TOP NEWS
Rio Tinto to explore lower emissions in tie-up with top Chinese steelmaker
Mining heavyweight Rio Tinto has signed a memorandum of understanding with China's biggest steel producer, China Baowu Steel Group Corporation Ltd., and Tsinghua University to develop new ways to reduce carbon emissions produced as part of the steel value chain. The aim is to assist Rio Tinto tackle customer, or scope 3, emissions, as government and investor pressure grows on companies to cut back, including pressure from Beijing on companies over environmental violations.
Sibanye Gold to ax over 5,000 jobs at Marikana as part of restructuring
Sibanye Gold Ltd. expects to ax about 5,270 jobs as part of a restructuring aimed at ensuring the sustainability of the Marikana platinum group metals operations in South Africa. CEO Neal Froneman said the operation is "not a going concern as an independent entity." The company said it will initially place certain unprofitable shafts on care and maintenance, noting that the shafts have reached the end of their economic reserve lives. The planned restructuring follows a three-month review.
ArcelorMittal South Africa flags possible closure of some sites
ArcelorMittal South Africa Ltd. flagged the possible closure of some operations following a review, Reuters reported, citing a statement. The review will include individual plants and production areas that have negatively impacted the ArcelorMittal unit's financial performance, the report said. Its coke operations and the Highveld structural mill are not part of the planned stoppage.
DIVERSIFIED
* BHP Group approached Anglo American PLC CEO Mark Cutifani several times this year about going for the top job at the company, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Cutifani turned down the offers so far, the report said.
BASE METALS
* Mining magnate Clive Palmer said his company Mineralogy Pty. Ltd. allocated A$400 million to reopen the Townsville nickel refinery as early as 2020, Australian Mining reported.
* Chinese nickel imports from Indonesia jumped 26.5% year over year in August as stainless-steel producers stockpiled raw materials before the Indonesian nickel ore export ban takes effect at the end of the year, Reuters reported, citing data from China's General Administration of Customs.
* An updated estimate for Ascendant Resources Inc.'s Lagoa Salgada zinc project in Portugal outlined a 71% increase in measured and indicated resources of the property's north zone. A preliminary economic assessment is expected to be completed by year-end.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Voluntary administrators were appointed to Ark Mines Ltd. by the company's secured creditor, Chan Investments Ltd., aiming for a restructuring, a recapitalization plan or the potential sale of the company's assets.
* Premier Gold Mines Ltd. sold a gold royalty package to Franco-Nevada Corp. for gross proceeds of US$6 million.
* Allegiant Gold Ltd. said it slashed costs by merging management roles, sharing costs with other companies and reducing its project portfolio to 10 from 14. The company expects to gain more savings by farming out its non-core projects as it shifts its focus more on the Eastside gold project in Nevada.
* EMX Royalty Corp. agreed to sell the Alankoy and Trab-23 gold-copper projects in Turkey to Kar Mineral Madencilik İnşaat Turizm Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. in exchange for gold bullion payments and a 2.5% net smelter royalty on each project.
* Golden Arrow Resources Corp. entered a definitive agreement to acquire the Flecha de Oro gold project in Argentina.
* Sparton Resources Inc. secured an option to acquire a gold prospect in Ontario formerly owned by Sir Harry Oakes by covering the lease renewal costs, issuing 1.5 million shares over four years and granting the current owner a 1% net smelter royalty.
* Metals Australia Ltd. agreed to acquire the Eade, Pontois and the Felicie gold projects in Quebec for A$40,000, 30 million shares and 50 million unlisted options, exercisable at 0.35 cents apiece until Jan. 1, 2023.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Thyssenkrupp AG's top two investors, the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach foundation and Swedish fund Cevian Capital, fully support the appointment of Chairwoman Martina Merz as interim CEO to replace CEO Guido Kerkhoff, Reuters reported.
* China Hongqiao Group Ltd. agreed to issue senior unsecured notes worth US$200 million for refinancing debt and for general corporate purposes.
* As part of its planned thermal coal exit, BHP hired Macquarie Capital and JPMorgan to examine the company's options for the Mt Arthur coal mine in New South Wales, Australia, and its 33% stake in the Cerrejon coal mine in Colombia, The Australian reported.
* Prem Watsa's Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. lost more than C$160 million in one day after shares in his top Canadian investments tanked, including Stelco Holdings Inc., which recently scrapped a US$300 million debt offering, Bloomberg News reported.
* Alcoa Corp. is using virtual reality to train its workers for high-risk tasks at its alumina refineries in Western Australia, Australian Mining wrote.
* India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, has announced plans to more than double his country's renewable generation target but added that India will not change its plan to use existing coal reserves to help meet its development needs.
* Poland's ruling Law and Justice party plans to file a special legislation that would allow the government to build new coal mines without the consent of local authorities, Reuters reported, citing Energy Minister Krzysztof Tchorzewsk. The bill is expected to help the country advance PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna SA's Zloczew lignite project, which would be the country's deepest open-pit mine ever, the report said.
* Southeast Asia's strong coal demand will likely continue over the next two decades before solar and wind power takes over in 2040, according to a new report from Wood Mackenzie.
* Kibo Energy PLC signed a heads of agreement with Shumba Energy Ltd. to reorganize the ownership structure and management of the Mabesekwa coal mine and power project in Botswana.
* A federal bankruptcy court approved Cambrian Coal Corp.’s plan to sell off substantially all of its assets.
* A contract worker at Tata Steel Ltd.'s Port Talbot site in South Wales died following an unspecified site incident, Tata Steel Europe Ltd. tweeted.
* The Mexican government plans to gradually remove a 15% safeguard duty on imports of several steel products, Fastmarkets MB wrote.
SPECIALTY
* The supervisory board of Russian diamond producer PJSC Alrosa approved the acquisition of state-owned diamond polisher Smolensk Kristall, with closing anticipated in the first half of October.
* Lithium Americas Corp. cut the initial capital expenditures for its Thacker Pass lithium project in Nevada after opting for a smaller phase one capacity of 200,000 tonnes per annum of lithium, Reuters reported. The company earlier projected a capex of US$581 million for a phase one output of 300,000 tonnes per annum of lithium. It also hired NACCO Industries Inc. to build and maintain the project.
* ASX-listed graphite juniors have shown a united front to placate investors that there is more to their market than the reportedly low commodity prices that Syrah Resources Ltd. partly blamed for its plans to drastically reduce output. Comet Resources Ltd. CEO Philippa Leggat said the key for graphite hopefuls is to understand the market and get the project's metallurgy right so the product meets the specification that customers want to buy before building the plant, "not the other way around."
* China's exports of rare earth magnets to the U.S. in August climbed 6.2% year on year to 452,473 kilograms, or about 452 tonnes, the highest since at least 2016, Reuters reported, citing customs data.
* Savannah Resources PLC outlined a maiden co-product resource estimate for the Grandao deposit, part of the Mina do Barroso lithium project in Portugal, of 14.4 million tonnes containing 4.79 Mt of quartz and 6.11 Mt of feldspar.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. Chairman Andrew Forrest, through his Minderoo Foundation, pledged US$300 million to support an initiative that aims to reduce plastic waste by raising US$20 billion annually from voluntary levies paid by fossil fuel-based plastic makers, The Guardian reported.
* Brazil will push for the enactment of a contentious bill that will allow mining activity to be conducted on indigenous land without allowing local communities to veto such projects,
* Carbon capture and storage technology, which is often associated with harnessing fossil fuel-related power plant emissions, has been suggested as key to curbing emissions from the very industrial sectors the world largely will rely on to build a low-carbon infrastructure.
* Fossil fuel companies should stop apologizing for their carbon dioxide emissions and instead receive congratulations, several speakers told a gathering of state-level U.S. lawmakers in Louisville, Ky.
* Member countries of the EU agreed to delay the release of new standards that will define which financial products are considered as eco-friendly until the end of 2022, Reuters reported. The delay, if confirmed by EU lawmakers, may hamper the growth of the US$200 billion market for green bonds, the report said.
* Global warming due to human-caused emissions has prompted massive changes to the world's oceans and is melting key glaciers at an increasing pace that will only get worse if those emissions continue to climb, the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said.
* President Donald Trump lambasted China on the global stage, telling the United Nations General Assembly that China has "gamed" global trade as the two sides gear up for another round of talks to resolve their ongoing trade spat.
* CIMIC Group Ltd. hired JPMorgan to help the company in exploring strategic options for some of its mining services operations under the Thiess and Sedgman brands, The Australian Financial Review reported.
* National Mining Association elected Rich Nolan president and CEO, succeeding Hal Quinn, who will retire from the industry group before the end of 2019.
* Alexander Mining PLC said that following a review of operations, it intends to dispose of its mineral processing technology subsidiary, MetaLeach Ltd., and change its business strategy as it is no longer in shareholders' interests to financially support the unit.
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