Chile's new government is looking for candidates to lead state-owned Codelco, the world's largest copper producer.While Nelson Pizarro could well stay on as chief executive officer even after Chilean President Sebastian Pinera's administration appoints a new chairman in May, the government is putting together a shortlist of candidates, Mining Minister Baldo Prokurica said in an interview Tuesday."...Read More
Shares in Canada's First Quantum Minerals (TSX:FM) rebounded slightly on Wednesday, dodging what was about to become their worst two-day drop in almost two years after its chief executive said he was ready to dispute a $7.9 billion bill for alleged unpaid import duties in Zambia.Talking to investors and media during a call conference, Philip Pascall said his company refuted the charge and would wo...Read More
Indonesia's state mining holding company, PT Inalum, expects to reach an agreement soon on bank financing to buy a controlling stake in the local unit of Freeport McMoran Inc, the holding company's chief executive said on Wednesday.Indonesia and Freeport have agreed in principle that the U.S. miner would divest 51 percent of its local unit with funding provided by Inalum for the purchase of the ri...Read More
* MSCI all-country index flat ahead of 1800 GMT Fed announcement* Fed seen raising rates, markets see risk of four hikes in 2018* Tech sector woes weigh on sentiment on Facebook troubles* Dollar eases off three-week high (Updates throughout, changes dateline, byline, adds quotes)By Sujata RaoLONDON, March 21 (Reuters) - World shares were flat on Wednesday and the dollar eased off three-week highs...Read More
(Recasts with analyst comment)By Nicole Mordant and Chris MfulaVANCOUVER/LUSAKA, March 20 (Reuters) - First Quantum Minerals FM.TO said on Tuesday that Zambia's tax agency had slapped it with 76.5 billion Zambian kwacha ($8.04 billion) bill for unpaid import duties, a potentially huge blow for the Canadian miner that earns most its profit in the southern African country.First Quantum, which owns t...Read More
* Same geology as prolific oil basins in China* Mongolia will need crude for planned refineryBy Barbara LewisLONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - Petro Matad MATD.L plans to drill four wells this year in Mongolia, which it said is one of the last onshore frontiers for oil exploration and is seeking to curb dependency on Russian imports of refined products.Landlocked Mongolia, sandwiched between Russia and...Read More
(Bloomberg) -- Aluminum is Morgan Stanley’s preferred base metal, with supply reforms in China as well as higher costs and stronger demand poised to push prices higher over the second half.The metal will average $2,114 a metric ton this year, and while prices may ease to $2,072 a ton next quarter amid continued oversupply, they’ll rise to $2,094 in the third, and reach $2,116 in the fi...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 21 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals were weak today with SHFE zinc leading the loss with a drop of 1.7%. Copper fell 1.5% while aluminium, nickel, and tin edged down. Lead slumped near closing and closed flat from Tuesday March 20.The ferrous complex saw mixed trading today. Iron ore gained nearly 1%, while coke and coking coal inched up. Hot-rolled coil dropped over 2% and rebar dipp...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 21 (SMM) – Prices of prebaked anode will continue to tumble as supply grows after production restrictions are lifted at the end of the heating season, SMM believed. SMM sees downward room in prices, which have declined for three consecutive months. According to SMM, profit margins could be significant if current cash costs for prebaked anode are capped ...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 21 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightDriven by bullish sentiment on the US economy and an expected hike in interest rates, the US dollar rebounded to 90. Weak economic data for the eurozone also bolstered the greenback.However, nonferrous metals fell across the board under pressure from the strong dollar. LME...Read More
SHANGHAI, Mar 21 (SMM) –Copper: Copper prices remained under pressure given high inventories and worries of a potential trade war. We expect LME copper to fall to the $6,700/mt level in the short term but with upward momentum in the mid and long term. We see it trading at $6,730-6,790/mt today, with the SHFE 1805contract trading at 50,500-51,000 yuan/mt. In the physical market, dow...Read More
The Contact deposit has 8.2 million tonnes grading 3.1g/t for 811,000 ounces, including an indicated 4.4Mt at 3.6g/t for 510,000oz. Contact is one of three deposits at the project with total resources of 33Mt at 2.1g/t for 2.2 million ounces.A scoping study is said to be pending, while four rigs are drilling at the project.Also imminent is an update from the company with regards its strategic ambi...Read More
Aguia said official hearings on the environmental impact assessment for the project were "anticipated to occur in the next three to four months", after which the company expected to be "granted the preliminary licence".Assuming that all goes to plan - and the EIA is the final regulatory requirement ahead of development - Aguia needs to find about US$84 million to build and start operating a projec...Read More
The first hole of 13 planned at Secret Pass as part of a 15,000m drilling programme intersected 70.07m at 1.79g/t gold from 152.86m."Exploration potential in this area is excellent and Northern Empire's recent acquisition of the Rosie claims, directly south of Secret Pass deposit, gives our team access to highly prospective drill targets," president and CEO Michael Allen said.Secret Pass is a past...Read More
Metminco's Australia-listed shares have, as expected, more than halved, one of its key investors has ceased to become a "substantial holder" and - in a related move - director Ram Venkat has departed.Read More
Acclaimed as one of Britain's leading developers of mineral processing science, Rotherham-based Metalysis is commercialising a technology invented at Cambridge University that uses an electrolytic process to reduce metal oxides and ores into pure metal and alloys.Read More
Western Australia iron ore asset president Edgar Basto said the company's South Flank iron ore project was scheduled to be submitted for board approval mid-year and if approved, Mining Area C would become the world's largest stand-alone iron ore mining and processing centre.Fellow diversified major Rio Tinto (LN:RIO) closed up 1.3% in London yesterday after announcing a debt reduction programme an...Read More
"In the last five years, we've seen global wind-generated capacity more than double, solar PV capacity more than quadruple and EV sales grow at 59% per annum," she said at the CRU Metals in the Future 2018 conference on Tuesday.Read More
Darryn Quayle, the UK Department for International Trade Infrastructure group's mining specialist, said at the CRU Metals in the Future 2018 conference this week that miners needed to do things differently to get communities on board right from the start of any project, as well as redress what has been done in the past.Read More