Новости за 01.12.2020

The Trump administration is tapping an Energy Department clean-energy loan program it tried to kill to help uranium producers, as well as miners of other minerals deemed critical by the administration. The Energy Department announced Tuesday that it will issue guidance giving preference to projects involving critical minerals within an existing loan program housed within the agency that provides both direct loans as well as loan guarantees. Other minerals that have been deemed “critical to US national... Читать дальше...

Canada's Teck Resources looks to boost shipments of steelmaking coal to China next year, CEO Don Lindsay said on Tuesday, hoping to take advantage of unofficial curbs on Australian imports that have stranded dozens of shipments. China has unofficially banned Australian coal imports since October amid souring relations between the two countries, and in turn, increased imports from Mongolia and Russia. With somewhere between 75 and 80 cargoes of Australian coal waiting to discharge at Chinese ports... Читать дальше...

An independent firm of experts is set to review the cost overruns and delays experienced at the Oyu Tolgoi underground project, in Mongolia, Rio Tinto-controlled Turquoise Hill announced on Tuesday. The board of Oyu Tolgoi, 66% owned by Turquoise Hill and 34% by State-owned Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi (EOT), has agreed to form a special committee, comprising members nominated by both parties, to review the cost blowout announced last year. Oyu Tolgoi is set to cost between $1.3-billion and $1.8-billion... Читать дальше...

Kamoa Holding, the joint venture (JV) company holding the Kamoa-Kakula copper project, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has secured an equipment financing facility of up to €176-million (about $211-million), along with a $9-million down-payment facility. The two facilities will be used to buy underground mobile mining equipment and services from Swedish manufacturers Sandvik and Epiroc and Finnish manufacturer Normet Oy.

TSX- and ASX-listed Copper Mountain Mining has announced a new life-of-mine (LoM) plan, which includes a proposed mill expansion to 65 000 t/d, for its 75%-owned namesake mine in southern British Columbia. The new LoM plan increases Copper Mountain’s aftertax net present value by more than 60% on higher yearly production and lower costs, compared with the 2019 technical report. The proposed expansion, which builds on the 45 000 t/d expansion currently under way, moves Copper Mountain to about a $1-billion asset value, says CEO Gil Clausen.

ASX-listed Sandfire Resources has taken the decision to proceed with the $259-million development of the T3 Motheo copper/silver project, in Botswana, following the completion of a positive definitive feasibility study (DFS) on a base case 3.2-million-tonne-a-year operation, with "clear visibility" to expand rapidly to a 5.2-million-tonne-a-year operation. It has appointed Lycopodium to provide engineering and procurement services for the development.

With the onset of the global Covid-19 pandemic, Diamcor Mining remained focused on reducing costs, operational planning for the resumption of operations and continued strengthening of the core operational management team during the six months to September 30. Despite the effects of the pandemic, the company tendered and sold 2 426.63 ct of rough diamonds, which were held in inventory as of March 31, and generated revenue of $339 280, resulting in average of $109.32/ct in the second quarter.

A new investment in hydrogen, made by the sustainability-focused AP Ventures, bodes well for South Africa. AP Ventures, an independent venture capital fund that invests in early-stage companies that use platinum group metals (PGMs), has invested €5-million equity in HPNow, which has introduced a new environmentally-protective way of producing hydrogen peroxide, a chemical used in wastewater treatment and purification, paper bleaching, chemical production, electronics, detergents, cosmetics and biocide.

Russia's Norilsk Nickel will sell slightly less nickel and palladium than it produces in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic reduced industrial demand, the world's leading producer of the two metals told Reuters. Demand has risen in some sectors since a slump caused by the first wave of the pandemic early this year, but is unlikely to reach its pre-crisis level until 2022, Nornickel said. "Some sectors have started to breathe, such as the carmaking industry, some are not feeling very good as of yet - such as the air travel sector," Anton Berlin... Читать дальше...

The South African junior mining, and particularly prospecting, sector will continue its rapid degradation if the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) continues to refuse to publicly release information pertaining to national mining and prospecting rights, says mining supply sales consultancy AmaranthCX director Paul Miller. He tells Mining Weekly that South Africa is already one of the poorest performing countries in terms of attracting investment into its minerals and mining sector... Читать дальше...

The Queensland resources sector has committed to working with the state government to support economic recovery post the Covid-19 pandemic, as the government released its 2020-21 Budget. Treasurer and Minister for Investment Cameron Dick on Tuesday revealed Queensland would be the only state, other than Western Australia, to record positive economic growth this financial year.

Diamond miner De Beers on November 30 launched its 12 Building Forever goals, which focus on ethical practices across the diamond industry, partnering to boost communities, putting in place structures to protect the natural world and accelerating equal opportunity. The 12 “ambitious” sustainability goals for the decade to 2030 include achieving gender parity throughout De Beers’ workforce, supporting 10 000 women entrepreneurs in its diamond producing partner countries and being carbon neutral within its own operations by 2030... Читать дальше...

Rio Tinto said on Tuesday that it would not offer any comment in response to a threat of legal action from the largest minority shareholder in its Mongolian copper project Oyu Tolgoi. Rio Tinto operates what is slated to become the world's third-largest copper mine which is jointly owned by the Mongolian government and Canada's Turquoise Hill Resources, in which Rio owns a 50.8% stake. Activist investor Pentwater Capital Management holds a 9.23% stake in Turquoise Hill and is its largest minority investor.

TSX-listed Ivanhoe Mines says its South African subsidiary Ivanplats has shared positive findings in its independent Platreef ‘Integrated Development Plan (IDP) 2020’. The plan encompasses an updated feasibility study and preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the tier-one platinum, palladium, rhodium, nickel, copper and gold project, in South Africa’s Bushveld Igneous Complex. The feasibility study builds on a prior one published in July 2017, but is based on an unchanged mineral reserve and... Читать дальше...

Canadian miner First Quantum has declared a reserve estimate for its Taca Taca copper/molybdenum/gold project, in Salta, Argentina. The proven and probable mineral reserve has been estimated at 1.75-billion tonnes of ore, grading 0.44% copper for 7.7-million tonnes of contained copper, 213 500 t of molybdenum and 5.08-million ounces of gold. The updated measured and indicated mineral resources is 2.20-billion tonnes of ore, grading 0.43% copper for 9.45-million tonnes of contained copper, 264 500... Читать дальше...

Base metals producer Lundin Mining is forecasting a big jump in copper production next year, driven by higher grades at the Candelaria mine and full-year uninterrupted contributions from Candelaria and Chapada. The Toronto-listed miner said that its copper production should increase by 25% in 2021, compared with its 2020 guidance. Total copper production is forecast to be between 275 000 t to 299 000 t in 2021. A more than month-long strike at Candelaria, in Chile, ended on Friday, prompting the company to reintroduce its guidance for 2020. Читать дальше...

China's Tianqi Lithium said on Monday it had signed a letter with a syndicate of banks to extend by a month the maturity date on $1.884-billion of loans that were due for repayment at the end of November. Tianqi, one of the world's top producers of lithium chemicals used in electric-vehicle batteries, had repeatedly said its operations could be severely impacted if it did not repay the money, which was used to acquire a 23.8% stake in Chilean miner SQM in 2018, by the due date. The last-minute reprieve gives the company and its lenders... Читать дальше...

A union at Antofagasta Minerals' Centinela copper mine in Chile rejected a contract offer from the company on Monday, paving the way for a strike at the small deposit, its president told Reuters. Under Chilean law, once a union approves a strike, the parties then attend five days of government-mediated talks, which can be extended for an additional five days. After that, workers may initiate a strike.

Coal production in Colombia, the world's fifth-largest exporter of the fuel, fell 47.2% in the third quarter amid a national coronavirus lockdown and an ongoing strike at a major mine, according to Reuters calculations using government figures released on Monday. The South American country produced 11 million tonnes of coal between July and September, down from 20.8 million tonnes in the year-ago period, the mines and energy ministry and national mining agency said in a joint statement. The output... Читать дальше...

Copper/gold developer Hot Chili has raised A$25.6-million in an institutional placement to fund payment of the Corteda copper/gold discovery and to accelerate drilling work. The company on Tuesday said that it has arranged for the placement of 609.8-million shares, at an issue price of 4.2c each to sophisticated and professional investors.

Diamond miner Lucapa has generated a further A$9-million in revenue from the sale of diamonds from its Lulo mine, in Angola. The ASX-listed company on Tuesday revealed that 4 269 ct of Lulo diamonds have been sold at average prices of A$2 100/ct, with sales in the year-to-date reaching A$40.1-million from the sale of 20 397 ct at average sales prices of A$1 967/ct.

Diversified miner BHP has tapped energy major Shell to supply first liquefied natural gas (LNG) for five LNG-fuelled Newcastlemax bulk carriers, which will transport iron-ore between Western Australia and China from 2022. “The LNG bunkering contract marks a significant step in how BHP is working with our suppliers to reduce emissions across the maritime supply chain,” said BHP chief commercial officer Vandita Pant. “LNG-fuelled vessels are forecast to help BHP reduce CO2-e emissions by 30% on a... Читать дальше...