TOP NEWS
Glencore faces strikes across Hunter Valley coal ops
About 1,400 of Glencore Plc's miners voted to stage two 48-hour strikes across the company's coal operations in New South Wales' Hunter Valley region, The Newcastle Herald reported. The first strike will affect five sites, namely the Bulga, Glendell, Liddell and Mangoola mines, and the coal preparation plant at Ravensworth, while the second labor action will expand to include the Ravensworth mine and the Liddell coal-handling plant, according to Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union District President Peter Jordan.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. is on a path to reach a new mining deal with Indonesia this year for its Grasberg copper mine as it remains the company's top priority, Reuters reported, citing CFO Kathleen Quirk. Meanwhile, the dispute between PT Freeport Indonesia and Grasberg workers over layoffs is intensifying.
Mongolian Mining recovers from bankruptcy
Mongolian Mining Corp. is no longer subject to any bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S. and is no longer in provisional liquidation in the Cayman Islands. The company said its case under Chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code concerning its debt restructuring has been closed.
DIVERSIFIED
* According to UBS analysts, BHP Billiton Group may give back US$15 billion to its shareholders over the next three years in addition to its dividend policy, The Australian Financial Review reported. UBS upgraded the mining giant to a "buy" rating from "neutral" but said the company may not be able to reach its goal of increasing value by 50%.
* Brazil's Vale SA is expected to reduce the number of executive directors to four from six, Reuters reported, citing the local newspaper El Globo.
BASE METALS
* Chilean state-miner Codelco has restarted operations at the Radomiro Tomic, Ministro Hales and Chuquicamata copper mines in the country's Antofagasta region after severe weather caused a series of precautionary closures.
* Bolivia's state miner, Comibol, reached a wage agreement for workers at its Colquiri zinc-tin mine to get a 5% increase in salary this year, S&P Global Platts wrote, citing mining Minister Cesar Navarro. The company is looking to execute a similar deal with the workers at its Huanuni tin mine.
* Russian nickel giant PJSC Norilsk Nickel Co. has closed a US$500 million bond offering. According to Senior Vice President and CFO Sergey Malyshev, the Eurobond placement allows Norilsk to achieve its key objectives of repricing and extending its debt.
* KAZ Minerals PLC amended its pre-export finance loan facility, increasing commitments to US$600 million and extending its maturity profile by 2.5 years from December 2018 to June 2021.
* BHP Billiton's majority-owned Minera Escondida Ltda., which operates the Escondida copper mine in Chile, secured a loan of US$500 million from a group of Japanese lenders, Business News Americas reported.
* PT Amman Mineral Internasional subsidiary PT Amman Mineral Nusa Tenggara is considering cutting its workforce by up to 20%, or 700 employees, amid falling output at its Batu Hijau copper mine in Indonesia due to delays in the development of the mine, Reuters reported, citing the company CEO Rachmat Makkasau and mining ministry official Bambang Gatot.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Goldcorp Inc. and Pan American Silver Corp. are among the mining companies that decided to sue the government of the state of Zacatecas in Mexico over the "green" tax that went into force in December 2016. The companies question the legality and constitutionality of the levy and argue that it puts their investments at risk, daily Opportimes reported.
* The Supreme Court of Canada allowed a group of protesters from Guatemala to file a case against Tahoe Resources Inc. in British Columbia after they claimed that they do not expect to get justice in the Central American country, The Canadian Press reported. The protesters were sprayed with rubber bullets in 2013 by guards during a protest outside the company's Escobal silver mine in Guatemala.
* Coral Gold Resources Ltd. said the US$15.8 million sale of its Robertson gold property in Nevada to a Barrick Gold Corp. unit has closed, about a year after it was first announced.
* Petropavlovsk Plc Chairman Peter Hambro is trying to thwart a shareholder revolt led by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, and called the move "a takeover by stealth" that is not in shareholders' interest, Reuters reported. The plan calls for the replacement of four of six board members.
* S&P Global Ratings placed PJSC Polyus' BB- issuer credit ratings on CreditWatch with positive implications, as the Russian miner's recently announced secondary public offering for a 7% stake in existing and new shares on the Moscow and London Stock Exchanges, along with 10% stake sale to a group of investors led by Fosun International Ltd., might indicate that risks related to the company's aggressive financial policies and excessive shareholder distributions are reducing.
* A pit expansion study at New Jersey Mining Co.'s Golden Chest gold mine and New Jersey mill in northern Idaho yielded a 14-fold increase in tonnage and a 12-fold increase in minable ounces of gold.
* Para Resources Inc. recommissioned the mill at its El Limon gold project in Colombia during May after an extensive 18-month renovation and upgrade.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Nordic Mines AB signed a memorandum of understanding for a joint venture with Firesteel Resources Inc. under which Nordic Mines will contribute all of its properties, the mill and licenses for 49% of the joint venture, while Firesteel will contribute C$18 million, an operating team and expertise for a 51% stake.
* NSL Consolidated Ltd. received a commercial purchase order for 20,000 tonnes of the premium iron ore product produced by its phase two wet beneficiation plant from Infinity Ores, at a price of A$67 ex gate.
* Australian Potash Ltd. entered a memorandum of understanding with Chinese fertilizer producer, CNAMPGC Holding Ltd. Corp., for sales of up to 30% of the estimated production for stage two, which is up to 100,000 tonnes per annum of sulfate of potash, from its Lake Wells project in Western Australia.
* Japan's Mitsui & Co. Ltd. has reportedly hired Nomura head of natural resources Rob Bailey to sell about half of its 49% joint venture stake in the Dawson coal complex in Queensland, Australia, The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk wrote. This comes after joint venture partner Anglo American Plc decided against selling the asset when bids failed to reflect the value expectations of the company.
* A potential strike in South Africa's coal industry was averted after a number of miners, including majors Anglo American, Glencore and Exxaro Resources Ltd., agreed to conduct centralized wage negotiations, Miningmx reported, citing a statement from the Chamber of Mines.
* Coal of Africa Ltd.'s acquisition of Pan African Resources Coal Holdings Pty. Ltd and its 91% stake in the Uitkomst thermal coal operation in South Africa was unconditionally approved by the South African competition commission.
* U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said a national security review of the country's steel industry will be completed "very shortly" and will seek to protect the interests of both local steel producers and consumers, Reuters reported.
* Mechel PAO's board of directors recommended a dividend payout on preferred shares amounting to 1.43 billion Russian rubles, or 10.28 rubles per share, for 2016 and decided that there would be no annual payout on ordinary shares.
SPECIALTY
* IronRidge Resources Ltd. secured exclusive rights to a prospective lithium license portfolio covering 1,177 square kilometers in Ivory Coast. The company also announced that the joint venture earn-in agreement with Enchi Proci SARL for the Adzope license application is now unconditional.
* Western Areas Ltd. intends to sell up to 100% of its holding in Bluejay Mining plc, which is about 18.8% of Bluejay's issued share capital. The proceeds are anticipated to be in the range of A$26.5 million to A$27.5 million.
* PJSC Alrosa's diamond sales from January through May dropped by 5% year over year to US$2.13 billion. In spite of the slip in the first five months of the year, the Russian company sold 33% more diamonds in May than during the same month in 2016, totaling US$472.1 million.
* On the back of an increase in domestic uranium production, Namibia's mining sector is anticipated to witness solid growth over the coming years, Mining Weekly reported, citing research firm BMI. The growth, however, could be subdued by proposed regulatory revisions, which will pose significant challenges for the broader industry.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* The U.K.'s governing Conservative Party lost its parliamentary majority in elections June 8 but will remain the largest force, leaving the identity of the next government in doubt just as negotiations on the country's departure from the European Union are about to commence. The pound plummeted against the dollar as Prime Minister Theresa May's gamble on asking voters for a mandate to tackle Brexit talks backfired in spectacular fashion.
* The market capitalization of the top 25 mining companies decreased 2% to US$596.1 billion in May compared with the end of April, with the majority of these companies experiencing falls in market value. BHP Billiton once again topped the market cap rankings with valuation of US$89.13 billion, while Rio Tinto also retained its second position with a market cap of US$74.81 billion.
* Mexico's Tax Administration Service is holding in excess of US$360 million in tax rebates owed to six Canadian mining companies due to a spike in value-added tax refund requests leading to more detailed assessments, Reuters reported, citing sources and official documents.
S&P Global Ratings and S&P Global Market Intelligence are owned by S&P Global Inc.
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.