Новости за 09.12.2020

One of the unions in contract negotiations with Antofagasta Minerals at its Centinela mine has reached an agreement with the Chilean miner, while another was still in talks, union leaders said on Wednesday. The Minera Esperanza union entered government-mediated negotiations in late November in a last-ditch effort to reach a deal after rejecting previous offers from the company, raising the prospect of a strike. The deal staves off that threat. Leonardo Carvajal, president of the union, told Reuters... Читать дальше...

While two major market risks – the US election and the Covid-19 pandemic – appear to have subsided, it still drove risky assets like stocks to all-time highs in some countries, and the MSCI World Stock index had its best monthly performance in November, highlighting the global impact of both developments. As these two risks subsided, investors reduced hedges, and this was reflected in the gold exchange-traded fund (ETF) outflows, higher bond yields, and stock market put/call ratios at extremely bullish levels... Читать дальше...

Precious metals miner Sibanye-Stillwater has undertaken a digital first approach for the organisation, with considerable value to be unlocked from a capital as well as an environment, social and governance (ESG) perspective, CEO Neal Froneman said, delivering the keynote address at the University of the Witwatersrand's (Wits') Digital Mining Laboratory (DigiMine) seminar on December 8. He said the business has made considerable strategic and organisational changes in support of its digital first approach.

The higher education landscape is evolving, a process that has been sped up as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment dean Professor Ian Jandrell said on December 9. Speaking on the second day of the Wits Mining Institute’s Innovation seminar, he pointed out that undergraduate programmes at all universities were transforming.

Australia's Fortescue Metals Group expects iron-ore demand to be strong next year thanks to a solid Chinese steel market and post-pandemic recoveries in other countries, a senior company executive said on Wednesday. Iron ore prices soared this month towards $150 a tonne due to ongoing supply issues in Brazil where miner Vale trimmed its 2020 output forecast last week, pushing up prices which have already gained more than 80% this year. "We continue to expect strong market dynamics," Fortescue's Danny Goeman... Читать дальше...

More action is needed over the next decade if net-zero carbon targets are to be feasible, the World Gold Council’s (WGC’s) latest report, titled ‘Gold and Climate Change: The Energy Transition’, highlights. The report, released on December 9, builds on the council’s initial work of the last two years, and evaluates the impacts of reducing the gold mining sector’s power emissions by 2030 to assess what would be required to be consistent with the Paris-aligned target of “well below” 2 ºC.

Toronto-listed Orea Mining’s share price gained 4.5% on Wednesday, after the company said it had received a positive opinion by a reporting judge announcing that the French government's deemed nonrenewal of the Montagne d'Or mining concession is not valid. A final ruling is expected by the Administrative Court of Cayenne, French Guiana, on December 24. "Although the announcement is preliminary, court decisions generally tend to follow the opinion of the reporting judge" said Orea CEO Rock Lefrancois.

New analysis by advisory firm Wood Mackenzie (WoodMac) has reveale that only a few of Australia’s backfill liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects would go ahead under a 2-degree scenario. The report shows that over three quarters or 77% of new global LNG supply are at risk under a 2-degree scenario.

Gold declined from near the highest in two weeks as investors weighed vaccine rollouts amid surging coronavirus infections in some parts of the world against fresh hopes for a stimulus deal in the US. US regulators gave early indications they may grant emergency-use authorisation to Pfizer’s vaccine, calling the shot highly effective with no safety issues. Britain became the first country to start administering the vaccine, kicking off the western world’s Covid immunisation campaign.

The James Bay Native Development Corporation/Cree Development Corporation, the James Bay Development Corporation, the Société du Plan Nord and the Town of Matagami on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding to deliver strategic infrastructure aimed at ensuring the vitality of Matagami and the entire region, in an environmentally responsible manner. This partnership, which is part of the philosophy of the Grand Alliance concluded between the Cree Nation and the Gouvernement du Québec in February 2019... Читать дальше...

Aim-listed Kropz has made its third quarterly drawdown request under the equity facility with the company’s major shareholder, the ARC Fund. The equity facility is for $40-million, and the third drawdown is for $5-million, which will be paid through the issue of over 63.7-million new ordinary shares.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has granted the Florence copper project and aquifer protection permit (APP), marking a key milestone in the advancement of Taseko’s next operating asset. “With construction anticipated to commence in 2021, the timing could not be better with copper being highlighted as the metal of the future as the world aggressively transitions to a green economy,” commented CEO Russell Hallbauer on Wednesday. When in production, Florence would produce 85-million... Читать дальше...

Less than one year after reaching commercial production, Lundin Gold is embarking on an expansion of the mine and mill at Fruta del Norte operation, in Ecuador. At an estimated capital cost of $18.6-million, Fruta del Norte’s throughput rate would increase to 4 200 t/d, the Toronto-listed miner said on Tuesday. Construction would start in the first quarter of 2021, followed by the mine ramping production to 4 200 t/d in the third quarter and the mill in the fourth quarter of 2021. “With this... Читать дальше...

An updated prefeasibility study (PFS) into the West Musgrave base metals project, in Western Australia, has increased the project’s net present value by some 25%, to around A$1-billion. ASX-listed Oz Minerals on Wednesday told shareholders that the updated PFS had incorporated an increase in the processing plant throughput rate from the 10-million tonnes a year considered in the February PFS, to 12-million tonnes a year.

TSX- and NYSE-listed Platinum Group Metas (PTM) has closed a non-brokered private placement of common shares with Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI), through its subsidiary Deepkloof Limited, resulting in gross proceeds of just under $2.5-million. The private placement allows HCI to maintain the greater than 31% interest in PTM it held prior to the at-the-market offering completed by the company on December 1.

Top gold producer Newmont on Tuesday said it would spend $500-million over five years to meet climate change targets as the miner accelerates efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at its operations. Investors are putting pressure on gold miners, whose high greenhouse gas emissions have been less scrutinised, to report transparently and take concrete steps to curb them after a rally in prices this year drew closer attention to the sector's footprint. Newmont last month committed to a 30% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030... Читать дальше...

Coal miner Coronado Global Resources has tapped mining services provider NRW Holding’s subsidiary Golding Contractors to increase mining plant at the Curragh mine, in Queensland. NRW on Wednesday said that it would introduce a fifth and sixth fleet at Curragh, in addition to its current mining operations, with the additional fleet to include hitachi EX5600 and EX3600 excavators, with 13 Hitachi EH400 trucks along with ancillary plant.