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Court allows Vale to enforce US$2B award against BSG; Coal India workers strike

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Court allows Vale to enforce US$2B award against BSG; Coal India workers strike

TOP NEWS

Court allows Vale to enforce US$2B award against BSG

The English High Court allowed Vale SA to enforce a US$2 billion arbitration award it won against BSG Resources Ltd. for their dispute over the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea. Vale said it will continue to try to collect the award as it pursues legal action against BSG in New York and England.

Coal India workers launch strike against plan to relax foreign ownership rules

Thousands of Coal India Ltd. workers launched several strikes across the company's operations in protest of the government's plan to allow full foreign ownership in the coal sector, Reuters reported. Five unions declared a one-day strike, while another notified the company of a five-day walkout, the report said. An official of one of the unions claimed that the protests impacted about 85% to 90% of Coal India's daily output.

Norsk Hydro aims to boost EBIT by 6.4B kroner within 5 years

Norsk Hydro ASA President and CEO Hilde Merete Aasheim said the company aims to boost EBIT by 6.4 billion Norwegian kroner over the next five years through improvements and restructuring across its businesses. The company plans to cut costs by reversing the curtailment of its Brazilian assets, simplifying staff functions and revising its operating model to support its profitability and sustainability agenda.

BASE METALS

* Silver Spruce Resources Inc. signed a binding letter of intent to acquire the advanced stage Melchett Lake zinc-gold-silver project in Ontario's Thunder Bay mining district.

* Universal Copper Ltd. scrapped its planned acquisition of a portion of the Gachala copper project in Colombia to focus on its Poplar copper property in British Columbia.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Barrick Gold Corp. CEO Mark Bristow said that he has a 10-year vision for the miner, while noting that the company will not expand into Australia and instead focus on Canada, MiningNews reported.

* A definitive feasibility study on Platinum Group Metals Ltd.'s Waterberg platinum group metals project in South Africa defined an after-tax net present value of US$982 million, discounted at 8%, with a 20.7% internal rate of return and an 8.4-year payback period.

* Barrian Mining Corp. signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Troy Canyon gold-silver project in Nevada from privately owned Brocade Metals Corp.

* Blina Minerals NL is looking to acquire a 50% interest in Colour Minerals Pty. Ltd., which owns the Barkly gold-copper project in Australia's Northern Territory.

* Orefinders Resources Inc. said the last two independent directors of Mistango River Resources Inc. have decided to leave the company's board amid Orefinders' call for Mistango to release and enforce the results of a shareholder vote on a board revamp.

* Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd. received formal communication from South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy that the permit to develop the Gubong gold mine will be granted, with the actual permit to be acquired shortly.

* Hummingbird Resources PLC settled a claim of over US$10 million against Taurus Funds Management Pty. Ltd. for a US$2.5 million payment.

* Red Lake Gold Inc. resumed field exploration at its Whirlwind Jack gold project in Ontario after the program was suspended due to bad weather.

* Excellon Resources Inc. entered into an agreement with Globex Mining Enterprises Inc. for an option to acquire the Silver City project, also known as the Braunsdorf exploration license, in Germany.

BULK COMMODITIES

* Coronado Global Resources Inc. slashed its full-year 2019 EBITDA guidance to the range of A$687 million to A$737 million, from A$737 million to A$807 million, due to the weak benchmark prices for metallurgical coal. The company expects prices to slump further amid global market uncertainties driven by the U.S.-China trade war.

* Steelmaker Stelco Holdings Inc. unit Stelco Inc. withdrew its proposed offering of about US$300 million of senior secured notes due to current bond market conditions.

* Vale has a "long way to go" before the Church of England reconsiders reinvesting in the embattled Brazilian miner, Bloomberg News wrote, citing Adam Matthews, director of ethics and engagement at the church's pension board.

* Thyssenkrupp AG will resume talks to terminate the contract of outgoing CEO Guido Kerkhoff, Reuters reported. Chairwoman Martina Merz will be named as interim CEO for not more than 12 months. The company did not provide a reason for the decision, the report said.

* Steelmaker Altos Hornos de México SAB de CV is exploring capitalization options, including the possible sale of its ownership stake or forming a partnership with another firm, Fastmarkets MB reported.

* Mount Gibson Iron Ltd. said mining depletion at its Iron Hill deposit and the Extension Hill mine in Western Australia led to a yearly drop in the company's total mineral resources and ore reserves for fiscal 2019. The company estimated total resources of 74.2 million tonnes grading 61.8% iron, and total reserves of 20.3 Mt grading 65.5% iron, as of June 30.

* India was the top destination for U.S. coal among Asian nations in the first half of 2019 as well as one of the top global destinations in recent periods, but analysts said thermal coal producers may struggle to compete in the Asian market in the near future, according to an exclusive S&P Global Market Intelligence report.

* Polish mining business PG Silesia is looking to acquire state-run utility TAURON Polska Energia SA's Janina coal mine in southern Poland, Reuters reported, citing a local newspaper quoting unnamed sources.

* American Resources Corp. announced that it was named the primary bidder for some of Cambrian Holding Co. Inc.'s eastern Kentucky assets.

* An optimization study for New Age Exploration Ltd.'s Lochinvar coking coal project in the U.K. identified opportunities to reduce costs and to produce coal during the construction period.

SPECIALTY

* Tianqi Lithium Corp.'s Australian unit, Tianqi Lithium Kwinana, signed a deal with Swedish battery-maker Northvolt AB to supply lithium hydroxide from 2020 to 2025, Reuters reported, citing a company filing. The material will be supplied to Northvolt's planned lithium-ion battery plant in northern Sweden, which is due to begin production in 2021, according to the report.

* MGX Minerals Inc.'s joint venture with Eureka Resources LLC is working toward commissioning a commercial rapid lithium-recovery system at the latter's Standing Stone advanced wastewater treatment facility in Pennsylvania, which is expected to begin commercial extraction in the fourth quarter.

* India's V.V. Mineral applied for operating licenses in Kenya and Tanzania after being impacted by a local ban on rare earths mining by private companies, Reuters reported, citing V.V. Mineral Chairman and Founder S. Vaikundarajan.

* Finland's Financial Supervisory Authority imposed a €1.5 million fine on specialty-alloys maker Afarak Group PLC over failures to meet obligations related to disclosing inside information and managing insider lists.

* Platina Resources Ltd. is looking to advance its namesake scandium project in New South Wales, Australia, after signing a six-month memorandum of understanding with Traxys SARL unit Traxys Europe SA.

* Botswana Diamonds PLC signed an agreement with Eurafrican Diamond Corp. to mine and process the diamond-bearing gravels and residual stockpiles on a portion of the Marsfontein operation in South Africa.

* Strandline Resources Ltd. made a significant discovery at its Sakura tenement, part of the Tajiri mineral sands project in Tanzania. The company's maiden auger drilling program identified high grade mineralization from a depth of 6 meters to 7 meters.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* The government of British Columbia in Canada is asking for public feedback on its proposed mining law amendments that aim to improve regulation of the sector in the province, the Canadian Mining Journal wrote.

* Mining services provider Fluor Corp. plans to sell its construction equipment rental unit AMECO and its government business, along with some real estate assets, to fetch over US$1 billion in proceeds, Reuters reported.

* Kirill Molodtsov, an assistant to the head of the Russian presidential administration, proposed the creation of a special fund that will preserve and liquidate mining enterprises and underground structures where mining is no longer in progress, at the expense of subsoil users, Kommersant reported.

* The Philippine government prohibited miners from expanding their operations beyond a maximum area base unless they first rehabilitate the sites where they extracted minerals, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported, citing Wilfredo Moncano, director of the country's Mines and Geosciences Bureau. Moncano also said in a separate report that out of the 372 mining contracts granted in the country, only 108 mines are actively operating, as most of the contracts involve exploration-stage projects.

* House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced that the U.S. House of Representatives would begin an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump over alleged abuse of power. Trump allegedly repeatedly pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden's son in a July phone call, according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal. Biden is running as a Democrat for president in 2020.

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