Новости за 29.04.2019

Southern Copper Corp's net profit fell 17.5% to $388.2-million in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier, as lower metal prices weighed on sales, the company said on Monday. The company's copper production rose 11.6% year-on-year in the Jan-March period, but net sales slipped 4.8%, Southern Copper said in its earnings statement. It added that it expects the Peruvian government to issue a construction license for its long-delayed Tia Maria project in coming months.

TSX-listed North American Palladium (NAP) continues to expand the platinum group metals (PGM) zone at its Sunday Lake project, in the US. The project is currently the company’s most advanced regional exploration project and represents its best blue sky opportunity.

Aim-listed Vast Resources has received a draft indicative term sheet containing the material indicative terms from a Swiss bank for loan financing of up to $10-million to be applied to the company’s Romanian projects, including the full repayment of the $4-million plus accrued interest in debt owed by the company under a prepayment agreement with Mercuria. The term sheet remains subject to the negotiation of detailed terms, the completion of due diligence and definitive documentation.

As part of the China Belt and Road Summit, held in Beijing on April 27 and 28, Beijing Jingneng Power Company (BJPC) and PowerChina International, have ceremonially signed a memorandum of understanding that will result in a change in the equity shareholding in the Thar Block V1 lignite coal mine and mine mouth power plant project, in Pakistan. The project is owned by BJPC, PowerChina and London-listed Oracle Energy.

NYSE- and TSX-listed Newmont Goldcorp on Monday said it would temporarily suspend operations at the Peñasquito mine, in Mexico, pending resolution of an illegal blockade by a trucking contractor and some members of the Cedros community that began on March 27. The company continued dialogue with blockade leaders and the Mexican authorities to resolve the matter

London-listed Bisichi Mining achieved good results for the year ended December 31, 2018, attributable mainly to the strong performance at its Black Wattle coal mine, in South Africa, which continued to benefit from infrastructure improvements at its coal washing plant, chairperson Sir Michael Heller said on Monday. In a release, he noted that these improvements had enabled the group to wash at consistent levels of production and achieve an increased overall yield compared with prior years.

TSX-listed Premier Gold Mines has intersected high-grade gold mineralisation in the first hole drilled at its Antenna target, which is located between the historic Cove and McCoy gold/silver openpit mines, in the US. The company’s discovery included a 118.9-m-thick mineralised zone grading 4.12 g/t gold, as well as an interval assaying 15.74 g/t gold across 6.1 m starting at a depth of 606 m.

US iron-ore miner Cleveland-Cliffs on Monday announced that it intends to offer to sell, subject to market and other conditions, a $750-million aggregate principal amount of senior notes, due in 2027, in an offering that is exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933. According to the NYSE-listed company, the notes will be guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by the company’s material direct and indirect wholly-owned domestic subsidiaries.

The Rook 1 project, which is a proposed uranium mining and milling operation that will be 100% owned and operated by TSX-listed uranium mine development company NexGen Energy, in the south-western Athabasca Uranium Basin region in northern Saskatchewan, has been given permission to begin environmental assessments, NexGen said in a statement on Monday. The assessment will be conducted through a coordinated process between the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), it said.

TSX- and ASX-listed OceanaGold Corporation reported solid operating and financial performance from its Didipio and Macraes operations in the quarter ended March 31, while advancing organic growth initiatives at Waihi; however, the company reported continued mining challenges at Haile. The miner operates the Didipio gold/copper mine, in the Philippines, the Macraes and Waihi gold mines in New Zealand, and the Haile gold mine, in the US.

Diversified gold producer Nordgold has completed a significant investment programme at its Guinea-based Lefa mine. Capital expenditure in 2018, which was designed to both improve efficiencies at Lefa, while also extending its life-of-mine, increased to more than $70-million, from $48-million in 2017.

Anglesey Mining on Monday confirmed that it had placed more than 9.3-million new ordinary shares, representing about 5.3% of the company’s current issued share capital, at 2.135p a share to raise about £200 000 gross and £180 000 net of capital. The placing price represents a discount of about 9.1% to the closing middle market price of 2.35p an ordinary share at the close of business on April 26.

Diamond miner Alrosa on Monday said the revenue from the sale of special size diamonds at an auction in Vladivostok, exceeded $9.65-million. The auction took place from April 8 to 19, with 105 diamonds with a combined weight of 2 481.9 ct put on offer and 2 030.32 ct sold.

Mkango Resources has entered into a nonbinding heads of terms agreement with MetalNRG, which will earn up to a 75% interest in the Thambani prospecting licence, in Malawi, by spending up to $2-million on exploration.  The parties expect to enter into a binding definitive agreement on or before June 30.

The results of a scoping study, undertaken to assess the viability of producing 400 000 t/y of muriate of potash (MoP) from a portion of the sylvinite in Kore Potash’s Dougou Extension (DX) deposit through a solution mining method, indicate support for a low operational expenditure and strong cash generative operation with attractive estimated base case up-front capital costs of $327-million. The DX deposit is located within the company’s Dougou mining permit, in Congo-Brazzaville, and is southwest... Читать дальше...

Russian miner Trans-Siberian Gold achieved a 52% year-on-year increase in gold production to 12 345 oz at its Asacha gold mine for the three months ended March 31. The increase was driven by higher grades and better recoveries, the company said, adding that it remains on track to meet its full-year production guidance.

The Justice and Corporate Accountability Project (JCAP), on behalf of Earthworks, will this week file a request for a compliance investigation into TSX- and NYSE-listed Northern Dynasty Minerals. The complainants will raise serious issues concerning alleged “misleading claims” with the British Columbia Securities Commission and the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

TSX-V-listed African Metals Corporation (AMC) has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority interest in the Silver Bell – St Lawrence gold project, in the Virginia City mining district, in Montana, in the US, from Frederick Private Equity Corporation. AMC may initially earn a 51% interest in the project by making yearly $10 000 option payments and spending $1-million on exploration within four years, with a minimum exploration expenditure of $200 000 to be spent in the first year.

MC Mining said on Monday its revenue per saleable tonne declined by 14% to $75/t in the three months to March 31, the third quarter of its financial year. MC Mining said its Uitkomst Colliery reported run-of-mine coal production of 113 190 t, down 2.2% from the same period last year.

Minority shareholders of Brazilian iron-ore miner Vale have enough votes to request that board members be elected independently using a cumulative voting system and not in a single vote approving all names proposed by controlling shareholders, the company said in a filing. Broker Vic DTVM and fund Geracao Futuro proposed Patricia Bentes as an independent member, challenging a list of 13 candidates presented by the company's controlling shareholders.

A prominent shareholder advisory firm has recommended investors partially support efforts from one of Hudbay Minerals Inc.’s largest investors to revamp the board, including withholding their votes for the company’s chairperson Alan Hibben. Glass Lewis urged investors to support three nominees from a slate of four board candidates put forth by the Toronto-based private equity firm Waterton Global Resource Management Inc. The advisory firm said that despite a shifting series of requests and criticisms... Читать дальше...

The opaque diamond trade may be ripe for disruption. Lucara Diamond, which recently found the second-largest diamond in history in Botswana, is taking on industry giants such as De Beers and Alrosa PJSC with an online platform to replace the current physical auctions.

Coal miner Paringa Resources has shipped its first 1 500 t of washed coal from its Poplar Grove operation, in Western Kentucky. The maiden shipment was loaded into barges on the Green River, bound for cornerstone customer Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company.

Gold miner Troy Resources has reported another solid quarter in the three months to March, producing 13 333 oz, compared with the 14 227 oz produced in the previous quarter. Gold sales for the same period declined from 17 712 oz to 14 124 oz, with cash costs declining from $891/oz to $822/oz. All-in sustaining costs for the same period was up slightly from $1 141/oz to $1 239/oz.