Category: Commodities

URANIUM producer Energy Resources of Australia has come close to exceeding its upper production guidance for 2019 and has realised slightly higher prices for its uranium oxide product. ERA stated it expects the uranium market to remain challenging in the near term, with the market’s surplus expected to continue into the medium term. “China-led demand growth is expected to support a rebalancing of the market over the longer term as China and other Asian countries continue to progress their nuclear power programs in accordance with long-term energy policy objectives,” ERA stated in its 2019 results announcement on Wednesday. ERA achieved an average price of US$41.89/pound last year on all sales of its uranium oxide product including contracted sales and spot…

AUSTRALIAN resources and energy companies attracted $1.15b of investment funding in the October-December 2019 quarter, the highest amount since April-June 2018, according to an analysis by Austex Resource Opportunities. Austex principal consultant Rob Murdoch said the trend for increased investment funding to ASX-listed metals and energy companies had carried over into early 2020. Australian gold, copper and oil and gas companies listed on the ASX all did well in terms of attracting funds, including from small investors in Australia, he said. “The large capital raisings in Q4 2019 are a result of recent exploration success for copper-gold porphyries in the Lachlan Fold belt of NSW and the Paterson province in WA, along with new gold discoveries in WA and oil…

GOLD producer Newcrest Mining has unveiled an increased underlying profit of $280m for the six-month period ended December 2019, although gold production for the period was 12pc lower compared with the second half of 2018. Higher realised gold prices, and the favourable impact on its Australian operations from a weaker Australian dollar to US dollar exchange rate, contributed to the increased profit for the half year period. In the July-December 2019 period Newcrest produced 1.1moz of gold at an all-in sustaining cost of $880/oz, up from $747/oz for the year ago period. This represents an all-in sustaining cost margin of $566/oz for the December 2019-ended half year, up from $481/oz for the corresponding 2018 period. Newcrest managing director and chief…

US electric vehicle maker Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has seen an incredible run-up in its share price over the past few days, sparking interest in the metals used in the production of its cars and vehicles. At the end of Tuesday’s US trading session on the Nasdaq exchange, Tesla’s share price rose 13pc or US$107/share to close at an all-time high of US$887/share, according to exchange data. The rally has lasted for several days, after the Tesla share price suddenly took off from US$650/share on January 31, and brings gains for the stock since then to $237/share or 36.5pc. Tesla had a stock market value of US$160b on Wednesday. In a presentation released last week, Tesla said it generated US$1b of…

PERTH’S Impact Minerals has responded to record palladium prices to extend exploration at its Broken Hill project in NSW. A new geodynamic framework for the Broken Hill area has presented evidence that a major deposit of high grade nickel-copper-platinum mineralisation has formed in the Broken Hill project bearing similarities to the Junchuan deposit in China, one of the world’s largest magmatic sulphide ore bodies. Very high-grade primary nickel-copper-PGM-gold mineralisation has been discovered along this complex by Impact at both the Red Hill Prospect and also the Platinum Springs Prospect. Exceptional grades were returned from drilling at Red Hill including a stand out intercept in vein hosted sulphide of  1.2m at 10.4 g/t platinum, 10.9 g/t gold, 254 g/t (9.5 ounces)…

CONTINUED weak lithium prices have forced Wesfarmers (ASX: WES) and its Chilean partner SQM to delay the construction of the Mt Holland lithium project in the WA goldfields. The partners announced their decision to mothball the project in an ASX release after trading had closed on January 23, saying that the final investment decision was deferred to “enhance the long-term value of the project”. The project included the construction of the mine and co-located concentrator at Mt Holland, and a lithium hydroxide refinery in Kwinana. Wesfarmers said that while it would wait till 2021 to pull the trigger on a final investment decision, in the meantime it would conduct further work to cut capital and operating costs and explore opportunities…

AUSTRALIAN gold miner St Barbara has lowered its production target to 370,000-400,000oz for the financial year ending June 2020, from 380,000-420,000oz for the period previously. Gold production for the Australian-listed miner slipped to 94,000oz in the quarter period ended December 2019, from 112,000oz in the corresponding October to December 2018 period. All-in sustaining cash costs for St Barbara rose to $1364/oz in the December 2019-ended quarter, compared with $1053/oz in the December 2018-ended quarter. The miner is forecasting its all-in cash costs for gold production for the 2020 financial year will range from $1330/oz to $1420/oz, compared with its previous forecast of $1240/oz to $1330/oz. At the company’s flagship Gwalia mine at Leonora in WA, gold production was 42,000oz in…

FIRST Quantum Minerals expects to ship its first nickel concentrate from its mine in Ravensthorpe, WA, by April this year. The first shipment of sulphur, a vital component of nickel production, arrived through the Esperance port last week. The Canadian company has made significant upgrades to the processing plant since acquiring it in February 2010 for the cut-throat price of $340m. The plant cost BHP Billiton $3b to build and commission. When it was closed in 2017, it was the nickel project’s second major closure and loss of jobs. The mine is wholly owned by First Quantum and currently employs around 250 people with another 100 jobs projected to be filled. Locals and residents from the vicinity have filled many…

BHP is maintaining its production guidance for its WA iron ore operations at between 273mt-286mt on a 100pc basis for the June 2020-ended financial year. In the first half of the 2020 financial year, BHP produced 137mt of iron ore from its WA operations on a 100pc basis, 2pc higher year on year, after the completion of a major rail car dumper maintenance program in October. Iron ore production volumes at its WA mines in the July-December 2018 half year were affected by a train derailment. Copper production for BHP rose 7pc in the first half-year period to 885,000t on strong concentrator throughput at its Escondida mine in Chile, and higher production from its Olympic Dam mine in Australia. Company…

AUSTRALIAN nickel producer Western Areas has completed two offtake deals for its WA high-grade Forrestania Nickel Operation concentrate product which is a feedstock for the electric vehicle battery market. The ASX-listed company said the offtake-deals are with BHP’s Nickel West subsidiary in WA, and Hong Kong-listed Chinese nickel company Jinchuan Group, and both were awarded by Western Areas following a competitive tender process. Western Areas managing director Dan Lougher said the company was pleased with its new contracts that extend its relationship with BHP and reintroduces Jinchuan as an offtake customer. “It is notable that both of our offtake customers are involved in the downstream operation of nickel smelters,” he said. “Western Areas firmly believes that the smelting of concentrates…

GOLD peaked to a near seven-year high of US$1579.72 after the US launched a deadly attack against Iranian military leader Major General Qassem Soleimani. The destabilising effect on the international market was swift, and was the latest in a string of contributing factors that has continued to drive investors to gold as a safe-haven metal to protect against market downturn. The price spike has come after a momentary lapse in gold’s momentum in Q4 2019, surging to its highest price since April 2013. The assassination of General Soleimani has escalated international fears that tensions between Washington and Tehran could spill over into a new war in the Middle East. The targeted attack was given the go-ahead by US president Donald…