Otmane El Rhazi : Mining BEE ownership to be tested in court – Minister

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Government, organised mining and organised labour have agreed to work collaboratively to obtain a court ruling on the crucial issue of black economic-empowerment (BEE) ownership of mines, the only sticking point of Tuesday’s Mining Charter deadline. In an interim announcement on the outcome of the government’s Mining Charter audit, Minerals Minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi told a packed media conference, in which Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online participated at the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), in Pretoria, that the once empowered, always empowered principle would be the one charter aspect that would be tested in court.

Otmane El Rhazi : KIOCL prodded to form alliances to participate in iron-ore auctions

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India’s Steel Ministry has proposed that KIOCL (formerly Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited, should ally with other government-owned mineral and metal companies to bid for iron-ore resources. According to an official in the Steel Ministry, having been unsuccessful in securing captive iron-ore reserves and the government’s inability to allot one through government dispensation under changed legislative environment, KIOCL would need to enter into an alliance to bag a captive mine through the mandatory auction route.

Otmane El Rhazi : Ascot gets approval for Wonmunna plans

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The Western Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum has given its approval for the proposed development and mine closure plan at the Wonmunna iron-ore project, owner Ascot Resources announced on Tuesday. Along with the native vegetation clearing permit, which was granted last October, the mining proposal approval would allow Ascot to start topsoil and overburden removal once the company obtained development finance and board approval for the Wonmunna project.

Otmane El Rhazi : Cliffs completes refinancing transactions

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NYSE-listed Cliffs Natural Resources has entered into a new senior secured asset-based revolving credit facility (ABL facility) and has completed a private offering of $540-million total principal amount of 8.25% senior secured notes due on March 31, 2020, the company announced on Monda. Cleveland, Ohio-based Cliffs received net proceeds, after the initial purchasers' discounts and the payment of fees and expenses, of about $491.4-million from the offering of the new first lien notes.

Otmane El Rhazi : Minerals Minister to announce mining charter audit outcomes

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South Africa’s Mineral Resources Minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi will on Tuesday brief the media on the outcomes of the audit to assess the extent to which mining companies have complied with the Mining Charter in the ten years to 2014. This follows the Minister making in clear last month that the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) audit of charter compliance would be released before the end of March after the DMR commissioned auditing firm Moloto Solutions to conduct the audit in July 2014.

Otmane El Rhazi : Mgojo transitioning to Exxaro CEO post as Nkosi begins exit process

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Mxolisi Mgojo, the executive responsible for carbon operations at the JSE-listed diversified mining company Exxaro Resources, has been appointed to serve as CEO-designate of the black-controlled company as part of a year-long exit process by incumbent CEO Sipho Nkosi, who will retire in March 2016. In what must rank as the most orderly and prolonged handing over of executive control, the transitioning process is due to begin on May 1 this year and continue until March 31, 2016

Otmane El Rhazi : Ferrex progresses DFS for Togo manganese project

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Aim-listed manganese development and iron-ore exploration company Ferrex on Monday reported that the definitive feasibility study (DFS) on its Nayega project, in northern Togo, was nearing completion. The company was now focused on accelerating the start-up model to export 250 000 t/y of manganese ore to generate early cash flow.

Otmane El Rhazi : NSL signs lump offtake in India

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ASX-listed iron developer NSL Consolidated has signed another offtake agreement for its iron-ore projects in India, this time covering up to 200 000 t of existing Phase 1 dry beneficiation plant lump product. The transaction was signed with pellet producer BMM Ispat, and had the capability of absorbing all the expected output from the existing plant, NSL said on Monday.

Otmane El Rhazi : Brazil gov't names Vale CEO Ferreira to head Petrobras board

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Brazil's government has selected Murilo Ferreira, the CEO of miner Vale, to head the board of embattled state-run Petroleo Brasileiro, according to a filing from the oil company on Friday. The other nominations for the board responsible for steering Petrobras through a massive corruption probe were little changed from the current one. Shareholders will vote on the selections at an April 29 meeting.

Otmane El Rhazi : Bauba makes first chrome shipment in platinum exploration funding move

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The JSE-listed Bauba Platinum, which is mining and selling chrome ore to fund its platinum exploration, this week shipped the first run-of-mine output from its maiden chrome horizon blast at the Moeijelik operation. Bauba last year entered into a two-year chrome-ore supply agreement with ASA Metals, which is augmenting supply from its own chrome mine and smelter located some 30 km from Moeijelik.

Otmane El Rhazi : Rio Tinto dismisses 'harebrained' Fortescue iron ore plan

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The head of the world's second-largest iron ore miner dismissed as "harebrained" a suggestion by smaller rival Fortescue Metals Group that miners should cap output of the steelmaking raw material to boost prices. Rio Tinto Chief Executive Sam Walsh said on Thursday there would be no benefit to Australia from trying to support the iron ore price by setting a cap on production, despite market oversupply and waning demand growth in China.

Otmane El Rhazi : ACCC wants Forrest to explain call for iron-ore production cap

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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has called on mining magnate Andrew Forrest to explain his calls for iron-ore producers to work together to cap production to halt the fall of the iron-ore price. “The ACCC will be looking closely at Forrest’s comments and the context in which they were made. In general terms, any attempt by Australian businesses to encourage competitors to restrict output is a matter of grave concern to the ACCC,” said ACCC chairperson Rod Sims.

Otmane El Rhazi : Northern Iron needs more help to secure financial future

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Despite implementing a number of contract renegotiations, iron-ore miner Northern Iron on Thursday told shareholders that more work would be required to secure the company’s financial future. The company in January warned that more funding would be required if Northern Iron was to continue as a going concern, as the declining iron-ore price negatively affected its working capital position.

Otmane El Rhazi : India’s MMTC sets up subsidiary in South Africa

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India’s government-owned and -operated MMTC Limited is planning to float a fully-fledged trading company in South Africa to leverage the region’s mineral assets and offset falling iron-ore exports at home. According to a strategic plan drawn up by the country’s largest trading house, the South African base would enable MMTC to expand its footprint across the continent and make up for the trading volumes that India lost in the international iron-ore trade business.

Otmane El Rhazi : Fortescue MD defends Andrew Forrest’s call for Pilbara production cap

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Iron-ore major Fortescue MD Nev Power has defended remarks by chairperson Andrew Forrest that major iron-ore producers in the Pilbara should put a cap on production in an effort to stop the decline of iron-ore prices. The Australian on Wednesday quoted Forrest as saying at a business dinner in Shanghai that he would be “happy” to cap Fortescue’s production at 180-million tonnes a year.

Otmane El Rhazi : CITIC takes HK$13.7m hit on WA iron-ore project

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Chinese major CITIC has reported a HK$13.7-billion noncash impairment on the Sino iron-ore project, in Western Australia, during the full year ended December. As a result, the miner reported a drop in profit attributable to shareholders from HK$48.4-billion to HK$39.8-billion.

Otmane El Rhazi : New contract to lower costs - BC Iron

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Iron-ore miner BC Iron was expecting to save between A$2/t and A$3/t in C1 cash costs at the Warrigal hub, at its Nullagine joint venture (JV), in Western Australia, following the award of a A$40-million mining, crushing and screening contract to fellow-listed Viento Group. “Our contracting strategy is key to our 2015 cost reduction efforts and it is pleasing to achieve meaningful savings for the Warrigal hub,” said MD Morgan Ball.

Otmane El Rhazi : Seize opportunity to improve mining tax, pleads KPMG’s Saloojee

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South Africa should seize the current timely opportunity to amend its mining taxation to make the most sense in encouraging foreign investment, stimulating prospecting, getting mining companies to start dealing with marginal mines and at the same time giving enough back to the fiscus and the people, KPMG corporate tax head Muhammad Saloojee pleaded on Tuesday. “That’s the model we’ve got to start working on, bringing all those factors into account,” said Saloojee, who spoke to Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online on the sidelines of the 2015 Breakfast Conversation prelude to the upcoming Junior Indaba in Johannesburg on June 3 and 4.

Otmane El Rhazi : Cameroonian investor pumps $5m into IMIC, joins board

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Aim-listed iron-ore miner International Mining & Infrastructure Corporation (IMIC) has received a $5-million capital injection by Cameroon-based investment vehicle Caisse Capital, through a convertible bond. Caisse was controlled by Cameroonian businessperson and MTN Cameroon chairperson Colin Mukete, who had broad business interests in telecommunications, broadcasting, agribusinesses, property development, construction and asset management.

Otmane El Rhazi : Dome completes PFS on iron sands project

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A prefeasibility study (PFS) into the Sigatoka iron sands project, in Fiji, has placed a $83.2-million price tag on the development, said owner Dome Gold Mines on Tuesday. With a pay-back period of less than two years, the project was expected to have a net present value of $236.9-million and an internal rate of return of 55%.

Otmane El Rhazi : Pluton board regains control of company

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ASX-listed project house Watpac has given fellow-listed Pluton Resources two months in which to pay its debts, after the miner retired its receivers and managers. The Pluton administrators ordered Watpac in November last year to limit the scope of work being undertaken at the Cockatoo Island operations, after the mining services contract was suspended after Pluton’s junior Chinese creditor Rizhao Port Group appointed receivers and managers to Pluton.

Otmane El Rhazi : Stellar upgrades Heemskirk financials

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A metallurgical optimisation upgrade at the Heemskirk tin project, in Tasmania, has resulted in a 34.2% increase in the project’s net present value, owner Stellar Resources reported on Tuesday. A 2013 prefeasibility study had estimated that a $114-million investment would be required to support an annual production of 4 327 t of tin-in-concentrate. At the time, the project was estimated to have a net present value of A$61-million, at a tin price of $25 500/t.

Otmane El Rhazi : Ontario’s Ring of Fire gets new champion as Cliffs bows out of emerging mining camp

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Northern Ontario’s emerging minerals-rich Ring of Fire (RoF) mining camp has a new champion after US-focused iron-ore producer Cliffs Natural Resources agreed to bow out of the prospective region by selling its claims to explorer Noront Resources for $20-million. Noront, which was currently in the permitting phase of its flagship Eagle’s Nest nickel/copper/platinum group element mine, located in the RoF, would buy from two Cliffs subsidiaries about 103 claims, including a 100% interest in the Cliff’s prized Black Thor chromite deposit; and a 100% interest in the Black Label chromite deposit.

Otmane El Rhazi : Pallinghurst shares rise on triple performance in troubled times

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The shares of diversified mining company Pallinghurst rose by more than 4% in Johannesburg on Monday after the company reported a rise on the performance of its platinum, manganese and coloured gemstones business units during troubled times. In the 12 months to December 31, the JSE-listed company’s profit was $55-million and its net asset value 35% higher after its Sedibelo Platinum operations recorded their first full year of profitability, along with three-million fatality-free shifts.

Otmane El Rhazi : Iron-ore miner Fortescue says no urgent need to refinance debt

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Australian miner Fortescue Metals Group on Monday played down worries about the need to refinance its debt, saying its mines are still making money despite a slump in iron ore prices to their lowest level since 2008. The company had a number of options to refinance, including seeking a new term loan or high yield debt, Chief Executive Nev Power said, the week after the world no.4 iron ore miner scrapped a $2.5-billion bond sale.

Otmane El Rhazi : India's upper house passes Bill to auction mines

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India's upper house of parliament passed a bill on Friday to auction mines that supply minerals like iron-ore and bauxite for the first time, in a thumbs up for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bid to kickstart an industry that has languished for years. The passage of the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Bill by the Rajya Sabha was crucial for Modi because the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lacks a majority in the second chamber.

Otmane El Rhazi : Scotiabank sues Cliffs Natural for breach of loan terms

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Canada's Bank of Nova Scotia sued Cliffs Natural Resources, saying the US iron-ore miner had breached terms of a loan agreement when it filed for creditor protection for its Canadian operations. Cliffs in January stopped production at its Bloom Lake mine, in Quebec, where costs exceeded expectations, and started restructuring the Canadian operations after years of weak iron-ore prices.

Otmane El Rhazi : Zuma affirms Transnet’s OEM aspirations, reveals AU support for SA’s rail-champion role

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President Jacob Zuma has described Transnet's first domestic production of electric locomotives in partnership with a Chinese railways group as a “significant step” in the evolution of Transnet Engineering into an original equipment manufacturer. He has also revealed that the African Union Heads of State had taken a decision to nominate South Africa to champion the manufacturing of rolling stock on the continent. Zuma was speaking at a function to mark the delivery of 95 electric locomotives supplied to Transnet Freight Rail in a manufacturing collaboration with CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive, a joint venture between China South Rail (CSR), which holds a 70% stake, and black economic–empowerment company Matsete Basadi.

Otmane El Rhazi : Glencore opts for squeaky clean

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Diversified global mining and marketing company Glencore, which has taken a number of recent steps that indicate its keenness to travel mining’s high road, announced on Thursday that it had joined a top human rights organisation that engages governments, companies and nongovernment organisations (NGOs) in human rights dialogue. The London-, Hong Kong- and Johannesburg-listed company, headed by CEO Ivan Glasenberg, said its membership of the Plenary of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights had been granted after a rigorous review process, which involved discussions with key governments, companies and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs).

Otmane El Rhazi : Ansteel's Karara iron ore mine in Australia to cut 70 jobs

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The Karara iron ore mine in Australia will cut 70 jobs this week, or 15% of its workforce, as it struggles with falling prices of the raw material, a mine spokesman said. Karara is a joint venture between Gindalbie Metals and Chinese steel maker Ansteel.

Otmane El Rhazi : Zinc deficit expected to intensify – Glencore

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The zinc market’s 2014 deficit is expected to intensify this year, Glencore says in its latest annual report. The 200-page document, in which CEO Ivan Glasenberg notes slower than expected post-financial-crisis normalisation, positions the company as one able to react quickly and benefit strongly from a looming tightening of supply in key commodities.

Otmane El Rhazi : Fortescue pulls $2.5bn bond issue

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Iron-ore major Fortescue Metals on Wednesday scrapped the $2.5-billion senior secured note offering and refinancing plan, blaming volatile credit markets. Fortescue had planned to launch a $2.5-billion senior secured debt issue, and offered holders of its 2017, 2018 and 2019 senior unsecured notes the opportunity to tender their notes for repurchase, subject to a cap on the 2019 notes.

Otmane El Rhazi : Kasbah improves Achmmach economics

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An enhanced definitive feasibility study (DFS) into the Achmmach tin mine, in Morocco, has delivered a 35% increase to the project’s net present value, while reducing expected pre-production capital coss by 18%. The 2014 DFS had estimated that a capital investment of $181-million would be required to build the world’s eighth-largest tin mine and Africa’s biggest. At the time, the project was estimated to have a net present value of some $126-million and an internal rate of return of 23.3%.

Otmane El Rhazi : Probe Metals starts trading on the TSX-V

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After closing the plan of arrangement that saw gold major Goldcorp acquire explorer Probe Mines last week, a new exploration company Probe Metals started trading on the TSX-V on Tuesday under the ticker ‘PRB’. Goldcorp bought Probe in an all-scrip deal that valued the company at about C$526-million, in a bid to win control of the Borden gold project, in northern Ontario.

Otmane El Rhazi : Coal-rich South32 keen to help Eskom solve power issues – Kerr

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The BHP Billiton spinoff company South32, with large South African energy coal resources, would be keen to help State power utility Eskom solve some of its primary energy issues, South32 CEO-elect Graham Kerr said on Tuesday. Kerr was speaking to the media in a London teleconference call in which Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online hours after the BHP Billiton board gave its unanimous approval to the demerging of $26-billion worth of the company’s aluminium, coal, manganese, nickel and silver assets, a third of them by value hosted by South Africa.

Otmane El Rhazi : Future lies in governments creating exciting legislative empowerment – Motsepe

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Southern Africa’s economic future lies in the creation by governments of exciting legislative, regulatory and fiscal empowerment that stimulates private sector investment. That is the view of Patrice Motsepe, executive chairperson of South Africa’s black-controlled African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) mining company, who addressed the broad economic regional imperatives ahead of ARM’s latest interim results presentation attended by Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online.

Otmane El Rhazi : Fortescue launches $2.5bn note offering

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Iron-ore miner Fortescue on Tuesday launched a $2.5-billoion senior secured note offering to fund the repayment of its 2017, 2018 and a portion of its 2019 senior unsecured notes. The miner told shareholders that the new senior secured note offering would extend the company’s debt maturity profile.

Otmane El Rhazi : Owendale proves up for Platina

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The Owendale scandium project, in New South Wales, could deliver 30 t of 99.9% purity scandium oxide over a mine-life of some 70-years, ASX-listed Platina Resources reported. A scoping study into the Owendale project considered a simple openpit mining operation producing some 50 000 t/y of ore for treatment and concentration on site, based on an indicated and inferred resource of 24-million tonnes.

Otmane El Rhazi : ARM’s Motsepe urges serious govt intervention on Eskom let down

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Patrice Motsepe, chairperson of the black-controlled diversified mining company African Rainbow Minerals, on Monday urged the government to intervene seriously to establish Eskom as a competitive, cost-effective, reliable provider of electricity. Speaking at ARM’s presentation of interim results, which saw its headline earnings plunge 56% in the six months to December 31, Motsepe said South Africa had a very serious job challenge and he had no doubt that a huge number of jobs would be created if both electricity and water were available at competitive prices.

Otmane El Rhazi : Guinea could launch Simandou auction in April – Minister

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An auction over the rights to develop half of Guinea's giant Simandou iron-ore deposit could start as soon as next month, Mining Minister Kerfalla Yansane said on Monday. "I'm flying to Paris to finalise things with the lawyers and the auction could start as soon as next month," the Minister told Reuters at the Chatham House Extractive Industries in Africa conference.

Otmane El Rhazi : Ferrum eyes next step in Moonlight BFS

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Iron-ore developer Ferrum Crescent has started the process of outlining the cost of mining its Moonlight iron-ore project, in Limpopo. The ASX-, JSE- and Aim-quoted emerging miner on Monday said it was planning the next stage of the project’s bankable feasibility study (BFS), which included bulk sampling to complete all the mining cost components, as it awaited the drill-core sample results from a ten-hole drilling programme initiated at the end of 2014.

Otmane El Rhazi : KBL repays Carpi debt

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ASX-listed KBL Mining has received the first payment $13.6-million of a $23-million metals offtake agreement signed earlier this month with US-based Quintana Minerals Corporation. The payment has enabled KBL to repay the A$12.6-million owed to Capri Trading, which recalled the debt earlier this month.

Otmane El Rhazi : WA EPA approves Extension mine

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The Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has given its backing for the two- to four-million tonne a year Extension mining proposal, being developed by Australian Aboriginal Mining Corporation. EPA chairperson Paul Vogel said on Monday that the open-cut mine included the construction of roads, an accommodation camp, ore crushing and processing plant, solar drying cells and a water supply system.

Otmane El Rhazi : India deploys para-military for Rowghat mine development

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The Indian federal government has decided to increase the deployment of security personnel, including para-military forces, to speed-up the development of Rowghat iron-ore mines in central Indian province of Chhattisgarh, which has been plagued by law and order violations by armed ultra-Left wing extremists. The Ministry of Home, in charge of federal security forces, has already been in communication with the provincial government of Chhattisgarh and the government owned and operated Indian Railways on the deployment of the para-military forces, directing the Indian Railways to immediately take up construction of railway linkages at the Rowghat iron-ore reserves.

Otmane El Rhazi : Brazil's Vale transfers stake in Guinea venture to BSG Resources

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Brazilian iron-ore miner Vale transferred its stake in a joint venture in Guinea to BSG Resources on Friday, the company said in a statement. Vale said this did not mean it was renouncing its right to recover from BSG Resources the investments it lost in the venture in the Simandou deposit, one of the biggest iron-ore prospects in the world.

Otmane El Rhazi : Australia’s ACJ investing $1.5bn in Zim chrome-smelting project

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ASX-listed African Chrome Fields (ACJ) is investing $1.5-billion in an exothermic chrome smelter near the Zimbabwe Midlands town of Kwekwe. The smelter will have the capacity to produce 10 000 t of low-carbon ferrochrome a month and will process ore from the company's 147 chrome claims on the mineral-rich Great Dyke.

Otmane El Rhazi : US to probe ferroalloy imports from Australian BHP plant

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US trade officials will look into cheap imports of ferroalloy from an Australian plant owned by the world's biggest miner, BHP Billiton, which could end with the imposition of duties, the Department of Commerce said on Thursday. West Virginia-based Felman Production LLC has said large and increasing volumes of silicomanganese, an alloy additive used to make steel, from Tasmanian Electro Metallurgical Co (TEMCO) have "significantly undercut" US prices.

Otmane El Rhazi : Mining production down 4.7% y/y in January

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JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Mining production decreased by 4.7% year-on-year in January, and by 5.4% month-on-month on a seasonally adjusted basis, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) revealed on Thursday. This followed month-on-month changes of 0.2% in December and a decrease of 1.1% in November.

Otmane El Rhazi : Australia could face anti-competition probe over iron ore-Cliffs CEO

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US-based mining company Cliffs Natural Resources on Wednesday blamed Australia for a dramatic fall in ore prices and warned that its central bank may one day be called to explain anti-competitive practices. Lourenco Goncalves, president of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc, said his company was quitting the Australian iron ore business and putting its one mine in the country up for sale to focus on the more promising US market.

Otmane El Rhazi : Mining urged to win back lost investor support with ebit-predicting tools

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The mining industry was on Wednesday urged to make a strong new effort to win back lost investor support by making full use of the growing array of modern tools at their disposal that are able to predict capital return with unprecedented accuracy. Speakers at the 2015 mining business optimisation conference, under way at Mintek under the auspices of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, urged the bringing together of technical and commercial data to provide boards of directors and the investor community with highly accurate information, displayable with realistic three-dimensional (3D) imagery.

Otmane El Rhazi : Queensland announces new plan for Abbot Point dredge spoil

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The newly elected Queensland government on Wednesday announced that it had reached an agreement with major project proponents Adani and GVK to expand the Abbot Point coal terminal. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said that the new agreement would see dredge spoil dumped on land on the site known as T2, adjacent to the existing coal terminal, not on the Caley Valley wetlands or within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

Otmane El Rhazi : BC looks at Buckland options

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Iron-ore junior BC Iron was hoping to secure a partner for its Bucklands project within the next three to six months. MD Morgan Ball said on Wednesday that the company was considering a range of development options for the Buckland project, which was acquired with the takeover of junior Iron Ore Holdings (IOH) at the end of last year.

Otmane El Rhazi : Govt interventions will help to lower costs - Atlas

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Iron-ore junior Atlas Iron was confident that further cost savings were possible, with MD Ken Brinsden saying that recent government interventions would further assist in this. Speaking at the Global Iron and Steel Forecast, Brinsden pointed out that Atlas was targeting an all-in cash cost of between A$60/t and A$63/t for the full year. However, this could be lowered even further, he said.

Otmane El Rhazi : Cyclone likely to miss main Australian iron ore port - bureau

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Australia's largest iron ore export terminal Port Hedland is likely to escape the worst of a tropical cyclone forming off the country's northwest coast, the weather bureau said, but the looming storm has forced the clearing of two smaller ports. Pilbara Ports Authority said on Wednesday it has begun clearing the port and anchorages of Dampier and Ashburton of all large vessels, expected to be finished by Wednesday afternoon.

Otmane El Rhazi : Roy Hill on target to ship by Sept

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The A$10-billion Roy Hill iron-ore mine, in Western Australia, was steaming towards completion, with the mine expected to ship its first ore by September this year. CEO Barry Firzgerald said on the sidelines of the Global Iron and Steel Forecast conference, in Perth, on Wednesday that the project was about 76% complete, with the port, marine and rail works all running ahead of schedule.

Otmane El Rhazi : Commodities in doldrums waiting for Chinese upswing

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Soft commodities prices will require improved Chinese uptake in order to escape the doldrums, Scotiabank MD for investment banking Elian Terner told audience members at the Norton Rose Fulbright Latin America mining breakfast last week. “The story is pretty much China; that’s the elephant in the room,” Terner said. “When China slows down, the commodity markets are all affected whether they are copper, gold, silver, iron-ore, oil and gas etcetera.”

Otmane El Rhazi : Exxaro at BEE crossroads

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Black economic-empowerment (BEE) transactions are under scrutiny at Exxaro Resources as existing BEE deals head towards their deadlines after ten years of providing licences to operate. The original 26% BEE shareholdings, transacted in 2006 with a 2016 expiry date, must now either be sold off to other BEE groupings, or extended for further periods.

Otmane El Rhazi : Citi says iron prices to drop to around $50 in short term

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Citi on Tuesday forecast iron ore prices would drop to around $50 a tonne in the short term as demand from Chinese steel mills wanes and oversupply grips the international seaborne markets. "Chances are with the steel margins where they are, there will be a fall in iron ore prices to around $50 a tonne," Citi iron ore and steel trading head Mark Lyons told an industry conference.

Otmane El Rhazi : BHP targets iron-ore cash costs under $20/t

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Diversified major BHP Billiton’s iron-ore president Jimmy Wilson on Tuesday said that the company was looking to reduce its cash costs to below $20/t for its iron-ore product, while production improvements would be gained through little or no investment. Speaking to the Global Iron and Steel Forecast conference, in Perth, Wilson said that during the half-year ended December, the company had already reduced its cash costs by about 29%, to $20.35/t.

Otmane El Rhazi : Expanding E Cape port moves to corner regional transshipment market

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Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) has the southern hemisphere transshipment market firmly within its crosshairs, having, thus far, injected some R14-billion into the development of the purpose-built Ngqura container terminal (NCT) at the Port of Ngqura, in the Eastern Cape – located within the region’s critical Coega special economic zone (SEZ). Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown on Monday officially opened two new berths at the NCT and lauded the delivery of new port infrastructure, telling stakeholders that the move marked a significant step in parastatal Transnet’s efforts to expand the port’s capacity and position the NCT as a regional transshipment hub.

Otmane El Rhazi : Centaurus directors cut their own pay to save costs

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Australia-based iron-ore developer Centaurus Metals has announced plans to cut director fees as part of its cost saving initiatives following a capital raise in February. Centaurus raised A$1.1-million through a share placement last month, and announced plans to raise a further A$3.5-million through a rights issue to advance the development of its Candonga direct shipping ore (DSO) project, in Brazil.

Otmane El Rhazi : Creamer Media publishes Australasian Mining Roundup for March 2015 electronic research report

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The March 2015 roundup includes details of junior developer Carpentaria Exploration’s almost 20% reduction in the estimated supply chain costs for its proposed Hawsons iron-ore project, in New South Wales; the Western Australia Environmental Protection Authority’s approval of the environmental scoping study for developer Toro Energy’s Wiluna project extension; and the Foreign Investment Review Board’s approval of shareholder Zijin Mining Group’s bid for ASX-listed Norton Gold Fields.

Otmane El Rhazi : African Minerals to go into administration

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Sierra Leone-focused mining company African Minerals said on Friday it will appoint administrators after failing to repay its lender and partner in the Tonkolili iron-ore project Shandong Iron and Steel Group. After taking on some of African Minerals' debt from banks and demanding immediate repayment last week, Shandong, which owns 25% in Tonkolili, took control of the holding companies in the project.

Otmane El Rhazi : Iron-ore at record low on China mill closures

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Iron ore hit a record low below $60/t on Friday and posted its biggest weekly fall since mid November as China's anti-pollution battle threatens to shut more steel mills, cutting demand. The closure of steel mills in an industrial city in eastern China, which sparked fears of a wider crackdown, fuelled the latest selloff in iron ore, now at its weakest level since March 2009 and only cents away from the lowest since records began.

Otmane El Rhazi : Karara awarded first royalty rebate

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The Western Australian state government on Friday announced the first magnetite royalty rebate payment to ASX-listed Gindalbie Metals for its Karara project. Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Marmion said on Friday that the first magnetite royalty rebate payment highlighted the state government’s commitments to jobs, familes and communities.

Otmane El Rhazi : BSG vows to clear its name after bribery allegations, fight for return of Guinea assets

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Iron-ore, diamonds and ferronickel mining company BSG Resources (BSGR) is determined to clear its name and ensure that its assets in Guinea are “returned”, BSGR mining and metals CEO Marc Struik tells Mining Weekly. The two primary court cases in which the company is involved concern mining giant Rio Tinto and the government of Guinea.

Otmane El Rhazi : Fortescue refinances debt with $2.5bn issue

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Iron-ore major Fortescue Metals on Thursday announced a multi-billion dollar refinancing that would result in the majority of the company’s debt maturing beyond 2021. The miner launched a new $2.5-billion senior secured debt issue, and offered holders of its 2017, 2018 and 2019 senior unsecured notes to tender their notes for repurchase, subject to a cap on the 2019 notes.

Otmane El Rhazi : Transport options deliver savings at Nowa Nowa

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Junior developer Eastern Iron on Thursday revealed that a modified transport plan for its proposed Nowa Nova project, in Victoria, could drive down operating costs. A 2014 definitive feasibility study (DFS) estimated that a capital injection of A$33.6-million could deliver an openpit operation producing 780 000 t/y of 58% iron over a seven-year mine life.

Otmane El Rhazi : Glencore commits to migrating first world safety to third world countries

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Diversified major Glencore, which reported 16 fatalities last year, has committed itself to migrating first-world safety practices into the challenging geographies where more than 80% of the recorded deaths took place. The London-, Hong Kong- and Johannesburg-listed company’s SafeWork programme – in which 118 000 workers took part in 2014 – is currently being implemented in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia, Bolivia and Kazakhstan, where 13 of this year’s 16 fatalities took place.

Otmane El Rhazi : Big Four squeeze gathers pace as more iron-ore flows into saturated market – CRU

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Iron-ore prices will remain in the doldrums for 2015 as senior producers continue to bring new, low-cost output into the market, CRU group director of multi-commodity, knowledge and information Paul Robinson told an audience at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada. Stemming from this, smaller producers with tight margins and lower grades will come under much greater pressure this year, their situation compounded by being locked out of the Chinese market by the Big Four iron-ore miners: BHP Billiton, FMG, Rio Tinto and Vale.

Otmane El Rhazi : African Minerals' lender takes control of iron ore project holding companies

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African Minerals said its lender has taken control of two holding companies that own a majority stake in the companies that operate its sole project, the Tonkolili iron-ore mine in Sierra Leone. The miner said on Tuesday it is seeking legal advice on the move by Shandong Steel Hong Kong Zengli.

Otmane El Rhazi : Glencore transitioning into deficit in most commodities – Glasenberg

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Diversified major Glencore was transitioning into deficit in most of the commodities it produced, CEO Ivan Glasenberg said on Tuesday. Glasenberg, who has presided over returning $9.3-billion to shareholders in dividends and buybacks since 2011, told analysts and media in teleconferences in which Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online took part that most of the company’s commodities were free of over supply threats.

Otmane El Rhazi : Merafe in good position to meet increased ferrochrome demand – Matlala

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JSE-listed Merafe Resources “remains excited” about the industry as its mix of energy-efficient technology and the recent addition of Lion II, allows the ferrochrome producer to capitalise on projected growth in ferrochrome demand. CEO Zanele Matlala advised in a conference call on Tuesday that global stainless steel production was expected to grow in excess of 5% in 2015 and 2016, while the demand for ferrochrome could increase between 8% and 5% in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Otmane El Rhazi : Marketing hoists Glencore over low commodity price hurdle

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Diversified major Glencore has managed to scale the low commodity price hurdle with significant help from its marketing arm. The London- Hong Kong- and Johannesburg-listed company, which produces and markets 93 commodities, went against the grain with its surging agricultural business yielding timeously and funds from operations of $10.2-billion in line with 2013 reflecting a resilient operating performance.

Otmane El Rhazi : MCA slams AWU resolution calling for probe into iron-ore cartel

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The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) has criticised the Australian Workers Union’s (AWU’s) resolution demanding a Parliamentary inquiry into majors BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto’s iron-ore practices in the Pilbara. At its conference in the Gold Coast, the AWU passed a resolution condemning the two majors, claiming that they were flooding the iron-ore market with low-cost ore, resulting in the smaller, higher-cost producers being pushed out of the sector.

Otmane El Rhazi : Canadian fed and Ontario gov’ts unveil supports for mining industry

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Several federal departments of the Canadian government, as well as the Ontario provincial government on Sunday unveiled new measures and investments to increase support and drive growth in the country's besieged mining industry. In a speech to the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada, Finance Minister Joe Oliver announced that government proposed to extend the 15% Mineral Exploration Tax Credit (METC) for investors in flow-through shares for a further year, until March 31, 2016. The credit was scheduled to expire on March 31, 2015.