TOP NEWS
Trapped miners at Sibanye's Beatrix mine return to surface
All of Sibanye Gold Ltd.'s workers trapped underground at the Beatrix gold mine in South Africa have safely returned to the surface, the company said. A total of 955 miners were trapped underground at the mine after a storm knocked out power Jan. 31, preventing the evening shift workers from leaving.
Vedanta Resources' earnings, revenues jump YOY
Vedanta Resources Plc's EBITDA in the third quarter of fiscal 2018 surged 21% over the year-ago quarter to US$1.07 billion, driven by higher volumes and commodity prices. Revenue for three months jumped 32% year over year to US$4.06 billion. Refined zinc production at the company's Indian operations declined 3% year over year to 200,000 tonnes. Copper cathode output was down 1% year over year at 101,000 tonnes. Meanwhile, total aluminum production surged 40% year over year to 445,000 tonnes.
Brazilian prosecutors to file lawsuit against Anglo over Amapa iron ore ops sale
Brazilian prosecutors suspect that Anglo American Plc sold its Amapa iron ore operation in the country in order to avoid paying for environmental damage caused by an accident at the site, Mining.com reported. Anglo halted shipments from Amapa following a fatal accident at the floating dock on the Amazon River in early 2013, and later sold the asset to Zamin Ferrous Ltd. in a US$136 million deal. The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office of Amapa has decided to file a public civil action against Anglo to seek compensation for environmental damage caused by the incident, which killed six people.
* Rio Tinto's expansion of its Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia is under budget, according to U.S. fund Sailingstone Capital, which owns an 11% stake in Rio Tinto unit Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd., The Australian reported. However, Sailingstone raised concerns over corporate governance regarding treatment of minority shareholders.
* Prospect Resources Ltd. secured an option to acquire the 21-square-kilometer Tombolo Klippe copper-cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from TSM Enterprises Sarl.
* In a change of development plans for the Kitumba copper project in Zambia, Weatherly International Plc now intends to use a two-phase approach, with an initial focus on a phase one development zone of higher-confidence and higher-grade mineralization. The company will revise the underground mine plan to focus on the phase one development area.
* The 2,500-member Union No. 1 at BHP Billiton Group's Escondida copper mine in Chile said it did not receive any formal communication from the company to start early negotiations over contracts before the formal talks scheduled for June, Reuters reported.
PRECIOUS METALS
* AuKing Mining Ltd.'s option to secure a further 6.66% stake in Bonito Minerals Pty. Ltd. to take its interest to 50% lapsed as the company did not receive an extension for the exercise period.
* Kommersant reported that OJSC GV Gold, controlled by the shareholders of Lanta-Bank, received approval to purchase the platinum assets of Viktor Vekselberg's Renova Group in Kamchatka. Kommersant sources say that GV Gold also received the approval to purchase Gold of Kamchatka, also owned by Renova, and a deal worth US$500 million may be closed by the end of February.
* Centerra Gold Inc. entered into a US$500 million senior secured revolving credit facility with a syndicate of financial institutions led by The Bank of Nova Scotia and National Bank of Canada. The four-year facility will carry an interest rate of the London Interbank Offered Rate plus 2.25% to 3.75%.
* Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. shareholders have strongly backed the company's US$300 million acquisition of the Moab Khotsong gold-uranium mine in South Africa from AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., Mining Weekly reported.
* Dynasty Gold Corp. signed an option agreement to acquire Teck Resources Ltd.'s 2,250-hectare Thundercloud gold project in Ontario.
* Golden Star Resources Ltd. said its Prestea Underground gold mine in Ghana achieved commercial production Feb. 1 and gold production is expected to continue to ramp up over the year.
* DRDGold Ltd. expects its EPS to range between 14.16 South African cents and 14.64 cents for the six months ended Dec. 31, 2017, compared to 0.6 cent posted a year ago. The miner attributed the expected increase primarily to an 11% increase in gold production despite a 4% decrease in the rand gold price received.
BULK COMMODITIES
* The Nigerian government struck an out-of-court settlement with United Co. Rusal Plc over the latter's 2007 acquisition of the idled Aluminium Smelter Co. of Nigeria Ltd. and its Alscon smelter, Bloomberg News reported, citing the country's Minister of Mines and Steel Development Kayode Fayemi.
* PAO Severstal's net profit in the fourth quarter of 2017 surged 89.6% over the third quarter to US$563 million, or 69 U.S. cents per basic share. Revenue in the period increased 10.4% quarter over quarter to US$2.18 billion on the back of an increase in steel and raw material average selling prices. The company recommended a dividend of 27.72 Russian rubles per share for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2017.
* S&P Global Ratings and Moody's upgraded their respective ratings for Brazilian steelmaker Cia. Siderúrgica Nacional, or CSN, largely due to its debt refinancing deal. The company struck a deal with Banco do Brasil SA, outlining the main terms of extending debt maturities. The Brazilian steelmaker is also in talks with Caixa Econômica Federal for a similar agreement. On the same day, CSN launched a debt repurchase offer for US$750 million of its senior unsecured notes.
* IRC Ltd. produced a record of over 180,000 tonnes of iron ore concentrate in January from the K&S mine, about 68% of the mine's designed production capacity. K&S is on track to further increase production capacity in the first half.
* Chinese authorities decided to close all the domestic coal mines of which annual production capacity is at or below 90,000 tonnes within this year, as part of a move to improve work safety, China Coal News reported, citing sources from the State Administration of Work Safety. The newspaper estimated that 1,377 coal mines would be closed under the initiative.
* Altona Energy Plc signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with joint venture partners, Wintask Group Ltd. and Sino-Aus Energy Group Ltd., to jointly assess the potential for a conventional coal mine in the Westfield tenement, part of the Arckaringa property in South Australia.
* Kommersant reported that the Russian government intends to reintroduce a recycling fee for equipment for the coal industry. Proposals are expected to be submitted by Feb. 5. The coal mining and metallurgy industries are against this idea.
* Noble Group Ltd.'s sale of four dry bulk carrier ships, which would have netted the company about US$30 million, fell through as the buyers failed to secure board approval, Reuters reported.
* Protesters demanding jobs are staging sit-ins at Compagnie Des Phosphates De Gafsa SA, suspending Tunisia's entire phosphate production as it is the sole phosphate producer in the country, Reuters reported.
* Kobe Steel Ltd. reinstated and increased its net profit forecast to ¥45 billion, or ¥124.22 per share for its fiscal 2017, which ends March 31. Net sales are seen rising 11.4% year over year to ¥1.89 trillion. For the first nine months of fiscal 2017, which ended Dec. 31, Kobe Steel swung to a net profit of ¥55.82 billion from a year-ago net loss of ¥36.48 billion.
* Saudi Arabian Mining Co., or Ma'aden, posted a net loss of 104.7 million Saudi riyals for the fourth quarter of 2017, swinging from a year-ago profit of 15.7 million riyals, according to Reuters calculations. The company gave no reason for the quarterly loss. For the full year, Ma'aden returned to a net profit of 714.8 million riyals from a restated loss of 10.7 million riyals in 2016.
* S&P Global Ratings raised ArcelorMittal to investment-grade, citing the world's largest steelmaker's focus on cutting its debt and buoyant demand in its main markets. The one-notch increase to BBB-, with a stable outlook, came after the Luxembourg-based company committed to prioritize using excess free cash flow to reduce its net debt to US$6 billion, after slashing it by US$1 billion in 2017 to US$10.1 billion as of Dec. 31, 2017.
* Ferroglobe PLC completed the acquisition of manganese alloys plants in Dunkirk, France, and Mo I Rana, Norway, from Glencore unit Glencore International AG, after receiving the necessary regulatory approvals in France, Germany and Poland. The new subsidiaries will be renamed as Ferroglobe Mangan Norge and Ferroglobe Manganèse France.
* Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB, SSAB and Vattenfall AB decided to develop a pilot plant for fossil fuel-free steel production in Sweden, following a successful pre-feasibility study of a steelmaking process that emits water instead of carbon dioxide. The Nordic companies are aiming to have a totally fossil fuel-free process for steel production by 2035.
* The Hebei province's government in China disputed news reports that it was considering extending winter steel production cuts that were introduced to curb air pollution, Reuters reported. The provincial government said it would strictly impose only the curbs ordered by the central government.
SPECIALTY
* AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group NV entered into a total of US$650 million of new facilities to replace the existing facilities totaling US$400 million. The new facilities include a new US$350 million seven-year senior secured term loan B facility, a US$200 million five-year senior secured revolving credit facility, and a US$100 million five-year letter of credit facility.
* Lucapa Diamond Co. Ltd. raised about US$9.1 million from the first sale this year of alluvial diamonds from the Lulo project in Angola. The company sold 4,170 carats representing an average price per carat of US$2,192.
* Hexagon Resources Ltd. signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding to sell 30% of planned primary production from its McIntosh graphite project located in Western Australia to China National Building Material Co. Ltd. subsidiary China National Building Materials - General Technology Co. Ltd. The parties will also negotiate project finance, pre-payment and other debt facilities to expedite project construction.
* Paladin Energy Ltd. has completed restructuring and the control of the company has reverted to its directors. Under the deed of company arrangement, 98% of the Paladin's existing shares have been transferred to creditors and other investors, while the remaining 2% will be retained by shareholders.
* Kodal Minerals Plc was awarded exclusive exploration rights to the Bougouni lithium project in Southern Mali, and has now applied for a title for an initial three years with rights for two renewals of two years each.
* Gem Diamonds Ltd. recovered 30,560 carats of diamonds in the fourth quarter of 2017 from the Letseng mine, a 1% decline quarter over quarter, while the grade remained the same at 1.88 carats per hundred tonnes.
* BlueRock Diamonds Plc said former CEO Riaan Visser intends to file for provisional liquidation of the company's operating subsidiary, Kareevlei Mining (Pty) Ltd., in relation to alleged debts owed to the former executive.
INDUSTRY
* Investment in exploration in Chile grew 36% annually in 2017 to US$603 million, mainly focused on copper, gold and iron ore, according to Chilean copper agency Cochilco. The amount accounted for 7.6% of all global exploration investment that year, the most significant share that Chile has contributed since 1995. Chile remains the fourth largest jurisdiction for mining exploration in the world, after Canada, Australia and the U.S., daily El Mercurio reported.
* The president of Ecuador, Lenín Moreno, appointed Rebeca Illescas as the new mining minister on Feb. 1, in replacement of Javier Córdova, who resigned from the post effective immediately on Jan. 30, daily El Diario reported, citing news agency EFE.
S&P Global Ratings and S&P Global Market Intelligence are owned by S&P Global Inc.
The Daily Dose is updated as of 7 a.m. London time, and scans news sources published in Chinese, English, Indonesian, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Ukrainian. Some external links may require a subscription.
