TOP NEWS
Indonesia looks to finish revised mining laws within weeks
The Indonesian government is finalizing a revision of the country's mining rules that could give companies up to five more years to build smelters and resume nickel ore exports, which have been banned since 2014, according to Reuters. Citing Indonesian Mining Minister Luhut Pandjaitan, the publication said the resumption of exports is still being discussed and a decision on the rules is expected to be made within weeks.
Cameco set to dispute C$2.2B tax bill in Canada
Uranium miner Cameco Corp. will dispute in court a potential C$2.2 billion tax bill from the Canadian Revenue Agency, which claims that Cameco established a Switzerland unit and sold uranium at a lower price in order to avoid taxes, The Canadian Press reported. The company claims it was within its legal rights when it conducted the business.
Glencore launches offer to buy back up to US$1.25B of debt
Glencore Plc launched a cash tender offer to buy back up to US$1.25 billion of its outstanding notes. Subject to purchase limit of US$1 billion, the Swiss mining giant will accept for repurchase 3.125% notes, 2.500% notes and floating rate notes, all due in 2019.
DIVERSIFIED
* Anglo American Plc shares rallied to over £10 per share for the first time in more than a year, recovering from a record low in January, on the back of improving commodity prices and the company's debt reduction efforts, Bloomberg News reported.
* In light of reports that interim President Michel Temer is mulling replacing Vale SA CEO Murilo Ferreira, sources said the company's executive officer for human resources and general counsel, Clóvis Torres, visited members of Congress in recent weeks to lobby for Ferreira's continuity in office, Notícias de Mineração reported.
BASE METALS
* This month, Codelco's Ventanas copper mine will begin maintenance work and the final implementation stage of four environmental projects that aim to mitigate environmental emissions, a plan that required an investment of US$156 million, mining magazine Minería Chilena reported, citing general manager José Sanhueza.
* Nyrstar NV expects its 2016 zinc metal production to be at the low end of the guidance range of 1 million tonnes to 1.1 million tonnes after losing about 30,000 tonnes of processing output during the third quarter due to a storm-related power outage in South Australia that halted all operations at the Port Pirie zinc-lead smelter, and two exceptional fires at the Balen zinc smelter in Belgium.
* Two Cuban nickel processing plants were temporarily shuttered to avoid serious damage to the operations as a powerful hurricane threatens the eastern part of the Caribbean island, Reuters reported. State-owned nickel miner Cubaniquel owns one plant and is a joint venture partner with Sherritt International Corp. in the other facility.
* PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel signed a five-year, US$500 million committed revolving backstop credit facility with a syndicate of international banks.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Operations at Sibanye Gold Ltd.'s Cooke gold mine in South Africa have been suspended after a violent union clash left two members of the National Union of Mineworkers in critical condition, Reuters reported. NUM spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu was cited as saying the miners were attacked by members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union in a dispute over union numbers.
* Goldcorp Inc. shares have plummeted after the company announced a "controlled shutdown" of operations at its Penasquito gold-silver mine in Mexico due to an illegal blockade, Bloomberg News reported. The company was forced to halt operations after the blockade prevented it from bringing in food, water and fuel to 750 people on-site. It has taken legal steps, including filing criminal charges against protest leaders.
* Eco Oro Minerals Corp. is facing opposition to the second tranche of a US$14 million financing and believes it is unlikely to get the nod from shareholders at an Oct. 13 special meeting. The disgruntled shareholders believe the company has acted unfairly in allowing certain insiders and other key shareholders to participate in the proposed financing.
* New Gold Inc. subsidiary Minera San Xavier SA de CV will continue operating the Cerro San Pedro gold project in Mexico's San Luis Potosí state for the next three years, and will close the mine within that period. Currently, 187 workers are performing closure procedures on site, said the federal delegate of the Labor Ministry STPS, Edgar Durón Puente, daily El Sol de San Luis reported.
* Ariana Resources Plc expects final commissioning and first gold pour at its Kiziltepe mine within the Red Rabbit gold-silver project in western Turkey in the late fourth quarter. The commissioning process, as well as open-pit development by mining contractors, is now underway, the company said.
* After Argentine judge Pablo Oritja maintained an order suspending operations at Barrick Gold Corp.'s Veladero gold mine last week, saying the repairs were insufficient to restart the mine, the miner has been in a scramble to show officials otherwise. Andy Lloyd, Barrick's senior vice president of communications, said via email to SNL Metals & Mining that "a number of updates have been filed since judge Oritja's comments last week, demonstrating the necessary works are 100% complete." Lloyd added that it was his understanding no more site inspections "are required in order for the court to make its decision."
* South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers ended a protected strike at Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. platinum refinery in South Africa after both parties forged a new, two-year wage deal, Bloomberg News reported, citing the union's spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu.
* Newmont Mining Corp. completed construction of the Merian gold mine in Suriname on time and more than US$150 million below its initial development CapEx budget. On Oct. 1, the company poured first gold and declared commercial production after achieving sustained average mill throughput of 80% and gold recovery of more than 90% over the last 30 days.
* Genesis Minerals Ltd. started mining at the Ulysses West open pit, part of the company's Ulysses gold property in Western Australia. The project is expected to generate total estimated free cash flow of about A$6 million from the initial Ulysses West operation, based on a gold price of A$1,750 per ounce.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Chinese iron ore imports rose by 2.5% month over month in September, to 82.5 million tonnes, according to data from Thomson Reuters Supply Chain and Commodity Forecasts. Figures also showed that the country's 2016 steel exports remain on track to surpass last year's record 112 million tonnes.
* Australia's biggest iron ore producers may fail to meet their full-year guidance on the back of lower-than-expected shipments in the past three months, Bloomberg News reported, referring to a note by Macquarie Group Ltd. Data from Western Australia's key iron ore terminals showed that exporters moved combined cargoes totaling about 209 million tonnes in the three months to Sept. 30, falling short of Macquarie's forecast of 216 million tonnes.
* China Molybdenum Co. Ltd., which acquired Anglo American Plc's niobium and phosphate assets in Brazil for US$1.7 billion in cash, plans to keep the local business structure for now but aims at lowering costs by simplifying operations, the managing director of the new business, Marcos Stelzer, told daily Valor Econômico.
* The federal government and the authorities of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo states in Brazil rejected the audit procedures commissioned by Samarco Mineração SA through its Renova Foundation to monitor the implementation of recovery and compensation actions in the areas impacted by the collapse of the Fundão tailings dams. The company must submit a new document by the end of the week, O Tempo reported.
* Compass Minerals International Inc. completed the purchase of all remaining interest in specialty plant nutrients company Produquímica Indústria e Comércio SA for about US$465 million.
* Western Australia's Nationals leader Brendon Grylls said he will not compromise or negotiate on a proposed mining bill, which recommends a A$5-per-tonne levy on mining majors BHP Billiton Group and Rio Tinto's iron ore production, ABC reported.
* Meanwhile, BHP Billiton Group and Rio Tinto rejected an offer to make an upfront payment of over A$1 billion in favor of scrapping a 25-cents-per-tonne production rental charge, The Australian reported.
* The U.S. federal court for the District of Delaware approved Altos Hornos de México SAB de CV's Chapter 15 filing, ratifying an order made by a Mexican court in April that enables the Mexican steelmaker to move ahead with the restructuring plan agreed with its creditors, Metal Bulletin reported.
* The U.S. steel industry is set to see improved earnings and revenues in the second half of the year, but momentum from the first half of the year is likely to slow down, according to a new report by Moody's. The rating firm said the outlook for the industry is negative, driven by the expectation that a sustained recovery is unlikely to materialize in the near-term.
* ArcelorMittal started producing flat steel bars for use in the auto industry at its plant in Ostrava, Czech Republic, Metal Bulletin reported. The company has invested over US$9 million in modifications to the rolling mill to be able to produce the bars.
* Due to insufficient interest from potential investors, Slovenia has temporarily stopped the privatization of metal products maker MLM, Reuters reported, citing state-owned Slovenian Sovereign Holding, which is coordinating the process. The sale process is now anticipated to continue next year.
SPECIALTY
* The value of rough diamonds sold through Anglo American's De Beers SA fell to US$485 million in the eighth sales cycle for the year, from US$639 million in the preceding sales cycle.
* Rare Earth Minerals Plc is raising its stake in the Cinovec lithium deposit in the Czech Republic to 20.92% through a direct holding in the share capital of European Metals Holdings Ltd., which fully owns Cinovec's exploration rights.
* Pilbara Minerals Ltd. has decided to get an expert to intervene in its dispute with Mineral Resources Ltd. regarding the sale of lithium from its Pilgangoora mine in Western Australia to China's General Lithium Corp. The point of contention between the two ASX-listed companies is Mineral Resources' entitlement under a first-right-of-refusal clause in a Pilgangoora agreement.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Canada plans to set a price on carbon pollution with a C$10-per-tonne floor to be implemented in 2018, increasing C$10 per year to C$50 per tonne by 2022, according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The prime minister said that, if the states and territories do not have either a carbon pollution price or a cap-and-trade system in place by 2018, the federal government will step in and impose a price.
* The Philippines' Environment Secretary Regina Lopez said remaining mine operators unaffected by the recently concluded mining audit in the country must prove their effectiveness in boosting socioeconomic activity in host communities before the government resumes approving new projects, BusinessWorld reported. Apart from ordering the industry-wide audit, Lopez also halted new mining applications in July.
* One of Australia's most successful mining entrepreneurs, Mark Creasy, has turned to South Africa in the hopes of finding the next big deposit, a move that could be the key to bolstering the country's image as an attractive mining jurisdiction.
The Daily Dose is updated as of 7 a.m. ET, and scans news sources published in Chinese, English, Indonesian, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Ukrainian. Some external links may require a subscription.