TOP NEWS
Vale to finish paying most of Feijao dam burst expenses by 2021
Vale SA expects to finish paying for most of the expenses related to the Feijao dam burst in Brazil by 2021, Reuters reported. Vale, in securities filings, projected that costs from operations halted following the incident would fall to US$2.50 to US$3.50 per tonne of iron ore in the fourth quarter, from US$3 to US$4 per tonne in the third quarter.
Glencore unit blamed for US$32M loss in complex metals fraud
Glencore PLC's warehouse unit Access World was largely to blame for US$32 million in losses from a complex metal fraud, wherein it failed to quickly identify fake receipts for nickel stored at Asian warehouses, Reuters wrote, citing a London High Court ruling. However, broker Marex Spectron International Ltd. will have to pay most of the amount to French bank Natixis, which sued the broker for the fraudulent receipts.
Trigg completes A$4.5M IPO, starts trading on ASX
Trigg Mining Ltd.'s shares began trading on the ASX after completing a A$4.5 million initial public offering of 22.5 million shares at 20 cents each. This was the second time the potash explorer attempted an IPO to list on the Australian bourse, as its previous attempt to raise A$4 million in 2018 fell through.
DIVERSIFIED
* Strategic Elements Ltd. received final regulatory approvals to drill multiple deep holes into a potential meteorite impact structure in the Gibson desert for the Behemoth project in Australia. The project is seeking nickel, copper, gold and rare earths in a virtually unexplored area on the Western Australia and South Australian border.
BASE METALS
* Indonesia's nickel reserves could be exhausted by 2029, the country's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said, as reported by Kompas.com. The outlook is due to the lack of new reserve discoveries and an increasing demand for the metal after 2022.
* General Electric Co. will pay about US$2.7 million to settle claims that it breached U.S. sanctions in Cuba after its three current and former subsidiaries accepted payment from Cuba's Cobalt Refinery Co., which was blacklisted by the U.S. in 1995, the U.S. Treasury Department claimed. Cobalt Refinery Co. is a joint venture between a GE Canadian customer and the Cuban government.
* China's 10 major nonferrous metals grew 4.6% year over year in the first eight months with output of 38.6 million tonnes, Xinhua reported, citing data from the National Development and Reform Commission. Copper output was recorded at 6.2 million tonnes, up by 5.8% from the comparative period in 2018, while lead production increased by 18.8% to 4.0 million tonnes.
PRECIOUS METALS
* IAMGOLD Corp. partly stopped operations at its Rosebel gold mine in Suriname while removing equipment and personnel from the its southern pits due to a blockade by illegal miners, Reuters reported citing local news site Starnieuws. The company had recently resumed operations at the mine after a suspension in August following the death of an illegal miner in a clash with the police.
* Gateway Mining Ltd. outlined a maiden mineral resource estimate for the Whistler and Montague deposits at its Gidgee gold project in Western Australia of 3.4 million tonnes at 2.2 g/t of gold containing 240,000 ounces of gold in the inferred category. The company has kicked off a new 16,000-meter drilling program at Gidgee for the next stage of resource expansion at Whistler and Montague.
* Newmont Goldcorp Corp. CEO Tom Palmer said the company will maintain capital allocation discipline, prioritizing paying down debt, before funding projects and finally increasing dividends, Bloomberg reported. Palmer said that Newmont Goldcorp will extract value from its existing portfolio.
* Centamin PLC expects to produce 97,000 to 98,000 ounces of gold in the third quarter as output was behind expectations due to reduced open pit mining rates on the higher-grade stage four west wall at its Sukari mine in Egypt. However, the company still expects to achieve the lower end of its annual production guidance range of 490,000 to 520,000 ounces. CEO Andrew Pardey is retiring.
* Prodigy Gold NL entered a 10-year operator agreement allowing privately-owned TRL Tanami Pty. Ltd. to develop and mine the company's Old Pirate gold project in Australia's Northern Territory. Tanami can also secure an exclusive three-month option to negotiate an earn-in into the Buccaneer gold project.
* Torex Gold Resources Inc. achieved record gold production of 138,100 ounces for the third quarter, up 21% from the previous quarter, while gold sales for the period stood at 132,500 ounces.
* A pit wall and ramp failure occurred in the north side of the Kinjor-East pit at Avesoro Resources Inc.'s New Liberty gold mine in Liberia on Oct. 1. There were no injuries or equipment damage, but mining within the Kinjor-East pit has been suspended pending an assessment of the impact.
* A landslide at a closed Kampene gold mine in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo resulted in at least 16 deaths, Reuters reported, citing Auguy Musafiri, governor of the Maniema province.
* The Federal Bureau of Land Management accepted Kerr Mines Inc.'s modifications to its mine plan of operations for the Copperstone gold project in Arizona, under which the company can increase gold ore production to 600 tons per day from the current limit of 450 tons per day, once the company receives final approval, expected during the fourth quarter.
* Silver Range Resources Ltd. acquired the East Gold Point property in Nevada, which has unexplored extensions of high grade and solver veins mined intermittently since 1905.
* Two were injured, while no fatalities were reported after a dam burst at a gold mine in western Brazil, Reuters reported, citing the country's National Mining Agency.
* Dacian Gold Ltd. estimated a maiden inferred mineral resource of 481,000 tonnes at 8.1 g/t gold for 125,000 ounces for the Phoenix Ridge deposit within the Mount Morgans gold operation in Western Australia, increasing the project's total mineral resource to 55.2 million tonnes at 2.1 g/t gold for 3.7 million ounces.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Brazilian demand for potash will continue due to the booming soybean production in the country, encouraged by the U.S.-China trade dispute, CPU Group fertilizer analyst Humphrey Knight told S&P Global Market Intelligence.
* Murray Energy Corp., the largest privately held coal producer in the U.S., entered into forbearance agreements to allow the company time to continue discussions with its lenders about various strategic options and hold off any consequences from an event of default resulting from not making amortization and interest payments due Sept. 30.
* In an effort to narrow an increasing trade deficit with China, Vietnam has imposed an anti-dumping tax on certain aluminum products from its neighbor, after an investigation found that Chinese dumping activities had seriously hurt domestic aluminum, Reuters wrote citing the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade. The levy ranges from 2.49% to 35.58% and is effective for five years.
* Kalium Lakes Ltd.'s board approved the full development of its Beyondie sulfate of potash project in Western Australia. First production is expected in in late 2020, with full production capacity targeted for 2021.
* Nippon Steel Corp. is shutting down one of the two steel-making plants at its Kimitsu Steel Works in Japan's Chiba prefecture for repairs until the end of December, after Typhoon Faxai damaged a chimney in September, Reuters reported citing a company spokesman, who added that operations are expected to resume in January.
* Atrum Coal Ltd. expects updated resource estimates for its Elan hard coking coal project in southern Alberta in the fourth quarter, based on recent drilling in the project's Fish Hook area.
* South Africa's Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union accused Samancor Chrome Ltd. of fraud, and sought permission from the Johannesburg High Court to sue the company and its current and former directors, Bloomberg wrote. AMCU claimed the company moved US$125 million to a bank account of a firm based in the British Virgin Islands in 2007 allegedly for the benefit of directors and paying "excessive" fees and sales commissions.
* India has made it mandatory for mining leases granted to state-run companies to be renewed for up to 20 years to ensure iron production will be secure as several leases were due to expire in March 2020, S&P Global Platts reported, citing a statement from the steel ministry.
* The government of Odisha, India, expects to see intense bidding in iron ore mining block auctions as producers of pellets, sponge iron and pig iron will compete alongside steel companies, Business Standard reported.
* Lloyd's of insurer Axis Capital Ltd. has ruled itself out of providing coverage for Adani Enterprises Ltd.'s Carmichael coal project in Queensland, Australia, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed source.
* Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment professor Avner Vengosh discovered that coal ash produces hexavalent chromium, a cancer-causing chemical, when it interacts with fresh water to create a liquid known as leachate.
SPECIALTY
* Anglo American PLC unit De Beers SA sold US$295 million of rough diamonds in its eighth sales cycle, compared to US$287 million in the seventh sales cycle and US$482 million in the year-ago eighth sales cycle. CEO Bruce Cleaver said the diamond industry is approaching a quieter time of the year due to the Diwali holiday.
* The annual report of Lynas Corp. Ltd. revealed that since June 30, the company has paid a premium on a contract insuring directors and officers against liabilities incurred in their roles, to the extent permitted under the Corporations Act, Australian Financial Review reported. The company has paid A$711,543 in insurance contract premiums, higher than the A$526,086 it paid in 2018, but a Lynas spokesperson said that this reflects trends in the insurance market and not any company-specific factors.
* The National Development and Reform Commission of China has approved Jinan Hi-tech Holding Group Co. Ltd.'s proposed acquisition of a 34.01% stake in Triton Minerals Ltd.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Nearly half, or 44%, of global mining and metals executives rank license to operate as the top risk to their business for the second year in a row, according to a recent survey by Ernst & Young. Meanwhile, the future of the workforce rose to 2nd from 7th in the risk ranking due to increasing demand for and difficulty attracting the digital and data-related skills needed to support the future of mining.
* Anglo American Platinum Ltd. CEO Chris Griffith said during the Joburg Indaba conference that if he were the mineral resources and energy minister of South Africa for a day, he would create regulatory certainty by withdrawing the department's appeal against a court ruling on the once-empowered always-empowered aspect of the Mining Charter, BusinessDay reported. Griffith said that investors are concerned about the continuous threat of labor strikes in South Africa, which makes it "very difficult to sell your company," Miningmx reported.
* Investors with more than US$35 trillion in assets participating in the Climate Action 100+ initiative said they are far from convincing all of the companies in their cross-hairs to review and act on climate change, according to a progress report.
* House solon Joey Salceda filed a bill imposing a 3% royalty tax on large scale mining operations in the Philippines within a mineral reservation, while a margin-based royalty tax ranging from 1% to 5% shall be imposed on large-scale operations outside mining reservation areas, BusinessMirror reported. Small-scale mining operations will be exempt from the payment of royalty.
S&P Global Market Intelligence and S&P Global Platts are owned by S&P Global Inc.
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