TOP NEWS
Report: Trump to announce stiff steel, aluminum tariffs on March 1
U.S. President Donald Trump will announce hefty tariffs of 25% and 10% for steel and aluminum imports, respectively, for all countries on March 1, with the possibility of some countries receiving exemptions, Bloomberg News reported.
Vale says Samarco iron ore JV may resume ops by year-end or early 2019
Vale SA executives said the Samarco iron ore mine in Brazil may resume operations by the end of this year or in early 2019, but warned that the process hinges on securing environmental licenses, Reuters reported. The mine, which is a joint venture with BHP Billiton Group, halted operations in November 2015 after a deadly tailings dam burst.
Lundin eyeing to spend up to US$3B in hunt for base metals asset
Lundin Mining Corp. intends to invest up to US$3 billion to purchase a long-life zinc, nickel or copper project, in the wake of Newcrest Mining Ltd.'s Newcrest Mining Ltd. acquisition of a 27% stake in the company, Bloomberg News reported, citing Chairman Lukas Lundin.
DIVERSIFIED
* S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook on Anglo American Plc from stable to positive, while affirming its long- and short-term issuer credit ratings and its long-term South Africa national scale rating at BBB-/A-3 and zaAAA/zaA-1+, respectively, as a result of the mining giant's robust results for 2017, supported by appreciating iron ore, copper and hard coking coal prices.
* The U.S. Geological Survey reported further aftershocks near Barrick Gold Corp.'s Porgera gold mine Feb. 28 after up to 14 people were reportedly killed and mining operations suspended in the wake of a 7.5 magnitude earthquake that shook Papua New Guinea’s Highlands region Feb. 26. Reuters also reported infrastructure damage to Ok Tedi Mining Ltd.'s namesake copper mine.
* Podium Minerals Ltd. listed on the ASX after completing a capital raising of A$5.5 million to fund its exploration activity in its Western Australian projects. The company is focused on the exploration of platinum group metals, gold and nickel-copper sulfides.
* African Rainbow Minerals Ltd. expects its headline EPS to increase to between 9.86 South African rand and 10.37 rand in the fiscal first half, from 8.93 rand per share a year earlier.
BASE METALS
* Vale aims to save more than US$150 million by cutting costs across its nickel operations and will halt new investment in nickel assets, Reuters reported, citing the company's executives. The miner also said it is aiming for base metals to account for at least 30% of its financial results by the end of 2019 and expects to reach a decision on its New Caledonia nickel operations by the end of the year, CEO Fabio Schvartsman said.
* Separately, Vale CFO and Executive Officer for Investor Relations, Luciano Siani, told investors that the company is looking to increase its self-sufficiency in energy production, Valor Econômico reported. According to Siani, the company produces 60% of the energy it requires to operate, and the aim is to reach 100%, although he did not provide a specific date for this objective.
* Codelco's Vice President of Marketing Rodrigo Toro will step down, effective April 1, to be replaced by Copper Sales Manager Roberto Ecclefield. Meanwhile, Salvador Division's General Manager Juan Carlos Avendaño will stand down, effective March 1, with Christian Toutin, currently operations manager at Chuquicamata mine, filling his role.
* Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. said the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia will lift force majeure over copper concentrate supplies, effective March 1. Oyu Tolgoi maintained normal mine operations during the period and no impact on production is expected.
* The Constitutional Court in Mongolia ruled that Mongolian Copper Corp. LLC never held the rights to a 49% interest in the Erdenet copper mine as it violated the country's law, Reuters reported. According to the report, the court ruled that Mongolian government at the time had no right to approve a sale consummated between the company and Russia in 2016, contrary to a Supreme Court decision in December 2017.
* Cia. de Minas Buenaventura SAA CEO Víctor Gobitz said the company is willing to cooperate with Southern Copper Corp. to develop the Michiquillay copper project, given the project is near Buenaventura operations in Peru's Cajamarca state, Gestión reported.
* Blina Minerals NL terminated the heads of agreement to acquire 100% of La Cobaltera Pty Ltd., which owns the La Cobaltera cobalt project in Chile.
PRECIOUS METALS
* With Australia's senior gold stocks widely held to be fully priced, analysts say companies are faced with the decision whether to engage in more M&A activity or shower investors with more dividends.
* First Majestic Silver Corp. swung to a net loss of US$56.1 million, or 34 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2017, from a profit of US$1.8 million, or 1 cent per share, in 2016. For full-year 2017, the Mexico-focused silver miner incurred a net loss of US$53.3 million, or 32 cents per share, from a profit of US$8.6 million, or 5 cents per share, a year earlier.
* Phoenix Global Mining Ltd. secured an option to acquire an 80% interest in ExGen Resources Inc.'s Gordon Lake gold project in Canada's Northwest Territories in a cash and share deal.
* Indiana Resources Ltd. agreed to acquire two gold-prospective exploration licenses covering 126 square kilometers in Mali by purchasing the issued share capital of Mukuyu Resources Ltd.
* Barrick Gold paid fines of 104 million Argentinean pesos over spills of cyanide solution recorded in 2016 and 2017 at its Veladero gold mine in Argentina's San Juan province, Clarín reported.
* Trifecta Gold Ltd. signed a letter of intent with Silver Range Resources Ltd. to acquire up to a 75% interest in the gold-prospective Yuge property in Nevada.
* Coeur Mining Inc. completed the sale of its Empresa Minera Manquiri SA subsidiary to Ag-Mining Investments AB. The Bolivian unit operates the San Bartolome silver mine and processing facility.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Evraz Plc recorded a profit of US$759 million, or 49 cents per share, for full-year 2017, swinging from a net loss of US$188 million, or 15 cents per share, in 2016. Consolidated revenues rose 40.4% to US$10.83 billion. The company declared a second interim dividend of US$429.6 million, or 30 cents per share.
* Yancoal Australia Ltd. swung to a posttax net profit of A$229 million in full-year 2017, from a loss of A$227 million in 2016, as a result of its acquisition of Coal & Allied Industries Ltd. from Rio Tinto. The Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. Ltd. unit's revenue for the period ended Dec. 31, 2017, more than doubled to A$2.51 billion, from A$1.24 billion in the previous year.
* Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau SA booked a net loss of 1.38 billion Brazilian reais for the fourth quarter of 2017, narrowing 55% on a yearly basis. The company's net loss for the full year narrowed 88.2% year over year to 339 million reais. It attributed the improved results to lower impairments.
* Gerdau's current portfolio of assets in the U.S. and Canada is "adequate," and it now plans to draft its growth strategy, Metal Bulletin reported, citing CFO Harley Scardoelli. The company sold some of its U.S.-based rebar production units, a wire rod mill and two downstream facilities in January.
* In line with its forecast, Noble Group Ltd. posted a net loss of US$4.94 billion in 2017, swinging from a year-ago profit of US$8.7 million. The result included a US$1.05 billion loss from discontinued operations as well as US$3.24 billion in exceptional items, which comprised about US$2.15 billion in noncash losses.
* Norsk Hydro ASA started preparing to cut output from its Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazil by 50% from March 1, as ordered by the Secretariat of Environment and Sustainability of the state of Pará. SEMAS plans to impose daily fines of about 500,000 Brazilian reais if production is not cut. The company also said a regional court in Pará, Brazil, ordered that the operations at the DRS2 bauxite residue disposal be halted until the facility has been inspected and that an operational license has been issued.
* Hesteel Co. Ltd.'s net profit attributable to shareholders rose 19.6% to 1.86 billion Chinese yuan, or 18 fen per share, in 2017. The company said its growth in profit was lower than the average level in the domestic sector, due to capacity cuts and production suspensions resulting from tightened environmental regulations.
* China expressed "strong dissatisfaction" with the U.S.'s move to impose antidumping and countervailing duties on imports of certain Chinese aluminum foil, Reuters reported, citing the country's ministry of commerce.
SPECIALTY
* Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA's net income in the fourth quarter jumped to US$110.5 million, or 42 U.S. cents per American depositary receipt, compared to the year-ago net income of US$80.9 million, or 31 cents per ADR. For full-year 2017, SQM's net profit surged to US$427.7 million, or US$1.63 per ADR, from US$278.3 million, or US$1.06 per ADR, a year ago, mainly due to strong lithium demand, which resulted in significantly higher prices.
* Lithium X Energy Corp.'s stock fell Feb. 28 amid speculation that Chinese fund NextView Capital, which struck a deal to acquire the lithium producer in a C$265 million deal in December 2017, may fail to secure funds to complete the transaction, Bloomberg News reported.
* BlueRock Diamonds Plc expects to treat over 275,000 tonnes of diamonds this year, higher than 153,147 tonnes treated in full-year 2017. Total production, meanwhile, is pegged between approximately 9,500 carats to 12,500 carats for the full-year.
* Wolf Minerals Ltd. increased an existing £55 million fully-secured bridge loan facility for a third time to £65 million, maturing 2020, to support short term working capital and complete work towards commercial production at the Drakelands tungsten mine in the U.K.
* Marenica Energy Ltd. said that Paladin Energy Ltd. expects that using the former's patented U-pgrade technology to process uranium could increase uranium production from the Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia by about 40%.
* Minister of State for Provincial Affairs for Zimbabwe's Masvingo province Josaya Hungwe said that rich diamond deposits have been found in the province's Chivi district, Xinhua News reported.
* Zimbabwe has the potential to supply 20% of the global demand for lithium and is aiming to supply 10% of the world's demand for the commodity in four years, Reuters reported, citing Mines Minister Winston Chitando.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Strong prices for key commodities, favorable interest rate movements and a solid overall operating performance were the key factors that helped mining companies perform better in 2017. However, of the 25 largest companies, only 12 companies beat their 2017 calendar year estimates, while the same number of companies missed their EPS estimates.
* Newly appointed South African Mines Minister Gwede Mantashe said he plans to complete the country's new mining charter within three months, Reuters reported.
S&P Global Ratings and S&P Global Market Intelligence are owned by S&P Global Inc.
The Daily Dose is updated as of 7 a.m. London time, and scans news sources published in Chinese, English, Indonesian, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Ukrainian. Some external links may require a subscription.
