TOP NEWS
Court allows Vale to resume mining, processing at Onca Puma nickel project
Vale SA's will resume operations at both the mine and processing plant at its Onca Puma nickel operations in Brazil's Para state after the President of Supreme Federal Court suspended the injunctions. The processing operations were suspended in June 2019, and mining operations were halted in September 2017 on the back of a Brazilian court orders amid allegations of pollution at a nearby river.
Carbon tax may cost South African mining sector billions of rand, warns council
South Africa's mining sector faces costs of between 900 million and 1.8 billion South African rand per year as a result of new carbon tax legislation, but this figure may increase tenfold if electricity costs are transferred to customers and tax concessions are withdrawn when the second phase of the Carbon Tax Act takes effect in 2023, according to the Minerals Council of South Africa.
Investor group urges more mergers among midtier gold miners
The Shareholders Gold Council, an investor coalition led by New York hedge fund Paulson & Co, called for more no-premium mergers among mid-tier gold companies to eliminate duplication and slash corporate costs, Reuters and Financial Times reported. The group said Golden Star Resources Ltd., Jaguar Mining Inc., Petropavlovsk PLC, Dundee Precious Metals Inc. and Eldorado Gold Corp. were the highest spenders among the mid-tier miners. Reducing their number by half would generate between US$2.4 billion to US$3.2 billion of value for shareholders, according to the group.
DIVERSIFIED
* BHP Group made a strategic investment in biotech startup Cemvita Factory, which is developing a technology that may be used to improve the remediation of mine-impacted soils and water, International Mining reported.
* Friends of the Earth subsidiary Market Forces indicated that it will revive efforts to make Rio Tinto set targets for the carbon emissions of its customers, which was initially rejected by shareholders during the company's annual meeting in May, The Australian Financial Review wrote.
BASE METALS
* Epiroc AB landed a US$69 million contract to service mining equipment used at Codelco's Andina copper mine in Chile, Kitco News wrote.
PRECIOUS METALS
* The Papua New Guinea government is demanding to keep 40% of the gold produced at the proposed Wafi-Golpu project, a 50/50 joint venture between Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. and Newcrest Mining Ltd., Reuters reported, citing commerce minister Wera Mori. "They get 60% of the production, we get 40%. If they don't like it we'll mine it ourselves - we own the resources," Mori said.
* Arrow Minerals Ltd. decided not to pursue legal action against Dreadnought Resources Ltd. The company previously threatened to sue over the alleged misuse of confidential information regarding Dreadnought's acquisition of the Illaara gold project in Western Australia from Newmont Goldcorp Corp.
* Stavely Minerals Ltd. received an exploration license covering the New Golden Gate and Tasmanian Consols gold mines, part of the Mathinna project in Australia, for an initial term of four years from the Tasmanian Department of State Growth.
* Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd. signed a joint venture agreement with Turkish mining and mine construction contractor, Ciftay Insaat Taahhut ve Ticaret A.S., to jointly develop the Tulkubash and Kyzyltash projects in the Kyrgyz Republic. Çiftay will invest up to US$31.5 million to secure a 12.5% equity stake in the two projects.
* Klondike Gold Corp. leased the rights and permits to a placer mine on the Eldorado Creek property, part of its Klondike gold project in Yukon, to Dulac Mining Ltd. for three years in exchange for a 10% royalty, payable in raw gold.
* AbraPlata Resource Corp. entered a definitive agreement to acquire Aethon Minerals Corp. and form a silver-and-gold-focused explorer that will develop the Diablillos project in Argentina.
* The CME Group Inc. will launch two gold futures contracts in collaboration with the Shanghai Gold Exchange on Oct. 14, Fastmarkets MB wrote.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Vale suspended works in one mining front of Brucutu iron ore mine in Brazil's Minas Gerais state; however, the halt will not impact the mine's production. The suspension follows a decision from Brazil's National Mining Agency, based on its understanding that one of the operating mining fronts exceeds the mineral reserve limit approved by the agency to the respective area.
* Separately, Vale launched a cash tender offer to repurchase up to US$1 billion of debt. The buyback expires Oct. 9, subject to extension.
* Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. plans to convert a total of 175 trucks to autonomous technology by mid-2020, compared to 137 autonomous trucks in operation currently. The company's fleet of autonomous haul trucks have moved over one billion tonnes of material and delivered a 30% improvement in productivity, CEO Elizabeth Gaines said.
* China's Shandong province produced 10.4 million tonnes of crude coal in August, down 2.4% from July and 14.4% lower than August 2018, sxcoal.com reported, citing data from the provincial government. The province has produced a total of 79 million tonnes of crude coal in the first eight months of this year, down 9% year over year.
* Whitehaven Coal Ltd. is eyeing the Olive Downs coal project in Queensland, Australia, owned by Pembroke Resources Pty Ltd., The Australian reported. A stake of between 25% to 35% is on the market, although it is unclear if Whitehaven is looking to buy a stake or the entire project, which is believed to be worth more than A$1 billion, the report said.
* Proceeds from the potential sale of thyssenkrupp AG's elevators business must stay with the group and not be distributed as a special dividend to shareholders, Reuters reported, citing Tekin Nasikkol, the works council head of thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG.
* Coronado Global Resources Inc. awarded a six-year, A$1.3 billion contract to CIMIC Group Ltd.'s Thiess Pty. Ltd. to provide mining services at the Curragh coal operation in Queensland, Australia. Separately, the company amended its secured multicurrency syndicated facility agreement to US$550 million from US$350 million and extended the loan's maturity by a year to February 2023.
* Greek-based industrial conglomerate MYTILINEOS SA's first half net profit fell year on year to €81.6 million from €83.9 million due to the first-time adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards, normalization of the effective tax rate, and an increased stake in its METKA EGN subsidiary.
* The National Coal Council devoted much of its annual fall meeting to discussing technologies that may provide opportunities for the struggling coal sector. But several coal industry experts and representatives seemed less optimistic that the commercialization of these technologies would occur in time to have a significant impact on coal's current trajectory, according to an exclusive S&P Global Market Intelligence report.
* China's top steelmaking city, Tangshan, ordered steel mills and other industrial companies to cut output or emissions for four days ahead of the mid-autumn public holidays, part of a larger effort to reduce air pollution, Reuters reported, citing two sources and a notice.
SPECIALTY
* While global lithium production is increasing, new lithium supply has outstripped demand as new producers step up to claim market share. South American producers, dominated by brine-sourced output, and Australian producers, focused on hard rock mining, are boosting their lithium product supply, according to the Metals and Mining Research team at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
* Sigma Lithium Resources Corp. CEO Calvyn Gardner said the company has had discussions with Tesla Inc. as well as other car manufacturers over lithium supply contracts, Reuters reported. Gardner said Sigma also had talks with Tesla's supplier Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd. on the electric vehicle maker's request, but is holding off on a supply deal due to issues with terms put up by the Chinese firm.
* Syrah Resources Ltd.'s net loss in the first half widened to US$81.4 million, from US$8.3 million a year ago, mainly due to a noncash, posttax impairment of property, plant and equipment and mining assets of US$65.9 million and an inventory write-down of US$4.8 million.
* Pilbara Minerals Ltd. slashed 36 jobs and dismissed mining contractor MACA Ltd. at its Pilgangoora lithium mine in Western Australia, where mining activities were recently suspended for the short term due to unfavorable market conditions, The Australian reported.
* The Federal Court of Australia approved Wesfarmers Ltd.'s A$776 million takeover of Kidman Resources Ltd. The deal is expected to take effect Sept. 23.
* Namdeb Holdings Ltd., a diamond joint venture between Anglo American PLC's De Beers SA unit and the Namibian government, sold the mothballed Elizabeth Bay mine and associated marine assets as a going concern to local consortium Lewcor, Reuters reported. The deal is worth 120 million Namibian dollars, or about US$8.2 million.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Minerals Council South Africa CEO Roger Baxter revealed plans at Africa Down Under in Perth, Australia, to boost the country's proportion of global exploration spend from 1% in 2017 to 5%, and has formed eight commodity "leadership leadership forum" groups to develop a national greenfields exploration strategy. Baxter noted that the South African gold industry's production dropped from 1,000 tonnes in 1970, 77% of the world's new mined gold supply, to about 130 tonnes in 2018, and employment from 550,000 to just under 100,000.
* The Trump administration formally repealed the Obama-era Clean Water Rule, setting the stage for the finalizing of a proposal that would significantly curtail federal protections for the nation's wetlands and waterways.
* Two JPMorgan Chase & Co. metals executives, Michael Nowak and Gregg Smith, were put on leave following a U.S. criminal investigation into the bank's metals trading practices, Reuters reported.
* The London Metal Exchange plans to allow longer queues for loading out metal, a move that may boost the profits of warehouses but result in higher costs for consumers, Reuters reported, citing metal industry sources.
* South African mining union UASA welcomed a new requirement for strikes to be first supported by workers through a secret ballot, a rule that will end wild strikes without member consultations, Bloomberg News reported.
* South Africa's mining output in July climbed 2.4% from last year, the first increase in nine months as coal and iron ore production rose, Bloomberg News wrote.
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