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Investors urge BHP to shun coal lobbyists; KEFI to start Tulu Kapi construction

TOP NEWS

Investors urge BHP to sever ties with Australian coal lobby groups

Several BHP Group shareholders urged the mining giant to suspend its membership in Australian coal lobby groups such as the Minerals Council of Australia and Coal21, as they contradict the company's pledges to cut emissions, Reuters reported. Institutional investors collectively holding about A$140 billion under management filed a resolution calling for BHP to act on the matter ahead of this year's annual meetings in London and Sydney.

KEFI Minerals tightens security at Tulu Kapi gold mine as development kicks off

Construction on KEFI Minerals PLC's Tulu Kapi gold project will start in October amid a new report recommending upgraded security, but Executive Chairman Harry Anagnostaras-Adams says the situation in Ethiopia has "settled down," albeit with more petty crime. KEFI decided to start the two-year development phase with the Ethiopian government and ANS Mining Share Company, and according to Anagnostaras-Adams, by the time the project moves into full construction at the end of 2019, there will be "the equivalent of a high-security military compound" protecting the site's people and equipment.

Aluminium Bahrain said to plan raising US$1.5B

Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. hired three banks in Bahrain to underwrite US$1.5 billion in debt to refinance loans secured in 2016 for an expansion project, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

DIVERSIFIED

* Moody's revised its outlook on Vale SA to stable from negative thanks to more clarity about the costs and financial liabilities that the company will incur related to the tailings dam burst in January at the Feijao mine in Brazil's Minas Gerais state, as well as the gradual restart of suspended operations. The US$6 billion that Vale set aside in the first half for socioeconomic and environmental recovery of the affected areas will be spent mainly between 2019 and 2021. "As Vale continues to generate positive free cash flows, we do not expect a significant impact in the company's liquidity or leverage," Moody's said.

BASE METALS

* Indonesia's coordinating minister overseeing mining Luhut Pandjaitan said that the country's ban on exports of nickel ore could boost the country's earnings from the metal fivefold in the next five years, Reuters reported. The nickel-related export earnings in 2024 "may exceed US$30 billion, including exports of lithium batteries," Pandjaitan said.

* Belmont Resources Inc. secured an option to earn up to a 75% interest in Pistol Bay Mining Inc.'s Fredart-Gerry Lake zinc-copper-silver-gold properties in Ontario.

* Consolidated Zinc Ltd. will take up full ownership of the Plomosas zinc mine in Mexico after signing a binding term sheet to acquire the remaining 10% stake from Retec Guaru SA de CV in exchange for a 1% net smelter returns royalty.

* Cobalt 27 Capital Corp. said a private streaming and royalty company withdrew an offer that would have topped the one lodged by Pala Investments Ltd. The unnamed firm had signed a confidential, non-binding offer to acquire Cobalt 27 for C$4 per share in cash plus 1 share of spinout company Nickel 28 Capital Corp.

* Cobalt QLD Pty Ltd. agreed to sell its 45.6% stake in the Gorge Creek copper project in Queensland, Australia, to joint venture partner Traka Resources Ltd. for 30 million Traka shares.

* KAZ Minerals PLC Chairman Oleg Novachuk announced that the development of the 9.5-million-tonne Baimskaya copper project in Russia will use unmanned dump trucks and automated factories, with a control center in Moscow, Vedomosti reported.

PRECIOUS METALS

* PJSC Polyus completed a 203,647-meter exploration drilling program at its Sukhoi Log gold deposit in Russia, and expects results from fire assays by the end of the year. It plans another 5,400 meters of geotechnical drilling and 2,800 meters of hydrogeological drilling in 2019, and 30,000 meters of infill drilling in 2020 at Sukhoi Log. The company expects to provide a further update on the inferred and indicated mineral resource estimates and a maiden ore reserve for Sukhoi Log in the first half of 2020.

* Polyus remains committed to its goal of raising free float to 25% to 30% in the medium term, Reuters wrote citing CEO Pavel Grachev. 2019 output is expected at 2.8 million troy ounces, with spending plans for the full year at US$725 million.

* Teranga Gold Corp. said its Wahgnion gold operation in Burkina Faso started processing ore in August, achieving first gold pour two months ahead of schedule. Wahgnion is expected to produce 30,000 to 40,000 ounces of gold in 2019. The company is "fine tuning" the project in September, with throughput and grade expected to ramp up in the fourth quarter.

* Metron Inc., a scientific firm better known for leveraging probability statistics to help find sunken vessels and missing flight recorders, is set to advise Aurania Resources Ltd. about where lost gold mines from the Spanish colonial era may lie in Ecuador's Cutucu mountains on the western edge of the Amazonian basin.

* China is expected to again be the largest producer of mined gold in 2019 while ranking second among the top 10 gold producing countries in terms of total cash cost, according to the Metals and Mining Research team of S&P Global Market Intelligence.

* Acacia Mining PLC shareholders approved Barrick Gold Corp.'s improved offer for the remaining 36.1% stake in the company that Barrick does not already own. Closing is expected Sept. 17.

* Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd. said its claim against the government of Thailand under the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement, or TAFTA, is more than the US$267 million stated by Thailand's lawyers on their firm's website. The company noted it remains open to a negotiated settlement of the claim.

* Eldorado Gold Corp. received electro-mechanical installation permits for its Skouries gold project and an installation permit for its Olympias gold mine from the Greek Ministry of Energy and Environment.

* Valor Resources Ltd. signed a binding heads of agreement with Sulphide X Ltd. to acquire its subsidiary Bullfinch One, which holds the contractual rights to earn an interest in the Radio gold project that is owned by Radio Gold Pty Ltd., a subsidiary of Resources & Energy Group Ltd., in Western Australia.

* Ora Gold Ltd. kicked off a JORC 2012-compliant estimate for the Garden Gully gold deposit in Western Australia to update the JORC 2004-compliant February 2005 estimate of 260,000 tonnes at 3.7 g/t gold containing 31,000 ounces in the indicated and inferred categories.

* Newmont Goldcorp Corp.'s Ahafo gold mill expansion project in Ghana processed its first ore and is on track to achieve commercial production in the fourth quarter.

* Gran Colombia Gold Corp. agreed to spin off its Lo Increible 4a and 4b gold assets in Venezuela to Western Atlas Resources Inc. for US$20 million in Western Atlas shares. The company also intends to acquire up to a 19.9% stake in Western Atlas.

* Rockwealth Resources Corp. entered a binding letter of intent to acquire Realgold Resources Corp. in a reverse takeover, and to sell its Tayson copper project in the Philippines.

* Landore Resources Ltd.'s drilling program at its BAM gold deposit on the Junior Lake property in Ontario extended the mineralized zone a further 500 meters to a total of 3,600 meters. The mineralization remains open down dip and along strike to the east and the west.

* The value of Venezuela's gold reserves in the first half plunged 18.5% to US$4.62 billion, from US$5.67 billion at the end of 2018, Reuters reported. The drop comes amid accusations that the government is selling the precious metal abroad to raise revenue while under U.S. sanctions.

BULK COMMODITIES

* Andrey Kostin, head of Russian lender VTB, said the bank would discuss a debt restructuring request by coal and steel producer Mechel PAO with the company's other creditors Sberbank and Gazprombank, adding that "No one intends to harass Mechel," according to Reuters.

* Wesfarmers Ltd. tapped Macquarie Capital to handle the sale of its entire 3.8% stake held in mining services provider Ausdrill Ltd., trading as Perenti Global, The Australian Financial Review reported. The company is offering 25.8 million shares at A$2.02 per share for a total of A$52.2 million.

* Experts believe Western Australia's iron ore production could return to higher grades than are currently being mined, which could be facilitated by a new research program being backed by Rio Tinto, BHP Group, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. and Roy Hill Holdings Pty Ltd. S&P Global Market Intelligence has learned that a proposed research between the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, the iron ore miners and Curtin University will be conducted in Perth over two years.

* Bowen Coking Coal Ltd. amended a purchase agreement with Rio Tinto Exploration Pty. Ltd., terminating the latter's right to buy back 51% of the Hillalong coking coal project, which is composed of EPC 2141, 1860, and 1824, in Queensland, Australia.

* The federal court in Australia dismissed an appeal by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission against a federal court judgment over alleged bid rigging conduct involving Cascade Coal Pty Ltd., Paul and Moses Obeid and others. The appeal focused on whether parties associated with Obeid family members and Cascade were "in competition" at the time they withdrew a bid for the Mount Penny and Glendon Brook mining exploration licences.

* Bounty Mining Ltd. said it received two unsolicited, nonbinding proposals from QCoal Pty. Ltd. to recapitalize the company, as an alternative to the recapitalization and funding proposal previously received from Amaroo Blackdown Investments LLC. The board determined that the original QCoal proposal was not better than Amaroo's, and the directors are reviewing the revised QCoal proposal.

* A group of Rio Tinto investors appealed the dismissal of their lawsuit that accused the mining giant of fraud over its acquisition of coal assets in Mozambique, Africa Intelligence wrote.

* Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. declared a special dividend of 4 U.S. cents per share on top of a regular quarterly dividend of 6 U.S. cents per share.

* American Resources Corp. announced an organic metallurgical coal production expansion project expected to increase output from its McCoy Elkhorn coal complex in Kentucky.

* Alliance Resource Partners LP will close the Pennyrile Energy Riveredge coal mine in Kentucky, leading to 169 job losses, 14 News reported.

* GCM Resources PLC entered a consultancy agreement with a Bangladeshi-controlled company, DG Infratech Pte Ltd., to advance its high-grade coal resource of 572 million tonnes at the Phulbari coal and power project in north-west Bangladesh and its proposed 3 x 2,000 MW coal-fired mine mouth power plants.

SPECIALTY

* Chinese battery producer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. took up an 8.5% stake in the Pilbara Minerals Ltd. after subscribing for A$55.0 million in shares, part of a larger A$91.5 million equity raising by the lithium miner. Additionally, Pilbara Minerals expects raise up to A$20.0 million more through a share purchase plan, which may increase overall proceeds to A$111.5 million.

* Chile's legislators rejected a bill that would have allowed the state to expropriate private lithium miners operating in the country, including Albemarle Corp. and Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA, Mining.com reported.

* Ferroglobe PLC completed the €170 million sale of its Grupo FerroAtlántica SAU unit to TPG Sixth Street Partners. Ferroglobe swung to a second-quarter loss of US$40.8 million, from a restated year-ago profit of US$67.4 million.

* Westwater Resources Inc. completed the US$2.8 million sale of four uranium royalties and a promissory note to Uranium Royalty Corp.

* North Arrow Minerals Inc. closed the C$266,000 sale of royalty on the Loki diamond project in the Northwest Territories to Umgeni Holdings International Ltd.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* The Queensland Resources Council said mining companies will reconsider and prioritize their engineering and procurement partners based on if they can deliver the whole project over the long term, instead of succumbing to pressure from green activists. "If businesses cave to pressure from anti-coal activists, it' hard to see how resources companies can have confidence in them to work on any other type of resources project," Chief Executive Ian Macfarlane said.

* Zambia's Chamber of Mines wants mineral royalties capped at 7.5% in the 2020 budget to help the mining sector cope with the country's new tax scheme, Reuters reported.

* Macquarie Capital started approaching fund managers as part of mining services provider MLG Oz's planned IPO on the ASX, The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk wrote.

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