TOPNEWS
CITICflags steep decline in H1 profit
expects to record a 40%to 50% drop in net profit attributable to shareholders for the six months endedJune 30, from an attributable net profit of HK$37.7 billion a year ago. Thecompany said it expects lowerprofit from its property business and its associate company CITICSecurities, and that the Chinese yuan has depreciated in the first half,resulting in a lesser amount when translated to Hong Kong dollars. Net profit ayear ago also included a HK$9.6 billion gain on the sale of a stake in CITICSecurities.
Aurizonwrites down Aquila investment
wrote downits investment in AquilaResources Pty. Ltd. to zero after its board decided to recognize afurther pretax impairment loss of A$73 million. The impairment follows a delayin the development of Aquila's Queensland coal assets. Aurizon recognized anadditional pretax impairment of A$29 million to align national fleetrequirements with forecast future demand. The company expects its underlyingEBIT guidance for fiscal 2016 to A$871 million, compared to the guidance A$845million to A$885 million.
expectsheadline earnings inthe first half of this year to rise to between US$87 million and US$99 million,compared to a headline loss of US$128 million a year ago. Basic earnings areexpected to be between US$45 million and US$59 million, compared to a basicloss of US$143 million in the prior-year half.
BASEMETALS
hasexperienced unprecedented levels of water inflow rates at its mine in Namibia,resulting in productionof 3,812 tonnes of copper cathode in the quarter ended June 30, 10% under thetarget of 4,250 tonnes per quarter. The company anticipates production in theSeptember quarter to be 15% below nameplate, with a return to normal levelsexpected by the end of the December quarter.
* Acontracted driver at MMGLtd.'s LasBambas copper mine in Peru died following a road accident near the town of Antuyoin the Cotabambas province.
*Global Metals Exploration NL completed the acquisition of Zinc Mines of Ireland Ltd., and changedthe company name to Zinc ofIreland NL. The deal covers seven zinc projects in Ireland with anarea of about 750 square kilometers.
*OZ Minerals Ltd.produced 27,350tonnes of copper in the June quarter, down from 31,018 tonnes produced in theprevious quarter from its Prominent Hill operations in South Australia. Quarterlygold output came in at 30,099 ounces, higher than the March quarter figures of27,563 ounces.
* OZMinerals and Mithril ResourcesLtd. have teamed up to explore for nickel and copper in South Australia'sCoompana Province.
*PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickelsold a 13.3% interest in its Bystrinsky copper-gold-iron ore-silver projectin Russia to Chinese Highland Fund for US$100 million, Vedomostireported.
PRECIOUSMETALS
*Acacia Mining plc'snet earnings jumpedto US$46.3 million in the second quarter, from US$5.6 million a year ago. Goldproduction in the quarter increased 19% year over year to 221,815 ounces.
*Carolina CapitalCorp. has entered a definitive agreement to acquire the 450-acre gold-copper minein southwestern Montana from Coronado Resources Ltd.
*Lago Dourado MineralsLtd. changed its name to Sandy Lake Gold Inc. after completing theacquisition ofproperty interests in the Sandy Lake district of northwestern Ontario fromGPM Metals Inc. for 40million shares.
*Regis Resources Ltd.surpassed its production expectations of 275,000 ounces to 305,000 ounces of goldfor the 2016 financial year, with gold output reaching 305,084 ounces afterproduction in the June quarter climbed 4% quarter over quarter to 78,471 ounces.
*Fresnillo Plc has earmarked US$515 million for the silver-gold-lead-zinc mine in Mexico's Chihuahua state, El Financieroreported, citing mining chamber Caminex. San Julian represents the company'slargest investment in the country.
*Newmont Mining Corp. will reassess the dividend payout later this year toreflect a 25% jump in bullion prices for the year, Reuters reported.
*The Kelantan State Lands and Mines Office of Malaysia issued a stop-work order on CNMC Goldmine Holdings Ltd.'s gold mine following thecompany's request to the local government to review its application for LargeScale Operation status, Malaysia's The Edge reported. If it is grantedto the company, the status would allow CNMC to mine unlimited amounts of orefrom the site.
BULKCOMMODITIES
* A Ukrainian appeals court rejectedan application by a subsidiary of United Co. RUSAL Plc seeking to challenge thegovernment's decision last year to seize the Russian mining group's 68.01%share in the Zaporozhye Aluminium WorksOJSC. An earlier court ruling stipulated that a company, which bought the factoryat privatization in 2001, did not meet its obligations to pay off debt afterthe deal.
* Ina bid to release itself from all existing loans, has reached with PlatinumPartners Value Arbitrage Fund LP to convert about US$15 million of loans owedto various funds managed by the latter or its affiliates to a productionroyalty. The royalty will be 1% of the realized selling price, capped at US$40million.
*Vale SA'ssecond-quarter iron ore production dropped 2.8% year over year to 86.8 million tonnes asgood performance at the Northern System was offset by the company's focus onmargin optimization and the halt in run-of-mine production from the mine in Brazil.
*Moody's downgradedSamarco MineraçãoSA's corporate family rating and its senior unsecured notes due2022, 2023 and 2024 to C, from Caa2. The rating agency expects Samarco to soonsuspend debt and interest payments, or start debt restructuring, unless thecompany is able to resume operations and start generating cash again.
*Arrium Ltd.'s steelworks,port and mining operations at South Australia's Whyalla, as well as itsmanufacturing, distribution and recycling businesses, are in the market, The Australian Financial Review'sStreet Talk reported.
*Meanwhile, Australia's Export Finance and Insurance Corp. will loan A$49.2million to Arrium for new machinery at the Iron Knob and Iron Baron mines, The Australian reported.The loan is expected to help Arrium's OneWhyalla generate cash flow of overA$200 million over the next five years.
*Cancana ResourcesCorp. signed a nonbinding letter of intent to with Ferrometals HoldingsCooperatief UA in a bid to combine and streamline the ownership structure ofthe companies' joint venture Brazil Manganese Corp.
*Murray Energy Corp. produced11.1 million tons of coal in the second quarter of the year, from 11.7 million tons in theyear-ago period and 11.2 million tons in the first quarter of the year.
*Polish firm Katowicki HoldingWeglowy SA is in need of about 700 million zlotys in financialsupport as part of its planned restructuring, Puls Biznesu wrote, citing an energy official.
*About 2,800 employees of Polish coal miner Jastrzebska Spólka Weglowa SA are prepared to voluntarily transfer to the Mine Restructuring Co. (SRK) totake advantage of voluntary transfer protection and one-time severancepayments, Puls Biznesu reported.
SPECIALTY
*Shares in Paladin EnergyLtd. were forced into a trading halt after the ASX asked for more informationregarding the uranium miner's proposed deals worth around US$200 million, TheWest Australian reported. Paladin did not disclose the name of the buyerwho offered to payUS$175 million for the 24% stake in the Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia.
*PJSC ALROSA'ssecond-quarter diamond output fell to 8.7 million carats from 9.6 million caratsproduced a year ago. First-half production, meanwhile, slipped 6% year overyear to 16.9 million carats.
INDUSTRY
*Palmer Petroleum, the petroleum company owned by Clive Palmer, was placed intoliquidation as a Singapore-based explorer, BGP Geoexplorer, claimed debt of A$22.1million, The Australian Financial Reviewreported.
*Unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones or UAVs, are growing in prevalence in the globalmining sector and are now being used to conduct aeromagnetic surveys, providinga more cost effective option for explorers.
*Thailand's Ministry of Commerce officials urged authorities in Mozambique to support Thai investors seeking opportunities in variousindustries in the southern African country such as energy and mining,Thailand's Manager Daily reported.
TheDaily Dose is updated as of 7 a.m. New York time, and scans news sourcespublished in Chinese, English, Indonesian, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish,Thai and Ukrainian. Some external links may require a subscription.