TOP NEWS
Turquoise Hill's FY'17 income slides; company files tax dispute with Mongolia
Rio Tinto subsidiary Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd.'s attributable net income fell for the fourth quarter of 2017 and totaled US$51.1 million, down 45.2% year over year from US$93.3 million. For full-year 2017, the figure dropped 14.0% to US$181.2 million, from US$210.6 million in 2016. Meanwhile, Oyu Tolgoi filed a notice of dispute against the Mongolian government over an approximately US$155 million tax assessment from the Mongolian Tax Authority. The dispute notice is an initial step in a dispute resolution process and will grant the parties a 60-working-day negotiation period. If the parties are unable to reach a resolution during the period, the dispute can be referred to international arbitration.
Major miners quit DRC's chamber of commerce ahead of talks on new mining code
Major mining companies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo quit the country's Chamber of Commerce ahead of planned talks with the government on its new mining code. Randgold Resources Ltd., Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., Glencore Plc, MMG Ltd., China Molybdenum Co. Ltd. and Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. parted ways with the industry group, claiming that the Congolese Chamber of Commerce did not "adequately" represent their interests.
Cautious creditors delaying Southeast Asian coal miners from restructuring debt
Coal miners in Southeast Asia are finding it difficult to take advantage of the current uptick in thermal coal prices to restructure their debt. Many of their creditors are skeptical that the commodity will remain at the current price level for a sustainable period, analysts said.
DIVERSIFIED
* African Rainbow Minerals Ltd. declared a maiden interim dividend of 2.50 South African rand per share after swinging to basic earnings of 1.75 billion rand in the first half of its fiscal 2018 from a loss of 254 million rand a year ago. The loss in first half of 2017 included an attributable impairment of 711 million rand on the Nkomati mine and 734 million rand on the Modikwa mine in South Africa.
* The home of former investment banker Francois de Combret, who helped negotiate a deal between Rio Tinto and the Guinean government, was raided in late 2017 by U.K. investigators as part of an ongoing bribery probe, Bloomberg News reported.
BASE METALS
* Billionaire Vladimir Potanin's Interros Group will acquire a 2.1% stake in Russian mining giant PJSC Norilsk Nickel Co. from Roman Abramovich's Crispian Investments Ltd. The deal boosts Potanin's stake in Norilsk to 32.9%, compared to the 28% share held by Oleg Deripaska, the billionaire owner of United Co. Rusal Plc who sought to block the deal between Abramovich and Potanin in a London court.
* SLAM Exploration Ltd. entered into a letter of intent to sell its Ramsay cobalt property in New Brunswick to American Cobalt Corp.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Newcrest Mining Ltd. is set to miss its fiscal 2018 guidance, as it has no set timetable for the restart of its Cadia gold-copper mine in New South Wales, Australia, The Australian reported, citing CEO Sandeep Biswas.
* A group of unionized contract employees representing less than 10% of the workforce at Sierra Metals Inc.'s Yauricocha silver mine in Peru plan to strike, which could stop mining and milling activities at the site March 16. The company believes that the strike is illegal.
* Osisko Mining Inc. defined a mineral resource estimate for its Osborne-Bell gold deposit, part of the Quevillon property in Quebec, outlining inferred resources of 2.6 million tons at 6.13 g/t of gold for contained 510,000 ounces, assuming a gold price of US$1,300/oz and a cutoff grade of 3.0 g/t of gold.
* Sibanye Gold Ltd. filed a submission with the South African competition authorities for its proposed acquisition of Lonmin PLC announced in December 2017.
* Nusantara Resources Ltd. finalized an amendment to its contract of work with the Indonesian government for its operations in the country, which will reduce its corporate income tax from 35% to 25%, effective Jan. 1, and increase the net smelter returns royalty to 3.75% for gold. Nusantara is still required to divest at least 51% of its PT Masmindo Dwi unit by the 10th year of commercial production.
* Separately, Kingsrose Mining Ltd. also secured an amendment, which includes a reduction in its corporate income tax from 35% to 25%, an increase in net smelter returns royalty to 3.75% for gold and 3.25% for silver, and a requirement to sell its interest in the unit until it falls to 49% by December 2020.
* Force Commodities Ltd. signed an agreement to sell its Mount Adrah gold project in New South Wales, Australia, to Wildcat Resources Pty. Ltd. and Rock The Polo Pty. Ltd. for up to A$500,000 in cash and shares. The company will focus post-sale on its Kitotolo and Kanuka lithium projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
* Mincor Resources NL approved the development of its Widgiemooltha gold project in Western Australia following completion of an enhanced feasibility study that estimated a posttax net present value, discounted at 8%, of US$27.4 million and a six-month payback period. The mine is expected to produce 71,700 ounces of gold during a 29-month mine life.
* Avocet Mining Plc sold its Norwegian subsidiary, Wega Mining AS, and intercompany receivables to Natholmen AS for US$400,000 cash. The company is continuing discussions with its secured creditor, Manchester Securities Corp., for restructuring its overdue loans, which total US$29.2 million. Meanwhile, the creditor has agreed to the disposal and to release its security over the shares in Wega Mining and its subsidiaries.
* Kin Mining NL started construction and exploration at its Leonora gold project in Western Australia, with tank construction ahead of schedule. The ball mill is on site and its refurbishment is expected to take about 12 weeks.
* Russia-focused gold miner Nord Gold SE will pay out a dividend of US$4.50 per share for the fourth quarter of 2017, representing a total of US$15.3 million, taking the payout for the full year to US$53.6 million, or 15.79 cents per share. The company posted a rise in profit for the fourth quarter to US$52.8 million from US$10.9 million a year earlier.
* Great Dyke Investments Ltd., a joint venture between Russia's JSC Afromet and Zimbabwe's Pen East Ltd., plans to invest US$400 million to build the Darwendale precious metals mine and smelter in Zimbabwe.
* Mountain Lake Minerals Inc.'s share price jumped over 150% on March 15 after it announced a letter of intent to acquire medical marijuana company 1151024 B.C. Ltd. Mountain Lake plans to spin out its mining assets to existing shareholders.
* About 200 bars of gold-silver alloy fell out of a plane while it was taking off in Russia after a loading hatch broke off, BBC reported. The bars have been recovered and a probe was launched into the incident, according to the report.
BULK COMMODITIES
* ArcelorMittal offered to sell off plants across Europe to address EU antitrust concerns about the company's proposed €1.8 billion acquisition of Italian steel producer Ilva International SpA, Reuters reported.
* Norsk Hydro ASA CEO Svein Richard Brandtzaeg told Reuters that the company intends to secure alternative sources of alumina to replace reduced supplies at its Alunorte refinery in Brazil. The company has supplies to last into April but sourcing extra volumes was a priority, he added. Norsk Hydro also put 400 employees on a compulsory 15-day leave starting April 2.
* The U.S. International Trade Commission made a final finding that aluminum foil imports from China harm the domestic industry, affirming antidumping and countervailing duties set to be imposed by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
* Separately, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue warned against the new tariffs on Chinese imports, saying that starting a trade war would result in damaging taxes on American consumers, Reuters reported.
* Iron ore mining in the Indian state of Goa was halted March 15 in line with an order issued by the Supreme Court, Mining Weekly reported.
* Noble Group Ltd. said it will not make payments due on its US$379 million notes due 2018 and US$750 million notes due 2022, Reuters reported.
* Kobe Steel Ltd.'s incoming president and CEO, Mitsugu Yamaguchi, indicated that the company may seek mergers or external partners for one or more of its business units as the company faces a difficult challenge to re-establish its reputation following a data fraud scandal, Reuters reported. "I will fully carry out my responsibilities to prevent any recurrences and regain trust," Yamaguchi said.
* Russian steel and iron producer OAO Metalloinvest benefited from Chinese production cuts in 2017, posting a 22% rise in net profit to US$1.41 billion. EBITDA soared to US$2.12 billion, from US$1.26 billion in 2016. On a yearly basis, revenue from Metalloinvest iron ore products increased 51.5% to US$2.82 billion, and revenues from pig iron and steel products rose 43.7% to US$3.25 billion.
* Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd. confirmed that reduced cadmium limits will affect a significant proportion of rock phosphate imported into the European Union market, including rock sourced from Egypt, Israel, Boucraa & Youssoufia, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia, Nauru and Christmas Island.
* K+S AG proposed a higher dividend of 35 euro cents per share for 2017, compared to 30 cents per share paid a year ago, after reporting an 11.1% yearly rise in adjusted group earnings to €145 million. EBITDA increased to €576.7 million on a yearly basis from €519.1 million, while revenues grew 4.9% to €3.63 billion.
* En+ Group PLC expects to complete its share conversion transaction with Glencore by the end of April. Following the conversion, En+ will increase its shareholding in United Co. Rusal PLC from 48.13% to 56.88% and Glencore will be issued new global depositary receipts representing 10.55% of the group's ordinary shares.
* Zimbabwe's coal sector attracted about US$300 million, which will see the country's coal output reaching more than 8 million tonnes in 2019 compared with about 2 million in 2017, Reuters reported, citing Minister of Mines and Mining Development Winston Chitando.
SPECIALTY
* PJSC Alrosa posted a net profit of 78.62 billion Russian rubles for 2017, down 41% on a yearly basis amid lower EBITDA, foreign exchange effects and the revaluation of the group's gas assets. Revenue fell 13% year over year to 275.38 billion rubles due to a 9% decrease in the average price of gem-quality diamonds sold.
* Thor Mining PLC said the passing of the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act in the U.S. is expected to be a key step to enabling the acceleration of permitting of critical metals projects in the country, including the company's Pilot Mountain tungsten project in Nevada.
* Mountain Province Diamonds Inc.'s Gahcho Kue diamond joint venture partner De Beers SA unit agreed to incorporate properties owned by Kennady Diamonds Inc. into the venture should Mountain Province's proposed acquisition of Kennady proceed.
* TNG Ltd. partnered with McMahon Services and Clough Projects for key engineering, procurement and construction services at its flagship Mount Peake vanadium-titanium-iron project in Australia's Northern Territory.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Asian capital is flooding into Australia's junior and mid-cap miners, and corporate activity is set to ramp up as Hong Kong private equity firms beef up their metals teams, S&P Global Market Intelligence has learned. Ashanti Capital Founder and Managing Director Rob Hamilton said most of the M&A activity, particularly in battery metals, will be directed by the end users of those products — the Chinese and, in some cases, the Japanese and South Koreans.
* Australia's explorers and Western Australia's state government are pressing the federal government to open up about what the state needs to do to win its bid for a cooperative research center and become a downstream processing hub for battery minerals, an industry some believe could be worth A$2 trillion by 2025.
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.
