Wheaton to terminate silver stream deal with Glencore for Peru mine 

Canadian mining firm Wheaton Precious Metals has agreed to terminate its silver streaming deal with certain Glencore subsidiaries on the Yauliyacu mine in Peru, for $150m in cash. 

The Yauliyacu mill has a 3,600tpd production capacity and can produce separate copper, lead and zinc concentrates, which are subsequently shipped for smelting. 

In 2006, Wheaton acquired the mine’s silver stream for an upfront consideration of $285m.

Subsequently, the firm generated a cash flow exceeding $485m from the stream. 

Wheaton president and CEO Randy Smallwood said: “Yauliyacu has been part of Wheaton’s portfolio since 2006 and has been integral to the history of our company. 

“Consistent with a core principle of working with our partners, Wheaton has agreed to terminate the stream, adding even more financial capacity to explore new opportunities that we believe are in the best interests of our shareholders.”

Norsk Hydro to close Slovakian aluminium plant 

Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, Norsk Hydro, is set to close its majority-owned primary aluminium production at the Slovalco aluminium facility in Slovakia. 

The Slovalco facility has a 175,000tpa aluminium production capacity but is currently operating at only 60% capacity of 105,000tpa.

The firm said that the decision comes in response to adverse framework conditions and surging electricity prices that show no signs of falling in the short term. 

Norsk Hydro said that the casthouse will continue its recycling operation in Slovalco, providing 75,000tpa of recycled aluminium. 

Slovalco board of directors chair and Hydro’s primary production head Ola Sæter said: “Slovalco is a well-run and modern primary aluminium plant, well-placed to serve European customers with high-quality aluminium products.

"I regret that it has not been possible to secure the continued operation of the primary production at the plant."

LME bans placement of Russian nickel in UK warehouses 

The London Metal Exchange (LME) has imposed a ban on storing Russia-branded nickel at its approved warehouses in the UK, reported Reuters. 

Effective 20 July, the ban follows a resolution announced by the exchange on 1 April that blocked other Russia-branded metals, including copper, lead, primary aluminium and aluminium alloy from storing at the UK-based warehouses. 

The initial ban was in response to the 35% additional duties placed by the British Government on those metals as part of sanctions on Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. 

Owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, the LME said the British warehouses currently hold no Russian nickel, reported the news agency. The exchange said there exists a significant risk of very high additional costs for buyers of Russian nickel from warehouses in Hull and Liverpool. 

In April, the LME stated: “The LME is concerned that any metal, which is subject to the regulations and which is put on warrant in LME-listed warehouses in the UK will be unable to be removed from warrant and imported into the UK without significant additional cost as a result of the regulations.” 

Chile’s Supreme Court ratifies Pascua Lama mine shutdown 

Canada’s Turquoise Hill Resources has rejected Rio Tinto’s $2.7bn offer to acquire the remaining 49% stake in the company, concluding that the proposal did not “reflect full and fair value”. 

The committee concluded that the offer price of $26.66 per share was “well below” a range of values implied by a preliminary analysis carried out by TD Securities. It also noted that the firms could not lead to a “consensus on value and price” or any improved proposal from the Anglo-Australian mining firm. 

Rio Tinto already owns a 50.8% share in Turquoise Hill, and in March, offered to acquire the remaining 49%. The transaction would have paved the way for Rio to own a majority stake in the Oyu Tolgoi copper/gold project, which is one of the world’s largest known copper and gold deposits. 

Turquoise Hill owns 66% of the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine while the remaining stake of 34% is held by the Mongolian Government. 

Rio Tinto CEO Copper Bold Baatar said: “Rio Tinto remains as committed as ever to the long-term success of Oyu Tolgoi. While we are disappointed by this decision, we will continue to work constructively with the Board of Turquoise Hill to advance the Oyu Tolgoi project.” 

US seeks public input on critical materials research programme 

The US Government is asking for public feedback on the $675m Critical Materials Research Programme, which is aimed at strengthening domestic critical materials supply chains. 

Via the US Department of Energy (DOE), the Biden-Harris Administration issued a request for information on the development as well as the implementation of a critical materials research, development, demonstration, and commercialisation programme. 

The programme will focus on addressing issues in the domestic critical materials supply chain, including economic disadvantages and hurdles to the clean energy transition. 

Critical materials include rare-earth elements, lithium, nickel and cobalt, which are needed to produce clean energy technologies such as batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels. 

According to the DOE, the demand for critical materials globally is anticipated to surge 400%-600% over the next several decades. 

US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said: “We can follow through on President Biden’s clean energy commitments and make our nation more secure by increasing our ability to source, process, and manufacture critical materials right here at home. 

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is supporting DOE’s effort to invest in the building blocks of clean energy technologies, which will revitalise America’s manufacturing leadership and bring along the benefits of good paying jobs.”  

Wealth Minerals and Thyssenkrupp to jointly develop Chilean lithium asset 

Canada’s Wealth Minerals has partnered with Thyssenkrupp Mining Technologies to develop the Ollagüe Salar Lithium exploration project in northern Chile. 

Under the cooperation and development agreement, the duo will collaborate to initially identify, assess and select the “most beneficial and environmentally sustainable” processing technology for extracting lithium and purification treatment for the Ollagüe Project. 

Covering an area of 8,000ha in Region II, near the Chile-Bolivia border, the Ollagüe Project is an exploration stage lithium brine mineral project in the highly prospective Atacama Salar.

In June, Wealth Minerals started drilling work on the Ollagüe Salar to test brine anomalies as interpreted by prior geophysical studies. 

Results from the drill programme, which includes around five holes for a total of 1,500m of diamond drilling, are planned to be augmented by exciting earlier third-party drill information identified by Wealth on the project. 

The firms will also develop the project from the exploration stage through to commercial production of high-purity lithium products, as well as define new standards in green mining. 

Wealth Minerals Chile executive director Marcelo Awad said: “Traditional evaporation production methods are not an option for us in this project. Our aim is to live up to the highest sustainable standards and to minimise the impact on the environment.

"Thyssenkrupp Mining Technologies, with its wealth of experience and know-how, will help us achieve this.”