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DRC may lose US$3B in income, face legal action over new mining code

TOP NEWS

Report: DRC may lose US$3B in income, face legal action over new mining code

Mining companies warned the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that it could lose more than US$3 billion from existing copper, cobalt and gold projects over a decade and face legal action if it implements a new mining code, Bloomberg News reported. "There can be no ambiguity, from a governmental point of view, as to the intention of the mining companies to protect their rights" if the law is applied, a group representing mining majors including Glencore PLC, Randgold Resources Ltd., Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. and China Molybdenum Co. Ltd. said in a note to the government, which has not been made public yet.

Railway strike in Canada would be bad for business, miners warn

A railway strike stands to disrupt Canada's mining sector, one of its top customers, should it prove prolonged, halting the transport of bulk commodities like potash and coal and cutting off supply of inputs like fuels and chemicals on which mines may depend. Some miners will have no alternative but to stockpile ore for as long as possible before curtailing operations if a strike fails to be resolved.

Polyus' Q1 net profit dips 51% YOY on lower operating profit, impact of noncash items

PJSC Polyus' first-quarter net profit dipped 51% year over year to US$244 million, or US$1.80 per share, partially reflecting the decrease in operating profit and the impact of noncash items, including gain on investments and revaluation of derivative financial instruments and foreign exchange gain. Revenue also slid yearly, down to US$617 million from US$609 million a year ago.

DIVERSIFIED

* S&P Global Ratings raised its long-term issuer credit rating on commodities trader Glencore to BBB+ from BBB while keeping the outlook stable.

* Nutrien Ltd. plans to conduct a placement of up to all of its 20,166,319 B shares in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA to Chilean investors, certain other non-U.S. persons and qualified institutional buyers. The placement will be conducted through a bookbuild auction on the Santiago Stock Exchange.

* White Cliff Minerals Ltd. posted a 60% increase in contained gold ounces in the inferred gold resource at the Aucu gold-copper project in Kyrgyzstan, to 484,000 ounces of gold in 2.95 million tonnes grading 5.1 g/t of gold. Contained copper in the inferred copper resource, meanwhile, increased 46% to 64,000 tonnes of copper in 17.2 million tonnes grading 0.37% copper.

BASE METALS

* Vedanta Ltd. is preparing to challenge an Indian state's closure of its Tuticorin copper smelter, but it will not proceed until tensions over protest-related deaths have eased, Reuters reported, citing sources.

* Canadian Zinc Corp. will seek shareholders' approval for a proposed restructuring, which will split the company into two separate entities, during the upcoming annual general and special meeting in June. One of the companies will be a publicly listed holding corporation to be named NorZinc Ltd., while the other will be a directly owned operating subsidiary.

* Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. CEO Jeff Tygesen will retire from the position, effective July 1.

* Greenfields Exploration Ltd. launched Australia's first retail equity crowdfunding for a miner, in what experts say will tap into the "wealth generation" opportunities that younger investors typically want. The junior planned to raise up to A$5 million through a crowdsourced equity sale to fund frontier exploration in Greenland, initially targeting copper, cobalt and nickel, though the vast area of land its licences cover means that there will be opportunities to pursue a broad range of base, precious and specialty metals.

* New Energy Metals Corp. entered an option to acquire the Victoria cobalt project in Chile's San Juan district for US$2.6 million in cash and 2.6 million shares.

* Revelo Resources Corp. signed a deal with Teck Resources Ltd. unit Teck Resources Chile Ltda. for the latter to earn up to a 60% interest in a 1,500-hectare portion of Revelo's Cerro Buenos Aires copper property in Chile.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Petropavlovsk PLC asked regulators to verify the identities of dissident shareholders who are calling for an overhaul of the miner's board, Reuters reported, citing sources close to the company. The Russian gold miner raised the issue of the mystery shareholders with the U.K. Takeover Panel and the U.K. Listing Authority, with the company asking both regulators to investigate and take appropriate action, according to the news wire.

* Newmont Mining Corp. agreed to sell its royalty portfolio to Maverix Metals Inc. in exchange for US$17 million in cash, 60 million common Maverix shares and 10 million warrants. The portfolio comprises 54 precious metals and industrial minerals royalties.

* A feasibility study for Explaurum Ltd.'s Tampia gold project in Western Australia pegged a pretax net present value, discounted at 8%, of A$125 million, an internal rate of return of 47% and a 1.5-year payback period.

* Gascoyne Resources Ltd.'s Dalgaranga project in Western Australia poured first gold ahead of schedule.

* Russia produced 8.8 million ounces of gold in 2017, representing 8.3% of world output, Vedomosti reported, citing data from Metals Focus. The figure is expected to grow by 4.9 million ounces by 2025 due to the commissioning of new deposits, with production to almost double by 2030.

* A maiden ore reserve at Silver Mines Ltd.'s Bowdens silver deposit in New South Wales, Australia, hosts 29.9 million tonnes at 69.0 g/t of silver, 0.44% zinc and 0.32% lead containing 66.3 million ounces of silver, 130,800 tonnes of zinc and 95,300 tonnes of lead, which supports a 16-year mine life.

* Hummingbird Resources PLC said that at least three people were killed following a security incident at the Komana West deposit within the company's 80%-owned Yanfolila gold mine in Mali. The company said that several individuals were trying to prevent the company from carrying out initial site preparation work at Komana West when the incident occurred.

* Argent Minerals Ltd. doubled the resource estimate at the Kempfield project in New South Wales, Australia, to 100 million ounces of silver equivalent grading 120 g/t of silver equivalent.

* Nord Gold SE and Endeavour Mining Corp. hired consultants to oversee a proposed mine exchange in Africa in a cash-and-shares deal, Kommersant reported.

* Rizal Resources Corp. said an employee at its T'Boli gold mine in the Philippines was killed in a rockfall that occurred at the mine during access rehabilitation works.

BULK COMMODITIES

* Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp., which purchased more than A$2.5 billion worth of Australian coal in 2016, warned that it would consider buying coal from other regions due to the looming shortfall of the commodity amid a dispute between Queensland and Aurizon Holdings Ltd., The Australian reported. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she would "reassure the Japanese government their coal exports are secure" in her scheduled meeting with the country's steelmakers and Foreign Minister Taro Kono. According to the report, Queensland exports about A$5 billion of coal to Japan each year.

* BHP Billiton Group and Mitsubishi Corp.'s joint venture in Australia, the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance, agreed to sell the Gregory Crinum hard coking coal project to Japan's Sojitz Corp. for A$100 million. The Queensland-based mine was placed into care and maintenance in 2016, prior to which it had an annual capacity of 6 million tonnes.

* The U.S. Treasury Department indicated that Oleg Deripaska should reduce his 66% shareholding in En+ Group PLC to 40%, to keep his ownership and spare the company from U.S.-imposed sanctions, Bloomberg News reported.

* The ongoing truck drivers' strike in Brazil is limiting the supply of raw materials to the steel industry and forcing at least 11 blast furnaces to slow down operations, Valor Econômico reported, citing Brazilian steel institute Instituto Aço Brasil. The institute's president, Marco Polo de Mello Lopes, said the supply interruption also affects 10 steel mills and 15 lamination plants.

* Yancoal Australia Ltd. made an early repayment of US$450 million in loans to Bank of China and China Construction Bank under its syndicated facility agreement, reducing its existing debt liabilities.

* PJSC PhosAgro's board recommended a total dividend of 3.11 billion Russian rubles, or 24 rubles per common share, lower than the year-ago dividend of 3.89 billion rubles, or 30 rubles per share.

* China is mulling over a plan to purchase more coal from the U.S. in a bid to slash its US$375 billion merchandise trade deficit and ease the ongoing trade war between the two nations, Bloomberg News reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

* Vale SA CEO Fabio Schvartsman said the ongoing strike by Brazilian truck drivers has had a minor impact on the company's operations in the country, Reuters and Metal Bulletin reported. Schvartsman added that the impact could worsen if the strike continues, and the company will have to reduce its production pace.

* India's environment ministry said that state-controlled Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd. expanded a steel plant without prior approvals, Reuters reported. In January, the company sought permission from the ministry to expand the plant's capacity to 6.3 million tonnes per annum from 4 million tonnes, but went ahead with the expansion without receiving clearance.

* European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said the U.S. is expected to put a cap on steel and aluminum imports from Europe even if it decides not to impose import duties, Reuters reported.

SPECIALTY

* A pre-feasibility study for Mineral Commodities Ltd.'s 51%-owned Munglinup graphite project in Western Australia estimated a posttax net present value, discounted at 8%, of A$139 million and an internal rate of return of 48%.

* AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group NV has temporarily shut down certain tantalum mining and processing operations in Brazil due to the ongoing national truckers' strike. The company does not expect a material financial impact from the strike at this stage.

* Walkabout Resources Ltd. acquired the remaining 30% interest in the prospecting license hosting the Lindi Jumbo graphite deposit in Tanzania for US$1 million.

* De Beers SA launched a new company, Lightbox Jewellery, that will market laboratory-grown diamond jewelry designs, Mining Weekly reported.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* After three sequential five-year cycles in decline, mining investment in Brazil is finally picking up and is expected to reach at least 19.5 billion Brazilian reais from 2018 to 2022, Valor Econômico reported, citing a survey conducted by Brazilian mining institute Ibram.

* Indian Trade Minister Suresh Prabhu told Reuters that the country is looking to secure gold and diamond mining rights in Russia's Far East region as it seeks to import gold and diamonds for value addition prior to export.

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