Новости за 16.05.2019

Polish mining company KGHM may produce more copper than planned at its Sierra Gorda mine in Chile in 2019, while keeping capital expenditure (capex) below target, its deputy chief executive in charge of foreign assets said on Thursday. "We see a chance to limit capex at Sierra Gorda while maintaining a positive trend in production," said Pawel Gruza.

Katanga Mining on Thursday announced that its basic and diluted loss a share had widened to $0.09 for the first quarter, ended March 31, from $0.04 in the first quarter of 2018. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation increased to $41.8-million, from $16.3-million in the prior comparable quarter.

A 130 ct gem quality diamond has been recovered from the Lulo diamond project, in Angola, owner Lucapa Diamond Company reported on Thursday. The diamond is the thirteenth stone of more than 100 ct to be recovered to date, and the second so far in 2019, Lucapa told shareholders.

ASX-listed Azure Minerals has struck a deal with Canada’s Teck Resources to consolidate ownership of the Alacrán silver/gold/copper project, in Mexico. Azure in 2016 gained full ownership of the Alacrán project from Teck under a 2014 agreement that required the company to sole fund $5-million of exploration expenditure over a four-year period.

The Oyu Tolgoi mine, in Mongolia, has had a strong start to 2019, with copper and gold production in the openpit mine rising strongly, standing Vancouver-based Turquoise Hill in good stead to meet its production guidance for the year. During the first three months of the year, Oyu Tolgoi produced 45 800 t of copper and 120 000 oz of gold, compared with 38 800 t of copper and 42 000 oz of gold a year earlier.

This week the CEO of Eunomix Claude Baissac paid Mining Weekly a visit and called on South Africans to act together to realise economic opportunities. In a time of energy uncertainty, the path is being paved for South Africans to generate their own electricity. And, Tharisa Minerals is sticking to its guns despite lower output. Mining Weekly editor Martin Creamer unpacks the headlines.

Add Contura Energy to the list of coal companies planning new mines, fueling concerns of a glut. The Bristol, Tennessee-based miner said Wednesday it would invest $25-million to $30-million in the Lynn Branch mine in West Virginia and begin production next year. It’s expected to eventually yield one-million to 1.2-million tons a year of metallurgical coal used to make steel, according to a statement .

Debmarine Namibia, a joint venture between diamond miner De Beers and the Namibian government, has approved the construction of a new custom-built diamond recovery vessel, which will become the seventh such vessel in Debmarine’s fleet. The vessel, which will be built at a cost of $468-million, will start production in 2022 and is expected to add about 500 000 ct/y of production capacity to Debmarine Namibia’s output. This represents an increase of about 35% on current output levels.

The Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP) – a subsidiary of Northern Dynasty – has finalised a right-of-way agreement with Iliamna Natives, securing the right to use defined portions of its lands for the construction and operation of transportation infrastructure associated with the Pebble project. Iliamna Natives is an Alaska Native village corporation with extensive land holdings proximal to the Pebble site, in south-west Alaska and represents more than 150 native shareholders, many of whom live in the nearby village of Iliamna.