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BHP eyes sustainable approach for Escondida mine after completing ramp-up

TOP NEWS

BHP eyes sustainable approach for Escondida mine after completing ramp-up

After completing about US$8 billion in investments over the past six years to ramp up output at its Escondida copper mine in Chile, BHP Billiton Group is now working to push the mine to its sustainable limits given an anticipated drop of grade for the metal, The Australian reported. This means that at the end of the next decade, Escondida will need to process approximately 40% more ore to produce the same amount it does now. Escondida is expected to produce between 1.13 million and 1.23 million tonnes of copper, with output staying at about 1.2 million tonnes in the next 10 years.

Norsk Hydro commits 500M kroner to upgrade water treatment system at Alunorte

Norsk Hydro ASA will invest 500 million Norwegian kroner to upgrade the water treatment system at its Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazil. The planned upgrade is expected to be completed within the first quarter of 2019. The company noted that it placed 600 workers at Alunorte on "collective vacation," effective March 31. The measure, which was also implemented at the group's Paragominas site, aims to preserve jobs. Norsk Hydro maintained that it is not currently considering layoffs.

Bauxite shortage affecting restart of alumina refineries in China's Henan

Alumina refineries in China's Henan province may delay the planned restart of operations due to rising costs for bauxite amid a supply shortage, Reuters reported, citing Antaike. Alumina refineries and aluminum smelters in parts of the country slashed their production by 30% during the November-to-March heating season to combat air pollution.

DIVERSIFIED

* Glencore Plc and Total won the tenders to supply rare refined products to Angolan state oil company Sonangol, Reuters reported. Total will supply the African nation with gasoline while Glencore will supply diesel and marine diesel.

BASE METALS

* Colombia's constitutional court said in a ruling that South32 Ltd.'s Cerro Matoso nickel mine must "provide comprehensive and permanent attention" to indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities affected by the mine's operations and directed the company to pay damages to these communities collectively through a special fund, Reuters reported.

* KGHM Polska Miedz SA expects daily copper ore output at its Sierra Gorda mine in Chile to increase by 18% to 130,000 tonnes in 2019 from the current 110,000 tonnes of ore per day, Reuters reported, citing CFO Stefan Swiatkowski.

* Codelco Chairman Oscar Landerretche Moreno revealed that, due to higher copper prices, the miner made a profit of US$2.88 billion in 2017, Mining.com reported, citing a report published in local paper La Tercera. The state-owned miner had posted a pretax profit of US$435 million for 2016, swinging year over year from a loss of US$2.19 billion.

* PT Timah Tbk. is targeting production of 2 million tonnes of tin per annum by 2021, Indonesia's Antara News Agency reported. The company's tin ingot output reached 31,000 tonnes in 2017, with 60% derived from offshore mining, said Trenggono Sutioso, the company's business and commercial development director. Timah will continue to look for new deposits to meet its production guidance, Sutioso added.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Sierra Metals Inc. said a strike initiated by a group of unionized contract workers at its polymetallic Yauricocha mine in Peru ended following negotiations between the two sides. The miners returned to work March 17, and the company said the labor action will not have any impact on its 2018 production and cost guidance.

* Pacific Topaz Resources Ltd. signed a nonbinding letter of intent to acquire privately held mineral exploration company Western Atlas Resources Inc. Closing is anticipated within 50 to 75 days, subject to various approvals.

* Sibanye Gold Ltd. filed a submission with the South African competition authorities for its proposed acquisition of Lonmin PLC, which was announced in December 2017.

* Force Commodities Ltd. agreed 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.

* 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.

* 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.

BULK COMMODITIES

* Noble Group Ltd. 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.

* 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.

* Rio Tinto tapped Swiss investment bank UBS to explore a possible listing of the company's Pacific Aluminium Pty. Ltd. unit on the ASX, Reuters reported, citing two industry sources.

* China Shenhua Energy Co. Ltd.'s commercial coal output slipped 10.4% year over year to 22.4 million tonnes in February, while monthly coal sales dropped 13% to 33.5 million tonnes.

* The European Commission called for industry feedback on a 10-page list of U.S. products that could be subject to import tariffs, in case the U.S. government does not grant the EU an exemption, Reuters reported. The commission earlier said it could retaliate by setting duties of 25% on a range of U.S. products.

* Effective March 19, the U.S. Commerce Department will start accepting requests for product exclusions from the country's newly implemented steel and aluminum import tariffs, but the agency could take up to 90 days to make determinations, Reuters reported.

* Meanwhile, the While House said President Donald Trump is in negotiations with several countries on the possibility of granting exemptions to the trade tariffs, Reuters wrote.

* According to a report by German magazine Der Spiegel, the U.S. is seeking to cap exports of the metals from Europe at 2017 levels in exchange for providing the EU with an exemption from the steel and aluminum tariffs, Reuters wrote.

* Goa's mining industry body sought clarity from the Indian government on the suspension of iron ore mining operations in the state and warned that failure to resume activities could result in job losses, Press Trust of India reported.

SPECIALTY

* Chile's new government has not made a decision over whether to support a petition filed by state development agency Corfo to block the sale of a 32% stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA to China's Tianqi Lithium Industries Inc. and will review the consequences of the move, Reuters reported, citing a government official.

* 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 in 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 Canada Inc. 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

* Major miners have not shied away from backing Colombia-focused juniors in the past year, suggesting their appetite for new developments and discovery in Colombia may be picking up. "I think it's going to explode over the next two or three years," Continental Gold Inc. CEO Ari Sussman said. "We're seeing the beginning stage of an influx of large companies into Colombia."

* 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 that 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.

* Chile's newly appointed Mines Minister Baldo Prokurica said in an interview with La Tercera that the government was preparing a decree seeking to attract foreign investments into the country, Reuters reported. The government of President Sebastian Pinera pledged to reactivate US$50 billion in mining investments that have been held back by red tape.

* Mali is in talks with mining companies for the revision of the country's mining code, but could implement the new law unilaterally if an agreement is not reached, Reuters reported, citing Economy Minister Boubou Cisse.

The Daily Dose is updated as of 7 a.m. Hong Kong time, and scans news sources published in Chinese, English, Indonesian, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Ukrainian. Some external links may require a subscription.