Gold miner Doray Minerals has swung into the red in the full year ended June, on the back of a non-cash impairment charge of A$69.5-million on the carrying value of the company’s assets.
The miner on Thursday reported a net loss after tax of A$71.7-million, compared with a net profit of A$16.5-million for the 2016 financial year.
DENVER–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Tanami Expansion Project adds profitable production and extends mine life
Explorer Amur Minerals has completed 82 diamond core drill holes containing 20 060 m of drilling ahead of schedule at its Kun-Manie project, where another 10 000 m will be drilled before the season wraps up at the end of October.
The majority of the 2017 drill season at the project in the far east of Russia has been focused on a 3-km long geochemical and geophysical anomaly that links the Ikenskoe/Sobolevsky (IKEN) and Kubuk (KUB) deposits.
Canadian project developer Strongbow Exploration has announced an C$8.5-million royalty sale and equity financing agreement to fund the water treatment plant at its South Crofty tin project in Cornwall, in the UK.
Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) could be a “game-changer” for South Africa’s economy, Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) VP Professor Barney Pityana said on Thursday. Addressing delegates at a national shale gas conference, hosted by ASSAf in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology, in Port Elizabeth, he said fracking also had the potential to make a major contribution to South Africa reaching its commitments in terms of climate change, by limiting the country’s reliance on coal as an energy source.
Canada’s mining sector saw a slow start to the second quarter of 2017, according to global advisory firm EY’s Canadian Mining Eye index, which reported that the market capitalisation of 100 TSX- and TSX-V-listed midtier and junior companies fell broadly between C$47-million and C$1.6-billion. This saw the market value of the country’s mining sector drop 7% in the quarter, following an increase of 11% in the first quarter of the year. EY attributed this loss to the weak nickel price, with zinc remaining flat and copper seeing a slight increase.
All countries face energy challenges and must manage this by improving energy security and economic development, without compromising sustainable development, Department of Science and Technology (DST) director-general Dr Phil Mjwara said on Thursday. He pointed out that sub-Saharan Africa was facing an energy crisis and that 66.6% of Africans had no access to electricity.
Not only has the palladium price soared by 64% since Sibanye began discussions for the acquisition of Stillwater Mining, the world’s largest primary palladium producer, but the Stillwater operation itself has also performed well under its new owner. At current basket prices, Stillwater will quickly pay off its capital and financing costs and return some cash to shareholders, a delighted Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman told Mining Weekly Online. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video).
The former deputy chairperson of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, Galymzhan Pirmatov, has been appointed the head of the country’s State uranium mining group Kazatomprom.
Pirmatov is well known in the nuclear industry, having held the position of VP for economics and finance of Kazatomprom between 2009 and 2011 and later heading up the Kazakhstan unit of Canadian uranium miner Cameco.
WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#CEA–Consumer Energy Alliance Applauds Decision to Move Forward on Vogtle Nuclear Project
Higher-than-expected seasonal rains and stone contamination issues have impacted on London-listed Bisichi Mining’s coal output for the first half of the year. Production from the company’s direct coal mining asset Black Wattle fell to 582 000 t in the six months to June 30, from the 795 000 t achieved in the first half of 2016.
Aim-listed Galileo Resources has entered into a binding term sheet with BMR Group and agreed to advance $591 600 to BMR to enable it to exercise an option to acquire the Star zinc project, in Zambia. BMR will establish a joint venture (JV) with Galileo over the project.
Greece plans to start an arbitration process next month to settle its differences with Canada’s Eldorado Gold over its gold mine development plans in northern Greece, its Energy Minister said on Thursday.
Greece had previously planned to start the process this month.
All desktop work for the prefeasibility study at Aim-listed Katoro Gold’s Imweru mine has been completed. Engineering and pit optimisation studies are also at an advanced stage, while all drilling required for the geohydrology study as part of the ongoing environmental- and social-impact assessment has been completed.
Russian diamond major Alrosa has announced an independent investigation into the August 4 accident at its Mir underground mine, which was partly flooded by water from an openpit mine above it.
The company will appoint an international auditor to conduct the assessment and has identified SRK Consulting and DMT Group as potential candidates for the audit.
DENVER–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Arrows Up announces an agreement with SamSand to build a mine-to-well network that will move frac sand to several oil & gas operations in Louisiana
Energy Intensive Users Group of Southern Africa’s (EIUG’s) Piet Van Staden has expressed serious anxiety about the near-term sustainability of South Africa’s electricity industry in light of the prospect of yet more tariffs hikes, which would further damage industrial demand and, in turn, trigger yet higher tariffs for remaining consumers. Speaking at a South African National Energy Association conference in Johannesburg on Thursday, Van Staden warned that a price tipping point had been breached and that electricity intensive firms could be forced to defect from the grid should further double-digit increases be approved. Such defection could take the form of firms installing cheaper own- or co-generation plants, or result in operations being moved to jurisdictions where power prices and the price path were more attractive.
The bodies of the two trapped miners at the Kusasalethu mine near Carletonville have been recovered, Harmony Gold said on Thursday. Harmony Gold spokesperson Marian van der Walt said the bodies were found at around 12:00 on Thursday afternoon.
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Recap of stories on Business Wire related to Hurricane Harvey.
The platinum group metals market may be heading for three-way price parity, says Northam Platinum CEO Paul Dunne, whose company has increased its operating profit despite the market’s challenging business conditions. Mining Weekly editor Martin Creamer joins senior deputy editor Tracy Hancock in studio to discuss this further.
DENVER–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Solitario has initiated metallurgical testing to increase silver recovery at its Lik zinc project in Alaska.
Mining major Rio Tinto has officially opened its $338-million Silvergrass iron-ore mine, in Western Australia.
“Silvergrass is a great example of our value-over-volume approach in action as the mine will deliver the high-quality, low-cost ore used to maintain the world-class premium Pilbara blend product our customers love so much,” Rio CEO Jean-Sebastian Jacques said of the company’s 16th iron-ore mine.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP) will host an investor day for members of the investment community on Friday, Sept. 29, 2017, at the New York Stock Exchange. The event, which begins at 8:30 a.m. and concludes at noon ET, will include presentations by the following senior company leaders as well as a question-and-answer session: Fran Malecha, President and CEO Jamie Standen, CFO Anthony Sepich, Senior Vice President, Salt Brad Griffith, Senior Vice President, Pl
Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) could be a “game-changer” for South Africa’s economy, Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) VP Professor Barney Pityana said on Thursday. Addressing delegates at a national shale gas conference, hosted by ASSAf in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology, in Port Elizabeth, he said fracking also had the potential to make a major contribution to South Africa reaching its commitments in terms of climate change, by limiting the country’s reliance on coal as an energy source.
Copper miner Oz Minerals has been forced to investigate alternative power solutions for its Prominent Hill mine, in South Australia, after mining major BHP terminated a connection and access agreement.
Under the existing agreement, Oz Minerals’ Prominent Hill mine shares BHP’s power line from Davenport to the Olympic Dam operation. Oz Minerals owns the power infrastructure between Olympic Dam and Prominent Hill.
Treasurer Scott Morrison expects Australia’s economic growth will accelerate as the drag from falling mining investment comes to an end.
He noted, though, that the economy’s performance last quarter might have been hurt by the impact of a cyclone.
In extracts of a speech to be delivered at Bloomberg’s Sydney headquarters on Thursday, Morrison reeled off a string of recent positive economic data — from employment to retail sales to business confidence — to justify his optimistic outlook.
“Having been frustrated by a post-GFC funk that has held back global economic growth, the Australian economy is shaking off the restraints,” Morrison said, referring to the 2008-2009 crisis that engulfed the world economy.
While the treasurer had plenty of material at hand to justify his positive take, the economy’s position is more finely balanced. Australians are mired in debt, their wages are stagnant and power prices are soaring, leaving them with limited cash to spend — a key risk in an economy that’s heavily dependent on consumption.
Morrison acknowledged that household disposable incomes, after adjusting for tax and welfare, have been flat. He argued the key issue is boosting company profits, which have already begun to improve, to allow scope for fatter pay packets.
There has been a “pickup in profits across several sectors, including manufacturing, professional scientific and technical services and real estate in the last six months which we anticipate would benefit workers in time,” the treasurer said. “The strong jobs growth that we have seen will start to eat into spare capacity in the economy and put upward pressure on wages.”
The problem is that the U.S., U.K., Germany and Japan economies are at or near full employment and still failing to see strong wage growth, suggesting that traditional mechanisms may be breaking down.
Click to read Bloomberg’s survey on second-quarter growth
Morrison hailed the synchronized upswing among major developed nations as a boon to Australia — particularly as China’s expansion ticked up and the rest of Asia is forecast to grow strongly. This is positive for commodity-reliant Australia as it suggests continued demand for the nation’s resources.
“Our ability to capitalize on these opportunities will fuel growth in service exports and create jobs for years to come,” Morrison said, while noting the high debt-to-gross domestic product levels of China, Australia’s biggest trading partner.
华盛顿–(BUSINESS WIRE)–(美国商业资讯)–废料回收行业协会(ISRI)今日致函中国环境保护部，就中国进口废料技术标准修订草案发表意见。草案建议将所有材料的“夹杂物”（即污染物和禁止性物品）水平降至0.3%，引发了回收行业的强烈担忧。一旦得以实施，这些标准实际上可能会禁止废料进入中国。 ISRI会长Robin Wiener在信函中指出，“ISRI对于将所有商品‘夹杂物’控制要求降至0.3%的规定感到异常担忧。这一标准的实施实际上将禁止所有这类商品的进口。实现这一控制水平基本是不切实际的，哪怕以这一精度来衡量‘夹杂物’，也是不现实的。” “ISRI在其废料规格清单(Scrap Specifications Circular)中列出了全球回收行业和工业用户当前所采用的标准，而且这些规格会因商品种类的不同而异。以纸为例，‘废物’（等同于‘夹杂物’）通常在1%-5%之间，取决于纸的等级。塑料也有着类似的规格。这些数字由全球回收行业通过开放协商的流程确定，反映了生产标准和需求。所有其他商品也都采用了同样的开放流程。” 在信函中，ISRI还对草案中“废五金电器”可回收材料比重
ASX-listed Kidman Resources has allowed its option agreement to lease the Lake Johnston plant for its Mt Holland lithium operation to lapse.
The original option agreement with Poseidon Resources to potentially adapt the Lake Johnston plant for the processing of Mt Holland ore, offered the company a potential fast-track route to producing a saleable spodumene concentrate, at a time when Kidman was still considering go-it-alone development options for the Western Australian project.
Speciality metals producers Wolf Minerals has received a further £5-million from Resource Capital Fund VI (RCF VI) as short-term working capital for the Drakeland openpit mine, at the Hemerdon tungsten and tin project in Devon, south-west England.
The £5-million represents the remaining uncommitted amount of a bridge facility in place with RCF VI.
India’s largest iron-ore miner, NMDC, has pruned its production target for 2018/19 from 75-million tons to 50-million tons.
According to the company’s annual report, the lower production expectation is in response to an anticipated global downturn.
Coal India Limited (CIL) will on Thursday sign a long-term wage agreement with trade unions, conceding to an average 20% hike against trade unions’ demand of a 25% rise.
The National Wage Agreement X will benefit an estimated 370 000 workers and payments will accrue with effect from June 2016.
Nickel miner Panoramic Resources has narrowed its net loss after tax for the full year ended June from a loss of A$144.3-million reported in 2016, to a net loss of A$4.7-million, despite a tough operational year.
Panoramic on Thursday reported an impairment loss reversal of A$9.2-million as part of the initial public offering of Horizon Gold, which was spun-out in 2016.
ASX-listed Lithium Australia has announced plans to acquire Brisbane-based battery cathode developer Very Small Particle Company (VSPC).
Lithium Australia told shareholders on Thursday that its acquisition of VSPC would augment the company’s own advanced processing technologies around lithium extraction from waste material.
The new owner of Arrium, GFG Alliance, is ready to get the keys to Whyalla Steelworks.
Results season winds up with strong profit growth that nonetheless disappointed hopeful investors, and worse to come expected this financial year.
