trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/9vyvzszx87nju4j5ocpdhg2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Northern Star offers A$150M to consolidate East Kundana; Noble to name chairman

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


Northern Star offers A$150M to consolidate East Kundana; Noble to name chairman

TOP NEWS

Northern Star offers A$150M to consolidate ownership of East Kundana gold project

Northern Star Resources Ltd. moved to consolidate ownership of the East Kundana gold project in Western Australia, by acquiring the 49% stake held by Tribune Resources Ltd., Rand Mining Ltd. and Rand Exploration NL for A$150 million. The offer came after the Australian Takeovers Panel made final orders in relation to its declaration of unacceptable circumstances regarding an application from Tribune shareholder R Hedley Pty. Ltd. in connection with past and ongoing breaches of Australia's Corporations Act relating to the nondisclosure of controlling shareholdings in Tribune Resources and Rand Mining.

Noble Group to appoint former Morgan Stanley banker as new chairman

Noble Group Ltd. will name Ian Potter, a former senior banker at Morgan Stanley, as chairman, replacing Paul Brough for the role, Reuters reported, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. According to one of the sources, Potter has been working with Noble in an advisory capacity for the past few months.

Tianqi Lithium to launch 5B yuan convertible bond offer to fund SQM deal

Tianqi Lithium Corp. intends to launch a convertible debt issue of up to 5 billion Chinese yuan, which will fund its approximately US$4.07 billion acquisition of a 24% stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA from Nutrien Ltd.

BASE METALS

* Talon Metals Corp.'s preliminary economic assessment on the Tamarack nickel project in Minnesota defined an after-tax net present value, discounted at 7%, of US$210 million, with a 38.8% internal rate of return and payback period of 2.1 years. Talon has an option to acquire up to a 60% stake in the project, which is owned by Rio Tinto's Kennecott Exploration Company unit.

* Independence Group NL agreed to spend almost A$17 million to join Rio Tinto in exploring a potentially huge copper discovery in Western Australia's Paterson Ranges, The Australian reported.

* Metalicity Ltd. secured exploration license applications for the copper-prospective Desert Queen and Mandora Beach projects, covering a total area of 2,166 square kilometers, in the Paterson Province of Western Australia's Pilbara region.

* Debt-laden Nyrstar NV's shares plummeted to a record low after ABN Amro declared the company as virtually worthless, with analyst Philip Ngotho setting a target price of 1 euro cent from €1, Financial Times reported. Ngotho said a debt restructuring process is inevitable, with a debt-for-equity swap along with a private share placement to Trafigura Trading LLC the most likely scenario.

* Mined zinc production rose globally by 0.7% to 3.21 million tonnes in the September quarter from 3.19 Mt a year earlier, according to estimates by the Metals and Mining Research team at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

* OJSC Electrozinc plans to restart zinc production at its plant in North Ossetia in Russia in six to eight months following its suspension in October due to a fire, Metal Bulletin reported.

* Twenty Seven Co. Ltd. subsidiary TSC Exploration Pty. Ltd. secured exploration licenses EL31788 and EL31787, dubbed the Pear Tree and Calvert cobalt projects, expanding its landholding in the McArthur Basin area in Australia's Northern Territory to 2,456 square kilometers.

PRECIOUS METALS

* S&P Global Ratings raised its long-term credit rating on Russia-based gold miner PJSC Polyus to BB from BB- with a stable outlook. The rating agency believes that the company's credit metrics will continue to strengthen in 2019, supported by gold production growth and free cash flow generation, assuming relatively stable gold prices.

* Sierra Metals Inc. swung to an attributable profit of US$1.9 million in the third quarter, from a loss of US$6.5 million a year ago.

* Australian Mines Ltd.'s gold and base metals spinoff Norwest Minerals Ltd. closed its initial public offering of 33 million shares on the ASX, which targeted A$6.6 million.

* Euro Sun Mining Inc. secured an exploitation permit and a mining license from the Romanian government for the Rovina Valley gold-copper project. The company became the first entity not owned by the state to have a ratified mining license in the country.

* TMAC Resources Inc. received a project certificate from the Nunavut Impact Review Board, marking the end of the environmental assessment process for the company's Madrid and Boston gold project in Canada's Nunavut Territory.

* Oakdale Resources Ltd. signed a term sheet to acquire a gold processing plant in Peru by purchasing the issued share capital of private company Ozinca Australia Pty. Ltd.

BULK COMMODITIES

* Gerdau SA will issue 1.50 billion Brazilian reais in nonconvertible debentures, with a unit face value of 1,000 reais on the issue date. The Brazilian steelmaker will use the proceeds to strengthen its cash position and support general purposes. S&P Global Ratings assigned a AAA Brazil national scale issue-level rating on the notes.

* Emmerson PLC completed the preliminary design and cost estimates of about US$7.5 million for the port upgrade needed to allow potash exports from its Khemisset project in northern Morocco. The company expects a scoping study to be published in the fourth quarter, ahead of schedule.

* Incitec Pivot Ltd. CEO Jeanne Johns said a proposed tariff on ammonium nitrate imports from producers in China, Sweden and Thailand into Australia is unlikely to result in an increase to domestic prices for the commodity, The Australian Financial Review reported.

* A preliminary economic assessment for Colonial Coal International Corp.'s Gordon Creek project, part of the larger Flatbed coal project in British Columbia, outlined a posttax net present value, discounted at 7.5%, of US$690.5 million, a 24.4% internal rate of return and a three-year payback period from the start of production.

* Afarak Group PLC will not dismiss its board despite a request by a group of shareholders, who represent 11.09% of shares and voting rights, calling for an overhaul. The request came after Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority fined Afarak main shareholder and COO Danko Koncar €40 million and a supplementary amount of €10 million for acting together with Hino Resources, Finaline Business and his spouse to exercise control in Afarak.

* Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques expressed confidence about demand for higher quality iron ore exports from steelmakers despite capacity reductions in China, The Australian wrote.

* Kalium Lakes Ltd. was granted a license to construct and operate a 78-kilometer gas pipeline to the Beyondie sulfate of potash project, which will generate operating cost savings of approximately A$31 per tonne to A$34 per tonne. The construction cost of the pipeline is A$29 million.

SPECIALTY

* De Beers SA slashed prices by up to 10% for low-quality diamonds at an upcoming sale, signaling turmoil in the bottom end of the market, sources told BloombergQuint.

* Liontown Resources Ltd. expanded its Buldania lithium project in Western Australia by acquiring mining lease M63/647 from Westgold Resources Ltd. unit Avoca Resources Pty. Ltd. in exchange for 10 million Liontown shares.

* Tantalex Resources Corp. and International Cobalt Corp. plan to combine businesses, with the resulting issuer listing securities on the CSE as Amalco. Available funds to Amalco will be used to advance production at Tantalex's recently acquired Manono Kitotolo tailings in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* Rwanda is extracting just less than 50% of its minerals due to poor mining practices, potentially costing the country billions in revenues, The New Times reported. Rwanda earned US$373 million from mineral exports in 2017, but experts say that can be doubled if the country puts in efforts to upgrade from artisanal mining.

This S&P Global Market Intelligence news article may contain information about credit ratings issued by S&P Global Ratings, a separately managed division of S&P Global. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings.

The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. London time. 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.