PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed IGO will partner with Andrew Forrest’s Wyloo Metals to evaluate opportunities for downstream nickel processing in Australia, as Wyloo commits to support IGO’s bid for fellow-listed Western Areas.
The agreement will see IGO and Wyloo Metals conduct a study, funded 70:30 by IGO and Wyloo respectively, to evaluate the technical, commercial and economic feasibility of developing a downstream nickel processing facility based in Australia.
(Bloomberg) — Glencore Plc’s plans to expand one of the world’s largest zinc and lead mines has been thrown into doubt after an Australian government judged it failed to adequately consult with Aboriginal custodians over the protection of a sacred site.
In a ruling that may remind resource investors of the backlash against Rio Tinto Group’s 2020 destruction of ancient rock shelters, the Northern Territory government found that Glencore didn’t consult all custodians of the Damangani sacred site on its McArthur River mine expansion plans.
The mine at the centre of the decade-long civil war between rebels in Bougainville and Papua New Guinea security forces is set to reopen 30 years after it was forced to close, following an agreement between local landowners.
Panguna was once one of the world’s largest and most profitable copper and goldmines and still contains an estimated 5.3m tons of copper and 19.3m ounces of gold, which would make the reserves worth about $60bn at today’s prices.
Lithium prices have “gone ballistic” as surging electric vehicles sales worldwide create massive demand for the critical component of lithium-ion batteries.
According to figures from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI), the price of the lithium-rich raw material spodumene rose 478.3% between January 2021 and January 2022.
Billionaire Andrew Forrest has raised his stake in takeover target Western Areas in a move that confirms suspicions he will try to complicate IGO Group’s friendly takeover of the nickel miner.
Dr Forrest’s private company Wyloo Metals spent $31.4 million buying Western Areas shares on Friday and Monday at an average price of just under $3.43 per share. That valuation is above the IGO offer price of $3.36 per share, which the Western Areas board supported shortly before Christmas.
https://www.mining-technology.com/
Covering more than 1.3 million km2, around 17% of the Australia’s entire land mass, the Northern Territory (NT) is home to some of Australia’s most alluring natural phenomena: Alice Springs, Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon and the spectacular Uluru or Ayres Rock.
Its uniquely red terrain – cast against the often sunny skies – is awash with historical Aboriginal culture too; much of the land is owned by the Aboriginal people comprising a wide assortment of tribes. However, those cultures have often clashed with state and federal governments , particularly when it comes to matters associated with land and its use.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
