Australia/New Caledonia/Papua New Guinea Mining – Page 40

Mystery nickel buyer could bring First Quantum’s Ravensthorpe back online – by Brian Sylvester (Northern Miner – August 26, 2019)

August 27, 2019

Northern Miner

First Quantum Minerals (TSX: FM; LSE: FQM) management says it could have a buyer for any nickel produced from a restart of the venerable Ravensthorpe nickel-cobalt mine at Bandalup Hill in Western Australia, but on a second-quarter earnings call, the company’s CEO, Philip Pascall, was intentionally vague about who that buyer might be.

Pascall cited increasing interest from a “not Congo source” that wants a “strategic source” of nickel. “We need it to be in production to be able to take advantage of that, but it’s profitable [at current nickel prices]. The cost to bring it back into production is very modest because of the work we’ve done sustaining it,” Pascall said.

After being peppered with several questions regarding Ravensthorpe from seemingly surprised analysts, Pascall said: “[The proposed buyer] would want to see it operating. The production levels … something over 20,000 tonnes for next year. But the actual start date at the moment is going to move up or down a month or two.”

Australian gold output hits all-time high – by Alex Gluyas (Australian Mining – August 26, 2019)

August 26, 2019

Australian Mining

Australian gold production has reached an all-time record of 321 tonnes (10.3 million ounces) in the past financial year, according to gold mining consultants, Surbiton Associates.

With the gold price sitting around record territory in Australian dollar terms, the country-wide output is worth close to $23 billion to local gold miners. Australia’s 2018-2019 financial year gold production compares with the 310 tonnes produced in the previous fiscal period and 317 tonnes in the 2018 calendar year.

The achievement was driven by a bumper June 2019 quarter where gold production totalled almost 82 tonnes, making it the highest quarterly production for more than 20 years.

Profit slumps at Australia’s South32 as trade war hits aluminum prices – by Aditya Soni (Reuters U.S. – August 21, 2019)

August 23, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Australian miner South32 Ltd reported a bigger-than-expected 25% drop in annual profit as the trade war between China and the United States hurt aluminum prices, sending its shares lower by as much as 5.8% on Thursday.

South32 also said it was in talks to sell its South Africa thermal coal business to Johannesburg-based Seriti Resources, the latest company to get out of energy coal at a time when investor pressure and climate change concerns are prompting businesses to limit their exposure to fossil fuels.

The miner’s fortunes have soured in tandem with a decline in aluminum prices, which have come under pressure this year due to a slowdown in China – the world’s biggest consumer of the metal – as the Sino-U.S. trade war has escalated.

COLUMN-BHP is sailing between China stimulus breeze and trade war storm: Russell – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – August 20, 2019)

August 22, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Aug 20 (Reuters) – Spot the problem. The world’s biggest mining company, BHP Group, reports its highest profits in five years even as its top customer is engaged in a now protracted trade dispute with the world’s largest economy.

BHP on Tuesday posted an annual profit of $9.12 billion, a bumper figure built largely on selling iron ore, coal and copper to China, the world’s largest importer of commodities.

BHP’s results show it has so far managed steer a safe course, with its sails filled with the wind of Chinese stimulus spending, but the stormy seas of the trade war threaten to blow it off course. The underlying profit was slightly below the $9.4 billion forecast by analysts, but was up from the $8.93 billion a year earlier.

Mining giant BHP pays record dividend, but flags global growth headwinds – by Melanie Burton (Reuters U.K. – August 19, 2019)

August 21, 2019

https://uk.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – BHP Group posted its largest annual profit in five years and record full-year dividends, but its share price eased as the world’s biggest miner flagged global economic headwinds that could hit demand for its key commodities, iron ore and copper.

Both profit and dividends slightly undershot expectations as BHP (BHP.AX) kept cash in its coffers in the face of risks to global economic growth such as the Sino-U.S. trade war and as costs rise at some of its operations.

BHP shares edged down 0.4 cents to A$36.10 (20.16 pounds) on Tuesday, while the broader Australian market was up slightly .

BHP weighs pullout from coal mining as investors grow greener – by Fumi Matsumoto (Nikkei Asian Review – August 21, 2019)

August 20, 2019

https://asia.nikkei.com/

SYDNEY — BHP Group might sell off coal assets, the mining giant’s chief hinted Tuesday, joining global peers in the move toward environmentally sustainable businesses as retail and institutional investors grow more sensitive to such issues.

“We increasingly have concluded that this is not a business that is going to offer the prospects for growth and would compete for capital … compared to our other businesses,” CEO Andrew Mackenzie said on an earnings call.

And while coal is not going away quickly, “the plentiful supply of energy coal, combined with a somewhat dampening in demand, as it’s going to form a smaller part of the market share going forward, means that this is a less interesting asset than others for us to invest in,” Mackenzie said.

Western Areas sees strong competition for its nickel – by Brad Thompson (Australian Financial Review – August 20, 2019)

August 20, 2019

https://www.afr.com/

Western Areas has flagged hot competition for its nickel when off-take agreements with BHP expire early next year and says the mining giant has only a small window to make premiums from its new battery-focused nickel sulphate plant.

Dan Lougher-led Western Areas said on Tuesday that the rise in electric vehicles was driving keen interest in nickel concentrate from its operations in Western Australia in the countdown to off-take agreements with BHP Nickel West and China’s largest stainless steel maker, Tsingshan, expiring early in 2020.

The company has invited 19 parties to tender for new off-take agreements and says it favours short-term deals based on optimism that nickel prices will continue to strengthen on the back of demand from makers of batteries and battery precursors.

CORRECTED-UPDATE 2-PNG puts Barrick, Zijin on notice over Porgera gold mine negotiations – by Jonathan Barrett and Mell Chun (Reuters Africa – August 19, 2019)

August 19, 2019

https://af.reuters.com/

SYDNEY, Aug 19 (Reuters) – Papua New Guinea plans to take a larger share of the Porgera gold mine as part of lease-renewal talks, diluting the ownership of joint venture partners Barrick Gold Corp and Zijin Mining Group, the country’s commerce minister told Reuters on Monday.

The planned changes are part of a push by the South Pacific archipelago to transform its economy under new government leadership amid a perceived lack of benefits flowing from resources projects back to communities.

Porgera, located in PNG’s northern highlands region, is expected to produce 240,000 to 260,000 ounces of gold this year. Barrick and Zijin each own 47.5% of the mine, with the remaining 5% held by landowner group, Mineral Resources Enga.

Gold rush-era rules to stop mining pollution are still in use – but they’re failing – by Susan Lawrence and Peter Davies (The Conversation – August 14, 2019)

August 14, 2019

https://theconversation.com/

Bento Rodrigues, Brazil, 6 November 2015

Wet, orange mud covers everything: streets, houses, cars, animals, trees, fields. The violent force of a torrent of mud has overturned cars and left them hovering on top of buildings. It has torn the roofs off houses and pushed over their walls.

The view of the town from helicopters flying above reveals a desolate landscape: sludge-caked animals struggle to free themselves, and rescue teams search desperately for survivors. Mud dyes the river orange for hundreds of kilometres downstream, and two weeks later it will flow out into the Atlantic in an expanding orange stain.

This devastation is the result of the catastrophic failure of a tailings dam: a vast settling pond built to store the muddy waste from Samarco’s Germano iron ore mine.

Barrick Gold eyeing sale of 50-per-cent share in Australian mine – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – August 12, 2019)

August 14, 2019

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. is planning to sell its 50-per-cent share in the Kalgoorlie mine in Australia and has identified two Australian companies as possible buyers.

“There’s a lot of very interested parties in that asset, whether it’s Northern Star or Evolution [Mining]. Those mid-cap Aussie guys are doing extremely well,” Barrick CEO Mark Bristow said in an interview after the release of the company’s second-quarter results on Monday. Neither Northern Star nor Evolution responded to a request for comment.

After Barrick bought Randgold Resources Ltd. for US$6-billion earlier this year, the company said it intended to divest about US$1.5-billion in assets to concentrate on its highest-returning assets, such as its mines in Nevada and its massive Pueblo Viejo mine in the Dominican Republic, which needs about US$1-billion in capital expenditure over the next few years.

Australia should reduce emissions, coal mining: Pacific leaders – by Colin Packham (Reuters.com – August 13, 2019)

August 14, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu (Reuters) – Australia should do more to reduce its carbon emissions and giving cash to countries battling climate change was not enough, Pacific island leaders said on Tuesday in a rebuke of Canberra’s latest attempt to improve ties with the region.

Australia will give A$500 million ($339 million) to Pacific island nations for renewable energy projects and to help them prepare for the impact of climate change, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday before a trip to the region.

Leaders from the Pacific’s smallest islands, who say rising sea levels are an existential threat to their low-lying nations, said Canberra’s announcement did not excuse its support for the country’s coal industry.

Trump’s quest to quit China’s rare earths hits outback Australia – by David Stringer (Bloomberg/Minneapolis Star Tribune – August 7, 2019)

August 8, 2019

http://www.startribune.com/

The remote Outback region of northern Australia would seem an unlikely outpost in the simmering global trade war, but the mining hot spot may help solve a critical issue for the U.S. — the supply of rare earths.

Last October, two U.S. Geological Survey scientists visited a newly recognized type of rare earths deposit about 100 miles southeast of Halls Creek in Western Australia. Rare earths, a group of 17 vital elements needed in components for missile systems, consumer electronics and electric vehicles, have become a more important battleground after China signaled it may restrict shipments to the U.S.

“All of a sudden, you’ve got the U.S. government realizing they have a problem,” said George Bauk, chief executive officer of Northern Minerals Ltd., who has held talks in Washington and hosted the U.S. scientists at the company’s remote Browns Range project.

Trains deliver water to drought-affected NSW coal mines to keep production going and save jobs – by Kathleen Ferguson (Australian Broadcasting Corporation – August 7, 2019)

August 8, 2019

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

Trains carrying 725,000 litres of water a day are the latest weapon to keep a drought-affected mine in inland New South Wales in production and keep jobs secure.

The Southern Shorthaul Railroad [SSR] company has started carting water between Centennial Coal’s Charbon and Airlie mines near Lithgow on a 40-kilometre route.

The unorthodox mode of water supply is not only securing coal production, but also jobs. “That would have meant that they would have had to cease coal production in the mine and, for them, that would have meant laying off 140 full-time staff.”

Ecuador’s crackdown on wildcatting at Australian mogul’s mining lease faces backlash – by Alexandra Valencia and Luc Cohen (Reuters U.S. – August 6, 2019)

August 6, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

BUENOS AIRES, Ecuador (Reuters) – Ecuador’s market-friendly President Lenin Moreno is cracking down on illegal gold miners, who are increasingly encroaching on formal mines, but keeping them away from an Australian billionaire’s concession for good may prove a tall order.

Moreno last month sent 4,000 troops and police to clear thousands of miners from a gold and copper mining concession belonging to Hancock Prospecting, controlled by Gina Rinehart, Australia’s wealthiest person.

Now, with the area under a 60-day state of emergency and military and police guarding nearby Buenos Aires parish, authorities say illegal mining, also known as wildcatting, at the Imba-2 concession has stopped.

Hyperdrive: There’s One Metal Worrying Tesla and EV Battery Suppliers (David Stringer (Bloomberg News – August 4, 2019)

August 6, 2019

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Battery producers and electric automakers, including Tesla Inc., are concerned over longer-term supplies of nickel, a key material in their supply chain that’s forecast to fall into deficit, according to an Australian miner that’s held recent talks with the sector.

The need for the high-purity material used in batteries, known as class-one nickel, is likely to outstrip supply within five years, fueled mainly by rising consumption in the EV industry, according to BloombergNEF.

It’s a concern shared by Tesla, according to Peter Bradford, chief executive officer of nickel producer Independence Group NL, who last week met with a member of the car producer’s battery metals supply chain team.