TOP NEWS
Vale approves US$1.7B expansion at Voisey's Bay, inks US$690M cobalt streaming deal
Vale SA is moving ahead with a US$1.7 billion expansion of its Voisey's Bay nickel-copper-cobalt project in Newfoundland and Labrador as it seeks to capitalize on increasing demand for battery minerals. The planned development of an underground mine at Voisey's Bay would extend its life by at least 15 years, with initial production expected by April 2021. Vale also agreed to sell a total of 75% of cobalt production from the Voisey's Bay copper-nickel-cobalt complex to Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. and Cobalt 27 Capital Corp. for a total of US$690 million, beginning in 2021.
Ivanhoe Mines secures C$723M investment from CITIC Metal
CITIC Metal Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate Citic Ltd., agreed to invest C$723 million in Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. for a 19.9% interest in the company to become its largest single shareholder.
Mitsubishi Materials restructures management after new misconduct cases
Mitsubishi Materials Corp. restructured its top management for the first time after it accepted responsibility for the 2017 data-tampering scandal, Reuters reported. Akira Takeuchi will step down as president and will be named chairman after the June 22 annual shareholders meeting. Naoki Ono, the group's executive vice president, will replace Takeuchi as president. Mitsubishi Materials said it recently uncovered new cases of misconduct at its Naoshima copper smelter and refinery in Japan. In May, the company also found cases of improper action at some of its group companies, increasing the number of affected customers from 762 to an undisclosed figure.
DIVERSIFIED
* Asset manager M&G Investments is partnering with Anglo American PLC in a £265 million deal to revamp the mining company's London headquarters, IPE Real Assets reported.
BASE METALS
* China is looking to bring forward its annual sales program for copper, with Codelco CEO Nelson Pizarro saying that negotiations between the copper producer and customers in China could start about two months earlier than the traditional October-November period, Bloomberg News reported.
* Vedanta Resources PLC plans to double finished copper production at Zambia-based Konkola Copper Mines PLC to 200,000 tonnes this year, from just under 100,000 tonnes in 2017, Reuters reported, citing Deshnee Naidoo, CEO of the company's Zambian unit.
* Unionized workers at BHP Billiton Group's Spence copper mine in Chile approved a 36-month labor contract, Reuters reported, citing the union president. The deal includes a one-off bonus of nearly US$21,500 per worker and a 2% increase over current base salaries.
* BHP responded to the latest contract proposal from the main union at the company's Escondida copper mine in Chile, triggering a new round of talks that could last a month or more, Reuters reported. The miner said it was now ready to discuss the "different points of interest" at the negotiating table.
* Pembridge Resources PLC agreed to receive US$30 million in prepayment financing from a leading global Japanese trading house through an off-take agreement for 125,000 tonnes of copper concentrate produced at the Minto mine in Canada's Yukon Territory.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Johannesburg-based AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. was the world's third-largest gold producer in 2017, with attributable production of 3.75 million ounces of gold. Like many of its peers, AngloGold has generally avoided making major acquisitions since the downturn in 2012, instead leveraging the industry's largest gold exploration expenditure over the past decade to organically replace almost four-fifths of the reserves the company added over the period.
* An ongoing protest blocking entry to Goldcorp Inc.'s Penasquito mine in Mexico could force the company to halt output, Reuters reported. The demonstration is led by local truck-drivers who say the company backed out on promises to hire locally.
* Three gold miners were killed in an unknown incident at Sibanye Gold Ltd.'s Kloof Ikamva mine in South Africa, while another two remain missing, Reuters reported. The company said five workers entered an abandoned working place at Kloof Ikamva, but it was not sure what happened.
* Rioters in Mali ransacked government buildings following a dispute between workers and management at Randgold Resources Ltd.'s Loulo-Gounkoto
* Nautilus Minerals Inc. entered into an agreement with Deep Sea Mining Finance Ltd. to formalize a secured structured credit facility of up to US$34 million as it continues to advance its Solwara 1 copper-gold-silver project in Papua New Guinea's territorial waters.
* KEFI Minerals PLC's shares surged on the London Stock Exchange on the company announcing it raised the remaining funds for the construction of the Tulu Kapi gold project in Ethiopia.
* Operations at Jaguar Mining Inc.'s Pilar and Turmalina gold mines in Brazil returned to normal following a national 10-day truckers' strike that disrupted production.
* Starcore International Mines Ltd. decided not to proceed with its proposed acquisition of the Santa Fe silver-gold project in Mexico after completing due diligence and a review of the property.
* Resolute Mining Ltd.
* First Mining Gold Corp. kicked off a metallurgical study at its Springpole gold project in northwestern Ontario to determine an optimal flow sheet for the project. Results of the study will be incorporated into the preparation of a pre-feasibility study for Springpole that is expected to be completed in 2019.
BULK COMMODITIES
* ThyssenKrupp AG shareholder Elliott Management asked the German conglomerate to secure a more favorable European steel joint venture deal with Tata Steel Ltd. The shareholder believes that Tata's recent underperformance has skewed the balance against ThyssenKrupp to the tune of €1.9 billion less for the German group if the deal proceeds in its current form, Bloomberg News reported, citing a letter Elliott sent to company management.
* Tata Steel's European works council said it remains unconvinced that a planned joint venture with ThyssenKrupp is in the best interest of the company's operations and its employees, Reuters reported.
* Quebec will offer C$100 million in loans and guarantees to steel and aluminum companies affected by the recent U.S. import tariffs, Reuters reported, citing Dominique Anglade, the province's economy minister.
* China's Inner Mongolia region will close 22 small coal mines with a combined annual capacity of 11.1 million tonnes this year, Reuters reported, citing local authorities. Inner Mongolia is expecting to reach a 2020 target of slashing 54.1 million tonnes by 2018.
* Sweden-based steelmaker SSAB is planning the possible closure of its steel tube factory in Lappohja, Finland, which employs 115 people, Reuters reported. Talks about potential workforce cuts will be started, the result of which might be to shut down the site, the company said.
* Bellzone Mining PLC is in discussions to explore options to maximize the value of its major assets, including the Konta port and the Kalia iron ore project in Guinea.
* ArcelorMittal and Chicago-based LanzaTech Inc. kicked off a €150 million project to convert carbon gas to bioethanol. ArcelorMittal started construction in Ghent, Belgium, to house a new installation that will convert carbon-containing gas from its blast furnaces into bioethanol.
* Ncondezi Energy Ltd. said its potential partners for the joint development of its 300-MW power and coal mine project in Mozambique accepted the proposed integrated financial model for submission to Electricidade de Moçambique EP and the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy.
SPECIALTY
* Diamonds from the Angola-based Catoca mine, the world's fifth largest diamond mine, were sold for 24% below the market prices over the last six years up to and including 2017, resulting in estimated losses of US$464 million, due to the current government marketing process, Reuters reported. Russia's PJSC Alrosa and Angola's state diamond miner Endiama EP
* Zimbabwe's parliament dropped calls for former President Robert Mugabe to answer questions in connection with diamond mining operations during his regime, Reuters reported.
* The U.S. House of Representatives approved an amendment to an energy and water act accelerating the cleanup of abandoned uranium mines across the country, Mining.com reported. The measure allocates US$1 million from a Department of Energy program in order to remediate uranium mines.
* BlueRock Diamonds PLC halted production at its Kareevlei diamond mine in South Africa after identifying a fault within the crushing circuit. Work began to rectify the issue, with production expected to restart within the next 10 days.
* Pallinghurst Resources Ltd generated record revenues of US$71.8 million from the auction of rough rubies held in Singapore by its wholly owned unit Gemfields Ltd. The company sold 95% of the 86 lots offered at an average price of US$122 per carat.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Chinese investment in Australia dropped 11% year over year to US$10.3 billion in 2017 in spite of renewed investment in mining, continued investment in commercial real estate, as well as a surge in healthcare investment, according to a report by KPMG and the University of Sydney. Mining was the most significant sector for Chinese investment, and saw 12 deals totaling A$4.6 billion, a rise of 448% from 2016.
* The Brisbane Supreme Court in Queensland, Australia, ordered Clive Palmer to hand over a list of his personal assets within 30 days as part of the ongoing case with Queensland Nickel liquidators, The Australian reported. The list is required to have his percentage in the assets and their value and location.
* Queensland Resources Council CEO Ian Macfarlane urged the state government to maintain royalty stability ahead of the state budget, Mining Weekly reported.
The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. Hong Kong time. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.
