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US judge narrows investor lawsuit against Rio Tinto over Mongolian mine – by Jonathan Stempel (Reuters – November 7, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

NEW YORK, Nov 7 (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Thursday dismissed some claims in a lawsuit accusing Rio Tinto and its former CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques of defrauding investors by concealing problems developing the $5.3 billion Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan addressed recently added claims that Rio Tinto knowingly concealed how it would miss a deadline for “draw bell” blasting, a key milestone, while Jacques hid delays and associated cost overruns.

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Miners react to election news – by Munira Rajkotwalla (Mining Magazine – November 6, 2024)

https://www.miningmagazine.com/

Domestic push and less red-tape emerge as key themes

As the US prepares to usher in another Trump presidency, the mining industry is watching closely. Topics like the country’s China outlook, investment policy and environmental regulation are all expected to have ripple effects for miners and service providers, both in country and out.

Some industry leaders see the possibility of renewed policies aimed at reducing red tape and accelerating project timelines, aligning with former President Trump’s pro-business stance.

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Abandoned copper mines embraced as fast track to boost output – by Divya Rajagopal (Reuters – October 30, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

TORONTO, Oct 30 (Reuters) – In the race to secure copper for the clean energy transition and artificial intelligence applications, a range of companies are firing up abandoned assets once seen as financial liabilities to fast-track significant volumes of supply.

The call for copper is poised to surge in coming years due to its role in electric vehicles, renewable energy and data centers for artificial intelligence. Demand is expected to outstrip supply by 1.7% in 2035, and copper prices have scaled record highs this year.

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Ivanhoe cuts copper forecast on DRC power woes, while Friedland touts new discoveries – by Henry Lazenby (Northern Miner – October 30, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN; US-OTC: IVPAF) on Wednesday reported record third-quarter copper production but cut its full-year guidance by 6%, blaming power outages at its Kamoa-Kakula complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Toronto-based company lowered the copper guidance to 425,000–450,000 tonnes, from 440,000–490,000 tonnes. The disruptions stemmed from deficient transmission capacity and instability in the DRC’s southern grid, managed by state-owned Société Nationale d’Électricité. Delays in upgrading the Inga II dam’s transmission line and grid bottlenecks at the Kolwezi substation limited reliable power delivery.

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BHP Retreats From Comments About Moving On From Anglo Bid – by Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – October 30, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — BHP Group has been forced to walk back from comments about having “moved on” from its failed Anglo American Plc bid to prevent its hands being tied by the UK takeover panel from launching another buyout attempt.

Chairman Ken MacKenzie made the comments Wednesday at a shareholder meeting of the world’s biggest miner in Australia. Anglo shares fell as much as 4.5%, underperforming the wider sector.

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Millennial mining heirs bet the family business on Argentine copper – by Jacob Lornic (Bloomberg News – October 25, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

When he was 16, Adam Lundin was lowered by helicopter into the remote wilderness of northern Canada. For the son of a wealthy mining mogul, this was something of an initiation. He spent the summer hunting for gold — shadowing grizzled prospectors and geologists, bushwhacking through the Boréal forest.

He even dug holes for where the outhouses would go. “I just wanted to be kept busy,” he said. Adam, 37, is now the chairman of Lundin Mining Corp., a publicly traded Canadian metals producer. His younger brother, Jack, 34, is the company’s chief executive officer.

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Teck cuts copper forecast again as it encounters more problems at anchor QB2 mine in Chile – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – October 25, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Teck Resources Ltd. has cut its full-year copper forecast yet again owing to setbacks at multiple mines, including at its giant QB2 copper operation in Chile. Vancouver-based Teck said on Thursday that its 2024 copper production will be between 420,000 tonnes and 455,000 tonnes, about 6.5 per cent lower than predicted.

The downgrade was driven in part by issues with its haul trucks at its Highland Valley mine in British Columbia, including labour availability and problems with its autonomous system. Teck also cut its guidance for the QB2 mine in Chile, reducing its forecast by 6 per cent to roughly 205,000 tonnes.

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Saudi’s Manara in advanced talks to buy stake in First Quantum’s Zambian mines – by Divya Rajagopal, Clara Denina and Felix Njini (Reuters – October 16, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

Saudi Arabia’s Manara Minerals is closing in on a deal to buy a minority stake in Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals’ Zambian copper and nickel assets, three people familiar with the details told Reuters.

Manara, a joint venture between Saudi Arabian mining company Ma’aden and its $925 billion Public Investment Fund, is in advanced talks to acquire between 15% and 20% equity in the Zambian assets, the sources said.

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Mining the Northwest: Ottawa drops $14 million to help move critical minerals to market – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – October 7, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Four northwestern Ontario mining proponents snag funding for road, transmission line and engineering work

Four copper and lithium mine developers in northwestern Ontario, collectively, will be pocketing almost $14 million in federal funding to build access roads and power lines into their future mine sites.

Federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson delivered the news in Thunder Bay, Oct. 7, that $13.8 million is earmarked for five mining-related projects – including two with Sudbury’s Frontier Lithium – that will facilitate the mining and movement of these critical minerals for processing and eventually to the electric vehicle supply market.

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China’s Fast-Growing Copper Champion Is Reshaping Global Metal Supply (Bloomberg News – October 2, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Chen Jinghe was not long out of university when a government official handed him the assignment that would change his life. Go to Zijin mountain, he was told, and find gold.

It was 1982, and the geology graduate found himself on forested slopes in the remote, humid highlands of southeastern China. The bet paid off. The deposit his team eventually discovered became the nation’s biggest gold mine — and the foundation for a $67 billion state-owned behemoth that is today driving copper supply growth and gaining ground on some of the most established names in the global resources industry.

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Column: Exuberant iron ore, subdued copper show different sides of China stimulus – by Clyde Russell (Reuters – October 2, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

China’s significant stimulus measures have kicked the prices of key metals higher, and the gains have largely been sustained even amid a debate as to whether Beijing has actually done enough to boost the world’s second-biggest economy.

The raft of announcements last week, which included lower interest rates and easier home purchase terms, saw metals prices respond, especially those with a high degree of China exposure, such as iron ore.

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Rio Tinto, BHP & Glencore ‘Feeling the Pinch on Copper’ – by Sean Ashcroft (Mining Digital.com – September 30, 2024)

https://miningdigital.com/

Major diversified miners including Rio Tinto, BHP Group & Glencore are feeling the pressure of a slowdown in global economic growth and declining commerce

Some of the world’s biggest mining companies are struggling to balance investor expectations for hefty returns against the necessity of paying a premium to acquire pure-play copper companies. The challenge comes as global demand for the metal drives valuations to new heights, reports Reuters.

Major diversified miners, including Rio Tinto, BHP Group, and Glencore, are feeling the pressure of a slowdown in global economic growth and declining commodity prices. These factors have led to a significant decrease in their share prices, ranging from 10% to 15% this year.

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London mining company with Canadian connections plans copper mine acquisitions after sealing Turkish deal – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – September 25, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A Russian-British mining executive has launched an attempt to build an international copper-mining portfolio with the purchase of a Turkish mine and will soon set his sights on Canada.

Earlier this month, Artem Volynets, the chairman and CEO of ACG Metals Ltd., which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, announced an investment of US$290-million in the Gediktepe mine in western Turkey. In an interview with The Globe and Mail, he said the purchase marked the first step of his “company’s vision to roll up the copper sector through a series of acquisitions.”

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Metals security of supply depends on junior resource companies – by Rick Mills (Ahead of the Herd/Mining.com – September 19, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

A junior resource company’s place in the food chain is to acquire projects, make discoveries and hopefully advance them to the point when a larger mining company takes it over. Discoveries won’t be made if juniors don’t have boots on the ground, if they aren’t out in the bush poking around and breaking rocks.

Few exploration companies have the money or technical expertise to “go mining”. For many, the goal is to find a deposit that’s good enough to attract a major who will acquire the asset. Another pathway is for the junior to partner with a larger company. An option or joint venture (JV) agreement is a way for juniors to gain access to the financial and technical resources needed to build the mine.

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OPINION: Canada’s mine decision was no rubber stamp – by R. Brent Murphy (Anchorage Daily News – September 23, 2024)

https://www.adn.com/

R. Brent Murphy is senior vice president for environmental affairs at Seabridge Gold.

Having spent my entire career at the intersection of mining and sustainability, I have grown accustomed to the widespread misinformation surrounding our industry. Unfortunately, it’s a reality my colleagues and I face daily on a global scale, and if we responded to every instance, we would have little time left for the work that truly matters.

However, the sheer level of inaccuracy and hypocrisy regarding the Substantially Started Determination, or SSD, status for our proposed KSM project in Brian Lynch’s recent commentary demands a response. First and foremost, Lynch’s commentary failed to acknowledge several key facts regarding our two decades of dedicated efforts and nearly CAD $1 billion of investments to responsibly advance the KSM Project.

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