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Little progress at Newmont's Penasquito; IAMGOLD denies Rosebel operations halt

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Little progress at Newmont's Penasquito; IAMGOLD denies Rosebel operations halt

TOP NEWS

Little progress in talks to end blockade at Newmont's Peñasquito gold mine

Negotiated attempts to end a blockade at Newmont Goldcorp Corp.'s Penasquito gold mine in Mexico, now in its third week, appear to have made little progress even after a recent appeal for fresh discussions by Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Mexico's Ministry of Economy undersecretary of mines Francisco Quiroga told S&P Market Intelligence that the blockade must respect the rule of law, but dismissed the use of force. Quiroga said that the government does not want to end up with a short-term, transactional solution, but rather a long-term one.

IAMGOLD denies Rosebel operations halt

IAMGOLD Corp. denied media reports that it stopped operations at its Rosebel gold mine in Suriname. IAMGOLD said that there is no blockade at Rosebel and that it continues ramp-up activities at the mine's southern pits.

Report: Tata Steel mulls sale of mjunction stake for 14B rupees

Tata Steel Ltd. is working with advisers on a potential sale of its 50% stake in mjunction Services Ltd., an online marketplace for commodities such as steel and diamonds, for about 14 billion rupees, Bloomberg reported, citing unidentified sources. The company aims to offload noncore assets to pare debt, the sources said.

DIVERSIFIED

* BHP Group investors are focusing on appointing a successor to CEO Andrew Mackenzie based on a UBS survey, the Australian Financial Review reported. The survey found out that the tenure of Mackenzie and selection of his replacement was the second biggest concern among investors, after the trajectory of the iron price.

* Aldoro Resources Ltd. and Altilium Metals have satisfactorily completed legal, financial and technical due diligence on each other. Aldoro expects to complete its acquisition of Altilium after the company’s annual general meeting.

* The ongoing trade war has led to the slowdown in global consumption growth of copper and aluminum at 0.5% and 1.1%, respectively, during the first half of the year, from 2.3% and 4% growth in the comparative period in 2018, Economic Times reported, citing data from credit rating agency ICRA.

BASE METALS

* Gespeg Resources Ltd. agreed to acquire undivided interest in the Chandler, Davidson, and the Ruisseau Basket copper projects, all on the southern portion of the Gaspé Peninsula and the Chibougamau Region in Quebec.

* Antofagasta PLC negotiated with workers in a bid to stave off a strike at its Antucoya copper deposit in Chile, following the union's rejection of the company's final contract offer. The company sent a proposal that was the same as its previous offer. "That’s no way to reach an agreement," union President Cesar Garcia told Reuters.

* Todd River Resources Ltd. acquired option rights for 80% interest over exploration license E08/9242 of the Nanutarra project in Western Australia, through a farm-in agreement with private group Cratonix Pty Ltd. Todd River believes that the tenement is prospective for mafic-hosted nickel sulfide mineralization.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Executives of gold mining companies are embracing conversations about responsible mining practices as investors increasingly scrutinize companies through a lens focused on environmental, social and governance investment principles.

* Centamin PLC expects to produce 97,000 to 98,000 ounces of gold in the third quarter as output was behind expectations due to reduced open-pit mining rates on the higher-grade stage four west wall at its Sukari mine in Egypt. However, the company still expects to achieve the lower end of its annual production guidance range of 490,000 to 520,000 ounces. Meanwhile, CEO Andrew Pardey is stepping down from his position.

* Gateway Mining Ltd. outlined a maiden mineral resource estimate for the Whistler and Montague deposits at its Gidgee gold project in Western Australia of 3.4 million tonnes at 2.2 g/t of gold containing 240,000 ounces of gold in the inferred category. The company has kicked off a new 16,000-meter drilling program at Gidgee for the next stage of resource expansion at Whistler and Montague.

* Unigold Inc.’s board of directors have approved an up to 20,000-meter drilling program with a budget of C$2.5 million for its Neita Fase II gold exploration concession in the Dominican Republic. The exploration will resume in early October.

* Pure Alumina Ltd. terminated the sale process for its Hill End and Hargraves gold assets in New South Wales, Australia, as part of the company’s strategic corporate review. The company noted that since the sale process commenced, the Australian-dollar gold price has increased by more than 30%.

* University of Vermont scientist Frederic Sansoz and Lawrence Livermore scientist Morris Wang mixed a trace amount of copper with silver, which resulted in a 42% stronger metal than the previous silver, The Engineer and New Atlas reported.

* Prodigy Gold NL entered a 10-year operator agreement allowing privately owned TRL Tanami Pty. Ltd. to develop and mine the company's Old Pirate gold project in Australia's Northern Territory. Tanami can also secure an exclusive three-month option to negotiate an earn-in into the Buccaneer gold project.

* Torex Gold Resources Inc. achieved record gold production of 138,100 ounces for the third quarter, up 21% from the previous quarter, while gold sales for the period stood at 132,500 ounces.

* A pit wall and ramp failure occurred in the north side of the Kinjor-East pit at Avesoro Resources Inc.'s New Liberty gold mine in Liberia on Oct. 1. There were no injuries or equipment damage, but mining within the Kinjor-East pit has been suspended pending an assessment of the impact.

* The palladium market is "running down available inventory," given automakers' lack of short-term demand elasticity and higher catalyst loadings, Kitco reported, citing analysis from BMO Capital Markets managing director of commodities research Colin Hamilton.

* The Federal Bureau of Land Management accepted Kerr Mines Inc.'s modifications to its mine plan of operations for the Copperstone gold project in Arizona, under which the company can increase gold ore production to 600 tons per day from the current limit of 450 tons per day once the company receives final approval, expected during the fourth quarter.

* Tajikistan lawmakers voted to ratify an agreement giving Chinese company Xinyu Dadi Mining Investment development rights for the Yakjilva silver mine in the Pamir mountains, Eurasia wrote, citing a report from Radio Ozodi. The report said that the company has allocated US$39.6 million for the development of the field.

* Gascoyne Resources Ltd.'s updated proved and probable ore reserve estimate for its Dalgaranga gold project in Western Australia totaled 501,800 ounces of gold contained in 16.9 million tonnes grading 0.9 g/t gold.

BULK COMMODITIES

* Mechel PAO agreed to pay around 30 billion rubles for Gazprombank OJSC's 34% stake in the Elga coal project, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources.

* The European Union's investment bank's board is considering to stop financing fossil fuel businesses, but there is little chance that the wider finance industry will soon follow suit, Bloomberg reported.

* Tango Mining Ltd. terminated its proposed disposition of the Kwena Group, composed of coal assets in South Africa, to director Kevin Gallagher. The company maintains its strategic focus on its Oena diamond mine.

* In an effort to narrow an increasing trade deficit with China, Vietnam has imposed an anti-dumping tax on certain aluminum products from its neighbor, after an investigation found that Chinese dumping activities had seriously hurt domestic aluminum, Reuters wrote, citing the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade. The levy ranges from 2.49% to 35.58% and is effective for five years.

* Kalium Lakes Ltd.'s board approved the full development of its Beyondie sulfate of potash project in Western Australia. First production is expected in late 2020, with full production capacity targeted for 2021.

* Nippon Steel Corp. is shutting down one of the two steel-making plants at its Kimitsu Steel Works in Japan's Chiba prefecture for repairs until the end of December, after Typhoon Faxai damaged a chimney in September, Reuters reported, citing a company spokesman, who added that operations are expected to resume in January. Separately, the company said that it will merge with its subsidiary Nippon Steel Nisshin Co. Ltd., wherein Nippon Steel Corp. will be the surviving company, effective April 1, 2020.

* Atrum Coal Ltd. expects updated resource estimates for its Elan hard coking coal project in southern Alberta in the fourth quarter, based on recent drilling in the project's Fish Hook area.

* The increase in global freight rates caused by tighter emissions control regulations is putting pressure on steel product exports amid reduced demand and falling steel prices, Fastmarkets said.

* A miner died due to an earthquake hitting the Bielszowice coal mine in southern Poland, Reuters reported, citing a spokesperson for the mine owner PGG. State-run news agency PAP also quoted the spokesperson, saying 17 miners had been injured.

* Solon Lemuel Fortun filed a bill seeking to investigate the alleged smuggling and proliferation of substandard steel products in the Philippines as a result of collusion between large steelmakers and officials of the Department of Trade and Industry and the Bureau of Customs, The Manila Times reported.

* The Department of Energy launched an investigation on the mudslide incident at Semirara Mining & Power Corp.'s facility in Antique, Philippines, which resulted in one employee missing. The DOE confirmed the presence of mudflow at the location of the incident.

SPECIALTY

* Neometals Ltd. entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Institute of Multipurpose Utilization of Mineral Resources Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, to jointly develop the Barrambie titanium-vanadium project in Western Australia.

* Search Minerals Inc. signed a consultancy agreement with rare earth specialist Kaz Machida for the company to be guided on the development of a marketing strategy for entrance into the rare earth supply chain in North America and primarily Japan.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* Brazil's government will present a bill this month that would allow mines on indigenous land, and will also look to legalize more small-scale, independent wildcat mines, many of which now operate legally, Reuters reported, citing Mines and Energy Minister Bento Albuquerque.

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