Новости за 30.10.2020

Chile's State-owned miner Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, on Friday reported a 86% increase in its profit for the first nine months of the year on Friday, to $1.124-billion, amid an increase in production. The company, which turns over all its profits to government coffers, said production rose 4% year-on-year to 1.165-million tonnes in the first nine months.

The suspension of operations at Chile's Candelaria copper mine continued on Friday with no sign of a resolution in a contractual dispute between the company and two workers' unions, the parties said. Canadian miner Lundin denounced road blockades and illegal force used by striking workers, while the unions denounced the company's intransigence in seeking a solution.

Botswana's rough diamond exports plunged around 66% in the third quarter compared with the same period last year, data showed on Friday, as the coronavirus pandemic hit demand and global travel restrictions impacted trading. Botswana closed its borders in March to curb the spread of the virus, locking out international buyers from countries like India, Belgium and China who traditionally travel to Gaborone many times a year to view and buy diamonds.

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Friday that a “second round” of work is being initiated in an effort to find a solution to Eskom’s unsustainable debt burden in line with the recent social compact between government, community, labour and business to “mobilise funding to address Eskom’s financial crisis in a sustainable manner”. Speaking virtually during the release of Eskom’s delayed financial results for the year to March 31, 2020, he said the “first round” had already taken place early in 2020... Читать дальше...

Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani said on Friday it was not responsible for lead poisoning in Zambia at a lead mine it part-owned nearly 50 years ago and planned to defend itself after a class action was filed against the miner over allegations of negligence. "We intend to defend out position as we don't believe Anglo American is responsible for the current situation," said Cutifani said during the presentation of a company sustainability report.

Diversified miner Anglo American intends to achieve full carbon neutrality across its operations by 2040, with eight of its operations to reach that goal by 2030. The commitment was initially made in May this year, but CEO Mark Cutifani on October 30 elaborated that this goal would be achieved through the technologies that the miner is implementing through a connection between its technology work and its Sustainable Mining Plan outcomes under its FutureSmart Mining Programme.

The progressive easing of lockdown measures allowed coal miner MC Mining’s Uitkomst Colliery to return to steady-state production, while international coal prices trended positively during September and October, acting CEO Brenda Berlin said in a statement of the company’s results for the three months ended September 30.  Uitkomst generated 137 284 t of run-of-mine (RoM) coal, a 1% improvement on the comparative quarter to end September 2019.

Research agency Fitch Solutions Country Risk & Industry Research says the global primary aluminium market will remain largely in oversupply, owing to absolute production remaining higher than consumption this year, but the surplus is likely to start narrowing from 2021. This will remain the case up to 2024, before widening again from 2025.

Multinational commodity company Glencore delivered a solid third-quarter operating performance, including the continued successful ramp-up of Katanga, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which remains on track to achieve design capacity by year-end, CEO Ivan Glasenberg said on October 30. “Our teams have adapted well to the numerous challenges presented by Covid-19.

Canadian miner Labrador Iron Mines (LIM) is progressing work on Stage 2 of its planned direct shipping ore mining operations, which involves the development of the Houston project, in Labrador, Quebec. LIM chairperson and CEO John Kearney says this decision came in light of persistently stronger iron-ore prices over the last two years, as well as increased expressions of interest from potential offtakers seeking iron-ore supply.

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer unpacks the Ferrochrome industry's need for an interim measure to be competitive, the flow-through share model that has been drawn up for exploration and Sumitomo becoming the latest investor in partnership with AP Ventures.

Canadian miner Pretivm produced 86 136 oz of gold and 130 975 oz of silver in the third quarter. This compares with the 88 227 oz of gold and 124 958 oz of silver produced in the third quarter of 2019.

Gold miner Troy Resources has produced 6 334 oz of gold during the quarter ended September, down from the 7 235 oz produced in the June quarter. The miner on Friday said that gold production at its Karouni operation, in Guyana, was lower than expected during the September quarter due to a combination of lower ore tonnes being mined, which resulted in more mineralised waste being processed, and lower-than-forecast head grades.

Copper miner Sandfire Resources has entered into agreements to acquire an 85% interest in the Red Bore copper project, adjacent to its own DeGrusssa mine, in Western Australia. The Red Bore comprises a 2 km2 granted mining lease and was previously subject to a joint venture agreement between ASX-listed Ora Gold and William Richmond.

Nickel miner Western Areas has downwardly adjusted its full year expectations for 2021 to take lower ore grades into consideration. Nickel in concentrate production for the financial year is now expected at between 17 000 t to 19 000 t, down from the previous estimate of between 19 000 and 21 000 t.

Major Rio Tinto will invest $51-million on upgrading facilities at its Vaudreuil alumina refinery, in Quebec. The company said this week that three new energy efficient buildings are under construction and existing facilities will be rearranged to provide close to 400 employees with a centralised control room, offices and common areas once complete in early 2021.

South Africa boasts many pockets of excellence in terms of digital transformation in the mining industry. With much of the sector’s potential and value still needing to be unlocked, the coronavirus has provided a major catalyst in driving large-scale digitalisation adoption, says professional services company Accenture Africa Industry X MD Eric Croeser. He notes that the pandemic, and subsequent measures to mitigate its spread, prompted industries and businesses to adopt digital technologies without an alternative.

Gold and base metals producer Eldorado Gold, which has operations in Turkey, Canada, Greece, Romania and Brazil, achieved a 35% year-on-year increase in gold production to 136 922 oz for the third quarter ended September 30. All-in sustaining costs (AISC) of $918/oz were lower than the AISC of $1 031/oz in the third quarter of 2019 and were negatively impacted on by an incremental 25% increase in gold royalty rates in Turkey.

US precious metals miner Hecla achieved higher silver, lead and zinc production for the third quarter ended September 30, but its gold production decreased by 47% year-on-year to 41 174 oz. Silver production increased by 9% year-on-year to 3.54-million ounces, while lead output increased by 60% year-on-year to 9 750 t and zinc output by 17% year-on-year to 17 997 t.

Brazilian miner Vale SA has recovered its iron ore inventories in the third quarter and will reduce the gap between production and sales in the coming months, potentially bringing relief to a tight global supply for the key steel-making ingredient, company executives said on a Thursday. In a call with analysts on Vale's quarterly results, CEO Eduardo Bartolomeo and executive director Marcello Spinelli said recovered inventories in China will give the producer more flexibility on sales going forward.

Americas-focused precious metals miner Yamana Gold has posted a strong production and financial performance in the third quarter. The TSX-, NYSE- and LSE-listed miner achieved above plan gold and silver production. Gold production reached 201 772 oz, underpinned by "standout" production from the Jacobina, Canadian Malartic, El Peñón and Minera Florida operations.