TOP NEWS
Agrium, PotashCorp complete merger
Agrium Inc.
Mosaic nets lower price for Vale fertilizer unit
Vale SA is expected to close the sale of its Vale Fertilizantes unit to Mosaic Co. at a reduced price of US$1.15 billion and 34.2 million Mosaic common shares by Jan. 8. The original deal consideration included US$1.25 billion cash and 42.3 million Mosaic shares. As part of the new deal, Vale will retain ownership in the TIPLAM port while Mosaic will maintain its right to use the port facility.
Glencore, GFG Alliance strike deal for Tahmoor coking coal mine
Glencore Plc and the GFG Alliance reached a deal for the sale of the Tahmoor coking coal mine in New South Wales, Australia, The Australian reported, citing Liberty House Executive Chairman Sanjeev Gupta. A deal value was not released for sale of the mine, which has an annual production of 2 million tonnes of coking coal. An unnamed source told the Financial Times the final price was under US$100 million.
BASE METALS
* Freeport-McMoRan Inc. unit PT Freeport Indonesia received an extension for its temporary mining permit until June 30, Reuters reported. The company previously received the permit in April 2017 to temporarily resume copper concentrate exports from its Grasberg copper-gold mine in Indonesia and it was set to expire Jan. 10, 2018.
* Vedanta Resources Plc's Zambian unit, Konkola Copper Mines Plc, is set to pay US$139 million to state-run miner ZCCM Investments Holdings Plc, Reuters reported. A London court ruled in favor of a claim the Zambian state copper miner made relating to outstanding payments under a 2013 copper price participation settlement agreement with Konkola Copper Mines.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Blackham Resources Ltd. was granted an extension by Orion Fund JV Ltd. for the maturity repayment date of a term loan to Jan. 15, 2018, from Dec. 31, 2017, as the company entered into a standstill agreement with its lender, a key mining contractor as well as an off-take partner as part of its recapitalization strategy. Blackham will also undertake an entitlements issue to raise about A$36 million.
* New Nadina Explorations Ltd.'s stock plummeted, by about 83% to 56 Canadian cents as of press time, after the company released much-anticipated drill results from the Silver Queen project that popped expectations of a quick gold-copper discovery in British Columbia. For New Nadina, the share price beating erased recent gains built on anticipation of drill results that, so far, show mostly low-grade mineralization.
* Blaze International Ltd. entered into a binding deal to acquire Everest Minerals Pty. Ltd. Everest holds investments in other mining and exploration companies, valued between approximately A$340,000 and A$880,000. It also holds an option to fully acquire the Kirkalocka gold project in Western Australia.
* Primary Gold Ltd. secured the final outstanding regulatory approval required to commence mining at its Coolgardie gold project in Western Australia.
* Roxgold Inc. secured permitting approval from the Burkina Faso Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development to develop the Bagassi South gold project. With the approval of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, the company has filed an application for an extension of its mining permit to include the Bagassi South deposits, which marks the final step in the permitting process.
* Sparton Resources Inc. approved a memorandum of understanding to evaluate and possibly acquire a 70% stake in the polymetallic Yao Wan exploration license covering 16 square kilometers in Shaanxi, China. The agreement was entered by Sparton subsidiary VStar Industries Inc. and a local, privately held Chinese company known as Warwick Mining Development Co. Ltd.
* Golden Star Resources Ltd. reported that two fatalities occurred Dec. 29, 2017, at its underground Prestea gold mine in Ghana. Initial investigations suggest the employees succumbed to smoke inhalation sickness following exposure to blasting gases.
* Orinoco Gold Ltd. made the first payment to its gold streaming partner Cartesian Royalty Holdings, totaling 380 ounces of gold. The next minimum payment under the streaming arrangement is due April 30 or earlier depending on the gold production levels of the first quarter.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Commercial Metals declared a quarterly cash dividend of 12 U.S. cents apiece, payable Jan. 31 to stockholders of record as of the close of business Jan. 16.
* Axis Bank Ltd. decided to off-load 20 billion Indian rupees of loans in Bhushan Steel Ltd. and expects to receive 60%, or about 12 billion rupees, from the disposal, The Economic Times of India reported.
* The State Bank of India is launching insolvency proceedings against more than 12 companies, including Bhushan Steel, VISA Steel Ltd., Essar Steel Ltd and Uttam Steel, after the companies failed to meet the December 2017 deadline to recast their loans, India's Economic Times reported.
* Meanwhile, India's banking regulator, the Reserve Bank of India, asked the State Bank of India to start an insolvency resolution process against Anrak Aluminium Ltd, after rejecting an insolvency petition filed by the company a few weeks ago, The Economic Times wrote.
* China dialed back its restrictions on coal imports by easing its customs clearing process, Reuters reported, citing statements from sources in the trade and at utilities, adding that the move has dampened record-high prices as cheaper foreign supply lands at ports.
SPECIALTY
* The Premier African Minerals Ltd.
* More than 200 workers downed tools at the Lynx graphite mine in Zimbabwe, which is jointly owned by the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corp. and Germany's Graphit Kropfmhul Gmbh, to protest against the nonpayment of salaries for the past 13 months, NewsDay reported. The employees are also demanding an improvement in their working conditions.
* Ultra Lithium Inc. signed a memorandum of understanding with China's Cadavisa Technology Corp. to cooperate in lithium extraction and production using the latter's proprietary technology.
* Greenpower Energy Ltd. said it expanded the lithium zone at the Turesi Ridge, part of the Morabisi lithium-rare earth elements project in Guyana. The company received assays of up to 2.41% lithium superoxide over about a 10,000-square-meter area. The zone is open in all directions.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* The European Union has taken over the chairmanship of the Kimberley Process for 2018, a decade after it last directed the initiative, Mining.com reported. Kimberley is a process that began in 2003 after the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution, aimed at removing conflict diamonds from the global supply chain. Federica Mogherini, who is an Italian politician and the high representative of the bloc for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, will be leading the operation.
* Aluminium Co. of Malaysia Bhd
* Two miners have been diagnosed with dust disease in New South Wales, Australia, as the industry seeks to stop the spread of black lung disease in Queensland, Australia's Mining Monthly reported.
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.
