TOP NEWS
Ex-Vale CEO under probe for potentially misleading statements after dam breach
Brazilian prosecutors are probing potentially misleading statements made by former Vale SA CEO Fabio Schvartsman as part of a wider investigation over the tailings dam breach at the Feijao iron ore mine, Reuters reported, citing a source close to the investigation. Days following the disaster in late January, Schvartsman claimed the iron ore miner decommissioned nine upstream dams after a similar incident at the Samarco mine in 2015, with the decommissioning of 10 dams built in the same method to be conducted over the next few years. However, Eduardo Leão, a director of the Brazilian mining regulator ANM, and another expert said that the dams were smaller structures and not the dangerous upstream type, according to the report.
Newmont Goldcorp CEO rules out fire sale of assets; Red Lake sale carries on
Newmont Goldcorp Corp.'s incoming CEO Tom Palmer ruled out a fire sale of assets even if the company does not achieve its goal of up to US$1.5 billion in divestments following the merger, Bloomberg News reported. "We're in no rush to sell anything," Palmer said, adding that the company is not under any pressure to generate cash from asset sales. However, Newmont is still proceeding with its plan to sell the Red Lake gold mine in Ontario, which has drawn interest from about a dozen parties, the report said.
China Molybdenum wins Fanya ammonium paratungstate auction for 3.27B yuan
China Molybdenum Co. Ltd. won an auction for about 28,336 tonnes of ammonium paratungstate, held by the Kumning Intermediate People's court for the bankrupt Fanya Metal Exchange, for 3.27 billion Chinese yuan, Reuters reported. This is the largest amount of money raised in six Fanya auctions so far, and exceeded the stipulated market value of 3.06 billion yuan.
* Nexa Resources SA plans to begin construction of the Pukaqaqa and Magistral copper projects, both located in Peru, upon the completion of the Aripuana zinc project in Brazil, Gestión reported, citing CEO Tito Martins.
* Symbol Mining Ltd., which is under administration, sold its portion of the Imperial zinc joint venture in Nigeria to its largest unsecured creditor Noble Resources Ltd. The administrators are also seeking parties interested in recapitalizing the Australia-listed junior explorer.
PRECIOUS METALS
* A newly discovered gold deposit about a kilometer north of Barrick Gold Corp.'s Fourmile project on the Goldrush property in Nevada is expected to drive resource growth, the major gold miner said in a press release.
* The thorny issue of artisanal mining, a term that refers to a small-scale mining operation but is also frequently a euphemism for unregulated operations that play by a looser set of rules than traditional miners, is not likely to go away soon, Franco-Nevada Corp. independent Chairman Pierre Lassonde said.
* Gold executives gathered at a large industry conference are celebrating a recent rally in prices as the prices on the commodity hold at near-time record highs thanks in part to concerns about world trade and the broader economy, though some expressed concern about investor confidence.
* Royalty company Sandstorm Gold Ltd. President and CEO Nolan Watson told S&P Global Market Intelligence that he sees potential for gold prices to retreat even as he remains bullish in the longer term.
* Anglo Asian Mining PLC's interim first-half gold equivalent production totaled 39,905 ounces, up from 37,349 ounces a year ago, as gold sales totaled 26,588 ounces at an average price of US$1,319 per ounce. Meanwhile, attributable profit grew to US$6.6 million, or 5.8 cents per share, from US$5.1 million, or 4.5 cents per share.
* Core Gold Inc. advised shareholders not to take any action at this time after Titan Minerals Ltd. expressed its intention to renew a takeover bid.
* Pistol Bay Mining Inc. entered into an option agreement with 1544230 Ontario Inc. to acquire a 100% right, title and interest in the latter's 141 mining cells, covering a total of 7,130 acres, in the Pakwash Lake Area in the Red Lake mining district of Ontario.
* Vizsla Resources Corp. secured an option to acquire the consolidated minerals rights, infrastructure and processing facilities, comprising the Panuco-Copala precious metals camp in Sinaloa, Mexico.
* Stroud Resources Ltd. reached a deal to slash its net smelter royalty on its Santo Domingo silver property in Mexico to 0.5% from 1%, and reduce the cap to US$1.2 million from US$2.3 million.
* Kingwest Resources Ltd. will conduct an initial 26-hole, 6,500-meter diamond drilling program to test high priority targets at the Menzies gold project in Western Australia after closing its acquisition of the property from Horizon Minerals Ltd.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Steel Dynamics Inc. expects its earnings in the third quarter to range between 66 US cents to 70 cents per diluted share, down from US$1.69 per share in the year-ago quarter and 87 cents per share in the second quarter this year. The projected decline versus second quarter results was attributed to lower profitability from the sheet steel operations because of lower shipments and average steel pricing, which more than offset lower scrap costs.
* PAO Severstal's Steel Capital SA issued US$800 million of 3.15% loan participation notes due 2024 under its US$4.5 billion loan participation note program for financing a loan to Severstal, which the parent plans to mainly use for general corporate purposes. The company invested about US$6 million in Michigan-based Arcanum Alloys Inc., which develops innovative alloys used in making cars, appliances and construction material.
* Coal and heavy minerals miner Exxaro Resources Ltd. purchased the remaining 50% interest in a renewable energy joint venture with The Tata Power Co. Ltd. in a 1.55 billion South African rand deal.
* An investigation has been launched into the circumstances around a Sept. 15 fire that engulfed parts of Optimum coal mine in Mpumalanga, South Africa, days before bidders make final submissions for the property and other coal assets owned by former Gupta-linked Tegeta Exploration and Resources Pty Ltd. A subsidiary of Dubai-based company DSA Investments and two South African companies have put in a bid to buy the assets, Bloomberg News reported.
* China Baowu Steel Group Corp. Ltd. plans to build a steel mill in the Chinese province of Hubei for 2.14 billion yuan, state-run China Metallurgical News reported. The 1.5 million-tonne-per-year steel plant is expected to start production in April 2021, the report said.
* Union workers of Shougang Hierro Peru SAA, Peru's lone iron ore producer, will begin an indefinite strike on Sept. 18 after failing to reach a collective bargaining agreement for the 2019 to 2020 period.
* Altech Chemicals Ltd. received a invitation letter from the German state government of Saxony to consider the construction of a second high-purity alumina in the state.
* The National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Cobalt Coal Ltd. to void certain liens imposed against the company by a former director.
* A coal miner died while working in a West Virginia mine controlled by Blackhawk Mining LLC, according to the West Virginia Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training.
SPECIALTY
* Japan's Toshiba Corp. and Russia's ROSATOM International Network are among companies interested in investing in Chile's battery technology sector, Reuters reported, citing Chilean government officials and documents. The South American country is looking to secure investments in battery technology in exchange for access to its huge lithium deposits in the Atacama Desert.
* Nemaska Lithium Inc. intends to cancel a senior secured bonds offering of US$350 million due to a delay in the completion of the Whabouchi lithium project and the Shawinigan electrochemical plant in Quebec.
* PJSC Alrosa's supervisory board will vote Sept. 24 on a proposal to acquire state-owned diamond polisher Smolensk Kristall. Once the deal is approved, a sale and purchase and agreement is expected by the end of this month.
* A resource estimate for a 38-square-kilometer tenure adjacent to Titanium Sands Ltd.'s Mannar Island heavy mineral sands project in Sri Lanka, part of its due diligence proceedings for the potential acquisition of the property extension, totaled 31.92 million tonnes grading 7.45% total heavy minerals.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* The U.S. is lagging behind in the race to extract and refine lithium, rare earths, cobalt and other strategic minerals used to make electric vehicles, Reuters reported, citing a bipartisan group of senators who made a statement during a committee hearing.
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