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Western Australian exploration uptick points to cautious recovery, say analysts

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Western Australian exploration uptick points to cautious recovery, say analysts

TOP NEWS

Western Australian exploration uptick points to cautious recovery, say analysts

Western Australia continued to receive more applications for exploration licenses as well as permits to conduct exploration activity in the fourth quarter of 2017, a sign that market watchers say points to expectations of a cautious recovery in the state's resources sector. The number of applications in the quarter for new programs of work rose by 45% year over year, and applications for new exploration licenses jumped 92%, according to an analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence of publicly released data from the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety of Western Australia.

Yara swings to profit of 846M kroner in Q4'17

Yara International ASA swung to a fourth-quarter 2017 profit of 846 million Norwegian kroner, or 3.88 kroner per share, from a loss of 333 million kroner, or 1.58 kroner per share, with the improved performance attributed to a 5% higher production of ammonia of about 2.0 million tonnes, supported by higher market prices.

Sumitomo Metal Mining back in black for 9 months to 2017-end

Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. swung to a profit attributable to shareholders of ¥64.98 billion, or ¥211.70 per diluted share, for the nine months ended Dec. 31, 2017, from a loss of ¥32.83 billion in the same year-ago period. Net sales in the period jumped 21.5% year over year to ¥685.84 billion. The company expects full-year profit to reach ¥85.00 billion or ¥308.21 per share. Meanwhile, Sumitomo Metal revised its year-end dividend forecast to ¥59 per share, from ¥40 per share previously.

DIVERSIFIED

* Anglo American Plc announced plans for early redemption of all of its outstanding US$750 million 9.375% notes due April 8, 2019.

* Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques said the company is "comfortable" with its dual-listed structure at present, the Financial Times reported. Jacques added that the company's current listing structure did not create any problems, but in the "medium and long term" it could be changed according to the prevailing tax environment. The executive also said that Rio Tinto has the capacity to add more assets, but it will only do it "at the right value."

BASE METALS

* BHP Billiton Group's Olympic Dam copper mine is expected to be at full production by the end of March after completing A$350 million of smelter and infrastructure upgrades, The Australian Financial Review reported. The company intends to double production at the mine by 2023 under a US$2.1 billion plan.

* Paranapanema SA expects full-year 2018 CapEx at about 320 million Brazilian reais, to be used for investments in operations and production enhancement.

* The treatment charges that miners pay zinc smelters to process ore, which will be finalized at the International Zinc Association's annual conference starting Feb. 11, is expected to fall by at least 13% to US$140 to US$150 per tonne or below for 2018 term contracts, Reuters reported, citing four trader and analyst sources.

* Anglo American notified Highlands Pacific Ltd. that it intends to withdraw from the Star Mountains copper-gold joint venture in Papua New Guinea, relinquishing its vested 15% interest in the project.

* Southern Hemisphere Mining Ltd. entered an option with Hudbay Minerals Inc., allowing the latter to earn up to a 70% interest in the Llahuin copper-gold project in Chile.

* The Mining Cadastre Department of Zambia terminated mining rights for BMR Group Plc's Kabwe lead-zinc-vanadium project in the country. The development comes a day after Jubilee Metals Group PLC decided to exercise its option to earn a 40% interest in the Kabwe project, raising its stake to 57.14%.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Royal Gold Inc. booked a net loss attributable to shareholders of US$14.8 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2018, swinging from a year-ago net income of US$28.1 million. The company recorded an expense of US$26.4 million in connection with U.S. tax reforms, and an expense of US$15.9 million related to impact of a noncash functional currency election to file certain Canadian income tax returns in U.S. dollars.

* Crusader Resources Ltd.'s optimization study for the Borborema gold project in Brazil pegged a net present value, discounted at 8%, of US$117.8 million, and a 31% internal rate of return. The company expects average annual production of about 70,000 ounces of gold for 10 years.

* The Dominican Republic's Energy and Mines Minister Antonio Isa Conde said that GoldQuest Mining Corp.'s Romero gold exploration project in San Juan region complies with the country's regulations, in light of recent criticism by institutions and civic groups, daily Proceso reported.

* Sibanye Gold Ltd.'s deal to acquire up to a 50.1% stake in DRDGold Ltd. was approved by the South African competition authorities. Sibanye will exchange certain surface gold processing assets and tailings storage facilities for the stake.

* Meanwhile, two workers died at Sibanye's Kloof gold mine in South Africa after a fall-of-ground incident at the Ikamva 4 Shaft, and operations at the affected area will remain suspended until an investigation is completed.

* Hecla Mining Co.'s posted its highest-ever levels of gold, silver and lead reserves and the highest zinc reserves in five years. The company's gold reserves swelled 12% over 2016-end to 2.3 million ounces and silver reserves were up 3% to 177 Moz. Lead reserves increased 8% to 737,290 tons, while zinc reserves jumped 15% to 840,870 tons.

* Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. is targeting mine production of 37 tonnes of gold, 244,000 tonnes of copper, 274,100 tonnes of zinc and 37,600 tonnes of lead in 2018. The company will also produce 213 tonnes silver and 2.6 million tonnes of iron concentrate.

* PJSC Norilsk Nickel Co. signed an agreement with Russian Platinum to forge a strategic partnership and establish a 50/50 joint venture, which will aim to become among the largest producers of platinum group metals, targeting annual PGM output of 70 to 100 tonnes.

* Pan African Resources Plc terminated talks to acquire certain assets and liabilities of Asa Resource Group Plc, which is under administration.

BULK COMMODITIES

* The Chinese government is accelerating its targeted steel capacity cuts, aiming to complete the 150 million-tonne reduction this year instead of the initial 2020 deadline, Reuters reported, citing the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

* Mineral Resources Ltd.'s profit attributable to shareholders for the first half of fiscal 2018 rose to A$163.6 million, or 87.30 Australian cents per share, from the year-ago profit of A$140.3 million, or 75.05 cents per share. The company also increased the fully franked interim dividend to 25 cents per share, from 21 cents apiece in the first half of fiscal 2017.

* The environment spokesman for the Australian Labor Party, Tony Burke, is asking for a probe into Adani Enterprises Ltd.'s dumping of contaminated water from its Abbot Point coal operations in Queensland into the Caley Valley wetlands, The Australian reported. "The investigation needs to also determine whether Adani has provided false information to the Australian or Queensland government," Burke said.

* Cia. Siderúrgica Nacional may opt to sell off its assets in a measure to further shed its outstanding debt, Reuters reported, citing director Luis Fernando Martinez. The Brazilian steelmaker, however, is not under pressure as it bought enough time to consider the sale of its assets, as iron ore prices appreciated and it reached a deal with Banco do Brazil SA to outline the main terms of extending debt maturities.

* Chilean steelmaker CAP SA presented a plan to rectify 20 environmental infractions detected by environmental regulator SMA at its iron ore operations in northern Chile in January. One of the improvements concerns the miner's current tailings dumping system, which discharges the waste into the sea without proper environmental permits. The company decided to submit for SMA's approval a plan for a new deposit that will be placed on the mainland, daily Diario Financiero reported.

* Peabody Energy Corp. posted net income attributable to stockholders of US$317.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, compared with a loss of US$192.7 million in the same quarter in 2016.

* ArcelorMittal is said to be selling its entire 29.1% stake in India's Uttam Galva Steels Ltd. to the company's founders at less than the market price of the stock, a member of Uttam Galva's founding Miglani family told Reuters. Meanwhile, Business Standard had reported that ArcelorMittal agreed to sell about 41.3 million Uttam Galva shares at 1 Indian rupee each.

* Brazil's antitrust watchdog CADE conditionally approved ArcelorMittal Brasil SA's takeover of Votorantim Siderurgia SA, Reuters wrote. The regulator asked the ArcelorMittal unit to sell assets, including a long steel producing unit in the country's Espirito Santo state. If ArcelorMittal fails to strike a deal, the assets will be auctioned.

* One person was killed while another was injured in a rockfall event at Evraz Plc's Osinnikovskaya coal mine in Russia, Vedomosti reported.

* The ministry of transport and communications in Peru initiated a process to build a railway line, which will start close to Strike Resources Ltd.'s Apurimac iron ore project and go to the mineral export Port of San Juan de Marcona. The company said that the railway will significantly improve the development prospects for a 20 million-tonne-per-annum iron ore mine.

SPECIALTY

* PJSC Alrosa is actively looking to expand its footprint globally, the company's vice president for African operations told S&P Market Intelligence on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa. Vladimir Marchenko said the company has been approached by many different countries, including Zimbabwe, Venezuela and India, but Alrosa is focused on "the widely unexplored Angola."

* Renascor Resources Ltd.'s scoping study for the production of spherical graphite from the Siviour deposit, part of the Arno project in South Australia, estimated a posttax net present value, discounted at 10%, of A$307.5 million with an internal rate of return of 59.9%. Under the combined spherical graphite and flake graphite production option, the company estimated a net present value, discounted at 10%, of A$740.5 million and an IRR of 53.5%.

* The Supreme Court of Western Australia dismissed the appeal against the approval of Cameco Corp.'s Yeelirrie uranium mine, The Australian Financial Review reported. However, the Conservation Council of Western Australia said it will continue to oppose the mine.

* Triton Minerals Ltd. signed a term sheet with Qingdao Tianshengda Graphite Co. Ltd. for the off-take of up to 16,000 tonnes per annum of graphite concentrate from the Ancuabe graphite project in Mozambique for an initial five-year period.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* Robert Friedland, executive chairman of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., has joined the growing number of industry executives voicing opposition to the proposed new mining code in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. "The mining industry is sick and tired of being gored," Friedland told attendees at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa. The executive said he was not necessarily unwilling to pay higher royalties and taxes but said the funds should be used to support and empower local communities. At the same time, he said there must be a stable environment for investors.

* Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet with the leaders of metals businesses operating in the city of Krasnoyarsk to discuss locals' environmental concerns, Reuters reported, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, including Norilsk Nickel co-owner Vladimir Potanin and En+ Group plc majority shareholder Oleg Deripaska or his representative.

* Mining in Colombia paid 2.11 trillion Colombian pesos in royalties to the government in 2017, up 25.4% compared with 2016 figures. Coal production contributed the most significant amount, accounting for 87.7% of the total payment, according to national mining agency ANM figures, daily El Colombiano reported.

S&P Global Market Intelligence is owned by S&P Global Inc.

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.