Новости за 17.12.2019

The power plant at the Pueblo Viejo mine, in the Dominican Republic, is about to receive its first natural gas, with the conversion expected in the first quarter of 2020. The move would lower greenhouse gas emissions and cut costs, which owner Barrick Gold said on Tuesday was in line with its clean and efficient energy strategy.

Coal consumption is set to rise in the coming years as growing demand for electricity in developing countries outpaces a shift to cleaner sources of electricity in industrialized nations. While use of the most polluting fossil fuel had a historic dip in 2019, the International Energy Agency anticipates steady increases in the next five years. That means the world will face a significant challenge in meeting pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.

The pre-feasibility study (PFS) for potash exploration and development company Kore Potash’s Dougou extension (DX) at the Sintoukola potash project, in the Republic of Congo, is on track to be completed on budget in April 2020, with potentially improved financial outcomes. Technical studies completed to date have identified a number of improvements over the scoping study with the potential to reduce both the capital cost and the operating cost of the project compared to the scoping study.

The management of Bosnia's sole aluminium smelter, Aluminij Mostar, has resigned after an only investor interested to help it restart production had submitted an inadequate offer, the company said on Tuesday. The smelter was shut down in July over debt it had incurred because of high electricity and alumina prices.

Global industrial company Metso is set to deliver high-performance crushing and material handling equipment to global diamond miner De Beers Group’s Venetia mine, in Limpopo. The Venetia mine is reported to produce an output of about four-million carats, making it one of South Africa’s mineral resource flagships.

TSX-V-listed Mako Mining has picked up the Potrerillos exploration and exploitation concession from dual-listed Condor Gold for $600 000. The concession comprises 12 km2 of sub surface mineral rights and is located in Nuevo Segovia in the north of Nicaragua, adjacent to and along strike from Mako's San Albino gold project and which includes the former San Albino mine.

London-listed Petra Diamonds on Tuesday announced the appointment of mining engineer Peter Hill as nonexecutive director and chairperson to succeed founder and chairperson Adonis Pouroulis on March 31. Hill, currently chairperson of the world’s largest geotechnical contractor Keller Group and of building products company Volution, will be chairperson designate from January 1.

India’s Coal Ministry has slashed is mining plan preparation and approval process as part of series of measures to ‘improve the ease of doing business’ and to reduce the gestation period for new coal mining projects. The Ministry, in a statement issued on Monday, said that the process of mining plan preparation and approval would be completed within 30 days, against 90 days earlier. Necessary amendments to the Mineral Concession Rules 1960 to achieve this has been completed.

A new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) has shown that growth in coal demand from India and other Asian countries would offset declining demand from European nations and from the US, with Australia poised to take up a greater share of coal supply. In its Coal 2019 report launched in Johannesburg, the IEA noted that the weakness in coal demand this year resulted mainly from coal-fired electricity generation, which is set to experience its largest ever decline, over 250 terawatt hours (TWh)... Читать дальше...

Copper, often called “Dr. Copper” due to its correlation with the economic cycle, could be the trade of 2020, as most industry analysts expect a “lift-off” for the metal as global demand recovers. Gold miners had a blockbuster year in 2019 owing to expectations of US Federal Reserve rate cuts and as geopolitical tension mounted between the US-China. But concern about dampened global demand as a result of trade threats left base metal miners limping into the new year.

Canadian gold miner Yamana Gold on Monday announced an additional 25% dividend increase to $0.05 a share a year, effective for the first quarter of 2020, as it also outlined a new dividend policy to ensure the sustainability of shareholder payouts. The latest increase follows the doubling of dividends declared in the third quarter of 2019, thereby representing a 125% increase in dividends since September.