Новости за 02.03.2022

Precious and battery metals miner Sibanye-Stillwater has declared a maiden lithium mineral resource of 78 500 t of lithium oxide and a maiden zinc mineral reserve of 1.02-billion pounds. The lithium and zinc resources were acquired as part of Sibanye's entry into the green metals sector, with the lithium resource the result of the company's interest in Finnish mining and chemical company Keliber and its interest the Rhyolite Ridge project, in the US, in a joint venture with ASX-listed Ioneer.

TSX-V-listed Diamcor Mining plans plans to accelerate certain portions of the planned Phase 2 expansion projects at its Krone-Endora at Venetia project, in Limpopo, South Africa. “Given the current strength of rough diamonds prices and the potential for additional shortages moving forward, we have elected to accelerate the completion of certain portions of our second phase of upgrades earlier than planned.

The energy transition is highlighting mining as an indispensable industry, said Responsible Mining Foundation (RMI) CEO Hélène Piaget in opening a webinar on RMI Report 2022, which reports a slowdown in economic, environmental, social and governance (ESG). “Yet there is a constant tension between society’s need for the products of mining and the harmful impacts that mining can and does cause. So society finds itself in a constant conflict of conscience when it comes to the mining industry,” said Piaget.

Aim-listed AfriTin Mining has identified lithium-bearing spodumene within multiple pegmatites on a mining licence located 11 km southwest of its Uis tin mine, in Namibia. Notably, the discovery lies within the operational limits of the Uis processing facility and marks the first result of an early-stage regional exploration programme.

Aluminium prices bolted to a fresh record peak on Wednesday as investors worried that logistics difficulties would block metals supplies due to tough sanctions on major producer Russia. Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange surged to a record of $3 552/t before paring gains to trade at $3 532 by 11:00 GMT, up 1.6%. Aluminium has soared by 37% over the past two-and-a-half months, initially on weaker output due to power issues, and recently has hit successive record highs after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Canadian company Aura Minerals said on Tuesday that it did not expect Honduras’ announcement that it would prohibit openpit mining to have an immediate impact on production at its San Andres gold mine. The company stated, however, that it was working to better understand the implications of the Honduran Ministry of Energy, Natural Resources, Environment and Mines’s press release, which not only declared Honduran territory free of openpit mining, but also stated that the approval of permits for exploitation will be cancelled... Читать дальше...

In response to JSE- and NYSE-listed precious metals miner Sibanye-Stillwater backing out of its acquisition of the Santa Rita nickel and Serrote copper mines, in Brazil, the seller Appian Capital has served Sibanye with a notice of claim for what it says is the unlawful failure to close the acquisition. The acquisition would have involved Sibanye acquiring Atlantic Nickel and Mineracao Vale Verder, the operating companies of the mines, for $1-billion and a 5% net smelter royalty to Appian over future production.

Nickel and cobalt miner and refiner Sherritt International has appointed Maryse Belanger in the newly created role of deputy chairperson, where she will work with chairperson Richard Lapthorne on strategic and governance matters, the company stated on Tuesday. In addition, the Toronto-listed company appointed Chih-Ting Lo, an expert in decarbonisation and sustainability in the  mining industry, to its board.

Uranium junior Vimy Resources is considering a range of options to bring its Mulga Rock project, in Western Australia, into production. The company, which launched a strategic review process in November of last year, to assess opportunities to rapidly build organisational capacity and de-risk the execution of the Mulga Rock uranium project, said on Wednesday that it had engaged with several interested parties on a range of different potential, value-accretive transactions and will update shareholders... Читать дальше...

This week: Platinum group metals may also play role in batteries; Kumba CEO gives firm thumbs up to continued exploration in prospective Northern Cape; and, De Beers Group posts stunning financial results

Chinese power plants and steelmakers are looking for alternatives to Russian coal after some domestic banks suggested they avoid purchases due to the mounting sanctions being imposed on Moscow. Some state-own firms were sent private client notes by the lenders advising them to halt buying Russian coal as tightening global restrictions could cause “unexpected damage” to China’s importers, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named as the issues are commercially sensitive.

The US nuclear power industry is lobbying the White House to allow uranium imports from Russia to continue despite the escalating conflict in Ukraine, with cheap supplies of the fuel seen as key to keeping American electricity prices low, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The United States relies on Russia and its allies Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for roughly half of the uranium powering its nuclear plants - about 22.8-million pounds (10.3 million kg) in 2020 - which in turn produce about 20% of US electricity... Читать дальше...