TOP NEWS

South32 will not follow BHP's lead in greenhouse gas targets

South32 Ltd. will not follow the footsteps of its former parent company BHP Group in setting targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions produced by customers, The Australian Financial Review reported, citing Chief Development Officer Simon Collins. Collins said that South32 was attracted to the fundamentals of the Illawarra coal operation in New South Wales, Australia, with a final investment decision for the Eagle Downs joint venture in Queensland, Australia, with China Baowu Steel Group Corp. Ltd. unit Aquila Resources Pty Ltd. to be reached in the first half of its fiscal 2020.

Report: Lynas may get short license extension for Gebeng rare earths plant

The Malaysian government may grant Lynas Corp. Ltd. a short license extension to operate the Gebeng rare earths plant, Reuters reported, citing two sources with knowledge of the matter. The government has yet to determine the final duration of the extension, which may be shorter than the usual three years, the sources said.

Rio Tinto leveraging on startups in greenfields exploration

Rio Tinto is talking to technology startups to help it find and develop what it believes to be significant deposits that still exist in Australia, such as the Winu copper discovery. The miner's Growth & Innovation Group Executive Stephen McIntosh said that technology will "play a big part" of the Winu project in Western Australia, and Rio Tinto is seeking to employ machine learning and sophisticated mathematical models to analyze the massive quantities of field data expected to be generated there.

BASE METALS

* Centaurus Metals Ltd. secured an option to acquire the Jaguar nickel sulfide project in Brazil from Vale SA in exchange for the Salobo West copper project tenements in Brazil, US$7.1 million cash as well as a 0.75% royalty on concentrate production from Jaguar. Separately, Terrativa Minerais SA agreed to convert its 2% royalty in Salobo West into a 25% share of project sale proceeds against a payment of up to A$3.5 million over 2.5 years.

* Metal suppliers and processors urged the U.S. trade representative to cancel the copper import tariffs on the European Union as it would increase prices of materials used by the automotive, energy and telecommunications sectors, which may lead of layoffs, Reuters reported.

* The Director General of Mineral and Coal at Indonesia's mining ministry, Bambang Gatot Ariyono, said the government's current deadline for banning mineral exports on Jan. 12, 2022, is intact, Reuters reported. The country decided in 2017 to place a ban on unprocessed ore and gave miners five years to construct smelters locally.

* Global mined molybdenum production stagnated in 2018, with supply at 325,568 tonnes compared to 325,877 tonnes in 2017, according to the Metals and Mining Research team at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

* Battery producers and electric car manufacturers, including Tesla Inc., are worried about the longer-term supply of high-purity class-one nickel, Bloomberg News wrote, citing Independence Group NL CEO Peter Bradford, who recently held talks with Tesla's battery metals supply chain team.

* Clive Palmer settled about A$100 million in claims with special-purpose liquidators and unsecured creditors over the collapse of Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd., The Australian Financial Review reported. Palmer is still being pursued by general-purpose liquidators for up A$100 million in debt, which he disputes.

* Australian Mines Ltd. executed a long-form agreement allowing SK Innovation Co. Ltd. to purchase all of the battery-grade cobalt and nickel sulfates from the Sconi cobalt-nickel-scandium project in Queensland, Australia, for seven years.

* PolyMet Mining Corp. subsidiary Poly Met Mining Inc. said the Minnesota State Court of Appeals affirmed the validity of the state's nonferrous mining rules, which environmental groups challenged in a bid to overturn the company's permit approval for the NorthMet copper project.

PRECIOUS METALS

* PJSC Polyus' profit in the second quarter surged to US$419 million, from US$114 million in the year-ago quarter. Revenue in the quarter climbed 30% to US$897 million mainly on higher gold sales. Operating profit jumped 31% to US$506 million, on a yearly basis.

* Royal Bafokeng Platinum Ltd.'s loss per share in the first half swelled to 70.8 South African rand, from 12.4 rand a year ago, due to an increase in cash costs and depreciation, interest charges, and higher borrowing costs. Revenue in the six months surged 90.6% year over year to 3.16 billion rand. Production of 4E ounces climbed 21.1% to 199,200 ounces, and platinum output increased 21.3% to 129,200 ounces, on a yearly basis.

* Macmahon Holdings Ltd. is taking legal action seeking an increase in rates for the life of mine contract at Newcrest Mining Ltd.'s Telfer gold project in Western Australia after the latter changed the mine plan.

* Ausdrill Ltd. subsidiary African Mining Services was selected as the preferred open-pit mining contractor at West African Resources Ltd.'s Sanbrado gold project in Burkina Faso.

* Mako Gold Ltd. lodged two new gold-prospective exploration permit applications in Côte d'Ivoire, covering an area of 296 square kilometers.

* Semafo Inc. slashed the full-year guidance for its Mana gold operation in Burkina Faso to the range of 130,000 ounces to 140,000 ounces, from 170,000 ounces to 190,000 ounces, as it suspended ore processing at the project until October due to a pit wall failure at the Wona pit.

* Serabi Gold PLC delayed the completion of a preliminary economic assessment for the Coringa gold project in Brazil to the end of the month due to the company's decision to switch to a dry stacking solution and do away with a conventional dam.

* Thousands of Turkish protesters marched against Alamos Gold Inc.'s Kirazli gold project in the Canakkale province over concerns of deforestation and pollution, Reuters reported.

* Brazil Minerals Inc.'s 47%-owned Jupiter Gold Corp. received an initial three-year mining license for its Paracatu gold project in Brazil's Minas Gerais state. The license allows mining of up to 50,000 tonnes per year and can be renewed or expanded.

* Rumble Resources Ltd. signed a binding option agreement to acquire the Western Queen gold project in Western Australia from Ramelius Resources Ltd.

* Marmota Ltd. acquired the 178-square-kilometer Malbooma tenement near its Aurora Tank gold discovery and CAR gold prospect in South Australia.

* India's gold imports in July plummeted 55% year on year to 39.66 tonnes from 88.16 tonnes due to a rally to record domestic prices and lower demand caused by higher import taxes, Reuters reported, citing a government source.

BULK COMMODITIES

* Sirius Minerals PLC decided to suspend the proposed offer by its wholly owned subsidiary of US$500 million of senior secured notes due 2027 due to current market conditions. The offer was part of the stage-two financing of the company's underground Woodsmith potash project in Yorkshire, U.K.

* Cambrian Coal Corp.'s official committee of unsecured creditors filed a limited objection with a federal bankruptcy court asking it not to provide the coal producer with "unfettered authority" to enter into a stalking horse agreement. The debtors have not identified a stalking horse bidder for their assets despite the July 31 deadline to do so.

* Universal Coal PLC agreed to sell all of the coal produced at its Ubuntu colliery in South Africa to Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., the South African power utility provider. The Ubuntu colliery will deliver 1.2 Mtpa of thermal coal to Eskom, with first coal delivery set for November.

* Metallica Minerals Ltd. withdrew its application for a mining lease over the proposed haul road to Hey Point, which was to be used to deliver product from the Urquhart bauxite project in Queensland, Australia. The company's Oresome Australia Pty Ltd. unit was unable to negotiate a logistics contract with owners of the Hey Point transshipment infrastructure and failed to pursue other loadout options.

* South32's Collins said the company's final decision on the future of its manganese alloy smelters in Australia and South Africa will be made during the December quarter, Mining Weekly reported. Meanwhile, the executive will move to Vancouver from the South32's headquarters in Western Australia to focus on the company's hunt for new projects in the Americas, The Australian reported.

* United Co. Rusal PLC halted work and evacuated all but essential staff at its Achinsk alumina plant in Russia following a fire in a nearby military base, Reuters reported.

* En+ Group PLC joined the U.N. Global Compact, a network of companies committed to implementing universal sustainability principles, as part of an effort to cut emissions in aluminum production.

* Parkway Minerals NL entered into a binding term sheet to acquire 97.79% of Consolidated Potash Corp. which holds a 15% interest in the Karinga Lakes potash project in Australia's Northern Territory and a 50% stake in a lithium-potash-prospective project in New Mexico.

* Olympic Steel Inc. agreed to acquire assets related to the manufacturing of EZ-Dumper hydraulic dump inserts. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

SPECIALTY

* Northern Minerals Ltd. terminated a rare earths carbonate off-take agreement with Lianyugang Zeyu New Materials Sales Co. Ltd. entered in April 2017 saying that the purchaser was in breach of the sales agreement. The company is now looking for new off-take deals for its Browns Range heavy rare earths project in Western Australia.

* Kommersant reported that Polymetal International PLC for the first time publicly declared its interest in the rare-earth metals segment, and will seek to invest in a Russian project as a minority shareholder. The company's largest shareholder, the IST Group, is developing the Tomtor field together with Rostec, but so far the project worth about US$560 million is moving slowly.

* BlueRock Diamonds PLC signed an agreement with Teichmann South Africa Pty. Ltd. for the provision of mining services at its Kareevlei diamond mine in South Africa.

* Lucapa Diamond Co. Ltd. recovered a 64-carat D-color, type IIa diamond that it considers as the best quality stone unearthed from its 70%-owned Mothae kimberlite mine in Lesotho.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* Australia's miners have welcomed the federal government's commitment to a 12-month review aimed at streamlining the resources sector's regulation which they say is "suffocating" them, amid calls for industry to "push back."

* Unable to match the U.S. dollar-for-dollar on tariffs, China has responded to U.S. President Donald Trump's latest escalation by allowing its currency to weaken past 7 Chinese yuan per dollar for the first time in 11 years.

* U.N. investigators urged world leaders to impose financial sanctions on firms linked to Myanmar's military, which is accused of exterminating the Rohingya minority, Reuters reported. The military's two major conglomerates, Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. and Myanmar Economic Corp., have investments in various sectors, including gems and copper.

* Heavy mining equipment maintenance contractor Mader Group aims to raise A$50 million in an IPO for a A$200 million listing on the ASX, The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk wrote.

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