Fastmarkets presents a round-up of several of the key takeaway points from Iron Ore Week 2019 in Singapore.Steel mill margins still keyHigh-grade iron ore demand was healthy last year while the Chinese government focused on its Blue Sky project and supply-side reforms, in turn prompting steel mills to consume more high-grade iron ore, assistant general manager Ji Chao of Baoshan Iron & Steel said...Read More
Trading activity in the seaborne coking coal market slowed down on Tuesday May 14 with participants staying on the sidelines after prices rose by around 3% within the span of a week.The Fastmarkets MB fob Australia Premium Hard Coking Coal Index stood at $212.67 per tonne during the day, up 3.2% from $206.11 per tonne a week earlier."There is still demand from India but I'm not sure if the buyers...Read More
Toronto-based junior miner Orvana Minerals (TSX: ORV) posted a relatively strong fiscal second quarter ended March 31, 2019, with good performance from its two operating mines: the Don Mario gold mine in Bolivia and the El Valle gold-copper mine in Spain.Orvana recorded net income of $3.3 million on $36 million in revenue during the past quarter, compared with a net loss of $3.5 million on $37 mil...Read More
A large proportion of the minority shareholders in Rio Tinto Plc-controlled Turquoise Hill Resources voted against the re-election of the company's independent directors on Tuesday.While all seven directors were re-elected to the board, according to a Turquoise Hill filing, over 40% of Turquoise Hill's minority shareholders, including its second-biggest investor, Sailingstone Capital Partners, vot...Read More
Barrick Gold Corp , the world's second largest bullion miner, is preparing its Zambian copper mine Lumwana for sale in the second half of 2019, looking to target Chinese buyers, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.Fresh from two major deals in recent months, Barrick has said it plans to shed $1.5 billion of less productive mines, which have little expansion potential.The sale of Lumwan...Read More
Global miner BHP will hold on to the Australian nickel operations it previously put up for sale, while Rio Tinto is working on copper and lithium projects as the mining industry bets on demand for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.The biggest mining companies say they are well positioned to provide the metals needed for the shift to EV technology, although they acknowledge the political risks and en...Read More
White Metal Resources (TSXV: WHM) announced that it entered into two binding letters of intent to purchase a 95% interest in certain prospective copper properties in Namibia.In a press release, the miner said that the two LOIs refer to four Exclusive Prospecting Licences that cover historical copper-silver resources in the Kalahari Copper Belt and the Kaoko Belt, and prospective targets for furthe...Read More
Brazilian miner Vale is considering whether to increase the production capacity at its Caraj??s Serra Sul iron-ore complex over the next decade to 150 million tonnes per year from 90 million tpy currently, the company said in a presentation on Tuesday May 14.The goals of the project include working more with dry processing, improving the operational and logistic flexibility of premium products and...Read More
Italian re-roller Marcegaglia has announced a price increase of ?,?20-30 per tonne to its hollow sections, coil and plate product, effective immediately, the company told Fastmarkets at the Made in Steel trade fair in Milan, Italy on Tuesday May 14. Although market sources have not confirmed the price increase, some market participants said they believed that more steelmakers will attempt to raise...Read More
RAPAPORT... Polished-diamond imports to Hong Kong declined 3% in thefirst quarter, according to data from the Diamond Federation of Hong Kong,China. The average price of imports rose 3%, but was outweighed by lowervolumes.Hong Kong Diamond Trade Data for 1Q 2019 $ Millions unless stated otherwiseRead More
RAPAPORT... Petra Diamonds sold a 425-carat white diamond from itsCullinan mine in South Africa for just under $15 million, it said Tuesday. "This is a significant sale for Petra Diamonds and anendorsement of the quality not only of the Legacy diamond, but also theCullinan ore body itself, which is known for its exceptional stones," saidPetra CEO Richard Duffy. The D-color, type II, gem-quality s...Read More
South Africa's Petra Diamonds (LON:PDL) has sold its 425-carat "Legacy of the Cullinan Diamond Mine" diamond to Belgium-based Stargems Group for $15 million.The exceptional D colour Type IIa gem was recovered in March from the company's iconic Cullinan mine, the same that yielded the Cullinan diamond - at 3,106 carats the largest rough diamond ever found and which today is part of the British C...Read More
RAPAPORT... The rise of lab-grown diamonds might finally be tricklingthrough to the historic heart of the trade: the diamond exchanges.It began last November, when Anoop Mehta, president ofMumbai's Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB), told Rapaport News some of itsmembers had asked for a rethink of its total ban on synthetics in the complex.The BDB delayed taking action due to "issues" in the market...Read More
Russian aluminium producer Rusal said it will focus on restoring its market position after its first-quarter revenues plunged by 20.9% year on year in a period "challenged by the past year's events". Rusal reported revenue in the first quarter of 2019 of $2.17 billion, a fall of 20.9% year on year from $2.744 billion. The company said the fall in revenue was due to the decrease in the London Metal...Read More
Australia's corporate regulator is asking the Federal Court for approval to wind up Merlin Diamonds (ASX:MED), whose shares have been suspended from trading since October, after the watchdog kicked off a probe into a A$13 million-loan from the miner to a private company associated to the diamond producer's owner.The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is also looking into whet...Read More
RAPAPORT... Stornoway Diamond Corporation fell deeper into the red inthe first quarter, as rough prices softened, it saidMonday. The miner recorded a net loss of CAD 48.4 million ($36million) for the three months ending March 31, in comparison to a loss of CAD11 million ($8.2 million) during the same period last year. "A continued downward pressure on the market price for roughdiamonds has inhibi...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were marginally higher during morning trading on Tuesday May 14, with the escalating US-Sino trade rift hampering commodity investment. The three-month copper price continues to trade at just over $6,000 per tonne after falling by more than 6% this month from a monthly high of $6,443 per tonne on May 1. Copper volumes traded were thin over the mornin...Read More
Markets were consolidating during morning trading on Tuesday May 14 after the previous day's weakness that saw prices adjust to an escalation in the US-China trade war, with China retaliating by increasing tariffs on $60 billion worth of US imports. This saw risk-off and money move into haven assets, including gold.Investment money flows into gold, the yen and treasuries......while flowing out of...Read More
The leading daily The Namibian reported that Namibia's Central Procurement Board (CPB) has awarded a N$300 million [US$21 million] contract to Gem Diamonds Namibia to valuate Namdeb's diamonds over the next five years. While it is the country's Ministry of Mining's task to hire an independent diamond valuator to ensure that diamonds sold by Namdeb, which is jointly owned by the...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were all down during morning trading on Tuesday May 14 with escalating trade tensions between China and the United States continuing to dent market sentiment. The broad sell-off this morning follows an intensifying of US-China trade tensions on Monday after the Chinese government announced that it would impose tariffs on $60 billion worth of US g...Read More