Новости за 09.07.2020

Minerals Council South Africa health head Dr Thuthula Balfour on Thursday expressed deep sadness at the loss of 28 colleagues to Covid-19 and stated that research was being conducted to understand what makes people particularly vulnerable to the pandemic and what can be done to prevent the deaths. “While the mortality rate in the mining industry is lower than the rest of the country, we recognise that we’re only seeing the initial impact of the pandemic in some regions and that it is likely that... Читать дальше...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer unpacks foreign mineworkers returning to South Africa, platinum having the highest number of Covid-19 related deaths and government's hydrogen society roadmap.

Having fallen sharply in mid-March, the silver price has recovered strongly and further gains are forecast for the rest of the year, owing to the precious metal’s safe-haven status and a belief among investors that silver is undervalued in absolute terms to gold. The silver price is forecast to surpass the $21/oz-mark in late-2020, with a fall in the gold:silver ratio – the quantity of silver ounces needed to buy an ounce of gold – to below 90, the Silver Institute reported on Thursday. The metal’s... Читать дальше...

Anthony Mukutuma has been appointed GM of dual-listed First Quantum Minerals’ multimillion-dollar Kansanshi mine, in the Solwezi District of North Western province.  He is the first Zambian to hold the post of GM at Kansanshi, which is the largest copper mine in Africa by production.

Gold prices could be set to take out their long-standing record as mounting concerns about the global economy fuel gains above $1 800/oz. Spot bullion extended its advance into a sixth day as the resurgence of the coronavirus in some parts of the world adds to concerns about a protracted global downturn. Demand for havens has surged, with inflows into gold-backed exchange-traded funds this year already topping the record full-year total set more than a decade ago, and some market watchers are forecasting... Читать дальше...

Considering Covid-19 lockdown restrictions in the second quarter of the year, JSE-listed chrome and platinum group metals (PGMs) miner Tharisa has revised downward its production guidance for the year ending September 30. The company now expects to produce between 130 000 oz and 135 000 oz of PGMs, which was previously set at between 155 000 oz and 165 000 oz for the year, and between 1.25-million and 1.30-million tonnes of chrome concentrate, which was previously set at between 1.45-million tonnes... Читать дальше...

UK-headquartered miner Central Asia Metals Limited (CAML) has maintained its full-year guidance from its operations in Kazakhstan and North Macedonia, despite increasing measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19 at its Kounrad operation. As the Aim-listed company enters the third quarter, Covid-19 cases have been rising in the local town close to its Kounrad operation, and 27 of its workers have tested positive for the virus. “It is our duty to do our utmost to prevent the spread of this virus on our site and... Читать дальше...

Australia’s second-largest pension fund aims to almost halve carbon emissions across its investments within a decade as it joins global peers in mitigating the risks of climate change. First State Super said it will advocate for Australia’s economy to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030 and replicate the target in its portfolio. The A$120-billion ($83-billion) fund will reduce emissions in its stock holdings by 30% by 2023, divest from thermal coal producers from October and continue... Читать дальше...

The world’s biggest publicly traded copper company is navigating the pandemic better than it thought. Freeport-McMoRan expects to report about 8% more copper sales volume and 10% more gold in the second quarter than it forecast in April when it was first coming to grips with the implications of the coronavirus. The Phoenix-based company gave the rare update less than three weeks before its earnings release. Shares surged as much as 8.6%, the most in a month.

As Chile’s giant copper mines battle to keep workers healthy in the Covid-19 pandemic, a laboratory in the country is touting the use of tiny specks of the metal to contain the spread among the general population. Santiago-based Aintech says its products are the first to make use of copper nanoparticles in disinfectants to kill and prevent viruses and bacteria on surfaces. One product is an alcohol spray that can be used on shoes or face masks. The other is for hard surfaces whose effects purportedly last a week. Читать дальше...

Unions at Chile's Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, said on Wednesday that nearly 3 000 workers had been infected with the coronavirus, prompting renewed calls for more safety measures at the company's sprawling operations. Patricio Elgueta, president of the Federation of Copper Workers (FTC), an umbrella group for the company's unions, told Reuters it had tallied 2 843 coronavirus infections among workers as of July 5. "The company does not give the database to the workers, so we have... Читать дальше...

ASX-listed Lotus Resources has reduced the care-and-maintenance cost at its recently acquired Kayelekera uranium project, in Malawi, by some 75%, as the company advances certain restart activities. Lotus on Thursday told shareholders that care and maintenance costs for the mine have been reduced from $5-million set aside in 2019, to $1.2-million, with the number of full-time employees on-site reduced from 116 to 16.

A review into the definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the Borborema gold project, in Brazil, has reduced the project’s expected costs from the original $99.3-million to $90.7-million. ASX-listed Big River Gold on Thursday noted that the review had resulted in changes to the process design, which further de-risked the operation and provided substantial improvements to the project economics.

Major Rio Tinto on Thursday announced that it would wind down operations and eventually close the New Zealand aluminium smelters (NZAS), following the conclusion of a strategic review. The company in October last year announced a review into the future of the smelter, to determine the operation’s ongoing viability and competitive position, and in April this year closed one of the four potlines at the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter as part of measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.