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Glencore settles DRC spat with Gecamines, agrees to US$5.6B debt restructuring

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Glencore settles DRC spat with Gecamines, agrees to US$5.6B debt restructuring

TOP NEWS

Glencore settles DRC spat with Gecamines, agrees to US$5.6B debt restructuring

Glencore PLC's Katanga Mining Ltd. unit ended a legal dispute with Democratic Republic of the Congo state miner Gecamines SA covering their Kamoto Copper Co. SARL joint venture in the country. The parties also agreed to resolve the capital deficiency at Kamoto by converting US$5.60 billion of its total debt of around US$9 billion into new shares, effective Jan. 1. Most of the debt is owed to Glencore. Katanga and Gecamines' interests in Kamoto will remain unchanged at 75% and 25%, respectively.

Brazilian pension funds still interested in selling stakes in Vale

Brazilian pension fund Funcef is still mulling over the possible sale of its stake in Vale SA but sees no immediate urgency to do so, Reuters reported, citing Paulo Werneck, a director at Funcef. Pension funds Previ and Funcef, which are controlling shareholders in Vale, have been considering off-loading between 10% and 12.5% of their shareholding this year. Meanwhile, Walter Mendes, CEO of pension fund Petros, said the fund expects to sell its partial stake in the mining major this year but it does not want to rush the process, Reuters wrote.

Brazilian court thumbs down Norsk Hydro's bid to overturn Alunorte production cuts

A court in Brazil's Para state rejected Norsk Hydro ASA's appeal to overturn the partial suspension of bauxite refining operations at the Alunorte smelter, Reuters reported. The state-level decision comes after a federal court also upheld the 50% output cut at the plant. The company said it was evaluating potential next steps in the courts.

DIVERSIFIED

* Rio Tinto appointed Jakob Stausholm as its new CFO to succeed Chris Lynch. Stausholm will join the company as an executive director, effective Sept. 3, and take over the CFO role the same day. Lynch, who was appointed CFO in April 2013, will stand down from the board Sept. 3 and retire from the company Sept. 30.

* Aldershot Resources Ltd. is shifting business with plans to drop mineral exploration in favor of marijuana sales in Canada.

BASE METALS

* Southern Copper Corp. plans to kick off construction at its proposed US$2.5 billion Michiquillay copper mine in Peru in 2019, which is likely to start production in 2022, three years earlier than the previous forecast of 2025, Reuters reported, citing CEO Oscar Gonzalez.

* Sweden-based Boliden AB forecast higher prices for nickel used in electric vehicles and increased demand for copper, Bloomberg News reported. "We can talk a lot about cobalt, but in any case it's less than [1%] of our business, so we are more excited about the fact that there will be a great need for copper when the world is electrified," CEO Mikael Staffas said.

* Generous wage concessions made by copper producers in Chile's private-sector in a bid to avert strikes are putting Codelco in a tough spot as it prepares to settle 11 negotiations at its operations in the coming months, Bloomberg News reported, citing Codelco CEO Nelson Pizarro.

* Titan Mining Corp. officially opened its Empire State zinc property in New York. The company expects to declare commercial production at Empire State in the third quarter.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Kinross Gold Corp. will proceed with the initial Gilmore expansion at its Fort Knox gold mine in Alaska after completing a feasibility study on the brownfields project. Based on a gold price of US$1,200/oz, the analysis defined an after-tax net present value of US$130 million, using a 5% discount rate from July 1, with a 17% internal rate of return.

* Toronto-based Kinross was the world's fourth-largest gold producer in 2017 with attributable production of almost 2.7 Moz of gold equivalent, which is expected to slide to 2.5 Moz in 2018.

* Kyrgyz Prime Minister Mukhammedkaliy Abylgaziyev said the government was reviewing the agreement reached with Centerra Gold Inc. in December 2017 that ended long-dragged disputes between the parties, casting doubt over the company's future, Mining.com reported. The government plans to submit to parliament its own proposals regarding the document, but it did not elaborate when, or what sort of changes it would suggest.

* Gran Colombia Gold Corp. plans to acquire roughly 15% of Sandspring Resources Ltd., buying C$4 million in shares and selling it a 30% interest in a Colombian exploration property.

* Stratex International PLC entered into a conditional option agreement with a Cameroonian company to earn up to 90% in the early stage Bibemi and Wapouze gold projects in the country.

* A fourth body was found at Sibanye Gold Ltd.'s Ikamva mine, part of the Kloof gold operations in South Africa. The gold miners were killed in an unknown accident when they entered an abandoned working place at Kloof Ikamva. Sibanye suspended operations at its Kloof Ikamva shaft for a day of mourning, Mining Weekly reported.

* Separately, Sibanye said workers are largely to blame for a series of recent fatalities at the company's South African mines, Bloomberg News reported. "We think a lot of it is behavioral and due to people taking risks and not following safety procedures," said a company spokesperson.

* An operator for a contractor at Acacia Mining PLC's North Mara gold mine in Tanzania died following an accident involving a reversing vehicle at the Gokona deposit. Investigations are underway, the company said.

BULK COMMODITIES

* China's Tsingshan Holding Group entered into a US$1 billion outline agreement with Zimbabwe to construct a steelmaking facility in the country after completing a feasibility study, Reuters reported. Zimbabwe Mines Minister Winston Chitando said the plant is expected to produce 2 million tonnes of steel per annum for 25 years.

* Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd. acquired a 19.6% stake in junior miner Atlas Iron Ltd., just a week after Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. snapped up a 19.9% share, The Australian reported, citing anonymous sources. Rinehart's company would not like to see control of Atlas Iron to go to Fortescue Metals, according to the report.

* Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. announced a definitive deal for the sale of its Asia Pacific Iron Ore business to Mineral Resources Ltd. Asia Pacific Iron Ore holds a portfolio of existing mining operations across multiple commodities, including the Koolyanobbing iron ore mine and other iron ore projects in the country.

* Danakali Ltd. entered into a 10-year, binding take-or-pay off-take agreement with EuroChem Trading GmbH for up to 100% of module-one sulfate of potash production from its 50%-owned Colluli potash project in Eritrea.

* Stanmore Coal Ltd. expanded its Isaac Plains complex in Queensland, Australia, with the acquisition of two tenements that include the Wotonga South coking coal deposit for A$30 million. The deposit falls within a mineral development lease for coal that Stanmore acquired, together with an exploration permit, from Millennium Coal, part of Peabody Energy Corp.'s Australian operations.

* Coal royalties in Queensland, Australia, contributed a record A$3.8 billion for 2017/2018 to the state budget, compared to A$3.4 billion in the prior-year period, Australian Mining reported. Royalties from the overall resources sector total A$4.3 billion for the current fiscal year and are forecast to increase to A$4.5 billion in the next fiscal year.

* Norway filed a request with the World Trade Organization for dispute settlement consultations with the U.S. over import tariffs on steel and aluminum, saying the additional tariffs are against the trade body's rules, Reuters reported.

* A planned merger between Tata Steel Ltd.'s European steel operations with Germany's ThyssenKrupp AG could be hit by delays as workers and investors questioned the viability of the proposed business plan, Press Trust of India reported.

SPECIALTY

* Australia took over Chile as the world's largest lithium producer boosted mainly by record output at Galaxy Resources Ltd.'s Mount Cattlin mine and Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Co., Ltd.'s Mount Marion mine, Mining.com reported, citing data from United States Geological Survey. Chile's market share dropped to 32.8% in 2017 from 37.6% in 2016, while Australia's share rose from 36.8% of the global market to 43.5% in the same period.

* Miners are pushing to revive the U.S. lithium industry to boost domestic lithium output, as automakers look to cut their dependence on China for the critical battery ingredient and find more local sources, Reuters reported.

* Syrah Resources Ltd. said its operations at the Balama graphite mine in Mozambique are continuing normally, noting media reports of attacks near the district of Palma in the northeast region of Cabo Delgado Province. The company said it has increased its monitoring and interaction with government authorities and security providers "as a precaution."

* Sovereign Metals Ltd. completed an updated resource estimate for its Malingunde graphite property in Malawi after recent metallurgical work indicated that a blend of saprock can be processed along with very soft saprolite material, providing access to new ore. At a cutoff grade of 4.0% total graphitic carbon, Malingunde hosts measured, indicated and inferred resources totaling 45.7 million tonnes grading 7.2% total graphitic carbon.

* TNG Ltd. signed a deal to evaluate the use of its TIVAN vanadium extraction process at Todd Corp. Ltd.'s Balla Balla vanadium-titanium-iron project in Western Australia.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* Brazilian President Michel Temer issued two decrees overhauling the country's mining laws in a bid to attract investment in the sector and implementing rules about the collection of higher mining royalties, Reuters reported.

* Sweden's government is seeking to improve its permitting system, the country's minister for enterprise and innovation revealed at the Euro Mine Expo in Skellefteå, Sweden. A study is presently underway to assess options to streamline processes, shorten lead times and limit costs, said Mikael Damberg. In particular the granting of environmental permits — a key requirement for projects in various industries, including but not limited to mining — is being revisited.

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