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Vedanta Resources assessing impacts of license cancellations in Goa

TOP NEWS

Vedanta assessing financial, operational impacts of Goa license cancellations

Vedanta Resources Plc confirmed that its mines in Goa will be affected by the Indian Supreme Court's decision to cancel all iron ore mining permits in the state, effective March 16, and it is assessing the financial and operational impact of the directive. According to the Financial Times, Vedanta's shares dropped 1.8% on Feb. 7 as a result of the cancellations.

Western Australian exploration uptick points to cautious recovery, say analysts

Western Australia continued to receive more applications for exploration licenses as well as permits to conduct exploration activity in the fourth quarter of 2017, a sign that market watchers say points to expectations of a cautious recovery in the state's resources sector. The number of applications in the quarter for new programs of work rose 45% year over year, and applications for new exploration licenses jumped 92%, according to an analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence of publicly released data from the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety of Western Australia.

Sumitomo Metal Mining back in black for 9 months to 2017-end

Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. swung to a profit attributable to shareholders of ¥64.98 billion for the nine months ended Dec. 31, 2017, from a loss of ¥32.83 billion in the year-ago period. Net sales in the period jumped 21.5% year over year to ¥685.84 billion. The company expects full-year profit to reach ¥85.00 billion, or ¥308.21 per share. Meanwhile, Sumitomo Metal revised its year-end dividend forecast to ¥59 per share from ¥40 per share.

DIVERSIFIED

* Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques said the company is "comfortable" with its dual-listed structure at present, the Financial Times reported. Jacques added that the company's current listing structure did not create any problems but in the medium- and long term could be changed according to the prevailing tax environment.

BASE METALS

* Nyrstar NV told Metal Bulletin that it filed an arbitration request for New Century Resources Ltd. to enforce "long-standing life-of-mine" off-take deals over zinc concentrates produced from the Century zinc mine in Queensland, Australia.

* Canada's Strongbow Exploration Inc. is looking to list its shares on the London Stock Exchange's AIM this year as part of its plans to raise funds to restart production at its South Crofty tin project in the U.K., Reuters reported, citing CEO Richard Williams.

* BHP Billiton Group's Olympic Dam copper mine is expected to be at full production by the end of March after completing A$350 million of smelter and infrastructure upgrades, The Australian Financial Review reported. The company intends to double production at the mine by 2023 under a US$2.1 billion plan.

* Paranapanema SA expects full-year 2018 CapEx at about 320 million Brazilian reais, to be used for investments in operations and production enhancement.

* The treatment charges that miners pay zinc smelters to process ore, which will be finalized at the International Zinc Association's annual conference starting Feb. 11, is expected to fall by at least 13% to US$140 per tonne to US$150 per tonne or below for 2018 term contracts, Reuters reported, citing four trader and analyst sources.

* Anglo American Plc notified Highlands Pacific Ltd. that it intends to withdraw from the Star Mountains copper-gold joint venture in Papua New Guinea, relinquishing its vested 15% interest in the project.

* Southern Hemisphere Mining Ltd. entered an option with Hudbay Minerals Inc., allowing the latter to earn up to a 70% interest in the Llahuin copper-gold project in Chile.

* The Mining Cadastre Department of Zambia terminated mining rights for BMR Group Plc's Kabwe lead-zinc-vanadium project in the country. The development comes a day after Jubilee Metals Group PLC decided to exercise its option to earn a 40% interest in the Kabwe project, raising its stake to 57.14%.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Royal Gold Inc. booked a net loss attributable to shareholders of US$14.8 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2018, swinging from a year-ago net income of US$28.1 million. The company recorded an expense of US$26.4 million in connection with U.S. tax reforms and an expense of US$15.9 million related to the impact of a noncash functional currency election to file certain Canadian income tax returns in U.S. dollars.

* Crusader Resources Ltd.'s optimization study for the Borborema gold project in Brazil pegged a net present value, discounted at 8%, of US$117.8 million, and a 31% internal rate of return.

* The Dominican Republic's energy and mines minister, Antonio Isa Conde, said GoldQuest Mining Corp.'s Romero gold exploration project in San Juan region complies with the country's regulations, in light of recent criticism by institutions and civic groups, daily Proceso reported.

* Sibanye Gold Ltd.'s deal to acquire up to a 50.1% stake in DRDGold Ltd. was approved by the South African competition authorities. Sibanye will exchange certain surface gold processing assets and tailings storage facilities for the stake.

* Hecla Mining Co. posted its highest-ever levels of gold, silver and lead reserves and the highest zinc reserves in five years.

* Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. is targeting mine production of 37 tonnes of gold, 244,000 tonnes of copper, 274,100 tonnes of zinc and 37,600 tonnes of lead in 2018.

* PJSC Norilsk Nickel Co. signed an agreement with Russian Platinum LLC to forge a strategic partnership and establish a 50/50 joint venture that will aim to become among the largest producers of platinum group metals, targeting annual PGM output of 70 to 100 tonnes.

* Pan African Resources Plc terminated talks to acquire certain assets and liabilities of Asa Resource Group Plc, which is under administration.

BULK COMMODITIES

* Alf Barrios, head of Rio Tinto's aluminum division, told Bloomberg News that he remains positive the U.S. government will recognize Canada's strategic importance to the American manufacturing sector in considering import tariffs on aluminum amid talks over the North American Free Trade Agreement.

* Sumitomo Corp. raised its attributable profit forecast for the year ending March 31 to ¥300 billion from ¥280 billion on the back of recovering tubular products business in North America and higher profit from its mineral resources unit, among other factors. The company also raised its dividend forecast to ¥60 per share from ¥56 per share. Sumitomo posted a profit of ¥252.89 billion for the nine months ended Dec. 31, 2017, rising 126.7% year on year.

* Austria's Voestalpine AG confirmed its earnings forecast for the full fiscal year after unveiling a 23% rise in its fiscal third-quarter EBITDA to €436.6 million, Reuters reported. The steelmaker posted a net profit of €167 million and revenues of €3.16 billion for the quarter.

* Responding to media reports, Prairie Mining Ltd. said it met with Polish coal miner Jastrzebska Spólka Weglowa SA and held preliminary discussions about possible cooperation to develop Prairie's coal mining assets in Poland. "Discussions are at a very early stage and there can be no certainty as to whether any co-operation will be agreed," the company said.

* Yara International ASA swung to a fourth-quarter 2017 profit of 846 million Norwegian kroner from a year-ago loss of 333 million kroner.

* Mineral Resources Ltd.'s profit attributable to shareholders for the first half of fiscal 2018 rose to A$163.6 million from the year-ago profit of A$140.3 million. The company also increased the fully franked interim dividend to 25 cents per share, from 21 cents per share in the first half of fiscal 2017.

* The environment spokesman for the Australian Labor Party, Tony Burke, is asking for a probe into Adani Enterprises Ltd.'s dumping of contaminated water from its Abbot Point coal operations in Queensland into the Caley Valley wetlands, The Australian reported. "The investigation needs to also determine whether Adani has provided false information to the Australian or Queensland government," Burke said.

* Cia. Siderúrgica Nacional may opt to sell off its assets in a measure to further shed its outstanding debt, Reuters reported, citing director Luis Fernando Martinez. The Brazilian steelmaker, however, is not under pressure, as it bought enough time to consider the sale of its assets as iron ore prices appreciated and it reached a deal with Banco do Brazil SA to outline the main terms of extending debt maturities.

* Chilean steelmaker CAP SA presented a plan to rectify 20 environmental infractions detected by environmental regulator SMA at its iron ore operations in northern Chile in January. One of the improvements concerns the miner's current tailings dumping system, which discharges the waste into the sea without proper environmental permits. The company decided to submit for SMA's approval a plan for a new deposit that will be placed on the mainland, daily Diario Financiero reported.

* Peabody Energy Corp. posted net income attributable to stockholders of US$317.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, compared with a loss of US$192.7 million in the same quarter in 2016.

* Brazilian antitrust watchdog CADE conditionally approved ArcelorMittal Brasil SA's takeover of Votorantim Siderurgia SA, Reuters reported. The regulator asked the ArcelorMittal unit to sell assets, including a long steel producing unit in the country's Espirito Santo state. If ArcelorMittal fails to strike a deal, the assets will be auctioned.

* One person was killed and another was injured in a rockfall event at Evraz Plc's Osinnikovskaya coal mine in Russia, Vedomosti reported.

* The ministry of transport and communications in Peru initiated a process to build a railway line, which will start close to Strike Resources Ltd.'s Apurimac iron ore project and go to the mineral export Port of San Juan de Marcona. The company said the railway will significantly improve the development prospects for a 20 million-tonne-per-annum iron ore mine.

SPECIALTY

* Petra Diamonds Ltd. is likely to land a deal with lenders that could see the waiver or a reset of its debt obligations within the following month, CEO Johan Dippenaar told Reuters. The CEO reiterated that the company will focus on debt reduction and acquisitions and exploration are off the table for now.

* Renascor Resources Ltd.'s scoping study for the production of spherical graphite from the Siviour deposit, part of the Arno project in South Australia, estimated a posttax net present value, discounted at 10%, of A$307.5 million with an internal rate of return of 59.9%. Under the combined spherical graphite and flake graphite production option, the company estimated a net present value, discounted at 10%, of A$740.5 million and an IRR of 53.5%.

* The Supreme Court of Western Australia dismissed the appeal against the approval of Cameco Corp.'s Yeelirrie uranium mine, The Australian Financial Review reported. However, the Conservation Council of Western Australia said it will continue to oppose the mine.

* Triton Minerals Ltd. signed a term sheet with Qingdao Tianshengda Graphite Co. Ltd. for the off-take of up to 16,000 tonnes per annum of graphite concentrate from the Ancuabe graphite project in Mozambique for an initial five years.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* China's iron ore imports hit the second-highest level in January, up 19% over the previous month to 100 million tonnes, while coal imports reached the highest in four years at 27.81 million tonnes, an 11.5% rise from a year ago, Reuters reported, citing customs data. Meanwhile, imports of unwrought copper fell for the second consecutive month, to 440,000 tonnes.

* Multinational energy and resources companies operating in Australia are increasingly seeking advice on ensuring transparency, particularly around persistent tax evasion concerns, to ensure their license to operate stays intact, Deloitte experts said.

* Robert Friedland, executive chairman of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., has joined the growing number of industry executives voicing opposition to the proposed new mining code in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The executive said he was not necessarily unwilling to pay higher royalties and taxes but said the funds should be used to support and empower local communities. At the same time, he said there must be a stable environment for investors.

* Mining in Colombia paid 2.11 trillion Colombian pesos in royalties to the government in 2017, up 25.4% compared with 2016 figures. Coal production contributed the most significant amount, accounting for 87.7% of the total payment, according to national mining agency ANM figures, daily El Colombiano 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.