Mining giant Rio Tinto (LON, ASX:RIO), the world's second-largest iron ore producer, lowered its forecast on full-year exports from Australia, despite China's recent spike in demand is supporting prices of the steelmaking material.Rio now expects to ship 325 million to 330 million tonnes in 2016, down from its earlier guidance of 330 million tonnes.The diversified miner said third-quarter shipment...Read More
The chairman of the world's largest mining company, BHP Billiton (ASX, NYSE:BHP) (LON:BLT), has just announced he would not seek re-election at next year's annual general meeting (AGM).Nasser had intended to announce his retirement last year but chose to stay on at the mining company to provide stability as BHP dealt with the aftermath of Samarco.Australian Jac Nasser, who was appointed chairman...Read More
Private equity firm Mineria Activa acquired 90% of Pampa Camarones through a US$18mm capital increase in the company.Previous shareholders, Samsung C&T and Pampa Mater, kept a minority participation.Pampa Camarones is a copper mining company located in the region of Arica, Chile. The company has a capacity to produce 8500 tons of copper cathodes per year and has been in operation since 2014.The tr...Read More
Maintaining and replacing tires are expensive for miners, said Bob Bennett, Vice President of Operations for Kal Tire during an interview at last month's MINExpo.Kal Tire is Canada's largest independent tire dealer and one of North America's largest commercial tire dealers. Kal Tire's Mining Tire Group operates at more than 150 mine sites across five continents.Full interview transcribed for clari...Read More
BHP Billiton aspires to have a workforce that is 50% female by 2025, in a report by The Financial Times.CEO Andrew Mackenzie made the announcement before the company kicks off its annual meeting in London on Thursday.BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP), the world's largest miner, currently has 65,000 employees with just 17% being female. Senior staff bonuses are already tied to hiring more female workers. BHP...Read More
Canadian junior Pistol Bay Mining (CVE:PST) announced the acquisition of all properties and deposits from AurCrest Gold (CVE:AGO) and Glencore (LON:GLEN) in Ontario's Confederation Lake Greenstone Belt.The property package covers a 31 kilometres length of the Confederation Lake Greenstone Belt and includes two zinc-copper deposits and a number of zones which are in need of follow-up drilling. Mine...Read More
One year after the reopening of its zinc, copper, and lead Aznalc??llar mine near the Spaniard city of Sevilla, Grupo Mexico's project is being scrutinized once again.Sevilla's Provincial Court decided to revisit the investigation behind the mining rights awarded to GMexico's subsidiary M?(C)xico-Minorbis. Last year, accusations about shady pre-arranged agreements to obtain such concession, dismis...Read More
In May Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE:FCX) announced the sale of its Tenke Fungurume copper mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to China Molybdenum (CMOC) for up to $2.65 billion, a crucial part of the Phoenix-based company's debt reduction program.But exiting the DRC is proving to be as complicated as operating a mine in the troubled central African country. Now Gecamines, the stat...Read More
Certain commodities tend to fly under the radar for periods of time.For example, it was only in the last couple of years that markets have been able to digest the potential impact of the electric vehicle boom, and what it may mean for raw materials. The lithium, graphite, and cobalt prices reacted accordingly, and suddenly these essential ingredients for lithium-ion batteries were hot commodities....Read More
For the first time in about five years, the world's No. 1 mining company BHP Billiton (ASX, NYSE:BHP) (LON:BLT) has said it was finally seeing clear signs of a commodity market turnaround.Announcing the results of an operational review ended Sep. 30, chief executive officer Andrew Mackenzie said there were "early signs of markets rebalancing."Iron ore and metallurgical coal prices have been stron...Read More
Imperial Metals escaped charges from its 2014 Mount Polley tailings breach near the city of Williams Lake, but the company isn't going to dodge new legal actions coming its way.Today, MiningWatch, backed by more than a dozen of other non-profit organizations including Amnesty International, Clayoquot Action, and Wilderness Committee, announced its plans to file a private prosecution under Canada's...Read More
Canadian Yamana Gold (TSX:YRI) (NYSE:AUY) is set to spin off its Brio Gold subsidiary, which operates non-core assets in Brazil, as a standalone public company.This is not the first time the Toronto-based mid-sized gold producer tries to divest the three Brazilian mines owned by its local unit. Late last year, the company attempted to sell some of its 100% stake in Brio through a private share pla...Read More
Production of cobalt, used in the lithium batteries that power everything from smartphones to electric cars, is set to soar in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), thanks to the country's low operating costs and strong projects pipeline, a new study published Tuesday shows.Analysts a BMI Research, a division of Fitch Group, estimate the country's cobalt output will jump from 66.2 thousand t...Read More
A massive gold-copper mine planned for northwest B.C.'s Golden Triangle would have a higher capital cost but lower operating costs and a smaller environmental footprint, according to a revised plan.Seabridge Gold Inc. (TSX:SEA) recently updated its plans for the proposed Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) mine 65 kilometres northwest of Stewart with a preliminary economic assessment and an updated p...Read More
A Peruvian farmer who died Friday during protests against MMG's giant Las Bambas copper mine, which came online this year, was shot to death, authorities have confirmed Monday.Interior Minister Carlos Basombr?-o said the victim died from a bullet wound to the head, presumably fired by Peruvian police while they attempted to disperse more than 200 protesters who had blocked an access road to the mi...Read More
The full delivery of minerals processing equipment to the Qulong copper mine covers engineering, a full scope of advanced minerals processing equipment and advanced process control system including 6 crushers, 8 semi-autogenous grinding mills and 8 ball mills, 8 stirred mills, 4 vertical plate pressure filters and 16 vibrating screens, as well as related services like installation, start-up, commi...Read More
Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), the world's No.1 heavy machinery maker, will lose its iconic chairman and chief executive officer early next year, as Doug Oberhelman has decided to retire effective March 31 after more than 41 years with the company.Traditionally, CAT's top executives have remained in their positions beyond age 65. The fact that Oberhelman is retiring at 63 suggests he is leaving ahead...Read More
South Africa's Harmony Gold (JSE:HAR) (NYSE:HMY), the world's fifth largest producer of the precious metal, said Monday that production in the three months to September was about 10% percent higher than the previous quarter.After losing money for three years to 2015, Harmony is now focused on finding ways to offset falling production at its South African operations.However, the 514,000 ounces o...Read More
Small but growing Australian gold producer Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN) has taken a bite out of its much larger, dual-listed rival, Newcrest Mining (ASX:NCM, TSX:NM)The Sydney and Perth-based company is about 1/16th the size of Newcrest by market value, but is paying Newcrest up to AUD$10 million for its Marsden copper-gold project located in central New South Wales. The deal specifies an up-front...Read More
Konkola Copper Mines, a subsidiary of London-listed Vedanta Resources, has shut down its gigantic Nchanga Smelter in the city of Chingola, located in Zambia's Copperbelt Province.The closure, which is expected to last for 40 days, is explained by the company as a needed maintenance measure, which will debottleneck the smelting stream to its capacity and result in a 35% rise in production.KCM will...Read More