TOP NEWS
Nutrien flags Australian EBITDA boost after closing A$469M Ruralco deal
Fertilizer producer Nutrien Ltd. closed its A$469 million acquisition of Ruralco Holdings Ltd., which provides products and services to Australia's agricultural sector. With the takeover, Nutrien expects its 2020 annual EBITDA in Australia to surpass US$230 million, with US$70 million coming from Ruralco after accounting for expected synergies.
Lithium Americas' definitive study for Cauchari-Olaroz outlines US$1.33B value
A definitive feasibility study for Lithium Americas Corp.'s Cauchari-Olaroz joint venture project in Argentina with Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd. outlined a posttax net present value, discounted at 10%, of US$1.33 billion for a 40,000-tonne-per-annum operation over 40 years. Capital expenditure for the operation is projected at US$565 million, including over US$200 million in capex already committed. First production is targeted for early 2021, and ramp-up to full capacity is scheduled for 2022.
Atico Mining eyes Ecuador project for Latin American expansion
On the heels of closing its Toachi Mining Inc. acquisition, Atico Mining Corp. could start building a second mine in Latin America in about two years, the copper-gold miner's CEO, Fernando Ganoza, told S&P Global Market Intelligence. Ganoza said the move could more than double the company's revenues to between US$120 million and US$140 million, depending on metal prices.
BASE METALS
* Stellar Resources Ltd.'s scoping study on the Heemskirk tin project in Tasmania, Australia, outlined a posttax net present value, discounted at 10%, of about A$71 million, a pretax internal rate of return of about 45% and a three-year payback period.
* Australian Mines Ltd. said its off-take agreement allowing SK Innovation Co. Ltd. to purchase all of the battery-grade cobalt and nickel sulfates from the Sconi cobalt-nickel-scandium project in Queensland, Australia, will terminate if SK Innovation fails to issue a prepayment letter by Oct. 31 or if the formal documentation is not agreed on by Jan. 31, 2020.
* Superior Lake Resources Ltd. confirmed a media report that it received nonbinding indicative proposals from Glencore PLC, Trafigura Pte. Ltd. and IXM BV for off-take from its namesake zinc project in Ontario, although no formal offer has been received.
* A North Macedonian state commission rejected Euromax Resources Ltd.'s appeal of the economy ministry's decision not to grant an exploration permit for part of the Ilovitza-Shtuka copper-gold project.
* Heron Resources Ltd. received an extension to waivers for its senior debt facility to allow the company to secure funds. The company is facing a seven-month construction delay at its Woodlawn zinc project in New South Wales, Australia.
* Osisko Metals Inc. entered into two collaboration agreements with the Deninu Kue First Nation and the Northwest Territory Metis Nation over the Pine Point zinc project in Canada's Northwest Territories.
* Spruce Ridge Resources Ltd. agreed to sell its interest in the Crawford nickel-cobalt sulfide project in Ontario to Noble Mineral Exploration Inc.'s Canada Nickel Co., which will then own a 100% interest in the project.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Titan Minerals Ltd. formally lodged its second offer to wholly acquire Core Gold Inc. by issuing 2.5 Titan shares for each Core share held. The company's initial bid was denied by the British Columbia Supreme Court in July, which cited Core's failure to establish that the deal was fair and reasonable.
* White Cliff Minerals Ltd. is assessing which of its projects will become its focus after it agreed to sell a 90% stake in the Chanach gold project in Kyrgyzstan earlier this month.
* Kinross Gold Corp. is holding off on future deals in Russia after agreeing to acquire the Chulbatkan project from N-Mining Ltd. in a US$283 million deal in July, Reuters reported, citing CEO Paul Rollinson. Russia has struggled to attract foreign mining investment due to Western sanctions imposed after the country's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
* Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador asked parties involved in a dispute at Newmont Goldcorp Corp.'s suspended Penasquito gold mine to resolve their conflict, Reuters reported.
* Sibanye Gold Ltd. received notice that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union referred ongoing wage talks for the Rustenburg and Marikana platinum operations in South Africa to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, which will appoint a commissioner in a bid to resolve the dispute.
* EnviroLeach Technologies Inc. produced its first commercial gold bars using its own formula that promises to be eco-friendly compared to current extractive technologies. Weighing 310 grams, the bars represent an average recovery of 96.6% with a leach time under 24 hours, the company said.
* Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. granted 37 Capital Corp. an option to acquire up to a 60% stake in the Acacia gold property in British Columbia.
* TerraX Minerals Inc. agreed to acquire privately held Gold Matter Corp., owner of an option on the Mulligan gold project in New Brunswick, for 5 million shares.
* Magna Gold Corp. entered into a binding letter of intent for an option to acquire the 2,806-hectare San Judas gold project in Mexico.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Workers of Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau SA unit Aços Longos began a strike Sept. 27 at the plant in São José dos Campos in Sao Paulo, according to reports by the local metalworkers union, Notícias de Mineração Brasil wrote.
* Gerdau agreed to a five-year international loan of up to US$800 million, Reuters reported, citing a securities filing. Managed by Bank of New York Mellon, the loan will include up to eight creditor banks.
* U.S. Steel Corp. entered into a joint venture agreement to acquire a 49.9% interest in Big River Steel LLC for about US$700 million in cash, with an option to acquire the remaining 50.1% stake within the next four years.
* Metinvest BV saw an oversubscription of US$639.4 million for its tender offer to purchase up to US$440 million of its outstanding US$944.5 million senior notes due 2023, at the early tender deadline of Sept. 30.
* Red Mountain Mining Ltd. entered into a binding agreement with the vendors of HPA Resources Pty. Ltd. to fully acquire the 84-square-kilometer Mount Kokeby kaolin project in Western Australia.
* Agrimin Ltd. secured an option to purchase a 17-hectare waterfront site in Western Australia to host its proposed Wyndham Port facility, which will comprise key infrastructure for the large-scale export of potash products from its MacKay project.
* Thyssenkrupp AG officially dismissed Guido Kerkhoff as CEO and named supervisory board Chairwoman Martina Merz as his replacement for up to 12 months, effective Oct. 1.
* Mechel PAO expressed interest in acquiring 34% of Gazprombank's 49% stake in the Elga coal project in Russia, Kommersant and Vedomosti reported. Mechel already owns a 51% stake in the project.
* The Queensland government in Australia extended a deadline to Nov. 30 from Sept. 30 to finalize a deferred royalty agreement with Adani Enterprises Ltd. over the Carmichael coal project, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
* Ahead of schedule, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. finished erecting a 457-foot furnace reactor tower for its hot-briquetted iron project in Ohio, putting it on track to start commercial production in the first half of 2020.
* Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp. completed the sale of Canadian subsidiary ASW Steel Inc. to Acciaierie Valbruna SpA unit Valbruna Canada Ltd.
* TerraCom Ltd. achieved record September-quarter coal sales of 795,532 tonnes from its Blair Athol mine in Queensland, Australia, with the company's total sales coming in at 921,119 tonnes.
SPECIALTY
* Magnis Energy Technologies Ltd. said Imperium3 Townsville finalized the feasibility study for an 18-GWh lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facility in Queensland. As part of the study, the project was divided into three stages of 6 GWh each, which reduced the first-stage capital expenditure to A$1.12 billion. Total capex for the project was estimated at A$3.05 billion
* Galan Lithium Ltd. outlined a maiden JORC 2012-compliant indicated mineral resource for its Candelas project in Argentina of 684,850 tonnes of contained lithium carbonate equivalent at 672 milligrams per liter lithium, at a cutoff of 500 milligrams per liter lithium. The company said the resource forms a solid basis to advance the pre-feasibility study at the project.
* Ioneer Ltd. expects to complete the final pilot plant test work at its Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project in Nevada by the end of November and deliver a definitive feasibility study in the first quarter of 2020.
* Technology Metals Australia Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding to supply Shaanxi Fengyuan Vanadium Technology Development Co. Ltd. with 3,000 tonnes per annum of vanadium pentoxide from the Gabanintha project in Western Australia.
* After reaching a settlement with Albemarle Corp., Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp. said the state engineer of the Nevada Division of Water Resources officially dismissed forfeiture proceedings against the company's water right in the Clayton Valley basin.
* Queensland Resources Council Ian Macfarlane claimed that the state is missing out on reaping the value of its uranium deposits, worth about A$10 billion, due to a ban on uranium mining, Mining Weekly reported.
* Australia may benefit from a U.S. move to boost the domestic supply of rare earths and reduce its reliance on China, Reuters reported, citing Australia's Trade and Investment Commission.
* E3 Metals Corp. secured approval from the TSX Venture Exchange for its agreement with Livent Corp. to advance the development of E3's proprietary direct lithium extraction process focused on its petro-lithium brines in Alberta's Leduc Formation.
* VanadiumCorp Resource Inc. plans to open a facility in Karlsruhe, Germany, to research and develop vanadium redox flow batteries. The facility will focus on innovations for the next generation of flow batteries.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Australian Resource Minister Matt Canavan said financial institutions should not cave under pressure from activists and should keep funding mining projects, The Australian reported. "I am concerned our financial institutions are being unnecessarily pressured and bullied for non-commercial reasons to not lend to certain projects," Canavan said.
* The National Mining Association's new president and CEO, Rich Nolan, plans to double down on opportunities for metals in technology, according to an exclusive S&P Global Market Intelligence report.
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