Новости за 19.06.2019

The government of Canada has made a C$10-million investment in an C$85-million project that will support 520 jobs at aluminium giant Alcoa’s Deschambault-Grondines plant, in Quebec. The investment would help Deschambault-Grondines to innovate by acquiring new technology that will help it increase production at a lower cost, to better meet market demand, the government said on Wednesday.

TSX-listed Northern Dynasty on Wednesday announced that it had secured interim financing to continue with its objective of securing a positive record of decision in the Pebble environmental impact assessment, while negotiations were “actively” ongoing for more substantial and long-term financing agreements. The company said it would need additional financing by the end of 2019 to continue its efforts at the Pebble gold/copper project in Alaska.

De Beers Group Institute of Diamonds is partnering with the International Institute of Gemology in India (IIG) to deliver diamond education courses throughout that country. The IIG has been operating for more than 50 years and is entrenched in gemology and in diamond and jewellery education in India.

Brazilian miner Vale said on Wednesday that it would fully resume operations at its Brucutu mine within 72 hours after an appeals court overturned an earlier ruling that halted processing because of concern about the safety of a nearby dam. In a corporate filing, Vale also reaffirmed its 2019 iron-ore and pellets sales guidance of 307-million to 332-million tonnes, and said that sales should be around the midpoint of that target range, up from its previously forecast low end of the range.

Five African commercial banks have partnered in a $375-million financing deal to build a new diamond mining vessel for a subsidiary of Anglo American's diamond unit De Beers. Nedbank Namibia, RMB Namibia, Standard Bank, ABSA and Bank Windhoek agreed to provide 80% of the funding for the ship, which will be the world's largest of its type.

US coal miners Peabody and Arch Coal on Wednesday announced that they would combine their Powder River Basin and Colorado assets in what they describe as a “highly synergistic” joint venture (JV) aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of coal against natural gas and renewables. The JV was expected to unlock synergies with a pretax net present value of about $820-million, the NYSE-listed miners said, stating that the average JV synergies were projected to be about $120-million a year over the initial ten years.

Morocco’s leading mining firm Managem said on Tuesday it increased its stake in the Tri-K gold project in eastern Guinea Conakry to 85% after acquiring a 30% stake held by its partner Avocet Mining for $21-million. The acquisition is in line with the group’s strategy to boost its gold production in the continent and strengthen its footprint in the Republic of Guinea, Managem said in a statement.

Congo's military has deployed hundreds of soldiers to protect a major copper and cobalt mine owned by China Molybdenum from illegal miners, an army spokesperson said on Wednesday. The Tenke Fungurume mine is one of the largest in Democratic Republic of Congo, which is Africa's leading copper producer and the world's top miner of cobalt, a key component in electric car batteries.

Coal miner MC Mining has signed an offtake agreement with South African steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA), which will buy hard coking coal (HCC) from Phase 1 of the Makhado coking coal project. As South Africa has a limited production of high-quality metallurgical, or coking, coal, AMSA and other coke producers currently have to import HCC for the manufacture of metallurgical coke, a key ingredient in steel production.

Mining major BHP on Wednesday confirmed the viability of heap leach technology to extract copper, uranium, gold and silver at its Olympic Dam operation, in South Australia. The miner started heap leach research and a development trial in 2012, which was conducted at a purpose built, small-scale heap leach facility.

Copper miner Oz Minerals has launched an energy and mining collaboration (EMC) with six other organisations to investigate renewable energy and demand management related activities on a mine site. The first project as part of the EMC programme would see a trial installation of a near 250 kW hybrid energy solution facility including solar, wind and a battery in the first half of 2020, located at the Carrapateena mine site in an area demarcated for piloting and prototyping.

President Donald Trump is scaling back sweeping Obama-era curbs on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants burning coal, his biggest step yet to fulfill his campaign promises to stop a “war" on the fossil fuel. Yet the Environmental Protection Agency’s rewrite of the Clean Power Plan – which is being unveiled Wednesday – will do little to halt a nationwide shift away from that fossil fuel and toward cheaper electricity generated by the wind, the sun and natural gas.

The share price of TSX-listed Jaguar Mining rose 42% on Tuesday, following a proposed nonbrokered private placement in which the company will seek to raise up to $25-million. The shares would be offered at a discounted C$0.085 each, the Brazil-focused gold junior said, noting that its last closing price prior to the announcement was C$0.12 a share. The stock closed at C$0.17 apiece on Tuesday.

Chilean miner Codelco has presented a sweetened contract offer to workers in a bid to end a five-day strike at its key Chuquicamata copper mine, two people with direct knowledge of the negotiations told Reuters on Tuesday. Striking miners and police clashed earlier on Tuesday, with authorities using rubber bullets and tear gas as workers tried to block access to the state-owned firm's mine, one of its most important copper deposits.