The Daily Dose LIVE returns to the City of London on Tuesday, Oct.1! Join us for a timely panel discussion on the vulnerabilities facing corporate Europe in a period of deep political, policy and economic uncertainty. Register today to secure your place at this popular breakfast event.
TOP NEWS
SQM to invest US$2.1B to boost production amid expected lithium demand increase
Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA will invest about US$2.1 billion over the next five years to boost production as the company expects an increase in lithium demand, Reuters reported, quoting CEO Ricardo Ramos, who said that about US$1.33 billion of the investment would be for lithium operations, with further amounts put towards growing its nitrates and iodine capacity and maintenance between 2019 to 2023. The company is expecting lithium sales volume to reach 173,000 tonnes by 2025 through the company's operations in Chile and Australia.
Nutrien to cut potash production in Saskatchewan as global markets slow down
Fertilizer producer Nutrien Ltd. expects potash production to be reduced by about 700,000 tonnes as it plans to shut down inventories at its Allan, Lanigan and Vanscoy potash mines in Saskatchewan for eight weeks during the fourth quarter. The shutdown, to be implemented in response to a short-term slowdown in global potash markets, could reduce EBITDA for the year by US$100 million to US$150 million.
Nippon Steel warns of output cut as typhoon damages steel plant
Nippon Steel Corp. halted an oxygen furnace at its Kimitsu steel plant in Japan's Chiba prefecture after Typhoon Faxai toppled a chimney that discharges gas, Reuters reported, citing a company spokeswoman. Blast furnaces are operating normally, but the company may need to cut output if the repairs take longer.
DIVERSIFIED
* BHP Group dodged a shareholder resolution on the carbon emissions of its customers after assuring Friends of the Earth subsidiary Market Forces that it will publish targets for its so-called Scope 3 emissions next week, The Australian Financial Review reported.
BASE METALS
* Havilah Resources Ltd. said 76.41% of its shareholders voted against the proposed investment by Sanjeev Gupta-led GFG Alliance Ltd.'s OneSteel Manufacturing Pty. Ltd. of up to A$100 million. Company director and 19.22% shareholder Chris Giles voted against the resolution, while almost 60% of the individual shareholders voted in favor of the proposal, the company noted.
* Large mining firms in Indonesia, including PT Vale Indonesia Tbk. and PT Aneka Tambang Tbk, welcomed the government's decision to fast-track a ban on nickel ore exports to the end of 2019 from January 2022, Reuters reported.
* Atico Mining Corp. completed its acquisition of Toachi Mining Inc. to form a mid-tier copper-gold explorer and producer focused on Latin America.
PRECIOUS METALS
* The World Gold Council launched a set of guidelines to address key environmental, social and governance issues for the gold mining sector. The Responsible Gold Mining Principles will consolidate existing standards and instruments under a single framework, the council said, adding that it will provide confidence to buyers that the gold is responsibly mined and sourced.
* Horizon Minerals Ltd., formerly Intermin Resources Ltd., agreed to a tenement exchange in Western Australia with Northern Star Resources Ltd. for nil cash consideration. Horizon will divest its Anthill, Blister Dam, New Mexico, White Flag and Kanowna North tenements and acquire Northern Star's Rosehill, Brilliant North and Gunga West projects in Coolgardie and the Golden Ridge, Balagundi, Abattoir and Mount Monger projects in Kalgoorlie.
* Polymetal International PLC agreed to a bilateral sustainability-linked credit facility of up to US$75 million with Societe Generale. The facility incorporates an adjustment mechanism linking the loan pricing to five of the company's key environmental and social indicators.
* Majestic Gold Corp. achieved full production at its Songjiagou underground gold mine in China's Shandong province, with operations running at the full output capacity of 300 tonnes of ore per day.
* Ramelius Resources Ltd. said the life of its Vivien underground gold mine in Western Australia was extended by two years to June 2021 after recent drilling boosted the total ore reserve by 200,000 tonnes at 4.8 g/t gold containing 30,000 ounces of gold, to a total of 420,000 tonnes at 5.5 g/t gold containing 74,000 ounces.
* Evolution Mining Ltd. will proceed with the stage two earn-in on its Drummond gold joint venture with Andromeda Metals Ltd. in Queensland, Australia. Evolution can raise its project stake to 80% by spending A$4 million within two years.
* Golden Minerals Co. terminated an option agreement granting Compañía Minera Autlán SAB de CV the right to acquire the Velardena silver property and other Mexican assets for US$22 million.
* Indiana Resources Ltd. said the Mali government granted an exploration permit for the Saboussire license near its Kossanto West gold project to FIMOCO SARL. Indiana's Mukuyu Resources unit has an option to acquire an 85% stake in Saboussire.
* Orefinders Resources Inc. is considering legal action after Mistango River Resources Inc. abruptly canceled a shareholder vote over a board revamp that Orefinders is demanding due to low voter turnout.
* Riverside Resources Inc. closed its purchase of the Los Cuarentas gold project in Mexico from Millrock Resources Inc.
BULK COMMODITIES
* A blast furnace maintenance outage at Cia. Siderúrgica Nacional's Usina Presidente Vargas unit in Brazil was extended by several weeks, Fastmarkets MB reported, citing market participants. The company had announced a 66-day suspension starting June 29.
* Australia's Resources Minister Matt Canavan urged the Queensland Government to approve New Hope Corp. Ltd.'s New Acland coal expansion project, where the company recently fired 150 workers due to long-delayed permits, The Sydney Morning Herald wrote.
* Kropz Plc expects a delay in reaching production at its Elandsfontein mine in South Africa, saying it will take at least until the end of the year to conduct further testwork, engineering design and associated financial modelling to define an alternative process. Previous testwork identified that a reverse flotation modification to the current circuit will produce salable product, but at lower grade than originally targeted.
* Rhino Resource Partners LP closed on an agreement with Blackjewel LLC to purchase three underground, mid-vol metallurgical coal mines in Virginia that were actively producing coal before the latter filed for bankruptcy protection.
* Bounty Mining Ltd. received another unsolicited funding proposal from QCoal Bounty Holdings Pty. Ltd. and said results of the ongoing review of the offer by its independent board committee will be released soon.
SPECIALTY
* The supervisory board of PJSC Alrosa approved the liquidation of its 97.5%-owned PJSC ALROSA-Nyurba unit, as part of the Russian diamond producer's plan to consolidate core assets to improve efficiency.
* Botswana Diamonds PLC's 40%-owned unit Vutomi Mining (Pty) Ltd. received environmental approval over a portion of the residual diamond-bearing gravels produced from the Marsfontein mine in South Africa, contiguous to the company's Thorny River mine. The company expects to receive a two-year, renewable mining permit soon, covering an area of five hectares.
* Strongbow Exploration Inc. retained its royalties on the MacTung and Cantung tungsten projects in Canada after settling a US$1.5 million loan from Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. through the transfer of a royalty on Westhaven Ventures Inc.'s Shovelnose gold property.
* State-owned Minerals Marketing Corp. of Zimbabwe launched an auction featuring 316,000 carats of diamonds, Bloomberg News reported.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* The Philippines' mining industry lagged behind in addressing the challenges being tackled by their foreign counterparts, amid a struggle to set up a fiscal regime that can compete against other mining jurisdictions, PricewaterhouseCoopers' Venture Hub colleague partner Pocholo Domondon said at the Mining Philippines 2019 conference in Manila.
* Chile's economic ministry said about US$34 billion will be invested in the country's mining sector over the next five years, BNamericas wrote.
* The International Council on Mining and Metals will include clearer rules on management accountability in the global safety standards it is creating following the dam disaster at Vale SA's Feijao iron ore mine, Reuters reported. A draft is expected by late September or early October, the report said.
* A broad coalition of companies and environmental organizations has finalized the pillars of its plan to create an economywide U.S. carbon tax that the group estimates will halve nationwide carbon dioxide emissions from 2005 levels by 2035. The proposal still faces an uphill battle to gain Republican support in the U.S. Congress, however, where top GOP lawmakers remain leery of a carbon tax's economic impacts.
* Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Chairman Laura Cha said she did not anticipate significant regulatory hurdles regarding the company's proposed £31.6 billion acquisition of the London Stock Exchange, but analysts said the political risks of such a deal would be considerable. Cha pointed to the HKEX's record as owner of the London Metal Exchange, which it acquired in 2012, as an indicator that the company had previously satisfied U.K. authorities, though investment bank Berenberg noted this was a much smaller acquisition than the proposed takeover of the LSE.
* The Brazilian government fired Evandro Cunha dos Santos, head of Para state's environmental agency, just a week after being appointed, following comments he made about burning machinery from illegal miners, Reuters reported.
The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. London time. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.
