Новости за 08.04.2020

Global miner Rio Tinto will go ahead with its $3.7-billion dividend payment this month, its chairman told shareholders on Wednesday, as a weaker global economy forces some of its peers to forgo payouts. The mining company held the London leg of its annual general meeting via teleconference call due to coronavirus restrictions. The outbreak has roiled global markets, disrupted supply chains and forced operations to shutter, pushing some mining companies to shore up balance sheets by withholding shareholder payouts.

Playing a change agent role, black-women led and controlled technical and management advisory firm LEI Advisory, (a division of Letaba Elihle Investments), can assist companies which have been adversely impacted by the negative economic impact of the Covid-19 outbreak. Business turnaround interventions are among the many technical services offered to the resources sector by LEI Advisory.

The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) announced on Wednesday, April 8, that former Eskom executive Tshifhiwa Bernard Magoro had been appointed as the new head of the Independent Power Producers Office (IPPO). The appointment would be effective from May 1.

NYSE- and TSX-listed Barrick Gold on April 8 published its 2019 Sustainability Report, which indicates that the company continues to strengthen its reputation as a trusted partner in its host communities globally. President and CEO Mark Bristow notes in the report that the company is actively working to build a more sustainable mining sector that is fit to attract the next generation of industry leaders.

Uranium fuel supplier Cameco will place its UF6 plant at the Port Hope conversion facility, in Ontario, in a temporary safe shutdown state for four weeks, as it faces difficulty in maintaining an adequate workforce as a result of screening protocols and other measures put in place to combat the Covid-19 health crisis. “While our fuel services facilities have been able to operate safely, it has become increasingly challenging to maintain a sufficient roster of qualified operators for the UF6 plant,”... Читать дальше...

TSX- and NYSE-listed Barrick Gold has announced a $1.5-million support programme to help combat and contain the Covid-19 pandemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The new package includes the supply of critical equipment to the value of $632 000 at the national level, $488 000 at the provincial level and $380 000 at the local level.

The Philippines' top nickel ore producers, Nickel Asia and Global Ferronickel Holdings, are suspending mining and export operations in a southern province to comply with coronavirus-containment measures. The moves came just two days after announcing they were resuming operations because an earlier local suspension order had been lifted. In separate statements, the miners said they heeded an appeal from the Surigao del Norte government to halt operations, which was made after the province was placed in "enhanced community quarantine".

TSX-V-listed Strongbow has announced that its drilling partner Cornish Lithium has discovered a new zone of high-grade copper/tin mineralisation at its United Downs exploration project, in Cornwall, UK. Cornish Lithium has the right to explore Strongbow’s mineral rights in Cornwall for lithium in brine occurrences while Strongbow retains the right to any hard rock mineralisation.

North American miner USA Rare Earth has purchased neodymium iron boron permanent magnet manufacturing equipment from Hitachi Metals America, which will form part of the only manufacturing plant of this sort in the Americas. USA Rare Earths is developing the Round Top Mountain heavy rare earth project, in Texas, which hosts 16 of the 17 rare earth elements, as well as other high-value minerals, such as lithium.

ASX-listed Fertoz has inked a letter of intent and supply agreement with US based PhoSul, a subsidiary of diversified commercial fertilizer provider Propeat. Under the agreement, Fertoz would supply rock phosphate for use in PhoSul for a patented fertilizer blend of phosphate and speciality sulfurs.

French group Eramet is mothballing its lithium project in Argentina, announcing on Wednesday that its board had decided not to engage the construction of the lithium production plant. The company in February already placed the project on hold, citing economic and regulatory uncertainty in the South American country. On Wednesday, Eramet said that the “considerable uncertainty in the global economy and particularly in raw materials markets, including lithium” tripped up the project, as the miner... Читать дальше...

African Source Markets produces weekly commodity indices for standardised grades of coal. African Source Markets has given permission to Mining Weekly to publish these proprietary indices together with a brief market commentary, historical pricing and prevailing forward curve.

NYSE-listed silver and gold producer Hecla Mining is continuing to operate three of its five operations, with the mines in the US – Greens Creek in Alaska, its Nevada operations and Lucky Friday, in Idaho – deemed essential businesses. However, owing to assess the impact that Covid-19 will have on its production and costs, Hecla on Tuesday withdrew its guidance for 2020. The company had to wind down operations at San Sebastian, in Mexico, to comply with that government’s order to suspend operations until April 30 and at Casa Berardi... Читать дальше...

Diversified miner Rio Tinto paid some $7.6-billion in taxes and royalties globally in 2019, including $4.8 billion of corporate tax. The miner on Wednesday revealed that the majority of its taxes were paid in Australia, accounting for some $6.2-billion of the taxes paid, while a further $311-million was paid in Chile, $291-million in Canada, $178-million in the US, $117-million in the UK and a further $80-million in South Africa.

Major BHP has announced a number of new measures being put in place to contain the spread of Covid-19 amongst its workforce. The new measures include reducing the number of fly-in, fly-out and drive-in, drive-out workers travelling to regional sites, changing rosters in some regions to reduce workforce movements, and temporarily relocating interstate in order to meet tighter border controls.

TSX-listed Cameco will be in discussions with uranium major Kazatomprom – its joint venture (JV) partner at the Inkai mine – to determine how that company’s announcement of reduced operational activities across its mines will impact on Cameco’s purchases. Kazatomprom’s decision could reduce Inkai’s 2020 production by up to 12%, which Cameco said on Tuesday translated into a reduction in its 2020 purchases from the JV of up to 600 000 lb of U3O8. Prior to the announcement, Cameco expected to purchase... Читать дальше...

Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals has placed its Cobre Panama operation into care-and-maintenance, after the Healthy Ministry of Panama (Minsa) this week ordered the temporary suspension of labour activities at the site. The order follows the death of a worker as a result of Covid-19 related complications. Minsa confirmed in a tweet at the weekend that an employee of Minera Panama – First Quantum’s subsidiary – died on Saturday. The mining company said on March 24 that several of the contractor... Читать дальше...

US coal production will fall by 22% in 2020, as coronavirus-related stay-at-home orders drag down demand for electricity and coal mines have been idled for extended periods as a result of Covid-19. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) says in its short-term energy outlook that the country’s coal production is forecast to total 537-million tons in 2020, down from 153-million tons in 2019. Last week, two US coal miners announced the closure of their mines in response to the fast-spreading virus pandemic... Читать дальше...

The cost of insuring against potential debt default by mining companies has risen to the highest in five years on mounting fears of recession, demand destruction and shutdowns to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Commodity group Glencore's five-year credit default swaps (CDS) - which traders use as a hedge against uncertainty - were up at 443 basis points (bps) on Tuesday from 190 bps at the end of February, data from information provider IHS Markit showed. Those of Anglo American rose to... Читать дальше...