TOP NEWS
Vale to prioritize Feijao dam burst reparations over dividends, share buybacks
Vale SA does not intend to repurchase shares or pay dividends in the aftermath of the Feijao dam burst in Brazil, London's Financial Times reported, citing CFO Luciano Siani, who was speaking at the FT Commodities Americas Summit in Rio de Janeiro. "[W]hat I have to say is that this is not a priority for the company right now. We need to be completely focused on reparation, compensation, litigation and beefing up our balance sheet," Siani said.
Nutrien closes A$469M takeover of Ruralco
Fertilizer producer Nutrien Ltd. closed its A$469 million acquisition of Ruralco Holdings Ltd. With the takeover, Nutrien expects its 2020 annual EBITDA in Australia to surpass US$230 million, with US$70 million coming from Ruralco, after accounting for expected synergies.
Study values Lithium America's Caucharí-Olaroz project at US$1.33B
A definitive feasibility study for Lithium Americas Corp.'s Cauchari-Olaroz joint venture with Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd. in Argentina generated an after-tax net present value, discounted at 10%, of US$1.33 billion for a 40,000 tonne-per-annum operation over 40 years.
BASE METALS
* On the heels of closing its Toachi Mining Inc. acquisition, Atico Mining Corp. could start building a second mine in Latin America in about two years, the copper-gold miner's CEO Fernando Ganoza said in an interview with S&P Global Market Intelligence, a move he said could more than double the company's revenues to between US$120 million and US$140 million, depending on metal prices.
* Silver Bull Resources Inc. suspended work at its Sierra Mojada zinc-silver property in Mexico due to a blockade by local miners demanding royalty and wage payments.
* General Moly Inc. received the final federal permit from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for its 80%-owned Mount Hope molybdenum project in Nevada, allowing the company to start construction and operations at the site.
* A state commission in North Macedonia threw out Euromax Resources Ltd.'s appeal on the economic ministry's rejection of the company's exploration permit for a portion of its Ilovica copper project. Euromax said it intends to submit an appeal as it also considers bringing the case to international arbitration.
* Heron Resources Ltd. received an extension to waivers for its senior debt facility to allow the company to secure funds. The company is facing a seven-month delay in the construction of its Woodlawn zinc project in New South Wales, Australia.
* Osisko Metals Inc. entered two separate collaboration agreements with the Deninu Kue First Nation and the Northwest Territory Metis Nation over the Pine Point zinc project in Canada's Northwest Territories.
* A court in southwestern China will hold a 24-hour auction Oct. 5 to sell 21 tonnes of cobalt held by the defunct Fanya Metal Exchange to pay creditors, Reuters reported.
PRECIOUS METALS
* White Cliff Minerals Ltd. is assessing which of its projects will become its focus after the company agreed to sell a 90% stake in the Chanach gold project in Kyrgyzstan earlier this month.
* Kinross Gold Corp. is holding off future deals in Russia after agreeing to acquire the Chulbatkan project from N-Mining Ltd. in a US$283 million deal in July, Reuters reported, citing CEO Paul Rollinson. Russia has struggled to attract foreign mining investment due to Western sanction imposed after the country's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
* Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez asked parties involved in a dispute at Newmont Goldcorp Corp.'s suspended Penasquito gold mine to resolve their conflict, Reuters reported.
* Sibanye Gold Ltd. received notice that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union referred ongoing wage talks for the Rustenburg and Marikana platinum operations in South Africa to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, which will appoint a commissioner in a bid to resolve the dispute.
* Semafo Inc. said a preliminary economic assessment for its Nabanga gold project in Burkina Faso outlined a posttax net present value of US$100 million, discounted at 5%, with an internal rate of return of 22.6% and a 4.4-year payback period.
* Oriole Resources PLC formed a new 90%-owned subsidiary, Oriole Cameroon SARL, in Cameroon with local partner Bureau d'Etudes et d'Investigations Géologico-minières Géotechniques et Géophysiques SARL. Oriole submitted applications for eight new gold-prospective licenses covering about 3,500 square kilometers in the center of the country.
* EnviroLeach Technologies Inc. produced its first commercial gold bars using its own formula that promises to be eco-friendly compared to current extractive technologies. Weighing 310 grams, the bars represent an average recovery of 96.6% with a leach time under 24 hours, the company said.
* Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. granted 37 Capital Corp. an option to acquire up to a 60% stake in the Acacia gold property in British Columbia by spending C$2.5 million and issuing 300,000 shares over four years. The deal replaces the one Eagle Plains signed in January 2018 with CRC Minerals Inc.
* TerraX Minerals Inc. agreed to acquire privately held Gold Matter Corp., owner of an option on the Mulligan gold project in New Brunswick, for 5 million shares.
* Magna Gold Corp. entered a binding letter of intent for an option to acquire the 2,806-hectare San Judas gold project in Mexico.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Thyssenkrupp AG officially dismissed Guido Kerkhoff as CEO and named supervisory board Chairwoman Martina Merz as his replacement for up to 12 months, effective Oct. 1.
* Mechel PAO expressed interest in acquiring 34% of Gazprombank's 49% stake in the Elga coal project in Russia, Kommersant and Vedomosti reported. Mechel already owns a 51% stake in the project.
* The Queensland Government in Australia extended to Nov. 30 from Sept. 30 a deadline to finalize a deferred royalty agreement with Adani Enterprises Ltd. over the Carmichael coal project, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
* Ahead of schedule, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. completed the erection of a 457-foot furnace reactor tower for its hot briquetted iron project in Ohio, putting it on track to start commercial production in the first half of 2020.
* Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp. completed the previously announced sale of Canadian subsidiary ASW Steel Inc. to Acciaierie Valbruna SpA unit Valbruna Canada Ltd.
* Ironveld PLC plans to advance discussions in the coming weeks with parties interested in purchasing all or part of its assets. The company noted that it has sufficient cash to fund operations until the end of January 2020 and expects to complete its strategic review by that time.
* TerraCom Ltd. achieved record September quarter coal sales of 795,532 tonnes from its Blair Athol mine in Queensland, Australia, with the company's total sales coming in at 921,119 tonnes.
SPECIALTY
* Technology Metals Australia Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding to supply Shaanxi Fengyuan Vanadium Technology Development Co. Ltd. with 3,000 tonnes per annum of vanadium pentoxide from the Gabanintha project in Western Australia.
* After reaching a settlement with Albemarle Corp., Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp. said that the State Engineer of the Nevada Division of Water Resources officially dismissed forfeiture proceedings against the company's water right in the Clayton Valley basin.
* Bass Metals Ltd. signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with downstream graphite processor Urbix Resources LLC to establish a joint venture facility in Madagascar for processing the large flake graphite from Bass' Graphmada mine into value-added downstream products using Urbix's proprietary technology.
* Jangada Mines PLC's technical report at its Pitombeiras vanadium project in Brazil indicated that the property could be quickly developed to define JORC-compliant mineral resources, which will support the completion of a preliminary economic assessment. The company is planning an exploration and development program to advance Pitombeiras over the coming months.
* Queensland Resources Council Ian Macfarlane claimed that the state is missing out on reaping the value of its uranium deposits worth about A$10 billion due to a ban on uranium mining, Mining Weekly reported.
* Australia may benefit from a U.S. move to boost domestic rare earths supply and reduce reliance on China, Reuters reported, citing Australia's Trade and Investment Commission.
* E3 Metals Corp. secured TSXV approval for its agreement with Livent Corp. to advance the development of E3's proprietary direct lithium extraction process focused on its petro-lithium brines in Alberta's Leduc Formation.
* VanadiumCorp Resource Inc. plans to open a vanadium-redox flow battery research and development facility in Karlsruhe, Germany, which will focus on innovations on next generation of flow batteries.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Australia trimmed its mining sector revenue guidance for the 2019/2020 fiscal year to A$281.6 billion from A$284.6 billion forecast in July amid economic uncertainty driven by the U.S.-China trade war, Bloomberg News wrote, citing Australia's Department of Industry. The figure is still higher than A$279.3 billion in the previous fiscal.
* New National Mining Association President and CEO Rich Nolan plans to double down on opportunities for metals in technology, according to an exclusive S&P Global Market Intelligence report.
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