Новости за 12.04.2022

Glencore shareholders have been urged to vote down the commodity trader’s climate progress report at an investor meeting later this month by an influential proxy advisory firm. Glass Lewis & Co. said that the lack of board oversight for the company’s climate program and insufficient clarity on how Glencore may interpret support for its strategy-setting process meant investors should vote against the motion, the shareholder adviser said in a report seen by Bloomberg News.

Aim-listed nickel and uranium explorer and developer URU Metals reports that its subsidiary, TSX-V-listed battery metals-focussed explorer and developer ZEB Nickel, made a new gold zone discovery, with gold mineralisation being intersected in two of the eight holes of a recently completed Phase 2 drilling programme at the Limpopo-based Zeb project in South Africa. The gold zone discovery is located in lithologies adjacent to and beneath the nickel and platinum group element (PGE) mineralised zones.

Gold and copper producer Newmont on Tuesday announced that it would buy the remaining 5% of the Yanacocha mine from Sumitomo for $48-million, making the miner the exclusive owner-operator of the asset. This follows on the February announcement in which Newmont acquired Buenaventura’s 43.65% interest in Yanacocha for $300-million.

Diversified mining and marketing company Glencore and General Motors (GM) on Tuesday announced a multi-year sourcing agreement in which Glencore will supply GM with cobalt from its Murrin Murrin operation in Australia. The agreement represents initial strategic collaboration between the two companies on cobalt, which provides electric vehicle (EV) batteries with energy density and longevity.

India is likely to face more power cuts this year as utilities' coal inventories are at the lowest pre-summer levels in at least nine years and electricity demand is expected to rise at the fastest pace in at least 38 years, officials and analysts say. Power cuts could stifle industrial activity in Asia's third largest economy, just when economic activity was starting to recover after months of Covid-related lockdowns. The shortage of electricity as a percentage of demand has shot up to 1.4% over the last week... Читать дальше...

Aim-, TSX-V- and OTCQX-listed Altus Strategies has been issued a ten-year mining licence for its 100%-owned Agdz copper/silver project by the Ministry of Energy, Transition and Sustainable Development of Morocco. The company’s Moroccan portfolio is held by its 100%-owned subsidiary Aterian Resources.

Lithium is showing signs of losing momentum -- at least in China -- after a powerful rally that carried prices to what Elon Musk called “insane levels”. Chinese lithium carbonate, which has gained almost 500% in the past year, slipped slightly on Monday after steadying in the past week, according to Asian Metal. The nation’s worsening coronavirus outbreak has upended the electric-vehicle supply chain, and buyers’ resistance to high prices is clouding the demand outlook.

LSE- and JSE-listed platinum group metals (PGMs) and chrome producer Tharisa reported a decrease in production at its Tharisa mine in South Africa in the second quarter, ended March 31, compared with the first quarter of its current financial year, but said the rate was still at record levels. In a statement on April 12, Tharisa said the mine’s PGM production for the second quarter was 44 100 oz, down 7.5% from the 47 700 oz produced in the quarter ended December 31, 2021.

State-owned electricity utility Eskom has initiated a bidding process for the leasing of generation land in Mpumalanga to independent power producers (IPPs) and CEO André de Ruyter indicates that there is sufficient grid capacity available to support renewables projects with a combined capacity of about 1 000 MW. Speaking following the resumption of load-shedding on April 11, De Ruyter said the request for proposals (RFP) documentation had been issued on April 8, with a closing date for submissions of April 29.

Coal miner MC Mining has announced the appointment of multilateral institution veteran and former Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene to its board as a nonexecutive director. A number of board changes have been made following an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on April 11.

Western Australia is now the number-one address for mining investments, according to the latest Fraser Institute’s Survey of Mining Companies. Western Australia has moved up from fourth place and has dethroned the US state of Nevada, which last year topped the rankings. The results of the latest survey, announced on Tuesday, ranked Saskatchewan as the second-most attractive mining jurisdiction (up from third last year), and Nevada as the third-best destination, based on the Investment Attractiveness Index.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) imperatives play a prominent role in decision-making across the African mining sector, with intensified awareness from all stakeholders. It is for this reason that this year’s Investing in African Mining Indaba will explore what ESG means in practice for Africa’s mining operators, communities and jurisdictions.

London-listed Gem Diamonds has initiated a programme to buy back up to $2-million of the company’s ordinary shares. The company has entered into an agreement with Liberum Capital to carry out on-market purchases of its ordinary shares pursuant to the programme.

Copper miner Sandfire Resource’s US subsidiary is reviewing the legal implications of a court decision around the mine operating permit of its Black Butte project, in Montana. TSX-V listed Sandfire America this week reported that a District Court Judge had granted a motion for a summary judgement, stating that the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) had violated the Montana Metal Mines Reclamation Act (MMRA) and Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) in its analysis of the Black Butte operation... Читать дальше...

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the Western Australian Clean Energy Future Fund (CEFF) have provided aluminium major with $7.7-million of funding to conduct pilot trials on a new carbon reduction technology that supports Alcoa’s Refinery of the Future initiative. ARENA has provided Alcoa with A$8.6-million in funding while the CEFF has provided A$1.7-million in funding.