BHP to delist from London exchange as unification approved – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – January 20, 2022)

https://www.mining.com/

BHP (ASX: BHP), the world’s largest mining company, will stop trading on the London Stock Exchange next week after Australian and UK investors approved plans to simplify the group’s corporate structure and have its shares listed exclusively in Sydney.

More than 96% of BHP shareholders voted in favour of unification at special meetings on Thursday, the company said. The move is one of a series of key changes chief executive Mike Henry has kicked off since assuming the top post in early 2020.

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Stars aligning for Pretium, as shareholder vote on $3.5-billion acquisition by Australia’s Newcrest nears – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – January 19, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The $3.5-billion acquisition of Pretium Resources Inc. by Australia’s Newcrest Mining Ltd. appears likely to get the nod from investors later this week, with two proxy advisory firms approving the deal, despite earlier grumblings from the Canadian miner’s biggest shareholder.

In November, Pretium agreed to be acquired by Melbourne-based Newcrest in a cash-and-stock deal. Proponents of the transaction point to the sizable 22.5-per-cent premium that Newcrest has on the table, as well as its prowess in underground mining that may allow Pretium to tame what has been a difficult deposit to mine.

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Opinion: Kazakhstan unrest underlines Australia’s uranium advantage – by Duncan Craib (Australian Financial Review – January 10, 2022)

https://www.afr.com/

The world is decarbonising and Australia has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to capitalise on the inevitable surge in global uranium demand that will accompany it.

Global financial institutions are taking a new look at the Australian uranium sector, and with good reason. Civil unrest over the past week in Kazakhstan – the world’s largest exporter of uranium – and the consequent impact on uranium prices highlights the geopolitical sensitivity of the commodity.

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RACE TO THE FUTURE: Can a Tiny Territory in the South Pacific Power Tesla’s Ambitions? – by Hannah Beech (New York Times – December 30, 2021)

https://www.nytimes.com/

Nickel is vital to electric car batteries, but extracting it is dirty and destructive. A plant with a turbulent history in New Caledonia is about to become an experiment in sustainable mining.

GORO, New Caledonia — From the reef-fringed coast of New Caledonia, the Coral Sea stretches into the South Pacific. Slender native pines, listing like whimsical Christmas trees, punctuate the shoreline.

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New Caledonia rejects independence from France in third vote (Al Jazeera.com – December 2021)

https://www.aljazeera.com/

Residents of the Pacific territory of New Caledonia have voted overwhelmingly to remain part of France in a third referendum that was boycotted by pro-independence groups, local media reported.

Police reinforcements have been sent to the territory known as “the pebble”, which is of strategic importance to France and is part of a wider tussle for influence in the Pacific between Western countries and China.

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Pitt welcomes Chalice’s major find at Julimar – by Esmarie Iannucci (MiningWeekly.com – November 11, 2021)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Federal Minister for Resources and Water Keith Pitt has applauded work done by Geoscience Australia in discovering the largest nickel sulphide discovery in Australia in over two decades.

ASX-listed Chalice Mining this week announced a maiden indicated and inferred mineral resource estimate of 10-million ounces palladium/platinum/gold, 530 000 t of nickel, 330 000 t of copper, and 53 000 t of cobalt at its Gonneville deposit, which makes up part of its larger Julimar project, in Western Australia.

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Forrest tops BHP bid in fight for Canadian nickel hopeful Noront – by James Thomson (Australian Financial Review – December 13, 2021)

https://www.afr.com/

Andrew Forrest’s private resources company Wyloo Metals has launched a third bid for Canadian nickel hopeful Noront Resources, after talks between Wyloo and rival bidder BHP failed to reach a compromise.

Wyloo has lifted its bid to $C1.10 a share, 47 per cent above the C75¢ bid BHP made in October. alks between BHP and Wyloo, which has a 37.2 per cent stake in Noront, had been running for about a month. Head of Wyloo Metals, Luca Giacovazzi, described the discussions as constructive but ultimately unsuccessful.

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NEWS RELEASE: Wyloo Metals Strongly Improves Offer for Noront (December 12, 2021)

PERTH, Australia, Dec. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd (“Wyloo Metals”) has today provided the board of Noront Resources Ltd. (TSXV: NOT) (“Noront”) with a letter outlining a further improved offer to acquire up to 100% of the shares in Noront that it does not already own for Cdn$1.10 per share (the “Revised Wyloo Offer”). This is 47% above the Cdn$0.75 per share offered under the take-over bid for Noront proposed by BHP Western Mining Resources International Pty Ltd (“BHP”).

The Revised Wyloo Offer is the only proposal to Noront shareholders that provides the following distinguishing features:

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Sale process begins of insolvent White River gold mine – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – December 6, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Harte Gold granted creditor protection by court, Australia’s Silver Lake Resources looks to take control of Sugar Zone Mine property

A prospective new owner of White River’s Sugar Zone Mine might not be determined until next spring, at the earliest.

So far, early front runner Silver Lake Resources of Australia has the inside track to acquire the underground operation. But things are looking bleak for common shareholders of Harte Gold.

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Billionaire Adani’s Disputed Mine Shows Ditching Coal Isn’t Easy – by David Stringer and Rajesh Kumar Singh (Bloomberg News – December 2, 2021)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Billionaire Gautam Adani’s coal mine in Australia, a project that’s become a global emblem for opposition to fossil fuels, is preparing to begin exports after more than a decade of bitter dispute over its development.

Proposed in 2010 and stalled by legal challenges, financing setbacks and a sustained campaign from climate activists, the operation is scheduled to ship first cargoes before the end of December and aims to supply an initial 10 million tons of thermal coal annually for at least 30 years.

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China’s plan to end its Australian iron ore dependency – by Michael Smith (Australian Financial Review – December 2, 2021)

https://www.afr.com/

Tokyo | China will boost domestic iron ore production by 30 per cent, significantly ramp up investments in overseas mines and strengthen scrap steel recycling under a plan designed to break Beijing’s dependency on Australia’s most valuable commodity export.

China’s top steel industry executives and senior government officials outlined a strategy for achieving the five-year targets in an article published this week, which highlights the Chinese government’s frustration with volatile iron ore prices and its desire to follow Japan’s lead by investing heavily in offshore mines.

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Osisko Mining raises $154M for Windfall, plans JV with Australia’s Northern Star – by Staff (Canadian Mining Journal – November 30, 2021)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Osisko Mining (TSX: OSK) has signed an agreement with Australia’s Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST) to raise $154 million for continued work on its Windfall gold project 200 km north of Val d’Or, Que. The two companies have also agreed to negotiate the terms of an earn-in and joint venture allowing Northern Star to earn up to a 50% interest in the Windfall project.

The financing agreement will see Osisko issuing a convertible senior unsecured debenture due Dec. 1, 2025, to Northern Star. The debenture bears an interest rate of 4.75% per year payable semi-annually.

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Profiling the Greenbushes lithium mine in Western Australia – by Andrew Fawthrop (NS Energy Business.com – April 17, 2021)

NS Energy

Western Australia’s vast Greenbushes lithium mine is the world’s largest operation to extract hard rock deposits of the mineral critical to the energy transition

At the southern tip of Western Australia, around 250 kilometres south of Perth, lies the Greenbushes lithium mine – the world’s largest project to extract the increasingly critical mineral driving the clean energy transition.

The operation, which claims its name from a nearby town, is owned by Talison Lithium, a joint venture between China’s Tianqi Lithium and US chemicals firm Albemarle – although recent reports have emerged that the Chinese producer is seeking to offload some of its 51% stake in the project amid financial difficulties.

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Australia’s crush on Canada – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – November 12, 2021)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Newcrest Mining, Australia’s largest gold producer, will soon become the biggest gold producer in the Canadian province of British Columbia once its $3.5 billion (US$2.8 billion) acquisition of Pretium Resources is completed over the next three or four months.

The Aussie gold major already held a 4.85% stake in the Canadian miner before announcing the deal this week, and it’s the second time Newcrest has planted its corporate flag in Canadian soil. In 2019 the company acquired a 70% stake in the Red Chris mine from Imperial Metals for US$806 million.

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Mining magnate Gina Rinehart looks to expand iron ore empire into WA’s Goldfields region – by Jarrod Lucas (Australian Broadcasting Corporation – November 15, 2021)

https://www.abc.net.au/

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has struck a deal to buy into an iron ore project in WA’s northern Goldfields, further expanding her iron ore empire which includes the Roy Hill mine in the Pilbara.

A subsidiary of Ms Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting has struck a deal to form new joint venture agreement with the owners of the Mt Bevan project, 100 kilometres west of Leonora.

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