Новости за 25.07.2019

While progress is being made on issues creating uncertainty for the global uranium market, Canadian miner Cameco is still “a long way” from restarting its idled McArthur River/Key Lake mine – the world’s largest high-grade uranium operation. Cameco president and CEO Tim Gitzel said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump’s recent decision not to impose new trade restrictions on imports of foreign uranium into the US under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act had been a welcome move, helping to provide more certainty in the global market.

China's Sichuan Fulin Transportation Group has ditched a project to build parts for electric vehicles in Chile, the government said on Thursday, leaving in tatters a nascent EV battery industry in the South American nation. Fulin and two other corporate investors won a 2018 government auction for a coveted, 27-year supply of ultralight battery metal lithium. In exchange, the companies said they would build battery parts factories in the north Chilean desert.

Newmont Goldcorp needs to do as much as three years of work at the mines it added through its acquisition of Goldcorp to bring them to acceptable levels of performance, its chief executive told Reuters on Thursday. The company reported a substantial decline in second-quarter profit, driven largely by the transaction's integration costs. Shares dropped 3.4% to $37.98 at 1:44 p.m. in New York.

Dual-listed Altus Strategies’ wholly owned subsidiary Aeos Resources has signed an option agreement with Firering Holdings in respect of the former’s application for the Toura nickel/cobalt licence, in the west of Côte d'Ivoire. If Aeos is granted the Toura licence and, should Firering exercise its option, Firering will pay Altus €15 000 in cash and Aeos will transfer a 95% interest in its locally incorporated and 100%-owned subsidiary Apalex to Firering.

The Competition Commission has approved the proposed merger whereby Cheetah Chrome South Africa intends to acquire Dilokong Chrome Mine (DCM), with conditions. Cheetah is a special purpose vehicle incorporated for the purposes of the proposed transaction and is controlled by Xinganglian Mettalurgical (XGL).

Aim-listed Firestone Diamonds has achieved a solid operational performance for the financial year ended June 30, with guidance achieved on all items. CEO Paul Bosma on Thursday said it was, nevertheless, a tough year from a market and pricing perspective, particularly for the smaller, lower-value goods.

London-listed copper miner KAZ Minerals on Thursday attributed the 11% quarter-on-quarter increase in its second-quarter production to increased concentrator availability and efficient operations across the group’s mines in Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan. Copper production rose to 147 600 t, which is also a 6% improvement on that of the same quarter last year.

The mining industry is starting to split on who bears responsibility for all the carbon emissions caused by smelting iron-ore into steel. The debate came to the forefront this week after BHP Group’s chief said miners need to tackle their role in global warming through the products they sell. The core of BHP’s business, digging up iron-ore in Australia, is a key part of making steel, an energy-intensive process that accounts for about 7% to 9% of all man-made carbon emissions.

Diamond miner De Beers’ earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) for the six months ended June 30 decreased by 27% year-on-year to $518-million. Challenging trading and economic conditions in the period under review contributed to the lower Ebitda.

JSE- and NYSE-listed Harmony Gold has achieved its gold production target of 1.44-million ounces for the financial year ended June 30. CEO Peter Steenkamp on Thursday said the operating performance was boosted by the inclusion of a full year’s production from the Moab Khotsong mine, in South Africa’s Free State province, and the Hidden Valley mine, in Papua New Guinea.

Diversified mining company Teck Resources on Thursday reported adjusted profit of C$459-million, or C$0.81 a share, in the June quarter, compared with C$653-million, or C$1.14 a share, in the same quarter of last year. Revenue increased from C$3.02-billion in the June 2018 quarter, to C$3.14-billion, with steelmaking coal accounting for about half of that at a stable C$1.59-billion.

nglo American said on Wednesday it would use only renewable sources to power its mine operations in Chile beginning in 2021, thanks to a deal the global miner signed with the Chilean subsidiary of Italian energy giant Enel. Renewable energy supplied by Enel Chile will power Anglo American's flagship Los Bronces copper mine, as well as its El Soldado and Chagres operations, the company said in a statement.

Freeport-McMoRan, the world's largest publicly traded copper producer, posted a quarterly loss on Wednesday as costs spiked and production of gold and copper plunged at a key Indonesian mine. While the loss, the company's first since 2016, wasn't as steep as analysts had expected, it comes as Freeport is spending billions of dollars to expand Indonesia's Grasberg copper and gold mine underground, a two-year process that is vital to the company's future.

Uranium miner Energy Resources of Australia (Era) has reported a 163% increase in net profits for the interim period ending June, compared with the previous corresponding period, while revenues increased by 6%. The ASX-listed company on Thursday reported that net profits for the six months to June had reached A$49.2-million, up from a loss of 78.3-million in the previous corresponding period, while revenue was up to A$19.4-million.

Mineral sands miner Base Resources has reported a slight drop in heavy mineral concentrate production from its Kwale operation, in Kenya, during the quarter ended June, as mining transitioned from the Central Dune orebody to the South Dune. The ASX- and Aim-listed company on Thursday reported that following depletion of the Central Dune, mining was relocated to the South Dune orebody, with mining restarting after a 14-day transition shut-down.

ASX-listed Newfield Resources on Thursday approved the $29.4-million development of the Tongo diamond mine, in Sierra Leone, announcing that it would raise $30.5-million through the issue of unsecured corporate bonds. “We are delighted to have agreed a funding package that allows us to commence construction of the company’s flagship Tongo diamond mine development. We will now move to commence development activities at Tongo following the positive final investment decision made by the Newfield board,” said executive director Karl Smithson.

The Northern Territory government has approved its first environmental management plan (EMP) to allow oil and gas major Santos to undertake onshore shale gas exploration drilling. This was the first EMP to be awarded for onshore shale gas exploration since the Northern Territory government lifted the shale gas moratorium in early 2018, and followed on from the completion of the 31 recommendations made from the Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing.