Cuba's nickel plus cobalt sulfide production will top 50 000 t this year and earnings are up over 2017, the head of the country’s state monopoly Cubaniquel was quoted by local media as stating on Wednesday. Nickel is one of the cash-strapped Communist-run country’s most important exports, but revenue from it has suffered in recent years due to a decline in production and prices.
Vale’s latest acquisition bolsters the argument it has raised for taking complete control of the shuttered Brazilian iron-ore mine that it owns with BHP Group. Vale announced on Tuesday the purchase of technology firm New Steel for $500-million as it aims to boost output of high-grade iron-ore products that have been fetching premium prices. New Steel owns technology capable of improving both production and waste storage at mines just like the Samarco joint venture with BHP.
Dual-listed Platinum Group Metals (PTM) on Thursday said it had completed the consolidation of its common shares. The consolidation was done on the basis of one new share for ten old shares, effective from 09:00 on December 13.
Nasdaq-listed Westwater Resources said on Thursday that it would seek international arbitration over what it alleged was the illegal taking of its Temrezle and Sefaalti uranium projects by the Turkish government in June this year. Westwater has sought to open a dialogue with the government, but said that it had not had much success.
Polymetallic minerals exploration and development company Orion Minerals’ flagship Prieska zinc/copper mine, in the Northern Cape, is expected to start production by 2021. This is notwithstanding any potential challenges and delays, Orion COO Walter Shamu said during a media briefing on Thursday.
Total gold supply is set to increase by 2.2% year-on-year this year, led by mine production, says the GFMS team at Refinitiv. Refinitiv predicts this year will finish as another year of net de-hedging, albeit at a forecast 29 t, which will be 29% lower than in 2017.
Chile's Codelco said its sprawling Chuquicamata copper mine was operating normally after workers blocked access to the mine overnight Thursday. Unions at Chuquicamata, the state miner's second largest by output, have protested for months over plans to transform the century-old open pit into an underground mine, a key facet of Codelco's $39-billion, 10-year drive to update its aging deposits.
Project developer Bacanora Lithium is planning a 2019 stock exchange listing for the subsidiary that holds its Zinnwald lithium deposit, in Germany. Bacanora, which is also advancing the Sonora lithium project in Mexico, said on Thursday that it had held discussions with its financial advisers about listing Deutsche Lithium and that it expected the subsidiary to trade on “at least one” public market.
De Beers and Vast Resources will be allowed to explore for diamonds in Zimbabwe, which would make them the first listed companies to mine there in that sector for two years, Mining Minister Winston Chitando said. A spokesman for De Beers, an Anglo American unit, said in an email it was not mining in Zimbabwe and did not intend to. Vast Resources said it could not comment.
Advantage Lithium, the 75% owner of the Argentina-based Cauchari joint venture with Orocobre, has appointed GHD Chile to complete early engineering geared towards completing a feasibility study by June next year. Advantage Lithium is fast-tracking the project, jumping straight to the definitive feasibility study, passing the intermediate preliminary feasibility study, given its faith in the expertise of GHD and the technical expertise and experience of Orocobre.
BHP Group may be heading for another clash with investors as the world’s biggest miner gets closer to a decision on whether to build, sell or mothball its $20-billion potash project. The Jansen mine in Canada is aimed at giving the company exposure to rising global food demand and represents one of its few big growth prospects. BHP has already spent about $2.7-billion on the project, according to an October filing, and CEO Andrew Mackenzie last month spoke enthusiastically about the outlook for potash, a crop nutrient.
JSE-listed Sibanye-Stillwater has extended the wage agreement entered into with some unions to all employees, effectively rendering the three-week-long strike by Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) members unprotected. During the course of the strike, which was called by AMCU on November 21, the collective membership of the National Union of Mineworkers, Uasa and Solidarity has increased to over 50% of the employees at the South African gold operations.
ASX- and Aim-listed Thor Mining’s Desert Scheelite deposit at Pilot Mountain, in Nevada, has a mineral resource estimate of 10.7-million tonnes at 0.26% tungsten trioxide, 19.38 g/t silver, 0.15% copper and 0.38% zinc. The updated mineral resource estimate represents a 6.5% increase in the scheelite inventory for the project, now containing 27 700 t of tungsten trioxide, of which 85% is in the indicated category.
Global association aims to build sustainable future for zinc And, Innovate and generate cash at same time
The Opemiska copper complex – a former Falconbridge asset – has a new owner, which intends to fast-track the two past-producing copper mines near Chapais, Quebec, as part of a strategy of investing in metals that stand to benefit from a move to battery-powered vehicles. TSX-V-listed Power Ore announced on Wednesday that it would buy the Opemiska complex, which operated from 1953 to 1991, producing a total of 23-million tonnes at 2.4% copper and 0.3 g/t gold.
JSE-listed diamond miner Trans Hex reported a group net profit of R52-million for the six months ended September 30, compared with the R199-million loss reported for the six months to September 30, 2017. The company managed to raise its earnings a share to 37.6c apiece, compared with a loss of 89.7c apiece in the prior comparable period.
Coal railway workers at Australian hauler Aurizon Holdings are planning strikes after a breakdown in pay negotiations, their trade union said, a move that could delay shipments from the world's largest coking coal export region. Miners including BHP Billiton, Glencore, Anglo American and Peabody Energy use Aurizon's four major railways in the state of Queensland to bring coal to port.
The Western Australian has announced a suite of measures to assist in developing potash projects in the region. Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston on Thursday said that due to the unique nature of potash projects, the state government would introduce a new rental rate for potash projects that were granted a new class of mining lease for restricted minerals.
