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
The Philippines is considering extending a ban on new mines and will review all environmental permits previously granted to companies operating in the country, the mining minister said Friday.Miners had hoped some of the restrictions imposed in 2012 would have been lifted following the audit that finished in August. Instead, they are getting worse.The move is part of Manila's increasing efforts to...Read More
Chile's environmental regulator SMA is seeking sanctions against Antofagasta's (LON:ANTO) Los Pelambres copper mine for breaching its environmental permit in relation to the management of water resources and nearby flora.The alleged violations include the extraction of water from unauthorized sites, the construction of unapproved wells and the failure to reforest some areas as required by law.Th...Read More
Three NGOs, the Venezuelan Program for Education and Action in Human Rights-Provea, the Peace Lab, and the Working Group on Indigenous Issues at the Andes University, issued a statement blasting Nicol??s Maduro's government's push to exploit mineral resources on ancestral lands in the Bol?-var, Amazonas, and Delta Amacuro states. They are joining their voices to those of other organizations, such...Read More
Copper for December settlement on the Comex division of the NYMEX closed Thursday down 5.45 cents or 2.5% to $2.1220 per pound. Earlier, the contract slid to $2.1165 per pound, the lowest since September 13.The red metal's performance has been lacklustre managing only a 2.2% gain in 2016, following a drop of 26% last year.The recent fall is the consequence of China's September trade data, which sh...Read More
Shares in Azerbaijan-focused miner Anglo Asian Mining (LON:AAZ), the country's top gold producer, took a hit Thursday after it reported its January-September output was lower than in the same period last year, adding it was cutting its 2016 production target.The company produced 49,874 ounces of gold in the nine months to September, or 7.8% less than in the same quarter last year. As a consequence...Read More
Mining companies once again make up over 50 % of the total market capitalization on the TSX Venture Exchange, up from 36% on June 30, 2015, according to PwC Canada's 2016 Junior Mine report, Signs of Life. For the past 12 month period between June 2015 to June 2016, cash flows from financing activities increased significantly and cash flows from debt and equity financing increased to 45% and 48% r...Read More
While not expecting a boom, BMI Research in a new report is positive about the medium-term growth outlook for Iran's mining industry following the lifting of decades old Western sanctions at the beginning of the year.Over the next five years, new investment from Europe and Asia will accelerate the growth of the Middle-Eastern nation's mining sector, which contains vast underdeveloped reserves but...Read More
New permits issued to Seabridge Gold's KSM project in northern British Columbia marks an important step forward as the Toront0-based company transforms the world's largest undeveloped gold project by reserves into an underground mine.Seabridge announced on Tuesday it has received the necessary permits from the BC Government to develop an exploration adit into the large Deep Kerr Deposit at its...Read More
On Tuesday, nickel exchanged hands for $10,490 a tonne in London holding onto most of its 3% overnight gains. The nickel price has now advanced 20.7% in 2016. Measured from its multi-year trough of $7,725 a tonne struck in February, the price of the metal mainly used in steelmaking is up 38% thanks to a ban on exports from former top supplier and a crackdown on mining in the Philippines.Nevert...Read More