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☆ BHP says Brazilian court approves Samarco debt reorganisation plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Melanie Burton/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 4 (Reuters) - Australian mining giant BHP (BHP.AX) said on Monday a Brazilian court had approved the reorganisation plan for its Samarco joint venture, clearing the path for the cash-strapped Brazilian miner to move ahead with a $3.7 billion debt restructuring. On Sept. 1, the Second Business Court of Belo Horizonte, State of Minas Gerais, formalised Samarco's restructuring plan as part of the ongoing proceedings, BHP said. The reorganisation plan for Samarco, an iron ore miner that is 50% owned by BHP and 50% by Vale (VALE3.SA), allows for the Brazilian miner's existing financial debt to be exchanged for up to $3.7 billion of long-term unsecured debt, BHP said. "The new long-term debt will remain non-recourse to Samarco's shareholders, BHP Brasil and Vale," BHP said in a statement. Samarco, Vale, BHP Brazil, and the federal government of Brazil alongside other public authorities established the Renova Foundation to bring to force socio-economic programs to provide compensation for damage caused by the Samarco dam failure.

Persons: Melanie Burton, BHP, Roushni Nair, Paul Simao, Rosalba O'Brien, Jamie Freed Organizations: BHP Group, REUTERS, Business, Belo, BHP, Vale, BHP Brasil, Samarco, Renova Foundation, Thomson Locations: Perth, Australia, Belo Horizonte, State, Minas Gerais, VALE3, Vale, BHP Brazil, Brazil, Bengaluru

Mark Bristow, CEO of Barrick Gold Co. REUTERS/Shelley Christians/File PhotoTORONTO, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO) is open to bringing in Saudi Arabia's wealth fund as one of its partners in Pakistan's Reko Diq gold and copper mine, Barrick CEO Mark Bristow told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. Barrick Gold owns a 50% stake in Pakistan's Reko Diq mine, with the remaining 50% owned by the governments of Pakistan and the province of Balochistan. He said that Barrick will support PIF coming into the mine through Pakistan's 25% equity stake. Barrick and Saudi's state-owned mining company Ma'aden jointly operate a copper project in Jeddah.

Persons: Mark Bristow, Shelley Christians, Barrick, Bristow, PIF, Divya Rajagopal, Mark Porter, Conor Humphries Organizations: Barrick Gold , Reuters, Mining, REUTERS, TORONTO, Barrick Gold Corp, Pakistan's, Barrick, Minerals, Barrick Gold, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Ma'aden, Thomson Locations: Cape Town , South Africa, Saudi, Pakistan's, Pakistan, Balochistan, Saudi Arabia, Islamabad, Saudi's, Jeddah, PIF, VALE3

☆ Brazil's Ambev Q2 net profit falls 15%, misses estimates
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Natalia Siniawski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Paulo WhitakerAug 3 (Reuters) - Brazilian brewer Ambev (ABEV3.SA) on Thursday reported a 15.2% decline in second-quarter net profit, narrowly missing market forecasts. The subsidiary of Belgium's Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR) posted profit of 2.60 billion reais ($540.34 million), below the 2.68 billion reais average estimate of analysts polled by Refinitiv. Revenue rose 20% from the same period a year earlier to 18.9 billion reais, as cost pressures continued to ease but missing the 19.80 billion reais consensus view. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) grew in all business units, though sales volume declined 2.2%. "Our top-line performance remained resilient and cost pressures continued to decelerate leading to bottom-line growth," CEO Jean Jereissati said in a statement.

Persons: Paulo Whitaker, Ambev, Jean Jereissati, Itau, Natalia Siniawski, Jane Merriman, Christopher Cushing, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: Bebidas, REUTERS, Belgium's Anheuser, Busch InBev, Refinitiv, Petrobras, PETR4, Thomson Locations: Companhia, Fortaleza, Brazil, Central America, Caribbean, Panama, Dominican Republic, Vale, VALE3

☆ Brazilian miner Vale's profit slumps well below forecasts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The company posted a net profit of $1.8 billion for the first three months of 2023, in a filing to Brazil's main stock exchange on Wednesday, while analysts polled by Refinitiv had forecast a profit of $2.4 billion. Last week, the miner had already reported a slip in iron ore sales volume, blaming it on port loading restrictions and supply chain rebalancing after strong sales in the previous quarters. Revenues, meanwhile, fell 22% to $8.4 billion, also lagging analysts' $9.2 billion forecast. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization came in at $3.6, below analysts' $4.3 billion estimate. Over the quarter, Vale said that prices for its iron ore had averaged $108.6 per tonne, down from the $141.4 per tonne it reported for the same period last year.

☆ Teck's base metals business attracts offers from Freeport, Vale, Anglo
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Mrinmay Dey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

These approaches from international miners come as the Vancouver-based miner is fending off unsolicited bids from Glencore Plc (GLEN.L). Freeport, Vale and Anglo American declined to comment. Teck investors will decide on the Canadian miner's restructuring plan on April 26. Influential proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) on Thursday advised shareholders to reject Teck's restructuring plan on uncertainties and structural issues. The Globe and Mail first reported interest in Teck's base metals business.

☆ Teck approached by other companies while fending off Glencore offers -Globe and Mail
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A vote on Teck's plan to fully separate the copper and zinc business Teck Metals from the steelmaking coal Elk Valley business is scheduled on April 26. These approaches from international miners come as the Vancouver-based miner is fending off unsolicited bids from Glencore Plc (GLEN.L) that would involve combining and spinning off the thermal and steelmaking coal businesses of both companies. The Swiss mining company has offered Teck shareholders 24% of the combined metals group and up to $8.2 billion in cash for those who may not want exposure to thermal coal. Two proxy shareholder advisory firms have recommended that Teck Resources shareholders vote against the planned split. On Saturday, Bloomberg News reported that Glass Lewis also asked Teck Resources shareholders to vote against Teck's plan to spin off its coal business.

BRASILIA, April 5 (Reuters) - A Supreme Court judge backed a government move to crack down on illegal gold mining in Brazil, suspending a legal practice of buyers accepting the origin of the precious metal with paper receipts based on the "good faith" of the seller. The injunction by Justice Gilmar Mendes gave the government 90 days to adopt a new regulatory framework for the gold trade to stop the sale of gold mined illegally from indigenous lands and other environmentally protected areas. The previous government of President Jair Bolsonaro eased environmental protections and encouraged wildcat mining in the Amazon rainforest. A surge in illegal mining on the Yanomami indigenous reservation caused disease and malnutrition that led the Lula government to declare a humanitarian crisis. The Brazilian Institute of Mining (Ibram), which represents gold mining companies such as AngloGold Ashanti Ltd (ANGJ.J) and Yamana Gold Inc (YRI.TO), as well as multinational giants such as Vale (VALE3.SA), Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO.AX) and BHP Group Ltd (BHP.AX), said 20% of Brazilian gold had no declared origin in 2021, citing data from the National Mining Agency.

☆ BHP Group seeks delay to Brazil dam court case
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes/File PhotoLONDON, March 29 (Reuters) - Mining group BHP Group (BHP.AX) is seeking to delay a potential 36 billion pound ($44 billion) London lawsuit over Brazil's worst environmental disaster as it needs more time to prepare, the company's lawyers said on Wednesday. BHP denies liability and in December applied to join Vale to the case. Simon Salzedo, representing Vale, argued that BHP has no case against Vale and that, if it did, any lawsuit should be brought in Brazil. Reparation and compensation programs implemented by the Renova Foundation funded $6 billion in financial aid by the end of 2022, BHP added. BHP has applied to the Supreme Court to end the case without trial following the Court of Appeal's decision last year.

Lula departs for China this weekend, but many executives and lobby groups have traveled ahead of the president, government officials said. JBS representatives said the company aims to bolster commercial ties with China, a key trading partner. In a statement, ABPA said they are seeking recognition from Beijing that Rio Grande do Sul and Parana are free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination, in order to export pork with bones and pork offal. China buys 44% of Brazil's pork exports by volume and around 14% of its chicken exports, according to ABPA data for the first two months of 2023. Some 62% of Brazil's beef exports went to China last year.

☆ Miner BHP potentially faces $44 bln bill in Brazil dam case
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Members of the Krenak indigenous people, Daniel Krenak, Andreia Krenak, Djanira Krenak, Maycon Krenak and Marcelo Krenak, demonstrate outside the High Court in London, Britain December 13, 2022. BHP (BHP.AX) was initially sued by around 200,000 Brazilians over the 2015 collapse of the Fundao dam, owned by the Samarco joint venture between BHP and Brazilian iron ore mining company Vale (VALE3.SA). BHP, the world's biggest miner by market value, denies liability and in December applied to join Vale to the case. BHP has said the London lawsuit duplicates legal proceedings and reparation and repair programmes in Brazil. BHP has applied to the Supreme Court to overturn that decision and its application is pending.

President Joko Widodo has pulled out all the stops to convince CEO Elon Musk to manufacture electric vehicles or batteries in the sprawling Southeast Asian archipelago. "The Indonesian government is building a whole value chain for servicing electric vehicle factories," said Victor Chin, principal consultant at metal consultancy firm CRU. Musk's goal is to sell 20 million electric vehicles in 2030, more than a 15-fold increase over the 1.3 million vehicles Tesla sold in 2022. Jokowi did not give a timeline for the exports growth but said Indonesia was aiming to establish an integrated supply chain for electric vehicle batteries by 2027. In other moves, Indonesia will also ban exports of copper ore and bauxite in June, both of which are used in electric vehicle production.

☆ Brazil's government eyes compensation deal for 2015 Vale-BHP dam burst
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Brazil's government will try to reach a deal "as soon as possible" on compensation for the 2015 burst of a tailings dam owned by Samarco, a joint venture between Vale (VALE3.SA) and BHP <BHP.AX>, Institutional Relations Minister Alexandre Padilha said on Friday. In a news conference in Brasilia, Padilha said the matter had been discussed at a meeting with state governors earlier in the day. "We will try and reach this compensation agreement as soon as possible in light of the environmental crime that was committed in Mariana," Padilha said. In late 2021, a study done by a company contracted by prosecutors showed the "socio-environmental" damage caused by the dam rupture was between 37.6 billion reais ($7.35 billion) and 60.6 billion reais ($11.85 billion). ($1 = 5.1126 reais)Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Editing by Isabel Woodford and Paul SimaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Brazil should work with other countries to curb illegal gold trade, says mining lobby
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Brazil's mining lobby group asked the country's foreign ministry to work with other governments to improve tactics used to combat the illegal gold trade, it said on Friday. "The trade of illegal gold feeds a criminal alliance in Brazil, which is responsible for part of the devastation we see in the Amazon rainforest, something the world is watching," said Raul Jungmann, president of the Ibram trade association, in a statement. Ibram represents mining giants such as Vale (VALE3.SA), Rio Tinto (RIO.AX), BHP as well as gold miners such as South Africa's AngloGold Ashanti (ANGJ.J) and Canada's Yamana Gold <YRI.TO. The lobby group called for the ministry to work with countries that buy illegally mined Brazilian gold, such as Switzerland, to "reduce the space" for illicit operators. It has pledged to stop deforestation in the Amazon, a vital biome whose health is considered vital in the fight against climate change.

☆ Miner BHP accused of delaying $6 billion-plus Brazil dam case
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Sam Tobin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Global mining giant BHP Group (BHP.AX) was on Tuesday accused of trying to "forever put off" the question of liability for a 2015 dam collapse that triggered Brazil's worst environmental disaster. BHP, the world's biggest miner by market value, denies liability and earlier this month applied to join Vale to the case. BHP has applied to the Supreme Court to overturn that decision and its application is pending. He argued BHP was trying to "forever put off the question of substantive liability for another few years – that would no doubt be very convenient." Charles Gibson, representing BHP, said in court documents that the list of current claimants was "chaotic" and there was "continuing uncertainty" around whether thousands of individuals wanted to continue their cases.

☆ Brazil's Lula won't have interventionist stance on Petrobras, aide says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Ricardo Brito | Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A logo of Brazil's state-run Petrobras oil company is seen at their headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil October 16, 2019. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes/File PhotoBRASILIA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Brazil's incoming leftist government will not have an interventionist stance on state-run oil giant Petrobras (PETR4.SA), a member of the transition team for President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday. Market participants have been showing concern over how the Lula administration might run Petrobras. He also noted that the incoming administration, and not Petrobras itself, would set a new fuel pricing policy for the country. Shares of Petrobras, which slipped by roughly a quarter since mid-October, were up more than 4% on Thursday, outperforming Brazil's Bovespa stock index (.BVSP), which rose 2.5%.

HONG KONG, Nov 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - A Hong Kong stock market debut puts Jakarta at the centre of China’s electric-car boom. Lygend Resources & Technology (2245.HK), a Chinese nickel trader, is looking to raise up to $594 million in an initial public offering to expand in Indonesia. Lygend both trades and produces nickel products, essential for stainless steel and batteries. Around a fifth of the world’s nickel resources are located in the country, which accounted for nearly 40% of ore unearthed last year, according to the company’s prospectus. Hong Kong CATL is the largest cornerstone investor, according to the prospectus.

☆ Brazil's Cosan swings to loss on higher debt costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The conglomerate, which controls companies in sectors ranging from sugarcane to logistics, lost 202 million reais ($37.70 million) in the July to September period, compared with a 3.26 billion reais profit during the same months last year. During the quarter, Cosan reported cost of debt of 679.3 million reais, a more than 90% spike year-on-year, as Brazil's interest rate peaked at 13.75%, in addition to the issuance of roughly 8 billion reais in commercial notes. Weak figures from Raizen, a joint venture with Shell (SHEL.L) that produces ethanol and sugar, also dented Cosan's bottom line, reflecting consistent price declines for its products. The figure slightly exceeded analyst estimations polled by Refinitiv of 4.08 billion reais. ($1 = 5.3579 reais)Reporting by Peter Frontini; Editing by David Alire GarciaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Vale CEO says iron ore miner will spin-off copper, nickel unit
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Macdonald Dzirutwe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The chief executive of Vale SA (VALE3.SA) said on Friday the Brazilian iron ore miner is reconsidering a near-term spin-off of its base metals business and an eventual public listing. The Brazilian miner had a longstanding plan to sell the unit that was still being considered as recently as 2021. But rather than selling all or part of it, the company is now looking to separate and ring-fence the copper and nickel unit from the iron ore business as the two have different growth prospects, Eduardo Bartolomeo said at the FT Mining Summit. There is "huge growth" in base metals, whereas iron ore is a mature business, he added. Vale, once the world's top producer of the steel ingredient, said in September that global demand for nickel should increase 44% by 2030 to 6.2 million tonnes.

☆ Vale's third-quarter iron ore output edges up
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SAO PAULO, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Brazil's Vale SA (VALE3.SA), one of the world's largest miners, on Monday reported a third-quarter iron ore production up slightly from the previous year, while its smaller nickel output soared as refineries resumed operations. Vale's output of iron ore, its main product, reached 89.7 million tonnes for the third quarter, up 1.1% from the previous year. Meanwhile, nickel production for the period leapt 71.5% to 51,800 tonnes, as refineries resumed after a maintenance period, Vale said. Nickel sales, however, grew just 6%, which Vale attributed to low container availability and sales commitments during maintenance stoppages in the last three months of this year. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Peter Frontini; Editing by Chris Reese and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ South Africa mine dam collapse highlights patchy regulation
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Nelson Banya | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A general view of the aftermath of a mine dam wall collapse in Jagersfontein, South Africa, September 12, 2022. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe disaster has raised questions about who should be responsible for tailings dams oversight in South Africa and across the world. The Jagersfontein dam burst follows the brumadinho tailings dam collapse in Brazil nearly four years ago, which killed hundreds when a Vale SA (VALE3.SA)-owned dam collapsed. South Africa's government, mining industry and experts are still in the process of updating the country's tailings code to align with the global standard, the Minerals Council of South Africa said. The experts say, for example, that the global standards require a clearer responsibility and accountability structure than the current mine residue code in South Africa.

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