TOP NEWS
Kobe Steel CEO to step down over data falsification scandal
Kobe Steel Ltd. CEO Hiroya Kawasaki and head of the company's aluminum and copper division, Akira Kaneko, will step down from their respective positions in connection with a data falsification scandal, which led to more than 500 companies receiving substandard materials, Reuters reported, citing a report by The Nikkei.
China releases steel, coal capacity reduction targets in line with expectations
China will seek to reduce coal and steel capacities by 150 million tonnes and 30 million tonnes, respectively, this year, according an annual work report Premier Li Keqiang presented at the opening of the National People's Congress on March 5. The government would tighten regulations on the environment, quality control and safety in a bid to advance the capacity reduction program, Li said.
Exploration spending forecast to climb 20% in 2018
Building on buoyant year-over-year exploration spending, S&P Global Market Intelligence forecast a 20% increase in 2018 exploration expenditures in its World Exploration Trends report. Estimated exploration budgets picked up in 2017 after four years of declines, with estimates suggesting that budgets for nonferrous metals grew to US$8.4 billion from US$7.3 billion in 2016.
DIVERSIFIED
* Anglo American Plc CEO Mark Cutifani saw a 70% surge in his 2017 paycheck after being awarded £2.78 million under the company's long-term incentive plan, the Financial Times reported. The bonus pushed the CEO's total pay to £6.7 million in 2017.
BASE METALS
* Unionized workers started an indefinite strike at Nexa Resources SA's Cajamarquilla zinc smelter in Peru, demanding wage increase and better benefits, Reuters reported. According to a union representative, the labor action forced some furnaces at the smelter to stop operating. The company said that said less than 20% of the workforce was taking part in the strike.
* Indonesian President Joko Widodo directed its administration to conclude negotiations for the acquisition of a majority stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc.'s PT Freeport Indonesia unit by April-end, Reuters reported, citing Energy Minister Ignasius Jonan. A state-owned company will purchase Freeport Indonesia's shares at "a reasonable price," including Rio Tinto's participating interest in the Grasberg copper mine and convert it into shares, Jonan said.
* Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will redeem US$454 million aggregate principal amount 2022 and 2023 senior notes on April 4. The company expects to record a gain to net income of approximately US$10 million in the second quarter in connection with the redemptions.
* Automaker BMW is working with London-based start-up Circulor on a blockchain technology pilot, which will help ensure that it is sourcing only clean cobalt for the batteries for its electric vehicles, Circulor CEO Douglas Johnson-Poensgen told Reuters.
* Celsius Resources Ltd. plans to bring the first cobalt mine in Namibia into production by 2020, Reuters reported, citing Managing Director Brendan Borg.
* Severe weather disrupted mining activities and production at CuDeco Ltd.'s flagship Rocklands copper mine in Queensland, Australia. The company expects to resume operations at the site by the mid to the latter part of this week after completing temporary repairs.
* Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp. secured options to acquire the Treasure Box and Boyer copper properties in Nevada.
* Rambler Metals & Mining Plc expects to complete the second phase of mining and milling expansion at the Ming copper-gold mine in Newfoundland and Labrador in March. At an expanded daily rate of 1,250 tonnes of ore mined and processed, the mine is seen continuing production for 20 years until 2037.
* New Century Resources Ltd. executed an engineering, procurement and construction contract for the refurbishment and commissioning of the Century zinc processing plant and Karumba port facility in Queensland, Australia.
* Red River Resources Ltd. will resume full site operations at the Thalanga zinc project in Queensland March 6. The project was placed on standby as a result of severe weather conditions.
* BMG Resources Ltd. opted not to proceed with an option to acquire certain polymetallic Bulgarian mineral assets, following the completion of due diligence.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Earlier in 2017, S&P Global Market Intelligence anticipated that 2016 was the peak year for gold production, and this interim assessment was supported by the company's models as full-year gold production in 2017 proved to be essentially flat. However, global production will likely inch upward again by the end of 2018. With China regrouping and pursuing its goal of 16 million ounces by 2020 and higher output projected for 15 or 16 of 2017's top 20 gold-producing countries, we expect a global increase in 2018 by as much as 4% over 2017.
* Lundin Gold Inc. is eyeing annual output of up to 1.0 million ounces from three or four projects, Reuters reported, citing CEO Ron Hochstein, with future development to focus on the North and Latin American regions after first production is achieved at the Fruta del Norte gold project in Ecuador, expected by the end of 2019.
* Atlantic Gold Corp. declared commercial production at its Moose River Consolidated gold mine in Nova Scotia, effective March 1.
* Magellan Gold Corp. rehired employees in order to resume operations at the San Dieguito de Arriba, or SDA, mill in Mexico.
* Sonoro Metals Corp.'s Minera Mar De Plata SA De CV unit executed a letter of intent to option the gold-prospective Rosario group of concessions, which covers 403.5 hectares in Mexico.
* Cardinal Resources Ltd. completed an updated resource estimate for its Namdini gold project in Ghana that showed a significant increase in indicated resources. From 4.3 million ounces in September 2017, indicated resources now total 6.5 million ounces contained within 180 million tonnes at 1.13 g/t of gold using a 0.5 g/t cutoff.
* Petropavlovsk Plc's underground reserves were up 16% to 430,000 ounces of gold, while underlying reserves rose 26% to 930,000 ounces, largely concentrated at Pioneer's North-East Bakhmut, Andreevskaya and Nikolaevskaya zones.
* Polymetal International Plc's ore reserves as of Jan. 1 increased 5% year over year to 20.9 million ounces of gold equivalent on the back of successful exploration at Albazino, Komarovskoye and Dukat as well as initial reserve estimates at Kapan and Nezhda.
BULK COMMODITIES
* According to ABC, U.S. President Donald Trump promised to exempt Australian steel and aluminum from tariffs during a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in July 2017, and this was witnessed by high-ranking officials from both countries including U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. However, Reuters reported that in an interview with ABC News, Ross said that country specific exemptions are unlikely.
* French President Emmanuel Macron said the potential tariffs from the U.S. on steel and aluminum imports equate to "economic nationalism," and that the European Union must take urgent action at the World Trade Organisation if the Trump administration goes ahead with taxes, Reuters reported.
* The steel tariff planned by the U.S. could boost BlueScope Steel Ltd.'s earnings by US$150 million per annum or more at the company's Ohio steel mill, The Australian reported, citing a Credit Suisse analyst.
* Fitch placed Russia-based En+ Group plc's long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings of BB- on Rating Watch Negative, in connection with the potential "shoot out" auction for PJSC Norilsk Nickel Co.
* The U.K. government delayed a decision on whether to allow The Banks Group to build its Highthorn coal mine in Northumberland, which is slated to extract 3 million tonnes of coal near Druridge Bay, Mining.com reported. The government did not provide further details.
SPECIALTY
* Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA remains committed to its Mount Holland lithium joint venture with Kidman Resources Ltd.
* Ucore Rare Metals Inc. expects to start production at the recently announced U.S. Strategic Metals Complex, a rare earth elements separation plant in Alaska, by 2020.
* Magnis Resources Ltd. will team up with automation company Siemens AG to enhance its lithium-ion manufacturing technology through digitization and automation.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* The Ghana Mineworkers Union threatened to launch an indefinite strike to compel the government to respond to the concerns of mineworkers, Graphic Online reported. According to the union, the government seems unconcerned about Gold Fields Ltd.'s decision to lay off some 2,000 workers at the Tarkwa mine in the country.
S&P Global Market Intelligence is owned by S&P Global Inc.
The Daily Dose is updated as of 7 a.m. Hong Kong time, and scans news sources published in Chinese, English, Indonesian, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Ukrainian. Some external links may require a subscription.
