Новости за 16.07.2020

Glencore's Zambia subsidiary Mopani Copper Mines on Thursday said the country's mines ministry rejected its proposal to suspend operations because of low copper prices and disruptions caused by the coronavirus crisis. Mopani said it would appeal against the decision and will continue mining operations pending the outcome of the appeal process.

Canadian gold major Barrick expects to meet its production guidance for 2020, despite the impact of the global Covid-19 pandemic and resultant lockdowns, CEO Mark Bristow said on Thursday. The group reported preliminary second-quarter gold production of 1.15-million ounces and copper production of 120-million pounds. Gold production for the first six months of 2020 was 2.4-million ounces, which is at the midpoint of the 4.6-million to 5-million ounce guided range set for the year.

The global diamond industry has been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic, which has wreaked havoc on the health, social fabric and economies of the world, laments World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) acting president Yoram Dvash. With its main markets spread from Asia to North America, he says the diamond industry’s shutdown followed the path of the virus – first China, then Hong Kong, Singapore and other markets were in lockdown, with Europe, the Middle East and the US soon following suit.

JSE-listed chrome miner Chrometco says that despite the impact of the low chrome price during the latter part of the financial year ended February 29, the company’s results had improved compared with the prior financial year's performance. In the year under review, the company’s Black Chrome mine produced at a steady state of 90 000 t a month.

Morocco-focused potash development Emmerson has raised £1.72-million  through an oversubscribed placing of new ordinary shares. Following the delivery of the feasibility study for the Khemisset potash project, which once again confirmed its potential to be among the lowest capital cost potash projects in the world, the company had received several expressions of interest from investor groups with respect to investing in the company.

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer unpacks the ANC's call for the incentivisation for investors in mining exploration, the International Council on Mining & Metals convening knowledge-sharing sessions in response to the coronavirus and Pan African's approval of a 10 MW solar PV project at the Elikhulu operation in Mpumalanga.

Diversified miner Anglo American has acted with resilience in the face of the global Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected many of its operations in different countries, with some commodities being affected more significantly than others, CEO Mark Cutifani says. "Our comprehensive response supported the continuity of the majority of our operations during varying degrees of lockdown in different jurisdictions, albeit at reduced capacity in many cases.

Diamond miner De Beers reported a 54% year-on-year decrease in production to 3.5-million carats in the second quarter of the year. This was owing to the Covid-19 lockdown measures in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Canada where the miner operates.

Aim-listed BlueRock Diamonds, which owns and operates the Kareevlei diamond mine in Kimberley, South Africa, has conditionally raised gross proceeds of about £1.2-million in an oversubscribed placing and subscription of more than 3.5-million new ordinary shares. Three of the company’s directors have also participated in the placing, the net proceeds of which will be used to fast track growth plans at the mine and strengthen the company’s balance sheet.

TSX- and NYSE-listed Platinum Group Metals’ (PTM’s) key business objective in the months ahead is to advance the palladium-dominant Waterberg project, in South Africa's Limpopo province, to a development and construction decision following the positive results of a definitive feasibility study (DFS), which provided a solid value assessment for the project. The Waterberg DFS projects a fully mechanised, shallow, decline access palladium, platinum, gold and rhodium (4E) mine, with steady state production... Читать дальше...

Dual listed Resource Generation (Resgen) on Thursday reported that the term sheet for the funding of the rail link to connect is Boikarabelo coal mine, in South Africa, to the Transnet main line, has become bindin. Resgen in May this year inked a term sheet with Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund 2 SA and Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund 2 for a R750-million funding package for the 44-km rail line.

Amid uncertain times for the diamond industry, Canada’s Lucara Diamond Corp has managed to seal a supply agreement with a group in Antwerp, Belgium, that will secure regular cash flow, using a unique pricing mechanism. Under the agreement, the company will sell all the 10.8-plus-carat diamonds from the Karowe mine, in Botswana, to HB Group until the end of the year. Lucara explains that the purchase price will be based on the estimated polished outcome, determined through state-of-the art scanning and polishing technology... Читать дальше...

The Lobo-Marte project, in Chile, offers a potential cornerstone asset with an attractive cost profile for Canadian miner Kinross Gold. The company on Wednesday published the results of a prefeasibility study for Lobo-Marte, which is 50 km from its La Coipa mine, detailing how the openpit operation could produce about 4.5-million gold-equivalent ounces (GEOs) at an average all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $745/GEO, over a 15-year mine life.

Junior Challenger Exploration has received firm commitments to raise A$20-million through a share placement to fund an exploration rive at its South American gold projects. Challenger on Thursday said that it would issue 100-million shares, at a price of 20c each, to a range of domestic and international institutional, sophisticated and existing shareholders, under its existing placement capacity.