The government of Boungaville, an autonomous region in Papua New Guinea, has set an indefinite freeze on plans to restart mining at one of the world's biggest open-pit copper operations, shut by a civil war in 1989.Authorities fear the reopening of Panguna mine, donated by Rio Tinto in 2016, could open old wounds, as landowners voted last month on whether or not Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) -...Read More
Shares in gold miner Centamin (TSX:CEE) (LON:CEY) shot up more than 6% Wednesday after the company published fourth-quarter results that slightly exceeded full-year production guidance, and vowed to lift output again in 2018.The Egypt-based company generated 544,658 ounces of gold in 2017, compared to the expected 540,000 ounces. Centamin is now targeting 580,000 ounces in production for 2018, up...Read More
Most people have heard of the DRC, but might not know exactly where to find it on the map of Africa, even if the DRC is the second-largest country on the continent at 2 344 858km ?. Algeria is the largest country in Africa, covering close to 2 381 741km ? of North Africa. In stark contrast to Algeria, of which almost 90% is desert, the DRC straddles the equator, and more than 60% of its surfac...Read More
The rally in Gold and gold mining stocks easily surpassed our expectations and targets. The strength has been far more than we anticipated. The gold stocks blew past their 200-day moving averages while Gold blew past $1300/oz. Now it is time to take a technical look and focus on the key support and resistance targets.The strength of the rebound pushed the miners well beyond their 200-day moving av...Read More
Chile's Codelco, the world's top copper producer, announced today that it will invest $250 million to modify the shape of the current pit at its Andina mine, located in the Valpara?-so region. The goal of the plan is to redirect mineral extraction toward zones where there are no glaciers, while still maintaining the size of the mine and expected output. In a media statement, Codelco said that ther...Read More
Base and precious metals miner Hudbay Minerals (TSX, NYSE:HBM) has agreed to buy a series of mining properties in southern Peru near its Constancia copper mine, which will see the Canadian company expanding its footprint in the country, the world's second largest producer of the red metal.The Toronto-based miner has now the option to buy a 100% interest in the Caballito (formerly Katanga) and Mar...Read More
Brazil's Vale (NYSE:VALE), the world's largest iron ore and nickel miner, has officially closed the sale of its fertilizer business to US-based Mosaic Co. (NYSE:MOS), the No.1 producer of phosphate fertilizer, in a deal worth about $1.4 billion, considerably less than the $2.5bn originally estimated.The transaction, part of Vale's strategy to cut debt and focus on its core businesses, excludes t...Read More
The Democratic Republic of Congo's state-owned miner, G?(C)camines, is calling the government to update the 16-year-old mining code, arguing it currently benefits foreign firms more than local producers or the country itself.The company, which is heavily indebted and has consistently failed to meet production targets as of late, said in a statement it was evident the World Bank-supported Mining C...Read More
KOLWEZI, Democratic Republic of Congo, Jan. 08, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN) (OTCQX:IVPAF) Executive Chairman Robert Friedland and Chief Executive Officer Lars-Eric Johansson announced today that ongoing upgrading work at the Mwadingusha hydropower plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has almost tripled the plant's interim power output from 11 to 32 megawatts (MW)....Read More
DUBAI, Jan 8 (Reuters) - An affiliate of Qatari conglomerate Aamal Co plans to build three factories to produce copper wires, aluminium bars and drums for cables, projects that could make the country more self-reliant in the face of an embargo by other Arab states.The factories will be established by Senyar Industries Qatar Holding, owned 50 percent by Aamal and 50 percent by Egyptian cable maker...Read More
An independent study of the tax rate paid by the Australian minerals industry shows mining paid an effective tax rate of 51 per cent in 2015-16 in company tax and royalties - the second-highest tax ratio recorded since the survey began nine years ago.Deloitte Access Economics' Minerals Industry Tax Survey 2017, based on a survey of 25 Australian mining companies, provides an independent and robust...Read More
BEIJING, Jan 8 (Reuters) - As China tightens restrictions on imports of foreign waste, Chinese metal recyclers and even smelters like Jiangxi Copper Co are increasingly looking to use Southeast Asian countries as an alternative location for the processing of copper scrap.China relies on imports for around half of its scrap copper needs but told the World Trade Organization last year that it would...Read More
Valor Resources Limited is pleased to report an updated JORC Mineral Resource Estimate for the Berenguela CopperSilver Project. The updated Resource Estimate includes an 80% increase in total tonnage, as well as a maiden Measured Resources Estimate. Comparisons between the Resource Estimate published in October 2017 and this updated Mineral Resource Estimate can be seen from the two tables on...Read More
The Peruvian government might have to deal with more mining-related social protests in 2018, says a risk brief published today by Verisk Maplecroft.According to the firm, if 2017 saw several projects slowing down or stopping due to the 171 formally registered conflicts that took place throughout the country, the approval of the supreme decree 042-2017 in December, which relaxes the environmental p...Read More
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has accepted Pebble Limited Partnership's wetlands-fill permit, which is required under the Clean Water Act and which is also a key authorization in the permitting process for the controversial Pebble project in Alaska.Pebble Limited Partnership is a subsidiary of Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (TSX: NDM). For over a decade now, the company has been...Read More
Big cap diversified miners are riding a wave of optimism as global growth prospects - especially in manufacturing - continues to strengthen. Global economic activity as measured by the JP Morgan global manufacturing and services index showed output rising at the fastest pace since March 2015.The manufacturing index has now signalled expansion for a record 82 months in a row and the investment...Read More
Peru's Ministry of Energy and Mines released its most recent statistical report, which highlights that November was one of the best months in 2016 when it comes to investments in the mining sector. According to the deputy minister Ricardo Lab??, investments grew by 54.8% compared to the same month of 2016 and reached $515 million. The overall growth in investments from January to November 2017 was...Read More
The gold miners' stocks have huge upside potential in 2018, likely the best among stock-market sectors. They really lagged gold last year, so a major mean-reversion catch-up rally is coming. The gold miners are universally ignored and deeply undervalued relative to the metal which drives their profits. And gold itself is likely to power dramatically higher this year as euphoric record-high s...Read More
Cobalt prices went ballistic in 2017 with the metal quoted on the LME ending the year at $75,500, a 129% annual surge sparked by intensifying supply fears and an expected demand spike from battery markets. Measured from its record low hit in February 2016, the metal is more than $50,000 more expensive.Given these lofty levels - and considering that the volatile commodity topped $100,000 a tonne a...Read More
(Bloomberg) - Commodities are forging a record-setting run of gains that straddles the end of 2017 and the start of the new year as crude oil notches multiyear highs and investors bet that booming global manufacturing output will help to sustain rising demand for raw materials.The Bloomberg Commodity Index, which tracks returns on 22 raw materials, was poised for an unprecedented 15 days of gains...Read More