TOP NEW
Glencore in 5-year cobalt supply deal with China's GEM
Glencore PLC agreed to supply at least 61,200 tonnes of cobalt hydroxide to China's GEM Co. Ltd. between 2020 and 2024. The companies did not disclose pricing terms for the agreement.
Liberty House aims to address lack of transparency
In response to criticisms of its lack of transparency, Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty House Ltd. will publish consolidated accounts and name a board of directors for the first time, The Times of London reported. The group has an annual turnover of £20 billion and employs 35,000 workers globally, but its lack of financial transparency and corporate governance structures have raised questions over its viability as well as the uncommon nature and cost of its borrowings.
Sirius Minerals cuts 300 jobs at Woodsmith to lower costs
Sirius Minerals PLC fired about 300 workers at its Woodsmith potash project in the U.K. amid funding woes for the operation, The Times of London reported. Managing Director and CEO Chris Fraser said the company is looking to expedite its strategic review and complete an initial review by the end of October.
BASE METALS
* Cobalt 27 Capital Corp. investors objected to the takeover offer from Pala Investments Ltd., which recently sweetened the cash consideration to C$4.00 per share from C$3.57 per share, the Financial Post reported. Investors said the cobalt assets are being taken away from them just as the price of the base metal, a key ingredient in electric vehicle batteries, has started to improve. Cobalt 27 said advisory firms ISS and Glass Lewis recommended that shareholders vote in favor of the transaction.
* Five judges of the Appellate Court of Seville unanimously ruled in favor of Emerita Resources Corp.'s appeal of a lower court's decision to dismiss a criminal case against the Andalusian government panel responsible for awarding the Aznalcollar zinc project and the former director of mines. The Appellate Court concluded that the project was wrongfully awarded to Grupo México SAB de CV unit Minorbis-Grupo Mexico.
* Bezant Resources PLC reached a conditional deal to divest its 80% stake in the Mankayan copper project in the Philippines to private Singaporean company Mining and Minerals Industries Holding Pte. Ltd.
* The Indonesian government appointed state miner PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Persero) to acquire the 20% stake in PT Vale Indonesia Tbk. the company is looking to divest to local investors to meet new regulations aimed at limiting foreign ownership of the country's mining resources, Reuters wrote.
* Pelican Resources Ltd. executed the sale of subsidiary Sibuyan Nickel Properties Development Corp., the beneficial owner of the Romblon nickel project in the Philippines, to Dynamo Atlantic Ltd. and Dynamo Atlantic Holdings Philippines Inc. for A$270,000.
* MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. purchased 38 claims in Ontario to add to its Semple-Hulbert-Powerline-Jovan property package. The new claims cover prospective extensions of the potential iron-oxide-copper-gold system identified at the Scadding mine.
* Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. completed the transfer of five exploration permits to Regal Exploration DRC SASU. The transfer is one of the conditions of the proposed acquisition of Nzuri Copper Ltd. by Chengtun Mining Group Co. Ltd. unit Xuchen International Ltd.
* The cobalt inventory held by the former Fanya Metal Exchange was sold to Shanghai Sanqian New Energy Materials for 5.91 million Chinese yuan in an auction, Reuters reported. So far, six Fanya auctions have raised more than 4 billion yuan.
* Pakistan's exports of base metals and articles grew 35.62% during the first two months of the current financial year to US$115 million from US$84.8 million in the comparative period in 2018, The Nation reported, citing data from the State Bank of Pakistan.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Hecla Mining Co.'s silver production for the third quarter jumped 31% year over year to 3.3 million ounces, and gold output rose 6% to 77,331 ounces. Cash and equivalents rose by US$24 million from the end of June to about US$33 million, while total outstanding debt was slightly lower.
* China's central bank has boosted its gold reserves by more than 100 tons since it restarted purchases in December 2018, raising holdings to 62.64 million ounces in September, Bloomberg reported. During the first half, central banks worldwide purchased 374.1 tons of gold, pushing total demand to a three-year high amid slower growth, the U.S.-China trade war and rate cuts, according to the World Gold Council.
* Resolute Mining Ltd. produced 103,201 ounces of gold in the September quarter, higher than the June quarter output of 78,132 ounces. The Australia-listed miner said it is on track for its full-year 2019 guidance of 400,000 ounces of gold production at an all-in sustaining cost of US$960 per ounce.
* Sibanye Gold Ltd. started an internal restructuring process under which Sibanye-Stillwater will acquire 100% share capital of the company through a plan of arrangement and will list the shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange under the same terms, following its recent merger with Lonmin PLC.
* Twenty people were killed in a suspected attack by jihadis on a gold mining site in northern Burkina Faso, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources. Gunmen came to the Dolmande site in Soum province and fired on people working there.
* Golden Rim Resources Ltd.'s 21,000-meter reverse circulation drilling and diamond drilling program restarted at the Kouri gold project in Burkina Faso after being suspended due to the rainy season.
* PJSC Polyus priced its 10-year bonds of 20 billion Russian rubles at a coupon rate of 7.40% per annum.
* India's gold imports plunged 68% year over year in September to 26 tonnes from 81.71 tonnes, the lowest in more than three years as record domestic gold prices curbed retail buying, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed government source.
* Western Australia's Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety granted the application for a revised clearing permit to Ramelius Resources Ltd.'s Greenfinch open pit project adjacent to the miner's Edna May gold operation.
* Ecuagoldmining South America's Rio Blanco gold-silver project in Ecuador was set on fire; the company deemed it a terrorist attack, Mining.com reported.
* Evergold Corp. completed an IPO on the TSX Venture Exchange amounting to C$3.5 million, which the company will use for phase-one exploration drilling programs on the Snoball and Golden Lion properties in British Columbia, for maintenance at its Holy Cross and Spanish Lake properties in British Columbia, and for general working capital purposes.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Centennial Coal Co. Ltd. has been able to massively increase its greenhouse gas emissions from its Myuna colliery and Mandalong mines on three occasions since 2016-2017 without penalty as these were approved by the government, The Guardian reported.
* Post-budget measures announced by the Indian government, the Reserve Bank's slashing of key rates for the fifth time in a row, and the ongoing festive season renewed the hopes of JSW Steel Ltd. for the second half amid a slump in steel demand, Press Trust of India reported.
* Sumitomo Corp. subsidiary SCAP Exploration Pty. Ltd. agreed to farm-in terms with Bowen Coking Coal Ltd. subsidiary Coking Coal One Pty. Ltd. to acquire up to 20% of the Hillalong project in Queensland, Australia.
* Bounty Mining Ltd. signed a facility agreement for a A$90 million refinancing transaction with QCoal Pty. Ltd. Bounty Mining unit Bounty Cook Pty. Ltd. will enter into a coal off-take agreement with QCoal, valid until Dec. 31, 2025, or until loading of about 5.0 million tonnes of coal, which is expected to be the total metallurgical coal production from the Cook colliery in Queensland, Australia.
* Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. confirmed it submitted a bid to develop two blocks in the Simandou iron ore deposit in Guinea. Fortescue is one of the last two bidders in the running for the rights, reportedly along with the country's largest bauxite exporter, SMB-Winning, Reuters wrote. A government commission is expected to make a final decision on the Simandou tender in about a month.
* BHP Group is investigating an incident at Port Hedland, Western Australia, in which four railcars on one of its iron ore trains were dislodged, The West Australian reported, adding that no one was injured and production and contractual obligations are not expected to be impacted.
* The government of Odisha, India, identified 10 mineral blocks, composed of seven iron ore blocks and three iron ore and manganese blocks, for electronic auction for the purpose of granting a mining lease, The New Indian Express reported.
* Search and rescue personnel of the Semirara Mining & Power Corp. found the body of a buried worker at a mining pit, two days after he went missing after a landslide, The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.
* Lindian Resources Ltd. tapped African drilling company Sahara Natural Resources to conduct phase-one drilling at the Gaoual bauxite project in Guinea.
* Emmerson PLC signed a memorandum of understanding with renewable energy developer Voltalia for the potential supply of electricity to the Khemisset potash project in northern Morocco.
* Navajo Transitional Energy Co. LLC is now the third-largest coal producer in the U.S. after purchasing all of Cloud Peak Energy Inc.'s assets, Mining.com reported.
* Kalium Lakes Ltd. awarded the contract to design, supply, install and commission the 7.5-MW gas-fired power station for its Beyondie sulfate of potash project to Clarke Energy.
* Russian coal output is projected to rise by up to 20.7% by 2024, against 2018 figures, to up to 530 million tonnes, in line with the country's energy strategy until 2035, Vedomosti reported.
SPECIALTY
* An unusual diamond that has another diamond moving freely inside it was mined in Yakutia, within PJSC Alrosa's Nyurba mining and processing division. Experts said this is the first such diamond mined in the industry's history.
* Mineral Commodities Ltd. completed its acquisition of Skaland Graphite AS, owner of the Trælen graphite mine and Skaland processing facility in Norway.
* Mali Lithium Ltd. significantly reduced the risks for its Goulamina lithium project in Mali by optimizing key infrastructure, including obtaining a water license to de-risk the project's water supply by pumping water from the nearby Selingue Dam.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Moody's lowered its 12- to 18-month outlook on the U.S. steel industry to negative from stable, citing weakening economic indicators, falling steel prices and downward revisions in outlooks for the global manufacturing and chemicals sectors.
* The International Monetary Fund will consider renewing its financial support to Congo within the next six months, Reuters reported, citing the government in Kinshasa. The IMF suspended its last financial aid to Congo, worth more than US$500 million, in 2012 after the government failed to provide sufficient details on the sale of state mining assets to an offshore company. Congo is a leading miner of cobalt, copper, gold, tin and diamonds.
* The global supply of metals will not meet demand without innovations in the mining industry, due to materialized environmental, social and governance risks, according to a study from The University of Queensland.
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