TOP NEWS
Glencore's FY'17 copper production down 8%
Glencore Plc's own sourced production in 2017 dropped 8% for copper to 1.3 million tonnes, while zinc output was stable year over year at 1.1 million tonnes. Own sourced nickel production declined 5% to 109,100 tonnes. Coal production decreased 3% to 121 million tonnes in 2017, and attributable ferrochrome production remained in line at 1.5 million tonnes.
Rio Tinto denies avoiding US$700M in Oyu Tolgoi taxes
The Netherlands-based Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations accused Rio Tinto of using so-called mailbox companies in Luxembourg and the Netherlands to avoid paying taxes, Bloomberg News reported. The diversified mining major and unit Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. allegedly used companies in the two countries to finance the development of its Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia, reportedly avoiding US$470 million in Canadian taxes and US$230 million in Mongolia. In an emailed statement to Bloomberg, Rio Tinto denied the charges.
U.S. Steel swings to profit in Q4, FY'17
U.S. Steel Corp. swung to a net profit of US$159 million, or 90 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2017, from a year-ago net loss of US$105 million, or 61 cents per share. For full-year 2017, the company posted a net profit of US$387 million, or US$2.19 per share, swinging from a year-ago net loss of US$440 million, or US$2.81 per share. If market conditions remain at their current levels, U.S. Steel expects to book net earnings of US$685 million and EBITDA of approximately US$1.5 billion this year.
DIVERSIFIED
* Vedanta Ltd.'s attributable profit for the third quarter of its fiscal 2018 fell 4% year over year to 20.53 billion Indian rupees as other income fell to 5.73 billion rupees from 10.14 billion rupees a year earlier. Other income fell due to a special dividend payout by Zinc India, deleveraging and mark-to-market losses on investments due to a rise in government security yields. Net sales in the three months jumped 19% year over year to 243.61 billion rupees.
BASE METALS
* Glencore unit Katanga Mining Ltd.'s full-year 2017 mined ore increased to 433,169 tonnes from 825 tonnes in 2016, and contained copper in mined ore increased to 9,459 tonnes from 22 tonnes, as ore mining resumed in the fourth quarter following the commissioning of phase one of the WOL project, part of the Kamoto copper project.
* Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Co. Ltd.'s net profit attributable to shareholders for 2017 is expected to surge between 183% and 222% to between 510 million Chinese yuan and 580 million yuan, or between 5 fen per share and 6 fen per share. This compared to attributable net profit of 180.3 million Chinese yuan, or 2 fen per share, booked in 2016.
* Nevsun Resources Ltd. cut its dividend and said it will shift spending to the Timok copper-gold project in Serbia. It is not clear if, or when, Nevsun intends to reinstate the dividend.
* Rising copper prices and internal union divisions could influence collective agreement negotiations scheduled for BHP Billiton Group's Escondida and Spence copper mines, both of which end this year. Escondida's talks in July are expected to have an impact on negotiations at Spence and on the rest of the sector as well, daily Pulso reported.
* Independence Group NL reported a decline in nickel production at the Nova nickel mine in Western Australia for the second quarter of its fiscal 2018, producing 4,454 tonnes of nickel, down from 4,500 tonnes in the previous quarter, while copper output rose to 2,011 tonnes from 1,832 tonnes produced.
* Alligator Energy Ltd. has decided to invest in cobalt-nickel projects. It has secured an option to earn up to a 70% interest in the Piedmont project in Northern Italy, and to invest A$200,000 in a company which is acquiring 100% of the Young lateritic cobalt-nickel project in New South Wales, Australia.
* Responding to media speculation, Bluejay Mining plc confirmed that it is in the process of concluding a fundraising of £17 million at a price of 22 pence per share.
* A revised mining law passed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo's parliament would see royalties for cobalt increase from 2% to 10% and also sets higher tax rates for copper and gold, Financial Times reported.
* Meanwhile, shares in Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. fell 11.3% on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Jan. 31, after DRC lawmakers voted in favor of new mining laws that immediately lift a provision exempting license holders from compliance with the new code for 10 years, Mining.com reported.
PRECIOUS METALS
* China Gold International Resources Corp. Ltd. expects to produce 100 million pounds of copper and 48,000 ounces of gold from its Jiama mine in China, and 112,000 ounces of gold from the Chang Shan Hao mine this year. Production in 2017 totaled 47,710 ounces of gold and 79 million pounds of copper from the Jiama mine, and 186,957 ounces of gold from the Chang Shan Hao mine.
* Vast Resources Plc achieved record output at its Pickstone Peerless mine, producing 6,057 ounces of gold in the fourth quarter of 2017, compared to 4,352 ounces produced a year ago. At the Manaila mine, concentrate production for copper declined to 562 tonnes, and for zinc to 96 tonnes, compared to 889 tonnes and 165 tonnes, respectively, in the December quarter of 2016.
* OceanaGold Corp. forecasts reduced full-year group gold production of between 480,000 and 530,000 ounces, at all-in sustaining costs of between US$725 and US$775 per ounce, due to a lower grade expected at the Waihi project in New Zealand.
* Patagonia Gold Plc completed the acquisition of the Calcatreu gold deposit in Argentina from Pan American Silver Corp.
* Avesoro Resources Inc. has plans for a US$25 million exploration program this year to drill 171,000 meters in West Africa, including 139,000 meters in Burkina Faso and 32,000 meters in Liberia.
* Stratex International Plc intends to fast-track exploration at its Dalafin gold project in Senegal and reduce the company's financial exposure via a joint venture with a third party.
* Acacia Mining plc bought additional put options covering 120,000 ounces of gold at a strike price of US$1,320 per ounce for a cost of US$2.0 million. The options will expire in equal installments of 30,000 ounces per month between March and June.
* BrookMount Explorations Inc. acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of SL Group Holdings Ltd., securing a 90% interest in a fully operational and producing gold mining business based in Indonesia.
* AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. expects to book a basic loss of between US$180 million and US$200 million for 2017, compared to a basic profit of US$63 million in 2016. The company expects a US$221 million noncash impairment on South African assets, US$71 million related to retrenchment costs in South Africa and a US$46 million expense related to the settlement of silicosis class-action claims.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp.'s steel making and steel fabrication segment posted an ordinary profit of ¥189.7 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2017, more than doubling over the ¥81.9 billion of ordinary profit a year ago. Net sales for the segment jumped to ¥3.699 trillion in the quarter, from ¥2.926 trillion a year ago. The company intends to distribute a dividend of ¥30 per share at the end of the second half, for a total dividend of ¥60 per share for the year.
* Constellium NV signed a binding agreement to sell the North Building Assets of its Sierre plant in Switzerland to Novelis for €200 million. As part of this agreement, the companies also agreed to enter into long-term production and metal supply agreements.
* Brazil-headquartered steelmaker Gerdau SA agreed to sell assets in Beaumont, Texas, to Optimus Steel LLC for US$92.5 million, subject to price adjustments. The sale includes a mill, which has a melt shop with a 700,000-tonne capacity and can produce wire rod and coiled rebar, as well as downstream locations Beaumont Wire Products and Carrollton Wire Products.
* Tibet Mineral Development Co. Ltd. expected net profit attributable to shareholders to range between 27 million yuan and 37.5 million yuan in 2017, which represents an increase of between 26.9% and 76.3% from the 21.3 million yuan posted in 2016.
* Handa Copper Corp. agreed to acquire the Mejillones phosphate project in Chile, which covers a contiguous area of about 8,200 hectares comprising 13 exploration and eight exploitation concessions, from Buccaneer Holdings Ltd.
* Metinvest BV's fourth-quarter 2017 crude steel output rose 6% quarter over quarter to 1.91 million tonnes, while hot metal output also rose 6% to 2.15 million tonnes, from 1.80 million tonnes and 2.02 million tonnes, respectively. Meanwhile, coal output in the December quarter inched down 2% on a quarterly basis to 566,000 tonnes, from 577,000 tonnes in the third quarter.
* Altona Energy Plc is looking for new engineering consultants for its Arckaringa coal project in South Australia, as "a smaller, more cost-effective team, with greater local knowledge of the Arckaringa Basin, will be better suited to a project of the size the company is planning."
* JSW Steel Ltd. posted record net profit of 17.74 billion Indian rupees for its third fiscal quarter, representing a 148% increase on a yearly basis. Revenue from operations rose to 178.61 billion rupees, up 17% year over year.
* Outokumpu Oyj's net income in the fourth quarter of 2017 totaled €128 million, down from €192 million reported in the year-ago period. Adjusted EBITDA totaled €82 million, compared to €98 million a year earlier. By contrast, Outokumpu's full-year net income increased to €392 million from €144 million in 2016, while adjusted EBITDA more than doubled to €631 million.
* OAO Metalloinvest produced 10.1 million tonnes of iron ore in the fourth quarter of 2017, down about 2% on a yearly basis due to maintenance works. Pellet production rose approximately 3% to 6.5 million tonnes compared to the same period in 2016.
* China's Hebei province suspended its plan to switch millions of households from coal to natural gas heating systems after supply shortages left homes without heat in subzero temperatures, according to a report in Chinese business magazine Caixin.
* China's Shanxi and Hebei regions set rigid targets to phase out excessive steel capacity. Shanxi intends to eliminate 23 million tonnes of coal capacity and 1.9 million tonnes of steel capacity within the year, slightly above the 2017 goal, Shanghai Securities News reported. Hebei, meanwhile, aims to phase out over 10 million tonnes of steel capacity, 10.62 million tonnes of coal capacity and 5 million tonnes of coke capacity.
* Tharisa Plc is planning to build two new plants and upgrade its Genesis facility in a bid to boost its output to 2 million t/y of chrome concentrate by 2020, Metal Bulletin reported.
SPECIALTY
* A preliminary economic assessment for the production of lithium carbonate from Millennial Lithium Corp.'s Pastos Grandes project in Argentina estimated a post-tax net present value, discounted at 8%, of US$824 million, an internal rate of return of 23.4% and a 4.5-year payback period.
* Stellar Diamonds Plc expects to receive a takeover offer from Newfield Resources Ltd. of about 0.76 of a Newfield share for each Stellar share held. The potential offer will imply a value of 12.7 pence per Stellar share. Newfield currently has support from 29.80% of Stellar's shareholders for the offer.
* Sheffield Resources Ltd. will supply 9,000 tonnes of premium zircon per year for an initial five years to Qingyuan Jinsheng ZR & TI Resources Co. Ltd. under a binding off-take agreement covering production at its Thunderbird mineral sands project in Western Australia.
* Denison Mines Corp.'s resource estimate for its Wheeler River uranium project in Saskatchewan swelled 88% to 132.1 million pounds of uranium in the indicated category. A pre-feasibility study for the project is expected to be completed during the current year.
* American Pacific Borate & Lithium Ltd. updated the JORC-compliant resource estimate for its Fort Cady borate-lithium project in Southern California by 30% to 120.4 million tonnes at 6.5% boron trioxide and 340 parts per million of lithium.
* Suncor Energy Inc. intends to slash about 400 positions of heavy equipment operators over the next six years as the company is looking to automate its fleet, with deployment of over 150 driverless trucks, at its oil sand mining operations in Canada, Reuters reported.
* W Resources Plc now plans to borrow an increased amount of US$35 million for the development of its La Parrilla tungsten-tin project in Spain, with the first US$13 million expected to be drawn in early February.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Amid a shortage of financing on the global market for mining projects, the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development is seeing more and more mining companies in the Eurasia region move toward nontraditional forms of finance, according to an exclusive S&P Global Market Intelligence report.
* German industrial workers staged the first of a series of planned 24-hour strikes on Jan. 31 over a wage dispute with employers, Reuters reported. The IG Metall union called for full-day walkouts through Feb. 2.
* Zambia's Chamber of Mines said a new law requiring miners and bulk cargo firms to transport at least 30% of their freight by rail is "economically inappropriate and unworkable" and should be reviewed, Reuters reported.
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.
