TOP NEWS
Indonesia looking to buy Rio Tinto's Grasberg interest in 2018
The Indonesian government plans to purchase Rio Tinto's 40% participating interest in the Grasberg copper-gold mine in the country, Reuters reported, citing Mining Minister Ignasius Jonan. Jonan said the acquisitions of both Rio Tinto's project stakes and a majority interest in Freeport-McMoRan Inc.'s local unit are expected to be completed in 2018, with a written deal anticipated in the near term.
South32 expects sharp coal production decline at Illawarra for FY'18
South32 Ltd. forecasts 4.5 million tonnes of coal production from its Illawarra metallurgical coal operations in New South Wales, Australia, for fiscal 2018, compared to 7.07 million tonnes of coal produced in 2016. Production will be weighted to the second half of the fiscal year due to the recent outage at the Appin colliery. The company expects Appin to return to its two-longwall configuration in the December 2018 quarter, after which Illawarra production will be ramped up to over 8 million tonnes per annum.
Newcrest secures cheaper power supply deal for Cadia project
Newcrest Mining Ltd. signed a five-year extension for the electricity supply contract for the Cadia gold-copper project in New South Wales, Australia, with EnergyAustralia from July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2023. The new deal will result in an operating cost increase of A$30/oz to A$35/oz in fiscal 2018, compared to A$55/oz to $60/oz in the previous contract. Newcrest now expects Cadia's all-in sustaining costs for fiscal 2018 to be near the lower end of its guidance of A$255 million to A$295 million.
DIVERSIFIED
* Vale SA intends to use its cash flow this year to slash its debt and pay dividends, Reuters reported, citing President and CEO Fabio Schvartsman. Schvartsman said during an event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that the miner tended to generate US$14 billion or US$15 billion in cash in good or normal years, adding that 2017 was normal.
* BHP Billiton Group CEO Andrew Mackenzie said in a speech at a mining industry luncheon that businesses will benefit from the amalgamation of the best of western and eastern cultures to drive globalization forward, The Australian Financial Review reported. Mackenzie also said BHP will be encouraged to invest more in Australia should the country decide to follow U.S. President Donald Trump's example and reduce its corporate tax rate.
* Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. expects its Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia to produce between 125,000 and 155,000 tonnes of copper and between 240,000 and 280,000 ounces of gold in concentrates in 2018. Operating cash costs are estimated at about US$700 million, while CapEx is expected to be US$150 million for open pit operations and between US$1.1 billion and US$1.2 billion for underground development.
BASE METALS
* Finders Resources Ltd. on Dec. 4 urged its shareholders to reject the A$178 million takeover offer tabled by Eastern Fields Developments, a consortium that holds about 19.8% of Finders shares, calling the offer inadequate and opportunistic, The Australian Financial Review reported.
* Serbian company RTB Bor expects fivefold output growth from its Majdanpek open pit copper mine in the country this year on the back of upgraded excavation machinery, SeeNews reported. The company produced 1.57 million tonnes of copper ore and 2.7 million tonnes of tailings in November, the highest monthly record in the last 10 years. About 4,000 tonnes of copper concentrate was produced in November.
* According to S&P Global Market Intelligence's Metals & Mining Research, the year-over-year decline in mined copper production at leading companies has moderated compared with the decline recorded in the second quarter. Quarter-over-quarter production growth also slowed in the September quarter, compared to the increase booked in the previous three months. This is largely because in the second quarter, significant gains arose as Escondida ramped up following the six-week strike in February and March and Grasberg's production resumed following the export ban.
* Tanga Resources Ltd. secured a binding option to acquire Coldstone Investments Pty. Ltd., which has a joint venture agreement with Namibian government-owned Epangelo Mining Co. Pty. Ltd. to secure up to a 90% interest in the Joumbira zinc-lead-silver project in Namibia.
* Sienna Resources Inc. entered a one-year option agreement to acquire the Slättberg cobalt-nickel-copper project in Sweden from EMX Royalty Corp.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Strategic Minerals Corp. NL advised its shareholders to take no action on the on-market takeover bid by controlling shareholder QGold Pty. Ltd., which valued the company at 40 Australian cents per share.
* Columbus Gold Corp. received the final order of the Supreme Court of British Columbia approving the spinout of its Allegiant Gold Ltd. unit. Allegiant owns 14 drill-ready projects in the U.S. and plans to list on the TSX Venture Exchange.
* Sumatra Copper & Gold Plc produced a record monthly gold output of 3,650 ounces of gold equivalent at its Tembang gold-silver project in Indonesia for November. The company is expecting to increase production to 4,000 ounces of gold equivalent in December and average 4,300 ounces of gold equivalent per month in 2018.
* LionGold Corp. Ltd. dissolved its dormant LionGold Mining Canada Inc. subsidiary. The move will not have any impact on the net tangible assets and earnings per share of the company for the financial year ending March 31, 2018.
* B2Gold Corp.'s Fekola gold mine in Mali achieved commercial production one month ahead of the revised schedule. For this year, gold production from Fekola is now forecast to be between 100,000 and 110,000 ounces, far surpassing the upper end of the original guidance of 45,000 to 55,000 ounces.
* Orex Minerals Inc. signed a nonbinding letter of intent to acquire the San Luis del Cordero silver-copper-zinc project in Mexico from Exploraciones del Altiplano SA de CV
* Grab samples from an initial field program at the Keno Summit target, part of Metallic Minerals Corp.'s Keno silver project in Canada's Yukon Territory, graded up to 12,078 g/t of silver.
* Renaissance Gold Inc. executed an earn-in agreement with Coeur Mining Inc. subsidiary Coeur Explorations Inc., granting Coeur an option to acquire a 70% interest in the Cine Mountain project in Nevada.
BULK COMMODITIES
* ArcelorMittal's planned acquisition of Ilva International SpA faces new challenges after Italy's Puglia and Taranto regions last week lodged an appeal against the transaction, Reuters reported.
* Australian Conservation Foundation President Geoff Cousins told The Australian Financial Review that he had been assured by the Chinese Embassy that no Chinese bank has agreed to fund Adani Enterprises Ltd.'s Carmichael coal project in Queensland, saying it is "game over" for the company. The foundation also said another Chinese company, believed to be the China Machinery Engineering Corp., ended talks to participate in Carmichael's development.
* Four Chinese cities were granted a US$310 million loan from the Asian Development Bank to help boost their economies two years after mass layoffs at several coal mines led to social unrest, Reuters reported. Hegang, Jixi, Qitaihe and Shuangyashan in the country's northeast suffered the most from a government drive to slash coal output
* Allegiance Coal Ltd. intends to take full ownership of the Telkwa metallurgical coal project in British Columbia, from its current 20% interest, by acquiring the stakes from Altius Minerals Corp. subsidiary Carbon Development Corp.
* About 36 mines in the separatist-controlled Donbass region in Ukraine are flooded, reported Interfax, citing a report by the OSCE. The ongoing conflict in the area has resulted in regular power cuts, which have caused disruptions in water drainage systems at several mining projects.
* A consortium of Societe Miniere de Boke and Singapore's Winning Shipping seeks to construct the first alumina refinery in Guinea with a US$3 billion investment, Reuters reported. The construction of the 1 million-tonne-per-annum refinery is expected to start in 2019 and is slated for completion in 2022.
* China's Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. said eight investors, including state-run asset management companies and insurers, had taken part in a 12.6 billion Chinese yuan debt-for-equity swap at four of its business units, Reuters reported.
* Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. plans to sell US$275.0 million aggregate principal amount of its convertible senior notes due 2025 in a registered public offering. The company also intends to sell US$400.0 million aggregate principal amount of its senior secured notes due 2024 in an offering that is exempt from registration requirements.
* State-run Coal India Ltd. was ordered by the country's coal ministry to set its sights on productivity and production growth, as it experienced the brunt of increased wages and a missed production target from April to November, Mining Weekly reported.
* Cia. Siderúrgica Nacional representatives and Rio de Janeiro's environmental regulator, Inea, will meet to discuss potential solutions to prevent the closure of the Volta Redonda plant in Brazil, Estadao reported, citing Silvio Campos, president of the South Fluminense Metalworkers' Union. Inea is threatening to close the facility Dec. 10 over the company's failure to meet environmental pledges agreed on in 2016.
* Iron ore prices pushed up to US$72.68 per tonne, its highest since mid-September, as local Chinese steel mills increased production to exploit strong profit margins, The Australian Financial Review reported, citing Metal Bulletin data. The commodity's price has risen by more than 20% since late October.
* China's steel consumption this year is expected to increase by 7.7% year over year to 725 million tonnes under a favorable economic environment and improved performance by steel consumers, China Daily reported, citing the China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute.
* Colombia's third-quarter coal production slumped 8.1% year-over-year to 21.5 million tonnes, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the country's national mining agency.
SPECIALTY
* Anfield Resources Inc. will evaluate the feasibility of adding a vanadium processing facility to its Shootaring Canyon uranium mill in Utah to tap potential opportunities as vanadium gains traction in the energy sector.
* In a bid to improve its loans position and reduce costs, Russian diamond producer PJSC Alrosa paid off US$120 million and refinanced US$600 million of a US$720 million debt due in 2019 that had an interest rate of 4.3%. "The impact of lower interest rate payments driven by these initiatives will exceed US$30 million," CFO Alexey Philippovskiy said.
* Kazakhstan's state-owned uranium producer, National Atomic Co. Kazatomprom JSC, will cut its production by 20% over the next three years, due to struggling market conditions, the Financial Times reported. The cuts will be applicable starting January 2018, with the reduction in output amounting to about 11,000 tonnes of uranium. The reduced production in 2018 will be equivalent to about 7.5% of the total global supply.
* The 709-carat Peace Diamond from Sierra Leonne, said to be among the world's largest uncut diamonds, sold for US$6.5 million, with all of the proceeds going to the state, Reuters reported, citing Rapaport.
* BlueRock Diamonds Plc sold a record 957.70 carats of diamonds and achieved its highest monthly sales of US$387,059 in November.
* Kibaran Resources Ltd. will construct a pilot plant in Germany for producing battery-grade graphite after a successful feasibility study on downstream processing of the commodity from its Epanko project in Tanzania.
* Rainbow Rare Earths Ltd. delivered its first shipment of rare earth concentrates from its Gakara project in Burundi. The company, which is targeting a production rate of 5,000 tonnes per annum by the end of 2018, is now the only producing rare earths miner in Africa and claims to be one of the highest-grade producers globally.
* Uranium Resources Plc entered into a conditional agreement to dispose of its Mtonya uranium project in Tanzania to the company's majority shareholder, Estes Ltd. The transaction will result in partial settlement of a US$1.2 million loan from the outstanding loans of about US$2.1 million from Estes to the company.
* Anglo American Plc unit De Beers SA is investing in a blockchain-based platform that will enable greater tracking of its gems, the Financial Times reported.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani said the South African mining industry would lose another 100,000 jobs without change, Mining Weekly reported. He added that the company was committed to working with union leaders, nongovernmental organizations and faith-based leaders and "would not be silent" to protect its shareholders, stakeholders and business partners.
* Shares in Israel's Natural Resources Holdings Ltd. soared 159% in Tel Aviv after disclosing to regulators that it is about is about to acquire a 75% interest in Canadian cryptocurrency mining operation Backbone Hosting Solutions Inc., also known as Bitfarms, Bloomberg News reported.
* In a move that is likely to be challenged in court, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Dec. 4 drastically shrinking two national monuments in Utah and opening those federal lands to grazing, hunting, fishing and potentially coal, oil and natural gas extraction.
The Daily Dose is updated as of 7 a.m. ET and scans news sources published in Chinese, English, Indonesian, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Ukrainian. Some external links may require a subscription.
