Australian firms Dacian and NTM Gold sign merger deal

Gold development and exploration company Dacian Gold and exploration firm NTM Gold have signed a merger agreement as part of a regional consolidation effort.

The move will link Dacian’s Mt Morgans gold operations with NTM’s Redcliffe gold project in Western Australia.

The redcliffe gold project is located about 60km north-east of Leonora in the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia. It lies within a 100km radius of the Mt Morgans gold operations.

The two companies will merge via a ‘NTM Scheme of Arrangement’, which will see Dacian acquire 100% of the shares in NTM.

According to Dacian Gold, the deal is expected to create a ‘second mining centre’ for Mt Morgans and provide significant extensions to its mine life. 

The merged company will have over 1,300km² of prospective land in the Leonora-Laverton district of Western Australia.

Barrick looking to reopen Porgera gold mine in Papua New Guinea

Barrick Gold president Mark Bristow reportedly held discussions on royalty arrangements with landowners in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

The latest move comes as the company seeks to ‘negotiate a reopening’ of the Porgera gold mine, located 600km north-west of Port Moresby, Reuters reported, citing landowners.

Barrick’s lease over the gold mine, which it operated alongside Zijin Mining, expired when Papa New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape refused to extend it in April this year.

The extension was denied citing environmental concerns, with the Papa New Guinea Government saying it will take control of the gold mine. This had led Barrick Niugini to mount legal challenges.

In July, Marape said that the government is likely to allow Barrick Gold to reopen the Porgera gold mine if the latter withdraws its court case against Papa New Guinea.

Reuters cited the Porgera Landowners Association, a group representing local landowenrs, as saying in a statement that they met Bristow in a Port Moresby hotel and are urging the company for ‘direct royalty payments’.

It is unclear if both the parties have agreed on any deal, said Reuters.

Adani documents suggest plan to expand Carmichael to 55Mtpa

Adani Mining, which last week rebranded to Bravus Mining & Resources, is currently working on the Carmichael coal mine in Queensland’s Galilee Basin. According to the Adani Australia website, contracts worth more than $1bn have been signed for the construction of the Carmichael Mine and Rail Project, with the project supporting the creation of up to 1,500 direct jobs.

Construction work began on Carmichael in June 2019 after Adani received its final approvals and confirmed its plan complied with the regulatory conditions set by the state and federal governments.

The company describes Carmichael as a mine that, “in its first stage”, will produce 10 million tonnes of coal per annum (Mtpa) and will be comparable in capacity to existing mines across Australia.

Carmichael was initially proposed as a 60Mtpa mine – which would have made it one of the biggest coal mines in the world – before the project was significantly scaled back to 10Mtpa, reducing the financial cost of the project following struggles to secure external investors.

The revised plan also meant that Adani Australia would not need Australian taxpayer dollars to get the project off the ground. The scaling back was a welcome move – Carmichael had become something of a battleground for Australia’s pro-coal government and environmental activists.

Except, new documents uncovered by Guardian Australia suggest the plans for a much larger mine at Carmichael were never really scrapped.

AngloGold suspends Argentina mine due to Covid-19 cases

South African gold miner AngloGold Ashanti has voluntarily suspended operations at its Cerro Vanguardia gold-silver mine in Argentina for ten days after Covid-19 cases were detected among the workforce.

AngloGold said that it expects operations to resume on 20 November.

However, movements to and from site will be restricted to only the essential workforce until the end of this month.

In a press statement, the company said: “AngloGold Ashanti is continually monitoring the situation related to the Covid-19 outbreak and remains in close contact with authorities in each country, with our employees and with our key suppliers and other business partners, to help ensure business continuity and mitigate any interruptions that may occur.”

Meanwhile, the company’s other operations will continue as usual.

According to the company, production impact due to the suspension is expected to be 8,000 ounces.

Located in the province of Santa Cruz, Cerro Vanguardia is a gold-silver mine that operates multiple small open pits.

It is AngloGold Ashanti’s sole operation in Argentina in which the company has a 92.5% stake. Fomicruz, a state-owned firm in the Santa Cruz province, owns the remaining 7.5% stake.

Livent extends lithium supply agreement with Tesla through 2021

Philadelphia-based lithium producer Livent has extended its supply agreement with American electric vehicle (EV) company Tesla through the end of next year.

The company made the latest announcement as part of its Q3-2020 results update.

Under the multi-year lithium hydroxide supply agreement, the company also committed for higher volumes than those in the current year.

The lithium producer also said it ‘continues to discuss the framework for a long-term supply partnership’ with the EV maker beyond 2021.

Livent president and CEO Paul Graves said: “Our ongoing partnership with Tesla and our agreement to invest in New Nemaska are examples of this.

“The major priorities we are seeing from our customers – the shift to lithium hydroxide and the growing importance of localised, sustainable supply chains – are core advantages for Livent that will continue to position us as an industry leader for years to come.”

Chile’s Candelaria copper mine union rejects new deal from Lundin

The workers union at Candelaria copper mine in Chile has reportedly rejected Canadian firm Lundin Mining’s new contract offer to end strike action at the mine.

The union will continue the indefinite strike, which began on 8 October, Reuters reported.

Another union joined the strike later in the same month, forcing the closure of the copper mine.

Located in Chile’s Atacama Region, the Candelaria copper mining complex comprises two adjacent copper mining operations, Candelaria and Ojos del Salado.

In November 2014, Lundin Mining acquired an 80% ownership stake in the Candelaria and Ojos del Salado copper mining operations for $1.8bn from Freeport-McMoRan.

In a statement sent to Reuters on 3 November, the company stated: “During the negotiation process, Minera Candelaria has submitted four improved offers.

“Once again we call on the leaders and members of the Mina Union to resume the dialogue to reach a mutually beneficial agreement.”

The union confirmed the news agency about its ‘decision to reject the proposal’ and said it will continue with the ongoing strike.