Новости за 12.02.2020

Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow on Wednesday said he sees no competition from rivals in his pursuit of Freeport-McMoRan's Grasberg copper/gold mine in Indonesia but cautioned any deal for the asset would take time to pull off. Bristow has fanned speculation that Barrick, the world's No. 2 gold miner, is poised to deepen its exposure to copper and last week expressed interest in acquiring Freeport's flagship Grasberg mine.

Canada’s Northern Dynasty on Wednesday reported that a preliminary version of the final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Pebble project, in Alaska, has indicated that the project could co-exist with the fisheries and water resources of Bristol Bay. The TSX- and NYSE American-listed company said the US Army Corps of Engineers had distributed the preliminary version of the final EIS to federal, state and local cooperating agencies. The draft document is currently under review by regulatory agencies... Читать дальше...

After resurgent demand pushed the platinum market into deficit in 2019, with the total volume of platinum under investment coming in at a record 3.4-million ounces at the start of this year, speciality chemicals company Johnson Matthey says the platinum market could move back into surplus this year unless investor appetites are sustained. Last year, more than one-million platinum ounces were added to exchange-traded fund holdings, outweighing a contraction in global industrial and automotive demand... Читать дальше...

“If you know where you’re going, you generally get there,” says Barrick CEO Dr Mark Bristow – and Barrick’s fourth-quarter results published on Wednesday show that Barrick is sure getting there under Bristow’s leadership. The New York- and Toronto-listed company declared a 40% increase in dividend on 2019 gold production of 5 465 000 oz, which was at the top end of guidance.

In a bid to lower its import dependency on Australian coking coal, the Indian government has opened up bilateral government-to-government negotiations with Mongolia and Russia to ship greater volume of the dry fuel suitable for its domestic steel mills. Government officials say that talks focus on either Indian coal companies acquiring equity stakes in coking coal assets in Mongolia and Russia, or coal miners in these two countries entering into long-term supply agreements with Indian importers.

Rio Tinto, operator of the giant Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia, said its copper concentrate shipments to China had slowed due to efforts by the authorities to contain the spread of the coronavirus. "We have advised customers that we are engaging with authorities who are working on re-establishing regular and safe border crossings," a spokesman for the miner said in an email on Wednesday. The virus outbreak that began in China and prompted a lockdown that has weighed on the Chinese economy... Читать дальше...

Diversified mining major Rio Tinto has announced a strategic review of the ISAL smelter in Iceland, to determine the operation's “ongoing viability and explore options to improve its competitive position”. The smelter, which the company unsuccessfully tried to sell a year-and-a-half ago, is unprofitable, owing to high energy costs and historically low aluminium prices. The strategic review will consider all options, including curtailment and closure, and will be complete in the first half of 2020.

The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) has welcomed the enforcement of the Peru-Australia free trade agreement (PAFTA), providing Australian businesses with a gateway to Latin America. Under PAFTA, Peru will eliminate 99.4% of its tariffs, including on valuable Australian resources such as iron-ore, copper, nickel, coal, mineral fuels and oil.

US-based uranium mining company Energy Fuels CEO Mark Chalmers has hailed President Donald Trump’s commitment to establish a strategic uranium reserve as an “important step” towards addressing the country’s overdependence on uranium imports from Russia and its allies. To set up the reserve, $150-million a year would be needed over ten years. The reserve is intended to “provide additional assurances of availability of uranium in the event of a market disruption”.

ASX-listed Mineral Resources has reported a more than 2 000% increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the six months ended June, as its $1.15-billion deal with US major Albamarle affected the bottom-line. Mineral Resources last year struck the $1.15-billion deal with Albamarle, allowing the US company to take a 60% interest in the Wodgina lithium project, in Western Australia.

Two years of independent baseline environmental data collection and monitoring have confirmed that the Empire mine, in Idaho, US, will not threaten critical habitat for endangered plant or wildlife species, says Aim-listed Phoenix Copper. The company reports that the environmental baseline studies have now been completed and that the results will be used for environmental permitting and the continued development of the plan of operations for all future mining activity, including Red Star and the Empire openpit copper oxide deposit.

Diamond miner De Beers Group has identified five focus areas that will be advanced across the group’s businesses to further improve safety. The actions were agreed on at the group’s biannual safety summit last week, which brought together CEOs from across the group to deeply engage on Pioneering Safely into a Brilliant Future and sign a pledge to work together to advance safety across the group.

Canada’s Trilogy Metals and Australia’s South32 have completed the formation of their 50:50 joint venture (JV), named Ambler Metals, focusing on projects in the US state of Alaska. Ambler is an independently operated company controlled by Trilogy and South32 through a four-member board, the directors of which were named on Tuesday. Trilogy appointed its interim president and CEO Jim Gowans and director Kalidas Madhavpeddi to the board, while South32 appointed chief development officer Simon Collins and Hermosa project president, Pat Risner.

Diamond miner Lucapa has generated a further A$8.2-million from the run-of-mine diamond sales from its Lulo and Mothae mines. The ASX-listed company told shareholders that a total of 1 548 ct of diamonds from the Lulo operation, in Angola, was sold for gross proceeds of A$5-million, representing an average price of A$3 251/ct.

A prefeasibility study (PFS) into the West Musgrave/ Nebo-Babel base metals project, in Western Australia, has demonstrated that the project could have a mine life of some 26 years, producing at an annual rate of 28 000 t of copper and some 22 000 t of nickel in concentrates. “The PFS is now complete and has confirmed the project can be a low carbon, low cost, long life mine producing copper and nickel, both in-demand minerals for the renewable and electrification industries,” said Oz Minerals CEO Andrew Cole.

South Africa-focused coal miner Universal Coal has maintained its advice that shareholders not respond to an unsolicited offer from fellow-listed TerraCom, after the suitor on Wednesday lodged a formal offer document. TerraCom on Wednesday confirmed its offer for 33.5c a share for each of the Universal shares held, consisting of 10c in cash and 0.6026 new TerraCom shares.