Новости за 27.09.2022

Zambia has agreed with Vedanta Resources Limited to pause hearings on their dispute over Konkola Copper Mines for six months and seek an "amicable settlement", State mining investment firm ZCCM-IH said on Tuesday. Zambia in May 2019 handed control of KCM to a State-appointed provisional liquidator, triggering a protracted legal battle with owner Vedanta. Zambia's mines minister said in July that he had told ZCCM-IH to seek an out-of-court settlement.

Opening the annual University of the Witwatersrand Mining Institute (WMI) seminar on September 27, the Engineering and the Built Environment faculty Dean Professor Thokozani Majozi said diversity and transformation, as well as full digital migration, was a necessity for sustainability and growth. He mentioned that the same tools that have kept the faculty running for 100 years may not be the same tools that are needed going forward.

Finland's government plans to introduce a new tax on minerals extracted by the mining industry, the Nordic country's finance ministry said on Tuesday. Some of the European Union's greatest known reserves of minerals used for batteries and other products are located in Finland where there are around 40 operational mines producing nickel, zinc, lithium, cobalt and gold among others.

Aim-listed Petra Diamonds has announced early tender results and the amendment of offer terms for its subsidiary’s invitation to buy senior secured second lien notes due 2026. On September 13, Petra’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Petra Diamonds US Treasury (PDUST) announced its invitation to offer to holders to submit tenders to sell to the offeror for cash the $336.7-million in aggregate notional principal amount of the senior secured second lien notes due 2026.

Diversified miner Rio Tinto has approved a $55-million investment to start underground mining at the Kennecott copper operations, in Utah. The miner said on Tuesday that underground mining will initially focus on an area known as the Lower Commercial Skarn (LCS), which will deliver a total of around 30 000 t of additional high quality mined copper through to 2027 alongside open cut operations.

The restart of the Pumpkin Hollow underground copper mine, in Nevada, is making progress, with plans in place to restart the mill by the middle of next year, Toronto-listed Nevada Copper CEO Randy Buffington said on Monday. The company, which recently agreed a nonbinding funding package that will provide it with $93-million of liquidity, has spent the past few weeks focusing on ensuring that it is prepared for the restart of underground operations.

Triple listed MC Mining has launched a 1.012-for-1 fully underwritten pro-rata renounceable rights issue to raise funds for its Makhado hard coking coal project, in South Africa. The ASX, Aim, and JSE-listed company is hoping to raise some A$40-million under the rights issue, which will be priced at 20c a share for eligible shareholders in Australia and New Zealand, and at R2.36 a share for those in South Africa.

Iron-ore major Fortescue Metals’ green energy arm, Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) will invest some $80-million in a partnership with the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to create green jobs in America and advance green hydrogen production and technologies. This relationship will catalyse hundreds of millions of dollars of value and investment in the North American energy transition and economy.

Colombia's government agreed on Monday to modify a tax reform proposal under debate in congress and continue to allow oil and mining companies to deduct royalty payments from their taxes in the wake of a wave of industry criticism. The government has agreed to back continued royalty deductions in exchange for raising income taxes on extractive industries by 5% and increasing an export tax to 20% for oil and coal sold above certain threshold prices, Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo told journalists.