BHP, the company that runs Chile's Escondida mine, the world's largest copper mine, said on Monday it reached an agreement with a worker's union to avoid a strike planned for November 21 and 23. The agreement must still be approved by members of the union.
The Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB), acting as mandated lead arranger, has closed a syndicated $600-million copper and cobalt development financing facility with commodity trading company Trafigura to advance responsible copper and cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This follows after Trafigura concluded an initial $600-million financing agreement with Chemaf Resources and Chemaf SA, a leading vertically integrated copper and cobalt producer in the DRC.
Potash development company Emmerson has signed two memoranda of understanding (MoU) for the supply of potash and salt to be produced at its Khemisset mine, in Morocco. Under the terms of its MoU with Swiss-based agritrader Keytrade, Emmerson will supply 245 000 t/y of muriate of potash (MoP) for ten years.
Toronto- and London-listed Endeavour Mining has announced a significant discovery at its Tanda-Iguela project, in Côte d’Ivoire, affirming its potential to be another flagship asset for the gold miner. In particular, the company announced a maiden indicated resource for the Assafou target of 14.9-million tonnes grading 2.33 g/t for 1.1-million ounces, as well as an inferred resource of 32.9-million tonnes grading 1.8 g/t for 1.9-million ounces.
A feasibility study into the Black Swan nickel project, in Western Australia, has shown that the 1.1-million tonne a year operation could deliver some A$333-million in cash flows. ASX-listed Poseidon Nickel on Monday told said that the feasibility study estimated that the project would require a capital investment of some A$50-million, which included A$38-million to refurbish the existing Black Swan concentrator.
ASX-listed mining services group Perenti has struck a collaboration agreement with global technology company ABB to explore solutions to decarbonise customer’s mining operations. Experts from the two companies will work together to address electrification in mine hauling operations, power distribution, energy efficiency and power management. The teams plan to explore business models and solutions to provide wider services for pilot, brownfield and greenfield mining customer projects to support the electrification of operations.
Dual-listed Horizonte Minerals has entered into long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs), thereby securing renewable power at a low cost for its Araguaia nickel project, in Brazil. The PPAs have been awarded to a subsidiary of a global AAA rated energy company and Brazilian energy firm Casa dos Ventos Comercializadora de Energia.
Bullion major Barrick Gold’s portfolio of gold and copper assets is projected to show strong growth over the next five to ten years, president and CEO Mark Bristow said at an investor meeting in New York on Friday. The unlocking of value at the Pueblo Viejo gold mine in the Dominican Republic, following the finalisation of the location for the new tailings storage facility, would support that growth, he said.
Ecuador's Shuar Arutam indigenous people said on Friday they will not allow mining on their territory, threatening a large copper mining operation in the Andean country, after a court ruled their rights to prior consultation were violated. Ecuador's Constitutional Court in September ruled the environmental permit granted in 2011 for the major San Carlos Panantza copper project required a consultation with the Shuar Arutam community, but this was not carried out.
Lithium developer Lake Resources has reached an agreement with its development partner Lilac Solutions to set aside differences in the development of the Kachi pilot plant, in Argentina. A dispute emerged in September over the timeline for the development of the pilot plant, with Lake and Lilac butting heads over the timing of a milestone which would earn Lilac a 25% interest in the project.
Copper miner Sandfire Resources has completed the bookbuild for the institutional component of its 1-for-8.8 entitlement offer, as part of its A$200-million capital raise. The company on Monday said that the institutional entitlement offer will raise A$147-million, at an offer price of a$4.30 a share, representing a 10.2% discount to Sandfire’s last closing price and a 9.3% discount to the company’s theoretical ex-rights price.
Russian aluminium producer Rusal said on Saturday that its sales for 2023 have picked up after the London Metal Exchange (LME) decided not to ban Russian metal from being traded and stored in its system. The exchange, the world's oldest and largest market for industrial metals, launched a discussion paper on the subject in October and then said on November 11 it had decided against banning Russian metal as a significant portion of the market was still planning to buy it.
