TOP NEWS
Mechel to buy Gazprombank's 34% Elga coal project stake for 30B rubles
Russia's Mechel PAO will reportedly pay about 30 billion rubles to purchase Gazprombank OJSC's 34% interest in the Elga coking coal project in Russia, Reuters reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter. Mechel, which already holds a 51% stake in the project, accepted Gazprombank's sales offer in September, and will pay for the acquisition in the next four months, one of the sources said. However, it is unclear how the indebted steel and coal producer will fund the transaction.
IAMGOLD denies blockades, operations halt at Rosebel gold mine
IAMGOLD Corp. said there were no blockades at the Rosebel gold mine in Suriname, contrary to media reports. An earlier Reuters report, citing local news site Starnieuws, said a blockade was launched by illegal miners at the southern pits, which reportedly caused the miner to partly stop operations while removing equipment and personnel from the area.
Tata Steel mulls sale of 50% stake in mjunction for 14B rupees
Tata Steel Ltd. is working with advisers for a potential sale of its 50% stake in mjunction Services Ltd., an online marketplace for commodities such as steel and diamonds, Bloomberg News reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. The steelmaker, which aims to divest noncore assets to slash debt, is seeking about 14 billion Indian rupees for the stake.
DIVERSIFIED
* BHP Group investors are focusing on appointing a successor to CEO Andrew Mackenzie based on a UBS survey, the Australian Financial Review reported. The survey found out that the tenure of Mackenzie and selection of his replacement was the second biggest concern among investors, after the trajectory of the iron price.
* Aldoro Resources Ltd. and Altilium Metals have satisfactorily completed legal, financial and technical due diligence on each other. Aldoro expects to complete its acquisition of Altilium after the company's annual general meeting.
* The ongoing trade war has led to the slowdown in global consumption growth of copper and aluminum at 0.5% and 1.1%, respectively, during the first half of the year, from 2.3% and 4% growth in the comparative period in 2018, Economic Times reported, citing data from credit rating agency ICRA.
BASE METALS
* Fortune Minerals Ltd. suspended work on upgrading its Nico cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project in Northwest Territories to 6,000 tonnes per day after it determined that the current rate of 4,650 tonnes per day is optimum in the current cobalt and bismuth price environment.
* Heron Resources Ltd. secured a A$91 million funding package that will allow commissioning of its Woodlawn zinc-copper project in New South Wales, Australia, to complete and to see it through to positive cash flow operations.
* The Northern Territory environment protection authority in Australia recommended that the state government approve KGL Resources Ltd.'s Jervois copper project. The company is targeting the start of mine construction in the second quarter of 2020.
* Gespeg Resources Ltd. agreed to acquire undivided interest in the Chandler, Davidson and Ruisseau Basket copper projects, all on the southern portion of the Gaspé Peninsula and the Chibougamau Region in Quebec.
* Antofagasta PLC negotiated with workers in a bid to stave off a strike at its Antucoya copper deposit in Chile, following the union's rejection of the company's final contract offer. The company sent a proposal that was the same as its previous offer. "That's no way to reach an agreement," union President Cesar Garcia told Reuters.
* Todd River Resources Ltd. acquired option rights for 80% interest over exploration license E08/9242 of the Nanutarra project in Western Australia, through a farm-in agreement with private group Cratonix Pty Ltd. Todd River believes that the tenement is prospective for mafic-hosted nickel sulfide mineralization.
PRECIOUS METALS
* Analysts are positive on Platinum Group Metals Ltd.'s claim that its new flagship Waterberg platinum project in South Africa will be able to recover the value from its disastrous Maseve project. The company is aiming for first production from Waterberg in 2023.
* Negotiated attempts to end a blockade at Newmont Goldcorp Corp.'s Penasquito gold mine in Mexico, now in its third week, appear to have made little progress even after a recent appeal for fresh discussions by Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Mexico's Ministry of Economy undersecretary of mines Francisco Quiroga told S&P Global Market Intelligence that the blockade must respect the rule of law, but dismissed the use of force.
* St Barbara Ltd.'s consolidated gold production in the first quarter of its fiscal 2020 slumped to 87,569 ounces, from a revised 109,145 ounces — taking into account its C$722 million acquisition of Atlantic Gold, which closed in July — in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2019.
* Breaker Resources NL decided to undertake a strategic review of options available to advance its Lake Roe gold project in Western Australia. The review process will consider potential partnering, funding and other asset initiatives, and will look into increasing the current 1.0-million-ounce resource.
* Centamin PLC expects to produce 97,000 to 98,000 ounces of gold in the third quarter as output was behind expectations due to reduced open-pit mining rates on the higher-grade stage four west wall at its Sukari mine in Egypt.
* Pure Alumina Ltd. terminated the sale process for its Hill End and Hargraves gold assets in New South Wales, Australia, as part of the company's strategic corporate review. The company noted that since the sale process commenced, the Australian-dollar gold price has increased by more than 30%.
* Torex Gold Resources Inc. achieved record gold production of 138,100 ounces for the third quarter, up 21% from the previous quarter, while gold sales for the period stood at 132,500 ounces.
* The Federal Bureau of Land Management accepted Kerr Mines Inc.'s modifications to its mine plan of operations for the Copperstone gold project in Arizona, under which the company can increase gold ore production to 600 tons per day from the current limit of 450 tons per day once the company receives final approval, expected during the fourth quarter.
* Tajikistan lawmakers voted to ratify an agreement giving Chinese company Xinyu Dadi Mining Investment development rights for the Yakjilva silver mine in the Pamir mountains, Eurasia wrote, citing a report from Radio Ozodi. The report said that the company has allocated US$39.6 million for the development of the field.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Vale SA is looking into making hot briquetted iron, which removes the need to use coking coal for lower carbon emissions, if the price of natural gas needed for production will fall about 60% to US$4 per million British thermal units, Reuters reported, citing three company sources.
* Nippon Steel Corp. is shutting down one of the two steel-making plants at its Kimitsu Steel Works in Japan's Chiba prefecture for repairs until the end of December after Typhoon Faxai damaged a chimney in September, Reuters reported, citing a company spokesman. Separately, Nippon Steel Corp. will merge with its subsidiary Nippon Steel Nisshin Co. Ltd., wherein Nippon Steel Corp. will be the surviving company, effective April 1, 2020.
* Tango Mining Ltd. terminated its proposed disposition of the Kwena Group and its coal assets in South Africa to director Kevin Gallagher. The company maintains its strategic focus on its Oena diamond mine.
* The European Union's investment bank's board is considering to stop financing fossil fuel businesses, but there is little chance that the wider finance industry will soon follow suit, Bloomberg reported.
* In an effort to narrow an increasing trade deficit with China, Vietnam has imposed an anti-dumping tax on certain aluminum products from its neighbor, after an investigation found that Chinese dumping activities had seriously hurt domestic aluminum, Reuters wrote, citing the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade. The levy ranges from 2.49% to 35.58% and is effective for five years.
* The increase in global freight rates caused by tighter emissions control regulations is putting pressure on steel product exports amid reduced demand and falling steel prices, Fastmarkets said.
* A miner died due to an earthquake hitting the Bielszowice coal mine in southern Poland, Reuters reported, citing a spokesperson for the mine owner PGG. State-run news agency PAP also quoted the spokesperson, saying 17 miners had been injured.
* Solon Lemuel Fortun filed a bill seeking to investigate the alleged smuggling and proliferation of substandard steel products in the Philippines as a result of collusion between large steelmakers and officials of the Department of Trade and Industry and the Bureau of Customs, The Manila Times reported.
* The Department of Energy launched an investigation on the mudslide incident at Semirara Mining & Power Corp.'s facility in Antique, Philippines, which resulted in one employee missing. The DOE confirmed the presence of mudflow at the location of the incident.
SPECIALTY
* Latin Resources Ltd. has taken a strategic decision to continue its operations in South America only on the basis of a part sale or joint venture on its projects. The company said it will continue to source suitable joint venture partners in Argentina and Brazil on its lithium projects.
* Gem Diamonds Ltd.'s mining lease for its Letseng diamond mine in Lesotho was renewed for 10 years, with an exclusive right to renew it a further 10 years. Meanwhile, the royalty payable over diamonds sold by Letseng increased to 10% from 8%, effective Oct. 3.
* Neometals Ltd. entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Institute of Multipurpose Utilization of Mineral Resources Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences to jointly develop the Barrambie titanium-vanadium project in Western Australia.
* Search Minerals Inc. signed a consultancy agreement with rare earth specialist Kaz Machida for the company to be guided on the development of a marketing strategy for entrance into the rare earth supply chain in North America and primarily Japan.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Brazil's government will present a bill this month that would allow mines on indigenous land, and will also look to legalize more small-scale, independent wildcat mines, many of which now operate legally, Reuters reported, citing Mines and Energy Minister Bento Albuquerque.
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