TOP NEWS
Petra Diamonds to halt operations due to power emergency in South Africa
Petra Diamonds Ltd. is stopping operations at its Cullinan, Finsch, and Koffiefontein mines in South Africa due to a power system emergency declared by electricity public utility Eskom, and an unprecedented Stage 6 load shedding after a technical fault at the Medupi Power Station. Petra said that production, hoisting and processing at the mines have stopped with immediate effect.
Boliden flags €10M impact on profit from Finland strikes
Boliden AB forecast an about €10 million impact on its annual operating profit, resulting from nationwide strikes in Finland. The Swedish mining and smelting firm said the strikes launched by the Finnish Industrial Union, which will last until Dec. 12, disrupted operations at the Harjavalta copper-nickel smelter, the Kokkola zinc smelter and the Kevitsa nickel-copper mine.
First Quantum up as Jiangxi Copper buys top shareholder's unit for US$1.12B
Vancouver-headquartered base metals miner First Quantum Minerals Ltd.'s shares on the TSX increased as much as 5% to their highest since May, then closed at a 4.3% gain, after Jiangxi Copper Co. Ltd. announced its purchase of PIM Cupric Holdings Ltd. from Pangaea Investment Management Ltd., First Quantum's largest shareholder with a 17.7% stake, for US$1.12 billion. Rio Tinto has reportedly entered the bidding for First Quantum, as Jiangxi Copper is prevented from amassing an over 20% stake in the company under an October standstill agreement.
DIVERSIFIED
* Diversified miner BHP Group's chief technology officer, Diane Jurgens, will leave the company in early 2020. Vice President Technology Global Transformation Rag Udd has been appointed acting chief technology officer, effective Dec. 14.
* Erris Resources PLC secured an option to acquire 80% of the Loch Tay gold and associated base metals project in Perthshire, Scotland, from Greenore Gold Plc by defining an inferred resource of at least 250,000 gold ounces within four years.
* Chile's export revenue dropped 12% year over year to US$5.28 billion in November, Reuters reported, citing data from the country's central bank. Revenue from Chile's copper exports decreased 8.7% during the month to US$2.77 billion, while lithium exports fell nearly 6% to US$67 million.
BASE METALS
* Teck Resources Ltd. and Newmont Goldcorp Corp.'s NuevaUnion copper joint venture announced the dismissal of 80 workers from a staff of 120, following the company's recent announcement that it would optimize assets and project plans in 2020, daily El Mercurio reported. The decision may entail the suspension of the project's environmental study, which was scheduled to be submitted by the end of 2019.
* Amarc Resources Ltd. will outright purchase the 51% interest in the Pine copper-gold property in British Columbia held by Gold Fields Toodoggone Exploration Corp. by issuing 5.0 million common shares. The company will secure 100% interest in the Pine mineral claims following the deal.
* Northern Fox Resources Inc. signed an earn-in option deal to acquire up to 61% interest in Cadillac Ventures Inc.'s Thierry copper mine property in Ontario.
* Adriatic Metals PLC's admission to the London Stock Exchange is expected to commence on Dec. 12, under the ticker ADT1.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Genesis Minerals Ltd. entered an exploration farm-in and joint venture with Kin Mining NL over the latter's Desdemona South project south of Western Australia's Leonora gold mining center, around which corporate adviser and broker Argonaut sees up to 5 million ounces of "stranded" deposits up for consolidation.
* North American Palladium Ltd. said that all of the required regulatory approvals with respect to the takeover of all the company's shares by an affiliate of Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. have been obtained. The transaction is expected to close on or about Dec. 13.
* Resolute Mining Ltd. completed the repairs on the sulfide roaster at its Syama gold mine in Mali on schedule and under budget. Concentrate feed is expected to start in about five days.
* Perseus Mining Ltd. expects to pour first gold from its Yaoure project in Cote d'Ivoire in December 2020, a month ahead of the currently contracted completion date. The project's construction will cost a total of US$265 million.
* Titan Minerals Ltd. raised its all-share takeover bid for Core Gold Inc., valuing each share of the target at 52.3 Canadian cents per share. Core Gold asked its shareholders to take no further action while its board reviews the increased offer.
* Cougar Metals NL said it will take legal action in Ontario and Madagascar courts if an agreement cannot be reached with DNI Metals Inc. regarding the settlement of C$2.3 million, which became due and payable on Dec. 4.
* RTG Mining Inc. entered a binding agreement to acquire 80% of the Mount Kare gold project in Papua New Guinea.
* New Age Exploration Ltd. was granted a two-year prospecting permit application over an area of 265.38 square kilometers in the gold-prospective Lammerlaw area in Otago, New Zealand.
* Great Northern Minerals Ltd. estimated a total inferred resource of 29,721 gold ounces within 256,504 tonnes grading 3.6 g/t gold for its Golden Cup gold mine in Northern Queensland, Australia.
* Lefroy Exploration Ltd. secured an application for a tenement to cover a prime land position, known as Burns, within the Eastern Lefroy tenement package, which is part of the greater Lefroy gold project in Western Australia.
* Jadar Resources Ltd. signed a sale and purchase agreement with Wealth Minerals Ltd. to acquire Minera Wealth Peru S.A.C., holder of the Yanamina gold project in Peru.
* Blue Lagoon Resources Inc. secured an option to acquire 80% of ExGen Resources Inc.'s Gordon Lake gold property in Canada's Northwest Territories.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Australian Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said he would back Adani Enterprises Ltd.'s Carmichael coal mine and any other projects in Queensland that would create jobs locally, The Australian reported. "The fact is that Adani has received its environmental approvals," Albanese said.
* ArcelorMittal accepted to purchase about €318.0 million of 2.875% notes due July 6, 2020, and about €214.5 million of 3.00% notes due April 9, 2021.
* The Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the renewal of the wastewater discharge permit for U.S. Steel Corp.'s Minntac iron ore mine made by the state's Pollution Control Agency, the Associated Press reported. The agency first issued the permit in 1987 and renewed it last year despite a dispute whether the mine has to comply with a state law intended to protect wild rice beds by limiting sulfate discharge. The court sent the dispute back to the agency for further proceedings.
* The Nigerian government is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding with a Russian firm in January 2020 for the revival of Ajaokuta Steel Co. Ltd.'s rolling mill, Xinhua reported, citing the country's Minister of Mines and Steel Olamilekan Adegbite. The minister said that funds are already in place for the project, and a committee has already been set up.
* Bisalloy Steel Group Ltd. inked a memorandum of understanding with Leong Jin (Changzhou) Special Steel Co. Ltd. to collaborate on a broader range of premium wear and structural quenched and tempered steel products to supply the Australian market.
* Applied Minerals Inc. inked a definitive agreement with one of the largest cement manufacturers in the U.S. to supply up to 30,000 tonnes of crushed, unmilled iron oxide per year, for a period of two years.
* Mastermyne Group Ltd. secured an extension to June 30, 2020, for its outbye services contract to South32 Ltd.'s Illawarra metallurgical coal operations in New South Wale, Australia. The extension is forecast to generate revenue of about A$17 million over seven months.
* Kommersant reported that SAFMAR Group JSC plans to create a coal company with annual production of 30 million tonnes based on Russian Coal Co. and Kuzbass Fuel Co., which this year became part of Mikhail Gutseriev's holding. Experts believe that the combined company will be the third-largest in the Russian coal market.
* The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority allowed Swiss billionaire Martin Haefner's BigPoint Holding AG to increase its stake in steelmaker Schmolz + Bickenbach AG as part of a planned capital increase.
* Cadence Minerals PLC struck a deal with Brazil's Amapa state to restore a life-of-mine railway concession between the Amapa iron ore mine and the Santana Port. The deal is one of the major preconditions for Cadence to proceed with its planned acquisition of up to 27% of project owner DEV Mineração SA.
* Giyani Metals Corp. selected Lazenby Holdings Pty. Ltd. to undertake the environmental cleanup work at the K.Hill and Otse manganese deposits in Botswana, in accordance with the Environmental Management Plans approved by the country's Department of Environmental Affairs.
* Webco Industries Inc. reported a year-over-year decline in its net income to US$3.2 million, or US$3.46 per diluted share, in the first quarter of fiscal 2020, from US$9.8 million net income, or US$10.47 per diluted share, as net sales declined by 10.6% to US$122.5 million from US$137.0 million.
SPECIALTY
* The European Commission approved up to about €3.2 billion to fund research and innovation in the common European priority area of lithium-ion batteries. Seven of the EC's member states agreed to provide the funding, which is expected to unlock another €5 billion in private investments. The member states are Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden.
* If the U.S. government starts buying uranium from domestic producers, it may need to pay substantially more than current spot uranium prices to incentivize an increase in U.S. uranium production, according to some uranium mining experts.
* Novonix Ltd. entered into a conditional agreement to supply lithium-ion battery anode material to SAMSUNG SDI, an international manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries.
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