TOP NEWS
New South Wales limits Drayton South coal project to underground operations only
Although the New South Wales government renewed Malabar Coal Ltd. exploration license EL5460, it plans to amend rules to ban open cut coal mining in the Drayton South area and only allow underground operations, The Sydney Morning Herald reported, citing state Planning and Housing Minister Anthony Roberts. "This [amendment] will bring certainty to the community and local industry, including the internationally renowned equine operations in this area," Roberts said. Anglo American Plc, which sold Drayton South to Malabar in May, saw its mine expansion project rejected four times by the state planning assessment commission.
'We are not leaving South Africa,' Sibanye Gold CEO says
Sibanye Gold Ltd.'s recent changes to its South African portfolio were part of a wider strategy to manage and limit political risk within the jurisdiction, the CEO Neal Froneman told S&P Global Market Intelligence on the sidelines of the Mines and Money conference in London. However, he said the company will not leave the country.
Gold drives global exploration rebound
Gold exploration led the way in 2017, accounting for 73% of the year-on-year increase in the global exploration budget. Using data compiled as part of the Corporate Exploration Strategies series, S&P Global Market Intelligence's Metals and Mining Research identified 901 companies that budgeted a total of US$4.05 billion for gold exploration in 2017, up 22% from the US$3.32 billion budgeted by 910 companies in 2016.
BASE METALS
* The head of Mitsubishi Materials Corp. unit Mitsubishi Cable Industries Ltd. resigned after the company admitted product data manipulation to match quality specifications set by the company and its clients, Reuters reported. The unit is one of three that have admitted to data falsification.
* Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. Chairman Robert Friedland said the rising demand for metals such as copper, nickel and cobalt for use in electric vehicles will give miners the upper hand in negotiations with customers, Bloomberg News reported. "Coming soon to a theater near you: this is the revenge of the miner," Friedland said, adding that "[n]o miner is willing to sell a high-volatility metal to a car manufacturer at a fixed price."
* The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill that would allow areas near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to be explored, Forum News Service wrote. The bill needs approval by the President and Senate and concerns Antofagasta Plc's Twin Metals copper project in Minnesota.
* The governments of Chile and Argentina signed a protocol to facilitate the development of McEwen Mining Inc.'s Los Azules copper project in San Juan, Argentina. The new protocol will facilitate project-related activities in the border zone between San Juan and Chile's Limari province.
* China's Gansu province ordered the cancellation of exploration licenses on 15 mines, including 9 copper projects, due to environmental violations, according to Chinese newspaper China Mining News. The local provincial government said areas covered by the licenses overlapped with the Qilian Mountains national nature reserve and the decision was made to protect the environment in the reserve area.
* The environmental evaluation authority of the Atacama region in northern Chile approved the environmental impact declaration for Codelco's plan to extend the life of the Salvador copper mine until 2021. The program includes the start of operations at the Rajo Inca project, which would add another 40 years, daily Diario de Atacama reported.
* Global Energy Metals Corp. agreed for Canadian Co27 Pty. Ltd. to acquire up to a 70% joint venture interest in the Werner Lake cobalt project in Ontario. As a condition of the agreement, Canadian Co27 will be acquired by Force Commodities Ltd. spinoff Marquee Resources Ltd.
* Nickelore Ltd. is looking to exit the mining sector with the pending acquisition of two oil projects in Texas and Oklahoma.
* China's rising copper output and concerns of a slowdown in its real estate market could lead investors to exit bullish bets in the copper market, resulting in a plunge in prices by a double-digit percentage, Reuters reported, citing executives at the Asia Copper conference.
* CuDeco Ltd. temporarily suspended processing plant operations at its Rocklands copper mine in Queensland, Australia, at the order of the Department of Natural Resources & Mines. This follows a recent investigation by the department that identified several issues with the process plant.
PRECIOUS METALS
* China Nonferrous Gold Ltd. expects to resume production at its Pakrut gold project in Tajikistan in the first half of 2018. Operations were affected by an avalanche in February and were previously expected to normalize in the fourth quarter.
* Westgold Resources Ltd. agreed to team up with Golden Energy and Resources Ltd. for the continued expansion of Westgold's Australian gold operations. Golden Energy will take a diluted 10% stake in Westgold via a share placement of 36 million shares at A$1.885 apiece. At this price, the total investment will amount to about A$67.9 million.
* Doray Minerals Ltd.'s memorandum of understanding with Westgold Resources Ltd. to assess the potential development of the Gnaweeda gold project in Western Australia expired Nov. 30 without any further agreement.
* Tyranna Resources Ltd. entered into a binding deal to purchase the advanced Eureka gold project in Western Australia from Central Iron Ore Ltd. for A$3.2 million as the company looks to transition from an explorer to a producer.
* Dacian Gold Ltd. engaged mining contractor Macmahon Contractors Pty. Ltd. to mine the Jupiter open pit at its Mount Morgans gold project in Western Australia.
* Clancy Exploration Ltd. reached an agreement to acquire the Hong Kong gold project in Western Australia's Pilbara region.
* Golden Predator Mining Corp. signed deals with Alexco Exploration Canada Corp. and Newmont Canada Corp. to fully acquire the Sprogge claims in Canada's Yukon Territory, contiguous with its 3 Aces gold project.
* Riedel Resources Ltd. advised that LMTD Wits Pty. Ltd. exercised its option to purchase the Charteris Creek gold project in Western Australia for A$500,000 cash.
* POZ Minerals Ltd. said Accelerate Resources Ltd. lodged a prospectus with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for an IPO to raise up to A$5 million.
BULK COMMODITIES
* BHP Billiton Group and Vale SA's iron ore joint venture Samarco Mineração SA aims to extend the life of the Alegria Sul deposit pit for the tailings produced at its Mariana mining complex in Minas Gerais, Brazil, which would replace the collapsed Fundão dam, if operations at the mine are allowed to resume. The miner proposed implementing a filtration system to extract water from the mineral waste mud, leaving only sand in the deposit. The water would be used in mineral extraction, Samarco general manager Alexandre Souto said, daily Valor Econômico reported.
* Beowulf Mining Plc shares slumped over 42% in early London afternoon trading after the County Administrative Board of Norrbotten, Sweden, refused to recommend the award of an exploitation concession for the Kallak North deposit at the company's Kallak iron ore project.
* Norwegian fertilizer producer Yara International ASA issued senior unsecured bonds of 3.25 billion Norwegian kroner and 1.25 billion Swedish kronor. The company intends to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes.
* The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce ruled in favor of Celamin Holdings NL over the dispute with its joint venture partner Tunisian Mining Services over control of Chaketma Phosphates SAC Tunisia. Celamin unit Celamin Ltd. was awarded the reversal of a share transfer of its 51% stake.
* Minera Andes Iron filed a complaint to the environmental tribunal in Antofagasta against the decision in August by Chile's highest administrative authority, the Committee of Ministers, which prevented the Dominga iron ore project from obtaining an environmental permit, daily Diario Financiero reported.
* Vedomosti reported that United Co. Rusal Plc plans to mine cryptocurrency. The aluminum holding will create a data processing center in the territory of the Nadvoitsky plant in Karelia.
* South Korean shipper Pan Ocean secured a contract worth 1.98 trillion South Korean won from Vale to ship iron ore from Brazil to China from 2020 to 2047, Reuters reported.
* MYTILINEOS Holdings SA will close a US$400 million investment next month for the development of a new alumina plant in Greece, Reuters reported. "We hope to start building the new alumina plant ... with an [annual] capacity of 1 million tonnes in 2018," CEO Evangelos Mytilineos said.
* Michele Emiliano, the governor of southern Italy's Puglia region, and Rinaldo Melucci, the mayor of Taranto, where Ilva International SpA's largest steel plant is located, lodged appeals against the Italian government's approval of the environmental plan put forward by ArcelorMittal for a proposed takeover of Ilva, Metal Bulletin reported. Italian Minister of Economic Development Carlo Calenda said Ilva could be closed if a regional court accepts the complaint by the two politicians.
SPECIALTY
* Firestone Diamonds Plc formulated a revised nine-year mine plan to better cater to the lower-than-expected diamond sale results to ensure sustainable mining. The company will produce 900,000 carats per annum under the revised plan at lower operating costs of US$13 per tonne treated. Firestone also raised £18.5 million to fund mining activities at its Liqhobong diamond mine in Lesotho.
* Magnis Resources Ltd. agreed to supply 25,000 tonnes per annum of flake graphite to World Group division World Plastik ve Petrokimya Sanayi ve Ticaret AS. The deal comprises 15,000 tonnes per annum of the Super Jumbo product and 10,000 tonnes per annum of the Jumbo product.
* Cameo Resources Corp. entered into an option with Clean Commodities Corp. to earn an 80% interest in the Dumont and Spodumene Lake lithium projects, collectively called the Whabouchi project, in Quebec.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* New Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced his cabinet, with Winston Chitando named mines minister, Bloomberg News reported. Chitando is the executive chairman of an Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. unit.
* Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani said the mining companies and the South African government will have to settle disputes over the revised mining charter and other differences, adding that legal proceedings are not best suited for finding long-term resolutions, BusinessDay reported. "We're fighting the battle in the courts, and whilst I believe that we had to take steps to protect our position, the answer will not come from the courts," Cutifani was quoted as saying.
* As the demand for battery metals increases, driven by the growing electric vehicle sector, the mining industry is becoming increasingly concerned about whether it will be able to meet expectations over the coming years. Paul Gait, the senior European analyst for metals and mining at Bernstein Research, said at the Mines and Money conference in London that he believes that the supply of copper, nickel and cobalt is not at risk of bottlenecking in the near term but lithium could be under threat.
The Daily Dose is updated as of 7 a.m. ET and scans news sources published in Chinese, English, Indonesian, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Ukrainian. Some external links may require a subscription.
