MOSCOW, March 13 (Reuters) - Russia-focused fertiliser producer Eurochem said it has produced its first potash at its new $2 billion Usolskiy plant in Russia.The project may intensify competition among suppliers of the crop nutrient in the region, traditionally dominated by Russia's monopoly producer Uralkali and Belarusian miner Belaruskali.Privately-held Eurochem, one of the world's largest prod...Read More
BHP Billiton's Saskatchewan potash mine remains in a holding pattern.The Jansen Lake operation, about 135 kilometers east of Saskatoon, has been under development for several years.In a question and answer session Friday in Australia, Chief Financial Officer Peter Beaven said potash remains an attractive investment because there's more people, they need to eat, and the amount of arable land will e...Read More
British company Sirius Minerals (LON:SXX), the company building a huge polyhalite mine beneath a national park, is looking to raise up to $2 billion in government-backed debt to finish building its fertilizer project in North Yorkshire.Delivering preliminary results for 2017, the company said its main focus this year will be securing up to $3bn from banks, including roughly $2bn under the gover...Read More
After spending almost an entire day at underground refuge stations, 55 workers at The Mosaic Company's (NYSE:MOS) K2 potash facility in Saskatchewan made it safely to surface. Following a small underground fire, the workers were asked to stay at the safe spaces where they had access to drinking water and food items. In the meantime, staff just outside of the mine were running air monitoring tests....Read More
Drifting into the doldrums?The Baltic Dry Shipping Index came to prominence at the start of the Chinese-led commodity supercycle around a decade ago.The London-based Baltic Exchange tracks the cost of moving commodities along more than 50 routes around the world and the BDI is considered one of the go-to barometers of the global economy and a leading indictor of commodity prices.In November 2015 t...Read More
Despite reporting increased revenue and operating earnings in 2017's last quarter, U.S.-listed Compass Minerals (NYSE:CMP) announced today that management fired 48 permanent workers from Goderich, the world's largest underground salt mine.The mine, named after the Ontario town where it is located, sits 1,800 feet under Lake Huron and provides a large portion of the 12.5 million tonnes of salt proc...Read More
The mining industry is awash with cash, and so far it's got two main uses - pay down debt and reward investors.Three of the big four London-listed miners have released earnings this month, and it's clear the companies are doing what shareholders have demanded of them. Glencore Plc, which traditionally favored stuffing its war chest over rewarding shareholders, surprised the market with a $2.9 bill...Read More
Miner and commodities trader Glencore (LON:GLEN) said Wednesday it would pay shareholders $2.9bn in dividends after achieving what it called its "strongest results on record", which attributed mainly to a sharp recovery on commodity markets and a strong performance from its marketing unit.The 2017 results leave Ivan Glasenberg, the head of the Swiss company, well positioned to continue doing wh...Read More
The value of global mining and metals deals hit a four-year high in 2017, according to accountancy firm EY, boosted by a jump in money raised on stock exchanges to a six-year high.Mining and metals deals totalled $51 billion last year, up 15% from 2016. Activity was dominated by coal and steel transactions. However, the volume of deals fell 6% as M&A focus in the sector started shifting from dives...Read More
Mosaic Co, the world's largest producer of finished phosphate products, on Monday reported a 12 percent rise in net sales driven by higher potash and phosphates prices.Plymouth, Minnesota-based Mosaic sold 2.5 million tonnes of diammonium phosphate in the fourth quarter at an average price of $348 per tonne, up from $317 per tonne a year earlier.The U.S. fertilizer company's average potash selling...Read More
WASHINGTON/TORONTO, Feb 16 (Reuters) - The United States should boost domestic production of 35 critical minerals including uranium, cobalt and lithium, to reduce its reliance on foreign suppliers, the Interior Department said on Friday.Aluminum and potash are also on the draft list of 35 critical materials used in basic manufacturing, batteries and electronics. It was the department's first step...Read More
Mining giant BHP (ASX, NYSE:BHP) (LON:BLT) is taking a $1.8 billion hit from the major US tax reform package supported by President Donald Trump and passed by the Senate in DecemberThe Anglo-Australian miner said the charge, which will be treated as an exceptional item, consists mainly of a non-cash charge on deferred taxes of $898 million and another charge on foreign tax credits of $834 million...Read More
Shareholders of world's second largest miner Rio Tinto (ASX, LON:RIO) are being recruited to demand the company quit Australia's top mining lobby group.The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) is looking to persuade about 100 investors to co-file a resolution at Rio Tinto's upcoming annual general meeting, in which it will ask the group to leave the Minerals Council of Austral...Read More
Global miner Rio Tinto (ASX, LON:RIO) is said to be once again chasing a $5bn stake in Chile's Chemical and Mining Society (SQM), the world's largest lithium producer, following the resolution of a long-dragged dispute between the company and the country's government over royalties in Salar de Atacama.The deal between SQM and Chile's development agency Corfo, reached last month, freed the lit...Read More
Mining and metal companies are rediscovering the downside of rallying prices: higher costs.A sharp rebound in commodity markets in the past two years put producers in a profitability sweet spot after years of cost-cutting to cope with low prices. Now, as the upturn matures and the higher cost of energy and other materials starts to bite, some companies are beginning to struggle to maintain margins...Read More
To thrive in the mining industry's historical boom and bust cycle and capitalize on new opportunities, companies must rethink the traditional mining model. (Image: PlusONE| Shutterstock.)In the last 10 years, the mining industry has been on a roller-coaster, with commodity prices reaching both historic highs and lows, as well as operational realities shifting irrevocably in the face of a digital...Read More
Shares in the world's largest mining and construction equipment maker Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) were up almost 4% in pre-market trading on Thursday after the company posted results that beat investors' expectations.The Deerfield, Illinois-based firm, which is considered a reliable bellwether of global economic activity, reported positive fourth quarter and full-year results and delivered bullish proj...Read More
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - K+S Potash Canada GP (KSPC) is honoured to be named one of Saskatchewan's Top Employers for the fifth year in a row. This designation follows KSPC being named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers for 2018 in November."K+S Potash Canada is honoured to be recognized as one of the Top Employers both provincially and nationally," said Dr. Ulrich Lamp, President and CEO of KSPC....Read More
Global miner Rio Tinto (ASX, LON:RIO) is said to have ditched plans to own a stake in Chile's Chemical and Mining Society (SQM), the world's largest lithium producer, due to a mix of tricky politics and the fact that such miner is currently the target of several claims.Chilean authorities accuse SQM of underpaying royalties, environmental violations and illicit political financing, which have ma...Read More
Brazil's Vale (NYSE:VALE), the world's largest iron ore and nickel miner, has officially closed the sale of its fertilizer business to US-based Mosaic Co. (NYSE:MOS), the No.1 producer of phosphate fertilizer, in a deal worth about $1.4 billion, considerably less than the $2.5bn originally estimated.The transaction, part of Vale's strategy to cut debt and focus on its core businesses, excludes t...Read More