TOP NEWS
Nearly 1,000 miners trapped underground at Sibanye gold mine due to power outage
More than 1,000 miners got trapped underground at Sibanye Gold Ltd.'s Beatrix gold mine in South Africa after a storm knocked out power Jan. 31, preventing the evening shift workers from exiting the mine, Reuters reported. Sibanye spokesperson James Wellsted told S&P Global Market Intelligence that the company managed to restore power to two shafts, and has brought up 272 people at one shaft and 64 people at the other. Control systems and generators at the third shaft were damaged by the power surge and the company has been unable to bring 955 people at that shaft up. The trapped miners are safe and food and water are being provided to them, Wellsted was cited as saying by Reuters.
S&P, Moody's upgrade CSN on debt refinancing deal
S&P Global Ratings and Moody's upgraded their respective ratings for Brazilian steelmaker Cia. Siderúrgica Nacional, or CSN, largely due to its debt refinancing deal. The company struck a deal with Banco do Brasil SA, outlining the main terms of extending debt maturities. The Brazilian steelmaker is also in talks with Caixa Econômica Federal for a similar agreement. On the same day, CSN launched a debt repurchase offer for US$750 million of the senior unsecured notes.
Glencore's copper, nickel, coal production down in FY'17
Glencore Plc's full-year 2017 copper production dropped 8% for copper to 1.3 million tonnes, while zinc output was stable year over year at 1.1 million tonnes and nickel production declined 5% to 109,100 tonnes. Coal production decreased 3% to 120.6 million tonnes in 2017, and attributable ferrochrome production remained in line with 2016 output at 1.5 million tonnes.
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 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
* The 2,500-member Union 1 at BHP Billiton Group' Escondida copper mine in Chile said it did not receive any formal communication from the company to start early negotiations over contracts before the formal talks scheduled for June, Reuters reported.
* Uranium miner Alligator Energy Ltd. decided to invest in cobalt-nickel projects as it "expands its exploration and development strategy." The company, which will maintain its uranium exploration assets and opportunities, signed a binding heads of agreement to earn up to a 70% interest in the Piedmont sulfide cobalt-nickel project in Northern Italy from Chris Reindler and Partners.
* Responding to media speculation, Bluejay Mining plc confirmed it is in the process of concluding a fundraising of £17 million at 22 pence per share.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Stratex International Plc completed a strategic asset review and decided to fast-track exploration at the company's Dalafin gold project in Senegal in six to 12 months. The company is in negotiations with a potential joint venture partner for Dalafin and expects to finalize a deal within the first quarter.
* Centerra Gold Inc. entered into a US$500 million senior secured revolving credit facility with a syndicate of financial institutions led by The Bank of Nova Scotia and National Bank of Canada. The four-year facility will carry an interest rate of the London Interbank Offered Rate plus 2.25% to 3.75%.
* Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. shareholders have strongly backed the company's US$300 million acquisition of the Moab Khotsong gold-uranium mine in South Africa from AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., Mining Weekly reported.
* Gold miner Avesoro Resources Inc. planned a US$25 million exploration program for 2018 to drill 171,000 meters, comprising 139,000 meters in Burkina Faso and 32,000 meters in Liberia.
* Dynasty Gold Corp. signed an option agreement to acquire Teck Resources Ltd.'s 2,250-hectare Thundercloud gold project in Ontario.
* Golden Star Resources Ltd. said its Prestea underground gold mine in Ghana achieved commercial production Feb. 1 and gold production is expected to continue to ramp up over the year.
* La Mancha Group International is looking to sell 22.1 million shares in Evolution Mining Ltd., offering the stock at between A$2.74 and A$2.81 per share, The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk reported. Following the sale, which could be worth up to A$62.2 million, La Mancha's stake in Evolution will fall to 20%.
* DRDGold Ltd. expects its EPS to range between 14.16 South African cents and 14.64 cents for the six months ended Dec. 31, 2017, compared to 0.6 cent posted a year ago. The miner attributed the expected increase primarily to an 11% increase in gold production despite a 4% decrease in the rand gold price received.
* 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 to 96 tonnes for zinc, 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/oz and US$775/oz, due to a lower grade expected at the Waihi project in New Zealand.
* 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 installments of 30,000 ounces per month between March and June.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Nigeria and United Co. Rusal Plc struck an out-of-court settlement over the sale of the idled Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria Ltd., or Alscon, Bloomberg News reported. The parties agreed that Alscon would restart operations in six months as part of the settlement. The government now owns a 20% interest in the smelter, with Rusal owning the remainder.
* Protesters demanding jobs are staging sit-ins at Compagnie Des Phosphates De Gafsa SA, suspending Tunisia's entire phosphate production as it is the sole phosphate producer in the country, Reuters reported.
* The American Iron and Steel Institute urged President Donald Trump to urgently impose trade measures in order to battle excess steel capacity and surging imports that are hurting the U.S. industry, Reuters reported.
* JFE Holdings Inc.'s consolidated net profit for the nine months through December 2017 jumped 316.3% year over year to ¥138.62 billion. Net sales for the period amounted to ¥2.671 trillion, a 15.5% increase over sales in the same period the year before.
* Kobe Steel Ltd. reinstated and increased its net profit forecast to ¥45 billion, or ¥124.22 per share for its fiscal 2017, which ends March 31. Net sales are seen rising 11.4% year over year to ¥1.89 trillion. For the first nine months of fiscal 2017, which ended Dec. 31, Kobe Steel swung to a net profit of ¥55.82 billion from a year-ago net loss of ¥36.48 billion.
* Saudi Arabian Mining Co., or Ma'aden, posted a net loss of 104.7 million Saudi riyals for the fourth quarter of 2017, swinging from a year-ago profit of 15.7 million riyals, according to Reuters calculations. According to the newswire, the company gave no reason for the quarterly loss. For the full year, Ma'aden returned to a net profit of 714.8 million riyals from a restated loss of 10.7 million riyals in 2016.
* S&P Global Ratings raised ArcelorMittal to investment-grade, citing the world's largest steelmaker's focus on cutting its debt and buoyant demand in its main markets. The one-notch increase to BBB-, with a stable outlook, came after the Luxembourg-based company committed to prioritize using excess free cash flow to reduce its net debt to US$6 billion, after slashing it by US$1 billion in 2017 to US$10.1 billion as of Dec. 31, 2017.
* Brazilian prosecutors suggested that Anglo American Plc sold its 70% stake in the Amapa iron ore operation in Brazil to Zamin Ferrous in late 2013 in order to avoid paying for environmental damage caused by it, and said the transaction was full of irregularities, Mining.com reported.
* Ferroglobe PLC completed the acquisition of manganese alloys plants in Dunkirk, France, and Mo I Rana, Norway, from Glencore unit Glencore International AG, after receiving the necessary regulatory approvals in France, Germany and Poland. The new subsidiaries will be renamed as Ferroglobe Mangan Norge and Ferroglobe Manganèse France.
* Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB, SSAB and Vattenfall AB decided to develop a pilot plant for fossil fuel-free steel production in Sweden, following a successful pre-feasibility study of a steelmaking process that emits water instead of carbon dioxide. The Nordic companies are aiming to have a totally fossil fuel-free process for steel production by 2035.
* The Hebei province's government in China disputed media reports that it was considering extending winter steel production cuts that were introduced to curb air pollution, Reuters reported. The provincial government said it would strictly impose only the curbs ordered by the central government.
* Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp.'s steelmaking and steel fabrication segment posted an ordinary profit of ¥189.7 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2017, more than double the ¥81.9 billion ordinary profit posted a year ago, as the segment's net sales jumped to ¥3.699 trillion from ¥2.926 trillion.
* 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 the agreement, the companies also agreed to enter into long-term production and metal supply agreements.
SPECIALTY
* Newfield Resources Ltd. is in advanced talks to potentially take over Stellar Diamonds Plc, creating a larger company focused on Sierra Leone with better funding access.
* W Resources Plc plans to borrow US$35 million for the development of its La Parrilla tungsten-tin mine in Spain, from the previously announced US$30 million term loan from a U.S. Special Situations Fund.
* Lucapa Diamond Co. Ltd. raised US$9.14 million from the first sale for 2018 of alluvial diamonds from the Lulo project in Angola. The company sold 4,170 carats representing an average price per carat of US$2,192.
* 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.
S&P Global Ratings and S&P Global Market Intelligence are owned by S&P Global Inc.
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