trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/68-yf-uftlxymnwjwat2ba2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Chinalco starts Toromocho's US$1.3B expansion, targets 45% output growth by 2020

Blog

Insight Weekly: US stock performance; banks' M&A risk; COVID-19 vaccine makers' earnings

Blog

Insight Weekly: LNG exports surge; investors unfazed by inflation; neobanks drive VC funding

Blog

Essential Metals Mining Insights November 2021

Blog

[Infographic]: 2021 World Exploration Trends


Chinalco starts Toromocho's US$1.3B expansion, targets 45% output growth by 2020

TOP NEWS

Chinalco starts Toromocho's US$1.3B expansion, targets 45% output growth by 2020

Aluminum Corp. of China, or Chinalco, started a US$1.3 billion expansion project at its Toromocho copper project in Peru that is designed to raise output by 45% by 2020, Reuters wrote, citing Chinalco Chairman Ge Honglin. According to a report from China's Xinhua News Agency, the company plans to increase Toromocho's copper concentrate processing capacity to 157,000 tonnes per day and annual refined copper output to 300,000 tonnes.

En+ said to hire Rothschild to help cut Deripaska's stake; chief resigns

Maxim Sokov resigned as president and executive director of En+ Group PLC, the controlling shareholder of United Co. Rusal PLC, as part of measures to avoid U.S. sanctions. The resignation is part of the company's plan, announced in late April, that includes appointing a majority of new independent directors to the board. According to the Financial Times, sources said En+ hired Rothschild to reduce Oleg Deripaska's stake in the group to below 50%.

G7 members slam Trump's metal tariffs

G7 finance leaders asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to convey their "unanimous concern and disappointment" over the 25% steel and 10% aluminum tariffs the U.S. imposed on Mexico, Canada and the EU, Reuters reported. Finance leaders from Canada, France, Germany, the U.K., Italy and Japan made the comment in a joint statement following a three-day meeting of G7 finance leaders in Canada. The group also called for "decisive action" at the G7 summit that is scheduled to take place in Quebec on June 8-9.

DIVERSIFIED

* The Supreme Court of the Democratic Republic of the Congo rejected Glencore PLC's challenge that a commercial court is not competent to hear a petition to dissolve the company's Kamoto Copper Co. SARL unit brought by its partner and state miner Gecamines SA, Reuters reported, citing a lawyer representing the state miner

BASE METALS

* Avanco Resources Ltd. does not expect a material impact on C1 cash costs or all-in sustaining costs for the second quarter, after resuming mining activity at its Brazilian copper operations. Operations were suspended in late May amid a truck drivers' strike in the country.

* First Cobalt Corp. completed the acquisition of US Cobalt Inc.; the latter will become a First Cobalt unit and will be delisted.

* Hammer Metals Ltd. terminated an option allowing a unit of Newmont Mining Corp. to earn up to a 75% interest in a 250-square-kilometer area in the Mount Isa copper project in Queensland, Australia.

* Two miners were killed in a rockfall incident at an abandoned Moroccan lead mine, Reuters wrote, citing state news agency MAP.

* Sandfire Resources NL is set to acquire the remaining 30% stake in the Monty copper-gold project in Western Australia from joint venture partner Talisman Mining Ltd., The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk reported. The deal is said to be worth about A$70 million, the report added.

* Unionized workers at BHP Billiton Group's Escondida copper mine in Chile started another round of contract negotiations with the miner, Reuters reported. The union is demanding a one-time bonus of US$34,000 per worker and a 5% increase in salaries.

* Weatherly International PLC appointed administrators to the company. The company also terminated the formal sale process initiated in late April, when it announced a strategic review. Additionally, the company said it remains uncertain regarding the resumption of operations at its Tschudi copper mine in Namibia due to a recent increase in groundwater inflow at the site, while Orion Mine Finance indicated it would not be willing to permit further drawdowns on a loan facility.

* Galileo Resources PLC's conceptual grade and tonnage estimate at its Star Zinc project in Zambia pegged a potential exploration target of 485,000 tonnes at 15.4% zinc at a cutoff of 3% zinc.

* U.K.-listed Antofagasta PLC paid taxes and fees amounting to US$316.8 million in Chile and US$206,000 in the U.S. in 2017, Mining Weekly reported.

* Production at Nexa Resources SA's Tres Marias zinc smelter in Minas Gerais, Brazil, returned to normal levels. Output at the smelter was partially affected due to interruptions in the supply of raw materials resulting from a nationwide strike by truck drivers in the country.

* Bass Metals Ltd. terminated a previously agreed terms sheet to sell all of its tenements and mining-related interests in Tasmania, Australia, to NQ Minerals PLC, by mutual consent.

* BMR Group PLC agreed to pay Blue Square Minerals Ltd. up to US$800,000 as compensation for work to secure restoration of a small-scale mining license of the company and corporate advisory and technical support services related to the Kabwe zinc project in Zambia.

PRECIOUS METALS

* U.S. hedge fund Paulson & Co. will form a group of investors called the Shareholders Gold Council, which will aim to drive changes and better returns from gold mining companies, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The group is expected to be launched as early as June and will comprise over a dozen investors, including Delbrook Capital, Livermore Partners and Tocqueville Asset Management.

* Five illegal miners in Indonesia were killed after the mine they were working in collapsed, Reuters wrote, citing the country's Disaster Mitigation Agency. A sixth miner remains unaccounted for.

* Havilah Resources Ltd. agreed to sell the Benagerie mining lease, which hosts the Portia gold and North Portia copper projects in South Australia.

* Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy at TD Securities in Toronto, expects gold prices to start recovering in the last quarter, potentially hitting a high of US$1,400/oz in 2019 amid the weakening U.S. dollar, Bloomberg News wrote.

* Union workers of a transportation contractor company in Mexico on June 1 blocked access to Goldcorp Inc.'s Penasquito gold mine in Zacatecas. Protesters are demanding that the company agree to an indefinite delivery contract, daily La Jornada reported.

* Junefield Group SA subsidiary Ecuagoldmining South America SA stopped operations at its Rio Blanco gold-silver project in Ecuador following an order from a judge in the Cuenca province, Mining.com reported. The judge gave the order after an organization representing 12 ethnic groups said the company did not seek consent from the local people before starting development.

* Shanta Gold Ltd. estimated a JORC-compliant mineral resource at its Singida gold project in central Tanzania of 12.3 million tonnes at 1.84 g/t gold containing 725,000 ounces.

* Pasu Loharjun, the head of the committee focused on settling the dispute between Thailand and Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd., said the Australian company recently submitted a statement of claim over the shutdown of its Thai unit Akara Resources PCL to arbitration, Thai Rath reported. Loharjun said the two sides still have the opportunity to enter negotiations to resolve the dispute, adding that a tribunal will eventually side with the Thai government.

BULK COMMODITIES

* British Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said the British leader is set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump later this week to discuss the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, Reuters wrote.

* Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. is working toward expanding its mining base beyond iron ore and establishing its presence in Argentina and Ecuador, The Sydney Morning Herald reported, citing CEO Elizabeth Gaines. The chief executive said she is "optimistic" about the future of copper due to its growing use in electric vehicles, adding that Argentina and Ecuador are both prospective for copper and gold, and the former is also prospective for lithium.

* Institutional investors with US$26 trillion in total assets urged G7 leaders to phase out coal usage in power generation as part of a "global shift to clean energy," Reuters wrote, citing a statement from the group of 288 investors.

* Kommersant and Vedomosti reported that Rusal will be allowed to become resident in special administrative regions with special tax and currency regimes, which are planned to be created on the Russian islands of Russkiy, near Vladivostok, and Oktyabrskiy, near Kaliningrad.

* Lamêlée Iron Ore Ltd. received conditional approval from the Canadian Securities Exchange for a proposed reverse takeover of Aura Health Corp., after which it will exit from the mining sector.

* The EU will not return to negotiations with the U.S. to settle a row over steel and aluminum tariffs, as the bloc opened a case at the World Trade Organization and began formulating retaliatory measures.

* German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said the U.S. government could face pressure to exempt some German-made steel imports from tariffs as U.S. companies that are dependent on these special steel products would have to raise prices, Reuters reported.

* Philippe Darmayan, the head of ArcelorMittal's French division, called on for quotas and safeguards to protect the European steel industry in the wake of the U.S. government's decision to impose aluminum and steel tariffs, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine AG said the impact from the import tariffs would be manageable but urged the EU to act quickly to protect its companies.

* Coal mine developer Aspire Mining Ltd. said a feasibility study on the Erdenet-to-Ovoot rail project pegged an equity net present value after tax of US$276 million, based on a discount rate of 8%, and an after-tax internal rate of return of 8%.

* Tata Chemicals Ltd. completed the sale of its phosphate fertilizers business and the bulk and nonbulk fertilizers trading business to Indorama Holdings BV unit IRC Agrochemicals Private Ltd. for 8.73 billion Indian rupees. Tata Chemicals intends to focus on specialty chemicals and consumer foods while maintaining leadership in the inorganic chemicals business.

* A coal mine collapse resulting from a gas explosion in Pakistan's Balochistan province killed four workers, Mining.com reported, citing local media reports. Nine people were said to be working at the site at the time of the explosion; six were trapped and only two were rescued.

* Brazil's iron ore export volumes jumped 11.01% year over year to 38.98 million tonnes in May, Metal Bulletin reported, citing figures released by the country's foreign trade ministry.

SPECIALTY

* Nutrien Ltd. auctioned its remaining stake in Chilean lithium miner Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA for nearly US$1 billion, Reuters reported. The 20,166,319 B SQM shares were sold on Chile's IPSA stock exchange for 31,000 Chilean pesos, or US$49.05 per share.

* Eramet is set to meet major shareholders in Mineral Deposits Ltd. as it kicks off its takeover bid for the Australian mineral sands producer, The Australian Financial Review reported. Earlier in May, Mineral Deposits recommended its shareholders reject Eramet's about A$291 million off-market takeover offer.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* COSCO Shipping Holdings Co. Ltd. will construct and operate a port on the Pacific coast of Peru in the town of Chancay, with an investment of US$2 billion, Reuters reported, citing China's ambassador to Peru.

* A clampdown on illegal mining started in the Philippines' Mountain Province, in line with President Rodrigo Duterte's directive, People's Television Network reported.

* As part of new measures aimed at further tightening control over the mining industry, large-scale mining licenses in Tanzania will only be issued following Cabinet approval, Reuters reported, citing Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Palamagamba Kabudi. According to the report, the country delegated the issuance of large-scale project licenses to a newly appointed mining commission, which succeeds the authority of its mining ministry.

* Peru's Mining Ministry said it added 54 new exploration projects totaling US$306.5 million to its portfolio. The list includes projects that will be developed this year only, news agency Andina reported.

* China warned the U.S. that any trade deals between the two countries will be invalid if the U.S. implements tariffs and other trade measures, Xinhua News Agency reported.

* Australia's mining sector is on track to record its biggest and most active year of mergers and acquisitions for the fiscal year that will end June 30, with about US$12 billion of transactions since July 1, 2017, according to data compiled by The Australian.

* Zimbabwe's parliament passed amendments to the mining bill, removing a requirement for foreign mining companies to list locally, Reuters reported.

The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. ET. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.