Новости за 19.10.2022

Canadian-headquartered Diamcor Mining has delivered about 5 593 ct of rough diamonds, recovered from the processing of quarry material at the company’s Krone-Endora at Venetia project, in South Africa, for its first tender and sale of the current quarter ending December 31. The total includes several individual gem-quality diamonds in the specials (+10.8 ct) category, with the largest being 43.55 ct in size.

Dual-listed URU Metals says Zeb Nickel will shortly start geotechnical drilling at the Zeb project, as part of dolomitic stability investigation for the proposed mining infrastructure area which forms part of Zeb’s mining right application to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE). URU successfully completed the disposal of the project to Zeb Nickel in August 2021 and the project remains the primary focus of URU through its 74.82% interest in Zeb Nickel.

Diamond company De Beers Group, following a number of internal promotions, has appointed Riaan Burger, Rasila (Ras) Vaghjiani, Malebogo Mpugwa and Ryan Perry to its executive committee (ExCo). Burger joins the ExCo as CEO of Namdeb, while Vaghjiani has been promoted to group executive VP of Transformation.

Potash development company Kore Potash’s local subsidiary company has received a letter dated October 12 from the Minister of Mines of Congo-Brazzaville, expressing his discontent with aspects of the administration of the company’s subsidiary companies in the country and the apparent lack of progress that Kore Potash and the Summit Consortium are making towards financing of the Kola project. Kore has a 97%-ownership of the Kola and Dougou (DX) potash projects in the Sintoukola Basin.

China’s two biggest coal-producing regions have been hit by virus flare-ups and lockdowns that are disrupting supplies and boosting prices for the country’s mainstay fuel as demand picks up heading into winter. In Datong, Shanxi province, a key rail route hauling coal eastwards saw volumes shrink as much as 30% because of crew shortages, the China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association reported. Some parts of Datong were locked down October 11, and dozens of rail workers on the line to... Читать дальше...

The global copper market is expected to see a deficit of about 325 000 t this year and a surplus of 155 000 t in 2023, the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) said on Wednesday. "Continued Covid-19 related restrictions and workforce absenteeism, operational and geotechnical issues, strikes, water restrictions in Chile, lower than expected head grades and community actions in Peru have constrained mine output at a number of operations this year," it said in a release.

Buyers of refined copper in China, the world's biggest consumer of the red metal, may raise their purchases of Russian supply next year to reduce the impact of an expected increase in premiums from other global miners. Premiums of physical copper sales to China in 2023 are expected to rise to between $150 to $210 per tonne over the benchmark London Metal Exchange CMCU3 price, according to forecasts from four market participants. That would be up from $105 this year and $88 in 2021.

ASX-listed uranium and polymetallic producer Aura Energy has completed air core drilling at the Tiris uranium project, in Mauritania, as its key objective this year in its efforts to deliver near-term Phase 1 uranium oxide production. The 10 000 m infill drilling programme is designed to upgrade Aura’s inferred resources of 26.3-million pounds at 100 parts per million of triuranium octoxide cut-off within Tiris East into measured or indicated status, and to identify further exploration targets within the tenure.

The publication of a business rescue plan for JSE-listed Chrometco’s subsidiary Black Chrome Mine has been further delayed to October 31, following consultations between creditors and the business rescue practitioner. Publication of the business rescue plan (BRP) had already been delayed once, to October 14.

Benchmark Singapore iron ore prices dipped on Wednesday, while Dalian futures contracts languished near six-week lows, after BHP Group reported higher quarterly output of the steelmaking ingredient, adding to supply-side pressures. BHP, the world's biggest listed miner, kept its full-year iron ore production guidance unchanged, while warning that global economic uncertainty was expected to continue affecting supply chains, energy costs, labour markets and equipment and materials availability.

Vancouver-based First Majestic produced a record 8.8-million silver-equivalent ounces in the third quarter ended September 30, mainly driven by higher grades at the San Dimas and Santa Elena mines, in Mexico.   This is a 14% quarter-on-quarter increase, CEO Keith Neumeyer reported on Tuesday. Santa Elena set an all-time quarterly record of 2.7-million silver-equivalent ounces, representing a 22% increase compared with the prior quarter.

Copper mining company Capstone said on Tuesday that a worker had been shot dead outside its Cozamin mine, in Mexico. The employee was shot on the main access road between the city of Zacetas and the mine.

TSX-V-listed copper explorer and developer Deep-South Resources is undertaking exploration work at its three newly-acquired large-scale copper exploration licences in the centre of the Zambian Copper Belt, one of the most prolific copper belts in the world. On July 6, Deep-South closed an option agreement to acquire up to an 80% undivided interest in the three licences, where it plans to undertake 3 627 geochemical soil samples with the aim to identify anomalies and define drilling targets.

Surface gold mining company DRDGold on Wednesday reported a 1% quarter-on-quarter increase in gold production to 1 453 kg, on a 1% increase in tonnage throughput. In an operational update for the three months to the end of September, the Johannesburg- and New York-listed company reported a 4 kg decrease in gold sold to 1 442 kg.

Illegal gold-mining is destroying tracts of pristine rainforest in Congo's Okapi Wildlife Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage site meant to be a haven for the endangered mammal nicknamed Africa's unicorn, environmental organisations warned on Tuesday. Industrial activities are supposed to be banned in the 13 000 km2 of the reserve in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo. Aerial photo evidence shows mining has persisted, the civil society groups said at a joint news conference to mark the international day of the okapi.

Antofagasta said on Wednesday it expects copper production to be between 670 000 t and 710 000 t in 2023 with the completion of its Los Pelambres desalination and concentrator plants in Chile. The Chilean miner also said it produced 181 900 t of copper in the third quarter of the current year, 40.1% higher than the previous quarter, as production nearly doubled at its flagship project Los Pelambres due to improved water availability. "The pace of increase in copper production next year is slightly... Читать дальше...

Transnet said worker activity at its operations has returned to levels as high as 80% since the entity inked its three-year wage deal with the United National Transport Union (UNTU). Transnet and majority union UNTU inked a three-year wage agreement that runs from April this year to late March 2025 and includes a 6% increase in year one, a 5.5% increase in year two, and a 6% increase in year three.

Base metals developer Altamin has inked a binding subscription and joint venture (JV) agreement with Appian Italy, replacing an earlier term sheet with Appian Natural Resources Fund II to JV on the Gorno zinc project, in Italy. Under the original term sheet, signed in July, Appian would have invested up to A$94-million to earn a 67.4% interest in the Gorno project.

Coal miner Whitehaven Coal has reported a 37% decline in run-of-mine production compared with the June quarter as wet weather conditions impacted operations. Run-of-mine production for the September quarter reached four-million tonnes, which was down 22% on the previous corresponding period, while total equity coal sales for the quarter reached 2.9-million tonnes, down 32% on the June quarter and down 14% on the previous corresponding period.

Wet weather conditions have hit diversified giant BHP’s coal operations in the September quarter, with production of metallurgical coal dropping by 19% on the previous quarter, and energy coal by 33%. The miner on Wednesday reported that metallurgical coal production for the quarter ended September reached 6.7-million tonnes, which was down 1% on the previous corresponding period, on the back of lower volumes resulting from significant wet weather conditions, the mining of higher strip ratio areas... Читать дальше...