Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) is facing more uncertainty about its operations in Indonesia after reports the Asian country's new resources chief dismissed the idea of an early extension of the copper and gold giant's licence.Luhut Panjaitan, the newly appointed Maritime Affairs minister and one of president Joko Widodo's closest aides, is quoted by Reuters as saying "Freeport shouldn't push us"...Read More
The world's number two miner by revenue Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) reported its weakest first-half earnings in some 12 years on the back of falls in the value of its two main commodities, iron ore and copper prices fell.Underlying earnings for the six months to June fell 47% to $1.56 billion from $2.92 billion compared to a year earlier and the Anglo-Australian giant also cut its interim dividend by 58%...Read More
Turquoise Hill Resources (TSE,NYSE:TRQ) on Tuesday released its operational overview and financial results for its Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia that came in above expectations despite showing production declines for both metals.The Vancouver-based company said Oyu Tolgoi's second quarter concentrator throughput was in line with the first quarter at roughly 105,000 tonnes per day, but...Read More
Production of bauxite, the major source of aluminum, is accelerating steadily according to the latest reports. Strong project pipelines in Australia and India are the main growth catalyst, with 5 of Australia's bauxite mines currently providing over a quarter of global supply.Rio Tinto posted a 3.9% output increase from its bauxite operations in Australia for Q1 of this year. The mining corporatio...Read More
At a time when companies in the mining sector are struggling to raise capital to finance their ventures, some Canadian mining companies have turned to crowdfunding platforms as an innovative solution. The concept has been around for some time in various fields, including new technology, entertainment and media, and has been relatively successful. As a result, some mining companies have decided to...Read More
Gold may be grabbing the headlines with its best year-to-date performance in decades and silver's 48% surge in 2016 to above $20 an ounce is a big swing even for such a volatile metal, but this year's rally in commodities is broad-based and becoming more so.After underperforming gold in 2016, platinum has now overtaken the yellow metal with a year to date advance of a shade under 34%. A chunk...Read More
On Monday, nickel exchanged hands for $10,755 a tonne in London, the highest since mid-August last year and a 24% advance in 2016. Measured from its 2016 trough of $7,725 a tonne struck in February, the price of the metal mainly used in steelmaking is up 39%.Nevertheless, it's still nowhere near where it was in early in 2014 when Indonesia's ban on ore exports led many to believe the volati...Read More
Both the Philippines and Indonesia are seeking to reinforce environmental regulations and increase revenues from the mining sector, compounding longer-term difficulties for mining operators in both countries.Mining firms could face penalties for not complying with previously unenforced regulations, especially in the Philippines where President Rodrigo Duterte has spoken against the negative effect...Read More
Anglo American (LON:AAL) is said to have brushed off an approach from Vedanta Resources' (LON:VED) chairman Anil Agarwal on a potential business combination, saying that the idea didn't make sense.Agarwal, the billionaire behind India's largest mining conglomerate and Hindustan Zinc, allegedly approached Anglo in several opportunities earlier this year to discuss potential tie-ups, including a...Read More
The economic rise of Asia has been swift, but it has also been a little reckless at times.China's rapid spending and investment has come at a price. The country is now saddled with a massive debt bomb that could detonate at any moment. Further, economic interests have helped to create a precarious situation in the South China Sea, which many experts see as having escalating potential for armed con...Read More
Canada's largest diversified miner, Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) (NYSE:TCK), reported second quarter results on Thursday that beat estimates, but only just. The Vancouver-based company posted earnings of $0.01 a share, or $3 million profit. Revenue also came in higher than expected at $1.74 billion, beating forecasts of $1.33 billion. Analysts had predicted losses of $0.01 a share. The stock was...Read More
Shares in Anglo American (LON:AAL) were up Thursday after the miner announced its net debt had fallen and that an aggressive cost-cutting and asset sale strategy was on track.The stock jumped almost 7% to 855.70 p, its highest level in more than a year, after the announcement and it was still trading about 5.25% up to 841.60 p at 3:47 pm GMT, outperforming the sector.Anglo said that current vola...Read More
Peruvian authorities are losing their battle against an army of illegal gold miners who have carved a toxic path through the country's rainforest, one of the most biologically diverse places on earth.Total forest loss to date along the Santiago River is 8 hectares or the equivalent to 12 soccer fields.According to an in-depth report by The New York Times, a force of marines and rangers sent in t...Read More
Chile-focused copper miner Antofagasta Plc (LON:ANTO) has cut its full-year production target, saying it is now expected to be at the lower end of the 710,000 tonnes to 740,000 tonnes outlook provided in January, with production for the year weighted to the second half.Like other metals miners, Antofagasta was rocked by the commodities rout to the point it described 2015 as "undeniably difficult",...Read More
Global copper production capacity at mine level through 2019 is expected to grow at a robust average annual rate of 4% to reach 26.5 million tonnes (mt) a year in 2019, according to a Read More
After an initial drop, shares in copper and gold giant Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) closed higher on Tuesday as investors weighed the impact of a proposed $1.5 billion share issue to cut debt against an announcement that the company is holding off on further asset sales this year.Reuters reports CEO Richard Adkerson said on a conference call after second quarter results that he is "confident t...Read More
Canada's Barrick Gold (TSX, NYSE:ABX), the world's No.1 miner of the precious metal, may soon sell its majority stake in its African subsidiary Acacia Mining (LON:ACA) and it has already begun preliminary talks with several South African companies.The potential sale of the publicly traded African operation, according to sources familiar with the matter quoted by Reuters, is part of the company's p...Read More
Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), the world's No.1 heavy machinery maker, has reviewed down its forecast for 2016 profit and sales for the second time in three months as demand for mining and energy equipment has failed to pick up.The Peoria, Illinois-based company lowered its full-year 2016 sales outlook to a range of $40-billion to $40.5-billion, from $40-billion to $42-billion. It now expects earnings o...Read More
Chinese miners have been aggressively scouting for overseas mining acquisitions this year and are expected to continue bidding for strategic assets amid a commodity downturn that has pushed top miners to shore up their balance sheets by off-loading operations.Only from January to June this year, China-backed funds and companies snapped up $4.5 billion worth of overseas mining assets, or 18.2% more...Read More
North American stock markets continued to climb on Friday, while the dollar ascended a four-month high, causing downward pressure on precious and base metals prices.As the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq indices all finished up, copper for September delivery on the Comex in New York slumped 2.6 cents or 1.2 percent to $2.23 a pound. Gold was down 0.67% to $1,322.39 an ounce, along with silver, w...Read More