TOP NEWS
South32 Ltd.'s production in the second fiscal quarter of 2018 for energy coal declined to 7 million tonnes, from 7.5 million tonnes in the year-ago quarter. Metallurgical coal production dropped to 788,000 tonnes, from 1.4 million tonnes a year ago. Alumina production for the company decreased to 1.26 million tonnes, from 1.32 million tonnes in the year-ago quarter. Manganese ore production in the three months, however, increased to 1.5 million tonnes, from 1.3 million tonnes. Payable silver output was down to 2.4 million ounces, from 4 million ounces in the prior-year quarter.
Goldcorp beats FY'17 output guidance; CEO says 'done' with M&A
Barrick's FY'17 gold output meets guidance
Barrick Gold Corp.'s full-year gold production reached 5.3 million ounces in 2017, in line with the company's adjusted guidance of between 5.30 million and 5.50 million ounces, but lower than the 5.52 million ounces it produced in 2016, according to preliminary figures. Copper output totaled 413 million pounds, slightly below the company's adjusted guidance of 420 million to 440 million pounds.
DIVERSIFIED
* Increasing commodity prices are expected to drive upgrades to Rio Tinto's profit forecast amid expectations the miner will pay its largest ever dividend in February, The Australian Financial Review reported. Full-year dividends are tipped to surpass the US$1.70 per share paid out in 2016, with most analysts predicting 2017 dividends will be well above US$2.50 per share.
BASE METALS
* Arizona Mining Inc.'s updated preliminary economic assessment for its Taylor zinc-lead-silver deposit, part of the Hermosa project in Arizona, estimated a net present value, discounted at 8%, of US$2.0 billion, and a 48% internal rate of return, an increase of 57% and 6%, respectively, over the 2017 assessment. The company intends to complete a feasibility study on the project by midyear and start the exploration decline by the third quarter.
* Codelco suspended operations at its Potrerillos copper smelter in Chile due to a problem at an absorption tower, Metal Bulletin reported. Repairs are underway and the smelter is expected to resume operations Jan. 28.
* Lundin Mining Corp.'s attributable copper output totaled 202,989 tonnes, zinc output reached 149,319 tonnes and nickel production came in at 22,081 tonnes, all falling within the full-year 2017 production guidance range.
* Sherritt International Corp. plans to undertake a C$100 million offering of units and launched an offer to purchase for cash its outstanding 8.0% senior unsecured debentures due 2021, 7.5% senior unsecured debentures due in 2023 and 7.875% senior unsecured notes due in 2025 for a targeted aggregate principal amount of up to C$75 million.
* AfriTin Mining Ltd. purchased crushing equipment and appointed a Namibian engineering firm, Crushplant & Utility Spares CC, to advance the Uis tin mine in Namibia.
* eCobalt Solutions Inc. signed multiple letters of intent with potential strategic off-take partners for its clean cobalt concentrate and is negotiating definitive terms while it continues to advance its Idaho cobalt project.
* Boreal Metals Corp. signed a definitive deal to acquire EMX Royalty Corp.'s Modum cobalt project in Norway.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Hochschild Mining Plc achieved record attributable production in 2017 of 38 million silver equivalent ounces, beating the year's guidance of 37 million silver equivalent ounces, and an increase over the 2016 output of 35.5 million silver equivalent ounces. This year, the company expects to produce 38.0 million silver equivalent ounces.
* Tahoe Resources Inc. achieved record gold production of 445,000 ounces in 2017, meeting the high end of its revised guidance of 400,000 to 450,000 ounces. Silver output for the year stood at 9.9 million ounces, as production has been suspended at the Escobal mine in Guatemala since June 7, 2017.
* New Gold Inc. expects to produce 525,000 to 595,000 ounces of gold this year, a 30% increase over the 2017 output. The company produced 430,864 ounces in 2017, beating the guidance of 380,000 to 430,000 ounces, and an increase from the year-ago output of 381,663 ounces.
* IAMGOLD Corp.'s attributable gold production for 2017 totaled 882,000 ounces, hitting the top end of its guidance of 845,000 to 885,000 gold ounces. The company expects to produce between 850,000 and 900,000 ounces of gold this year.
* Eldorado Gold Corp. produced 292,980 ounces of gold in 2017, in line with its full-year guidance of 280,000 to 310,000 ounces of gold. However, this reflected a decline from the 485,994 ounces produced in 2016.
* OZ Minerals Ltd. produced 126,713 ounces of gold from its South Australia-based Prominent Hill mine in 2017, beating the full-year guidance of between 115,000 and 125,000 ounces of gold. The company's full-year copper output reached 112,008 tonnes, achieving its 2017 production guidance of between 105,000 and 115,000 tonnes.
* Industry analysts have suggested that PJSC Polyus' sluggish share performance at the end of 2017 coupled with a dispute over control of the gold miner may have triggered the cancellation of an agreement to sell a 10% stake to a consortium of Chinese companies led by Fosun International Ltd.
* The South African Competition Tribunal approved Royal Bafokeng Platinum Ltd.'s purchase of a 100% stake in Maseve Investments 11 (Pty) Ltd to Platinum Group Metals Ltd. for about US$74.0 million. Maseve Investments holds 82.9% of the Maseve platinum mine in South Africa.
* Nexus Minerals Ltd. entered a binding term sheet to acquire the Wallbrook gold project in Western Australia from Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd.
* Acacia Mining plc completed the sale of its 2% net smelter royalty over the Hounde gold mine in Burkina Faso to Sandstorm Gold Ltd. for US$45 million.
* Detour Gold Corp. produced 571,463 ounces of gold in 2017, falling within its full-year guidance of between 550,000 ounces and 600,000 ounces of gold, and up from 537,765 gold ounces produced in 2016.
* Torex Gold Resources Inc. released a maiden reserve estimate and a mine plan for the subsill underground deposit at its El Limon-Guajes mine complex in Mexico. The company plans to process probable reserves of 480,000 tonnes of ore grading 11.65 g/t gold containing 180,000 gold ounces at the plant over 29 months, projecting pretax free cash flow of US$86 million.
* First Majestic Silver Corp.'s silver production in the fourth quarter of 2017 declined 3% quarter on quarter to 2.3 million ounces, with silver production for the full year down by 18% year on year to 9.7 million ounces, just missing the lower end of the company's full-year guidance of 10 million to 10.6 million ounces.
* Mirasol Resources Ltd. acquired the Zeus gold project in northern Chile.
* Fremont Gold Ltd. entered an option deal to acquire Ely Gold Royalties Inc.'s Gold Canyon property for cash payments totaling US$802,500.
* Centerra Gold Inc. has nominated Erris Resources Plc's Brannberg gold project in northern Sweden as an elected designated project area. Centerra can spend US$1.0 million on exploration over two years to earn a 51% interest.
* Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. is on track to meet its annual production target of 1.1 million ounces of gold after producing more than 550,000 ounces of gold in the six months to December 2017. The miner expects its total gold production in the six-month period to increase by between 3% and 5% compared to the previous half.
BULK COMMODITIES
* ENERGOPROM Group entered into a five-year contract for the supply of 21,500 tonnes per annum of cathode blocks to United Co. Rusal Plc. ENERGOPROM will cover up to 70% of the total demand of RUSAL's smelters for coal-graphite raw materials from 2018 to 2022.
* Usinas Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais SA informed distributors of flat steel in Brazil of a 13% rise in prices for all products as of Jan. 19, following recent price adjustments announced by competitors Cia. Siderúrgica Nacional and ArcelorMittal Brasil SA in early January, a source told Reuters.
* Kommersant reported that the commercial sea port of Ust-Luga began to transfer coal via the Yug-2 terminal and plans to ship 4 million tonnes of coal this year. It is also considering building a coal terminal for up to 15 million tonnes, although experts doubt that the market will allow it. The port shipped the first export lot of coal totaling 26,000 tonnes to Belgium in the start of this month.
* Nutrien Ltd. subsidiary Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan is planning to off-load its entire stake in Israel Chemicals Ltd. in a private secondary offering. The offering is expected to close Jan. 23, and Nutrien expects to receive about US$700 million in net proceeds from the sale.
* Cokal Ltd. shares closed more than 20% lower on the ASX on Jan. 16 after the company said it discontinued negotiations for off-take financing totaling about A$400 million with Renjian International Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. for pulverized coal injection coal produced at the BBM project in Indonesia.
SPECIALTY
* VanadiumCorp Resource Inc. entered a 50/50 partnership agreement with Electrochem Technologies & Materials Inc. for the development and licensing of the VanadiumCorp-Electrochem chemical process technology.
* Lucapa Diamond Co. Ltd. recovered large diamonds from its Lulo diamond project in Angola including a 116-carat low-quality diamond and a 43-carat yellow gem.
* IronRidge Resources Ltd. acquired a 318-square-kilometer lithium pegmatite tenure adjacent to its Ewoyaa prospect, part of the Cape Coast lithium project area in Ghana. The company's combined land package now totals over 645 square kilometers.
* Talga Resources Ltd. entered a binding agreement to supply graphite and graphene materials to Haydale Ltd. for the production, marketing and sales of graphene based transparent conductive ink products for industrial applications in Asia.
* Anglo American Plc unit De Beers SA plans to launch the first industry-wide blockchain this year to track diamonds, Reuters reported, citing CEO Bruce Cleaver.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Despite the major challenges faced by the commodities market in 2017, the year concluded with most commodities having higher actual average prices compared with 2016 actual averages. A similar trend is projected for this year as most of S&P Capital IQ's consensus price forecasts as of Jan. 15 displayed higher values compared with the 2017 price averages.
* Another 33,000 industrial workers in Germany downed tools in support of the IG Metall union, demanding higher pay and shorter working hours, bringing the total number of workers participating in warning strikes to about 425,000 since the week of Jan. 8, Reuters reported. IG Metall would decide following the current round of wage talks whether to escalate the dispute into 24-hour strikes.
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.
