Новости за 22.04.2020

Americans and Russians have grown more dissatisfied with the way their governments address environmental issues in recent years, according to research released on Wednesday of the world's biggest carbon dioxide emitters. Residents of China and Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, have become more proud of their countries' environmental efforts, said the research by Gallup, a prominent US-based polling group. To mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Gallup surveyed attitudes about efforts to fight climate... Читать дальше...

Multinational commodities trader and miner Glencore will take Katanga Mining private, the TSX-listed subsidiary, which has operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), announced on Wednesday. Shareholders will receive C$0.16 in cash for each pre-amalgamation common share held, which Katanga said represented a 100% premium to the closing price of the common shares on April 21, a 139% premium over the 20-day volume-weighted average price and a 60% premium to the high-end of a valuation range provided by KPMG.

The Zambia Chamber of Mines has urged the government to urgently engage with the sector and agree relief measures to address the issues facing mining companies in the midst of COVID-19. The chamber said in a statement it had submitted a broad three-phase economic plan to the government, to urgently manage the economic impact arising from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Covid-19 outbreak is poised to strengthen the electric vehicle (EV) momentum, as well as the markets for cobalt and copper, says Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) CEO Benedikt Sobotka.   He notes that the drive towards EVs has been relentless over the past few years, with tens of billions of dollars committed to the electrification of new model offerings.

Chile-based Antofagasta will spend at least $200-million less on capital expenditure (capex) this year, owing to the temporary suspension of the Los Pelambres expansion project, the deferral of sustaining and other growth capex, as well as lower mine development and a weaker Chilean peso. Antofagasta suspended work on the project earlier this month in response to the health and safety emergency caused by the new coronavirus pandemic. The suspension is expected to be for up to 120 days. Capex will now be less than $1.3-billion... Читать дальше...

London-listed Central Asia Metals (CAML), which produces base metals essential for modern living, has commissioned independent consultants to conduct feasibility studies on the potential of building a renewable energy plant at its Kounrad operation, in Kazakhstan. The studies will consider the feasibility of using renewable energy, likely solar, to assist in meeting the operation’s electricity consumption, which increased by 7% in the 2019 financial year to 61 618 MWh.

The fire that broke out underground in the Zinkgruvan mine, in Sweden, has not resulted in any material damage and operations in the unaffected areas of the copper and zinc mine have resumed. Surface operations are also continuing and scheduled maintenance of the concentrating facilities are proceeding well, Canada-based Lundin Mining reported on Tuesday.

Gold mining major Newmont has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 a share of common stock, in line with its January announcement that it would boost its dividend to about $1 a share annually. The hike represented a significant increase to its “industry leading dividend”, Newmont said in a statement on Tuesday. The dividend would be paid to holders of record at the close of business on June 4.

With the coronavirus crisis clouding the outlook for almost every industry, the aluminum market is hoping to get at least a glimpse of what’s in store from top US producer Alcoa on Wednesday. Aluminum, found in everything from jets to iPhones, has been among the worst-performing commodities during the crisis as governments lock down large swathes of their economies. Speculation is rising that the pandemic will spur shutdowns of smelters, which extract the metal from ore for use in applications.

Lithium miner Orocobre has reported a difficult quarter in the three months to March, with production down 11%, to 2 732 t at its Olaroz lithium facility, in Argentina. Orocobre on Wednesday noted that quarantine restrictions imposed by the Argentine government to combat the spread of Covid-19, along with planned maintenance at the project, had resulted on Olaroz losing 21 days of production during the March quarter.

ASX-listed Atrum Coal has raised A$22-million through a share placement to progress its Elan hard coking coal project, in Alberta Canada, through prefeasibility study (PFS) and the formal permitting application. Atrum issued 95.7-million shares, priced at 23c each, over two tranches to institutional and sophisticated investors based in Australia and internationally.