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Anglo American suspends iron ore production at Minas Rio after duct failure

TOP NEWS

Anglo American suspends Minas Rio iron ore ops after duct failure

Anglo American Plc halted iron ore output at its Minas Rio operation in Brazil's Minas Gerais state after a mineral duct ruptured, leaking a mixture of iron ore and water to a local watershed, Metal Bulletin and Reuters reported. Production will remain halted until the company determines the cause of the incident.

US Steel lifts FY'18 EBITDA forecast

U.S. Steel Corp. expects its full-year EBITDA to come in at about US$1.7 billion, compared to US$1.5 billion in a previous guidance, driven by increased shipments from its Granite City Works property in Illinois and the potential benefits from the recently announced steel and aluminum tariffs by the U.S. government. The company expects incremental shipments of about 100,000 tons per month from Granite City Works once the restart process for some of its facilities is completed.

Canada 'ready to take action' if US nixes tariff exemption

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was "ready to take action" if Canada fails to secure a permanent exemption from the new steel and aluminum tariffs put in place by U.S. President Donald Trump. Trudeau, at a press conference at a Rio Tinto aluminum facility in Quebec, offered no specifics about how Canada might react if the U.S. decided to reverse course on the temporary exemption.

BASE METALS

* Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. is interested in purchasing Serbian copper miner and smelter RTB Bor, Reuters reported, citing the office of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. This follows a meeting between Vucic and Zijin representatives, who expressed interest in investing in the business.

* A workers' strike at Nexa Resources SA's Cajamarquilla copper smelter in Peru ended after the parties struck a wage deal, Metal Bulletin wrote.

* Indonesian state miner PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Persero) completed the valuation of the 40% stake in PT Freeport Indonesia owned by Rio Tinto, a source from the Energy Ministry told Kontan, without disclosing the value.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Polymetal International PLC expects to produce 1.55 million ounces of gold equivalent in 2018, up from 1.43 million ounces in 2017, driven by the ramp-up of operations at the Kyzyl project, CEO Vitaly Nesis said on an earnings call. The company's net profit dropped year over year to US$354 million from US$395 million in 2017, and adjusted EBITDA fell to US$745 million from US$759 million.

* Newcrest Mining Ltd. expects the stoppage of its Cadia gold mine in New South Wales, Australia, to adversely impact its fiscal 2018 guidance. The company ceased operations at the site after a breach in one of the tailings dams there.

* Teranga Gold Corp. received a commitment letter from Taurus Funds Management Pty. Ltd. for a secured development finance facility of up to US$200 million, which includes a US$10 million equipment lease facility still under evaluation.

* Regis Resources Ltd. posted an initial estimate of underground resources at its Rosemont mine, which is a satellite of its Duketon Southern Operations in Western Australia. The Rosemont deposit hosts inferred underground resources of 1.4 million tonnes grading 5.10 g/t of gold for 230,000 ounces.

* Production at St Barbara Ltd.'s Simberi gold mine in Papua New Guinea halted March 7 due to a work stoppage initiated by members of the mine's workforce. Despite the standstill, the company retained its full-year production guidance of between 115,000 and 125,000 ounces of gold.

* Geopacific Resources Ltd.'s pre-feasibility study for the Woodlark Island gold project in Papua New Guinea estimated a posttax net present value, discounted at 8%, of A$178 million, an internal rate of return of 33% with a 2.2-year payback period.

* Ariana Resources Plc's full-year production guidance at its Kiziltepe gold-silver mine, part of the Red Rabbit joint venture with Proccea Construction Co., is about 20,000 ounces of gold, a 47% increase over full-year 2017 production of 10,191 ounces of gold.

* PT Antam (Persero) Tbk.'s full-year 2017 net profit more than doubled to 136.50 billion Indonesian rupiah from 64.81 billion rupiah in 2016.

BULK COMMODITIES

* Nucor Corp. will invest US$240 million to build a rebar micromill in Florida to take advantage of an abundant supply of scrap metal. Construction will take two years, subject to approvals, and the mill is expected to have an annual capacity of 350,000 tonnes.

* Citic Ltd. estimated an impairment of between US$800 million and US$1 billion stemming from losses at the Sino-Iron project. The impairment will be written off in its 2017 accounts.

* An application to certify a class-action lawsuit against two Israel Chemicals Ltd. subsidiaries over alleged water pollution was filed in an Israeli court. The subsidiaries are Periclase Dead Sea Ltd. and Rotem Amfert Negev Ltd.

* S&P Global Market Intelligence estimates that in the final quarter of 2017, the global production of iron ore increased 2.3% year over year. The driver of this 13.4 million-tonne growth was firmly with the big four producers — Vale SA, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton Group and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. — which collectively grew production 1.9% year over year in 2017.

* Usinas Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais SA will halt the No. 3 blast furnace at its Ipatinga works in Brazil for maintenance, after the restart of the No. 1 unit in April, Metal Bulletin reported.

* Atlas Iron Ltd. struck a deal to start exporting manganese within a month to further diversify its portfolio to protect against China's demands for higher-grade iron ore. However, hopes remain that the summer could see some relief on that latter front.

* Salt Lake Potash Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding with Blackham Resources Ltd. to conduct a study on the potential development of a sulfate of potash operation at Lake Way in Western Australia. The development deal includes constructing an initial demonstration plant of up to 50,000 tonnes per annum.

SPECIALTY

* PJSC Alrosa made an early loan repayment of US$450 million, slashing its debt by over 27% to US$1.17 billion. The Russian diamond miner used the proceeds from the auction of its gas assets for the repayments.

* NextView New Energy Lion HongKong Ltd. completed its C$265 million acquisition of Lithium X Energy Corp.

* Newfield Resources Ltd. is acquiring Stellar Diamonds Plc and targeting a A$33 million capital raising through an entitlement offer for around A$30 million and a private placement for another A$3 million.

* China-based battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology acquired more than a 90% interest in North American Lithium Inc. from Jilin Jien Nickel Industry Co. Ltd., the Financial Times reported.

* AVZ Minerals Ltd. entered into a memorandum of understanding with China-based Beijing National Battery Technology Co. Ltd. to explore potential investment and off-take opportunities for the former's Manono lithium project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

* Anfield Energy Inc. entered into a term sheet with General Atomics affiliate Cotter Corp. to acquire the advanced-stage Charlie uranium project in Wyoming.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* Rio Tinto veteran Dean Felton said it was time the industry got serious about automation solutions that address the entire production process rather than tinkering with piecemeal technology pursuits such as drones, S&P Global Market Intelligence reported.

* The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Co. gave miners and large-scale farms six months to clear their dues or risk being cut off and face litigation, Reuters reported. The state-owned electricity distributor is owed over US$1 billion by users, including domestic households, farmers, industries and mining companies.

S&P Global Ratings and S&P Global Market Intelligence are 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.