TOP NEWS
Investors urge BHP to shun Australian coal lobby groups
Several BHP Group shareholders that hold about A$140 billion under management urged the mining giant to suspend its membership in Australian coal lobby groups such as the Minerals Council of Australia and Coal21 as they contradict the company's commitment to cut emissions, Reuters reported. The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, the Church of England Pensions Board, Australian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes' Grok Ventures and other institutional investors filed a resolution calling for BHP to act on the matter ahead of this year's annual meetings in London and Sydney, the report said.
Report: GFG Alliance shelves steel unit's A$1B Australian IPO
Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance Ltd. postponed this year's planned A$1 billion IPO of parts of its Australian Liberty Steel unit on the ASX due to market volatility and the company's tight year-end timeline, Reuters reported, citing two people with knowledge on the matter.
Glencore wins Australian tax dispute over copper concentrate pricing
Glencore PLC won in a case against the Australian Taxation Office, or ATO, over a claim that the mining giant did not pay the required tax for copper concentrate purchased from the CSA mine in New South Wales from 2007 to 2009, Reuters reported. The ATO had claimed Glencore's Swiss office did not pay market rates for the purchases and had consequently increased its assessment of tax owed.
BASE METALS
* Cobalt 27 Capital Corp. said a private streaming and royalty company withdrew an offer that would have topped the one lodged by Pala Investments Ltd. The unnamed firm had signed a confidential, nonbinding offer to acquire Cobalt 27 for C$4 per share in cash plus 1 share of spinout company Nickel 28 Capital Corp.
* Consolidated Zinc Ltd. entered a binding term sheet to acquire the remaining 10% stake it does not already own in the Plomosas zinc mine in Mexico in exchange for a 1% net smelter royalty.
* Cobalt QLD Pty Ltd. agreed to sell its 45.6% stake in the Gorge Creek copper project in Queensland, Australia, to joint venture partner Traka Resources Ltd. for 30 million Traka shares.
* Orion Minerals Ltd. unit Repli Trading No. 27 (Pty) Ltd. was granted a mining right over its portion of the Prieska deposit, part of its Prieska copper-zinc project in South Africa, clearing the way for construction to start. The company also entered a memorandum of agreement with Byrnecut Offshore (Pty) Ltd. for underground mine development and production at Prieska. Meanwhile, it secured an option to acquire up to 73% of the highly prospective Masiqhame prospecting right near the Prieska project.
* Apollo Minerals Ltd. subsidiary Gemini Resources struck a deal to earn-in up to an 80% stake in Trek Metals Ltd.'s Kroussou zinc-lead project in western Gabon by spending A$4.0 million on the project within five years.
* The first phase of Metals X Ltd.'s reset plan for its Nifty copper operation in Western Australia remains on schedule, with mining rates expected to reach 2 million tonnes per annum during the March 2020 quarter.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Metron Inc., a scientific firm better known for leveraging probability statistics to help find sunken vessels and missing flight recorders, is set to advise Aurania Resources Ltd. about where lost gold mines from the Spanish colonial era may lie in Ecuador's Cutucu mountains on the western edge of the Amazonian basin.
* China is expected to again be the largest producer of mined gold in 2019 while ranking second among the top 10 gold producing countries in terms of total cash cost, according to the Metals and Mining Research team of S&P Global Market Intelligence.
* Acacia Mining PLC shareholders approved Barrick Gold Corp.'s improved offer for the remaining 36.1% stake in the company that Barrick does not already own. Closing is expected Sept. 17.
* Eldorado Gold Corp. secured permits from the Greek government to install electromechanical equipment at the Skouries flotation plant and an upgraded electrical substation at the Olympias gold mine. Eldorado said it is now working with authorities for the potential restart of construction at Skouries that has been delayed due to permitting issues.
* Highland Gold Mining Ltd..'s attributable net profit in the first half jumped to US$45.4 million, or 12.5 US cents per share, from the year-ago profit of US$28.6 million, or 8.8 cents apiece.
* Newmont Goldcorp Corp.'s Ahafo gold mill expansion project in Ghana processed its first ore and is on track to achieve commercial production in the fourth quarter.
* Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. recommended Golden Arrow Resources Corp. shareholders to vote in favor of the company's C$44.4 million sale of its 25% stake in the Puna silver mine in Argentina to SSR Mining Inc.
* The Q(h)ubeka Trust has distributed 166 million South African rand to 1,626 silicosis-affected miners and dependents since it was founded in March 2016, Mining Weekly reported. The trust was created as part of a legal settlement between Anglo American South Africa Ltd., AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., and its former gold miners.
* Gran Colombia Gold Corp. entered a letter of intent to spin off its Lo Increible 4a and 4b gold assets in Venezuela to Western Atlas Resources Inc. for US$20 million in Western Atlas shares. Gran Colombia also intends to acquire up to 19.9% of Western Atlas through a C$1.4 million subscription into a proposed private placement.
* Rockwealth Resources Corp. entered a binding letter of intent to acquire Realgold Resources Corp. and its gold projects in the Kyrgyz Republic through a 1-for-1 share swap.
* AuStar Gold Ltd. agreed to acquire the under administration Centennial Mining Ltd., which owns the A1 gold mine and the Maldon cyanide-in-leach processing plant in Victoria, Australia.
* The value of Venezuela's gold reserves in the first half plunged 18.5% to US$4.62 billion, from US$5.67 billion at the end of 2018, Reuters reported. The drop comes amid accusations that the government is selling the precious metal abroad to raise revenue while under U.S. sanctions.
* Endeavour Mining Corp. reported 141% growth in gold contained within the indicated resource at the Lafigué deposit within its Fetekro property in Cote d'Ivoire, compared to the maiden estimate announced in October 2018.
BULK COMMODITIES
* A group of Rio Tinto investors appealed the dismissal of their lawsuit that accused the mining giant of fraud over its acquisition of coal assets in Mozambique, Africa Intelligence wrote.
* Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. declared a special dividend of 4 U.S. cents per share on top of a regular quarterly dividend of 6 U.S. cents per share.
* American Resources Corp. announced an organic metallurgical coal production expansion project that is expected to increase the miner's output from its McCoy Elkhorn Coal complex in Kentucky.
* Alliance Resource Partners LP will close the Pennyrile Energy Riveredge coal mine in Kentucky, leading to 169 job losses, 14 News reported.
* QCoal Bounty Holdings Pty Ltd. submitted two separate recapitalization proposals to rival Bounty Mining Ltd., The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk wrote.
* The city of Tangshan in China's Hebei province has asked over 30 steel mills to cut production in September and early October in a bid to fight pollution and improve air quality, Reuters reported.
* Morien Resources Corp. received C$935,000 after subsidiary Advanced Primary Minerals USA Corp. completed the sale of its remaining noncore landholding in Hancock County, Ga.
* CAP SA began the second-phase construction of a concentrate transport infrastructure at its Cerro Negro Norte iron ore mine in Chile.
SPECIALTY
* The Australian and U.S. governments plan to jointly promote 15 rare earth and critical mineral projects as the countries look to reduce their dependence on China for the minerals, Financial Times reported. The projects have been proposed by more than 12 mining companies and will be developed at a cost of A$5.7 billion
* Ferroglobe PLC completed the €170 million sale of its Grupo FerroAtlántica S.A.U. unit to TPG Sixth Street Partners. Ferroglobe swung to a second-quarter loss of US$40.8 million, from a restated year-ago profit of US$67.4 million.
* China Minmetals Corp. Ltd. subsidiary Changsha Research Institute of Mining & Metallurgy Co. Ltd. has committed to start testing ore from Mali Lithium Ltd.'s Goulamina lithium project in Mali at its laboratory at Changsha, in China's Hunan province.
* Lucapa Diamond Co. Ltd. achieved record monthly diamond production in August at the Lulo mine in Angola and the Mothae mine in Lesotho. Production at Lulo totaled 3,180 carats, while the Mothae mine's output reached 2,911 carats.
* Westwater Resources Inc. completed the US$2.8 million sale of four uranium royalties and a promissory note to Uranium Royalty Corp.
* Rogue Resources Inc. said eight buyers have expressed interest in buying about 32,000 tonnes of limestone per year from its Orillia and Bobcaygeon quarries in Ontario.
* North Arrow Minerals Inc. closed the C$266,000 sale of royalty on the Loki diamond project in the Northwest Territories to Umgeni Holdings International Ltd.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Zambia's Chamber of Mines wants mineral royalties capped at 7.5% in the 2020 budget to help the mining sector cope with the country's new tax scheme, Reuters reported.
* Macquarie Capital started approaching fund managers as part of mining services provider MLG Oz's planned IPO on the ASX, The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk wrote.
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