TOP NEWS
Paulson rejects Newmont's Goldcorp deal
One of Newmont Mining Corp.'s largest shareholders, Paulson & Co. Inc., opposes the company's planned US$10 billion acquisition of Goldcorp Inc. as it would only benefit Goldcorp shareholders. Paulson said it would back a revised deal where Goldcorp shareholders would receive a maximum of 0.254 of a Newmont share per Goldcorp share. Newmont currently intends to acquire each Goldcorp share for 0.3280 of a share. Paulson owns 14.2 million shares in Newmont.
Metinvest's FY'18 earnings surge 93% YOY on higher revenues
Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest BV reported a net profit of US$1.19 billion for 2018, up 93% from US$617 million in 2017, driven in part by higher revenues.
Vale ordered to close Dique iron ore complex
A Brazilian court ordered Vale SA to close its Dique III iron ore complex in Minas Gerais state, Reuters reported. The company, which has been forced to shut down several mines in the wake of the Feijao dam disaster, has yet to comment on the latest order. In a separate Reuters report, Vale said the Minas state government has issued a certificate allowing the resumption of operations at its Brucutu iron ore mine.
BASE METALS
* Clean TeQ Holdings Ltd. is looking for a partner to help fund the equity part of the US$1.49 billion capital costs for the Sunrise nickel-cobalt project in New South Wales, Australia, MiningNews reported. CEO Sam Riggall said the company received indicative commitments for A$500 million from four banks, and the number is expected to grow with Chinese investments.
* Hudbay Minerals Inc. completed the permitting process for its Rosemont copper project in Arizona, U.S. after obtaining the mine plan of operations from the U.S. Forest Service.
* Jubilee Metals Group PLC agreed to acquire the Sable zinc refinery in Zambia from two Glencore PLC subsidiaries for £9.16 million and completed £17.2 million in fundraising as it moves to ramp up implementation of the Kabwe Tailings project.
* Deliveries of copper concentrates from the state-owned Erdenet copper mine in Mongolia were delayed in early March due to a government-ordered restructuring that led to the dismissal of several top managers, Fastmarkets MB wrote.
* Jervois Mining Ltd. expects to land a joint venture partner by the end of 2019 for developing its Nico Young nickel-copper project in New South Wales, Australia, and is in discussions with different parties for a 20% to 40% joint venture arrangement, Reuters reported, citing CEO Bryce Crocker.
* DMCI Holdings Inc. unit DMCI Mining Corp. is bracing for a "tough" 2019 as it is forced to export lower-grade nickel this year due to a declining inventory and the continued closure of its Zambales mine, Reuters reported. The company is expected to ship nickel ore with an average grade of 1.57%.
* The Democratic Republic of the Congo lifted a short-lived export ban on cobalt and copper concentrates that it imposed in February, Fastmarkets MB reported, citing a letter addressed to the National Federation of Enterprises. However, the government, which adopted a new mining code in 2018, will reportedly review every six months if it should re-enact the ban.
PRECIOUS METALS
* A U.S. judge allowed the interim government of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido to present arguments in a legal dispute with Crystallex International Corp., Reuters reported. Crystallex is going after Venezuelan state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela SA unit CITGO Petroleum Corp. to collect on a US$1.4 billion award over the nationalization of its Las Cristinas gold project.
* Citigroup Inc. is planning to sell several tons of gold it received as collateral from Venezuela's central bank against a US$1.6 billion loan, a setback on President Nicolas Maduro's efforts to hold onto the country's quickly shrinking reserves, Reuters reported. A US$1.1 billion first-tranche repayment was due March 11. The gold has a market value of about US$1.36 billion. Citibank plans to deposit the US$258 million surplus in a New York bank account, two sources said.
* Vital Metals Ltd. suspended exploration activities in Burkina Faso, where its Nahouri gold project is located, due to security concerns. The company said it received interest from other firms on its tenements in the country.
* Stavely Minerals Ltd.'s Stavely Tasmania Operations Pty. Ltd. unit agreed to purchase the 350,000 tonne-per-annum Beaconsfield gold processing plant, as well as related infrastructure and leases, in Tasmania, Australia from BCD Resources NL for A$2 million.
* Kingston Resources Ltd.'s recent survey located a large stockpile of gold-mineralized material at its 70%-owned Misima gold project in Papua New Guinea that was left by the previous operator, Placer Pacific.
* Access to Lupaka Gold Corp.'s Invicta gold project in Peru is restricted again after the local Paran community abandoned negotiations and resumed an illegal blockade.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Russian coal and steel producer Mechel PAO saw profit tumble 74% quarter over quarter to 1.63 billion Russian rubles in the last three months of 2018, weighed down by lower earnings from its mining and steel divisions as well as impairments.
* New Hope Corp. Ltd.'s market value has plummeted A$1 billion since March 18 after its share price fell from A$4.40 to A$3.20 at market close March 21, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. An unnamed analyst blamed the drop on the delays in Australian coal shipments in Chinese ports and the company's recently released earnings result, which missed market expectations.
* Norsk Hydro ASA experts are taking a step-by-step approach to restoring IT systems infected by a recent cyberattack. It is still not clear when IT operations will be back to normal.
* Tata Steel Ltd. is expected to sell some of its European packaging steel assets to gain regulatory approval for its planned joint venture with thyssenkrupp AG, sources told Reuters.
* Peabody Energy Corp. laid off about 40 employees at its Kayenta coal mine in Arizona, whose sole customer is a power plant that will close at the end of the year.
* Private equity firm Resource Capital Fund, which owns 48% of coking coal developer Riversdale Resources Ltd., rejected an offer from Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting Pty. Ltd. to fully acquire the company but left the door open for a higher offer, The Australian Financial Review reported.
* Macarthur Minerals Ltd. struck a 10-year off-take deal with Glencore's Glencore International AG unit to supply 4 million tonnes per annum of iron ore to be produced from the Lake Giles project in Western Australia.
* Pure Alumina Ltd. signed a binding agreement to acquire Toronto-based high-purity alumina producer Polar Sapphire Ltd. for C$25.8 million in shares and cash. The company aims to expand its high-purity alumina production to 5,000 tonnes per annum within three years.
* Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. set up a research and development center in Karratha, Western Australia, to explore opportunities to apply autonomous mobility technology in an urban environment.
* Pilbara Ports is clearing anchorages and berths from iron ore exporting ports of Port Hedland, Dampier and Ashburton in preparation for severe tropical cyclone Veronica. Rio Tinto is the main exporter at Dampier, while BHP Group and Fortescue ship from Port Hedland, according to Reuters.
* China may cut its iron ore imports by 40% to about 600 million tonnes in as few as five years, which may lead to devastating effects on Australian producers, J Capital partner and steel analyst Tim Murray said, according to The West Australian. Murray attributed the potential shift to Beijing's plans to cut stimulus for the local housing sector.
SPECIALTY
* Bacanora Lithium PLC CEO Peter Secker said investor appetite for lithium is now back following months of price uncertainty and fears of oversupply, Bloomberg News wrote. Secker said the company will now seek the equity markets to raise the funds needed to build the Sonora lithium project in Mexico.
* A pre-feasibility study improved the overall economics of Neo Lithium Corp.'s Tres Quebradas lithium brine project in Argentina compared to a 2017 preliminary economic assessment. The latest study estimated a posttax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of US$1.14 billion, with a 49.9% internal rate of return.
* Base Resources Ltd.'s pre-feasibility study at its Toliara mineral sands project in Madagascar outlined a posttax net present value, discounted at 10%, of US$671 million, a 22.4% internal rate of return and a four-year payback period. The project is estimated to produce 25.7 million tonnes of ilmenite, 1.7 million tonnes of zircon and 266,000 tonnes of rutile during its 33-year mine life.
* Delrey Metals Corp. secured an option to acquire an 80% interest in the 5,157-hectare Four Corners vanadium-iron-titanium project in Newfoundland from Four Corners Mining Corp. and Triple Nine Resources Ltd.
* Belmont Resources Inc. was granted water rights at its 2,056-hectare Kibby Basin lithium property in Nevada.
* Woomera Mining Ltd. secured exploration license E74/632 for its Mount Cattlin lithium project in Western Australia, bringing the total project area to 128 square kilometers across three tenements.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Greenpeace estimates the value of China's recyclable metals in discarded mobile phones, laptops and desktop computers to jump to 160 billion Chinese yuan by 2030, from 66.4 billion yuan in 2018 and 81 billion yuan projected in 2020, Reuters reported.
* Industry insiders at the 121 Mining Investment Hong Kong conference believe that an agreement to end the trade disputes between China and the U.S. will lift market confidence and stimulate demand for various metals.
* Guinea is set to adopt a proposal that would relocate and compensate people displaced by mines and dams, Reuters wrote. But civil society groups urged the government not to adopt the measure as it would only lead to more conflict. Currently, companies can claim rural lands as state property, as few rural Guineans have legal land titles.
* Bank funding for fossil fuels since the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change has risen overall, but lenders have reduced their financing to sectors such as tar sands, according to a report from a group of environmental advocacy organizations.
* Amnesty International blamed the electric vehicle industry for producing many of its batteries using carbon-intensive fossil fuels and minerals sourced through human rights violations such as child labor, while calling itself "environmentally friendly," Reuters wrote.
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