Новости за 27.11.2019

While coal mine developer Resource Generation (Resgen) has made significant progress in finalising a set of common terms with the proposed lenders for the project finance required to build its Boikarabelo mine, in South Africa, these negotiations remain incomplete, Lulamile Xate said in his chairperson’s address at the company’s annual general meeting on Wednesday. He told shareholders that he would likely provide a further update later in the week.

India’s State-run Uranium Corporation India Limited (UCIL) will develop the country’s largest uranium deposit, entailing an investment of about $845-million and forecast to yield 6 000 t/d of the element. The deposit at Kanampalli, in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, would be larger than UCIL’s existing uranium assets close-by at Tummalapalli and Turamdih, in eastern state of Jharkhand, which on average yield 3 000 t/d of uranium.

Bargain hunters have helped molybdenum recover after prices crashed to two-year lows, but ample supplies of the metal used to make stainless steel mean further significant gains for now are unlikely, analysts say. Prices of the metal, valued for its anti-corrosive and strengthening properties in the oil and gas and automotive industries, fell towards $8/lb two weeks ago.

Gold and copper exploration company Aurania Resources has found the first field evidence of colonial Spanish activity at its Lost Cities project, in Ecuador, with the vestiges of an old road having been found. Aurania's field teams discovered the road while searching for Sevilla de Oro, which was one of two gold mining centres described in historic manuscripts from Ecuador, Peru, Spain and the Vatican. These records describe the colonial Spanish operating the two gold mines between about 1565 and 1606.

While Zambian miner Kagem Mining successfully generated $27-million in sales from an emerald auction held earlier this week, it says the country’s "extreme" tax rates are crippling the gemstone industry. Kagem is 25% owned by the Zambian Industrial Development Corporation and 75% owned by JSE-listed Gemfields.

Incoming BHP Group CEO Mike Henry said the world's biggest miner is prioritising new developments in technology to cut costs and improve safety, including collaborations with tech start-ups and researchers. Henry, who will the reins at BHP from January 1, kept a prior commitment to speak at a mining technology conference in Perth on Wednesday, signalling that the area is likely to be a major focus of his tenure.

Diversified miner Anglo American on Wednesday announced plans to sell a 12% interest in the Grosvenor mine, in Queensland, to a consortium of Japanese companies for $141-million. The Japanese consortium already holds a 12% interest in the Moranbah North project, also in Queensland.

Canada-headquartered Lundin Mining is forecasting a big increase in production, with its copper output expected to rise by 20%, its zinc production by 15% and nickel production forecast to increase by more than 25%. The increased 2020 copper production guidance of 272 000 t to 296 000 t is based on higher grades at Candelaria and full-year contributions from Chapada, which Lundin bought this year.

Chile’s worst civil unrest in decades means the Democratic Republic of Congo is a more attractive proposition for mining investment, according to billionaire Robert Friedland. While Chile, the world’s top copper producer, seeks measures to quell the social unrest that exploded last month, the election of President Felix Tshisekedi earlier this year has improved the prospects in Congo, Friedland said at the Mines and Money conference in London on Monday. Ivanhoe Mines, founded by Friedland, is developing... Читать дальше...

Zambia's Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) smelter could restart next week after a delay of around a fortnight, mines minister Richard Masukwa told Reuters. The smelter was shut down in early October for annual maintenance, two days earlier than planned due to a leak. It was initially scheduled to reopen on November 15.

Brazilian miner Vale, the world's top nickel producer, will write down its New Caledonia mine and incur a non-cash impairment charge of about $1.6-billion in the fourth quarter, the company said on Tuesday in a securities filing. Vale said its annual assets review of its base metals and coal business is still under way and further impairments charges that would also impact fiscal year 2019 cannot be ruled out.

Ecuador's government plans to tighten rules regulating the construction and operation of mining waste dams to avoid disasters like one in Brazil in January when a dam owned by Vale collapsed, killing hundreds. Vice Minister of Mining Fernando Benalcazar told Reuters the new rules will take effect in December and will prohibit the building of so-called tailings dams close to populated areas and ban certain designs that are considered less stable.

Coal miner Paringa Resources on Wednesday said that it would raise $9-million through the grant of a royalty over its Buck Creek mining complex, in Kentucky, to SP2 Royalty Co. Under the terms of the royalty agreement, SP2 would receive 2% of the gross revenue from all coal leases within the Buck Creek mining complex for the life of the mine.

The Western Australian government has urged the federal government to establish an Environmental Approvals Bilateral Agreement that would fast track approvals for major resources projects. The proposed agreement, under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, would significantly reduce major project timeframes, duplication and costs, whilst maintaining the highest environmental standards, Premier Mark McGowan said.