Новости за 01.04.2020

In its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the Mexico federal government has mandated all nonessential businesses, including mining, to suspend operations until April 30. The declaration was made after Mexico’s confirmed cases surpassed 1 000, with deaths now at 37. It is understood that mining operations deemed to be essential would continue during the health crisis. Toronto-listed Argonaut Gold has confirmed that it is suspending mining, crushing and stacking activities, but given that it operated heap leach mines... Читать дальше...

Chile's State-owned Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, said on Wednesday that a fifth worker has been confirmed as having contracted coronavirus, at its Ministro Hales mine. The diagnosis of the contract worker was confirmed in the central coastal city of La Serena on his final rest day before starting a new shift at the mine. "The affected person is in his place of residence, and possible contacts were identified according to the protocols set by the health authority," Codelco said in a statement.

Copper, zinc and lead production and exploration company Central Asia Metals’ (CAML’s) results for the year ended December 31, demonstrate the “fundamental strength” of the business, which owns two low-cost base metals operations, one in Kazakhstan and the other in North Macedonia. CEO Nigel Robinson says this is demonstrated by CAML having ended the financial year in a strong position with $32.6-million in cash in the bank and gross debt that has been reduced to $108.8-million, almost half the level... Читать дальше...

Aim-listed Vast Resources has noted that all internal processes leading to the conclusion to the Chiadzwa Community Joint Venture (JV), which were expected to be finalised during March, have not completed during the month. This is owing to the Zimbabwe government having declared a 21-day lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, beginning March 30.

State-run Coal India is considering cutting output at some mines, aligning it with a steep drop in demand from power generators amid a countrywide lockdown, according to people with knowledge of the development. The Kolkata-based miner will focus on clearing inventories and reducing production at thermal coal mines that have high stockpiles, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information isn’t public. The scale of any cutback hasn’t been finalised as the company is still trying to estimate demand for the fiscal year... Читать дальше...

In a new report, law firm ENS Africa discusses whether employers are obligated to report and investigate incidents of occupational-acquired Covid-19, finding that it depends on the employees’ type of work. ENS executives and authors of the report Willem le Roux, Pieter Colyn and Tyla Foster explain that, in terms of Section 11 of the Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA), the employer is required to notify the Principal Inspector of Mines of any occurrence at the mine that results in the illness of any person.

Capital and liquidity requirements across all the markets in which it operates are continuing to be met, Standard Bank Group financial director Dr Arno Daehnke said during an investor call. “We would argue strenuously that this crisis is still very much a health crisis. It’s not yet a liquidity or a solvency crisis,” Standard Bank Group CE Sim Tshabalala commented during question time.

The strong gold price is underpinning robust economics of one of Ecuador’s five strategic mining projects, with an updated feasibility study calculating the Loma Larga gold project’s aftertax net present value at $454-million and its internal rate of return at 28.3%. Developer INV Metals plans to break ground on the 223 000 gold-equivalent-ounce-a-year mine in 2021, with the goal of achieving first gold concentrate in late 2022.

Global copper production is expected to be impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, with data analytics and consulting company GlobalData now forecasting output growth of just 1.9% to 21-million tonnes for this year. This compares with its previous forecast of 3.4% year-on-year growth in global copper production.

In its force majeure notice to wind independent power producers (IPPs), Eskom has indicated that, should the system operator issue an instruction to a wind farm to reduce energy output during the period of the Covid-19 lockdown, the IPP would be granted an extension equivalent to the period of curtailment. The notice, which was delivered to IPPs on March 31, was issued in response to the 21-day lockdown announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa for the period beginning at midnight on March 26 to midnight on April 16.

Russian nickel and palladium producer Norilsk Nickel said on Tuesday that a mechanic at one of its vessels tested positive for the coronavirus. Nornickel's Arctic port of Dudinka and Nornickel's production assets, located near the city of Norilsk of the Krasnoyarsk region, remain unaffected, the company added.

Diamond producer Lucara Diamond Corporation has implemented a crisis management strategy to protect the health and wellbeing of its employees in Botswana and Canada amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Lucara's 100%-owned Karowe mine, in north central Botswana, remains fully operational under new measures and guidelines implemented by the Botswana government earlier this week.

Dual-listed Botswana Diamonds’ wholly-owned subsidiary, Sunland Minerals, has been awarded six new prospecting licences by the Botswana government. The licence tenure is for a period of three years until March 31, 2023.

Informal gold miners from South America to Africa are selling gold at almost 40% discounts as measures to curb the coronavirus crimp supply routes and dry up funding. Border restrictions and flight cancellations have created gold gluts in local markets, depressing prices for small-scale miners even as global prices are pushed back towards 7-year highs by investors piling into bullion as a safe-haven asset.

London-listed Gem Diamonds has raised $12.1-million during the first round of its Letšeng flexible tender sales process on March 26. The Lesotho-focused miner in March launched the flexible tender sales process, following a large tender that had to be cancelled owing to travel and other restrictions imposed by various governments, including in Belgium, where the tender would have been held from March 16 to March 25.

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe on March 31 conducted unannounced visits to three coal mines, in Mpumalanga, which supply coal to State-owned power utility Eskom. These mines included Glencore’s Impunzi colliery, Exxaro Resources' Matla Coal colliery and Seriti’s Kriel colliery.

TSX- and NYSE American-listed Equinox Gold on Tuesday provided a production and cost guidance for 2020, reflecting its production expectations following the recent closure of its merger with Leagold Mining. Total 2020 production, including gold produced by Leagold before completion of the merger on March 10, is estimated at 615 000 oz to 680 000 oz. "With the merger complete, Equinox Gold expects to more than triple its annualised gold production in 2020 and is fully funded to increase production... Читать дальше...

Construction activities at the Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 (QB2) copper project remain suspended, in line with the Chilean government’s efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus. Initially only a two-week suspension, construction activities are still on hold and Canadian diversified major Teck Resources says it could not say for certain when its workforce will be able to return to site. But every extra week that the project stands still will add millions of dollars to its cost and will delay the completion... Читать дальше...

State-owned electricity producer Eskom is gearing up to implement philosophy maintenance as a centralised project across its unreliable coal fleet, where ongoing breakdowns have increased the risk of growth- and confidence-sapping load-shedding. The utility’s board has given its approval for the project-based approach and has also sanctioned a material increase in the maintenance budget, the size of which has not yet been disclosed.

Notwithstanding the challenges related to the fast-spreading coronavirus, Canadian diversified miner Teck Resources president and CEO Don Lindsay on Wednesday reported that all the group’s operations remained in production, albeit on a reduced basis. The Vancouver-headquartered group announced that it had slowed operations and reduced its crews by up to 50% of regular levels at its steelmaking coal operations and Highland Valley Copper operations, in British Columbia, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Читать дальше...

Mining company South32 has filed a request for arbitration at the World Bank over a dispute with Colombia concerning royalty payments from its majority-owned Cerro Matoso ferronickel mine, the company confirmed on Tuesday. In February the Andean country's comptroller opened an investigation into alleged unpaid royalties of 619 billion pesos ($152.3 million) from iron and nickel production at Cerro Matoso between 1982 and 2012.