The move comes after the implementation of dedicated site policing and the conditional confirmations from all members of the Ethiopian gold project’s finance syndicate.

KEFI Gold and Copper has scheduled early works for the Tulu Kapi project until September this year.

These include completing preparations for community resettlement, detailed engineering for procurement, conducting community consultations on social development plans, and undertaking recruitment and other organisational development activities.

This will be followed by major works, including procurement and fabrication of plant, site earthworks, grade-control drilling, mining, and definitive feasibility study (DFS) on underground mine, from October 2024.

The company also aims to satisfy all conditions required for closing the project financing.

KEFI Gold and Copper executive chairman Harry Anagnostaras-Adams said: “Our launch timing is fortuitously coinciding with the improved conditions in Ethiopia and all-time high gold prices.

“Tulu Kapi’s high grade and high process recovery, combined with our project design, has resulted in a robust set of economics for long-term operations which should support further exploration and development along with good opportunities to continue supporting local social development projects such as the already provided local school and water supply.”

The company holds a 95% stake in the Tulu Kapi gold project. The remaining 5% free-carry interest is held by Ethiopian government.

Last year in April, KEFI Gold and Copper signed the final umbrella agreement for project financing of the Tulu Kapi project. It outlined the roles of all syndicates, finance conditions, and conditions precedent to final formal approval being granted.

The post KEFI formally launches Tulu Kapi gold project in Ethiopia appeared first on NS Energy.

DoD awarded the financing under the Defense Production Act (DPA) battery grant programme.

The financing will be matched with a $43m investment by South32, to support the activities that will help advance the domestic production of battery-grade manganese.

Hermosa is a polymetallic development with zinc-lead-silver sulfide deposit, a battery-grade manganese deposit, with the potential for further polymetallic and copper mineralisation.

Located in a historic mining district in the Patagonia Mountains of Southern Arizona, Hermosa is the only US project to produce, zinc and manganese, two federally designated critical minerals.

South32 Chief Executive Officer Graham Kerr said, “The Department of Defense funding will help support the development of the Hermosa project’s battery-grade manganese deposit.

“The only advanced project in the United States that has demonstrated through a pilot testing program that it can produce battery-grade manganese from a domestic ore source.”

The DoD funding will help South32 advance battery-grade manganese production at Hermosa, to market in North America, including DoD-designated end-users.

Also, the funding is expected to create a cost-effective domestic option for manganese products within the electric vehicle battery supply chain that is currently dependent on imports.

Hermosa project is adopting sustainability and advanced technology in its underground mine design, through power supply from renewable energy and all-electric underground mining fleet.

The manganese deposit would have a lower carbon footprint than other methods to produce battery-grade manganese such as the Electrolytic Manganese Metal (EMM) production process.

The project, with a surface footprint of 750 acres is expected to use around 75% less water than other mines in the region, minimising environmental impact.

Furthermore, the project is expected to support the local economy, create up to 900 jobs and support investment across surrounding communities for decades.

Hermosa president Pat Risner said: “This project represents an opportunity for the United States to create domestic supply chains for the minerals and metals important to national security.

“The Department of Defense funding will help develop this critical resource on a timeline that matches that urgency.”

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Under the terms of the agreement, the Spanish electric utility will pay Avangrid’s shareholders $35.75 per share to buy out the remaining shares of Avangrid, which is a renewable energy developer based in Connecticut.

The consideration represents a premium of 11.4% over the closing price of Avangrid common stock on 6 March 2024 and a 15.2% premium over the volume-weighted average price of Avangrid common stock over the 30 trading days.

Currently, Iberdrola holds around 81.6% of Avangrid’s capital.

Through the acquisition, Iberdrola aims to expand its presence in the networks sector within the US. Iberdrola is prioritising growth in markets having robust credit ratings and in regulated sectors such as networks.

Upon the completion of the transaction, a formal request will be submitted to delist Avangrid shares from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Presently, Avangrid has $44bn in assets and operates in 24 US states. The company focuses on two primary business areas, which are networks and renewables.

In the networks sector, Avangrid supervises eight electric and natural gas companies, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England.

Simultaneously, in the renewables sector, the company oversees a diverse portfolio of renewable energy generation facilities across the US.

Avangrid CEO and president Pedro Azagra said: “We are excited about Iberdrola’s continued investment in Avangrid and commitment to the United States.

“As a wholly-owned member of the Iberdrola Group, we will continue to serve our customers and build our renewable energy assets work to achieve our vision to lead the clean energy transition with a strong commitment to sustainability, community, governance, and our employees.”

Subject to customary conditions, including shareholders and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Maine Public Utilities Commission and the New York Public Service Commission approvals, the deal is expected to be complete in Q4 2024.

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Known as the Mina Santa Elena, the mine commenced operations in 1977 and continued production till 2016 when it was put on maintenance. Historically, the project has produced concentrates of silver, lead, and zinc.

The underground development and reconditioning of the mine have been started by Kuya’s wholly owned Peruvian subsidiary Minera Toro de Plata (MTP) in January 2024. The mine is expected to resume operations in 2024.

Bethania Location and Site Access Details

The Bethania Silver Project is located about 70km southwest of Huancayo city, the capital of the Junin Department, in the high Andes of Central Peru.

The project lies about 316km from Lima, the capital city of Peru.

Covering an area of approximately 5,081 hectares, the project consists of 12 mining concessions lying near the borders of the departments of Junin, Lima, and Huancavelica.

The project can be accessed through the Pan American Highway South (Route 15) from Lima. The project site can be reached from Lima to Jauja via air followed by driving via Huancayo towards the southwest.

Bethania Ownership History

In colonial times, small-scale mining of silver veins was conducted by Spanish explorers at the Mina Santa Elena.

Modern operations commenced in 1977 and were suspended in the 1980s because of terrorism. The operations resumed in 2008 and continued till mid-2016.

In 1988, a technical report of the project was prepared by Minero Bank of Peru according to which engineer Heraclio Lopez was the owner of the mine.

S&L Andes Export SAC, owned by the Soria Family (Peru), purchased the project in 1989. S&L explored the project from 2008 to 2016.

In December 2020, Kuya acquired S&L Andes Export SAC, a Peruvian company which owned the Bethania Mine, and became the owner of the project.

Kuya renamed S&L to MTP and Aerecura Materiales S.A.C. to Kuya Silver S.A.C., a wholly owned Peruvian subsidiary of Kuya.

Currently, Aerecura Materiales holds some of the adjacent concessions included in the project.

The Santa Elena Concession of the project was not subjected to any surface exploration before Kuya purchased the project.

Bethania Geology and Mineralisation

The Santa Elena Concession of the Bethania Silver Project consists of tertiary volcanic rocks made up of andesite, dacite, and tuff. Mostly, the region is covered by vegetation and quaternary deposits.

The mineralised veins are hosted by dacite, andesite, and siliceous bodies of stockwork quartz-breccia.

The mineralisation of the project consists of volcanic and polymetallic intermediate sulphidation epithermal minerals with silver, gold, lead, zinc, and copper.

The dominant sulphide mineralisation includes silver sulfosalts, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, and galena.

Mining Methods and Processing

The quantitative analysis showed that the Conventional Cut and Fill (OCF) and Shrinkage Stoping methods were the ones which proved economical for mining ores.

The OCF method showed the best economic results as compared to Shrinkage Stoping with a 54% higher economic margin.

The ores will be processed in a concentrator plant with 350 million tons per day (mtpd) of processing capacity.

The ores will undergo two-stage crushing, a single grinding and classification stage, one bulk flotation stage, one lead/copper separation flotation stage, and one zinc flotation and regrinding stage.

The flotation material will be thickened and filtered to produce lead and zinc concentrates. To recover water, tailing will be thickened in a tailing thickener facility.

The plant will produce lead and zinc concentrates with average gradings of 0.3% copper, 4% lead, and 3% zinc.

Project Infrastructure

The existing infrastructure of the Bethania Silver Project consists of dirt roads, waste dumps, explosive magazines, a generator group (500KWh capacity), fuel storage tanks, solid waste storage area, a water neutralisation pond, and administrative facilities.

The concentrator plant area will consist of a processing facility, a tailing storage facility, overburden storage areas, a substation, and a general substation.

Key Contractors

The 2023 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) of the Bethania Silver Project was prepared by Mining Plus.

Caracle Creek International Consulting, Atticus Geoscience Consulting, Envis, and Me Engineering & Technology supported the preparation of the 2023 PEA.

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Mothae is an open-cast mine that began commercial operations in 2019, following the commissioning of the 1.1 million ton per annum (mtpa) kimberlite processing plant.

The mine produces large, high-value diamonds with the second-highest dollar per carat price for diamonds.

Its processing plant is equipped with an X-ray transmission (XRT) recovery facility and a treatment facility that currently undergoing upgrades to enhance the throughput capacity.

The announcement follows a review of the asset portfolio by its newly restructured board of directors.

Furthermore, the diamond company is also discussing the options with the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho, which owns the remaining 30% stake in the diamond mine.

Lucapa chairman Stuart Brown said: “On review, it is clear the Company should streamline the portfolio to focus on our core assets in Africa and Australia.

“The Company’s collaboration with the Lesotho Government on the Mothae Diamond Mine has been rewarding and our management have worked exceptionally well to optimise the plant to recover large diamonds.

“We expect there will be significant interest from those within the diamond industry and on a wider scale.”

In 2021, Lucapa Diamond agreed to acquire the historic Merlin diamond project in Australia from Merlin Operations, a subsidiary of Merlin Diamonds, for AUD8.5m ($6.6m) in cash.

The acquisition includes the Merlin diamond project, which comprises MLN 1154, a 24km2 mining lease and a 283km2 exploration tenement, along with associated equipment and assets.

The diamond project, which was previously mined by Rio Tinto and Ashton Diamonds between 1999 and 2003, represents a near-term development opportunity for Lucapa in Australia.

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The capex encompasses mining, process plant, and infrastructure costs along with indirect costs and a contingency of $89.3m.

The Canadian development-stage mining company said that the study involves an initial mineral reserve estimate to support a long-life, large-scale, 50,000 tonnes per day (tpd) open-pit mining operation.

According to the FS, the Troilus project will utilise a conventional open-pit mining operation. The copper-gold project will have a mine life of 22 years with the potential for future underground development.

The Troilus project will also showcase a life-of-mine average payable gold production of 244,600 ounces per year, alongside yearly outputs of 17.3 million pounds of copper and 446,700 ounces of silver.

Besides, the mine is designed to provide 18.3 million tonnes of mill feed per year.

The process plant is anticipated to undergo three months of commissioning in pre-production, followed by a nine-month production ramp-up phase within the initial year of operation.

Located 120km north of Chibougamau, the Troilus gold-copper project includes four main zones of mineralisation.

Troilus Gold CEO Justin Reid said: “The Study provides a strong foundation to continue building and growing the Company.

“Our geology team has proven their ability to identify new targets and rapidly add significant ounces, and we believe there is strong potential to further expand the scale of this project and extend the mine life beyond the 22 years presented in this Study with further exploration and drilling.”

The FS estimates an after-tax net present value (NPV) of $884m for the Canadian gold-copper project.

It also projects a post-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 14% with an after-tax payback period of 5.7 years.

The Troilus gold-copper project is estimated to generate a free cash flow of $2.2bn on an after-tax basis. It is based on a throughput of 50,000tpd over 22 years.

Troilus Gold aims to complete and submit the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) by the end of this year. It will also advance the federal and provincial permitting processes and obtain all final permits to start the construction.

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Following completion of the asset review initiated during 2023, Anglo American plans to implement a number of major structural changes to accelerate delivery against its strategic priorities of operational excellence, portfolio simplification, and growth:

Undiluted Anglo American shareholder participation in a simpler portfolio of world-class assets with full value transparency

Copper3 of the top 10 producing copper mines in South America, with outstanding resource endowments
Set for multiple decades of competitive production and growth, with a defined pathway to >1mtpa of copper production
Premium iron oreFocused producer of 100% premium product, ideally suited to support steel decarbonisation
Attractive resource endowments in Brazil and South Africa
Crop nutrientsSlow down development to support balance sheet deleveraging, while critical technical studies are completed in 2025, to then support syndication. Capex reduced to $200 million in 2025 and no capex in 2026
Preserving long term value from high quality asset with multi-generational resource scale
Compelling value proposition exclusively for Anglo American’s shareholders

Portfolio and structure transformation – 100% future-enabling portfolio, including 54% copper production, in products that support the energy transition, improving global living standards and food security
Outstanding organic growth – Proven project delivery and sustainability leadership
High quality financial profile – EBITDA margin increases to 46% from 31% on a 2023 pro forma basis1
Efficiency and accountability – $1.7 billion lower cost of new portfolio configuration. This includes $0.8 billion of additional pre-tax recurring annual run rate cost benefits from the end of 20252
Disciplined capital allocation – less than 1.5x net debt:EBITDA leverage at bottom of the cycle, with 40% dividend payout maintained
Clear pathway for portfolio value delivery – in the right way and for value

Steelmaking Coal – To be divested and currently responding to strong buyer interest
Nickel – Exploring options for care and maintenance and divestment
Anglo American Platinum – To be demerged in a responsible and orderly way to optimise value for both Anglo American’s and Anglo American Platinum’s shareholders
De Beers – To be divested or demerged, to improve strategic flexibility for both De Beers and Anglo American
Duncan Wanblad, Chief Executive of Anglo American, said:

“We set out our clear strategic priorities earlier this year – operational excellence, portfolio simplification, and growth. Our decision to focus Anglo American’s portfolio in our world-class resource asset base in copper and premium iron ore – while retaining our crop nutrients optionality at Woodsmith – marks a major new phase in executing our strategy.

“We expect that a radically simpler business will deliver sustainable incremental value creation through a step change in operational performance and cost reduction.

“Anglo American’s shareholders will see the full undiluted upside from these extensive changes, with the value of our copper and iron ore assets brought to the fore. This next step in the transformation of Anglo American’s portfolio is set to accelerate the recognition of value that has been inherent in our business for many years and provide Anglo American’s shareholders with undiluted and differentiated participation in the major structural demand trends, while minimising any frictional costs associated with this major portfolio transformation.

“These actions represent the most radical changes to Anglo American in decades. I believe these are the right decisions to position Anglo American to capitalise on the outstanding resource endowment opportunities within our portfolio today. Our proven and differentiated capabilities within Anglo American, our global relationship networks and our longstanding reputation as a responsible mining company will help us unlock numerous of these and other opportunities in the jurisdictions where our experience and track record are most valuable and most valued, namely in South America and Southern Africa.

“Of course, we are conscious of the impacts of making such far-reaching changes, particularly on our employees. We see considerable opportunities for our employees, both in delivering the full potential of Anglo American and in the businesses that we will be divesting or demerging, all of which are high quality businesses in their own right. By implementing these portfolio changes ourselves, we will be able to do so in a manner that is respectful of our employees, host communities and countries, including ensuring that in South Africa in particular Anglo American continues to play its role as a responsible business leader to support the country’s national priorities.

“We are taking clear and decisive action to deliver value – safely, responsibly and reliably – in the long term interests of our shareholders and other stakeholders, and to deliver the products that are so critical to enabling the energy transition and supporting improved global living standards and food security.”

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During May, the Mara Rosa processing plant has operated at an average throughput of approximately 90% of its name-plate capacity of 7,000 tonnes per day and exceeded 80% average recoveries. The ramp-up is on schedule to be completed in H1 and gold production is expected to continue to increase in the third and fourth quarters of 2024, with the mine on track to produce between 83,000 to 93,000 ounces of gold this year.

Mara Rosa is Hochschild’s first Brazilian operation and is located in the state of Goias. Brazil represents a key growth opportunity for Hochschild as the Company continues to execute its strategy of increasing production while reducing costs. Mara Rosa is delivering production at a significantly lower cost, with excellent potential to provide additional resources which we are targeting through the Company’s brownfield exploration programme. Furthermore, the Company recently announced the securing of an option to acquire 100% of Cerrado Gold’s Monte Do Carmo gold project (“MDC”) in the state of Tocantins. This low-cost opportunity will follow the blueprint established at Mara Rosa and, if the option is exercised, MDC will provide the Company with a further source of growth, also with a compelling cost profile.

Eduardo Landin, Chief Executive Officer, said:

“Achieving commercial production at Mara Rosa is a significant milestone for Hochschild and has been delivered ahead of our end H1 2024 forecast. This brings a new jurisdiction to the Company and provides a springboard for further low-cost growth in Brazil. We are pleased that Mara Rosa is ramping up quickly and thank our team, contractors and stakeholders for their hard work and support.”

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In addition, New Gold has agreed to sell its 87,300,000 common Shares to a syndicate of underwriters led by CIBC Capital Markets, at $1.72 per share, for a total of $150m.

The offering is expected to be closed by 17 May 2024, subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of all necessary approvals by the Toronto Stock Exchange and the NYSE.

The company intends to use the $150m bought deal equity financing to partly fund the transaction, along with cash on hand, and borrowings from its existing revolving credit facility.

Upon closing, Ontario Teachers’ interest in New Afton will be reduced from 46.0% to 19.9% in exchange for an upfront cash payment of $255m from New Gold.

New Gold president and CEO Patrick Godin said: “This is an excellent transaction where we increase our free cash flow exposure in a copper and gold asset which we already own and operate.

“This transaction is expected to allow us to grow accretively with no diligence risk and increase our free cash flow interest at New Afton.

“With key C-Zone milestones set for completion later this year, New Afton is on the verge of attractive production growth and cost improvement that we believe will lead to increased free cash flow generation.

“Our goal is not only to maximize this free cash flow generation at the mine, but to also maximize benefits for our shareholders.”

New Afton mine’s C-Zone is expected to enter commercial production in the second half of this year, with significant free cash flow growth driven by increasing production and improved costs.

With New Gold increasing its stake, New Afton would enter a period of significant growth driven by increasing production and improved costs.

The transaction is expected to deliver a meaningful increase in attributable life-of-mine cash flow while maintaining New Gold’s balance sheet strength and financial liquidity.

New Gold said that the transaction provides growth without needing any additional general and administrative expenses.

Furthermore, its focus on exploration activities will improve the production profile and extend the mine-life of the New Afton mine, said the Canadian mining company.

The post New Gold to increase interest in New Afton mine to 80% appeared first on NS Energy.

BHP made the second all-share offer with an increased number of BHP shares for Anglo American shareholders last week.

According to the board of Anglo American, the second takeover bid too significantly undervalues the company and its future prospects.

In addition, the offer proposes a structure that is highly unattractive for Anglo American’s shareholders, said the company’s board.

Besides, BHP’s bid is said to be associated with uncertainty and complexity along with substantial execution risks.

Furthermore, the necessity for two simultaneous demergers introduces considerable uncertainty, disproportionately impacting Anglo American shareholders.

Anglo American’s board has also asked its shareholders to refrain from taking any action regarding the offer.

Anglo American Chairman Stuart Chambers said: “The latest proposal from BHP again fails to recognise the value inherent in Anglo American.

“Anglo American shareholders are well positioned to benefit from increasing demand from future enabling products while the increasing capital intensity to bring greenfield supply online makes proven assets with world-class resource endowments ever more attractive.

“The Anglo American team is focused on delivering against its strategic priorities of operational excellence, portfolio simplification and growth and is set to accelerate delivery in order to unlock this inherent value.”

As per the revised proposal, shareholders of Anglo American will receive 0.8132 BHP shares for each ordinary share they own in Anglo American. They will also get ordinary shares in each of Anglo American Platinum and Kumba Iron Ore.

The second proposal, similar to the initial offer, is conditional upon the pro-rata distribution by Anglo American of its entire interests in Anglo American Platinum and Kumba Iron Ore to its shareholders before the completion.

At current market value, the Anglo American Platinum and Kumba Iron Ore shareholdings are worth nearly $15bn and 34% of the proposed total consideration.

BHP CEO Mike Henry said: “BHP put forward a revised proposal to the Anglo American Board that we strongly believe would be a win-win for BHP and Anglo American shareholders. We are disappointed that this second proposal has been rejected.

“The revised proposal represents a 15% increase in the merger exchange ratio and increases Anglo American shareholders’ aggregate ownership in the combined group to 16.6% from 14.8% in BHP’s first proposal.”

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