Новости за 11.08.2020

TSX-listed Ivanhoe Mines is progressing with mine development work on three of its Central and Southern African mining projects, with its flagship Kakula copper discovery in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on track to start producing in the third quarter of 2021. The miner reports that its definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the Kakula mine, and an updated integrated development plan for multiple expansions of the entire Kamoa-Kakula mining licence, are also nearing completion.

British and Australian investment funds said on Monday that Rio Tinto's testimony last week over its destruction of ancient caves in Australia raised questions about the accountability of its senior leadership. Rio CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques was grilled by an Australian Senate panel on Friday over how the company had legally destroyed two prehistoric rock shelters, causing deep distress to their Aboriginal owners. Jacques told the inquiry that neither he nor other senior leaders had read a key... Читать дальше...

JSE-listed Exxaro Resources expects its headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the six months ended June 30 to decrease by between 18% and 34% and 18% year-on-year. Attributable earnings per share (EPS) for the six-month period are expected to decrease by between 27% and 43% year-on-year.

Russian diamond producer Alrosa said on Monday that its rough and polished diamond sales totalled $35.8-million in July, down 79% from a year earlier after the coronavirus pandemic hit demand and the supply chain. It marked a fourth consecutive month of weak sales as falling demand and supply chain disruptions since March have prompted Alrosa and other producers to reduce output and relax payment terms for clients. Alrosa's sales rose from $31.3-million in June but still were only a fraction of... Читать дальше...

Canadian mining company Lucara Diamond Corporation expects revenue from its unique supply agreement with HB Group to start realising during the third quarter. This follows after Lucara decided to not tender any of its diamonds larger than 10.8 ct in March, amid the uncertainty caused by Covid-19.

Merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions in the metals and mining sector in the second quarter of this year reached $8.86-billion, GlobalData reported on Tuesday. The value marked an increase of 29.1% over the previous quarter and a drop of 14.4% when compared with the last four-quarter average, which stood at $10.35-billion.

Characterised by ongoing decline in demand, combined with near-term erosion of financial strength driven by the adverse economic impact from coronavirus, the US coal industry is in need of consolidation. This is the view of Moody’s lead coal analyst Ben Nelson, who said that the group’s concerns about competitive issues in the US coal market were increasing. “Most coal producers were heavily contracted in 2020 and had significant open tons in 2021, setting the stage for continued depressed pricing... Читать дальше...

Copper company Solaris Resources on Monday reported assay results for the first hole from the ongoing 40 000 m diamond drill programme at its Warintza project, in south-east Ecuador, sending its share price up 38%. This is the first drill hole completed on the Warintza project in nearly 20 years.

The electric vehicle industry must pay more for lithium in order to spur investment and prevent future supply crunches of the battery metal, the CEO of lithium producer Livent has said. Demand for EVs is expected to surge in coming years, spurred in part by government mandates, rising concern about climate change and other factors. But the coronavirus pandemic has paused that trend, causing a short-term oversupply of lithium, pushing down prices more than 10% this year and forcing producers of the white metal to halt expansion projects.

Canada's Teck said on Monday it would reinitiate work on its Quebrada Blanca phase 2 copper project in Chile after shutting it down in March because of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Teck vice president Amparo Cornejo said in a Chilean mining forum that the company was working closely with local authorities and hoped to reach full staffing levels at the project within three months. "Obviously we will do this only if the health conditions in the country permit it," Cornejo said.

Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier has responded to Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden’s statement that he would use a study completed by the Obama-era Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2014 to deny federal permits for the Alaska mine. Collier said on Monday that any action by a Democratic administration to challenge Pebble’s federal permits once granted would have negative implications for the US’ reputation as a jurisdiction for business investment, even if such an action was subsequently overturned by the courts.

The significant news of last week is that Glencore will temporarily close its Australian coal mines over Sep-Oct, resulting in around 7-mn tons of production being cut, with some also coming from the closure of its Prodeco mine in Colombia. This helped NEWC prices to rally although near term spot cargoes were still offered OTC at less than $50/t. Perhaps the market has become too used to Glencore being the leader when it comes to “producer discipline”.

Uranium developer Peninsula Energy will be ramping-up pre-development activities at its Lance project, in Wyoming. The company said on Tuesday that over the next 12 to 18 months, Peninsula would focus on key site-specific technical, process development and optimisation activities to prepare Lance as the only commercial low pH in-situ operation in the US, after completing the laboratory phase of optimisation testwork.

Potash developer Salt Lake has successfully completed the institutional component of it’s a$98.5-million equity raise, with ASX-listed Equatorial Resources taking a A$6-million stake. Equatorial’s subscription for a further 12-million shares in Salt Lake followed on from an original A$10-million share purchase early in July, with the company telling shareholders on Tuesday that the new subscription was an opportunistic use of available treasury funds, given that Salt Lake’s offer price represented an 18% discount to its last closing price.

Astron Energy’s oil refinery in Cape Town, where a fire broke out last month killing two people and injuring seven others, remains closed while a full investigation into the incident is carried out. The former Chevron 100 000 bbl/d Milnerton refinery – which with the Caltex brand now fall under Astron Energy, a Glencore group company – was restarting after a planned maintenance shutdown when the fire broke out in the early hours of July 2.