TOP NEWS
BHP to distribute record dividend in FY'19 as tax reversals drive profit surge
BHP Group will distribute a fully franked final dividend of 78 U.S. cents per share in the second half, in line with expectations, for a record total dividend of US$2.35 per share for fiscal 2019. Attributable net profit for fiscal 2019 jumped 124% to US$8.31 billion, or US$1.60 per share, from US$3.71 billion, or 69.6 cents per share. The increase was partly attributed to the reversal of the provisions related to global taxation that were resolved over the year.
Norilsk Nickel's H1'19 profit surges 81% YOY
PJSC Norilsk Nickel Co. said its net profit for the first half jumped 81% year over year to almost US$3.00 billion as revenue grew 8% to US$6.29 billion on the back of output growth of all key metals as well as a higher palladium price. Results included a US$548 million foreign exchange gain, compared to a year-ago loss of US$453 million. EBITDA rose 21% on a yearly basis to US$3.72 billion amid higher metal revenue and the ramp-up of Norilsk's Bystrinsky copper project in Russia.
Zhongjin Gold's H1'19 earnings down 41% YOY as China tightens grip on pollution
Zhongjin Gold Corp. Ltd.'s net profit attributable to shareholders in the first half dropped 41% year over year to 73.4 million Chinese yuan. Refined gold production in the half fell 10.7% to 33.1 tonnes, and smelted gold production fell 13.7% to 17.9 tonnes on a yearly basis. The company said its gold production in the first half was hurt as some of its operations were ordered to be suspended due to tighter environmental regulations in China.
DIVERSIFIED
* BHP CEO Andrew Mackenzie believes that the miner will "survive and prosper" through the U.S.-China trade war amid what he sees as a rising tide of nationalism and governments interfering in global trade flows. Mackenzie said that while BHP continues to enjoy strong sales to China, there is "no doubt" that the U.S.-China relationship continues to put a damper on the prospects for world economic growth and "ultimately will impact the demand for our products."
* Prophecy Development Corp. formed new subsidiaries Silver Elephant Mining Corp. and Asia Mining Inc. to allow the potential spinoffs of the company's Pulacayo-Paca silver project in Bolivia and the Ulaan Ovoo and Chandgana coal mines in Mongolia. Prophecy also plans to spin out the Gibellini and Louie Hill vanadium projects in Nevada into its Nevada Vanadium Mining Corp. unit.
* PJSC Norilsk Nickel Co.'s Norilsk smelter complex in Russia and the town of Kriel in South Africa's eastern coal-mining province have the highest sulfur dioxide emissions in the world, Reuters reported, citing NASA satellite data.
BASE METALS
* Workers at Sumitomo Corp.'s San Cristobal zinc-silver-lead unit in Bolivia's Potosí region started an indefinite strike the night of Aug. 18 over unpaid bonuses and other labor demands, union officials said, daily Página Siete reported.
* Western Areas Ltd. invited 19 parties to tender for new nickel off-take agreements as previous agreements with BHP unit BHP Nickel West and China's largest stainless-steel maker Tsingshan Holding Group Co. Ltd. are set to expire in early 2020, The Australian Financial Review reported. The company is favoring short-term deals as it expects nickel prices to continue climbing due to demand fueled by producers of batteries for electric vehicles.
* BHP's Escondida copper mine in Chile submitted for approval the environmental declaration for a project, which includes installing and operating a new pipeline to transport tailings from the mine's concentrator plant to the Laguna Seca tailings deposit, mining magazine Minería Chilena reported. The project will require an investment of US$90 million.
* BHP is aiming to boost production at its Olympic Dam copper mine in South Australia to a sustainable 200,000 tonnes per annum this year and will consider a "modest or major" expansion once it stabilizes operations, though this is "probably some years from now," MiningNews.net reported, citing CEO Andrew Mackenzie.
* Vedanta Resources Ltd. will meet Zambian President Edgar Lungu on his tour to India this week for more talks on issues surrounding its Konkola Copper Mines PLC unit, Reuters reported.
* Power Metal Resources PLC completed its strategic and operational review and all key restructuring activities. The company plans to remain focused on large-scale metal discoveries with a focus on nickel, copper and cobalt. The company will continue exploration in Botswana, Cameroon, Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo.
* Clive Palmer's lawyers asked Australia's High Court to dismiss the trial over Queensland Nickel Pty. Ltd.'s debts as he refused to pay A$10 million in fees to liquidators, The Australian Financial Review reported.
* Transition Metals Corp. said North American Palladium Ltd. completed the stage-one earn-in for a 51% stake in the Sunday Lake nickel joint venture in Ontario.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. narrowed its net loss for fiscal 2019 to 2.61 billion South African rand from a loss of 4.47 billion rand a year ago as revenue jumped 32% to 26.91 billion rand. Headline earnings for the year ended June 30 jumped 40% from the previous year to 1.07 billion rand. Meanwhile, the company is considering acquiring new assets including AngloGold Ashanti Ltd.'s Mponeng underground gold mine in South Africa to boost growth and replace diminishing reserves, Bloomberg wrote, citing CEO Peter Steenkamp.
* An independent preliminary economic assessment for Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd.'s Cariboo gold project in British Columbia outlined a net present value, discounted at 5%, of C$402.2 million, a 28.1% internal rate of return and a 3.1-year payback period.
* Avesoro Resources Inc. shares surged over 25% in London morning trade Aug. 20 after it reported receiving a nonbinding expression of interest for a full takeover from 72.9% shareholder Avesoro Jersey Ltd. at a price of £1 per share. It also suspended its gold output guidance amid operational issues at its projects and widened an expected funding gap for the second half of this year by another US$10 million.
* Rex Minerals Ltd. completed the acquisition of Hog Ranch Group Pty. Ltd., securing the Hog Ranch gold project in Nevada.
* Calidus Resources Ltd. launched a 15,000-meter drilling campaign to increase the mine life of its flagship Warrawoona gold project in Western Australia.
* Lydian International Ltd. said Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan allowed the company to proceed with developing the Amulsar gold project.
* Pan American Silver Corp. may put its Bell Creek and West Timmins gold mines in Ontario up for sale, the Canadian Mining Journal wrote, citing a Northern Ontario Business report.
* Sailfish Royalty Corp. completed its acquisition of Terraco Gold Corp.
* Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. halted operations at the San Jose silver-gold mine in Mexico after an underground scooptram driver died in an accident. There were no other injuries.
* A worker died at Harmony Gold's Doornkop gold plant in South Africa due to a locomotive accident.
* FireFox Gold Corp. expanded its portfolio in Lapland, Finland, with the acquisition of the 983.9-square-kilometer Kierinki gold project.
* Blue Lagoon Resources Inc. signed a definitive agreement to acquire ASIC Mining Inc. and its option to own the Pellaire gold project in British Columbia.
* 66 Resources Corp. entered into a nonbinding letter of intent to acquire Vancouver, British Columbia-based esports startup Good Gamer Corp. for 7 million shares.
* Papua New Guinea is developing policies to keep at least 30% of the gold it now exports to improve its economy, Reuters reported, citing Wera Mori, the country's commerce minister.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Brazilian securities regulator CVM launched another investigation into executives of Vale SA over whether they breached their fiduciary duties related to the Feijao dam disaster, Reuters reported.
* S&P Global Ratings downgraded the long-term rating on German steelmaker thyssenkrupp AG to BB- from BB and affirmed its B short-term rating. The rating agency expects the company to report negative cash flow of €1.1 billion for this year and for it to remain negative in 2020 due to weak conditions in the steel and automotive markets.
* U.S. Steel Corp. plans to temporarily lay off less than 200 workers following its decision to stop production at its Great Lakes facility in Michigan, Reuters reported, citing a company filing.
* Daye Special Steel Co. Ltd.'s first-half attributable net profit climbed 15% year over year to 294.0 million Chinese yuan as sales revenue rose 4% to 6.39 billion yuan.
* PTT Global Management Co. Ltd subsidiary Sakari Resources Ltd. acquired 100% of the common shares of Indonesian coal mining companies PT Sentika Mitra Persada and PT Multiara Kapuas for about US$11.7 million.
* An Australian federal court ordered a traditional owner of Adani Enterprises Ltd.'s Carmichael coal project site in Queensland to pay A$600,000 in legal costs for the owner's several failed cases against the proposed mine, Australian Mining reported.
* Up to 20% of Chinese demand for low-grade ore is expected to shift toward high-grade ore and iron ore pellets in coming years as it moves steel mills to coastal regions with tougher environmental requirements, Reuters reported, citing industry sources and an analysis of official import and production statistics by the newswire.
* CCU Coal and Construction LLC, which purchased former coal producer Westmoreland Coal Co.'s Ohio assets during its bankruptcy process, is seeking a federal lease on about 432 acres in Ohio containing an estimated 1.4 million tonnes of subsurface coal reserves, according to a notice in the Federal Register.
* Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co. Ltd. will not change its steel product prices in September due to high local inventories and a weaker overseas market, Reuters reported.
SPECIALTY
* PJSC Alrosa increased its full-year diamond production forecast to 38.5 million carats from 38 million carats and said it expects sales of 32 million to 33 million carats this year. The company's net profit in the second quarter slumped 47% year over year to 13.4 billion Russian rubles as revenue declined 21% to 57.4 billion rubles with sales volumes down 8% to 8.3 million carats.
* Kenmare Resources PLC declared a maiden dividend of 2.66 U.S. cents per share as profit attributable to shareholders for the first half slid to US$21.9 million from US$26.4 million a year ago. Revenue in the six months declined to US$122.7 million from US$140.1 million.
* Hastings Technology Metals Ltd. was granted the environmental permit for the Yangibana rare earths project in Western Australia. The grant allows the company to move to the next stage and take the project into construction, which is expected to start at year-end.
* Marenica Energy Ltd. entered into an agreement with the applicant of a uranium-prospective exclusive prospecting license in Namibia, allowing the company to acquire 95% of the tenement when it is granted. The company will provide technical expertise and funding for the tenement, but there is no up-front payment.
* Altura Mining Ltd. expects to produce about 45,000 wet tonnes in the September quarter from its namesake lithium project in Western Australia, compared to 42,402 wet tonnes produced in the June quarter.
* King River Resources Ltd. highlighted the potential to further cut the projected capital cost for its Speewah Dome vanadium project in Western Australia by US$152 million to US$524 million by reducing the planned start-up mining rate by installing a more standard-sized acid plant, The West Australian reported.
* Broken Hill Prospecting Ltd. formed U.S.-based subsidiary La Paz Rare Earth LLC to acquire and develop the La Paz rare earth project in Arizona.
* OCP Asia and Keshik Capital Pte. Ltd. agreed to take a 10% stake each in Alita Resources Ltd. by participating in the lithium miner's A$60 million recapitalization, The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk wrote.
* Plateau Energy Metals Inc.'s Macusani Yellowcake S.A.C. unit filed another appeal with Peru's mining council to reverse the cancellation of 32 uranium concessions. The appeal is now focused on facts and arguments the company believes were ignored by the council in its previous deliberations.
* Navajo Transitional Energy Co. LLC completed an investment in USA Rare Earth LLC, which has an option to acquire up to 80% of the Round Top rare earths project in Texas.
* Rock Tech Lithium Inc. is conducting a tradeoff study of electricity supply options for its Georgia Lake lithium project in Ontario.
* Premier African Minerals Ltd. expects the electrification of its 49%-owned RHA tungsten mine in Zimbabwe to be finished by late November, as confirmed by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Western Australian Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston announced new guidance for rehabilitating Western Australian mine sites, which outlines environmental criteria mine operators can use to demonstrate they have successfully and sustainably rehabilitated their site after mining.
* Mining services company Ausdrill Ltd. will adopt a new brand and identity, Perenti, and will list under the trading name of Perenti Global.
* TÜV SÜD AG will no longer conduct safety assessments of mining dams following the fatal tailings dam breach at Vale's Feijao iron ore mine in January, Reuters reported, citing TÜV SÜD CEO Axel Stepken.
* Heavy mining equipment maintenance contractor Mader Group Ltd. raised A$50 million at A$1 per share from its initial IPO and will list on the ASX in September with a A$200 million market capitalization, The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk wrote.
* Before Mexico reverses a new policy to stop issuing new mining concessions, its government wants to ensure existing ones are actively operated, review a backlog of claim applications and implement policies on indigenous consultation, Francisco Quiroga, Mexico's undersecretary of mining, told S&P Global Market Intelligence in an exclusive interview.
This S&P Global Market Intelligence news article may contain information about credit ratings issued by S&P Global Ratings. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings.
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