TOP NEWS

Grupo MéxicoSAB de CV's second-quarter net profit year over year to US$350.3million due to a decline in metal prices and a 19% depreciation of the Mexicanpeso. Copper production in the three months ended June 30 rose 22.7% to 266,071tons, after starting new projects at the Buenavista mine in Mexico.

Amplats to advanceUnion mine sale by year-end as H1 net profit dives 62% YOY

Anglo AmericanPlatinum Ltd. CEO Chris Griffith said the company expects to progressthe sale of its Union platinum mine in South Africa by the end of theyear, by which time the sale of three other operations to should be concluded,Bloomberg News wrote. The company plans to cut 1,000 jobs at the Union mine asits net profit attributable to shareholders dropped 62% year over year to 938 million South Africanrand, or 3.58 rand per share, in the first half.

Despite record salt segment operating earnings, 's net earnings in the second quarter to US$6.3 million from US$13.2million posted a year ago, as a result of continued mild winter weather andagricultural market weakness. Revenue in the second quarter totaled US$169.5million, down 8% from the same quarter of 2015.

BASE METALS

* Grupo MéxicoSAB de CV subsidiary Southern Copper Corp.'s second-quarter net income dropped24.7% year over year to US$221.9 million despite an increase in copperproduction. The company's copper mine output in the quarter increased by 26.1%to 225,842 tons, on the back of 78% increase in production at the mine in Mexico.

* DundeePrecious Metals Inc. said a regional power outage has the refractory lining ofthe Ausmelt furnace at the company's Tsumeb copper smelter in Namibia. Repairs are currentlyexpected to take about three weeks, which is expected to reduce 2016concentrate throughput by approximately 20,000 tonnes.

* Canaccord Genuity analyst Dalton Baretto upgradedTeck Resources Ltd.to hold from sell and while upgrading First Quantum Minerals Ltd. to buy from hold, tellingclients that the long-term demand fundamentals on the Canadian base metalssector remain positive, the FinancialPost reported.

* Moody's said that Vedanta Ltd.'s revised merger terms with have noimmediate impact on VedantaResources Plc's B2 corporate family rating, Caa1 senior unsecurednotes rating and negative outlook. However, the successful execution of themerger, to the extent that it leads to deleveraging, will be credit positivefor Vedanta Resources.  

* MMGLtd. will invest A$30million in a new tailings dam at its Rosebery zinc mine in Tasmania, Australia, ina bid to extend the 80-year-old mine's life, Rick Watsford, the company'sgeneral manager for Australian operations, said.

* Regina Lopez, the secretary of the Philippines' Departmentof Environment and Natural Resources, said the of operations at 's unit onManicani was voluntary and not ordered by the government.

* According to Amur Minerals Corp.'s updated definitive feasibilitystudy and working plan for the development of its flagship nickel-copper sulfideproject, the project could mine 5 million tonnes of ore per annum over a15-year mine life.

* Recently established German firm Metalprodex GmbH plans tostart an online metals trading platform in September for base metals sales andpurchases for instant physical delivery, Reuters reported,citing Metalprodex Managing Director Janko Linhart.

* CadillacVentures Inc. entered into an option agreement with Northern FoxResources Inc., an arm's length private company, pursuant to which the lattercan earn a 70%interest in Cadillac's Thierry copper property in Ontario.

PRECIOUS METALS

* NorthernStar Resources Ltd.'s full-year 2016 net profit year over year to A$151.4million on the back of strong gold sales, which totaled 561,153 ounces at anall-in sustaining cost of A$1,041 per ounce. The company, meanwhile, booked611,288 ounces of gold production for the financial year.

* McEwenMining Inc. produced 39,555 gold equivalent ounces in the secondquarter and is on track to produce 144,000 gold equivalent ounces in 2016. Thecompany purchased for US$5.3 million the existing net smelter return royalty onEl Galloproperty during the second quarter.

* Hecla MiningCo. withdrew its takeover bid for after thesecurities commissions of British Columbia and Ontario deemed that Hecla'sunsolicited bid was an insider bid, meaning it should obtain and disseminate anindependent formalvaluation. The commissions also denied Hecla's request to preventDolly Varden from finalizing a previously announced private placement.

* MarianaResources Ltd. has boosted confidence in the quality of high-graderesources at its 30%-owned Hot Maden project in Turkey and, for the first time,estimated resources on new gold and zinc zones. Mariana indicated resources 84% in terms ofcontained gold, to 7.1 million tonnes at 12.2 g/t of gold and 2.3% copper. Thisincluded the eye-popping grades in a high-grade subsection of the resource,where indicated resources doubled to 2.1 million tonnes at 32.7 g/t of gold and3.5% copper.

BULK COMMODITIES

* AluminiumBahrain BSC's second-quarter net income to 16.3 million Bahrainidinars from 29.8 million dinars in the same period of 2015, while first-halfnet income dropped to 20.5 million dinars from 67 million dinars a yearago.  Total sales revenues in the firsthalf also fell by 21% year on year to 322.2 million dinars from 405.9 milliondinars.

* Wuhan Iron& Steel (Group) Corp. posteda profit of 703 million Chinese yuan in the first half of this year. Incomparison, its listed unit WuhanIron & Steel Co. Ltd. booked a huge loss of 7.5 billion yuanfor full year 2015, The Beijing News reported. The steelmakerhas laid off 3,100 workers in the first half, and intends to cut another 6,000to 7,000 jobs by next year. The move is believed to pave the way for its mergerwith Baoshan Iron & Steel Co.Ltd., which already has announced capacity elimination of 9.2million tonnes.

* According to the Press Trust of India, the Indiangovernment said it generated about 22.37 billion Indian rupees inrevenue by the end of May from the allocation of 74 coal mines.

* China has phasedout more than 13 million tonnes of steel capacity in the first half of thisyear, completing 30% of the annual target of 45 million tonnes this year, the21st Century Business Herald wrote, citing a senior official of the Ministry ofIndustry and Information Technology. The nation plans to eliminate 140 milliontonnes of steel capacity within five years.

* China's environment ministry said the government hasordered special teams to start inspectingsteel mills' compliance with the country's new pollution regulations, Reuterswrote.

* Kommersant reported that Suleyman Kerimov maybuy part of United Co. RUSALPlc from ONEXIM Group with the aim to conduct a spin-off of sharesof PJSC MMC NorilskNickel owned by RUSAL. The idea was discussed in 2014, but notrealized because of the potential costs, including taxes.

* Vedomosti reportedthat Russia's state-run technology control authority, Rostekhnadzor, said theexplosion at the Severnaya coal mine, owned by PAO Severstal may have beencaused be a methane explosion due to poor isolation of mining production anddamage of electric cables.

* Puls Biznesu reportedthat coal from the east is available in Poland for 200 zlotys per tonne, whilethe cost of mining by the state-owned Polish Mining Group is more than 250zlotys per tonne. According to Weglokoks, Poland received 3.1 million tonnes offoreign coal between January and May, while imports in the same period a yearago were 2.8 million tonnes.

* Coal ofAfrica Ltd. said its environmental authorization for the coal project inSouth Africa has been extendedfor an additional five years.

SPECIALTY

* Petra Diamonds Ltd.'s diamond output in fiscal 2016totaled 3.7 million carats, exceeding the full year guidance of 3.6 million caratsto 3.65 million carats. In fiscal 2017, the company expects to produce 4.6million carats to 4.8 million carats, and reach its target of 5 million caratsin fiscal 2018.

* BushveldMinerals Ltd. has amended the acquisition agreement for the Vametcovanadium mine and plant in South Africa from Evraz Group SA and will now complete the transaction inone stage, instead of two. The company is acquiring Evraz's 78.8% economicinterest in Strategic MineralsCorp. NL, which owns the Vametco mine.

* LithiumAustralia NL has fully acquired private company Lithophile Pty. Ltd.,which controls three lithium prospects in Western Australia's Gascoyne Complex,giving the miner access to four prospects in the complex.

* Orion MetalsLtd. shareholders approvedthe investment agreement it signed with Excellence Holding HK Ltd., pursuant towhich Excellence increased its shareholding in Orion Metals to 57.95%.  

INDUSTRY NEWS

* The Russian metals sector defied a sinking Russian economyby paying out 72% of net earnings as dividends in 2015 — for nonfinancialcompanies — as a weaker ruble made steelmakers' and miners' products morecompetitive, and more cash was available due to CapEx cuts and completedcapital projects. The Analytical Credit Ratings Agency in Moscow said theaverage ratio for non-financial companies was 31% in 2015, with higher payoutsin the mining and steelmaking sector indicative of higher free cash flow levels.   

* Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said DENR secretaryRegina Lopez can proceed with her planned crackdown on mining operations thatviolate environmental safety, ABS-CBN news reported.

* The Philippines' newly elected House Speaker, PantaleonAlvarez, wants new mining firms to get legislative licenses before beingallowed to operate in the country. According to Reuters, Alvarez also said hewill revivetalks regarding the proposal to require miners to process ores locallybefore they are shipped overseas to help create local jobs.

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