Glencore on Wednesday said it would "vigorously contest" a $680 million tax demand from the British authorities linked to transfer pricing.The Swiss-based mining and trading company has offices in London and is London-listed. The British tax authorities issued formal transfer pricing, permanent establishment and diverted profits tax assessments for the 2008 - 2017 tax years, amounting to $680 mill...Read More
Glencore Plc reported its weakest trading profit in five years and missed analysts' earnings estimates, even as the mining giant promised to increase its rewards to shareholders after a tough year.The disappointing performance in the trading unit is a blow for Glencore, which has always said its traders can make money in any kind of market. The company touts the unit as a differentiator from other...Read More
Miner AngloGold Ashanti can resume a soil study halted by a municipal council ban on mining activities, the environmental authority in Colombia's Antioquia province said.The mayor of the town of Jerico had ordered a suspension of the work in January after the council voted late last year to ban mining in the area.In a decision dated Feb. 18, Corantioquia said it was lifting the stoppage on AngloGo...Read More
Australia's largest gold producer, Newcrest Mining, (ASX: NCM), is expanding its footprint in Ecuador by signing an agreement with Cornerstone Capital Resources (TSX-V:CGP), a Canadian junior with several assets in the country, including a 15% stake in SolGold's Cascabel copper-gold project.Under the deal, a subsidiary of Newcrest will have the option to earn up to a 75% interest in two early-st...Read More
A report published by Fitch Solutions states that due to the prevalence of off-grid remote mineral deposits in Sub-Saharan Africa and the fact that traditional grid-power tends to be unreliable in those mines, mining companies operating in the region should invest in renewable energy.According to the market research firm, off-grid mines could benefit from reducing their dependency on diesel while...Read More
Miner and commodities trader Glencore (LON:GLEN), one of the world's top coal exporters, has yielded to investor pressure to embrace a "low-carbon economy" by announcing it will cap production of the fossil fuel to align its business strategy with the goals of the Paris climate agreement.The unexpected move will also see the Swiss miner setting new targets for cutting emissions from both its activ...Read More
Canada's Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX) (NYSE:GOLD) and Tanzania have arrived at a plan to settle disputes between the miner's 63.9%-owned Acacia Mining (LON:ACA) and the country's government, which includes a $300 million payment to resolve tax claims in the East African nation.Among the proposals put forward, Barrick offered to create a local operating company in Tanzania and share economic benefits fro...Read More
Steel beam prices in the domestic Northern European market were stable-to-soft this week, with poor demand continuing to outweigh rising raw material costs, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday February 20.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic S235-grade, 200x200mm, category-2 H-beam in Northern Europe was ?,?600-630 ($679-713) per tonne delivered on February 20, widening downward by ?,?10 p...Read More
Gold futures rallied by nearly 2% on Tuesday to log their highest finish since April, as the stock market assumed a defensive stance on the back of the latest round of talks in the U.S.-China trade spat. Financial markets await the latest trade developments, as discussions resumed Tuesday in Washington. A 90-day tariff truce between the parties is set to end at the start of March. President Trump...Read More
Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was up over 1% at the close of trading on Wednesday February 20, breaching $6,400 per tonne for the first time since July 2018 amid high volumes and dwindling LME stocks. Total volumes traded in copper led the complex with more than 21,000 lots changing hands by the close, the most since January 4. Despite significant buying over the aft...Read More
On Wednesday, hopes that an escalation of the trade war between the US and China can been avoided (or at least postponed) sparked a massive rally in mining stocks - already buoyed by climbing metals prices.US President Donald Trump said yesterday he may not increase tariffs on Chinese products on March 1, as talks about the trading relationship between the world's two largest economies continue in...Read More
A report published by Fitch Solutions states that due to the prevalence of off-grid remote mineral deposits in Sub-Saharan Africa and the fact that traditional grid-power tends to be unreliable in those mines, mining companies operating in the region should invest in renewable energy.According to the market research firm, off-grid mines could benefit from reducing their dependency on diesel while...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday February 20 that are worth another look.A blockchain pilot project designed to demonstrate the presence of artisanal and small-scale mining sites in the tungsten supply chain is scheduled to be completed in May 2019. Glencore expects healthy future demand for cobalt and a bottoming out of prices after a difficul...Read More
A blockchain pilot project designed to demonstrate the presence of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sites in the tungsten supply chain is scheduled to be completed in May 2019.The SustainBlock trial started in May 2018 and is focused on a tungsten supply chain originating from Rwanda.Funded by the European Partnership for Responsible Minerals (EPRM), a multi-stakeholder grouping set up to cr...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.India's renewables target of 175 GW capacity (100 GW of solar and 75 GW of wind) by 2022 is an ambitious endeavour. Even with significant cost declines, Wood Mackenzie expects about 76% of the target to be met by 2022 and this would s...Read More
The following Fastmarkets UK non-ferrous scrap and foundry ingot prices changed on Wednesday February 20:Aluminium ingotLM6/LM25 gravity diecasting ingot: ?1,700-1,780 per tonne from ?1,710-1,790...Read More
RAPAPORT... India's polished-diamond exports dropped 16% to $1.75 billion in January,continuing their recent weakness. A slide in the volume of shipments outweigheda higher average price, according to data the Gem & Jewellery ExportPromotion Council (GJEPC) released this week. Rough imports also plunged,mirroring a similar trend in the Belgian market in January as demand from manufacturersslow...Read More
The global refined zinc market deficit shrank by 13% year on year in 2018 to 384,000 tonnes from 2017's 442,000 tonne deficit, caused by dampening demand in China, South Africa and Turkey, the International Lead & Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) said on Wednesday February 20. World production of refined zinc last year was roughly flat with 2017, increasing just 0.1% year on year to 13,279,000 tonnes from...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has recovered a high-quality, 13.33-carat pinkdiamond in Lesotho. The type I diamond was unearthed earlier this month at its Let??eng mine, and isthe first stone above 10.8 carats the company has reported this year. It is the largest pink diamond the miner hasrecovered since 2011, when it retrieved a 30.68-carat stone. In December it founda pink stone weighing 8.53 ca...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucara Diamond Corp. has unearthed a 223-carat, high-qualitywhite diamond from its Karowe mine in Botswana. "[This year] is off to a great start, with several high-qualitydiamonds in excess of 100 carats having been recovered by mid-February, atestament to the strong, stable operating environment that has prevailed atKarowe since late 2018," Lucara CEO Eira Thomas said Tuesday. Th...Read More