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Implats bullish on palladium; JPMorgan warns on Fortescue's Simandou bid

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Implats bullish on palladium; JPMorgan warns on Fortescue's Simandou bid

TOP NEWS

Palladium supply crunch girded Implats' C$1.0B bid for Canadian miner

Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. CEO Nicolaas Muller pointed to a bullish medium-term palladium outlook while countering concerns raised on an Oct. 7 conference call that the company could be deal-making at a market top, after its recent C$1.0 billion bid for North American Palladium Ltd. However, it is a bit too soon to sell North American Palladium to Impala Platinum, GMP Securities analyst David Stewart told S&P Global Market Intelligence, noting the former's stock has yet to bake in potential cash and additional resources.

Analyst says investors unlikely to react positively to Fortescue's Simandou bid

An analyst said investors are unlikely to react positively to Fortescue Metals Group Ltd.'s bid to develop the Simandou iron ore deposit in Guinea, The Australian reported. JPMorgan analyst Lyndon Fagan said the market is unlikely to see it as a good step unless Fortescue found a way around the Guinean government's demands that Simandou be developed through a 650-kilometer in-country rail line and a new port, noting that it can attract investment returns if a low capital expenditure trucking option were to be pursued.

Ferrexpo cuts FY'19 output guidance as Q3 pellet production falls QOQ

Ferrexpo PLC lowered its full-year guidance to between 10.4 million tonnes and 10.6 Mt from the previous guidance of 10.6 Mt. Its total pellet production in the third quarter dropped 9.8% from the previous quarter to 2.5 Mt.

DIVERSIFIED

* BHP Group external affairs head Geoff Healy said the company will conduct a monthly polling of community groups located close to its most important mines as part of its reduction of scope 3 emissions, the Australian Financial Review reported.

BASE METALS

* Central Asia Metals PLC's third-quarter copper production at the Kounrad Dump operation in Kazakhstan totaled 4,039 tonnes, while output at the SASA operation in Macedonia was 6,186 tonnes of zinc and 7,362 tonnes of lead.

* Antofagasta PLC is seeking intervention from the Chilean government to resolve a contract dispute with the workers at the Los Pelambres mine, Reuters reported, citing the operation's supervisors union.

* The Supreme Court of Western Australia approved Sandfire Resources NL's sweetened offer to buy the MOD Resources Ltd. shares that it does not own.

* Private base metals explorer Cobre Pty. Ltd., which owns the Perrinvale copper project in Western Australia, is said to have tapped stockbroker Ashanti Capital and financial adviser Sternship to aid in potential IPO on the ASX, the Australian Financial Review's Street Talk wrote.

* A group of Alaskan organizations opposed to Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.'s Pebble copper-gold project near Bristol Bay are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its recent move to withdraw proposed rules it has imposed on the would-be mine ahead of federal permitting.

* Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. will increase its shareholding in Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. to 13.88% from 9.8% in a private share purchase and sale transaction with CITIC Metal Africa and Robert Friedland.

* Britain-based Earth-i, which specializes in geospatial data, aims to sell its SAVANT service that uses satellites to keep copper smelters under surveillance to know immediately when they shut down and ramp up, to the finance sector, Reuters reported. The company noted that smelters going offline or restarting can jolt the copper price.

* Sky Metals Ltd. entered into a farm-in agreement to earn an 80% interest in Heron Resources Ltd.' three tenements in the project areas of Cullarin and Kangiara within the Woodlawn zinc-copper project in New South Wales, Australia.

PRECIOUS METALS

* PJSC Polyus entered into cross-currency swaps with banks to convert its recent 20 billion Russian rubles of 10-year bonds into a fixed-rate U.S. dollar liability, following their recent placement. The proceeds will mainly be used for debt refinancing and other general corporate purposes.

* Royal Gold Inc.'s subsidiary RGLD Gold AG sold about 60,000 gold equivalent ounces comprised of 50,000 gold ounces, 510,000 silver ounces and 1,100 tonnes of copper related to its streaming agreements during the fiscal 2020 first quarter, ending Sept. 30.

* Echo Resources Ltd.'s independent directors accepted Northern Star Resources Ltd.'s unconditional offer to acquire the remaining shares of the company at 33 Australian cents apiece, recommending that other shareholders also accept the bid.

* Westgold Resources Ltd. expects an output shortfall of 2,500 ounces at its Meekatharra gold operations in Western Australia due to issues with the white metal bearings on the SAG mill.

* Equus Mining Ltd. executed an option to acquire the idled Cerro Bayo silver-gold mine in Chile from Mandalay Resources Corp.

* Goldcliff Resource Corp. is selling its lease on the Wilson patented claims within the Pine Grove gold project in Nevada to Lincoln Gold Mining Inc. for a total of US$200,000 in cash payments and 2,750,000 in common shares.

* Clean Commodities Corp. will change its name to Dixie Gold Inc.

* M3 Metals Corp. has secured an option to acquire the Mohave gold project in Arizona, Resourceworld reported.

* Eloro Resources Ltd. has secured an option to acquire up to 100% interest in the Iska Iska polymetallic property in the polymetallic district in the Potosi department in the southern half of the Bolivian tin belt, which hosts the world's largest silver deposit.

* QuestCap Inc. has acquired a 1.0% net smelter return royalty in respect to minerals removed from the property covered by 81 mineral claims and surveyed mining lease known as the Troilus gold mine, owned by Troilus Gold Corp.

* Havilah Resources Ltd. signed an agreement with Consolidated Mining and Civil Pty Ltd.'s subsidiary Benagerie Gold & Copper Pty. Ltd. to explore the Bassanio iron ore oxide copper-gold target in South Australia.

* An employee of Troy Resources Ltd. died at its Karouni gold mine in Guyana on Oct. 8. Mining operations at the mine have been temporarily suspended.

BULK COMMODITIES

* Thyssenkrupp AG is planning to give potential bidders access to the data room of its elevator division in the coming days as it auctions off the business unit, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources.

* Brazil’s iron ore exports in September decreased to 27.14 million tonnes, following the 33.97 Mt exports in July, the highest this year since the Feijao dam burst in January, according to an Argus Media report.

* India is poised to become a net iron ore importer in the next financial year as the domestic market shifts from surplus to deficit, Mining Weekly reported, quoting Federation of Indian Mineral Industries secretary general R.K. Sharma.

* Rio Tinto awarded a A$12 million contract to Australian mining services company Cape for its Robe Valley iron ore mine in Western Australia, MiningNews.net reported.

* The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions will not start criminal cartel proceedings against BlueScope Steel Ltd. or its former general manager of sales and marketing, Jason Ellis. However, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission said the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions brought criminal obstruction charges against Ellis.

* Salt Lake Potash Ltd. closed its acquisition of the Lake Way tenements from Blackham Resources Ltd.

* Pacific Iron Ore Corp. said the delisting of its common shares from the TSX Venture Exchange will take effect at the close of business on Oct. 15, amending the previous announcement that it will occur on Oct. 14.

* CITIC Metal Co. Ltd., the exclusive sales agent in China for ferro-niobium from Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM), has raised its fourth-quarter price due to the significant volatility of the Chinese currency to 205,000 yuan to 225,000 yuan from the third quarter's price of 190,000yuan to 220,000 yuan, Fastmarkets reported.

* The iron ore market is unwinding, as Morgan Stanley said tipping a 100 metric tonnes per annum slip in annualized run rates by the end of next year that will "remove all remaining tightness in the market," according to a report in The Australian.

* U.S. Steel Corp. will implement an enhanced operating model and organizational structure, effective Jan. 1, 2020. The enhanced operating model is expected to deliver approximately US$200 million of annual fixed cost savings by 2022.

SPECIALTY

* Alexey Burkser, the former head of PJSC Alrosa's Mir diamond mine in Russia which flooded in August 2017 killing eight miners, was found dead in a pretrial detention center Oct. 8, a day after being arrested on suspicion of violating safety rules, Reuters reported, citing Russian investigating authorities.

* NioCorp Developments Ltd. signed contracts with the State of Nebraska under the existing Nebraska advantage program to reduce the company’s state and local tax liability by as much as US$200 million over 10 years conditional upon meeting the requirements at its Elk Creek critical minerals project.

* Alita Resources Ltd.'s administrators kicked off a formal recapitalization process and are urgently seeking proposals from interested parties for a potential sale of the company.

* Colossal mounds of fertilizer byproduct dotting Russia's countryside could hold the key to transforming the country's supply of rare earth metals, according to a co-founder of SkyGrad, a Moscow region-based company specializing in rare earth metals development.

* Australia will lobby U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross for American dollars to fund a new major rare earth mine in Western Australia during meetings with the top official this week, The West Australian reported.

* Lucapa Diamond Co. Ltd. produced a combined total of 14,610 carats of diamond from its Lulo and Mothae mines in the third quarter.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* The French government appointed Didier Le Moine as the new mining delegate and coordinator of mining projects in French Guiana.

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