TOP NEWS
Indonesia sets framework for Grasberg stake transfer to Inalum
Indonesian government officials signed an agreement with state-owned PT Inalum to facilitate the transfer of a majority stake in the Grasberg copper-gold mine to Inalum, Reuters reported. Under the deal, the provincial government of Papua and the Mimika Regency will jointly own rights to a 10% stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc.'s PT Freeport Indonesia unit once the divestment is completed. Meanwhile, Inalum CEO Budi Gunadi Sadikin said talks between the Indonesian government and Rio Tinto over the Grasberg divestment deal with Freeport are "progressing well," though details remain restricted due to a nondisclosure agreement.
Alcoa locks out workers at Quebec smelter after wage talks collapse
Alcoa Corp. locked out workers at its Becancour aluminum smelter in Quebec after a collective agreement for 1,030 employees expired and talks for a new wage deal failed, Reuters reported. The contract expiry gave workers the right to strike and Alcoa the right to lock them out, according to the United Steelworkers union. However, according to Clement Masse, president of Steelworkers Local 9700, the company locked out the workers without any warning.
Alrosa sees 2018 diamond output falling YOY
Russia's PJSC Alrosa dropped its production guidance for 2018 to 36.6 million carats from the estimated 39.3 million carats produced in 2017 in the wake of the flood at its Mir mine. After a 7% output drop in 2018, the company expects production to ramp-up to 38.2 million carats by 2020, driven by the Verkhne-Munskoe mine.
DIVERSIFIED
* Morgan Stanley upgraded Anglo American Plc to overweight from equal-weight due to the company's rerating potential as it continues to cut costs and debt, Proactive Investors reported, citing a research note. Morgan Stanley also raised the target price for the miner's stock to 1,900 pence per share from 1,600 pence per share.
BASE METALS
* Glencore Plc halted operations at the Pasar copper smelter in the Philippines due to a leak in the sulfuric acid plant, Metal Bulletin reported, citing sources. The smelter has been suspended since last week.
* Pegmont Mines Ltd. entered into an option agreement to sell its noncore New Hope copper project in Queensland, Australia, to Chinova Resources Cloncurry Mines Pty. Ltd., which holds an adjacent lease.
* Imperial Metals Corp. produced 93.7 million pounds of copper and 81,425 ounces of gold from its Mount Polley and Red Chris copper-gold projects in British Columbia for full year 2017, down from 109.0 million pounds of copper and 93,532 ounces of gold a year earlier.
* Copperbank Resources Corp. extended the exploration agreements on its wholly controlled Pyramid and San Diego Bay projects in Alaska with the subsurface owners, Aleut Corp., after satisfaction of the original agreements signed with the previous operators.
* Serengeti Resources Inc.'s drilling program at its UDS copper-zinc-gold property in British Columbia did not intercept any assays of economic significance.
PRECIOUS METALS
* First Majestic Silver Corp. signed a definitive deal to acquire Primero Mining Corp. in an all-share deal. First Majestic also entered into agreements to restructure a streaming transaction with Wheaton Precious Metals International Ltd. The total transaction value was pegged at about US$320 million.
* Russian gold major Arlan is aiming to double gold output by 2020 and expects to raise production to 6.8 tonnes this year from the 6.5 tonnes of gold produced in 2017, Reuters reported, citing a company director. It is targeting gold production of 13 tonnes in 2020.
* Goldplat Plc's Goldplat Recovery Pty. Ltd. unit and Rand Refinery Pty. Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding for a final settlement agreement for the parties' dispute over a silver processing deal. Rand Refinery agreed to pay an undisclosed amount, which Goldplat said is less than its full claim. Goldplat CEO Gerard Kisbey-Green said the deal "will allow business between the two parties to resume on the basis of a fresh start."
* Bayhorse Silver Inc. increased its interest in the mining lease on the Bayhorse silver mine in Oregon to 100% by spending a further US$2.2 million after earning an 80% stake.
* Armadale Capital Plc entered into a heads of agreement to sell its 12% stake in the Mpokoto gold project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Weghsteen Capital Advice SA.
* B2Gold Corp. expects its consolidated gold production to increase by about 300,000 ounces year on year in 2018 with the startup of the Fekola mine in Mali. The company also reported that 2017 was its ninth straight year of record consolidated gold production, coming in at 630,565 ounces, exceeding the upper end of its revised guidance and increasing 15% on an annual basis.
* Yamana Gold Inc. produced 977,000 ounces of gold, 5 million ounces of silver and 127 million pounds of copper in 2017, with gold and silver production decreasing year over year from 1.3 million ounces and 7 million ounces, respectively, and copper production increasing from 116 million pounds.
* Pan American Silver Corp. is aiming to grow its silver production at an annual rate of 8% to between 30.5 million and 33 million ounces by 2020. The company's consolidated silver production for full-year 2017 totaled 25.0 million ounces, within the original guidance range of between 24.5 million and 26.0 million ounces, but was down from 2016 production of 25.4 million ounces.
* China Gold International Resources Corp. Ltd. reached commercial production in series one of the second expansion phase at its China-based Jiama copper-molybdenum-gold mine Dec. 31, 2017. Due to the expansion, the mine's ore processing capacity increased to 28,000 tonnes per day from 6,000 tpd.
* Enforcer Gold Corp. entered into an option and joint venture agreement with SOQUEM Inc. to acquire a 50% interest in the advanced-stage Roger gold-copper property in Quebec. Under the deal, Enforcer Gold has three years to spend C$2 million on the property and issue 1 million shares.
* An updated preliminary economic assessment for U.S. Gold Corp.'s Copper King gold mine in Wyoming pegged a pretax net present value of US$178.5 million at a 5% discount rate and an internal rate of return of 33.10%, with a payback period of just under 2.5 years.
* Sanatana Resources Inc. entered into an agreement with Brian Fowler and Christian Carl to acquire the Santoy Mountain property, which is adjacent to the company's Jackfish gold property in Ontario, in a cash and share transaction.
* A security incident took place at Royal Bafokeng Platinum Ltd.'s North shaft in South Africa, where an individual within a crowd of more than 100 protesters was shot dead. The protesters, including former employees and unknown persons, attempted to gain unlawful access to the shaft premises. Based on initial evidence, Royal Bafokeng believes that the shooting came from within the protester group and the fatality was not an employee.
* Discovery Minerals Ltd. said it is turning its commercial operations into the mining of bitcoin gold coins.
BULK COMMODITIES
* China's coal imports rose to 22.74 million tonnes in December 2017, up from 22.05 million tonnes in November, as the government eased curbs on shipments amid supply shortages, Reuters reported. Full-year coal imports increased 6.1% year on year to 270.9 million tonnes, the highest level since 2014.
* The Australian weather bureau removed the warning status for high winds at Western Australia's Port Hedland, Reuters reported. The Pilbara Ports Authority had cleared vessels from the port, which serves as a hub for iron ore miners BHP Billiton Group, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. and Roy Hill Holdings Pty Ltd., as a precautionary measure. Reuters wrote that the iron ore terminal at the port is likely to reopen Jan. 13.
* Sumitomo Corp. increased its stake in Malaysia-based Sumiputeh Steel Centre Sdn. Bhd. to 100% from 50%.
* A Hong Kong arbitrator ordered SouthGobi Resources Ltd.'s SouthGobi Sands LLC subsidiary to repay US$11.5 million plus accrued interest to First Concept Industrial Group Ltd. over a coal supply deal signed in 2014.
* South Africa's Transnet confirmed that the manganese export facility at Port Elizabeth will be transferred to the nearby Port of Ngqura by October 2023, Mining Weekly reported.
* Yara International ASA said it completed the acquisition of Tata Chemicals Ltd.'s urea business in India in a deal valued at US$421 million on a debt- and cash-free basis. Yara will consolidate the acquired business, effective immediately.
* African Potash Ltd. signed another agreement to develop a blockchain-based agricultural ecosystem solution with Gibraltar-based TokenCommunities Ltd., which will complement its previous agreement with GMEX Group Ltd.
* Citic Ltd. plans to issue US$250 million of 3.50% notes due 2023 and US$500 million of 4.0% notes due 2028 under a US$9 billion medium-term note program. The notes will be offered to professional investors.
* Liuzhou Iron & Steel Co. Ltd.'s attributable net profit for 2017 is expected to increase between 1,148% and 1,311%, or by between 2.25 billion Chinese yuan and 2.57 billion yuan, China Securities Journal reported.
* Oracle Power Plc agreed to acquire the remaining 199,999 shares of Sindh Carbon Energy Ltd. that it did not own from Sindh Koela Ltd. for up to £3.6 million in Oracle shares. The acquisition fulfills a prerequisite to a memorandum of understanding for the US$1.6 billion development of the Block VI coal project in Pakistan's Sindh province signed in November 2017.
* The U.S. Commerce Department relayed its findings on its investigation of the impact of steel imports to U.S. national security to President Donald Trump, Reuters reported. The department, which did not reveal the report's recommendations, said Trump has 90 days to enact a final decision based on the report.
* OAO Metalloinvest entered into an agreement with a consortium of Russian and European banks for a US$240 million pre-export finance facility.
* A feasibility study on Crystal Peak Minerals Inc.'s Sevier Lake sulfate of potash project in Utah outlined an after-tax net present value of US$730 million, at an 8% discount rate, and an internal rate of return of 21%.
* The environmental assessment commission of Chile's Magallanes region rejected Mina Invierno SA's plan to use explosives in its Mina Invierno coal operations in Isla Riesco, Pulso reported. The joint venture between the Angelini and Von Appen business groups will review the consequences of this ruling, Regional Manager Guillermo Hernández said.
* Roy Hill Iron Ore will not renew its contract for explosives products and services with Incitec Pivot Ltd. for the Roy Hill iron ore mine in Western Australia after it expires Feb. 9. The loss of the Roy Hill contract is estimated to have a one-off impact on Incitec's net profit of about A$5 million in fiscal 2018, A$16 million in fiscal 2019, A$22 million in fiscal 2020, A$18 million in fiscal 2021 and A$20 million in fiscal 2022.
SPECIALTY
* Australian lithium producers partially recovered from a sharp drop in stock prices on the ASX following reports that Rio Tinto backed out from its bid to acquire a 32% stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA from Nutrien Ltd., the Financial Times reported.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Barclays estimates that total global commodity assets under management rose to US$311 billion in December 2017, up by US$45 billion from the prior year, with precious metals accounting for over 40% of the assets at US$131 billion, Reuters reported.
* Employers in Germany agreed to appoint experts to assess the demands of industrial workers for shorter hours at regional wage talks, amid warning strikes and the threat of wider walkouts by the IG Metall union, Reuters reported.
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.
