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Rusal CEO, half of board resign in response to US sanctions

TOP NEWS

Rusal CEO, half of board resign in response to US sanctions

United Co. Rusal PLC said CEO Alexandra Bouriko and half of its board members resigned from the company as part of efforts to protect it from U.S.-imposed sanctions. Executive Directors Vladislav Soloviev and Siegfried Wolf and nonexecutive directors Maxim Sokov, Dmitry Afanasiev, Gulzhan Moldazhanova, Olga Mashkovskaya and Ekaterina Nikitina resigned, effective June 28. According to a separate statement issued on the same date, the company also warned that it may not be able to maintain the operating performance required to service and repay debt due to the sanctions, and as a result, its current creditors may accelerate repayment.

Vedanta warns of aluminum output cuts amid acute coal shortage in India

Samir Cairae, CEO of Vedanta Ltd.'s metals business in India, warned that the company may reduce aluminum output if limits on coal supplies to nonpower sectors continue for another week, Bloomberg News wrote. A government directive to prioritize electricity led state-run Coal India Ltd. to stop deliveries to other sectors from May 18, while Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd. last week issued orders to halt supplies to nonpower customers. According to Mining Weekly, India's private and public thermal power plants are facing severe coal shortages amid rising electricity demand.

AngloGold to lay off up to 2,000 workers in South African operations restructure

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. will lay off up to 2,000 workers across its South African operations as part of a restructuring aimed at paring losses. The miner cited several operational challenges, including falling production and rising costs, as the reason for the retrenchments. AngloGold, whose remaining assets in South Africa include the Mponeng gold mine and a tailings treatment operation, employs about 8,200 people in the country.

DIVERSIFIED

* Vedanta Resources PLC Chairman Anil Agarwal plans to step back from running the diversified conglomerate once Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan steps in as its new CEO in August, the Financial Times reported. The appointment of Venkatakrishnan would give Agarwal space to focus on his charitable interests.

BASE METALS

* Sumitomo Corp. President Masayuki Hyodo told Reuters that the company expects the Ambatovy nickel-cobalt project in Madagascar and the Sierra Gorda copper project in Chile to turn a profit within three years after recovering from delays and adverse weather conditions. Sumitomo estimated losses from its Sierra Gorda stakes to widen 38% in the year to March 2019 to ¥1.1 billion, while losses from its Ambatovy stakes are seen narrowing about 30% to ¥9.8 billion.

* A Botswana court reversed the High Court's recent decision to take the Tati nickel mine out of provisional liquidation, noting that the previous ruling did not consider the move's impact on creditors, Reuters wrote. Tati, a unit of liquidated BCL mine group, has been under provisional liquidation since October 2016.

* Data from the International Copper Study Group showed that global copper surplus fell 12.8% year on year in the first two months of the year, to 110,000 tonnes, while apparent demand rose 3.9% to 3.77 million tonnes, Mining Weekly reported.

* A preliminary economic assessment on Fireweed Zinc Ltd.'s Macmillan Pass zinc project in Canada's Yukon Territory pegged an after-tax net present value of C$448 million at an 8% discount, an internal rate of return of 24% and a payback period of four years. Preproduction capital is pegged at C$404.4 million, and sustaining capital is estimated at C$649.4 million for a total project cost of C$1.05 billion.

* Antofagasta PLC Chairman Jean-Paul Luksic expects a shortfall of copper in the coming years due to the slow rate at which new mines are granted permits and subsequently built and increasing demand for the commodity, Mining Weekly reported.

* First Cobalt Corp. is on track to complete the acquisition of US Cobalt Inc., following the Supreme Court of British Columbia's approval of the C$149.9 million deal.

* Chakana Copper Corp. doubled its land position at the Soledad copper property in Peru, which it is optioning from Condor Resources Inc., via the acquisition of four new breccia pipes surrounding the project.

* The repairs and refurbishment for the primary crusher at Hillgrove Resources Ltd.'s Kanmantoo copper project in South Australia were successfully completed.

* Unionized workers at Imperial Metals Corp.'s Mount Polley copper mine in British Columbia downed tools following a three-hour lockout by the company. The lockout sought to break a deadlock on talks about the renewal of a collective agreement that was terminated at the end of 2017.

* Atalaya Mining PLC said its Proyecto de Rio Tinto project in Spain produced 9,441 tonnes of copper in the first quarter, up 7.2% from the year-ago quarter.

PRECIOUS METALS

* PanTerra Gold Ltd. will seek up to US$25 million in damages from the Dominican government, claiming the latter failed to meet its contractual obligations relating to the company's Las Lagunas dam project.

* Ausdrill Ltd. subsidiary MinAnalytical installed a Chrysos photon assay machine at its facility in Canning Vale, Western Australia. The technology reduces the analysis time needed for drilling samples to less than 10 minutes, from up to 48 hours.

* The gold industry needs to be much more proactive with greenfields exploration to ensure a thriving future, particularly in Australia where the competitive position of individual companies is being eroded by depleting reserves, miner St. Barbara Ltd. CEO Bob Vassie said in an exclusive interview with S&P Global Market Intelligence.

* Anglo Asian Mining PLC is set to declare a maiden dividend after its full-year 2017 gold equivalent output of 71,461 ounces met the upper half of its production guidance of between 64,000 and 72,000 gold equivalent ounces.

* Beaufield Resources Inc. signed a letter of intent granting Bonterra Resources Inc. an option to acquire a 70% interest in the Duke gold property in Quebec.

* Adventus Zinc Corp. and Salazar Resources Ltd. agreed to add the latter's Santiago gold project to the companies' exploration joint venture in Ecuador.

* Katoro Gold PLC is continuing its engagement with the Tanzanian government over its Imweru gold project, part of the larger Lake Victoria project in the country, after seeing the upside in the exploration and development of the project and based on the country's new mining legislation.

BULK COMMODITIES

* Mechel PAO's run-of-mine coal output stood 2% lower year on year at just under 5.0 million tonnes in the first quarter, while pig iron and steel output both fell 6% to 985,000 tonnes and about 1.1 million tonnes, respectively. Coking coal concentrate sales volumes dropped 19% to 1.6 million tonnes, and iron ore concentrate sales plunged 46% to 351,000 tonnes. CEO Oleg Korzhov said sales suffered due to factors including a persistent shortage of railway cars in the Kemerovo region and infrastructure limitations in the Far East on the way to ports.

* The European Commission launched a probe into hot-rolled steel sheet piles imported from China to determine whether the products are being dumped in Europe. According to Reuters, the probe follows complaints from EU steelmaker group Eurofer.

* Whitehaven Coal Ltd. signed a deal to acquire the remaining 25% stake in the Winchester South coal development project in Queensland, Australia, after it agreed in March to pay US$200 million for the acquisition of a 75% interest in the project from Rio Tinto.

* The Ukrainian government included Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska on a recently expanded sanctions list, mirroring the U.S., Reuters reported. Deripaska has majority stakes in Rusal and En+ Group PLC. Rusal owns a large aluminum plant in Ukraine.

* Rusal resumed aluminum shipments to some customers in the week of May 14 following an extension of the deadline for companies to wind down contracts with the Russian producer under U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported, citing sources. A separate Reuters report, citing the TASS news agency, said VTB Bank CEO Andrey Kostin said the bank is prepared to give Rusal more time to settle its loans.

* The most severe form of black lung disease has been increasing dramatically among coal workers in central Appalachia, a development that could put further strain on federal programs that provide healthcare for retired miners.

* India filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization challenging the U.S. government's tariffs on steel and aluminum, Reuters reported. India's claim seeks to recover a cost of US$31 million imposed on its aluminum exports and US$134 million on steel.

* People familiar with the matter told Reuters that ThyssenKrupp AG CEO Heinrich Hiesinger's future with the company hinges on the success of his new strategy to turn around the group in a way that convinces investors that are unhappy with the company's progress so far. Company shares booked large gains on the news of activist investor Elliott Management taking a stake in the German conglomerate, with sources and analysts saying investors are skeptical about the management team's ability to transform the group amid an exit from its steel business.

* Colombia's coal production for the first quarter dropped 11.7% year-over-year to 19.6 million tonnes, Reuters reported, citing data from the country's Energy and Mining Ministry. The world's fifth-largest producer produced 22.2 million tonnes of coal in the same period 2017.

SPECIALTY

* Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA booked a 10.3% increase in its first-quarter net profit to US$113.8 million, or 43 cents per American depositary receipt. Revenues in quarter slightly increased to US$518.7 million from US$518.6 million. Increased lithium prices, offset by lower sales volumes for its potassium chloride and potassium sulfate business lines, affected the company's results in the quarter. The lithium miner's board approved an interim dividend of 43.2 cents per share.

* Petra Diamonds Ltd. intends to raise US$178 million through a fully underwritten 5-for-8 underwritten rights issue consisting of 332,821,725 shares at 40 pence each, which will be partially used to pay outstanding indebtedness with the South African Lending Group.

* The Western Australian government will establish a task force for the production and processing of lithium and other battery materials as part of a strategy to create jobs within the state.

* Chile's constitutional court will not intervene in a dispute between Codelco and Lithium Power International Ltd.'s 50%-owned Minera Salar Blanco SpA over adjoining lithium deposits in the country's Maricunga salt flat, saying it was the responsibility of a lower court judge to make a ruling over the case, Reuters reported.

* An updated preliminary economic assessment on the first phase of Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.'s Chidliak project in Nunavut, Canada, increased planned diamond production by 44% to 16.7 million carats. The new study incorporates expanded resources at the CH-6 and CH-7 kimberlite pipes and defined an after-tax net present value of C$679 million, at a 7.5% discount rate, with a 31.1% internal rate of return.

* Advantage Lithium Corp.'s shares traded 5.5% higher May 23 following a sixfold increase in resources for its flagship Cauchari property in Argentina. The project, a 75/25 joint venture with Orocobre Ltd., hosts inferred resources of 3 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent in approximately 1.2 cubic kilometers of brine grading 450 mg/L of lithium and 4,028 mg/L of potassium, with 9.5 million tonnes of potassium chloride.

* The Coega Special Economic Zone in South Africa is at an advanced stage of constructing facilities that will supply gigawatt factories with manganese, a key ingredient in most lithium-ion batteries, Mining Weekly reported.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* The Philippines' Mineral Industry Coordinating Council completed reviewing mining companies' appeals against suspensions and closures ordered by Regina Paz Lopez, who formerly led the country's environment department, Manila Bulletin wrote. To conclude the process, the council will consolidate its findings with the results of the review conducted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

* A joint committee of the Philippines House of Representatives approved a measure that requires mine operators to acquire legislative approval before applying for a large-scale quarrying or exploration permit, the official Philippine News Agency reported.

* International mining companies remain hesitant to tap Argentina's mineral deposits given the lack of clarity on environmental rules, overlapping federal and local taxes and varying provincial regulations, Reuters reported. Mining Secretary Daniel Meilan said more needs to be done to rebuild investor trust in the industry.

* South African Mine Minister Gwede Mantashe said he and the country's Department of Mineral Resources are willing to make use of the 'use it or lose it' principle for mines that are in a care and maintenance state, Mining Weekly reported.

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