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Simon Thompson to succeed Jan du Plessis as Rio Tinto chairman

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Simon Thompson to succeed Jan du Plessis as Rio Tinto chairman

TOP NEWS

Simon Thompson to succeed Jan du Plessis as Rio Tinto chairman

Rio Tinto appointed Simon Thompson as its next chairman, effective March 5, 2018. Thompson, who joined the Rio Tinto board as a nonexecutive director in 2014, succeeds Jan du Plessis, who will step down as chairman after serving almost nine years in the position.

Another major Chinese bank not interested in funding Adani's Carmichael coal mine

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, one of the country's major banks, said that it has no intention of funding Adani Enterprises Ltd.'s controversial Carmichael mine in Queensland, Australia, ABC reported. China Construction Bank has also rejected financing links with the miner.

Mined gold production falls year on year in September quarter

Global gold production was up incrementally in the September quarter to an estimated 24.5 million ounces from the estimated 24.4 million ounces in the June quarter, but 1% less than the year-ago September quarter, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence's Metals and Mining Research. Several factors have been driving production lower in 2017, including China's announcement in February that it planned to close 150 gold mines in an effort to consolidate national production.

BASE METALS

* Codelco Chairman Oscar Landerretche said CEO Nelson Pizarro should be reappointed in the role when his term ends next year to maintain the state miner's focus on cutting costs and spending, Bloomberg News reported.

* First Cobalt Corp. completed the three-way merger with CobalTech Mining Inc. and Cobalt One Ltd. after the arrangement was approved by the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

* Myanmar Metals Ltd. completed a revised resource estimate for its polymetallic Bawdwin property in Myanmar, to include 34 million tonnes of low-grade material within the block model that was not classified in the previous estimate completed in October. As a result, inferred resources increased to 75.9 million tonnes grading 4.6% lead, 2.3% zinc, 0.25% copper and 119 g/t of silver, using cutoff grades of 0.5% lead above the 750-meter reduced level and 2% lead below the 750-meter reduced level.

* Aura Minerals Inc. agreed to sell Mineração Vale Verde Ltda., which owns the Serrote da Laje copper-gold project in Brazil, for US$40 million.

* The head of Mitsubishi Materials Corp. unit Mitsubishi Cable Industries Ltd. resigned after the company admitted to product data manipulation to match quality specifications set by the company and its clients, Reuters reported. The unit is one of three that have admitted to data falsification.

PRECIOUS METALS

* An International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes tribunal awarded about US$30.4 million to Bear Creek Mining Corp. over the cancellation of a mining license for the company's Santa Ana silver-lead project in Peru.

* Chimata Gold Corp. completed the acquisition of the Bam gold property in British Columbia from Bearclaw Capital Corp.

* Argo Gold Inc. entered into a letter agreement with an arm's length party to sell its early stage RockStar gold property, comprising 16 unpatented mining claims in Ontario, for C$700,000.

* Magellan Gold Corp. completed the acquisition of the San Dieguito de Arriba mill in Mexico from Rose Petroleum Plc.

* Artemis Resources Ltd. exercised its option to acquire up to an 80% interest from Macarthur Minerals Ltd. in two exploration license applications covering 265 square kilometers southeast of Karratha in Western Australia.

* Metallon Corp. Ltd. agreed to sell its Arcturus gold property in Zimbabwe to TN Securities (Pvt.) Ltd. The mine has been on care and maintenance since the first quarter of 2016 due to consistent losses.

* China Nonferrous Gold Ltd. expects to resume production at its Pakrut gold project in Tajikistan in the first half of 2018. Operations were affected by an avalanche in February and were expected to normalize in the fourth quarter.

* Dacian Gold Ltd. engaged mining contractor Macmahon Contractors Pty. Ltd. to mine the Jupiter open pit at its Mount Morgans gold project in Western Australia. Mining will start later in December, with the first ore to be mined from the Heffernans Hill area. Gold production at Mount Morgans is scheduled to start in March 2018.

BULK COMMODITIES

* The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce ruled in favor of Celamin Holdings NL over the dispute with its joint venture partner Tunisian Mining Services over control of Chaketma Phosphates SAC Tunisia. Celamin unit Celamin Ltd. was awarded the reversal of a share transfer of its 51% stake.

* While the New South Wales government renewed Malabar Coal Ltd.'s exploration license E5460 to develop a coal reserve, the government is planning to introduce amendments to state mining and planning policies to ban open pit mining at the Drayton South area, The Sydney Morning Herald reported, citing state Planning Minister Anthony Roberts.

* Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. Ltd. unit Ordos Neng Hua entered a deal to acquire a 25% stake in Inner Mongolia Yitai Zhundong Railway Co. Ltd. from Inner Mongolia Yitai Coal Co. Ltd. for 1.94 billion Chinese yuan.

* Tata Steel Ltd. will purchase the remaining 74% interest in its joint venture with Bhubaneshwar Power Pvt. Ltd. for 2.55 billion Indian Rupees from JL Power Ventures Pvt., DealStreetAsia reported. Tata and its TS Alloys Ltd. unit currently hold 26% a stake in Bhubaneshwar Power.

* The members of United Steelworkers Local 1123 at TimkenSteel Corp.'s Ohio facilities ratified a new four-year contract with the company.

* South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers entered a three-year wage deal with Kangra Coal Mine, ending a week-long strike, Mining Weekly reported.

* Canada's Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of aboriginal groups seeking a say in a Yukon territorial government effort to develop coal and iron deposits in a wilderness region, in breach of a treaty requiring the agreement of local native groups, Reuters reported.

* Brazil's iron ore export volumes grew by 8.62% year over year to 34.15 million tonnes in November, on the back of higher sales prices, Metal Bulletin reported, citing the country's foreign trade ministry.

* China's central Shanxi province introduced new rules curbing water use for steel, cement and aluminum production, Reuters reported, citing state media. The new policy will slap incremental levies on the producers of steel, cement and aluminum if they exceed mandatory water usage standards.

SPECIALTY

* Firestone Diamonds Plc formulated a revised mine plan for the Liqhobong diamond mine in Lesotho that it said may deliver the best medium-term returns at low risk while potentially extending the mine life and taking advantage of higher diamond prices. Average annual production will be reduced to 900,000 carats of diamonds per annum, down from 1 million carats per annum envisaged under the 2015 mine plan. Firestone also raised £18.5 million to fund mining activities at Liqhobong.

* PJSC Alrosa failed to sell a 51.4-carat diamond called Dynasty in its recent auction, Bloomberg News reported. The company said it did not receive high enough offers for the gem and plans to hold another auction to sell the stone.

* Syrah Resources Ltd. signed a binding sales agreement to supply 20,000 tonnes of natural graphite from the Balama graphite project in Mozambique to Zhanjiang Juxin New Energy Materials Co. Ltd. in 2018.

* Lithium Power International Ltd. entered a binding deal to sell its Centenario lithium project in Argentina to Albertson Resources Pty Ltd. nominee Centenario Lithium Ltd. Lithium Power has received A$1 million of the purchase price as initial payment.

* The United States Geological Survey and the Geological Mining Service of Argentina revealed that there are 53 lithium exploration projects underway in the South American country, implying US$2 billion in investments, International Mining wrote, citing a report by Argentina's Ministry of Mining and Energy.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* New Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced his cabinet, with Winston Chitando named mines minister, Bloomberg News reported. Chitando is the executive chairman of an Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. unit.

* Anglo American Plc CEO Mark Cutifani said mining companies and the South African government will have to settle disputes over the revised mining charter and other differences, adding that legal proceedings are not best suited for finding long-term resolutions, BusinessDay reported. "We're fighting the battle in the courts, and whilst I believe that we had to take steps to protect our position, the answer will not come from the courts," Cutifani was quoted as saying.

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The Daily Dose is updated as of 7 a.m. Hong Kong time, and scans news sources published in Chinese, English, Indonesian, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Ukrainian. Some external links may require a subscription.