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China Gold eyes deals up to US$2B; Nucor flags Q3'19 earnings decrease

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China Gold eyes deals up to US$2B; Nucor flags Q3'19 earnings decrease

TOP NEWS

China Gold eyes deals up to US$2B to replenish pipeline

Aiming to replenish its pipeline, China Gold International Resources Corp. Ltd. is willing to spend US$1 billion to US$2 billion to acquire operating mines that have ramp-up plans or projects nearing production, Bloomberg News reported, citing Executive Vice President Jerry Xie. China Gold is also considering snapping up properties that Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Goldcorp Corp. will divest after recent mergers, the report said.

Nucor flags Q3'19 earnings decrease due to steel prices

Nucor Corp. expects its third quarter EPS to range between 75 U.S. cents and 80 U.S. cents, falling from the US$2.13 posted for the same period of 2018. Results for the comparable year-ago period included a noncash impairment of US$110.0 million, or 26 cents per share, related to its natural gas well assets, and a gain of US$24.8 million, or 6 cents per share, related to insurance recoveries.

Eldorado Gold seeks partner for Skouries project in Greece

Eldorado Gold Corp. is seeking a partner that will help finance the remaining US$680 million in development costs at the stalled Skouries project in Greece, Reuters reported, citing CEO George Burns, who also said that the company is open to the government's proposal to increase royalties on its operations in the country.

BASE METALS

* The government of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the Philippines suspended four unnamed nickel miners amid an industry audit, Reuters reported, citing Abdulraof Abdul Macacua, the region's environmental department head.

* United States Antimony Corp. received a US$510,528 grant to supply antimony trisulfide to the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Logistics Agency, part of the government's plan to establish a domestic supply of the material and reduce reliance on imports from China.

* Nyrstar NV temporarily resumed operations of the old sinter plant at its Port Pirie smelter in South Australia, Reuters reported. The company shut down Port Pirie twice in recent months due to an unplanned blast furnace outage.

* Zinc-focused Osisko Metals Inc. launched an 8,000-meter drill campaign at its Ascension project in Quebec and signed an option deal with O3 Mining Inc. to acquire 50% of the Ashuanipi project, also in Quebec.

* Afritin Mining Ltd. outlined an initial resource estimate for its 85%-owned Uis tin mine in Namibia, comprising 95,539 tonnes of tin contained within 71.5 million tonnes grading 0.134% tin.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Zhaojin Mining Industry Co. Ltd. reported a 20.8% year-over-year fall in net profit attributable to shareholders of 238.9 million yuan for the first half due to higher integrated gold costs. Revenue fell 1.76% to 2.82 billion yuan as a result of a decrease in copper sales prices and production volume.

* Newmont Goldcorp Corp. closed its offering of US$700 million of 2.800% senior notes due 2029, receiving US$690 million in net proceeds after deducting underwriting discounts. Proceeds will be used to repay Newmont's outstanding 5.125% senior notes due Oct. 1, and for general corporate purposes.

* Evolution Mining Ltd. secured an option to acquire 75% of the Lake Austin area of Musgrave Minerals Ltd.'s Cue gold project in Western Australia by spending A$18 million over five years.

* Pretium Resources Inc. entered into an agreement to repurchase 100% of its gold off-take for about US$80 million from Triple Flag Mining Finance Bermuda Ltd. and Osisko Bermuda Ltd.

* AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. signed an agreement for B2Gold Corp. to assume management of the Gramalote gold project in Colombia and raise its stake to 50% from the current 48.3% by funding exploration worth US$13.9 million. Once the amount has been spent, the parties will fund their share of expenses on the property.

* B2Gold aims to start construction of the Fekola gold expansion project in Mali in October, with completion targeted by the end of July 2020.

* Gold royalty and streaming company Maverix Metals Inc. secured commitments to increase its revolving credit facility to US$120 million, which will provide the company with additional liquidity to pursue deals.

* Kinross Gold Corp. CEO Paul Rollinson told Reuters that gold prices look to have established a new floor of US$1,500 per ounce.

* Gran Colombia Gold Corp. intends to spin off its Marmato gold-silver mine in Colombia into a separately listed, special purpose vehicle in which it will retain a majority stake.

* A revised feasibility study for Lydian International Ltd.'s Amulsar gold project in Armenia slashed the net present value, discounted at 5%, to US$363 million from US$386 million outlined in 2017 to reflect the impact of an anti-mining blockade.

* Northern Star Resources Ltd. will invest US$30 million to increase the processing plant capacity at its Pogo underground gold mine in Alaska to 1.3 million tonnes from 1 Mt. Expansion work will start this year and is expected to complete in early 2021.

* Titan Minerals Ltd. intends to make a formal offer to acquire all shares in Core Gold Inc. for 2.5 Titan shares each, valued at 42.2 Canadian cents. Titan also disposed its Tulin gold plant in Peru through the sale of its Tulin Gold SAC unit for a nominal consideration of US$1.

* SolGold PLC reported an accident involving a helicopter conducting operations on one of its regional exploration concessions in Ecuador's Imbabura province, resulting in the death of the pilot and a contractor technician.

BULK COMMODITIES

* Metinvest BV's net profit in the first half dropped 39% year over year to US$408 million mainly due to higher operating costs, lower finance income and a 6% decline in revenue to US$5.82 billion because of a drop in realized steel prices received as well as lower resale volumes.

* New Hope Corp. Ltd. reported a fiscal 2019 net profit of A$210.7 million, rising from restated year-ago earnings of A$149.5 million thanks to improved profits driven by the acquisition of an additional stake in the Bengalla coal mine in New South Wales, Australia.

* Peabody Energy Corp. plans to sell US$900 million of senior secured notes due 2026 to repurchase approximately $495.3 million of its outstanding 6.000% senior secured notes due 2022 and approximately $481.0 million of its outstanding 6.375% senior secured notes due 2025.

* Stelco Holdings Inc. unit Stelco Inc. plans to offer about US$300 million in senior secured notes due 2024 through a private placement to fund capital expenditure requirements and potential acquisitions.

* A fire razed the Optimum coal mine in South Africa, which was placed under administration last year, News24.com reported, citing the Middleburg Observer. Damages are estimated in the range of 15 million South African rand to 20 million rand, the report said, citing business rescue practitioner Louis Klopper.

* China Coal Energy Co. Ltd.'s August coal production climbed 37.2% year on year to 9.0 million tonnes, while sales rose 14.6% to 19.5 Mt.

* India's JSW Steel Ltd. expects iron ore prices to fall in 2020 to between US$60 per tonne and US$65 per tonne, from a range of US$80 per tonne to US$85 per tonne, for the rest of this year, as Chinese demand diminishes and ore supplies start to normalize, Bloomberg wrote, citing Joint Managing Director Seshagiri Rao.

* Aspire Mining Ltd. received a conditional letter of intent from major shareholder Tserenpuntsag Tserendamba to support the company's early development plan for the Ovoot coking coal project in Mongolia through a corporate guarantee of up to A$100 million in future project financing.

* Anglo Pacific Group PLC raised its stake in Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corp. to 5.88% after having invested about US$20 million since the start of 2019.

* PAO TMK's sale of its scrap metal business to Translom LLC hit a snag after TMK's former scrap metal suppliers filed a lawsuit with the Moscow Arbitration Court seeking to stop the transaction, Kommersant reported.

* Chinese primary aluminum output in August inched down 0.3% year over year to 2.97 million tonnes as a result of unexpected outages at two key smelters, Reuters wrote citing National Bureau of Statistics data. The newswire reported separately that the country's steel output for the month was up 9.7% on a yearly basis to 87.25 Mt as mills increased output before anticipated production cuts in October as part of the government's drive for cleaner air.

* Already hurt by U.S. and EU tariffs, the Turkish steel sector may face further losses when the EU applies new restrictions on steel imports, Reuters reported, citing Turkey’s Steel Exporters’ Association Chairman Adnan Aslan.

SPECIALTY

* Sayona Mining Ltd. intends to bid for North American Lithium Inc.'s shuttered lithium operation in Quebec following a court ruling commencing the sale process.

* Petra Diamonds Ltd.'s fiscal 2019 net loss widened to US$258.1 million from US$203.1 million as the company booked a noncash impairment charge of US$246.6 million, driven by conservative rough diamond pricing estimates that impacted the carrying value of its assets.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* The U.S. Department of Justice charged one former and two current JPMorgan Chase & Co. employees with manipulating the markets for precious metals futures contracts.

* Investors and economists in Egypt expect that the country's reduced mining taxes will boost investment, Al-Monitor reported. In August, Egyptian lawmakers passed a law lowering miners' fees to between 5% and 15%, from 20%.

* Charles Darwin University Professor Alan Andersen and scientists from the environmental department of Australia's Northern Territory developed a new approach that measures the success of mine rehabilitation through specific targets related to the return of fauna to the site.

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