TOP NEWS
Takeovers Panel throws out applications to block Yancoal's US$2.35B raising
The Takeovers Panel of Australia declined to conduct proceedings on the applications filed against Yancoal Australia Ltd.'s 23.6-for-1 entitlement offer priced at 10 U.S. cents per share to raise about US$2.35 billion, to fund the US$2.69 billion acquisition of Rio Tinto's Coal & Allied Industries Ltd. unit. The panel rejected the claim made by Senrigan Capital Management Ltd., one of the applicants, that the rights issue is highly dilutive and did not allow existing minority shareholders like itself "a reasonable and equal opportunity to participate."
S&P Global Ratings, Moody's downgrade Noble Group on default risk
S&P Global Ratings and Moody's downgraded Noble Group Ltd., citing the company's increased risk of defaulting on its debt obligations. S&P cited increasing risk that Noble Group will not be able to meet its debt obligations in the next six months. Meanwhile, Moody's cited similar concerns while noting that the outlook results from increased default risk over the next 12 months and the uncertain recovery prospects for creditors.
China bans North Korean iron ore, iron, lead along with coal on UN sanctions
Following its ban on imports of North Korean coal in February, China issued another order to include iron ore, iron and lead on the list, effective Aug. 15, The Washington Post reported, citing the country's Ministry of Commerce. The move reflects China's compliance with sanctions recently imposed by the U.N. Security Council following U.S. accusations that the country is not doing enough to rein in North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.
BASE METALS
* From a tightly held commodities trader to one of the world's largest diversified natural resource groups, Glencore Plc had the largest reserves growth among all major copper producers over the past 10 years, adding 38.7 million tonnes of copper to reserves through a skillful mixture of acquisitions and exploration. It accomplished this while rising to become the world's third-largest copper producer and while holding back almost 400,000 tonnes per year of production from its African operations, as it aims to both lower costs and stem what it sees as unnecessary oversupply by the major producers.
* Zambia's Copperbelt Energy Corp. confirmed it has restricted the electricity that it supplies to Glencore's Mopani Copper Mines Plc amid a dispute over tariffs, with the miner rejecting the increased levy and continuing to pay for the electricity it consumes under the old tariff. Glencore's Zambian unit suspended some of its operations.
* Private Chilean equity firm Mineria Activa, owner of 90% of the Pampa Camarones copper project, also known as Salamanqueja, submitted a new environmental impact declaration report to reactivate the operation in 2018, Pulso reported. The project has been suspended since May.
* Azure Minerals Ltd. acquired the advanced-stage Oposura zinc-lead-silver project in Sonora, Mexico, covering 690 hectares, from Grupo Minero Puma for US$1.5 million in cash and the granting of a 2.5% net smelter royalty.
* Nubian Resources Ltd. signed a binding letter of intent to acquire up to a 100% stake in the Rio Pampas copper-gold project in Peru.
PRECIOUS METALS
* PJSC Polyus will increase its CapEx spending in the second half of 2017 as it channels more funds into bringing the Natalka project online by the end of the year, said Mikhail Stiskin, senior vice president for finance and strategy. "We will not give an exact breakdown according to assets, but total CapEx for the year will be around US$800 million," Stiskin said.
* Preliminary results of a feasibility study on the Jonnagiri gold project in India, in which Lionsgold Ltd. holds a 21.15% interest, estimates a pretax net present value, at an 8.48% discount, of US$25 million and an internal rate of return of 22.5%. The life of the mine is estimated at seven years, based on a probable reserve of 151,020 ounces of gold.
* Atlatsa Resources Corp. said the company is not in the position to file its unaudited interim financial results for the three- and six-month periods that ended June 30 by the Aug. 14 filing deadline due to its recently announced restructuring deal with Anglo American Platinum Ltd., or Amplats.
* The Supreme Court of New South Wales in Australia has ordered that the statutory demand received by Stonewall Resources Ltd., for the repayment of the loan and associated interest totaling about A$6.3 million, to be set aside.
* Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. swung to net profit of US$8.9 million in the second quarter, from a year-ago net loss of US$1.4 million.
* According to Investec Securities, Royal Bafokeng Platinum Ltd. could offer between 1.5 billion South African rand and 2 billion rand for Platinum Group Metals Ltd.'s Maseve platinum mine in South Africa, Miningmx wrote.
* IAMGOLD Corp. acquired 27,777,777 common shares of TomaGold Corp. reflecting around 19.98% of the outstanding TomaGold Corp. shares. IAMGOLD purchased the shares at 9 U.S. cents apiece for a total of US$2.5 million.
* Macarthur Minerals Ltd. intends to acquire 15% of Yalgoo Exploration Pty Ltd, which owns the Melville gold project in Western Australia.
* Westgold Resources Ltd. said that RNC Minerals has elected not to extend its purchase option for a further six months over the former's South Kalgoorlie operations in Western Australia.
* A group of United Nations experts claimed to have collected evidence that a sanctioned Congolese military officer owns gold mining operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, contravening the country's mining code, Bloomberg News wrote.
* Indian traders are likely to import 25 tonnes of gold from South Korea in July and August to avoid duties on the back of a recent tax scheme revision that allows importers to ship in gold without paying the 10% customs levy, Reuters wrote. James Jose, secretary of the Association of Gold Refineries and Mints told Reuters that 12 tonnes from South Korea have landed since the goods-and-services tax was implemented, with imports expected to hit 25 tonnes by the end of August.
* Anfield Gold Corp. secured the license of operation for exploration and trial mining, vegetation suppression permit and fauna capture permit for its Coringa gold project in Brazil, allowing the company to start construction activities at the property.
* One Asia Resources Ltd. spinoff Nusantara Resources Ltd. executed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with state-owned power utility PT PLN (Persero), securing grid power for the Awak Mas gold project in South Sulawesi, Indonesia.
BULK COMMODITIES
* TerraCom Resources Ltd. said the Blair Athol thermal coal mine in Queensland, Australia, commenced production and is rapidly ramping up to an annualized rate of about 2 million tonnes by the fourth quarter. The mine will deliver first sales this month.
* Ningxia Tianyuan Manganese Industry Co. will invest A$30 million to restart the Woodie Woodie manganese mine in Western Australia, previously owned by Consolidated Minerals Ltd., which it took control of in May. Woodie Woodie was placed on care and maintenance in February 2016 due to historically low manganese prices, The West Australian reported.
* China's coal production fell 4.5% to 294 million tonnes in July from a month earlier, marking its lowest since October 2016, Reuters reported.
* Tata Steel Ltd. unit Tata Steel UK Ltd. has been fined £930,000 after pleading guilty to a release of toxic and flammable substances in 2011 at the steelworks it formerly operated in Scunthorpe in northern England, Metal Bulletin reported.
* United Co. Rusal Plc commissioned for pilot production a complex of furnaces for the hardening of wire rods at the Kandalaksha aluminum smelter in Russia. The company invested US$5.6 million in the project, which will produce 6,800 tonnes of wire rods per annum.
* Coal hauler and railway owner Aurizon Holdings Ltd. will cut 250 jobs as it exits its underperforming intermodal freight business by off-loading its Queensland business to Pacific National and Lindsay Fox's Linfox, and shutting down the rest of the intermodal unit to focus on its core business, The Australian reported.
* The Colombian Constitutional Court ordered the temporary suspension of plans by the El Cerrejón coal joint venture, held jointly by Anglo American Plc, BHP Billiton Group and Glencore Plc, to reroute the local Bruno creek, part of ongoing engineering works at the mining concession, El Espectador reported. The suspension will remain in effect until the court completes the review of a claim by neighboring communities, which say that the plan will hurt the local water supply.
SPECIALTY
* American Lithium Corp.'s board approved a restructuring of the company through a 1-for-10 share consolidation, to attract the required capital to advance its Fish Lake Valley lithium project in Nevada.
* PJSC Alrosa retained its output target for the year, keeping its production plans unchanged despite the accident at its Mir underground mine, part of the Mirny Division in eastern Siberia, Reuters wrote.
* Cornish Lithium Ltd., a U.K.-based startup, raised £1 million from three investors, which will allow the firm to decide where best to drill and sample for lithium in Cornwall, Mining.com reported. The investors will be allowed to appoint one director to the board.
* Jourdan Resources Inc. signed agreements to acquire the Rome lithium and Baillarge North lithium-molybdenum projects in Quebec's La Corne region.
* Primero Group began construction work to build a 1.2 million-tonne-per-annum dense media separation circuit at the Bald Hill lithium-tantalum mine in Western Australia, held in a joint venture by Tawana Resources NL and Alliance Mineral Assets Ltd., under a A$30 million contract.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Women account for 7.9% of the total workforce in the Chilean mining industry, El Mercurio reported, citing preliminary results from a study by Chilean mining association Consejo Minero. The full results of the study will be released in November.
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. London time, and scans news sources published in Chinese, English, Indonesian, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Ukrainian. Some external links may require a subscription.