Новости за 17.03.2020

De Beers, already grappling with a prolonged industry crisis exacerbated by the coronavirus outbreak, now has another headache to contend with: how to conduct diamond sales when key customers are blocked from traveling? Botswana, where De Beers conducts its 10 sales each year, on Monday announced a travel ban on 18 high-risk countries as part of an array of measures to protect itself from the pandemic. The list included Belgium, India and China, which are home to many of the world’s leading diamond dealers.

Top lithium miners in Chile, the world´s No.2 producer of the ultralight battery metal, ramped up sanitary precautions at their Atacama salt flat mining operations to protect workers from the coronavirus outbreak, but said impact on output was minimal thus far. Cases of coronavirus in Chile had jumped to 181 on Tuesday, prompting authorities to shut down the country´s borders, close schools and prohibit gatherings of large groups. The South American nation is also the world´s top copper producer.

Major mining companies operating in Peru, including Newmont, Freeport-McMoRan and Anglo American, are ramping down operations to comply with the 15-days self-quarantine that President Martin Vizcarra announced on Sunday. The country, which at 13:00 local time on Monday had 89 confirmed cases of Covid-19, has declared a national state of emergency, which enacted 15 days of mandatory quarantine and closed its borders in an effort to contain the spread of the virus. The declaration restricts travel... Читать дальше...

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe on Tuesday met with the leadership of the Minerals Council in Johannesburg, to receive an update on the plans that have been put in place for the sector to adequately respond to the current Covid-19 pandemic. This follows the briefing by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday, wherein a comprehensive plan was outlined for responding to the spread of the virus in the short to medium term.

Brazil’s Vale has announced that it will ramp down its Voisey’s Bay mining operation, in Canada, and place it on care and maintenance for four weeks in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although none of Vale’s employees has tested positive at any of its operations, the decision is aimed at protecting the health and wellbeing of the Nunatsiavut and Innu indigenous communities, the mining company said in a statement.

As a new chapter arrived for the Woodsmith polyhalite project, with diversified miner Anglo American on Tuesday officially taking control, Sirius Minerals chairperson Russell Scrimshaw has expressed his hopes for the project and apologised to shareholders for the value that the takeover has delivered. Sirius, which delisted from the London exchange on Tuesday, was bought out at 5.5p a share, but shareholders were left counting their losses as many have bought their holding at four times or more that price. Читать дальше...

Research agency Fitch Solutions has revised its forecast for the zinc price for this year to $2 250/t, down from $2 450/t previously, as an amalgam of market forces put in motion by the Covid-19 outbreak, which has led to factory shutdowns in China and other parts of the world. The average zinc price achieved last year was $2 507/t.

The definitive feasibility study (DFS) into ASX-listed Alpha HPA’s high purity alumina (HPA) First project, in Queensland, has found that it could generate free annual cash flows of A$280-million a year from the production of 10 000 t/y HPA. The project is expected to require a capital investment of A$308-million, and would have a capital intensity of A$30 800/t of HPA with unit costs estimated at A$8 730/t HPA after by-product credits.

Debt-laden chemicals and energy group Sasol announced on Tuesday that it could pursue a $2-billion rights issue as a “supplemental initiative” in the event that cash-conservation initiatives and asset disposals proved insufficient to reset its capital structure. The JSE-listed group had set a target of securing $6-billion through cash-conservation initiatives and further asset disposals.

Diversified major Anglo American has withdrawn the majority of employees and contractors from its $5.3-billion Quellaveco copper project, in Peru, to comply with a 15-day national quarantine announced to curb the spread of the pandemic. The 10 000-strong construction workforce is being demobilised and work on the project will be slowed, with only critical areas of the project continuing until workers can safely return.

The Veladero gold mine, in Argentina, has been revitalised, following a review of its strategy and business plan, with its life extended by at least ten years. During the review, gold major Barrick reinterpreted the mine’s geology and continued with an infill drilling campaign. “We established exploration and resource management teams to identify satellite orebodies with the potential to deliver an increase in resources and reserves,” said CEO Mark Bristow on Monday.

S&P Global Platts, which produces an iron ore benchmark index, said on Monday iron-ore prices have been resilient and activity levels have remained healthy recently. On Sunday, the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) had warned about speculation risks in the market as the iron ore index was deviating from supply and demand fundamentals and the spot market.

ASX-listed Infinity Lithium Corporation has struck a binding sales agreement to divest of its potash assets in Gabon, allowing the company to focus on its San Jose lithium project, in Spain. Infinity told shareholders that the divestment of its subsidiary Equatorial Potash would remove costs associated with the discontinued operations and holding costs of the potash assets.

Takeover target Universal Coal has urged shareholders to reject an unsolicited bid from ASX-listed TerraCom, after an independent expert determined that the offer was neither fair nor reasonable. TerraCom’s 33.5c a share offer for Universal consists of 10c in cash and 0.6026 new TerraCom shares for each Universal share held.

A new report by advisory firm Deloitte has noted that the outbreak of the Coronavirus has added uncertainty to the pace of Western Australia’s economic recovery, with the state likely to be hard hit if market volatility persisted. In its latest economic outlook for Western Australia, Deloitte pointed out that as Australia’s most trade-oriented state, Western Australia would feel the impact of any prolonged economic weakness in China.