The mining industry briefing
The latest news, trends, and data from the mining industry
News in numbers
$11.7bn
Vedanta to sell steel business Electrosteel to reduce $11.7bn of debt.
13%
The BHP Group has raised the value of its offer for OZ Minerals by 13%.
4,000 tonnes
Vedanta to sell steel business Electrosteel to reduce $11.7bn of debt. Estrella Resources to extract 4,000 tonnes of nickel from the 5A nickel mine.
43.75%
The Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa has bought a 43.75% stake in the New Okiep Mining Company Proprietary.
67,000 hectares
Wallbridge has divested all its Canadian nickel assets to Archer Exploration, covering an area of 67,000ha.
Project updates
Commodity trading company Trafigura has closed a $600m syndicated financing facility with the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank to develop cobalt and copper mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Anglo American has reached a long-term agreement with energy company Stanwell to source renewable power for its Australian operations.
Under the ten-year agreement, Queensland Government-owned power provider Stanwell will supply renewable electricity from its 800MW Clarke Creek Wind Farm and 200MW Blue Grass Solar projects.
US-based aluminium products manufacturer Arconic has closed the $230m cash deal to divest 100% of its Russian operations to Promishlennie Investitsii. Promishlennie Investitsii is the majority owner of state-backed metals company VSMPO-AVISMA.
EnCore Energy has agreed to acquire the past-producing Alta Mesa In-Situ Recovery uranium project in the US from US-based uranium and rare earth elements producer Energy Fuels in a $120m deal.
FURTHER READING
Codelco begins electric loader trial at Chilean copper mine
Chilean state-owned copper mining company Codelco has started trials of Epiroc’s fully electric loader at its El Teniente copper mine, reported Reuters. The new 14 tonnes loading shovel is said to be a first for South America and features rechargeable batteries.
Codelco plans to test the shovel in the key Chilean copper mine for a period of one year. During the trial, the new system is expected to save greenhouse gas emissions by 433 tonnes and diesel usage by 160,000 litres. It is also anticipated to reduce noise, as well as 60% of maintenance costs.
Codelco CEO Andre Sougarret was quoted as saying by the news agency during the project’s launch: “We hope there will be more autonomy [with batteries] which can allow us to reach the levels of productivity achieved with conventional technology.”
Source: Mining Technology
