ABUJA (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria aims to have 50 mines in operation by 2023 and can make up for time lost because of the impact of COVID-19 on development of the nascent sector, the country’s mining minister said in an interview.



Africa’s largest oil producer is banking on mining to diversify its income and revive its finances following a collapse in crude prices, which earlier this year hit two-decade lows.



“The pandemic has slowed things down, but we can still catch up,” Minister of Mines Olamilekan Adegbite said.



Nigeria hopes mining will grow tenfold in five years to account for 3% of the economy and that Nigeria can process as well as mine, which generates increased profits compared with shipping raw minerals.



In particular, he said Nigeria aimed to process barite, used in drilling for oil and gas, and sell it to countries such as Ghana and South Africa, which need the mineral to exploit new oil discoveries.



In common with other African countries, Nigeria is also seeking to formalise artisanal mining, which could generate tax and royalties from gold.



Adegbite said Nigeria was encouraging small-scale miners to form cooperatives and sell at government-buying centres, where prices are closer to global values than those illegal buyers offer.



While oil prices have been weak because of the impact of the pandemic on movement and industry, which has curbed fuel demand, gold in August hit record highs.



A problem for Nigeria is that its gold lies mostly in the northwest, where, humanitarian organisations say it has helped to fuel violence attributed to armed groups.



Adegbite said security had improved and buying centres would stop artisanal miners dealing with criminals: “By weaning them off the illegal people and (making) sure they sell to government-approved centres, you take off that linkage.”



He also expects more commercial gold miners to be attracted once Thor Explorations’s gold mine in Nigeria’s southwest starts producing. Its first gold is expected in the second quarter of 2021.



Malte Liewerscheidt, vice president of London-based risk consultancy Teneo Intelligence, said the plans were likely to be undermined by “structural challenges pertaining to insecurity and infrastructure deficiencies”.

Central Bank of Nigeria cuts benchmark lending rate to 12.5%

Nigeria says can tap mineral wealth despite COVID, unrest

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; AngloGold Ashanti and Barrick Gold will sell their effective 80% stake in the Morila Gold Mine in Mali, the South African miner said on Monday, amidst a political crisis after soldiers seized power in a coup.



AngloGold Ashanti said Australian company Mali Lithium will buy the firm holding the two miners’ stakes in the mine, the other 20% of which is owned by the government of Mali, for between $22 million and $27 million.



“The transaction is consistent with AngloGold Ashanti’s strategy of rationalising its portfolio to focus its capital and other resources to maximise returns to its shareholders,” AngloGold Ashanti said in a statement



It added that the Morila Gold Mine halted operations in 2019 and is currently processing only ore stockpiles. It did not mention the political situation in Mali.



The move comes after the resignation of Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and the dissolution of its parliament earlier in August, hours after soldiers held him at gunpoint and seized power in a coup.



The crisis caused the closure of the country’s borders, in a nation where miners typically fly their gold out to be refined, and raised the risk of further political turmoil in Mali, which like others in the region, is facing an expanding threat from Islamist militants.



AngloGold Ashanti said Mali Lithium will look to increase sustainable production at the mine as quickly as possible after the transaction is completed, but the closure remains subject to the company securing funding and the government of Mali, which has to acknowledge but not object to the deal.

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S.Africa’s AngloGold Ashanti, Barrick Gold to sell out of Mali gold mine

LAGOS (Reuters) &#8211; Angola plans to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), an international effort to fight corruption in revenues from oil, gas and mineral extraction.



Tete Antonio, Angola’s minister of foreign affairs, announced the move on Twitter late on Friday and said Angola “has clearly demonstrated its commitment to promote the open and accountable management of its natural resources for the benefit of its people.”



EITI, formed in 2003, has more than 50 implementing countries.



Angola’s President Joao Lourenco has embarked on an anti-corruption drive since taking power from Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who stepped down in 2017 after a near four-decade rule.



Earlier this month, a court in Luanda sentenced dos Santos’s son to five years in prison over a $500 million corruption case.



Africa’s second-largest oil exporter is also working to stem a steady decline in oil output due to a lack of investment.

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Angola to join oil and extractives transparency group

LAGOS (Reuters) &#8211; Nigerian energy company Lekoil Ltd needs to raise around $100 million before it can start drilling in its Ogo oilfield, its chief executive told Reuters.



Lekoil reached a deferred payment deal earlier this year to keep its stake in OML 310, where Ogo sits, after it discovered a $184 million loan it wanted to use for the purchase was fraudulent.



Chief Executive Lekan Akinyanmi said the company was able to finance much of the Ogo preparation work with cash from its producing field, Otakikpo, and will drill once it raises the money.



Lekoil is in talks for a mix of direct investment into the asset and vendor financing, which Akinyanmi said is the most cost-effective way to raise money for drilling. He expects to spend $1 billion developing Ogo through its life cycle.



“We want Ogo to raise its own capital so that we can actually start to build cash&#8230;and maybe in a few years start to pay dividends,” he said, adding that Otakikpo, which produced an average of 5,305 barrels per day (bpd) last year, yielded $15-$16 million in free cash.



Shares in London-listed Lekoil plunged in January after it revealed the loan that it thought was from the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) was a “complex facade”.



Shares traded at 2.46 pence on Friday, compared with as much as 11.14 pence in January before the loan fraud was revealed.



In results published this week, Lekoil posted a $12 million loss in 2019, compared with a $7.8 million loss in 2018. Its cash balances dropped to $2.7 million from $10.4 million.



Lekoil is also targeting a 40% reduction in annual general and administrative expenses due to this year’s oil price crash.

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Nigeria’s Lekoil seeks $100 mln for Ogo oilfield drilling

JOHANNESBURG/LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; Glencore will likely sell its entire 73.1% stake in Zambia’s Mopani Copper Mines to the government’s mining investment arm ZCCM-IH rather than becoming a minority stakeholder, two sources with direct knowledge told Reuters.



Zambia and Swiss-based Glencore are at “cross purposes” over Mopani, Zambian Mines Minister Richard Musukwa had said on Tuesday when he announced ZCCM-IH aims to increase its shareholding in Mopani to 51% “or even more”, from 10% currently.



Glencore’s plans to put Mopani on care and maintenance prompted the Zambian government to threaten in April to revoke the firm’s mining licences.



Two sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations said Glencore is looking to exit the asset entirely.



“As of now, we are discussing a potential sale of their stake in Mopani,” said one of the sources.



A Glencore spokesman declined to comment. First Quantum, which owns 16.9% of Mopani, did not respond to a request for comment.



The move by ZCCM-IH to take control of Mopani is part of its strategy shift away from minority stakes and towards running mines as an operator.



Glencore wrote off the value of Mopani by $1.144 billion in its half-year earnings report earlier this month, saying the estimated recoverable value was $704 million, including tax receivables.



Mopani’s total liabilities exceeded its total assets by $2.562 billion in 2019, the company reported in a financial statement, indicating “a material uncertainty in relation to the going concern assumption”.



Mopani produced 51,275 tonnes of finished copper in 2019 including purchased materials &#8211; accounting for 13.9% of Glencore’s African copper output and 3.7% of its overall copper output.



Glencore, which reported a first-half loss due to the impact of the pandemic, will not reap the benefits of billions spent on expansion projects over the last three years if it sells to ZCCM-IH but investors see this as a way for the miner to cut its losses.



“Mopani has been a big headache for Glencore, the mine has never delivered anything for shareholders,” a Glencore shareholder, who asked not to be identified, said, citing numerous accidents and operational issues.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">CASH CONSTRAINTS</h3>



A major hurdle to clinching the deal is Zambia’s lack of funds to pay for the stake and fund the mine’s running costs, sources say.



Glencore’s stake in Mopani is worth $514.6 million, according to its own valuation. Mopani’s 2019 financial statement shows operating expenses of $931 million.



Zambia’s total foreign exchange reserves stood at $1.43 billion at the end of June, equivalent to just 2.3 months of import cover, according to the central bank.



ZCCM-IH’s cash and term deposits together amounted to 828.9 million Zambian kwacha ($43 million) by March 31 2019, according to the latest financial statements on its website.



A ZCCM-IH spokeswoman did not reply to Reuters’ questions about how it would finance the stake purchase.



“The state’s cash constraints point to an amicable solution,” said Eric Humphery-Smith, Africa analyst at global risk advisory firm Verisk Maplecroft.



“The government may have threatened expropriation in the past, but the need for copper revenues likely precludes that option.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Exclusive: Glencore puts entire stake in Mopani on the table in talks with Zambia: sources

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s mines ministry has given the green light for the sale of AngloGold Ashanti’s last remaining assets in the country to Harmony Gold on condition that it does not delist from the Johannesburg stock Exchange.



Harmony agreed in February to buy rival AngloGold Ashanti’s assets in South Africa, including Mponeng, the world’s deepest gold mine, for about $300 million.



Every sale in the mining industry in South Africa must be approved by the ministry under mineral resources rules in accordance with Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development regulations.



“The Department can confirm that an application in terms of Section 11 of the MPRDA has been received and was approved on 24 July,” the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) said via email.



The ministry said the granting of the application was based on a understanding between AngloGold Ashanti and the department that the company would not disinvest from the South African economy by delisting from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) or relocate its headquarters.



AngloGold had said in February it would consider moving its primary listing on the JSE as it streamlines its portfolio. But in August the company said moving its listing was no longer a priority amid the pandemic.



AngloGold said on Wednesday it had not yet received all necessary approvals and was still in talks with government.



“We remain in dialogue with the DMRE in relation to these, and will make the necessary disclosures once those engagements are concluded,” AngloGold Ashanti said.



Harmony Gold said: “We are continuing to engage with the DMRE and hope to conclude the transaction as soon as possible”.

S.Africa approves AngloGold’s Harmony sale but with conditions

LUSAKA/JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Zambia’s mining investment arm ZCCM-IH is seeking a controlling stake in Glencore subsidiary Mopani Copper Mines, Zambia’s mines minister said on Tuesday, after a disagreement over Glencore’s plan to halt production.



ZCCM-IH currently holds a 10% stake in Mopani Copper Mines. Glencore is the majority owner with 73.1% and First Quantum Minerals owns 16.9%.



A 10% stake was “not sufficient” to determine Mopani’s future, Mines Minister Richard Musukwa said in a statement, and ZCCM-IH was therefore seeking a larger stake “with a view to holding a controlling stake in Mopani”.



The mines minister told Reuters ZCCM-IH was seeking a 51% shareholding “or even more”.



Musukwa said the government has a team liaising with ZCCM-IH for the negotiations with Glencore, and ZCCM-IH is engaging a transaction adviser.



Glencore said in a statement discussions with ZCCM-IH “and other shareholders” were progressing and further updates would be issued as appropriate.



Asked about ZCCM-IH seeking a controlling stake in Mopani, a Glencore spokesman declined to comment.



A majority stake would require Glencore selling more than 41% of the company to ZCCM-IH.



Glencore’s announcement in April that it planned to suspend operations at Mopani, citing low copper prices and COVID-19 disruptions, sparked a backlash from Zambia’s government, which said Mopani had not given enough notice and threatened to revoke the company’s mining licences.



In May, Mopani said it would resume mining operations for 90 days but still expected to go into care and maintenance &#8211; a term for a temporary production halt during which a mine site is maintained ahead of an eventual restart.



On July 16 the company said it would appeal the mines ministry’s decision to reject its proposal to suspend the operations.



The government is working closely with labour unions and suppliers to ensure operations continue to run smoothly during the negotiations, Musukwa said.

Zambia’s ZCCM-IH seeks to take control of Glencore’s Mopani Copper Mines

GABORONE, Botswana (Reuters) &#8211; The Botswana government said there was no guarantee that it would be able to renew a new 10-year sales agreement with De Beers before the end of December, when the current one expires, as the coronavirus pandemic has delayed negotiations.



“The ideal situation would be to end the talks by December but there are no guarantees that will happen,” said Mmetla Masire, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Minerals told Reuters in an interview late on Monday.



The deal is necessary for the Debswana Mining Company, jointly held by the world’s biggest producer De Beers and the Botswana government, as it provides the country with around two-thirds of its foreign exchange and makes up a fifth of its GDP.



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For De Beers, a new deal would mean another 10 years of clarity on the terms of its revenue stream from a country from where it sources 70% of its diamonds and 90% of its sales.



The wealth from diamond mining has helped transform the country from primarily a agri-based economy to one of Africa’s richest countries.



A delay would set back President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s efforts to boost a fledgling diamond polishing and cutting industry and create jobs in a country of 2.2 million with high unemployment.



Masire said the government had resumed talks for a new deal, but travel restrictions have kept the progress slow.



In 2011, De Beers agreed a deal to transfer its global sightholder sales, which accounts for 90% of its total diamond sales, from London to Gaborone, creating thousands of jobs and investment in the southern African country.



Botswana’s government would want a higher allocation of diamonds produced by Debswana for sale from the current 15% agreed in 2011, or get a larger share of rough stones, said Avi Krawitz, an analyst from Israel-based diamond information provider Rapaport.



“This will be a sticking point for De Beers,” he said.



Masire declined to divulge specific terms being negotiated in the talks.



De Beers, a subsidiary of Anglo American Plc, is an important business division for its parent contributing a fifth of its revenue. De Beers has not responded to an emailed request for comment sent on Monday.

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Botswana government says no guarantee on De Beers sales deal by end-2020

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines on Tuesday announced a deal with China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co. Ltd (CNMC) under which the companies would jointly look for African mining projects to explore, develop or acquire.



Ivanhoe’s co-chairmen Robert Friedland and Yufeng Sun said the strategic partnership would also see the companies, both active in Democratic Republic of Congo, exploring production, smelting, and logistics opportunities.



Friedland hinted at possible mergers arising from the agreement with CNMC, saying the partnership would begin by “examining the synergies between the operations currently owned by our two companies”.



CNMC Chairman Wang Tongzhou said: “I strongly believe that cooperation is the best way to achieving the goals of both companies.”



Ivanhoe has previously said it is in talks with companies over its Kipushi and Western Forelands projects in the Congo, and its Platreef project in South Africa.



CNMC in January launched Congo’s first large-scale copper smelter, the Lualaba Copper Smelter, 45km from Ivanhoe’s Kamoa-Kakula copper joint venture with Zijin Mining in the country’s southern copperbelt.



CNMC is also the majority owner of Deziwa copper and cobalt mine and processing plant, a joint venture with Congo’s state mining company Gécamines which started producing in January.

Ivanhoe Mines and China’s CNMC announce Africa partnership

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s Impala Platinum’s (Implats) said on Tuesday that charges relating to contraventions of lockdown rules against the chief executive of its Rustenburg operations had been dropped.



“All criminal charges in the matter against Impala as represented by Mark Munroe have been withdrawn,” said Implats in a statement after Munroe appeared in court on Monday.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="229" height="220" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/download-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-379302"/><figcaption>Mark Munroe</figcaption></figure>



A case was laid against Munroe in April for allegedly contravening South Africa’s lockdown rules by calling non-essential workers back to work.



A lockdown that started on March 27 ordered most underground mines and furnaces to be put on care and maintenance. The government has since eased regulations, allowing all miners to operate at 100% from June.



The miner, which has denied any wrongdoing, expressed its support for Munroe and its management teams, saying it will continue to operate in a legally compliant and responsible manner.



An Implats spokesman said the court did not provide details on why the charges had been dropped.



South Africa is the world’s biggest producer of chrome ore, accounts for around 70% of global mined platinum supply, and is a major producer of other minerals and metals.

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Charges of contravening lockdown provisions against Implats executive dropped

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s Sibanye-Stillwater expects to swing to a profit in the first half of 2020, boosted by higher precious metals prices and a weaker rand currency, the miner said on Friday, sending its shares up sharply.



Shares in Sibanye, which said it remains positive about its performance in the second half of the year, were up 11.16% at 55.30 rand by 0836 GMT.



The precious metals producer, said headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the six months to June is expected to be 350 cents compared with a loss per share of 54 cents a year earlier when it was hit by strikes.



Sibanye said the inclusion of the Marikana operations, higher metals prices and a weaker rand currency helped partially offset foreign exchange losses and the impact of COVID-19 lockdown regulations on output.



“Supported by a better operational outlook than for H1 2020 and with precious metals prices having recovered close to levels prior to the global COVID-19 economic lockdown, the outlook for H2 2020 is positive,” Sibanye said.



South African gold miners have rallied as investors rushed to buy shares in the export-oriented companies which do well when the Rand depreciates against the dollar.



The company said production from its South African gold operations during the half-year increased by 17% 403,621 ounces, while platinum group metal (PGM) output from South Africa was 5%higher year-on-year at 657,828 ounces.



By the end of July the South African PGM operations had a production run rate of between 70% and 75%, with gold operations at around 90%.



Sibanye expects to release its half-year results on August, 27.

Sibanye-Stillwater expects first-half profit on higher metals prices

(Reuters) &#8211; Mining companies and copper and cobalt buyers have been invited to a meeting in Kinshasa next week to discuss if there is a way to maintain waivers to an export ban that are meant to expire in September, the mining minister said on Thursday.



Congo, Africa’s biggest copper producer, banned exports of copper and cobalt concentrates in 2013 to encourage miners to process and refine the ore within its borders.



But the country does not have enough smelting capacity and has repeatedly issued waivers.



A full-scale ban would lead to a drastic fall in Congo’s copper exports.



It would also deliver a heavy blow to neighbouring Zambia, which processes Congolese copper and cobalt.



“There have been exemptions for certain reasons. Each time, we analyse the file with all the technical data. The applications are submitted with the justifications,” mines minister Willy Kitobo told Reuters.



“These mining companies and the processors interested in purchasing these concentrates have been invited to Kinshasa on (August) 20th to see what can be done.”



In January, China’s state-owned mining company CNMC launched Congo’s first large-scale smelter, the Lualaba Copper Smelter (LCS).



The government joint venture is capable of processing 400,000 tonnes of copper concentrate and producing around 120,000 tonnes of copper blister per year.



But even at full capacity, the LCS cannot process all Congo’s copper production. Congo produced 765,000 tonnes of copper concentrate in the first half of the year alone, the central bank said, up 13.4% year-on-year.



“Our initial take is that they’ll fill Lualaba’s capacity and then issue waivers for the rest,” said Indigo Ellis, head of Africa research at Verisk Maplecroft, a risk analytics company.



“But it’s not a sustainable option, the harm that it’ll cause for the industry and investment environment is negative.”



Congo Chamber of Mines president Louis Watum said he understands the government wants to boost beneficiation in-country, because of the revenue it generates, but said most mining companies cannot smelt in Congo because of inadequate electricity supply.

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Congo to meet miners to debate copper concentrate export waivers

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Exxaro Resources Ltd expects a fall of between 18% and 34% in first-half headline earnings per share (HEPS), the South African coal miner said on Tuesday.



Exxaro said it expects 1,142-1,420 cents in HEPS, the main profit measure for companies in South Africa.



Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) will increase by 12% to 28%, it said.



The company was deemed an essential service during South Africa’s lockdown, which lasted from late March to the end of May.

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S.African coal miner Exxaro warns HEPS could fall as much as 34%

GABORONE (Reuters) &#8211; Botswana’s rough diamond exports plunged 68% percent in the second quarter of the year, data published by the central bank showed on Friday, as the Coronavirus pandemic hit demand while global travel restrictions hurt trading.



In a bid to curb the spread of the virus, Botswana closed its borders in March, locking out international buyers from centres such as Mumbai, Antwerp and China who traditionally travel to Gaborone ten times a year to view and buy diamonds.



Exports of diamonds from Debswana, a joint venture between Botswana and diamond mining giant De Beers, a unit of Anglo American, stood at $293 million in the second quarter of 2020, from $916 million in the preceding period.



No exports were recorded in May, while only $20 million worth of diamonds were exported in June, the Bank of Botswana’s data showed.



De Beers, which gets about 70% of its supply from Botswana registered a net loss of $214 million in the first half of the year, as rough sales plunged by more than half to $1 billion, the company said in its results last week.



The fall in diamond exports is expected to hurt Botswana’s balance of payments deficit, as diamonds constitute 70 percent of the country’s exports.



Through the partnership with De Beers, Botswana also gets about 30% of its fiscal revenues from diamonds. It has so far recorded just 800 COVID-19 cases and only two deaths, but its economy has been severely hit.



($1 = 11.7925 pulas)

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Botswana diamond exports fall by two thirds on COVID-19

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South African gold miners are looking to cut debt and boost dividends as bullion hits record highs, with analysts and fund managers predicting a sectoral growth spurt over the next two years amid rising investor interest.



Shunned by investors due to mines that are old, deep, and difficult to extract, the country’s gold miners have traded at a discount to their global peers for years.



Higher prices, as spot gold roared past $2,000 an ounce for the first time, coupled with a weaker rand currency, comes as a lifeline.



Interviews with companies executives, analysts and fund managers show that higher gold prices could see some local miners bring their net debt to zero and pay healthy dividends over the next 18 to 24 months.



“Gold mining companies will spew a lot of cash in the next 12 months,” said Franco Lorenzani, an independent mining analyst.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sibanye Stillwater, which has battled high debt, said it achieved its leverage target in the first quarter, ahead of plan.



Its net debt, which stood at 20.964 billion rand ($1.2 billion) in 2019, dropped 40% year-on-year in the first quarter.



Higher prices have also made more marginal ounces profitable for Sibanye, spokesman James Wellsted told Reuters, adding the company was looking at other ways to benefit from favourable market conditions.



“Maybe mining secondary reefs &#8230; might be viable at these prices,” said Wellsted.



Pan African Resources is hoping to be net debt free by June 2021 and plans to increase its dividend payout to 5% from 1% last year, its head of investor relations Hethen Hira said. Its net debt dropped 49% to $62.5 million at end December.



Gold Fields has flagged hefty gains from the gold rally, with half-year profits seen up more than 300%.



Rene Heichreiter of Noah Capital said he was advising his clients to continue to invest in local gold miners, predicting a exponential jump in revenues in the coming months.



Some investors have already turned bullish.



Factsheets of fund managers seen by Reuters show South Africa’s Fairtree increased its exposure to Harmony Gold by 0.78% between March and June, while U.S.-based ASA Ltd, which invests in gold mining companies globally, increased its investments in South Africa to 10.7% in June from 9.9% in January.



But the operating environment remains risky.



While power cuts and regulatory uncertainty have always hung over operations, the mining sector is also battling rising COVID-19 cases in underground mines where social distancing is a challenge.



This could threaten output, as some analysts warn the frenzy over high prices could backfire as investments add to costs.



“Whenever the gold prices go up the costs tend to go up with it,” said Nedbank mining analyst Arnold Van Graan.



($1 = 17.5317 rand)

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Record bullion prices give South African gold miners a lifeline, risks remain

LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; Glencore said on Thursday it was scrapping its dividend to focus on lowering debt as the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to book a $3.2 billion impairment charge.



The miner and trader, which had expected to pay $2.6 billion in dividends, the economic outlook was too uncertain due to the coronavirus crisis to make the payout.



“The board has concluded that it would be inappropriate to make a distribution to shareholders in 2020, instead prioritising the acceleration of net debt reduction to within our target range,” Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg said.



Glencore’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 13% to $4.8 billion in the six months to June compared to a year ago, beating the $4.3 billion expected by 14 analysts compiled by Vuma.



The miner posted a net loss of $2.6 billion in the period versus earnings of $226 million a year ago.



Glencore’s trading or marketing arm saw a record adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of $2 billion in the first-half as it benefitted from extreme volatility in the oil market.

Glencore scraps $2.6 billion dividend as first-half earnings fall

JOHANNESBURG/TORONTO (Reuters) &#8211; Mining companies need more skilled engineers if they are to meet strict new global safety standards for tailings dams aimed at preventing catastrophic failures like those in recent years that have killed hundreds of people and inundated nearby communities with mine waste.



“Most companies are realizing that there is a skills gap, because you have senior people moving out and not enough younger people moving in,” said mining engineering professor Priscilla Nelson, who is setting up a new tailings program at the Colorado School of Mines.



Experts said miners had not placed as much importance on tailings management, with little prestige attached to the unglamorous work of trekking to remote mine waste dams, where engineers analyze the consistency of the slurry and verify the integrity of the structure.



In Brazil, more than 250 people died in 2019 when the Vale SA’s (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/VALE3.SA">VALE3.SA</a>) Brumadinho upstream tailings dam collapsed, flooding the nearby community with mine waste.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">RELATED COVERAGE</h4>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mining-tailings-skills-factbox/factbox-miners-get-new-safety-standards-to-avert-tailings-dam-disasters-idUSKCN2511MC">Factbox: Miners get new safety standards to avert tailings dam disasters</a></li></ul>



The disaster, which came not long after another fatal tailings dam collapse in Brazil, prompted a year-long effort by an industry, investor and U.N. panel, which launched the global tailings standard on Wednesday.



In June, Reuters exclusively reported details of the standard, which the International Council of Mining and Metals (ICMM) says its members will adhere to within three to five years depending on tailings dams’ risk classification. The standard is not binding but the panel expects that miners will adhere to it.



ICMM CEO Tom Butler said members that are “consistently non-compliant” with the new standard may face expulsion from the organisation.



“We want to see every company that has a tailings facility adopt the standard,” he said.



Bruno Oberle, chair of the tailings review panel, said the standard does not however apply to abandoned tailings dams with no owner.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">‘LIFTING THEIR GAME’</h3>



Tailings dams, some of which tower dozens of meters high and stretch for several kilometers, are the most common waste-disposal method for miners.



The industry will struggle to implement the new safety rules without new training and investment in tailings management and academic courses to feed a dwindling pipeline of new talent.



A submission published with the standard said deep technical know-how is concentrated among a “relatively small” group of tailings specialists globally. After that there is a “rapid fall-off” of expertise among management and other key players, like regulators.



“There is a lack of resources within the mining industry to manage tailings,” said John Howchin, secretary-general of the Council on Ethics of the Swedish National Pension Funds, which helped craft the standard.



Brumadinho showed how devastating a tailings failure could be. Brazilian state prosecutors have charged Vale’s former CEO with homicide over the disaster.



“Any more failures &#8211; no matter whose mine it is &#8211; will affect the whole industry. Everyone has to lift their game,” said Andy Fourie, director of a new tailings management training program at the University of Western Australia.



BHP and Rio Tinto each contributed 2 million Australian dollars ($1.43 million) to the program, which will offer training for free to their employees and, for a fee, to other mining companies.



Rio Tinto said the new global standard would likely increase demand for tailings expertise across the industry and said it would “prioritise our resources to the facilities with the highest consequence classifications.”Slideshow&nbsp;(4 Images)



More than a third of the world’s tailings dams are at high risk of causing catastrophic damage to nearby communities if they crumble, a Reuters analysis of company data found last year.



Adam Matthews, director of ethics and engagement at the Church of England pensions board, said on Wednesday companies that don’t take the standard up will present a “very clear risk” to investors.



Angelica Andrade, a Brumadinho community member, gave an emotional tribute to her sister who died in the disaster.



“I don’t care how much it’s going to cost to implement the standard,” she said. “It is time for the mining sector to stop being all about profits, and act with humanity.”



Environmental NGO Earthworks said the standard does not provide sufficient safeguards for communities as, among other things, it does not include a minimum recommended distance between dams and neighbouring communities

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Mining

Nigeria says can tap mineral wealth despite COVID, unrest

S.Africa’s AngloGold Ashanti, Barrick Gold to sell out of Mali gold mine

Angola to join oil and extractives transparency group

Nigeria’s Lekoil seeks $100 mln for Ogo oilfield drilling

Exclusive: Glencore puts entire stake in Mopani on the table in talks with Zambia: sources

S.Africa approves AngloGold’s Harmony sale but with conditions

Zambia’s ZCCM-IH seeks to take control of Glencore’s Mopani Copper Mines

Botswana government says no guarantee on De Beers sales deal by end-2020

Ivanhoe Mines and China’s CNMC announce Africa partnership

Charges of contravening lockdown provisions against Implats executive dropped

Sibanye-Stillwater expects first-half profit on higher metals prices

Congo to meet miners to debate copper concentrate export waivers

S.African coal miner Exxaro warns HEPS could fall as much as 34%

Botswana diamond exports fall by two thirds on COVID-19

Record bullion prices give South African gold miners a lifeline, risks remain

Glencore scraps $2.6 billion dividend as first-half earnings fall

Miners need more engineers to meet new tailings dam safety standard

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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