Новости за 03.02.2022

JSE-listed diversified miner Exxaro Resources has appointed Dr Pumla Mnganga, Karin Ireton, Billy Mawasha, and Ben Magara to the board as independent nonexecutive directors, effective February 7. Mnganga is the founder and MD of Lehumo Women’s Investment Holdings and previously served as transformation executive at Tongaat Hulett. She is currently also an independent nonexecutive director on the boards of Altron, Adcorp Holdings, Spar Group and Novus Holdings.

Brazilian miner Samarco is expected to add $5.1-billion in net revenue by 2042 and bring forward its iron ore output goal after signing a 20-year production agreement with Vale SA, it said on Thursday. Samarco, an iron ore joint venture of Vale and BHP Group, is looking to hit its output guidance sooner than expected as it now plans to resume production at its C#2 and C#1 ventures in 2026 and 2029, respectively, from previous expectations for 2028 and 2030.

Poland breached European Union law when extending the life of its Turow lignite mine without assessing the environmental impact, an adviser to Europe's top court said on Thursday, siding with a challenge brought by the Czech government. The adviser's opinion came as leaders of the two EU neighbours were set to meet amid reports they could sign a deal to resolve the long-running dispute over Poland's extension of mining at Turow, which produces lignite, or brown coal.

The Leigh Creek urea project, in South Australia, has become the world’s first large scale fertiliser project to achieve a carbon neutral status. ASX-listed Leigh Creek Energy on Thursday told shareholders that from the first year of operations, the emissions generated at Leigh Creek will be offset from accredited international farming project.

Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is ratcheting up nationalistic rhetoric around the country’s untapped lithium deposits, signaling private capital isn’t welcome in the industry. Unlike other metals such as gold and silver, lithium is a strategic mineral like oil that belongs to the nation, AMLO, as the populist president is known, told reporters in Mexico City on Wednesday, announcing plans to create a state lithium company.

Australian copper producer Austral Resources has signed a binding offtake and prepayment facility with mining major Glencore. Under the offtake agreement, Glencore had offtake rights for up to 40 000 t of copper cathode production from the Anthill mine, starting in the second half of 2022. In addition, Glencore would also provide Austral with a A$21-million prepayment facility, which would allow the ASX-listed company to immediately expedite exploration and development activities through 2022.

Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal is considering a potential merger of his commodity empire’s indebted holding company with cash-rich listed unit Vedanta, people familiar with the matter said. The tycoon has held preliminary discussions with prospective advisers about the idea of combining his closely-held Vedanta Resources with Mumbai-traded Vedanta, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.

Southern Copper, one of the biggest copper companies by mineral reserves, expects to challenge for top producer status by the end of the decade even as output stumbles this year. The Peru-focused company reported a 4.3% drop in copper production last year and expects the decline to continue this year, guiding for 922 000 metric tons of the metal in 2022. Behind the temporary pullback is a mining plan that sees the company encountering sections of lower ore quality and recoveries.

Coal developer Atrum Coal is continuing its information drive for its Elan coal project, in Alberta. The company was last year forced to pause a prefeasibility study for the Elan project after the government of Alberta took a decision to reinstate the previously rescinded Coal Development Policy for Alberta.

Talent recruitment and retention, and working towards a low carbon future has been flagged as some of the top trends Australian miners will face in 2022. Advisory firm Deloitte this week released its 14th annual Tracking the Trends report, which explores the key trends facing mining companies as innovation accelerates driven by the need to meet decarbonisation, environmental, societal, and governance (ESG) goals.