Новости за 11.05.2020

US coal mining company Contura Energy said on Monday that all its sites were back to “nearly normal” staffing levels and operating capacity, with additional precautions to help reduce the risk of exposure to Covid-19. Early last month, the coal-mining company idled the majority of its operations for about four weeks, although some were suspended for a shorter period of time. This was to allow Contura to manage the challenges of a distressed coal market and growing coal stockpiles, alongside varied customer responses to the coronavirus.

Aim-listed Kefi Minerals has conditionally raised £3.7-million, before expenses, through the placing of 569-million new ordinary shares in the capital of the company to existing and new shareholders. Investors in the placing include UK investor RAB Capital, which will hold 236-million shares, representing 12.6% of the enlarged ordinary share capital of the company following the placing.

NYSE- and TSX-listed Fortuna Silver Mines on Monday announced that it would raise $60-million to fund the remaining construction and preproduction-related expenditures at its Lindero project, in Argentina. The company entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters, led by Scotiabank and BMO Capital Markets, which have agreed to purchase, on a “bought deal” basis, 20-million shares at $3 each.

Gold miners SSR Mining and Alacer Gold on Monday announced their at-market merger of equals, creating a company with assets in the US, Canada, Argentina and Turkey. Shareholders in TSX- and ASX-listed Alacer would receive 0.3246 SSR Mining shares for each Alacer share held, implying a consideration of C$8.19 a common share, valuing Alacer at C$2.41-billion.

Aim-listed BlueRock Diamonds has advised that its expansion plans for the Kareevlei diamond mine, in the Kimberley region of South Africa, remain on hold. The mine is, however, expected to reach full operating capacity by the end of May.

Nasdaq- and London-listed specialist alloy producer Afarak Group has placed its South African subsidiaries into voluntary business rescue. The companies have been in financial distress since South Africa implemented the Alert Level 5 Covid-19 lockdown at the end of March, but Afarak's board is confident that both Afarak Mogale and Afarak South Africa will recover.

Having not had permanent CEOs since 2014, the Central Energy Fund (CEF) has now filled the position of group CEO, as well as all vacant CEO positions at its group companies, in particular at the Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF), the Petroleum Agency of South Africa (Pasa) and national oil company PetroSA. The CEF reports that, from 2014 to now, a number of executives were in acting CEO roles, resulting in the group experiencing a “turbulent period in fulfilling its mandate”.

The extent of the Covid-19 lockdown demand destruction has become more evident as data comes in, with many of SA’s key export destinations registering falls in power demand of between 10% to 30% in April. However, this has naturally been balanced by fewer railings and coal mines operating at far lower capacities. As the market stabilises pricewise, hindsight would suggest that the “rumour was sold, and now traders are buying back the fact”.

The Queensland government has established an independent mine safety Board of Inquiry into the recent explosion at the Grosvenor coal mine, which left five people injured. Mines Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said the board would be able to conduct public hearings, call witnesses and make broad inquiries, findings and recommendations relating to the underground gas explosion that occurred at Anglo-American’s Grosvenor coal mine outside Moranbah.

Brazil's Vale is seeing a "very vigorous" economic rebound in China, the iron-ore miner's principal export market, CFO Luciano Siani said during an online event hosted by newspaper Valor Economico on Friday. "Industrial activities [in China] are practically at their normal levels.... Civil construction is also rising daily and steel and iron ore stocks are falling," he said.

Dual-listed SolGold has secured a royalty financing package for its flagship Alpala project with Toronto-headquartered royalty and streamlining company Franco Nevada, paving the way for the “rapid advancement” of the copper/gold project, in Ecuador. The package consists of a $100-million net smelter returns (NSR) financing agreement, with an option to upsize the financing to $150-million at SolGold’s election.

Diversified major Rio Tinto has introduced Covid-19 testing at its Diavik diamond mine, in the Northwest Territories, in Canada, as an additional precautionary measure to protect employees and community members. The miner said over the weekend that not for profit public health experts GuardRX have installed an on-site laboratory at Diavik to conduct a testing program for employees and contractors using nasopharyngeal swabs.

A number of resources industry bodies have called for a reform of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, as an independent review into the legislation continues. “Reforms to the Act are long overdue, and numerous reviews over the past decade have repeatedly highlighted opportunities to improve regulatory efficiency by addressing unnecessary duplication and complexity while maintaining strong environmental protections,” Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) CEO Tania Constable said on Monday.

Diversified miner Anglo American has started the staged re-entry of its Grosvenor Grosvenor mine, in Queensland, following an explosion last week which injured five workers. CEO of Anglo American’s metallurgical coal business, Tyler Mitchelson over the weekend said that the company would regain access to the longwall area, where the incident occurred, in order to start its expert technical investigation.