TOP NEWS
Implats shuts 4 shafts, cuts 1,400 jobs at Rustenburg
Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., or Implats, is looking to return its Rustenburg operations in South Africa to profit in a sustained low-price environment through measures including closing unprofitable areas and revamping costs as soon as possible. The company suspended four shafts at Rustenburg from January, and the labor restructuring announced in September 2017 led to 1,400 job cuts at the operations as of Dec. 31, 2017, translating to annual savings of 350 million South African rand for the group. For the six months ended Dec. 31, 2017, the company narrowed its net loss to 164 million South African rand from 328 million rand a year ago.
Report: Trump to announce stiff steel, aluminum tariffs March 2
U.S. President Donald Trump will announce hefty tariffs of 25% and 10% for steel and aluminum imports, respectively, for all countries March 1, with the possibility of some countries receiving exemptions, Bloomberg News reported.
Lundin shopping for up to US$3B base metals asset
Lundin Mining Corp. intends to invest up to US$3 billion to purchase a long-life zinc, nickel or copper project in the wake of Newcrest Mining Ltd.'s acquisition of a 27% stake in the company, Bloomberg News reported, citing Chairman Lukas Lundin. The chairman plans to search for a new gold project afterward.
DIVERSIFIED
* S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook on Anglo American Plc from stable to positive, while affirming its long- and short-term issuer credit ratings and its long-term South Africa national scale rating at BBB-/A-3 and zaAAA/zaA-1+, respectively, as a result of the mining giant's robust results for 2017 and rising iron ore, copper and hard coking coal prices.
* Podium Minerals Ltd. listed on the ASX after completing a capital raising of A$5.5 million to fund exploration activity in its Western Australian projects. The company is focused on the exploration of platinum group metals, gold and nickel-copper sulfides.
* Vale SA CEO Fabio Schvartsman expects the group's first-quarter results to be in line with the last quarter of 2017 when Vale booked almost a 50% rise in profit, Reuters reported.
BASE METALS
* Aurubis AG, one of Europe's largest copper smelters, is still on the hunt for more assets after upping its stake in German copper wire and rod maker Deutsche Giessdraht in January to 100%, Reuters reported, citing Aurubis CEO Juergen Schachler.
* Taruga Gold Ltd. agreed to earn a 60% interest in the Mwilu and Kamilombe cobalt-copper projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
* Vale aims to save more than US$150 million by cutting costs across its nickel operations and will halt new investment in nickel assets, Reuters reported. The miner is aiming for base metals to account for at least 30% of its financial results by the end of 2019 and expects to reach a decision on its New Caledonia nickel operations by the end of the year.
* Separately, Vale CFO and Executive Officer for Investor Relations Luciano Siani told investors that the company is looking to increase its self-sufficiency in energy production, Valor Econômico reported. He said the company produces 60% of the energy it requires to operate and the aim is to reach 100%, although he did not provide a specific date for this objective.
* Codelco Vice President of Marketing Rodrigo Toro will step down, effective April 1, to be replaced by copper sales manager Roberto Ecclefield. Meanwhile, the Salvador Division's general manager, Juan Carlos Avendaño, will step down effective March 1 and be replaced by Christian Toutin, the operations manager at the Chuquicamata mine.
* Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. said the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia will lift force majeure over copper concentrate supplies, effective March 1. Oyu Tolgoi maintained normal mine operations during the period, and no impact on production is expected.
* The Constitutional Court in Mongolia ruled that Mongolian Copper Corp. LLC never held the rights to a 49% interest in the Erdenet copper mine, as it violated the country's law, Reuters reported. According to the report, the court ruled that the Mongolian government at the time had no right to approve a sale consummated between the company and Russia in 2016, contrary to a Supreme Court decision in December 2017.
* Cia. de Minas Buenaventura SAA CEO Víctor Gobitz said the company is willing to cooperate with Southern Copper Corp. to develop the Michiquillay copper project, as the project is in the vicinity of Buenaventura operations in Cajamarca, Peru, Gestión reported.
* Blina Minerals NL terminated the heads of agreement to acquire 100% of La Cobaltera Pty. Ltd., which owns the La Cobaltera cobalt project in Chile.
PRECIOUS METALS
* With Australia's senior gold stocks widely held to be fully priced, analysts said companies are faced with the decision of whether to engage in more M&A activity or shower investors with more dividends.
* First Majestic Silver Corp. swung to a net loss of US$56.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2017 from a year-ago profit of US$1.8 million. Results fell due to a US$65.5 million noncash asset impairment.
* Phoenix Global Mining Ltd. secured an option to acquire an 80% interest in ExGen Resources Inc.'s Gordon Lake gold project in Canada's Northwest Territories in a cash and share deal.
* Indiana Resources Ltd. agreed to acquire two gold-prospective exploration licenses covering 126 square kilometers in Mali by purchasing the issued share capital of Mukuyu Resources Ltd.
* Barrick Gold Corp. paid fines of 104 million Argentinean pesos over spills of cyanide solution recorded in 2016 and 2017 at its Veladero gold mine in Argentina's San Juan province, Clarín reported.
* Trifecta Gold Ltd. signed a letter of intent with Silver Range Resources Ltd. to acquire up to a 75% interest in the gold-prospective Yuge property in Nevada.
* Coeur Mining Inc. completed the sale of its Empresa Minera Manquiri SA subsidiary to Ag-Mining Investments AB. The Bolivian unit operates the San Bartolome silver mine and processing facility.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Eurasian Resources Group Sàrl plans to more than double its aluminum output in three years as part of a US$5 billion spending plan, company executives told Reuters. ERG produced 254,000 tonnes of aluminum in 2017 and will spend US$800 million on smelter expansion from 2019 to add 270,000 tonnes to its capacity by 2021.
* Anglo American completed the sale of its Eskom-tied thermal coal operations in South Africa to Seriti Resources Pty. Ltd. for 2.3 billion South African rand.
* Vale SA executives said the Samarco iron ore mine in Brazil may resume operations by the end of this year or in early 2019 but warned that the process hinges on securing environmental licenses, Reuters reported. The mine, which is a joint venture with BHP Billiton Group, halted operations in November 2015 after a deadly tailings dam burst.
* Evraz Plc recorded a profit of US$759 million for full year 2017, swinging from a net loss of US$188 million in 2016. Consolidated revenue rose 40.4% to US$10.83 billion.
* Yancoal Australia Ltd. swung to a net profit of A$229 million in full year 2017, from a loss of A$227 million in 2016, as a result of its acquisition of Coal & Allied Industries Ltd. from Rio Tinto. The Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. Ltd. unit's revenue more than doubled on a yearly basis to A$2.51 billion.
* Gerdau SA's current portfolio of assets in the U.S. and Canada is "adequate," and it now plans to draft its growth strategy, Metal Bulletin reported, citing CFO Harley Scardoelli.
* In line with its forecast, Noble Group Ltd. posted a net loss of US$4.94 billion in 2017, swinging from a year-ago profit of US$8.7 million. The result included a US$1.05 billion loss from discontinued operations as well as US$3.24 billion in exceptional items, which comprised about US$2.15 billion in noncash losses.
* Norsk Hydro ASA said a regional court in Pará, Brazil, ordered that the operations at the DRS2 bauxite residue disposal be halted until the facility has been inspected and an operational license has been issued. This is in addition to a government order for a 50% output cut at its Alunorte alumina refinery. Brazilian environmental agency Ibama fined Norsk Hydro 20 million Brazilian reais for operating Alunorte without environmental licenses, Reuters reported.
* Hesteel Co. Ltd.'s net profit attributable to shareholders rose 19.6% year on year to 1.86 billion Chinese yuan in 2017. The company said its growth in profits was lower than the average level in the domestic sector, due to capacity cuts and production suspensions resulting from tightened environmental regulations.
* Mexico's trade minister is set to meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to discuss the pending U.S. steel import tariffs and their potential effects on efforts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, Reuters reported, citing two sources. Meanwhile, China expressed "strong dissatisfaction" with the potential U.S. move.
SPECIALTY
* Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA's net income in the fourth quarter of 2017 jumped to US$110.5 million, compared to US$80.9 million a year ago. For full year 2017, SQM's net profit surged to US$427.7 million from US$278.3 million in 2016, as strong lithium demand led to higher prices.
* Vimy Resources Ltd. agreed to acquire the Alligator River uranium project in Northern Territory, Australia, from Cameco Australia Pty. Ltd. for total cash payments of A$6.5 million.
* Lithium X Energy Corp.'s stock fell Feb. 28 amid speculation that Chinese fund NextView Capital, which struck a deal to acquire the lithium producer in a C$265 million deal in December 2017, may fail to secure funds to complete the transaction, Bloomberg News reported
* BlueRock Diamonds Plc expects to treat over 275,000 tonnes of diamonds this year, higher than 153,147 tonnes treated in 2017. Total production is pegged between 9,500 carats and 12,500 carats for the full year.
* Wolf Minerals Ltd. increased an existing £55 million fully secured bridge loan facility for a third time, to £65 million, maturing in 2020, to support short-term working capital and complete work toward commercial production at the Drakelands tungsten mine in the U.K.
* Marenica Energy Ltd. said Paladin Energy Ltd. expects that using the former's patented U-pgrade technology to process uranium could increase uranium production from the Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia by about 40%.
* Minister of State for Provincial Affairs for Zimbabwe's Masvingo province Josaya Hungwe said rich diamond deposits have been found in the province's Chivi district, Xinhua News reported.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Strong prices for key commodities, favorable interest rate movements and a solid overall operating performance were the key factors that helped mining companies perform better in 2017. However, of the 25 largest companies, only 12 beat their 2017 calendar year estimates, while the same number of companies missed their EPS estimates.
* Newly appointed South African Mines Minister Gwede Mantashe said he plans to complete the country's new mining charter within three months, Reuters reported.
* The U.S. Geological Survey reported further aftershocks near Barrick Gold Corp.'s Porgera gold mine Feb. 28 after up to 14 people were reportedly killed and mining operations suspended in the wake of a 7.5 magnitude earthquake that shook Papua New Guinea's Highlands region Feb. 26. Reuters also reported infrastructure damage to Ok Tedi Mining Ltd.'s namesake copper mine.
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. ET and scans news sources published in Chinese, English, Indonesian, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Ukrainian. Some external links may require a subscription.
