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Rio Tinto declares record dividend after 90% surge in FY'17 net earnings

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Rio Tinto declares record dividend after 90% surge in FY'17 net earnings

TOP NEWS

Rio Tinto declares record dividend on 90% surge in FY'17 net earnings

Rio Tinto boosted its dividend for full year 2017 by 71% year over year to a record US$2.90 per share after a 90% surge in net earnings to US$8.76 billion, or US$4.90 basic earnings per share. The company cut its net debt 60% during the year to US$3.85 billion and announced an additional share buyback of US$1.0 billion for 2018. Higher commodity prices pushed the company's revenue during the year to US$40.0 billion, up US$6.2 billion compared to 2016.

China looking to accelerate targeted steel capacity cuts by 2 years

The Chinese government aims to hit its targeted steel capacity cuts this year, two years earlier than the initial plan to slash 150 million tonnes of production capacity by 2020, Reuters reported, citing the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. According to the report, China already shut down 115 million tonnes of steel capacity between 2016 and 2017.

Nutrien engaging with suitors for SQM, Arab Potash stakes

Nutrien Ltd. CEO Chuck Magro said the company is actively engaged with prospective buyers for its interests in lithium producer Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA and Arab Potash Co. Plc, Reuters reported. Nutrien owns a 32% stake in SQM and about a 28% stake in Arab Potash. Meanwhile, Raef Sully, the president of Nutrien's potash business, said the company wants to shift production to its lowest-cost facilities and might review its options in the second half. The company, which operates six Canadian potash mines, said it remains open to all options, including closing higher-cost mines.

DIVERSIFIED

* South32 Ltd.'s South African coal assets will be spun out as an independent business within six months, Reuters reported, citing Mike Fraser, president and COO of the company's African operations. The miner received interest from multiple prospective buyers for the assets it put up for sale in late 2017 as part of a shift away from coal.

* Anglo American Plc unveiled plans for the early redemption of all of its outstanding US$750 million 9.375% notes due April 2019.

BASE METALS

* Copper produced from the Democratic Republic of the Congo rose 6.9% to 1.09 million tonnes in 2017, cobalt surged 15.5% to 73,940 tonnes, and gold increased 2.7% to 23,270 kilograms, Reuters reported, citing data from the country's Chamber of Mines.

* Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet with metals business owners that have operations in the region of Krasnoyarsk, including PJSC Norilsk Nickel Co. co-owner Vladimir Potanin and En+ Group plc majority shareholder Oleg Deripaska or his representative, to discuss local residents' ecological concerns, Reuters reported, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

* New Century Resources Ltd. entered into off-take deals for zinc concentrate produced at its Century mine in Queensland, Australia, with Mercuria Energy Trading SA and Transamine Trading SA. The company's concentrate tender process was for up to 1.5 million tonnes of zinc concentrate from the mine, which covers about 3.5 years of output, and the off-take deals are for about half of the tender.

* Freeport-McMoRan Inc. reinstated a cash dividend on its common stock on the back of a positive outlook for strong cash flow generation, proposing a quarterly dividend of 5 U.S. cents per share with the initial quarterly dividend expected to be paid May 1.

* According to sources, investors from China, Europe and the U.S. are submitting offers for Antofagasta Plc subsidiary Antofagasta Minerals SA's electricity transmission lines connecting the Centinela copper project in northern Chile, daily El Mercurio reported. The company will select a final winning offer by the end of February or early March, the sources said.

* Fireweed Zinc Ltd. decided to exercise its option to earn a 100% interest in the Tom and Jason claims and assets, part of the Macmillan Pass zinc project in Canada's Yukon Territory, from Hudbay Minerals Inc. The company will make the final C$750,000 payment and issue 3,565,406 shares, giving Hudbay a 15% interest.

* Zambia expects to boost its annual copper output to about 1.5 million tonnes from the current 800,000 tonnes, driven by improved electricity supply and eased tensions with producers over policy, African News Agency reported, citing Mines Minister Christopher Yaluma.

PRECIOUS METALS

* The silicosis class-action suit against a number of South African gold majors is likely to be settled within nine months through a 9 billion South African rand distribution to miners suffering from the lung disease, Graham Briggs, chair of the Working Group on Occupational Lung Disease, told Reuters.

* Two workers died at Sibanye Gold Ltd.'s Kloof gold mine in South Africa after a fall-of-ground incident at the Ikamva 4 Shaft, and operations at the affected area will remain suspended until an investigation is completed.

* PT Merdeka Copper Gold Tbk. is looking to raise 2018 gold output by 8.8% to 19.3%, to 155,000 ounces to 170,000 ounces, from the 142,468 ounces of gold produced in 2017, The Jakarta Post reported.

* Gold output at PJSC Polyus' newly launched Natalka project in the far eastern Russian region of Magadan could reach 5 tonnes by the end of 2018, the regional government said. Once at full capacity, Natalka will produce 12 tonnes of gold per year.

* Avanco Resources Ltd. said contained resource at the Blanket deposit, part of its CentroGold project in Brazil, increased by about 20%, taking the project's total resource estimate to about 2.0 million ounces.

* Barrick Gold Corp. said that in light of the recent orders by Chile's environmental agency, Superintendencia del Medio Ambiente, to close surface facilities in the Chilean part of the Pascua Lama gold-silver project, the company is reclassifying the project's proven and probable gold reserves of about 14 million ounces, which are based on an open pit mine plan, as measured and indicated resources. As a result, Barrick expects to book an estimated pretax impairment of US$429 million at Pascua Lama in the fourth quarter of 2017.

* Sibanye Gold Ltd. will consider transferring its primary listing to North America from Johannesburg in order to gain exposure to a wider set of investors, Bloomberg News reported. The company would likely seek to list in New York or Toronto, and the move will allow it to tap capital in the new market and help finance future deals, CEO Neal Froneman said. Sibanye will maintain its listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

* Coeur Mining Inc.'s year-end 2017 reserves and resources from continuing operations recorded a 10% jump to 335.8 million silver equivalent ounces in the proven and probable categories. Measured and indicated resources improved 42% and 45%, respectively, from year-end 2016 to approximately 385.7 million silver equivalent ounces and 171.0 million silver equivalent ounces.

* Endeavour Mining Corp. closed a US$300 million private placement of convertible senior notes carrying a 3.0% annual coupon due 2023. In addition, the initial purchasers exercised an overallotment option of US$30 million.

* Highland Gold Mining Ltd.'s pre-feasibility study for its Belaya Gora and Blagodatnoye operations in Russia pegged a net present value, discounted at 10%, of US$97 million and a 142% internal rate of return. Average annual production is expected at 55,000 ounces over the combined life of the mines, expected until 2032.

* Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. acquired about a 12.48% stake in Algold Resources Ltd. on a partially diluted basis after subscribing to 14,285,714 Algold units at 14 Canadian cents each.

BULK COMMODITIES

* China's iron ore imports in January reached 93.7 million tonnes, one of the highest levels on record, while February shipments already have exceeded 70 million tonnes, according to Reuters' ship-tracking data.

* All iron ore mining permits in the Indian state of Goa were canceled by the country's top court, Reuters reported, citing local television channels. All mining in the state will stop after March 15, and companies will need to secure new licenses.

* OAO Metalloinvest installed automated control systems for drilling operations at its Mikhailovsky GOK operations as part of the company's initiatives to increase production efficiency. On-board units were installed at 15 drilling rigs.

* ArcelorMittal is said to be selling its entire stake in India's Uttam Galva Steels Ltd to the company's founders at less than the market price of the stocks, Uttam Galva's founding Miglani family told Reuters. Earlier, Business Standard reported that ArcelorMittal had agreed to sell about 41.3 million Uttam Galva shares at 1 Indian rupee each.

* Six Chinese state-owned energy companies will invest 6 billion Chinese yuan to form a joint venture, to be named Sujin Energy Holding, which will trade coal and electricity and invest in an electric transmission system that will better connect the Shanxi and Jiangsu provinces, Reuters reported.

* United Co. Rusal Plc intends to complete a feasibility study in 2018 for the construction of a scandium oxide production unit at its Urals aluminum smelter in Russia. The company plans to invest about 50 million Russian rubles to complete the pilot-scale tests and complete the feasibility study to construct an industrial-scale unit.

* Anglo Pacific Group Plc's royalty income for the fourth quarter of 2017 is expected to be between £12.0 million and £12.6 million, compared to £12.3 million a year ago. Full-year 2017 royalty income is expected to be between £37.0 million and £37.5 million, a surge of about 90% year over year.

* Athens-listed MYTILINEOS Holdings SA and Serbia reached a settlement over a US$40 million compensation awarded to Mytilineos by the International Arbitral Tribunal over a past deal with copper miner RTB Bor.

SPECIALTY

* PJSC Alrosa is actively looking to expand its footprint globally, the company's vice president for African operations told S&P Market Intelligence on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa. Vladimir Marchenko said the company has been approached by many different countries, including Zimbabwe, Venezuela and India, but Alrosa is focused on "the widely unexplored Angola."

* Winston Chitando, Zimbabwe's new minister of mines and mining development, said the country "will become a very significant producer of lithium" after he signed a deal with a small listed company for the development of a lithium project. According to Reuters, the project is expected to generate US$1.4 billion in revenue over eight years.

* Lithium X Energy Corp.'s security holders approved the acquisition of all of its common shares and warrants by NextView New Energy Lion Hong Kong Ltd. for a cash consideration of C$2.61 per share and 1 Canadian cent per warrant.

* A deal opening up potential lithium supply for one of the sector's dominant producers may squeeze the flow of capital to less advanced or well-positioned lithium juniors, according to analysts. SQM signed an agreement mid-January with the Chilean government's Production Development Corp. following years of struggle to secure a new contract. Given the turn of events, some analysts expect the deal to mute investor appetite for earlier-stage lithium companies seeking funds.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* Martin Kabwelulu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo's mines minister, refused to say whether President Joseph Kabila already signed the proposed mining code into law, when asked during the Mining Indaba in South Africa. According to Reuters, the minister only confirmed that the code is "with the president."

* China's success over the past two years transitioning its growth driver from pure construction to a more consumption-based, "middle economy" approach and its need for higher-quality iron ore is paving the way for continued positivity this year for Australia's miners, Deloitte experts said. According to Deloitte Access Economics' Western Australia leader, Matt Judkins, exploration had picked up across several commodities, particularly gold given the strong performance of the Australian-dollar gold price of late, and in booming technology metals like lithium.

* Kommersant reported that PJSC Alrosa, PJSC Norilsk Nickel Co., Kinross Gold Corp. and Polymetal International Plc asked the Russian government to allow the "leading companies" to conduct primary exploration of reserves in the regions without licenses. The right only belongs to the state-owned Rosgeology, and Russia's Ministry of Natural Resources is against the initiative.

* Companies including Iron Gold, AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. and Global Atomic Fuels Corp. are considering new projects in Niger, S&P Global Market Intelligence learned on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba.

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.