TOP NEWS
Rusal CEO, half of board resign in response to US sanctions
United Co. Rusal PLC said its CEO Alexandra Bouriko and half of its board members have resigned from the company, as part of efforts to protect the company from the U.S.-imposed sanctions. Executive directors Vladislav Soloviev and Siegfried Wolf, as well as five non-executive directors Maxim Sokov, Dmitry Afanasiev, Gulzhan Moldazhanova, Olga Mashkovskaya and Ekaterina Nikitina, have resigned with effect from June 28. According to a separate statement issued on the same date, the company also warned that it may not be able to maintain the operating performance required to service and repay debt due to the sanctions, and as a result, its current creditors may accelerate repayment.
SQM's Q1 net profit 10.3% higher YOY to US$113.8M
Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA booked a 10.3% increase in its first quarter net profit to US$113.8 million, or 43 cents per ADR. Revenues in the three-months ended March 31 slightly increased to US$518.7 million, from US$518.6 million. Increased lithium prices, offset by lower sales volumes for its potassium chloride and potassium sulfate business lines, affected the company's results in the quarter. Meanwhile, the lithium miner's board approved an interim dividend of 43.247 cents per share.
AngloGold to lay off up to 2,000 workers in South African ops restructure
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. will lay off up to 2,000 workers across its South African operations as part of a restructuring aimed at paring losses. The miner cited several operational challenges, including falling production and rising costs, as the reason for the retrenchments. AngloGold, whose remaining assets in South Africa include the Mponeng gold mine and a tailings treatment operation, employs about 8,200 people in the country.
DIVERSIFIED
* Vedanta Resources PLC Chairman Anil Agarwal plans to step back from running the diversified conglomerate once Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan steps in as its new CEO in August, the Financial Times reported. The appointment of Venkatakrishnan would give Agarwal space to focus on his charitable interests, including helping underprivileged women and children.
* BHP Billiton Group aims to close the gender gap within the group by 2025 and continues to train women for mine jobs through a program at its Mount Arthur coal mine in New South Wales, Australia, ABC News reported.
BASE METALS
* A preliminary economic assessment on Fireweed Zinc Ltd.'s Macmillan Pass zinc project in Canada's Yukon Territory pegged an after-tax net present value of C$448 million at an 8%, discount, an internal rate of return of 24% and a payback period of four years. Pre-production capital is pegged at C$404.4 million while sustaining capital was estimated at C$649.4 million for a total project cost of C$1.05 billion.
* Antofagasta PLC chairman Jean-Paul Luksic expects a shortfall of copper in the coming years, due to the slow rate at which new mines are granted permits and subsequently built and the increasing demand for the commodity, Mining Weekly reported.
* First Cobalt Corp. is on track to complete the acquisition of US Cobalt Inc., following the approval of the Supreme Court of British Columbia of the C$149.9 million deal.
* Chakana Copper Corp. doubled its land position at the Soledad copper property in Peru, which it is optioning from Condor Resources Inc., via the acquisition of four new breccia pipes surrounding the project.
* The repairs and refurbishment for the primary crusher at Hillgrove Resources Ltd.'s Kanmantoo copper project in South Australia was successfully completed.
* Unionized workers at Imperial Metals Corp.'s Mount Polley copper mine in British Columbia downed tools following a three-hour lockout by the company. The lockout sought to break a deadlock on talks about the renewal of a collective agreement that was terminated at the end of 2017.
* Atalaya Mining PLC said its Proyecto de Rio Tinto project in Spain produced 9,441 tonnes of copper in the first quarter, up 7.2% from the year ago quarter.
PRECIOUS METALS
* The gold industry needs to be much more pro-active with greenfields exploration to ensure a thriving future, particularly in Australia where the competitive position of individual companies is being eroded by depleting reserves, miner St Barbara Ltd. CEO Bob Vassie said in an exclusive interview with S&P Global Market Intelligence.
* Anglo Asian Mining PLC is set to declare a maiden dividend, after its full-year 2017 gold equivalent output of 71,461 ounces met the upper half of its production guidance of between 64,000 gold equivalent ounces and 72,000 gold equivalent ounces.
* Ausdrill Ltd. subsidiary MinAnalytical installed a Chrysos photon assay machine at its facility in Canning Vale, Western Australia. The technology reduces the analysis time needed for drilling samples to less than 10 minutes, from up to 48 hours previously.
* Beaufield Resources Inc. signed a letter of intent granting Bonterra Resources Inc. an option to acquire a 70% interest in the Duke gold property in Quebec.
* Adventus Zinc Corp. and Salazar Resources Ltd. agreed to add the latter's Santiago gold project to the companies' exploration joint venture in Ecuador.
* A bankable feasibility study for Echo Resources Ltd.'s Yandal gold project in Western Australia is on track for completion by the end of June.
* Katoro Gold PLC is continuing its engagement with the Tanzanian government over its Imweru gold project, part of the larger Lake Victoria project in the country, after seeing the upside in the exploration and development of the project and based on the country's new mining legislation.
BULK COMMODITIES
* Rusal resumed aluminum shipments to some customers in the week of May 14 following an extension of the deadline for companies to wind down contracts with the Russian producer under U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported, citing sources. Meanwhile, a separate Reuters report, citing the TASS news agency, said VTB Bank CEO Andrey Kostin said the bank is prepared to give Rusal more time to settle its loans.
* The most severe form of black lung disease has been increasing dramatically among coal workers in central Appalachia, a development that could put further strain on federal programs that provide healthcare for retired miners.
* India filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization challenging the U.S. government's tariffs on steel and aluminum, Reuters reported. India's claim seeks to recover a cost of US$31 million imposed on its aluminum exports and US$134 million on steel.
* Heinrich Hiesinger's role as CEO of ThyssenKrupp AG is more precarious than it has ever been as he prepares to introduce a new strategy to appease impatient investors, including Cevian and Elliott, Reuters reported, citing sources.
* Colombia's coal production for the first quarter dropped 11.7% year over year to 19.6 million tonnes, Reuters reported, citing data from the country's Energy and Mining Ministry. The world's fifth-largest producer, in the same period 2017, produced 22.2 million tonnes of coal.
SPECIALTY
* Petra Diamonds Ltd. intends to raise US$178 million through a fully underwritten 5-for-8 underwritten rights issue, consisting of 332,821,725 shares at 40 pence each, which will be partially used to pay outstanding indebtedness with the South African Lending Group.
* The Western Australian government will establish a task force for the production and processing of lithium and other battery materials as part of a strategy to create jobs within the state.
* Chile's constitutional court will not intervene in a dispute between Codelco and Lithium Power International Ltd.'s 50%-owned Minera Salar Blanco SpA over adjoining lithium deposits in the country's Maricunga salt flat, saying it was the responsibility of a lower court judge to make a ruling over the case, Reuters reported.
* An updated preliminary economic assessment on the first phase of Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.'s Chidliak project in Nunavut, Canada, increased planned diamond production by 44% to 16.7 million carats. The new study incorporates expanded resources at the CH-6 and CH-7 kimberlite pipes and defined an after-tax net present value of C$679 million, at a 7.5% discount rate, with a 31.1% internal rate of return.
* Advantage Lithium Corp.'s shares traded 5.5% higher May 23 following a sixfold increase in resources for its flagship Cauchari property in Argentina. The project, held on a 75/25 joint venture with Orocobre Ltd., hosts inferred resources of 3 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent in approximately 1.2 cubic kilometers of brine grading 450 milligrams per liter of lithium and 4,028 mg/L of potassium, with 9.5 million tonnes of potassium chloride.
* The Coega Special Economic Zone in South Africa is at an advanced stage of constructing facilities that will supply gigawatt factories with manganese, a key ingredient in most lithium-ion batteries, Mining Weekly reported.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* A joint committee of the Philippines House of Representatives approved a measure which requires mine operators to acquire legislative approval before applying for a large-scale quarrying or exploration permit, the official Philippine News Agency reported.
* International mining firms remain hesitant to tap Argentina's mineral deposits given the lack of clarity on environmental rules, overlapping federal and local taxes and varying provincial regulations, Reuters reported. Mining Secretary Daniel Meilan acknowledged that more needs to be done to rebuild investor trust in the industry.
* South Africa's Mine Minister Gwede Mantashe said that he and the country's Department of Mineral Resources are willing to make use of the "use it or lose it" principle for mines that are under a care and maintenance state, Mining Weekly reported.
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