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Samarco secures waste permits, inches closer to restart

TOP NEWS

Samarco secures waste permits, inches closer to restart

BHP Billiton Group and Vale SA joint venture Samarco Mineração SA received two waste system permits from Brazil's Minas Gerais state, a small step toward restarting operations at its Samarco iron ore mine in the country, Reuters reported. Environmental authorities expect to assess the operations permit and a corrective operations permit in mid-2018, after the construction of the waste disposal system.

Automation at Polyus' Olimpiada improves daily gold production by 36%

PJSC Polyus has turned to automation processes at its Olimpiada gold project in Russia to aid in producing about 100 kilograms of gold per day, a 36% year-over-year spike, Financial Times reported. Meanwhile, profit has so far increased by 10% compared to last year.

Miners stage sit-in at ArcelorMittal coal mines in Kazakhstan

About 200 coal miners staged an apparent sit-in at four ArcelorMittal coal mines in Kazakhstan after refusing to leave at the end of their shift, Reuters reported, citing a statement from ArcelorMittal's Kazakh unit. The miners have not revealed their demands, and the company did not say whether the situation would affect its steel production.

DIVERSIFIED

* Nautilus Minerals Inc. said that Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding Ltd. issued a default notice alleging that MAC Goliath Pte Ltd. failed to pay the third installment of the contract price in the amount of about US$18 million plus interest. Fujian is the owner of the shipyard where Nautilus' production support vessel is being built, while MAC is buying the vessel.

* Nautilus Minerals' controversial experimental deep-sea mine is being challenged in court by environmental groups that have accused the Papua New Guinea government of withholding key documents about its approval, The Guardian reported. The company intends to extract gold and copper deposits from 1.6 kilometers below the surface of the Bismarck Sea, using a seabed mining technique that has never been used before in commercial operations.

BASE METALS

* Codelco chairman Óscar Landerretche officially confirmed that he would resign from his position by the end of the government of President Michelle Bachelet in March 2018, Pulso reported.

* Separately, workers of trade unions Tornados and No. 1 at Codelco's Ventanas copper mine in Chile approved a new collective agreement in negotiations that kicked off weeks in advance before the current contract expires in 2018. The deal extends for the next 36 months and includes a readjustment of 1% for wages.

* Brower Piven filed a class action lawsuit in the district court of New Jersey on behalf of purchasers of Katanga Mining Ltd.'s securities. The complaint accuses the defendants of violations of securities exchange act by failing to disclose that the Glencore Plc unit engaged in improper accounting practices and there were material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting.

* Intrepid Mines Ltd. entered into a conditional agreement with Weatherly International Plc for the sale of the former's Intrepid Mines Zambia Ltd. unit, which holds the Mumbwa and Kitumba copper projects in Zambia, for an initial cash consideration of A$4.8 million and a deferred payment of A$1 million.

* A group of shareholders representing 20.15% of Finders Resources Ltd. will not accept the takeover offer of 23 Australian cents per share from Eastern Field Developments Ltd., increasing the percentage to 33.19%.

* Griffin Mining Ltd. subsidiary Hebei Hua' Ao Mining Industry Co. Ltd. is now debt free after repaying all of its outstanding bank loans, including US$44.7 million this year.

* Yue Da Mining Holdings Ltd. sold its Fly Ascent subsidiary for 65.1 million Chinese yuan to an undisclosed buyer during an auction.

* Altiplano Minerals Ltd. entered a binding letter of intent with Comet Exploration Ltd. to acquire the latter's remaining 50% interest in their Chilean joint venture, which holds the Farellon and Maria Luisa copper-gold projects, in a cash and share deal.

* China's Nanjing Hanrui Cobalt, which supplies the metal to a firm approved by the London Metal Exchange, said it was unable to establish that its products did not involve the use of child labor in Africa, Reuters reported. Nanjing Hanrui said it was examining its cobalt supply chain in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

* Chile's October copper production increased 15.1% year over year to 510,400 tonnes, its highest since December 2016, Business News Americas reported, citing data from state copper commission Cochilco.

PRECIOUS METALS

* A potential class action securities lawsuit filed against Asanko Gold Inc. and several executives in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York was voluntarily dismissed by the lead plaintiff. The lawsuit claimed that the company made misstatements or omissions in a technical report and a press release relating to its mineral resources estimates.

* Stock prices for Australian gold majors Newcrest Mining Ltd., Evolution Mining Ltd. and Northern Star Resources Ltd. were fully valued, outperforming the price of the commodity this year, The West Australian reported, citing RBC Capital Markets mining analyst Paul Hissey.

* Firesteel Resources Inc. closed a joint venture deal with Nordic Mines AB covering the acquisition of a 60% interest in Nordic Mines Marknad AB, which owns the Laiva gold mine in Finland. Production at Laiva is expected to resume by the summer of 2018.

* GFG Resources Inc. unveiled a string of deals that will consolidate its land package within Timmins, Ontario, and give the company control over a total of nearly 700 square kilometers of gold assets in Wyoming and the Canadian province. In three separate transactions, GFG agreed to acquire Rapier Gold Inc. in an all-share deal, and purchase Probe Metals Inc.'s West Porcupine gold project and Osisko Mining Inc.'s Swayze gold project, both of which are in Ontario.

* Gascoyne Resources Ltd. acquired exploration license E53/2053, located north of its Dalgaranga gold project in Western Australia, for A$100,000 in cash and 950,000 shares.

* Compania Inversora en Minas SA, or Ciminas, began production at its Don Nicolas gold-silver project in Argentina, Mining.com reported.

* Southern Gold Ltd. has advanced discussions with multiple parties for the financing and commercial arrangements to develop an underground mine at its Cannon gold project in Western Australia, Mining Weekly reported. The company expects to conclude the talks and align the arrangements with the finalization of the underground study.

* The Superior Court of Justice in Ontario issued a default judgement in favor of Toronto-listed junior Rusoro Mining Ltd. over an ongoing dispute with the Venezuelan government for the illegal seizure of its mine in the county, Mining Weekly reported.

* Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed into law a measure that ends a near 20-year moratorium on gold and silver mining in the state, The Associated Press reported.

BULK COMMODITIES

* Russia's Sberbank is in discussions to finance the purchase of a 10% stake in PJSC Uralkali by rival fertilizer producer Uralchem, Interfax reported, citing Sberbank's deputy chairman Maxim Poletaev.

* Noble Group Ltd. subsidiary Noble Americas Emerald Corp. completed the US$34.5 million sale of coal sales unit MR Coal Marketing and Trading to an unnamed buyer, The Business Times reported.

* PJSC Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works acquired Russia's only producer of electro-galvanized steel, LMC Group, but did not disclose financial details. Meanwhile, MMK shareholders approved a dividend of 1.11 Russian rubles for the third quarter.

* Coal India Ltd. faces another wage hike as the miner enters wage agreement talks for its 200,000 to 300,000 contract workers, Mining Weekly reported. Trade union representatives expect the increases to be around 20%, the same level the company recently agreed for its over 250,000 workers on the payroll.

* The United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority cracked down on three firms that provided pension transfer advice to workers of Tata Steel Ltd.'s Port Talbot operations in South Wales, Financial Times reported.

* Chinese coal imports increased 3.6% on a monthly basis in November to 22.05 million tonnes, but fell compared to year-ago figures of 26.97 million tonnes, Reuters reported, citing Chinese customs data. Year-to-date imports also increased, by 8.4% to 248.17 million tonnes.

SPECIALTY

* Azincourt Energy Corp. signed a nonbinding letter of intent for the acquisition of up to a 100% stake in five projects in Manitoba from New Age Metals Inc., along with the projects' holding company.

* Cameco Corp. and Kazakhstan's state-owned uranium producer, National Atomic Co. Kazatomprom JSC, completed the restructuring of their Inkai uranium joint venture in Kazakhstan. The restructuring will take effect Jan. 1, 2018, and will see Cameco's ownership in the joint venture reducing to 40% from 60% and Kazatomprom's stake rising to 60% from 40%.

* Chile's Mining Ministry withdrew the draft version of a special lithium operations contract it had submitted to the Office of the Comptroller General for approval. The document concerns the creation of a joint venture between Codelco and an external partner to develop state-owned lithium reserves in northern Chile. Sources told Diario Financiero that the comptroller disputes the model by which Codelco plans to develop the deposits.

* Sheffield Resources Ltd. entered a maiden binding off-take agreement for the future sale of zircon concentrate from its Thunderbird mineral sands project in Western Australia. The company agreed to supply a minimum of 27,000 tonnes of zircon concentrate per annum to China-based Hainan Wensheng High-Tech Materials Co. Ltd. from stage one of the project.

* Gem Diamonds Ltd. said that an offer for its Ghaghoo diamond project in Botswana was withdrawn. The project has been under care and maintenance since February due to prevailing market conditions.

* Hexagon Resources Ltd. agreed to sell 2 million shares in an unlisted Australian company, Battery Mineral Resources Ltd., at 50 U.S. cents per share for a total of US$1 million. The company received the holding as partial consideration for the sale of its South Korean graphite assets in 2016.

* Stans Energy Corp. and ARMZ Uranium Holding Co. are evaluating the potential for a partnership to redevelop the Zavitinskoye lithium mine in Russia's Trans-Baikal region.

* With the required funding in place, Berkeley Energia Ltd. is moving ahead with the award of major contracts and filling key management positions to begin construction at the Salamanca uranium mine in Spain.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* For decades, Maine was widely considered nearly impossible to crack in terms of mine permitting under stringent 1991 mining laws. But following recent legislative changes — a new mining law went into effect in November 2017 — there are tentative signs that the industry is starting to reconsider the state as a mining jurisdiction. The law opens the door for smaller-scale underground projects, assuming they can meet, or economically justify, the stringent criteria of Maine's mining law.

* Despite the persistent challenges in the mining industry, mining companies continued to strengthen their cash balances. A review of 1,559 Australian, London, New York and Toronto stock exchange-listed companies with comparable data, indicates that the mining industry's aggregate cash holdings increased 2% in the September quarter to US$38.81 billion from US$38.05 billion in the June 2017 quarter, according to the Metals and Mining Research team of S&P Global Market Intelligence.

* The lower house of the Democratic Republic of the Congo adopted a revised mining code that will raise taxes and royalties, Reuters reported, citing members of parliament. The lawmakers said only small changes were made to the code, which will now go to the Senate for approval.

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.