The US Department of Justice is seeking documents from Glencore about intermediary companies that the commodities firm has worked with in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Venezuela and Nigeria, sources familiar with the matter said. The investigation is not directed at Glencore's own activities or its senior executives, two sources told Reuters, giving no further detail about the type of information sought.
Australia-based exploration company Sipa Resources on Tuesday announced that an “extensive” nickel exploration programme was under way at the Kitgum Pader joint venture (JV) project, in Uganda. The Kitgum-Pader project contains two new mineral discoveries, Akelikongo nickel/copper sulphide and Pamwa lead/zinc/silver, both made by Sipa during 2014 and 2015.
Diversified miner Anglo American’s focus on driving efficiency and productivity across the business resulted in another strong quarter, with volumes for the third quarter 1% higher year-on-year, Anglo CE Mark Cutifani commented on Tuesday. “Production per employee has increased by 5% [so far this year], compared [with] 2017, as we maintain relentless discipline on controllable costs.
The outcome of the feasibility study for the Boto gold project is a significant improvement on the results outlined in the prefeasibility study and will be used to support an application for a mining concession before the end of the year, Canadian gold miner Iamgold reported on Monday. The study outlines a “robust” project, which will produce 140 000 oz/y, on average, for nearly 13 years, at a life-of-mine cash cost of $714/oz and all-in sustaining costs of $753/oz.
Brazilian pension fund Previ, one of iron ore miner Vale SA's largest shareholders, will not sell part of its stake before the year ends, its CEO said on Monday. Speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Rio de Janeiro, CEO Jose Mauricio Coelho said the fund intended to reduce its stake in the miner over the medium term. Previ had previously announced plans for the sale without saying when.
TSX-listed Trevali Mining has lowered its zinc and lead production guidance for the Caribou mine in Bathurst, New Brunswick, but the company remains on track to achieve its consolidated zinc production guidance. The Caribou mine’s zinc guidance has been lowered from a range of 86-million to 90-million, to between 70-million and 75-million pounds, while lead production will be between 23-million and 25-million pounds, compared with a previous guidance range of 27.1-million to 28.4-million pounds.
De Beers Group on Tuesday reported that its rough diamond production had decreased by 5% to 8.7-million carats in the third quarter ended September 30, owing to planned volume reductions in Botswana and South Africa. In Botswana, production declined by 6% to 5.7-million carats owing to the planned processing of lower-grade material at Jwaneng. Production at Orapa remained in line with that of the third quarter of 2017 at 2.6-million carats.
Vancouver-headquartered B2Gold is mulling an expansion at the El Limon mine, announcing on Monday that it is considering a $35-million investment to increase production at the Nicaragua-based mine. B2Gold has concluded an expansion study, which indicates that increasing plant capacity from 485 000 t/y to 600 000 t/y and adding a third stage of milling to achieve a fine grind will result in a much longer mine life, with higher gold production and lower costs.
Privately held Black Mountain Metals on Tuesday told delegates at the Australian Nickel conference, in Perth, that the company would focus on exploring its recently-acquired Lanfranchi nickel operation, in Western Australia, before planning a restart. Black Mountain in September acquired the Lanfranchi operation from ASX-listed Panoramic Resources for A$15.1-million in cash.
An initial optimisation study into the Tala Hamza zinc/lead project, in Algeria, has flagged a substantial increase in production rates, ASX-listed Terramin Australia said on Tuesday. Terramin, which owns a 65% interest in the project, reported that the initial optimisation study had identified the potential for an additional eight-million tonnes of indicated resource to be included in production, representing an increase of about 30% of the total Tala Hamza reserve tonnage.
Mining major BHP’s Nickel West division is powering ahead with plans to increase production at its Leinster operation, in Western Australia. Nickel West head of integrated operations, Karl Stokes, told delegates at the Australian Nickel conference, in Perth, on Tuesday that the division’s aspirations of returning the Leinster concentrator to 40 000 t/y of nickel would take a number of years to complete, as the company worked to bring its new mine developments on stream.