing as ittries to cope with low copper prices, FinancialTimes reported.
* Experts criticizedthe limited capital granted by the Chilean state to Codelco in the past sevenyears, arguing that it is eroding the state miner's fragile finances andhindering its development, El Mercurioreported. Between 2009 and 2015, Codelco contributed US$25.06 billion to theChilean treasury, but was only granted US$4.8 billion in capital.
* The Philippine government ordered the suspension of twonickel mines in Zambales province operated by andZambales Diversified MetalsCorp. due to complaints of environmental degradation. The countryalso plans to imposea one-month ban on new exploration projects as authorities conduct their reviewof all existing mines, mining minister Regina Lopez said.
* SandfireResources NL achieved record annual copper production for the year ended June30, at 68,202 tonnes of contained copper, above the company's guidance range of65,000 tonnes to 68,000 tonnes. Contained gold output, at 37,612 ounces, waswithin guidance.
* France's Eramet is seekingnew partners for the Weda Bay nickel project in Indonesia after its twoJapanese partners left, Reuters reported.
* TrevaliMining Corp. achieved commercial production at its zinc mine in theBathurst Mining Camp in New Brunswick, Canada, effective July 1.
* TigerResources Ltd. is looking into the of producing cobaltat its Kipoiproject in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
PRECIOUS METALS
* NewmontMining Corp. will consider hikingits dividends amid the gold price rally and as its asset sales put it ahead ofschedule on its debt-reduction target, Bloomberg News reported.
* Silver LakeResources Ltd. is forecasting higher gold sales in the range of 135,000 ounces to145,000 ounces for the 2017 financial year, over the 132,400 ounces sold in theprior financial year.
* ParamountGold Nevada Corp. completed the acquisition of Calico Resources Corp.
* Coeur MiningInc. increasedits second-quarter gold output by 14.7%, but witnessed a roughly 7% decline inits silver output compared to the same quarter of 2015.
* Pilot GoldInc. signed an option agreement allowing Logan Resources Ltd. to earn up to 80% interestin up to four of the former's nine Great Basin portfolio properties.
* Montego Resources Inc. is 'sKiyuk Lake goldproperty in Nunavut Territory, Canada.
* SouthernGold Ltd. acquired from Asiatic Gold Ltd. several gold projectsacross southern Korea in exchange for 6.29 million of its shares, A$116,000cash and assumption of A$70,000 debt. The acquisition is valued at around A$2million.
* GreatAtlantic Resources Corp. is acquiring the Golden Promise gold property from WilliamMercer by making cash payments totaling C$520,000, issuing C$500,000 in shares,and making work expenditures on the property of C$500,000.
* AlmadexMinerals Ltd. disposed of a 29.0% interest in for grossproceeds of C$2.0 million.
* GBMResources Ltd. remodeled the resource estimate of the gold mine inQueensland, resulting in a 135%increase to 1.4 million tonnes at 2.6 g/t of gold for 118,700ounces of gold.
* RameliusResources Ltd. produced 110,839 ounces in its fiscal 2016, exceedingguidance of 110,000 ounces.
* International Goldfields Ltd. expects the deal foracquisition of an 85% interest in Uruguay-based WinterGarden Bioscience tolapse as key conditionsfailed to be satisfied before the May 31 due date.
BULK COMMODITIES
* PJSCUralkali's second quarter potassium chloride output fellto 2.5 million tonnes from 3 million tonnes in the same period of 2015. For thefirst half, the company's potassium chloride output totaled 5.1 million tonnes,also lower than the 5.7 million tonnes produced in the first half of 2015.
* Morningstar analysts speculated that 's decision to shelve plansto develop the US$20 billion Simandou iron ore project in Guinea couldpotentially result in an "aggressive" investor allied withAluminum Corp. ofChina — which already owns 41% — taking over the project, theAustralian Associated Press reported.
* MongolianMining Corp. has gained the support of noteholders for its proposedrestructure of US$600.0 million worth of debt, but has not yet signed a bindingagreement with creditors.
* AlphaNatural Resources Inc. has reached a deal on its reorganization plan that will likelycarry it out of bankruptcy court protection. The plan includes deals withvarious federal and state agencies as well as funds controlled by the UnitedMine Workers of America and will become effective as Alpha emerges from Chapter11 bankruptcy in late July.
* Gränges AB wonthe court-supervised auction of Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp.'s downstream aluminumrolling business in the U.S. According to Reuters, the final bid values theNoranda assets at US$324.2 million, on a cash and debt-free basis. Thetransaction is expected to close in the third quarter.
* China's environment ministry said the government will inspecteight more provinces and regions, covering huge coal-producing regions such asInner Mongolia and Ningxia, to check their compliance with the country'senvironmental regulations, Reuters reported.
* Fitch Ratings upgraded Alcoa Inc. to stable outlook and removed its BB+ creditrating from Rating Watch Evolving on expectations the New York-based aluminumheavyweight will have the same instrument ratings whether it goes ahead withits planned split into two companies or not.
* A draft bill to ban the construction of upstream tailingsdams in Brazil coulddrive up costs at iron ore major ValeSA and threaten jobs, Bloomberg News reported, citing the company'sgeneral counsel Clovis Torres. The proposal, which also aims to tightensupervision at existing waste storage sites in Minas Gerais state, cleared onecommission and is on its way to the state assembly.
* Duro Felguera claims that Samsung, the lead contractor forthe Hancock Prospecting Pty.Ltd.'s A$10 billion Roy Hill iron ore mine in Western Australia, owesit A$100 million for subcontractor work, TheAustralian reported.
* BlueScopeSteel Ltd. is suingfor A$2.4 million the Australian Workers Union in Wollongong in New South Walesover an unsanctioned 24-hour strike at Spring Hill on May 26, ABC reported.
* ChinaHanking Holdings Ltd. subsidiary Aoniu Mining soldits full interest in Benxi Mining for 1 Chinese yuan in cash. China Hankingwaived the 43.3 million yuan debt owed by Benxi Mining.
* The coming two years will see China's state-run steel andcoal firms cuttingcapacity by around 10%, and by 15% by 2020, to tackle excess supply,Reuters reported, citing the state asset regulator.
* Australia's Department of Industry, Innovation and Sciencecutits forecast for iron ore prices by nearly 2% to an average of US$44.20 a tonnein 2016 and by 20% to US$44 per tonne in 2017, Reuters wrote.
* After a two-year break, theZaporizhzhya Production Aluminium Plant in Ukraine seeks to resumeoutput of aluminum rods in August, delo.ua reported.
SPECIALTY
* Mineral sands producer Base Resources Ltd. expects to produce 88,000 tonnes to 95,000 tonnes ofrutile in its fiscal 2017.
* Investors participating in the special public offering ofthe Russian government's 10.9% stake in diamond miner have bid between 62.5 Russian rubles and 65 rubles per share,but the final bid could be higher than this once international bids arrive,Interfax reported, citing several sources close to the deal.
* PetraDiamonds Ltd. and Ekapa Mining (Pty.) Ltd. entered into a deal, effectiveJuly 1, combiningtheir respective operations into an unincorporated joint venture named theKimberley Ekapa Mining Joint Venture. Petra and its Black Economic Empowermentpartners hold a 75.9% interest in the joint venture, while Ekapa Mining holdsthe remaining 24.1%.
* 92 ResourcesCorp. added, through staking, two contiguous claims totaling 57 hectares tothe Hidden Lake lithium property located near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.
* Bass MetalsLtd. signed a formal sale agreement with for theacquisition of theGraphmada largeflake graphite mine in eastern Madagascar for A$15.3 million and is launching arights issue for up to A$7 million to be used for expanding the asset.
* PeregrineDiamonds Ltd.'s preliminary economic assessment study fordeveloping the CH-6 and CH-7 kimberlite pipes on the diamond project inNunavut defined it asa "high margin, ten-year, open-pit mining project with very attractiveeconomics."
* SayonaMining Ltd. is negotiating its option-to-purchase agreement with BrasilGraphite SA over the latter's Itabela graphite project in Brazil. The companies' dealhas expired and Sayona is now looking to extend and restructure the optionagreement.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo will suspendvalue-added tax on imports for mining companies for a 12-month period in a bidto support the country's struggling miners, Bloomberg News reported citingFinance Minister Henri Yav Mulang.
* Following a police investigation that resulted in theseizing of A$50,000 worth of illegally mined gold near Kalgoorlie, WesternAustralia's Department of Mines and Petroleum warnedprospectors to only work in areas for which they have a right.
The Daily Dose isupdated as of 7 a.m. New York time, and scans news sources published inChinese, English, Indonesian, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai andUkrainian. Some external links may require a subscription.