Новости за 29.01.2019

To thrive amid the demands and exigencies that the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) presents, mining companies will need a new strategic approach – one that considers not only the full range of industry shifts and risks, but that also provides executives with an enterprise-wide view of their value drivers. It is for this reason that professional services firm Deloitte publishes its yearly ‘Tracking the Trends’ report, in which the firm discusses some of the trends affecting the mining industry.

While cryptocurrencies may have a role to play in financial markets, the World Gold Council (WGC) believes their “behaviour” in an environment of market uncertainty underscores that cryptocurrencies are “not a viable substitute for gold as a safe-haven”. During the fourth quarter of 2018, cryptocurrencies had a prime opportunity to demonstrate qualities associated with safe havens like gold. However, the WGC warns that cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, behaved more like risky assets during the period, which fell while gold rallied.

Vancouver-headquartered project generator Mirasol Resources has signed a binding letter agreement with Newcrest International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Newcrest Mining, for an option to farm-in on the Gorbea high-sulphidation epithermal (HSE) gold projects in Chile. “Newcrest is the ideal partner for our Gorbea projects. Subject to drill permitting, Newcrest will this year fund drill testing of two, large Mio-Pliocene belt HSE gold and silver projects at Gorbea and under a separate agreement... Читать дальше...

Dual-listed Crusader Resources on Tuesday announced that shareholder Stephen Copulos had agreed to subscribe for an additional A$1-million worth of convertible notes to assist with the Brazil-focused junior’s immediate funding requirements. Crusader had until the end of this month to raise additional funding to meet its short-term general working capital requirements.

Uranium developer Aura Energy has struck an offtake agreement for 800 000 lb of uranium oxide (U3O8) from its Tiris uranium project, in Mauritania. The agreement with Curzon Uranium Trading will run for a period of seven years, at fixed prices, from the start of production and extendable thereafter, by mutual consent.

Russian diamond miner Alrosa has discovered its largest rough diamond in about two-and-a-half years, with the Udachnaya kimberlite pipe earlier this month delivering a 191.46 ct stene. The 40 mm by 31 mm by 20 mm diamond was extracted at the processing plant N12 of Udachny mining and processing division.

Australia's federal court ruled against BHP Group Ltd on Tuesday over whether the global miner should pay tax in Australia on profits made by its marketing arm on the sale of commodities owned by the company's UK side, BHP Group Plc. BHP, which has a dual sharemarket listing in Australia and the UK, was considering whether to appeal the decision to the High Court of Australia, a spokesman said.

The Kola potash project, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is expected to cost $2.1-billion to develop, triple-listed Kore Potash said on Tuesday. The ASX-,JSE- and Aim-listed company revealed that Kola would have a nameplate capacity of 2.2-million tonnes a year of muriate of potash (MoP), over a 33-year mine life, delivering average annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of around $585-million and average annual free cash flow of some $500-million.

Quebec diamond miner Stornoway Diamond Corporation has appointed Patrick Sévigny to the position of VP for operations, effective immediately. With more than 25 years of experience in the sector, mining engineer Sévigny joined Stornoway in January 2015 as manager of mining operations at the Renard mine.

Diamond producer De Beers on Tuesday reported that rough diamond sales in this year's first sale cycle had reached $505-million. This is $167-million less than the $672-million earned in the first sales cycle of 2018.

As the death toll continues to rise from a fatal accident at a dam owned by Vale, the Brazilian miner’s top management is coming under increased criticism in the highest levels of government. "There must be punishment," Vice President Hamilton Mourao told reporters in Brazil’s capital on Monday, adding that "if there was any malpractice, recklessness or negligence on the part of someone inside the company, this person has to answer criminally."

Brazil's deadly tailings dam collapse is likely to complicate a settlement for a similar disaster less than four years ago at the Samarco iron ore mine, owned jointly by Vale and BHP Group, investors said on Tuesday. Vale and BHP have been aiming to restart the mine as early as 2020 following a dam failure in 2015 that killed 19 people and buried a village. A second deadly dam burst at a Vale mine on Friday killed 65 people and there are fears the death toll could soar into the hundreds.

Think of it as a potential silver lining for investors. A burgeoning shortage of the precious white metal is promising to boost its price as 2019 rolls out. Silver surged 9.1% in December, its biggest monthly gain in almost two years. This year, with miners avoiding new projects amid global economic uncertainty, the price could spike as high as $17.50/oz from about $15.36/oz now, according to a Bloomberg survey of 11 traders and analysts.