Month: June 2018
A self-exiled ex-fugitive is making Mexican billionaires nervous
Mining-union leader Napoleon Gomez Urrutia, who fled to Canada more than a decade ago after being accused of embezzlement, is on the short list for a senate seat in Mexico with presidential front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s party Morena. In...
Mongolian parliament OKs plan to sell 30% of Tavan Tolgoi Mine
(Bloomberg) — Mongolian lawmakers approved a plan to sell up to 30% of the troubled Tavan Tolgoi coal mine in the Gobi desert, the latest attempt to develop what’s anticipated to be massive coking and thermal coal deposits. The north...
Rio Tinto ready to splash out on copper
Rio Tinto wants copper, and it’s ready to pay top-dollar. The global miner would be willing to fork out a large premium over market value to secure a prime asset as it tries to reduce its reliance on iron ore,...
Chile injects $1bn into state-owned copper giant Codelco
Chile’s government is giving state-owned Codelco $1 billion in “extraordinary” capitalization to help it fund an ambitious plan aimed at upgrading its aging mines and dealing with dwindling ore grades. The country’s mining minister, Baldo Prokurica, said the backing was essential for Codelco...
Bluerock Diamonds trades up on resumption of production at Kareevlei
Bluerock Diamonds was up 7.87% to GBX1.27 (CAN0.02) a share after announcing production had resumed at its South African diamond mine, Kareevlei. The company announced that it had found a long-term fix for its cone crusher which had been affecting...
Lucapa digs up another large diamond, this time in Lesotho
Australia’s Lucapa Diamond (ASX:LOM) has found an 89-carat yellow diamond at its 70%-owned Mothae mine in Lesotho during the current bulk sampling program. The company’s managing director, Stephen Wetherall, said the recovery of such a large diamond so early in the bulk...
Zinc's horror run continues on rising supply, trade-war angst
(Bloomberg) — Zinc continued to slide after entering a bear market amid concern about increased supply and declining demand. The industrial metal fell for a ninth straight session, its longest losing streak in more than three years, to trade at...
Sibanye, Regulus join efforts to develop Argentina’s Altar project
South Africa’s Sibanye-Stillwater (JSE:SGL) (NYSE:SBGL), the precious metal miner target of several lawsuits over mounting deaths at its operations, said Friday it has inked an agreement with Canada’s Regulus Resources (TSX-V: REG), and its newly formed subsidiary Aldebaran Resources, to...
BHP adds electric vehicles to its light truck fleet
BHP Billiton will add two electric vehicles to its 240 fleet of trucks at its Olympic Dam mine in South Australia. The vehicles are being tested looking at various performance measures, such as the vehicles’ performance, power supply, maintenance requirements,...
Centerra mine’s future up in the air as Kyrgyzstan to review deal
Fresh doubt has been cast over a deal reached last year between Centerra Gold (TSX:CG) (OTCMKTS: CAGDF) and the Kyrgyz Republic ending long-dragged disputes, after a government speaker confirmed Friday the parliament will review the settlement in September. According to radio...
China’s No.1 maker of battery cells for EVs to build plant in Germany
China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) is said to be ready to start building a battery factory in Germany, planting a flag on the grounds of car giants BMW, Volkswagen and Daimler AG as part of a plan to settle close...
Copper price drops to 9-month low, but what about strikes?
The price of copper succumbed to renewed weakness on Thursday crashing through the $3.00 a pound level in New York in brisk trade with over 1.2m tonnes of September copper worth $8 billion exchanging hands by lunchtime. Copper touched its...