TOP NEWS
BHP expects 10% lower costs, US$1.6B in productivity gains in Australia over next 2 years
BHP Billiton Group expects to cut costs at its Australian mining operations by a further 10% and forecasts that the division will deliver US$1.6 billion in productivity gains over the next two years, The Sydney Morning Herald reported, citing Mike Henry, president of BHP Minerals Australia. Henry added that the company would continue to find savings by bringing in expertise from other industries and by better leveraging technology.
Cobalt production is expected to remain suspended at the Lubumbashi operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo until at least 2020 due to two international court proceedings against state miner Gecamines SA, Bloomberg News reported, citing two anonymous sources.
US environmentalists file lawsuit against approval of Hudbay's Rosemont copper project
Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Forest Service's approval of Hudbay Minerals Inc.'s Rosemont copper project in Arizona. The lawsuit alleges that the forest service failed to comply with mandatory procedural and substantive requirements before granting the approval.
BASE METALS
* Southern Copper Corp. union officials said no agreement has been reached yet to end the indefinite strike that started Nov. 21, and that no trains transporting copper concentrate from the Cuajone and Toquepala mines in Peru have been able to reach the Ilo refinery since Nov. 22, daily Gestión reported.
* Alexander Mining Plc unit MetaLeach Ltd. was granted the patent for a method of oxidative leaching of sulfide ores and concentrates in the U.S. The patent has 20-year term, effective from June 13, 2010.
* Noranda Income Fund said that workers at the CEZ zinc refinery in Quebec, which is operated by a Glencore Plc subsidiary, ended the ongoing strike after voting in favor of a new collective agreement.
* Eastern Field Developments Ltd., the bidding vehicle for an Indonesian consortium looking to take over Finders Resources Ltd., said that the recent operational and financial downgrades by the target company "raise serious questions about Finders' ability to achieve its long-stated production goals and extend mine life." The consortium tabled a 23 Australian-cent-per-share cash offer in October.
* New Century Resources Ltd.'s restart feasibility study for the Century zinc mine in Queensland, Australia, pegged a net present value, discounted at 8%, of A$1.31 billion, and a 270% internal rate of return. Start-up capital cost is estimated at A$50 million and post-commissioning ramp-up capital cost, including a soluble zinc plant, is estimated at A$63 million. The mine is expected to produce 507,000 dry tonnes of zinc concentrate per annum during its 6.3-year mine life.
* Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. updated the preliminary economic assessment for its Kamoa-Kakula copper project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, incorporating 50% higher mining rates than the December 2016 PEA. The new PEA estimated a net present value, discounted at 8%, of US$7.2 billion, a 33% internal rate of return, and a 44-year mine life.
* Revelo Resources Corp. entered two deals to off-load its Araya Breccia and Los Azules copper projects in northern Chile to MASGLAS Ltd.
* European Cobalt Ltd. acquired a portfolio of Swedish cobalt-copper-nickel projects via direct license application.
* RNC Minerals expects production from its Beta Hunt nickel mine in Western Australia to double year over year to about 4 million pounds of contained nickel in 2018.
PRECIOUS METALS
* The Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia dismissed all claims against KEFI Minerals Plc on the impact of exploration field activities conducted between 1998 and 2006, a period which pre-dated KEFI's involvement in the Tulu Kapi gold project. The original claim of US$12 million was previously reduced to US$600,000, but now the company is no longer liable for any damages.
* Primary Gold Ltd. entered a memorandum of understanding with Westgold Resources Ltd. for an exclusive period until Dec. 31 to negotiate a two-year toll treatment agreement for the processing of the former's Coolgardie gold project ore at Westgold's 1.2 million-tonne-per-annum Jubilee mill in Western Australia.
* Rockcliff Metals Corp. purchased 100% interest in the Lucky Jack gold property in Manitoba, covering 15 mining claims over 2,557 hectares. The company paid C$77,250 and a 2% net smelter royalty on seven of the 15 claims.
* Conquest Resources Ltd. entered a conditional agreement to acquire the Golden Rose gold project in Ontario by purchasing the issued share capital of Northern Nickel Mining Inc.
* Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris is set to launch a new investment vehicle to acquire gold-mining assets across the world, the Financial Times wrote. The new firm will be led by outgoing Acacia Mining plc CFO Andrew Wray, who is expected to join the company in January 2018, according to sources.
* Barrick Gold Corp. agreed to acquire about a 15% interest in Reunion Gold Corp. for C$9.1 million.
* New Pacific Metals Corp. closed a nonbrokered private placement of units with Pan American Silver Corp. and Silvercorp Metals Inc. for a combined total of about C$27 million. Following the financing, Pan American holds 12.1% of New Pacific Metals' outstanding common shares and is entitled to appoint one director to the board, while Silvercorp Metals' interest in the company was reduced to 29.9%.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Minbos Resources Ltd. terminated the merger agreement to acquire its 50% joint venture partner in the Cabinda phosphate project in Angola, Petril Phosphates Ltd.
* U.S. Steel Corp. will redeem US$200 million of aggregate principal amount of its outstanding 8.375% senior secured notes due in 2021 at a 100% redemption price plus premium and interest.
* Vedomosti reported that prices for coking coal have increased since early November by 17.6%, exceeding the US$200-per-tonne mark. Coal prices stood at US$170 per tonne at the beginning of the month. Iron ore prices also grew to US$68 per tonne in November.
* Peabody Energy Corp. completed the sale of the majority of four mining tenements and related infrastructure at the Burton mine in Queensland, Australia, to New Hope Corp. Ltd.'s 90%-owned Lenton joint venture for roughly US$11 million.
* Chinese explosives maker Anhui Leimingkehua Co. Ltd. plans to acquire state-run coal miner Huaikuang Co. Ltd for 20.3 billion Chinese yuan, or around US$3.08 billion, in a cash and share deal as part of the government's push to boost efficiency at state-owned enterprises, Reuters reported.
* Verde AgriTech PLC said a prefeasibility study for the phased expansion at its Cerrado Verde potash project in Brazil estimated an after-tax net present value of US$1.98 billion, using an 8% discount rate, an internal rate of return of 290% and a mine life of 36 years.
* To maintain market share, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. is forced to sell its iron ore product with 58.3% content at a higher discount of 29% for December deliveries, compared to 25.5% in November and 8.5% in January, The Australian Financial Review reported, citing traders. The price cuts for higher-grade ore are being implemented on the heels of Chinese pollution control measures that caused steel mills to cut back on production during the winter months.
* Meanwhile, Fortescue confirmed it is selling up to 40% of its volumes on delayed contract settlement, which leaves the iron ore producer accepting market risk for up to three months, The Australian Financial Review wrote.
SPECIALTY
* Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA is set to invest US$485 million in the next two years, conditional on approval from the company's board for the CapEx plan for 2018 to 2019, Vice President of Finance Gerardo Illanes told daily La Tercera. Of the total amount, 83% would go to expanding lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide production in Chile and advancing the Exar project in Argentina.
* European Metals Holdings Ltd. upgraded the mineral resource estimate for its Cinovec project in the Czech Republic, adding 39.4 million tonnes at 0.41% lithium oxide and 0.04% tin. The project now hosts a total indicated and inferred resource of 695.9 million tonnes at 0.195% lithium oxide, 0.04% tin and 0.014% tungsten.
* Hastings Technology Metals Ltd.'s definitive feasibility study for its Yangibana rare earths project in Western Australia pegged an after-tax net present value, discounted at 8%, of A$466 million, a 78% internal rate of return, and a 2.3-year payback period. Pre-production capital costs are estimated at A$335.3 million, with operating costs of A$17.06 per kilogram of total rare earth oxides.
* Anglo American Plc unit De Beers SA is seeking expressions of interest from potential buyers for its Voorspoed open pit diamond mine in South Africa. Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd. is advising De Beers on the sale process.
* Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. intends to offer US$325 million of senior secured second-lien notes due 2022.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Potential changes to Brazil's mining law, currently under review in Congress, could increase the sector's share in the country's GDP from 4% to 6% in ten years, according to projections by mining secretary Vicente Lôbo, daily Isto é Dinheiro reported.
* The mining industry is showing clear signs of increasing health. This was particularly evident during the September quarter in the exploration sector, as measured by S&P Global Market Intelligence's Pipeline Activity Index, which is a measure of exploration and development activity. After what had been a poor start to 2017, the index has returned to the level of the final quarter of 2016. The improvement is driven mostly by an increase in drilling activity, with the number of distinct projects reporting drill results rising nearly 9% from 456 in the June quarter, itself up 45% from the previous period, to 496 projects.
S&P Global Market Intelligence and S&P Global Platts are both 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.
