TOP NEWS
Higher costs, stronger ruble weigh on PhosAgro Q1 earnings
PJSC PhosAgro's first-quarter net income plunged 44% year on year to 6.88 billion Russian rubles even after a 23% rise in revenue to 54.62 billion rubles as the cost of sales soared 31% to 32.05 billion rubles, with the company noting a stronger ruble. EBITDA, meanwhile, stood at 14.29 billion rubles, improving 13% from a year ago. The company's board recommended a total dividend of 3.11 billion rubles, or 24 rubles per common share, lower than the year-ago dividend of 3.89 billion rubles, or 30 rubles per share.
Polyus' Q1 net profit dips 51% YOY on lower operating profit, impact of noncash items
PJSC Polyus' first-quarter net profit dipped 51% year over year to US$244 million, partially reflecting the decrease in operating profit and the impact of noncash items, including gain on investments and revaluation of derivative financial instruments and foreign exchange gain.
Report: DRC may lose US$3B in income, face legal action over new mining code
Mining companies warned the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that it could lose more than US$3 billion from existing copper, cobalt and gold projects over a decade and could face legal action if it implements a new mining code, Bloomberg News reported. "There can be no ambiguity, from a governmental point of view, as to the intention of the mining companies to protect their rights" if the law is applied, a group representing mining majors including Glencore PLC, Randgold Resources Ltd., Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. and China Molybdenum Co. Ltd. said in a note to the government that has not been made public.
DIVERSIFIED
* BHP Billiton Group will face the Australian Tax Office in federal court May 31, with the ATO claiming the mining giant should pay taxes on the portion of annual profits of its marketing hub in Singapore earned through the sale of Australian coal, The Australian Financial Review wrote.
* S&P Global Ratings raised its long-term issuer credit rating on commodities trader Glencore to BBB+ from BBB while keeping the outlook stable.
BASE METALS
* Vedanta Ltd. is preparing to challenge an Indian state's closure of its Tuticorin copper smelter, but it will not proceed until tensions over protest-related deaths have eased, Reuters reported, citing sources.
* Canadian Zinc Corp. will seek shareholder approval for a proposed restructuring, which will split the company into two separate entities, during the upcoming annual general and special meeting in June.
* Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. CEO Jeff Tygesen will retire from the position, effective July 1.
* Greenfields Exploration Ltd. launched Australia's first retail equity crowdfunding for a miner, which experts say will tap into the "wealth generation" opportunities that younger investors typically want.
* New Energy Metals Corp. entered into an option to acquire the Victoria cobalt project in Chile's San Juan district for US$2.6 million in cash and 2.6 million shares.
* Revelo Resources Corp. signed a deal with Teck Resources Ltd. unit Teck Resources Chile Ltda. that allows the latter to earn up to a 60% interest in a 1,500-hectare portion of Revelo's Cerro Buenos Aires copper property in Chile.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Leading Chinese gold producer Shandong Gold Group Co. Ltd. is looking forward to investing in Peru as the company continues to be on the lookout for gold assets around the world, Reuters reported, citing Chairman Chen Yumin, who said Shandong Gold is also looking for opportunities in Asia, America and Africa.
* Newmont Mining Corp. agreed to sell its royalty portfolio to Maverix Metals Inc. in exchange for US$17 million in cash, 60 million common Maverix shares and 10 million warrants. The portfolio comprises 54 precious metals and industrial minerals royalties.
* A feasibility study for Explaurum Ltd.'s Tampia gold project in Western Australia pegged a pretax net present value, discounted at 8%, of A$125 million, an internal rate of return of 47% and a 1.5-year payback period.
* White Cliff Minerals Ltd. posted a 60% increase in contained gold ounces in the inferred gold resource at the Aucu gold-copper project in Kyrgyzstan to 484,000 ounces of gold in 2.95 million tonnes grading 5.1 g/t of gold.
* Gascoyne Resources Ltd.'s Dalgaranga project in Western Australia poured first gold ahead of schedule.
* Russia produced 8.8 million ounces of gold in 2017, representing 8.3% of world output, Vedomosti reported, citing data from Metals Focus. The figure is expected to grow by 4.9 million ounces by 2025 due to the commissioning of new deposits, with production to almost double by 2030.
* A maiden ore reserve at Silver Mines Ltd.'s Bowdens silver deposit in New South Wales, Australia, hosts 29.9 million tonnes at 69.0 g/t of silver, 0.44% zinc and 0.32% lead containing 66.3 million ounces of silver, 130,800 tonnes of zinc and 95,300 tonnes of lead, which supports a 16-year mine life.
* Hummingbird Resources PLC said at least three people were killed following a security incident at the Komana West deposit within the company's 80%-owned Yanfolila gold mine in Mali. The company said several individuals were trying to prevent it from carrying out initial site preparation work at Komana West when the incident occurred.
* Argent Minerals Ltd. doubled the resource estimate at the Kempfield project in New South Wales, Australia, to 100 million ounces of silver equivalent grading 120 g/t of silver equivalent.
* Nord Gold SE and Endeavour Mining Corp. hired consultants to oversee a proposed mine exchange in Africa in a cash-and-shares deal, Kommersant reported.
* Rizal Resources Corp. said an employee at its T'Boli gold mine in the Philippines was killed in a rockfall that occurred at the mine during access rehabilitation works.
BULK COMMODITIES
* JSW Steel Ltd. and Vedanta Ltd. are vying to acquire the specialty steel business of Kolkata-based Usha Martin, valued between 35 billion and 50 billion Indian rupees, two sources familiar with the matter told The Economic Times of India.
* Cote D'Ivoire-based miner Lagune Exploitation Afrique is in talks with a Sumitomo Corp. unit over a potential partnership to develop a bauxite deposit and construct two alumina plants in the country for the equivalent of about US$375 million, Bloomberg News wrote, citing Lagune Exploitation CEO Moumouni Bictogo.
* The U.S. Treasury Department indicated that Oleg Deripaska should reduce his 66% shareholding in En+ Group PLC to 40% to keep his ownership and spare the company from U.S.-imposed sanctions, Bloomberg News reported.
* Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged to protect Canadian workers from U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, saying the Canadian government is "very ready and very prepared to respond appropriately to every action," Reuters wrote.
* U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the U.S. and the EU could still talk trade and open markets even if the U.S. government proceeds with imposing import tariffs on EU steel and aluminum, Reuters wrote.
* EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said she will still push for the bloc's full exemption from the U.S. tariffs when she meets with her U.S. counterparts May 30, Reuters reported. Malmstrom also said the U.S. is expected to put a cap on steel and aluminum imports from Europe even if it decides not to impose import duties, Reuters reported.
* Nutrien Ltd. plans to conduct a placement of up to all of its 20,166,319 B shares in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA to Chilean investors, certain other non-U.S. persons and qualified institutional buyers. The placement will be conducted through a bookbuild auction on the Santiago Stock Exchange.
* Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp., which purchased over A$2.5 billion of Australian coal in 2016, said it would consider buying coal from other regions due to the looming shortfall of the commodity amid a dispute between Queensland and Aurizon Holdings Ltd., The Australian reported. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she would "reassure the Japanese government their coal exports are secure" in her scheduled meeting with the country's steelmakers and Foreign Minister Taro Kono. According to the report, Queensland exports about A$5 billion of coal to Japan each year.
* BHP Billiton and Mitsubishi Corp.'s joint venture in Australia, the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance, agreed to sell the Gregory Crinum hard coking coal project to Japan's Sojitz Corp. for A$100 million. The Queensland-based mine was placed into care and maintenance in 2016, prior to which it had an annual capacity of 6 million tonnes.
* The ongoing truck drivers' strike in Brazil is limiting the supply of raw materials to the steel industry and forced at least 11 blast furnaces to slow operations, Valor Econômico reported, citing Brazilian steel institute Instituto Aço Brasil. The institute's president, Marco Polo de Mello Lopes, said the supply interruption also affects 10 steel mills and 15 lamination plants.
* Yancoal Australia Ltd. made an early repayment of US$450 million in loans to Bank of China and China Construction Bank under its syndicated facility agreement, reducing its existing debt liabilities.
* Vale SA CEO Fabio Schvartsman said the ongoing strike by Brazilian truck drivers has had a minor impact on the company's operations in the country, Reuters and Metal Bulletin reported. Schvartsman added that the impact could worsen if the strike continues, and the company would have to reduce its production pace.
* India's environment ministry said state-controlled Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd. expanded a steel plant without prior approvals, Reuters reported. In January, the company sought permission from the ministry to expand the plant's capacity to 6.3 million tonnes per annum, from 4 million tonnes, but went ahead with the expansion without receiving clearance.
* South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources claimed that the Optimum Collieries and Shiva uranium mine, previously owned by the prominent Gupta family's Tegeta company, both failed to comply with certain aspects of the country's mining regulations, Fin24 wrote.
SPECIALTY
* AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group NV has temporarily shut down certain tantalum mining and processing operations in Brazil due to the ongoing national truckers' strike. The company does not expect a material financial impact from the strike at this stage.
* A 95-carat, white octahedron of top clarity diamond was recovered from the Gahcho Kué mine, co-owned by De Beers SA and Mountain Province Diamonds Inc., in Canada's Northwest Territories. The diamond will be presented at Mountain Province's upcoming rough diamond tender.
* A pre-feasibility study for Mineral Commodities Ltd.'s 51%-owned Munglinup graphite project in Western Australia estimated a posttax net present value, discounted at 8%, of A$139 million and an internal rate of return of 48%.
* Walkabout Resources Ltd. acquired the remaining 30% interest in the prospecting license hosting the Lindi Jumbo graphite deposit in Tanzania for US$1 million.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* A railway strike stands to disrupt Canada's mining sector, which is one of its top customers, should it prove prolonged, halting the transport of bulk commodities such as potash and coal and cutting off the supply of inputs such as fuels and chemicals on which mines may depend. Some miners will have no alternative but to stockpile ore for as long as possible before curtailing operations if a strike fails to be resolved.
* The Western Australian government injected a further A$5.2 million into its Exploration Incentive Scheme and announced the round 17 winners of government co-funded drill programs, Mining Weekly wrote.
* After three sequential five-year cycles in decline, mining investment in Brazil is finally picking up and is expected to reach at least 19.5 billion Brazilian reais from 2018 to 2022, Valor Econômico reported, citing a survey conducted by Brazilian mining institute Ibram.
S&P Global Ratings and S&P Global Market Intelligence are owned by S&P Global Inc.
The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. ET. 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.
