TOP NEWS
Trump orders aluminum and steel tariffs on national security grounds
President Donald Trump signed orders enacting tariffs of 25% on global steel imports and 10% on aluminum, pledging to boost American production and security. The move by Trump was hailed by some U.S. steel producers but also left some industries and Republican lawmakers concerned about adverse effects on U.S. companies that rely on imported steel and aluminum that could lead to job losses. The tariffs initially will not apply to imports of steel and aluminum from Mexico and Canada. The tariff will take effect March 23.
Japanese steelmakers to invest over US$20B in next 3 years to increase output
Japanese steelmakers Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. and JFE Holdings Inc. plan to invest over US$20 billion in the next three years to overhaul plants in a bid to reduce costs and increase output of high-quality metal, Bloomberg News reported. The investment plans come as the companies face competition in the high-quality metal market for electric vehicles from competitors including Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, South Korea's POSCO and Chinese producers.
Norilsk Nickel shareholders reach provisional deal on stake sale
Roman Abramovich's Crispian Investment Ltd. conditionally agreed to sell a 4% interest in PJSC Norilsk Nickel Co. to Vladimir Potanin's Whiteleave Holdings Ltd. and United Co. Rusal Plc, Reuters reported, citing a lawyer for Rusal. The share transfer, however, will be reversed if Rusal wins the court ruling in the dispute. Potanin is expected to complete the purchase of a 2% stake in Norilsk from Abramovich in the week of March 12.
DIVERSIFIED
* Royal Dutch Shell plc and private equity firm Blackstone Group LP agreed on working together for a joint US$10 billion bid for BHP Billiton Group's U.S. shale assets, Sky News reported. If successful, the bid would mark the largest takeover Shell has been involved in since its purchase of BG Group in 2016.
* Thor Mining PLC decided to focus on its Pilot Mountain tungsten-silver-copper project, Molyhil tungsten-molybdenum project and Kapunda copper project, following a strategic business review.
BASE METALS
* S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis points to zinc exploration in Australia rising in line with the rest of the world in 2018, but juniors and analysts believe the closet is bare as far as decent brownfields opportunities go and greenfields is too risky.
* Despite sharply higher mined copper production in the final quarter of 2017, S&P Global Market Intelligence estimates that the annual total slipped to 19.85 million tonnes, down 1.9% from 2016 levels. The Metals and Mining Research team expects the recent improvement in mined production to continue and are forecasting global mined copper production to reach 20.41 million tonnes this year.
* Glencore Plc unit Glencore Canada Corp. inked a deal to supply Noranda Income Fund with all of its zinc concentrate requirements and purchase the fund's zinc metal for a four-year period ending April 30, 2022.
* A Swedish court rejected charges brought against Boliden AB over the export of industrial waste to Chile in the 1980s, Reuters reported. The company was sued in 2013 for around 100 million Swedish kronor.
* Codelco's Ventanas division plans to invest US$9 million in its furnace maintenance works as part of the company's 2018 maintenance plan, which will take 29 days of non-stop works starting the first week of March, Minería Chilena reported.
* Aura Minerals Inc. secured a US$20 million loan facility from Louis Dreyfus Co. Metals for the restart of its Aranzazu copper mine operations in Mexico.
* Puma Exploration Inc. signed an option agreement to allow Rio Tinto unit Rio Tinto Exploration Canada Inc. to acquire its Red Brook zinc project in New Brunswick for C$1 million.
* Freeport-McMoRan Inc. unit PT Freeport Indonesia is still open to developing a smelter in Sumbawa in Indonesia's West Nusa Tenggara province even though it has officially submitted a US$2.2 billion proposal to develop a smelter inside the Java Integrated Industrial and Port Estate in Gresik by 2022, The Jakarta Post reported.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Several of the top 10 gold miners had lower production in the December 2017 quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2016, ranging from a decline of 1% by Newcrest Mining Ltd. to a 15% drop by Goldcorp Inc. However, both companies had higher production in the fourth quarter of 2017 than in the third quarter, which suggests that their lower 2017 production was the result of factors present earlier in the year.
* Pretium Resources Inc. incurred a net loss of US$2.7 million, or 1 cent per share, in the fourth quarter of 2017, narrowing from a loss of US$8.6 million in the year-ago period. Revenue during the three-month period was US$107.1 million. Meanwhile, the company reduced its net loss of US$61.2 million in full-year 2016 to US$16.5 million in full-year 2017.
* Detour Gold Corp. swung to net earnings of US$16.7 million and US$88.2 million in the fourth quarter and full-year 2017, respectively, from year-ago net losses of US$13.5 million and US$6.9 million.
* LeaGold Mining Corp. produced 53,446 ounces of gold at the Los Filos gold mine at an all-in sustaining cost of US$918 per ounce in the fourth quarter. Full-year 2017 production, meanwhile, amounted to 191,195 ounces, meeting the mid-point of its guidance of between 185,000 ounces and 200,000 ounces.
* Santa Fe Gold Corp. said that an independent study defined a value of US$839 million for the Alhambra property, one of the historical mines in New Mexico it recently acquired.
* Coeur Mining Inc. kicked off production at its Silvertip silver-zinc-lead mine in British Columbia following the successful commissioning of mill operations.
* Victoria Gold Corp. secured a financing package of around C$505 million to fund developing its Eagle gold deposit, part of its Dublin Gulch property in Canada's Yukon Territory, through to commercial production.
* Stonewall Resources Ltd. increased by 215% the total Vaalhoek resource, part of the larger TGME gold project in South Africa, to 791,000 ounces of gold contained in 3.3 million tonnes grading 7.46 g/t gold, after it released a maiden open-cut resource for the mine.
BULK COMMODITIES
* The U.S. government invited all the countries that will be affected by the proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum to negotiate exclusions from the measures, the Associated Press reported.
* South Korea is considering to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization against the U.S. if it is not exempted from the steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, The Korea Herald reported.
* The Chinese Commerce Ministry joined the chorus of critics against the Trump administration's steel and aluminum tariffs, saying that it is the destruction of the multilateral trade system backed by the World Trade Organization and will have a "serious impact" on global trade, The Washington Post reported.
* EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom will meet her U.S. and Japanese counterparts March 10 to continue "trilateral steel overcapacity talks". According to Reuters, Malmstrom sees this as "the big opportunity" to discuss looming tariffs from the U.S. and to reiterate what the counter-measures from the EU would be.
* France will work with its European Union partners to assess the impact that U.S. President Donald Trump's newly ordered steel and aluminum tariffs will have on their industries, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in a post on Twitter.
* Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corp.'s full-year 2017 net income doubled to C$157.3 million, from C$78.2 million in 2016, as revenue increased 38% to C$158.6 million.
* Adani Enterprises Ltd. is considering other options to refinance debt for its Adani Abbot Point Terminal Pty. Ltd. unit amid difficulties in attracting lenders due to its controversial Carmichael coal project in Queensland, Australia, Reuters wrote. According to data from Thomson Reuters Loan Pricing Corp., Adani Abbot Point launched a loan of up to A$500 million in August 2017 to partially refinance debt due in October, but sources say the arranger has yet to receive any firm commitments.
* Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. accepted for purchase US$446.9 million aggregate principal amount of 2022 notes following the close of the early participation date of the previously announced offer.
* Kobe Steel Ltd. plans to appoint Mitsugu Yamaguchi, the head of its machinery business, as president and CEO to replace Hiroya Kawasaki, who announced his resignation in connection with the data fabrication scandal, Reuters reported.
* South Africa mining minister Gwede Mantashe is seeking for the quick resolution of the business rescue process of the Optimum coal mine in the country, owned by the Gupta family which has links to deposed President Jacob Zuma, Reuters reported.
* The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility claimed that Rio Tinto is denying its U.K. investors an opportunity to vote on a motion that would force the company to review its membership of industry associations that support fossil fuels, the Financial Times reported.
* Administrators for BSG Resources Ltd. said they would work to return the miner to solvency and pay creditors in full after it entered into voluntary administration to guard itself from legal disputes associated with the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, Reuters reported.
SPECIALTY
* AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group NV's attributable net income hit a record US$57 million in 2017, a 40% rise from 2016, after fourth-quarter net income surged 44% on an annual basis to US$14.3 million.
* The Chilean Nuclear Energy Commission approved a request by Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA to increase its lithium extraction quota in the Atacama salt flats, Diario Financiero reported. The lithium miner is now allowed to produce 216,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent by 2025, from the current limit of 45,000 tonnes.
* Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the country is looking at opportunities in Zimbabwe's diamond sector and the full implementation of a US$3 billion joint platinum project near Zimbabwe's capital, Reuters reported.
* Argentina Lithium & Energy Corp. acquired its third lithium brine project by applying for approximately 9,000 hectares of mining claims in the north end of the Salar de Antofalla in Argentina's Salta province. The company entered into an option agreement to acquire three additional properties, which include two granted mine concessions and a third mine application, covering more than 5,300 hectares adjacent to the staked properties.
* Canada Carbon Inc. is filing a C$96 million lawsuit against the municipality of Grenville-sur-la-Rouge in Quebec and members of its council, alleging that the council acted in bad faith regarding the development of the company's Miller graphite mine and marble quarry.
* Rogue Resources Inc. formed a strategic partnership with Ed Seguin & Sons Trucking and Paving Ltd. and SCR Mining and Tunneling LP for the development of the Snow White silica/quartz project in Ontario.
* MGX Minerals Inc. is partnering with Light Metals International Inc. and Orion Laboratories LLC to develop and commercialize a new process for extracting hard-rock lithium from spodumene concentrate.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Trump approved a 25% tariff on U.S. imports of select foreign-made steel. As a first impression, the move is alarming — on a net imports basis, the U.S. imported approximately 29% of the steel that it consumed in 2017, according to the World Steel Association and S&P Global Market Intelligence. However, these measures are just the latest in a raft of tools that the U.S. has employed to deal with perceived issues of dumping and over-capacity in global steel production.
* Canada's largest provincial economy faces the "threat of a zombie NAFTA," and uncertain growth given the Trump administration's push for protectionist trade policies, said Ontario's Minister of Finance, Charles Sousa.
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.
