Новости за 30.10.2019

Peru has given an important green light for Southern Copper Corp's much-delayed Tia Maria copper mine, but the government cautioned it would not move ahead with the project without the right social and environmental conditions being met. Prime Minister Vicente Zeballos said on Wednesday the government would not "impose" the $1.4-billion project on the country, after it had earlier received the go-ahead with a construction license from Peru's mining council.

State-run miner Coal India Limited (CIL) has set minimum output per man shift for its underground mines and will curtail production from underground mines if productivity falls below such pre-fixed benchmarks. Stung by sustained losses from its underground mines, CIL has decided to cut down costs and curtail operations of the mines by linking it to minimum productivity levels.

Spanish copper producer Atlantic Copper recently agreed deals to borrow €19-million to finance six projects intended to cut the company's energy use and reduce emissions, its managing director Javier Targetta told Reuters. Sustainability has been a long-standing issue in metals, covering a range of topics including corruption, governance, communities around mines and mine waste.

The illegal blockade at the El Castillo mine has been lifted and operations at the mine have resumed, TSX-listed Argonaut Gold reported on Wednesday. The company reached a tentative agreement with the Atotonilco ejido that is scheduled to be voted on by the landowners on November 11. As part of the agreement, the Atotonilco ejido agreed to lift the blockade pending ratification.

Mobile satellite communications company Inmarsat has joined the Global Mining Guidelines Group (GMG), which encourages collaboration and innovation across the mining sector. GMG brings together representatives from mining companies, regulators and research organisations to discuss challenges, successes and disruptive technologies across the mining industry.

London-listed Petra Diamonds has temporarily halted operations at its Cullinan mine, in South Africa, while it undertakes a risk assessment following the scaling of the openpit wall over the weekend. The company on Wednesday reported that a thunderstorm on October 26 had resulted in a "notable scaling of the sidewall" of the openpit over the weekend, as well as on Monday, October 28.

TSX-V-listed Namibia Critical Metals has said that it is unaware of any material change in the company’s operations that could account for the 80% jump in its share price on Tuesday. The Halifax-headquartered junior holds a portfolio of exploration and advanced-stage projects in Namibia, focusing on the development of sustainable and ethical sources of metals for the battery, electric vehicle and associated industries.

TSX-listed Argonaut Gold said on Tuesday that the El Castillo mine, in Mexico, was subject to an illegal blockade by a group of local landowners, but that leaching and gold absorption operations were continuing. The company said that certain members of the Atotonilco ejido were seeking to amend the binding agreement that it had in place with the landowners.

Hudbay Minerals on Tuesday vowed to appeal a court ruling that barred the Canadian miner from building a major copper mine in the United States after losing its bid to have a judge revisit the decision. US District Judge James Soto late on Monday said there was no basis to reconsider an earlier ruling that overturned approvals for the company's contentious Rosemont project in southeastern Arizona, delivering a setback for Hudbay as it seeks to revive plans for the stalled $1.9-billion openpit mine.

Junior miner Black Royalty Minerals (BRM), a subsidiary of the Makole Group, has been selected as the preferred bidder to acquire the Koornfontein coal mine, in Mpumalanga. The transaction includes the mine’s port allocation at the Richards Bay Coal Terminal.

De Beers Canada has started preliminary drilling at properties near the town of Cobalt, in Ontario. De Beers is drilling at TSX-V-listed Tri Origin’s Nipissing Cobalt and South Abitibi project, near Cobalt. This will be the first time that these targets will be tested, the junior said on Tuesday.

ASX-listed TerraCom has taken a 19.9% stake in South Africa-focused coal miner Universal Coal, in a deal worth A$34.6-million. TerraCom on Wednesday said that it had acquired 104.5-million Universal securities from Coal Development Holding for A$17.3-million in cash and some 34.2-million of its own shares.

Australia’s natural resources could be used to tackle a range of social and environmental issues, including reducing poverty, improving air quality, and reducing carbon emissions through the greater use of clean Australian coal and gas. Federal Resources Minister Matt Canavan told delegates at the International Mining and Resources conference, in Melbourne, that the case of poverty, the evidence has been clearly established over the past 30 years.

Precious metals miner Sibanye-Stillwater has made TSX-listed Wallbridge Mining the operator and manager of its Lonmin Canada (Loncan) business, which owns the advanced-stage Denison property, in Sudbury, Ontario. Wallbridge earned a 20% interest in Loncan and has a seat on Loncan’s board of directors.

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) said on Tuesday in a statement that was disappointed that Samancor had not organised a meeting of the working group consisting of employees and labour representatives with Ndizani Trust members.  Numsa said that the working group was hoping to meet with the trust to get information on the financial status of the trust.

BHP said its Escondida copper mine, the world's largest, was operating at a "reduced rate" after union workers walked off the job for part of the day on Tuesday in solidarity with the anti-government protest movement across Chile. Chile, the world's top copper producer, has long been one of the region's most prosperous and stable free-market economies. But entrenched inequality and spiraling costs of living ignited massive, and sometimes violent, protests last week.

Alcoa is trying to sell its ranch. The metals giant is looking to jettison as much as $1-billion in assets, including the roughly 32 000-acre property in Rockdale, Texas, in a push to trim costs. Alcoa is asking $250-million for Sandow Lakes Ranch, which comes with wildlife, mineral rights, 14 lakes and a smelter that once produced aluminum.

Coal baron Robert Murray’s support for union miners is part of the lore surrounding a man who’s worked in the industry for six decades. Now, that battle has ended. Buried under $2.7-billion in debt, Murray Energy Corp filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday. Under a proposed restructuring, the 79-year-old Murray will no longer be chief executive officer of the company he founded. A new entity will be created to buy up the company’s assets while ditching more than $8-billion in pension and health-care obligations to miners.