Новости за 28.07.2020

Gold has just smashed a record, and every major bank agrees that it’ll cross $2 000/oz. What happens next is where forecasts diverge. JPMorgan Chase & Co says the rally that has already seen prices rise 28% in 2020 could start to lose steam later this year. Citigroup and Bank of America Corp aren’t ready to call it quits just yet, with the former expecting higher prices for longer and the latter seeing the metal soaring to as high as $3 000/oz.

Canadian oil sands production is expected to decline by nearly 175 000 bbl/d this year as a result of Covid-19, which will be the largest annual decline on record, says global analytics company IHS Markit. It forecasts that the longer-term trajectory of oil sands production, however, is expected to return to pre-pandemic projections.

Electronics, automation and robotics company ABB is partnering with zinc, copper and lead miner Nexa Resources in a digital transformation programme to modernise existing mining and smelting process installations in Brazil and Peru. Aligned with Nexa’s directive automation and information master plan, ABB will install ABB Ability System 800xA as part of a five-year agreement. It is a powerful distributed control system automation platform.

Higher gold and silver prices, along with higher volumes of zinc and lead sold, contributed in a 5.3% year-on-year increase in Mexico-based precious metal miner Fresnillo's revenue to $1.12-billion for the six months ended June 30. The miner has declared an interim dividend of $16.9-million, equating to $0.023 a share.

Poland’s government is starting discussions with utilities and powerful mining unions about speeding up the country’s green transformation. The European Union’s most coal-dependent country has kept quiet about the details of its plans, which local newspapers reported include a target to stop thermal coal production by 2036, the idling of two mines this year and 6.75 billion zloty ($1.8 billion) in state aid and subsidies. The initial reaction of trade unions signals the government is in for a fight.

Poland's biggest coal producer PGG started talks on Tuesday with trade unions on a package of mine closures and pay cuts, measures the company said were designed to help it overcome the effects of the coronavirus crises. State-run news agency PAP reported that PGG could close the Ruda and Wujek mines, which employ a total of 7 700 people and produce over 5 million tonnes of coal annually. The state-controlled group employs more than 40,000 people and produces around 30 million tonnes of coal annually.

Emerging marine phosphate miner Namibian Marine Phosphate (NMP) reports that a review application launched by the Confederation of Namibian Fisheries Associations and three other applicants was heard in the High Court of Namibia on July 7. NMP’s shareholders, legal counsel and management are confident that the judgment will be in NMP’s favour, as they remain committed to the responsible development of the first marine phosphate mining project in Namibia, called Sandpiper.

Turkey-based gold exploration and development company Ariana Resources’ profit after tax grew threefold in the year ended December 31, 2019, to £6.9-million, compared with the £2.2-million reported for 2018. The miner attributes the increase primarily to the “excellent operational performance” of its joint venture investment in Zenit, whose turnover grew by 21% year-on-year, reflecting the favourable movement in the gold price and increased production.

The US Mint has reduced the volume of gold and silver coins it’s distributing to authorized purchasers as the coronavirus pandemic slows production, a document seen by Bloomberg shows. The Mint’s West Point complex in New York is taking measures to prevent the virus from spreading among its employees, and that will probably slow coin production there for the next 12 to 18 months, the document shows. The facility is no longer able to produce gold and silver coins at the same time, forcing it to choose one metal over the other... Читать дальше...

An updated feasibility study into the Hillside copper/gold project, in South Australia, has estimated that the project would require a capital investment of some A$585-million, and would produce some 35 000 t/y of copper and 24 000 oz/y gold based on a six-million tonne a year operation. The project is expected to have an initial mine life of 12 years.

JSE-listed Merafe Resources reports that its attributable ferrochrome production from the Glencore Merafe chrome venture for the six months ended June 30 had decreased by 42% year-on-year. The decrease is as a result of production cutbacks in response to Covid-19, market conditions and electricity curtailments.

ASX-listed Metals X has entered into a A$26-million unsecured loan facility with Asia Cheer Trading, a subsidiary of shareholder APAC Resources Strategic Holdings. The facility will be used to repay an outstanding facility agreement with Citibank.

TSX-listed Karnalyte Resources has engaged Canadian accountancy and business advisory MNP to advise the board on its long-term strategic direction. The board initiated a strategic review process to evaluate a range of potential strategic alternatives available to it, including the evaluation of its existing and future projects and the analysis of potential financing alternatives, with a focus on determining what is in the best interests of Karnalyte and maximising value for all of its shareholders.

TSX-listed nickel/cobalt sulphide project company Canada Nickel Company has created a wholly-owned subsidiary, NetZero Metals, to begin the research and development of a processing facility aimed at using existing technologies to produce zero-carbon nickel, cobalt and iron products. The facility will be located in the Timmins, Ontario.

Mining and processing has started at the Celesta copper project, located near the town of Curionópolis, in northern Brazil, with first concentrates due to be shipped in early August, reports TSX-listed Lara Exploration. Lara owns a 2% net smelter returns royalty on the project and a 5% carried (to production) equity interest in the operating company Celesta Mineração, which is jointly operated by partners Tessarema Resources (with 40% interest), and North Extração de Minério (with 55% interest).

TSX-listed copper miner Capstone Mining Corporation’s Pinto Valley mine has successfully demonstrated positive economics from enhanced dump leach performance by partnering with technology-driven natural resources company Jetti Resources. Capstone is using the mineral extraction technology at its Pinto Valley mine, located 125 km east of Phoenix in Arizona, in the US. It is using the novel and patented catalytic technology at an existing dump leach operation.

Supervisors at Antofagasta Minerals' Centinela copper mine in Chile have agreed to a new contract offer, avoiding the possibility of a strike, the union president said on Monday. The supervisors' union agreed last week to extend government-mediated talks after failing to agree on a new contract with Antofagasta.

Climate change and natural disasters, as well as commodity price risks were topping the list of concerns for Australian miners, a new report by KPMG has found. KPMG partner and mining risk specialist Caron Sugars said on Tuesday that profound changes had occurred since KPMG conducted its 2020 global mining risk survey in January this year, with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, and that the challenges of the global pandemic has driven the mining sector’s immediate planning, decision making and risk mitigation actions.

Major Rio Tinto has unveiled a maiden 503-million-tonne inferred mineral resource estimate at its Winu copper/gold project, in Western Australia, grading 0.45% copper. The miner on Tuesday said that the resource estimate included a higher-grade component of some 188-million tonnes at 0.68% copper equivalent, and a cut-off grade of 0.45% copper equivalent.

Brazilian major Vale has agreed to contribute up to $500-million of a $900-million working capital funding package as part of a possible divestment of its 95% interest Vale Nouvelle-Caledonie (VNC), which owns the Goro nickel and cobalt mine, in New Caledonia. ASX-listed base metals miner New Century Resources in June this year struck an exclusivity agreement with Vale to negotiate the purchase of VNC.

South Africa lacks a healthy junior exploration and mining sector, when it could be a catalyst for growth and transformation in the sector, says the South African Diamond Producers Organisation (Sadpo). For example, the discovery of alluvial diamonds in the unique secondary deposits of the Middle Orange River downstream of Hopetown in 1867 was the catalyst that initiated the development of the mining industry in Southern Africa.

Canadian mining company Ivanhoe Mines says it has had and continues to have strategic discussions regarding its Western Forelands project, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and its Platreef project, in South Africa. The company points out that a number of mining companies have expressed an interest in advancing exploration activities at the wholly-owned Western Forelands copper project, which is adjacent to the Kamoa-Kakula licence. It adds that it is also in strategic discussions regarding... Читать дальше...