TOP NEWS
Fosun taking 10% stake in Polyus Gold for US$886.9M
A consortium of Chinese investors led by Fosun International Ltd. will purchase a 10% stake in PJSC Polyus, Russia's largest gold producer, with the possibility of acquiring a further 5%. The value of the deal could amount to as much as US$1.37 billion. The Russian gold producer will sell 12,561,868 ordinary shares at US$70.6025 each, which amounts to a 10% stake worth US$886.9 million.
SAIL narrows loss in FY'17 as steel sales improve
Steel Authority of India Ltd., or SAIL, posted a loss after tax of 28.33 billion Indian rupees for its fiscal year that ended March 31, narrowing 30% from the loss after tax of 40.21 billion rupees the year before. SAIL's total sales turnover improved by about 14% year over year to 491.80 billion rupees.
Mechel reports 10% YOY drop in coal output in Q1'17
Mechel PAO's coal output fell by 10% to 5.1 million tonnes in the first quarter, from 5.7 million tonnes in the same period in 2016. Pig iron production grew by 4% to 1.05 million tonnes from 1.00 million tonnes, and steel production increased by 8% to 1.1 million tonnes from 1.0 million tonnes.
DIVERSIFIED
* BHP Billiton Group told Australian shareholders that it will move counter-cyclically while it spends on projects, acquisitions or shareholder returns, The Australian Financial Review reported.
BASE METALS
* Vedanta Ltd. board approved a plan to raise up to 3.5 billion Indian rupees via the issuance of nonconvertible debentures with a face value of 1 million rupees each. The notes will be redeemable after two years following allotment.
* Australian copper-gold junior explorer Gryphon Melanesia is conducting a US$6.0 million seed capital raising as it works toward a US$25.0 million IPO planned for late this year.
* Zambia's Ministry of Mines started an investigation into an alleged illegal transaction involving the acquisition of copper mining licenses on the country's copper belt, Lusaka Times reported.
* Bezant Resources Plc acquired its first fully equipped, purpose-built modern alluvial processing plant in Colombia.
* Metals X Ltd. increased the reserves for its recently acquired Nifty copper mine in Western Australia to 9.75 million tonnes at 1.58% for 153,500 contained tonnes of copper, marking a 59% increase in contained copper.
* Highland Copper Co. Inc. is acquiring mineral properties covering 447,842 acres in Michigan from Rio Tinto subsidiaries Kennecott Exploration Co. and Rio Tinto Nickel Co. for US$18.0 million.
* Altair Resources Inc. reported drilling high-grade zinc oxide on its Crepulje property in Kosovo. The company's share price jumped as a result of the news, up by about 16% at press time.
* Teguh Pamudji, secretary-general of the Indonesian Energy Ministry, said smelter development talks with PT Freeport Indonesia are nearly complete, Bisnis Indonesia reported.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Manuka Resources Ltd. decided not to go ahead with its Australian IPO of up to A$13.0 million and will instead rely on debt funding to advance its Manuka silver project in New South Wales, Australia.
* At least three law firms are investigating potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of Asanko Gold Inc., alleging that the company may have issued materially misleading business information to investors.
* Meanwhile, Asanko reiterated prior disclosure regarding the strength of its gold mining business and pipeline of growth projects and strongly advised shareholders to disregard a report from short-seller Muddy Waters LLC.
* Goldcorp Inc. completed the sale of its 100% interest in the Cerro Blanco gold-silver project in Guatemala to Bluestone Resources Inc.
* Midland Exploration Inc. executed a memorandum of understanding with Altius Minerals Corp. unit Altius Resources Inc. to jointly explore the gold potential of the James Bay region in Canada.
* Vangold Mining Corp. said its subsidiaries signed deals to acquire seven mining claims spanning a total of 2,798 hectares in Mexico for C$10,000 and 3,375,000 common Vangold shares.
* Russia's state agency for subsoil use, Rosnedra, approved Eurasia Mining Plc's reserves report and feasibility study for the Monchetundra platinum-palladium project.
* Avocet Mining Plc unit subsidiary Société des Mines de Bélahouro SA, which operates the Inata gold mine in Burkina Faso, entered into a standstill agreement with its major trade and financial creditors. The company has been experiencing a shortage of critical supplies including reagents and explosives, which is causing production interruptions.
* Northern Empire Resources Corp. said Coeur Mining Inc. became a strategic investor after taking part in a private placement of C$20 million to close the purchase of Imperial Metals Corp. unit Sterling Gold Mining Corp.
* Katoro Gold PLC officially commenced development work on the Imweru gold project in Tanzania.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Due to delays in securing a new mine, National Aluminium Co. Ltd. kicked off the process to open a new bauxite deposit near its existing Panchpatmali mines in India's Odisha state, which will help the miner maintain its bauxite production at 6.83 million tonnes, Mining Weekly wrote.
* The Queensland land court in Australia turned down a proposal for the third-stage expansion of New Hope Corp. Ltd.'s New Acland coal mine in the state.
* Ilva International SpA will limit crude steel output to 6 million tonnes per year until its environmental clean-up plan is completed, expected by the end of 2023, according to a presentation outlining the preferred bid led by ArcelorMittal and Italy's Marcegaglia, Metal Bulletin reported.
* Meanwhile, Italian steel trade unions slammed the job cuts included in the plans of both rival groups bidding for Ilva, Metal Bulletin wrote.
* China's Jiuquan Iron & Steel Group will resume operations at the Alumina Partners of Jamaica between June 18 and June 20, and aims to return to a production capacity of 1.65 million tonnes per annum within a month, Metal Bulletin reported, citing a source.
* TerraCom Resources Ltd.'s wholly owned and operated subsidiary, Orion Mining Pty Ltd., successfully completed the acquisition of Blair Athol coal mine for A$1.
* China Baowu Steel Group Corp. Ltd. generated 1 billion Chinese yuan for its e-commerce unit by introducing six investors including Bengang Group, Shagang Group and Mitsui & Co. Ltd., Jiemian.com wrote.
SPECIALTY
* Gemfields Plc said its shareholders should take no action on the offer from Pallinghurst Resources Ltd., as it "has the potential to dilute Gemfields shareholders with inferior assets that offer exposure to more volatile commodities and with less attractive prospects."
* Plato Gold Corp. entered into two option deals to acquire the Good Hope niobium project in Ontario. The property comprises 19 claims, 263 claim units and 4,208 hectares in Killala Lake Area and Cairngorm Lake Area Townships.
* U.K.-based mining investment firm Cadence Minerals Plc Chairman Andrew Suckling said the company's primary assets in Mexico and the Czech Republic were likely to become important sources of battery-grade lithium carbonate from 2019 onward, Mining Weekly reported.
* Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. recovered an 84.65-carat and 53.90-carat gem quality diamond from the Gahcho Kué diamond mine in Canada's Northwest Territories during April. Additionally, the Gahcho Kué joint venture approved a US$19 million budget for winterization of the conveyor systems and installation of expanded dust mitigation at the project.
* The South African government refused to grant an exemption to diamond miner De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. regarding exports to neighboring Botswana for aggregation, Mining Weekly reported. The company has approached the Pretoria High Court to set aside Minerals Minister Mosebenzi Zwane's ruling.
* Canadian Zeolite Corp. signed a nonbinding letter of intent to acquire a U.S.-based manufacturer and distributor of zeolite products.
* Boss Resources Ltd. is committing to the next stage of exploration of the Honeymoon uranium project in South Australia after a pre-feasibility study confirmed its positive economics. The PFS estimated CapEx of US$146 million.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* South Africa's mining companies have been frozen out of an ongoing discussion about changes to the country's mining charter, Bloomberg News reported. The Chamber of Mines, which represents the country's miners, allegedly has not been consulted on the proposed draft, which focuses on black economic empowerment stakes and could dilute shareholders and raise costs.
* Research firm BMI forecast that Turkey's mining sector is set to become among the fastest growing in Europe, with average growth of 6.8% per annum over the next five years and a "healthy" project pipeline of up to 10 new projects, Mining Weekly wrote. The report identified gold and copper as the "clear growth bright spots."
* President Donald Trump has made a final decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement on climate change, according to reports from news outlets.
The Daily Dose is updated as of 7 a.m. Hong Kong time, and scans news sources published in Chinese, English, Indonesian, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Ukrainian. Some external links may require a subscription.