Новости за 28.01.2019

When Germany signed a deal last month to help Bolivia exploit its huge lithium reserves, it hailed the venture as a deepening of economic ties with the South American country. But it also gives Germany entry into the new "Great Game", in which big powers like China are jostling across the globe for access to the prized electric battery metal. The signing of the deal in Berlin on December 12 capped two years of intense lobbying by Germany as it sought to persuade President Evo Morales' government... Читать дальше...

Canada-based base metals miner First Quantum Minerals said on Monday that it planned to start processing stockpiles at its Cobre Las Cruces mine, in Spain, “sometime in February”, while it continued to develop longer-term plans for the copper mine. Operations at Cobre Las Cruces were suspended last week, after a land slippage occurred on the slope of the northern zone at the mine.

Vale’s dam breach left at least 60 people dead and 292 missing in Brazil, leading the world’s biggest producer of iron ore to suspend dividends as it braces for the financial fallout of the catastrophe. The shares plunged as much as 20%. The collapse of a tailings dam at the Feijao mine in the rural state of Minas Gerais is Vale’s second fatal disaster since 2015, when the Samarco mine spewed billions of gallons of waste. Mayor Avimar de Melo of the city of Brumadinho, which was partly leveled by the spill... Читать дальше...

Waheed Sulaiman has resigned as CEO and director of Wescoal with effect from January 31. Wescoal’s board is in the process of recruiting a new CEO.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has been confirmed as a speaker for the Investing in African Mining Indaba 2019, which will be held in Cape Town from February 4 to 7. He is set to bring his investment agenda to the landmark twenty-fifth edition of the Indaba when he delivers an address on February 5.

LSE-listed Petra Diamonds delivered solid production, along with a “continued improvement” in its safety performance, in the first half of the 2019 financial year. CEO Johan Dippenaar on Monday said the mining company, which operates the Cullinan, Finsch and Koffiefontein mines, in South Africa, and the Williamson mine, in Tanzania, was “seeing production reaching consistent levels” while the company’s focus remained on the delivery of operational and capital expenditure (capex) efficiencies in order... Читать дальше...

Lucara Diamond Corporation's Karowe mine, in Botswana, has yielded another significant find – a 240 ct top white gem diamond. It will be shown alongside the 127 ct, top white gem diamond recovered earlier this year, together with other exceptional diamonds recently recovered from Karowe at Lucara's upcoming diamond tender that will close on March 7.

Dual-listed Orion Minerals has welcomed the support of Tembo Capital Mining and the holders of its convertible notes as it advances its Prieska zinc/copper project, near Kimberley, in South Africa’s Northern Cape. Tembo has provided Orion with a new A$3.6-million loan facility to progress the project’s bankable feasibility study (BFS), which is on track for completion in the second quarter.

The share price of Jangada Mines rose sharply on Monday morning, after the company announced an upgrade of 117% to its 2012 Joint-Ore Reserves Committee- (Jorc-) compliant resource, which, in turn, meant a substantial increase in the size and categorisation of the resource at the company’s Pedra Branca platinum group metals (PGMs) project, in north-eastern Brazil. Following the upgrade, Jorc-classified ore at the project stands at 74.8-million tonnes.

India's 2018 thermal coal imports rose at the fastest pace in four years, according to two industry sources, despite moves by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to cut imports in a bid to reduce its trade deficit. Coal is among the top five commodities imported by India, one of the world's largest consumers of coal, and the rise in imports of the fuel after two consecutive years of decline adds to its trade deficit.

TSX-V-listed Independence Gold will intensify its focus on its 3Ts project, located about 185 km southwest of Prince George, in British Columbia, during 2019, with a comprehensive data review planned ahead of executing a field programme later this year. The 3Ts project is an epithermal quartz-carbonate vein system with a calculated inferred resource estimate containing 441 000 oz of gold and 12.5-million ounces of silver.

The Indian government has formally approved a joint venture (JV) of State-run mineral companies exclusively dedicated to acquiring strategic mineral assets overseas. Christened Khanij Bidesh India Limited (Kabil), the JV partners to pick up equity will include, National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco), Hindustan Copper and Mineral Exploration Corporation.

The US Treasury Department lifted sanctions on three firms tied to Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska, including United Co. Rusal, a move that will provide relief to the global aluminum market. The metal fell in London. Deripaska, an ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, will remain under US sanctions, and his property will remain blocked. But the Treasury Department is removing restrictions on Rusal, EN+ Group and EuroSibEnergo.

Mining company Vale's second dam disaster in Brazil in less than four years deals a blow to an industry grappling with investor wariness and a poor image and casts doubt on new President Jair Bolsonaro's vow to reduce government regulation. Brazilian rescue workers on Saturday were searching for roughly 300 people missing after a tailings dam burst at a Vale iron-ore mine in the town of Brumadinho in Minas Gerais state. Ten bodies have been recovered.

Chilean copper miner Antofagasta is evaluating building a new concentrator plant at its Centinela mine that would cost around $3 billion, the CEO of the company was quoted telling a local daily on Sunday. Antofagasta's copper production rose 3% to 725 300 t last year, allowing the company to weigh potential expansion projects and upgrades, Ivan Arriagada said, according to an interview published in La Tercera.