TOP NEWS
Report: Former Vale CEO probed over misleading statements in wake of Feijao disaster
Brazilian prosecutors are looking into the potentially misleading statements made by former Vale SA CEO Fabio Schvartsman as part of a larger probe into the dam disaster at the Feijao iron ore mine, Reuters reported, citing a source close to the investigation. Days after the dam breach in late January, Schvartsman said the company had decommissioned nine upstream dams after a similar incident at the Samarco mine in 2015. However, Eduardo Leão, a director of the Brazilian mining regulator ANM, and another expert said that the dams were smaller structures and not the dangerous upstream type, according to the report.
Newmont Goldcorp rules out fire sale of assets
Newmont Goldcorp Corp. ruled out a fire sale of its assets even if the company does not achieve its goal of about US$1.5 billion in divestments following the merger, Bloomberg News reported, citing incoming CEO Tom Palmer. "We’re in no rush to sell anything," Palmer said. "There’s absolutely no pressure to sell assets to generate cash." The company, however, is still proceeding with its plan to sell the Red Lake gold mine in Ontario, which has drawn interest from about a dozen parties, the report said.
Sirius shares fall over 50% on Woodsmith project funding woes
DIVERSIFIED
* BHP Group disclosed in its fiscal 2019 economic contribution report that it paid US$9.1 billion in taxes, royalties and other payments to governments. Of the total, the mining giant paid US$7.1 billion to Australia, representing 78.7% of its total payments.
* BHP CEO Andrew Mackenzie's pay for financial-year 2019 was slashed by 24% to US$3.5 million in the wake of a fatality at the Saraji coal mine in Queensland, Australia, in December 2018, according to the company's annual report for fiscal 2019.
BASE METALS
* Jubilee Metals Group PLC is targeting the first plated copper cathode production at the Kabwe project in Zambia by early in the fourth quarter, after it brought the copper leaching circuit online to process historical tailings and third-party sourced run-of-mine material.
PRECIOUS METALS
* A newly discovered gold deposit about a kilometer north of Barrick Gold Corp.'s Fourmile project on the Goldrush property in Nevada is expected to drive resource growth, the major gold miner said in a press release. Meanwhile, the plan of arrangement for consolidating Barrick's interest in Acacia Mining PLC became effective. Acacia's listing on the London Stock Exchange will be canceled, effective Sept. 18.
* The thorny issue of artisanal mining, a term that refers to a small-scale mining operation but is also frequently a euphemism for unregulated operations that play by a looser set of rules than traditional miners, is not likely to go away soon, Franco-Nevada Corp. independent Chairman Pierre Lassonde said.
* Gold executives gathered at a large industry conference are celebrating a recent rally in prices as the prices on the commodity hold at near-time record highs thanks in part to concerns about world trade and the broader economy, though some expressed concern about investor confidence.
* Royalty company Sandstorm Gold Ltd. President and CEO Nolan Watson told S&P Global Market Intelligence that he sees potential for gold prices to retreat even as he remains bullish in the longer term.
* Zhaojin Mining Industry Co. Ltd. will issue up to 1.5 billion Chinese yuan in debt and will use the proceeds for general working capital and to repay loans.
* Core Gold Inc. advised shareholders not to take any action at this time after Titan Minerals Ltd. expressed its intention to renew a takeover bid.
* Stroud Resources Ltd. reached a deal to slash its net smelter royalty on its Santo Domingo silver property in Mexico to 0.5% from 1%, and reduce the cap to US$1.2 million from US$2.3 million.
* A court in Uruguay approved the payment plan agreed in December 2018 between Orosur Mining Inc.'s wholly owned unit Loryser SA and its creditors. The company started a reorganization and credit protection process in June 2018 due to ongoing operational challenges at the San Gregorio gold mine.
* Golden Arrow Resources Corp. shareholders approved the planned sale of its 25% stake in the Puna silver mine in Argentina to SSR.
* Generic Gold Corp. signed a definitive agreement with cannabis seeds provider OG DNA Genetics Inc. for a reverse takeover.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Exxaro Resources Ltd. purchased The Tata Power Co. Ltd.'s half of Cennergi (Pty.) Ltd., a clean energy joint venture, in a 1.55 billion South African rand deal as the company looks to restructure its business amid rising carbon emission costs, Bloomberg News reported.
* PAO Severstal's Steel Capital SA issued US$800 million of 3.15% loan participation notes due 2024 under its US$4.5 billion loan participation note program for financing a loan to Severstal, which the parent plans to mainly use for general corporate purposes. The company invested about US$6 million in Michigan-based Arcanum Alloys Inc., which develops innovative alloys used in making cars, appliances and construction material.
* Steel Dynamics Inc. expects its third quarter EPS in the range of 66 U.S. cents to 70 U.S. cents, decreasing from US$1.69 in the comparative period, which included charges related to accounting adjustments and a tax benefit.
* An investigation has been launched into the circumstances around a Sept. 15 fire that engulfed parts of Optimum coal mine in Mpumalanga, South Africa, days before bidders make final submissions for the property and other coal assets owned by former Gupta-linked Tegeta Exploration and Resources Pty. Ltd. A subsidiary of Dubai-based company DSA Investments and two South African companies have put in a bid to buy the assets, Bloomberg reported.
* New Hope Corp. Ltd. accused anti-coal activists of sabotaging mining investments through court cases to delay approvals for major projects, including its New Acland expansion project in Queensland, Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald wrote.
* Advent International GmbH, Cinven and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority agreed to jointly bid for thyssenkrupp AG's elevators business, Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
* VRX Silica Ltd.'s bankable feasibility study for its Arrowsmith Central silica sand project, part of the Arrowsmith project area in Western Australia, outlined a posttax net present value, discounted at 10%, of A$147.6 million, a 60% internal rate of return and a 2.8-year payback period.
* The National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Cobalt Coal Ltd. to void certain liens imposed against the company by a former director.
* Mechel PAO said that its majority-owned Elga coal complex in Russia is now linked to the country's electric grid.
* A coal miner died while working in a West Virginia mine controlled by Blackhawk Mining LLC, according to the West Virginia Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training.
SPECIALTY
* Toshiba Corp. and ROSATOM International Network are among the companies interested in investing in lithium-rich Chile's battery technology sector, Reuters reported, citing government officials and documents. Chile has held global roadshows in an effort to attract investors ahead of a lithium-for-investment tenders in early 2020, the report said.
* Nemaska Lithium Inc. intends to cancel a senior secured bonds offering of US$350 million due to a delay in the completion of the Whabouchi lithium project and the Shawinigan electrochemical plant in Quebec.
* China Molybdenum Co. Ltd. won an auction of ammonium paratungstate inventory, formerly held by the Fanya Metal Exchange, for 3.27 billion Chinese yuan, Reuters reported.
* PJSC Alrosa's supervisory board will vote Sept. 24 on a proposal to acquire state-owned diamond polisher Smolensk Kristall. Once the deal is approved, a sale and purchase and agreement is expected by the end of this month.
* Bluejay Mining PLC formally lodged its exploitation license application for the Dundas ilmenite project with Greenland's mineral license and safety authority. The exploitation license covers the onshore portion of Dundas and will allow the company to produce 440,000 tonnes per annum.
* Peninsula Energy Ltd. expects to recognize an impairment expense of between US$20 million and US$30 million in fiscal 2019 resulting from its market capitalization over the past 18 months being below the carrying value of its Lance uranium project in Wyoming.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Results from a survey of 800 senior respondents across 399 mining companies, conducted by Australian management consultancy VCI, revealed that environmental concerns will be the top driver of innovation out to 2035 more than commodity prices, while operating costs were the main source of value from innovation followed by risk reduction and throughput.
* Some multinational companies asked the Australian Taxation Office for concessions on transfer pricing investigations following a recent federal court ruling that favored Glencore PLC, The Australian Financial Review reported.
* The U.S. is lagging behind in the race to extract and refine lithium, rare earths, cobalt and other strategic minerals used to make electric vehicles, Reuters reported, citing a bipartisan group of senators who made a statement during a committee hearing.
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