Новости за 17.02.2022

TSX-V-listed Giyani Metals Corporation has announced an updated mineral resource estimate for the K.Hill manganese project, in Botswana, which states a 31% increase in indicated resources and a 121% increase in inferred resources for the project. The new estimates incorporates a southerly extension of the K.Hill deposit, called K.Hill Extension, which underwent reverse circulation drilling in 2021.

Dual-listed gold producer Gold Fields has reported a 22% year-on-year increase in its headline earnings to $890-millon or $1 a share for the year ended December 31.  Normalised earnings for the year were 6% higher at $929-million, and the miner reported a profit of $789-million, or $0.89 a share, a year-on-year increase of about 9%, despite “the high inflationary and Covid-impacted environment”, Gold Fields CEO Chris Griffith noted in a conference call on February 17.

Specialty metals refiner Umicore is enjoying record profits as battery materials boom, but the company is racing to avert a slowdown in sales as its cobalt-heavy chemicals fall out of favor with carmakers. The Brussels-listed company, which has been refining cobalt for more than 100 years, says the burgeoning electric-vehicle industry is switching to high-nickel batteries far faster than expected. Now Umicore is racing to do the same.

It's the largest and most valuable blue diamond to ever come to auction. And, it's a recent discovery. The more than 15 ct De Beers Cullinan Blue diamond was mined in 2021 at South Africa's Cullinan Mine, one of the few sources in the world for extremely rare blue diamonds. It will be offered in a single-lot auction at Sotheby's Hong Kong this April and is estimated to be valued in excess of $48-million.

ASX-listed Bowen Coking Coal will raise A$41.5-million in a placement to sophisticated and professional investors to acquire a 90% interest in the Burton mine and Lenton project, and to partly fund the restart costs at Burton. Bowen Coking Coal at the end of December last year announced a binding sale and purchase agreement with fellow-listed coal miner New Hope Corporation to acquire New Lenton Coal, following a binding term sheet in August.

Energy producer and distributor Origin Energy on Thursday flagged the early retirement of its Eraring power station from 2032 to 2025, in New South Wales, saying coal-fired generation was no longer sustainable. The company has submitted a notice to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) indicating the potential early retirement of Eraring power station at the end of the required three and half year notice period.

The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (Appea) has called on the Queensland government to use a new resources sector plan to boost investment in cleaner energy to reduce carbon emissions. In its submission for the Queensland Resources Industry Development Plan, Appea has called for the expansion of carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) initiatives, with the industry body saying the proposal should be more proactive and should support, facilitate and incentivise CCUS.

ASX-listed IGO will partner with Andrew Forrest’s Wyloo Metals to evaluate opportunities for downstream nickel processing in Australia, as Wyloo commits to support IGO’s bid for fellow-listed Western Areas. The agreement will see IGO and Wyloo Metals conduct a study, funded 70:30 by IGO and Wyloo respectively, to evaluate the technical, commercial and economic feasibility of developing a downstream nickel processing facility based in Australia.

ASX-listed Develop will raise A$50-million to fund the A$100-million acquisition of the Woodlawn copper project, in New South Wales. Develop has struck a multi-million dollar deal to acquire the Woodlawn underground mien and processing plant, which was developed by embattled Heron Resources, which entered into voluntary administration in July of last year.

Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals will further ramp up copper and gold processing capacity and output in Panama, the company said on Wednesday, following a deal on royalties struck with the government in January. First Quantum's Cobre Panama project has a current throughput of 85-million tonnes a year and is on track to reach up to 90-million tonnes this year and 100-tonnes a year by the end of 2023, the company said on a post-earnings call.

Chilean state-owned mining firm Codelco said on Wednesday it will start lithium exploration in the Salar de Maricunga next month, which could present a high-grade reserve of the ultra-light metal that is key for making electric car batteries. Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, received an environmental permit to develop the salt flat in November 2020, a move which would help it break into the growing lithium sector after repeated delays as it kept its focus on copper.

Albemarle, one of the world's largest lithium producers, forecast on Wednesday its annual earnings below market estimate even as lithium prices were at record highs, leaving investors unimpressed and sending shares down 11%. Global efforts to tackle climate change have led to a surge in demand for lithium used in electric vehicle batteries that has far outpaced supply, driving up prices of the metal.

Diversified miner South32 has reported a 1 847% increase in profits after tax for the half-year ended December, along with record operating margins. Profits after tax for the first half of 2022 reached $1.03-billion, up from the $53-million reported in the first half of 2021, with underlying revenue increasing by 32% in the same period from $3.4-billion to $4.6-billion, while underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortasaition (Ebitda) increased by 138%, from $786-million to... Читать дальше...