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S Africa confirms Sishen right has reverted to the State (Wed, 10 Mar 2010)
The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) has confirmed to Mining Weekly Online that the 21,4% undivided share that ArcelorMittal South Africa had hitherto owned in the Sishen iron-ore mine had reverted to State custodianship, in line with the prescripts of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA). Spokesperson Jeremy Michaels said that the DMR had held separate meetings with both ArcelorMittal South Africa and Kumba Iron Ore (KIO), the majority shareholder in Sishen Iron Ore Company (SIOC), which cancelled a supply agreement with the steel group from March 1, 2010, citing as its key reason the failure of the company to convert its rights from the old to the new order by the April 30, 2009, deadline.
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Barrick spin-off may be sign of industry 'right-sizing' - Bristow (Wed, 10 Mar 2010)
Barrick Gold's plan to spin-out its African assets into a new, London-listed company could be a sign of things to come, as gold majors look for ways to realise value from increasingly large and diverse portfolios, Randgold Resources CEO Mark Bristow said on Wednesday. "Majors are struggling to deliver value as a consolidated business and they feel that by splitting up their assets in different markets they will be able to create more value," he said after a presentation to analysts and investors in Toronto.
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Phiri to head growth-poised JSE-bound platinum NewCo (Wed, 10 Mar 2010)
Ferrochrome company head Steve Phiri is stepping down as CEO of Merafe to take over the reins of a new growth-poised JSE-bound platinum company that is expected to be listed in the second half of 2010. Long-standing Merafe CFO Stuart Elliot will take over as CEO of the ferrochrome company from April 1 and Phiri will remain on the Merafe board as a nonexecutive director.
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Gold One outlines potential for new Gauteng gold resuscitation (Wed, 10 Mar 2010)
The JSE- and ASX-listed gold junior Gold One said on Wednesday that it had secured additional prospecting rights in Gauteng province's East Rand Basin, 30 km from Johannesburg, where there were gold-mining resuscitation opportunities. Gold One CEO Neal Froneman told the Citi Global Resources Conference in London that the contiguous prospecting rights over 16 000 ha had an inferred resource of 5,2-million ounces of gold at a grade of 3,39 g/t and was separated from the East Rand and Central Rand water basin, where mining had to be accompanied by costly water pumping.
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'Patient' buyers can wait out reluctant sellers (Wed, 10 Mar 2010)
A lot of the mining industry, particularly juniors, still has a very conservative attitude towards merger and acquisition activity, Ernst & Young Canada mining leader Tom Whelan said on Wednesday. A lot of predictions have been made this week as at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention, regarding the likelihood of a boom in corporate activity in the mining sector.
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Dourado plans to list uranium assets in IPO (Wed, 10 Mar 2010)
ASX-listed Dourado Resources would seek shareholder approval to divest of its uranium assets in the Northern Territory, through the spin-out of a wholly owned subsidiary, the company announced on Wednesday. Dourado would float the subsidiary, called Eclipse Uranium, on the ASX through an initial public offering (IPO).
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Xstrata confirms ‘strategic review’ of Mpumalanga complex (Wed, 10 Mar 2010)
Diversified miner Xstrata has confirmed that it is conducting a "strategic review" of its coal operations in South Africa's Mpumalanga province. This comes as market speculation did the rounds on Monday that the Swiss-based miner was planning to sell its highest-cost thermal coal mines in South Africa.
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Expect more, new bidders for your discoveries, Coxe tells prospectors (Wed, 10 Mar 2010)
Juniors and exploration companies are heading into an era when their mineral discoveries will be more in demand than ever, investment strategist Don Coxe said on Wednesday. In a speech on the final day of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada's annual convention, he said that Chinese and Indian companies will become more active in securing earlier stage projects, to benefit from production down the line.
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TSX-bound Orocobre predicts consolidation, attrition in lithium space (Tue, 09 Mar 2010)
The lithium exploration and development sector will need to consolidate, and will probably also see a considerable attrition of companies with more marginal prospects, Orocobre chairperson James Calaway commented on Tuesday. Buoyed by the recent hype around lithium, which is used in rechargeable batteries including for hybrid vehicles, there are now around 60 firms that have declared themselves lithium companies, he said.
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Tungsten-miner Malaga mulls 2nd mill, acquisitions (Tue, 09 Mar 2010)
Malaga Inc, the only operating tungsten miner in the Americas, could start considering a second, “much bigger” mill at its Pasto Bueno mine, in Peru, by 2012 and is looking reasonably seriously at potential acquisitions in North America and Europe, CEO Jean Martineau said on Tuesday. Demand for tungsten, which is used to strengthen steel and prevent corrosion, is being driven by China, which is also the biggest producer of the metal.
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