BHP Billiton’s may have to pay more for a -billion loan, but this is unlikely to force it to abandon its -billion bid for rival Rio Tinto.
Miner Xstrata unveiled a -billion takeover bid for the world’s third-biggest platinum producer, Lonmin, to diversify its business.
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/ 8 February 2008
De Beers, the world’s top diamond producer, posted a dip in 2007 diamond sales on Friday, but forecast a rebound this year amid a tight market that was expected to keep prices buoyant. ”We are in an environment where the rough diamond market is strong,” managing director Gareth Penny told a conference call.
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/ 24 October 2007
Amid rusted hulks of abandoned plants and huge mine craters, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s former top copper town Kolwezi is showing signs of a reawakening. The town in the south-eastern copperbelt went into virtual hibernation two decades ago after looting by former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko forced the closure of most of the region’s copper mines
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/ 4 September 2007
The world’s top platinum producer, Angloplat, launched a R35-billion black economic empowerment (BEE) deal on Tuesday to sell mines to two black-led firms and hand out shares to its mostly black workers. The deals will forge two new major players in South Africa’s platinum sector, the world’s largest, and burnish credentials of Angloplat.
AngloGold Ashanti posted a worse-than-expected 17% fall in second-quarter adjusted profit, hit by stronger currencies and more exploration costs, and said its chief executive Bobby Godsell would retire. AngloGold, the world’s third biggest gold producer, said on Tuesday Mark Cutifani from Brazil’s CVRD Inco would become new chief executive.
Angloplat, the world’s biggest platinum producer, posted an expected 47% jump in interim profit on Monday, but higher costs and a cut in forecast output due to labour and safety issues cast a shadow. Angloplat shares rose 1,1% to R1 011 by 8.25am GMT, underperforming a 2,64% gain in rival Implats.
African miner Randgold Resources expects to upgrade planned production at its new mine in Côte d’Ivoire, helping the firm to boost output by over 50% by 2011. The firm, currently operating two mines in Mali, plans to ramp up production to around 650 000 ounces a year by 2011 from 400 000 ounces currently,
Restive South African miners are likely to go on strike in coming months, but the relatively tight platinum market may have already priced in the effects of limited disruptions. Gold prices could see a brief psychological lift if miners walk off the job, but South Africa’s share of global output is waning and that market is less sensitive to supply issues.
South Africa wants to boost foreign mining investment, but not if it fails to help develop a country still suffering from huge inequality of wealth, the deputy president said on Monday. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka told a seminar on mining investment she was aware of a debate about the merits of sealing major deals with resource-hungry countries like China.