TOP NEWS
Rio Tinto working to revive sale of European aluminum assets
Rio Tinto is working to revive the sales process for some of its aluminum assets with the help of French investment bank Natixis, Reuters reported, citing sources. The assets include the miner's Icelandic aluminum plant, Rio Tinto Iceland Ltd., a 53% stake in a Dutch anode facility and a 50% interest in a Swedish aluminum fluoride plant, which have been valued at about US$350 million.
Barrick posts YOY drops in Q3 gold, copper output
Barrick Gold Corp.'s gold output in the third quarter slipped to 1.15 million ounces from 1.24 million ounces in the year ago period, according to preliminary production and sales figures. The mining giant also reported a drop in copper production to 106 million pounds from 115 million pounds in 2017.
FMC's Livent prices IPO in New York
FMC Corp.'s lithium business spinoff, Livent Corp., priced its IPO at US$17 per share in New York. The company's shares will start trading Oct. 11 on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LTHM. The offering was priced below the target of between US$18 and US$20 per share, giving the company a market value of around US$2.43 billion, Reuters wrote.
DIVERSIFIED
* The Australian Financial Review reported that Glencore PLC has demanded the publication to take down articles detailing Project Everest, the group's 2014 plan to restructure its Australian holdings, which is under investigation by the Australian Taxation Office.
BASE METALS
* Capstone Mining Corp. reported total copper production of 21,400 tonnes for the third quarter; 14,200 tonnes came from the Pinto Valley mine in Arizona.
* OZ Minerals Ltd. earned an initial 51% stake in Cassini Resources Ltd.'s West Musgrave copper-nickel joint venture in Western Australia.
* Avrupa Minerals Ltd. will retain a 100% interest in the Alvito iron oxide-copper-gold project in Portugal after its partner, OZ Minerals, declined to earn its potential stake in the project.
* Boadicea Resources Ltd. expanded its landholding in Western Australia's Fraser Range region by over 300% to 231 square kilometers after the state's Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety granted the Fraser Range South tenement.
* Glencore's Murrin Murrin Operations Pty. Ltd. was fined A$55,000 for an incident at the Murrin Murrin nickel mine in Western Australia that left a worker seriously injured.
* NorZinc Ltd. secured government approval for the Prairie Creek all season road, which will provide long-term, year-round access to the company's Prairie Creek zinc mine in Canada's Northwest Territories.
PRECIOUS METALS
* The South African Competition Commission approved Glencore's plan to sell its stake in the Mototolo mine and chrome plant in South Africa to project partner Anglo American Platinum Ltd., Business Day reported. Mototolo is Glencore's last platinum asset, and it will exit the platinum sector once the deal closes.
* Evolution Mining Ltd. approved a plan to progress the underground development, stage-four pit cut-back and relevant plant modifications at the Mount Carlton gold project in Queensland, Australia.
* Orminex Ltd.'s partnership with underground mining contractor GBF Mining Pty. Ltd. is in advanced due diligence to expand a model, which enabled the Comet Vale project in Western Australia's Goldfields to be fast tracked to first gold in August despite the company having only relisted on the ASX in May, to another near-term production gold mine.
* Caledonia Mining Corp. PLC dropped its full-year adjusted earnings forecast to between C$1.40 per share and C$1.50 per share, from its previous guidance of C$1.65 per share to C$1.90 per share, due to a reduced gold output guidance at its Blanket mine in Zimbabwe to between 54,000 ounces and 56,000 ounces and a weakness in gold prices.
* Anglo Asian Mining PLC's third-quarter output jumped 38% yearly to 24,412 gold equivalent ounces. Gold output in the period increased 47% to 21,318 ounces, copper production slipped to 470 tonnes, from 550 tonnes a year earlier, and silver output rose to 59,346 ounces.
* LeaGold Mining Corp. temporarily shut down its Riacho dos Machados gold mine in Brazil's Minas Gerais state due to continued regional drought conditions.
* The Chilean Supreme Court upheld an environmental order for the closure of water pumping wells at Kinross Gold Corp.'s Maricunga gold mine, Reuters reported.
* Sierra Metals Inc. reported a 44% yearly rise in silver production to about 700,000 ounces for the third quarter, while copper output rose 24% to 8.6 million pounds.
* Clancy Exploration Ltd. inked a binding letter of intent to sell a 70% interest in the Hong Kong gold project in Western Australia to Pacton Gold Inc. for C$1.7 million in cash and shares.
* South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources approved Platinum Group Metals Ltd.'s mining right application for the large-scale Waterberg platinum project in the country, Mining Weekly reported.
* Rogue Resources Inc. entered into a letter of intent to acquire Victoria Gold Mines East Timmins Ltd. from a Timmins, Ontario-based resource developer. Victoria Gold Mines owns the early stage Golden Arrow gold project.
* Perseus Mining Ltd. completed a value engineering assessment and the front-end engineering and design study for the Yaouré gold project in Ivory Coast, which confirmed cost estimates under a 2017 definitive feasibility study.
* Zhaojin Mining Industry Co. Ltd. said shareholder Shandong Zhaojin Group Co. Ltd. submitted a proposal for the former to issue up to 1.5 billion Chinese yuan in 10-year corporate bonds.
* MacPhersons Resources Ltd.'s prospecting license applications, covering 1,239 hectares, will proceed through the Western Australia Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety granting process.
* Drilling at Shanta Gold Ltd.'s New Luika gold project in Tanzania resulted in the conversion of 27,240 ounces of gold into indicated resources.
BULK COMMODITIES
* PAO Severstal's crude steel production in the second quarter inched up 2% quarterly to 3.1 million tonnes, while hot metal output also increased 2% to 2.3 million tonnes. Consolidated sales volumes in the period, however, dropped 5% to 2.7 million tonnes.
* Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. plans to launch a 12-month on-market share buyback program of up to A$500 million, after the release of its first quarter results on Oct. 25. S&P Global Ratings said it expects the rating buffer for Fortescue to reduce as development spending peaks for the Eliwana project in Western Australia over the next two or three years.
* S&P Ratings revised Atlas Iron Ltd.'s CreditWatch implications on its CCC issuer credit rating and issue ratings from developing to positive, after Hancock Prospecting Pty. Ltd. increased its shareholding on the junior miner to over 90% and will initiate compulsory acquisition proceedings.
* PT Bayan Resources Tbk. produced 8 million tonnes of coal in the third quarter, 23% higher year over year. The company is on track to exceed its full-year guidance of between 24 million and 28 million tonnes.
* Altus Strategies plc signed a letter of intent with Canyon Resources Ltd. for the termination of its joint venture agreement and to transfer the Birsok bauxite project in Cameroon to Canyon, for 30 million Canyon shares and a US$1.50/tonne royalty on the Birsok project.
* Three contractors suffered severe burns in an accident during maintenance work in a furnace at Usinas Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais SA's Ipatinga facility in Brazil's Minas Gerais state, Globo Noticias reported.
* Steel Authority of India Ltd. dismissed the CEO of its Bhilai steel plant, M. Ravi, and suspended two senior officials after a fire at the plant in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, the Press Trust of India reported, citing Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh.
* Prairie Mining Ltd. said discussions with Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa SA regarding a potential cooperation or transactions for its Poland coal operations are ongoing.
* Westmoreland Coal Co. proposes to sell its Canadian business and mines as well as its San Juan operations in New Mexico as part of a plan to emerge from bankruptcy by Feb. 28, 2019.
* Queensland granted Adani Enterprises Ltd. approval to increase coal exports through the Abbot Point terminal by 20%, ABC reported. According to the documents obtained by the newswire, the government approved a 10-million-tonne increase in annual coal export capacity through the terminal, on top of the previously approved limit of 50 million tonnes.
SPECIALTY
* Shares of Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd. plunged as much as 28% on its Hong Kong debut, coinciding with a drop in Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng index. The company opened the day at HK$15.30 and fell below HK$12.00 in the early trading session, compared with its initial public offering price of HK$16.50 apiece.
* Chile is exploring the potential of trading lithium on the London Metals Exchange, saying it would provide greater "clarity" about its value, Reuters reported, citing Mining Minister Baldo Prokurica.
* Energy Resources of Australia Ltd.'s September quarter uranium oxide production slipped 15% yearly to 544 tonnes.
* Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA's controlling shareholder, Pampa Group, filed a lawsuit with Chile's Constitutional Court to block the planned sale of a 24% stake in SQM to China's Tianqi Lithium Corp., Reuters reported.
* Alba Minerals Ltd. acquired the Chascha Norte lithium property in Salta, Argentina, for C$250,000 in cash and 4.5 million shares.
* Northern Minerals Ltd. is proposing the use of ore sorting at its Browns Range heavy rare earth project in Western Australia to boost the plant's production profile and economics.
* TNG Ltd. inked a native title agreement with the Eynewantheyne Aboriginal Corp. RNTBC for the Mount Peake vanadium project in Australia's Northern Territory, clearing the way for the grant of the mineral licenses for the operation.
* The Greenland government has reaffirmed its support for rare earth and uranium production at Greenland Minerals Ltd.'s Kvanefjeld project.
* Montero Mining & Exploration Ltd. agreed to team up with a private geological consortium to explore for lithium in Chile's Atacama Region.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Zimbabwe said an ongoing U.S. dollar shortage, which has been widely criticized by miners in the country, is a "short-term problem" and will be remedied by a stronger economy, Reuters reported, citing Mines Minister Winston Chitando.
* Asian stock markets tumbled following the worst single-day decline in Wall Street in eight months led by a sell-off in technology stocks and concerns on rising bond yields and trade uncertainty.
This S&P Global Market Intelligence news article may contain information about credit ratings issued by S&P Global Ratings, a separately managed division of S&P Global. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings.
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