Новости за 28.08.2019

At current cobalt prices, 20% to 30% of global mine supply is at risk of "disappearing" in 2020, warns diversified natural resources group Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) CEO Benedikt Sobotka. He points out that cobalt prices had declined significantly from January to early August this year, compared with 2018, during which prices averaged more than $35/lb.

Global steel major Tata Steel is considering merchant mining as a new business vertical that will leverage its existing expertise in captive iron-ore and coal mining. “It is important for us to look at mining as a new business area. This is what we are evaluating just now to see how we can get into mining as business and focusing on India,” Tata Steel executive director and CFO Koushik Chatterjee said in response to queries from shareholders on Tuesday.

Days before crucial elections in states impacted by Germany’s shift away from coal, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet approved a draft law that would distribute massive spending for the ailing communities. The draft law presented by the Economy Ministry regulates how to disburse funds to areas hardest hit by the shrinking coal industry. In May, Merkel’s cabinet approved €40-billion in financing over the next two decades.

Waste from a nickel plant in Papua New Guinea owned by Metallurgical Corporation of China spilled into the adjacent Basamuk Bay over the weekend, three sources told Reuters on Wednesday. Locals noticed red discharge clouding parts of the bay that is next to the Ramu Nickel plant in Madang, Papua New Guinea, a local indigenous person who took photographs of the spillage told Reuters. The man declined to be identified because of the topic's sensitivity.

The Western Australian government has outlined its greenhouse gas emissions policy for major projects assessed by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). In response to industry and community calls for a state-wide approach to reducing emissions, the state government will work with all sectors of the Western Australian economy towards achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Energy Minister Bill Johnston said on Wednesday.

Diamond miner De Beers Group sold $280-million of rough diamonds during the seventh sales cycle of this year. While this was $30-million higher than sales for the sixth cycle, it was significantly lower than the $503-million of diamonds sold in the seventh sales cycle of 2018.

Among the tens of thousands of Brazilians who descended on the Amazonian goldmine of Serra Pelada in the 1980s was Percy Geraldo Bolsonaro, father of the current president, Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro senior was among the wildcat miners who endured brutal working conditions in the quest for riches. The rainforest suffered too, with widespread environmental degradation as miners ripped apart the Amazon in their desperate hunt for gold.

The Lake Wells sulphate of potash (SoP) project, in Western Australia, could deliver free cash flows of A$3.1-billion over its 30-year mine life, a definitive feasibility study has found. ASX-listed Australian Potash on Wednesday reported that at a capital cost of A$208-million, the Lake Wells project could deliver 150 000 t/y of SoP, based on the maiden reserve of 3.6-million tonnes.

ASX-listed Azure Minerals has regained full ownership of the Alacrán silver/gold project, in Mexico, from diversified miner Teck Resources. Azure at the end of 2014 inked an agreement with Tech to acquire ownership of Alacrán by sole-funding $5-million of exploration over a four-year period, with Tech retaining a back-in right that could be exercised within two months of Azure reaching the earn-in milestone.

Zambia’s High Court on Tuesday suspended hearings on the winding up of Vedanta Resources’ local mining business until the Court of Appeal rules on the lower court’s refusal to let the matter go to arbitration, the provisional liquidator said. Vedanta has been locked in a dispute with the Zambian government since May, when Lusaka appointed a liquidator to run Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), which is 20% owned by Zambian State mining company ZCCM and the rest by Vedanta.

A bankable feasibility study (BFS) into the Superior Lake base metals project, in Canada, has estimated that an initial capital investment of $86-million would be required to develop the 325 000 t/y operation. ASX-listed Superior Lake Resources on Wednesday reported that over the estimated nine-year mine life, the project would produce some 38 000 t/y of contained zinc and 1 400 t/y of contained copper at C1 costs of $0.35/lb of zinc.

Copper and gold miner Oz Minerals has reported a 127.4% fall in underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) for the first half ending June, while net profits after tax declined by 83.9%, compared with the previous corresponding period. Oz on Wednesday told shareholders that the interim results were affected by shipments being moved to the third quarter of the year, to accommodate customer preference, resulting in net revenue declining by 111.1% to A$419.2-million.

Toronto- and New York-listed Denison Mines on Tuesday reported positive initial test results as part of the ongoing in-situ recovery (ISR) field test programme at the Wheeler River uranium project, in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. The additional field work is required to increase the confidence and reduce the risks associated with the application of ISR mining at the Phoenix deposit, as outlined in the prefeasibility study for Wheeler River.

A World Bank tribunal has ordered Colombia to repay a $19-million fine it levied on Glencore's coal mining subsidiary Prodeco, but declined the company's petition for $575-million in damages, the government said on Tuesday. Prodeco is one of the largest coal miners in the Andean country, which is the world's fifth-biggest exporter of coal.