Новости за 18.11.2020

Brazilian miner Vale's proposed settlement of around 21-billion reais ($3.97-billion) following a deadly 2019 dam disaster is too low, the head of the state of Minas Gerais, where the accident happened, said. After a meeting between authorities and the company about the Brumadinho dam burst in January 2019 that left 270 people dead, the state's Secretary General Mateus Simoes told journalists the state opposed both the amount and some of the terms offered by Vale. "The value is still far from what... Читать дальше...

London-listed Emmerson has completed all of the workstreams required for its environmental- and social-impact assessment (Esia) for the Khemisset potash project, in Morocco, and will soon submit it to the relevant governmental bodies for approval. Emmerson says the assessment package comes as a capstone to two concurrent phases, which involved an extensive baseline programme that started in the early stages of the project development two years ago and the Esia study, which started early this year.

Anthracite miner Petmin has reiterated its hope that community issues and two court cases can be overcome and dealt with so that it can progress with the expansion of its Somkhele anthracite mine, about 85 km north of Richards Bay, in KwaZulu-Natal. Expansion of the mine has been hotly contested in the nearby communities since the miner expressed plans to expand as the current orebody reaches the end of mine life.

Dual-listed Botswana Diamonds has started drilling at its Thorny River and Marsfontein project areas in South Africa. The multihole drilling programme has begun on four target areas identified as being of high interest in a recent detailed ground geophysics survey.

Zambia copper explorer has exclusivity agreement with Anglo American; Platinum-linked green hydrogen economy right for Africa; And, Completion of first phase of Kore Potash’s new starter project expected in May

The new infrastructure plans proposed for the Chukotka region of Russia have increased the risks around the Baimskaya copper project, with miner KAZ Minerals now expected to take responsibility for a portion of the capital costs. Together with a revised cost for the tailings storage facility and the impact of an one-year delay to the project schedule, the capital cost budget for Baimskaya had risen to almost $8-billion, the London-listed company said on Wednesday. KAZ, which has agreed to be acquired by Nova Resources in a £3-billion deal... Читать дальше...

Anglo American is on track to exceed its original investment commitment to South Africa, despite Covid-19 impacts, Mining Weekly can report. At this year’s SA Investment Conference, the London- and Johannesburg-listed diamond, platinum group metals and iron-ore mining company increased its total investment commitment to R100-billion, for the current five-year period to 2025.

The Toral lead/zinc project, in north-west Spain, could be a significantly larger operation than previously contemplated, with a new independent study pegging its production rate at 700 000 t/y. This compares with a previous scoping study design of 450 000 t/y. The 700 000 t/y operation is based on a 17-million tonne resource at 6.7% zinc-equivalent, including an indicated resource of 3.8-million tonnes at 8.1% zinc-equivalent.

Gamsberg zinc mine in South Africa has been shuttered until further notice while a search continues for two workers still missing after an accident, the owner Vedanta Zinc International (VZI) said on Wednesday. Eight workers have already been rescued after Tuesday's accident, the unit of Vedanta said.

Coal miner Wescoal has started the process to implement group-wide retrenchments, noting that this is necessary in light of lower demand from key customers, a lower selling price, above-inflation cost increases and the negative impact of Covid-19 on the company, which has necessitated a reassessment of its business model and to implement cost saving initiatives. The miner has started a Section 189 process, which it expects to conclude by mid-December, with staff reductions to implemented across all operations.

Diamond miner De Beers sold $450-million of rough diamonds through sightholder sales and auctions in the ninth sales cycle of this year. This is an improvement on the $400-million of diamonds sold during the ninth sales cycle of 2019, but slightly lower than the $467-million of diamonds sold during the eighth sales cycle of this year.

Metals miner Independence Group on Wednesday told shareholders that one of the company’s focus for 2021 would be growth. “Growth remains an important strategic imperative, exploration to deliver long term sustainable growth and disciplined merger and acquisition to deliver accretive growth in the short to medium term,” MD and CEO Peter Bradford told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting.

Workers at the Candelaria copper mine in Chile rejected owner Lundin Mining’s latest wage offer, extending a strike into a second month, according to a union leader. In voting Tuesday, 366 of the AOS union’s 500-plus members turned down the offer, AOS President Evelyn Walter said in a text message. The company delivered the proposal last week, increasing a signing bonus to 17.5-million pesos per worker, while offering benefits that continued to fall short of some workers’ demands.

A hearing between Brazilian miner Vale and the government of Brazil's Minas Gerais state ended on Tuesday without the two sides agreeing on a settlement over a Jan. 2019 disaster in which a Vale dam burst and killed 270 people. The mining waste dam burst in the town of Brumadinho in Minas Gerais, roughly four years after a similar disaster at a facility jointly owned by Vale and BHP. The Minas Gerais state government said in a statement that it did not accept the settlement terms being proposed by Vale. Читать дальше...

An economic assessment of ASX-listed Australian Bauxite’s planned Alcore processing plant, has shown that it would land in the lowest cost quartile of global aluminium fluoride production. Australia’s aluminium smelters are currently entirely reliant on imported aluminium fluoride, with more than 26 000 t imported from China alone over the past 12 months, at an average cost of $1 266/t.

Diversified miner BHP has urged the Australian government to maintain its trade relationships as political tensions with China continue. BHP CEO Mike Henry said tension in international relations was antithetical to the prosperity of Australia, and the world, and was a trend that is in all of our interests to work to turn around. “Australia is positioned to demonstrate to others the importance of investing in relationships and the power of trade. We have demonstrated for decades a firm belief in... Читать дальше...

Platinum investment demand rocketed 291% in the three months to September 30, World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) reported on Wednesday, when it forecast a third consecutive annual platinum deficit next year on an initial projected 2021 deficit of 224 000 oz. The high third-quarter (Q3) investment demand for platinum amounted to 730 000 oz on a Q3 platinum supply deficit of -224 000 oz, said WPIC , which put the numbed response to the platinum price down to a platinum futures market hiatus,... Читать дальше...