TOP NEWS
Vale books record Q3 iron ore production
Vale SA reported a 10.3% year-over-year rise in third-quarter iron ore production to a record 104.9 million tonnes and an 8.7% increase in pellet production to 13.9 Mt. Manganese, nickel, copper and cobalt output booked double-digit percentage decreases. Iron ore sales jumped 9.4% to 84.0 Mt.
Chilean court mandates shutdown of Barrick's Pascua-Lama, confirms US$11.5M fine
Chile's environmental court ordered Barrick Gold Corp. to close the Chilean side of its Pascua-Lama gold-silver project and confirmed a US$11.5 million fine against the Canadian miner, Reuters reported. The project on the Chile-Argentina border is operating under a temporary closure plan after it was put on hold in 2013 due to environmental issues, political opposition, labor unrest and development costs that ballooned to US$8.5 billion.
B2Gold eyes African assets Barrick Gold puts up for sale after Randgold merger
Glencore PLC said it plans to restructure its Hail Creek coal mine in Queensland, Australia, which will result in more than 400 job losses, Reuters wrote. The plan will decrease the workforce from 1360 to 930 and will involve changing the mining methods at Hail Creek. Most of the changes will be implemented by the second quarter of 2019.
* Two BHP Billiton Group petroleum units sued to compel EXCO Resources Inc. to turn over US$9.3 million in production proceeds the latter allegedly wants to use to satisfy the claims of other creditors, Reuters reported.
BASE METALS
* Vedanta Ltd.'s mined metal output from its Indian zinc operations grew 6% year on year to 232,000 tonnes in the second quarter of its fiscal 2019, driven by a 44% yearly surge in underground production.
* Codelco will lay off 1,000 workers, mostly contractors, at its Salvador division up to mid-2019, mainly due to the exhaustion of copper reserves in some of the mine's deposits and the forthcoming launch of its US$1.1 billion Rajo Inca project, La Tercera reported.
* Rio Tinto may cut the interest rates on the loans it makes to the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia, The Australian Financial Review reported, citing Mongolian media. The state owns 34% of the mine but relies on loans from Rio Tinto to cover its share of construction costs.
* A scoping study for Azure Minerals Ltd.'s Oposura zinc-lead-silver project in Sonora, Mexico, outlined a pretax net present value of A$112 million, an internal rate of return of 76% and a 16-month payback period.
* Minotaur Exploration Ltd. reached a deal to earn up to an 80% interest in the 629-square-kilometer Windsor base metals project in Queensland, Australia.
* Pure Minerals Ltd. agreed to acquire Queensland Pacific Metals Pty. Ltd., an Australian company seeking to develop a nickel-cobalt processing plant in Townsville. Queensland Pacific holds an ore supply agreement to purchase high-grade nickel-cobalt ore from New Caledonian mining companies Societe des Mines de la Tontouta and Societe Miniere Georges Montagnat SARL.
* BCM Resources Corp. completed a previously announced option agreement to purchase up to a 60% interest in the Thompson Knolls copper-gold project in Utah from Inland Explorations Ltd.
* Cradle Arc PLC secured the extension of mining license number 2010/96L from the Botswana Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security. The license, now valid up to May 31, 2020, covers the Mowana copper mine's Thakadu and Makala deposits.
PRECIOUS METALS
* B2Gold Corp. is interested in acquiring any West African assets Barrick Gold may consider noncore after the latter completes its takeover of Randgold Resources Ltd., Reuters reported Oct. 13, citing B2Gold CEO Clive Johnson. The Vancouver-based miner is particularly interested in projects it can develop to produce about 200,000 ounces of gold annually for at least 10 years, as opposed to already-built mines, Johnson said in the newswire's report.
* Evolution Mining Ltd.'s gold production dropped to 200,218 ounces at all-in sustaining costs of A$885 per ounce in the first of its fiscal 2019 from record output of 220,971 ounces of gold and record-low AISC of A$786 per ounce in the same period a year ago. Gold output at the Cowal mine in New South Wales, Australia, fell yearly to 61,260 ounces at AISC of A$958 per ounce, from 70,140 ounces at AISC of A$712 per ounce.
* Detour Gold Corp. said activist shareholder Paulson & Co. Inc. rejected the company's settlement offer to end their dispute. Detour Gold offered Paulson a number of concessions, including a spot on the board, but ruled out a sale. In a separate statement, Paulson countered that the alternatives it provided were outright turned down by Detour Gold.
* Polymetal International PLC increased its stake in the Veduga gold deposit in Russia to 74.3% by acquiring a 31.7% stake in the project's license holder, Amikan LLC, for US$19.7 million in shares.
* Stonewall Resources Ltd.'s scoping study for its Theta Hill gold project in South Africa pegged a posttax net present value, discounted at 7.5%, of up to US$152 million, an internal rate of return of 132% and a 7.6-year mine life.
* Canada's environmental assessment agency is seeking public feedback on Atlantic Gold Corp.'s proposed gold mine in Nova Scotia, CBC News reported. The mine would operate for six years, and construction is slated to start in 2021. The company estimates it will extract 400,000 ounces of gold from the site.
* Gold Road Resources Ltd. and Gold Fields Ltd. A$621 million joint venture Gruyere gold project in Western Australia is on track for first gold output in the June quarter of 2019, Mining Weekly reported. Mining will start in November.
* Gold Fields Ltd. CEO Nicholas Holland is asking for "more time" from investors who are getting fed up with the company's failure to stem losses at the South Deep gold mine in South Africa, Bloomberg News reported.
A new turnaround plan in February 2019 is in the works, and Gold Fields will likely need about 18 months to assess the plan.
* A group of researchers from the U.S. developed a new gold-silver alloy that aims to lessen the load and boost the power of devices soldiers use in the field, Mining.com wrote.
* PanTerra Gold Ltd. plans a rights issue to raise up to A$2.2 million to fund the preliminary feasibility study at the La Demajagua gold project in southwestern Cuba. The company was selected as the proposed joint venture partner for Cuba's state-owned Geominera SA.
* The Western Australian government ordered Hawthorn Resources Ltd. to pay a A$40,000 fine for breaching mining conditions at the Anglo Saxon gold mine, The Guardian reported.
* Marindi Metals Ltd. acquired a highly prospective tenement covering historical high-grade gold workings in the southern Forrestania greenstone belt in Western Australia from Bar None Exploration Pty. Ltd. for A$20,000 and 3 million shares. The property complements the extensive gold potential of its Forrestania gold-lithium project.
* GT Gold Corp.'s share price caught fire after it released a series of drillholes pointing to a new copper-gold discovery in British Columbia at the Saddle North target on its Tatogga property. Drilling highlights included an interval of 904 meters grading 0.51 g/t gold, 0.30% copper and 0.93 g/t silver from 15 meters. Drilling at the deposit continues, said Amandip Singh, GT Gold's director of corporate development.
* Australian Mines Ltd. extended the closing date of its IPO for the spinoff of its noncore gold and base metals assets in Western Australia to Nov. 15.
* Apollo Consolidated Ltd.'s exploration drilling at the Lake Rebecca gold project in Western Australia identified a new gold surface 100 meters north of the Jennifer Lode deposit. The discovery, dubbed the Laura Lode deposit, resulted in the extension of the Rebecca mineralized corridor to over 1.3 kilometers in strike while remaining open.
* AuStar Gold Ltd. received approval for renewing mining license MIN 5299, covering its Rose of Denmark gold mine in Victoria, Australia.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Tata Steel Ltd. is aiming to boost capacity at its recently acquired Tata Steel BSL to 8.3 million tonnes of steel per annum from 5.6 Mt, India's Live Mint reported, citing the latter's new managing director, Rajeev Singhal.
* PJSC Novolipetsk Steel's third-quarter output was flat year over year at 4.4 million tonnes but reflected a 1% increase over the previous quarter due to higher output at its Russian plants. Sales in the period grew 4% to 4.4 Mt thanks to higher sales of slabs, square billets and long products and to growth in high-value-add product sales to international markets.
* Thiess Pty. Ltd. secured a five-year, A$1.2 billion contract to provide mining services at BHP Billiton Group's Mount Arthur coal mine in New South Wales, Australia.
* Unionized workers at Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.'s Tilden and Empire mines in Michigan and its United Taconite and Hibbing Taconite mines in Minnesota ratified a new four-year labor contract. The new deal covers approximately 1,800 workers.
* The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control extended the deadline for investors to divest their holdings in sanctioned Russian companies United Co. Rusal PLC and its controlling shareholder En+ Group PLC to Dec. 12 from Nov. 12.
* J.P. Morgan Cazenove reassessed its stance on the European steel sector, marking ArcelorMittal, SSAB A/B and Aperam SA as "overweight" while tagging shares of Voestalpine AG, thyssenKrupp AG and Outokumpu Oyj as "neutral." The bank said the sector at large remains under pressure amid ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty that has impacted demand for steel.
* Highfield Resources Ltd. updated its 2015 feasibility study for the Muga-Vipasca potash project in Spain, estimating a net present value of €1.16 billion, at an 8% discount rate, and an internal rate of return of 23%, with CapEx of €342 million required to achieve the first phase of production.
* GFG Alliance founder and Chairman Sanjeev Gupta is targeting an initial listing of either his steel or energy assets in Australia in 2019, Reuters reported.
* About 500,000 tonnes of Thai steel products have been exempted from the Trump administration's Section 232 tariffs and quotas on steel and aluminum imports, Post Today reported, citing Adul Chotinisakorn, director-general of Thailand's Department of Foreign Trade.
* RWE AG may ax jobs at its Hambach mine, which employs 4,600 people, following a court order that halted the company's plan to clear a forest to expand its coal operations, Reuters reported, citing newspaper Rheinische Post.
* Kumba Iron Ore Ltd. finalized the transfer of employees, assets and liabilities of the shuttered Thabazimbi iron ore mine to ArcelorMittal South Africa Ltd., effective Nov. 1.
* Australian Bauxite Ltd. subsidiary Alcore Ltd. completed the design phase of its stage-one project on schedule and started acquiring equipment to begin production before year-end, ahead of schedule.
* Mission Coal will close its Pinnacle mine in Wyoming County, West Virginia, displacing about 400 workers, the Associated Press reported.
SPECIALTY
* Kazakhstan's National Atomic Co. Kazatomprom JSC, the world's largest uranium producer, plans to float up to a 25% stake in an IPO in London and Astana, Reuters reported. Credit Suisse and JPMorgan are acting as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners for an IPO.
* Arafura Resources Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding with JingCi Material Science Co. Ltd. for the supply of neodymium-praseodymium oxide from its Nolans project in Australia's Northern Territory.
* Northern Minerals Ltd. entered into a subscription agreement with China Northern Rare Earth (Group) High-Tech Co. Ltd. unit NRE Industrial Group Limited to raise A$25 million for developing the Browns Range heavy rare earth project in Western Australia.
* First Graphene Ltd. reached a three-year deal with The University of Manchester for the supply of graphene products for research by the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* The US$1.26 billion raised by junior and intermediate companies in September was the second-highest amount raised in 2018 to date. It also marked the fifth month in the past year that companies succeeded in raising over US$1 billion.
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