Kazakhstan- and London-listed Kaz Minerals has reported an 11% jump in underlying profit to $530-million in 2018, as its revenue grew to $2.16-billion on the back of increased copper production and higher copper prices. The miner produced 14% more copper at 294 700 t and increased its sales by 15% to 296 000 t.
The soaring prices of rhodium and palladium have put new focus on the upper group two (UG2) reef, for long the poor cousin of Merensky reef in the hierarchy of platinum group metals (PGMs) mining. Merensky's predominant platinum content has made it the preferred reef for decades but UG2 is currently the new optimal because of its greater palladium and rhodium content, with chrome thrown in as a valuable co-product.
Brazil's mining regulator has ordered Vale SA to suspend activity at its Fabrica and Vargem Grande complexes, the iron ore miner said late on Wednesday, as authorities crack down after last month's fatal dam break. In a statement, Vale said the ANM mining regulator ordered the suspension in light of the possible failure of five dams at the mining sites in the interior state of Minas Gerais. In late January, a tailings dam at Vale's Corrego do Feijao mine failed in the same state, likely killing more than 300 people.
Dual-listed Orosur Mining has appointed Victor Hugo its CFO, replacing Ryan Cohen who served as interim CFO since November. Hugo is working with Marrelli Support Services, which provides CFO, accounting, regulatory, compliance and management advisory services to numerous issuers on the TSX, TSX-V and other Canadian and US exchanges.
US gold miner Newmont Mining on Thursday reported stronger fourth-quarter results, aided by lower costs and production growth, which managed to offset lower metal prices. The company, which will soon merge with Canadian miner Goldcorp to become the world’s largest gold miner, reported adjusted net income of $214-million, or $0.40 a share, compared with $206-million, or $0.23 a share in the prior-year quarter.
In a belated response to falling fresh-water levels in desert areas, Chile is moving to protect a natural resource that has been depleted after decades of mining activity. With complaints from local communities rising and the effects of climate change worsening, the world’s largest copper producer is planning to implement measures that will make it more difficult for miners to pump fresh water.
Anglo American remains the only giant miner not buying back shares, but that doesn’t mean it’s not thinking about it. The world’s biggest producers, shunning growth and reluctant to launch a major new deal spree, have been handing record amounts of money back to shareholders in the recent years. Even Glencore, once the most deal-hungry of the large miners, has decided that shareholder returns are the best use of its cash, announcing plans yesterday to repurchase at least $3-billion in stock this year.
Black-owned fabrication and mining installations company Linhleko Projects this week officially launched its cooperation agreement with FLSmidth – a 50/50 profit sharing agreement in which Linhleko uses FLSmidth’s REFLUX Classifier (RC) technology to enhance chrome recovery from Sibanye-Stillwater’s Waterval operation. Linhleko Group marketing director Refiloe Mankga explained that the agreement was part of FLSmidth’s enterprise development programme.
Anglo American subsidiary De Beers achieved a 4% year-on-year increase in revenue to $6.1-billion in 2018, compared with $5.8-billion in 2017, which was supported by improved high-end jewellery sales at De Beers Jewellers. Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, however, decreased by 13% to $1.2-billion, compared with $1.4-billion in 2017.
Continued productivity improvements in underlying operations and better-than-expected prices have contributed to global diversified miner Anglo American’s 4% year-on-year increase in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) to $9.2-billion for 2018. CE Mark Cutifani said during a conference call on Thursday that disciplined capital allocation has helped the company to strengthen its balance sheet by more than $10-billion over the past three years, with net debt having... Читать дальше...
Amid a rising US dollar, precious and base metals have suffered, owing to investment focusing elsewhere; however, this will not last, says TSX Venture-listed Broadway Gold Mining CEO Thomas Smeenk, whose junior mining company explores for silver, gold and copper in south-western Montana. He tells Mining Weekly Online that the US government’s increasing deficit spending requires it to print more fiat money, which lowers each dollar’s purchasing power while it increases the debt, with higher inflation an eventual result.
Anglo American said on Thursday it has suspended operations at its Moranbah North coking coal mine in Australia after one worker died and several were injured on Wednesday. The London-listed miner said an investigation was underway into the underground accident between a personnel carrier and a grader. The driver of the grader was taken by ambulance to hospital and later died, it said.
India's Adani Enterprises could theoretically win environmental approval for construction of the Carmichael coal mine in Australia in the next two years, a Queensland state resources official said, despite opposition from activists concerned about its impact on the Great Barrier Reef. The firm, which plans to start producing around 10-million tonnes of coal a year and eventually ramp up to 27.5-million tonnes, has been at loggerheads with environmental activists in the eight years since the project was first proposed.
Diversified miner Rio Tinto has launched a review of the global standards of its tailings dams following the failure of a Vale tailings dam in Brazil, which killed about 300 people. “I would like to acknowledge the recent tragedy at Minas Gerais in Brazil, and our thoughts are with all those impacted by this truly awful event. The entire industry has a responsibility to do better, and Rio Tinto is committed to play its part in any industry response, including an independent expert review,” said Rio CEO Jean-Sebastian Jacques.
The contentious Pebble project inched forward on Wednesday, as the US Army Corp of Engineers posted a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the Alaska gold/copper project, sending developer Northern Dynasty’s TSX-listed stock up nearly 20%. Northern Dynasty subsidiary Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP) CEO Tom Collier said in a statement that the DEIS showed no major data gaps or substantive impacts associated with a mine at the Pebble site. “We see no significant environmental challenges... Читать дальше...
Albemarle Corp, the world's largest lithium producer, posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday and gave a bullish 2019 outlook, saying it sees nothing that could slow demand for the white metal used to make electric car batteries. The forecast for sales growth of up to 14% this year comes as anxiety grows among some investors that the race to supply lithium for batteries and other materials could flood the market, hurting profits by decreasing prices.
