Новости за 20.07.2022

Canadian diversified miner Teck Resources and Glencore-backed PolyMet Mining on Thursday announced a joint venture (JV) that would place their respective Minnesota projects, which contain high-in-demand copper, nickel, cobalt and platinum-group metals, under single management. The 50:50 JV would own the NorthMet project and the Mesaba resource. It would be named NewRange Copper Nickel, paying homage to the location of the resource and the rich mining heritage of the region.

China has been speeding up approvals for new coal-fired power plants amid increasing risks of electricity shortages, according to research from Greenpeace. Adding generation capacity for its mainstay fuel has been a tried-and-true strategy for China during its rapid economic rise over the past three decades. The pace of new approvals quickened in late 2021 and early this year after power shortages crippled the economy in the fall.

This week: Madison betting big on uranium price, demand resurgence; Basing analysis solely on data can result in treasure being mistaken for trash; and, Leakproof oxyfuel system launched at compressed gas safety conference

South Africa achieved a record six months without a mining fatality caused by a fall-of-ground (Fog) incidents in its gold and platinum mines, industry body the Minerals Council South Africa reports. Building on the record performance in the first three months of the year, when one person was killed in a Fog incident in the coal sector, the leadership initiatives and the implementation of strategies, leading practices and the Minerals Council-led Fog Action Plan to mitigate incidents have resulted... Читать дальше...

Aim-listed Kropz’s Mark Summers has decided to stand down as CEO and executive director of the company at the end of the year and the board has started a process to recruit a new CEO. Summers will continue to work with the Kropz team and his successor, once appointed, to ensure an orderly handover and that the day-to-day activities of the business continues.

TSX- and NYSE-listed Franco-Nevada is supporting G Mining Ventures with a construction financing package of $342.5-million for the Tocantinzinho gold project, in Brazil. Franco-Nevada has acquired a gold stream with reference to production from the project for $250-million. Through one of its subsidiaries, Franco-Nevada has agreed to provide G Mining with a $75-million secured term loan and to subscribe for $27.5-million of shares.

Dual-listed Botswana Diamonds (BOD) has acquired an additional stake in the prospective Maibwe joint venture (JV) in Botswana. Siseko Minerals has increased its stake in the JV from 29% to 50%. BOD holds a 51.7% stake in Siseko.

Copper miner Antofagasta on Wednesday lowered its full-year guidance to between 640 000 t and 660 000 t, citing the pipeline incident at Los Pelambres and the continued uncertainty about water availability. Copper production in the first six months of the year dropped by 25.7% year-on-year to 268 600 t, the London-listed company reported.

Nickel miner Panoramic Resources has set a production target for 2023 at its Savannah project, in Western Australia, after achieving commercial production. The company said on Wednesday that the achievement of commercial production from April 1 was an important milestone for the project following the first production of concentrate in October 2021. The ramp-up of underground mining will continue throughout the 2023 financial year as development of additional levels opens up new areas for production, from Savannah North.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has reached a settlement with mining major Rio Tinto resolving a disagreement relating to interest on an isolated borrowing used to pay an intragroup dividend in 2015. The agreement also separately resolves the pricing of certain transactions between Rio Tinto entities based in Australia and the group’s commercial centre in Singapore from 2010-2021 and provides certainty for a further five-year period.

Brazilian miner Vale on Tuesday cut its 2022 iron-ore production forecast due to the sale of its Center-West system assets, supply chain restrictions in its Northern system and the impact of lower market prices. Vale, one of the world's largest miners, now expects iron ore output for the year to be between 310-million tonnes and 320-million tonnes, down from a previous estimate of 320-million tonnes to 335-million tonnes.

Fernando Porcile, who was responsible for developing several mining projects and operating various world-class operations, has passed away, Canadian miner Los Andes Copper reports. “Fernando has been an influential and larger-than-life presence in the mining industry for over 50 years, Los Andes said of its past executive chairperson.

Diversified miner BHP has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian steel maker Tata Steel to jointly study and explore lower carbon iron and steelmaking technology. Under the partnership, BHP and Tata intend to collaborate on ways to reduce the emission intensity of the blast furnace steel route through two priority areas; the use of biomass as a source of energy, and the application of carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) in steel production.

Resource extraction has been identified as one of the key pressures behind the decline in Australia’s environment according to the latest State of the Environment report. The report pointed out that over the past five years, investment in mineral exploration doubled from A$344.7-million in June 2016 to A$878.3-million in June 2021, and that beyond the direct footprint of mines, impacts of mineral extraction included waste discharge and pollution, chemical emissions and acids, sediment transport, and rehabilitation. Читать дальше...

Geoscience Australia’s updated Australia’s Energy Commodity Resources (AECR) assessment for 2022, has reaffirmed Australia’s position as a leading global energy producer and supplier going into the current world energy crisis, and highlights the impact the pandemic had on global production and demand for energy commodities. The assessment included detailed analysis of Australia’s non-renewable energy resources comprising uranium, coal, oil and gas commodities in 2020 and 2021.