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US court revives aluminum antitrust suits; Pentagon eyes rare earths plant

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US court revives aluminum antitrust suits; Pentagon eyes rare earths plant

TOP NEWS

US court revives aluminum antitrust lawsuits against Glencore, Goldman, JPMorgan

A U.S. federal appeals court revived lawsuits accusing Glencore PLC, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other companies of colluding by curtailing aluminum supply in order to inflate prices for the commodity, Reuters reported. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said a federal judge erred in rejecting antitrust claims by direct purchasers such as Novelis Inc., the report said.

US Department of Defense in talks to build rare earths plant in Australia

The U.S. Department of Defense is in talks with Australia to host a new rare earths processing plant, as part of a U.S. plan to reduce reliance on China for the minerals, Reuters reported, citing Ellen Lord, the Pentagon's undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment. It was not clear if the Pentagon would partner with Lynas Corp. Ltd., the largest rare earths miner and producer outside of China, or another Australian company, the report said.

AngloGold cautiously optimistic on hopes for another Tropicana-style deposit

Experts say AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. could have another Tropicana-style gold deposit on its hands in Western Australia's Goldfields region, if the recently discovered 9-kilometer gold-in-soil anomaly at the Southern Traverses prospect is any indication, according to an exclusive S&P Global Market Intelligence report.

BASE METALS

* Waste from Metallurgical Corp. of China Ltd.'s Ramu nickel plant in Papua New Guinea spilled into the adjacent Basamuk Bay over the weekend, three sources told Reuters. Locals found red discharge in the water at parts of the bay next to the plant in Madang, with the head of the country's Mineral Resources Authority saying officials had prepared a preliminary report.

* In the first half, China Molybdenum Co. Ltd.'s attributable net profit plunged 74.12% year on year to 808.0 million yuan, or 3.7 fen per share, from 3.12 billion yuan, or 14.5 fen per share, driven by lower copper and cobalt prices.

* Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co. Ltd.'s net profit attributable to shareholders for the six months ended June 30 slumped 97.8% yearly to 32.8 million Chinese yuan from 1.51 billion yuan.

* OZ Minerals Ltd.'s first-half net profit plummeted to A$43.9 million, or 13.6 cents per share, from year-ago A$127.8 million, or 42.7 cents per share, resulting from deferred copper sales at lower commodity prices.

* A bankable feasibility study on Superior Lake Resources Ltd.'s namesake zinc project in Ontario defined a posttax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of US$115 million and a 27% internal rate of return. The explorer declared a maiden ore reserve of 1.96 million tonnes grading 13.9% zinc, at a cut-off grade of 5.2% zinc.

* Zambia's High Court suspended hearings on the winding up of Vedanta Resources Ltd.'s Konkola Copper Mines PLC pending an appeal on the lower court's refusal to let the case go to arbitration, Reuters reported.

* Economic fallout fears linked to the U.S.-China trade war continue to drive copper price weakness, commodities experts said, as the market worries about a potential hit to demand for the red metal, which is used in a slew of products from cars to electric cable, according to an exclusive S&P Global Market Intelligence report.

* An updated proved and probable ore reserve for Metals X Ltd.'s Nifty copper operations in Western Australia totaled 161,200 tonnes of copper contained in 11.10 million tonnes grading 1.45% copper, with 90% of the reserve outside of the historical Central Zone.

* Puma Exploration Inc. agreed to sell its Nicholas-Denys copper project in New Brunswick to Targets Minerals for 14.2 million shares, C$100,000 cash and a 1% net smelter royalty, which can be halved for C$1 million.

* The Federal Court of Mexico favored Consolidated Zinc Ltd.'s Minera Latin American Zinc SAPI de CV unit in a dispute with a local rancher over the Plomosas zinc mine in Mexico.

* Aldoro Resources Ltd. will focus on the nickel potential at the Ryans Find project in Western Australia, following the completion of a survey that aimed to verify nickel-cobalt anomalism in historical geochemical surveys and enable targeting of future work programs.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Sibanye Gold Ltd. expects to swing to a first half attributable loss of 265 million South African rand, or a loss of 11 cents per share, from a year-ago profit of 77 million rand, or 3 cents per share, due to the impact of a five-month strike at its South African gold operations. Sibanye also flagged a headline loss per share of 54 cents, from headline earnings per share of 4 cents in the same period of 2018.

* Anglo American Platinum Ltd.'s Rustenburg Platinum Mines Ltd. unit completed its acquisition of the Kwanda North and Central Block prospecting rights in South Africa from Atlatsa Resources Corp. for 300 million South African rand.

* Perseus Mining Ltd. booked a fiscal 2019 net profit of A$7.6 million, or 0.7 cent per share, swinging from a net loss of A$24.9 million, or 2.5 cents per share, a year ago. This was primarily due to a favorable exchange rate and lower asset impairment charge.

* TALCO Gold, a joint venture between China's Tibet Huayu Mining Co. Ltd. and Tajikistan's Tajik Aluminium Co., will begin commercial production of gold and antimony from the Konchoch deposits in Tajikistan in March 2020, Reuters reported.

* Altus Strategies PLC signed a nonbinding term sheet with Desert Gold Ventures Inc. to sell its contiguous Sebessounkoto Sud and Djelimangara gold projects in western Mali.

* Resolute Mining Ltd. kicked off the construction of the first-stage expansion of the Ravenswood gold mine in Queensland, Australia, which targets production of about 80,000 ounces of gold.

* A revised preliminary economic assessment for Otis Gold Corp.'s Kilgore epithermal gold deposit in Idaho increased the net present value, at a 5% discount rate, to US$110.4 million, from US$97.6 million previously outlined.

* Gold bars with faked stamped logos of major refineries are being passed off as originals as part of methods to launder smuggled or illegal gold, Reuters reported, citing refining and banking executives.

* A consortium of Chinese investors, with the participation of Fosun, is proposing to acquire Russian gold producer Vysochaishy, Kommersant reported.

* Lupaka Gold Corp. commenced legal action over PLI Huaura LC and Lonely Mountain Resources SAC's alleged breach of a prepaid forward gold purchase agreement, which PLI intended to terminate early.

* Azure Minerals Ltd. executed a deal to consolidate the ownership in the Alacran silver project in Mexico by issuing a 19.9% stake to Teck Resources Ltd.

* Matador Mining Ltd. agreed to acquire four additional licenses from Antler Gold Inc. to expand its landholding along the Cape Ray Shear in Newfoundland and Labrador to approximately 80 kilometers of continuous strike.

* Red Lake Gold Inc. agreed to acquire 430 mining claims to expand its Whirlwind Jack gold project in Ontario to 21,238 hectares from 12,472 hectares.

* Sunstone Metals Ltd. earned an initial 51% stake in the Bramaderos gold-copper project in Ecuador.

* Blue Lagoon Resources Inc. completed its acquisition of the issued share capital of of ASIC Mining Inc., which holds the option to acquire the 4,425-hectare Pellaire gold project in British Columbia.

* Ardea Resources Ltd. outlined a maiden inferred resource for its Mount Aubrey project in New South Wales, Australia, of 62,400 ounces of gold contained in 1.21 million tonnes grading 1.61 g/t gold.

BULK COMMODITIES

* A Cabinet meeting of the Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is discussing a proposal that looks to end a restriction on foreign investment in the local commercial coal mining sector, Bloomberg News reported, citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Economic growth in India was at 5.8% in the March quarter, its slowest rate in five years.

* Citigroup analyst Alexander Hacking expects hot-rolled coil prices to be about US$550 per tonne through 2022 and US$600/t for the long term, compared to a high of US$920/t in 2018, due to steel oversupply and low demand, Bloomberg wrote.

* Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., or Chalco, reported an attributable first half net profit of 705.8 million Chinese yuan, or 3.5 fen per share, decreasing from 821.6 million yuan, or 4.6 fen per share, posted a year ago. Chalco's parent company, Chinalco, secured approval to make its China Rare Earth Holdings Ltd. unit as a large-scale rare earth firm that will consolidate mining and smelting rivals, South China Morning Post reported.

* Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Union Co. Ltd.'s first-half net profit attributable to shareholders fell 26.5% year over year to 1.04 billion Chinese yuan from 1.42 billion yuan.

* Chinese steelmaker Jiangsu Shagang Group Co. Ltd. became the largest shareholder in U.K.-based data center operator Global Switch Holdings Ltd. with a 49% stake after acquiring an additional 24% interest for £1.8 billion, Reuters reported.

* The World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes ordered Colombia to repay a US$19 million fine levied to Glencore over its Prodeco coal mine, but turned down the producer's petition for an additional US$575 million in damages, Reuters reported.

* Australian Potash Ltd.'s definitive feasibility study for its Lake Wells sulfate of potash project in Western Australia outlined a posttax net present value, discounted at 8%, of A$441 million, a 21% internal rate of return and a 4.75-year payback period.

* PJSC Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works CEO Pavel Shilyaev said the company is targeting the automation of routine processes at its operations within 25 years, Vedomosti reported.

* GrowMax Resources Corp. secured shareholder approval for its proposed change of business to an investment company.

* Turkey produced 19.9 million tonnes of crude steel from January to July, a 10.2% decrease from 22.18 Mt in the year-ago period, Fastmarkets MB reported, citing the Turkish Steel Producers Association.

SPECIALTY

* Anglo American PLC unit De Beers SA's provisional revenue from rough diamond sales in the seventh sales cycle this year fell to US$280 million from US$503 million in the year-ago sales cycle. Similar to the previous cycle, the diamond producer allowed its customers with further supply flexibility, which affected sales for the period.

* Russian diamond producer PJSC Alrosa's supervisory board recommended a first half dividend of 28.3 billion Russian rubles, or 3.84 rubles per share in absolute terms, representing all of its free cash flow for the period, in line with a new dividend policy.

* VRX Silica Ltd.'s bankable feasibility study for its Arrowsmith North silica sand project in Western Australia pegged a posttax net present value, discounted at 10%, of A$242.3 million, a 79% internal rate of return and a 2.4-year payback period.

* Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd. is facing public backlash over its proposal to build a A$5 million lithium tailings facility for Albemarle Corp.'s Kemerton lithium refinery in Western Australia, ABC News reported.

* Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp. regained full ownership of the Gemini lithium project in Nevada by taking back the 50% stake it previously optioned to Kore Mining Ltd. predecessor Eureka Resources Inc.

* Plato Gold Corp. fulfilled the option terms for its 100% earn-in on the Good Hope niobium project in Ontario.

* Graphex Mining Ltd.'s updated indicated and inferred resource for the Chilalo graphite project in Tanzania grew 19% to 20.1 million tonnes grading 9.9% total graphitic carbon.

* The Thai Ministry of Commerce said China's possible restrictions on rare earth exports may boost Thailand's own exports of scandium and yttrium to the U.S., Manager Daily reported.

* Noront Resources Ltd. obtained the support of the Marten Falls First Nation for the development of the Ring of Fire chromite project in Ontario.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* Guinea is accused of giving special treatment to Russian companies, including United Co. Rusal PLC, in its mining sector, The Guardian reported, citing charity group Action Mines Executive Director Amadou Bah, who claimed that he knew of a secret agreement between the two countries.

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