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THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2020

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TOP NEWS EXCLUSIVE-Global tailings dam standards fall short of changes sought by civil society groups A sweeping global standard that sets out how the world's largest miners care for waste dams falls short of measures environmental and civil society groups say are needed to avert future disasters, according to a copy of the final draft seen by Reuters. A panel of industry, investor and U.N. groups has been working for more than a year on the standard, triggered by the 2019 collapse of Vale SA's Brumadinho upstream tailings dam that killed more than 250 people. The standard is not binding but the panel expects that miners will adhere to it.

SPECIAL REPORT-Inside Iran’s secret project to produce aluminium powder for missiles At the edge of the desert in North Khorasan province in northeast Iran, near the country’s largest deposit of bauxite, sits an aluminium production complex that the government has publicly hailed as a key part of its efforts to boost output of the metal. But the site near the city of Jajarm is also home to a secret facility set up by Iran’s elite security force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, that has been producing aluminium powder for use in its missile programme, according to a former Iranian government official and documents relating to the facility he shared with Reuters. Aluminium powder, derived from bauxite, is a key ingredient in solid-fuel propellants used to launch missiles.

COLUMN-COVID-19 will tilt aluminium axis further towards China: Andy Home China's giant aluminium production sector seems to have emerged unscathed from the COVID-19 crisis. The country's annualised production rose by 718,000 tonnes to 36.56 million tonnes over the first five months of this year, the latest estimate from the International Aluminium Institute (IAI) found. China's share of global output touched 57% in May. Since the IAI first started using its own assessments of Chinese production, the country has only exceeded that level a couple of times in 2018, a year of record national output.

Demand plunge will spoil gold rally, says Metals Focus Demand for gold will weaken this year as a surge in purchases by investors will not offset a dramatic fall in consumption by jewellers, industry and central banks, an industry report said on Wednesday. Consultancy Metals Focus also predicted that gold prices would average $1,700 an ounce this year, suggesting that a rally to eight-year highs around $1,770 will stall.

Chilean copper miner Codelco hit by third COVID-19 death Chilean state miner Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, on Wednesday reported the death of a third worker who had contracted the new coronavirus. The death will pile further pressure on the country`s economically key copper mining industry as unions seek greater protection for workers. Australia's Orocobre warns of 53% plunge in June-quarter lithium sales volume Australia's Orocobre Ltd on Thursday warned sales volume of lithium carbonate would more than halve in the June quarter from its flagship Olaroz mine, and brought forward its scheduled maintenance period for the Argentinian project. The miner said it expected total sales volume for the lithium by-product to be 1,600 tonnes during the April-June period, compared with 3,387 tonnes last year, as restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus dented production and demand for the metal.

China's Ganfeng Lithium buys 6.9% stake in cobalt firm Tengyuan China's Ganfeng Lithium, one of the world's biggest producers of the material, said late on Wednesday it would buy almost 7% in Chinese cobalt firm Ganzhou Tengyuan Cobalt New Material for 300.12 million yuan ($42 million). The move marks Ganfeng's first investment in production of cobalt, which – like lithium – is a key ingredient in rechargeable batteries for the electric vehicle industry, now booming around the world.

South Africa's Harmony raises $200 million in share sale Harmony Gold raised $200 million after issuing more than 60 million new ordinary shares to partly fund its purchase of rival AngloGold Ashanti's last remaining South African assets, the company said on Thursday. Harmony agreed in February to buy AngloGold Ashanti's Mponeng mine, the world's deepest gold mine, and its Mine Waste Solutions assets for about $300 million.

South Africa's Implats lifts force majeure, revises 2020 output Impala Platinum (Implats) has lifted force majeure it had declared on contracts and revised 2020 production guidance as its South African mines returned to 85% capacity following a lockdown. South Africa, the world's No. 1 platinum producer, saw mining production fall sharply in March and April, when mines were forced to shut temporarily due measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus .

Dutch Tata Steel workers suspend strike as talks resume -union Employees at Tata Steel's Dutch factory in IJmuiden have suspended their strike action after the company indicated its willingness to talk, the CNV labour union said on Wednesday. The union said workers had given Tata two days to come up with a proposal to meet their demands after the company invited unions to return to the negotiating table.

Artisanal miner in Tanzania finds large rare gemstones worth $3.3 million A Tanzanian subsistence miner hit the jackpot on Wednesday after the government handed him a cheque for 7.74 billion Tanzanian shillings ($3.35 million) for the two largest tanzanite gemstones ever found. The two dark violet-blue gemstones, each about the size of a forearm, were discovered by Saniniu Laizer in one of the tanzanite mines in the north of the country which are surrounded by a wall to control cross-border smuggling of the gemstones.

Three dead in violence at SMB's coltan mine in Congo Three people were reported killed on Tuesday during clashes at Société Minière de Bisunzu's (SMB) coltan mine in eastern Congo, but the mine's owners and the cooperative that operates it gave diverging accounts that disputed the police role in the violence. SMB's mine near Rubaya, North Kivu province, is operated by mineworkers from COOPERAMMA, a local collective. The mine has seen an increase in deadly violence between mineworkers and police hired by SMB to oversee the site and prevent smuggling.

MARKET NEWS Gold edged lower, easing off a near eight-year high hit in the last session, as a selloff in equity markets driven by a surge in coronavirus cases prompted some investors to dump assets. Copper prices advanced, helped by lower inventories and as a resurgence of COVID-19 cases among workforce in the top-producing region highlighted supply risks. The dollar held the upper hand as an increase in coronavirus cases in the United States and fresh trade tensions undermined hopes for a quick global recovery and prompted investors to trim bets on riskier currencies.

(Inside Metals is compiled by Kishan Nair Bengaluru) Refinitiv 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036 For questions or comments about this report, contact: [email protected] Please visit: Refinitiv for more information. To subscribe to Metals newsletter, click here. Privacy statement