Colombia approves 1st Cu contract in mining push
Colombia has approved its first exploration and production copper contract as part of five copper and metallic mining blocks launched earlier this year in the government 's push to diversify mining away from coal.
Block 4, located in the coal-rich province of La Guajira, was awarded to mining company Carbomas under a 30-year contract, Colombia's mining agency ANM said. The block spans an area of 470,000 hectares (1.16mn acres) in the municipality of La Jagua del Pilar.
Carbomas has committed to invest 3.75bn Colombian pesos ($1mn) in exploration. Under the royalty scheme, Carbomas will pay 5pc in compensation in addition to royalties, which will be triggered during periods of high copper prices.
The contract also provides for the possibility to include a prospecting phase prior to exploration. And it grants benefits if exploration times are reduced, allowing production to start earlier than planned.
Carbomas is a growing producer and exporter of steam and metallurgic coke from Norte de Santander department in Colombia.
Colombia produces only around 10,000metric tonnes/yr of copper from one mine, Canada's Atico Mining's El Roble mine in Choco department. Several other projects await environmental licenses. The $1.4bn Quebradona project, controlled by South Africa's Anglo Gold Ashanti, is expected to start production in 2026.
Colombia has 2.87bn lbs of probable copper reserves, 6.06bn lbs of indicated copper reserves and 8.44bn lbs of inferred reserves, according to ANM
Only 2.9pc of Colombian territory has mining permits, and applications for mining permits have been submitted for an additional 7.9pc of its territory, ANM president Juan Miguel Durán said at a recent mining conference in Canada. In Colombia, most of the 39 copper and gold projects are in exploratory phase.
Related news posts
Australia's WesCEF to pursue Li plans despite hurdles
Australia's WesCEF to pursue Li plans despite hurdles
Singapore, 3 May (Argus) — Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers will still pursue the strategy for its chemicals, energy and fertilisers arm (WesCEF) to be an integrated lithium producer, despite the recent lithium market downturn. Wesfarmers earlier this year warned of unprofitable lithium sales from its Mount Holland project , owing to high production costs as it goes through a ramp-up. But WesCEF plans to weather through the downturn and plow ahead with its lithium downstream developments, given strong long-term fundamentals and despite the market's immaturity and cyclical demand, according to the group's executives on 2 May. Spodumene prices in China — which dominates global consumption of lithium raw materials — were assessed at $1,080-1,180/t on 30 April, down sharply from $5,750-5,900/t at the start of 2023. "It's also worth remembering that when we invested in Covalent and took the final investment decision , lithium hydroxide prices were lower than they are today," said WesCEF's managing director Ian Hansen. Wesfarmers and Chilean lithium firm SQM jointly own Australian firm Covalent Lithium, which looks after the Mount Holland project that includes a mine, concentrator and its 50,000 t/yr Kwinana lithium hydroxide refinery. Completing the refinery's construction and commissioning remains WesCEF's priority, with the mine and concentrator going through a ramp-up, according to WesCEF. The firm is also progressing its potential expansion project for the mine and concentrator, which it submitted an application for environmental approvals. The first lithium hydroxide output out of the Kwinana refinery is still expected in the first half of 2025, with a delay in timeline. Covalent completed its first spodumene concentrate shipment earlier in March, said WesCEF. Wesfarmers expected its share of spodumene concentrate output from Mount Holland to be 50,000t in the current July 2023-June 2024 fiscal year. The share will rise to 150,000-190,000t in the upcoming July 2024-June 2025 fiscal year. Lithium downturn The lithium downturn has led to multiple firms, including major particpants across the lithium and battery supply chain, reporting poor January-March results. Australian lithium and nickel producer IGO, affected by slumps in the lithium and nickel markets, reported its first quarterly loss in years while posting lower output . Major US lithium producer Albemarle's executives have also called the market "unsustainable" in the long run, as it posts a whopping $1.1bn year-on-year fall in sales from its energy storage division. Major Chinese lithium producer Tianqi Lithium also suffered heavy losses, while global lithium firm Arcadium Lithium earlier this year cut its planned sales numbers this year and warned that current market prices will weigh on future supply. South Korea's top battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution (LGES) reported W157bn of operating profit in January-March , but would have reported an operating loss of W32bn if it did not receive almost W189bn in US Inflation Reduction Act tax credits. By Joseph Ho Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Nippon Steel delays timeline to acquire US Steel
Nippon Steel delays timeline to acquire US Steel
Tokyo, 3 May (Argus) — Japan's Nippon Steel has extended the scheduled timing of its US Steel acquisition completion until the end of the year, following a request by US authorities to submit more documentation, postponing an original plan of closing the deal by September at the latest. Nippon Steel will take more time to complete its $15bn deal to buy US Steel , as the Japanese firm received from the US Department of Justice a "second request" on submitting further documents necessary for the approval procedure. The deal was initially scheduled to close during April-September but is postponed to sometime during July-December, the Japanese firm announced on 3 May. Nippon Steel received the additional request in April, according to a company representative who spoke to Argus, without disclosing the specific date. The company anticipated the possibility of additional requirements, he added. The acquisition procedure may not finish before the US presidential election in November. Both the Democratic and the Republican party candidates repeatedly and vocally have opposed the deal , with incumbent US President Joe Biden pledging that a fellow American steel producer will be "American owned, American operated by American union steel workers". Nippon Steel is confident that its acquisition plan will eventually clear regulatory hurdles with "fair and objective judgement" from the US authorities, the representative added. By Yusuke Maekawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Japan's trading firms see metals prices cutting profits
Japan's trading firms see metals prices cutting profits
Tokyo, 2 May (Argus) — Major Japanese trading houses are expecting lower profits from their metals businesses during the April 2024-March 2025 fiscal year, mostly because of lower prices of commodities such as iron ore and coking coal . Japanese trading house Mitsui forecast profits for its metal and natural resource business falling by 14pc on the year to ¥290bn ($1.87bn) during 2024-25, primarily because of lower iron ore prices. Mitsui plans to cut iron ore output by 0.3pc on the year to 60.9mn t at its mining projects where the company owns production ri ghts or a production stake during 2024-25 . This includes the joint venture project Robe River in Australia with Australian iron ore producer Rio Tinto. Japanese trading house Sojitz also expects profits from its metal and natural resource business to decline to ¥35bn, down by 20pc on the year, mostly because of a bearish coking coal market. The company said its overall coal business can cut production costs during 2024-25, partly because it plans larger-scale output at the Gregory Crinum coking coal mine in Australia, without disclosing further details. But Sojitz said it cannot generate higher profits because of lower coking coal prices. The trading house expects the average coking coal price to fall to $230/t during 2024-25, according to the company's chief financial officer Makoto Shibuya, down by $57/t from a year earlier. The company reiterated that the price is not necessarily their selling price. Sumitomo expects profits from its natural resource business would remain flat at ¥72bn on the year, mostly as its nickel production in Madagascar recovers from the output cuts in 2023 , with an aim to produce 19,000t of nickel during 2024-25, up by 9.8pc on the year. A rebound in nickel production could offset possible losses from coal and coking coal prices falling to $266/t and $133/t respectively in the ordinary market, down by $21 and $9, according to the trading house. Sumitomo plans to increase coking coal production by 9.1pc to 1.2mn t but reduce coal output by 4.8pc to 4mn t during 2024-25. By Yusuke Maekawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Evion-Metachem Indian project starts producing graphite
Evion-Metachem Indian project starts producing graphite
Singapore, 2 May (Argus) — Australian graphite producer Evion's joint venture with Indian producer Metachem Manufacturing has produced and sold 700kg of expandable graphite, with more output planned in the coming months, after missing its timeline last year. Capacity of the expandable graphite plant, located at Kurkumbh near the west Indian city of Pune, will increase to at least 1,800 t/yr over the coming months, said Evion in its latest quarterly activity report. The agreement between the two firms originally envisioned 2,000-2,500 t/yr of production capacity in the first three years, with plans to begin an expansion to double the capacity starting from the second year. Evion previously was expecting first production in October-December 2023. Evion, formerly known as BlackEarth Minerals, back in 2021 signed an offtake deal with Austrian downstream graphite firm Grafitbergbau Kaiserberg for up to 2,500 t/yr of expandable graphite. Graphite concentrate for the plant is expected to come from external parties in the first two years of operations, subsequently switching to products from its Maniry graphite project in Madagascar, said Evion. Madagascar's national office for the environment is carrying out the environmental and social impact assessment for the Maniry project, according to Evion. India in July 2023 identified 30 critical minerals necessary to its green energy transition and energy self-reliance, including graphite. The country's mines ministry, through state trading firm MSTC, in March launched the second round of its auction , involving 18 blocks, for development of critical and strategic minerals in the country. By Joseph Ho Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Business intelligence reports
Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.
Learn more