TOP NEWS
AngloAmerican agrees to US$1.5B sale of niobium, phosphates businesses in Brazil
agreedto sell its niobium and phosphates businesses in Brazil to China Molybdenum Co. Ltd. for a total cash considerationof US$1.5 billion. According to Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani, the company willuse the proceeds of the transaction to help reduce the company's net debt to itstarget level of below US$10 billion by the end of the year.
Rio Tinto pricesUS$1.5B debt buyback
revealed what it is willingto pay for its planned US$1.5 billion debt buyback. The mining heavyweight plansto buy back its 2% notesdue 2017 for US$1,006.91 and its 1.625% notes due 2017 for US$1,005.85 per US$1,000principal amount. There is currently US$500 million worth of 2% notes due 2017 andUS$1.25 billion worth of 1.625% notes due 2017 outstanding.
WorldBank ups iron ore price forecast
The World Bank forecastsiron ore to trade at US$50 per tonne this year, US$51.50 per tonne in 2017 and extendgains to US$56.20 per tonne by 2020, Bloomberg News reported. The new estimates were higher than the earlier January numbers,in which the bank expected the steel ingredient to trade at US$42 per tonne thisyear, US$44.10 per tonne in 2017 and US$51 per tonne by 2020.
DIVERSIFIED
* agreedto sell its niobium and phosphates businesses in Brazil to China Molybdenum Co. Ltd. for a total cash considerationof US$1.5 billion. According to Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani, the company willuse the proceeds of the transaction to help reduce the company's net debt to itstarget level of below US$10 billion by the end of the year.
* revealed what it is willingto pay for its planned US$1.5 billion debt buyback. The mining heavyweight plansto buy back its 2% notesdue 2017 for US$1,006.91 and its 1.625% notes due 2017 for US$1,005.85 per US$1,000principal amount. There is currently US$500 million worth of 2% notes due 2017 andUS$1.25 billion worth of 1.625% notes due 2017 outstanding.
* Moody'supgraded Russian diamondmining company PJSC ALROSA'scorporate family rating to Ba1 from Ba2 and probability of default rating to Ba1-PDfrom Ba2-PD. The outlook on these ratings is negative. Moody's also confirmed theBa2 CFR and Ba2-PD PDR of OAO Holding Co. METALLOINVEST and the Ba3 CFRs and Ba3-PDPDRs of SUEK plc and . The outlook is stableon METALLOINVEST's and SUEK's ratings, and positive on Nord Gold's ratings.
BASE METALS
* GrupoMéxico SAB de CV's first quarter net profit rose 20.9%year over year to US$406.9 million due to higher metals production and a significantimprovement in investment gains, Reuters reported. Revenue fell 7.8% to US$1.9 billionamid lower prices for some of its key commodities, including copper and silver.
* SouthernCopper Corp. posteda net income of US$185.1 million in the first quarter, down 34.5% from the US$282.4million recorded in the same quarter in 2015 due to lower metal prices. The companyhit a record copper output of 221,661 tonnes in the first quarter, up 24.8% fromthe 177,616 tonnes produced in the previous year, mainly due to a 67.6% increasein the output of the Buenavistamine in Mexico to 43,898 tonnes.
* Chilean copper commission Cochilco keptits copper price forecastfor this year at US$2.15 per pound, while it projected the price to reach US$2.20per pound in 2017. Meanwhile, Cochilco expects Chile's copper production to reach5.77 million tonnes this year, almost the same level with 2015's, La Tercera reported.
* The Federal Circuit Court of Australiaruled in favor of overthe bankruptcy petition against its former managing director Howard Renshaw. Thecourt heard the petition April 27 and ordered a sequestration order over Renshaw,declaring him bankrupt effective the same day.
* KAZ MineralsPLC produced21,500 tonnes of copper cathode equivalent in the first quarter, with output ontrack to achieve this year's guidance. Copper cathode sales for the quarter wasreported at 23,000 tonnes.
* to a net loss attributable to companyshareholders of US$22.1 million for the quarter ended March 31 from a net profitof US$71.8 million posted a year ago, attributing it to the lower metal price environment.Sales for the corresponding period, meanwhile, totaled US$369.6 million, down fromUS$531.5 million in the previous year.
* 's first quarter revenuesfell by 18% year on yearto €645 million, while EBITDA dropped 46% to €37 million, primarily due to a 19%decrease in average zinc prices during the period.
PRECIOUS METALS
* booked of US$80 million for the firstquarter, improving its bottom line from the US$87 million loss it reported a yearearlier. The year-over-year improvement was due to lower CapEx with the completionof the construction of the Eleonoregold mine in Quebec and CerroNegro gold mine in Argentina
* reported net earningsof US$26.8 million in the first quarter, swingingfrom a net loss of US$43.8 million booked in the comparable 2015 period, as a resultof noncash foreign exchange movements. The company produced 90,811 ounces of goldduring the period, which remained in line with 2015 as slightly higher output fromits New Afton, and mines partially offset plannedlower output from Cerro SanPedro.
* US$75 million worth of its convertiblenotes after returning to profit in the first quarter. The Canadian producer boughtback the notes from Paulson & Co. Inc. for US$76.9 million, plus accrued andunpaid interest of US$1.7 million, using existing cash on hand. The move comes atthe same time Detour Gold revealed a net income result of US$27.6 million for thefirst quarter, reversing the US$63.1 million net loss in the same quarter in 2015.
* subsidiary CompañíaMinera Maricunga SA has filedan administrative appeal against a March ruling by environmental regulator SMA orderingthe gold mine to shut down its pumping wells in Chile's Atacama region. Maricungaclaims that it is technically and legally impossible to comply with the resolutionas it blocks the mine's main source of water to operate, Diario Atacama reported.
* Separately,the Environmental Court of Santiago authorizedthe SMA to order the temporary closure of the Maricunga wells for 15 days whileit reviews the administrative appeal filed by the company, Minería Chilena reported.
* booked anEBITDA of 1.36 billion Mexican pesos for the first quarter, up7.6% compared with the 1.26 billion pesos recorded in the same period in 2015,El Financiero reported. This was mainlydue to lower costs combined with a strong dollar, which partially offset a decreasein gold production and lower gold prices.
* plunged to a attributableto shareholders in the third quarter of the 2016 financial year, from a US$25.0million net income attributable to shareholders in the same period of fiscal 2015.Impairments totaling about US$99.0 million more than offset a US$19.4 million, or26%, year-over-year increase in revenue for the quarter.
* a net profit attributableto shareholders of 221.2 million yuan in the first quarter, compared with a netloss of 68.5 million yuan posted a year ago. Operating income increased 10.34% yearover year to 9.22 billion yuan, while operating costs increased just 4.4% to 8.83billion yuan from 8.46 billion yuan.
* Despiteimproving silver prices, EndeavourSilver Corp. has kicked off the process of transitioning its silver mine in Mexicoto care and maintenance, Business News Americas reported.
* 136 gold claims in the JamesBay area of Quebec. The claims were acquired using DIAGNOS' property Computer AidedResource Detection System to target the gold potential in the Detour Lake area ofQuebec.
* entered into a definitive three-year agreementwith Green Oil SA to act as contractor for the development of specific mining concessionswithin the Dynasty Goldfieldgold project in southern Ecuador.
* completedits acquisition of Equitas nowowns, through Alta Floresta, six gold properties with four production licenses,and over 184,410 hectares of land holdings in the Brazilian states of Mato Grossoand Para.
* NordGold formally launched an offer to acquireall of the outstanding common shares of NorthquestLtd. it does not currentlyown at a price of 25.3 Canadian cents apiece. The all-cash offer valuesNorthquest at about C$27.3 million on an undiluted basis.
BULK COMMODITIES
* The World Bank forecastsiron ore to trade at US$50 per tonne this year, US$51.50 per tonne in 2017 and extendgains to US$56.20 per tonne by 2020, Bloomberg News reported. The new estimates were higher than the earlier January numbers,in which the bank expected the steel ingredient to trade at US$42 per tonne thisyear, US$44.10 per tonne in 2017 and US$51 per tonne by 2020.
* BaoshanIron & Steel Co. Ltd.'s net profit attributable to shareholdersfor the first quarter was reported at 1.53 billion Chinese yuan, compared with the 1.55 billionyuan posted a year ago. Baosteel attributed its continued net profit to the reboundin steel prices in February and March, as well as cost reductions across the company.
* Nippon Steel& Sumitomo Metal Corp.'s profit attributable to owners of parentdropped to¥145.42 billion in fiscal 2015, down 32.1% from the ¥214.29 billion the year before. Despite the lower profit,the company announced a dividend of ¥15.00per share at the end of the fiscal year, a major improvement from the ¥3.50 per share announced at the endof the previous fiscal year.
* AustralianBauxite Ltd.'s maiden shipment of 5,557 tonnes of cement-grade bauxitehas left Bell Bay Port in northern Tasmania, Australia, concluding the first sale of bauxite from the company's BaldHill mine.
* AllegianceCoal Ltd. said JOGMEChas withdrawn from theKilmain joint venturein Queensland, Australia, after spending over A$2 million on the coal project. Underthe deal, JOGMEC agreedto provide a A$3 million cash injection over a three-year period to earn a 40% stake.
* Kuzbassrazrezugol, Russia's second largestcoal company, refused to buy theZarechnaya Coal Co. orparticipate in its management due to the latter's debt of tens of billions of Russianrubles, Kommersant reported, citing sourcesfamiliar with the situation.
* Brazil's antitrust body Cade allowedCompanhia Siderúrgica Nacionalto nominate two members to the board of its rival Usinas Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais SA, where CSN is a shareholder,Reuters reported.
* AlcoaInc.'s Alcoa of AustraliaLtd. venture saw its net profit in 2015 nearly tripleto A$645.5 million from A$215.7 million on the back of its heavy cost cutting anddecision to mothball the troubled Port Henry aluminum smelter, The West Australian wrote.
* Kenmare ResourcesPlc and chemicals trader King Ally Holdings Ltd. entered into a conditionalsubscription and relationship agreement in which King Ally will investUS$100 million in the company in exchange for not more than 29.9% of Kenmare's enlargedissued share capital following the completion of a capital restructuring. The restructuringinvolves an equity fundraising of not less than US$275 million, of which a significantportion would be used to reduce debt.
* Brazilianmining major Vale SA islooking to invest US$1.5 billion to restartconstruction at its Rio Coloradopotash project in Argentina's Mendoza province. The company suspended project developmentin 2012 after investing US$2.2 billion as prices for the crop nutrient weakenedand after the former Argentine government refused to provide tax concessions tolower costs.
* 's first quarter to €1.39 billion fromthe €1.77 billion posted in the same period of 2015, while EBITDA dropped to €46million from €65 million. The company narrowed its net loss in the quarter to €41million from €45 million a year ago. Stainless steel deliveries also fell year onyear to 610,000 tonnes from 620,000 tonnes, and Outokumpu expects stainless steelmarket conditions to continue to be challenging in the second quarter amid globaleconomic uncertainties and subdued raw material prices.
* BritishPrime Minister David Cameron said his government is doing everything it can to securea bidder for the sale of Tata SteelLtd.'s troubled U.K. operations, Reuters wrote.
* slashedthe price of high-grade coal by about 40%, starting April on an experimental basis,as the company's stockpile reached an estimated 58 million tonnes, Mining Weekly wrote citing a company official.According to the senior official, the price cut could be continued through the currentfiscal year if the lower prices help reduce the company's existing coal stockpileand ensure higher off-take.
* Meanwhile,the Indian government launched a nationwideprobe into over-invoicing of coal imports and illegal non-banking channel fundstransfer, Mining Weekly reported.
* Thecommerce ministry of China urged the U.S. International Trade Commission to rejectU.S. Steel Corp.'s complaintas there is "no factualbasis" for intellectual property disputes over China's steel product exportsto the U.S., Reuters reported. Instead, the Chinese ministry said the two countriesshould work together to address the sector's overcapacity issues.
* Accordingto Reuters, conservation group Coast and Country launched a new challenge againstAdani Enterprises Ltd.'sCarmichael coalproject in Queensland, asking the state's Supreme Court to review the project'senvironmental approval as the government failed to consider "ecologicallysustainable development" of the project.
* willacquire an initial 52%interest in TCT Industrias Florestais Ltda., owner of a 27-square-kilometer limestonedeposit in the Sofala province of Mozambique, for US$2.1 million.
* Vedomostireported that Russia's coking coal output in 2015 reached58.9 million tonnes — of which OAO Mechel extracted 13.7 million tonnes and Evraz,including production on Raspadskaya, produced 20.6 million tonnes.
SPECIALTY
* WealthMinerals Ltd. signed a letter of intent to secure an option giving it the right to acquire 100% in thePuritama 1 to 8 exploration lithium concessions in the Salar de Aguas Calientesarea of Chile.
* NoramVentures Inc. completed the acquisitionof a Clayton Valley lithium property in Nevada.
* 40 claims over a strike lengthof 10 kilometers in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources personneldiscovered a beryl-rich pegmatite on the property in 1999, which returned anomalousamounts of beryllium, caesium, lithium, tantalum and rubidium.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* The Chilean mining ministry signed a memorandumof understanding with China's National Development Reform Commission for the developmentof new technologies in smelting and refining, Minería Chilena reported.
* TheVietnamese government refutedmedia reports that discharge from a newly built steel facility was to blame forthe death of large numbers of fish in farms and coastal waters, Reuters reported."Thus far, through testing and collecting evidence, there is no proof yet toconclude a link between Formosa and the facility to the mass fish deaths,"said deputy environment minister Vo Tuan Nhan.
The Daily Dose is updated as of 7 a.m. London time, and scans newssources published in Chinese, English, Indonesian, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish,Thai and Ukrainian. Some external links may require a subscription.